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Russian Citizen Arrested for Illegally Exporting US-Sourced Microelectronics with Military Applications to Russia

Photo: Russian Shahed drone arrived in Belarus on 14 Sep (Getty Images)

Denis Postovoy (44) was arrested on charges of conspiring to violate US export control laws. Residing in Sarasota, FL, the defendant is accused of smuggling, money laundering, and defrauding the US by exporting microelectronic components with military applications to Russia.

Postovoy allegedly began his illicit activities in February 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, by acquiring US-made microelectronics used in drones and exporting them to Russia without proper licenses. 

Postovoy allegedly operated through a network of companies in Russia, Hong Kong, and other locations, purchasing the components from US distributors and using intermediary destinations to conceal the final destination of the shipments. The scheme aimed to strengthen Russia’s military capabilities.

Postovoy’s companies, including Hong Kong-based WowCube HK Limited and Russia’s Vector Group, are said to have played a key role in the scheme by submitting false documentation and transshipping goods through countries like Switzerland and Hong Kong. Payments were allegedly funneled through foreign bank accounts, including those in Russia and Hong Kong, to US suppliers of the microelectronics. 

Postovoy’s arrest is part of a broader effort coordinated by the Disruptive Technology Strike Force, a joint initiative of the Departments of Justice and Commerce to prevent hostile regimes from acquiring sensitive technologies. 

Denis Postovoy faced previous litigation from the State of Florida.

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

Sources:

District of Columbia | Russian Citizen Arrested for Illegally Exporting U.S.-Sourced Microelectronics with Military Applications to Russia | United States Department of Justice

STATE OF FLORIDA VS POSTOVOY, DENIS (unicourt.com)

Louisiana Man Sentenced on Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During 6 Jan Attack Against Capitol Hill

Willard Purkel (51) of Covington, LA, was sentenced on 12 Sept 2024 to 60 days in prison, nine months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution after he previously pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges related to his conduct during the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Purkel pleaded guilty on 3 Jun 2024, to a five-count indictment charging him with civil disorder, a felony, and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

The FBI arrested Purkel on 30 Nov 2023, in Louisiana. His son, Colby (USMS #89223-510), was sentenced last month to three weeks in prison for his role in the riots.

In the 44 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,504 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 560 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.

Source:

District of Columbia | Louisiana Man Sentenced on Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

Doctors Without Borders Ceases Operations in Russia

MSF volunteers serve in these locations

The Swiss-based Doctors Without Borders (MSF) aid group on September 16 said it has been forced to close its operations in Russia. “It is with a heavy heart that we have to close our activities in Russia,” said the head of the group’s Russia program. “Our organization’s work is guided by the principles of independence, impartiality, and neutrality, and medical ethics. We provide assistance based on the needs.” MSF has been in Russia since 1992 but said it received notice in August from the Justice Ministry that its office was removed from the register of nongovernmental organizations.

This draconian move only punishes Russians in remote areas who have little to no access to healthcare. The elites and the oligarchs can access medical care and medicines under the sanctions, unlike the average Russian.

Source:

Doctors Without Borders Ceases Operations In Russia (rferl.org)

NORAD Tracks More Russian Military Planes Near Alaskan Air Space

Russian IL-38 (undated imagery)

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked two Russian IL-38 military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on 15 Sep 2024.

The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.


An ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security.


NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions. NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America.

The string of recent interceptions began Sept. 11 when NORAD spotted a pair of Russian military aircraft operating in international air near ADIZ but also did not enter Canadian or United States sovereign airspace, according to a release on Wednesday.

However, Russian flights occur “regularly” into the airspace known ADIZ with other recent interceptions in recent as July and May.

July’s incident arrived days after the Kremlin’s Defense Ministry claimed it had intercepted two US B-52N bombers near the Russia’s borders just days prior.

Then on Friday, a pair of TU-142s were detected by NORAD. Those aircraft are Russian reconnaissance and anti-submarine planes. A day later came reports of two Russian IL-38 planes detected, followed by Sunday’s announcement.

Earlier in the summer, NORAD intercepted two Chinese and two Russian military jets flying near Alaska in what officials say was the first known time the two large nations had been recorded operating together.

At the time of their joint encounter, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Russia and China are “always testing us.”

The US Army recently deployed a large contingency of paratroopers, radar units and at least one M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System to Shemya Island, off the coast of Alaska.

A US Army M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) launches ordnance during RED FLAG-Alaska 21-1 at Fort Greely, AK, 22 Oct2020. This exercise focused on rapid infiltration and exfiltration to minimize the chance of a counterattack. (USAF photo by Senior Airman Beaux Hebert)

This deployment occurred concurrently with Russia’s own extensive naval exercises taking place across the Pacific Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Arctic Ocean to assess Russian combat readiness, the EurAsian Times reported.

Sources:

NORAD detects and tracks Russian aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone > North American Aerospace Defense Command > Press Releases

NORAD says it continues to track more Russian military planes near Alaska’s air space – UPI.com

Iran Allegedly Hiring Hells Angels to Target Enemies in West

Recent open source reporting reveals that Iran has been hiring criminal organizations, including the Hells Angels, to assassinate or abduct Iranian dissidents or political critics living in the West. A British journalist was recently attacked in London and US authorities uncovered several plots. In total, 88 violent plots linked to Iran have been identified over the last five years by journalists and law-enforcement agencies.

Hells Angels’ boss Ramin Yektaparast is wanted in Germany on terror charges; he has been living in Iran since 2021 Credit: Instagram

Iranian drug trafficker Naji Sharifi Zindashti illustrates how Iran’s intelligence operations are integrated with organized crime.

Heroin kingpin Naji Sharifi Zindashti allegedly contacted Hells Angels bikers to kill an Iranian defector Photo: FBI

But the nexus between state players and organized crime is not a new phenomenon and should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Saigon’s notorious underworld was the scourge of the Viet Cong in the 1950s and 1970s. Chiang Kai-Shek relied on the Green Gang, a powerful criminal organization in Shang Hai to suppress dissidents (until finally losing the Civil War to Mao Tze-Dong). Israel employs a terrorist organization, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), to assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists. We see in open press reporting Russian oligarchs with links to the Kremlin and organized crime; Chechnya is a basically a criminal fiefdom of Russia run by warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.

Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) cooperates with both the powerful Haqqani Network (HQN) in Afghanistan and with Ibrahim Dawood and his notorious D Company. This criminal terrorist organization has business tentacles in India, the UAE, Morocco, the UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Italy, France, and allegedly Mexican criminal organizations.

Sources:

Iranian man and two Hells Angels accused in murder-for-hire plot in U.S. (nbcnews.com)

Assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists – Wikipedia

How Iran is using dark underworld of Hells Angels ‘hitmen’ to wipe out critics & crack down on dissent in Europe & US – The Sun | The Sun

Iran Allegedly Hiring Hells Angels and Criminal Gangs for Global Assassination Campaign (semperincolumem.com)

The evolving terror funding matrix: Pakistan, ISI and D Company and its global criminal web | South Asia Monitor

Wanted Persons / Internet / Home – INTERPOL (archive.ph)

D-Company – Wikipedia

Green Gang – Wikipedia

WHO: Over 22,500 Palestinians Suffered ‘Life-Changing Injuries’ in Gaza

Palestinian children at a temporary field hospital in southern Gaza Strip. Photo: WHO/Christopher Black

More than 22,500 people – a quarter of those wounded in Gaza since Israel’s offensive began – have life-changing injuries, requiring rehabilitation services “now and for years to come”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported. These include severe limb injuries, amputations, spinal cord trauma, traumatic brain injuries, and major burns.

Israeli forces invaded Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 terror attacks by Palestinian armed groups in southern Israel.

Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, highlighted that the surge in rehabilitation needs is occurring alongside the wholesale collapse of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure.

“Patients can’t get the care they need. Acute rehabilitation services are severely disrupted and specialized care for complex injuries is not available, placing patients’ lives at risk. Immediate and long-term support is urgently needed to address the enormous rehabilitation needs.”

Services such as wound care, physical therapy, and psychological support are either inaccessible or entirely unavailable, leaving thousands at risk of further complications, disabilities or even death.

According to the UN health agency, only 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, primary healthcare and community-level services are frequently suspended, due to insecurity, attacks and repeated evacuation orders.

Gaza’s only limb reconstruction and rehabilitation centre, located in the Nasser Medical Complex and supported by WHO, has been non-functional since Dec 2023 due to lack of supplies and staff, and was further damaged in a Feb 2024 raid.

Additionally, the loss of trained physiotherapists due to the fighting between Israel and Hamas has further hampered rehabilitation efforts.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Cabinet have well-incubated the next generation of Israel haters and antisemites.

Source:

Over 22,500 have suffered ‘life-changing injuries’ in Gaza: WHO | UN News

CBP: Record Number of Canadian Illegal Border Crossers Between 2021-2024

This image might represent a small portion of the US-Quebec border. (Undated photo: The Sun)

From 2021 through July 2024, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 150,701 Canadians illegally entered or attempted illegal entry into the US. The majority were apprehended at the US-Canada border, followed by other locations nationwide, with a small number at the US-Mexico border.

The greatest number of Canadians encountered or apprehended by CBP or Border Patrol agents was in fiscal 2022: 47,126 (northern border 40,600; nationwide 6,413; 113 at the Mexican border). , according to the data.

The overwhelming majority are single military age adults.

Not all Canadian border crossers are native-born but include foreign nationals who received Canadian travel documents. Canadian citizens for years have legally traveled to the US for work and as tourists.

Over 1,100 individuals on the US terrorist watch list, referred to as known or suspected terrorists (KSTs), attempted to illegally enter the US-Canada border since fiscal 2021. They include an Iranian with alleged terrorist ties living in Canada and a Canadian woman previously arrested by Texas officials for claiming to threaten to kill former President Donald Trump. The terrorist watch list is not legal proof that someone is a terrorist but that the name is associated with a KST; border authorities are mandated to double-check the person’s bona fides.

