US National Security in Utter Shambles Under Trumpf

The Dotard-in-Chief (Photo: Reuters)

After US Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) approved the appalling Trumpf junta federal budget to further enrich the oligarchs and secure the flow of uninterrupted military aid to Israel earlier this month, Benjamin Netanyahu re-started his genocidal campaign against the Palestinians in Gaza. Simultaneously that very weekend, Trumpf ordered the bombing of Shia Houthis in Yemen as a favor to both Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. Both of them loathe the Shias and Iranians, as you read about here on Coriolanus.

Remarkably, USSECDEF Pete Hegseth, a known alcoholic, during that same weekend erroneously texted the classified US attack plans on the starving Houthis to a journalist working for the Atlantic magazine.

Pete Hegseth vociferously complained about Hillary Clinton’s emails. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

The tremendously under-qualified Pete Hegseth, a former Fox TV host who threw an axe at a musician during one of his shows, used a commercial cell phone application called Signal to relay Top Secret information to several Trump junta leaders, but also included the journalist who was not cleared to receive this information. The text message included the name of an undercover CIA intelligence officer, amongst other things. War plans and names of intelligence officers are never meant to be disclosed outside secure facilities or communication networks or to uncleared civilians. This means that Russian, Chinese, and Israeli intelligence potentially intercepted Hegseth’s message and all the little details in it.

The NSA issued an operational security special bulletin to the USIC in Feb 2025 warning of the vulnerabilities in using the encrypted messaging application Signal.

From professional experience, your author can testify that careers in the USIC have been destroyed over much less violations. And in any other country, this egregious conduct would lead to an immediate court-martial. Only under the Trumpf junta can a dipsomaniac, misogynist, racist USSECDEF with access to nuclear weapons be allowed to thrive. Congress acted immediately by summoning the ODNI and D/CIA, two satraps appointed to the crown jewels of the USIC because of their cultish loyalty to Trumpf, and not their competence or experience. Listen to how much the D/CIA knows below:

Using Signal is also extraordinary given that a constant refrain of President Trumpf’s 2015 presidential election campaign was the need to “lock up” Hillary Clinton for using a private server for her emails.

DOGE Cuts Could Send Former USIC Personnel to Adversarial Powers

FTA:

“For Russia, China and other adversaries, the upheaval in Washington as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency guts government agencies presents an unprecedented opportunity to recruit informants, national security and intelligence experts say.

Every former federal worker with knowledge of or access to sensitive information or systems could be a target. When thousands of them leave their jobs at the same time, that creates a lot of targets, as well as a counterespionage challenge for the US.

“This information is highly valuable, and it shouldn’t be surprising that Russia and China and other organizations — criminal syndicates for instance — would be aggressively recruiting government employees,” said Theresa Payton, a former White House chief information officer under President George W. Bush, who now runs her own cybersecurity firm.”

Every year 100,000 federal employees retire or leave government work. This year will be higher because of DOGE. Only a tiny fraction of the many millions of Americans who have worked for the federal government have ever been accused of espionage. It takes only one or two misguided or disgruntled workers to cause a national security crisis. Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen and former CIA officer Aldrich Ames, who both spied for Russia, show just how damaging a single informant can be.”

This is a numbers game. By probability and statistics, US counterintelligence agencies can expect to see more cases of espionage or former USIC personnel working for foreign companies that may be shells for Beijing, Jerusalem, or Moscow.

Europe is beginning to establish asylum programs for US scientists dismissed from NASA, NOAA, NIH, CDC, USDA, DOE, and the NWS. Coriolanus wouldn’t be surprised if the EU and the Commonwealth countries began special asylum programs for fired US intelligence personnel as well. What country wouldn’t want an influx of experts from the FBI, NASA, or CIA? This would be the reverse of the WWII US Operation Paperclip, when the US Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) grabbed Nazi rocket scientists before the Soviets could. This is how Werner von Braun came to lead the US space program and got America to the moon before the Soviet Union.

Trumpf Junta Continues Useless Threats Against Greenland

Republican JD Vance and Democrat Usha Vance at their wedding.

The Trumpf junta is sending Second Lady Usha Vance to Greenland later this week. She will be joined by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and national security adviser Mike Waltz. Vance, who is taking one of her two sons, will visit historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage and attend a national dogsled race. The officials will embark on the trip as Trumpf sharpens his proposal to take over Greenland, a mineral-rich island that houses a US military base.

When asked if they wanted to become part of the US, 85% of Greenlanders said No, according to the poll published in the Danish Berlingske and Greenland’s Sermitsiaq.

Sending dark-skinned Usha Vance is a shameful and cynical attempt to soften the image of white supremacist America to native Inuits in Greenland. Does anybody think they’ll be fooled up there?

Trumpf Junta to Eliminate FEMA

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told a Cabinet meeting that the department would move to “eliminate” the government’s disaster relief agency, days after Trumpf signed an executive order directing state and local governments to “play a more active and significant role” in responding to catastrophes.

From 2015 to Aug 2024, red states Florida, Louisiana, and Texas have benefited the most from the Individuals and Households Program (IHP). Florida residents have received $2.5 billion, Louisiana residents have gotten $2.4 billion, and Texas residents have received $2.3 billion. Republicans who voted for Trumpf shot themselves in the foot.

Besides helping Republicans recover from flooding, hurricanes, and tornados, which there will be more of because of global climate change, FEMA has a national civil defense (CD) role in the event of a debilitating attack on the US by terrorists or adversarial powers.

Trumpf Junta Sloppily Releases De-Classified JFK Assassination Files

Joseph diGenova was victimized by the release.

“It’s absolutely outrageous. It’s sloppy, unprofessional,” said former Trumpf campaign lawyer Joseph diGenova (80) whose private information was included in the massive release. Trumpf staffers recklessly released the documents online without redacting personal information. “It not only means identity theft, but I’ve had threats against me,” said diGenova, a fixture in Republican and Washington legal circles who has fiercely defended Trump and has pounced on his critics on cable news. “In the past, I’ve had to report real threats against me to the FBI. There are dangerous nuts out there.”

Released JFK files: www.archives.gov

The irony is rich when a Trumpf acolyte is screwed over by Trumpf acolytes. This is the type of idiotic sloppiness that Americans and the world must get accustomed to. The guardians and custodians of US secrets are unprofessional, incompetent clowns and US national security is in utter disarray. No wonder the new Canadian PM Mark Carney immediately flew to London and Paris for security talks, by-passing the Rogue State led by buffoons, criminals, goniffs, and a premier Russian asset despoiling his southern border.

Citations:

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans

Hegseth’s Own Words Come Back to Haunt Him After Texting War Plans | The New Republic

Trump officials leak plans for US airstrikes in Signal SNAFU • The Register

Espionage concerns rise as Trump and Musk cut thousands of federal jobs | AP News

www.britannica.com

A French university is offering ‘scientific asylum’ for US talent. The brain drain has started | Alexander Hurst | The Guardian

www.cbsnews.com

DHS Sec. Kristi Noem says administration will move to ‘eliminate’ FEMA, a long-time Trump target | Semafor

Residents of These 3 Red States Receive Most FEMA Funds as Trump Mulls Cuts – Newsweek

civil-defense-from-the-cold-war-to-contemporary-threats.pdf

More than 400 Social Security numbers, other private information revealed in JFK files

Signal >> Home

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nsa-signal-app-vulnerabilities-before-houthi-strike-chat/

Anonymous Warns Donald Trumpf and Felon Musk

Anonymous is a global collective of unpaid volunteers operating secretly in cyberspace using their formidable IT and computer skills to disrupt unjust or nefarious actors throughout the world. The private communications and computer systems used by Felon Musk or Donald Trumpf are vulnerable to their penetrations. Anonymous has warned them to temper their fascistic and greedy goals or face the consequences. But Followers of the Watch need not be concerned by the activities of Anonymous as they only target those that deserve to be targeted.

Turkish President Arrests Opposition Leader

Followers of the Watch: The UK FCO issued a travel advisory to avoid travelling to Turkiye until the unrest ends.

The popular Ekrem İmamoğlu won Istanbul’s mayoralty three times.

The arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the leading political rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on corruption charges — after being accused of both corruption and terrorism — marks yet another sign that Turkiye is becoming the next Iran: A state where elections are tightly controlled, rigged in advance and reduced to a democratic façade without free and fair campaign conditions. Tens of thousands of people across Turkiye have been protesting the arrest. Demonstrators have been fired upon with tear gas and rubber bullets in what has become the worst unrest in the country for more than a decade.

A protester waves Turkey’s national flag in front of riot police at a demonstration in support of mayor Ekrem Imamoglu outside Istanbul’s city hall on Saturday. (Photo: Kemal Aslan / AFP / Getty Images)

For over a decade Erdogan has systematically weaponized the criminal justice system, installing loyalist judges and prosecutors while co-opting opposition figures through bribery, blackmail, and intimidation. His goal is to ensure that any candidate who makes it onto the ballot is already set up for failure. Erdogan overuses the broad-brush term of “teror” for his political enemies, whether they are Gulenists or ethnic Kurds in the opposition parties.

Although Imamoglu was removed from office by the Interior Ministry, legal experts suggest that the ongoing terrorism case could be used as further justification for appointing a trustee to govern Istanbul and to neutralize a key rival ahead of the 2028 presidential election. The legal proceedings are part of a broader government strategy to undermine opposition-controlled municipalities and weaken political dissent.

University students protest after Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested. The poster reads in Turkish: “We bow neither to power nor to lawlessness”. (Photo: AP Photo)

In terms of military power, Turkiye is ranked 9 out of 145 countries by the Global Firepower Index (GFI). They maintain the second largest army in NATO and the US maintains 50 B-61 Cold War-era nuclear gravity bombs in Incirlik AFB. Ankara signaled Turkiye’s readiness to provide peacekeepers to Ukraine.

During Coriolanus’ military career, he had the distinct honor of working closely with the Turkish Special Forces in the Middle East and he befriended a few of the Generals. Their professionalism, competence, and experience were first-rate.

Turkiye’s first female air force pilot was the adopted daughter of Kemal Pasha Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkiye.

Why should Recep Tayyip Erdogan relinquish power when he sees other despots maintaining decades-long regimes? To wit: General al-Sisi in Egypt, Bibi Netanyahu in Israel, Aleskandr Lukashenko in Belarus, Vladimir Putin in Russia, Ilham Aliev in Azerbaijan, Kim Jong-un in North Korea, Muhammad Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, the benign King Abdullah II in Jordan, or Donald Trumpf in the US. We needn’t mention the juntas in Myanmar or Africa. The taste of raw naked power and international prestige is simply hard to give up. Erdogan can be credited with helping to topple Bashar al-Assad in Syria, reaching a permanent ceasefire with the PKK, and assisting Ukraine against Russia, but at the same time he has arrested thousands of dissidents, purged the vaunted military of secularists, and enriched himself and his family for over two decades.

Mustapha Pasha Kemal Ataturk founded the CHP Party and would disapprove of a candidate from his party being so shabbily mistreated and manhandled.

Citations:

https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.php?country_id=turkey

https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/us-nuclear-weapons-turkey-attempted-coup/index.html

Ousted Istanbul mayor accused of terrorist links due to electoral alliance with Kurds – Nordic Monitor

Turkey travel advice – GOV.UK

Turkey protests: Why thousands are protesting Imamoglu’s arrest

China to Execute Former Defense Engineer for Selling J-35A Stealth Fighter Secrets

In a case that has sent shockwaves through China’s national security circles, a former assistant defense engineer, identified as Liu, has been sentenced to death for leaking classified intelligence on China’s J-35A fifth-generation stealth fighter to foreign intelligence agencies.

The Ministry of State Security (MSS) confirmed the espionage case in a rare and forceful statement, exposing the extent of China’s internal security vulnerabilities and the potential damage to its military advancements.

Liu was a former assistant engineer at a leading defense research institute specializing in military aviation technology. MSS sources revealed that Liu became disgruntled after being passed over for promotion, prompting him to illegally copy, store, and ultimately sell classified defense-related documents. Following his resignation, Liu briefly worked for an investment firm, but mounting financial losses from risky stock speculation and unauthorized credit withdrawals drove him to seek alternative means of income—ultimately leading him to trade state secrets for money.

Over a six-month period, Liu traveled to multiple countries, allegedly leaking highly sensitive Chinese defense intelligence to foreign operatives using sophisticated tradecraft. However, his handlers—foreign intelligence agents— reportedly cut ties with him after acquiring crucial data at a low cost, a move that left Liu vulnerable and exposed.

Rather than abandoning his operations, Liu refined his espionage methods and attempted to re-establish contact with foreign intelligence agencies. His actions raised red flags within China’s national security apparatus, triggering intensive surveillance that led to his eventual arrest in a covert counterintelligence operation.

Chinese security services use facial recognition devices built into their sunglasses.

According to MSS, Liu was convicted of espionage and the illegal transfer of state secrets. The court handed down the ultimate penalty—execution, along with lifelong deprivation of political rights, underscoring the gravity of the offense.

Beijing has made it clear that national security remains an uncompromising priority, warning that espionage and unauthorized intelligence leaks will face the harshest possible legal repercussions. Liu’s espionage case serves as a stark reminder of the high-stakes nature of military intelligence leaks. His swift trial and execution highlight China’s zero-tolerance approach to national security threats, particularly as Beijing works to protect its most sensitive military projects from foreign intelligence infiltration.

The irony is rich, since China stole the technology for their stealth fighter from the US and now a foreign adversary stole that technology. The MSS did not disclose who the foreign power is and the suspects in this case could be anybody, including the US, the UK, France, Germany, Taiwan, Australia, Japan, Israel, Russia, North Korea, or South Korea.

China is assessed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined.

Pictured: Archive image shows Chinese police presenting a group of convicts for sentencing, many of whom went on to be executed. (Photo: AFP / Getty Images)

Chinese police lead a condemned man into a mobile execution van. (File image from AFP)

China’s Penal Code of 1997 has 46 crimes punishable by death, including 24 violent crimes and 22 non-violent crimes. Beijing does not recognize dual citizenship and recently executed four Canadians, prompting Ottawa to issue a travel advisory to her citizens.

Executing spies may serve as an example to terrorize one’s population, but is poor tradecraft. Beijing is better off not to execute the convicted spy as “Liu” may have more secrets to reveal in exchange for better living conditions in his prison. If the MSS think someone is a foreign spy, “Liu” might be able to confirm or deny their suspicion. Lastly, should a Chinese operative be caught by the same foreign adversary which handled “Liu,” Beijing could swap their prisoners, like Russia, Ukraine, and the Western powers have practiced for years. Once a spy has been killed, he is of no value to any intelligence service.

Citation:

China Executes Former Defense Engineer for Leaking J-35A Stealth Fighter Secrets

Sweden: Convicted Spy Must Taxes from His Russian Salary

Iranian-born Peyman Kia (Photo: Government of Sweden)

Peyman Kia -currently serving life in prison for espionage – must now cough up tax on the hefty sum he received from Russia’s notorious military intelligence service, the GRU. In 2014 and 2015, Peyman Kia (44), worked for Sweden’s domestic intelligence agency, as well as for the country’s armed forces. Swedish prosecutors allege that he sold the Russians sensitive information from the Swedish security and intelligence service, known by its acronym Säpo. Peyman Kia was arrested in Sep 2021 and his younger brother Payam in Nov 2021. Payam was convicted as well and received a ten-year sentence for lesser role in the espionage.

After the conviction, the Swedish Tax Authority went after Peyman Kia’s Russian salary. After a back-and-forth legal battle, the Swedish Administrative Court of Appeal recently overturned a previous ruling and decided that the 1.2 million kronor (paid in US dollars) Kia pocketed from the Russians isn’t just ‘dirty money’ – it’s taxable dirty money. In other words, when it comes to the Swedish Tax Authority, there’s simply no messing around. They want their cut.

The tragedy here lies in the fact that the two Iranian-born siblings became naturalized citizens in Sweden, a nation that ranks fifth on the Global Happiness Index; Iran is ranked a dismal 98. Stockholm has a bargaining chip with the Kremlin should a Swedish spy be detained in Russia. Moreover, Peyman Kia is available for further de-briefings from the Säpo.

