30 dead dogs, cats found inside animal rescue CEO’s South Carolina home

Michelle Butterfield - Yesterday 2:54 p.m.
NOTE: The following article contains content that some might find disturbing. Please read at your own discretion.

© Courtesy / Richland County Sheriff's OfficeCaroline Dawn Pennington, 47, is charged with 30 counts of ill treatment of animals.

The CEO of a non-profit animal rescue organization in South Carolina has been charged after investigators found the remains of 30 decomposing animals in her home.

Caroline Dawn Pennington, 47, was taken into custody last week and is facing 30 counts of ill treatment to animals, reports USA Today.

Pennington, the director and CEO of GROWL, an animal rescue organization, turned herself in late last week, reports NBC News.

Deputies with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department told media outlets that they responded to a call on May 22, after someone reported a "smell of death" coming from Pennington's Columbia, S.C. home.

Thirty dead animals — 28 dogs and two cats — were found in various states of decomposition, reports NBC. The animals were in crates and cages, many of them dead in their own waste, and officials said it appeared as though they died from dehydration and starvation.

Authorities also said it appeared that many of the animals had been dead for several months.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told USA Today the discovery was one of the worst cases of animal cruelty he had ever seen, describing the situation as "appalling" and "heartbreaking."

"This is someone who was entrusted by the community to care for these animals and find them homes," Lott said. "She betrayed that trust and she betrayed the trust of these innocent animals who relied on her."

In addition to her role at GROWL, Pennington was also employed at the Kershaw County Humane Society.

In a Facebook post on Friday, the shelter confirmed that Pennington was no longer working there, calling her a "former employee."

"We were unaware of the former employee’s actions and are truly shocked and heartbroken. Our dedicated staff will continue with our mission to serve the lost and homeless pets of Kershaw County," the post read.

“The home was in disrepair from general neglect,” Lt. Joe Clarke told local CBS affiliate WLTX. “The surfaces of the floor and the cabinets were covered in fecal matter, there were areas you could tell these animals had urinated. It smelled bad, it’s summer, it’s humid. As we were walking through the home, we kept finding dead animals in carriers… Some were unidentifiable as dogs or cats.”

In a statement to local NBC affiliate WIS-TV, Pennington's lawyer, Ally Benevento, called it "an incredibly tragic case with unimaginable horrific allegations.

"It is difficult for anyone to comprehend how someone could allow to happen what happened in this case, but there are some significant and serious mental health issues at play that Ms. Pennington is dealing with," Benevento wrote.

North Carolina's Lieutenant Governor Takes Sexism To Biblical New Low

Ron Dicker

Tue, June 7, 2022

If North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson wants women’s votes, he sure has a funny way of showing it.

Robinson, a Republican positioning himself to run for governor in 2024, interpreted biblical scripture to suggest that women should not be in charge. (Watch the video below.)

“We are called to be led by men,” he said last month in a Charlotte-area church speech reported by WRAL on Monday. He acknowledged at the same time that such remarks would get him “in trouble.”

“God sent women out … when they had to do their thing, but when it was time to face down Goliath, [he] sent David. Not Davida — David.”

By the same token, God picked Moses to lead the Israelites, he said.

“Not Momma Moses,” he preached. “Daddy Moses.”

“My God tells me that when I face adversity that, number one, I am to stand up like a man! M-A-N!” he added during a rant in which he chided churchgoers who “listen to the doctrine of social justice instead of listening to the doctrine of Jesus Christ.”

Well more than half of North Carolina’s registered voters are female, according to state records.

Robinson, a Donald Trump supporter who spoke at the former president’s North Carolina rally in April, has previously suggested on social media that Michelle Obama was a man.

He denies the existence of systemic racism and climate change, proudly owns AR-15 assault rifles and has called the LGBTQ community “filth.”

Representatives didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Top Economist Urges China to Seize TSMC If US Ramps Up Sanctions



Bloomberg News
Mon, June 6, 2022

(Bloomberg) -- A senior Chinese economist at a government-run research group called on authorities to seize Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. if the US hits China with sanctions on par with those leveled against Russia.

“If the US and the West impose destructive sanctions on China like sanctions against Russia, we must recover Taiwan,” said Chen Wenling, chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. The research group is overseen by the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning agency.

