Taiwan condemned China on Monday for holding its second military combat drills around the island in less than a month, with the defence ministry saying it had detected 57 Chinese aircraft.

China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory and has been ramping up military, political and economic pressure to assert those claims.

The Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said its forces held “joint combat readiness patrols and actual combat drills” in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, focused on land strikes and sea assaults.

The aim was to test joint combat capabilities and “resolutely counter the provocative actions of external forces and Taiwan independence separatist forces”, it added in a brief statement late on Sunday.

Taiwan’s presidential office said China was making “groundless accusations” and strongly condemned the drills, saying the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait and the region were the common responsibility of both Taiwan and China.

Taiwan’s position is very clear, in that it will neither escalate conflicts nor provoke disputes, but will firmly defend its sovereignty and security, the office said in a statement.

“The nation’s military has a close grasp of the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the surrounding area and responds calmly. Our people can rest assured,” it added.

On Monday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said that over the previous 24 hours it had detected 57 Chinese aircraft and four naval vessels operating around the island, including 28 aircraft that flew into Taiwan’s air defence zone.

Some of those 28 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial buffer between the two sides, among them Su-30 and J-16 fighters, while two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers flew to the south of Taiwan, a ministry map showed.

In China’s similar exercises late last month, Taiwan said 43 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line.

China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, has made regular military incursions into the waters and airspace near Taiwan over the past three years.

It held war games around Taiwan last August, following a visit to Taipei by Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Taiwan strongly rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s 23 million people can decide their future.

Beijing has been particularly angered by U.S. support for Taiwan, including weapons sales.

Like most nations, the United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but it is the island’s most important arms supplier and international backer.

Kim Jong Un rang in the new year the way he likes best — with a fresh threat to dramatically expand North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. This one is almost certain to fizzle.

Kim used a speech published on Jan. 1 to call for an “exponential increase” in the country’s stockpiles of atomic weapons, implying output at an unprecedented pace. The North Korean leader also called for the mass production of so-called tactical nuclear weapons that could be used on the battlefield against US forces and their allies.

While Kim has repeatedly surprised his doubters with the expansion of his missile program, his heavily sanctioned state appears to lack the domestic capacity to quickly double, triple or quadruple his production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium. At best, he could hope to ratchet up his output of fissile material, which non-proliferation experts estimate could be used to arm about a half dozen bombs each year.

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“We do not know what Kim Jong Un actually means with the ‘exponential increase’ in the production of fissile material, but in the nuclear industry, such an increase normally takes place gradually,” said Olli Heinonen, a distinguished fellow with the Stimson Center think tank in Washington.

United Nations sanctions bar North Korea from importing a large array of components needed to quickly ramp up production. Without outside supplies, Kim’s regime must rely on a limited production network that includes an aging nuclear plant for making plutonium and a uranium-enrichment facility at its crown jewel Yongbyon nuclear site.

Proliferation experts believe there’s a second suspected uranium-enrichment facility near Pyongyang and UN agencies say there are two uranium mines and a pair of uranium-concentration plants supplying the system.

“We’re guessing about a lot. But the bits we know and have evidence for are signs they could be ramping up,” said George William Herbert, an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. “Underground centrifuge plants are particularly hard to detect or destroy,” he said, adding there is a possibility of doubling the production rate.

All told, experts believe that’s enough to produce about six to eight nuclear bombs annually, although much depends on the configuration of warheads and the level of production loss during the enrichment process. Estimates for North Korea’s total stockpile of warheads range from 20 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, to 40-50 from the Arms Control Association to more than 100 in a Rand Corp. analysis.

Of course, even one atomic bomb in Kim’s possession is unacceptable to the US, which has a long-stated goal of the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula. But a lack of warheads does undermine the practical value of Kim’s increasingly wide array of nuclear-capable missiles, which experts have said likely tally more than 1,000.

The US is concerned about Kim’s comments on escalating his nuclear arms production, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said at a news briefing in Washington last week. “It just demonstrates the destabilizing impact that these kinds of comments and the actions have,” he added.