Citations:

Sweden forces Russian spy to pay tax on salary « Euro Weekly News

Swedish brothers handed lengthy sentences in Russia spying case

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/happiness/

Kenya: Death Rises from Mosquito-Borne Kal-Azar Disease

Two young girls and a boy with scars on their faces, caused by Leishmaniasis (Photo: M. Saeedi / WHO)

The death toll from the Kala-azar disease that has ravaged Wajir since Sep 2024 has hit 20, with demands for its declaration as a pandemic.

The main Level IV hospital in Wajir is overrun with Leishmaniasis every day, forcing patients to be treated outside, under the shade of trees. Most of the regions affected by Kal-Azar are in Eldas and Wajir West where the local government began a fumigation campaign targeting over 10,000 households.

According to CIA, Kenya has a population of 58,246,378 and GDP per capita is $5,700.

The local health authorities are stretched thin and test kits for Leishmaniasis must be outsourced from the Netherlands. Most of the deaths are recorded in children under five who have low immunity.

Female phlebotomine sandfy.

The WHO informs:

There are three main forms of leishmaniases: visceral (the most serious form because it is almost always fatal without treatment), cutaneous (the most common, usually causing skin ulcers), and mucocutaneous (affecting mouth, nose and throat).

Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoan parasites which are transmitted by the bite of infected female phlebotomine sandflies.

The disease affects some of the world’s poorest people and is associated with malnutrition, population displacement, poor housing, a weak immune system and lack of financial resources.

An estimated 700,000 to one million new cases occur annually.

Only a small fraction of those infected by parasites causing leishmaniasis will eventually develop the disease.

Donald Trumpf and Felon Musk’s brutal dismantling of USAID has harmed Kenyans. USAID’s abrupt departure has plunged hundreds of thousands of Kenyans into a state of uncertainty and fear. For many, USAID’s projects were lifelines, offering essential support in healthcare, education and economic development. Programs that were instrumental in maintaining the well-being of countless Kenyans—ranging from maternal health to HIV/AIDS treatment— are now gone, leaving a significant void in the healthcare landscape. While this outbreak began before the Trumpf junta took power, USAID is not in Kenya or other parts of Africa to mitigate disasters.

2023 CODEL to Kenya. (Photo: Social media)

Members of the US Congress frequent Kenya and other exotic locations on what are called fact-finding “CODELs,” flying around the world on their DC Air National Guard passenger plane. Coriolanus flew on one these comfortable airplanes years ago and the food was delicious. These delegations enjoy American tax-payer funded safaris as they “monitor” US projects in Kenya or other parts of the world. Coincidentally, many CODELs to the southern hemisphere occur during America’s winter months. The Karma would be priceless should a Republican congressman be stricken with an exotic disease in Africa while enjoying his arduous fact-finding trip to the Serengeti.

Citations:

Death toll from the Kal-azar disease in Wajir hits 20 » Capital News

Leishmaniasis

https://adamsmith.house.gov/news/floor-speech/rep-smith-leads-delegation-africa

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-02-06-usaid-exit-spells-doom-for-kenyan-jobs-and-funding

Great Dane Tries to Win Over Tiny Kitten

Israel Destroys Syrian Naval Fleet

An IDF F-15 jet fighter takes off from the Negev desert (Photo: AFP)

Israel carried out attacks on Syria’s naval fleet, most likely destroying the majority of the ships.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says it has documented more than 310 strikes by the IDF since the fall of the Assad regime on Sunday. Israeli warplanes have also reportedly carried out hundreds of airstrikes across Syria, including on the capital, Damascus.

Destroyed Syrian ships in port. (Getty Images)

The BBC or the SOHR did not provide any Syrian military or civilian casualty numbers.

Benjamin Netanyahu finally appeared in court for the corruption trial that he has kept postponing and delaying because of his wartime duties as Prime Minister. But that did not stop him from unilaterally attacking Syrian targets or seizing the Golan Heights. Offensive operations against this new regime does not fall under Israel’s right to self-defense, even though the intentions were supposedly to destroy chemical weapons sites. The new Sunni masters of Syria are probably not pleased with this flagrant violation of their sovereignty. Abu Muhammad al-Jolani and his cadre are trying to create order and stability in the new Syria.

Jordan can serve as an interlocutor between Jerusalem and Damascus and perhaps the new Salafist regime won’t be hostile to their neighbor. Without dialogue though, covert or overt, both countries may be destined for resource and life-wasting eternal conflict.

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx808q7lrno

US Charges Two High-Ranking Syrian Officials with War Crimes

General Jamil Hassan (L), Abdul Salam Mahmoud ( R )

Former Syrian Air Force Intelligence officers Jamil Hassan (72) and Abdul Salam Mahmoud (65) were each charged in connection with a conspiracy to commit war crimes through the infliction of cruel and inhuman treatment on detainees under their control, including US citizens, in detention facilities at the Mezzeh Military Airport (Mezzeh Prison), near Damascus, Syria. Warrants for the defendants’ arrest have been issued and they remain at large.

Between January 2012 and July 2019, Hassan and Mahmoud conspired to identify, intimidate, threaten, punish, and kill people detained at Mezzeh Prison suspected of aiding or supporting opponents of the regime, such as those who protested, provided medical aid to opponents of the regime, or publicly criticized the regime. Detainees, including US citizens, were mercilessly beaten, electrocuted, and had their toenails removed. Detainees were also allegedly hung from the ceiling by their wrists and were burned with acid.

(Map courtesy of Alchetron)

Both military and political prisoners were held at Mezzeh prison. The prison was an infamous embodiment of Syrian government repression. Widespread human rights abuses and torture has been reported from the Mezzeh prison throughout its history but most notably during the rule of Hafez al-Assad (1970–2000).

Members of the public who have information about human rights violators in the US or the location of the defendants named in this indictment are urged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov. Tips may be provided anonymously.

These timely indictments are more about seeking justice for American citizens tortured by these two psychopaths than an exercise of US foreign policy. An indicted war criminal is an indicted war criminal regardless of nationality, whether it is Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Russian President Vladimir Putin, or this infamous American officer below from over half a century ago.

1969 US Army CID mugshot of 1LT William Calley courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Criminal Charges Unsealed Against Two Former High-Ranking Syrian Government Intelligence Officials for War Crimes against Americans and Other Civilians | United States Department of Justice

Four Taiwan Soldiers Charged with Spying for China

Four Taiwanese soldiers, including three from a unit in charge of security for the president’s office, were charged with photographing and leaking confidential information to China.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since 1949, but Beijing insists the island is part of its territory and has vowed to seize it one day.

There has been a series of spying cases in Taiwan, as China maintains military and political pressure on Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty.

In the latest case, the accused included three members of a military unit in charge of security for the Presidential Office.

Entrance to Presidential Palace in Taipei. (Photo: taipeitravelgeek.com)

A fourth person was a soldier in the defence ministry’s information and telecommunications command. They allegedly used their mobile phones to photograph military information, which was passed to “Chinese agents.”

The four received payments ranging from around NT$260,000 to NT$660,000 ($8,000-$20,000) “depending on the confidentiality level of the military information they provided.”

The incidents happened from 2022 to 2024.

Three of the soldiers were discharged before an investigation was launched in August this year following a tip-off to the defence ministry. The fourth was suspended in August.

All four have been detained and charged with corruption and violating national security law for “leaking and delivering confidential information or electromagnetic records for China”.

They face a maximum seven years in jail if convicted.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration campaign against us has never stopped,” the defence ministry said in a statement, describing the four accused as “treasonous and lawless.”

In Sep 2024, an ex-air force instructor was sentenced to 17 years in prison for “aiding the enemy” and delivering military secrets to China.

China’s massive intelligence apparatus poses a threat to the much smaller Taiwanese counterintelligence agencies. Beijing employs the ‘grains of sand’ principle of collection, where vast numbers of human and cyber networks vacuum up information ranging from personal data to intellectual property. The Ministry of State Security (MSS) has the time, patience, resources, and personnel to construct a mosaic from all of these thousands of particles of sand put together. Taiwanese and Western intelligence agencies do not have that luxury and must prioritize collection efforts to remain efficient with resources and personnel, a problem China doesn’t have.

