MI6

Ukraine Russia Update: WMDs, Economics

Soldiers prepare to destroy a ballistic missile at the former Soviet military rocket base in Vakulenchuk, Ukraine, 24 Dec 1997.

The US is not considering returning to Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the Soviet Union collapsed, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

A New York Times article last month that said some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine the arms before he leaves office.

“That is not under consideration, no. What we are doing is surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves and take the fight to the Russians, not [giving them] nuclear capability,” he told ABC.

Last week, Russia said the idea was “absolute insanity” and that preventing such a scenario was one of the reasons why Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.

Kiev inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union after its 1991 collapse, as it inherited Crimea, but gave up its atomic arsenal under a 1994 agreement (the Budapest Memorandum), in return for security assurances from Russia, the US, and Britain.

Former US President Bill Clinton has expressed regret about his role in persuading Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons in 1994. Mr. Clinton suggested that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Kiev still had its nuclear deterrent. These security commitments were broken in 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, and further shattered when it began a wider war against Ukraine in Feb 2022.

Russia’s 2025 Budget: 35% for National Defense

President Vladimir Putin has approved a new, multiyear budget that sets defense spending for next year at record-high levels, signaling no let-up in Russia’s determination to defeat Ukraine.

The approved budget, which was published on the government’s main website on December 1, calls for 35.5 percent of all spending to be allocated for national defense in 2025. That’s up from a reported 28.3 precent this year. The $145 billion defense-related spending is at a level not seen since the Cold War.

The flood of government spending has caused the economy to wobble in recent months. Officials have steadily ratcheted up already high wages and benefits for volunteer soldiers to fight in Ukraine, a sign that recruiting efforts are growing more difficult as the war stretches on more than 32 months.

But that has resulted in labor shortages in many industries, driving up wages and prices. Prices for basic staples like potatoes or butter have skyrocketed in recent month. The unemployment rate has dropped to 2.4 percent

The central bank, meanwhile, has hiked interest rates to levels not seen in years, in a bid to cool down the economy. But that in turn has dampened real estate transactions — as mortgages become unaffordable — and prompted business leaders to grouse about the potential for bankruptcies.

The “Guns versus Butter” argument faced by Western democracies is not an issue for authoritarian regimes like Russia or North Korea and the common man continues to suffer with food insecurity and malnourishment. Iran has been cutting back on social services to help fund its defense against Israel, evidenced by the poor quality of food being served in their national universities. You may remember my recent post about food poisoning in Iran and the complaints from the students and teachers.

Putin’s Hypersonic Missiles Not Invincible

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed in a video address the day after the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile destroyed a target in Ukraine that his superweapon could not be intercepted:

There are “no means of countering such weapons today. Missiles attack targets at a speed of Mach 10, which is 2.5 to 3 kilometers per second. Air defense systems currently available in the world and missile defense systems being created by the Americans in Europe cannot intercept such missiles. It is impossible.”

The Oreshnik is a new, experimental intermediate-range missile derived from the RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. This hypersonic missile reached Mach 11 during its flight.

While hypersonic weapons present unique challenges to missile defense, experts and available evidence suggest that Putin’s claim is an exaggeration of the current technological realities.

Hypersonic missiles travel “at speeds greater than Mach 5” while maneuvering unpredictably, making them far more difficult to track and intercept than conventional ballistic missiles. Their speed and agility significantly cut the time defense systems have to respond, posing a serious challenge to current radar and sensor technologies.

However, describing interception as “impossible” ignores ongoing advancements in missile-defense technology. Systems such as the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense are designed to counter fast-moving threats, including some hypersonic missiles. While not foolproof, these systems are continually being upgraded to address evolving threats.

According to Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at the Oslo Nuclear Project, the US and Israel possess anti-missile systems capable of shooting down an Oreshnik.

“Systems like SM-3 from Aegis or Aegis Ashore, as well as most likely Arrow 3 and THAAD, can absolutely deal with this type of threat,” Hoffmann told CNN on 22 Nov.

Several countries, including the US, are developing technologies specifically aimed at countering hypersonic threats. Key initiatives include:

a) The Glide Phase Interceptor being developed by Northrop Grumman in collaboration with Raytheon. These companies are working under contracts with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to create a system capable of intercepting hypersonic missiles during the glide phase of their trajectory, when they are most vulnerable.

b) Advanced radar systems such as the new generation Long-Range Discrimination Radar are designed to detect and track hypersonic weapons.

c) Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) are laser-based systems being explored as potential countermeasures for hypersonic threats.

DragonFire DEW fires during a trial by the UK MOD in Jan 2024. (Photo: UK MoD / Open Government License

Despite Putin’s claim, Russia has not provided conclusive evidence that the Oreshnik missile is operationally deployed or that it has been tested in conditions replicating modern Western missile defense environments. So far, Russia has used Oreshnik once and against a country that does not have Western air defense systems capable of shooting down hypersonic missiles.

According to Maxim Starchak, an expert on Russian nuclear policy and strategic weapons, Moscow tends to exaggerate its capabilities and “itself may not actually know if air defense systems can intercept this [Oreshnik] missile. These claims remain unsubstantiated without tests or real combat attempts to shoot it down.”

Previous tests of Russian hypersonic weapons, such as the Avangard glide vehicle, have demonstrated capabilities but also faced skepticism regarding their real-world applicability and effectiveness.

Furthermore, the US and its allies have conducted successful interceptions of fast-moving targets in controlled environments. For example, tests of THAAD and Aegis systems have demonstrated their ability to intercept medium-range ballistic missiles, albeit inconsistently against hypersonic targets.

Putin’s statement fits a pattern of emphasizing Russia’s advanced military capabilities to assert strategic dominance and influence international perception. Previously, he made similar claims about the impossibility of intercepting other weapons systems, including the Sarmat ICBM and the Zircon hypersonic missile.

Despite Russian claims that the missile is on “combat alert,” the Sarmat has faced significant setbacks since its 2022 flight test, with four failed launches, the latest occurring on 21 Sep 2024.

The Zircon missile, capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 9, is one the Kremlin’s fastest hypersonic weapons.

Courtesy of graphicnews.com and Getty Images

Nevertheless, when Russia launched two Zircon missiles at Kiev on 25 Mar, according to Ukrainian sources, both were intercepted by air defense systems.

Photographs of missile debris were later published. Systems like the Patriot and the SAMP/T can destroy the Zircon in its terminal phase, slowing to Mach 4.5, a view supported by Western analysts.

“The good news is that in missile warfare, especially dealing with Russian weapons, ‘claimed’ and ‘actual’ capabilities are often very different. … Is Zircon an undefeatable superweapon: NO. Is learning how to counter it difficult, YES,” Sharpe wrote 3 Apr 2024 in The Telegraph.

Sources:

US will not return nuclear weapons to Ukraine 

Putin Approves New Budget With Record Defense Spending

Putin claims new Oreshnik missile is unstoppable, sparking doubts

Clinton regrets persuading Ukraine to give up nuclear weapons

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Urges ICC Member States to Address Threats to Tribunal

Chief prosecutor Karim Khan posing for a picture at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 27 May 2022. The Kremlin put Khan on a ‘wanted’ list after the Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin in Mar 2022. (Photo: AFP)

HRW made the appeal in a statement issued before the annual session of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Assembly of States Parties in The Hague.

HRW said the court has been under “extreme pressure” since ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas’s Mohammed Deif. These include threats from US legislators who said they would impose sanctions on ICC officials and those cooperating with the court.

“ICC warrants, whether against Vladimir Putin or Benjamin Netanyahu, send a critical message that no one is above the law,” said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

“ICC member countries should make a commitment during their annual meeting to take all necessary steps to ensure that the ICC’s crucial work for justice can continue without obstruction.”

Notably, Special Counsel Jack Smith (pictured below) completed an assignment successfully prosecuting war criminals at the ICC before returning to the US to deal with Donald J. Trump.

Rejecting the arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu would make the US a rogue superpower.

President Biden has already recklessly said Netanyahu’s arrest warrant is “outrageous.” I doubt that US-AG Merrick Garland would agree with his boss since he assigned the former ICC prosecutor to go after Donald Trump. If the US does not abide by the rule of law, why would Washington expect its citizens or other countries to respect domestic or international laws?    

Moreover, the loathsome Benjamin Netanyahu– the “curse of Israel”– disgustingly went to a familiar tool in his bag by slandering those who say he is committing war crimes in Gaza as being antisemitic. Netanyahu uttered the same blasphemies earlier this year when hundreds of anti-war protests erupted on US campuses (and throughout the world) protesting the Nakba.

Well, that makes everybody pictured below, you, the loyal Followers of the Watch, as well as Coriolanus antisemites. How about them apples?

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who ran for President in 2016.