“Especially in the reconstruction of the industrial chain and supply chain, we must seize TSMC,” Chen said in a speech last month hosted by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University, which was posted online Tuesday by the nationalistic news website Guancha.

“They are speeding up the transfer to the US to build six factories there,” she added. “We must not let all the goals of the transfer be achieved.”

The comments are some of the most prominent so far showing how Taiwan’s chip industry is seen in Beijing as a key strategic asset in the intensifying rivalry between the world’s two largest economies. TSMC is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of semiconductors, accounting for more than 50% of the global foundry market, which involves businesses purely making chips for other companies. Its customers include Apple Inc., which relies on Taiwanese chips for iPhones.

A TSMC representative declined to comment on Chen’s remarks. Media reports have said TSMC will build six chip fabs in the US, but the company has announced just one so far. It has bought more land for possible construction.

The Global Fight Over Chips Is About to Get Even Worse

It’s unclear how the scenario Chen described would occur, given the US and other nations only leveled harsh economic sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory that must be brought under control by force if necessary, while the government in Taipei asserts it’s already a de facto independent nation in need of wider international recognition.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has sought to achieve tech self-sufficiency, and tapped economic czar Liu He to shepherd a key initiative aimed at helping domestic chipmakers overcome U.S. sanctions. Those sanctions, which emerged during Donald Trump’s presidency, are impeding longer-term efforts by chipmakers including Huawei Technologies Co.’s HiSilicon and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. from migrating toward more advanced wafer fabrication technologies.

At the same time, President Joe Biden has announced plans to put $52 billion into domestic semiconductor research, development and production as part of the administration’s broad China competition bill, which is still awaiting approval.

Global arms industry getting shakeup by war in Ukraine – and China and US look like winners from Russia’s stumbles


Terrence Guay, Clinical Professor of International Business and Director, Center for Global Business Studies, Penn State

THE CONVERSATION
Tue, June 7, 2022,

Russia is losing tanks at an astonishing rate. AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti

Russia’s war in Ukraine is upending the global arms industry.

As the U.S. and its allies pour significant sums of money into arming Ukraine and Russia bleeds tanks and personnel, countries across the world are rethinking defense budgets, materiel needs and military relationships. Countries that historically have had low levels of defense spending such as Japan and Germany are bulking up, while nations that purchase most of their weapons from Russia are questioning their reliability and future delivery.

My research in this area suggests that, however this war eventually ends, the repercussions for the global defense industry, and for the countries whose companies dominate this sector, will be enormous. Here are four takeaways.

1. Russia will be the biggest loser

Russia’s general sales pitch for its weapons has been they’re “cheaper and easier to maintain than Western alternatives.” This is why Russia accounted for 19% of the world’s arms exports from 2017 to 2021, second only to the U.S., which had 39% of the market.

However, this pitch may no longer be effective for many countries that have seen Russian equipment losses and failures in Ukraine.

To date, the U.S. estimates Russia has lost almost a thousand tanks, at least 50 helicopters, 36 fighter-bombers and 350 artillery pieces, according to Business Insider. Thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed, with estimates ranging from about 15,000 to as high as 30,000, and Russia is still unable to control Ukraine’s airspace.

The situation has become so dire that there are reports that commanders are trying to preserve equipment by forbidding troops from using them to evacuate wounded soldiers or to support units that have advanced too far.

Russia’s offensive weapons have also proved disappointing. Its missile failure rate – the share that either failed to launch, malfunctioned mid-flight or missed their target – may be as high as 50% to 60% due to design flaws and outdated or inferior equipment.

These problems, along with the Russian military’s slow progress achieving any of President Vladimir Putin’s stated objectives, have raised serious doubts among the country’s traditional customers for weapons exports. Russia sells almost 90% of its weapons to just 10 countries, including India, Egypt and China.

What’s more, Russia’s ability to replace these equipment losses has been hampered by economic sanctions, which bars key foreign components like circuit boards. And Russia will almost certainly need to replace its own military hardware before it exports anything abroad.

That means that even countries that want to keep buying Russian tanks and fighter jets will have to wait in line or turn elsewhere to fulfill their defense needs.