Source:

Four Taiwan Soldiers Charged With Spying For China | Barron’s

Japan: 46 Students Stricken with Scombroid Fish Poisoning

Blue Marlin (Artwork: Les Hata © Secretariat of the Pacific Community)

46 children, students, and teachers who ate school lunches at three elementary and junior high schools in Hakuba Village in Nagano Prefecture, complained of symptoms such as fever and rash. The cause was later determined to be food poisoning by the growth of germs on a marlin thawing at room temperature for too long.

In order to prevent a recurrence, the prefecture suspended school lunch operations. The company says that it will review the cooking process and safety management and instruct people to thaw in the refrigerator or under running water instead of thawing at room temperature.

Scombroid poisoning, also called histamine poisoning, is a type of food intoxication caused by the consumption of scombroid and scombroid-like marine fish species that have begun to spoil with the growth of particular types of food bacteria. Fish most commonly involved are members of the Scombridae family (tuna and mackerel) and a few non-scombroid relatives (bluefish, dolphin or mahi-mahi, and amberjack).

Source:

Marlin, food poisoning thawed at room temperature for too long 46 students eat school lunch, Nagano|National news|Hokkoku Shimbun

Barbarism Continues in Haiti: Gang Slaughters 180 People, Mostly Elderly

The “Taliban Gang.” Sitting is the 20-year-old second-in-command, who swears that he does not practice kidnapping but “only” racketeering. Gang members will beg for one dollar, but wield weapons worth thousands. (Photo: © Corentin Fohlen / Divergence)

Approximately 180 people were killed recently in Haiti’s Cite Soleil area. The massacre was ordered by a gang leader who suspected his child had been made ill with witchcraft.

“A red line has been crossed,” the PM’s office said and would “mobilize all forces to track down and annihilate” those responsible, including Wharf Jeremie gang leader Monel “Mikano” Felix, whom it accused of planning the attack.

The victims were mostly elderly. The death toll could be higher and cited witnesses as saying that “mutilated bodies were burned in the streets, including several young individuals who were killed attempting to save residents.”

Felix had ordered the violence after his child became sick, and after seeking advice from a voodoo priest who accused elderly people in the area of harming the child through witchcraft.

Cite Soleil, a densely populated slum by the port of the capital Port-au-Prince, is among the poorest and most violent areas of Haiti. Tight gang control, including the restriction of mobile phone use, has limited residents’ ability to share information about the massacre.

(Map: PBS)

The government, riven with political infighting, has struggled to contain gangs’ growing power in and around the capital. The armed groups are accused of indiscriminate killings, gang rapes, ransom kidnappings, and fueling critical food shortages.

Haiti, the first “Black Republic,” both enriched her colonial masters, the French, and sent soldiers to help in the American Revolution. Now Haiti is a terrible combination of Gaza and Somalia. Not doubt that diarrheal illnesses, STDs, and TB are spreading throughout the slums.

In Oct 2024, the Gran Grif gang took responsibility for the killing of at least 115 people in Pont-Sonde, a town in Haiti’s breadbasket Artibonite region. They said it was retaliation for residents helping a self-defense group hinder their road toll operations.

Gran Grif gang-member (Undated photo: arise.tv)

A UN-backed security mission is partially deployed and remains deeply under-resourced. Haitian leaders have called for the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission to be converted into a UN peacekeeping force to ensure it is better supplied, but the plan stalled amid opposition from China and Russia in the Security Council.

A UN spokesperson said the weekend’s death count was at least 184, including 127 elderly people. The security situation continues to deteriorate and many countries have yet to deliver on pledges of support.

Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged countries to improve efforts to stop arms trafficking to Haiti. The UN estimates the gangs’ increasingly modern arsenals are largely trafficked from the US.

“These latest killings bring the death toll just this year in Haiti to a staggering 5,000 people,” he said.

Last month the FAA and the UN suspended all flights to Haiti after these runamoks fired upon at least three airplanes, wounding a flight attendant. Access to large caliber weapons abandoned or stolen from the defunct Haitian Army may be in the hands of some of these brigands.

Regrettably, Haiti is a low-priority for many countries, including the US. Hundreds of Haitians have drowned attempting to flee by water and those who make it to safety are not always given asylum or refuge. The neighboring Dominican Republic sealed off their borders and began deporting undocumented Haitians. Like the Mexican drug cartels, Haitian gangs receive their illegal weapons and ammunition from traffickers in the US. Haiti, a failed nation, is a disaster at America’s doorstep and a black eye for the “Monroe Doctrine.”

Firearms displayed at the Miami Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on 17 Aug 2022. Increasingly sophisticated weapons are being trafficked into Haiti mainly from Florida amid worsening lawlessness in the impoverished Caribbean nation, according to a 4 March 2023 UN report. (Photo: Lynne Sladky / AP)

Sources:

Haiti gang massacres around 180 people, targeting elderly | Reuters

UN report: Modern weapons being smuggled to Haiti from US | AP News

US prohibits airlines from flying to Haiti and UN suspends flights after planes were shot by gangs | AP News

Pakistan: Military Charges Former ISI Director Over ‘Political Activities’ in Unprecedented Move

Pakistan’s former spy chief was arrested Aug 2024 in court martial proceedings (Photo: Anushree Fadnavis / Reuters)

In an unprecedented move, Pakistan’s powerful army charged the former head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with “engaging in political activities. Lt Gen Faiz Hamid (Retd) is accused of creating agitation and unrest, leading up to multiple incidents, including but not limited to the events of 9 May 2023, aimed at fomenting instability at the behest of and in collusion with vested political interests.”

No former ISI director has ever faced a court martial in Pakistan’s history.

Days after Lt Gen Hamid’s arrest, three other retired army officers were also detained for “actions prejudicial to military discipline.” Those arrests are widely believed to have been connected to the proceedings against Hamid.

Hamid’s two-year tenure at the ISI was marked by allegations that he politically targeted Khan’s rivals, many of whom were jailed; cracked down on media, violated human rights, and suppressed protest movements across the country.

Hamid gained further international attention in August 2021 when he was photographed at a Kabul hotel shortly after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan.

Gen. Hamid rushed to Kabul to broker a deal between Mullah Baradar and the Haqqani Network (HQN) when the Taliban seized control of the government. The ISI and the powerful HQN have a strong covert working relationship.

Pakistani PM Imran Khan was arrested for alleged corruption on 9 May 2023 which led to massive demonstrations targeting state buildings and military installations. Thousands of people were arrested, of whom about 100 faced military trials. Khan is also facing several cases related to 9 May.

Black smoke billows from a building in Peshawar set ablaze by supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan flowing his arrest. (Photo: AFP)

(Map: worldatlas.com / Data: CIA)

Pakistan has a population of 252,363,571 people comprised ethnically: Punjabi 44.7%, Pashtun (Pathan) 15.4%, Sindhi 14.1%, Saraiki 8.4%, Muhajirs 7.6%, Baloch 3.6%, other 6.3%. Muslim (official) 96.5% (Sunni 85-90%, Shia 10-15%). Real GDP per capita is $5,600 (2023 est.).

While most countries have armies, Pakistan is an “army with a country” with approximately 630,000 active-duty personnel (550,000 Army; 30,000 Navy; 50,000 Air Force); approximately 150,000 Frontier Corps and Pakistan Rangers. Islamabad has a growing nuclear arsenal of 170 nuclear warheads.

Terrorist groups operating in Pakistan: Haqqani Network (HQN); Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami; Harakat ul-Mujahidin; Hizbul Mujahideen; Indian Mujahedeen; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan (ISIS-K); Islamic State of ash-Sham – India; Islamic State of ash-Sham – Pakistan; Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; Jaish-e-Mohammed; Jaysh al Adl (Jundallah); Lashkar i Jhangvi; Lashkar-e Tayyiba; Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP); al-Qa’ida; al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS)

The Pakistani military is the only homogenizing force in this cauldron of ethnic groups, languages, political parties, social movements, competing interests, drug trafficking/use, and extremist groups.

The popular former international cricket champion and imprisoned ex-PM Imran Khan with his loyal ex-ISI chief dared to defy the all-powerful Pakistani army now face “justice.”

“Every time our party announces a protest, I am charged with more fake cases while inside prison.

