News of the World

[kyonides]

US NEWS

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Election Year Has Begun

A judge has found Ohio's new election law constitutional, including a strict photo ID requirement

A federal judge has upheld as constitutional provisions of the sweeping election law that Ohio put in place last year, rejecting a Democratic law firm's challenge to strict new photo ID requirements, drop box restrictions and tightened deadlines related to absentee and provisional ballots.

In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Donald Nugent determined that the state's new photo ID requirement “imposes no more than a minimal burden, if any, for the vast majority of voters."

Nugent also rejected the other claims asserted by the Elias Law Group, whose suit filed last year on behalf of groups representing military veterans, teachers, retirees and the homeless argued the law imposed "needless and discriminatory burdens” on the right to vote.

The suit was filed the same day Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the legislation over the objections of voting rights, labor, environmental and civil rights groups that had been pleading for a veto.

The judge wrote that voters have no constitutional right to a mail-in voting option — or, for that matter, early voting — at all. He added that Ohio's new schedule for obtaining and returning absentee ballots remains more generous than 30 other states.

Federal Judge Dismisses Bid to Bar Trump From Nevada Ballot

A federal judge in Nevada has dismissed a lawsuit to keep former President Donald Trump off the state’s ballot, ruling that the political challenger lacked standing because he was “creating his own injury.”

John Anthony Castro, a long-shot GOP presidential candidate, has filed and lost several lawsuits against President Trump’s ballot eligibility in multiple states, citing the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause.

In a four-page ruling on Monday, Judge Gloria Navarro determined that Mr. Castro did not have standing to file the lawsuit in Nevada as a political competitor, noting that this was in line with the rulings of “multiple federal courts” that found the challenger “is creating his own injury in order to manufacture standing.”

Judge Navarro cited an October article from The Associated Press in which Mr. Castro admitted he had no serious intention to pursue a presidential campaign. Mr. Castro submitted the article to the court for consideration of his standing; however, it ended up working against his claim.

“To have standing to sue in federal court, a plaintiff must have suffered a concrete, particularized, and actual or imminent injury in fact that was caused by the defendant’s challenged conduct and is redressable by a favorable decision,” Judge Navarro wrote in his ruling.

According to court documents, Mr. Castro claimed the injury of “receiving fewer votes than he would if Trump was prohibited from appearing on the ballot.”

Oregon Supreme Court to Decide Trump Ballot Challenge

The challenge to former president Donald Trump’s inclusion on the 2024 ballot is being pursued in a number of states, including Oregon, where the opposing parties have submitted court documents outlining their arguments regarding the validity of the challenge.

The obstacles for President Trump’s inclusion on the ballot stem from a Civil War-era provision of the 14th Amendment that forbids the holding of federal office by anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” Whether this provision applies to the presidency is as yet undecided in the state.

Five voters from Oregon had their case (pdf) taken up by the advocacy group Free Speech For People last month when a suit was filed to prevent President Trump from being represented on the ballot.
According to their argument, Trump is unable to appear on the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment because of his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Anyone convicted of “insurrection or rebellion” is disqualified from holding public office, according to that provision. After Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade stated that she lacked the power to remove Trump from the primary ballot, the lawsuit was filed in retaliation.

In their Jan. 8 brief filed with the Oregon Supreme Court, plaintiffs outlined their case to prevent President Trump from appearing on the Oregon ballot by arguing that the court should reject the secretary’s request to limit the review to state law questions.

The document challenged President Trump’s reliance on what they deemed unpersuasive and discredited decisions, asserting that the issues in question were not conclusively resolved during the Senate impeachment trial, highlighting potential conflicts in decisions.

Additionally, the brief interpreted Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as not requiring federal legislation and addressed President Trump’s specific claims about its implications for insurrectionists.
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In a lengthy filing (pdf) submitted on Dec. 29, 2023, President Trump’s representation provides seven reasons why he ought to be included on the ballot in Oregon.

Among these positions are the assertions that the five plaintiffs do not have the legal right to file a lawsuit, that the insurrection clause of the Constitution does not apply to the Executive Office of the President, and that the clause may only be enforced by Congress. President Trump also contends that the protest and riot that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, did not constitute a “insurrection.”

