News of the World
USA
And that's exactly how you make a
rich country become poor. 
EUROPE
Take into account that Ivanov has no real military career before he ever became one of the 10 deputy defense ministers in Russia.
Seriously, UK? Do you really depend on the military pension spending to hit the mark?
So are the French Navy vessels crewed by
pirates or corsairs now? 
No More Coal?
Quote:On Thursday’s broadcast of “NewsNation Now,” White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi denied that the Biden administration is attempting to shut down the coal industry or slow any industry down, and stated that the issue is “about how do we speed up to a stronger economy, a more durable economy, and one that, frankly, puts less pollution into the sky?”
Host Connell McShane asked, “[C]oal executives, for the most part, are coming out and saying this — we can’t meet this. So, the real goal here is to kind of shut our industry down. Is that what’s happening?”
Zaidi answered, “No, the real goal here is to make sure that we take pollution out of the skies so folks can breathe easier, so that we can tackle the climate crisis. And we can do it at the same time as growing our economy and delivering cheap and affordable and reliable energy to more and more Americans.”
McShane then asked, “It will mean a shift right, in a lot of people’s jobs and a lot of industries and coal would be one of them. Is that fair? Is that a fair way to put it, that there’s going to be a real shift in the economy over the next number of years?”
Zaidi responded, “What we’ve been seeing over the last several decades and accelerating is a shift to cleaner energy. Today, almost 70 million homes worth of clean electricity is generated on our grid from sources like nuclear power, hydropower, geothermal, solar, wind, batteries. And as you look at the projections for this year, for 2024, not some year far in the future, 96% of the new power that will be built this year will be clean. So, I think that’s where the economy is today. That’s where the global economy has been racing. And finally, thanks to President Biden’s leadership, we are positioned to lead in that global economy.”
Later, McShane asked, “I know you guys don’t talk about this a lot, but there’s been kind of record oil production, for example, under the Biden administration, there’s been a lot of domestic oil production. It’s not advertised necessarily, but it’s there. I’m just wondering if you go in this direction, climate emergency, things like that, if it’s a net negative for the economy at a time like this?”
And that's exactly how you make a
rich country become poor. California's Blackouts
Quote:California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) admitted Thursday that the state still faces the risk of blackouts in heat waves despite investing in battery capacity to store electricity for use in times of peak demand.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that California continued to rapidly add the battery storage that is crucial to the transition to cleaner energy, but admitted it was still not enough to avoid blackouts during heat waves.
...
Asked by reporters if California now had enough battery storage so that residents no longer had to worry about blackouts during times of high power use, Newsom laughed.
“We have a lot of work to do still in moving this transition, with the kind of stability that’s required,” the governor said. “So no, this is not today announcing that blackouts are part of our past.”
California is pushing to meet ambitious “green energy” and “zero emissions” targets, including a transition to an all-electric car and truck fleet, despite the fact that the state lacks power generating capacity to meet growing demand.
During blackouts in 2020, Newsom said that the state needed to “sober up” about the fact that renewable energy sources like solar and wind energy were not sufficient for the state’s needs — but then pressed ahead anyway.
The state has been shuttering fossil fuel plants and only has one nuclear power plant left. In the last drought, low water levels in dams meant shortages of hydroelectric power as well. Batteries, it is hoped, will help with the shortfall.
California is No Longer a Safe Place for Adam Schiff?
Quote:U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) had his luggage stolen in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, leaving him without a suit as he addressed an audience that evening.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported:
Hello to the city, goodbye to your luggage. That was Senatorial candidate Adam Schiff’s rude introduction to San Francisco’s vexing reputation for car burglaries Thursday when thieves swiped the bags from his car while it sat in a downtown parking garage.
The heist meant the Democratic congressman got stuck at a fancy dinner party in his shirt sleeves and a hiking vest while everyone else sat in suits. Not quite the look the man from Burbank was aiming for as he rose to thank powerhouse attorney Joe Cotchett for his support in his bid to replace the late Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate.
“I guess it’s ‘Welcome to San Francisco,’ ” Cotchett’s press agent Lee Houskeeper, who was at the dinner, remarked dryly.
