Shin Bet Arrests 5 Jewish Israelis Suspected of Spying for Iran

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The Shin Bet security service has arrested five Jewish Israelis accused of assisting an Iranian operative, who often pretended to be a Jewish man, in gathering intelligence and making connections in Israel, the Shin Bet said Wednesday.

In some cases, the suspects told investigators they were aware that Namdar may have been an Iranian intelligence operative, but continued their communications with him anyway, according to the security service. The five suspects — four women and one man — are all Jewish immigrants from Iran or the descendants of Iranian immigrants. Their names were barred from publication under a court-issued gag order requested by their attorneys.

According to the Shin Bet, the suspects took photographs of strategically significant sites in Israel, including the US Consulate in Tel Aviv; attempted to form relationships with politicians; provided information about security arrangements at different sites; and committed other offenses — all at the direction of the Iranian operative, who went by the name Rambod Namdar, in exchange for thousands of dollars. . .

The investigation and resulting indictments shed light on the rare and little-discussed phenomenon of Jews from Iran traveling to Israel to visit family. In one case, such a trip — by one of the suspects’ nieces — was used to transport funds from Iran to Israel in order to pay the Israelis working for Namdar, according to the charge sheet. (Read more from “Shin Bet Arrests 5 Jewish Israelis Suspected of Spying for Iran” HERE)

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US Wants Russia to Pull Back Troops From Ukraine’s Border

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The American envoy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said on Tuesday that the U.S. and its allies want Russia to take concrete actions to de-escalate tensions on Ukraine’s border, amid fears that Moscow is prepared to launch a large-scale invasion of the former Soviet state.

The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said the U.S. expects Russia to pull back the forces it has massed on Ukraine’s border and commit to engaging with the Minsk agreements, the 2014 diplomatic protocol intended to end fighting in eastern Ukraine.

“We want to see the full implementation of the Minsk agreements with Russia pulling back its forces. But if Russia pursues confrontation, there will be serious consequences,” Smith told reporters during a briefing from Brussels, ahead of a meeting of the NATO-Russia council and set for Wednesday.

The Minsk agreements are a step-by-step guide written between 2014 and 2015 aimed at resolving war in Ukraine’s east, where Ukrainian government forces are battling Russian-backed separatists.

Kyiv and Moscow recommitted to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine in December, in what was viewed as a welcome confidence-building measure amid Russia’s massing of more than 100,000 troops on the Ukraine’s border and ahead of the diplomatic meetings in Europe. (Read more from “US Wants Russia to Pull Back Troops From Ukraine’s Border” HERE)

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Intel Removes Mention of Xinjiang After Pressure From China

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U.S. semiconductor chip company Intel has scrubbed all references to Xinjiang from an open letter on its website that created a backlash from China late last year.

Last month, Intel sent an open letter to its suppliers urging them to avoid sourcing materials from the Chinese province of Xinjiang, where the Communist Chinese government forces religious minorities into labor camps.

The Wall Street Journal at the time reported that Intel sent the letter to its global suppliers calling on them to avoid the region, stating that “multiple governments have imposed restrictions on products sourced from the Xinjiang region. Therefore, Intel is required to ensure our supply chain does not use any labor or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region.”

China took offense to the letter, financial news website Benzinga reported.

“Chinese state-run media and the nation’s social media channels — which consist almost entirely of pro-government messaging — took aim at Intel. The Global Times newspaper ran an editorial accusing Intel of being subservient to U.S. government demands while insisting that China’s leadership should make it ‘increasingly expensive for companies to offend China,’” the outlet noted. (Read more from “Intel Removes Mention of Xinjiang After Pressure From China” HERE)

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Vaccinated Can Volunteer to Wear Colored Identity Mark to Prove Jab Status

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Vaccinated and recovered people in one German city will soon be able to wear a special wristband in order to convey their status as obviously as possible.

The city of Saarbrücken in Germany is to introduce a system of coloured wristband wearing for vaccinated and recovered individuals in order to make the process of shopping under the strict lockdown rules easier for those who are allowed to do so under the nation’s COVID restrictions.

Those in the country who are neither vaccinated nor recovered from Chinese Coronavirus are currently banned from most shops, along with events and leisure facilities, as part of Germany’s effort to combat the disease.

However, according to a report by Bild, for those whose status allows them to avail of these services in Germany, it can be “quite annoying” to produce papers and ID for verification every time you wish to enter a shop.

(Read more from “Vaccinated Can Volunteer to Wear Colored Identity Mark to Prove Jab Status” HERE)

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Russia Reacts With Fury to Blinken’s Jab at Troops in Kazakhstan

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Tensions are rising between the US and Russia, after the Kremlin on Saturday slammed a comment by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Kazakhstan might have a hard time getting rid of Russian troops now deployed there.

Blinken on Friday challenged Russia’s justification for sending forces into Kazakhstan after days of violent unrest in the Central Asian country.

‘One lesson of recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it’s sometimes very difficult to get them to leave,’ Blinken said.

Russia’s foreign ministry called Blinken’s remark ‘typically offensive’ and accused him of joking about tragic events in Kazakhstan. It said Washington should analyze its own track record of interventions in countries such as Vietnam and Iraq.

