By Thomas Brooke of RMXnews.com
In an exclusive interview with Remix News, Gerolf Annemans, the Vlaams Belang MEP and president of the European Identity and Democracy group, warns that even greater censorship of conservatives is just around the corner, and tells right-wing groups what they must do to ensure their message continues to be heard
An Israeli private investigator wanted by the United States was arrested in London over allegations that he carried out a cyberespionage campaign on behalf of an unidentified American PR firm, a London court heard on Thursday.
But an initial attempt to extradite Amit Forlit to the United Sates was thrown out by a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday on a legal technicality.
Amy Labram, a lawyer representing the United States, told the court Forlit "is accused of engaging in a hack for hire scheme".
Labram said that the U.S. allegations include that an unnamed Washington-based PR and lobbying firm paid one of Forlit's companies 16 million pounds ($20 million) "to gather intelligence relating to the Argentinian debt crisis".
Forlit and his lawyer did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Forlit was arrested under an Interpol red notice at London's Heathrow Airport as he was trying to board a flight to Israel, according to the U.S authorities. It was unclear when Forlit was arrested.
Forlit is wanted in the U.S. on three charges: one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud.
A judge ruled that the attempt to extradite Forlit by the United States could not continue as he was not produced in court within the timeframe required under British extradition law.
"He was not produced at court as soon as practicable and the consequences of that ... he must – I have no discretion – he must be discharged," Judge Michael Snow ruled.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.
Forlit has separately been accused of computer hacking in New York by aviation executive Farhad Azima. Azima, whose emails were stolen and used against him in a 2020 trial in London, is suing Forlit and others in federal court in Manhattan.
Forlit has previously acknowledged retrieving Azima's emails but has denied hacking, telling Reuters he innocently stumbled across the messages "on the web".
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-israeli-private-eye-arrested-014141856.html
The success of ballistic missile defences facing their first complex, high-stakes combat scenarios in Israel, the Red Sea and Ukraine will encourage militaries globally to invest in the pricey systems, experts say - and intensify missile arms races.
Iran launched as many as 120 intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Israel on April 13, U.S. and Israeli officials say. U.S. SM-3 and Israeli Arrow interceptors destroyed nearly all of them, leaving drones and smaller threats to the Iron Dome system.
In previous months, interceptors fired from U.S. Navy destroyers stopped Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles, while in Ukraine, U.S.-made MIM-104 Patriot batteries have shot down advanced Russian Iskander and Khinzal missiles.
Reuters spoke with six experts who said more militaries would look to invest in ballistic missile defence, a potential windfall for companies such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, which build those types of systems.
"It's undeniable that any wealthy country with the technological wherewithal will continue to invest in missile defence," said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a defence and security think tank. "All of this is a recipe for a conventional arms race."
European countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Poland already operate RTX subsidiary Raytheon's Patriot batteries, the most common Western advanced ballistic missile defence system.
Saudi Arabia has used its Patriots for years to defend against Houthi attacks; it and the United Arab Emirates also operate the Lockheed Martin Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) system. Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain have Patriot batteries as well, and Oman has expressed interest in missile defence.
In the U.S., Lockheed Martin in April won a $17.7 billion contract for a next-generation interceptor for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program - designed to shoot down small numbers of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) aimed at the continental United States.
But the impact may be most acute in Asia, where China has invested heavily in conventionally armed ballistic missiles. A 2023 Pentagon report said the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force has about 500 DF-26 missiles, designed to accurately strike targets thousands of kilometres away.
That puts U.S. and allied bases in Japan and Guam within range of an attack that may only come with 20 to 30 minutes' warning.
"In the Pacific, you’ll see further interest in missile defence, which will push the Chinese to build more systems," said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California. "Countries will want to acquire (offensive) missiles because they see other countries using them ... That will drive up demand for missile defences."
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and China's Ministry of Defence did not respond to requests for comment.
China rarely discusses its missile arsenal beyond statements that its forces are meant to preserve peace and are not aimed at any specific country.
Raytheon did not respond to a request for comment. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson referred questions to the company's first-quarter earnings briefing in late April, in which it said it continued to lead the industry in "missile defence missions, which, given world events, are becoming more critical than ever".
DOLLAR SIGNS
Ballistic missile defence works by spotting an attacking weapon either at launch or in flight, then using a surface-based radar to guide an interceptor to the target.