(Undated image courtesy of Forward Magazine)

Holocaust survivor Rene Lichtman (R) at a vigil in Farmington Hills, MI protesting the ongoing Nakba on 30 Jun 2024. (Photo: WSWS)

Climate activist Greta Thunberg (R) with friends (social media)

Sources:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/2/live-israeli-forces-kill-10-palestinians-in-north-gaza-four-in-west-bank

Sanders: It Is Not Antisemitic to Oppose Israel’s Assault of Gaza | Truthout

‘Sophisticated’ Spy Ring Passed Secrets to Russia for Three Years

Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova (L) and Vanya Gaberova (R) are on trial at the Old Bailey alongside Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev. (Imagery: Elizabeth Cook / PA)

A “sophisticated” UK-based spy ring passed secrets to Russia for nearly three years and gathered information on targets across Europe.

Three Bulgarian nationals – Katrin Ivanova (33), Vanya Gaberova (30), and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev (39) – allegedly carried out surveillance on individuals and places of interest to Russia.

Among those said to have been targeted were an award-winning Bulgarian journalist who worked with the late Russian opposition dissident Alexei Navalny. The journalist was allegedly the subject of discussions about killing or kidnapping him and taking him to Moscow. Other alleged discussions concerned the deployment of two female defendants in a “honey trap” ploy to capture more information.

Alison Morgan KC, opening the case for the prosecution on Thursday, said: “Over a period of nearly three years they sought to gather information for the benefit of Russia, an enemy of the UK, information about various targets, both people and physical locations. Information of particular interest to the Russian state. Their activity caused obvious and inevitable prejudice to the safety and interests of the United Kingdom.”

She said of the defendant’s alleged activities: “It was high risk and it was highly sophisticated. The defendants earned significant sums for what they were doing. None of them engaged in this activity blindly.”

The defendants allegedly worked with a number of other people who spied for Russia between 2020 and 2023 in London, Vienna, Valencia, Montenegro, and Stuttgart.

The spy ring included two more defendants, Orlin Roussev and Biser Dzhambazov, who have pleaded guilty to espionage charges. The defendants plotted with a Russian agent, Jan Marsalek, who was known as “Rupert Ticz” and was said to be an Austrian national, to obtain material useful to Russia.

Jurors were told that Dzhambazov (43) was in a relationship with both Ivanova and Gaberova, and the latter was formerly involved with Ivanchev.

Morgan said the defendants may try to “rely on the relationships” and suggest they were misled “or were simply following people around Europe out of love or dedication”.

The defendants were tasked to spy on prominent individuals of obvious interest to Russia, often because they were dissidents who had fled their homeland for their own safety. A range of activities were alleged including surveillance operations, following people around and finding out where they were and then reporting back to the Russian state.

Their nefarious activities allegedly included surveillance in 2022 at the Patch barracks, a US military base in Stuttgart, Germany, which the defendants believed to be a location where Ukrainian forces were being trained.

US Army Gen. Mark Milley, CJCS, meets with leaders responsible for the training of Ukrainians at Grafenwoehr, Germany, 16 Jan 2023. (Photo: Jordan Sivayavirojna / US Army)

Messages were exchanged between Marsalek and Roussev in which they discussed “options” relating to Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian journalist who has been the lead Russia investigator with Bellingcat, the award-winning investigative journalism group. These options were said to have included carrying out surveillance of him, kidnapping him and taking him to Moscow, killing him and infiltrating Bellingcat.

The defendants deny conspiring to collect information for a purpose prejudicial to the safety and interest of the state between 30 Aug 2020 and 8 Feb 2023. Ivanova also denies possessing 18 false identity documents, including British and other passports and documents.

The trial is expected to go on until February next year.

Another Russian espionage ring has been rendered ineffective by the British security services. As non-diplomats, these spies will be incarcerated once convicted and no doubt they will be traded in a future prisoner swap with the Kremlin. The head of MI6 recently told a conference in Paris that Russian espionage and sabotage operations in Europe are at the highest in 40 years. British and friendly intelligence services have less than 50 days to work with the USIC before the pro-Kremlin Donald Trump assumes the Presidency. Rumors are already circulating that high-ranking CIA personnel are going to resign once Trump becomes POTUS next year.

Source:

‘Sophisticated’ spy ring passed secrets to Russia for three years, UK court told | UK news | The Guardian

Hawaii: Avian Influenza Confirmed in Backyard Flock of Birds

(Map: Courtesy of welt-atlas.de)

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was detected in a backyard flock of various birds in Central O‘ahu. The property involved is within the area served by the Wahiawā Wastewater Treatment Plant, where a recent detection was reported through the National Wastewater Surveillance System.

This is the first confirmed detection of the virus in Hawai‘i. The virus detected here matches the strain that has infected  domestic poultry on the US mainland.

HPAI causes severe illness with a high mortality rate among affected birds. With the confirmation of avian influenza, HDOA today issued a quarantine order on the site which requires that all birds on the property be depopulated and the premises cleaned and disinfected. While confirmatory tests were being conducted, HDOA had placed a hold order, which prevents movement of any animals from the property.

Human illness with H5N1 is uncommon and reported symptoms among humans infected in the US have been mild. People in Hawai‘i are unlikely to get sick from H5N1 influenza at this time. H5N1 infection in humans on the US mainland have been reported almost exclusively among workers who have close contact with infected animals. The most common symptoms of avian flu in humans are conjunctivitis and upper respiratory symptoms like sore throat and cough. Sustained human-to-human transmission has not been reported.

To report multiple or unusual illnesses in poultry, livestock, or other wild birds or animals, contact HDOA Animal Industry Division at 808-483-7102 or 808-837-8092.

Residents who believe they may have been exposed to sick birds or other wildlife should contact the Disease Outbreak Control Division Disease Reporting Line at 808-586-4586 for additional guidance.

Americans can sleep well knowing that their next Commander-in-Chief and his tentative picks to lead critical USG health agencies have been roundly denounced as crackpots, dunces, and quacks. Only during the confirmation hearings can the US Senate save Americans from potential epidemics at the hands of mountebanks like Mehmet Oz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Dr. Marty Makary, Janette Nesheiwat, or Paul Weldon.

Source:

Department of Agriculture | Avian Influenza Confirmed in Backyard Flock of Birds

China’s New Fighter Jet Compared to US F-35

Top, the US F-35; bottom Chinese J-35A Falcon Hawk. (Photo: AFP)

Produced by the Chinese aviation company, Shenyang, the new jet took more than a decade to build and strongly resembles the F-35 made by Lockheed Martin. USAF Chief of Staff David Allvin said “you could practically see where they got their blueprints.” In 2013, Defense Acquisitions Chief Frank Kendall told a Senate hearing that stolen F-35 data helped US rivals speed up their own fifth-generation fighter projects.

The J-31 is more svelte than the F-35, despite the fact that the Chinese model has two engines, while the US-made F-35 has one.

Chinese designers may have chosen to build their aircraft with two engines to give the jet more power, suggested one analyst.

But the design could have also been chosen for a more primitive reason: the second engine could serve as a backup in case of mission failure.

“Maybe they have less faith in the reliability of the aircraft,” says Greg Malandrino, a former US fighter pilot.

Chinese pilots will have to make do with a smaller workspace than American F-35 pilots. The US fighter jet’s cockpit is cushier, roomier, with a bigger canopy, while the Chinese plane’s cockpit reflects “a more utilitarian approach to pilot ergonomics.”

Chinese J-35A fighter (top) and American F-35 (bottom). (Photo: Chen Yang/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Malandrino, says he did not notice any significant differences in the design of the two cockpits. The cockpit of a fighter jet, whether Chinese or American, is not known for comfort. The seat is designed to provide the pilot with a way out of a tricky situation.

“You’re sitting on ejection seat,” he says. “It’s basically a rocket seat.”

All variants of the F-35 have a top speed of 1.6 Mach; the J-35 1.8 Mach. But in terms of stealth, the J-31 spits a lot of smoke from its exhaust pipe when it’s in the air, which could make it easier to detect the plane.

But experts agree that the real power of a fighter jet lies in the overall strength of the military they serve. Says Forecast International: “People are thinking about two jets operating in a dog fight. But in the real world, it depends on the entire combat system.”

“Until the two countries fight, it’s just guesswork. You really don’t know till the shooting starts.”

These two jets represent the cream of the crop in air superiority. Chinese espionage and copycatting US technology have evidently been successful. Decades ago, the USSR manufactured a space shuttle called the “Buran“ which looked like a twin of the US Space Shuttle, thanks to the KGB. See photo below. Air-to-air combat exercises will sharpen the skills of USAF and Chinese pilots, but as the analyst above wrote, no one knows the outcome until the battle joins.