“There is a crucial difference between insurrections and political riots—even riots that disrupt government processes,” the filing reads.

In the days leading up to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, President Trump made several assertions that the presidential election of 2020 was stolen and that he was the rightful winner. He also sought to find a way to reverse the decision of several states to put their electors behind his opponent at the time, Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

Border Crisis

Mayorkas Blames Congress for Border Crisis as House GOP Preps for Impeachment

With House Republicans set to start impeachment proceedings against him, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reiterated his stance that the blame for the rapidly deteriorating situation at the U.S.–Mexico border lies with Congress, not with his leadership.

“We will continue to do everything we can, and we will continue to enforce the law. But we need Congress to make the legislative changes and provide the funding that our frontline officers so desperately need,” Mr. Mayorkas told reporters at a Jan. 8 press conference in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Describing U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel as “heroes,” the secretary commended agents for coping with yet another record-breaking month of encounters with illegal border-crossers in December—a situation he blamed on a lack of immigration enforcement in Mexico and the United States’ existing immigration laws.

“We now need Congress to do their part and act. Our immigration system is outdated and broken and has been in need of reform for literally decades. On this, everyone agrees. It is the very reason why President [Joe] Biden submitted to Congress on his very first day in office proposed legislation,” he said.
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The referenced supplemental funding request included $20 billion for border security but tied those funds to additional funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Republicans ultimately shot down the measure, holding that the president’s priority should be securing the borders of the United States, not those of other countries.
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“At the end of the day, Republicans aren’t budging until we secure the border,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told News Nation on Dec. 12. “That’s the question that all America is asking Joe Biden right now: ‘Why do Republicans have to beg Joe Biden to secure the border?’ That’s part of his job.”
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“That means changing the policy,” he said. “It means Remain in Mexico. It means changing the asylum policy; it means ending all this probation. That means building the wall, [and] more Border Patrol officers. That’s what it means.”

Mr. Mayorkas’s border trip comes ahead of the House Homeland Security Committee’s first impeachment hearing against the secretary since the House referred articles of impeachment to the panel in November.

The full committee hearing, set for Jan. 10, is expected to focus on how the secretary’s leadership has adversely affected the Heartland states of Montana, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

Some House Republicans Willing to Force Government Shutdown After Eagle Pass Border Visit

Following a visit to the southern border last week, some House Republicans urged their colleagues to treat the situation at the border as a major national security risk and to be willing to force a government shutdown to get Democrats and the Biden administration to accept stricter immigration policies and border security measures.

Around 60 House Republicans visited the west Texas border town of Eagle Pass last week. Speaking with NTD’s “Capitol Report” on Tuesday, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said that the trip marked his fourth visit to the U.S. southern border and that he agreed to go once again to see “how bad the conditions had evolved over the last year.”

“We have major, major problems and I continue to say this is an imminent national security threat,” he said.

Mr. Rosendale noted reported preliminary estimates that U.S. border personnel recorded about 302,000 encounters along the U.S. southern border in December, which would represent the busiest month on record for border officials.

Mr. Rosendale said that upon arriving in Eagle Pass, he also learned that border officials in that sector were working to process about 10,000 illegal immigrants, of whom 200 were deemed individuals of special interest “meaning that they weren’t sure exactly where they were from, they weren’t sure what exactly their intentions were when they arrived here.” He said these 200 special interest individuals and the broader group of 10,000 illegal immigrants were ultimately “whisked off and distributed around the country” before border officials could perform additional vetting efforts.

Some Large & Very Polemical Articles

Speaker Johnson Vows to Help ‘Defense of Taiwan’ After China Launches Rocket

House Speaker Mike Johnson met with the envoy of Taiwan in the U.S. Capitol today, amid increased harassment of the island by communist China.

Mr. Johnson vowed to continue supporting the Taiwanese people as they respond to military provocations from the mainland.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Taiwanese people,” Mr. Johnson told reporters.
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Mr. Johnson’s meeting with Envoy Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, is likely to rankle CCP authorities in Beijing, who claim that Taiwan is part of China.

