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**kyonides** · 09-14-2024, 05:44 AM

USA

Chad McQueen aka Dutch Passed Away

Judges Dismisses 2 Counts Against Trump

NYT Poll: People Blame Kamala for Immigration Crisis

NY Times/Siena Poll: Majority of Likely Voters Blame Kamala Harris for Record Illegal Immigration at Southern Border

Quote:The majority of likely voters say they blame Vice President Kamala Harris for record levels of illegal immigration at the United States-Mexico over the last three and a half years, a New York Times/Siena College poll reveals.

The poll asked likely voters “How much blame, if any, do you think Kamala Harris as sitting vice president should receive for … problems at the border” — record illegal immigration, in other words — to which 63 percent said they place “a lot of blame” or “some blame” on Harris.

In April of 2021, President Joe Biden asked Harris to lead the administration’s effort in “stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border.” As a result, many media outlets and lawmakers began referring to Harris as the “border czar.”

Harris has since tried to distance herself from the issue of illegal immigration.

The poll shows the majority of likely voters are not convinced by Harris’s attempt to distance herself from the border. Only 16 percent of likely voters said Harris bears “no blame at all” for record illegal immigration over the last few years.

Meanwhile, of the majority that do blame Harris, 74 percent are white non-college-educated voters, 51 percent are non-white non-college-educated voters, and 62 percent are white college-educated voters.

Most significantly, perhaps, 63 percent of swing voters said they blame Harris.

Regarding who likely voters trust more on immigration, the poll found that 53 percent favor former President Donald Trump on the issue while a minority of 43 percent favor Harris. Among swing voters, 53 percent favor Trump over Harris.

Trump has long campaigned on mass deportations, a crackdown on illegal immigration at the border, and tightening the labor market by stemming the flow of foreign workers into American jobs.

Harris, on the other hand, has vowed to continue Biden’s legacy on immigration, which has welcomed nearly 7 million migrants to the United States since he took office and ensured that the majority of job growth in the labor market goes to foreign workers.

The poll surveyed nearly 1,700 likely voters from September 3 to September 6. The margin of error is +/- 2.8 percentage points.

Maryland & Illegal Alien Criminals

EUROPE

Russia Grows Tired of 6 British Diplomats aka Spies

Russia Expels Six British Diplomats it Says are Spies

Quote:Russia on Friday accused six British diplomats of spying and said it decided to expel them. The U.K. said the “completely baseless” move came weeks ago and was linked to its action in May to revoke the credentials of an attaché at the Russian Embassy and limit Moscow´s diplomatic activities in London.

The latest East-West tensions unfolded as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Washington for talks that will include Ukraine´s request to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia. President Vladimir Putin has warned that Kyiv´s use of long-range weapons would put NATO at war with Moscow.

Russia´s Federal Security Service said in an online statement that the Foreign Ministry withdrew the British envoys’ accreditations, and Russian TV quoted an FSB official as saying it was decided to expel them.

The FSB said it received documents indicating the diplomats were sent to Russia by a division of the U.K.’s Foreign Office “whose main task is to inflict a strategic defeat on our country,” and that they were involved in “intelligence-gathering and subversive activities.” It did not identify the six diplomats.

The FSB warned that if other diplomats are found to be carrying out “similar actions,” it “will demand early termination of their missions” to Russia.

Russian TV said the six diplomats had met with independent media and rights groups that have been declared “foreign agents” – a label Russian authorities have actively used against organizations and individuals critical of the Kremlin.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the diplomats were carrying out “subversive actions aimed at causing harm to our people.”

“We fully agree with the assessments of the activities of the British so-called diplomats expressed by the Russian FSB,” she added in an online statement. “The British Embassy has gone far beyond the limits outlined by the Vienna Conventions.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said breaking off diplomatic relations with the U.K. was not on the table right now.

In calling the Russian allegations “completely baseless,” the U.K. Foreign Office said the expulsions happened weeks ago, linking them to Britain´s decision in May to revoke the credentials of an attaché at Moscow´s London embassy and to impose a five-year time limit on all Russian diplomats in Britain.

“The Russian authorities revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six U.K. diplomats in Russia last month, following action taken by the U.K. government in response to Russian state-directed activity across Europe and in the U.K.,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. “We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests.”

In May, the U.K. expelled Russia´s defense attaché in London, alleging he was an undeclared intelligence officer, and it closed several Russian diplomatic properties in Britain that it said were being used for spying. About a week later, Russia reciprocated and expelled Britain´s defense attaché.

