Former Putin Aide Died of Blunt Force Trauma

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An autopsy has found that blunt force trauma to the head was the cause of death for one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former aides whose body was found in a Washington hotel room.

District of Columbia police spokesman Officer Hugh Carew confirmed the autopsy results for Mikhail Lesin on Thursday. The D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office said in a statement that other contributing causes were blunt force injuries of the neck, torso, arms and legs.

The medical examiner found the manner of death to be undetermined. Carew says police continue to investigate Lesin’s death. His body was found at the Doyle Dupont Circle Hotel in November. (Read more from “Former Putin Aide Died of Blunt Force Trauma” HERE)

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House Churches Multiplying Inside Iran Despite Persecution

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Christianity is spreading swiftly inside Iran despite a government crackdown against house churches.

Some Christians argue the actions of the Islamic Republic’s have actually created an opposite effect.

A London-based organization that trains Iranian Christians reports hundreds of thousands of new Christians–former Muslims–are worshipping secretly in a rapidly accelerating house church movement inside the Islamic Republic.

According to The Christian Post, a source affiliated with the Pars Theological Centre said the rapid church growth will eventually change Iranian society.

“This is not a political movement at all, but it will have political implications because it is touching the core foundations of society. This is battling prostitution and drug addiction. If you want to live in a country that doesn’t fund terrorists, you have to develop the values of the grassroots,” the source said. (Read more from “House Churches Multiplying Inside Iran Despite Persecution” HERE)

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West Pointer Murdered by Palestinian Terrorists in Israel

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2009 West Point Grad Killed in Jaffa Terror Attack

By Tovah Lazaroff. Taylor Force, 29, was killed Tuesday evening by a Palestinian terrorist who went on a stabbing rampage in Jaffa in which 12 other people were wounded.

“This horrific act of violence has robbed our Vanderbilt family of a young hopeful life and all of the bright promise that he held for bettering our greater world,” Vanderbilt chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos wrote in a letter to the student body . . .

According to Force’s LinkedIn profile, he had completed tours of duty with the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point in 2009, he served as a field artillery officer until 2014.

“Taylor was visiting Israel with his classmates in order to expand his understanding of global entrepreneurship and also to share his insights and knowledge with start-ups in Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a Facebook post. “On behalf of the people of Israel, I send my condolences to Taylor’s family and friends. May his memory be a blessing.” (Read more from “2009 West Point Grad Killed in Jaffa Terror Attack” HERE)

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Cruz: Murder of West Point Grad in Israel Proves Radical Islamists Target Americans and Israelis Indiscriminately

By Michael W. Chapman. In reaction to the murder of Taylor Force, an American from Lubbock, Texas, and graduate of West Point who served multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said the brutal crime “is grim evidence that the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism targets Americans and Israelis indiscriminately.”

Taylor Force, a 28-year-old MBA student, was visiting Israeli along with other students from Vanderbilt University, to study start-up companies.

He was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist on March 8, reported the Associated Press and other outlets, another victim in a wave of stabbing and shooting attacks by Islamic terrorists against police and civilians. (Read more from “Cruz: Murder of West Point Grad in Israel Proves Radical Islamists Target Americans and Israelis Indiscriminately” HERE)

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Top ISIS Leader ‘Omar the Chechen’ Believed Dead in U.S. Airstrike

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A top ISIS commander known by his nickname Omar the Chechen — and recognized by his distinguishable red beard — is believed dead from a U.S. airstrike in Syria, a senior defense official told NBC News Tuesday.

The likely death of Omar al-Shishani near the town of Shaddadi — seized by Syrian rebels from ISIS last month — would be a key gain for coalition forces in taking out one of the biggest names on the U.S.’s terror hit list.

The senior defense official said al-Shishani, born in 1986, is believed to have died along with a dozen other ISIS fighters in the airstrike Friday.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook added that al-Shishani — originally named Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili — was a Syrian-based Georgian national who held top ranks within ISIS, including minister of war . . .

