‘The most dangerous Negro’: 3 essential reads on the FBI’s … Midland Daily News
Day: January 14, 2023
2023-01-14T05:30:53Z
Alireza Akbari, Iran’s former deputy defence minister, speaks during an interview with Khabaronline in Tehran, Iran, in this undated picture obtained on January 12, 2023. Khabaronline/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran has executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported on Saturday, after sentencing him to death on charges of spying for Britain.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Friday that Iran must not follow through with the execution of Akbari, a former Iranian deputy defence minister.
Britain had described the death sentence as politically motivated and called for his immediate release.
“Alireza Akbari, who was sentenced to death on charges of corruption on earth and extensive action against the country’s internal and external security through espionage for the British government’s intelligence service … was executed,” Mizan said in a tweet.
It accused him of receiving 1,805,000 euros, 265,000 pounds, and $50,000 for spying.
In an audio recording broadcast by BBC Persian on Wednesday, Akbari said he had confessed to crimes he had not committed after extensive torture.
Iranian state media broadcast a video on Thursday that they said showed that Akbari played a role in the 2020 assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, killed in a 2020 attack outside Tehran which authorities blamed at the time on Israel.
In the video, Akbari did not confess to involvement in the assassination but said a British agent had asked for information about Fakhrizadeh.
Iran’s state media often airs purported confessions by suspects in politically charged cases.
Reuters could not establish the authenticity of the state media video and audio, or when or where they were recorded.
Ties between London and Tehran have deteriorated in recent months as efforts have stalled to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact, to which Britain is a party.
Britain has also been critical of the Islamic Republic’s violent crackdown on anti-government protests, sparked by the death in custody of a young Iranian-Kurdish woman in September.
Photo by ALEXEI DRUZHININ/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
- Several Chinese officials tried to distance themselves from Putin and the Ukraine war, FT reported.
- One expert told Insider China may be trying to manage its relationships with the West.
- China has not officially endorsed the war but continues to buy Russian energy and other exports.
While much of the world condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and instituted crippling sanctions on the country, China has helped bankroll the Kremlin’s war effort.
This week, after several unnamed Chinese officials ripped into Putin in comments made to The Financial Times, some suggested that another of Putin’s allies was turning on him — but despite the criticism, China has stood by Russia.
“China may be trying to have it both ways,” Robert English, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies Russia, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe, told Insider. He said the key was for China to “appear” to criticize Russia, “but what about their deeds?”
China may be trying to distance itself from the war in Ukraine — while not actually taking any meaningful steps to deter Putin’s efforts — in order to better manage its own relationships with the West, according to English.
“The war benefits Beijing because it distracts the West from confrontation with China and they also enjoy discounted energy imports from Russia, both of which they want to continue,” he explained. “But they don’t want trade ties with Europe to suffer, so they must appear to be criticizing Russia.”
Twenty days before the invasion in February, Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping declared the relationship between the two countries had “no limits.” Since the invasion, China has served as a key trade partner for Russia, declining to institute any sanctions and continuing to buy up Russian energy. As Western nations cut ties with Russia, trade with China has been a lifeline to the Kremlin, helping to fund its war effort.
As of August, Chinese imports from Russia jumped by nearly 60% from the year prior, while exports to Russia increased by 26%, Reuters reported, citing customs data. The increase in imports was partly driven by a 22% rise in oil imports, just as European countries strategized to move away from Russian energy products.
China has also largely refrained from publicly condemning the war, even blaming NATO for pushing the Russia-Ukraine conflict to its “breaking point.” When the UN Security Council voted in September to condemn Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories as illegal, China abstained. And in December, China’s foreign minister said the country would “deepen strategic mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation” with Russia.
But there have been some hints that Beijing is dissatisfied with the situation in Ukraine. During a meeting in September, Putin acknowledged that Xi had “questions and concerns” about the war. And in the FT report published this week, several Chinese officials tried to distance China from the Ukraine invasion, even expressing mistrust in Putin directly.
“Putin is crazy,” one unnamed Chinese official told FT. “The invasion decision was made by a very small group of people. China shouldn’t simply follow Russia.”
Still, English suspects the criticism could simply amount to China strategically protecting its own interests, without taking tangible action to bring an end to the fighting.
“Their economic support for Russia has not flagged, nor have they altered their official position blaming NATO for the conflict,” he said. “I’m afraid some analysts are thinking with their hearts, not their heads. We want to see Russia’s influence dramatically reduced, so we look for signs of weakness and sometimes exaggerate them.”
Though reports have suggested Putin could be losing the support of his allies, English was skeptical.