2. Russia’s loss is China’s gain

The country that will likely see the greatest gains from Russia’s displacement as a major arms supplier is China.

In recent years, the country has taken a 4.6% share of the global arms trade, putting it in fourth place behind France’s 11%. At the same time, seven of the top 20 global defense companies in terms of revenues earned from defense sales are Chinese, signaling the sector’s big ambitions.

Currently, the Chinese government buys most of its weapons and vehicles from these domestic arms makers, but China has the capacity to export more military products abroad.

For example, China is already the world’s largest shipbuilder, so exporting more naval ships is a natural next step. The country is expanding its niche role in drone technology and attempting to leverage modernizing its air force with domestically built aircraft to increase exports.

At the moment, only three of the world’s 40 biggest arms importers – Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar – buy a majority of their weapons from China. That could change if China takes advantage of Russian weakness to position itself as a reliable national security, economic and political partner – a core feature of its Belt and Road Initiative.

China is not capable of supplanting U.S. and European weapons, which are considered “top shelf” because of their high quality and price. But China may well fill the market niche that Russian arms makers dominated, thereby increasing Beijing’s role as a major weapons exporter – and gaining the political and economic benefits that accompany that.

One of China’s biggest challenges will involve proving that its weapons work well in live combat situations.

The U.S. has given Ukraine a third of its Javelin anti-tank missiles.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

3. American arms makers will also be big winners

U.S. weapons manufactures dominate the global arms industry. The Ukraine war will likely ensure this stays that way for some time.

The world’s five largest arms companies are all American: Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics. In fact, half of the top 100 producers of arms are based in the U.S. Twenty are European. Only two are Russian – despite the country being the world’s second-largest source of arms.

The massive amounts of weapons being transferred from the U.S. to Ukraine will keep American arms makers busy for some time to come. For example, the U.S. has transferred about one-third of its stock of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, and it will take three to four years for the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin joint venture to replace them. The US$40 billion aid package recently signed by President Joe Biden includes $8.7 billion to replenish U.S. weapons stocks.

The companies’ soaring stock prices are a sign investors believe profitable days are ahead. Lockheed Martin’s stock price is up over 12% since the invasion began – with most of the gains occurring in its immediate aftermath. Northrop Grumman has jumped 20%. At the same time, the broader stock market as measured by the S&P 500 has slumped about 4%.

4. More countries will become arms makers

The flipside to this is that some countries that relied on others for their defense needs may seek to become more self-sufficient.

India, which relied on Russia for almost half of its weapons imports in recent years, is realizing that Russia will need most or all of its production capacity to replace tanks, missiles, aircraft and other weapons used or lost in Ukraine, with less leftover for export.

That means India will need to either source spare parts for vehicles and weapons from other former Russia arms customers such as Bulgaria, Georgia and Poland, or build up its own defense industry. In April, India announced it would ramp up production of helicopters, tank engines, missiles and early airborne warning systems to offset any potential reduction in Russian exports.

Concerns about Russian reliability are also growing. In May, India canceled a $520 billion helicopter deal with Russia. While there are reports U.S. pressure played a role, it also seems to be part of the government’s strategy over the past few years to build its own domestic defense industrial base.

Brazil, Turkey and other emerging market countries have also been developing their own defense industries over the past two decades to reduce their reliance on arms imports. The Ukraine war will accelerate this process.

Putin likely didn’t expect to shake up the global arms market with his effort to annex Ukraine – or cause the decline of his country’s weapons sector. But that’s just one more way his war is causing a geopolitical earthquake.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Terrence Guay, Penn State.

Read more:


Ukraine war: the US and UK missile systems which will challenge Russia’s artillery dominance


US aid to Ukraine: $13.6 billion approved following Russian bombardment marks sharp increase

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

Palestinian Authority pay's partial wages amid protests over rise in food prices


FILE PHOTO: Palestinians protest against rising of prices in the West Bank

Tue, June 7, 2022
By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority announced on Tuesday it would pay partial salaries to most of its employees after Israel transferred some revenues it collects on the Palestinians’ behalf, Palestinian officials said.

A week into June, the Palestinian Finance Ministry said employees will receive 80% of their salaries on Tuesday. It has been unable to pay full wages since November, blaming Israel's withholding of tax revenues and weaker international donations.