As reported recently on Coriolanus, a Pakistani national living in Canada was arrested after announcing his idiotic plan to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish Center in Brooklyn, NY to avenge Palestinian deaths at the hands of the IDF. This lunatic plot by a young man with no reported military or firearms experience or training was quickly and easily neutralized before the suspect reached the US border.

The number of Canadian illegal border crossers is not comparable to the nearly three million Mexican illegal border crossers since fiscal 2021. Among them, more than 22,000 Mexicans were apprehended by US federal agents after illegally entering or attempting entry from Canada. CBP data indicates that illegal border crossers holding travel documents from Canada and Mexico, America’s NAFTA partners, appear to be circumventing US immigration law.

The CBC reports that legal emigration from Canada to the US hit a ten-year-high. The Census recorded 126,340 people left Canada for the US in 2022, a 70 per cent increase over a decade ago. Of the 126,340, 53,311 were born in Canada, 42,595 were Americans repatriated, and 30,434 were foreign-born immigrants to Canada who decided to move to the US instead.

Canadians cite increased taxes, declining healthcare services, career opportunities, and high cost-of-living as their major reasons for emigrating to the US. Many find Florida’s weather attractive.

Marco Terminesi grew up in Woodbridge, Ont. but now lives in South Florida and sells real estate — mostly to Canadians — in Palm Beach County. He says a lot of prospective buyers are motivated to leave Canada because of politics. (Photo: Marco Terminesi)  

Sources:

Border security, migrants, Canadian order | Homeland Security Newswire

Emigration from Canada to the U.S. hits a 10-year high as tens of thousands head south | CBC News

Brazilian Dog is Footvolley Star Teaching Beachgoers How to Play

Rio de Janeiro’s main beaches bustle with commotion on sunny weekends. But activity ground to a near standstill on one stretch of sand. People held up their phones to record athletic feats they’d never before witnessed, or even imagined.

The game? Footvolley, a combination of soccer and beach volleyball. The athlete? A three-year-old border collie named Floki.

Floki sparks wonder among bystanders, because he hangs tough in a game that even humans struggle to get a handle on. Footvolley rules are essentially the same as beach volleyball, but with a slightly lower net and, like soccer, players are forbidden from using hands and arms. Floki springs up from the sand to drive the ball with his mouth. He has become something of an internet sensation in Brazil, with hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok.

Floki’s owner, Gustavo Rodrigues, is a footvolley coach, but swears he didn’t plan this. He had wanted an American Bully, a decidedly less sprightly breed. Floki came into Rodrigues’ life instead and quickly revealed his potential when, at just two months old, he started jumping after birthday balloons.

Source:

This Brazilian dog teaches beachgoers to play footvolley | AP News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources:

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

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

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

Hundreds of thousands march across Israel to demand return of hostages

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

Donald Trump Unharmed After Assassination Attempt at Florida Golf Resort

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source:

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

Canada and Australia Sanction Iran

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources:

Canada expands entry ban on Iranian officials – UPI.com

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

Zimbabwe Orders Cull of 200 Elephants Amid Food Shortages from Drought

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source:

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

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

Nigeria Prison Escape© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

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

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

Map: Researchgate.net

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

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

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

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

Sources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source:

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

Ukraine Update: 49 Ukrainians Freed in Prisoner Swap; Son of Prominent Kiev Rabbi KIA

49 Ukrainians were released from Russian custody and returned home as part of another prisoner swap. “[Representatives] of the Ukrainian armed forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and civilians are among those released,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram. Leniye Umerova, who was arrested in Crimea after she came to visit her sick father, soldiers who defended the Azovstal metallurgic plant in Mariupol, and noted military physician and Hero of Ukraine laureate Viktor Ivchuk were among the prisoners returning. Russia has yet to provide details of the swap. 

Anton Samborskiy (AKA Matityahu) was killed in combat on Ukraine’s front lines. Samborskiy was the adopted son of Moshe Reuven Azman, one of the country’s most prominent rabbis. At his funeral, Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine said Samborskiy’s death shows that Jews and other minorities are willing “to pay with their lives for Ukraine’s right to remain a free country.”

To the south, the US State Department approved the sale of 32 F-35A fighter jets to Ukraine’s neighbor, Romania, a NATO ally, in a deal worth $7.2 billion. Ukrainian pilots began training this week at a special center in Romania on US-made F-16 fighter jets.

Sources:

49 Ukrainians Freed In Latest Prisoner Swap With Russia (rferl.org)

Kyiv’s Jewish Community Mourns Top Rabbi’s Son Who Died In Combat (rferl.org)

U.S. Approves $7.2 Billion Sale Of F-35 Jets To NATO Ally Romania (rferl.org)

British Diplomats Ousted from Moscow for ‘Espionage’

© Russian Federal Security Service

The Kremlin is expelling six British diplomats for suspected espionage and “threatening Russia’s security” and “numerous unfriendly acts.”

The expulsions announcement came as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden  on allowing Ukraine to attack military targets deep inside Russia.

The FSB, a successor of the KGB, said the diplomats’ accreditation had been revoked on the basis of documentary evidence they were involved in “intelligence gathering and subversive activities” under the orders of a branch of the Foreign Office, “a special service whose main task is to inflict a strategic defeat on our country.”

Sky News had reported the six had returned to Britain prior to Friday’s announcement, citing a source in Whitehall who played down any link to Britain’s backing for Ukraine.

“They are already out,” said the source who categorically denied the diplomats were engaged in spying or other activities incompatible with their status.

Russia’s action, the source claimed, was more likely a fresh round of tit-for-tat ejections dating back to a 2018 nerve agent attack on British soil targeting former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia that London blames on Moscow.

Source:

British diplomats ousted from Moscow for ‘espionage’ as tensions mount over arming Ukraine – UPI.com

Kentucky Man Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting Law Enforcement During 6 Jan Attack on Capitol

Luke Hoffman (40) from Dover, KY was sentenced to 20 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution after he previously pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

From 1:25PM to 4:05PM Hoffman was one of the most dangerous attackers on 6 Jan. Amongst other things, he assaulted several police officers, attempted to steal a baton from another officer who was screaming, sprayed tear gas, and rallied other seditionists to continue rampaging.

Luke Hoffman’s wife was instrumental in his conviction by posting her husband’s actions on social media.

The FBI arrested Hoffman on 12 July 2023, in Dover, KY. This miscreant represents America’s “Fedayeen Saddam,” dead-enders desperately trying to hold on to a mythic belief of white Christian supremacy and that the country has been taken over by non-whites, liberals, LBGTQ activists, and immigrants.

In the 44 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,504 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 560 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.

Source:

District of Columbia | Kentucky Man Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

Salmonella Outbreak Sickens 27 in Sweden

Smörgåsbord is a combination of two words: smörgås, an open sandwich, and bord, a table. The term refers to any all-you-can-eat buffet with self-service and a variety of pan-global food. Popular in Sweden since the 18th century, smörgåsbord hosts a display of colorful, complex, and lavish foods and dishes such as herring, salmon, sliced cold cuts of meat, vegetables, breads, cheeses, wild berries, pastries, and jams. The dishes can be hot or cold and may range from appetizers to desserts.

Swedish health officials are searching for the source of a Salmonella outbreak that has affected almost 30 people. Whole genome sequencing has shown that 27 people have the same type of Salmonella Typhimurium. They are suspected of having been infected by a common food. The patients fell ill between 9 and 24 Aug and ranged in age from 4 to 89 with a median of 45 years old.

The majority of those sick are women, and cases are spread across 11 different regions in the country. In 2023, 1,316 Salmonella infections were reported in Sweden.

Food contaminated with Salmonella bacteria does not usually look, smell, or taste spoiled. However, anyone can become sick with a Salmonella infection. According to the US CDC, infants, children, seniors, and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness because their immune systems are fragile.

Symptoms of Salmonella infection can include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. Otherwise, healthy adults are usually sick for four to seven days. In some cases, however, diarrhea may be so severe that patients require hospitalization.

Sweden is also dealing with high levels of domestic Campylobacter infections, which causes a diarrheal disease in people. Approximately 200 cases per week were recorded this summer.

According to data from the National Veterinary Institute (SVA), the rise in human infections coincides with a previously increased occurrence of Campylobacter in broiler flocks. 

Source:

Swedish Salmonella outbreak sickens 27 | Food Safety News

Congo Military Court Sentences Three Americans, 34 Others to Death on Coup Charges

AMCITs Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun (L), Marcel Malanga (C), and Tyler Thompson, attend a court verdict in Congo, Kinshasa, 13 Sep 2024. They were sentenced for taking part in a coup attempt in May 2024. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

A military court in Congo handed down death sentences to 37 people, including three Americans, after convicting them on charges of participating in a coup attempt.

The defendants, most of them Congolese but also including a Briton, Belgian, and Canadian, have five days to appeal the verdict on charges that include attempted coup, terrorism, and criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial.

Six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the little-known opposition figure Christian Malanga in May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Felix Tshisekedi. Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest soon after live-streaming the attack on social media.

Malanga’s 21-year-old son Marcel Malanga and two other Americans were convicted in the coup attempt. He told the court that his father had forced him and his high school friend to take part in the attack.

“Dad had threatened to kill us if we did not follow his orders,” Marcel Malanga testified.

Other members of the ragtag militia recounted similar threats from the elder Malanga, and some described being duped into believing they were working for a volunteer organization.

The other Americans are Tyler Thompson Jr. (21) who flew to Africa from Utah with the younger Malanga for what his family believed was a free vacation, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun (36), who is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company in Mozambique.

Thompson had been invited on an Africa trip by the younger Malanga, his former high school football teammate in a Salt Lake City suburb. Teammates alleged that Marcel had offered up to $100,000 to join him on a “security job” in Congo, and they said he seemed desperate to bring along an American friend.

Congo recently lifted a more than two-decade-old moratorium on the death penalty as authorities struggle to curb violence in the country. The US State Department has not declared the three Americans wrongfully detained, making it unlikely that US officials would try to negotiate their return.

Sources:

Congo court sentences 3 Americans, 34 others to death on coup charges – Washington Times

https://web.archive.org/web/20240331012857/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/congo-reinstates-death-penalty-after-20-years-struggles-108156667

Serbia’s First Sex-Trafficking Case Involving Chinese Citizens Set for Trial

Chinese leader Xi Jinping (L) and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (R) exchange agreements during a signing ceremony 8 May in Belgrade.