‘If Antony Blinken loves history lessons so much, then he should take the following into account: when Americans are in your house, it can be difficult to stay alive and not be robbed or raped,’ the ministry said on its Telegram social media channel. (Read more from “Russia Reacts With Fury to Blinken’s Jab at Troops in Kazakhstan” HERE)

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War Drums: USA Threatens ‘Massive Consequences’ if Russia Invades Ukraine

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that there will be ‘massive consequences” if Russia invades Ukraine.

Anchor George Stephanopoulos said, “We now know that President Putin has forces surrounding Ukraine on three sides. He’s made it clear that he believes Russia and Ukraine are one people. Do you think he’s already made the decision to take control of Ukraine?”

Blinken said, “George, I don’t know if the decision’s been made, and it’s clear that we’ve offered him two paths forward. One is through diplomacy and dialogue. The other is through deterrents and massive consequences for Russia if it renews its aggression against Ukraine. And we’re about to test the proposition of which path President Putin wants to take this week. We have important conversations that are taking place between us directly at NATO, at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. And the question really now is whether President Putin will take the path of diplomacy and dialogue or seek confrontation.” (Read more from “War Drums: USA Threatens ‘Massive Consequences’ if Russia Invades Ukraine” HERE)

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‘Flurona’: Country Records 1st Case of Patient With Both COVID-19 and Flu

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Israel has recorded what is widely believed to be the first case of “flurona” disease, a double infection of coronavirus and seasonal flu in an unvaccinated pregnant woman, according to local reports.

The unnamed woman displayed mild symptoms of the virus at Rabin Medical Center in the city of Petah Tikva on Dec. 30, Hamodia reported. She is doing well and was expected to be discharged from the hospital later on Thursday, according to officials.

“She was diagnosed with the flu and coronavirus as soon as she arrived. Both tests came back positive, even after we checked again,” said professor Arnon Vizhnitser, an obstetrics and gynecology specialist and the director of the hospital’s Gynecology Department. “The disease is the same disease; they’re viral and cause difficulty breathing since both attack the upper respiratory tract.”

Vizhnitser said he is seeing more and more cases of individuals who have contracted both coronavirus and seasonal flu at the same time. Both contagious respiratory illnesses can present similar symptoms such as a cough, sore throat, fever, muscle or body aches, and fatigue.

“Last year, we did not witness flu cases among pregnant or birthing women,” Vizhnitser said. “Today, we are seeing cases of both coronavirus and the flu that are starting to rear their head.” (Read more from “‘Flurona’: Country Records 1st Case of Patient With Both COVID-19 and Flu” HERE)

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Majority of Antarctica Station Researchers Get COVID Despite Being Fully Vaccinated, Passing Multiple Tests, Quarantining, and Living Miles From Civilization

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Nearly two-thirds of the staff based at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station in Antarctica have been infected with COVID-19 despite having strict health protocols in place to try to stop the spread of the respiratory disease.

Since Dec. 14, at least 16 of the 25 workers at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the coronavirus. The first case was a researcher who had arrived at the base seven days earlier.

The infected researchers were put into quarantine following the positive test. There are two emergency doctors at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station treating the COVID-positive researchers.

The spread of COVID-19 was surprising for many since all of the researchers were fully vaccinated. The scientists also had to take several PCR tests and quarantine before traveling to the polar station. (Read more from “Majority of Antarctica Station Researchers Get COVID Despite Being Fully Vaccinated, Passing Multiple Tests, Quarantining, and Living Miles From Civilization” HERE)

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Report: Ukraine Invasion ‘Likely’ as Biden Prepares for Call With Zelensky

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Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he believes it is “very likely” that Russia will invade Ukraine as President Biden prepared for another call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the tense standoff.

“I fear that Putin is very likely to invade. I still, frankly, don’t understand the full motivation for why, why now he’s doing this. But he certainly appears intent on it unless we can persuade him otherwise,” Schiff (D-Calif.) said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“And I think nothing other than a level of sanctions that Russia has never seen will deter him, and that’s exactly what we need to do with our allies,” he added.

Biden said he warned President Vladimir Putin during their phone call on Thursday that he will be hit with “severe sanctions” if an attack is launched against Ukraine.

“I made it clear to President Putin that we will have severe sanctions, we will increase our presence in Europe, with NATO allies,” Biden told reporters last Friday. (Read more from “Report: Ukraine Invasion ‘Likely’ as Biden Prepares for Call With Zelensky” HERE)

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Battle Galactica: Warning Over Russian ‘Plot’ to Launch Pearl Harbor-Style Attack Against US in Space and Destroy Satellites

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Russia is plotting to launch a Pearl Harbor-style attack on the US in space and destroy its satellites, an expert warns.

Geopolitical expert Brandon J Weichert told The Sun that Russia and China have both “weaponized” space over the past decade, fueling fears of a potential conflict involving the US.

He said: “There is a new space occurring where the US is competing against its old Cold War rival, the Russians, and a new rival the Chinese.

“We in the US have taken the dominant American position for granted.

“Both Russia and China realize that they cannot compete against the US in a fair fight militarily so what they are both doing is reorganizing their militaries to fight and win a space war against the Americans.” (Read more from “Battle Galactica: Warning Over Russian ‘Plot’ to Launch Pearl Harbor-Style Attack Against US in Space and Destroy Satellites” HERE)

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