I have been informed that many of our people are still missing, and we have serious concerns about their lives and wellbeing. We demand that the government immediately publish data of arrested citizens and those brought to hospitals and morgues after being injured or martyred. Additionally, CCTV footage from the hospital and Safe City cameras must be preserved, so that the truth can be revealed to the nation.”

We have two demands:

1. A commission should be formed under the senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to independently investigate the events of 9 May 2023 and 26 Nov 2024.

2. Unjustly imprisoned political detainees should be released.

Sources:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/10/pakistans-military-charges-former-spy-chief-over-political-activities

https://insaf.pk/news/former-prime-minister-imran-khans-message-december-6-2024

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/who-is-isi-chief-faiz-hameed-whose-visit-to-kabul-has-sparked-controversy-101630843177941.html

https://www.dawn.com/news/1752254

CIA

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2493059/the-mosaic-of-drug-trafficking-and-its-consequences

https://thebulletin.org/premium/2023-09/pakistan-nuclear-weapons-2023/

Donald Trump is Human Wrecking Ball

President-elect Donald Trump has picked the worst picks humanly possible to sit on his future cabinet. Their policies will weaken, sicken, pauperize, and demoralize Americans with destructive health, economic, de-regulatory strategies. A Russian TV host gleefully claimed that “Trump’s Cabinet picks will dismantle America.”

US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, 5 Dec 2017. (Photo: Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images)

But not only is Trump going to sabotage the US domestically on behalf of the Kremlin, he is going to demoralize US diplomats and damage our foreign policy.

Career diplomats at the US State Department work earnestly and diligently for decades to one day reach the pinnacle of being named Ambassador. President-elect Trump chose his daughter’s utterly sleazy, contemptible, convicted father-in-law to be the US Ambassador to France.

The former AUSA for New Jersey said of Charles Kushner: “This was one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted…and I was the US Attorney in New Jersey.”

This oligarchal miscreant previously served two years in prison before being released after pleading guilty in 2004 to charges of tax evasion, lying to the Federal Election Commission and retaliating against a federal witness. Trump pardoned Kushner during the last month of his presidency. If confirmed by the US Senate, Charles Kushner will be walking in the shoes of Benjamin Franklin, America’s first Ambassador to Paris.

Now the President-elect is nominating his son’s ex-fiancee Kim Guilfoyle to be US Ambassador to Greece, the world’s first democracy. This move is widely seen as an attempt to ensure Kim Guilfoyle (55) doesn’t spill the beans about the Trump Crime Family (TCF) after Donald Trump Jr. (46) dumped her for a younger woman, Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson (37).

To her credit, Kim Guilfoyle is an attorney and former prosecutor.

Below is what Kim Guilfoyle must have looked like when she learned that Don Trump Jr threw her overboard for a younger woman. She waited a long time to tie the knot with Don Jr. At least the TCF bought her silence with a well-paying, prestigious sinecure in Athens (for now).

America and the world can’t wait long enough until 21 Jan 2029, if we all survive this human wrecking ball and Putin’s plans for America.

Sources:

SEX GAL NOW HELPING FEDS – HOOKER TURNS ON KUSHNER

Resistance HQ Bulletin 23, 12/10/24 – by Ron Filipkowski

Russian TV host gleefully claims Trump’s Cabinet will ‘dismantle’ America, report says

Man Fleeing Ukraine War with Kitten Found Alive in Frigid Romania Mountains: “Peach Kept My Heart Warm”

Salvamont Maramures, a Romanian mountain rescue service, saved the two. Peach the cat peers from the jacket of its owner, Vladislav Duda (28). They were rescued from a deep mountain ravine in a state of severe hypothermia. (Photo: AP)

When the rescue team located and found the Ukrainian, they unzipped his jacket and discovered Peach snuggled up inside. Duda said: “I’m happy because my cat is alive. I got a chance from God for a new life. The happiest moment is because the cat is here with me.”

The auburn-colored kitten, a tomcat named “Peach” in Ukrainian, was experiencing the effects of malnutrition after they ran out of food four days earlier and melted snow helped to keep him alive.

“Peach kept my heart warm and he kept my faith alive,” the Ukrainian said.

“Peach” also means stove or oven.

During the complex ascent out of the ravine which took more than five hours, the Ukrainian would not let go of his kitten. He kept Peach clutched to his chest from the bottom to the top until he was put in the ambulance.

Duda requested the rescuers to ‘Please take care of the cat.'”

Peach at the Animal Med vet clinic after being rescued along with its owner after three days in a deep mountain ravine in Baia Mare, Romania. (Photo: 9 Dec 2024, AP)

Peach received veterinary treatment in Baia Mare and is expected to fully recover.

Source:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-kitten-fleeing-ukraine-war-found-alive-romania-mountains/

Ukraine Intelligence Chief: North Korean Aid to Russia Poses Biggest Threat to Kiev

North Korea has recently bolstered military ties with Russia, with President Vladimir Putin making a rare visit to Pyongyang in Jun 2024, where he signed a mutual defense agreement with Kim Jong-Un.

North Korean military aid to Russia is the most damaging for Ukraine, intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on 14 Sep. “Our biggest problem from all these allies of Russia is from North Korea. Because with the volume of military products that they supply, they actually affect the intensity of the fighting.” His remarks came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to deepen ties with Russia. Kyiv has been monitoring arms deliveries from Pyongyang to Moscow and feels their effect on the battlefield. “There is a direct correlation. They are supplying huge volumes of artillery ammunition, which is critical,” Budanov said.

Western powers have accused cash-strapped North Korea of selling ammunition to Russia in defiance of sanctions over the more than 30-month war in Ukraine.

North Korean state media showed leader Kim Jong Un (R) meeting with Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu (L) at an undisclosed location (Image: AFP)

Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu held talks with Kim Jong-Un this weekend at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Experts suspect it was the Kumsusan Guest Palace in Pyongyang, which has hosted both Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Shoigu heads Russia’s Security Council after stepping down as defence minister in May. He last met with Kim in July 2023, during a celebration in Pyongyang for the 70th anniversary of the 1953 Korean War armistice. Their latest meeting comes two days after North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into waters east of the Korean peninsula. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the testing spree was possibly of weapons meant “for export to Russia.”

Using debris analysis, a recent Conflict Armament Research report indicated “that missiles produced this year in North Korea are being used in Ukraine.”

An Ilyushin IL-76 transport aircraft belonging to North Korean air carrier Air Koryo takes off from Beijing airport after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un left Beijing, China, on 20 Jun. Photo by Wu Hong/EPA

Observers of North Korea detected increased air travel between the two pariah states after the Jun 2024 meeting between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un. Five North Korean flights flew to Vladivostok, a trip unusually involving cargo planes.

Three cargo planes and two passenger flights of the North Korean national carrier Air Koryo traveled to Russia’s far-eastern port city. The trip involved three unusual cargo flights of the model used to transport personal armored vehicles of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his overseas trips, including his visit to China in June. The IL-76 cargo aircraft hasn’t made a trip to Vladivostok since 2010 and the cargo is unknown.

Two passenger flights make regular round-trips between Pyongyang and Vladivostok on Monday and Friday. And extra passenger flights were spotted flying during weekdays. One report cited an anonymous source saying the extra cargo flights were sent to bring back North Korean workers in the Russian city as their work permit expires soon.

As posted here on Coriolanus.page, North Korea recently released images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time, and Kim stressed “the need to further augment the number of centrifuges in order to exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defense”.

Russia, a historical ally of North Korea, is one of a handful of nations with which Pyongyang maintains friendly relations. Ties have warmed since the 2022 start of the Ukraine war ruptured Russia’s relations with the West.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million, as Moscow’s brutal invasion of Ukraine drags on for more than 2 ½ years.

Sources:

North Korean Aid To Russia Poses Biggest Threat To Ukraine, Intelligence Chief Says (rferl.org)

North Korean cargo flights fly to Russia in unusual trip – UPI.com

N. Korea Pledges Deeper Ties With Russia As Security Chief Visits | IBTimes

Putin orders military to boost troop numbers by 180,000 to 1.5 million as Ukraine fighting continues – ABC News (go.com)

IDF: ‘High Probability’ Three Hostages Mistakenly Killed in Airstrike in Nov 2023

People hold cut outs of yellow ribbons at a protest calling for a hostage deal outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem after six hostage bodies were recovered by the IDF from a tunnel in Rafah in Gaza, on 1 Sep. File photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo

Israel’s military on Sunday concluded in an investigation there is “high probability” three Israeli hostages were killed during an airstrike in Nov 2023 intended to take out a Hamas northern Gaza brigade chief. The IDF informed the families last week that a comprehensive inquiry revealed they died by IDF actions. IDF officials and hostage families started to leak the results of the investigation.