[Omar al-Shishani] fought for Georgia’s military before contracting tuberculosis. In 2010, he was arrested for weapons possession and spent 16 months in jail. He later went to Syria to command forces fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad and rose the ranks of ISIS. (Read more from “Top ISIS Leader ‘Omar the Chechen’ Believed Dead in U.S. Airstrike” HERE)

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North Korea Threatens Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike on US

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North Korea threatened “indiscriminate” nuclear strikes against South Korea and the US mainland, as the two allies prepared to kick off large-scale joint military drills on Monday.

The threat to carry out what it described as a “pre-emptive nuclear strike of justice” was made in a statement by the North’s powerful National Defence Commission, citing the Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army (KPA).

It came just days after leader Kim Jong-Un ordered the country’s nuclear arsenal to be placed on standby for use “at any moment,” in response to tough new UN sanctions imposed over the North’s fourth nuclear test in January and last month’s long-range rocket launch . . .

While the North is known to have a small stockpile of nuclear warheads, experts are divided about its ability to mount them on a working missile delivery system.

The National Defence Commission described the annual South Korea-US military exercises as “undisguised nuclear war drills” that threatened the North’s national sovereignty, and vowed an all-out offensive in response to “even the slightest military action.” (Read more from “North Korea Threatens Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike on US” HERE)

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US Pays to Feed and Shelter Cuban Migrants Stranded in Costa Rica

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The United States government has been paying to feed and shelter thousands of Cubans trying to migrate to the United States, in what critics consider another sign of the lopsided treatment provided to Cubans under American law.

The Obama administration has tried hard to deter the crush of migrants arriving from Central America in recent years. It has pressed Mexico to crack down on migrants passing through its territory, while women and children who managed to cross the American border have been held in detention facilities.

But American law gives Cubans special status to live in the United States and apply for a green card, provided they make it here. That has set off a rush of Cubans who have taken advantage of changes inside Cuba that make it easier to leave, and who are worried that the Obama administration’s improved relations with their government will soon erase their privileged status.

In January, the United States pledged $1 million to help provide temporary shelter, potable water, food, sanitation and hygiene kits to thousands of Cubans who were stranded in Costa Rica while trying to make their way to the American border. (Read more from “US Pays to Feed and Shelter Cuban Migrants Stranded in Costa Rica” HERE)

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Inside China’s Plan for a Military That Can Counter U.S. Muscle

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With a series of edicts, speeches and martial ceremonies, President Xi Jinping has over the past six months unveiled China’s biggest military overhaul since the aftermath of the Korean War.

The plan seeks to transform the 2.3-million-member People’s Liberation Army, which features 21st-century hardware but an outdated, Soviet-inspired command structure, into a fighting force capable of winning a modern war. China is shifting from a “large country to a large and powerful one,” Xi explained in November. The restructuring will be a major focus of the country’s new defense budget, which will be announced Saturday as the annual National People’s Congress gets under way in Beijing . . .

Here are the key elements of Xi’s plan:

The first piece of the overhaul — announced by Xi during a grand military parade through Tiananmen Square on Sept. 3 — calls for eliminating 300,000 PLA personnel by 2017. While Xi presented the cutbacks as proof of China’s commitment to peace, they’ll largely target non-combat personnel and should make the country’s forces more focused and efficient . . .

Advanced military actions such as intercepting rival aircraft, carrying out drone strikes and using special forces to extract hostages, demand the sort of close collaboration China’s army-centric military has lacked. Xi intends to fix that by reorganizing the armed forces into five branches under a joint-command structure modeled after that of the U.S. (Read more from “Inside China’s Plan for a Military That Can Counter U.S. Muscle” HERE)

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Violence Erupts in Greece as Migrants Try to Cross Into Macedonia

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By Liz Alderman and Dimitris Bounias. It was a scene of a type that could become all too common in coming months: Thousands of increasingly desperate people backed up at the frontier between Greece and Macedonia on Monday, stymied in their efforts to reach Germany. A group of angry asylum seekers busted through a razor-wire fence. Armed police officers fired tear gas as frenzied crowds chanted, “Open the border!”