A Serbian court opened proceedings this week in the country’s first publicly documented case of sex trafficking involving Chinese nationals. Two Chinese women were trafficked to Serbia, had their passports taken away, given only one meal per day, and forced under the threat of death to provide sexual services to men.

The two women were trafficked by a male Chinese citizen who “misled the victims” by promising to “find them a job as a masseuse” in Serbia and “provide housing and food” for them. He then forced them to have sex with men shortly after arriving in the Balkan country by threatening “to kill them” and warning “that he is powerful and can do anything to make them disappear.”

“After a few hours upon their arrival, he organized their sexual exploitation by” Chinese men in Serbia “under the threat that they… owed him money for the purchased [plane] tickets and that they needed to earn money to obtain work permits.”

The Chinese man, who has not been identified, was arrested in March by Serbian police in the eastern city of Bor and is set to begin his closed-door preliminary hearing after being charged with human trafficking by a court in the nearby city of Zajecar.

The Center for the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking, a Serbian state-run organization that provides support to trafficking victims, reports 35 documented cases of human trafficking in Serbia so far in 2024.

The legal case involving Chinese nationals is likely to test the increasingly friendly relations between China and Serbia. China has become a major investor and trade partner with Serbia, and the two countries provide visa-free travel for each other’s citizens.

Sources:

Serbia – United States Department of State

Serbia’s First Sex-Trafficking Case Involving Chinese Citizens Set For Court (rferl.org)

Serbian Deals With China On Extradition, Media Cooperation Could Have Lasting Impact

Pope Francis May Have Subtly ‘Thumbed His Nose’ at Donald Trump Again

Pope Francis sternly lectures US President Donald Trump at the Vatican about global climate change and the environment on 24 May 2017.

When Pope Francis said US voters must choose between the “lesser of two evils,” he didn’t outwardly make a judgment between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The Republican rejection of immigrants and Democratic support of abortion rights equally weighted them both down.

But put in context, the statement represented a bigger swipe at Trump, argued Nayyera Haq, former President Barack Obama’s senior director of cabinet affairs.

Popes rarely discuss American politics, although Pope Francis has taken veiled shots at Trump in the past, saying in 2016 that “a person who only thinks about building walls and not bridges is not Christian,” and earlier this year calling the panic against migrants at the US border “madness.”

“This pope has thumbed his nose in somewhat diplomatic ways at Donald Trump before,” Haq reported. The first Jesuit pontiff gave Trump an encyclical entirely about environmental stewardship and climate change when they met in May 2017. Unlike the LGBTQ-hating GOP, the pope has been “rather generous, given the churches history, when it comes to tolerance of gay and lesbian individuals as well.”

“So in that sense, the Catholics who wished for a more conservative Catholic pope may not be swayed by this, but he certainly does speak to that broader sense of Christianity, social justice, and I think just faith-based social justice that the least among us, taking care of those, that is an immediate reference to refugees and immigrants,” said Haq.

Watch the video below or at the link here.

Source:

https://www.rawstory.com/pope-francis-trump/

Jack Russell Terrier Puppy Rescued from Highway Near Newark Int’l Airport, NJ

A Jack Russell terrier puppy who was found running on the highways around Newark Airport has been rescued and is slowly healing at the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge (RBARI) where he will await his fur-ever home. For weeks, reports came in of the Jack Russell terrier pup, since named Monkey, running around the busy and dangerous highways near the airport.

Last week the frightened puppy was finally caught by a professional trapper with Buddha Dog Rescue and Recovery and was taken in by RBARI.

“It is a true miracle that Monkey survived. Surprisingly, Monkey is not the first Jack Russell terrier dumped in the area in recent months,” said RBARI in a post on Facebook. “And, even more unexpectedly, it only took minutes for this adorable dog to warm up to human touch, despite evading rescuers for so long.”

Upon rescue, Monkey was treated for fleas, ticks and parasites. He received a thorough examination and vaccinations.

Source:

Jack Russell terrier Monkey rescued from highway near Newark Airport (northjersey.com)

US Army Soldier from Hawaii Arrested for Assaulting Law Enforcement with Weapon and Other Charges During 6 Jan Attack on US Capitol

Alexander Cain Poplin (31), an active duty servicemember of the US Army, was arrested in Hawaii for allegedly assaulting law enforcement and other charges related to his conduct during the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

In addition to the felonies of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon and civil disorder, Poplin is charged with three misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds.

On the morning of 6 Jan 2021, Poplin attended a rally held by the former President at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Poplin was observed wearing a black Columbia jacket, a black beanie, and an Army ACU camouflage backpack. Throughout the day, he was seen holding various flags.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., Poplin was at the Lower West Plaza of the US Capitol Building and within the restricted perimeter. He was holding an “Area Closed” sign in his left hand and a flagpole with a blue flag in his right. Poplin allegedly repeatedly struck a Metropolitan Police Department officer with the blue flagpole. Video footage from open-source media and body-worn cameras captured the assault. Poplin’s alleged actions at the Lower West Plaza contributed to the chaos as rioters confronted law enforcement officers who were defending the Capitol. After the attack, Poplin reportedly posted on Facebook “we beat their fucking ass and stood for something” and “we took our house back.”

In the 44 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,504 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 560 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips may call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.

A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Civilian Cargo Ship Carrying Ukrainian Grain Attacked by Russian Jets in Black Sea

Ukraine accused Russia of using strategic bombers to fire missiles at a civilian ship carrying Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea.

The ship was in the maritime economic zone of Romania, a NATO member, when it was hit. The vessel was transporting the grain from Chernomorsk, Ukraine, to Istanbul when it was attacked. The ship’s cargo was bound for Egypt. Russia deployed Tupolev Tu-22 bombers to fire the missiles at around 11 PM local time on 11 Sep.

Tupolev Tu-22M-3 (Image courtesy of airliners.net).

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said the strike was “a brazen attack on freedom of navigation and global food security.”

The attack was confirmed by the Romanian Coast Guard, which said the vessel had a crew of 22 people on board. No one was injured and the ship headed to Constanta for damage assessment.

The ship was 55 kilometers from the town of Sfantu Gheorghe in the exclusive economic zone of Romania when the attack took place. The exclusive economic zone is the maritime area adjacent to a country’s territorial waters and can extend up to a maximum of 200 nautical miles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier that a cargo ship carrying wheat was hit by a Russian missile strike in the Black Sea as it was headed for Egypt.

“Today’s strike in the Black Sea was against an ordinary civilian vessel immediately after leaving Ukrainian territorial waters. According to preliminary data, fortunately, there were no casualties,” he said. “Ukraine is one of the key global donors of food security. The internal stability and life of dozens of countries in different parts of the world depends on the normal and smooth operation of our export food corridor.”

Ukraine, one of the world’s leading grain producers and exporters, has been shipping about four million tons of grain each month through the Black Sea corridor, which was set up through a deal mediated by Turkey and the UN.

The US recently signalled that it may allow Ukraine to fire missiles more deeply into Russia. Aircraft like the TU-22M-3 could have easily sunk this unarmed cargo ship. This move by the Kremlin is probably a warning that if Ukraine is permitted to strike deep targets in Russia with Western hi-tech weapons, the Kremlin will retaliate with economic attacks like this.

Sources:

Civilian Cargo Ship Carrying Ukrainian Grain Hit By Russian Strike In Black Sea (rferl.org)

US reconsidering Ukraine missile restrictions on firing into Russia (voanews.com)

NYPD Commissioner to Resign After FBI Seized His Phone

Edward Caban (L) being sworn in as NYPD Police Commissioner on 17 July 2023. Mayor Eric Adams is on the right.

NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said he would resign Thursday, one week after it emerged that his phone was seized as part of a federal investigation that touched several members of Mayor Eric Adams’ inner circle.

Edward Caban (57) had been in charge of the nation’s largest police department for about 15 months. Of Puerto Rican heritage, he was the first Latino to lead the 179-year-old NYPD and oversee its annual budget of over $5 billion. There are approximately 36,000 sworn officers in New York’s Finest.

Caban was one of several high-ranking city officials whose electronic devices were seized recently by federal investigators. The subject of the investigation, which is being led by the SDNY US Attorney, remains unclear. Federal authorities are also investigating Caban’s twin brother, James Caban, who runs a nightclub security business.

Other NYC officials whose devices were recently seized include First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright; Philip Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety; his brother David Banks, the Board of Education chancellor; and Timothy Pearson, a mayoral adviser and former high-ranking NYPD official.

Mayor Adams, a first-term Democrat, was subpoenaed in July, eight months after federal agents seized his cell phones and an iPad while he was leaving an event in Manhattan. Federal authorities haven’t publicly accused him or any officials of any crimes and Adams has denied any wrongdoing. The SDNY investigation may have to do with campaign fundraising.

Under Commissioner Caban, from 1 Jan 2024 to 1 Sep 2024, the NYPD tallied 243 murders, compared with 279 in the same period last year. Burglary, grand larceny, and auto thefts were also down. At the same time, there was a 17.8% spike in reported hate crimes, 11.1% jump in rapes and smaller increases in some other categories.

Caban was criticized for his handling of officer discipline. The NYPD has stifled more than 400 cases of alleged misconduct this year which an oversight board had investigated and substantiated. Two examples follow.

In April, Caban declined to take disciplinary action against two officers involved in the fatal 2019 shooting of Kawaski Trawick inside his Bronx apartment. Caban said the officers “acted within the law” and that the city’s police watchdog agency waited too long to bring administrative charges.

In August, Caban upheld a department administrative trial judge’s recommendation to drop a disciplinary case against Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, who was accused of ordering officers to void the November 2021 arrest of a retired officer who previously worked for him. The trial judge, Rosemarie Maldonado, said the watchdog agency didn’t have jurisdiction to investigate the case.

Mayor Adams named retired FBI Special Agent Thomas Donlon interim police commissioner. The timing of Caban’s resignation is astonishing with the UN General Assembly (UNGA) convening in NYC. Several weeks ago, the director of the US Secret Service resigned in the middle of the 2024 presidential campaign.