Russia on China & Ukraine

Russia Urges China to Take Major Role in Ukraine War Mediation

Quote:Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Wednesday urged China to take a leading role in mediation on the Ukraine war.

“We welcome the Brazil-China consensus – a well-known initiative consisting of six points,” Ryabkov said.

“I think this initiative has ever more support in the Global South. And this meeting of high representatives is the latest example of how the Global South and people who really want to consistently move toward a political settlement are finding good reasons to actively consider this idea,” he said.

“I will tell you that Russia has always expressed its readiness to resume negotiations,” he claimed.

The latter statement is flatly untrue, as Russia often refuses to engage in negotiations, but Russian officials always dismiss the proposals they do not like as unserious and treat them like they never happened.

The “Brazil-China consensus” is a joint statement released on May 23, 2024, after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Brazilian presidential adviser Celso Amorim. Chinese officials incessantly refer to the “six-point plan” but rarely bother to explain what the six points are.

The first point is a call for all parties in the Ukraine conflict to “de-escalate” by not expanding the battlefield, increasing the intensity of the fighting, or provoking the other side. Since Russia created the battlefield in the first place, and has “expanded” it without remorse at every opportunity, this point mostly translates to Russia complaining about effective Ukrainian counterattacks like the invasion of Kursk.

The second point states that “all sides believe that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solution to the Ukraine crisis.” China and Brazil called for an international peace conference that would be equally recognized by both Moscow and Kyiv.

The third point calls for more humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the conflict and encourages all parties to avoid civilian casualties. The fourth rules out nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, while the fifth calls for all parties to avoid attacking nuclear power plants.

The sixth point is a vague call for more international cooperation on issues like energy and food security, relevant to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine only because it urges protection of “critical infrastructure, including oil and gas pipelines.” Oil and gas pipelines have been in peril throughout the Ukraine conflict.

Ukrainians Sabotage Russian Railway

Partisan War: Ukraine Claims Another Strike by Rail Saboteurs Against Russia

Quote:A railway behind the front lines of the Ukraine war was bombed and taken out of service this week with a freight train destroyed, Ukraine claims credit while Russia says it is launching a criminal terrorism investigation.

A freight train was derailed with serious damage to the locomotive and 11 boxcars thrown off the track on Tuesday night, closing the rail line leading to Valuyki, Belgorod from the Russian interior. The railhead is just 50 miles away from the frontline fighting at the Vovchansk ‘meatgrinder’ on the Kharkiv front.

Ukrainian state media asserts the derailment was in fact an attack by their partisans, saying the line was blocked by a joint operation of their defence intelligence establishment and Ukrainian special forces. Kyiv claimed the freight train was giving logistical support to the Russian army and it was derailed by means of explosives, “paralysing” a main transport artery.

The Russians, for their part, insisted the train wagons damaged in the strike were empty, and said there were no casualties. Moscow confirmed the track had been blocked and local trains were replaced with buses, while long-distance services were directed to other routes. Two recovery trains had been sent to the scene to clear the tracks.

The Western Region Investigative Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said they had opened a criminal investigation under the Russian criminal code dealing with terrorist attacks, saying they believed the explosion had been caused by the “interference of an outsider”. Russian state media said one track on the two-track line was re-opened the following day, but no update has been given on the other, suggesting logistical supply in a region with bad roads so close to some of the hardest fighting of the war today remains disrupted by the partisan attack.

While the military application of railways lapsed in the minds of many Western military planners with the end of the Cold War era, they have made a considerable comeback in the course of the Ukraine war, where both sides rely heavily on railway infrastructure to move men and supplies in areas where roads have long been of poor quality and were air transport is next to impossible.

With this return to prominence has some an increased strategic focus, with the railways themselves coming under heavy attack. The early days of the war saw concentrated Russian strikes on Ukrainian railway infrastructure — likely to slow the country receiving external aid — and this continues today. Ukraine in turn have repeatedly used partisan saboteur teams to blow up Russian trains inside Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Russia operates a series of well armed military trains to deter saboteurs but it has been met with limited success, the distances involved making effectively guarding the railways a near impossible task.

ASIA

China is Aging

China to raise retirement age as demographic crisis looms

Quote:China said Friday it would gradually raise its statutory retirement age, as the country grapples with a looming demographic crisis and an ageing population.