On 14 Dec, three bodies were recovered from a tunnel in Jabaliya. The tunnel included a large elevator, large rooms, and split into side rooms, such as command centers, medical stations, prayer rooms, and rooms for manufacturing weapons. The three were abducted on 7 Oct.

Evidence included where bodies were found and their condition; a pathological report and one by the state’s forensic institute; and operations research into the battlefield situation and activities. Initially, the families were initially told the hostages had been killed by Hamas captors. In January, the IDF rejected Hamas’ assertions that they were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

In a video released by Hamas, the three hostages were seen holding up pieces of paper with their names and personal information. In a statement posted alongside the video, Hamas claimed that “they tried to keep them alive – but Netanyahu insisted on killing them.”

The airstrike on 10 Nov was intended to take out Ahmed Ghandour, who was taking cover in a tunnel.

“At the time of the strike, the IDF did not have information about the presence of hostages in the targeted compound,” the military said. “Furthermore, there was information suggesting that they were located elsewhere, and thus the area was not designated as one with suspected presence of hostages.”

In December, the IDF revealed finding five hostage bodies, three of whom were the ones later confirmed likely killed by IDF. In the same month, the Israeli military said its troops killed three hostages in Gaza after mistakenly identifying them as a threat.

Six to seven thousand Palestinians were being held in detention for alleged security violations, the majority who have never been convicted of a crime. 2,000 of the incarcerated Palestinians are being held in administrative detention, in which the Israeli military holds a person without charge or trial. Such detention can be renewed indefinitely based on secret information, which the detainee is not allowed to see. Administrative detainees are held on the presumption that they might commit an offense at some point in the future. Israeli authorities have held children, human rights defenders, Palestinian political activists, and healthcare workers, in administrative detention, often for prolonged periods.

Palestinian armed groups conducted a surprise attack on Israel on 7 Oct 2023 and seized hundreds of valuable Israeli hostages presumably for a prisoner swap. An estimated 101 Israelis remain hostage. Keeping them alive gives Palestinians a bargaining chip to release some of the thousands being held in Israeli prisons.

Sources:

Israel’s military: ‘High probability’ 3 hostages mistakenly killed in airstrike in November – UPI.com

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/12/15/IDF-Gaza-hostages-remains/6761702640286/

Dozens killed, injured in Gaza humanitarian zone as Israeli warplanes target Hamas

Hundreds of thousands march across Israel to demand return of hostages

Why Does Israel Have So Many Palestinians in Detention and Available to Swap? | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

Donald Trump Unharmed After Assassination Attempt at Florida Golf Resort

This screengrab taken from AFPTV on 16 Sep 2024 shows Ryan Wesley Routh speaking during an interview at a rally calling for humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians and Ukrainian servicemen from Mariupol in central Kiev, Ukraine, on 27 Apr 2022.

Former US President Donald Trump was unharmed late Sunday, after what the FBI said was an apparent assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach, FL. The incident, in which Trump was not hurt, came two months after he was grazed in the ear during a campaign event in Butler, PA.

Members of Trump’s security detail were securing areas of the golf course ahead of where Trump was playing Sunday when they spotted a gunman in the bushes. Secret Service agents fired at the suspect, who fled the area and was later arrested.

The local sheriff said the suspect left behind an “AK-47-style rifle” with a scope, a GoPro camera and two backpacks.

US President Joe Biden said in a Sunday evening statement that he was relieved Trump was unharmed. Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of former President Trump.”

Various national media sources cited unnamed law enforcement officials who identified the suspect as Ryan Wesley Routh (58) of Hawaii. Social media posts show Routh backing Trump’s 2020 election campaign, but more recent posts expressing support for Biden and Harris. Routh also repeatedly discussed the war in Ukraine and appeared to try to recruit soldiers to aid in Ukraine’s war effort.

Trump has not announced any changes to his schedule and is set to speak live on X on Monday night from his Mar-a-Lago resort to launch his sons’ crypto platform.

Meanwhile, the leaders of a congressional bipartisan task force investigating the 13 Jul assassination attempt on Trump said they have requested a briefing by the USSS. The previous director the USSS resigned after the 13 Jul assassination attempt in Butler, PA, and several agents from the Pittsburgh Field Office were re-assigned.

Source:

Trump unharmed after second assassination attempt, authorities say (voanews.com)

Canada and Australia Sanction Iran

An Iranian walks next to a wall painting of Iran’s national flag at a street in Tehran, Iran, on 2 Jun 2022. Canada on Sunday expanded its list of Iranian government officials who are not admissible to the country. File Photo by Abedin Tahereknareh/EPA-EFE

Canada and Australia are banning more Iranian officials over the Middle Eastern country’s involvement in human rights violations and alleged terrorism on the second anniversary of the jailing and death of Mahsa Jina Amini. The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman was arrested in Sep 2022 for ‘improperly’ wearing her hijab.

In Nov 2022 Public Safety Canada designated Iran as a terrorist regime under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Iranians who have served as senior officials since 15 Nov have been barred from entering the North American country. Canada changed the inadmissibility date to 23 Jun 2003 — the day when Iranian authorities detained Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. She was detained while working as a journalist outside Iran’s infamous Evin prison. She was reportedly beaten and died from her injuries on 10 Jul 2003.

Any senior official who served in the Iranian government at any time since 23 June 2003, is now inadmissible to Canada. The move also opens those with temporary or permanent resident status to undefined “enforcement action” that could include removal from the country. Accord to statistics from the Canada Border Services Agency, some 17,800 applications were reviewed under the inadmissible rule as of 26 Aug, resulting in 82 visas cancelled.

Fifteen people were also reported inadmissible under the rule, with two issued deportation orders, adding that another person was removed from the country and five cases were pending. Canada’s Iranian diaspora community has a population of more than 200,000, according to government statistics.

Australia is also imposing more sanctions on Iranian officials on the second anniversary of the jailing and death of Mahsa Jina Amini. The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman was arrested in September 2022 for ‘improperly’ wearing her hijab.

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said that Australia stood in solidarity “with Iranian women and girls in their struggle for equality and empowerment.”

Wong announced financial sanctions and travel bans on senior security and law enforcement officials who have allegedly been involved in the ‘violent repression’ of protests in Iran. Female activists continue to be detained and handed death sentences. She said that abuses by Iranian authorities have continued since the death of Amini two years ago.

“We have sanctioned five Iranian security and law enforcement officials who have been involved in these law enforcement so-called activities, which are ultimately a repression – a violent repression – of the Iranian people,” Wong said.

Australia has now imposed sanctions on almost 200 individuals and organizations with links to Iran, including those associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Sources:

Canada expands entry ban on Iranian officials – UPI.com

Australia imposes more sanctions on Iran over human rights concerns (bignewsnetwork.com)

Zimbabwe Orders Cull of 200 Elephants Amid Food Shortages from Drought

Elephants and giraffes near a watering hole in Zimbabwe which is home to an estimated 100,000 elephants – the second-biggest population in the world after Botswana. Photograph: Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters

Zimbabwe will cull 200 elephants as it faces an unprecedented drought that has led to food shortages, a move that tackle a ballooning population of the animals, the country’s wildlife authority has said. Zimbabwe had “more elephants than it needed”, the environment minister said in parliament, adding that the government had instructed the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) to begin the culling process.

The 200 elephants would be hunted in areas where they had clashed with humans, including Hwange, home of Zimbabwe’s largest natural reserve. Due to conservation efforts, Hwange is home to 65,000 of the animals, more than four times its capacity, according to ZimParks. Zimbabwe last culled elephants in 1988.

Neighbouring Namibia said this month that it had already killed 160 wildlife animals in a planned cull of more than 700, including 83 elephants, to cope with its worst drought in decades.