Sources:

New York City police commissioner to resign after his phone was seized in federal investigation (voanews.com)

FBI seized phones, iPad of NYC mayor amid campaign fundraising probe | CBC News

https://www.propublica.org/article/nypd-tossed-out-police-misconduct-discipline-cases-edward-caban

Bomb Threats Reported in Springfield, Ohio, Amid False Malignant Claims Targeting Haitian Migrants

Donald Trump pandering to the Haitian vote during a 2016 visit to Little Haiti, Miami. Now Haitians have becoming a convenient scapegoat for him. Photo courtesy of Michael Bennett via miamitimesonline.com.

Local and federal law enforcement agencies responded Thursday to a bomb threat made against multiple facilities in the Ohio city of Springfield. City Hall, a driver’s exam station, an Ohio BMV facility, the Springfield Academy of Excellence, and Fulton Elementary School were all evacuated and cleared by explosive-detecting K9s.

The threat comes days after Donald Trump repeated baseless and dehumanizing claims made online that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating residents’ pets. He made the comments during his Tuesday debate against Vice President Kamala Harris which were echoed by his running mate, JD Vance.

The city of some 58,000 people has pushed back against the claims, with City Manager Bryan Heck explaining in a recorded statement “it is disappointing that some of the narratives surrounding our city has been skewed by misinformation circulating on social media and further amplified by political rhetoric in the current highly charged presidential election cycle.”

The city manager added Springfield is experiencing challenges due to the rapid growth of its immigrant population, those challenges “are primarily due to the pace of the growth rather than the rumors.”

Sources:

Bomb threats reported in Springfield amid false claims targeting migrants – UPI.com

Trump, missing-in-action with Haitians, still draws handful of supporters – The Haitian Times

North Korea Releases Rare Images of Uranium Enrichment Site

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits a uranium enrichment facility, which produces weapon-grade nuclear materials. The photos were published by North Korean state media on Friday, 13 Sep 2024. No located or date were released for the photos and certain faces in the pictures had been blurred before their release. (Courtesy: KCNA / Rodong Sinmun)

New pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un touring what state media described is a uranium enrichment facility have given an extremely rare glimpse inside the isolated nation’s closely guarded nuclear weapons program.

According to a report from Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim visited the facility – a bright, sterile warehouse filled with long rows of cylindrical machinery – which is used to produce weapons-grade nuclear material for the North’s growing arsenal. The report comes as North Korea continues to ramp up its illegal nuclear weapons program and strengthens relations with Russia, deepening widespread concern in the West over the isolated nation’s direction under Kim.

The location and exact date of Kim’s visit to the site were not disclosed in the report, but the purpose of his inspection was clear, according to KCNA: to lay out a “long-term plan for increasing the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials.”

Experts say the images – which show Kim flanked by men in military uniforms and crisp white lab shirts – underscore North Korea’s growing confidence in its position as a nuclear power.

In a speech celebrating the 76th anniversary of North Korea’s founding on Monday, Kim pledged to “exponentially” expand the regime’s nuclear arsenal, reiterating bellicose rhetoric he has used in the past.

As reported here on Coriolanus, the North Korean supremo ordered the launch of a ballistic missile into the sea when the dust settled after the US presidential debate. For years the West kept “kicking the can down the road” regarding North Korea and the dynastic family which has been producing WMDs while starving their own people. Neighboring South Korea, Japan, and China, must be wondering how this dangerous dynasty will one day end and what type of fallout will ensue.

Sources:

North Korea releases images of Kim Jong Un visiting a uranium enrichment site | CNN

Four Black Rights Activists Convicted Over Nefarious Russian Links

Protesters gathered outside the US Embassy in London to support Omali Yeshitela (Imagery: BBC, circa Sep 2024)

Four activists for black rights have been convicted of federal charges of conspiring to act as unregistered Russian agents.

Omali Yeshitela (82), Penny Hess (78), Jesse Nevel (34), and Augustus Romain (38), face maximum sentences of five years in prison. A jury in Tampa, FL, found them not guilty of the more serious charge of acting as agents of a foreign government. A date has not yet been set for sentencing.

Yeshitela is the founder of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) and Uhuru Movement. Hess and Nevel are white allies of the groups. Romain is the leader of a Georgia-based spinoff known as Black Hammer. The four carried out a number of actions in the US between 2015 and 2022 on behalf of the Russian government and received money and support from Aleksandr Ionov, the president of the Moscow-based group Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia.

Mr. Ionov used the APSP, Uhuru Movement, and Black Hammer to promote Russian views on politics, the Ukraine war, and other issues. The US State Dept is offering a reward up to $10 million for information that would lead to his arrest.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | U.S. Citizens Convicted of Conspiring to Act as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government | United States Department of Justice

Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov – Rewards For Justice

US black-rights activists convicted over Russian links (bbc.com)

Usutu Virus Threatens Blackbirds in Germany

The blackbird is one of the most common birds in Germany, but the spread of Usutu virus is threatening their population. Numerous cases have been identified in the Rendsburg and Eckernförde areas of Germany (see map). Infested birds become disoriented, begin to stagger, and often die within a few days.

The Usutu virus, which originated in South Africa, was first detected in Germany in 2011. Since the disease mostly affects blackbirds, the Usutu epidemic is also known as “blackbird death”. The virus is generally transmitted by mosquitoes. Humans can become infected with the virus – but serious illness is rare. Most recently, the pathogen caused a severe bird mortality in Germany in 2018.

Source:

Dead blackbirds: Usutu virus reaches the Rendsburg area | SHZ

Trump Tower Declared ‘Public Nuisance’ After Killing Thousands of Fish in Chicago

Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago. Locals have long derided the building as an aesthetical and architectural eyesore which doesn’t blend in with the Windy City’s marvelous architecture. (Courtesy Ghornephoto / Getty Images).

An Illinois Cook County judge has ruled that Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago has been conducting operations that violate state and federal environmental law, operates without a legitimate state environmental permit, and has killed thousands of fish over the years.

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thaddeus L. Wilson on Monday found that Trump International Hotel & Tower “committed a continuing public nuisance through a series of failures to comply with state and federal law dating back to 2008.”

This ruling has taken years of litigation to achieve, with Friends of the Chicago River, the Sierra Club, and the Illinois Attorney General having filed the lawsuit in 2018.

Sources:

Trump Tower Declared ‘Public Nuisance’ After Killing Thousands of Fish | IBTimes

News Detail Page (illinoisattorneygeneral.gov)

Dog Rushes into Burning Ukraine Home to Save Helpless Kitten

A few years ago, an explosion occurred in a defense industry building near Donetsk City, Ukraine. Fire and smoke spread to nearby areas. As people rushed out of burning buildings and homes, they made sure that family members were with them, but some pets got left behind in the chaos. One dog re-entered a burning house to the surprise of the owner and neighbors. After a while, the dog emerged from the house fire with a tiny fluff ball in his jaws. The dog had gently picked up a kitten from the burning home and carried him to safety.

The lucky kitten has eight lives left.

Source:

Dog Rushes Into Burning Ukraine Home To Save Helpless Kitten (iheartdogs.com)

65 Million Americans Watched Kamala Harris Humiliate Donald Trump During Live Presidential Debate

WaPO/CNN poll showed Kamala Harris winning the debate 63 percent to 37 percent among debate-watchers. Time magazine cover by Tim O’Brien.

An estimated 65 million viewers tuned in to watch the debate between former President Trump and Vice President Harris, preliminary overnight television ratings revealed Wednesday. Ratings were high in battleground Pennsylvania, with the nation’s highest rating coming in Pittsburgh at 44.2. The No. 2 market was Philadelphia, where it drew a 43.4 rating. New York clocked in at a healthy 36.7, putting it at No. 7 among top markets.

Trump began to unravel at the debate after VPOTUS Harris said to the former NBC TV star of The Apprentice: “Your rallies are boring.”

The split-screen said it all: Trump glowered and grimaced, spewing old grievances and strange new attacks while Harris smiled and appeared amused. The former President repeated a baseless Internet rumor that migrant invaders were killing and eating pet dogs and cats in Springfield, OH, and claimed that Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison.” 

Vice President Kamala Harris flummoxed Trump when she responded to his accusation that she wants to confiscate firearms.

“Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away.”

Immediately following the debate, Trump stamped away without shaking hands with VPOTUS Harris. Soon after, megastar Taylor Swift announced via social platform that she was endorsing Kamala Harris. Over 330,000 young people immediately flocked to a voter registration website.

In the aftermath of Trump’s debacle, both candidates found themselves the next day at the Flight 93 memorial ceremony in Pennsylvania honoring the victims of the 9/11 attacks on America.

During this solemn ceremony, Donald Trump is caught winking at a female photographer.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1833870872341340407

Sources:

Time Magazine

IDF Kills 18 in Gaza School Sheltering Displaced Persons; Six UN Workers KIA

Palestinians search for missing people under the rubble of a destroyed UNRWA-run school, after an IDF strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. (Photo: Mohammed Saber/EPA)

An Israeli airstrike on a central Gaza school being used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians has killed 18 people, six were UN officials. The attack was the highest death toll among UNRWA staff in a single incident. Two airstrikes hit the school and its surroundings.

Earlier, Israel’s military said its air force had “conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command-and-control centre” on the school grounds, without elaborating on the outcome or the identities of those targeted.

Approximately 5,000 displaced people were sheltering at the school when it was bombed. According to UNRWA, “this school has been hit five times since the war began. It is home to about 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children.”

Israeli forces have struck several such schools in recent months, saying Palestinian militants were operating and hiding among displaced persons.

At least 220 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA reported that “humanitarian staff, premises and operations have been blatantly and unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres: “What’s happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable.” The UN General Assembly recently convened in NYC and the world is waiting for action.

Palestinians mourn as the civil defence teams and civilians carry out search and rescue operations from the rubble after an Israeli attack on Nuseirat Refugee Camp. (Photo: Anadolu/Getty Images)

Earlier on Wednesday, the IDF struck a home near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing 11 people, including six brothers and sisters ranging from 21 months to 21 years old, according to a European hospital which received the casualties.