Hundreds of millions of people in China are set to enter old age in the coming decades while the birth rate dwindles dramatically.

The national population fell in 2023 for the second year in a row, with policymakers and experts warning of severe impacts on the economy, healthcare and social welfare systems if action is not taken.

China’s retirement age had not been raised for decades and had been among the lowest in the world.

State news agency Xinhua said top officials in Beijing had decided that “the statutory retirement age for male workers will be gradually extended from the original 60 years to 63 years”.

For women workers the retirement age will be extended “from the original 50 or 55 years to 55 and 58 years, respectively”, depending on the type of job, Xinhua reported.

It said the retirement age would be gradually raised over 15 years from 2025, adding that from 2030, workers would need to make a minimum of 20 years of basic pension contributions instead of the current 15.

The new rules will allow Chinese people “to postpone retirement to an even later date if they reach an agreement with employers”, Xinhua said.

They will take effect from January 1, 2025.

China Halts Foreign Adoption of Children amid Demographic Crisis

Quote:The Chinese government on Friday announced that it will no longer allow foreign families to adopt Chinese children, ending a program that has found homes overseas for more than 160,000 children since 1992. While Beijing refused to clearly explain its decision, most observers suspected it was a response to declining birth rates in China.

The cutoff of foreign adoptions was so abrupt that families with pending cases had no idea if their adoptions would go forward. When the U.S. State Department sought clarification, Chinese officials said they “will not continue to process cases at any stage.”

“We understand there are hundreds of families still pending completion of their adoption, and we sympathize with their situation,” the State Department said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry mumbled something about bringing foreign adoptions into line with “the spirit of relevant international conventions.”

This might have been a vague reference to Denmark and the Netherlands saying earlier this year that they will no longer allow overseas adoptions. Both of those decisions were prompted by bureaucratic irregularities and allegations of fraudulent paperwork, after a sharp decline in foreign adoptions during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.

China is probably more worried that it no longer has children to spare. Overseas adoptions of Chinese children became commonplace during the last years of China’s hideous One Child Policy, which sought to control overpopulation by forcing families to have only one child apiece.

The One Child Policy was notoriously biased against female children in its implementation, as families saw girls as a luxury they could no longer afford. According to China’s Children International, a nonprofit group founded in 2011 to support Chinese adoptees around the world, about 82,000 Chinese children were adopted by American families over the past 30 years, and most of them were girls.

China rather abruptly went from worrying about overpopulation to worrying about demographic collapse after the One Child Policy ended in 2016. Panic is growing in the Chinese Communist Party that it cannot reverse its collapsing birth rates. In the space of a few years, Beijing went from forcing women to abort excess babies to offering a plethora of financial incentives for motherhood, practically begging young families to have children, and even suggesting people who don’t reproduce quickly enough might be traitors. None of these measures has worked terribly well.

University of California at Irvine sociology professor Wang Feng said China’s ban on foreign adoptions marked “the end of an era, and the closing of one of the most shameful chapters of the three and a half decades of social engineering known as one-child policy.”

“The Chinese government created the problem and then they couldn’t deal with the financial constraints and that is why they allowed foreign adoption as a last resort,” Wang told the New York Times (NYT) on Friday.

Guo Wu, an associate professor of Chinese studies at Allegheny College, suggested rising Chinese nationalism could also be a factor in shutting down foreign adoptions.

Guo said China’s nationalists may find the notion that China cannot raise its own children insulting, especially since half of the foreign adoptions have gone to the United States, whose relations with the Chinese government are growing more tense.

“This policy might fulfill that feeling that ‘we don’t need to send our kids to America,’” he said.

Hopeful adoptive families in the U.S. told the NYT they were devastated by China’s sudden halt to the process.

“It’s really hard that there are hundreds of families that are waiting, that have a place prepared and we sit here hopeless, with our hands tied. We loved the country, we love the people and part of my grief is for the connection with China,” said would-be adoptive mother Courtney Moore.

Chinese Minister Demoted?

Report: Chinese Foreign Minister Purged amid U.S. Lovechild Rumors Demoted to ‘Low-Level’ Job

Quote:Former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who disappeared in June 2023 with no clear explanation and has not been seen in public since, is reportedly working a “low-level job” in Beijing and has no future career prospects, the Washington Post reported this week.

Qin was one of the most extraordinary diplomats on genocidal dictator Xi Jinping’s roster, rising to become the youngest foreign minister in decades after a brief but memorable stint as the Chinese ambassador to the United States.