Zimbabwe and Namibia are among a swathe of countries in southern Africa that have declared a state of emergency because of drought. About 42% of Zimbabweans live in poverty, according to UN estimates, and authorities say about six million will require food assistance during the November to March lean season, when food is scarcest.

The move to hunt the elephants for food was criticized by some, not least because the animals are a major draw for tourists. Namibia’s cull of elephants has been condemned by conservationists and the animal rights group Peta as shortsighted, cruel and ineffective.

But the government said the 83 to be culled would be only a small fraction of the estimated 20,000 elephants in the arid country, and would relieve pressure on grazing and water supplies.

Source:

Zimbabwe orders cull of 200 elephants amid food shortages from drought | Zimbabwe | The Guardian

281 Inmates Escape After Floods Bring Down Prison’s Walls in Northeast Nigeria

Nigerian authorities said 281 inmates escaped after devastating floods brought down a prison’s walls in the country’s northeast. Security personnel were able to recapture seven of the inmates and an operation is still ongoing to locate the rest.

A major dam collapsed on 10 Sep, unleashing severe flooding that left 30 people dead and over one million people displaced, prompting evacuations across the state of Borno.

Map: Researchgate.net

The collapse caused some of the state’s worst flooding since the same dam collapsed 30 years ago. The state government said the dam was at capacity due to unusually high rains. Two years ago, heavy flooding in Nigeria killed more than 600 people across the country. West Africa has experienced some of the heaviest flooding in decades this year, affecting over 2.3 million people, a threefold increase from 2023, according to the UN.

This summer Africa experienced two other prison breaks. Thirteen inmates escaped a police station in Nairobi, Kenya, including a suspect who police say confessed to the murders of 42 women and was being detained over the discovery of dismembered bodies.

An attempted jailbreak in Congo’s main prison left 129 people dead, including some who were shot and others who died in a stampede at the overcrowded facility. A provisional assessment showed that 24 inmates were fatally shot by “warning” shots fired by guards as they tried to escape from the Makala Central Prison in the capital of Kinshasa. There were 59 injuries including some cases of rape.

The main prison holds both male and female inmates and it was not known if all 129 fatalities were inmates. Also, it wasn’t immediately clear how the stampede occurred as details of the jailbreak remained sparse. Makala, Congo’s largest penitentiary with a capacity for 1,500 people, holds over 12,000 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial, Amnesty International said in its latest country report.

Sources:

281 inmates escape after floods brought down prison’s walls in northeast Nigeria – ABC News (go.com)

Mass Prison Break Includes Man Who Confessed to Killing 42 Women – Newsweek

Jailbreak attempt at Congo prison kills 129 people as chaos erupts with a stampede and gunshots (nbcnews.com)

Over 30 Killed in Mexico Cartel Stronghold After Sinaloa Leaders Detained in US

A Mexican Army soldier stands guard after an armed attack against a business selling new and pre-owned cars in Culiacan, Sinaloa State, Mexico, on 12 Sep 2024. The US issued a security alert because of “reports of car thefts, gunfire, security forces operations, roadblocks, burning vehicles, and closed roadways” in the vicinity.

Eleven more people have been killed in a wave of violence in a Mexican cartel heartland shaken by gang infighting. The latest fatalities included five men whose bodies were found on a highway south of the city of Culiacan.

More than 30 people have been reported dead in a week of bloodshed in Sinaloa, although authorities did not specify how many were believed to be linked to the cartel infighting.

The clashes follow the dramatic arrest on US soil on 25 July of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who claimed he had been kidnapped in Mexico and delivered into US custody against his will. Zambada pleaded not guilty last week in New York in a drug trafficking case that accuses him of engaging in murder plots and ordering torture.

Zambada (76) was detained along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of El Chapo, who is serving a life sentence in the US. The violence is believed to pit gang members loyal to El Chapo and his sons against others aligned with Zambada, who pleaded not guilty to a raft of charges in a New York court.

Schools were closed Thursday and Friday due to the violence and the governor said Sunday’s Independence Day festivities had been canceled.

In an unexpected twist, last month Mexican prosecutors said they were bringing charges against Guzmán for apparently kidnapping Zambada — but it also cited another charge under an article of Mexico’s criminal code that defines what he did as treason.

Nowhere in the statement does it mention that the younger Guzmán was a member of the Chapitos — “little Chapos” — faction of the Sinaloa cartel, made up of Chapo’s sons, that smuggles millions of doses of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the US, causing about 70,000 overdose deaths each year. According to a 2023 indictment by the US Justice Department, the Chapitos and their cartel associates used corkscrews, electrocution, and hot chiles to torture their rivals while some of their victims were “fed dead or alive to tigers.”

El Chapo, the Sinaloa cartel’s founder, is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado after being convicted in 2019 on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons-related offenses. Last year, El Chapo sent an “SOS” message to Mexico’s president, alleging that he has been subjected to “psychological torment” in prison.

This year Mexico elected its first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. Vladimir Putin was invited to attend the 1 Oct inauguration in Mexico City.

Source:

Over 30 killed in Mexico cartel stronghold as violence rages after Sinaloa leaders detained in U.S. – CBS News

A Cat Named Drifter is Safe After Being Trapped in Sewer for Nearly Eight Weeks

A cat aptly named Drifter is safe at home after sneaking outside and getting trapped in a sewer for nearly eight weeks.

The 3-year-old tabby — an indoor feline who had aspirations of being an outdoor cat — went missing from the home of Clifton Nesseth and Ashley Comstock in the northeastern Minnesota city of Duluth on 18 Jul. His owners presume that he went to check out the construction underway in their neighborhood at some point.

The family, including their 12-year-old daughter, April Dressel, hung up posters and searched across the city without luck. They were beginning to plan a small memorial service for Drifter on Tuesday when neighbor kids came over and said they heard meowing coming from a storm drain at the construction site. The family also heard him meowing as they started digging through the dirt and cutting through the landscape fabric.

“A little paw shot out of a tear in the fabric,” Nesseth said. “It was a tabby cat paw. We tore the fabric more and then his head popped through.”

A neighbor, Dahlia Boberg (16) captured the reunion on video.

“Drifter!” Nesseth is seen exclaiming as he lifts the cat high, while neighbors who are gathered around laugh with delight and amazement. “He’s been under there the whole time! He’s really skinny.”

Source:

A cat named Drifter is safe after sneaking out and getting trapped in a sewer for nearly 8 weeks | AP News

USAF Veteran Who Fled Child Pornography Charges Now Flies Drones for Russia

USAF veteran Wilmer Puello-Mota at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA, in 2018. (Photo: Todd Maki / USAF / AP file)

A former New England USAF airman who fled the US to avoid prison for child pornography charges has resurfaced in Moscow’s propaganda videos, describing his service in the Russian military as a drone operator in eastern Ukraine. He insisted he is not a traitor. Wilmer Puello-Mota (28) served in the USAF security forces and he deployed to Afghanistan in 2015 to protect pilots and aircraft.

“I’m Will. I’m from Massachusetts,” Wilmer Puello-Mota, who is also a former City Council member in Holyoke, MA, said in the five-minute video released by Russia’s Defense Ministry. “My call sign is ‘Boston.'”

Puello-Mota was supposed to appear in a Rhode Island courtroom on 9 Jan 2024 and plead guilty to possessing sexually explicit images of a child and other charges that could have sent him to prison for at least five years. He instead fled to Russia via Istanbul. Puello-Mota wanted a career in politics and thought being charged with possessing child pornography had ruined his life, his attorney stated.

Puello-Mota served on the Holyoke City Council from 2021 to 2023 and was aligned with conservative council members who supported former President Donald Trump. Halfway through his term, the city tried to kick Puello-Mota off the council after it learned that he had been arrested in May 2020 when police found nude photos and videos on his phone of a 17-year-old girl. He was also charged with obstruction of the judicial system, forgery and counterfeiting.

Sources:

U.S. veteran wanted for child porn charges serving in Russian forces – The Washington Post

CIA Chief in Bosnia to Emphasize US Support Amid Pro-Kremlin Rhetoric of Republika Srpska President

CIA Chief William Burns (second from left) in Sarajevo on 20 August.