The war in Gaza is now into its 11th month, with more than 41,000 Palestinians killed. The International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague indicted Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes, but inexplicably his arrest warrant has yet to be issued. In contrast, the ICC both indicted AND issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes against Ukrainians on 17 Mar 2023 (St Patrick’s Day).

Sources:

Six Unrwa workers among estimated 18 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school sheltering displaced | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx88l499vero

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64992727

https://www.icc-cpi.int/

Canada’s Conservative Leader Plans No-Confidence Motion Against Trudeau’s Government

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau (L), Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre (C), NDP leader Jagmeet Singh (R)

Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said his party plans to put forward a no-confidence motion “at the earliest possible opportunity” in hopes of bringing down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.

Poilievre called on New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh to support the motion and trigger an election. Singh refused to say if his party would support the Conservatives. Last week the NDP withdrew from a supply-and-confidence agreement with Trudeau’s minority Liberal government that helped keep it in power. The deal, reached in 2022, meant the NDP would support the federal government on no-confidence votes in exchange for progress on shared priorities.

The next Canadian federal election is scheduled for October 2025. The Liberals currently have 154 seats in the 338 Canadian House of Commons. The Conservates hold 119 and the NDP 24. The Bloc Québécois, a party based only in Quebec and is devoted to Quebec sovereignty, has 32 seats.

Canada’s Parliament resumes next Monday. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has said his party is willing to support the government if the Liberals agree on issues like increased support for seniors and granting Quebec more powers in immigration matters.

Most polls show the Conservatives well ahead of the Liberals with the NDP sitting third. Trudeau said his government will continue to introduce programs that help Canadians like dental care for seniors and childcare.

In June, the Liberals suffered a major upset in a byelection losing a seat in Toronto the party had held for three decades. Two more byelections will be held Monday in Montreal and Winnipeg.

Poilievre also attacked Trudeau for appointing Mark Carney, a former governor of both the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, to act as chair on a task force on economic growth. Poilievre called Carney an unelected “phantom finance minister.”

Source:

Canada’s Conservative leader says his party plans no-confidence motion against Trudeau’s government – ABC News

US Police Brutality: Former Michigan Police Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violation for Violently Assaulting Arrestee

Matthew Rodriguez (49), a former Warren, MI, police officer was sentenced in federal court to one year and one day in prison for using excessive force against an arrestee while fingerprinting and photographing him at a local detention facility.

Warning: Some readers might find the below evidence disturbing.

Note the other two police officers do not restrain Rodriguez, the attacker, but help restrain J.S., the victim. There is no information whether these two officers faced disciplinary action.

On 13 June 2023, then-officer Rodriguez was fingerprinting and photographing an arrestee, J.S., who had recently been brought to the Warren Police Department’s jail for processing. During fingerprinting, Rodriguez and J.S. got into a verbal argument and began trading insults. In retaliation for one of J.S.’ remarks, Rodriguez struck J.S. multiple times and slammed J.S.’ head against the fingerprint room floor.

In connection with his plea, Rodriguez admitted to writing a report in which he made false statements.

Former police officer Matthew Rodriguez (Image: CBS Detroit/WWMT)

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Former Michigan Police Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights Violation for Violently Assaulting Arrestee | United States Department of Justice

New Workplace Assault Case Emerges as CIA Shields Sexual Misconduct in Ranks

CIA officer trainee Ashkan Bayatpour (seated left) in Fairfax, VA. 23 Aug 2023. The judge found Bayatpour guilty of attacking a fellow CIA trainee with a scarf in the stairwell of CIA HQ at Langley, VA. (Dana Verkouteren via AP). This previous case was one of several plaguing CIA.

At an impromptu party in the office to celebrate his 50th birthday, veteran CIA officer Donal Asquith got drunk, reached up a colleague’s skirt, and forcibly kissed her in front of stunned co-workers, prosecutors alleged in the latest case of sexual misconduct to spill from the spy agency into a public court.

A recent 648-page internal watchdog report that found systemic shortcomings in the CIA’s handling of such complaints was classified as “secret,” shielded as a potential threat to national security. … “It is inconceivable that sexual misconduct could be considered a state secret,” said Kevin Carroll, an attorney who represents several women in the agency who have made complaints. The watchdog report followed an earlier AP investigation that found at least two dozen women in the CIA came forward to authorities and Congress with accounts of sexual assaults, unwanted touching and what they described as a campaign to silence them. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSIC) released a redacted report of their testimony last April (linked below).

Many women were emboldened by a CIA officer trainee who went to the police in 2022 after the agency failed to take action against a colleague she accused of assaulting her with a scarf in a stairwell at CIA headquarters. Some of those women now say they have faced retaliation, including the victim of the stairwell attack, who was terminated less than six months after suing the agency.

CIA invests a lot of time, money, and resources investigating, vetting, recruiting, and training these elite personnel who are also polygraphed. Incidents like this are costly to the American taxpayer, CIA, as well as to national security. And remarkable that this story would emerge nationally on 9/11, one of CIA’s darkest days.

Sources:

New CIA workplace assault case emerges as spy agency shields extent of sexual misconduct in ranks – WTOP News

addressing_how_the_central_intelligence_agency_is_responding_to_sexual_assault_and_harassment.pdf (house.gov)

The Associated Press

North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Toward Sea

After the smoke cleared from the US presidential debate, like a baby wanting a bottle, North Korean supremo Kim Jong-Un ordered the launch of a ballistic missile toward the sea Thursday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported. The launch came days after Kim Jong Un vowed to put his nuclear force fully ready for battle with its rivals. The launch took place off North Korea’s eastern coast but the ROK high command offered no details, such as how far the weapon traveled. Japan’s prime minister’s office also alerted on its X account that North Korea had launched a suspected ballistic missile, but it did not provide details.

The launch was North Korea’s first public weapons firing in more than two months. On 1 July, Pyongyang claimed to have tested a new tactical weapon capable of delivering a “super-large” 4.5 ton-class warhead.

In a speech Monday, Kim said he would redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready for combat with the US and its allies. He said North Korea faced “a grave threat” because of what he called “the reckless expansion” of a US-led regional military bloc that is now developing into a nuclear-based one.

Kim has made similar vows numerous times, but his latest threat came as outside experts believe North Korea will perform a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test-launches ahead of the US presidential election in November.

As posted on Coriolanus last week, North Korea also resumed launches of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea.

Since 2022, North Korea has significantly accelerated its weapons testing in a bid to perfect its capabilities to launch strikes on the US and South Korea. The US and South Korea have responded by expanding military drills that North Korea calls invasion rehearsals.

Last month, Kim had held off from missile tests or other provocative military demonstrations as the US and South Korea conducted large-scale summertime military exercises. North Korea issued statements berating the allies for raising tensions.

Source:

North Korea fires ballistic missile toward sea, South Korea says (voanews.com)

Federal Authorities Seize Over 350 Website Domains Used to Import Illegal Switches and Silencers from China

US authorities seized more than 350 websites selling gun silencers and parts from China used to covert semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic machine guns.

Law enforcement conducted undercover purchases from those websites of gun-related items. The shipments from China falsely described their contents as “necklaces” or “toys.” In fact, the packages contained machine gun conversion devices known as “switches” and silencers that are prohibited from being imported under the federal National Firearms Act (NFA). Switches are parts designed to convert semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic machineguns and silencers are devices used to suppress the sound of a firearm when discharged.

Many of the websites sold counterfeit goods and misused gun manufacturer Glock Inc’s trademark to suggest the switches were produced by the company when they were not. Glock reportedly cooperated with the investigation.

The results of this investigation have resulted in the seizure of over 700 devices which would covert a firearm into a machine gun, 87 illegal suppressors, 59 handguns, 36 long guns, as well as the seizure of 355 websites which were used to facilitate the trafficking of these items.

According to the CDC, in 2022 there were more than 48,000 firearm-related deaths in the US. That’s about 132 people dying from a firearm-related injury each day and wartime casualty rates.

Source:

District of Massachusetts | Federal Authorities Seize Over 350 Website Domains Used to Import Illegal Switches and Silencers from China | United States Department of Justice

https://www.cdc.gov/firearm-violence/data-research/facts-stats/index.html

A Runaway Penguin Spent Two Weeks Missing at Sea in Japan. A Typhoon May Have Saved Her.

Pen, who was born and raised in captivity, survived two weeks lost at sea in Japan during a typhoon. Photo: Gekidan Penters

A runaway penguin has been found safe in Japan nearly two weeks after she first went missing, having paddled 28 miles during a typhoon in a survival story her keeper called “miraculous.”

The six-year-old Cape penguin, who goes by the name “Pen” and was born and raised in captivity, was swimming with staff from the traveling Gekidan Penters zoo at a beach on central Japan’s Himakajima Island on 25 August when she escaped.

African penguins can swim up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) a day, but in captivity, their muscle mass decreases. Pen had never swum in the sea before visiting that beach.

A powerful typhoon called Shanshan brought torrential wind and rain to the country at the end of August, killing at least six people, displacing millions, knocking out power and disrupting air travel.

But, amid the destruction, the typhoon was a boon for little Pen. With no boats at sea, Pen avoided collisions and getting caught in fishing nets. The record rainfall provided a reliable source of hydration and cooling.

“She survived because of the typhoon,” her owner said. “It was almost miraculous timing.”

Because of the typhoon, Gekidan Penters wasn’t initially able to send out rescue boats to search for Pen, so it was even more surprising when someone spotted her swimming near a beach about eight miles away from where she first went missing.

Pen had no injuries and was in good physical shape. She also passed “substantial droppings,” which means she must’ve found something to snack on during her journey – likely fish or crab, though Pen had never eaten live fish before.

Her owner said Pen was “sleeping very comfortably next to me.”

Pen (L) stands alongside her partner, Gan. Photo: Gekidan Penters

Source:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/12/asia/escapee-penguin-japan-typhoon-hnk-intl/index.html

Ukraine Strikes Moscow in Biggest Drone Attack to Date

A 46-year-old woman was killed and three people were injured. Ukraine asserted its right to strike Russian territory in response to Moscow’s ongoing attacks. (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)

Ukraine launched its biggest drone attack so far on the Russian capital, killing at least one woman and destroying dozens of homes. The Kremlin reported they destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian attack drones as they swarmed over the Moscow region and 124 more over eight other regions. Three of Moscow’s four airports were closed for more than six hours and almost 50 flights were diverted. Russia counter-attacked with 46 drones.

