Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L), Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre (C), and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh (R) (Undated photos: The Hill Times / Andrew Meade)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suffered an unexpected blow when the small party helping keep his minority Liberal government in power withdrew its automatic support, forcing him to attempt new alliances to govern. New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh said he was “ripping up” a deal struck between the two men in 2022.
The move leaves Trudeau reliant on support from other opposition lawmakers to survive confidence votes in the lower chamber of parliament at a time when polls show he will lose badly if an election were held now. An election must be held by the end of October 2025 under Canadian law.
Under the 2022 deal, the NDP agreed to keep Trudeau in power until mid-2025 in return for more social spending. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre reiterated his call for an early election to break up what he called a Liberal-NDP coalition driving up prices for Canadians.
The House of Commons resumes work on 16 Sep, after which the Conservatives will have the ability to propose a vote of confidence. Trudeau’s Liberals could still survive if the NDP abstained on such a vote. The NDP stated they would decide on an issue-by-issue basis whether to support the Liberals on confidence votes, suggesting it may continue to prop up Trudeau if his fate hung in the balance.
A key moment for Trudeau’s government will be its budget update later this year, which, if voted down by legislators would trigger a new election. Trudeau (52) first took office in November 2015 but has over the last two years struggled to fend off attacks from the opposition center-right Conservatives, who blame him for high inflation and a housing crisis.
With the NDP’s support, his government has pushed through social programs designed to address the cost of living. But the NDP’s Singh had expressed growing frustration with Trudeau in recent months, especially over what he said was the Liberals’ failure to deal with high prices at grocery stores.
Nota Bene: Germany, another NATO country, will also hold federal elections in October 2025.
Source:
Canadian PM Trudeau weakened after main ally unexpectedly pulls support | Reuters
US Accuses Russia of Attempting to Influence 2024 Election Through Kremlin-Backed News Outlets
The Kremlin has been using media outlets and online platforms designed to trick Americans into unwittingly consuming Russian propaganda. RT, formerly Russia Today, is seen as a key part of the Kremlin’s propaganda efforts.
Russian nationals Kostiantyn Kalashnikov (31) also known as Kostya, and Elena Afanasyeva (27) also known as Lena, were indicted with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The two employees of RT were charged in a $10 million scheme “to create and distribute content to US audiences with hidden Russian government messaging.”
The Justice Department announced seized 32 Internet domains. The tactics include using RT to advance anti-US messages and content and promote networks of fake websites and social media accounts that amplify the claims. Typically, these networks seize on polarizing political topics such as immigration and crime. Americans who view the content may have no idea that it either originated or was amplified by the Kremlin.
In conjunction with the domain seizures, the US Treasury Department announced the designation of ten individuals and two entities for sanctions, including Margarita Simonyan and Elizaveta Brodskaia from RT.
The State Department announced steps to impose visa restrictions on people who act on behalf of Kremlin-supported media organizations, use those organizations as cover for covert activities, and are complicit in engaging in covert influence. They are also offering a reward of up to $10 million relating to an organization known as RaHDit (Russian Angry Hackers Did It). The group engaged in election influence in other countries and is a threat to the 2024 US election, particularly through cyber-enabled influence operations.
If convicted, Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva face up to 25 years in prison. Both remain at large.
As noted in a previous Coriolanus post, FBI agents recently searched the Virginia home of Russian-American political commentator Dmitri Simes. His name was mentioned more than 100 times in a 2019 investigation by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller entitled Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election.
According to NBC News, GOP VPOTUS candidate JD Vance’s campaign talking points about Russia and Ukraine mirror those of RT, as seen in the indictment linked below.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Sources:
J.D. Vance talking points ‘mirror’ Russian propaganda in DOJ indictment: ex-FBI agent – Raw Story
North Korea Orders All Students Abroad to Return Home for Ideological Education
North Korean Supremo Kim Jong Un (C) meets with Korean students during a visit to Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Primorsky region, Russia on 17 Sep 2023.
