The Palestinian Authority health ministry said 23-year-old Rasheed Seda was killed and another Palestinian was critically wounded by the “settlers’ bullets.”
Dozens of extremist Israeli settlers, many of them masked, rampaged in the West Bank Palestinian village of Jit, setting fire to homes and vehicles. A Palestinian man was killed in the attack.
The settlers hurled stones and Molotov cocktails, torching at least four homes and six vehicles in the village, located just west of Nablus. More than 100 assailants were involved. Minutes after the “grave incident” was reported, troops and border police officers were dispatched to the scene. The IDF said the troops used riot dispersal means and fire rounds in the air while taking the Israelis out of the village.
Israeli authorities rarely arrest Jewish perpetrators in such attacks. Rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual, and the vast majority of charges in such attacks are dropped.
While many members of the Israeli cabinet condemned the attack, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the storming of Jit was “not connected in any way to the settlement enterprise or to settlers.”
According to the UN, more than 500 Palestinians have been murdered in the West Bank over the past several years. Recently, the US sanctioned four Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, but these measures were apparently not enough to deter this type of wanton rampaging, murder, and displacing Palestinians from their homes.
Sources:
Palestinian killed as settlers torch homes and cars in West Bank village | The Times of Israel
More than 500 Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank: UN rights chief | UN News
US sanctions Israeli settlers over West Bank violence (bbc.com)
Cardinals Superfan Known as Rally Runner Gets Ten Months in Prison for January 6 Attack on Capitol
Rally Runner, F.K.A., Daniel Donnelly, Jr. (44) of St. Louis, MO, was sentenced to ten months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $3,000 in fines and restitution by US District Judge Jia M. Cobb. Runner previously pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder on 22 March 2024.
Rally Runner attended the former President’s rally at the Ellipse on 6 Jan 2021. Runner then proceeded to the US Capitol building and then to the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, wearing a red “Keep America Great” hat, red jacket, and distinctive red face paint. The Tunnel was the site of some of the most violent attacks against US Capitol Police officers that day. Seditionists at the Tunnel battled police officers for hours as they attempted to storm the Capitol building. Police had retreated inside the Tunnel to protect an entrance to the Capitol building.
The defendant made his way to the threshold of the Tunnel’s entrance, facing off with police while holding a riot shield he had obtained earlier. USCP officers attempted to move the crowd out of the Tunnel. Runner is seen holding up the stolen riot shield to the USCP officers, forming a wall in connection with other shields held by other seditionists. After finally being forced out of the Tunnel, Runner triumphantly celebrated his conduct.
Tucker Carlson featured this flamboyant seditionist on a December 2021 segment of his now-canceled Fox News show. Carlson showed an image of Rally Runner outside the Capitol — wearing red face paint and red clothes — as the television host promoted conspiracy theories that uncharged “agent provocateurs” had infiltrated the mob.
Another member of America’s “Fedayeen Saddam” (FS), a white supremacist dead-ender, has been incarcerated and will most likely watch the November election from prison.
Source:
NYC Paid $120,000 to Settle Police Misconduct Allegations Against now-GOP Congressional Candidate Alison Esposito
In an episode straight out of the TV show American Horror Story (FX), a former NYPD officer twice-sued over wrongful arrests during her 25 glorious years with New York’s Finest, is a Republican candidate for Congress, a position that pays $174,000 per annum plus extraordinary benefits. Alison Esposito is the NYS GOP selection to run against West Point graduate Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY, 18th CD). This the same Republican cabal that afflicted the world with infamous ex-Congressman George Santos (whose name anagrams into “Strange Goose”).
Two wrongful arrest lawsuits against Alison Esposito cost NYC taxpayers $120,000 in settlements. In 2005, three black women sued Officer Esposito for wrongful arrest and were awarded $95,000 in damages. In 2017, Esposito was sued again for entering into an apartment building where she “did unlawfully stop, assault, frisk, handcuff, detain, arrest and imprison” an infant named Rebecca Cuevas. The mother was ultimately given $25,000 in a settlement.