Interceptions can occur in the atmosphere or in space, and each domain requires different hardware. For instance, fins won't work outside the atmosphere - interceptors must have small steering rockets to function there.
The necessary high-powered computers, far-seeing radars and missiles as large as telephone poles are not cheap, together stretching into the billions. In 2022, for example, the U.S. approved the sale of both Patriots and THAAD systems to Saudi Arabia, in deals worth as much as $5.3 billion.
In the Indo-Pacific region, wealthier countries such as Japan, Australia and South Korea are prime candidates for missile defence, Lewis said, while nearly every country in Asia is already investing in missiles.
Japan's defence ministry said the country "needs to fundamentally and swiftly reinforce its defence capabilities, including integrated air and missile defence". It said it is investing in improved Patriot missiles, better radars and enhanced naval anti-missile capabilities.
In its latest defence budget, South Korea increased funding by 12% for its Korea Air and Missile Defense System to expand it "from the existing lower-level defence concept," the country's defence ministry said in a statement.
"Cases such as the Israel-Hamas conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war have reaffirmed the importance of a 'ballistic missile defence system' to respond to increasingly sophisticated missile threats," the ministry said.
In mid-April, Australia announced a A$500 million ($328 million) contract with Lockheed Martin to deliver its Joint Air Battle Management System for tracking and destroying aircraft and missiles.
The cost of a ballistic missile is often much cheaper than the system meant to stop it.
But that isn't the right way to consider cost, said Yoji Koda, former commander in chief of Japan's Self-Defense Fleet, and an advocate of stronger missile defences in his country.
"In a war economy, the cheaper the better. But sometimes what is necessary, is we need to protect key infrastructure, or key command centres, at any cost. Because without them we would lose."
THE CHINA QUESTION
Most of China's conventionally armed ballistic missiles are designed to hit targets on land.
But it also fields steerable warheads meant to hit ships at sea, including the DF-21D and variants of the DF-26, developed by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
Such anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) had never been used in combat until late 2023, when Houthi forces in Yemen began firing Iranian-made models at ships in the Red Sea.
Between November - the first documented use - and April, U.S. Central Command reported at least 85 ASBMs fired in the region, with 20 interceptions and one civilian ship reported sunk.
CENTCOM has declined to provide specifics about the effectiveness of Iranian ASBMs but has noted missiles posing no threat were not engaged and most that were not intercepted landed harmlessly.
The effectiveness of missile defences on land and at sea will catch China's attention, said Tong Zhao, a senior fellow with the Nuclear Policy Program and Carnegie China.
"It raises the possibility that the U.S. and its allies could depend on missile defence significantly against a ballistic missile attack," Zhao said.
Although the technical specifics of China's missiles are closely held secrets, the country's heavy investment means they are likely to be more reliable, and are widely believed to use complex countermeasures to complicate interception.
"For opponents such as China which have missile stockpiles an order of magnitude larger than that of Russia or Iran and which field more sophisticated systems ... it's not clear that the lessons learned invalidate existing operational constructs," said Sidarth Kaushal, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.
But the political and practical incentives to invest in missile defence will be too attractive for many countries to ignore, Lewis said.
"All defence procurement decisions are ultimately about politics," he said. "The politics of this stuff is really simple: do you want to defend the country or not? And the winning answer is always 'Yes'."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/analysis-missile-defence-successes-gulf-020143840.html
by Steve Watson via modernity.news,
Speaking at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, Donald Trump urged that Europe has “opened its doors to jihad” and as a result, cities including London and Paris are sacrificing their own culture and tradition.
“We’ve seen what happened when Europe opened their doors to jihad,” Trump told the large crowd, adding “Look at Paris, look at London – they’re no longer recognisable.”
“I’m going get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, that’s the fact,” he continued.
“They are no longer recognisable and we can’t let that happen to our country,” Trump urged, adding “We have incredible culture, tradition – nothing wrong with their culture, their tradition – we can’t let that happen here.”
“I’ll never let it happen to the United States of America,” he further promised.
Trump also referred to the pro-Palestine/Anti-Israel encampments and University occupations in several US cities.
“To every college president, I say remove the encampments immediately,” he said, adding “Vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students who want a safe place from which to learn.”
The protests have followed from regular demonstrations in Europe, particularly in London where they have been ongoing every week since late last year.