One way for North Korea to boost its nuclear stockpile is to ramp up production of lower-yield tactical weapons that require less fissile material. It could also try to further develop its own centrifuges and other required machinery, said Heinonen, who has served as the deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

“Technology they have used successfully in the missile program, if applied to centrifuge rotors, may increase your capacity by 50% without requiring any additional space,” Heinonen said. They could just replace old centrifuges gradually with more advanced ones, he added.

Satellite imagery from 2021 indicated the uranium-enrichment plant at the Yongbyon nuclear complex had been expanded. Weapons expert Jeffrey Lewis wrote on his Arms Control Wonk website last year that this probably indicated North Korea planned to increase production there by as much as 25%.

Lewis said in a recent email that he suspects, “after 20 years, North Korea can probably manufacture its own centrifuge components just as Iran does — but they’ve never shown us that infrastructure.”

North Korea’s nuclear program is shrouded in secrecy, with foreign experts forced to rely on satellite imagery and state media reports to assess its production capacity. The IAEA hasn’t been able to access Yongbyon or any other location in North Korea since April 2009 and the country hasn’t let in Western nuclear experts at all since Kim took power more than a decade ago.

“They don’t need to rely on imports as they have their own equipment to produce fissile materials independently,” said Sangmin Lee, director of the North Korean Military Research Division at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses based in Seoul.

The US and South Korea have warned that Kim is likely preparing for his first test of a nuclear bomb since 2017, as he seeks to demonstrate his ability to develop smaller tactical weapons. For now, Kim has rebuffed calls for talks by US President Joe Biden and South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol, declaring in a September speech that he would “never give up” his nuclear weapons.

“The door to negotiations, as the North Koreans put it last fall, is closed,” said Soo Kim, a specialist on North Korea who previously worked at the Central Intelligence Agency.

“Kim Jong Un’s justification, of course, lies in the hostile policies of the US and South Korea — a long-used pretext to substantiate the DPRK’s pursuit of its own hostile policy and path of nuclearization,” she said, referring to North Korea by its formal name.

(NewsNation) — The goal for law enforcement in Moscow, Idaho at this point is a simple one: investigation perfection and experts tell NewsNation that police, prosecutors and the courts will need to bring their A-game to the case of four slain University of Idaho students.

Kohberger — a 28-year-old criminal justice graduate student — faces first-degree murder charges, accused of killing college students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin on Nov. 13 near the University of Idaho.

The investigation, evidence processing, search warrants and Miranda Rights must be perfect, or the defense can pounce, according to Tama Kudman — a federal criminal defense attorney who has analyzed the case.

“The one thing that I’m not seeing in this arrest affidavit is a motive for this crime. Did Mr. Kohberger know these victims? And if not, you know, the defense is really going to be drilling in on that,” Kudman said.

Kudman looked over the gag order in place regarding this case. She says it’s an extensive one that’s necessary for both the defense and the prosecution. Kudman says the case must be protected from leaks if they want a fair trial.

“To the extent that any information is being leaked into the jury, they may be tainted,” Kudman said.

Both investigators and Kohberger’s defense team will likely now key in on even the smallest details from multiple areas of the case.

The Crime Scene

Retired FBI agent Kathy Guider isn’t surprised to see top-notch investigative techniques like 3D imaging used in the processing of the King Road homicide scene.

“Every location that comes up. Now you have more evidence teams out there, whether it’s digital evidence, communication, being part of that, whether it’s fingerprints, shoeprints, all the different technologies out there are very, very time consuming,” Guider said.

Moments in the investigation that might seem like missteps — such as the beginning of hazardous materials cleaning the King Road house that abruptly stopped — will likely get scrutiny for potentially damaging Kohberger’s due process.

“We call that spoilation of the evidence in criminal defense lingo and in the criminal world. That is going to most certainly be an issue,” Kudman said.

A new crime scene expert hired by the defense spent most of Tuesday in and out of the home, using 3D imaging technology also used by some detectives.

The expert specializes in crime scene reconstruction and blood pattern analysis. His career has been split over nearly equal time testifying for and against criminal suspects.

