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America’s Spartacus and Brutus

Abolitionist and American martyr John Brown. To his right, former US Senator, US Secretary of War, then Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis.

After Abolitionist John Brown’s heroic seizure of the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA on 3 Jul 1859 to amass weapons for his emancipation campaign, disappointingly no slaves joined his Spartacus-like tiny army of 21 volunteers (including his own sons).

John Brown’s tiny force was defeated by Colonel Robert E Lee leading a company of US Marines. One of his sons was killed.

This was an era when Abolitionists were reviled and demonized as Southerners were terrified of a slave revolt like the one which occurred in Haiti decades ago. Using the Slave Patrols, the antebellum South was a police state.   

Wounded and captured, John Brown was quickly tried for his heresies in arguably a “kangaroo court.” But prosecutors were unsure how to charge John Brown and the grand jury indicted him on “treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia” and inciting people “to rebellion and insurrection,” which includes “riot, robbery, murder, and arson.”  

Virginia Governor Henry Wise, while abhorring his views, pronounced John Brown “the gamest man I ever saw.”

Hiram Griswold, defense counsel for John Brown, argued that “no man is guilty of treason unless he be a citizen of the state against which the treason so alleged has been committed”–and that Brown, a citizen of New York, could not therefore commit treason against Virginia. As for the charge of inciting a slave revolt, his lawyer insisted “there is a manifest distinction” between trying to free slaves, which Brown admittedly did, and inciting them “to rebellion and insurrection,” which includes “riot, robbery, murder, and arson.” Brown’s goal was to liberate slaves, not kill slaveowners or inflict mayhem.

Defense counsel conceded that citizens were shot during the Harper’s Ferry incident. But to call these shootings “murders” as the state sought to do, was to confuse common criminal conduct with the unfortunate but sometime necessary consequences of a military battle. The deaths, Griswold contended, were not “murders” within the meaning of Virginia law, but rather battlefield casualties.

The gallant courtroom defense of John Brown failed and he was found guilty after 45 minutes of jury deliberation.

John Brown was publicly executed on 2 Dec 1859, five months from his raid on Harper’s Ferry.

Execution of John Brown. Shakespearean actor John Wilkes Booth was a spectator. (Source: David Hunter Strother)

Fast Forward Six Years to the “Battle of Philippi” Ending the American Civil War

Confederate Army commander Robert E. Lee (or Cassius) surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on 9 Apr 1865. President Jefferson Davis attempted to head west to continue the war with die-hard guerilla forces unwilling to concede, but the turncoat and his small party were captured by Union forces one month later.

In between the Confederate Army surrender and the capture of America’s Brutus, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Jefferson Davis was imprisoned in Fort Monroe, VA, and confined to a casemate, forced to wear fetters on his ankles, required to have guards constantly in his room, forbidden contact with his family, and given only a Bible and his prayerbook to read. Public outcry against these harsh conditions led to an easing of his discomforts.

Sketch of Jefferson Davis in Fort Monroe casemate by Alfred Waud (1865).

In late summer 1865, Attorney General James Speed determined that it was best to try Davis for treason in a civil criminal trial. In June 1866, the House of Representatives passed a resolution by a vote of 105 to 19 to put Davis on trial for treason. Union prosecutors worried a jury might sympathize with Davis and acquit him in an act of jury nullification that would be interpreted as validating the constitutionality of secession. Ultimately, after two years of imprisonment, Jefferson Davis was released unscathed in Richmond on 13 May 1867. His bail of $100,000 (~$1.79 million in 2023) was posted by the oligarchs of his day: Horace Greeley, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Gerrit Smith.

The Different Treatment Between the American Spartacus and Brutus

John Brown introduced the terrifying concept of racial equality to Southern slave-owners that threatened their prosperity, the status quo, and the myth of white supremacy. Bewildered prosecutors against America’s Spartacus cobbled together their charges against him and railroaded John Brown to his execution, all within five months. The incredibly dangerous meme of racial equality had to be quickly and decisively crushed.

But for America’s Brutus whose secession attempt cost hundreds of thousands of American lives and millions of dollars in damage, post-Civil War prosecutors were unable to convict Jefferson Davis of one, single charge. After two years Jefferson Davis was released unscathed from prison on 13 May 1867. The all-important meme of white supremacy was not quickly and decisively crushed.

While the “Battle of Philippi” defeated Brutus and Cassius and dissolved the geographic Mason-Dixon Line, the meta-physical apartheid of America and the meme of white supremacy remains to this day. Witness the several failed Congressional and criminal attempts to convict Donald Trumpf, the ultimate avatar of whiteism, just like Jefferson Davis, whose princely bond of $100,000 was paid by oligarchs 160 years ago. There should be no mystery that Trumpf wants to rename US military bases with the names of defeated Confederate generals.

Endnotes:

Only two Confederates would hang for war crimes after the US Civil War: Henry Wirz and Samuel “Champ” Ferguson. White supremacist Jefferson Davis would move to Canada and return to the US, outliving President Abraham Lincoln by 24 years and John Brown by 30 years. He died in Mississippi at the ripe old age of 81 on 6 Dec 1889. The Lost Cause of the Confederacy movement considered him to be a hero. In the late 19th and the 20th centuries, his legacy as Confederate leader was celebrated in the South. Some historians claim that John Wilkes Booth may be considered a Brutus or a Judas Iscariot for stalking and eventually assassinating President Abraham Lincoln.

Ralph Waldo Emerson would call John Brown’s 1859 courtroom oration, along with the Gettysburg Address, one of the two greatest American speeches:

“The New Testament teaches me that all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them….I have endeavored to act on that instruction. I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered, as I have done…in behalf of His despised poor, is no wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood farther with the blood of my children and the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say let it be done.”

Sources:

The Trial of John Brown: An Account

https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/murder-most-foul-how-shakespeare-connects-abraham-lincoln-and-john-wilkes-booth/

Jefferson Davis – Wikipedia

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Brown-American-abolitionist

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/only-two-confederates-were-executed-for-war-crimes-during-the-civil-war/

John Brown (abolitionist) – Wikipedia

Chrystia Freeland to Run for Leader of Canada’s Liberal Party

Chrystia Freeland (Photo: Reuters)

Former Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland intends to run to lead the country’s governing Liberal Party saying “I’m running to fight for Canada.”

Freeland recently fell out with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the direction of the country’s financial policies. Her resignation from her post in December was a blow to Trudeau’s already-shaky hold on the Canadian government, helping to usher in his own resignation after nine years as prime minister.

Freeland had long been one of Trudeau’s closest allies in his Liberal Party. She held the key role of Canada’s finance minister starting in 2020 – the first woman to hold the position – and helped to lead the country through the pandemic and its aftermath. The two disagreed on how to address US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs, among other financial policies as Canada faced a C$60b deficit ($42bn; £33bn).

Following his win in November, Trump, who takes office on Monday, suggested that he would impose potential 25% tariffs on Canadian goods. In a public resignation letter, Freeland criticized Trudeau’s leadership, denounced his use of “costly political gimmicks” and said Canada must push “back against ‘America First’ economic nationalism”.

Ms. Freeland is of Ukrainian descent and a Rhodes Scholar. She has a strong reputation for competence and has experience dealing with Donald Trumpf. Canada must hold general elections in October 2025, but could come as soon as spring.