CIA Director William Burns was in Sarajevo on 20 August to discuss the “worrying secessionist rhetoric and actions” of the pro-Russian president and government of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Serb entity, Milorad Dodik.

Burns, who arrived from Israel, held meetings at the Bosnian presidency with senior intelligence and government leaders. Dodik has raised concerns among Bosnia’s Western allies because of his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dodik reaffirmed in February after personally meeting with Putin that the Republika Srpska would not join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Turmoil in the Balkans would play into the Kremlin’s hands as it could distract the US and Europe from Russia’s war in Ukraine. A visit from D/CIA shows the commitment of the US that Bosnia is a priority of its US foreign policy. The last D/CIA to visit Bosnia-Herzegovina was John Brennan in 2016.

Sources:

CIA Chief In Bosnia To Emphasize U.S. Support And ‘Worrying’ Rhetoric Of Republika Srpska President (rferl.org)

Uyghurs Sentenced to Cumulative 4.4 million Years in Prison

Police guard detainees as they appear to recite words or sing at the Tekes County Detention Center in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region in this image released on 24 May 2022.

All told, Uyghurs imprisoned by China in the far-western region of Xinjiang have been sentenced to a cumulative 4.4 million years, a Yale University’s Genocide Studies Program reports. China’s repression could lead to a ‘total ethnic incapacitation for the Uyghur people’ and the true tally of incarcerations are probably far higher.

In 2017, the Chinese government cracked down on thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities and herded them into re-education camps and prisons.

The 25-page report, “Uyghur Race as the Enemy: China’s Legalized Authoritarian Oppression & Mass Imprisonment,” frames the massive incarceration not only as a crime against humanity and genocide, but also as a form of “dangerous lawfare” designed to erode the Uyghurs’ future prospects for dignity, prosperity and freedom. The study drew on information from the Xinjiang Victims Database, which has data on nearly 62,700 Uyghurs detained in Xinjiang, based on leaked Chinese police documents and other records.

Researchers found 13,114 cases that included a prison sentence, with an average term of 8.8 years, and multiplied the figure by 500,000, which they called a “conservative” figure based on the 540,000 individuals prosecuted by court from 2017 to 2021, to get 4.4 million years.

This massive sinicization program is meant to homogenize the non-Chinese ethnic population. Beijing has also forced cultural assimilation in Tibetan areas of China. Compare the staggering incarceration rates of Uyghurs below.

Sources:

uyghur_report_final_copy.pdf (yale.edu)

Uyghurs sentenced to cumulative 4.4 million years in prison: study — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)

UN human rights chief issues damning report on Chinese abuses in Xinjiang

American Gun Carnage: Virginia Man in Critical Condition After Being Shot by Two-Year-Old

According to the Chesterfield County Police Department, the unidentified man was about to leave the house and had “placed his handgun on a nearby chair.”

The toddler retrieved it and “accidentally discharged the firearm, shooting the victim,” police said.

The victim was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition and no one else in the house was wounded. Reportedly, the victim is the boyfriend of the child’s mother and police are investigating the incident. The cost of an air ambulance flight within the US can range from $12,000 to $55,000.

In an average year in Virginia, 1,160 people die and 1,624 are wounded by guns. Virginia has the 33rd-highest rate of gun violence in the US.

Virginia Federal firearms licenses in 2021: 423,707

Approximately 44.6% of adults in Virginia have guns at home.

Averaging almost 50,000 deaths from firearms annually, the US the only high-income country to report such a high death toll from gun violence. Until America can shed its dangerous love of firearms, this type of carnage will continue.

Sources:

Man in critical condition after being shot by 2-year-old – ABC News (go.com)

Gun-Violence-in-Virginia-2024-05.pdf (everystat.org)

3. Virginia – Gun map: Ownership by state – statistics and rates (cbsnews.com)

https://airambulance.com/blogs/post/how-much-does-air-ambulance-cost/

https://www.statista.com/topics/10904/gun-violence-in-the-united-states/#topicOverview

https://www.thetrace.org/2023/12/data-gun-violence-deaths-america/

‘Islamic State Supporter’ in Las Vegas Indicted on Terrorism Charges

A Las Vegas resident who wrote in chatroom that he would be “starting lone wolf operations in Las Vegas against enemies of Allah” was indicted by a Clark County grand jury on eight counts of four different terrorism- and explosives-related charges.

Joshua Robles, a juvenile at the time of his November 2023 arrest, had in-depth knowledge of the Islamic State (IS) group, sought to communicate with members of the group, and had components of explosives in his bedroom.

The Metropolitan Police Department arrest report read that Robles “intended to carry out acts of violence against the perceived enemies of ISIS and their religious doctrine, and the violent acts would take place in the Las Vegas area.” A search of his home uncovered components to construct an explosive device.

This young man doesn’t have to join IS to cause casualties; as noted above, Americans suffer from appalling firearms violence daily.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source:

‘Islamic State supporter’ in Las Vegas indicted on terrorism charges | Stars and Stripes

Historic Milestone for Polish Space Science with Launch of Eagle Eye Satellite

Polish space science and technology reached a historical moment with the successful launch of the EagleEye satellite into Earth’s orbit. Facilitated by SpaceX, the mission took place from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The satellite will deliver high-resolution images of the Earth, providing data for research and monitoring purposes. The mission is expected to last at least one year and will orbit the Earth at a low altitude, gradually descending from an initial height of approximately 500 km to around 350 km. EagleEye was designed entirely in Poland from the ground up and manufactured locally except for microprocessors.

Sources:

Polish EagleEye Satellite: A Landmark Project for the Space Sector – Creotech

Historic milestone for Polish space science as they successfully launch Eagleeye satellite | Euronews

‘Behind Closed Doors’: Ex-Trump Aide Spills Secrets to DNC

Former Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham speaks on stage in front of an apparent text message with Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on 20 August 2024 in Chicago. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A former White House press secretary for Donald Trump delivered a stinging rebuke of her former boss at the Democratic National Convention. Stephanie Grisham told Democrats she wasn’t just a Trump supporter, she was a “true believer” and one of his closest advisers, spending Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving with the Trump family at Mar-a-Lago.

“Behind closed doors, Trump mocks his supporters,” she said. “He calls them basement-dwellers.”

During a pandemic-era hospital visit, as people died in the intensive care unit, Grisham said Trump was “mad that the cameras weren’t watching him.”

“He has no empathy,” said Grisham. “No morals. And no fidelity to the truth. He used to tell me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough, and people will believe you.'”

Grisham said she resigned the same day she asked former first lady Melania Trump whether it was OK to tweet that “peaceful protest are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness & violence.”

Mrs. Trump replied: “No,” according to a screenshot of the conversation displayed at the convention.

“I couldn’t be part of the insanity any longer,” she said, noting she was “skewered” for not holding White House briefings. “Unlike my boss, I never wanted to stand at that podium and lie.” She earned applause as she noted she’s once again behind a podium — “advocating for a Democrat.”

You can only imagine how former President Trump must have reacted to this.

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Source:

‘Behind closed doors’: Ex-Trump aide spills former boss’ secrets to packed DNC – Raw Story

Kenya ‘Psychopath’ Serial Killer Suspect Escapes from Custody

Kenyan police launched a major manhunt for a serial killer who escaped from a Nairobi police cell, along with a dozen other detainees. He had confessed to murdering and dismembering 42 women. Collins Jumaisi (33) was described by police as a “vampire, a psychopath.” He was arrested last month after the horrific discovery of mutilated bodies in a slum garbage dump in Nairobi.

The dumped bodies threw a fresh spotlight on Kenya’s police force as they were found just 100 yards from a police station. And this is the second time in barely six months that a suspect in a high-profile case has escaped from custody.

Kenya’s police watchdog, the Independent Police Oversight Authority, was looking into whether there was any police involvement or a “failure to act to prevent” the killings. Kenyan police are often accused by rights groups of carrying out unlawful killings or running hit squads, but few have faced justice.

There are approximately 101,000 personnel in the Kenyan Police Service. This summer Kenya deployed 600 experienced police officers to restore law and order amid worsening civil strife and gang violence in Haiti under a UNSC-approved mission.

Source:

Kenya ‘Psychopath’ Serial Killer Suspect Escapes From Custody | IBTimes

https://www.kenyapolice.go.ke/