Meanwhile, in a rare joint trip, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was taking the train to Kiev with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, whose two-month-old Labor government has vowed to keep up Britain’s role as a key defender of Ukraine.

The pair, who boarded the train early Wednesday at the Polish border town of Przemysl, are expected to meet in Kiev with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has kept pressing the West for weapons with more firepower and fewer restrictions.

US President Joe Biden, asked in Washington whether he would let Ukraine use longer-range weapons, said: “We’re working that out right now.”

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/03/politics/cnn-poll-trump-indictment/index.html

US, UK top diplomats head to Ukraine with eye on weapons (rfi.fr)Ukraine targets Moscow in biggest drone attack yet | Reuters

Israeli Man Pleads Guilty to Violating Export Restrictions Imposed on Russia



Gal Haimovich was arrested in southern Florida on 4 June 2023.

Gal Haimovich (49) of Israel, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit export control and smuggling violations in a scheme to illegally ship aircraft parts and avionics from US manufacturers and suppliers to Russia, including for the benefit of sanctioned Russian airline companies. Haimovich admitted to deceiving US companies about the true destination of the goods. The defendant and others attempted to conceal the scheme by submitting false information in export documents filed with the US government.

Haimovich owned an international freight forwarding company that facilitated the export of aircraft parts and avionics, including those with missile technology applications from the US to various third-party transhippers on behalf of Russian customers.

Russian Su-35 multi-purpose fighter jet (Wikimedia Commons)

As part of Haimovich’s plea agreement, he forfeits the sum of $2,024,435, as well as various aircraft parts and components. A sentencing hearing has been set for 22 Nov.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Israeli Freight Forwarder Pleads Guilty to Violating Export Restrictions Imposed on Russia | United States Department of Justice

EU Weighs ‘Strong’ Response to Iranian Deliveries of Ballistic Missiles to Russia

The EU has joined the US, UK, France, and Germany in accusing Iran of supplying short-range ballistic missiles for Russia to wage its war in Ukraine.

The 27-country bloc has received “credible” evidence of the deliveries, which adds that the weapons are likely assisting Moscow in its “escalatory bombing campaign against Ukrainian civilians, cities and civilian infrastructure, further increasing civilian casualties and destruction.”

The EU’s reaction came hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in London, promised fresh sanctions on Tehran for its procurement of the deadly weapons.

The foreign ministers of the UK, France, and Germany also issued a joint statement describing the move as an “escalation” by both Iran and Russia and a “direct threat to European security.”

Source:

EU weighs ‘strong’ response to Iranian deliveries of ballistic missiles to Russia | Euronews

13 Die of Mysterious Illness Following High Fever in Gujarat, India

350-bed government hospital in Gujarat. (Undated public domain imagery)

Thirteen people have died in Gujarat’s Kachchh district due to a mysterious disease days after the region suffered from heavy rainfall. The doctors have yet to diagnose the disease accurately.

The patients who died from the mysterious disease had symptoms including fever, cold, cough, and pneumonia. Young patients had reduced immunity following high fever and died of lung and liver damage. Elderly patients died just two days after getting a fever. The health department could not verify the type of fever and are investigating the situation.

“Primarily, the deaths appear to have been caused by pneumonia. It does not appear to be from contamination nor does it seem like a communicable disease,” Amit Arora, an official from Kachchh said.

“Samples are being collected for testing against dengue, malaria, H1N1 swine flu, and pneumonia. The family members of the affected are being provided updates, and 22 teams from the Health Department are keeping a close watch on this.”

Source:

Gujarat News 13 Die Of Mysterious Illness Following High Fever In Gujarat, Probe Underway (ndtv.com)

Explosion Reported at US Military Facility Near Baghdad Airport Ahead of Iranian President’s Visit

Satellite imagery of Baghdad International Airport (circa 2023)

Iraqi security officials said an explosion targeted a site used by the US military next to Baghdad airport late Tuesday, one day before an expected visit by Iran’s president. The expected visit by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Baghdad Wednesday would be his first official trip abroad since taking office.

The explosion was heard at 11 PM in an area used by advisers to the US-led international coalition.Iraqi security forces were unable to determine the “type or causes of the explosion, and no party has claimed responsibility for it.” It added that the incident was under investigation and civilian air traffic continued as normal. There was no immediate information on damages or casualties.

Officials who were at the airport preparing for Pezeshkian’s visit heard “the sound of two strong strikes,” which apparently targeted a logistics support site for the coalition. Over the past 11 months, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have periodically targeted bases housing US forces in Iraq in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the war in Gaza.

One of those militias, Kataib Hezbollah, appeared to be trying to distance itself from Tuesday night’s strike. Jaafar al-Husseini, the group’s spokesperson, said the targeting of the airport was “carried out by suspicious hands and its aim is to disrupt the Iranian president’s visit to Baghdad.”

Sources:

Explosion reported at U.S. military facility near Baghdad airport ahead of Iranian president’s visit – Washington Times

Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center Or United States’ Air Base In Baghdad?! – Islamic World News (iswnews.com)

Rebel Army Captures Major Myanmar Navy Training Base

Map courtesy of http://www.globalsecurity.org

Insurgents in western Myanmar have captured an important military training base after a month of fighting, dealing what is likely to be a severe blow to the embattled military. The Arakan Army seized the Central Naval Diving and Salvage Depot in Rakhine state. The Rakhines are an ethnic minority insurgent force battling for self-determination. 

This facility was the last naval base held by junta forces in Thandwe township, and it was defended on a “huge-scale” by the junta’s air force and navy as well as more than 1,200 soldiers, including new graduates trained at the base.

“More than 400 junta soldiers were killed during our attack, and junta weapons, ammunition, and equipment were seized,” the AA reported.

“Losing such a base will affect training as well as fighting. The AA destroyed the navy and weakened the army, like cutting a man off at the waist,” an AA spokesman said. “The military is like a bird with one wing now.”

Arakan Army forces after capturing the junta’s Central Naval Diving and Salvage Depot in Rakhine state on 5 Sep 2024.

The loss of the base will not only damage the junta’s morale and reputation but also bring in more resources for the AA through the control of goods coming through a nearby port. The AA said it expected junta retaliation against civilians in the area. Human rights investigators say junta forces have been increasingly attacking civilian targets as they lose ground to insurgent forces in different parts of the country. The Myanmar military denies attacking civilians.

The Arakan Army, which launched a new offensive against the military in Nov 2023, controls nine townships in Rakhine state and one in neighboring Chin state, and is battling to take full control of three other townships. 

In February, the military rulers enacted a draft law to bolster troop shortages and has since trained around 9,000 recruits for front-line fighting. Myanmar’s junta has also begun forcibly recruiting male civilians up to age 65 – including even those who are disabled – to protect villages, towns, and cities against encroaching rebel militias. Since the 2021 coup, junta forces have lost 76 towns across the country to ethnic rebels and other armed opposition groups.

The move comes amid mounting battlefield losses since the junta’s 2021 coup d’etat as rebel groups and ethnic armies have gained the upper hand in Myanmar’s three-year civil war.

According to Human Rights Watch:

“Since the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, the junta has driven the country further into a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe. At least 55 townships are under martial law. Faced with opposition from the general population and pro-democracy armed groups, the military has struggled to maintain control over the country. The junta’s widespread and systematic abuses against the population—including arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians—amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

“More than 600,000 Rohingya in Myanmar continue to live under apartheid conditions, facing persecution and effective imprisonment from the junta authorities. Of this population, roughly 140,000 Rohingya have been confined to camps in central Rakhine State since 2012, denied the right to return to their homes.”

Sources:

Rebel army captures major Myanmar navy training base — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)

Myanmar junta begins conscripting men up to age 65 to protect towns against rebels — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)

World Report 2024: Myanmar | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

Homepage » Myanmar Peace Monitor (mmpeacemonitor.org)

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/myanmar/navy-bases.htm

Lebanon Judge Orders Arrest of Ex-Central Bank Governor

Riad Salameh is accused of amassing a fortune during three decades in the job and faces numerous charges, including embezzlement, money laundering, and tax evasion in separate probes. He is probably the worst central bank governor in history. (Undated photo courtesy of AFP)

Last week Lebanese authorities arrested Riad Salameh (74), the former governor of Lebanon’s central bank, after he was questioned over the alleged embezzlement of more than $42 million. Lebanon’s financial prosecutor initiated legal proceedings against Salameh over allegations of “embezzling” public funds, as well as “illicit enrichment and money laundering”, and the case was referred to an investigating judge.

That investigating judge questioned Riad Salameh for two and a half hours and then issued an arrest warrant against him. The warrant ended Salameh’s provisional detention and placed him under formal arrest, indicating that the investigating judge’s suspicions against Salameh strengthened.

The judge’s move follows an 18-month investigation into allegations that Riad and his brother Raja embezzled $300m from the Banque du Liban between 2002 and 2015.

Salameh, who has French nationality, is widely viewed as a key culprit in Lebanon’s devastating economic crash which began in late 2019. The World Bank called the crash one of the worst in recent history, leaving more than 80% of the population living in poverty and struggling to afford food and medicine.

A handful of protesters gathered outside Beirut’s justice palace on Monday, some trying to attack a convoy of vehicles transporting Salameh as he arrived for an interrogation, hitting the windows and yelling “Riad Salameh is a thief!”

“No to your corruption, conspiracy, indifference, yes to justice,” one of the protest signs read.

After questioning, Salameh was returned to the jail where he had been detained. Last year, Germany and France issued arrest warrants for Salameh over accusations including money laundering and fraud, though German prosecutors later cancelled their warrant. He is currently under sanctions by Canada, the UK, and the US.

Salameh has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and defended his three-decade legacy, saying he is a “scapegoat” for Lebanon’s catastrophic economic collapse.

The central bank governor’s departure and arrest raises questions over how Lebanon’s political and economic elite enriched themselves at the expense of the public—even as their actions helped bring about an enormous economic crisis. (The National Interest).

Sources:

Lebanon Judge Orders Arrest Of Ex-central Bank Chief: Official (hngn.com)

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1687

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64746658

How “Financial Engineering” Helped Push Lebanon’s Economy into Crisis | The National Interest

Bear Trying to Nap Loses Fight Against Pesky Hammock in Colorado

Source:

Watch: Large bear wrestles with hammock outside Colorado home (usatoday.com)

Ex-US Green Beret Linked to Attempted 2020 Venezuelan Coup

Venezuelan forces captured several mercenaries after the failed 2020 coup [Getty Images]

Jordan Goudreau, a decorated former US Green Beret, is being prosecuted for allegedly smuggling automatic weapons from Florida to South America as part of a failed 2020 coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. His DNA was found on some of 60 recovered weapons, linking him to illegal arms trafficking that facilitated an amphibious raid against the Maduro government in Venezuela.  

Several fighters were killed and two of Goudreau’s former US Special Forces colleagues were imprisoned in Venezuela. Goudreau allegedly spent $90,000 on a yacht he used to transport ammunition, body armor plates and magazines for AR-15 rifles. Some of the weapons never made it because the yacht sank in the middle of the Caribbean. Goudreau and an unnamed associate had to be rescued by a passing natural gas tanker.

The 2020 anti-Maduro incursion was carried out by a ragtag group of Venezuelan army deserters whom Goudreau allegedly helped arm and train in neighboring Colombia. Goudreau later claimed responsibility for the putsch, but said he was acting in concert with the Venezuelan opposition to protect democracy. The defendant stated he was in touch with then-President Donald Trump’s administration, which made no secret of its desire to see Maduro gone, even though there’s no evidence US officials approved the invasion.

The 48-year-old has no criminal record and was a three-time Bronze Star recipient in Iraq and Afghanistan, but prosecutors argued he was both a danger to the public and a flight risk because of his firearms expertise, access to a sailboat at a USAF base in Tampa and an astonishing $10,000-a-month in military retirement disability income. If convicted, Goudreau faces between 10 and 20 years in prison.

Sources:

Middle District of Florida | Former Green Beret and Venezuelan National Charged with Violating Export and Firearms Laws | United States Department of Justice

US arrests a former Green Beret over the failed 2020 raid into Venezuela to remove Maduro | AP News

DNA on weapons implicates ex-U.S. Green Beret in attempted Venezuelan coup, federal officials say | AP News

FBI Arrests DoD Contractor with Scores of Classified Documents

Gokhan Gun, an electrical engineer and DoD contractor, was arrested by the FBI following a court-ordered search warrant of his home in Falls Church, VA. Investigators became aware that while working for the USAF in Washington, Mr. Gun had printed thousands of documents since starting his job in mid-2023. Many documents were unclassified, but some were marked Top Secret. Mr. Gun printed 256 documents, totaling approximately 3,400 pages. He then printed more than 406 pages of documents, which included 82 with Top Secret headings. Mr. Gun is charged with illegally obtaining and retaining national defense secrets.

Investigators are still trying to determine why Mr. Gun, who became an American citizen in 2021, hoarded so many documents. He nonchalantly carried them out of his office in rolled-up wads in plastic shopping bags. Mr. Gun frequently travels overseas and owns homes in Virginia, Texas and Florida. The FBI arrested the suspect early in the morning at his house while Mr. Gun was preparing to leave for what he described as a “fishing trip” with friends in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The counterintelligence investigation is continuing.

Source:

Defense Dept. Contractor Arrested With Dozens of Classified Documents – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Fire at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant in Occupied Ukraine, but Officials Say Safety Not Compromised

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said radiation indicators appeared normal for the plant.

The brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine established a new precedent. For the first time in history, a nuclear power plant has been occupied by a hostile foreign power. Russian forces took over the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant early during Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” against Ukraine. Worldwide concerns skyrocketed about potential radiation leaks or fallout from any mishap at the atomic plant.

A fire broke out on 11 August at a cooling tower at this nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine following what Russian officials allege was Ukrainian shelling, which Kiev denied. Plant management reported the fire was still blazing but that it was not endangering the safe operation of the facility. Ukrainian officials disclosed there was unofficial information or rumors that Russian forces had set fire to a large number of automobile tires in the cooling towers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has access to the site and reported no impact on nuclear safety. Along with the EU Joint Research Center, they are monitoring radiation levels in a potentially catastrophic situation for Europe, Ukraine, and Russia.

Sources:

Zelenskiy / Official – Telegram

Update 241 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine | IAEA

Radiological Maps – European Commission (europa.eu)Fire Hits Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant, But Officials Say Safety Not Compromised (rferl.org)

Ex-POTUS Donald J. Trump Losing Support from Within: ‘You’re gonna lose this!’

Mr. David McAfee at Raw Story reports that Donald Trump is getting pushback on his latest conspiracy theory from his own MAGA supporters. The former president claimed that VPOTUS Kamala Harris was faking her huge crowd sizes by using AI. The claim was ranked as “just false” by CNN, and one lawmaker said this comment made Trump unfit to be president. When Trump posted this absurd claim on Truth Social, some of his own supporters encouraged the GOP presidential nominee to back off.

Raw Story catalogued the following MAGA criticisms:

@Trumpbobo: “You realized that there is a video right that so otherwise shows.”

@Gobbyrocks: “It’s not fake, Trump. Please fire your disastrous advisors immediately before we lose this election!”

@Magahlahgo: “Are you ever going to talk about what you plan on doing if you win? Nobody cares about her crowds.”

@Cordlopez: “Please shut the f— up and get focused.”

@Witness023: “No. Consult with a good expert on this. They are going to make us look dumb.”

@Deplorable59: “STFU about the crowd size. She’s getting bigger crowds now face that fact. You’re gonna lose this! Stop with this bulls— – get out on the road. Talk to the people-don’t talk about her personally. Talk about the issues and what you will do to change things. You’re our only hope – you gotta stop screwing it up!”

Karlyn Borysenko: “I want you to win but you have got to start hinging back into reality and stop listening to anyone who lies to you about Kamala’s campaign. This is a video that aired live of the event. It is real. The photos are being generated from a parody account.”

Conservative influencer Ian Miles Cheong: “Kamala’s crowd at the airport was in fact real,” he wrote. “You can claim they’re paid actors or that they were just there for a concert but they are definitely not AI.”

Our deepest appreciation to Mr. David McAfee at Raw Story for monitoring Truth Social and presenting his findings.

Source:

‘You’re gonna lose this!’ Trump fans rebel against him over ‘A.I.’ Harris rally claim – Raw Story

Five Suspects Arrested for Rocket Attack on al-Asad Air Base in Iraq

Iraqi security personnel detained five individuals in connection with a rocket attack on al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq that wounded four US servicemembers and a defense contractor. Three rockets were launched by an Iranian-backed militia, two of which impacted the base, while the third rocket was intercepted. US CENTCOM is investigating how the rockets penetrated defense measures. See map at bottom.

The attack is the latest targeting al-Asad Air Base in recent weeks. On 25 July, two rockets were launched but did not strike the base. On 16 July, the base came under attack by two drones, one of which struck the base but caused minimal damage. The second drone launched in the same attack was shot down. No casualties were reported following either attack.

US bases in the region are prone to retaliatory strikes by pro-Iranian Shia militias whenever Israel attacks Iranian sovereign territory with rockets or drones or conducts extra-judicial killings (XJK) in Iran, Syria, or Lebanon. Shia Houthis on the Arabian Peninsula in support of their co-religionists in Iran similarly retaliate against maritime Western targets that may be allied or associated with Israel.

This last rocket attack followed an order by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to move additional warships and a fighter squadron to the Middle East to bolster Israel’s defense. The decision to move US forces came ahead of an anticipated Iranian counterattack in response to the Israeli assassination of Palestinian resistance leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Source:

5 arrested for rocket attack on base in Iraq that injured 4 service members, 1 contractor | Stars and Stripes

“Absolute loyalty’: Xi Jinping Focuses Anti-Corruption Campaign on China’s Military

Xi Jinping has unleashed a new campaign to enforce party discipline and root out corruption in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), in a sign that the Chinese leader’s decade-long push to exert tight personal control over the armed forces has fallen short.

The Central Military Commission, China’s top military leadership organ which Xi chairs, called for the establishment of an “early warning mechanism for integrity risks in the military” and announced a probe into corruption in equipment procurement going back almost six years.

The renewed campaign to root out corruption comes as several top officers of the PLA’s Rocket Force, which oversees the country’s nuclear and conventional missile arsenals, have disappeared from public view — often a signal of an investigation. China’s former foreign minister Qin Gang was absent from public commitments for a month before he was replaced by his predecessor.

According to Cercius, a Canada-based consultancy tracking elite Chinese politics, the status of about 10 current and former Rocket Force officials is unclear. Rod Lee, a leading expert on the PLA Rocket Force at the USAF Academy suggested the possibility that some, if not all, of these individuals were “rolled up for discipline or corruption.”

In an unprecedented move in 2022, China extradited Yanjun Xu, a senior operative in the Ministry of State Security (MSS) to the US. He is the first Chinese intelligence officer ever to be extradited to America to stand trial. Xu targeted US aviation companies, recruited employees to travel to China, and solicited their proprietary information, stealing advanced technology on behalf of Beijing.

The 42-year-old veteran spy was eventually convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Yanjun Xu (USM #77877-061) is incarcerated at Otisville FCI New York, and scheduled to be released 16 April 2035.

Sources:

‘Absolute loyalty’: Xi Jinping turns anti-corruption focus to China’s military (ft.com)

Office of Public Affairs | Chinese Government Intelligence Officer Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Espionage Crimes, Attempting to Steal Trade Secrets From Cincinnati Company | United States Department of Justice

Approximately 320 US military personnel are assigned to al-Asad Airbase alongside 9,000 or so Iraqi airmen and soldiers. Denmark and Norway maintain a combined contingency of 190 personnel.