For his part, Mr. Yui said he was looking forward to “further strengthen[ing] our rock-solid friendship.”
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The CCP has embarked upon a campaign of intimidation and harassment against Taiwan as the democratic island prepares to vote for a new president on Saturday.
Throughout the week, China has launched several balloons and one rocket over Taiwan, which experts believe is part of an attempt to influence the outcome of Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election later this week.

Taiwan’s government issued an air raid alert on Tuesday after China launched a rocket carrying a satellite over Taiwan’s airspace. Its foreign minister described the episode as part of a larger pattern of harassment intended to sway voters ahead of the election.

White House National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said the Biden administration remained committed to supporting free and fair elections in Taiwan.

Pentagon Reveals Reason for Defense Secretary’s Surgery

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underwent surgery in December 2023 for prostate cancer, the U.S. Department of Defense disclosed on Jan. 9.

Doctors from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, identified the cancer through laboratory tests in early December. They decided to perform an operation to treat and cure it. Mr. Austin went to the center on Dec. 22 and underwent a “minimally invasive surgical procedure” to treat and cure prostate cancer, the doctors said. He was under general anesthesia.

Mr. Austin was released the following day.

After experiencing complications including severe abdominal pain, Mr. Austin returned to the hospital on Jan. 1. Doctors diagnosed a urinary tract infection and transferred him to the intensive care unit for close monitoring. Additional evaluation revealed fluid had collected in his abdomen, which affected his small intestines and resulted in a backup of intestinal content. Doctors placed a tube through Mr. Austin’s nose and drained the fluid.

Since then, Mr. Austin has “progressed steadily,” said Dr. John Maddox, trauma medical director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, a urology specialist, in a joint statement. The infection has cleared and Mr. Austin is expected to fully recover, “although this can be a slow process,” they said.

Mr. Austin was still hospitalized, in good condition, as of Jan. 9. He has been working, according to military officials.
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President Joe Biden did not learn of the cancer diagnosis until Tuesday, John Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters in Washington.

“Nobody at the White House knew Secretary Austin had prostrate cancer until this morning,” Mr. Kirby said.

Congressman Moves to Impeach Defense Secretary After Secret Hospitalization

A U.S. congressman is moving to impeach Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin after the secretary and his staff hid the fact he was hospitalized from the White House and the public.

“Secretary Austin has violated his oath of office time and time again, and has jeopardized the lives of the American people,” Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said in a statement.

Mr. Rosendale pointed to how the U.S. military allowed a Chinese spy balloon to fly over the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which holds intercontinental ballistic missiles, and subsequently fly further without shooting it down or taking any other action.
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“This dishonesty seems to be a repeated pattern for the secretary as he once again lied to our military and the American people about his health last week,” Mr. Rosendale added.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Austin, 70, a retired general, underwent an elective procedure on Dec. 22, 2023, before being released home, according to the Pentagon. Neither Mr. Austin nor other officials told the White House or the public about the procedure.

Mr. Austin started suffering from “severe pain” on Jan. 1 and was rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has said. Mr. Austin was treated in intensive care and was “in quite a bit of pain” but was conscious, Mr. Ryder said.

A small circle of officials were told of the hospitalization, but not the White House nor Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense. Some of Mr. Austin’s authorities were transferred to Ms. Hicks on Jan. 2, but she was not informed of the hospitalization until Jan. 4. National security adviser Jake Sullivan was told that same day.

Biden Administration Overstated 2023 Job Growth by Nearly Half a Million

Downward revisions of employment data for 10 of the past 12 months show that the Biden administration initially overstated job growth in 2023 by nearly half a million positions.

Touting job growth is a standard talking point for political leaders, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly data releases—so-called nonfarm payrolls—providing an opportunity for presidents to take credit for a strong-performing economy.

December’s nonfarm payrolls report showed that the economy added 216,000 new positions. President Joe Biden called 2023 a “great year for American workers” and bragged that “the economy created 2.7 million new jobs in 2023—a year when the unemployment rate was consistently below 4 percent.”

While the 2.7 million jobs added in 2023 that President Biden touted are already adjusted except for December numbers, which will be revised later, they were overstated by an average of around 44,000 per month when the numbers were first presented.

For 10 of the 11 months last year for which revisions are known, the direction has been the same—down. July 2023 was the only exception to the rule (initially reported 187,00, later revised up to 236,000).

