New ISIS Video: Carry Out Arson Attacks in U.S.

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Islamic State’s media wing has released a video calling for supporters in the United States to commit acts of arson.

The 4-minute video, which was released over the weekend, was produced in both Arabic and English and features high-end video editing, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Center’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor.

The narrator speaks about how ISIS supporters should fight “fire with fire” and includes an image of a military-style rifle while discussing how some would-be terrorists don’t have access to certain weapons. Instead, the narrator advocates for arson attacks and highlights the devastating effect that fires have had recently in places such as Australia, Greece, and the U.S.

“To become more convinced of this option, try looking at the fires in the lands of the crusaders every year. Fires in forests and fields, cities and villages completely destroyed, people displaced, armies of firefighters and civil defense personnel working continuously days to no avail,” the narrator says. He also instructs terrorists to be careful to dispose of incriminating evidence. (Read more from “New ISIS Video: Carry Out Arson Attacks in U.S.” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Iran Launches Mock U.S. Aircraft Carrier for Target Practice (VIDEO)

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Townhall. Iran staged attacks on a diminished replica of a U.S. aircraft carrier into the Straits of Hormuz in the “Prophet Mohammad 14” military drills on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the operation told the IRNA, a state news agency, that exercises involve navy and aerospace forces and are “aimed at safeguarding air and sea lines, continuing supports, and readiness for every scenario.”

On Monday, a tugboat maneuvered the vessel into position. It floated in contested waters for a day while the U.S. and other nations speculated over Iran’s intent. Roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil output passes through the Straits of Hormuz on its way to export destinations across the globe.

The vessel resembles the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, often deployed to the Gulf area. One ship, the USS Dwight. D. Eisenhower, traveled through the strait last week. (Read more from “Iran Launches Mock U.S. Aircraft Carrier for Target Practice” HERE)

______________________________________________________

Iran Launches Underground Ballistic Missiles During Exercise

By Associated Press. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched underground ballistic missiles as part of an exercise involving a fake aircraft carrier in the Strait of Hormuz, state television reported Wednesday, the latest barrage in a drill that saw two American bases temporarily go on alert over the launches. . .

A semiofficial news agency close to the Guard published a graphic overnight that photoshopped the image of an American carrier into the shape of a casket, with a caption quoting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledging to seek revenge for the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January.

The drill — and the American response to it — underlined the lingering threat of military conflict between Iran and the U.S. after a series of escalating incidents last year led to the January drone strike. Tehran responded to that strike by firing ballistic missiles that wounded dozens of American forces in Iraq.

While the coronavirus pandemic has engulfed both Iran and the U.S. for months, there has been a growing confrontation as America argues to extend a yearslong U.N. weapons embargo on Tehran that is due to expire in October. A recent incident over Syria involving an American jet fighter approaching an Iranian passenger plane also has renewed tensions. (Read more from “Iran Launches Underground Ballistic Missiles During Exercise” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Vatican Computers Hacked in Chinese Espionage Effort; Trump’s Ex-Chief Strategist Says US Should Seize President Xi’s Personal Assets

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Washington Examiner. Hackers working for the Chinese Communist Party allegedly accessed the private computing network of the Vatican for several months ahead of a September meeting to discuss the appointment of bishops in the Asian country.

Analysts with Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based cybersecurity company, said they had detected an attack on Vatican computers in which Chinese infiltrators accessed communications between high-ranking officials in the church, who openly discussed upcoming negotiations pertaining to the pope’s role in confirming bishops to the heads of Chinese churches, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

According to a Recorded Future report set for release on Wednesday, the espionage tactics began in early May. The firm outlined how one electronic file was masked in such a way that it appeared as if it was sent from the Vatican to Monsignor Javier Corona Herrera, the head chaplain of the Holy See’s Study Mission in Hong Kong. (Read more from “Vatican Computers Hacked in Chinese Espionage Effort” HERE)

_______________________________________________

In Wake of Espionage Effort, Steve Bannon Says Go After Chinese Leaders’ Personal Assets

By Jenni Fink. Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon praised America’s strong response to China on Tuesday and said if he was the one making the call, he’d take it a step further and go after President Xi Jinping.

Bannon told CNBC’s Squawk Box that China as a country and Xi are in the United States’ “gun sights.” Along with backing off support for the Chinese Communist Party, the U.S. should target Xi and those associated with them on a personal level, he said. Bannon also advocated sanctioning Xi and his “henchmen” and seizing all of their assets. . .

Bannon added that it’s “breathtaking” how U.S. strategy morphed into an “alliance of liberty,” bringing in the United Kingdom, India and Japan. Around the world, people are standing up to China, Bannon said, and this will be the “greatest legacy of President Trump’s eight years in White House” . . .

