Shahed-136 drones (AKA Geran-2), is an Iranian-designed loitering munition. Image Credit: Screenshot.
The US sanctioned nearly 400 individuals and entities to disrupt Russia’s international supply chains, metal procurement, and financial services that support its war effort in Ukraine. The move builds on sanctions already imposed on Russia in response to its full-scale war in Ukraine and were aimed at distinct networks, individuals, and entities whose products and services enable Russia to sustain the war and evade sanctions.
The list includes numerous transnational networks that procure ammunition and military materiel, entities that facilitate Russian oligarchal sanctions evasions, gold launderers, and procurers of sensitive and critical items such as advanced machinery tools and electronic components.
The sweeping action targets networks, individuals, and entities across 16 jurisdictions, including in China, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UAE. The measures against companies in China alone are aimed at 190 targets. Also targeted are entities and individuals involved in Russia’s future energy, metals, and mining production, subsidiaries of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom and “malign actors involved in the attempted, forcible ‘re-education’ of Ukraine’s children.”
The US government also added 123 entities to the Commerce Department Entity List that forces suppliers to obtain licenses before shipping to targeted companies (63 Russian, 42 Chinese, 18 other). The US is attempting to impede the production of Russian Shahed-136 drones used against Ukraine.
This move comes from Washington comes just as Kiev recently launched its largest drone attack on Moscow, its intelligence services hacked Russian TV (embarrassing Vladimir Putin), and the Ukrainians celebrated their Independence Day (24 August 1991).
Sources:
U.S. Sanctions Hundreds Of Targets In Effort To Cripple Kremlin’s Military Production (rferl.org)
Sanctions List Search (treas.gov)
https://www.bis.gov/entity-list
IDF Kills Dozens in Airstrikes as Ceasefire Talks Inch Forward
Palestinians walk next to sewage in the streets of Khan Younis, Gaza, 4 July 2024. Health authorities and aid agencies are racing to prevent an outbreak of polio in the Gaza Strip after the virus was detected in the territory’s wastewater. The UN confirmed the first cases of polio in the Gaza Strip in 25 years. (Photo: Jehad Alshrafi / AP)
At least three dozen Palestinians were killed in multiple Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, even as preparations moved ahead for high-level cease-fire talks in Egypt. Among the dead were 11 members of the same family, including two children, when an Israeli airstrike hit their home in the city of Khan Younis. Nasser Hospital received a total of 33 dead who were killed in three separate strikes in and around Khan Younis. The city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it received three bodies.
Seventeen others were killed when a strike hit a road south of Khan Younis, including the passengers on a tuk-tuk and passers-by. Another strike hit a tuk-tuk east of Khan Younis, killing at least five people. Palestinian first responders also recovered the bodies of 10 people from a residential block west of Khan Younis. The circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear and this area was repeatedly bombed by the Israeli military over the past week. An Associated Press journalist at the hospital counted the bodies and filmed the funeral service in the hospital’s courtyard.
President Biden called Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to stress the urgency of reaching a cease-fire and hostage release deal. Israel’s retaliatory offensive since October 2023 has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and caused widespread destruction, forcing 2.3 million Gazans to flee their homes. The New York Times reported the IDF onslaught against Gaza has created an estimated 19,000 Palestinian orphans, several with amputated limbs (see previous post by Coriolanus).
The American taxpayer has given Israel more than $260 billion in combined military and economic aid since World War II, plus about $10 billion more in contributions for missile defense systems like the Iron Dome. Meanwhile, Israeli cabinet members have publicly called for a “nabka” and you wonder how much Palestinian population reduction will eventually satisfy them.
Sources:
Dozens killed in strikes in Gaza as preparations for cease-fire talks move forward (voanews.com)
Israeli Minister Admits Military Is Carrying Out ‘Nakba’ Against Gaza’s Palestinians (msn.com)
Why Israel’s leaders call for ‘Second Nakba’ | Middle East Eye
How Much Aid Does the U.S. Give to Israel? | Best Countries | U.S. News (usnews.com)
Maryland Police Officer Justin Lee Guilty of Attacking US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021
A Rockville, MD man was convicted today of forcibly obstructing law enforcement and other charges for attacking the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021. Justin Lee (25) was found guilty of two felony offenses, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and civil disorder. In addition to the felonies, Lee is guilty of misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
Lee was present at the “Tunnel”, the site of the heaviest close-quarters-combat between seditionists and USCP officers, where amongst other actions, the defendant deployed a smoke grenade. After the 6 January attack, Justin Lee astonishingly joined the Montgomery County Police Department where he was subsequently involved in a shooting incident which was being investigated by authorities. Justin Lee will be sentenced on 22 Nov 2024.
In the 43 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,488 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including nearly 550 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.
Sources:
Montgomery Co. officer charged with assaulting police on Jan. 6 | fox43.com
Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Act as Agent of PRC Government
Ping Li (59) of Wesley Chapel, FL pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without notification to the Attorney General. The former Verizon employee spied for the PRC’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) for twelve years as a “cooperative contact.”
LI, a US citizen, admitted that he provided the MSS information concerning Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy advocates, members of the Falun Gong religious movement, and US-based non-governmental organizations. Li also provided the MSS with information he obtained from his employers. The defendant used a variety of anonymous online accounts for the purpose of communicating with the MSS, traveling to China to meet with his handlers as well.
If convicted, Li faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Sources:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/former-verizon-employee-accused-of-spying-for-china
Cat Ran Away 11 Years Ago; Found by Microchip
The cat looks a bit scrawny, but quite happy indeed. Image: Charleston County Animal Control and AP
After Sam Sam the Kittycat Man disappeared 11 years ago, Jennifer Ravenel couldn’t hold another cat in her lap. Her heart never could overcome the loss of that feral kitten she had rescued from the crook of a tree on her South Carolina farm. But Sam is now back in Ravenel’s lap, thanks to her decision to have a microchip put in him.
Charleston County Animal Control found Sam this month, skinny and feeding off scraps from a feral colony less than a mile from Ravenel’s home. His microchip was scanned, and Ravenel got a nearly unbelievable phone call. Once everyone was sure Sam was OK, Ravenel got to hold her lap kitty again. She squeezed him, telling him that he was her boy and remarking how skinny he was.
“I haven’t held a cat since he left — 11 years — because it broke my heart. To feel his little heartbeat in there, oh, gosh, it’s the craziest thing that has ever happened to me,” Ravenel said in a video provided by the Animal Society.
Source:
Sam Sam the Kittycat Man ran away. He was found close by — 11 years later | AP News
Coriolanus 