Overall, the downward revisions in 2023 amounted to 443,000.
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“Dec.’s number is likely to be revised lower next month,” Peter Schiff, chief economist and global strategist at Euro Pacific Capital, said in a post on X. He pointed out that ten “of the last 11 jobs reports have been revised sharply lower” while suggesting something odd is going on.
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BLS says it’s normal for there to be revisions in the job growth data since the numbers are based on surveys, and they’re normally adjusted in subsequent months when more information becomes available.
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[President of Spectra Markets Brent] Donnelly shared a chart going back to 1997 that shows there have been 172 upward revisions and 149 downward revisions over that period, “and the average upward revision is much larger than the downward ones.”

“Revisions go up. Revisions go down. It’s noise, not a complex government conspiracy,” he wrote.

EUROPEAN NEWS

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Several Articles

French Deep State Hid Damning Report on Immigration During Critical Vote

A report last week from the Court of Auditors, an independent government body responsible for tracking the use of public money, found that combatting illegal migration costs the French taxpayer a staggering 1.8 billion euros per year, representing ten per cent of total police expenses. The revelation fundamentally undermines the premise pushed by the left and globalist forces that mass migration is a net benefit to society.

Meanwhile, the government’s performance was also criticised by the auditor’s report, which found that border controls are “very limited” and that the border police only recorded the identity of migrants who were actually arrested. Even then, border officials regularly refused to enter their identities into a national information system, which the report noted would have assisted the government in being able to deport them later.

In addition, border officials often fail to perform basic police background checks on illegal migrants entering the country, the report found, potentially endangering the country to further violence and terror attacks.

The daming review of the government’s performance and the cost to the public was due to be released to the public on December 13th, however, its publication was withheld until last week by the president of the Court of Auditors Pierre Moscovici, a former member of the Communist Revolutionary League, who later served as Eurocrat and a finance minister for the socialist government of former French President François Hollande.

Half of UK Asylum Seekers Who Claimed to Be Children Are Actually Adults, with 4,000 Cases Since 2020

Half of all asylum seekers who claimed to be children in Britain since 2020 have turned out to be adults, with dozens even being above the age of thirty.

The practice of migrants claiming to be children, which increases their chances of the UK government granting them asylum in Britain, has increased to such a level that 45 per cent of the 8,766 migrants who claimed to be “kids” were reality adults, equating to 3,944 cases.

According to information from the Migration Watch UK reported by The Sun, there were 1,582 cases of migrants fraudulently claiming to be children in 2022, compared to 227 a decade prior. The think tank went on to reveal that 887 asylum seekers, at least 52 of whom were older than 30, falsely told border officials that they were children between January and September of last year.

The most prevalent country of origin for the fraudster migrants was Afghanistan with 1,361 cases, followed by Iran with 612, and Sudan with 550.

Migration Watch chairman Alp Mehmet told the paper: “That so many still go for this ruse, even when they obviously look much older, tells me it’s a deception that often works.”

The issue of asylum seekers posing as children has been longstanding in Britain, with minors being afforded increased welfare and protections compared to adult migrants and increased chances of being granted the right to remain in the country.

A particularly egregious example came in 2020 after a supposed child migrant who “looked 40” was placed alongside teenage schoolchildren in Coventry, England. “He’s got a receding hairline for God’s sake,” one parent exclaimed at the time.

German Vice Chancellor Blames Putin for Farmer Protests, Media Brands Protests as ‘Far-Right’

Thousands of farmers began a week-long revolt on Monday in response to anti-farmer policies from the leftist government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with slow-moving tractors, trucks and other vehicles being used to bring the country to a halt.

The German government has a budget black hole to solve, and while some areas of spending are enjoying massive boosts — like underwriting the war in Ukraine — domestic spending cuts and tax hikes are going ahead. Among them are ending green tax exemptions for farming vehicles and scaling back agricultural subsidies, sparking outrage among the German farming community who have warned that the government’s policies threaten the very survival of the industry.

Rather than treat the concerns of the farmers with dignity, the political establishment has chosen instead to attempt to tarnish the rural revolt as being a creation of nefarious forces. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who was personally protested against by farmers last week, claimed that Russia was seeking to instigate the protests.