The threat of a Trumpf presidency caused Canadian PM Justin Trudeau to launch the Council on Canada-US Relations, comprised of leaders in business, innovation, and policy, in order to use their sectoral expertise in dealing with the US. Canadians along the political spectrum are uniting against Trumpf’s blasphemies.

Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford wears a “Canada is not for sale” hat on his way into Wednesday’s First Minister’s meeting in Ottawa.  (Photo by Bryan Passifiume / Toronto Sun / Postmedia Network)

America’s neighbor to the south is also ridiculing Donald Trumpf as well.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm277d030evo

https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2025/01/16/prime-ministers-council-canada-us

US: State of Georgia Confirms Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza; All Poultry Activities Suspended

From the Georgia Department of Agriculture:

The Georgia Department of Agriculture and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed a positive case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in a commercial poultry operation located in Elbert County, GA. This is the first confirmed HPAI case in a commercial poultry operation in Georgia, and the fifth detection in the state of Georgia. As a result of this detection, effective immediately, all in-state poultry exhibitions, shows, swaps, meets, and sales are suspended until further notice.

All commercial poultry operations within a ten kilometer (6.2 mile) radius have been placed under quarantine and will undergo surveillance testing for a period of at least two weeks.

Avian flu will have a serious impact on the poultry industry with ramifications across a broad spectrum of the US. For example, pets can be affected by avian flu tainted food. While dogs are less vulnerable to avian flu, cats are not.

This beautiful cat died in Dec 2024 after eating from a contaminated batch of Northwest Naturals pet food. (Photo:
Jamila Acfalle)

One of the last official acts of the Biden Administration was to fund Moderna to discover a vaccine for the Avian flu. This will be President Trumpf’s first major health crisis.

President Trumpf’s medical care plan for all Americans.

Source:

https://agr.georgia.gov/pr/highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-confirmed-commercial-poultry-flock-georgia-all-poultry

INTERPOL, Germany, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Unite to Tackle Environmental Crime

Environmental crime is one of the most profitable forms of criminal operations worldwide, with estimates putting it as the third most profitable criminal activity behind drug trafficking and counterfeit crimes.

From INTERPOL:

The Federal Environment Ministry of Germany, INTERPOL and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are joining forces to combat the devastating impact of environmental crime.

With a EUR Five million investment from the German government’s International Climate Initiative (IKI), the three-year project aims to identify and prevent transnational crimes impacting the climate, biodiversity and the environment across five key areas: fisheries crime, forestry crime, illegal mining, pollution crime, and wildlife crime.

Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke:

“Transboundary organized environmental crime exacerbates the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution. So it is important to me to ensure that protecting the environment goes hand in hand with combating environmental crime.

“Criminal organizations are causing massive damage to the natural foundations of our lives. For example, they kill and trade in critically endangered species, clear forests that provide key carbon reservoirs and habitats, and poison landscapes with illegally dumped waste, making them uninhabitable. By cooperating with INTERPOL and WWF, we will join forces and make a valuable contribution in the fight against transboundary environmental crime.”

INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza:

“Environmental crimes threaten our planet, our daily lives and the future of generations to come. From illegal logging to hazardous waste dumping, there are no borders to environmental crimes, which are uniquely destructive, with long term consequences that extend far beyond the immediate damage. This joint project with Germany and WWF will help provide real support in developing capabilities, intelligence and ultimately, operational outcomes.”

EUR five million is a drop in the bucket when dealing with international organized crime, but the investment is taken in good spirit. One of the issues INTERPOL can address is the “Sand mafia,” one of the largest crime syndicates in the world who are accused of plundering the earth. Stealing sand from beaches or from off-shore with dredgers, these criminals increase beach erosion worldwide. The stolen sand is used for lucrative building construction.

Sources:

https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Events/News/2025/Tackling-Environmental-Crime-Germany-INTERPOL-and-WWF-unite-efforts

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sand-mafias-are-plundering-the-earth/

US/Canada: Rate of Dementia Cases Increasing Every Year

More than 25 different diseases and conditions can cause dementia; Alzheimer’s disease being the most common cause.

From Nature:

The number of US adults who will develop dementia each year was projected to increase from approximately 514,000 in 2020 to approximately one million in 2060. The relative growth in new dementia cases was especially pronounced for Black adults.

US Analysis:

“Using data from a community-based, prospective cohort study (n=15,043; 26.9% Black race, 55.1% women and 30.8% with at least one apolipoprotein E4 (APOE ?4) allele), we estimated the lifetime risk of dementia (from age 55 years to 95 years), with mortality treated as a competing event. We applied lifetime risk estimates to US Census projections to evaluate the annual number of incident dementia cases from 2020 to 2060. The lifetime risk of dementia after age 55 years was 42% (95% confidence interval: 41–43). Rates were substantially higher in women, Black adults and APOE 4 carriers, with lifetime risks ranging from approximately 45% to 60% in these populations. The number of US adults who will develop dementia each year was projected to increase from approximately 514,000 in 2020 to approximately one million in 2060. The relative growth in new dementia cases was especially pronounced for Black adults. These results highlight the urgent need for policies that enhance healthy aging, with a focus on health equity.”

Canada Analysis:

As of 1 Jan 2025, an estimated 771,939 people are living with dementia.
Every day, more than 414 people develop dementia, which is more than 17 every hour.

By 2030, researchers project that nearly one million people will be living with dementia. And they forecast that more than 1.7 million people in Canada will have dementia by 2050.

Genetics, alcohol/drug use, the environment, poverty, and malnutrition are probably all contributing factors. Canada, with a growing elderly population, will probably weather this future storm better than the US with her superior social safety nets. For Americans, these numbers may grow because of the incoming Trumpf Administration which will extract more wealth out of the system, cutting back on Medicare, food assistance, and medical research.

Sources:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03340-9

https://alzheimer.ca/en/about-dementia/what-dementia/dementia-numbers-canada

64 Years Ago, Americans Celebrated President John F. Kennedy with Stellar Pre-Inaugural Gala in Washington, DC

Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack was a political tour-de-force which helped JFK win the White House in 1960. They organized a pre-inaugural gala/fundraiser on 19 Jan 1961. Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford convinced several Broadway producers to shut down for one night so actors such as Anthony Quinn, Ethel Merman, and Laurence Olivier could attend.

The National Guard Armory in DC hosted two inaugural events: the Pre-Inaugural Gala (19 Jan 1961) and the Post-Inaugural Ball (20 Jan 1961).

President-elect John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrive at the pre-inaugural ball.

Frank Sinatra escorts Jacqueline Kennedy up the stairs during the pre-inaugural gala at the National Guard Armory in Washington, DC on 19 Jan 1961 (Photo: GAB Archive / Redferns)

The Chairman of the Board lighting up the incoming Commander-in-Chief.

Gene Kelly performing at the JFK gala, 19 Jan 1961.

Fellow Rat Packer Peter Lawford was the tightest with Frank Sinatra at that moment in history.

Regrettably, Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr was excluded from the 19 Jan gala because of his recent mixed-race marriage to May Britt and Southern Democrats needed to be appeased. Crushed, Sammy Davis Jr would switch his support to the GOP and in 1972 he became the first man of color to stay overnight at the White House (in the Lincoln Bedroom).

Tickets sold for $100 each and 72 ringside boxes for small groups were sold at $10,000 apiece.

‘Twas the beginning of a short-lived Camelot.