Trump has previously slammed London and Paris, noting in 2016 that “London and other places… are so radicalised that the police are afraid for their own lives.”
In Paris, the police have just conducted a fresh round of “social cleansing” illegal migrants off the street and sending them to other areas of the country ahead of the Summer Olympics.
The French government wouldn’t want the city to look “unrecognisable,” to the world, right?
Trump’s comments also come on the heels of Austrian MEP Harald Vilimsky warning that Europe risks becoming “a second Arabia or Africa” and that governments are importing migrants who create security problems then offering ‘solutions’ that only punish native populations.
Top MEP Warns Europe Risks Becoming “A Second Arabia or Africa”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-london-paris-have-opened-their-doors-jihad
The CEO of a male hair loss and erectile dysfunction treatment company said he is “eager” to hire anti-Israel protesters taking over college campuses in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Andrew Dudum, the Palestinian-American CEO of Hims, a telehealth and online pharmacy known for its suggestive New York City subway ads, shared a link to current openings and encouraged the student protesters to apply.
“Moral courage > College degree,” he wrote on X.
“If you’re currently protesting against the genocide of the Palestinian people & for your university’s divestment from Israel, keep going. It’s working.
Dudum, who founded Hims in 2017 and has family in Gaza and the West Bank, marks a contrast from many company leaders with his remarks as students at more and more colleges across the country join the wave of protests.
Bill Ackman, head of Pershing Square Capital Management, was one of the first to say he wouldn’t hire students from Harvard who signed a letter allegedly blaming Israel for Hamas’ violent Oct. 7 attack.
Additional Wall Street tycoons have since echoed his statements.
A top corporate recruiter told The Post last week that he’s begun to reconsider where he’s finding job candidates as many Ivy League schools and other top colleges have been plagued by the protests that critics have claimed are antisemitic.
“We are looking for high-quality candidates but we’re going to be looking at different places,” activist investor and Columbia grad Daniel Loeb said.
The students are demanding their universities divest from Israel over its retaliatory offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians — including 13,800 innocent children, according to Hamas-controlled health officials in the territory.
Israel’s relentless attacks were in response to Hamas terrorists’ brutal massacre of nearly 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.
US college students have created tent encampments on their campuses and taken over university buildings in protests that have sometimes turned destructive and violent.
Police have been called to several of the protests to arrest students.
“Unaffordable climate commitments have two leftist British parties racing to exit stage left.”
Europeans Ditch Net Zero
The Wall Street Journal reports Europeans Ditch Net Zero, While Biden Clings to It
You know you’ve stumbled through the looking glass when European politicians start sounding saner on climate policy than the Americans do. Well here we are, Alice: Europeans are admitting the folly of net zero quicker than their American peers.
The latest example—perhaps “victim” is more apt—is Humza Yousaf, who resigned this week as Scotland’s first minister. That region within the U.K. enjoys substantial devolved powers over its own affairs, including on climate policy. An administration led by Mr. Yousaf’s left-leaning Scottish National Party had hoped to rush ahead of the national government in London in slashing carbon emissions.
Until, that is, someone noticed the costs. A recent report from the U.K.’s Climate Change Committee noted Scotland had fallen far behind on its climate goals. The government aimed to reduce by 20% the aggregate distance driven by Scottish motorists, compared with 2019 levels, but had no plan to accomplish the reduction in personal mobility by the 2030 deadline. To get back on track with the government’s goal of a transition to home electric heat pumps, Scotland would have to replace natural-gas fire boilers at a rate of more than 80,000 households a year by the end of the decade. That’s a big ask considering that in 2023 it managed 6,000 boiler replacements. The government resisted imposing an aviation tax to discourage excess flying. And so on.
Mr. Yousaf did the only thing he could under the circumstances: He all but abandoned net zero. His administration announced it is ditching firm annual emission-reduction targets in favor of fuzzier “carbon budgets.” The Green Party, with which Mr. Yousaf’s SNP governed in a coalition, balked. After a series of political machinations that were one part “Macbeth” and two parts “Comedy of Errors,” Mr. Yousaf’s administration collapsed and he was forced to resign.
Observe two salient details. First, the specific list of targets the country was missing. Scotland had reached the point where further net-zero progress would have made obvious and material demands of household budgets. That isn’t counting the additional costs of renewable power hidden in utility bills.