“Social media campaigns, some of which are paid for by Putin, in which you present yourself as a victim in order to justify violence against people and things, political programs that advocate overthrow or even repopulation and always blame others, right-wing radicals who use the protective space of freedom to abolish it… We cannot tolerate that,” Habeck said per broadcaster NTV.

Despite the apparently broad political base of farmers involved in the action, the legacy media in Germany has also attempted to brand the protests as being tied to the “far-right”. Although the farmers have drawn support from centrist political figures, including Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz, state-owned media Deutsche Welle proclaimed on Monday that “Germany’s far-right exploits farmers’ protests”.

Highlighting the backing of the populist right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has surged in the polls to one of the top parties in the country, surpassing all of the three parties that comprise the coalition government, DW not only branded the party as “far-right” — a label the party rejects — but also openly compared it to the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler.
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While liberal elements in Germany have often branded the AfD as anti-democratic, the governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Scholz has argued as recently as last week that the surging populist party should be banned outright. It has been argued banning the second-place polling party in Germany is necessary to protect democracy.

It sounds to me like a quick way to get rid of political opponents without filing lawsuits at any state court like other are doing as of late in another country...

New Cold War: Russia Brings Back ‘Death to Spies’ SMERSH Counter-Espionage Unit

SMERSH, a counter-intelligence agency with its name deriving from an abbreviation of the Russian for ‘death to spies’ appears to be active again, a British intelligence digest notes, stating that Russian “operatives” wearing insignia of the group have now been spotted. Russia had already announced it was reforming SMERSH in 2023, notes Ukraine’s state media organisation Ukrinform, and the UK Ministry of Defence notes that what this means for Russia’s actual capability is unclear, it nevertheless underlines Russia’s “strong focus on the supposed infiltration of external threats into the country”.

The actual official existence of SMERSH only lasted a few years in the 1940s, and for most of the history of the Soviet Union counter-espionage was the responsibility of the intelligence agency known as the KGB. Nevertheless, SMERSH remained well known in the West because it featured in the James Bond books by British intelligence officer Ian Flemming, who worked for the UK’s Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War when SMERSH was active.

Russia has repeatedly made comparisons between its war against Ukraine, the reinvasion now nearly two years old and first invasion now approaching a decade ago, and the Second World War. Russia has used the presence of neo-nazi militias in Ukraine as a justification for the war, linking its supposed “denazification” of Ukraine to Russia’s successful destruction of the Third Reich in 1945 as part of the Allies with the United States and United Kingdom. As noted by the MOD, the return of the Second World War-vintage SMERSH label is another layer to that conscious couching of the conflict “in the spirit” of that historic conflict.

MIDDLE EASTERN NEWS

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Hamas, PA, and UNRWA Educate Gaza Schoolchildren for Jihad

Gaza Strip schools fostered the depraved sensibility that fueled the Oct. 7 butchery perpetrated by Hamas jihadists in southern Israel. While Hamas exercised dictatorial authority over the whole of jihadist indoctrination in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority (PA) produced the textbooks and lesson plans, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in significant measure administered the schools. The defeat of jihadism in Gaza will not be complete without a fundamental reorientation of its educational system.
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IMPACT-se (Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education) provides indispensable English language documentation of the training for terrorism inscribed in UNRWA Arabic language textbooks and other Hamas educational materials. The training falsifies history, encourages submission to government-sanctioned doctrines, and fosters loathing of Jews, Israel, America, and the freedom and democracy central to the West. Hamas’ savage rampage on Oct. 7 through Israel’s border communities was not a hideous departure from central tenets of Gazan education but rather gave faithful expression to them.

In “Al-Fateh—The Hamas Web Magazine for Children: Indoctrination to Jihad, Annihilation and Self-Destruction,” IMPACT-se examined 145 of the Hamas publication’s issues, from September 2002 to April 2009. Al-Fateh’s “consistent educational message to its young readers,” according to IMPACT-se, “mirrors that of the Hamas movement’s ideology and includes scathing hatred, disdain, delegitimization and demonization of the other—the West, especially the US and Europe, the Jews, Israel and Zionism—as well as a call for establishing an Islamic state in entire Palestine and the annihilation of the State of Israel through violent liberation of the land in jihad.”