Sources:

China debuted a new fighter plane. How does it compare to the F-35? – Radio Free Asia

The Reason Why This Soviet Space Shuttle Looks So Familiar | The National Interest

Morocco: One Dead, Twelve Stricken with Food Poisoning

(Map courtesy of worldeasyguides.com)

A 24-year-old man has died and 12 other people have contracted a foodborne illness caused by consumption of snacks from a fast-food restaurant in Agadir city. Some of the critically ill victims were admitted to emergency rooms. The authorities opened an investigation into the incident and the suspected restaurant has been temporarily closed.

This incident of food poisoning questions the monitoring services and their role in enforcing health codes and punishing violators.

The Al-Salam neighborhood and the Jet Residence area of Agadir have become a destination for professionals serving ready-made and fast food, due to its large population density and large variety of foods.

Westerners traveling to exotic destinations for vacation must exercise caution with the comestibles they enjoy. As we saw in Laos, alcohol poisoning killed several people at a resort. In this incident, locals were sickened and one killed. Tourists may want to inspect food inspection certificates at restaurants in foreign destinations, but that is not a guarantee of anything as these documents could easily be forged.

Source:

Agadir: Food poisoning epilepsy a young man in his twenties and sends 12 others to the emergency in critical condition.

Marmot’s First Bath with Electric Brush

This marmot is simply having the time of its life. Nice and clean! Imagine doing this to your cat or dog?

Footnote: Marmots are large ground squirrels with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. They are the heaviest members of the squirrel family. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, when they hibernate underground.

Will a domesticated marmot like the one above also need to hibernate during winter?

Source:

Marmot – Wikipedia

Israeli Attacks Costs Lebanon $5 Billion in Losses; 100,000 Homes Damaged

A ten-year-old boy stands inside his house damaged in an IDF strike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, 29 Nov 2024. Thousands of Lebanese returned to their homes only to find rubble with winter approaching. (Photo: Reuters)

The World Bank reported that Lebanon suffered more than $5 billion in economic losses and damaged nearly 100,000 housing units. Nearly 1.2 million people have been displaced.

The World Bank report provided estimates for damage between 8 Oct 2023 and 27 Oct 2024, saying “the conflict has caused $5.1 billion in economic losses” and that it “damaged an estimated 99,209 housing units” — mainly in Lebanon’s war-torn south.

3,580 Lebanese were killed and over 15,000 wounded. And those seeking medical care faced challenges. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 226 Lebanese medical personnel were killed since 7 Oct 2023 and several clinics destroyed. Beirut long accused the IDF of targeting physicians and medical infrastructure.

But the ceasefire does not appear to be holding.

(Map courtesy of the jewishvirtuallibrary.org)

Israel carried out several attacks in southern Lebanon. Artillery bombardment struck the villages of Markaba, Talusa, and Khiyam while four IDF tanks moved into the western part of Khiyam, and an IDF tank fired at a house in Nabatiyeh province. The IDF stated they would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement” after detecting an alleged movement of a Hezbollah rocket launcher.

IDF Merkava Mk 4M battle tank.

Sources:

War costs Lebanon $5 billion in losses, damages 100,000 homes — Naharnet

226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7: WHO

2 children and a woman crushed to death outside Gaza bakery amid food shortage

Two Palestinian Children and Woman Crushed to Death Outside Gaza Bakery Amid Food Shortage

Palestinians gather to receive bread from a bakery in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, 29 Nov 2024. Food insecurity is affecting nine out of ten Gazans and winter is fast approaching. (Photo: Reuters)

Two children and a woman were crushed to death as a crowd of Palestinians pushed to get bread at a bakery in the Gaza Strip amid a worsening food crisis in the war-ravaged territory.

The bodies of two girls aged 13 and 17 and the 50-year-old woman were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where a doctor confirmed that they died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery. Video from The Associated Press showed their bodies placed next to each other on the floor inside the hospital’s morgue.

The flow of food allowed into Gaza by Israel has fallen to nearly its lowest level of almost 14-month-old war for the past two months, according to Israeli official figures. UN and aid officials say hunger and desperation are growing among Gaza’s population, almost all of which relies on humanitarian aid to survive.

Osama Abu Laban, the father of one of the girls, wailed over the loss of her life outside the hospital.

“My wife fell when she heard that she [our daughter} was suffocating. She did not yet know that she was dead,” he told the AP.

Some bakeries in Gaza were closed for several days last week due to a shortage of flour. AP footage taken last week after they reopened showed large crowds of people cramming together, screaming and pushing, at one bakery in Deir al-Balah.

Palestinians across the Gaza Strip are heavily relying on bakeries and charitable kitchens, with many able to only secure one meal a day for their families.

More than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 104,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people. Just in the past 24 hours, the IDF killed 100 Palestinians, including 75 killed in air strikes on two homes in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.

In the West Bank, the IDF killed nine Palestinians, including one child, over the last week, seven of them during a 48-hour period in Jenin. In retaliation, a Palestinian man martyred himself in a counterattack against Israelis on a bus which Hamas took credit for.

IDF personnel surround a bullet-riddled bus close to the settlement of Ariel, near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: AFP)

Samer Hussein (46), who spent several years in Israeli jails on suspicion of anti-Israeli activities, was killed by IDF troops shortly after opening fire toward the bus near the Israeli settlement of Ariel. Four soldiers were slightly wounded and three people were critically injured.

The IDF has killed 796 Palestinians since 7 Oct 2023, mostly in military raids on Palestinian cities and towns. Attacks by fanatical settlers on Palestinians and their property also have increased. Rabid settlers attempted to attack IDF MG Avi Bluth last week, but were fended off by the general’s PSD. So naturally counterattacks by armed Palestinians against Israelis in the West Bank would increase, like the incident above.

The terrors and hardships that Benjamin Netanyahu is inflicting on Palestinians is quite similar to what Russian President Vladimir Putin is inflicting on the Ukrainians this winter. Netanyahu’s “Nakba” = Putin’s “Special Military Operation.”

The major difference between these twin terror campaigns orchestrated by the two PIFWCs is that the US is massively funding Israel to conduct the ethnic cleansing, while massively funding Ukraine to prevent its ethnic cleansing.

Remarkably, upon hearing that the International Criminal Court at the Hague issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, President Biden said it was “outrageous.” He did not say the same when such a warrant was issued for Vladimir Putin. And French President Emmanuel Macron stated France would not honor the arrest warrant should Netanyahu despoil Paris with his odious presence.

Sources:

2 children and a woman crushed to death outside Gaza bakery amid food shortage

(5) Updates LIVE: Israeli attacks kill nearly 100 in Gaza as hunger grips enclave

More Than One Million Ukrainians Left Without Electricity After Latest Russian Attack on Energy Infrastructure

Russia unleashed a “massive” attack on Ukraine’s infrastructure on 28 Nov, leaving more than one million people without power in freezing temperatures across the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of a “despicable escalation,” as the Interior Ministry recorded damage to infrastructure in nine regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the latest attack was Moscow’s “response” to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with US medium-range ATACMS missiles.

Speaking during a trip to Kazakhstan, Putin warned that Russia’s future targets could include “decision-making centers” in Kiev.

Putin said Russia launched more than 90 missiles and 100 drones in the “comprehensive strike” on 28 Nov and that 17 targets had been hit — the type of detail that the president rarely gives.

Ukraine’s air force shot down 79 missiles and 35 drones, while 62 drones were “lost,” meaning they had likely been disrupted by electronic warfare.

All missiles or drones aimed at Kiev were downed.

A power plant in Ukraine severely damaged by a Russian airstrike. (Photo: AP)

The attack forced national power-grid operator Ukrenerho to urgently introduce emergency power cuts in Kiev, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk.

Kiev had also reportedly disconnected several nuclear power units from the network during the attack. Ukraine gets more than half of its electricity from nuclear plants.

The inhumane attack comes as the temperatures across Ukraine dropped to around zero degrees Celsius.

Ukrainian civilians trying to stay warm (undated image).

Earlier this month, a senior UN official, Rosemary DiCarlo, warned that Moscow’s targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure may make this winter the “harshest since the start of the war” nearly three years ago.

During America’s tortured involvement in Vietnam one-half century ago, a familiar meme evolved: “We have to burn down the village in order to save it.” If PIFWC Vladimir Putin had designs on re-absorbing Ukraine and her people into his Pan-Slavic Union, a neo-USSR like in his glory days, he has a strange way of showing his love for the people he wants to one day rule. He is burning down the village in order to save it.

Putin’s “Special Military Operation” = Netanyahu’s “Nakba”

The mutual animus between Ukrainians and Russians have been thoroughly baked into the DNA cake, much like the Israelis and the Palestinians. While the US sanctioned one aggressor baking this horrible cake of hatred (Russia), Washington did not sanction the other (Israel), which cost the Democrats the White House in 2024, just like in 1968. Remarkably, many American Democrats argue that US funding of Israel and the horrendous Nakba had nothing to do with Kamala Harris’ disastrous loss to a criminally convicted and twice impeached GOP candidate. Many are still wondering why millions of Democrats stayed home on Election Day.