“Putin’s allies are not ‘turning on him,’ only expressing dissatisfaction at the difficulties his war in Ukraine is causing them,” he said. “There’s a big difference.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
Ukraine’s Defense Forces have repelled enemy attacks near 14 settlements in the Donetsk region and the Luhansk area in the past 24 several hours.
The related statement was manufactured by the Standard Workers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent experiences.
About the past working day, Russian troops have introduced 15 air strikes and five missile strikes, like two on civil infrastructure in the Donetsk region’s Kostiantynivka. The enemy opened fireplace with various start rocket units (MLRS) above 95 situations, specifically on the town of Kherson.
The threat of missile and air strikes is persisting all above Ukraine.
In accordance to the General Employees, Russian troops proceed producing tries to seize the Donetsk location within its administrative borders and conducting offensive actions in the Bakhmut course. The enemy is also conducting unsuccessful offensive actions in the Avdiivka direction and proceeds makes an attempt to enhance their tactical position in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions.
Ukraine’s Protection Forces repelled enemy attacks neat the Luhansk region’s Ploshchanka, Bilohorivka and Chervonopopivka, and the Donetsk region’s Rozdolivka, Sil, Krasna Hora, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Vodiane, Kreminna, Pobieda, Maiorsk, Marinka and Velyka Novosilka.
In the Volyn, Polissia, Siverskyi and Slobozhanskyi directions, no enemy offensive groupings were detected. The enemy shelling was recorded close to the Chernihiv region’s Mykhailivka and Yanzhulivka, the Sumy region’s Popivka, Yastrubshchyna, Studenok and Pavlivka, and the Kharkiv region’s Ohirtseve, Vovchansk, Budarky, Mali Prokhody, Zelene, Neskuchne, Strilecha, Ternova, Bilyi Kolodiaz, Bolohivka, Dvorichna and Hryhorivka.
In the Kupiansk route, Russian invaders opened fire on the Kharkiv region’s Vilshana, Kupiansk, Orlianka, Kyslivka, Petropavlivka, Krokhmalne, Tabaivka and Berestove, and the Luhansk region’s Stelmakhivka.
In the Lyman direction, the Luhansk region’s Makiivka, Nevske and Chervonopopivka arrived beneath enemy hearth.
In the Bakhmut path, Russian occupiers shelled the Donetsk region’s Spirne, Bilohorivka, Rozdolivka, Yakovlivka, Soledar, Krasna Hora, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Bila Hora, Verkhniokamianske, Vesele, Kurdiumivka, Druzhba and Pivnichne.
In the Avdiivka direction, the enemy shelling was recorded in close proximity to the Donetsk region’s Krasnohorivka, Avdiivka, Heorhiivka, Marinka, Berdychi, Vodiane and Novomykhailivka.
In the Novopavlivka way, Russian troops opened fireplace on the Donetsk region’s Vuhledar, Vremivka and Zolota Nyva.
In the Zaporizhzhia path, the enemy made use of tanks, mortars, cannon and rocket artillery to shell the Donetsk region’s Vilne Pole, and the Zaporizhzhia region’s Huliaipilske, Dorozhnianka, Zaliznychne, Huliaipole, Shevchenko, Charivne, Mala Tokmachka, Novodanylivka, Orikhiv, Kamianske, Zelenyi Hai and Malynivka.
In the Kherson route, Russian invaders opened fireplace on these kinds of settlements as Zolota Balka, Havrylivka, Lvove, Sadove and Kherson.
According to the details from the Basic Staff, Russian occupiers are intensifying counter-sabotage and counter-intelligence actions inside of the quickly occupied spots. In certain, in the Kherson region’s Velyka Lepetykha, Russian invaders randomly test telephones of regional citizens for the existence of images and video clips of Russian armed service equipment. As of January 12, 2023, a few civilians have been detained and taken to an unknown place.
Meanwhile, above the past working day, Ukrainian air forces have introduced 9 strikes on enemy positions. Ukraine’s missile and artillery models hit two Russian command posts, 8 enemy staff clusters, 1 air protection missile, 3 ammunition depots, and two more vital enemy targets.
Photograph: 45th Separate Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
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The post Ukraine Army repels enemy attacks near 14 settlements appeared first on Ukraine Intelligence.
ATLANTA (AP) — During the 2022 midterm campaign, President Joe Biden steered clear of Georgia as Sen. Raphael Warnock, like many other battleground-state Democrats, sought to distance himself from the White House amid an inflationary economy and the president’s lagging approval ratings.
Now, with Warnock having secured his first full term and Biden buoyed by Democrats’ better-than-expected election results, the senator is welcoming the president back to Georgia and to America’s most famous Black church.