In that role, Qin earned a reputation as both a belligerent “wolf warrior”-style Chinese diplomat – weaponizing rudeness to berate American counterparts – and as a lover of American culture, seen attending NBA games and visiting U.S. colleges.

Then, suddenly, Qin Gang disappeared. His last public appearance was on June 25, 2023, and he has not been seen. Xi finally fired him from the foreign minister post in July and he lost several other Communist Party positions, but has not publicly faced criminal charges or accusations of corruption. He notably remains a “comrade” of the Party, despite disappearing during an era of purges that took down two defense ministers and several other high-ranking communists in a hail of corruption charges.

The most prevalent theory – in international media and on Chinese social media sites – is that Qin lost his job after having an extramarital affair. The woman implicated, former Phoenix TV journalist Fu Xiaotian, also disappeared from public life in early 2023. Her last social media posts before vanishing show her with an infant son, whose father’s identity remains unknown.

The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Qin “is alive but … in a position very diminished from his once-lofty perch.” The report, citing anonymous American officials, is the first such detailed report on Qin’s whereabouts currently.

According to the newspaper, Qin is working at “World Affairs Press,” a state-run publisher. The Post sent a journalist to the offices of the publisher, “in an alley in central Beijing,” where no one could confirm if Qin was, in fact, working for the company. None, however, reportedly denied it.

China Complains About Trump-Harris Debate

China Whines It Was Mentioned in Trump-Harris Debate — Which Had No China Questions

Quote:The Chinese Foreign Ministry bristled on Wednesday at being asked about the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, which took place Tuesday, insisting it does not want China to be “an issue” in the election.

Harris and Trump squared off in a debate hosted by ABC News. Despite the debate featuring a significant amount of foreign policy content and China presenting America’s most dangerous geopolitical threat, moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis did not ask a single question about China. The Communist Party regime only surfaced as a topic in isolated parts of the conversation when Trump or Harris mentioned it.

Trump and Harris engaged in a small exchange on Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Chinese imports, which the Agence France-Presse (AFP) raised during the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s regular press briefing on Wednesday. Spokeswoman Mao Ning refused to address the exchange, insisting, “The presidential elections are the United States’ own affairs. We have no comment on that.”

“That said, we are opposed to making China an issue in US elections,” she added.

The Global Times, China’s top state-run English propaganda newspaper, complained on Thursday – in a different context, the Congressional “China Week” event to discuss Beijing’s threat – that Washington’s relationship to the genocidal Chinese regime was causing so much concern in America. Rather than threat China’s belligerence towards American and the free world generally as a legitimate political issue, the Times dismissed it as a perennial distraction American politicians use to keep the focus away from domestic U.S. issues.
“When it comes to China, politicians from both parties line up one after another to affirm their contention that China is dangerous and poses a real threat to the US and to the world. Dubious legislation follows,” the Times huffed.
“The political discourse in the US when it comes to China lacks common sense, and the more mainstream media attention it gets, the more damage it does to public opinion across the country,” the state newspaper complained. “Regardless of who wins the presidential election in November, there is no reason to expect a change in the rhetoric or its vicious tone.”

Despite the outsized threat communist China presents to American interests – and its long record of human rights abuses, its ongoing colonization of Africa, and its close ties to American enemies such as Russia and Iran – Trump and Harris did not have to answer any questions about China on Tuesday. Indicating the extent to which China looms over so many other political issues in America, Washington’s policies towards China came up, anyway, particularly during a segment on economic policy.

Harris used her time to attack Trump’s approach to China, accusing him of inviting “trade wars” and empowering the Chinese military.

“He invited trade wars — you want to talk about his deal with China?” Harris said. “What he ended up doing is, under Donald Trump’s presidency, he ended up selling American chips to China to help them improve and modernize their military — basically sold us out when a policy about China should be in making sure the United States of America wins the competition for the 21st century.”

In reality, the Trump administration significantly limited American exports of chips and semiconductors to China and more fervently targeted Chinese companies known to be a national security risk, such as the telecommunications corporation Huawei, in its limitations. In 2021, Reuters reported that the Biden-Harris administration “has granted licenses authorizing suppliers to sell chips to Huawei for such vehicle components as video screens and sensors.”

China & Russia to Hold Drills close to Japan & South Korea

China and Russia to Hold Military Drills in Sea Between Japan, South Korea

Quote:The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that military units had arrived in Vladivostok, Russia, to participate in joint military exercises with Moscow, part of a greater plan to for China to also host the Russian military in exercises in the Sea of Japan.

