Author: CorruptionLedger

The U.S. military is working with allies to send more ships and aircraft to the Middle East as Iran escalates its seizures of merchant tankers, the National Security Council announced Friday.

“Today, the Department of Defense will be making a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture in the Arabian Gulf,” NSC spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

The announcement comes after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a Panama-flagged oil tanker called Niovi on May 3, as the ship was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker left Dubai, and moved toward a UAE port when a dozen boats from the IRGC navy forced the tanker to head into Iranian waters.

Another incident occurred April 27, when the Advantage Sweet tanker ship belonging to the Marshall Islands was also seized after colliding with an Iranian boat, which injured several crewmembers, according to Iran’s state media.

ANKARA, Turkey — The price tag for Turkey’s TF-X fighter jet could be more than previously expected, according to the head of its manufacturer. Temel Kotil, who serves as CEO for Turkish Aerospace Industries, said in March 2021 during a TV interview that a single TF-X would be $100 million per unit. But this week, Kotil said that unit price “could be a little bit higher.” He did not offer additional details or a reason for the change in cost….

A former Virginia Department of Corrections employee donated hundreds of execution documents, including these photographs, to the Library of Virginia more than a decade ago. NPR is now exclusively publishing a selection of the documents. Library of Virginia, Chiara Eisner and Monika Evstatieva/NPR Library of Virginia, Chiara Eisner and Monika Evstatieva/NPR   In January, NPR aired excerpts from four tapes recorded behind the scenes during Virginia executions. It was only the second time in history that audio from inside an…

WASHINGTON (AP) — California Sen. Dianne Feinstein returned to the Senate on Wednesday after a two-and-a-half-month absence due to illness, giving majority Democrats a much-needed final vote as they seek to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees and raise the nation’s debt ceiling in the coming weeks. Looking noticeably thinner and frail, Feinstein is using a wheelchair to get around the Capitol as she continues to recover from a case of shingles. She missed the Senate’s first votes on Wednesday morning…

Construction workers build along State Road 836 in 2018 in Miami. HB 1191 would compel the Florida Transportation Department to study using phosphogypsum in paving projects. Roads in Florida could soon include phosphogypsum — a radioactive waste material from the fertilizer industry — under a bill lawmakers have sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Conservation groups are urging DeSantis to veto the bill, saying phosphogypsum would hurt water quality and put road construction crews at a higher risk of cancer. Here’s…

A new leak found that Iran concealed weapons within earthquake aid to Syria to target U.S. troops, The Washington Post reported. A new leak of U.S. documents that circulated on the online platform Discord and obtained by The Post appear to show that Iran hid military equipment in aid shipments to Syria after the region was hit by an earthquake in February. According to the leaked assessment, the military equipment hidden in shipments included small arms, ammunition and drones. The…

Mr Karimi was among the first celebrities who vehemently criticised the deadly crackdown on the protests which erupted in September. The footballer, known as the Maradona of Asia, lived in the UAE at the time.

The protests were sparked by the death in custody of a Kurdish Iranian woman. Mahsa Amini, 22, died after allegedly being beaten by morality police who arrested her for what they said was her failure to wear her headscarf properly.

The protests spread nationwide, but have been violently suppressed. Human rights groups say security forces have killed at least 530 protesters – including around 70 children – since the protests began.

One of the documents seen by BBC Persian says Mr Karimi “was invited [to Iran] by our agent nine times and has received serious warnings”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres addresses envoys during talks on Afghanistan in Qatar on May 2, 2023 The UN reaffirmed its “commitment to stay” in Afghanistan on Friday, in a review assessing its operations in the country in light of the Taliban banning women from working for the world body. The United Nations announced on April 4 that the Taliban had barred Afghan women from employment in UN offices countrywide, a prohibition that had previously only affected NGOs but spared the…

BEIRUT (AP) — A European judicial team questioned Lebanon’s caretaker finance minister on Friday in an investigation related to corruption probes of the country’s Central Bank governor, officials said. The questioning is part of a probe by a delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg, now on its third visit to Lebanon to interrogate suspects and witnesses in the case. Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh is being investigated abroad over several financial crimes and the laundering of some $330 million. During…

WASHINGTON (AP) — China was the biggest global jailer of journalists last year with more than 100 behind bars, according to a press freedom group, as President Xi Jinping’s government tightened control over society. Xi’s government also was one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content, according to Reporters without Boarders. China ranked second to last on the group’s annual index of press freedom, behind only neighbor North Korea. The ruling Communist Party has tightened already strict controls on media…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is dispatching one his top advisers to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the oil-rich kingdom, later this week. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday he will travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with Saudi officials and will also meet with his counterparts from the United Arab Emirates and India during his visit. Sullivan said he would “discuss new areas…

A series of investigative reports over the last few months has revealed that migrant children, mostly from Central America, are working in some of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. New York Times investigative journalist Hannah Dreier has interviewed more than 100 migrant children working in violation of child labor laws across 20 states. “I talked to a 12-year-old girl in Alabama who was working overnight stamping auto parts. I talked to a 12-year-old in Florida who came to…

(Bloomberg) — Canada is assessing the consequences of potentially expelling a Chinese diplomat accused in media reports of targeting a Canadian lawmaker’s family for sanctions as political punishment. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said her department summoned China’s Canadian ambassador to Canada to discuss the matter Thursday morning. “We’re assessing the consequences that we’ll be facing in case of diplomatic expulsion, because there will be consequences,” Joly told a parliamentary committee. The blowback could take the form of punishing Canada economically…

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News is opposing a renewed effort by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but “gratify private spite or promote public scandal.” The Associated Press, The New York Times and National Public Radio asked a Delaware judge earlier this week to reveal mostly private text messages and conversations between Fox employees shortly after the 2020 presidential election that were uncovered during the Dominion Voting…

Ukraine — Russia attacked several Ukrainian cities with explosive drones overnight, though Ukraine said Thursday that it had managed to shoot most of them down. Russia called the attack payback for what it claims was an alleged attempt by Ukraine to attack the Kremlin in Moscow using drones on Wednesday.

The Kremlin claimed the attack was an attempt by Ukraine to assassinate President Vladimir Putin and, on Thursday morning, Russia’s government accused the U.S. of planning it.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied any Ukrainian role in an attack on the Kremlin, insisting that his country’s forces were acting only to defend Ukraine’s sovereign territory — though there has been evidence over the last week that they’re also stepping up attacks, using drones, on Russian infrastructure, both in occupied territory and across the border inside Russia.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is alleging Facebook “repeatedly violated its privacy promises” and is proposing a “blanket prohibition” on parent company Meta’s monetization of data of users under 18. The company, meanwhile, called the move “a political stunt.” The FTC on Wednesday moved to expand its USD5 billion privacy order with then-Facebook from 2020, claiming the company failed to comply with the order and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule, misrepresented access to private user data it provided…