Tag: Region Americas

US officials suppressed internal assessments that Al Qaeda’s Syrian wing had an “advanced” sarin production cell even as the US publicly blamed the Assad government for a 2013 chemical weapons attack, a report reveals. Leaked documents obtained by The Grayzone show a shadowy British intelligence contractor helped sell the story that Assad was responsible – and nearly triggered Western intervention. On September 13, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) appraisal detailing the chemical…

  The crash of an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in South Carolina over the weekend has raised numerous questions about what prompted the pilot to eject and how the $100 million warplane was able to keep flying pilotless for 60 miles before crashing. Here’s what is known about the modern warplane and its latest incident: ‘Forced to eject’ A U.S. Marine Corps pilot was flying a single-seat F-35B fighter jet on Sunday when the pilot experienced a malfunction and was “forced…

West Point was accused in a federal lawsuit Tuesday of improperly using race and ethnicity as factors in admissions by the same group behind the legal challenge that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions. Students for Fair Admissions claims the U.S. Military Academy sets benchmarks for how many Black, Hispanic and Asian cadets there should be in each class. The lawsuit filed in New York’s Southern District claims West Point is violating the Fifth Amendment…

Ukrainian forces carried out a missile strike on a market in eastern Ukraine and then falsely blamed Russia for the attack, according to analysis from the New York Times. From The New York Times, “Evidence Suggests Ukrainian Missile Caused Market Tragedy”: The Sept. 6 missile strike on Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine was one of the deadliest in the country in months, killing at least 15 civilians and injuring more than 30 others. The weapon’s payload of metal fragments struck a…

US President Joe Biden has found himself under serious scrutiny after recently boasting about teaching “political theory” at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), even though he never conducted a single class at the prestigious Ivy League institution. During a speech at Maryland’s Prince George’s Community College, Biden emphasized the importance of defending democracy.However, it has come to light that while Biden held an honorary professorship at UPenn as the Benjamin Franklin presidential professor of the practice from February 2017 to…

A United Airlines flight bound for Rome returned to New Jersey just after midnight Thursday “to address a possible loss of cabin pressure,” according to a statement from the airline. Data from the tracking site FlightAware show the plane rapidly descended over about 8 minutes from 37,000 feet at 10:07 p.m. to just below 9,000 feet at 10:15 p.m. Pilots will often quickly descend to lower altitudes when there is a concern about the plane’s pressurization. United Airlines Flight 510…

NASA is offering to join forces with the Pentagon on UFO research to move away “from sensationalism to science,” NASA’s chief administrator told reporters this week. The space agency released a report Thursday recommending that its scientists work with the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which spearheads the U.S. government’s investigations of UFOs. That coordination could allow better research and data collection on unknown objects in the Earth’s atmosphere. “NASA’s long-standing public trust, which is essential for communicating findings about…

The US could be heading for economic turmoil again 15 years after the 2008 financial crisis rocked the country, three experts have said. Global finance giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, more than 150 years after its founding. It was the first major US victim of the sub-prime mortgage collapse. The first warning of the Credit Crunch came a year earlier, with the run small regional British mortgage lender Northern Rock after it asked the Bank…

BEIJING, SANA-China’s Ministry of National Defense on Thursday urged the United States to stop all forms of military ties with Taiwan, Xinhua news Agency said. Spokesperson Tan Kefei made the remarks when commenting on information about Taiwan’s recent military interaction with the United States, including a reported plan to buy mine-laying systems from the United States. “We firmly oppose the United States conducting any form of official contact with China’s Taiwan region and selling weapons to the island,” Tan said….

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
The Departments of State and the Treasury are imposing further sanctions on over 150 individuals and entities in connection with Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine.  As part of today’s action, the U.S. government is targeting individuals and entities engaged in sanctions evasion and circumvention, those complicit in furthering Russia’s ability to wage its war against Ukraine, and those responsible for bolstering Russia’s future energy production.
The Department of State is imposing sanctions on over 70 entities and individuals involved in expanding Russia’s energy production and export capacity, operating in Russia’s metals and mining sectors, and aiding Russian individuals and entities in evading international sanctions. The Department of State is also designating one Russian Intelligence Services officer and one Georgian-Russian oligarch whom the FSB has leveraged to influence Georgian society and politics for the benefit of Russia.  Additionally, the Department is designating numerous entities producing and repairing Russian weapon systems, including the Kalibr cruise missile used by Russian forces against cities and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, and an individual affiliated with the Wagner Group involved in the shipment of munitions from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the Russian Federation.
Concurrently, the Department of the Treasury is imposing nearly one hundred sanctions on Russia’s elites and its industrial base, financial institutions, and technology suppliers, including one official of the Wagner Group for advancing Russia’s malign activities in the Central African Republic.  This action comes after the Wagner Group helped ensure the passage of a July 30 constitutional referendum that undercut the country’s democracy.
The United States and its allies and partners are united in supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified, and illegal war.  We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
All targets are being designated pursuant to Executive Order 14024, which authorizes sanctions with respect to specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation.  For more information on today’s actions, please see the Department of State’s fact sheet and the Department of the Treasury’s press release.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. military has resumed counterterrorism missions in Niger, flying drones and other aircraft out of air bases in the country more than a month after a coup temporarily halted all those activities there, the head of U.S. Air Forces for Europe and Africa said Wednesday. Since the July coup, the 1,100 U.S. forces deployed in the country have been confined inside their military bases. Last week the Pentagon said some military personnel and assets had been moved…

The trend of banks increasing their net interest margins and channeling their efforts into loan refinancing has raised concerns that it will reduce competition in the lending market. This shift could have significant implications for borrowers and the broader economy, according to Peter James (pictured above), director of non-bank lender Mortgage Ezy. “Banks are notorious for fattening their net interest margins (NIM) on loans whenever the cash rate scales higher,” James said. “While borrowers bear the brunt of RBA rate…

JERUSALEM — Elbit Systems will supply the Swedish BAE Systems Hägglunds with its Iron Fist Active Protection System for CV90s in a deal worth $109 million, the Israeli firm announced Tuesday. Elbit noted the systems are intended for a European country, but declined to identify it. Based on previous publications by BAE, it is likely the client is Slovakia. BAE Systems announced in December it has been awarded a $1.37 billion contract by Slovakia to manufacture 152 CV90 infantry fighting…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, September 7, 2023 A jury in Miami convicted two defendants on Sept. 5 in a scheme involving the falsification and fabrication of clinical trial data. On Sept. 5, Miguel Angel Montalvo Villa, 53, and Ivette Maria Portela Martinez, 53, both of Miami, were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Montalvo also was convicted of making a false statement to a regulatory investigator with the Food…

Western allies kicked off a major naval exercise in the Baltic Sea on Saturday amid rising tensions with Russia over the conflict in Ukraine. About 3,200 soldiers from 14 countries are taking part in the German-led Northern Coasts 23 exercise, the German navy said in a statement. The exercise will involve 30 ships, submarines, up to 19 aircraft, and various landing units, it said. Other countries taking part include Italy, France, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands,…