The Sea of Japan, or East Sea, lies between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, placing the Russian military within close proximity of a nation with which it remains technically at war. As Japan and the Soviet Union never signed a peace treaty following World War II, and the Russian Federation has also failed to formally end the war, the two nations remain the last two parties to World War II with unresolved hostilities. The major obstacle to signing a peace treaty has been a decades-long disagreement on which country should have sovereignty over the Kuril Islands, which lie between Russia and Japan and are currently occupied by Russia.

Russia and South Korea have also seen relations deteriorate dramatically in the past year over both the Russian government’s flourishing ties to North Korea and South Korea’s support for Ukraine in the ongoing invasion of that country. Russia signed a mutual defense agreement with communist North Korea in July that would, in theory, require Russian forces to enter the battle theater if North Korea were attack. North and South Korea, while not in active hostilities since 1953, are also technically in a state of war.

China is North Korea’s greatest ally and an active opponent to the Japanese government on the world stage, making the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) presence in the East Sea of high concern to both Seoul and Tokyo.

The Chinese state-run outlet Global Times reported on Monday that the PLA would send naval and air assets to both the East Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk to “conduct a series of joint drills and patrols in moves to deepen pragmatic military cooperation.”

Russia forces will also reportedly travel south to participate in Chinese-led exercises.

“China routinely organizes the Interaction series of exercises with Russia and joins strategic exercises organized by Russia, while the two countries also routinely hold joint naval and air patrols,” the Global Times explained. “It highlights China and Russia’s close military ties, and the two militaries’ efforts to further deepen pragmatic cooperation, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times.”

The Chinese Defense Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that PLA forces are in Vladivostok to participate in the exercises.

“During the force projection stage, the Chinese troops successfully accomplished multiple batches of materials loading and transfer, personnel movement and ferry flights,” the Defense Ministry narrated. “As for maritime force, the Chinese participating naval taskforce reached the designated sea area at around 4:00 p.m. on Monday, and joined their Russian counterparts to prepare for the following planned exercise.”

The Ministry described the objective of the currently ongoing war games to “deepen the strategic collaboration between the two militaries, and enhance their capabilities in jointly responding to security threats.” It noted that those exercises are separate from a Russian-led exercise known as “Ocean-2024,” which is expected to take place this month.

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. confirmed on Tuesday that Chinese forces were participating in “Ocean-2024.”

“Ships and aircraft of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army are taking parts in the drills,” Putin said, according to the Russian news agency Tass. “We focus special attention on strengthening military cooperation with friendly countries. It is especially important today, amid the growing geopolitical tension in the world.”

In remarks to the military forces participating in “Ocean-2024,” Putin emphasized that Russia “must be ready for any developments” in the defense of Russia’s “sovereignty and national interests.” The strongman added that Russian forces must be prepared to expect “any military aggression in all directions.”

China on North Korea

Xi Jinping Vows to Improve ‘Communication’ with North Korea as China Loses Influence to Russia

Quote:Chinese dictator Xi Jinping sent a message to North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un on Monday congratulating his country on its anniversary, a note international observers described as relatively cold and a potential sign of discord between the two countries.

China is communist North Korea’s closest ally, but has refrained from major displays of support towards the Kim regime in the past year, particularly after Pyongyang published an excoriating screed against Beijing in May for backing a statement vaguely supporting the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. North Korean diplomacy has since trended towards Russia, signing a mutual defense treaty with Moscow in July during strongman Vladimir Putin’s first visit to North Korea in decades.

China and North Korea nonetheless rely on each other significantly for ideological and economic support. Xi’s message hoping to “strengthen communication” with Kim arrives as North Korea escalates belligerent behavior against South Korea, flooding the country with a wave of trash-filled balloons over the weekend. China, in turn, faces growing economic challenges and resistance to its geopolitical agenda from the West.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea’s flagship state propaganda outlet, described Xi’s message as a “heartfelt congratulations” on the anniversary of the founding of communist North Korea.

“I am sure that the Korean people will certainly win a victory, steadily fresh and greater, in the course of promoting the socialist cause of Korean style under the leadership of the WPK headed by you,” Xi reportedly told Kim. WPK is short for the “Workers’ Party of Korea,” the ruling communist party.