Along with the King Road home in Idaho, crime techs also spent more than 12 hours at suspect Bryan Kohberger’s Pullman, Washington, apartment, carting off a computer tower and more. Pullman is about 10 miles away from Moscow.

Guider said it seems to be a routine part of a well-executed law enforcement script.

“Every location that comes up, now you have more evidence teams out there. Whether it’s digital evidence, communication, being part of that, whether it’s fingerprints, shoeprints, all the different technologies out there are very, very time consuming,” Guider said.

The Hyundai Elantra

One of the first breaks in the case came when police started looking for a white Hyundai Elantra. Indiana State Police and the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Kohberger was pulled over twice in a car matching the description within a nine-minute timespan on I-70 in December.

Jason LaBar, Kohberger’s attorney, told CNN his client was stopped once for speeding and a second time for closely following another car. He did not receive a ticket for either traffic stop.

The two Indiana traffic stops involving suspect Kohberger and his father are of little surprise to retired agent Guider.

“You’ve got the people that are going to look just at the linguistics of, ‘What did he say? Why did he say that, that particular time?’” Guider said.

Body camera footage shows the exchange between Kohberger and police. As a former member of an FBI mobile surveillance team, Guider noted the deputy’s talkative verification of who was behind the wheel. She also found the car and its potential contents during the traffic stop just as intriguing.

“Vehicle processing, I’ve done it numerous times, I mean, it’s very labor-time-consuming,” Guider said.

In her experience, Guider said she used small vacuum cleaners to gather evidence.

“Combing every part of that vehicle. Seats, under the seat, you know, the floor mats, if there are floor mats, every little piece is being evaluated for the potential evidence,” Guider said.

DNA Evidence

In the probable affidavit authorities filed ahead of Kohberger’s arrest, investigators found a “tan leather knife sheath” next to the bodies of Mogen and Goncalves. Investigators later tied DNA left on the button snap of the knife sheath to Kohberger.

Investigators say a key factor in the case was connecting that DNA sample from the crime scene to a different sample taken from the trash at the Kohberger’s Pennsylvania home.

Bryan Kohberger, left, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, looks toward his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, right, during a hearing in Latah County District Court, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)

The DNA collected in Pennsylvania belonged to Kohberger’s father, and authorities were able to use it to draw a familial link.

“I would caution everyone, most certainly we have enough information and evidence probable cause to arrest, but that does not mean that we have enough evidence for proof beyond reasonable doubt,” Kudman said.

Guider added: “Everything has to be meticulous from this point on.”

(NewsNation) — The mystery of the Idaho college killings is just starting to unravel. Alivea Goncalves, sister of victim Kaylee Goncalves, spoke out in an interview with NewsNation senior national correspondent Brian Entin for the first time since suspect Bryan Kohberger was arrested in connection to the case.

“We had no idea. She had no idea. I had no idea that true evil was genuinely watching them,” Alivea told NewsNation.

Alivea said she talked to Kaylee every day, which sometimes makes reading the investigative findings tough.

“That’s been the hardest part of this is to sit back and look at the totality of it. When my sister was Facetiming me about a new egg bites recipe, he was planning his next visit to the home. That’s really difficult not to wish that you had done more and wish that you had known more. But, it’s just the first step. A lot more evidence will come out,” Alivea said.

Alivea believes Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminal justice graduate student, may have been watching the investigation into the killings play out online.

“A lot of that comes from the fact that he had visited the home so many times before, late at night and early hours. He’s presented this pattern of behavior. He went back to the home the morning of, before police had been called, I think to see if his circus, so to say, had started to unfold. I think he would not have been able to refrain from engaging with the online communities, the theories, the conspiracies, and everything in between,” Alivea said.

Throughout the investigation, Alivea has been working hard behind the scenes, digging into information, trying to find leads and communicating with authorities. She finds receiving relevant tips from people helpful and encourages them to keep coming.

“Nothing is insignificant at this point. Everything is being looked through,” she said.

Alivea says her family is starting to get to a place of being able to grieve. They are in the early stages of setting up a foundation in Kaylee’s memory.