Democrats are struggling to face the consequences of their own policies, as “criminal justice reform” has turned San Francisco and other California cities into havens for petty crime and smash-and-grab thefts.
At the state level, Democrats are trying to pass laws to toughen penalties for property crime — but without touching Proposition 47 of 2014, which reduced penalties for theft and other crimes.
Opponents of Proposition 47 announced last week that they have enough signatures to qualify reforms to the measure for the November 2024 ballot.
Indicting a Ham Sandwich...
Quote:The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday about whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution on charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as Special Counsel Jack Smith has accused him of doing.
A majority of the Supreme Court justices appeared to agree with Trump’s attorneys’ arguments that a president does enjoy some level of immunity that continues past the term of office. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito was one of them, citing the “old saw about indicting a ham sandwich” while questioning the government’s Michael Dreeben.
“[T]his case will have effects that go far beyond this particular prosecution. So moving on to the second level of protection that the D.C. Circuit cited, federal grand injuries will shield former presidents from unwarranted indictments. How much protection is that?” Alito asked.
Dreeben replied by arguing that “some fears about groundless prosecutions aren’t supported by evidence” and that “they’re not going to get out of the starting gate.’
“I mean, there — there’s the old saw about indicting a ham sandwich,” Alito quipped. “I mean, you had a lot of experience in the Justice Department. You come across a lot of cases where the U.S. attorney or another federal prosecutor really wanted to indict a case and the grand jury refused to do so?”
“There are such cases,” Dreeben replied.
“Are there?” Alito pressed, before adding, “Every once in a while there’s an eclipse, too.”
The “indict a ham sandwich” phrase reportedly originated in January of 1985 with former Chief Judge of New York State Sol Wachtler in an interview with the New York Daily News. Wachtler told the publication that district attorneys have so much influence on grand juries that “by and large” they could get them to “indict a ham sandwich.”
“A month later, the New York Times noted that Wachtler believed grand juries ‘operate more often as the prosecutor’s pawn than the citizen’s shield.’ That belief—that prosecutors can get grand juries to do whatever they want them to do, will sound familiar” to some, Slate reported.
Prosecution of Former President Could Destabilize Country
Quote:Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Thursday questioned if the criminal prosecution of an incumbent — who narrowly lost an election — could lead to the destabilization of the country as a whole as opposed to the incumbent knowing he could leave office peacefully.
Alito made the remark on Thursday, as the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Trump is immune from prosecution on charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It appears, during the arguments, that a majority of Supreme Court justices agreed with former President Donald Trump’s attorneys’ arguments.
“If a president has the authority to pardon himself before leaving office and the D.C. Circuit is right that there is no immunity from prosecution, won’t the predictable result be that presidents on the last couple of days of office are going to pardon themselves from anything that they might have been conceivably charged with committing?” Alito asked the government’s Michael Dreeben.
Dreeben said he doubted that, asserting that it “presupposes a regime that we have never had except for President Nixon and as alleged in the indictment here.”
“Presidents who are conscious of having engaged in wrongdoing and seeking to shield themselves, I think the political consequences of a president who asserted a right of self-pardon that has never been recognized, that seems to contradict a bedrock principle of our law that no person shall be the judge in their own case. Those are adequate deterrents, I think, so that this kind of dystopian regime is not going to evolve,” he continued, prompting Alito to pose the following question regarding the consequences of not allowing the departing president to exit office peacefully.
“Let me end — end with just a question about what is required for the functioning of a stable democratic society, which is something that we all want,” Alito said.
“I’m sure you would agree with me that a stable democratic society requires that a candidate who loses an election, even a close one, even a hotly contested one, leave office peacefully if that candidate is — is the incumbent,” he continued, prompting an “of course” from Dreeben.
“All right. Now, if a — an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possibility after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?” Alito posed, adding, “And we can look around the world and find countries where we have seen this process, where the loser gets thrown in jail.”
US AG Garland Defies Congress
Quote:Attorney General Merrick Garland defied a final warning Thursday to comply with a subpoena for the audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
If Garland did not comply with the subpoena, he would face contempt of Congress proceedings, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY) and Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote Garland on April 17.
Biden’s Justice Department replied Thursday to Comer and Jordan by refusing to hand over the audio, citing a lack of “legitimate congressional need” for it.
“If the Committees’ goal is to receive information from the Department in furtherance of your investigations, that goal has been more than met,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte replied Thursday. “Our cooperation has been extraordinary.”
“Despite our many requests,” he added, “the Committees have not articulated a legitimate congressional need to obtain audio recordings from Mr. Hur’s investigation, let alone one that outweighs the Department’s strong interest in protecting the confidentiality of law enforcement files.”
“Lacking a justification for complaint—never mind contempt—in the actual record, the Committees’ threats deepen our concern that you are seeking to create a false narrative of obstruction that weakens, rather than strengthens, the American people’s confidence in our government and the rule of law,” Uriarte continued.
“The Department will not shirk from our duty to protect the public’s interest in the integrity of law enforcement work. We hope you find this information helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we may provide additional assistance regarding this or any other matter,” he claimed.
When Breitbart News requested comment from the Oversight Committee about future steps regarding Garland and potential contempt proceedings, a spokesperson replied, “We will respond to the Department of Justice.”
During the president’s interview with Hur, Biden, 81, experienced mental lapses and “poor memory” at least seven times, according to a transcript obtained by Breitbart News.
Students Targeting Jews
Quote:Wednesday on FNC’s “Hannity,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) railed against so-called pro-Palestinian protesters at U.S. universities, who, in some cases, have threatened Jewish Americans while calling for the destruction of Israel.
The Missouri Republican labeled the anti-Israel protesters “bougie jihadists.”
“Senator, let’s talk about the guard that you’re calling for, which I believe would be the right call, but I don’t see Biden wanting to alienate his radical base,” I think that’s why he’s not going to do it.
“Well, sure. I mean, this is all about the fact that he has a pro-Hamas base, Sean,” host Sean Hannity said. “But listen, Eisenhower did the right thing back in ’57 when he sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock. Why not do it for Jewish Americans?”
“I mean, it shouldn’t be that in this country in this day and age that, if you are a Jewish American, you fear for your life because all of these bougie jihadists at these universities whose brains are addled by TikTok are out there calling for your death calling for the destruction of the state of Israel,” Hawley replied. “I mean, what is going on on these campuses? Send in the National Guard and wake these kids up. They ought to know they can’t do this. They ought to know they don’t have any right to occupy these campuses. They don’t have any right to threaten their fellow students. They ought to snap them out of it, and the National Guard would help do it.”
Quote:On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) stated that Columbia University and other schools that “are engaging in this kind of nonsense” similar to what’s happening at Columbia do not deserve to get taxpayer dollars.
Johnson said that what’s happening at Columbia “is not the expression of free speech, it’s not the free exchange of ideas in the public square. This is threatening and intimidating Jewish students because of who they are, because of what they believe. We met with a big group of Jewish students before we went to the campus, and they’re hiding in fear. They don’t go to class, they’re afraid they’re going to be assaulted. It’s not fair to them. Some of them had to bring federal lawsuits, civil rights violations that are being committed there, and taxpayer dollars should not be going to institutions that are engaging in this kind of nonsense. If you’re an administrator on a university campus, your number one job, the first and most obvious, is the safety and security of your students. If you can’t guarantee that, we need to find somebody who can.”
Quote:Anti-Jewish, pro-Hamas protesters — such as those seen at Columbia and Yale — will be expelled if they try to pull the same stunts at Florida universities, Gov. Ron DeSantis ® made clear on Thursday.
“You think about what happened when you have these Hamas demonstrators out. They’re taking over bridges, and they’re taking over roads,” he said, noting that these individuals do not have the right to do that.
“How do you know if someone — someone may need to get to a hospital. Someone may need to pick up a child somewhere, and you’re just going to commandeer the road,” he said, highlighting the viral instance that saw protesters trying to pull that same stunt in Miami, Florida. In a matter of minutes, police officers responded, dragging the protesters out of the roads:
“We’re not going to tolerate that. You look at these universities. When we have students who are doing things that — I mean, some of the stuff with the Hamas, I think, is absurd that someone would go out and demonstrate on that,” DeSantis said, adding, “But you know, when you’re chasing Jewish students around, when you’re not letting a Jewish professor enter a building, when you’re targeting people like that, that’s not free speech.”