Furthermore, Esposito received eight complaints through the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, though none of those were substantiated. On 12 Aug, Politico reported that Esposito was reprimanded by her superiors in the NYPD after she left her service weapon and badge in an unlocked car which were stolen. We can only hope that nobody was killed with the missing firearm.
What an episode of American Horror Story.
Sources:
Silk non-Dairy Milk Recalled in Canada Amid Listeria Outbreak: Three deaths
The death of a third person has been linked to almond, oat and other non-dairy milks recalled in Canada for potential listeria contamination.
Do not consume, use, sell, serve or distribute various recalled plant-based refrigerated beverages.
The Public Health Agency of Canada issued an alert on 17 July advising people to avoid drinking certain refrigerated non-dairy milk products produced by Danone Canada and sold in the country under the Silk brand and Walmart’s Great Value brand. Consuming plant-based drinks had been linked to two deaths and 12 cases of listeria infection.
A third death and eight more cases – 15 have been hospitalized and 20 cases have been linked to the outbreak. Thirteen of the cases were reported in Ontario, five in Quebec and one each in Alberta and Nova Scotia; people became sick between August 2023 and early July 2024.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency continues to investigate and said additional products may be recalled. “More recent illnesses may continue to be reported in the outbreak because there is a period between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported to public health officials.”
Sources:
Silk non-dairy milk recalled in Canada amid listeria outbreak: Deaths increased to three (msn.com)
Beijing Reports “Destroying Large Network” of Taiwanese Spies
The Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) announced they had “destroyed” a large network of Taiwanese spies in the mainland and uncovered more than 1,000 espionage cases in a vow to fight “separatism.”
“The cases involved espionage activities and leaking state secrets,” said the MSS. The ministry cited the case of Taiwanese citizen Yang Zhiyuan, who was arrested in August 2022 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, on suspicion of engaging in “separatist activities” and endangering China’s national security.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council reports that the MSS uses “vague and unclear laws” to detain people from Taiwan who do not conform with the political ideology of China’s ruling Communist Party.
In 2022 researcher Cheng Yu-chin, a former aide to Taiwan’s former President Tsai, was imprisoned for seven years on espionage-related charges. Taiwanese activist Lee Ming-che was sentenced to five years prison for subversion before being released in 2022, while Taiwanese businessman Lee Meng-chu was jailed on espionage charges in Shenzhen in 2019 for taking photos of armed police officers.
Without further data, this political sweep by the MSS appears to be out of the movie Casablanca:
“Round up the usual suspects.”
Whether the MSS uncovered genuine deep penetration sources, double agents, sleeper cells, low level informants, or commercial spies remains to be seen.
Beijing has dialed up diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan since former president Tsai Ing-wen’s administration came to power in 2016. Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) refuse to acknowledge that Taiwan and the mainland belong to “One China.” President Lai Ching-te, who is also a DPP member, is viewed with suspicion by the CCP.
Sources:
China says it ‘destroyed large network’ of Taiwanese spies — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)
Dual US-Russian Citizen Sentenced To 12 Years for Treason over $51 Donation to Ukrainian Charity
A Russian court in Yekaterinburg sentenced dual US-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison after convicting her of treason for transferring $51 to a Ukrainian aid charity in early 2022. Karelina’s lawyer said his client admitted making the donation, but planned to appeal the verdict.
Karelina (33) moved to the US in 2015, married a US citizen, and received US citizenship in 2021. She was arrested in Yekaterinburg in January on suspicion of petty hooliganism.
On 7 February treason charges were filed against her after investigators learned that on the second day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she had transferred $51 to Razom, a Ukrainian aid group that helps civilians affected by the war. Prosecutors found evidence of the donation on her mobile phone.
This is the same judge who in July sentenced US journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.
