News of the World
Yesterday, 07:55 AM
USA
Quote:President Trump launched his TrumpRx website on Thursday, vowing Americans would “save a fortune” from cheaper drug prices on everything from Ozempic to fertility treatments.
“This is a very big deal. People are going to save a lot of money and be healthy,” Trump declared at an event announcing the new program.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, was at the launch and boasted that “America will lose about 100 million pounds this year” from cheaper GLP-1s drugs.
With regards to more affordable fertility medications, Oz quipped: “We’re gonna have a lot of Trump babies with these costs.”
The website is designed to be a competitive marketplace for Americans to purchase cheaper prescription drugs.
“Find the world’s lowest prices on prescription drugs,” TrumpRx.gov reads. It has a search function that allows users to type in the name of their prescription and view the results.
Joe Gebbia, the country’s Chief Design Officer, gave a tour of the site, advising users to find a cheaper drug option, then print out a coupon and take it to pharmacies for cheaper drugs.
Oz pointed out that use of the website is free.
“You get to look at all the prices, and you should not be buying drugs anymore going forward without at least checking to see if those medications are available at these discounted prices,” he said.
Trump pledged prices of drugs in the US would drop, while predicting costs worldwide would increase.
“The United States will pay the lowest price paid by any other country,” the president said.
“We will pay equal to whatever the lowest price anywhere in the world. So in many cases, the drug costs will go up by double and even triple for them, but they’re going way down for the United States.”
Trump complained America was subsidizing the cost of medication for other countries “by hundreds of billions of dollars every year,” and vowed that would end.
The administration has already made deals with five big pharmaceutical companies, the White House said in a fact sheet: AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer.
And Americans will see “massive price reductions on 40 of the most popular and expensive branded medicines in the nation,” the sheet noted.
The president eagerly promoted the website, which is a major part of his “great healthcare plan.”
“You’re going to see numbers that you’re not going to believe,” Trump said.
“Americans have long been paying the highest drug prices anywhere in the world, while other countries often paid pennies on the dollar for the exact same drugs.
Quote:A Maryland Man has been charged with the attempted murder of the Trump-appointed Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Colin Demarco, age 26, who reportedly feared Trump’s reelection would lead to a “fascist takeover,” was charged after he appeared at Vought’s Northern Virginia home wearing a surgical mask and gloves, court records show. U.S. Marshals Service reportedly found during the investigation that Demarco had claimed to have written a manifesto that detailed weapons and a “Body Disposal Guide,” per CBS News.
The court records show that Demarco is accused of plotting to murder a victim with the initials “R.V.” who, according to the criminal complaint, “has served as a presidential appointee.”
The complaint adds that the alleged victim was involved in the creation of Project 2025 — a project funded by the conservative Heritage Foundation- to produce a policy agenda for the next GOP administration. It called for a radical reshaping of the government in ways that consolidate power in the executive branch.
Sources familiar with the case separately confirmed to CBS News that Demarco’s alleged target was Vought.
“We are grateful for the work of law enforcement in keeping Director Vought and his family safe,” a spokesperson for OMB said in a statement.
Vought played a role in the formulation of Schedule F, which would make it easier for the federal government to fire workers, which prompted numerous death threats.
Since the alleged attempted murder charge, Vought has been under U.S. Marshals Service protection.
The criminal complaint filed in Arlington County reportedly said that Ring doorbell camera captured Demarco at Vought’s front door wearing gloves, a backpack, sunglasses, and a surgical mask. He was also seen looking through Vought’s mailbox and asked a neighbor if anyone was home.
Demarco had also told agents that he found the November 2024 election to be the “lowest point in his life” and feared “impending war and a fascist takeover.” He also had expressed support for alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione.
Quote:Tuesday on MS NOW’s “The 11th Hour,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should not be wearing masks during their operations in American cities.
Paul said, “I think the main thing is if you want trust to develop again, I’m not somebody who wants to abolish ICE. I want ICE to behave within the rules and enforce the law. But I want them to behave in a normal, rational law enforcement manner.”
Host Stephanie Ruhle said, “Do you think it’s OK for ICE to be wearing these masks?
Paul said, “I think that anonymity and wearing a mask leads to less responsible behavior. I’m not saying there might not be a value on the border where the cartels are running large and things are a little bit more murky, and mayors’ heads are being chopped off by the cartel. I have a little more sympathy there. The images where I’ve seen ICE agents in masks, in an elevator, in a courthouse in Chicago, I think are inappropriate. Look, the local police in Chicago, the bail of everybody else is unmasked. I don’t know why we would have one group of men apprehending. The image I saw was arresting women and their children in an elevator in the courthouse in Chicago. I think one that reduces trust by the public but doesn’t seem appropriate. And I do think when you’re anonymous, like any time you’re anonymous, you tend to do things that you might not do if you were recognizable.”
I wouldn't be surprised if those agents get doxxed by professional protesters if they ever show their faces.