Less than a week after Austria and nine other European countries took steps to stem the flow of refugees from Greece toward Germany and other prosperous countries, the spasm of violence on Greece’s northern border brought to life the perils of the European Union’s inability so far to settle on a common policy to address the migration crisis.

War in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and repression and economic hardship across the Middle East and Africa continue to compel large numbers of people to strike out for Europe. Germany continues to signal that it will accept legitimate refugees, especially from Syria. As the weather grows warmer and the sea crossing from Turkey to Greece safer, the number of people arriving is expected to spike, putting a huge strain on Greece, which in effect is becoming a giant holding center for migrants who cannot go forward because of the new border restrictions, but will not or cannot go back. (Read more from “Violence Erupts in Greece as Migrants Try to Cross Into Macedonia” HERE)

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Violence at Greece Border as Refugee Crisis Deepens

By Josh Lowe. Refugees and migrants rioted at the Macedonian border on Monday, the latest flashpoint in Greece’s spiraling refugee crisis.

Nearly 8,000 refugees are stranded at a camp with the capacity to hold 2,000 people, near the Greek town of Idomeni, Al Jazeera reported. New restrictions at the Greece-Macedonia border, including the refusal of passage to the Afghan refugees and migrants who make up one third of arrivals, have led to a buildup of people at the frontier . . .

During the rioting, a razor-wire barrier was torn and a group of men attacked a gate with a homemade battering ram.

The disturbance came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged other states to show more solidarity with Greece. Speaking to a talk show on national TV, she criticized recent moves by Austria to increase checks at its borders. (Read more from “Violence at Greece Border as Refugee Crisis Deepens” HERE)

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Pentagon Approves Contract to Sell Smart Bombs to Turkey

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The Pentagon has signed a deal to sell nearly $700 million worth of smart bombs to Turkey as tensions are escalating between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq.

The sale, announced on Tuesday, comes at a crucial time for Turkey’s military, which continues to be heavily embroiled in attacking the Kurds in the volatile northern part of Iraq . . .

The Pentagon granted the contract to Ellwood National Forge and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems for the sale of BLU-109 bunker busting bomb bodies and components, the first reported sale of such bombs to Turkey . . .

Based on reports, BLU-109 bombs have been in the Pentagon’s inventory since 1985 and are said to have been used on militants in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bomb contains 550 pounds of high explosive Tritonal, a combination of 80% TNT and 20% aluminum powder. The BLU-109’s tail fuse delays the bomb’s detonation until the bomb has penetrated the targeted bunker, ensuring complete destruction. (Read more from “Pentagon Approves Contract to Sell Smart Bombs to Turkey” HERE)

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North Korea Publicly Executes 80, Some for Videos or Bibles

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As many as 80 people were publicly executed in North Korea earlier this month, some for offenses as minor as watching South Korean movies or possessing a Bible.

South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported that the so-called criminals were put to death in seven cities across North Korea on Nov. 3, in the first known large-scale public executions by the Kim Jong-un regime.

A source, who is familiar with internal affairs in the North and who recently visited the country, told the paper that about 10 people were killed in each city.

Eight people — their heads covered with white bags — were tied to stakes at a local stadium in the city of Wonsan, before authorities shot them with a machine gun, according to the source . . .

The common theme of the persecution was crimes related to South Korea — like watching South Korean films — or corruption of public morals, especially sexual misconduct. North Korean law permits executions for conspiring to overthrow the government, treason and terrorism. But the country has also been known to order public executions for minor infractions such as religious activism, cellphone use and stealing food, in an effort to intimidate the public. (Read more from “North Korea Publicly Executes 80, Some for Videos or Bibles” HERE)

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