News of the World

[DerVVulfman]

IRANIAN WARSHIP ENTERS RED SEA
AMID HOUTHIS ONGOING ATTACKS
ON COMMERCIAL VESSELS

The Alvand class destroyer had been a part of the Iranian navy's 34th fleet

Iran's Alborz warship has reportedly entered the Red Sea, emerging at a time of heightened tensions in the key shipping route amid ongoing attacks on vessels in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Monday that the vessel had entered the Red Sea through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, though it was unclear precisely when. 

Tasnim did not give details of the Alborz's mission but said Iranian warships had been operating in open waters to secure shipping routes, combat piracy, and carry out other tasks since 2009.

The Alvand class destroyer had been a part of the Iranian navy's 34th fleet, and patrolled the Gulf of Aden, the north of the Indian Ocean and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait as far back as 2015, according to Iran's Press TV.

The news comes as the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group – which was moved to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 invasion of Israel – is heading back to its home in Norfolk, Va.

The Alvand class destroyer does carry missile launchers, and clearly meant to be a show of force after the U.S. sank a Houtis vessel that attacked a commercial cargo vessel. But the Iranian vessel, let alone its navy,

EMBATTLED HARVARD PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY RESIGNS
AFTER PLAGIARISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM SCANDALS

Harvard University president Claudine Gay announced Tuesday she is stepping down from leading the prestigious college, following weeks of controversy over campus politics and her own academic record.

“It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president,” Gay, 53, wrote in the emotional missive.

“[I]t has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can … focus on the institution rather than any individual,” she explained of the decision.

Calls for Gay’s resignation started in the fall, when she would not condemn over 30 Harvard student groups that published a letter holding Israel “entirely responsible” for Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.

She then appeared before congress on Dec. 5 where she refused to say that anyone calling for the genocide of Jews at the university would be punished. 

In her resignation, Gay cited how she had been subject to racism since the attacks, writing: “It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor—two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am—and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.”

Inaction over antisemitism on campus and Gay’s disastrous appearance before congress led Rabbi David Wolpe, a visiting professor at Harvard divinity school, to quit a panel formed by Gay to advise on antisemitism because there was “no sense of urgency, no sense of anger, no sense of disgust,” at the “urgent crisis” before them.

Despite that, Gay said in her resignation how she’d hoped to represent all and make them feel welcome as president.

Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said Gay’s departure was overdue.

“It was the right decision that should have happened sooner.  It should not have taken this long. There was a clear lack of leadership. Her resignation was warranted,” he told The Post.

The article is way longer than this, but it covers several key factors: support for anti-Israeli students, refusal to condemn antisemitism in Congress, fifty counts of plagiarism including aformer professor's work for her doctoral thesis and Harvard covering the incidents up.

NOW?  She's claiming that duplicating work is not plagiarism. And social media is calling it an attack on diversity.  Please...

HAMAS DEPUTY LEADER SALEH AL-AROURI
KILLED IN BEIRUT BLAST

Israel has insisted the assassination of a Hamas leader in Beirut was not an attack on Lebanon, as its enemies warned of "punishment" for his death.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it killed Saleh al-Arouri, but a spokesman called it a "surgical strike against the Hamas leadership".

Hamas denounced it as a "terrorist act", while its ally Hezbollah said it was an assault on Lebanese sovereignty.

Lebanon's PM accused Israel of trying to "drag" it into a regional war.

Lebanese media report that Arouri, a deputy political leader of Hamas, was killed in a drone strike in southern Beirut on Tuesday along with six others - two Hamas military commanders and four other members.

He was a key figure in the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, and a close ally of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader. He had been in Lebanon acting as a connection between his group and Hezbollah.

There have been near daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but so far the violence has been limited to the area along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Hezbollah - which, like Hamas, is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and others - is the largest political and military force in Lebanon and has ministers in the country's government.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) refused to comment on the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, but said its troops were "highly prepared for any scenario".

Again, a much larger news article than what I'm presenting here, but the topic title is able to be clicked as every other in this thread.

And in retaliation, Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, says the killing of Hamas's powerful deputy leader will "not go unpunished". Of course, Hezbollah is itself a terrorist organization.

JEFFREY EPSTEIN LIST:
COURT UNSEALS NAMES IN
GHISLAINE MAXWELL LAWSUIT

Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre's 2015 lawsuit finally leads to name drop

Nearly 200 names that had previously been redacted from court documents in a lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein's former lover and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell have been made public on orders of a federal judge in New York.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered their release in December but gave the Jane and John Does two weeks in case they wanted to appeal.

The names were unveiled in a series of 40 documents that have been posted to the docket without previous redactions that hid big names including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Clinton's estranged longtime aide Doug Band, Prince Andrew, the late former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and the French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, who like Epstein died while awaiting trial.

Epstein had many high-profile connections, including former U.S. presidents, foreign prime ministers and Britain's Prince Andrew, as well as Hollywood stars, leading academics, people in the modeling and fashion industries and other public figures.  Some of the names were previously known through other means despite having been withheld from the public's eye in the lawsuit.

Many of the names belong to people who have not been accused of wrongdoing, including Clinton, who also declined to ask the court to have his name remain sealed.

A spokesperson for Clinton also denied claims in one of the documents that alleged the former president and Epstein had a "close personal relationship.