Source:

More Than One Million Ukrainians Left Without Electricity After Latest Russian Attack

Putin’s Meat-Grinder War Chewing Up Russian Soldiers on Industrial Scale

Russia lost 2,030 soldiers in the past 24 hours, reports Ukraine’s military.  500 North Korean soldiers were reportedly KIA since their deployment to fight Ukraine.

Russia’s staggering death toll marks the Russian tyrants most damaging period of his over 1,000-day-old conflict so far.

The previous highest was 1,950 on 12 Nov. Putin’s meat grinder approach is still miserably failing with over 738,000 Russian casualties.

But despite the harrowing figures continuing to soar Russia has found success on the battlefield. UK Defence Secretary John Healey has warned the 600-mile frontline is now at the most unstable it has been since February 2022.

While Putin is losing soldiers at an abominable rate, the Russian economy is losing as well. The ruble tumbled to its lowest level in over two years, as a mix of low oil prices, new sanctions against Russian businesses and burgeoning government spending on its war effort put strains on the Russian economy.

The central bank reacted by suspending currency purchases for the rest of this year. That will restrict the supply of rubles and should support the exchange rate accordingly.

In response to the Ukrainian Storm Shadow attack last week, Putin authorized the use of a hypersonic missile called the “Oreshnik.”  This has been described as far superior to any other weapon in Russia’s arsenal. Putin claimed the Oreshnik can turn almost anything it hits into dust.

The Kremlin wisely notified Washington before launching the Oreshnik to prevent a nuclear misunderstanding.

Sources:

Putin’s deadliest day with 2,000 soldiers lost as troops wade through fallen comrades on fastest advance since invasion | The US Sun

Ruble tumbles as Russia’s war economy comes under increasing strain – POLITICO

Hepatitis A Infection Reported at Buffalo Wild Wings in Monterey Park, CA

Los Angeles County public health officials are investigating the possible spread of Hepatitis A after an employee at a well-known restaurant and bar in Monterey Park became sick with the virus. The infection was reported at Buffalo Wild Wings in the 4000 block of Market Place.

(Map courtesy of Mapcarta)

While there are no additional cases reported this week, officials urged anyone who ate or consumed drinks at the restaurant between 13 and 22 Nov to receive hepatitis A vaccine or monitor for the symptoms, which include fever, weakness, fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, and jaundice.

People who have not received the vaccine or never had hepatitis A infection may be more vulnerable. The public health department is also working with the restaurant to make sure all employees are vaccinated.

Computer illustration showing the liver and a close-up view of hepatitis A viruses. (Image courtesy of NBC News)

Hepatitis A can in some cases cause death as it spreads when a person unknowingly consumes contaminated food or drinks. There is no specific antiviral treatment for hepatitis A

Source:

Hepatitis A reported at Buffalo Wild Wings in Monterey Park – NBC Los Angeles

Director of British Intelligence: “The World is at its Most Dangerous Point in 40 Years.”

Sir Richard Moore, head of MI6, issues a warning to Ukraine’s allies in Paris after Donald Trump’s election. (Photo: AP)

The world is at its most dangerous point for 40 years, the head of MI6 has warned, accusing Russia of waging a “staggeringly reckless campaign” of sabotage in Europe to undermine support for Ukraine.

“In 37 years in the intelligence profession I’ve never seen the world in a more dangerous state. And the impact on Europe, our shared European home, could hardly be more serious,” Sir Richard said, adding that if “Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there.”

Sir Richard said MI6 “cherishes our heritage of covert action, which we keep alive today” – with British spies working to stop the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He warned that a victory for Mr Putin in Ukraine would jeapordize both European and transatlantic security, in what appeared a message to president-elect Donald Trump, with the incoming US leader having repeatedly complained about the amount of money and military aid Washington is sending to help Kiev.

“We have recently uncovered a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe, even as Putin and his acolytes resort to nuclear sabre-rattling to sow fear about the consequences of aiding Ukraine,” he said. “The cost of supporting Ukraine is well known but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher. If Putin succeeds China would weigh the implications, North Korea would be emboldened and Iran would become still more dangerous,” Sir Richard concluded.

Whenever the D/MI6 or D/CIA speak, we should pay attention. Coriolanus has previously written about Russian sabotage efforts against NATO, as well as the Kremlin’s insidious covert support for far-right wing parties in Europe. In 2016 retired MI6 operative Christopher Steele accumulated a dossier against Donald Trump which suggested that Vladimir Putin held compromising materials (‘kompramat’) on the President-Elect. Mr. Steele obtained “raw intelligence” from his Russian contacts which needed to be finely sifted. Raw data, rumors, hints, can lead to revelations, but they must not be taken as 100% accurate at face value. While the allegations have never been proven, nothing in the report was ever disproven.  

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: “With Trump, all roads lead to Putin. I don’t know what the Russians have on the president, politically, personally, or financially.”

President Trump with Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergei Sislyak in the White House, May 2017. No doubt we will see something similar in 2025. (Photo: Alexander Shcherbak / TASS / Getty Images)

In 2025, NATO and the Western intelligence services will be ready to deal with a Moscow-friendly intelligence apparatus. The US will receive less critical information from its allies over concern the data will be leaked to Russia or Israel. Friendly intelligence services will increase their budgets and manpower to make up for less US support. Canada recently led a NATO exercise in the Balkans (as reported here on Coriolanus).

Source:

World at most dangerous point in 40 years, MI6 chief warns | The Independent

Trump Hosts Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov And Ambassador Kislyak At White House : The Two-Way : NPR

RFK Jr. Visited Samoa in 2019 and Spread Anti-VAX Disinformation Causing 83 Deaths and 1,867 Hospitalizations from Measles

Samoa’s then prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi (R), and RFK Jr (C) at 57th anniversary of independence celebrations in Mulinu’u, Samoa, on 1 June 2019. (Photo: Misiona Simo / AP)

From The Guardian:

“In the small island country of Samoa, lives have been forever altered by an outbreak of measles in 2019 that caused at least 83 deaths and 1,867 hospitalizations, mostly of babies and young children. Thousands more fell sick. The preventable illness was able to spread through the small, closely knit population of about 200,000 due to record low vaccination rates – stemming from a medical vaccination error, the Samoan government’s public health mismanagement, and fueled by anti-vaccination sentiment from Robert F Kennedy Jr.”

In developing countries, the suffering from measles is always worse. Many rural Samoans had no transport, feared going to hospital, or tried traditional healers first. By the time people did bring their babies in, they were extremely sick. More than 100 Australian medical personnel deployed to Samoa in the thick of the epidemic.

Siiae Olilefauaitu sits outside her house with her surviving children. She won’t move from her hovel because her dead unvaccinated daughter is buried on her property. (Nov 2024 Photo: Michelle Duff / The Guardian)

Reports that some Republican US Senators won’t confirm this idiot to head HHS is encouraging, nor will they allow a recess appointment allowing him to slip through. Does the President-elect have a “Death Wish” for the American people with his quack choices to lead the US government health agencies? We know Donald Trump accepts the abominable amount of gun deaths in the US as something “we must get over.”  How the GOP elite and wealthy benefit from wholesale needless American deaths is something Coriolanus has been investigating for some time.

Source:


https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/26/rfk-jr-samoa-visit-measles-outbreak-vaccines

Indian Airlines Suffer Through 1,000 Bomb Scare Hoaxes

India’s airlines and airports reportedly received nearly 1,000 fake bomb threats as of early November, disrupting flight schedules and wreaking havoc on services.

Murlidhar Mohol, the country’s deputy civil aviation minister, told parliament that 999 bogus threats had been received as of 14 Nov, with more than half of them coming in the last two weeks of October.

That was nearly ten times the number of threats made in 2023 and a sharp increase from years past. Authorities recorded 120 bomb hoaxes at airports between 2014 and 2017 with about half directed at Delhi and Mumbai.

There was “no actual threat detected at any of the airports/aircraft in India,” Mohol said.

Officials have made 12 arrests in connection to the threats.

The country’s civil aviation ministry said it was making “every possible effort” to protect flight operations, adding that airports have a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee that monitors threats and decides the appropriate course of action.

Threats can lead to the deployment of bomb disposal squads, sniffer dogs, ambulances, police, and doctors.

They also often require passengers to deboard the plane, along with baggage, who then have to go through security again.

Engineer and security teams must also search and clear the plane before it can take off.