Quote:Nancy Guthrie’s purported kidnappers claimed in a ransom note sent to TMZ that the TV host’s mom is “safe but scared” — and knows exactly what chilling demands are being made for her return.
The note, which was sent to the outlet two days after Savannah Guthrie’s 84-year-old mom was reported missing over the weekend, demanded millions in bitcoin be turned over to avoid “consequential” repercussions.
“I will say the letter begins by saying she is safe but scared, and they go on to say she knows exactly what the demand is,” TMZ boss Harvey Levin told Fox News’ Sean Hannity late Thursday.
“They are, through us, telling the family exactly what they are demanding, and they are saying that Nancy is aware of it,” he said of the terrifying ordeal for the “Today” show co-host’s family.
“They are also saying … that this will be their only communication and they are done communicating and negotiating — here’s the deal and that’s it.”
“As the clock ticks, that’s one of the reasons the FBI and other authorities have gotten desperate here,” he added.
Without elaborating further, Levin said there were details included in the note that led him to believe that Guthrie — who authorities believe was taken against her will from her home in Tucson over the weekend — was still within the area.
He also added that the note highlighted insider details about her suspected abduction — including information about her Apple Watch and a damaged floodlight at her million-dollar home.
The note was sent before those details were publicly revealed, Levin noted, which spurred alarm that it was legit.
“That was what really put my antenna up and we immediately called the sheriff,” he told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
“They do mention an Apple Watch, as the FBI said, and they do mention the floodlight, the damaged floodlight,” he added.
“There is something else, and it is the placement of the Apple Watch, which has not come out. If that placement is accurate, I’m sure that is something that puts this letter on the FBI radar.”
Investigators have already said they are taking the note, as well as several others sent to various media outlets, seriously.
Quote:Law enforcement agents confiscated a SUV parked inside the garage of Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home Friday, where they also removed a wired device from the roof after they received a tip from a neighbor.
Over 10 police cars converged on Guthrie’s residence in the Catalina Foothills north of Tucson and began searching the property in the late afternoon amid the large-scale search for the missing 84-year-old.
A tow truck was called in and removed a Blue Subaru SUV — believed to be owned by Guthrie — before police escorted the truck to an impound lot near the Pima County Sheriff’s Office, Fox News reported.
Officials did not reveal why the vehicle was taken from the home, where the elderly woman is believed to have been kidnapped sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Guthrie’s daughter, NBC “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, alongside her siblings, has pleaded with her mother’s alleged captors to release the matriarch.
Footage captured FBI agents scaling the elder Guthrie’s home and walking around the roof before taking what was believed to be a camera, according to Fox News reporter Michael Ruiz.
Retired NYPD Inspector Paul Mauro said the device was a camera that could have been overlooked during the first days of the investigation.
“Apparently on that roof, the agents recovered a new camera, a camera that apparently they hadn’t been aware of and they took it into their custody. I don’t know anymore than that as to why it hadn’t been recovered, what it might see,” Mauro told Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Friday.
Mauro added that residents of the area put up wildlife cameras that could have potentially picked up human movement.
Guthrie’s neighbor, Laura Gargano, said she tipped off the police to investigate the roof because of how clean it looked compared to other homes in the neighborhood.
“I did notice on an aerial shot that it looked like her roof had been recoated recently,” Gargano told CNN on Friday. “When you recoat your roof it gets dirty pretty quickly and we’ve had lot of rains the previous three weeks, so it would be normal for a roof to be a little dirty.”
Quote:The driver of a semi-truck at the center of a multi-vehicle crash that left four dead in Indiana is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after a detainer was placed on him.
Indiana State Police said the fatal crash happened Tuesday around 4 p.m. in the area of State Road 67 and County Road 550 East in Jay County, where the truck collided with a van. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News that driver Bekzhan Beishekeev is a Kyrgyzstani national who entered the U.S. via the Biden-era CBP One cell phone app on Dec. 19, 2024, at the Nogales, Ariz., port of entry, and he was released into the U.S. via parole by the Biden administration.
Beishekeev, 30, was reportedly driving on SR 67 in Indiana when he didn’t stop for another slowed semi-truck, swerving instead into oncoming traffic and crashing head-on into a van, killing four people, several of whom were reportedly Amish.
"The investigation shows that a 2019 International semi tractor trailer, driven by Gert Pretoruis (44) of Geneva, was traveling east on State Road 67 near County Road 550 East when it slowed down for traffic," Indiana State Police said. "A 2022 Freightliner semi tractor trailer, driven by Bekzhan Beishekeev (30) of Philadelphia, PA, that was also eastbound did not stop and swerved into the westbound lane hitting a 2011 Chevrolet van that was driven by Donald Stipp (55) of Portland."
Indiana State Police, citing the Jay County Coroner’s Office, identified the four victims killed in the collision as Henry Eicher, 50, Menno Eicher, 25, Paul Eicher, 19, and Simon Girod, 23 of Bryant, Ind.