“The truth is that our policies, and those of other free nations, resurrected China’s failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that were feeding it,” [U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said recently]. “Whatever the reason, today China is increasingly authoritarian at home and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom everywhere else.” (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Almost 24 Million People Affected by China Floods

/0 Comments/in , /by

Torrential rains in China continued this week, threatening even worse floods after almost 24 million people have been impacted by 433 overflowing rivers, with millions evacuated and at least 142 dead as of Tuesday.

The largest of those rivers, the Yangtze, remains the focus of great concern. The third major flood of the year hit the massive Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze on Sunday, pouring 50,000 cubic meters of water per second into its containment systems. An even larger surge was expected by Tuesday evening.

According to China’s state-run Xinhua news service, the Three Gorges Dam has discharged water nine times since July 18. Some residents living below the dam suspect there have been more unreported discharges and worry that officials could decide to vent uncontrollable floodwaters on them if the integrity of the showpiece hydroelectric dam is threatened.

The worst is yet to come, according to a statement from China’s water resources ministry on Tuesday. The ministry described the current flood control situation as “severe” and warned “the new peak may appear later,” with at least three more days of torrential rain on tap.

According to Chinese officials, the water level in the Three Gorges reservoir is currently just under 160 meters, down from a high of 164.18 meters last week. The maximum rated level for the reservoir is 175 meters. (Read more from “Almost 24 Million People Affected by China Floods” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

USDA Warns Against Mysterious, Unidentified Seeds Mailed from China to Multiple US States; “Possible Bioterrorism”

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By Emily Czachork. Kentucky is one of eight U.S. states where residents have reportedly received parcels containing unlabeled seeds, seemingly sent from China by mail.

Ryan Quarles, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, issued an alert [Sunday:] “Multiple states have opened investigations,” he wrote on Twitter, before providing residents with instructions should they receive one of the unsolicited parcels.

A photo attached to Quarles’ tweet showed six small seed bags wrapped in clear packaging. One seemed to contain a different variety of seed from the rest. Chinese characters appeared on two mailing labels pictured, as did a description listing the parcels’ contents as “jewelry” in English.

Agricultural departments in Virginia, Washington, Louisiana and Kansas shared nearly identical reports late last week. Each warned of potentially invasive species in its alert notice and encouraged residents to report any related information to the state. Residents in Utah, Arizona and Ohio have reportedly received unlabeled packages with seeds as well. (Read more about the unidentified seeds HERE)

_____________________________________

USDA Warns Against Chinese Seeds

By Thomson/Reuters. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday warned residents against planting unsolicited packages of seeds arriving from China because they could harm the environment.

At least eight states, from Washington to Ohio, have also told residents in recent days not to put the seeds in the ground, after they arrived apparently from China in the mailboxes of people who did not order them. Officials said the seeds could be invasive species that could threaten crops or livestock.

“At this point in time we don’t have enough information to know if this is a hoax, a prank, an internet scam or an act of agricultural bioterrorism,” Ryan Quarles, Kentucky’s agriculture commissioner, said in a video posted on the department’s website. . .

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Read more about the unidentified seeds HERE)

North Korea Declares Emergency Over COVID-19

/0 Comments/in , /by

North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un has declared a state of emergency over what he said was the potential entrance of novel coronavirus into the country.

Kim convened on Saturday an emergency meeting of the political bureau of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party Central Committee. The country is one of only about a dozen in the world that has not declared a single COVID-19 case, though new circumstances over the past weekend near the border city of Kaesong could reportedly affect this record.

“Amid the intensified anti-epidemic campaign for thoroughly checking the inroads of the world’s threatening pandemic, an emergency event happened in Kaesong City where a runaway who went to the south three years ago, a person who is suspected to have been infected with the vicious virus returned on July 19 after illegally crossing the demarcation line,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday. . .

“Despite the intense preventive anti-epidemic measures taken in all fields throughout the country and tight closure of all the channels for the last six months, there happened a critical situation in which the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country,” Kim was cited as saying, noting he has completely sealed off Kaesong City and isolated each district and region as of July 24. (Read more from “North Korea Declares Emergency Over COVID-19” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Italian Community Stuns Scientists Amid Virus Outbreak

/0 Comments/in , /by

Questions abound as a tiny Italian island has been mostly spared from the devastations of COVID-19.

Were people on Giglio Island perhaps infected but didn’t show symptoms? Was it something genetic? Something else, or just plain luck?

None of Giglio’s roughly 800 close-knit islanders said they developed COVID-19 symptoms even though the conditions seemed favorable for the disease to spread like wildfire, as The Associated Press reported.

The Gigliesi, as the residents are known, have socialized in the steep alleys near the port or on the granite steps serving as narrow streets in the hilltop Castle neighborhood, with densely packed homes built against the remnants of a fortress erected centuries ago to protect against pirates.