Xi promised to “continue to view and deal with the China-DPRK [North Korea] relations at a strategic level and from a long-term angle,” KCNA reported, “and is ready to provide the peoples of the two countries with more welfare and make greater contribution to peace, stability, development and prosperity.”

The Chinese dictator added that Beijing would pursue “developing the traditional China-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations by deepening the strategic communication and boosting coordination.”

The South Korean news agency Yonhap described Beijing and Pyongyang as “relatively estranged” in the context of the founding anniversary message and the upcoming anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. South Korean sources have reportedly not seen any indication that the two countries will plan any “grand celebrations” together to mark the occasion.

Similarly, Radio Free Asia (RFA) observed that Xi’s message “appeared slightly less effusive” than in prior years and was only the second such message to Kim in the past year, the first being a New Year’s greeting.

While still close allies, North Korea and China have kept a diplomatic distance this year compared to those prior, which appeared to expand following China participating in a summit in Seoul alongside the governments of that country and Japan in May. The trilateral summit, the ninth of its kind in modern history, united the conservative governments of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio with the Communist Party and resulted in a joint statement that outraged North Korea.

“We reiterated positions on regional peace and stability, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the abductions issue, respectively,” the three countries said in their statement. “We agree to continue to make positive efforts for the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue.”

The North Korean regime described the statement as a “grave political provocation” and a “declaration of war,” notably failing to exclude ally China in its condemnation.

North Korea's Uranium Enrichment Complex

North Korea Shows Off Uranium Enrichment Complex for First Time

Quote:North Korea published photos on Friday of communist dictator Kim Jong-un touring a national “Nuclear Weapons Institute,” where the regime is allegedly enriching uranium to fulfill Kim’s call for an “exponential” increase in the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

Kim toured the enrichment facility and “acquainted himself with the production of nuclear warheads and current nuclear materials and set forth important tasks for long-term plan for increasing the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials,” according to the regime’s flagship propaganda outlet the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The report featured photos of Kim, accompanied by military officials with their faces blurred out, walking amid rows of machines that appeared to be uranium centrifuges, used to enrich uranium for use in the manufacture of nuclear bombs. KCNA’s documenting of Kim’s tour is an unprecedented report, South Korean media noted – the regime had never before revealed any details of its uranium enrichment program.

The report concluded a week that began with Kim proclaiming he had ordered his military to engage in an “exponential” increase in the number of nuclear weapons North Korea possesses. Kim had first made that call in January 2023, following moves to outlaw denuclearization talks and increase the number of belligerent threats against South Korea and America. Kim has also recently claimed to implement a program to develop indigenously made suicide drones and some sort of “underwater nuclear weapon system” and signed a mutual defense agreement with Russia that would require Moscow to defend Pyongyang in the event of an attack.

KCNA’s article on Kim’s visit to the alleged uranium enrichment facility claimed the dictator offered a glowing review of the complex.

“He highly praised the scientists, technicians and officials in the field of nuclear weapons production for having carried out without fail the plan for producing weapon-grade nuclear materials needed for manufacturing nuclear warheads,” KCNA relayed, “cherishing the firm and steadfast revolutionary spirit and faith to firmly defend the victorious advance of the revolutionary cause of Juche with the strongest nuclear force.”

Juche, or “self-reliance,” is the official philosophy of North Korea under the communist Kim family cult.

KCNA claimed that the facility was “dynamically producing nuclear materials by studying, developing and introducing all the system elements,” granting Kim “great satisfaction.” The report relayed that Kim repeated his call to “exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defence true to the Party’s line of building up nuclear armed forces.”

“He stressed the need to set a higher long-term goal in producing nuclear materials necessary for the manufacture of tactical nuclear weapons,” the report continued, “and concentrate all efforts on bringing about fresh leap forward, setting forth important tasks and orientation.”

South Korea Trashes Chinese-Made Cameras

LATIN AMERICA

Brazil Welcomes Venezuelans... Kind of

Socialist Brazil Offers Cold Welcome to Venezuelans, Hopes They Can Leave ‘as Soon as Possible’

Quote:Brazilian socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday that his government will continue receiving Venezuelan migrants (who are fleeing from the regime of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro), but hopes that its neighbor “returns to normal” so the migrants can go back “as soon as possible.”

Brazil is experiencing a new surge of Venezuelan migrants in the wake of the July 28 sham presidential election, which Maduro and the Venezuelan authorities — all under his control — fraudulently insist that he “won.”