According to rights groups, nearly 900 Russians have been convicted of treason, espionage, or cooperation with foreign governments since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sources:
Dual U.S.-Russian Citizen Sentenced To 12 Years For Treason In Yekaterinburg (rferl.org)
LAPD Arrests Four Suspects in Slaying of ‘General Hospital’ Actor Johnny Wactor
Three 18-year-olds and a 22-year-old accomplice have been arrested in connection with the slaying of General Hospital actor Johnny Wactor in Los Angeles. The three teenagers were arrested on murder charges while the older man was taken into custody as an accessory, police said in a statement.
The teenage suspects are Robert Barceleau, Leonel Gutierrez, and Sergio Estrada. Frank Olano (22) was jailed on the accessory warrant.
Wactor (37) was shot on 25 May. Witnesses said the slaying happened after Wactor had finished a shift working as a bartender when he discovered three suspects were in the process of stealing his car’s catalytic converter. The actor was “shot without provocation” after which the suspects fled in a stolen 2018 black Infiniti Q50. Police sources told The Los Angeles Times they suspect the Florencia 13 street gang is involved in this crime.
In an average year, 3,089 people die by guns in California. With a rate of 7.7 deaths per 100,000 people, the Golden State has the 44th-highest rate of gun deaths in the US.
California Firearms Licenses in 2021: 406,360
An estimated 28.3% of adults in California have guns in their homes. The number of illegal firearms flooding the streets of California is unknown.
Sources:
LAPD arrests 4 in slaying of ‘General Hospital’ actor Johnny Wactor – UPI.com
4. California – Gun map: Ownership by state – statistics and rates (cbsnews.com)
Every-State-Fact-Sheet-2.0-042720-California.pdf (everytownresearch.org)
Florida Man Arrested for Threatening and Attacking Energy Facility
Source: Case number 6:24-cr-201 in the Middle District of Florida, Document 17. Supplement to motion for detention. Solar panels with cracked glass that Hnaihen damaged.
Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen (43) a Jordanian citizen residing in Orlando, FL is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility.
Beginning around June 2024, Hnaihen targeted and attacked businesses in the Orlando area for their perceived support for Israel. Wearing a mask, under the cover of night, Hnaihen smashed the glass front doors of businesses and left behind “Warning Letters.”
At the end of June, Hnaihen broke into a solar power generation facility in Wedgefield, FL, and spent hours systematically destroying solar panel arrays. He smashed panels, cut wires, and targeted critical electronic equipment. Hnaihen left behind two more copies of his threatening demand letter. Hnaihen is believed to have caused more than $700,000 in damage.
Hnaihen was arrested on 11 July, shortly after another “Warning Letter” threatening to “destroy or explode everything” was discovered at an industrial propane gas distribution depot in Orlando.
Hnaihen is charged with four counts of threatening to use explosives and one count of destruction of an energy facility. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each threat offense and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the destruction of an energy facility offense.
Frustration and anger at US foreign policy, and the fact that Jordan lies in-between Israel and Iran, no doubt motivated this Jordanian to commit sabotage. Any conflict between Israel and Iran could affect Jordan with collateral damage. Moreover, war increases the risk of political instability in the Hashemite Kingdom as an estimated three million displaced Palestinians have been living there for decades.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinians_in_Jordan
Four US Flight Attendants Convicted of Smuggling Drug Money to Dominican Republic
Four New York-based flight attendants admitted to smuggling drug money to the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic.
Sarah Valerio Pujols (42), Charlie Hernandez (42), Emmanuel Torres (34), and Jarol Fabio (35) pleaded guilty to one count of operation of an unlicensed money transmission business.
“These four flight attendants abused their privileges as flight attendants to move money for drug traffickers,” SDNY US Attorney Damian Williams said.
Prosecutors say the flight attendants worked for different international airlines and had elevated TSA security clearance that allowed them to pass through a less-scrutinized security screening at airports. A cooperating witness operated a money laundering business that specialized in the movement of cash from New York City drug sales to the Dominican Republic.
The flight attendants were allegedly paid a fee to get the money past airport security and hand them off to a person in the Dominican Republic. The four suspects were caught through a series of orchestrated sting operations.
The four defendants face up to five years in prison when they are sentenced.
Sources:
Coriolanus 