The salary cut coincided with public discontent over an acute hike in prices of essential food items that prompted people in the southern city of Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to take to the streets in protest.

"The Finance Ministry is making enormous efforts to compel the occupation authorities to transfer our money so we can make salaries available," Amjad Ghanim, Secretary-General of the Palestinian cabinet, told Reuters by phone from Ramallah.

He said lower levels of international assistance had also reduced the funding available.

Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara estimated that Israel has been withholding $500 million of tax revenues. He recently said Israel was deducting 100 million shekels ($30 million) every month.

Under a 2018 law, Israel calculates each year how much it believes the Palestinian Authority has paid in stipends to militants and deducts that amount from the taxes it has collected on the Palestinians' behalf.

Israel calls stipends for militants and their families a "pay for slay" policy that encourages violence. Palestinians hail their jailed brethren as heroes in a struggle for an independent state and believe their families are deserving of support.

Palestinian tax revenues, which Israel collects on the Palestinians' behalf each month, stand at around 900 million shekels ($271 million).

The Palestinian Authority employs 150,000 people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At the end of 2021, its budget stood at $330 million while spending was $300 million.

On Monday, Human Rights advocates said police forces, deployed in large numbers a day ago, arrested 11 protesters for several hours before freeing them late last night.

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, already exempted wheat from tax rises introduced in February. Protesters have demanded that tax exemptions be extended to other basic staples.

As the war in Ukraine has sent commodity prices surging, the cost of basic food items like flour, sugar and cooking oil has gone up by as much as 30% since March, according to merchants and protesters. Official figures put the increase at between 15 and 18%.

(Additional reporting Ali Sawafta,; Writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ed Osmond)

TRUTH BE TOLD
Report: 'Perpetual' Israeli occupation at root of violence




- A Palestinian home sits in a valley, next to the east Jerusalem Jewish Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev, May 12, 2022. Investigators commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council said Tuesday, June 7, 2022, that tensions between Palestinians and Israelis are underpinned by a feeling that Israel has embarked on a “perpetual occupation” of Palestinian areas with no intention of ending it. The findings came Tuesday in the first report by a Commission of Inquiry, set up last year following an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. 

(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)

JAMEY KEATEN
Tue, June 7, 2022

GENEVA (AP) — Investigators commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body say tensions between Palestinians and Israelis are underpinned by Israel's “perpetual occupation” of Palestinian areas with no apparent intention of ending it.

The findings came Tuesday in the first report by a Commission of Inquiry, headed by a three-person team of human rights experts. It was set up last year by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council following an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The U.N. human rights office says the war killed at least 261 people – including 67 children – in Gaza, and 14 people, including two children, in Israel.

The commission, headed by former U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay, is the first to have an “ongoing” mandate from the U.N. rights body. Critics allege that permanent scrutiny testifies to an anti-Israel bias in the 47-member-state council and other U.N. bodies. Proponents say the commission is needed to keep tabs on persistent injustices faced by Palestinians under decades of Israeli rule.

The report largely recaps efforts by U.N. investigators over the years to grapple with the causes of Mideast violence and the authors acknowledged it was in part a “review” of previous U.N. findings.


“What has become a situation of perpetual occupation was cited by Palestinian and Israeli stakeholders to the commission as the one common issue” that amounts to the “underlying root cause” of recurrent tensions, instability and protracted conflict, the authors wrote. They said “impunity” for perpetrators of violence was feeding resentment among Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.

Israel’s government, which opposed the creation of the commission, refused to grant its members access to Israel or Palestinian territories, and testimonies from Palestinians and Israelis were collected from Geneva and Jordan.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the report as “part and parcel of the witch hunt carried out by the Human Rights Council against Israel.”

It called the report biased and one-sided and accused the commission members of ignoring Palestinian violence, incitement and antisemitism. “The Commission members, who claim to be objective, were only appointed to their roles because of their public and well-known anti-Israel stances, in direct opposition to the rules set out by the United Nations,” it said.

The report's authors cited “credible” evidence that “convincingly indicates that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation” and has plans to ensure complete control of Palestinian areas. Israel’s government, it added, has been “acting to alter the demography through the maintenance of a repressive environment for Palestinians and a favorable environment for Israeli settlers.”