Pyongyang has ordered all its students abroad to return home for ideological training – to reverse the outside influence the students have been exposed to while overseas, according to a North Korean escapee.
The number of North Korean students studying in China and Russia are probably several hundred, according to South Korean media outlet KBS. Many were there since before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
Apparently,officials in Pyongyang are concerned that because the students have been out of the country for so long, they may have been influenced by the outside world and now accustomed to living in situations where their government is not in complete control of their lives.
It had been common practice for students to be ordered to periodically return in small numbers for loyalty classes, but these did not occur during the pandemic, so Pyongyang now wants to send them all for intensive ideological inspections en masse, according to South Korean media.
An analyst predicted that the student recall order could lead to more escape attempts. Recently, China arrested 15 North Koreans (13 women and two children) at the Laotian border after they trekked 1,500 miles to a river crossing, just minutes within freedom. Those unfortunate refugees will likely be repatriated – a fate that awaits nearly all North Korean escapees in Chinese police custody – and will likely be severely punished for fleeing.
Inexplicably, Kim Jong-Un’s official biography does not reflect his date and place of birth nor his elite private education in Switzerland.
Undated photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un taken when he was a child. (Yonhap News).
Sources:
American Warzone: Four Killed, Nine Wounded in Georgia School Shooting; 14-Year-Old Student Arrested
Parents arrive to pick up their children after the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, GA. (Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images)
Two teachers and two students were killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, GA, on Wednesday morning, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). Another nine victims were taken to hospitals with wounds. The 14-year-old suspect, a student at Apalachee High School, was captured alive.
In an average year in Georgia, 1,927 people die and 5,029 are wounded by firearms. The Peachtree State has the 8th-highest rate of gun violence in the US. Gun deaths and injuries cost Georgia $23.9 billion each year, of which $597.8 million is paid by taxpayers.
Americans can thank the Republican Party, the NRA, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for this never-ending carnage that inflicts wartime-level casualties on its own people, including innocent defenseless children.
Sources:
Gun-Violence-in-Georgia-2024-05.pdf (everystat.org)
Taiwan Cracks Down on Chinese Corporate Espionage: 135 Investigators Raid 30 Locations
In a decisive move to protect its high-tech industry, Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has initiated a comprehensive investigation into alleged corporate espionage by mainland Chinese companies. Over 135 investigators conducted searches at 30 locations across Taiwan between 19 and 30 Aug, targeting eight Chinese companies suspected of corporate espionage and other illegal activities.
The companies include iCommsemi (Shenzhen), Shanghai New Vision Microelectronics Co., Ltd., Nanjing Aviacomm Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Emotibot (Shanghai), Tongfang Co., Ltd., Chengdu Analog Circuit Technology Inc. (Actt), NAURA Technology Group Co., Ltd., and Hestia Power (Shanghai). These firms, many of which receive state funding from China, are involved in key sectors such as microelectronics, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence — areas where Taiwan holds a competitive edge.
As Taiwan continues to navigate its complex relationship with Beijing, protecting its high-tech industry from corporate espionage will remain a critical priority, shaping the future of cross-strait relations and the global technology landscape.
Sources:
Taiwan Cracks Down on Chinese Corporate Espionage: 135 Investigators Raid 30 Locations (msn.com)
https://www.mjib.gov.tw/news/index/28
US Army Officer Dies in Poland; Cause Under Investigation
A change of command ceremony at Camp Kosciuszko in Poznan, Poland, 28 June 2024. (Devin Klecan / US Army)
A US Army officer died in Poland, the Defense Department announced Wednesday. LTC Joshua Camara (45) was stationed at Camp Kosciuszko in Poznan and assigned to the V Corps forward headquarters when he died on 3 Sep. The cause of death is still under investigation.
Local officials have ruled out murder and are investigating an “unintentional manslaughter,” adding that the results of an autopsy are expected early next week.
Polish news network TVP reported that the body of an American officer had been found inside an apartment in Poznan, not far from where the V Corps is based.