This comic book was distributed to people overseas through US Embassies to introduce them to America’s new First Family.

JFK donated his entire congressional and presidential salaries to charity.

Sources:

https://www.thirteen.org/blog-post/the-lost-inaugural-gala-for-jfk-never-before-seen-performances/

https://pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/1961-inaugural-gala/

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jfk-presidential-salary/

Abandoned Golden Retriever Puppy Cried So Kitten Came Over to Comfort It

Israel on Warpath: 22 Killed in Gaza, 37 in Beirut; Two Lebanese Hezbollah Commanders Dead

Palestinians inspect a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza city after it was hit by an Israeli strike. Reuters

An Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza city’s Al Zeitoun neighbourhood has killed at least 22 people as strikes across the enclave intensified.

Israel’s strikes on Gaza have killed at least 119 people in the past 72 hours, the enclave’s Health Ministry said on Saturday, excluding the latest toll from the attack on the school.

A separate strike hit Al Falah school in the same area, injuring a number of people. The Israeli military claimed it was targeting Hamas operatives in the school. The Israeli military often accuses Hamas militants of hiding in schools where thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter. The group has repeatedly denied this claim.

The death toll in the enclave since 7 Oct 2023 has risen to 41,391, while 95,760 have been wounded. Over the past three days, 209 people were injured.

Beirut after IDF airstrike. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the attack showed Israel “gives no weight to any humanitarian, legal, or moral considerations”.

The latest Israeli attack killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil along with at least 37 people on Friday. The strike, which destroyed a residential building in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, also wounded 68 people.

Calls for blood donations for the victims were multiplying on social media. People searching for their loved ones also took to social media to ask for help, sharing pictures of their missing relatives, including children. Lebanon’s medical infrastructure, already under strain from the massive pager and walkie-talkie sabotage attack, was taxed again. UN human rights chief Volker Turk  denounced the rigged device attacks carried out in Lebanon, saying they constitute a breach of international human rights law and could amount to a war crime.

Volker Turk advised the UN Security Council that using devices disguised as “apparently harmless portable objects” is an act of violence aimed at spreading “terror among civilians”. The human rights chief called for an independent, thorough, and transparent investigation, and for those who ordered and carried out the attacks to be held to account.

Lebanese Hezbollah counterattacked with rocket launches into Israel; four casualties were reported.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is making conditions for a ceasefire or eventual peace in the Middle East impossible. IDF attacks are not only enraging the Arab population, but adding to deep-seeded resentments with every loss or maiming of a family member. The Lebanese people (and the Iraqis) already rank as the world’s angriest population for manifold reasons; the next generation of anti-Israeli enemies has been spawned. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration has been attempting in good faith some sort of cease-fire or deal to release the remaining hostages being held by armed Palestinian groups. At one point, Washington must restrain the bellicose Likud Party or the US will be needlessly sucked into a war of Netanyahu’s making.

Sources:

Israel rules out political solution as strike on Beirut kills Hezbollah commanders | The National (thenationalnews.com)

Booby-trapped device attacks in Lebanon breach international law, says UN rights chief | The National (thenationalnews.com)

Israeli strike on Gaza school-turned-shelter kills at least 22 people | The National (thenationalnews.com)

Lebanese, Iraqis among world’s angriest populations: report (newarab.com)

Ohio “Man of God” Sentenced for Organizing and Rallying 6 Jan Attackers

(Images: US Dept of Justice)

Pastor William Dunfee (59) of Frazeysburg, OH, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $2,000 in restitution for one felony offense of civil disorder and a misdemeanor offense of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds on 6 Jan 2021. He rallied seditionists to storm the US Capitol to disrupt the peaceful transition of Presidential power.

As the seditionists attacked and threatened the lives of members of Congress after a Donald Trump speech urging them to “fight like hell”, Dunfee used a bullhorn to egg them on, falsely proclaiming the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

A pastor of the New Beginnings Ministry Warsaw in Ohio, Dunfee pushed a metal barricade against officers with the US Capitol Police who were attempting to hold the line and then entered the Capitol building without authorization.

During sentencing the Honorable Judge Reggie Walton asked Dunfee, “What kind of man of God would do that, Sir?”

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 | Ohio Man Sentenced to Prison on Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach | United States Department of Justice

American Warzone: Four KIA, 20 WIA in Late Night Shooting in Alabama

US Army medics treating wounded soldiers in Vietnam on 2 Apr 1967. In the US, 44,341 people die by firearms in an average year, a rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 people. Americans suffer from wartime casualty amounts every year without going to war. Image: http://www.flickr.com

Four people were killed and more than 20 wounded following a shooting in a nightlife area in Birmingham, AL. Just after 11 PM, “multiple shooters fired multiple shots on a group of people” in the Five Points South area.

Two men and a woman were found dead at the scene; a fourth victim died at a hospital. Other victims were transported to hospitals in private vehicles. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital was treating 11 victims and their conditions have not been released.

The victims were all located on the sidewalk or the streets and detectives are trying to determine if the shooters walked up to the victims or drove by a vehicle.

The Five Points South area of Birmingham has numerous entertainment venues, restaurants, and bars and is often crowded on Saturday nights. Police said there were no immediate arrests.

In an average year, 1,175 people die by guns in Alabama. With a rate of 23.9 deaths per 100,000 people, the Cotton State has the fourth-highest rate of gun deaths in the US.

Alabama Firearms Licenses in 2021: 194,920

An estimated 55.5% of adults in Alabama have guns at home.

Sources:

At least four killed, multiple injured in late night shooting in Alabama (archive.md)

EveryStat – EveryStat.org

10. Alabama – Gun map: Ownership by state – statistics and rates (cbsnews.com)

Ukraine Destroys 71 of 80 Russian Drones Overnight

A Ukrainian police officer stands next to a destroyed car following a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv late on 21 Sep. At least 12 people were injured. Photo: AFP

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that air-defense systems shot down 71 of 80 Russian attack drones launched overnight. It said six more drones were neutralized by electronic warfare. The air force also said Russia had launched two guided missiles from occupied parts of Ukraine’s Luhansk region. It did not say what happened to the missiles. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said air-defense units had destroyed 15 drones that Ukraine launched overnight. Late on 21 Sep, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said explosions rang out in Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city — with a guided bomb hitting a residential high-rise, injuring at least 12.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to kick off his US visit on 22 Sep with a stop at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, a Pennsylvania factory producing key munitions for his country’s fight against Russia. Scranton is Pres. Biden’s birthplace. This ammunition plant manufactures 155 mm artillery shells used in howitzer systems that can strike targets from up to 32 kms away. The US has so far provided Kiev with more than three million of the shells and Ukraine fires up to 8,000 of them daily.

An employee handles 155 mm shells at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant on 16 Apr. Photo: Charly Triballeau / AFP.

Pres. Zelensky addresses the UN General Assembly in NY on 24 Sep and will meet separately at the White House with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on 26 Sep. Pres. Zelensky will reportedly meet with GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump as well at an undisclosed time.

Sources:

Ukraine Says It Destroyed 71 Of 80 Drones Fired By Russia Overnight (rferl.org)

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy To Begin U.S. Trip With Visit To Pennsylvania Munitions Factory (rferl.org)

Possible Widespread Labor Action by Longshoreman’s Union at East Coast Ports on 1 Oct

ILA’s Dennis A. Daggett says union will be on the “right side of history” if it must strike on 1 Oct 2024. “Corporate greed must end,” he emphasized.