(Photo: AFP)

In 1984, Air India 182 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean and the culprits were Sikh extremists, so this is quite a sensitive matter that the Indian authorities are taking seriously. That attack killed all 329 people on board, including 268 Canadian citizens, 27 British citizens, and 22 Indian citizens.[4] The bombing of Air India Flight 182 is the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history, the deadliest aviation incident in the history of Air India and was the world’s deadliest act of aviation terrorism until the 11 Sep 2001 against the US.

The idiots making these bomb threats are diverting police resources from genuine threats, as well as wasting time and fuel. India is already choking with smog and people are living under a dangerously poor Air Quality Index (AQI). The flight delays and scheduling problems cause secondary effects with other airports and carriers. Passenger jets have allocated times for arrivals and departure at airports because of the limited amount of airspace, tarmacs, and number of available gates. Delayed aircraft may spend time circling an airport if it misses its allotted landing time, burning unneccessary fuel.   

Sources:

Indian Airlines Suffer Through 1,000 Hoax Bomb Scares | IBTimes

Air India Flight 182 – Wikipedia

Beautiful Orphaned Bird Emulates Human with Voice and Affection

Afghan National Arrested for Plotting Election Day Terrorist Attack in Name of ISIS

Image: FBI

The FBI arrested Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi (27) of Oklahoma City, OK who allegedly planned to conduct a violent attack on US soil in the name of ISIS on Election Day. He and a co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs, according to charging documents.


Tawhedi, who arrived in the US in Sep 2021, had taken steps in recent weeks to advance his attack plans, including by ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family’s assets and buying one-way tickets for his wife and child to travel home to Afghanistan.


On 7 Oct Tawhedi and his juvenile accomplice met with FBI assets and purchased, received, and took possession of two AK-47 assault rifles, ten magazines, and 500 rounds of ammunition. Upon receipt of the rifles and ammunition, Tawhedi and his accomplice were arrested.


Tawhedi was charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, if convicted.


Tawhedi entered the US on a special immigrant visa in 2021 and has been on parole status pending the conclusion of his immigration proceedings. The program permits eligible Afghans who helped Americans, despite great personal risk to themselves and their loved ones, to apply for entry into America with their families. Eligible Afghans include interpreters for the US military as well as individuals integral to the US Embassy in Kabul. The program has existed since 2009 and the number of applicants skyrocketed after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in Aug 2021.


Shawn Van Diver, the president of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of organizations dedicated to helping Afghans trying to leave Afghanistan, said that though the charges are serious, “it’s critical that we do not assign blame to an entire community for the actions of one individual. Thousands of Afghans who resettled in the US are working to build new lives and contribute to our shared future. These are the same individuals who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in Afghanistan for over two decades, defending the values we hold dear.


This defendant was committed to his attack plan as evidenced by all of the preparations for sending his wife and child back to Afghanistan and liquidating his assets. Thanks to Muslim-American or Afghan-American FBI assets who duped Tawhedi, the plot was interrupted. Note this is an ISIS-inspired plot, not a Taliban plot.
 

A criminal complaint 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 | Afghan National Arrested for Plotting an Election Day Terrorist Attack in the Name of ISIS | United States Department of Justice
dl (justice.gov)
FBI arrests Afghan man who officials say planned Election Day attack in US | AP News
 
 

Minnesota Man Sentenced to Prison on Felony Charge for Actions During 6 Jan Attack on the US Capitol

Photos: FBI


Paul Orta Jr (34) of Blue Earth, MN was sentenced to six months in prison, 12 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution and fines by the Honorable US District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich. Orta pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder on 14 May 2024

Orta traveled from Minnesota to Washington, DC to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on 6 Jan at the National Mall. A crowd of rioters, with Orta at the front, began to overwhelm officers at the Peace Memorial entrance and began to move onto Capitol grounds. United States Capitol Police (USCP) officers retreated from this area and attempted to set up a new police line, but some in the crowd, including Orta, pressed forward. As Orta advanced toward the retreating officers, he yelled, “We’re taking that s— today!” Minutes later, Orta forcefully moved at least two temporary bike racks that were being used by law enforcement to control the crowd and threw them over a concrete wall.


During the scrum, Orta lobbed a dark-colored object over the heads of rioters and towards a crowd of law enforcement officers. He then pushed a bike rack barricade against the police line and made physical contact with law enforcement officers. After the mob broke through the police line and advanced to the Lower and Upper West Terraces, Orta climbed on top of a concrete wall and raised a fist in the air.


The FBI arrested Orta on 14 Nov 2023 in Minnesota.


Note that Orta appears dressed for combat, not a rally, and was given a fairly light sentence. He represents America’s Fedayeen Saddam (FS), dead-enders clutching on to the last vestiges of white supremacy in the US. This young man threw whatever semblance of a life away by heeding the idiotic call of Donald J. Trump. The internet is forever and technically so is Orta’s federal conviction. Orta will face difficulties obtaining gainful employment after he is released from prison.


In the 45 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,532 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 571 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

The FBI investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
 
Sources:
District of Columbia | Minnesota Man Sentenced to Prison on Felony Charge for Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

Cholera Cases, Deaths Surge in Nigeria

Houses and other buildings are submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria, on 10 Sep 2024. Image: VOA

Cholera is surging in Nigeria with the number of cases and deaths increasing by more than 200% this year. The Nigerian Center for Disease Control recorded nearly 11,000 cases of cholera this year — a 220% increase compared with the same point in 2023. Fatalities over the same periods have increased from 106 to 359 — a rise of 239%.

Nigeria has a population of 236,747,130 people. GDP per capita: $5,700 (2023 est.) Data: CIA. Map: ontheworldmap.com

The state of Lagos accounted for 43% of the nation’s cases, while Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, and Borno also recorded significant numbers.

Last month, the worst flooding in 30 years ravaged conflict-ridden Borno state, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation there. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and moved to overcrowded camps. The flooding caused a massive prison break earlier this summer.

“We’re now facing a significant public health challenge that demands urgent attention and action,” Borno Health Commissioner Baba Mallam Gana said. “The floods have created ideal conditions for the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera by contaminating water sources and disrupting sanitation systems.”

Cholera is a bacterial disease, usually spread by contaminated food or water. It causes severe diarrhea and dehydration.

Nigeria’s Health Ministry is sending hundreds of thousands of doses of cholera vaccine to the affected areas. Borno alone received 300,000 doses, and state authorities say the vaccine has been distributed to camps for those displaced by the floods.

Nigeria has Africa’s highest malaria death rate which the floods will exacerbate.

Lagos residents use art to draw attention to the gaps in the prevention and treatment of malaria. According to UNICEF, over 1,000 children under the age of five catch malaria every day. Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images.

Sources:

Cholera cases, deaths surge more than 200% in Nigeria (voanews.com)

CIA

Nigeria has Africa’s highest malaria death rate – progress is being made, but it’s not enough (theconversation.com)

Osama bin Laden’s Son Omar Ordered to Leave France

Saudi painter Omar bin Laden in Le Teilleul, western France, on 1 July 2022. © AFP – Jean-François Monier

Born in Saudi Arabia, where he spent his early years, Omar bin Laden (43) has also lived in Sudan and Afghanistan. He left his father at the age of 19 and eventually settled in Normandy in northern France in 2016, taking up painting.

France’s new interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X that Omar bin Laden “posted comments on his social networks in 2023 that advocated terrorism. As a result, the prefect of Orne issued an order to leave French territory. The courts have confirmed the legality of this decision taken in the interests of national security,” he added.

The interior minister also said he had signed off on a ban preventing Omar bin Laden “to return to France for any reason whatsoever.”

He did not provide further details and it was not clear if Omar bin Laden had already left France.

Omar bin Laden’s marriage to British woman Jane Felix-Browne, a grandmother who had been divorced five times previously and over two decades his senior, had caused considerable media interest when it was confirmed in 2007. Omar bin Laden sought to live in the UK, but his bid was rejected by the British authorities.

The announcement of Omar bin Laden’s expulsion comes as the French interior minister held a meeting on Tuesday with the police chiefs of the 21 departments most affected by illegal immigration.

This comes at a time when the French government just survived a no-confidence vote. The motion was brought forward by the left-wing New Popular Front, who won the most seats in the snap legislative elections called by President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier passed the first test of his new government on Tuesday, as a leftist no-confidence motion failed to garner enough votes to bring down his center-right administration.

President Emmanuel Macron tapped Barnier for the job of prime minister last month after a snap election led to a fractious hung parliament. Barnier’s government is weak, propped up by the far right and despised by leftist lawmakers who filed the no-confidence motion last Friday.

The no-confidence motion was always a longshot, as it needed the backing of the far-right National Rally (RN) party to get over the line – a move RN lawmakers had signaled they were unwilling to take.

 RN’s Marine Le Pen said she wanted “to give a chance” to the prime minister. But she set out red lines, including that any tax increases be offset by increased spending power for the lower and middle classes.