“The Minister for Foreign Affairs [Mauro Vieira] has been instructed and determined by the Presidency of the Republic that we should treat people who are coming to Brazil out of a need to survive with great respect,” Lula said during an interview given to Rádio Norte FM. “You know that human beings are kind of nomadic, when they don’t have a place to eat, when they don’t have a place to work, they look for other places.”

“These people who are coming here will have to be treated well and the federal government has an obligation to help the state of Roraima take care of the education of these people, to take care of the maintenance of these people,” he continued, “because we don’t want these people to come here and spend even more time in need than they already did in Venezuela.”

Lula stated that he will visit Brazil’s northernmost state of Roraima — which neighbors Venezuela — at an unspecified date and discuss the issue of Venezuelan migrants with the state’s governor Antonio Denarium “so that we can definitely treat these thousands of Venezuelans who are in Brazil with great responsibility and respect.”

The Brazilian socialist president added that he hopes Venezuela “returns to normal” so that “these people can return to Venezuela as soon as possible.”

Over the past decade — and as a result of the collapse of socialism in Venezuela, led by the authoritarian socialist Maduro regime — Venezuela is undergoing what has been described as the worst migrant crisis in the Western Hemisphere, matched only in size by the Syrian and Ukrainian migrant crises.

Cubans Grow Desperate

US Navy Sailor Wanted to Get Rid of Maduro!?

Venezuelan Socialists Claim U.S. Navy Sailor Involved in ‘Plot’ Against Dictator Maduro

Quote:Venezuelan Interior Minister and long-suspected drug lord Diosdado Cabello claimed on Wednesday evening that a U.S. Navy sailor recently detained by Venezuelan law enforcement officials was part of a “plot” to infiltrate the country and attack socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and his regime.

U.S. authorities confirmed this week that a Navy sailor visiting Caracas was detained on August 30 by Maduro regime security officials. The enlisted sailor was reportedly not on official travel or approved leave when he traveled to Venezuela and is presently in the custody of the Maduro regime’s Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN).

White House spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday that they’re “in touch” with Maduro regime officials to “try and get more knowledge and information about this.”

Cabello, widely considered one of the most powerful members of Venezuela’s socialist regime — and actively wanted by U.S. authorities on narco-terrorism and other related charges — claimed during the latest broadcast of his weekly state-media show, Con el Mazo Dando (Hitting with the Mallet), that the detained U.S. Navy sailor sought to “collect the reward” that the United States presently offers for Maduro:

“The news came out from a gringo military officer. A few months ago we alerted our viewers about the plans of extremist groups that will try to infiltrate Venezuela to attempt against President Nicolás Maduro and leaders of Chavismo, all this to collect the famous U.S. bounty,” Cabello said as he read from a letter.

Since 2020, the United States offers a $15 million bounty for any information that can lead to the arrest and/or conviction of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. The United States also offers $10 million bounty for any information that can lead to Diosdado Cabello’s arrest and/or conviction.

Cabello, whom Maduro recently appointed as Interior Minister to “bring peace” to Venezuela as the authoritarian socialist regime continues its brutal crackdown on dissidents following the July 28 sham presidential election, asserted that he finds “striking” that the White House claimed to be in communication with the Venezuelan authorities.

“Well, it will be with [former interim President Juan Guaidó] that they are talking, or with [opposition presidential candidate] Edmundo González,” Cabello said.

Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab claimed on Thursday that the U.S. Navy sailor was detained in Venezuela after local authorities determined that he “entered without any kind of documentation or support” for his visit.

“He entered without any kind of documentation, without any kind of support for what, what he was coming to the country to do and he is in that process at the moment, that is what I can reveal, I can’t say anything more,” Saab told reporters.

The Venezuelan attorney general further claimed that the detained U.S. sailor “has dual nationality” and that his “main nationality” is Mexican. Saab stated that he cannot give more details about the case until “due process is completed.”

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh stated during a Thursday press briefing that she did not confirm that the sailor was detained in Venezuela at the end of August while on a personal travel.

Venezuelan Opposition Leader Flees to Spain

Opposition Winner of Venezuela Sham Election, Facing Arrest, Flees to Spain

Quote:Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, who claims to have defeated dictator Nicolás Maduro in a sham presidential election in July, left Venezuela and arrived in Spain on Sunday, seeking political asylum.

Spain’s Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that González and his wife were flown from Venezuela on a Spanish Air Force plane, arriving at the Torrejón Air Base in Madrid in the afternoon hours of Sunday local time.