A major strike is on the horizon for thousands of maritime workers, posing a threat to East Coast ports responsible for offloading billions of dollars of goods. 

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), the largest union of maritime workers in North America, has vocalized plans to go on strike at all of its Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports 1 Oct if a new contract agreement can’t be reached with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). The union is arguing for better wages and continued protections against automation and new technology in its terminals.

“A sleeping giant is ready to roar on Tuesday, 1 Oct 2024, if a new Master Contract Agreement is not in place,” ILA President Harold J. Daggett said in a statement Monday.  “My members have been preparing for over a year for that possibility of a strike.”

According to a statement from USMX, negotiations with the ILA began in the last week of May. Now, the union’s current six-year contract is less than two weeks away from expiring.

The Port Authority of NY and NJ is “closely monitoring developments and remain hopeful. For the over 600,000 regional jobs our port supports and the $240 billion in goods moved through here each year, we urge both sides to find common ground and keep the cargo flowing for the good of the national economy,” said a spokesperson for the Port Authority. 

The ILA has argued that the USMX is denying workers fair contracts with adequate wage raises and proper benefits. 

“USMX claims to offer industry-leading wages, however, their interpretation of ‘leading wages’ is polar opposite to ours,” a statement from the ILA on Monday said. 

“Our members are struggling to pay their mortgages and rent, car payments, groceries, utility bills, taxes, and in some cases, their children’s education. USMX’s corporate greed has made them delusional — profits over people. They have taken advantage of a low entry-wage and a tiered progression system for thirty years,” the statement continued. 

The union said its rank-and-file members will no longer accept contracts that include small wage increases of a dollar or less. It argued further that for more than three decades, ILA workers only saw annual wage increases of 2.02% per year on average — with some years having wage raise percentages of zero, according to the ILA statement. 

The ILA is the largest union of maritime workers in North America, representing upwards of 85,000 longshoremen on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, Great Lakes, major U.S. rivers, Puerto Rico and Eastern Canada, and the Bahamas. The longshoremen of the ILA kept cargo moving non-stop during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sources:

ILA Union

Layout 1 (usmx.com)

Major maritime strike could threaten ports across the East Coast (nbcnews.com)

Possible widespread strike on East Coast ports poses a serious risk – Internewscast Journal

Taiwan: Pesticide Found in Food Poisoning Victims

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that eight people who fell ill due to suspected food poisoning had terbufos, a hazardous chemical compound found in some pesticides, in their systems.

Terbufos, which can potentially kill humans, is used on various crops, including bananas, beans, citrus, coffee, groundnuts, sorghum, and maize as soil cover to combat wireworms, mossy beetles, beet flies, and the black bean louse.

Four of the eight sampled patients were all found to have reduced acetylcholinesterase, reflecting organophosphorus poisoning. The suspected food poisoning happened last week when an 83-year-old woman died after eating millet dumplings she prepared. Several relatives and friends who came to mourn her death ate the leftover dumplings and exhibited symptoms such as vomiting and convulsions.

A sample of the millet dumplings known as “Abai,” a traditional cuisine of some of Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples at the center of the food poisoning incident. CNA photo 18 Sep 2024.

Even at low levels of exposure, terbufos can lead to serious negative health effects, including neurological harm. Terbufos is used in 19 American states.

Sources:

Terbufos found in suspected food poisoning victims’ systems: CDC – Focus Taiwan

Terbufos in the United States: Harmful Health Effects and Widespread Use – Earthjustice

North Koreans Are Getting Sick of Propaganda Song “Friendly Father”

North Korean military choir members sing on the eve of the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding day in Pyongyang, DPRK, 8 Sep 2018.

North Koreans are growing weary of being bombarded by “Friendly Father,” an upbeat propaganda song praising leader Kim Jong Un that has been blanketing the country for months now.

People are forced to sing it before every public event and a loudspeaker car drives through cities blaring it.

“He is holding his 10 million children in his arms and taking care of us with all his heart,” go the lyrics.

“The love you give me is like the sea. The trust you give me is like the sky,” says verse two. “You are always by our side, and make all our wishes come true.”

“Every factory, company, school, work unit, and neighborhood-watch unit in the province has both children and adults sing this song whenever the opportunity arises,” according to an anonymous informant.

North Korean students sing in music class at the Pyongyang Orphans’ Secondary School in Pyongyang, DPRK, 1 Sep 2016. (Jon Chol Jin/AP)

The government created a high-quality music video for the song depicting people from all walks of life enthusiastically singing along to it.

Friendly Father was inspired by an earlier propaganda song called “Friendly Name” that sung the praises of Kim’s father and predecessor Kim Jong Il. The melody is different but many of the lyrics in “Friendly Father” are callbacks to the earlier song, which most North Koreans know by heart.

The order to promote the song comes from the Central Party of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party.

It’s gotten to the point where people actively avoid places where the song is played publicly if they can help it. For example, in the city of Hyesan, on the border with China, there is a park where retired people gather to spend their free time by talking, singing, dancing, playing games, or exercising. 

But when the park turned off their music and began playing “Friendly Father” over the park’s public address system, the senior citizens went home. The park, which used to teem with old folks from sunrise to sunset, is now empty almost every day.

Another problem with the song stems from Korea’s Confucian culture. Often complete strangers are expected to grant older people a certain amount of respect simply because they are older, with the promise that they will receive the same respect from the young when they reach the same age.

However, “people in their 70s and 80s are being forced to call Kim Jong Un, who is only in his 40s and is about the same age as their sons, their ‘friendly father.’”

North Koreans sing at a picnic gathering at a park in Pyongyang, 18 Apr 2012, a national holiday celebrating the birthday period of the late leader Kim Il Sung.  (Vincent Yu/AP)

People scoff at the notion that Kim Jong Un could be their “friendly father,” because they do not trust his leadership abilities, the second resident said.

“They have no hope in their leader, but they are forced to familiarize their eyes, ears, and mouths with the image of him as their friendly father through the song.”  Propaganda efforts are getting bigger and louder as people’s dissatisfaction with society and food insecurity increases.

Source:

North Koreans are getting sick of propaganda song “Friendly Father” — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)

Iceland Locals Save Baby Puffins by Tossing Them Out to Sea

Imagery and Story: Kyana Sue Powers, Megan Cook, Andy Witchge

People in Iceland patrol the streets at nights with flashlights and boxes. They are rescuing baby puffins, also known as pufflings. If found, they would be rounded up and gently tossed off the cliffside in the morning. At six weeks old — when their fluffy down matures and their beaks are still black — a puffling is ready to fly the nest. Once they head out to sea, they will spend three to four years of their life flying abroad, before returning to the cliff sides to start a family of their own. 

However, each year (in late August or September) pufflings come crashing down on streets and residential homes, as their internal compass ushers them to the moon… and the “moon” turns out to be the electronic lights of the city. In the same way that baby sea turtles can be disoriented — and misdirected — by city lights in coastal towns, pufflings will often fall for the allure of artificial lights. 

Thankfully, the residents of Vestmannaeyjar know to keep an eye out for wandering pufflings, and they take the volunteer position seriously. Residents can find between four to ten pufflings in a single night during puffling season. Before they release pufflings, locals are encouraged to record the weight of each puffling on an official “Puffin Patrol” website. 