Anti-immigration is becoming an issue in European politics and this announcement by the French Interior Minister may have been to appease the far-right which is part of the governing coalition. There is no information where Omar bin Laden will re-locate to or whether another EU country will accept him. There is no open source reporting that he has not been charged with any crimes.

Sources:

Osama bin Laden’s son Omar ordered to leave France (rfi.fr)

French government survives no-confidence vote as far right stays neutral (rfi.fr)

French Island Uncovers Waste Ring Exporting Toxic Vehicle (HAZMAT) Scrap to India

Most illegal vehicle waste ends up in countries in Africa and Asia, where the environmental impact is devastating.  Photo: AP / Mark Lennihan

The illegal operation, which ran for several years, shipped approximately 200 containers of dangerous car waste annually from the French overseas department and generated profits of €3.5 million. Under environmental laws, vehicles must be depolluted before being exported. 

Map: Courtesy of Business Insider

Those arrested include a prominent local entrepreneur in the vehicle destruction sector, his wife and seven others. The investigation revealed that the suspects had been hiding dangerous materials with other waste products whose international trade is permitted. 

Illegal exports of waste, including electronics and vehicle parts, are not uncommon. Much of this waste ends up in countries in Africa and Asia, where the environmental impact is devastating.  

Developing countries often receive vast shipments of waste – both legally and illegally – from wealthier nations. India is a frequent destination for such waste. French authorities are continuing their investigation into the Reunion-India trafficking network, with further arrests possible in the coming weeks. 

The move comes as part of a wider crackdown on international waste trafficking.  

In 2023, INTERPOL reported a 50% percent increase in such operations over the previous two years. 

In 2017, 835 large ocean-going ships were sold to scrap yards, 543 of which were broken down on beaches of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The toxic materials stripped from these hulks have caused illnesses and deaths among the poor people doing this dangerous work, but authorities do not seem to be investigating the causes. And India already has a pollution problem, causing 2.3 million premature deaths in 2019, according to a Lancet study. Nearly 1.6 million deaths were due to air pollution alone, and more than 500,000 were caused by water pollution.

Sources:

French island uncovers waste ring exporting toxic vehicle scrap to India (rfi.fr)

Lancet study: Pollution killed 2.3 million Indians in 2019 (bbc.com)
 

Iran: An Earthquake or Secret Underground Nuclear Test?

The University of Tehran’s seismography center announced that a 4.4-magnitude earthquake had shaken the city of Aradan in Iran’s Semnan province, with tremors also felt in parts of eastern Tehran this past Saturday. The epicenter of the earthquake, which occurred 12km below ground, were recorded as 35.42° north and 52.78° east.

Hours after the news broke, social media users began speculating that the Tehran regime had attempted to conduct its first underground nuclear test, presumably as a deterrent measure against Israeli attacks on its territory. Tehran had stopped disclosing its nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after then-President Donald Trump recklessly withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018.

These speculations came as Islamic Republic officials and Revolutionary Guard commanders repeatedly threatened that if economic, political, and military pressures on the country intensify, Tehran will alter its military defense doctrine — a change that would require amending the Iranian leader’s fatwa on the illegality of nuclear weapons. Iran is also a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The NorNews news website, which operates informally as the Islamic Republic’s National Security Council main information outlet, dismissed the nuclear speculation as “rumors” and once again stressed that nuclear testing contradicts Iran’s nuclear and defense doctrine.

In 2019, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies claimed that Iran had begun a program to build underground nuclear testing sites, known as the “Field Project”.

The foundation has been sanctioned by Iran’s Foreign Ministry for five years for “producing and disseminating lies, encouraging, consulting, lobbying, and negative propaganda campaign against the Islamic Republic with the aim of playing an effective role in imposing and intensifying economic sanctions”.

According to its 2019 report, its researchers “identified the likely location (in an area southeast of Semnan) where underground non-nuclear explosives tests were conducted in 2003 as part of developing seismic methods of measuring the yield of an underground nuclear explosive.”

This raises the speculation that the earthquake reported in Semnan could be connected to Tehran’s first nuclear test. While Iran has previously acknowledged the existence of the “Imam Khomeini” space center and missile headquarters southeast of Semnan, the site is more than 100 kms from the earthquake’s epicenter. Conspiracy theorists claim Iran prefers use this as a testing site instead of conducting them at a well-known facility such as Natanz.

Iran is an earthquake-prone country, so tremors like these are not uncommon or strange. During the savage Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Iranian generals wanted to desperately counter-attack Iraqi chemical weapons attacks with their own stockpiles, but the religious leaders of Iran issued a fatwa against the use of WMDs, arguing thy would despoil nature. The Iranian High Command bitterly acquiesced in the face of appalling battlefield casualties. The recent social media speculation seems to be emanating from war-hawks itching to incriminate Iran and inflame tensions in an already precarious time with Israel continuing its murderous rampage in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and against Shia Yemenis on the Arabian peninsula.  

Sources:

M 4.4 – 50 km NW of Bardaskan, Iran (usgs.gov)

Iran: An earthquake — or a secret underground nuclear test? | Euronews

Project Midan (fdd.org)

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – Wikipedia

Ex-British MI6 Operative: Donald Trump Took British Naval Secrets to Mar-A-Lago

Boxes and boxes with classified information stored inside a bathroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in April 2021. Photo: Department of Justice

Donald Trump took “British naval secrets” to Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House, the former UK MI6 operative Christopher Steele writes in a new book.
“I was reliably informed by impeccable sources that among the classified documents which Trump, apparently unauthorizedly, took with him to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his presidency were British naval secrets, some of the most sensitive ones in our governmental system,” Steele writes.


“It remains unclear to me, at least, why Trump would have wanted to retain such documents and what eventually happened to them.”

Steele does not say what the secrets concerned.

Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving power in 2021 was the subject of an FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago and 40 criminal charges brought by the special counsel Jack Smith. That case was thrown out in June by Aileen Cannon, a Florida judge appointed under Trump. Smith has appealed.

Trump was convicted on 34 criminal charges in New York, over hush-money payments to an adult film star. His attempts to overturn the 2020 election are the subject of four federal criminal charges and eight in Georgia.

Trump was previously reported to have discussed US nuclear submarines at Mar-a-Lago with an Australian billionaire who then shared the information. Reporting of that incident did not mention “British naval secrets”.

A Russian foreign ministry photo showing Donald Trump with Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak sharing a laugh during their meeting in the White House on 10 May 2017 (EPA)

Steele discusses the reported occasion in May 2017 when Trump shared “top secret intelligence”, allegedly about an Israeli asset working inside the terrorist group Isis, with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister. Sources, Steele says, believe Russia told Iran, which tipped off ISIS, leading to the death of the asset.

Steele then cites his “impeccable source” saying Trump took documents concerning British naval secrets to Mar-a-Lago. He also says the British government knew of links between Trump and Moscow before his intervention, as the Australian government reported activities involving a Trump adviser, George Papadopoulos, in 2016.

The two most dangerous internal national security threats to the United States of America are Donald J. Trump and disgraced retired US Army LG Michael Flynn.

The head table of a gala celebrating the tenth anniversary of Russia Today in Dec 2015 in Moscow. Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP and NBC News.

Sources:
Trump took ‘British naval secrets’ to Mar-a-Lago, says Christopher Steele | Donald Trump | The Guardian
Trump indictment unsealed: Read the copy (axios.com)

How Waffle House Helps Southerners and FEMA Judge Storm’s Severity

Image: FOX Weather

Golden hashbrowns, gravy-smothered biscuits and crispy waffles with a hearty helping of maple syrup are among the classic Southern comfort foods. But when hurricanes tear through Southeastern towns, the hot meals and bold yellow signs of the local Waffle House provide another kind of comfort.

If a Waffle House stays open in town, even in a limited capacity, neighbors are reassured that the coming storm is unlikely to cause devastation. A closed location of the dependable diner chain has come to indicate impending disaster. The metric is known as the Waffle House Index.

What might sound like silly logic has become one of the most reliable ways for Southerners — and even federal officials — to gauge a storm’s severity and identify communities most in need of immediate aid.

About two dozen Waffle House locations remained closed in the Carolinas and the chain’s home state of Georgia on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the states were among those battered by Hurricane Helene. Several other locations were open but serving a limited menu.

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida communities still recovering from Helene, many Waffle House locations along the Gulf Coast, including those in Tampa, Cape Coral, and St. Petersburg, have closed in preparation.

The South’s favorite disaster authority provides an informal measure of how significantly a storm will affect or has affected a community.

A map of the chain’s over 1,900 locations, concentrated in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic, helps residents of storm-prone states assess whether they’re likely to lose power, experience severe flooding or endure other extreme conditions that might cause a resilient restaurant to close its doors. For some, it’s a telltale sign of whether they need to evacuate.