"ICE issued an immigration detainer against Beishekeev with the Jay County Jail on Feb. 4. And, because the state of Indiana cooperates with ICE, we were able to take him into custody on the morning of February 5," DHS said in a statement. "He will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings."
"Not only was Bekzhan Beishekeev released into our country by the Biden administration using the CBP One app, but he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania. These decisions have had deadly consequences and led to the death of four innocent people in Indiana on Tuesday," added DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. "It is incredibly dangerous for illegal aliens, who often don’t know our traffic laws or even English, to be operating semi-trucks on America’s roads. These sanctuary governors must stop giving illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses before another American gets killed."
State Police also said, "The Indiana State Police Critical Incident Reconstruction Team is working with the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Division, Jay County Sheriff’s Department, and Jay County Coroner’s Office to complete this investigation."
A GoFundMe page purportedly set up by a family member of Stipp’s said he is in stable condition and underwent surgery for a broken arm.
Quote:Newly named CBS News star contributor Peter Attia made plans to hang out with convicted pedophile Jeffery Epstein as his wife pleaded with him to come see their infant son in the hospital after the tiny boy stopped breathing, according to the anti-aging influencer’s own words.
In his book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity,” Attia, 52, recounted the harrowing moment he received a call from his wife, Jill, telling him that his son, Ayrton, had suddenly stopped breathing on the evening of July 11, 2017.
“I stayed in New York, busy with my ‘important’ work,” he admitted in the book. “Ayrton’s cardiac arrest happened on a Tuesday, but I did not come home to San Diego until Friday of the following week. Ten days later.”
What Attia failed to mention, however, was that during this harrowing time, he was making plans to meet up with Epstein, the disgraced New York financier who was already embroiled at the time with allegations of trafficking minors, according to newly released emails between the two.
Attia confessed to feeling guilty about his decision, describing himself as a “blind, selfish, checked-out husband and father” who would likely never forgive himself for ignoring his family.
“Even today, just thinking about what happened, I feel nauseous about my behavior,” he wrote. “I can’t believe I did that to my family.”
Just a day after speaking with his wife about their ailing son, Attia made plans to meet with Epstein on July 13 — even offering to change his own schedule to make the convicted sex offender’s day easier.
“Can you do before 10 am? tomrow,” Epstein wrote.
“Sure,” Attia responded. “I can come earlier, also, if you have a hard stop at 10. Let me know.”
It remains unclear if Attia and Epstein actually met on July 13, 2017, or what they did together if so.
Along with his July 13 emails, the latest trove of Epstein documents unveiled Attia’s chummy correspondences with the convicted sex trafficker including an email in which he told the pervert that “p—y is, indeed, low carb.”
Attia is mentioned in the files 1,741 times in the 3 million documents released on Friday, many of which featured his questions on Epstein’s wellbeing and alluded to the convicted sex offender’s “outrageous” lifestyle.
On Monday, Attia issued a groveling apology in which he said he was “ashamed” of conversations with Epstein.
Quote:Jeffrey Epstein cultivated close relationships with at least two influential Russian government figures in the 2010s, files released by the Department of Justice reveal.
One of these was with Sergey Belyakov, Russia’s deputy economic minister at the time and a Kremlin secret service trained spy, who Epstein often appeared to use as his personal fixer in Moscow.
Belyakov, described by Epstein as a “very good friend” in one email, helped the disgraced financier secure visas and try to arrange meetings with powerful figures between 2014 and 2018 including Russia’s finance minister, deputy head of the central bank and even strongman Vladimir Putin. There was no reported sit-down between Epstein and Putin or the other two men.
Belyakov also presented Epstein with investment opportunities in the Motherland, including in a Bitcoin processor in 2016.
He even prepared a “dossier” to help Epstein deal with a Russian model he complained was blackmailing some of his rich friends in New York.
“I need a favor,” Epstein wrote in a 2015 email. “There is a Russian girl from Moscow [name redacted]. She is attempting to blackmail a group of powerful biznessman in New York. It is bad for business for everyone involved. She arrived New York last Saturday staying at the Four Seasons on 57th. Suggestions?”
“Give me a few days to get information about her,” Belaykov responded, before arranging a meeting between Epstein and some of his sources.
Epstein also returned the favor, telling Belyakov in a February 2016 email “I will do anything that is helpful to you” as he offered to set up a meeting between his Russian friend and hacker Vincenzo Iozzo. A rep for Iozzo said he was not on the emails between Epstein and Belyakov and has never met Belyakov.
Epstein also corresponded with Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, between 2015 and his 2017 death, saying his Palm Beach house was “always available for you as your rest spot.”
The pedophile helped Churkin’s son, Maxim, secure work in the United States but insisted they must keep his involvement secret.