Image via Andy Witchge / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The baby puffins are gently picked up and placed in a box and brought to the south side of Iceland where they are released. Typically, instinct takes over and the pufflings are able to fly toward the ocean without issue. 

Volunteer work is critical to keeping puffin populations up. Globally the Atlantic puffin is considered vulnerable, but in Europe, it’s on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. And in Iceland, specifically, they are critically endangered. 

This is due in part to declining fish populations, rising sea temperatures, and oil spills. 

For puffin patrollers, caring for the wayward baby birds is akin to helping little, lost friends. In fact, the scientific name for the Atlantic puffin subspecies, Fratercula arctica, literally translates to “little brother of the North.”

Sources:

Inspired by Iceland

Beautiful Puffin and Shore View

Why Icelanders are tossing baby puffins off of cliffs (goodgoodgood.co)

Pagers Rigged with Explosives Kill Nine, Wounds 2,800 in Lebanon; Israel Blamed

A victim is carried on a stretcher outside American University of Beirut Medical Center as people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded and killed when pagers exploded across Lebanon on 17 Sep 2024.

At least nine people were killed and more than 2,800 others wounded, overwhelming Lebanon’s hospitals, when pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded Tuesday. No one has claimed responsibility for this terrorist attack, but the people of Lebanon are blaming Israel. Many of the injuries were described as gruesome and some victims lost their eyes.

Lebanese press reports said the pagers were relatively new and were part of an order of 5,000 given to Hezbollah operatives in the past few months. They had been using pagers to communicate as Israeli intelligence is able to track and record cellphones.

Hsu Ching-Kuang, founder of Taiwan-based manufacturer Gold Apollo, told reporters Wednesday his company did not manufacture the pagers, but rather authorized its brand to be used on devices produced and sold by a company called BAC in Budapest. Two or three ounces of explosives were secreted into each device which exploded simultaneously across Lebanon at approximately 3:30PM.

Iran state media reported the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those wounded by an exploding pager. Lebanon’s Hezbollah issued a statement Tuesday blaming the blasts on Israel, which has not officially commented. At least two Hezbollah members were reported dead as well as a child.

The Lebanese government condemned the attack as “criminal Israeli aggression.” Beirut is a recipient of US military assistance and its security services may request forensic assistance from Washington to determine the culprits of this attack. Lebanon also enjoys close economic and political ties with France whom they can also ask for investigative help.

If Israeli intelligence was responsible, this was a monumental counterintelligence and political blow against Lebanese Hezbollah, which also served to demonstrate Israel’s espionage capabilities. And this was also an innovative method of conducting Extra-Judicial Killings (XJK) across international borders which Israeli can deny perpetrating. If ISIS, al-Qaida, the FARC, or the IRA conducted this attack, the world would condemn it as terrorism.

Lebanese Hezbollah said it would continue its fight against Israel in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and that Israel should await “harsh punishment.”

US forces in Iraq should be prepared for reprisal attacks from Iran’s Shia proxies. Western commercial ships in the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden may see attacks from the Shia Houthis, who have become allies with Tehran and Lebanese Hezbollah. After the Sunni Saudi blockade created a catastrophic famine for Shia Yemenis, the Houthis accepted Iran’s aid and have since become proxies for Tehran.

Sources:

Pagers rigged with explosives kill 9, wound 2,800 in Lebanon (voanews.com)

BBC NEWS | Middle East | French nearly fired at Israelis

Russia Claims to Kill ‘Ukrainian Agent’ Plotting Assassination of Defense Executive

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that its agents killed a suspected Ukrainian military intelligence officer allegedly plotting to assassinate a Russian defense industry executive.

The FSB identified the man as a Russian citizen born in 1984, accusing him of illegal trafficking explosives and claiming he was working on behalf of Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency.

According to Russian law enforcement authorities, the man was instructed by “his handlers” to create an improvised explosive device (IED), which was to be used as a car bomb targeting a defense executive in the Sverdlovsk region, a major hub for Russian defense manufacturing.

FSB agents reportedly killed the man during a gunfight as he attempted to place the IED in a cache. “While being apprehended, he offered armed resistance and was neutralized by return fire,” the FSB said in a statement.

Footage released by state news agencies showed the body of a man in a wooded area holding a handgun, along with images of what the FSB claimed were the explosive device components found in a garage.

The FSB did not identify the alleged target of the assassination plot, describing him only as a “senior employee of a defense company.”

There was no immediate response from Kiev about Russia’s allegations.

IEDs have killed high-value target (HVT) Russians during the war. The daughter of ultra-nationalist Putin-ally Alexander Dugin was killed in a bomb attack in August 2022 and in May 2023, pro-war blogger Zakhar Prilepin was seriously injured in an attack.

Sources:

Russia Claims to Kill ‘Ukrainian Agent’ Plotting Assassination of Defense Executive

Russian military intelligence officer injured in Moscow car bomb attack, Kommersant says | Reuters‘

Car bomb attack’ investigated in Moscow – amid conflicting reports military officer was target | World News | Sky News

Impeachment Proceedings Against France’s Macron Pass First Hurdle

The pomp and spectacle of the Paris Olympiad are over as reality returns for President Macron in this undated image. (AP – Thomas Padilla)

The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) has accused President Macron of denying democracy in refusing to name a prime minister from one of their ranks. The procedure to impeach him got over the first hurdle on Tuesday but it’s highly unlikely the president will fall. LFI has accused Macron of carrying out an “anti-democratic coup” after he ruled out choosing its pick for prime minister, naming veteran conservative politician Michel Barnier instead.

A petition, signed by more than 300,000 people, refers to Macron’s “unprecedented authoritarian drift … in the system of representative democracy.”

Impeachment proceedings have never gone this far before. Ten years ago, a proposal tabled by the right against then Socialist president François Hollande didn’t get beyond the committee stage.However, there is little chance of Macron being forced to step down. Under Article 68 of the Constitution, the motion now has to be examined by the assembly’s Law Committee, before being put to a wider vote by MPs. The text must be approved by two-thirds of MPs – 385 out of 577.

Mathematically that’s highly unlikely as Macron can count on his centrist Ensemble (Together) coalition and the mainstream right Republicans to vote against.

Outgoing prime minister Gabriel Attal has described the motion as “a declaration of war on our institutions.” The far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies – with 143 MPs – will not vote in favour either. RN leader Marine Le Pen has termed the motion a “sinister comedy” and accused the left of spreading “disorder and chaos.” The Socialists have also announced they will not vote to impeach Macron.

Should it pass the MP hurdle, it will then go to the Senate, where Ensemble and the Republicans hold a majority.

Tuesday’s vote is, however, a strong symbolic victory for the leftist alliance.

“It’s an opportunity to put Emmanuel Macron’s early departure on the public agenda,” said LFI MP Clemence Guetté, while fellow MP Antoine Léaument hailed a “parliamentary riposte”.

The New Popular Front (NFP) has called for nationwide demonstrations on Saturday “to depose Macron”.

Source:

Impeachment proceedings against France’s Macron pass first hurdle (rfi.fr)

Canada: Justin Trudeau Under Pressure as Liberal Party Loses Montreal By-Election

Louis-Philippe Sauvé celebrated with his Bloc Québécois supporters after his win in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun. Photograph: Canadian Press/REX/Shutterstock

Canada’s ruling Liberal party has lost a once-safe seat in Montreal, a result that is likely to put more pressure on the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to quit.