The president is set to speak Sunday at Ebenezer Baptist Church as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Biden and Warnock aides said the invitation was issued by the senator, who for 17-plus years has led the church where King once preached, and the White House billed Biden’s planned speech as a “sermon,” noting that he will become the first sitting U.S. president to speak as part of the church’s regular Sunday morning services.
Senior White House adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor, said Biden will use his time in Warnock’s pulpit to “reflect on Dr. King’s life and legacy and ways we can go forward together.” She said he will cover a number of issues but will emphasize voting rights and related legislation that has languished on Capitol Hill during Biden’s first two years in office.
“The president has been very clear that voting, the right to vote, the access to vote is a core component of our democracy,” Bottoms said.
King, the civil rights leader assassinated in 1968 after he fueled passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, would have celebrated his 94th birthday on Sunday. Biden will follow his Ebenezer appearance by attending the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network conference on voting rights in Washington on Monday, the federal holiday that observes King’s birthday.
The president’s stop at Ebenezer is ostensibly an official trip, not a political one. But the timing stands out as the president tries to steady his footing after Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate how the president handled classified documents.
The move, which followed disclosures that some documents from Biden’s tenure as vice president were found at his Delaware residence and at a University of Pennsylvania office he used, complicates, at least politically, a federal inquiry of former President Donald Trump’s own handling of classified documents. And it upends a run of victories for Biden, who had been enjoying a drop in inflation, an uptick in his approval ratings and the juxtaposition of a steady White House with a Republican House majority in disarray.
Biden’s chosen venue in Atlanta is especially notable as he looks toward a 2024 reelection campaign after a midterm cycle in which his political reach was so limited. Biden won Georgia in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes out of almost 5 million cast. Political observers expect Georgia to again be pivotal in the 2024 general election, joining Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona as critical battlegrounds.
“Georgia is a good first stop for the president … it makes perfect sense,” said Quentin Fulks, who managed Warnock’s reelection bid and is among the names being bantered about for a top leadership post in Biden’s 2024 campaign.
Biden scored his narrow Georgia victory over Trump in 2020 by pairing strong Black turnout with a solid performance among moderate white voters who lean Republican but were disenchanted by Trump.
Biden depends on similar coalitions in the Great Lakes region, but Georgia stands out for its large Black electorate that makes the state critical in Democratic primary politics. It’s so important, in fact, that Biden recommended that Georgia be included as an early voting state on the Democratic Party’s presidential nominating calendar. Atlanta, meanwhile, is a finalist for Democrats’ 2024 convention.
“We’ve shown that this will remain a winnable state for Democrats,” Fulks said. “It’s been done in a presidential, and now it’s been done in a midterm.”
Bottoms framed the visit more in terms of governing than campaigning but acknowledged the importance of in-person connections with Black leaders and activists in both. When Biden came to Georgia in early 2022 to deliver a speech on voting rights, some activists skipped the event, unhappy with the administration’s efforts to shore up the Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court gutted key provisions a decade ago.
Bottoms said Biden planned to speak with civil rights leaders at the church. “There’s no better place to do that than at Ebenezer,” she said but offered no further details.
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said Biden has done a “good job” on civil and voting rights given a closely divided Senate.
Before January, the chamber was 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris providing Democrats a tiebreaking vote. By holding all incumbent seats in the midterms and flipping a GOP-held seat in Pennsylvania, Democrats now hold a 51-49 majority. But it takes 60 votes to move major legislation, including one of Democrats’ proposed voting laws named for the late Atlanta congressman John Lewis, one of Warnock’s parishioners, and Republicans simply aren’t on board with expanding federal power again over state-run elections.
“The Black community isn’t giving up,” Johnson said, crediting Biden with the use of executive orders intended to increase federal authority to ensure local jurisdictions protect voting access for minorities. “But we need policy change that only comes through Congress.”
Bottoms said Warnock and Biden had a “wonderful conversation” Thursday evening about the significance of their Sunday plans.
That’s a turnabout from the recent campaign, when Warnock would barely utter Biden’s name and even then mentioned the president only to remind voters how much he was pressuring Biden to keep his 2020 campaign promise to ease student loan burdens. Warnock celebrated Democratic achievements, including the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, without crediting Biden. When Warnock finally enlisted Biden’s help during a four-week runoff campaign, it was to headline a fundraiser — in Massachusetts, without Warnock in attendance.
Fulks said the president understood all along.
“No candidate can ever completely outrun the national environment, (and) there was no question when we started this race that Georgians wanted a Republican Senate,” he said, referring to the campaign’s analysis of a likely Georgia midterm electorate.
“For us, it wasn’t so much, ‘Is President Biden popular?’ or ‘Is he not popular?’” Fulks continued. “It was keeping this race about Georgia and Sen. Warnock. That was the calculus.”