DeSantis said such actions are clearly harassment that violates appropriate conduct. Yet, students doing this at places such as Columbia and Yale “rule the roost” and “do whatever they want.”
“And these administrators and the presidents of these universities are weak. They’re scared, and they don’t do anything,” he said, making it clear such behavior will not fly in the Sunshine State.
“You do that in Florida at our universities, we’re showing you the door. You’re going to be expelled when you’re doing that stuff, and you know what, the minute people start to face consequences, you are not going to see this nonsense going on,” the governor added.
EUROPE
Chernobyl
Quote:Ukrainians on Friday marked the 38th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster with memorials and warnings that the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine could cause similar damage to active power plants.
The nuclear disaster began in the early hours of April 26, 1986, when the Chernobyl power plant began to melt down. Rather than cool down the facility, the Soviet operators increased the power to the reactors, causing a devastating explosion that destroyed the neighboring town of Pripyat and covered large swathes of Europe with toxic plumes.
The area surrounding Chernobyl remains an “exclusion zone,” where the government does not allow individuals to live save for a dwindling community of residents who were already mostly senior citizens when the disaster occurred and chose not to vacate the area.
At the time, Soviet communist officials claimed the disaster killed only 30 people. Tallying deaths apparently attributable to radiation-caused diseases in Ukraine and neighboring Belarus, however, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) has estimated that the true death toll is closer to 4,000. Other scientific attempts to assess the true damage caused by Chernobyl have suggested as many as 70,000 people have died as a result of radiation poison, radiation-caused cancers, and other illnesses directly related to Chernobyl.
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster remains one of the most sensational examples of communist malfeasance and incompetence in modern history.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Accused of Taking a Bribe
Quote:A top Russian military official arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe was sent to pre-trial detention Wednesday after appearing before a court in central Moscow, court officials said in a statement.
Timur Ivanov, 48, one of Russia´s 12 deputy defense ministers, was arrested Tuesday evening, Russia´s Investigative Committee said in a statement. They gave no further information, apart from specifying that Ivanov is suspected of taking an especially large bribe – a criminal offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
According to a statement from the court, investigators told Moscow´s Basmany court Wednesday that Ivanov had conspired with third parties to receive a bribe in the form of unspecified property services “during contracting and subcontracting work for the needs of the Ministry of Defense.”
An acquaintance of Ivanov’s, identified as Sergei Borodin, was also arrested and ordered into pre-trial detention on the same charges, court officials said in a separate statement. Both men are to remain in custody until at least June 23.
According to the defense ministry´s website, Ivanov was appointed to the post in 2016 by a presidential decree. He oversaw property management, housing and medical support for the military, construction and reconstruction of facilities.
Russia´s state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that both President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu were informed about Ivanov´s arrest, which comes as Moscow´s war in Ukraine continues into its third year.
Before his arrest on Tuesday evening, Ivanov was seen attending a meeting with Shoigu and other top military brass.
Russian media reported that he was in charge, among other things, of some of the construction in Mariupol – a port city in Ukraine´s partially occupied Donestk region which was heavily bombarded and occupied by Russian forces early on in the war in 2022.
Take into account that Ivanov has no real military career before he ever became one of the 10 deputy defense ministers in Russia.
UK Wants to Spend More on Defense
Quote:The United Kingdom has said it will campaign for NATO baseline defence spending for all members to increase from two per cent to two-and-a-half, although it barely hits the lower level itself.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on a miliary visit to NATO ally Poland on Tuesday that the government intended to increase its spending on defence from a little over two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to two-and-a-half by 2030. Just a day later, the UK government said it would also be chiding other NATO members to do the same.
It is estimated by the alliance that two-thirds of members will hit 2 per cent of GDP on defence, a remarkable leap forward given just three countries managed that ten years ago in 2014. Whether many nations could be cajoled to spend even more, short of the alliance actually being attacked, is unclear.