Elections Canada said that with 100% of the votes counted in the parliamentary constituency of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, the separatist Bloc Québécois candidate, Louis-Philippe Sauvé, had beaten the Liberal candidate, Laura Palestini, by a whisker: 28% to 27.2%. The New Democratic party (NDP) candidate received 26.1%.

The election, which was held to replace a Liberal legislator who resigned, will put more focus on the political future of Trudeau, who has become increasingly unpopular after almost nine years in office.

Trudeau insists he will lead the party into an election that must be held by the end of October 2025, but some Liberal legislators have broken ranks to call for change at the top.

Alexandra Mendès, a Liberal MP who represents a Québec constituency, said last week that many of her constituents wanted Trudeau to go.

In the 2021 general election, the Liberal party won the Montreal seat with 43% of the vote, ahead of the Bloc Québécois on 22% and the NDP on 19%.

Polls now suggest that the Liberals will lose badly in the next federal election to the right-of-centre Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre. A Leger poll last week put public support for the Conservatives at 45%, a level rarely seen nationally in Canada, with the Liberals in second place at 25%.

Trudeau’s popularity has sagged as voters struggle with a surge in the cost of living and a housing crisis.

Poilievre has promised to do away with a federal carbon tax that he claims is making life unaffordable and last week vowed to cap immigration limits until more homes could be built.

Liberals concede the polls look grim but say they will redouble efforts to portray Poilievre as a supporter of the “Make America Great Again” movement led by the former US president Donald Trump.

Poilievre, an acerbic career politician who often insults his opponents, also says he would defund the CBC, Canada’s national public broadcaster. In April he was ejected from the House of Commons after he called Trudeau “a wacko”.

Source:

Justin Trudeau under pressure as his party loses Montreal election | Canada | The Guardian

Portugal Wildfire Deaths Rise to Seven After Firefighters Trapped in Blaze

A woman next to her home in Covelo, Gondomar, northern Portugal. Photograph: José Coelho/EPA

Seven people have been killed and more than 50 injured in wildfires ravaging central and northern Portugal after three firefighters died when their vehicle was trapped in flames.

Portugal’s civil protection service said 54 wildfires were burning nationwide, mainly in the north, with 5,300 firefighters mobilised. France, Greece, Italy, and Spain sent eight water-bombing planes through the EU’s mutual assistance mechanism.

More than 1,000 firefighters battled to control four separate blazes near the towns of Nelas and Aveiro, south of Porto, with TV footage showing residents frantically pouring buckets of water on rapidly advancing flames. In Aveiro alone, the blazes have consumed more than 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and scrubland in the last two days, roughly the same area that has been burnt by fires so far this year across the country.

The national civil protection commander said the three firefighters – two women and a man – had been killed near Nelas. Four people, including a man retrieving tools from his shed, were reported dead.

Three firefighters died in Nelas, southeast of Porto, on Tuesday. Photograph: Pedro Nunes/Reuters

The fires forced the closure of two railway lines and several motorways, including part of the main road between Lisbon and Porto and could consume a further 20,000 hectares.

The weather conditions on Monday brought the highest risk of fire in northern Portugal since 2001, experts said. After a wet start to the year Portugal and Spain have recorded fewer wildfires than last year, but temperatures were above 30C across Portugal over the weekend amid exceptionally low humidity and strong winds, which have fanned the flames.

The government increased fire-prevention funding ten-fold and doubled its firefighting budget after deadly blazes in 2017 claimed 64 lives.

Scientists have said human-caused climate breakdown is supercharging extreme weather across the world, driving more frequent and more deadly disasters, from floods – as seen this week in central Europe – to heatwaves, droughts and wildfires.

Human-caused climate breakdown is making heatwaves more likely and more intense, such as the extreme heatwave in western Canada and the US in 2021.

Source:

Portugal wildfire deaths rise to seven after firefighters trapped in blaze | Portugal | The Guardian

UK MoD: Russia Suffered Over 610,000 Casualties in Ukraine

(Undated photo: Vladimir Smirnov / TASS)

Russia has likely suffered over 610,000 causalities, killed or wounded, since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, according to the UK Defence Ministry’s latest intelligence update.

Russian officials said that in 2023, the defence ministry was recruiting at a rate of 1,600 daily. However, publicly cited figures this year put the rate at around 1,000 daily.

The Washington Post, meanwhile, claims that the total number of Ukrainian and Russian servicemen killed or wounded since the start of Russian aggression has reached one million.

The WSJ, citing confidential data dating back to earlier this year from sources familiar with the matter, wrote that “the number of Ukrainian soldiers killed stands at 80,000 and the number of wounded at 400,000.”

“Western intelligence estimates of Russian casualties vary, with some putting the number of dead as high as nearly 200,000 and wounded at around 400,000,” the newspaper reported.

The Financial Times, citing a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official, reports that Russian forces have committed 38,000 personnel to fight in Kursk region, including assault brigades redeployed from southern Ukraine.

Russian forces recently recaptured territory in the Ukrainian salient, advancing northern Obukhovka, southeast of Korenevo.

Ukrainian and Russian forces continued to advance in Glushkovsky district amid continued fighting in the area.

Russian troops march during the Victory Day military parade in Red Square in Moscow, 9 May 2024.  Photo: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters. President Putin recently ordered to boost the size of the army by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million

Source:

Russia has likely suffered over 610,000 causalities in Ukraine, says UK MoD | Euronews

Washington State Man Sentenced on Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During 6 Jan Capitol Attack

Benjamin John Silva (37) of Yacolt, WA, was sentenced to four months in prison, 24 months of supervised release to include four months of home incarceration, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Silva pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder on 5 Apr 2024.

Silva was identified on 6 Jan 2021, at approximately 2:49 p.m., near an entrance to the Capitol building on the Lower West Terrace, often referred to as the Tunnel. Some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement on January 6th occurred at the Tunnel. Inside the Tunnel, Silva made his way to the front of a crowd of rioters confronting an established police line.

During the melee, Silva distracted a police officer while a seditionist behind him sprayed the line of officers with a chemical irritant. When police lines held, some attackers began leaving the Tunnel. But Silva fought to stay in and to pressed forward in a concerted effort with other rioters doing the same. Defeated, Silva made his way out of the Tunnel at about 3:07 PM but remained in the area outside the Tunnel for several minutes afterward.

The FBI arrested Silva on 25 July 2023, in Oregon.

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.

US Military Aid Packages to Ukraine Shrink Amid Concerns Over Pentagon Stockpiles

Photo: USAF

US military aid packages for Ukraine have been smaller in recent months, as the stockpiles of weapons and equipment that the Pentagon is willing to send Kiev from its own inventory have dwindled. The shift comes amid concerns about US military readiness being impacted as US arms manufacturers play catchup to the huge demand created by the war against Russia.

The shortage means the Biden administration still has $6 billion in funds available to arm and equip Ukraine, but the Pentagon lacks the inventory it is willing to deliver.

The US is ramping up production of key items, such as 155 mm ammunition and Patriot missile systems, both to supply Ukraine and to refill US inventories. But it is a yearslong process that won’t quickly meet the surging demand.

Before the war in Ukraine, the US produced approximately 15,000 155 mm artillery shells each month. With new factories and production lines opening, the US is now producing 40,000 shells a month. But it will still take more than a year for the Pentagon to hit its goal of 100,000 shells each month.