Quote:Borrowing from novelist James Hilton, who coined the word “Shangri-La” to describe a Tibetan utopia in a 1933 novel, Franklin Roosevelt gave that name to the peaceful retreat we know as Camp David.
For California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Democrats, Shangri-La hasn’t become synonymous with a place that connotes peace on earth. It stands for a hellish homeless housing nightmare, eye-popping alleged fraud, and the ease and scale with which alleged con-artists rip off taxpayers.
In October, federal agents arrested Cody Holmes, the 31-year-old former CFO of Shangri-La Industries, a downtown Los Angeles-based developer who was supposed to be providing housing for homeless people in Southern California. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California, a Trump appointee, charged him with mail fraud.
Holmes, who pleaded not guilty, is accused of embezzling more than $2 million in taxpayer funds slated for homeless housing construction to host extravagant parties; a $46,000-per-month Beverly Hills mansion; private jet travel; leases of exotic cars; high-end handbags totaling $128,000; a $35,000 diamond watch; and 20 VIP passes for the 2023 Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
Meanwhile, Shangri-La Industries executives showered Newsom and Los Angeles County Democrats with political donations as they were applying for some $100 million in state contracts that the CFO later allegedly looted to fund his and his ex-girlfriend’s lavish lifestyle.
Even after federal prosecutors exposed the massive fraud, Newsom and L.A. Democrats haven’t severed ties with the embattled developer and have kept political donations from the firm’s executives. Newsom has also allowed the construction firm to continue to tout his endorsement on its social media.
Powerful Friends
Holmes allegedly defrauded the California Department of Housing and Community Development by submitting fabricated bank accounts in its applications for state contracts to build homeless housing. Acting on behalf of Shangri-La, Holmes allegedly falsified $160 million in assets controlled by Shangri-La and its affiliates to demonstrate that the firm had liquid funds to contribute to the construction projects, according to court documents.
According to the government, most of those funds never existed. The FBI traced only an estimated $24,000 that the developer had on hand at the time of the applications for Newsom’s signature Homekey contracts, a program launched amid the COVID pandemic lockdowns that converted empty motels into homeless housing. Holmes is accused of providing false bank statements for Shangri-La Industries to acquire the more than $100 million in state grant money for seven Homekey projects, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint and other court documents.
Former President Bill Clinton has been linked to Shangri-La Industries and served as a strategic adviser for the firm. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Shangri-La Industries has historic roots to billionaire Steve Bing and Bill Clinton, whom the Bing-led company paid more than $2.5 million to serve as a strategic adviser. Bing died by suicide in 2020, more than a decade after founding the investment, entertainment, and philanthropic empire.
California housing authorities are also suing Shangri-La Industries for breaching contracts under Newsom’s signature Project Homekey homeless housing project in a likely futile attempt to recover the missing millions. Yet, no criminal action was taken against anyone involved until Essayli issued his indictment against Holmes last fall.
Shangri-La Industries CEO Andy Meyer, who also goes by Andy Abdul-Wahab, according to court documents, has blamed Holmes for the bank and mail fraud and filed a lawsuit against him. The suit accuses Holmes, his former intern, of embezzling company funds by moving the money to accounts and shell companies that he controlled while allegedly also transferring money to Madeline Witt, his then-girlfriend. Witt is named as a co-defendant in the suit.
Quote:Victims of rapists and murderers are distressed by a quiet change in California law that allow violent offenders to walk free decades earlier than expected.
Victims across the state are pleading with officials to keep their attackers behind bars after a controversial expansion of so-called “elder parole,” which now allows inmates to seek early release at just 50 years old.
Under the previous rules, inmates were eligible for elder parole only after serving at least 25 years of their sentence and reaching age 60.
But in 2021, the law was loosened in an effort to ease prison overcrowding, allowing inmates to apply for parole after serving just 20 years once they turn 50.
One victim, Jennifer Carvalho, wrote an emotional letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom urging him to intervene and keep her rapist, Thomas Martinez, despite him turning 54, KCRA reported.
“Please, I beg you to review this case. He is a repeat violent offender and a rapist. Lives are at stake,” Carvalho wrote.
Martinez was sentenced to 56 years to life for raping Carvalho and another woman.
“As he had the knife to my neck, I remember thinking, ‘If I scream, he’s going to kill me, and my son’s going to wake up in the morning and find his mom dead,’” Carvalho said.
Martinez was convicted in 2004, and Carvalho said she initially felt safe knowing he was “going to go away for life.”
Quote:A Minneapolis anti-ICE protest one month after the death of Renee Good grew bizarre Saturday when the demonstrators started waving sex toys — and even hurled them at one of their own who helplessly shouted “I’m on your side” as he was pelted.
The randy rioters were first seen hurling the objects over fencing at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, where officers later gathered discarded sex toys from the street while crowds chanted against ongoing immigration raids in the Minnesota city.
At one point, the anti-ICE mob was caught on video slamming what appeared to be dildos onto the passerby’s pickup truck — even as he repeatedly insisted he supported their cause during a chaotic protest.