“We still have such a long road ahead of us. The relief that we all felt having a suspect in custody was, I can’t even describe it, like the weight of the world was lifted from our shoulders,” Alivea said.

Even though it may be difficult, Alivea plans to closely follow the case and attend each of Kohberger’s court hearings.

(Reuters) – Below is a timeline of the key events leading up to the Jan. 8 invasion of Brazil’s Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, who disputed the election of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Oct 30. – Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2011, narrowly beats Bolsonaro in a run-off vote. Bolsonaro supporters begin gathering for the first time outside military bases across Brazil, calling for a military intervention to prevent Lula from returning to office.

Oct. 30 and 31 – Truckers who support Bolsonaro block roads throughout the country after his defeat.

Nov. 2 – Bolsonaro supporters hold rallies across the country, asking for an armed force intervention.

Nov. 22 – Bolsonaro challenges the results of the Brazilian election, arguing votes from some machines should be “invalidated” in a complaint that election authorities rebuffed.

Dec. 12 – Lula’s election victory is certified by the federal electoral court. Later that day, after the arrest of a pro-Bolsonaro indigenous leader for alleged anti-democratic acts, Bolsonaro supporters try to invade the federal police headquarters in Brasilia, the capital.

Dec. 24 – A man is arrested for attempting to set off a bomb in protest against Brazil’s election results. A copy of George Washington de Oliveira Sousa’s police statement, which was seen by Reuters, showed he was inspired to build up an arsenal by Bolsonaro’s traditional support of the arming of civilians.

Dec. 29 – At least four people are arrested by Brazilian police for an alleged coup attempt during riots by Bolsonaro supporters.

Dec. 30 – Bolsonaro lands in Florida less than two days before Lula is set to take office.

Jan. 1 – Lula is sworn in as president for the third time, saying that democracy was the true winner of the presidential election.

Jan. 8 – Bolsonaro supporters invade Brazil presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court in Brasilia, in a grim echo of the U.S. Capitol invasion two years ago by backers of former President Donald Trump.

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Karma often arrives when one least expects it. Karma definitely arrived for Kevin McCarthy this week, leaving him shaken, desperate and turning him into a literal beggar. As Kevin literally begged for the Speaker’s position, groveling and cutting all sorts of unscrupulous deals, there could be no doubt that Karma had swooped right in.

But Karma has not left. Sure, Kevin finally — after 15 tries — got his speakership position. But he lost more than he won. Karma took a bug chunk of that thing that passes for his soul. Karma has made sure to leave him vulnerable, fragile and the weakest House leader this nation has ever had.

The crazy train will regularly call for Kevin’s head on a platter. He will spend his days in a state of desperation, hoping that today isn’t the day someone calls for a motion to vacate the chair.

He will get nothing done, dragging his party down even further into the depths and showing the world how ineffectual they all are. He will never be able to control the warring factions of his own party. He will turn bitter. He will become morose. The desperation will start to fall like snowflakes from him as he struggles to keep all members of his caucus happy, a feat which cannot ever be done.

Kevin McCarthy is about to reap the rewards of being a coward. He is like a clueless lamb being led to the slaughter. He has no idea of the hell he is about to face. But Karma does. Karma, like us, is watching from the sidelines watching as the “leader” of the house steps right into hell, for all to see.

The post Karma comes for Kevin McCarthy appeared first on Palmer Report.

The Boring Company unveils the first test tunnel of a proposed underground transportation network across Los Angeles County during an event in Hawthorne, California, U.S. December 18, 2018. Since then, just one known project planned to be developed by The Boring Company has been completed — a 1.7 mile tunnel loop in Las Vegas.

Robyn Beck/Pool via REUTERS

• Facebook spent $20 million planning to revive a railway bridge near its office to improve traffic.
• The project, abandoned due to political pressure, may be a glimpse at The Boring Company’s future.
• Elon Musk’s tunnel infrastructure company has completed just one known project.

Facebook’s failed plans to revive an old railway bridge to ease traffic congestion near its offices are among the latest stumbling points facing future-looking tech companies as they try their hands at solving transportation woes.