I have discussed the above ideas many times. There are farm protests in nearly every country on the main continent and Greens are likely to get clobbered hard in the European Parliament elections in June.
What About the US?
The Journal reports “The puzzlement is that the U.S. is headed in the opposite direction. President Biden is pressing ahead with aggressive net-zero policies such as an electric-vehicle mandate and pouring trillions of dollars of borrowed government and hard-earned household money into climate boondoggles.“
There is no puzzle. Biden is owned 100% by the Progressives.
They control climate policy, regulations, student loans, abortion, everything.
Please note Biden Promotes Climate Change at the Expense of More Global Poverty
The mad rush to deal with climate change, even if it works (it won’t), has a nasty tradeoff (more global poverty).
Biden will not do anything to offend the Progressives, even if it means he loses the election over it.
https://mishtalk.com/economics/europe-scraps-net-zero-biden-should-but-wont-why/
by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A top scientist said in newly disclosed testimony that a lab origin for the virus that causes COVID-19 is possible, citing how Chinese scientists operated in less-than-ideal conditions.
“You can’t rule that out,” Ralph ['humanized mice for testing bat Covid'] Baric, a University of North Carolina professor and member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, said in the testimony.
Mr. Baric pointed to how researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located near where the first cases of COVID-19 were detected, conducted experiments on viruses under biosafety level two conditions, rather than the biosafety level three conditions typically employed elsewhere.
Mr. Baric has for years worked with Shi Zhengli and other Wuhan scientists, testing enhanced viruses in work they say helps prepare for outbreaks by making it easier to develop countermeasures such as vaccines.
Ms. Zhengli and other scientists in Wuhan were doing culturing work under biosafety level two conditions into 2020, “which I thought was irresponsible,” Mr. Baric said. That was “one of the main reasons why I felt that the potential laboratory escape hypothesis shouldn’t be, in essence, put under the rug.”
He was speaking on Jan. 22 to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The panel released the transcript on May 1.
Mr. Baric, who holds a doctorate in microbiology, told the subcommittee that he favored the theory that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has a natural origin due in part to the odds being tilted that way.
“What’s more likely, is it a lab leak or is it natural processes? You’re looking at ... a million exposures [between nature and humans] occurring over 17 years versus what happens in a laboratory setting,” Mr. Baric testified. He said that the diversity in nature ran hundreds of millions of times larger than the viruses in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. “If you consider that, it’s more likely to be a natural event than it is to come out of the laboratory,” he said.
Experts around the world remain divided on the origins of the pandemic. Some believe the available evidence supports a lab origin, highlighting how Chinese authorities destroyed evidence from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the lower safety standards there. Others say data from a wet market in Wuhan suggest a natural origin.
Mr. Baric said he reviewed the data from the market and described it as showing the market was a “site of amplification.” But he noted that the studies suggest cases there didn’t appear until December 2019, while other papers have indicated cases started earlier in China.
“Clearly, the market was a conduit for expansion,” he said. “Is that where it started? I don’t think so.”
Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance organization—which for years sent U.S. taxpayer money to the WIV—signed an open letter published by The Lancet in 2020 that said, “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.”
Questioned about the definitive statement, Mr. Daszak told the panel on Wednesday that “we take all theories seriously” and that a lab origin for SARS-CoV-2 remains “possible but extremely unlikely, based on the evidence we have.”
“I just don’t think the data are there to support that. And I think that the evidence that this came from a natural spillover is huge and growing every week,” he added.
Mr. Baric said he was asked to sign the Lancet letter but declined because of his work with WIV. Mr. Daszak did not disclose his work with WIV in the conflicts of interest section. Mr. Baric instead signed a letter calling for an investigation into the origins that said “theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable.”
John Ratcliffe, a former director of national intelligence, told the subcommittee in 2023 that the lab leak theory “is the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science, and by common sense.” A declassified assessment that year said five intelligence agencies assess natural origin as more likely while two others lean towards a lab origin. Most agencies say the virus was not genetically engineered and all believe it was not developed as a biological weapon.
Xavier Becerra, the U.S. health secretary, said at a summit in April that any ideas about the origin are “speculation” because China has withheld some data. “We’re never going to quite know unless China opens up some more,” he said.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ralph-baric-admits-covid-19-lab-origin-possible
