News of the World

[kyonides]

Kosovo police, NATO peacekeepers clash with Serb protesters
as tensions in the region escalate

NATO-led troops and police clashed with protesters in Northern Kosovo Monday amid an ongoing standoff between ethnic Albanian authorities and local ethnic Serbs who ignored warnings not to seize municipality buildings.

The violence comes after Kosovo's police raided Serb-dominated areas in the region's north and seized local municipality buildings over the weekend. The demonstrations have led to injuries on both sides, which more than two dozen NATO troops injured.

Serbia, which maintains close contact with ethnic Serbs, raised combat readiness of its troops stationed near the border and warned it would intervene if Serbs in Kosovo are attacked again.

The increasingly chaotic situation has fueled fears of a renewal of the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo that claimed more than 10,000 lives and left more than 1 million homeless.
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Ethnic Albanian rebels launched a rebellion in 1998 to rid the country of Serbian rule. Belgrade's brutal response prompted a NATO intervention in 1999, which forced Serbia to pull out and cede control to international peacekeepers.
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Last month, Serbs boycotted local elections in northern Kosovo, where they represent a majority. Newly-elected ethnic Albanian mayors moved into their offices with the help of Kosovo's riot police last Friday. Serbs tried to prevent them from taking over the premises, but the police fired tear gas to disperse them.

China’s New US Ambassador Calls on ‘Compatriots,’
Chinese Students to ‘Serve the Motherland’

China’s new ambassador to the United States has called on his Chinese compatriots and Chinese students in the United States to work with the Chinese Embassy to serve communist China in his open letters published on the embassy’s official website.

Upon his arrival on May 24, the new ambassador, Xie Feng, published the letters in both English and Chinese. In one letter titled “To Fellow Compatriots in the United States,” Xie directly addressed Chinese Americans and Chinese expats in the United States on behalf of the motherland, trying to invoke nationalistic or ethnic sentiment with phrases such as “blood is thicker than water.”

He called on the Chinese community in the United States to help the regime improve U.S.–Sino relations as defined by Xi Jinping, leader of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and to serve as “a bridge that connects the two countries” because that community has “a stake in China-U.S. relations.”
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“A China marching toward modernity is a boon to the Chinese people and to countries across the world,” he wrote. “You are most welcome to visit China often to experience the progress of the country and find opportunities there for self-fulfillment.”

At the end of the letter, Xie expressed his desire to expand his connections in the Chinese community in the United States.
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Xie told Chinese students in the United States to “stay united” in “loving [China] and studying abroad to serve the motherland,” and to work with the Chinese Embassy. He told them, “Tell China’s story well to your American friends.” “Tell China’s Story Well” is the Chinese communist regime’s overseas propaganda slogan to push the CCP’s narrative of its rule in China to the world.

The emphasis is mine.

Leaked Chinese Police Officer’s Essay
Reveals Details of CCP’s Overseas Policing

A leaked essay written by a police officer in Qingtian county of China’s eastern Zhejiang Province covers details of how the county’s police conduct long-arm overseas policing in collaboration with Chinese consulates.

Yan Huarong, the author of the essay, was chief of the Qingtian County Police Bureau in 2019 when the essay was published, according to the official website of Lishui city.

Yan’s article, titled “Exploration and Practice of New Age Fengqiao Experience in Foreign Countries—A Case Study of Qingtian County,” depicts how the county’s police have carried out its long-arm policing in foreign countries by mobilizing overseas Chinese people of Qingtian origin.

The so-called “Fengqiao experience” refers to the practice of Fengqiao township authorities “of mobilizing the masses and strengthening dictatorship over class enemies,” which was applauded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) back in the Mao era in the 1960s. Fengqiao is a town in Zhejiang Province.

In 2013, the CCP’s current leader Xi Jinping bragged about Fengqiao’s way of dictatorship as the experience of “relying on the masses to solve conflicts locally.”

Yan’s article boasts about learning from Fengqiao’s experience and setting up huge policing networks in foreign countries by mobilizing Qingtian-born overseas Chinese people to carry out policing on foreign soil.

Malaysia Detains Chinese Ship Suspected of Plundering British Warship Wrecks

Malaysia’s maritime agency has detained a Chinese ship and its crew members for illegal anchoring in its waters and found it was carrying a cannon shell believed to be from a British World War II-era warship wreck in the South China Sea.

The agency said the bulk carrier, which is registered in Fuzhou, China, was detained on May 28 for failing to show a permit to anchor in the waters of Malaysia’s Johor state, The Star reported.

“Inspection of the vessel found 32 crew members consisting of 21 men from China, 10 men from Bangladesh, and one local man,” Johor Maritime Director First Adm. Nurul Hizam Zakaria said on May 29.

The agency found the shell during an inspection of the ship, which may be related to a previous seizure by police of unexploded ordnance (UXO) at a private scrapyard in Johor, Zakaria stated.

“We believe the UXO is related to the HMS Prince of Wales case that was reported on May 19,” he said.

The maritime agency will cooperate with the police and other relevant agencies to determine whether the shell came from the World War II vessel, Zakaria said.

The New Straits Times earlier reported that illegal salvage operators were caught looting steel from the wrecks of the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, which were sunk in 1941 by Japanese torpedoes.

Russia issues Lindsey Graham arrest warrant after Ukraine comments

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is a wanted man in Russia for comments he made while visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.

Russia's Interior Ministry put out a warrant for Graham's arrest on Monday in response to an edited video released by Zelenskyy's office in which Graham praised U.S. support for Ukraine's defense and noted that Russians are dying as Ukraine fights for its freedom.

In the video, Graham noted that "the Russians are dying" and described the U.S. military assistance to the country as "the best money we’ve ever spent."

While Graham appeared to have made the remarks in different parts of the conversation, the short video by Ukraine’s presidential office put them next to each other, causing outrage in Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented Sunday by saying that "it’s hard to imagine a greater shame for the country than having such senators," according to the Associated Press.

Russia's Investigative Committee moved to open a criminal investigation against Graham and the Interior Ministry followed up with a warrant for his arrest.

Graham considers the arrest warrant to be a "Badge of Honor."

Saudi Arabia executes 2 alleged Bahraini militants after 'grossly unfair' trial

Saudi Arabia said it executed two Bahraini men on Monday after being convicted of belonging to a militant group wanting to destabilize the two Mideast kingdoms. Amnesty International had criticized their trial as being "grossly unfair."

The Saudi Interior Ministry's announcement, carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, identified the men as Jaafar Sultan and Sadeq Thamer.

Last year, Amnesty said the men were detained in May 2015 and held incommunicado for three-and-a-half months.

The Saudi statement said that the Specialized Criminal Court convicted the two men of belonging to a militant group — headed by a man wanted by the Bahrani authorities — spreading chaos and smuggling explosives to be used inside Saudi Arabia. The statement did not identify the group or their leader.
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The execution took place in Saudi Arabia's predominantly Shiite Eastern Province.

Libyan court tries 51 suspected ISIS militants, 23 sentenced to death

A Libyan court Monday sentenced 23 suspected Islamic State group militants to death for launching deadly attacks that killed dozens of people, including Egyptian Coptic Christians.

The appeals court in the western city of Misrata also sentenced 14 other militants to life in prison who were convicted on the same charges, which include destruction of police facilities and public property.

The court sentenced nine defendants to between three and 12 years in prison. It acquitted five suspects.
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Hundreds of alleged former Islamic State fighters remain incarcerated in Libyan prisons, many of whom are awaiting trial.

Florida Memorial Day shooting at beach boardwalk injures 9, including minors

At least nine people – including minors – were injured Memorial Day after shots rang out near the beach boardwalk in Hollywood, Florida.

Police responded to a call just before 6:45 p.m. local time regarding multiple people shot near Johnson St. Officers rendered aid and the victims were transported to Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.

Police said the shooting stemmed from an altercation between two groups. One person of interest has been detained and another remains at large, police said. A department spokesperson said the suspect at large is believed to be a Black male with dreads, a black short sleeve shirt, and camo shorts.

Videos circulating online shows a packed crowd scrambling on the beach boardwalk after shots rang out.

Police said there would be a heavy presence of officers as the investigation continues. Officials were also setting up an area for family members to reunite.