They also voiced criticism of Palestinian leaders, saying the Palestinian Authority, which administers autonomous areas in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, frequently refers to the occupation as a justification for its own human rights violations. It also points to the occupation as the core reason for failure to hold legislative and presidential elections, the authors said. The PA is widely criticized for corruption and intolerance for dissent.


- Israeli police officers detain a Palestinian during a protest supporting Palestinian families who are under threat of eviction from their longtime homes by Jewish settlers in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, Dec. 17, 2021. Investigators commissioned by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council said Tuesday, June 7, 2022, that tensions between Palestinians and Israelis are underpinned by a feeling that Israel has embarked on a “perpetual occupation” of Palestinian areas with no intention of ending it. The findings came in the first report by a Commission of Inquiry, set up last year following an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)



Despite the criticism, the Palestinian Authority welcomed the report. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the report found “beyond any doubt, that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and discrimination against Palestinians are the root causes behind the recurrent tensions, instability and prolongation of conflict in the region.”

As for Hamas authorities in Gaza, the commission said they show little commitment toward upholding human rights and little adherence to international law. Since seizing control of Gaza in 2007, Hamas has shown little tolerance for political dissent and been accused of torturing opponents.

Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the 1967 Mideast war.

It has annexed east Jerusalem and claims the area — home to the city’s most important holy sites — as part of its capital. It considers the West Bank to be “disputed” territory and has built scores of Jewish settlements there. Over 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in the two areas.

The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority seeks the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza for an independent state. The international community overwhelmingly considers all three areas to be occupied by Israel.

Rights groups have accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes during last year's fighting. Israel vehemently denies the allegations, accusing Hamas of endangering civilians by using residential areas for cover during military operations.

___

Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

The EU's 3 biggest shipping countries have doubled Russian oil shipments since the invasion of Ukraine, and it's undermining attempts to hurt Putin

Huileng Tan
Tue, June 7, 2022, 

Russian President Vladimir Putin.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Firms in Greece, Cyprus, and Malta have shipped more Russian oil since the Ukraine war started.


Freight rates for oil tankers have tripled since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.


The rise in Russian oil shipments undermines intensifying sanctions against the country.

Shipping companies in the European Union's three largest maritime nations of Greece, Cyprus, and Malta have doubled the quantity of Russian oil they transport since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, The Independent reported on Monday.

Shipping companies and vessels linked to the three countries moved an average of 58 million barrels of Russian oil in the month of May, the UK media outlet reported, citing an analysis from Global Witness, a non-government organization. That's almost double the 31 million barrels they collectively transported in February. The three countries have the largest shipping fleet in the EU, according to Reuters.

The jump in the transportation of Russian crude came on the back of a tripling in oil tanker freight rates since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 — and it's undermining EU sanctions against Russia.

"Ships linked to Greece, Cyprus and Malta are making a mockery of the EU effort to sanction Putin's war machine, keeping cash flowing to Russia as the country's armed forces continue to pummel Ukraine," Louis Goddard, a senior data investigations adviser at Global Witness, told The Independent.

The NGO's report follows findings by London's Sunday Times that Greek shipping companies are taking part in "ship-to-ship" transfers of Russian oil to mask the transportation of the fuel. Data reviewed by the Sunday Times pointed to an increase in such movements, which involves a Russian ship unloading oil to another vessel from a neutral party, the outlet reported on Sunday.

There is no suggestion that the companies and ships involved in transporting Russian oil are breaching sanctions, The Independent and Sunday Times reported.

Last Monday, the EU agreed on a Russian oil ban that stands to cut about 90% of Russian oil imports to the bloc by the end of the year. That was after the EU reportedly scrapped plans to stop EU-owned ships from transporting Russian oil to countries outside the region, such as China and India.

However, the EU and the UK are planning to deter the practice by not allowing ships carrying Russian oil to take out insurance — which is crucial for the shipping industry, the Financial Times reported last week.

Global Witness did not immediately respond to Insider's request for the report, which was sent outside regular business hours.

Correction 6/7/2022: This post has been corrected to reflect changes to the amount of oil moved by Greece, Cyprus and Malta collectively in May and February.