UK defence minister Grant Shapps told broadcaster Sky News on Wednesday that: “We’re now saying we think that should be 2.5%. We think in a more dangerous world that would make sense. I will be arguing that, and I know that the prime minister feels strongly about it, when we go to the NATO 75th anniversary summit which is in Washington DC.”
The calls clearly echo longstanding calls by former U.S. President, and now again Presidential candidate Donald Trump for NATO members to pay more, and to pay a fair share of collective defence. While a perspective that these calls for NATO members to do more had harmed the alliance persist in some quarters, the alliance itself has made clear Trump’s tough talk has strengthened it.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sunak outlined his vision for a grown British military budget while visiting a Polish military base. He said it would be wrong to be complacent “In a world that is the most dangerous it has been since the end of the Cold War”, and said the adversaries of NATO are aligning. “We must do more to defend our country, our interests, and our values”, he said.
Sunak said the increase in spending would be the “biggest… for a generation”, a “landmark moment, and a “generational investment”. While the increase from nearly 2.3 per cent as it was in 2023 to 2.5 per cent by 2030 is meaningful, the Prime Minister’s rhetoric perhaps oversells the increase: even at 2.5, British military spending as a proportion of the total economy would be low by historic levels, and was there as recently as 2009.
In recent years the UK has been able to claim it hits the 2 per cent floor only because NATO rules allow military pension spending to be counted towards the total.
Nevertheless, if British defence spending is poor, it is worse in most of Europe’s NATO members. Generally, the continent is carried by a handful of large economies with relatively big militaries — the UK, France, Germany, Poland — while the NATO alliance overall is underwritten by the United States’ enormous spending at 3.5 per cent of the largest economy on earth.
Seriously, UK? Do you really depend on the military pension spending to hit the mark? Pelosi at Oxford University
Quote:A group campaigning for an armaments embargo against Israel protested a speech given by Nancy Pelosi at the historic Oxford Union debating chamber on Thursday night.
Police removed two protesters interrupting a speech by former U.S. speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Oxford Union on Thursday. Two students stepped in front of the rostrum and unfurled a Palestinian flag. Per a video of the protest action published by campaign group ‘Youth Demand’, which is against Israel and climate change, Pelosi continued to deliver her speech while the flag-holding man stood in silence, surrounded by security.
Police officers later removed the pair from the building but, according to a report in the incident by The Telegraph, no arrests were made. The paper states Pelosi was at the university to give the Benazir Bhutto memorial lecture, a former Oxford University student and Oxford Union president who went on to be the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Bhutto was assassinated, it is thought by a radical Islamist, in 2007.
After that speech, Pelosi was due to participate in an Oxford Union debate on the motion “This house believes populism is a threat to democracy”.
Youth Demand, by their own reckoning, say they want both of the United Kingdom’s main political parties to commit to a “two-way arms embargo on Israel” and say they want to stop all new oil and gas drilling in the country. Of the decision to protest Pelosi, they further said: “Warmongers like Nancy Pelosi are not welcome on University campuses. When children are being murdered, and hospitals are being bombed, we will not sit down and be quiet whilst these people are given platforms. We must stand up and take action, because we aren’t fucking around anymore.”
A larger protest took place on Thursday evening outside the venue itself as well, with the Cherwell student newspaper claiming “over a hundred” protesters. The paper states those present “condemned the Oxford Union and Oxford University who they described as “complicit” in the war on the Gaza strip”, as well as the U.S. for giving money to Israel, and Pelosi herself.
Pelosi is in the United Kingdom as part of a tour including a four-day visit to Ireland. While there she boasted that she had interfered in Britain’s Brexit process, saying she’d “had to make it clear to the Brits” that the country could “forget about” a trade deal with the U.S. unless it toed the line on American policy on a united Ireland.
Farage Denouces the French Navy
Quote:France has been accused of aiding the people smuggling gangs operating along its coast after failing to stop an overcrowded dinghy setting sail for Britain and the French Navy escorting the small boat to UK waters even after five people fell off the vessel and drowned on Tuesday.
On the first day after the UK finally passed legislation to send illegal boat migrants to processing centres in Rwanda, 402 foreigners successfully crossed the Channel from France. However, five migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, a woman, and three men died as the engine of the overcrowded dinghy cut out, sparking panic.