Maniac who Attacked US Capitol Police on 6 Jan 2021 Sentenced to 20 Years

US Justice Dept image shows David Dempsey stomping on police officers in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021.

David Dempsey (37) of Santa Ana, CA, was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous weapon during the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the US Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the US Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Senior US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, a President Ronald Reagan nomination, confined David Dempsey to 240 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors described this runamok as one of the most violent members of Donald Trump supporters that attacked the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. David Dempsey represents America’s “Fedayeen Saddam,” a white supremacist dead-ender who stomped on heads, swung poles and a metal crutch, and attacked police officers with pepper spray and broken pieces of furniture.

US Justice Dept image shows David Dempsey throwing a pole at a police officer in the Lower West Terrace at the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021.

Unless presidentially pardoned, this miscreant will grace the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) with his departure when he is 57 years of age. After two decades of incarceration, Davis Dempsey will not have contributed much towards his Social Security retirement and he will have to find adequate employment just to sustain him plus save money for his imminent golden years.

In the 43 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,488 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the attack on the US Capitol, including nearly 550 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.

Sources:

District of Columbia | California Man Sentenced for Assaulting Law Enforcement with a Dangerous Weapon During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-arrests-2654807458

Ukrainian SBU Uses Double Agent to Apprehend Senior Russian GRU Agent in Kiev

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested a senior agent of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU) through the use of their own double agent. A Russian operator was organizing a sabotage cell in Kiev to target select vehicles with arson. An individual previously caught by the SBU became a double agent for them and documented the subversive activities of the female Russian military intelligence officer. This is called “turning in place.”

She recruited and coordinated the arsonists and helped them organize other subversive activities in Kiev. The woman gave instruction in the manufacture of homemade ignition devices, which were to be used to destroy military vehicles. The GRU operative arranged to film the arson attack to be committed by the SBU double agent and was caught in the act.

The captured operative will be charged with acts of treason committed under martial law for which she faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property. She may be used in a future prisoner swap for a high value Ukrainian operative held by the Kremlin.

The SBU also reported the detention of a 32-year-old fitness trainer from Odessa who set fire to the cars of the Armed Forces in Kyiv, Dnipro and Odessa on the orders of the FSB. The Odessa man, who was looking for quick money on the Internet, set fire to an АFU van in Kiev after having traveled to the capital, where he rented an apartment for one day. At night, he set fire to the parked military vehicle, capturing the result on his phone which Russia wanted to “prove” the existence of a pro-Russian underground in Kyiv. He intended to carry out similar actions in other Ukrainian cities.

The Ukrainian intelligence services continue to improve, neutralizing threats within their border and maintaining a clandestine network within Russia. Overall Operational Security (OPSEC) is also excellent, as the Russian military seems to have been caught unawares of Ukraine’s recent surprise offensive into Kursk. Either that, or the Kremlin ignored intelligence of the imminent AFU attack. President Putin appeared displeased at a recent emergency session of his national security council.

Sources:

SBU Uses Double Agent to Apprehend a Senior GRU Agent in Kyiv (kyivpost.com)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/23/ukraine-cia-shadow-war-russia/

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/08/09/putin-seethes-as-ukraines-shock-incursion-catches-leadership-by-surprise-a85970

Wildfires Rage Across North America

The US Forest Service is at “the highest level of wildfire response possible,” as forests grapple with record-breaking dry timber conditions. Last year, more than 1,600,000 hectares of land in Canada were scorched, setting a new record. In the US, NOAA reported that 55,571 fires burned 2,633,636 acres of land. North America could see similar or more damage this year. Drier conditions caused by global climate change are the root cause.

The first link below is an interactive real-time NASA map to show you the extent of the current conflagration.

Unless mankind can turn things around PDQ, Mother Nature will have a difficult time to recuperating from these grievous environmental wounds which impacts oxygen levels in the atmosphere and our delicate food cycle. The same can be said about our oceans. Warming waters are creating more “dead zones” and “algae blooms,” killing off the flora and fauna of the Seven Seas. One such oxygen-depriving “dead zone” the size of New Jersey is lurking in the Gulf of Mexico. The time to act is now to save our environment for future generations.

Sources:

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/usfs/map/#d:24hrs;@-100.0,40.0,4.0z

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/wildfires-tracker-canada

https://www.nbcnews.com/western-wildfires

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/dead-zones-in-our-oceans-have-increased-dramatically-since-1950-and-we-re-to-blame/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/phytoplankton-blooms-grow-climate-change-1.6764789

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topstories/a-dead-zone-about-the-size-of-new-jersey-lurks-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/ar-BB1r2LAt

Canadian North Korea UN Expert Detained in Switzerland for Espionage

Swiss authorities took the rare and unusual move to detain an unnamed Canadian in spring 2024 on suspicions of spying, most likely for China. Craig LNU is a resident of Geneva and a former UN expert on North Korea. He first attracted the attention of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service when he met with a suspected Chinese spy and appeared to accept cash in return for providing information.

The suspect sought to capitalize on his knowledge of North Korean diplomats with whom he had cultivated relationships over many years. This investigation is an effort by Switzerland to root out Chinese espionage operations in Geneva, home to multiple UN organizations, and the arrest is highly unusual in a country that typically asks spies to quietly leave. The Chinese military intelligence agent, accredited to Beijing’s permanent mission to Geneva, has since left Switzerland. 

“It is very rare for the Swiss authorities to make arrests on spying charges, let alone bringing such a matter eventually to court,” advised an expert on Chinese operations at the University of Basel. The last major case in which Switzerland is known to have detained a foreign national for espionage dates back to 1998, when authorities arrested a Mossad agent in Bern targeting the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“If [the Swiss authorities prosecute a suspect], one must assume that they have a solid case,” he said, suggesting that external pressure may have played a role in Bern’s actions. If charged and convicted of gathering military, economic and political intelligence for a foreign government, Craig LNU could face up to three years in a Swiss prison.

Nota Bene: Swiss and Western intelligence agencies must intensively debrief Craig LNU for damage assessment, which is probably being discreetly conducted . If the suspect shared sensitive information about former UN colleagues or North Korean diplomats, he may have put them in grave peril when they travel to China or North Korea, both of which have a have a history of detaining foreigners on allegations of espionage, subversion and other trumped-up charges.

Source:

North Korea expert, missing for months, detained in Switzerland for espionage | NK News

GOP Nominee to Run North Carolina Schools Advocated pro-Trump Military Coup in 6 January 2021 Video and Deaths of Presidents Obama and Biden

Michele Morrow, who supported a putsch against the US government on 6 Jan 2021, as well as advocated the public executions of Presidents Obama and Biden, is seeking a position where her estimated annual salary could be as high as $172,318. 

Michele Morrow, the Republican nominee to run the K-12 public education system in North Carolina, filmed a video while attending the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol urging then-President Donald Trump to put “the Constitution to the side” and use the US military to stay in power. This same person who has been nominated to run North Carolina’s $11 billion budget for K-12 public schools and set education priorities and the curriculum, also called for violence against Democrats, including executing Presidents Obama and Biden.

Morrow was at the US Capitol as the 6 January 2021 attack occurred, according to public videos reviewed by CNN that show her in a restricted area on the northwest side of the Capitol. CNN has seen no evidence that Morrow entered the Capitol building that day or that she engaged in violence, and she was not charged with any crimes.

In the March 2024 Republican primary, Morrow defeated the incumbent North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. That same month, CNN’s KFile reported Morrow had previously called for the public execution of Barack Obama and the death of Joe Biden and other prominent Democrats in comments on a since-deleted X account. The candidate has purged past extremist posts since running for office.

Remarkable that North Carolina is an election away from giving a handsome annual salary of potentially $172,318 to a neo-Confederate to manage its $11bn K-12 public school system. If the normal people of the Tar Heel State allow this Trump supporter to win the election, they will have to hold their noses for four years as their hard-earned tax dollars provide Michele Morrow with a robust salary as she oversees the curriculum being taught to 1,459,852 public school (and possibly 77,791 charter school) students.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2024/03/21/north-carolina-gop-public-schools-nominee-sot-ac360-vpx.cnn

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/politics/kfile-gop-nominee-north-carolina-public-schools-michele-morrow-executing-democrats

https://www.dpi.nc.gov/documents/fbs/resources/fy25webschedulesupdated7-12-24pdf/download?attachment

Israeli airstrike on Gaza school used as shelter kills at least 80, Palestinian officials report

An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza early Saturday, killing at least 80 people and wounding nearly 50 others, Palestinian health authorities reported. This was one of the deadliest IDF attacks over the past ten months. A witness said the munitions struck during prayers at a mosque in the building.

This attack was the latest of what a UN human rights officer called “systematic attacks on schools” by Israel, with at least 21 schools destroyed since 4 July 2024 leaving hundreds dead, including women and children.

“For many, schools are the last resort to find some shelter,” a UN official reported after Saturday’s bombardment.

The venomous Benjamin Netanyahu government has turned the Gaza Strip, once described as the “world’s largest open prison,” into a massive merciless hecatomb. Palestinians, UN refugee workers, World Central Kitchen volunteers, humanitarians, Freedom Flotilla samaritans, and journalists are completely unsafe and vulnerable to death or maiming at any time at the hands of the IDF.

All this carnage takes place while the world blithely enjoys the “Bread and circuses” spectacle of the vainglorious Paris XXXIII Olympiad. Sadly, Western governments that provide economic or military aid to Israel are complicit in these “massacres by munitions.”

To eliminate Muslims from the nascent Republika Srpska in July 1995, Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Milosevic and General Ratko Mladic orchestrated an infamous mass execution of 8,000 unarmed Bosnian men and boys in Srebrenica. Both caitiffs were later convicted of genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague.

So, you wonder how much population reduction the Likud government is seeking in the Gaza Strip, with the thousands and thousands of casualties the IDF have inflicted. And in the West Bank, the UN reports at least 500 Palestinians have been murdered by settlers over the past two years to which the Israeli security services seems to have turned a blind eye.

Sources:

https://www.voanews.com/a/israeli-airstrike-kills-over-60-people-at-gaza-school-palestinian-health-officials-say/7737279.html

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1150596

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srebrenica_massacre