Camara, a public affairs officer, served in V Corps since June 2024 and was awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal and Meritorious Service Medal among other awards.
West of Warsaw, Camp Kosciuszko is the first permanent US military base in Poland, which also hosts US Army Garrison Poland in Poznan.
Map: 2024 CIA World Factbook
Source:
US Army officer dies in Poland | Stars and Stripes
Russia: Two Alleged Pro-Ukraine Mercenaries Detained In Venezuela
Colombian veteran serving in Ukrainian military. (Undated image courtesy of the Yeshiva World).
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that authorities in Venezuela had arrested two Colombian citizens believed to have served as mercenaries with the Ukrainian armed forces. The two men were reportedly heading back to Colombia with a stopover in Caracas. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has actively sought to detain foreign mercenaries around the world. Alleged mercenaries have been detained in Cuba, India, Syria, and other countries.
Colombia’s military has been fighting drug-trafficking cartels and rebel groups for decades, making its soldiers some of the world’s most experienced. These military veterans, in need of money, adventure, camaraderie, or a combination of all three, have been serving in Ukraine as well-paid mercenaries.
Corporals in the Colombian military receive a basic salary of approximately $400 a month, while experienced drill sergeants can earn up to $900. Colombia’s monthly minimum wage is currently $330.
In Ukraine any member of the armed forces, regardless of citizenship, is entitled to a monthly salary of up to $3,300, depending on their rank and type of service. They are also entitled to up to $28,660 if they are injured, depending on the severity of the wounds. If they are killed in action, their families are due $400,000 compensation.
In early 2022, Kiev reported that 20,000 people from 52 countries were in Ukraine, but won’t disclose military strength numbers or dispositions.
Colombian veterans in the Ukrainian armed forces pose near their Humvee on the front line near Lyman, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, 29 Jan 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
The mistake these two unfortunate Colombians made was flying home through Venezuela as Caracas is a staunch ally of the Kremlin.
Sources:
Russia Says Alleged Pro-Ukraine Mercenaries Detained In Venezuela (rferl.org)
Ukraine Is Hiring Professional Mercenaries From Colombia To Fight Russia – The Yeshiva World
Russia in the Western Hemisphere: Assessing Putin’s Malign Influence in Latin America and the Caribbean (csis.org)Russia to boost Venezuela ties amid US pressure (bbc.com)
British Cat Steals Neighbors’ Clothes for Her Owner
Taboo the cat (L) and a selection of her stolen goods (R). Photos: Sandra Danskin
Taboo’s pet parent, Sandra Danskin, said that the 12-year-old cat regularly nicks the laundry and gardening gear left out by the nearby residents of Otley in West Yorkshire, England.
Danskin has to post Taboo’s hauls on social media to reunite the numerous items the pet steals each week with their rightful owners. The feline has a fondness for nabbing gloves, shoes, and socks, specifically, but is open to pinching a variety of items.
“This morning, I had four pairs of socks and a pair of underpants. She loves bringing back items of clothing like that, but also, we’ve had mop heads and kitchen rolls,” Danskin said, adding that she usually finds the stolen goods on the driveway or inside the house by the cat flap when she returns home from her night shifts at work.
Taboo rarely gets caught, including by Danskin. The pet parent says she is unsure where Taboo gets all her steals from but suspects the cat grabs the items off laundry lines. She also knows the feline sneaks into houses when doors are left open because the one person who caught Taboo stealing found the cat taking a shirt from the clothing dryer in their kitchen. Another odd aspect of Taboo’s kleptomania includes the cat’s commitment to sets. Danskin said if Taboo finds a matching pair of socks, she will always bring both items home, carrying one sock at a time.
Taboo also likes to snag pieces of wet cardboard and once even brought back a carton of eggs, though all of the eggs broke by the time Taboo dragged the prize home. Danksin added that she always knows when Taboo brings a stolen gift home for her because the feline lets out a “high-pitched whining noise” whenever she has a stolen item to present.
Source:
Coriolanus 