While 48 migrants from the boat were returned to France, the French Navy decided to continue escorting the 58 remaining migrants in the dinghy to UK waters, despite the drownings.
“They managed to restart the engine and decided to continue their sea route towards Great Britain under the surveillance of the French Navy,” the local Pas-de-Calais prefect Jacques Billant said per The Telegraph.
Brexit boss Nigel Farage, who first exposed the French Navy escorting migrants to the UK territorial waters in 2020, said on Tuesday evening: “What really strikes me is; five people overboard drown, the French Navy come, take other people off, and still escort that boat, effectively, the French Navy are working for the traffickers.”
“At what point politically, do we say to the French, you have got to stop acting as agents of the traffickers?” he questioned.
So are the French Navy vessels crewed by
pirates or corsairs now? Chinese Sabotage?
Quote:A Chinese container ship remains the prime suspect in causing damage last year to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline between NATO members Finland and Estonia, Finnish investigators said Thursday.
It has been over six months since substantial, human-made damage that caused a major drop in pressure was first detected in the Balticconnector pipeline in Finnish economic waters on Oct. 8. Finland and Estonia’s gas system operators were forced to shut it down, disconnecting a crucial link between the Nordic and Baltic gas markets for several months.
The pipeline, which runs across the Gulf of Finland between the Finnish town of Inkoo and the Estonian port of Paldiski, was reopened this week after multimillion-euro repair work.
The National Bureau of Investigation, a branch of the Finnish police, said Thursday that it still believes that an anchor of the Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel Newnew Polar Bear ship, which was on its way to St. Petersburg, Russia, was dislodged and caused the damage detected in Balticconnector.
“Investigation has progressed, and there has been cooperation with the Chinese authorities probing the case,” Detective Superintendent Risto Lohi, NBI´s head of the investigation, told The Associated Press.
“The main line of investigation has remained unchanged – the cargo ship Newnew Polar Bear and its anchor are considered to be related to the pipeline damage,” Lohi said.
Finnish investigators haven’t said whether they believe the damage allegedly caused by the Chinese vessel was done intentionally or whether it was caused by incompetent seafaring, as suggested by some experts.
Finnish maritime authorities said at the time of the incident they failed to establish radio contact with Newnew Polar Bear’s captain despite several attempts.
Last year, NBI said an initial probe by investigators and experts found a trail about 1.5 to 4 meters on seabed was seen to lead to the point of damage in the gas pipeline. That trail is believed to have been caused by the heavy 6-ton anchor of Newnew Polar Bear, which was later retrieved from the seabed by the Finnish Navy.
Espionage Section - Really!
Quote:Two men, including one who was reported to be a parliamentary researcher, were charged with spying for China, British prosecutors said Monday.
Police said Christopher Berry, 32, and Christopher Cash, 29, were charged with “providing prejudicial information to a foreign state, China.” They will appear at Westminster Magistrates´ Court on Friday.
Police allege the two men collected, recorded or communicated information “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state” and violated the Official Secrets Act between late 2021 and February 2023.
“This has been an extremely complex investigation into what are very serious allegations,” said Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police counterterrorism command.
Authorities did not release details about the two men. But Berry is reportedly an academic based in Oxfordshire, and The Sunday Times reported last year that Cash was a parliamentary researcher who held a pass that allows full access to the Parliament buildings, issued to lawmakers, staff and journalists after security vetting.
The report said Cash worked with senior lawmakers from the governing Conservatives, including Alicia Kearns, who now heads the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee, and her predecessor in that role, Tom Tugendhat, who is now security minister.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said last year that he raised the issue with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, saying he raised “very strong concerns” about interference in British democracy.
At the time, Cash issued a statement through his lawyers maintaining his innocence. The Chinese Embassy issued a statement calling the allegations fabricated.
Also on Monday, three people were arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for China and arranging to transfer information on technology with potential military uses.
British intelligence authorities have ratcheted up their warnings about Beijing’s covert activities in recent years.
Quote:A former researcher working in the U.K. Parliament and another man charged with spying for China were granted bail Friday after an initial court appearance in London.