Read the original article on Business Insider

ERDOGANS WAR AGAINST KURDISTAN

US-backed Syrian Kurds to turn to Damascus if Turkey attacks


FILE - Turkish tanks and troops are deployed near the Syrian town of Manbij, Syria, Oct. 15, 2019. Hardly a day passes in northern Syria without Kurdish fighters and opposition gunmen backed by Turkey exchanging gunfire and shelling and concerns are rising that the situation will only get worse in the coming weeks with Ankara threatening to launch a new major operation along its southern border. (Ugur Can/DHA via AP, File)

BASSEM MROUE
Tue, June 7, 2022, 

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria said Tuesday that they will turn to the government in Damascus for support should Turkey go ahead with its threat to launch a new incursion into the war-torn country.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, said after a meeting of its command that its priority is to reduce tension near the border with Turkey but also prepare for a long fight if Ankara carries out its threat.

The announcement appears to be a message directed at the United States and meant to elicit pressure from Washington on Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to put aside his offensive plans.

Erdogan has repeatedly said over the past weeks that he’s planning a major military operation to create a 30-kilometer (19 mile) deep buffer zone inside Syria along Turkey's border, through a cross-border incursion against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters — an attempt that failed in 2019.



Analysts have said Erdogan is taking advantage of the war in Ukraine to push his own goals in Syria — even using Turkey’s ability as a NATO member to veto alliance membership by Finland and Sweden as potential leverage.

On the ground, the situation has been tense with near daily exchanges of fire and shelling between the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters on one side and Turkish forces and Turkey-backed Syrian opposition gunmen on the other.

The Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters have been preparing for weeks to take part in the expected operation against Syrian Kurdish-led forces, seeking to expand their area of influence inside Syria.

On the other hand, relations between the Kurdish-led fighters who control large parts of northern and eastern Syria — including the towns of Tel Rifaat and Manbij that Erdogan has named as possible targets — with the Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces have been mostly frosty over the past years.

But faced with Erdogan's threat, Syrian Kurdish fighters may want those ties to thaw.

“The meeting confirmed the readiness of (SDF) forces to coordinate with forces of the Damascus government to confront any possible Turkish incursion and to protect Syrian territories against occupation,” the statement said and added that a “possible Turkish invasion will affect the stability and unity of Syria’s territories.”



The statement did not elaborate on what such a coordination entailed — and whether an alliance with Assad's government in Damascus would translate into joint forces on the ground. Syrian Kurdish officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched three major operations inside Syria, targeting Syria’s main Kurdish militia — the People’s Protection Units or YPG — which Turkey considers to be a terrorist organization and an extension of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The PKK has for decades waged an insurgency within Turkey against the government in Ankara.

The YPG, a backbone of the SDF, has led the fight against the militants of the extremist Islamic State group and has been a proven top U.S. ally in Syria.

TO SERVE & PROTECT WHO

Uvalde Mom Who Saved Her Children Says She's Being Threatened By Law Enforcement

Candace McDuffie
Tue, June 7, 2022

Photo: Aaron M. Sprecher (AP)

The brave Uvalde mom who rescued her two sons from Robb Elementary School during the devastating shooting that killed 19 students and 2 adults is speaking up about being threatened by law enforcement.

Angeli Rose Gomez told CBS News that she was informed that if she continues to talk to media about her fearless actions, she would be charged with a probation violation for obstruction of justice.

Gomez did not identify the member of law enforcement who called her. As soon as she heard that there was an active shooter at Robb Elementary, she drove around “100 miles per hour,” she told CBS News, to save her children.

“Right away, as I parked, a US Marshal started coming toward my car, saying that I wasn’t allowed to be parked there,” she explained. “And he said, ‘Well, we’re gonna have to arrest you because you’re being very uncooperative.’

Gomez then criticized how officers were responding to the situation. “Y’all are standing with snipers and y’all are far away, I got to go in there,” Gomez stated. Shortly after, she was “immediately placed in cuffs.” As soon as the handcuffs were removed, she immediately jumped a fence and sprinted into the school.

Gomez also explained that officers were more aggressive with parents than with the active shooter. Eventually, she received a call from a judge commending her actions, which made her feel more comfortable to speak up about what happened. Gomez became teary-eyed when discussing how the decision police made to stall cost innocent children their lives.