Other names unsealed Wednesday included billionaire Glenn Dubin and his former private chef Rinaldo Rizzo. Previously released documents revealed that Rizzo claimed Epstein and Maxwell once visited Dubin's house with a disoriented, 15-year-old Swedish girl who told him the couple asked her for sex and that her passport had been taken.  Others mentioned include Tony Figueroa, Limited Brands founder and former Victoria's Secret CEO Lex Wexner, and Epstein accusers such as Johanna Sjoberg and Annie Farmer.

A notable new name is David Copperfield – who was himself accused of sexually assaulting a teen model and is described in the documents as a friend of Epstein.

Sjoberg, according to a deposition in the lawsuit claimed that Epstein once told her "Clinton likes them young, referring to girls" and that Copperfield, a friend of Epstein's, "did some magic tricks" at dinner.

Dang, another long news file.  Yes, more here in the news article than I presented here. So read for yourself. Not all of them, but a couple of court documents are available within, so you can actually judge for yourself.  The documents released were more towards an official courtroom interview rather than a list. There are 40 documents, not pages. And there are well over 170 individuals that are expected to be named.

HIGH-END SEX RING IN BOSTON & DC
HONEYPOT SCHEME TO ENSNARE US OFFICIALS

Clients, believed to include members of Congress, military officers, and national security contractors, have not yet been unmasked and charged

Intelligence experts are becoming increasingly convinced that six high end brothels in the suburbs of Boston and Washington, D.C. were set up by a foreign nation as an espionage 'honeytrap'.

They believe the brothels – allegedly masterminded by a 41-year-old South Korean woman – targeted politicians, high ranking government officials and defense contractors.

But the mystery is which country was behind the scheme. Russia, China, Korea itself, or even Israel are al seen as possibly being behind the scheme.

'Having the Koreans out front could have been a false flag to give China or another country plausible deniability if the plot unraveled,' a one-time CIA senior operations officer told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

The brothels were raided in November and prosecutors said they were looking to charge 28 people in Massachusetts alone.

Joshua Levy, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the state said his office will seek 'accountability for the buyers who fuel the commercial sex industry'.

There was no evident motive to establish two cathouses in the greater Washington area, sources noted emphatically. None of the three defendants live anywhere near the capital and sex workers were flown in from Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

Han Lee, the alleged mastermind, Junmyung Lee, 30, and James Lee, 68 – all South Korean-born U.S. nationals – were charged in November with running the sex ring. The three Lees are not related.

Han and Junmyung both live in the Boston area so the locations of four of the brothels there made sense. James lives in Torrance, a suburb of Los Angeles.

Members of Congress, military officers, and national security contractors who 'possessed security clearances' were among the steady customers at the 'high-end brothels' run by the ring, prosecutors say.

The ring's clients, who paid rates of up to $600 an hour, included corporate executives, professors, lawyers, and scientists.

Dang... all these long news articles.  But while it suggests other nations, the names of the ring leaders would kinda point fingers at which nation was behind this scheme.

FEDERAL PROSECUTORS
SENTENCING REQUEST
FOR RAY EPPS SPARKS ANGER

Controversy is again swirling around Capitol incursion figure Ray Epps as the Department of Justice calls for him to spend no more than six months in jail and face a $500 fine.

Epps was highly visible in multiple videos from the incursion and was seen urging people to go to the Capitol building.

Because he was not initially charged, speculation ran rampant that Epps was a federal agent whipping up and organizing protesters. He was eventually charged with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct in September.

American Greatness reporter Julie Kelly noted in a post on X at the time that the charge was far milder than other charges against Jan. 6 defendants.

This lame single charge tells us everything we need to know about Ray Epps. No obstruction felony? No civil disorder charge? Not even a trespassing on restricted grounds misdemeanor?” she wrote.

This lame single charge tells us everything we need to know about Ray Epps.
No obstruction felony? No civil disorder charge? Not even a trespassing on restricted grounds misdemeanor?

Can't even tell you the last time I saw an "information" (misdemeanor version of indictment) for a J6er on a sole count. Not sure it exists but will check.
(One page of court document included in actual X/Twitter post)

Code:

https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1704152740086067516

Similar thoughts erupted after the government’s sentencing memorandum was issued Tuesday.

In it, prosecutors described Epps' case as "unique ... in the context of January 6 defendants."

“Although Epps engaged in felonious conduct during the riot on January 6, his case includes a variety of distinctive and compelling mitigating factors," the memorandum said.

The memo noted that Epps repeatedly attempted to "deescalate conflict and avoid violence" on Jan. 6, "turned himself in to the FBI two days after the riot," and "cooperated with both the FBI and Congress, participating in multiple lengthy voluntary interviews."

“No previously sentenced case contains the same balance of aggravating and mitigating factors present here,” the DOJ said.

Many on social media said the sentence was far too lenient given what others have received.

The DOJ is giving this guy (Ray Epps) a mere 6 month prison sentence, which they claim is the ‘high-end’ of their ‘sentencing guidelines!’

Court docs: “He cooperated with the FBI and Congress, and attempted to de-escalate the conflict.”

Another long one. Sufficed to say, replies and postings on Twitter within the actual news link depict videos of Epps on both the 5th and 6th of January telling people to go into the capital after Trump's speech. And his actual participation going through barricades and charge to the capital like so many others who were indeed arrested.