Waffle House is known not just for serving breakfast 24/7, 365 days a year, but also for its disaster preparedness. For decades, people across the South have noticed that the local Waffle House seemed to be the only business still open during a storm or the first to reopen after it passed.

The restaurant chain’s reputation for remaining open when people desperately needed a place to warm up, charge devices and grab a hot meal became a fairly reliable — albeit amusing — source to help track recovery efforts.

Waffle House’s social media shares color-coded maps of its restaurant locations in certain regions that will soon be hit or are recovering from storm damage. FEMA also offers some live tracking.

Waffle House has closed many Florida locations before Hurricane Milton has made landfall, indicating the damage will likely be severe.

The appropriately named Milton (Paradise Lost) was upgraded back to a Category 5 storm Tuesday as it churned toward Florida’s west coast. The “meteorological monster” could land a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St. Petersburg, engulfing the populous region with towering storm surges and turning debris from Helene’s devastation into projectiles.

Source:

Waffle House Index helps Southerners and FEMA judge a hurricane’s severity | AP News

Friendly Cat Joins Canine Airport Therapy Squad at Denver Intl Airport

Therapy cat Xeli always seems to know when she’s needed. So, when she starts tugging on her leash, her handlers follow the cat to an older couple hunched miserably over their chairs at one of Denver International Airport’s concourses. Their return flight was cancelled, and they’ve logged countless hours trying to get back home.  


Volunteers Nathan and Laine ask the duo if they’d like to hold the cat. The travellers’ faces light up instantly and Xeli bounds onto their laps and curls into a ball. The couple start reminiscing about their own pet who resembled the tabby. By the time the trio leaves, the travelers are smiling.  “Visiting with Xeli was the highlight of our day,” they say.

Photo Courtesy The Petco Foundation

These kinds of transformations are par for the course for members of the Canine Airport Therapy Squad (CATS). Despite the acronym, the team consists of 94 dogs and one cat—Xeli. The program, founded in 2015, offers stress relief to travelers overwhelmed by the airport’s hustle and bustle, missed or late flights, or the scrutiny at security. By the time voyagers reach the boarding areas, they’re ready for the soothing snuggles and distraction of the therapy teams.

Xeli has always done that. Her “sweet nature” was evident to Nathan and Laine from the moment they glimpsed the purring kitten at a Petsmart adoption event. After bringing her home, the couple quickly realized that Xeli could charm even their most feline-resistant friends. A friend told Laine, “I’m not really a cat person, but Xeli’s pretty cool.” That’s when the couple began to see Xeli’s potential as a therapy animal.  

Not every cat is cut out for the role. A potential therapy cat must have a mellow disposition and enjoy interacting with people. Prospective animals have to be certified by a recognized national agency who puts them through a gauntlet of simulated real-life situations, including loud noises and nearby dogs. Cats who prove their mettle undergo a more specific evaluation at the airport, where they’re shepherded through security, taken up escalators, and ride the trains.

Some travelers don’t know what to make of the tabby and her handlers, dressed in matching blue plaid vests. “Some people give us weird looks,” says Laine. Others offer money. A few have even tried to adopt the cat.   

Photo: Courtesy K99

“We own her,” the volunteers clarify. “We’re here so that people who might be a little anxious can have some kitty cuddles.” 

Sources:

Cat Infiltrates Canine Airport Therapy Squad – Modern Cat

Heads of CIA and MI6 Issue Joint Public Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

CIA Director William Burns (L) and MI6 Chief Richard Moore (R) said their agencies had “exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation” in the Middle East.

In an opinion piece for the Financial Times (linked below), the two spymasters said a ceasefire in Israel’s Gaza war “could end the suffering and appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians and bring home the hostages after 11 months of hellish confinement.”

Burns has been heavily involved in efforts to broker an end to the Israeli war, travelling to Egypt in August for high-level talks aimed at bringing about a captive release deal and at least a temporary halt to the conflict.Burns said ending the war would require “some hard choices and some political compromises” from both Israel and Hamas.

The US and the UK are both staunch allies of Israel, though London diverged from Washington by suspending some arms exports to Israel because of the risk they could be used to break international law.

Burns and Moore stressed the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship in the face of “an unprecedented array of threats,” including an assertive Russia, an ever-more powerful China, and the constant threat from international terrorism.

Nota Bene: When the two heads of Western intelligence make a public joint appeal, we should heed their good counsel. CIA and MI6 have access to a mountain of classified information A-to-Z about all the players and activities in the region derived from signals intercepts, HUMINT sources, satellite imagery, low-level informants, defectors, diplomatic cables, and simple wiretaps. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Cabinet should heed this joint communique.

Sources:

Bill Burns and Richard Moore: Intelligence partnership helps the US and UK stay ahead in an uncertain world (ft.com)

Heads of the CIA and MI6 issue joint call for a ceasefire in Gaza – War on Gaza – War on Gaza – Ahram Online

Organized Crime Increasingly Uses Commercial, Cargo Flights to Move Drugs, Arms, Gold

According to a report by risk intelligence company Osprey Flight Solutions (OFS), transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) have been increasingly using commercial and cargo flights in Latin America to move drugs, arms, and gold. OFS analyzed post-incident alerts between Feb 2021 to Feb 2024 on the seizure of illicit goods with connections to the US, Europe, and Africa.

For example, on 4 Jul Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) arrested a Chinese citizen attempting to board a flight bound for Hong Kong with 17 gold bars in coffee bags. Following his arrest, the PF found that the man was involved in another similar seizure on 8 May with a kg of gold. In 2023, Colombian antinarcotics found 1.5 tons of cocaine inside a shipment of 57 boxes containing vegetables and apples in a cargo aircraft bound for the US.

Data shows that alerts generated at Latin American airports, in warehouses, and aboard aircraft, increased by 147 percent between 2021 and 2023, with the highest numbers in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia.

Brazil recorded the highest number of seizures: 1,737. The incidents mainly had to do with gold and drug trafficking. According to the PF regarding drug seizures (cocaine, marijuana, skunk, ecstasy, amphetamine, and methamphetamine) at Brazilian airports, the amount jumped from 4.4 tons in 2021 to 9.8 tons in 2023, an increase of more than 120 percent.

Although the increase in alerts coincides with the return to normality of international flights, following the removal of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the data reflects greater international drug flow and demand.

Thiago Moreira de Souza Rodrigues, a security researcher from Fluminense Federal University in Rio de Janeiro says that “Global air traffic has grown a lot in the last three decades. So, surveillance, whether by radiometry, physical surveillance, dogs, in short, specialized personnel, is very complicated, always done by samples. Even if some drug shipments are seized, the volume that passes through is much greater than what is seized in the surveillance networks. In air traffic, although it is smaller and more spread out, shipments are multiplied by the large number of air routes and flows. If you take airports like the world’s major hubs, there are thousands of flights a week.”

TCOs use many methods to smuggle drugs and other illicit goods via air routes. Common tactics include placing goods in hidden compartments built into legal shipments, setting up export companies to conceal illegal shipments, corrupting airport authorities, and using smugglers who transport the goods on their flights.

“Since the golden age when drug trafficking began as a transnational economy, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, commercial air travel has always been used, and basically for the same reason, the link between airport employees on the ground, the logistical maintenance of the airport itself, the airlines, in short, the yield is so high that many people take the risk,” InSight Crime said in a report.

Mexico registered 700 alerts during the period studied, highlighting the flow of synthetic drugs via domestic flights from Culicán and Querétaro to cities on the US-Mexico border, such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez. Colombia, which came in third place with 488 alerts, recorded cocaine as the most common substance trafficked via air cargo through Bogotá, San Andrés Island, and on to Belgium, France, the UK, and Australia. Alerts at Colombian airports increased by 275 percent between Feb 2021 to Feb 2024.

According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), only two percent of containers that travel around the world by air, sea, roads, and railways, are adequately inspected to detect contraband.

Sources:

Organized Crime Increasingly Uses Commercial, Cargo Flights to Move Drugs, Arms, Gold – Diálogo Américas (dialogo-americas.com)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (unodc.org)

InSight Crime – Investigation and Analysis of Organized Crime

Indonesia Arrests Seven Over Pope Francis ‘Terror Threats’

A security detail of approximately 4,000 personnel, including snipers, soldiers, police and his personal security team of Swiss Guards, protected the Pope before he departed for the rest of his trip in Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. Roads around key sites were re-routed or closed.

Indonesia arrested seven people for making online “terror threats” against Pope Francis during his visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country this week. The 87-year-old pontiff made Southeast Asia’s biggest economy the first stop of an arduous Asia-Pacific tour, delivering a message of religious unity to counter extremism and intolerance.

Indonesia’s elite counter-terrorism unit Densus 88 arrested the suspects in Jakarta, West Sumatra, and Bangka. They are accused of posting statements and images online that threatened bomb attacks on the pope’s public meetings in Jakarta.