The driver had anti-ICE signs displayed in the back of his truck, including one reading “NUREMBERG 2.0,” and could be heard shouting at the crowd, “Do you see my f–king sign?” as protesters surrounded the vehicle.
At one point, the man pulled out additional placards, including one that read “We all have eyes,” but the effort did little to slow the confrontation as several demonstrators continued striking the hood with dildos.
One protester approached the driver and ripped a sign directly from his hands, prompting him to protest, “Hey, give back the sign,” according to the 32-second clip circulating online.
Only toward the end of the video did two other protesters step in, signaling to the crowd that the driver was, in fact, “on their side,” as the confrontation began to de-escalate.
The explicit protest tactic echoed a broader theme that has emerged during weeks of unrest in Minneapolis, where sex shops and adult retailers have become unexpected symbols of resistance and mutual aid amid the federal crackdown.
The rally was tied to the Jan. 7 shooting death of the 37-year-old Good and the later killing of VA nurse Alex Pretti during a separate encounter with immigration agents.
A woman was photographed collecting the tossed sex toys as the protest continued outside the federal complex, which houses immigration operations and a detention facility.
Authorities said the gathering later escalated after protesters began throwing ice chunks and bottles toward police guarding the building.
Quote:A protester in downtown Los Angeles threw objects at federal agents early Saturday morning before turning toward offices and brandishing a gun as they sought to detain him, prompting agents to fire pepper balls as the suspect fled on foot, authorities said.
The encounter unfolded in the Civic Center area along Alameda Street between Aliso and Temple streets, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The area has been a hotbed of political activity over the last year, as protests against President Trump’s policies and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement actions have frequently devolved into riots and violent clashes with police.
Police said the suspect turned toward the agents during the encounter and displayed a gun. Agents responded by firing pepper-ball munitions, but the suspect escaped and remained at large as of Saturday afternoon.
No injuries were reported, and police did not immediately release a description of the suspect or the firearm. Authorities said the investigation was ongoing and urged anyone with information to contact law enforcement.
The incident comes after protests erupted last week across Los Angeles, leading to dozens of arrests.
What began as a raucous protest on Jan. 30 quickly escalated into confrontations between demonstrators and police in riot gear, as anti-ICE protestors engaged in a standoff with officers outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building.
Jose Guillen, 27, was arrested after he allegedly used a slingshot to fire metal projectiles at LAPD officers as they attempted to disperse the crowds and open up street intersections.
Prosecutors charged Guillen with two felony counts, including assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and one felony count of vandalism causing damage in excess of $400, according to court records.
Court filings say that in addition to assaulting two officers, Guillen also smashed an LAPD patrol car windshield during the riot. His bail was listed at $150,000 and he was released on his own recognizance before being due in court Feb. 18.
Quote:An Ivy League-educated activist and a socialist union worker are plotting to take their California anti-ICE playbook coast-to-coast – assembling a network of protesters to block federal immigration operations.
Caleb Soto, a Los Angeles lawyer for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and Thomas Malone, a San Fernando Valley Democratic Socialists of America leader, traveled east last week to school New York socialists on militant tactics to interfere with federal immigration enforcement at local businesses.
Soto – who branded ICE and Border Patrol agents “armed thug kidnappers” during a radical huddle in the Big Apple – touts a Harvard University degree in social studies on his LinkedIn profile.
The rabble-rouser, who has reportedly participated in a string of LA-based standoffs with federal authorities, graduated from the elite institution in 2009 before heading to Yale Law School, where he earned his law degree in 2014.
A year later, Soto joined the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, a nationwide group aimed at improving the lives of day laborers, as a workers’ rights director, his profile shows.
Soto whined to Al Jazeera last June that a downtown LA standoff with federal agents erupted into chaos, leaving at least 80 people detained – and only three lawyers scrambling to provide legal aid.
“The chaotic manner of the raids that we saw today happening throughout Los Angeles and different day-labour worksites and garment worker work sites was an example of the purpose of what this Trump administration has set out to do, which is create as much fear as possible,” Soto told the outlet.
He accused ICE agents of raiding Golden State worksites and arresting immigrants without warrants, claiming the officers lie in wait for suspects to flee before swooping in.
“They use that as the pretext to start arresting people who are there in that area and around them,” Soto said, adding, “We find that to be pretty unconstitutional.”
Quote:Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard denied any wrongdoing on Saturday as Democrats question why a whistleblower complaint filed against her last May took nearly a year before it was referred to Congress.
“[Virginia Democrat] Senator Mark Warner and his friends in the Propaganda Media have repeatedly lied to the American people that I or the ODNI ‘hid’ a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months,” Gabbard wrote in a lengthy X post on Saturday. “This is a blatant lie.”