Ukraine is feeling the impact of the inventory shortages, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. During a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany this month, Zelensky told the US and other allies that deliveries of promised air defense systems were moving too slowly and warned of a “significant” shortfall in vital aid.

The US is still trying to announce a new aid package roughly every two weeks which Ukraine is “supportive of because they believe getting new packages every two weeks is a morale boost.”

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has vowed to continue providing military support to Ukraine and announced a new $250 million aid package at the meeting in Germany this month. Austin acknowledged that the US is working to ramp up production and “speed up deliveries” to Ukraine.

“Time is of the essence, especially with winter on its way,” Austin said. “And we must all step up our support — and quickly.”

The US is simultaneously sending military aid to Israel. And as noted in a previous post, North Korea and Iran are assisting Russia with their supply shortfalls during this 2 ½ year war.

Source:

US military aid packages to Ukraine shrink amid concerns over Pentagon stockpiles | CNN Politics

The Lancet: Superbug Crisis Could Get Worse, Killing Nearly 40 Million People by 2050

This illustration of a bacteriophage shows its tripod-like form that mimics a tiny robot. These microscopic creatures have saved the lives of patients dying from superbug infections and are being used in clinical trials as a potential solution to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. In the US alone, more than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur each year. SCIEPRO/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

Cumulatively, from 2025 to 2050, the world could see more than 39 million deaths that are directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance or AMR, according to the Lancet.

Antimicrobial resistance happens when pathogens like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to evade the medications used to kill them.

The World Health Organization has called AMR “one of the top global public health and development threats,” driven by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobial medications in humans, animals and plants, which can help pathogens develop a resistance to them.

The new study reveals that when it comes to the prevalence of AMR and its effects, “we expect it to get worse,” said lead author Dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

“We need appropriate attention on new antibiotics and antibiotic stewardship so that we can address what is really quite a large problem,” he said.

Sources:

Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance 1990–2021: a systematic analysis with forecasts to 2050 – The Lancet

Nearly 40 million people could die from antibiotic-resistant superbug infections by 2050, new study estimates | CNN

Birth of Spectacled Bear Brings Joy to Farming Community in Peru

A spectacled bear was born in a rescue center built by a Peruvian farming community that has protected these animals for more than two decades.

The bear cub, which does not yet have a name, was discovered after park rangers in the community of Santa Catalina de Chongoyape, in northern Peru, noticed that a female bear named Lola did not leave.

Born in mid July, the little bear is the second birth after a female was born six years ago in a fenced area of several hectares where food and care are provided to ailing bears.

The farming community manages an ecological reserve where spectacled bears (Tremarctos ornatus) and other animals such as the white-winged guan (Penelope albipennis) are not hunted and can find a safe habitat for their lives in its carob trees and other types of flora.

The spectacled bear is a vulnerable species, according to the Red List of Threatened Species released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They are the only bear species in South America with potentially as few as 2,500 mature individuals remaining.

Source:

The birth of a spectacled bear brings joy to a farming community in Peru | 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

IDF Airstrikes Kill 14 in Gaza Strip as American Activist is Buried in Turkiye

Palestinians gather amid the rubble near a fuel tank damaged in IDF bombing in Gaza City on 14 Sep 2024.

Israeli airstrikes hit central and southern Gaza overnight into Saturday, killing at least 14 people as friends and family members of a Turkish-American activist killed by an Israeli soldier honored her in a funeral in Turkiye.

The airstrikes in Gaza City hit one home housing 11 people, including three women and four children, and another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis with displaced Palestinians. The attacks followed airstrikes earlier this week that hit a tent camp on Tuesday and a UN school sheltering displaced people on Wednesday.

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio slowed down. The WHO reported that about 559,000 people under the age of 10 — seven out of every eight children the campaign aimed to vaccinate — have recovered from their first dose. The second doses are expected to begin later this month.

Relatives, officials, and others look at the coffin of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (26) during her funeral ceremony at a mosque in Aydin Province, Turkiye, on 14 Sep 2024. She was shot and killed by the IDF in the occupied West Bank.

The war has caused vast destruction and displaced roughly 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times, and plunged the territory into a severe humanitarian crisis. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, adding women and children make up just over half of the dead.

Source:

Israel strikes Gaza as American activist killed by Israeli fire is buried (voanews.com)

Russia’s Medvedev Threatens Nuclear Strike Would Turn Kiev into ‘Gray Spot’ on the Map

Former Russian President and current Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has hiked Moscow’s threat of the nuclear option. Vladimir Putin controls about 5,977 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, recently warned that Kiev could be turned into a “gray melted spot” if restrictions against Ukraine’s use of Western weapons were loosened.

Russian officials have threatened that a possible decision by the West to allow Kiev to use donated weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory would result in a major escalation of its war against Ukraine that could include the use of nuclear weapons.

Kiev has repeatedly said it needs to be able to conduct longer-range strikes into Russian territory to defend itself against invading Russian forces.

In an apparent reference to a recent US-UK summit, Medvedev wrote that “the Anglo-Saxon imbeciles” do not want to admit that there is an end to Russia’s “patience” and that experts who have suggested Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons against Ukraine would be proven correct if that patience is exhausted.

“What do Western leaders and their political establishments, playing at war, think our country’s reaction to probable missile strikes ‘deep into the territory [of Russia]’ would be?” wrote Medvedev, who has frequently used his position to voice threats against Kiev and the West since Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Medvedev said a nuclear conflict is a “very bad story with a very difficult outcome,” claiming that is why Russia has not decided to use “nonstrategic or strategic” nuclear weapons so far. However, he said, if it came to that there would be a “giant gray melted spot” on the site of Kiev, which he called the “mother city of Russia.”

Recent media reports claim Russia received Fath-360 missile systems from Iran. These missiles have an effective range of 19-75 miles and can carry a 330-lb warhead filled with high explosives.

Source:

Russia’s Medvedev Threatens Nuke Strike Would Turn Kyiv Into ‘Gray Spot’ On The Map (rferl.org)

Venezuela Arrests US and Spanish Citizens Over Alleged ‘Plot’

Three US citizens, two Spaniards and one Czech citizen were arrested in Venezuela for allegedly plotting to destabilize the country. Reportedly, hundreds of weapons had been seized and the detainees were plotting to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other top officials. The Spaniards were detained in Puerto Ayacucho, south of the capital Caracas.

The arrests come two days after Washington sanctioned 16 Venezuelan officials who are closely aligned with President Maduro, following his disputed election victory in July.

The Venezuelan government alleged the detained Spaniards are linked to Madrid’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI). However, Spanish government sources denied the two belong to the intelligence organization.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello alleged “the CIA is leading this operation, and that does not surprise us but they, the National Intelligence Centre of Spain, have always maintained a low profile knowing that the CIA operates in this area. These two detainees even tell us about a group of mercenaries they are looking for to bring to Venezuela with very clear objectives to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, myself, and another group of comrades who are leading our party and our revolution.”

The US has rejected the accusations.

Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of July’s presidential election by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government. But the CNE has not published any detailed voting tallies supporting a Maduro victory. Data published by the opposition suggests its candidate, Edmundo González, won instead.