The first Jesuit pontiff’s schedule had included visits to Southeast Asia’s biggest mosque, Jakarta’s cathedral, the presidential palace, and the national football stadium.

Fortunately, no serious terrorist plots were exposed. Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an al-Qaida-linked terror group, was rendered ineffective years ago. Ji was responsible for the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, the deadliest attacks in the country’s history.

In Papua New Guinea, a country that has struggled with tribal conflicts throughout its history, Pope Francis made a heartfelt appeal for peace. Earlier this year, 26 people were killed in a gunfight in Enga Province, a region that has been plagued by violence between tribal groups.

Sources:

Indonesia Arrests Seven Over Pope Francis ‘Terror Threats’ (hngn.com)

Pope Francis to Papua New Guinea: Protect nature, end tribal violence, embrace diversity | Catholic News Agency

Jemaah Islamiyah – Wikipedia

Missouri Reports First Confirmed Case of Avian Flu in Human; US Total Now 14

Missouri reported its first confirmed human case of bird flu in a person who reported no exposure to animals. The case brings the national total to 14 so far this year. The latest case in Missouri was in an adult with underlying medical conditions. He was hospitalized on 22 Aug and has since recovered.

“The patient has reported no exposure to animals,” the Missouri health department said. The information is preliminary and would require further investigation by health authorities.

The case of bird flu, also known as H5, was initially detected through the state’s normal influenza surveillance testing program. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also confirmed it to be a human case of the H5 subtype of flu.

Source:

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/missouri-reports-first-human-case-bird-flu-in-state/story?id=113474247

Enlisted US Sailor Detained in Venezuela as Tensions Between the Two Countries Simmer

Undated photo of Venezuelan riot police detaining a protestor. Image: European Pressphoto Agency

An enlisted American sailor was detained by authorities in Venezuela and being held incommunicado. The sailor was “not authorized to travel, on official travel or approved leave” when he was detained. The State Department is working with the Venezuelan authorities to secure the sailor’s release.

The news of the sailor’s detention also comes just days after the Department of Justice announced the seizure of a private jet that was used by Venezuela’s leader, President Nicolás Maduro.

The sailor’s detention, which was first reported by CNN, seems to be the latest in a series of events that has showcased the growing tensions between the US and Venezuela. Those tensions have been building since Venezuela’s 28 July election between Maduro and Edmundo González, which officials from several countries say was stolen by Maduro.

The State Department has long warned US citizens not to travel to Venezuela, citing “a high risk of wrongful detention.”The travel warning also notes that Venezuela’s “security forces have detained US citizens for up to five years” and the US “is not generally notified of the detention of AMCITs in Venezuela or granted access to them.”

The unnamed sailor is just the latest in a string of service members to find themselves in the jail of a hostile nation after failing to heed travel warnings.

In May 2024, SSG Gordon Black was arrested in Russia and has been in prison there ever since. PVT Travis King drew international attention in July 2023 when he left a tour group and dashed across the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea, which detained him for about two months.

Source:

Enlisted US Sailor Detained in Venezuela as Tensions Between the 2 Countries Simmer | Military.com

US Egg Recall: Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Illnesses in Nine States

A salmonella outbreak linked to eggs sold in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois has resulted in 24 hospitalizations and 65 illnesses in nine states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The egg recall reported Friday applies to Milo’s Poultry Farms and Tony’s Fresh Market eggs including those labeled cage-free or organic.

Food recalls have reached a peak the US hasn’t approached since before the COVID-19 pandemic, an April report found. Recalled food products led to 1,100 sickened people and six dead in 2023, per the US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

People have been reported sick in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin, where most cases have been reported.

Symptoms of salmonella — including diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps — typically begin six hours to six days following infection, and most of those infected recover without treatment within a week. Children younger than five years, adults 65 years and older, and people with weakened immune systems may experience more severe illnesses that require medical treatment or hospitalization.

Sources:

Egg recall: Salmonella outbreak linked to illnesses in 9 states (axios.com)

Despite Warnings, Sarajevo Police Use Controversial Chinese-Made Body Cameras

Sarajevo police officers from the traffic unit wear Hytera body cams at a press event for the launch of the pilot program on 1 July. D/CIA William Burns recently visited Sarajevo and presumably advised his Bosnian counterpart of the perils associated with Chinese technology.

Amid a growing push for transparency, Sarajevo police have chosen to use body cameras from a controversial Chinese company that is under scrutiny in Canada and the EU and blacklisted in the US over national security concerns.

Despite those warnings, which also include charges from the US Justice Department of industrial espionage, the Sarajevo Canton’s Interior Ministry decided to purchase 200 police body cams in 2023 from Hytera, a partially state-owned Chinese manufacturer, for a pilot program launched on 1 July.

This local-level episode comes amid an evolving conversation across Europe over the use of Chinese telecommunications equipment in government programs. While the US has been the strictest — banning surveillance cameras and other equipment made by Chinese giants like Huawei, ZTE, Dahua, and Hikvision — European governments like Britain, Germany, France, and the Baltic states are also updating their procurement systems amid growing probes into security risks caused by Chinese firms.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina and elsewhere across the Balkans, budget-conscious governments have increasingly turned to affordable Chinese equipment with little public debate about the potential security implications.

In the case of the 200,000-euro ($222,000) sale of the police body cams — small video cameras worn by an officer to record arrests and provide evidence from crime scenes — Sarajevo Canton Interior Minister Admir Katica has not said publicly that the equipment is made by Hytera or that the company has been blacklisted in the US and is under increased scrutiny.

Unidentified Chinese military computer installation. Source: “Chinese Hackers Persist in Attacking US Networks” by Bill Gertz, 2 Oct 2012. Chinese intelligence services, including the MSS, have the manpower and computers to conduct massive worldwide surveillance and hack Western networks.

Sources:

Sarajevo Police Use Controversial Chinese-Made Body Cams, Despite Warnings (rferl.org)

https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist

American Warzone: Junior Sailor Fatally Shot in San Diego; Multiple People Shot Near Lexington, KY

18-year-old sailor Albert Lee Soto died Saturday after being shot in San Diego, according to the US Navy and police. He was assigned to the destroyer Pinckney. Police received reports at 12:49 a.m. of shots fired in San Diego’s East Village neighborhood, and a responding officer found Soto suffering from at least one gunshot wound. After CPR was administered at the scene, Soto was transported to a local hospital and died from his wounds shortly after.

Soto was involved in an altercation with a group of men inside a nearby nightclub before the shooting, but detectives have not confirmed whether the two incidents involving the sailor are related. The suspects in Soto’s shooting are described as four Black males wearing dark clothing who were last seen running eastbound on F Street.

Individuals with pertinent information are urged to contact the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

To the east, a manhunt is underway for 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch, suspected in shooting at least five people along Interstate 75 in a rural area south of Lexington, KY. All the victims are in stable condition. The Kentucky State Police urged people to stay indoors as the suspect is “armed and dangerous.”

Joseph A. Couch is “armed and dangerous.” (Imagery: NBC News)

State Firearms Data:

Kentucky: 108,833 firearms licenses reported; 54.6% of adults have firearms at home. In average year, 728 people die and 1,036 are wounded by guns in the Bluegrass State.

California: 406,360 firearms licenses reported; an estimated 28.3% of adults have guns in their homes. In an average year, 3,299 people die by guns in the Golden State.

EveryStat – EveryStat.org

Junior sailor fatally shot in San Diego (militarytimes.com)

Multiple people shot near Kentucky highway, ‘armed and dangerous’ person of interest ID’d (nbcnews.com)

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says a shooting has occurred on Interstate 75 – Washington Times

4. California – Gun map: Ownership by state – statistics and rates (cbsnews.com)

British Four-Year-Old Heroine Uses Amazon Alexa to Save Mom During Epileptic Fit‌ ‌

Lyla Leathem with a trophy and certificate for helping her mother. (LEAH BIGGS VIA SWNS)

When her mother suffered an epileptic seizure on 25 Aug, quick-thinking Lyla Leathem ran upstairs and asked Alexa to call her great-grandmother after she was unable to unlock her mother’s phone. Lyla explained to her great-grandmother that her mother had “a big fit” in the night and bitten her tongue. Lyla’s great-grandmother then rushed over from her home and helped stay-at-home mother Leah Leathem. She was treated at her home and recovered.

Family members had previously shown Lyla how to use Alexa for phone calls as her mom often suffers from nocturnal seizures which can be “life-threatening.” But they had no idea the youngster had listened – until she was called into action.

Proud Leah Leathem with quick-thinking Lyla. (LEAH BIGGS VIA SWNS)

Sources:

4-Year-Old Hero Uses Amazon Alexa To Save Mom During Epileptic Fit‌ ‌ – MEA Magazine