Al-Fateh—in Arabic, “The Conqueror”—portrays “Jews as enemies of mankind and killers of prophets,” IMPACT-se shows. Rejecting compromise, negotiations, and peace agreements—those in operation and the pursuit of new ones—Al-Fateh advocates “total commitment to an armed and violent jihad, especially of the suicidal kind.” Through “its pervasive indoctrination of the younger generation into the cult of martyrdom,” Al-Fateh contributed to forming “the next generation of suicide bombers to join the violent jihad.”

So they literally have proofs of UNRWA working to incite Palestinians to attack and kill Jews, and accept the losses as part of their so called cause.  Guys, genocide never stopped being a war crime.

ASIAN NEWS

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A Couple of Articles

South Korea Lawmakers Cut Dog Meat from National Menu

South Korea lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill banning the breeding, slaughtering, and selling dogs for their meat. The move ends a centuries-old practice activists have slammed as a national embarrassment.

South Korean cuisine has long featured dog meat and at one point up to a million dogs were killed for the trade every year, according to activists cited by AFP.

But consumption has sharply declined recently as Koreans welcome pet ownership in droves and embrace loving their four-legged friends rather than eating them.

AFP reports official support for a ban has grown under President Yoon Suk Yeol, a self-professed animal lover who has adopted several stray dogs and cats with First Lady Kim Keon-hee — who is herself a vocal critic of dog meat consumption.

The bill, which was proposed by both the ruling and main opposition parties, was passed unanimously by a 208-0 vote.

Under the law, raising or slaughtering dogs for consumption will be banned, as will distributing or selling dog meat. Those found guilty of doing so could be sent to jail.

Those butchering dogs could face up to three years in prison, while those who raise dogs for meat or sell dog meat could serve a maximum of two years.

However, the consumption of dog meat itself will not be illegal, the BBC notes.

South Korea Releases Photo of North Korean Weapon Used by Hamas

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Monday released a photo of a North Korean F-7 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) that was reportedly used by Hamas terrorists.

The South Korean government said it is “very seriously concerned about the transfer of North Korean weapons” to hostile overseas forces.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk noted that any arms traffic with North Korea violates several U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, threatens international safety, and jeopardizes the security of the Korean Peninsula.

The NIS published a photo of a captured Hamas rocket grenade that had Korean writing on its fuse. The NIS said this evidence supported a report published by Voice of America News (VOA) on Friday that revealed North Korean weapons had been recovered from Hamas fighters, as well as the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen.

In addition to the portable rocket grenade, VOA posted a photo of an engine fragment from an intercepted Houthi missile launched at Israel. The fragment appeared to have Korean writing on it.

South Korean officials told the Associated Press (AP) in October that North Korean weapons were used in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including F-7 RPGs. The F-7 is a copy of a venerable Soviet design that has been modified to inflict more damage against human targets, while the Soviet original was intended for use against armored vehicles.

India Flexes Muscle in Red Sea, Sends Ten Warships to Deter Houthis

India declined to join President Joe Biden’s “Operation Prosperity Guardian” security initiative for the Red Sea, but senior Indian Navy officials said they had dispatched ten warships on Monday to deter the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen and other pirates.

“Indian warships are deployed all over the region to enhance surveillance and deterrence against the twin threats from pirates and drone strikes. The aim is to help stabilize the situation in the Arabian Sea and promote net maritime security,” an Indian naval officer told the Times of India (TOI) on Monday.

TOI reported India has dispatched three more guided-missile destroyers plus two frigates to join the INS Chennai, the guided-missile destroyer that foiled a hijacking attempt by pirates off the coast of Somalia on Thursday. The Indian Navy said the incident, combined with a hijacking and drone attack in December, made it clear that threats were moving closer to India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“Our warships have investigated a large number of vessels plying in the region,” another Indian Navy officer told TOI. “Several have been boarded by marine commandos.”

The second officer was eager to dispel the “misconception” that Indian warships are not as well-equipped to repel drone attacks as the U.S. and British navies, which have been remarkably successful at shooting down Houthi drones. The officer said India’s ships carry “a variety of guns, short- and medium-range air defense missiles,” and “some jammers that can be used if a situation warrants.”