Dr. Armando Schiaffino, the island’s sole physician for around 40 years, shared worry about a potential local outbreak. (Read more from “Italian Community Stuns Scientists Amid Virus Outbreak” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

China Retaliates, Orders U.S. to Shutdown Consulate

/0 Comments/in , /by

China ordered the United States on Friday to close its consulate in the city of Chengdu, responding to a U.S. demand for China to close its Houston consulate, as relations between the world’s two largest economies deteriorate.

The order to close the Chengdu consulate in southwestern China’s Sichuan province continued Beijing’s recent practice of like-for-like responses to Washington’s actions.

Beijing had threatened retaliation after the Trump administration this week gave it 72 hours – until Friday – to vacate its consulate in the Texas city, and had urged the United States to reconsider. . .

Senior U.S. officials said on Friday espionage activity by China’s diplomatic missions was occurring all over the United States, but its Houston consulate was one of the worst offenders and its activity went well over the line of what was acceptable.

A senior State Department official also linked espionage activity at China’s Houston consulate to China’s pursuit of research into a vaccine for the new coronavirus. (Read more from “China Retaliates, Orders U.S. to Shutdown Consulate” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

President Trump Hints at Closure of More Chinese Consulates; China Threatens to Retaliate

/0 Comments/in , /by

Trump Hints at Closure of More Chinese Consulates as China Fumes

By Al Jazeera. US President Donald Trump has indicated that it was “always possible” he would order the closure of more Chinese consulates in the United States, after the US gave Beijing 72 hours to shut its consulate in Houston further souring ties between the two countries.

Trump, at a White House news conference on Wednesday, noted that a fire had been spotted on the Houston consulate’s grounds after the US Department of State ordered the closure.

“I guess they were burning documents and burning papers,” he said. (Read more from “Trump Hints at Closure of More Chinese Consulates as China Fumes” HERE)

__________________________________________________

China Threatens to Retaliate Over U.S. Closure of Houston Consulate

By Newsweek. China’s state-backed Global Times newspaper has taken to Twitter to ask followers where Beijing will retaliate for the U.S. closure of its Houston consulate this week.

The nationalistic newspaper—owned by the People’s Daily which is the Chinese Communist Party’s official publication—asked social media users to suggest which U.S. consulate in China would be ordered closed in response to the shuttering of the Houston facility, which means all staff will be evicted by Friday.

The U.S. order—given to “to protect American intellectual property and American’s private information,” according to State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus—was met with scorn in Beijing.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Wednesday that the order constituted an “unprecedented escalation” in tensions, warning: “If the U.S. continues to go down the wrong path, we will resolutely respond.” (Read more from “China Threatens to Retaliate Over U.S. Closure of Houston Consulate” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

U.S. Orders China’s Houston Consulate to Close, Citing ‘Massive Illegal Spying’; FBI: China Harboring Military-Linked Biologist Fugitive

/0 Comments/in , /by

By The Federalist. The United States ordered China to shutter its consulate in Houston, Texas, on Tuesday, accusing the communist government of a “marked increase” in spying operations over the past few years.

The U.S. gave Chinese officials at the consulate 72 hours to move out before being evicted. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) suggested that any Chinese agents from the consulate who don’t leave the country within 72 hours would be arrested as spies.

The consulate is one of five in the U.S., not including the Chinese embassy in Washington.

A statement from a State Department spokesperson accused China of having “engaged for years in massive illegal spying and influence operations,” which have “increased markedly in scale and scope over the past few years.”

Additionally, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told Fox News that the U.S. “will not tolerate the PRC’s violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated the PRC’s unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs, and other egregious behavior.” (Read more from “U.S. Orders China’s Houston Consulate to Close, Citing ‘Massive Illegal Spying’” HERE)

_______________________________________________________________

FBI: China Harboring Military-Linked Biologist Fugitive

By Fox News. The Chinese consulate in San Francisco is harboring a biology researcher who falsely denied connections to the Chinese military to obtain a visa and gain access to the country, according to court documents filed by the FBI.

The filing came as part of a document that cited a slew of other alleged episodes in which Chinese nationals allegedly lied on their visa applications by hiding their military connections.

Tang Juan, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, stated on her J-1 visa application that she “had never served in the military, but open source investigation revealed photographs of her in the uniform of the Civilian Cadre of the PLA [People’s Liberation Army], and that she had been employed as a researcher at the Air Force Military Medical University, which is another name for FMMU [Fourth Military Medical University],” the FBI claimed.

Then, during an interview with FBI agents on June 20, Tang “denied serving in the Chinese military, claimed she did not know the meaning of the insignia on her uniform, and that wearing a military uniform was required for attendance at FMMU because it was a military school.”

The FBI revealed it then executed a search warrant immediately at Tang’s home and found additional evidence of Tang’s PLA affiliation. (Read more from “FBI: China Harboring Military-Linked Biologist Fugitive” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE