News of the World

[kyonides]

US NEWS

---

Hunter Biden Tax Probe Appears Active in California with James Biden Subpoena

Special Counsel David Weiss appears focused on investigating Hunter Biden for tax violations in California with subpoenas issued for James Biden via a Los Angeles grand jury.

People familiar with the probe told CNN:

• James Biden and a former associate of Hunter Biden are “among the individuals ” who received a subpoena in recent weeks.
  
• It is unclear “if investigators are looking at anything beyond tax matters,” such as Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations.
  
• It is unclear if any witnesses appeared in person before the grand jury.
  

The reported launch of a Los Angeles grand jury raises a question of timing. The probe into Hunter Biden began five years ago. The report also confirms Weiss’s previous statements that his probe remained ongoing.

Biden Lifts Sanctions on Chinese Forensics Agency Linked to Uyghur Genocide

The China National Narcotics Control Commission announced on Friday the Biden administration has lifted sanctions against the Institute of Forensic Science (IFS) at China’s Ministry of Public Security.

The move appears to be the first concession made by the administration after Chinese dictator Xi Jinping told President Joe Biden he would do more to halt the production of deadly fentanyl.

Xi’s promise to crack down on fentanyl production was one of two major achievements touted by the Biden administration after Xi and Biden talked for four hours on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.
...
China’s IFS was added to the U.S. Commerce Department’s list of sanctioned entities in 2020 for “engaging in activities contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United States.”

The Commerce Department said at the time that IFS and eight other sanctioned entities were “complicit in human rights violations and abuses committed in China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region [occupied East Turkistan].”

Mexican President AMLO Praises ‘Extraordinary’ Joe Biden for ‘Humane’ Catch and Release Policy at Border

During a meeting between Biden and AMLO at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference in San Francisco, California, the Mexican president called Biden a “good man” who has been an “extraordinary president” for the U.S., according to the Associated Press.

Among the issues Biden and AMLO discussed was illegal immigration.

AMLO heaped more praise on Biden for the administration’s Catch and Release network that releases tens of thousands of border crossers and illegal aliens into American communities — rather than turning them back to Mexico — through a variety of programs.

According to AMLO, the policy is “a humane way to address the migration phenomenon.”

One of Biden’s programs to get border crossers and illegal aliens into the U.S. interior is a migrant mobile app where foreign nationals in Mexico can actually schedule appointments at the border to be released.

House Speaker Mike Johnson Releases January 6 Capitol Security Footage

Johnson took to X, formerly Twitter, and shared a link to a House website containing five pages of videos with roughly 20 videos per page.

“Today, I am keeping my promise to the American people and making all the January 6th tapes available to ALL Americans,” Johnson tweeted moments before releasing the CCTV tapes.

“To restore America’s trust and faith in their Government we must have transparency. This is another step towards keeping the promises I made when I was elected to be your Speaker,” he wrote in another post.

It comes after Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) provided then-Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson access to what Axios reported was 41,000 hours of footage in February. Carlson aired a never-before-seen video of Jacob Chansley, the infamous “QAnon Shaman,” from the trove on his former show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, in March.

EUROPEAN NEWS

---

Several Articles

German Police Raid 54 Properties Thought Linked to Suspected Iran Influence Islamic Centre

German police raided 54 locations across the country on Thursday in an investigation of a Hamburg-based organization suspected of promoting the Iranian leadership’s ideology and possibly supporting activities of Hezbollah in Germany, the government said.

The Interior Ministry said the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, has long been under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. It said the activities of the group are aimed at spreading the “revolutionary concept” of Iran’s supreme leader which is suspected of violating Germany’s constitutional order.

Authorities are also looking into suspicions that it supports banned activities in Germany by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which has repeatedly traded fire with Israel across the Israel-Lebanon border since Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza last month.

The IZH runs a mosque in Hamburg. The Interior Ministry said German intelligence believes it exerts significant influence or full control over some other mosques and groups, and that they often espouse a “clearly antisemitic and anti-Israel attitude.” It said authorities are examining whether it can be banned, and material seized during the searches will be evaluated.

Last Generation States Brandenburg Gate Was Colored Orange Again

Bringing brushes and orange paint along, members of Germany's Last Generation met at the Brandenburg Gate and began painting the western section of the national symbol. And they claimed that they did it just as they had announced it exactly four weeks ago.

Its members keep complaining about the "burning" of oil, gas and coal, promising that the gate will remain orange as long as people ignore that issue. They also guess this could change the moment the German government realizes it seriously should strive for turning away from fossil fuels.

One of the protesters even claimed that they know it is possible to turn away from fossil fuels. Their typical discourse that can only lead to a great disappointment at the end of the day.

As I have reported in the past, no such green technology can truly replace ye olde diesel and gasoline vehicles. Just remember the Tesla cars burning like hell, killing its passengers even if they had made no mistake to deserve that fateful end. We also learned how the charge stations are both insecure and unmantained in many cases. Simply go to California and try finding a working charger. It will take you quite some time indeed, especially if you are looking for generation 3 fast chargers.

Even windmills have proven to be a terrible mistake, like it happened in New Jersey where people are now trying to get rid of them to save sea wildlife from its negative impact. By the way, did you know that Galicia, Spain has a large cemetery for windmills only? Or that windmills have killed up to a million bats every year just in Spain? I guess not, they never publicize its negative aspects for obvious reasons.

The Berlin police reported on X, formerly Twitter, that two climate activists had been arrested.

Paris Clears Thousands from Migrant Camps in Olympics Clean Up Effort

Paris police cleared 221 migrants living on the streets near the Austerlitz train station on Tuesday morning, with around 100 being transferred to accommodations outside of the city.

Over the past seven months, more than 2,800 illegal migrants have been removed from makeshift camps set up in the French capital to regional facilities as Paris makes preparations for hosting the 2024 Olympics, Le Figaro reports.

Despite its reputation as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in recent years the city of love has lost some of its lustre, with extreme disappointment among foreign tourists becoming so prevalent for the experience to earn the nickname “Paris Syndrome”.

Paris, run by far-left socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo, has long suffered under mismanagement akin to Democrat cities in the United States like San Francisco, including persistent struggles to perform basic functions such as keeping the streets clear of garbage. The French city has also recently been grappling with a major outbreak of bed bugs, which has grabbed headlines worldwide.

Since the European Migrant Crisis of 2015, Paris has seen thousands upon thousands of migrants sleeping on its streets, with police periodically shutting down the camps, only for them to be erected again.

Ukraine Claims Breakthrough With Multiple Bridgeheads Across Dnieper River

The Marine Infantry Command´s claims were the first to come directly from the Ukrainian military about advances across one of Russia´s most significant strategic barriers. Earlier this week, Andriy Yermak, the head of the president´s office, confirmed for the first time that Ukraine had established a foothold on the eastern side of the river.

The wide river is a natural dividing line along the southern battlefront, and Moscow’s forces have used it since leaving the area around the city of Kherson in November 2022 to prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing farther toward Russian-annexed Crimea.

Troops are trying to push Russian forces away from the Dnieper to stop shelling that has routinely struck civilian areas on the Ukrainian-held west bank, the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a report Friday.
...
Ukraine has portions of three brigades across the river and was expected to make small gains as the Russians have so far been unable to repel them.

“The Ukrainians have seen an opportunity there and taken it,” one official said. “What we´ve not seen is the Russians being able to push them back from that position.”

The Associated Press could not independently confirm the Ukrainian reports of establishing a foothold on the river’s eastern bank or the marine command’s battlefield claims. Ukraine did not disclose the number of its own casualties.

Finland Accuses Russia of Weaponising Migration, Closes Border Crossings

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the southeastern crossing points — Imatra, Niirala, Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa — will be closed at midnight Friday on the Finland-Russia land border that serves as the European Union´s external border.

It runs a total of 1,340 kilometers (832 miles), mostly in thick forests in the south, all the way to the rugged landscape in the Arctic north. There are currently nine crossing points with one dedicated to rail travel only.

“Operations of the Russian border authorities have changed,” Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters.

He referred to dozens of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, who have arrived in recent days at the Nordic nation without proper documentation and have sought asylum after allegedly being helped by Russian authorities to travel to the heavily controlled border zone.

This represents a major change since Finnish and Russian border authorities have for decades cooperated in stopping people without the necessary visas or passports before they could attempt to enter either of the two countries.

Finnish authorities said this week that Russia has in recent months started allowing undocumented travelers to access the border zone and enter crossing stations where they can request asylum in Finland.