Christopher Cash, 29, and Christopher Berry, 32, were charged with violating the Official Secrets Act by providing information or documents that could be “useful to an enemy” – China – and “prejudicial to the safety or interests” of the U.K. between late 2021 and February 2023.
Cash, a parliamentary researcher who worked with senior lawmakers from the governing Conservatives, was ordered not to enter Parliament or contact members of the House of Commons.
Cash´s colleagues included Alicia Kearns, who now heads the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee, and her predecessor in that role, Tom Tugendhat, who is now security minister.
Berry is reportedly an academic based in Oxfordshire.
The two didn’t enter pleas during a short hearing in Westminster Magistrates´ Court.
The defendants were also ordered not to to travel outside the U.K. or contact each other. They were ordered to appear May 10 at the Central Criminal Court known as the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing.
The Chinese Embassy has called the allegations “completely fabricated” and “malicious slander,” and urged the U.K. to “stop anti-China political manipulation.”
Quote:A British man accused of plotting to torch a London business connected to Ukraine has been charged with conducting hostile activity to benefit Russia, prosecutors said Friday.
Dylan Earl, 20, is connected to Russia´s Wagner mercenary group, which the U.K. government has declared a banned terrorist organization, prosecutors said.
Earl is accused of fraudulent activity, research and reconnaissance of targets, and attempting to recruit others to assist a foreign intelligence service carrying out activities in the U.K.
“Included in the alleged activity was involvement in the planning of an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked commercial property in March,” said Nick Price, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division.
He allegedly planned and paid others to burn down two industrial properties in east London on March 20.
He is the first person to be charged under the National Security Act 2023.
Four other men face charges connected to the case.
Jake Reeves, 22, was charged with agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service and aggravated arson.
Dmitrijus Paulauska, 22, was charged with having information about terrorist acts.
Paul English, 60, and Nii Mensah, 21, face aggravated arson charges.
Quote:Three people suspected of spying for China and arranging to transfer information on technology with potential military uses were arrested in Germany on Monday.
Prosecutors said the three German citizens are accused of having acted for Chinese intelligence since some point before June 2022. They are also suspected of violating German export laws by exporting a special laser without permission.
One of the suspects, identified only as Thomas R. in line with German privacy laws, was allegedly an agent for an employee of China’s Ministry of State Security and procured information in Germany on “militarily usable innovative technologies” for that person, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
To do that, prosecutors said, he used Herwig F. and Ina. F, a couple who own a company in Duesseldorf that was used to contact and work with German researchers.
The couple allegedly set up a research transfer agreement with an unidentified German university, the first step in which was to draw up a study for a Chinese partner on the technology of machine parts that could be used for powerful ship engines, including those in battleships. Thomas R.’s handler at the MSS was behind the Chinese partner and the project was financed by the Chinese state, prosecutors said.
At the time of the arrests, the suspects were in negotiations on further research projects that could be useful for expanding China’s naval combat strength, they added.
The suspects also procured with MSS funding a special laser and exported it to China without permission, although it was classified as a “dual-use” instrument under European Union rules, prosecutors said.
The homes and offices of the suspects, who were arrested in Duesseldorf and in Bad Homburg, near Frankfurt, were searched.
The suspects were arrested a week after a three-day visit to China by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, his second since he took office in late 2021.
German officials wouldn’t be drawn on whether the government was aware of the case at the time but said the trip hadn’t played any role in the timing of the arrests.
In a strategy for relations with China released last year, the German government pointed to a “systemic rivalry” with the Asian power and a need to reduce risks of economic dependency, but highlighted its desire to work with Beijing on challenges such as climate change and maintain strong trade ties.
The document stated that “we take decisive action to counter all analog and digital espionage and sabotage activities by Chinese intelligence services and state-controlled groups, whether these activities be in or directed against Germany.”
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
![[Image: SP1-Scripter.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Scripter.png)
![[Image: SP1-Writer.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Writer.png)
![[Image: SP1-Poet.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Poet.png)
![[Image: SP1-PixelArtist.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-PixelArtist.png)
![[Image: SP1-Reporter.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/GmxWbHyL/SP1-Reporter.png)
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