The social media company planned to renovate the Dumbarton Rail Bridge — an unused railway spanning San Francisco Bay — after it acquired Instagram and Whatsapp, expanding employee headcount nearly ten-fold in six years from 3,200 in 2011 to over 25,000 workers by 2017.

The bridge was intended to streamline the increased traffic to its headquarters and expand Facebook’s property portfolio, renovating the railway that laid dormant for 40 years.

The $20 million project — initiated in 2017 and abandoned in 2020 due to political hurdles and COVID-19 complications, according to The New York Times, which published a deep dive into the failed project on Saturday — may be a glimpse at the future of Elon Musk’s Boring Company, which has been described by The Wall Street Journal as “ghosting” major US cities by backing out of proposals to build tunnel systems.

The Boring Company, an infrastructure company that began as a subsidiary of SpaceX before separating in 2018, has promised since its inception to build high-speed tunnels in major cities in an effort to reduce traffic and improve pedestrian access. It raised $657 million in series C investment, giving the company a nearly $5.7 billion valuation.

Since the completion of its research and development test tunnel in Hawthorne, California in 2018, The Boring Company has completed just one project open to the public: a 1.7 mile loop connecting the campuses of the Las Vegas Convention Center with its Exhibit Hall. 

Plans for other tunnels — including projects in Los Angeles, connecting Washington, DC to Baltimore, and from the Chicago airport to its downtown neighborhood — have been scrapped by The Boring Company.

Los Angeles proposals to build tunnels under the congested 405 freeway and near Dodger Stadium were abandoned in 2018 and 2021, TechCrunch reported, after facing criticism from city council members for being “rushed.” 

The DC to Baltimore transit system, announced in 2017, was canceled in 2021 following issues with environmental review processes and permitting delays, The Washington Post reported.

In Chicago, a 2018 bid by The Boring Company to build high-speed tunnels to the O’Hare Airport was dropped by June 2021, following public criticism of the lack of transparency surrounding the untested technology, The Chicago Business Journal reported. 

“Every time I see him on TV with a new project, or whatever, I’m like: Oh, I remember that bullet train to Chicago O’Hare,” The Wall Street Journal reported Chicago city council member Scott Waguespack said, referring to Musk. 

Former senior executives of The Boring Company say the company is struggling to retain engineers and technical staff, given Musk’s strict leadership style, which includes working 120-hour weeks and sleeping on couches in his factories and expecting employees to do the same.

The Boring Company was created after a series of seemingly joking 2016 tweets sent in the early morning hours by Musk, in which he complained about traffic and promised to start digging tunnels. 

“Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging…,” he posted at 5:05 a.m. A few hours later he added: “I am actually going to do this.”

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2016

 

While reporters and consumers immediately questioned whether Musk was serious about creating The Boring Company, early progress on its development silenced critics for several years.

Now, on its website, the only currently listed tunnel projects include modifications to the Las Vegas Loop. It’s unclear whether The Boring Company will submit additional bids for tunnel projects in the future or complete the scheduled additions to the Vegas Loop.

Online, critics are voicing concerns that the whole company was a “scam” or “bait and switch” that was “designed to propose automobile alternatives to mass transit projects” and drive business toward his electric vehicle company, Tesla.

Despite its failed plan to materialize the Dumbarton Rail Bridge project, Facebook has continued massive infrastructure undertakings, largely in the form of submarine cable acquisition and development.

The social media company, rebranded as Meta since it began the cable development and scrapped the bridge plan, has acquired 6% of operating cable routes worldwide as of 2022, according to Fair Internet Report, a market research firm. By the time its 2Africa infrastructure project is completed, Meta will hold an interest in more than 13% of the world’s submarine cable infrastructure, spanning 33 countries and touching 36% of the global population.

Though the future of The Boring Company’s tunnels remains unclear, it appears Musk will continue to attempt to innovate existing infrastructure through his many businesses — including plans to use Tesla’s energy storage technology to “shift the entire energy infrastructure and transport infrastructure of earth,” Electrek, a transportation news service, reported.

Representatives for Facebook and The Boring Company did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.