She continued, “I am not now, nor have I ever been, in possession or control of the Whistleblower’s complaint, so I obviously could not have ‘hidden’ it in a safe. Biden-era IC Inspector General Tamara Johnson was in possession of and responsible for securing the complaint for months.”
The highly classified complaint by a US intelligence official alleging wrongdoing on the part of Gabbard was filed eight months ago with the intelligence community’s watchdog office and was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal.
The complaint has been locked in a safe since its filing, according to the Journal, with one US official telling the newspaper that the disclosure of its contents could cause “grave damage to national security.”
The whistleblower’s lawyer has accused Gabbard’s office of slow-walking the complaint, which her office has denied, calling it “baseless and politically motivated.”
Meanwhile, Democrats are also questioning why it took her office so long to hand the complaint over to Congress.
“The law is clear,” Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday, according to NPR, adding that the complaint was required to be sent to Congress within 21 days of its filing. “I think it was an effort to try to bury this whistleblower complaint.”
Neither the contents of the complaint nor the allegations against Gabbard have been revealed.
Gabbard wrote on Saturday that the first time she saw the complaint was “when I had to review it to provide guidance on how it should be securely shared with Congress.”
“As Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Warner knows very well that whistleblower complaints that contain highly classified and compartmented intelligence—even if they contain baseless allegations like this one—must be secured in a safe, which the Biden-era Inspector General Tamara Johnson did and her successor, Inspector General Chris Fox, continued to do,” she continued. “After IC Inspector General Fox hand-delivered the complaint to the Gang of 8, the complaint was returned to a safe where it remains, consistent with any information of such sensitivity.”
Quote:For the first time in nearly two decades, Floridians seeking a driver’s license will be required to pass the state’s exams entirely in English — a move that came in response to a fatal crash involving an illegal immigrant who failed a test 10 times prior to the accident.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced the English-only policy last week.
The rule went into effect Friday and is aimed at “promoting clear communication, understanding of traffic laws, and responsible driving behavior.”
The move was prompted by a deadly crash last summer involving Hardjiner Singh, an illegal immigrant who had obtained a commercial driver’s license in California, authorities said.
Singh attempted an illegal U-turn with his tractor-trailer, triggering a crash that killed three people, according to officials.
State authorities later determined that Singh received his California license despite failing an English proficiency test.
The incident sparked backlash from public officials and renewed scrutiny of language requirements for commercial drivers.
“Good reform by (Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles) to require driver exams be conducted only in English,” Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on X last week.
“Need to be able to read the road signs!”
The policy also drew criticism from Democrats.
Nikki Fried, the former state agriculture commissioner and current chair of the Florida Democratic Party, condemned the change.
“In one of the most multilingual states in the country, Florida is going to implement driver’s license exams exclusively in English,” Fried wrote Jan. 30 on X.
“This is not about safety, this is about racism.”
Authorities said Singh entered the United States illegally in 2018 and was living in California at the time of the crash.
Records showed he failed the CDL knowledge exam 10 times in Washington state over a two-month period and twice failed the air brakes exam before ultimately being licensed.
OK, just to help people get a healthy perspective on this kind of issues, let me explain you this process in case you ever visit Costa Rica.
Basically, if you are living down here and you want to get the Costa Rican nationality or even a driver's license, you do write an exam in Spanish. Yes, in Spanish only. I don't remember anybody calling my government racist because of that basic requirement. Spanish is the officially recognized language, not English nor German nor Chinese. If you need to travel from point A to point B, you are required to read signs written in SPANISH. Not in any other language. So it makes sense that Florida, one of the 50 US States, demands people to speak English before taking the exam.
Let's just say some Greek guy travels to any US state, and needs to get a job as a truck driver. Wouldn't he need to read many signs in ENGLISH to make sure he'll get to his actual destination? I know Waze and other apps exist, but we must realize that there are official signs that provide you with very specific information on procedures they must complete before they pass a emissions test or security check or anything else. This means you better speak English or else you'll have a hard time trying to figure out what's happening there.
If you move to another country, it's your duty to adapt to that culture and language, and make sure you won't break the law. It's doesn't work the other way around.
CANADA
Quote:With $6.3 million worth of expiring American booze about to go bad, Quebec is putting US bottles back on the shelf — and the decision isn’t going down smoothly with some Canadians.
American booze was yanked from liquor stores in March and put in warehouses during the trade war with President Trump. But next week it will flow once more in Quebec, the province just north of New York state.
“This is an exceptional measure,” the province’s finance minister, Eric Girard, announced Thursday. “The ban on reordering American products remains in effect.”
He said the province will unload American bottles set to expire by March 2027 and send the cash, up to $8.6 million, straight to food banks.
With American distillers and winemakers getting hammered by the boycott, the Trump administration warned last month that a renewed US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement hinged on provinces lifting their US booze bans.
Quebec is the seventh of the Great White North’s 10 provinces to bring back Uncle Sam’s booze to stores in recent months.