“They could have saved many more lives,” Gómez said. “They could have gone into the classroom, and maybe two or three would have been gone, but they could have saved the whole, more, the whole class. They could have done something — gone through the window, sniped him through the window. Something, but nothing was being done.”

US wins case to seize Russian superyacht in Fiji, sails away

NICK PERRY

Tue, June 7, 2022, 

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The United States won a legal battle on Tuesday to seize a Russian-owned superyacht in Fiji and wasted no time in taking command of the $325 million vessel and sailing it away from the South Pacific nation.

The court ruling represented a significant victory for the U.S. as it encounters obstacles in its attempts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. While those efforts are welcomed by many who oppose the war in Ukraine, some actions have tested the limits of American jurisdiction abroad.

In Fiji, the nation's Supreme Court lifted a stay order which had prevented the U.S. from seizing the superyacht Amadea.

Chief Justice Kamal Kumar ruled that based on the evidence, the chances of defense lawyers mounting an appeal that the top court would hear were “nil to very slim.”

Kumar said he accepted arguments that keeping the superyacht berthed in Fiji at Lautoka harbor was “costing the Fijian government dearly.”

“The fact that U.S. authorities have undertaken to pay costs incurred by the Fijian government is totally irrelevant,” the judge found. He said the Amadea "sailed into Fiji waters without any permit and most probably to evade prosecution by the United States of America.”

The U.S. removed the motorized vessel within an hour or two of the court's ruling, possibly to ensure the yacht didn't get entangled in any further legal action.

A U.S. Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

In early May, the Justice Department issued a statement saying the Amadea had been seized in Fiji, but that turned out to be premature after lawyers appealed.

It wasn’t immediately clear where the U.S. intended to take the Amadea, which the FBI has linked to the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.

Fiji Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde said unresolved questions of money laundering and the ownership of the Amadea need to be decided in the U.S.

“The decision acknowledges Fiji’s commitment to respecting international mutual assistance requests and Fiji’s international obligations," Pryde said.

In court documents, the FBI linked the Amadea to the Kerimov family through their alleged use of code names while aboard and the purchase of items such as a pizza oven and a spa bed. The ship became a target of Task Force KleptoCapture, launched in March to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russia to end the war.

The 106-meter (348-foot) -long vessel, about the length of a football field, features a live lobster tank, a hand-painted piano, a swimming pool and a large helipad.

Lawyer Feizal Haniff, who represented paper owner Millemarin Investments, had argued the owner was another wealthy Russian who, unlike Kerimov, doesn’t face sanctions.

The U.S. acknowledged that paperwork appeared to show Eduard Khudainatov was the owner but said he was also the paper owner of a second and even larger superyacht, the Scheherazade, which has been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. questioned whether Khudainatov could really afford two superyachts worth a total of more than $1 billion.

“The fact that Khudainatov is being held out as the owner of two of the largest superyachts on record, both linked to sanctioned individuals, suggests that Khudainatov is being used as a clean, unsanctioned straw owner to conceal the true beneficial owners,” the FBI wrote in a court affidavit.

Court documents say the Amadea switched off its transponder soon after Russia invaded Ukraine and sailed from the Caribbean through the Panama Canal to Mexico, arriving with over $100,000 in cash. It then sailed thousands of miles (kilometers) across the Pacific Ocean to Fiji.

The Justice Department said it didn’t believe paperwork showing the Amadea was next headed to the Philippines, arguing it was really destined for Vladivostok or elsewhere in Russia.

The department said it found a text message on a crew member’s phone saying, “We’re not going to Russia” followed by a “shush” emoji.

The U.S. said Kerimov secretly bought the Cayman Island-flagged Amadea last year through various shell companies. The FBI said a search warrant in Fiji turned up emails showing that Kerimov’s children were aboard the ship this year and that the crew used code names — G0 for Kerimov, G1 for his wife, G2 for his daughter and so on.

Kerimov made a fortune investing in Russian gold producer Polyus, with Forbes magazine putting his net worth at $14.5 billion. The U.S. first sanctioned him in 2018 after he was detained in France and accused of money laundering there, sometimes arriving with suitcases stuffed with 20 million euros.

Khudainatov is the former chairman and chief executive of Rosneft, the state-controlled Russian oil and gas company.