“From now on, the process for requesting asylum will begin, the resolution of which will be favorable in the interest of Spain’s commitment to the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans, especially political leaders,” the statement read.

González, a 75-year-old former diplomat, was the only legitimate opposition candidate the socialist Maduro regime allowed on the ballot of the July 28 sham presidential election. His appearance on the ballot was initially intended to be of a placeholder nature in the event the Maduro regime allowed opposition leader María Corina Machado to participate. The Maduro regime ultimately upheld the ban on Machado, preventing her from running.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp stated on Sunday that the embassy of the Netherlands in Caracas hosted González from July 28, the day of the sham presidential election, to September 5, when he requested asylum to Spain.

Socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan authorities — all subservient to him — insist the dictator was the “winner” of the sham election despite the authorities’ continued refusal to publish voter data to corroborate the claimed results.

The Venezuelan opposition published its own voter data, collected from local voting stations directly rather than from the national electoral authority, indicating that González defeated Maduro in a landslide. The international community has widely rejected Maduro’s “victory,” as have many Venezuelans nationwide in protests the socialists responded to with a brutal persecution campaign that left more than 25 dead and roughly 200 injured. Independent human rights groups have documented the arbitrary detention of more than 2,400 individuals — including 129 children, of whom 86 were reportedly released in recent days.

Machado issued a statement on social media after González arrived in Spain, explaining that the opposition candidate’s life was in danger due to the growing threats from the Maduro regime that “demonstrate that the regime has no scruples and no limits in its obsession with silencing him and trying to subdue him.”

“Faced with this brutal reality, it is necessary for our cause to preserve his freedom, his integrity and his life,” Machado said.

The opposition leader stated that González will be “sworn in as Constitutional President of Venezuela and Commander-in-Chief of the National Armed Forces” on January 10, 2025, the date when a new presidential term is slated to begin in Venezuela.

Brazilian Fire Reaches Argentina

If this ever sounds like a copycat trying to recreate the same disaster that has plagued Canada now in South America, it's because you're reading too many Spy

conspiracy novels. Tongue sticking out

Smoke from Record-Breaking Amazon Fires Reaches Argentina – Celebrities Still Silent

Quote:A “smoke screen” caused by the out-of-control fires in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil hit southern neighbors Argentina and Uruguay this week, local Argentine and Uruguayan media reported on Monday morning.

Annual fires are a recurring problem for the Amazon rainforest, nearly 60 percent of which lies within Brazil. In 2024, under the administration of radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Amazon rainforest is experiencing the most severe fires in over a decade.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) stated last week that it documented over 53,600 fires there between January 1 and August 27, 2024 — representing an 80-percent increase from that same period in 2023, when 29,826 were recorded. The number of fires registered by WWF during the first eight months of 2024 is the highest for that period of time since 2010. Lula was also president then, serving his second presidential term from 2007 to 2011.

The currently burning Amazon fires spread into Bolivia this week, burning nearly 4 million hectares’ worth of land, according to local environmentalist organizations. The situation prompted Bolivian authorities to declare a state of national emergency over the weekend, issuing health warnings over the smoke affecting the quality of the air and requesting international aid to help fight the fires.

Argentina’s National Weather Service (SMN) issued a warning on Monday of the arrival of the fires’ smoke to the country’s skies. The warning covers the metropolitan area of the capital city of Buenos Aires, municipalities located north of Buenos Aires, and 13 other provinces and regions where “a significant reduction in visibility” could be experienced.

SMN stressed that “phenomena are expected that may represent inconveniences or difficulties in the normal development of social life.” As a result of the smoke, the weather service suggested that citizens in the affected areas avoid outdoor activities and take respiratory and eye protection measures.

The Argentine weather service explained that the smoke is expected to arrive in the country on Monday but added that the arrival of a front of Patagonian winds could dissipate the smoke sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday.

SMN meteorologist Cindy Fernandez told the local newspaper La Nación that those who could be the most affected by the smoke cloud are people with respiratory problems.

“It is very possible that the smoke will be felt in the city and its surroundings. Especially because it will not only move up high but will also go to the surface and this is what would be harmful to health,” Fernandez said.

The smoke from the Amazon rainforest fires also reached neighboring Uruguay. Uruguayan meteorologist Mario Bidegain told the local newspaper El País on Monday that the smoke cloud will affect Uruguay through at least Tuesday and warned that it could cover “practically the whole country.”

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