Most are only selling off the booze they bought before the trade war and still banning imports. Saskatchewan and Alberta, where some want to be part of a 51st US state, were the only provinces to resume imports of alcohol from their southern neighbor.
But despite Quebec’s government promising to sell the bottles at a discount and give all profits to charity, some are still promising to boycott the goods.
GREENLAND
Quote:NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Canada and France planned to open diplomatic consulates Friday in the capital of Greenland, showing support for NATO ally Denmark and the Arctic island in the wake of US efforts to secure control of the semiautonomous Danish territory.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand was traveling to Nuuk to inaugurate the consulate that officials say also could help boost cooperation on issues like climate change and Inuit rights.
She was being joined by Canada’s Indigenous governor general, Mary Simon.
France’s Foreign Ministry said Jean-Noël Poirier also would take up his duties as consul general, making it the first European Union country to establish a consulate general in Greenland.
Poirier will be “tasked with working to deepen existing cooperation projects with Greenland in the cultural, scientific, and economic fields, while also strengthening political ties with the local authorities,” the ministry said.
Canada pledged to open a consulate in Greenland in 2024, before Trump’s recent talk of a takeover, and the formal inauguration was delayed from November because of bad weather.
Anand met Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen in Denmark on Thursday and posted on social media that “as Arctic nations, Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark are working together to strengthen stability, security, and cooperation across the region.”
France says the decision to open its diplomatic outpost was taken when President Emmanuel Macron visited in June.
US President Donald Trump announced in January he would slap new tariffs on Denmark and seven other European countries that opposed his takeover calls, only to abruptly drop his threats after he said a “framework” for a deal over access to mineral-rich Greenland was reached with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s help. Few details of that agreement have emerged.
Last week, technical talks started between the US, Denmark and Greenland to put together an Arctic security deal.
IRAN
Quote:MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — Iran seized two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, state television reported, claiming the vessels had been smuggling fuel.
The report did not provide a nationality of the tankers or say what flag they were flying under.
Gen. Heidar Honarian Mojarrad, a regional commander with the Revolutionary Guard’s navy, said the tankers had been carrying about 1 million liters of fuel (about 6,300 barrels), including diesel and were seized near Farsi island and transferred to Bushehr.
Fifteen crew members on board the two tankers are “in custody of judicial bodies,” he said, without providing their nationalities.
Iran occasionally seizes oil-carrying vessels over similar charges in the region.
In December, it seized a foreign tanker as it traveled the strategic Strait of Hormuz, detaining 16 crew. It had also seized a ship in the Strait of Hormuz in November.
The West has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021. Those attacks began after U.S. President Donald Trump, in his first term in office, unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
The seizure comes the day before the U.S. and Iran are expected to meet for highly-anticipated nuclear talks in the Omani capital of Muscat. Tensions between the countries remain high following Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month.
I dunno why Trump would like to negotiate with people that seize tankers and kidnap sailors. It's clear to pretty much anybody now that Iran only cares about increasing its weaponry, and it doesn't even admit they're 
killing their own citizens as if they were mere flies. Plus, they're going through a serious water crisis in several provinces. UKRAINE WAR
Quote:A deputy chief of Russian military intelligence was shot and wounded in Moscow on Friday in an attack that follows a series of assassinations of senior military officers that Russia has blamed on Ukraine.
Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, 64 was shot several times by an unidentified assailant at an apartment building in Moscow’s northwest and hospitalized, Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement.
Petrenko didn’t say who could be behind the attack on Alekseyev, who has served as the first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence since 2011.
He was decorated with the Hero of Russia medal for his role in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria and in June 2023 was filmed speaking to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin when his Wagner Group seized the military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don during his botched mutiny.
The shooting came a day after Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators wrapped up two days of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the nearly four-year conflict in Ukraine.
The Russian delegation was led by the military intelligence chief, Adm. Igor Kostyukov.
President Vladimir Putin was informed about the attack, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who added that law enforcement agencies need to step up protection of senior military officers during the conflict in Ukraine.
Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine nearly four years ago, Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for several assassinations of military officers and public figures in Russia.
Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them. It has not yet commented on the shooting of Alekseyev.
In December, a car bomb killed Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff.
In April, another senior Russian military officer, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow.
A suspected perpetrator was quickly arrested.
Quote:A surprise weapon is hitting Russian tanks in Ukraine: US laser-guided Copperhead 155mm artillery rounds from the 1980s.
This is not just the US Army dumping some of its outdated stock to an ally grateful for anything it can get; the precision artillery rounds have become useful because more modern US weapons no longer work on the battlefield.
And that is a powerful sign that the Army needs to look again at the vulnerability of its modern systems-technology mix and develop a new version of the laser-guided munition as a backup.
Laser-guided or “smart” bombs were introduced in the 1960s and revolutionized air power.
Moving fins steered the bomb precisely to a point illuminated by a laser designator, carried either by the bombing plane or a wingman.