Sources:

Venezuela arrests US and Spanish citizens over ‘plot’ (bbc.com)

Former CIA Employee Sentenced Ten Years in Prison for Spying for China

A screenshot from a video by an FBI undercover agent taken of Alexander Yuk Ching Ma in Jan 2019 during a meeting. (Photo: AP)

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma (71) of Honolulu, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, was sentenced to ten years confinement and five years of supervised release for conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Ma was arrested in August 2020, after admitting to an undercover FBI agent that he had facilitated the provision of classified information to intelligence officers employed by the PRC’s Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB).

Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989. His brother, who is now deceased, also worked for the CIA from 1967 until 1983. As CIA employees, both men held Top Secret security clearances that granted them access to sensitive and classified information, and both signed nondisclosure agreements.

After Ma and his brother were recruited by the SSSB, they provided Chinese intelligence officers with a “large volume of classified and sensitive information.” They were paid $50,000 in cash; an hourlong video showed Ma counting the money. Two years later, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist in the FBI’s Honolulu field office. By then, US intelligence knew he was collaborating with Chinese intelligence officers, and they hired him in 2004 so they could keep an eye on his espionage activities.

Over the next six years, Ma regularly copied, photographed, and stole classified documents. He often took them on trips to China, returning with thousands of dollars in cash and expensive gifts, including a new set of golf clubs.

At one point in 2006, his handlers at the Shanghai state security bureau asked Ma to get his brother to help identify four people in photographs, and the brother did identify two of them. The fate of those he identified are not known.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ma confessed that he knowingly and willfully conspired with SSSB intelligence officers to communicate and transmit information that he knew would be used to injure the US or to advantage the PRC. Further, Ma must cooperate with the US and undergo polygraph tests for the rest of his life, as well as submit to debriefings by the USIC. Prosecutors told the court that Ma has been cooperative and has taken part in multiple interview sessions with government investigators.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma (USMS# 12272-122) is incarcerated at FDC Honolulu, an administrative security federal detention center in Hawaii.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Former CIA Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Espionage | United States Department of Justice

Former CIA officer sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for China | Espionage | The Guardian

‘Catastrophe’ as Central Europe Deals with Deadly Floods

Flooding overwhelmed Slobozia Conachi, Romania (Photo: BBC)

In Glucholazy, southern Poland, firefighters built sandbag barriers to protect residents near the river. (Photo: BBC)

The flooded village of Krosnowice, southern Poland. (Photo: BBC)

Emergency services are shoring up flood defenses in central and eastern Europe after torrential rainfall caused by Storm Boris swelled rivers and damaged thousands of homes. Four people were killed in eastern Romania. In the Czech Republic, 51,000 households in the country’s northern areas were evacuated. Flood barriers have gone up in the capital Prague. Poland evacuated people from Glucholazy, a town near the Czech border, after a river burst its banks.

Extreme precipitation is becoming more likely in Europe, as across much of the world, due to climate change. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, which can lead to heavier rainfall.

“We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said.

These flood victims face another peril. Floods greatly increase the risk of diarrheal disease along with other waterborne, water-related, and communicable diseases. Diarrheal pathogens—cholera, E. coli, Shigella, rotavirus, norovirus, Cryptosporidium, and others—can spread through direct contact with floodwater itself or through compromised water sources.

Standing water left by flooding can become a breeding ground for mosquitos that carry pathogens. Communicable diseases can spread like wildfire through refugee and evacuation shelters.

Sources:

Central Europe floods: Rush to shore up flood defences amid deaths and evacuations (bbc.com)

After the floods: Diarrheal disease threats lurk behind natural disasters (defeatdd.org)

Zika Cases in Pune, India, Reach 100, Five Deaths Reported

Pune continues to grapple with an increasing number of Zika virus cases, as the total number of patients in the city has now reached 100. The most affected area in Pune is Dahanukar Colony, which has recorded 20 cases, followed by Erandwane with 16. The five Zika-related deaths involved elderly individuals with pre-existing health conditions.

The virus is transmitted by daytime flying Aedes, or “tiger mosquitos.” An invasive species, Aedes is now found on all continents except Antarctica.

Alarmingly, 45 of these patients are pregnant women. Zika can cause birth defects in newborn babies.

Dr. Rajesh Dighe, Assistant Health Officer at Pune Municipal Corporation, provided updates on the situation, noting that efforts to control the spread of the Zika virus are ongoing. This recent spike in Zika cases follows a series of warnings from health authorities, who had anticipated a possible outbreak. The city is now facing increased pressure to manage the outbreak, particularly as the number of pregnant women affected by the virus grows.

On top of this, medical staff in Pune hospitals are dealing with an acute blood shortage.

Sources:

Zika Cases in Pune Reach 100, Five Deaths Reported | The Bridge Chronicle

Blood Shortage Hits Pune Amid Rising Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya Cases | The Bridge Chronicle

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

Donald Trump Confuses Nicky Jam for a Woman Ahead of Latin Star’s Endorsement Speech in Las Vegas

Former president Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas, where Nicky Jam, a 43-year-old male reggaetón veteran took the stage to show his support for the GOP candidate. But in an inter-galactically embarrassing faux pas, the ex-POTUS mistakenly referred to Nicky as a ‘she‘ when introducing him to the crowd.

“Do you know Nicky? She’s hot. Where’s Nicky. As the male singer approaches the stage, Trump then says, “Oh, look, I’m glad he came up.”

Nicky Jam, wearing a black sweatshirt and a red ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap, then took the stage to deliver a brief statement.

Artist Art Candee wrote, “Guess Donald Trump doesn’t know what a woman is…” and Team Kamala mocked the former president by posting a video of the flub on social media:

“Trump: Latin music superstar Nicky Jam. Do you know Nicky? She’s hot (Nicky Jam is a man),” the campaign wrote.

This is just one of a series of imbecilic comments and gaffes that Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance have made during the 2024 campaign. Political analysts, as well as his niece Mary Trump (a professional psychologist), have been raising alarms about the mental fitness of this elderly man who could be Commander-in-Chief of the world’s most powerful, and nuclear-armed, military.    

Source:

Donald Trump Confuses Nicky Jam for Woman at Las Vegas Rally (billboard.com)

Endangered Cotton-Top Tamarin Triplets Born at Disney World

Three infant cotton-top tamarins are perched atop the back of one of their parents Saturday shortly after their birth at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. They are the second set of the critically endangered tamarins to be born at the resort this year. (Photo courtesy Walt Disney World)

The second set of critically endangered cotton-top tamarin triplets to be born this year at Walt Disney World have arrived.

The three tiny primates were born at Animal Kingdom’s Discovery Island on Saturday and are bonding with their parents and siblings. An earlier batch of the small-but-powerful monkeys were born there in January.

Weighing only one pound in adulthood, the cotton-top tamarin is found in the rain forests of northwestern Colombia. They are known for their sophisticated social behaviors and have demonstrated evidence of simple grammatical capabilities.

Despite their small stature, their athletic capabilities are impressive — they can leap 15 feet from a stationary branch — while their appearance is highlighted by a wild mane of bright-white hair atop their heads.

The male and female parents of newborn tamarins share infant care equally, carrying their young on their backs until approximately 14 weeks of age.

An estimated 6,000 cotton-top tamarins remain in the wild, making them one of the rarest primates in the world. Disney World says it is working with organizations such as Proyecto Titi in Colombia to help protect the species through its Disney Conservation Fund.

Source:

New set of endangered cotton-top tamarin triplets born at Disney World – UPI.com