Instead of a massive bomber raid, one aircraft could precisely put a bomb on a bridge or bunker.
Copperhead applied the same idea to artillery: Instead of having a battery of guns firing a barrage of shells into the target area in the hope that one of them would hit, why not have a laser-guided shell and guarantee a hit with the first shot?
This approach needs an operator with a laser designator in direct line of sight of the target, easier for aircraft than artillery.
The Army set out to solve the problem with the Lockheed Aquila, a drone for target location and laser designation, but it was a disaster.
Aquila resembled some modern drones, with a 12-foot wingspan and a 24-horsepower piston engine, but 1980s electronics were not up to the task.
A billion dollars were poured into the project before the Army pulled the plug.
Yet the Army ordered thousands of Copperhead rounds anyway, planning for observers on foot or in special vehicles to put a laser spot on the target from a few miles away.
Copperhead shells were used in Iraq during Desert Storm in 1991, but only on a small scale; 90 were fired and reportedly performed well, despite dust and smoke that could disrupt the laser beam.
By this time, the Air Force’s satellite Global Positioning System was changing everything.
With GPS guidance, an artillery shell could be programmed to hit a target far out of sight with no need for a designator nearby.
And unlike the laser-guided Copperhead, it would not be affected by smoke, dust or sand.
The remaining Copperheads were put in storage, and new Excalibur GPS-guided shells were widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Ukrainians received a small number of Excalibur guided shells in addition to unguided artillery rounds.
These performed well at first, but by May 2024, they started missing targets: The GPS satellite signal was being blocked by Russian jamming, and the shells were unable to find their way.
Excalibur is supposedly jam-resistant, but jammers are constantly evolving, and this time the Russians had the edge.
Someone thought of dusting off the Copperheads, which do not rely on GPS and so are immune to radio jamming.
Ukraine already had a fleet of drones ready which could carry laser designators. These include fixed-wing drones like Raybird — carrying out the role that Aquila was designed for — and various multicopters.
Both types have been fitted with lightweight designators.
Quote:The Ukrainian capital city will get just four to six hours of electricity a day in February, after relentless Russian strikes decimated key parts of the country’s energy infrastructure.
A massive attack this week — the largest on Ukraine’s power grid since the start of the year — targeted two key substations, including one in Kyiv.
“These strikes were especially devastating,” Stanislav Ihnatiev, head of the Board of the Ukrainian Renewable Energy Association, said in an interview with Ukrainian outlet Telegraf. “It is these facilities that ensure the distribution of large amounts of power on a national scale.
“Damage to substations of this class is not a local accident, but a strategic blow to the entire energy system.”
The attack happened in the midst of a deadly cold snap that plunged temperatures to -13 degrees, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian strongman Vladimir Putin of tactically agreeing to pause strikes for a few days — only to stockpile weapons to launch an even larger attack during one the coldest days of winter.
“They postponed the strike, increased the number of missiles and drones, and struck during the coldest days,” Zelensky said.
Four years into its invasion, Moscow has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s already battered energy grid, frequently plunging millions into darkness and cold for hours.
With the attacks so frequent, officials have been unable to fully repair the infrastructure, forcing them to introduce emergency power cuts during what’s been Ukraine’s coldest winter in a decade.
Kyiv, like many other cities across the war-torn country, was already on a rolling blackout schedule, with residents often going long stretches without electricity.
Quote:President Trump has set a June deadline for Ukraine and Russia to strike a peace deal to end its four-year war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Zelensky made the comments while speaking to reporters, suggesting the timing was due to the high-stakes November midterm elections in the US.
“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelensky said Friday.
“The elections are, for them, definitely more important. Let’s not be naive. They say they want to achieve everything by June, and they will do everything possible to ensure the war ends that way.”
Zelensky also expressed fear the US and Russia could strike a bilateral deal that excludes Ukraine.
“Intelligence showed me the so-called ‘Dmitriev package’ that he presented in the US,” he said referring to a $12 trillion economic cooperation package Russian envoy Kirill Dimitriev would have apparently presented during one of his meetings in Miami with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“There are also various signals, both in the media and elsewhere, that some of these agreements could also involve issues related to Ukraine — for example, our sovereignty or Ukraine’s security,” the Ukrainian leader added.
“We are making it clear that Ukraine will not support any such potential agreements about us that are made without us.”
The next round of trilateral talks have been proposed to take place in Miami, the first time negotiations will have taken place in the US, according to Zelensky.
“We confirmed our participation,” he said.
The concerns came as Moscow unleashed a barrage of about 400 drones and 40 missiles on Ukraine overnight into Saturday, according to Zelensky.
Four people died and 25 more were wounded across the country as a result of the shelling, including a four-year-old boy in the Dnipro region, regional authorities said.
The strike was the second biggest of the year on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, according to the state energy grid operator, plunging large parts of the war-torn country into the brutally cold winter, where temperatures have dipped to -13 degrees.
"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.
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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
