Singaporean National Sentenced to 14 Months in Prison for Acting in the United States As an Illegal Agent of Chinese Intelligence
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/singaporean-national-sentenced-14-months-prison-acting-united-states-illegal-agent-chinese
Australian Yang Hengjun formally charged with espionage in China after almost two years' detainment
An Australian writer and democracy activist detained in Beijing for almost two years has been formally charged with espionage by Chinese prosecutors, paving the way for him to face trial.
Key points:
Yang Hengjun's lawyer says he was "officially charged on October 7" with "espionage"
The Chinese Government's state security bureau began the process of charging Dr Yang in March
Dr Yang's wife, Yuan Xiaoliang, says she feels helpless after learning of the charge
Yang Hengjun, 55, was arrested in January 2019.
He is a former employee of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs who later gained Australian citizenship and became a prominent writer and outspoken political commentator.
In March 2020, officers from the Chinese Government's state security bureau began the process of charging Dr Yang over an ill-defined espionage allegation, but did not provide any information about what they accused him of doing.
On Friday his lawyer, Shang Baojun, told the ABC Dr Yang had been "officially charged on October 7" with "espionage".
When the ABC sought further details from Mr Shang he said he was "strictly prohibited from being interviewed by the foreign media".
Mr Shang has spoken with foreign media organisations in the past and did not specify who has now prohibited him from giving interviews.
Dr Yang's wife, Yuan Xiaoliang, told the ABC she felt "helpless" after hearing her husband had been charged.
"No-one could help him now, the Australian Government can't help him either, we have to follow China's law," Ms Yuan said.
"He was officially indicted to the court and in accordance with the advice on indictment, the authority listed five crimes, however, due to confidentiality agreement, the lawyer can't reveal any details."
A spy and a democracy pedlar
The uniform, the spy novels and a secret life. The breadcrumbs that suggest Australian citizen Yang Hengjun, detained in China for more than a year, was once a Chinese intelligence officer.
Read more
Ms Yuan said her husband had three points that he expressed to her, the Australian Embassy in Beijing, and lawyers.
"First, he denies everything," she said.
"Second, he believes it is a political persecution, and third, he said that during the six-month-long residence under surveillance, he suffered from mental maltreatment."
Ms Yuan said she asked her husband's lawyer when the trial would be but he did not know.
Dr Yang was only granted access to a lawyer a month ago for the first time since his arrest.
In a message conveyed to his family and supporters at the time, Dr Yang declared "I am innocent and will fight to the end", promising to "do my best", and to "never confess to something I haven't done".
"They can abuse me, I have had no access to legal representation — this is political persecution", the jailed writer said in comments relayed to the ABC from his prison cell.
Also last month, Australian officials made a consular visit to Dr Yang at a detention facility, which was conducted by video link due to COVID-19 access restrictions.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-10/australian-writer-yang-hengjun-charged-with-espionage-china/12750150
Organizers scrap next presidential debate after Trump said he wouldn't agree to virtual format
The Commission on Presidential Debates has canceled the debate planned for next Tuesday, after one day earlier announcing the debate would be virtual, sources tell the Wall Street Journal.
The commission face-off planned between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden to a virtual setting after last Friday the president announced he'd contracted coronavirus.
Trump promptly announced he wouldn't participate in the virtual format, calling it a "waste of time."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/organizers-scrap-next-presidential-debate-after-trump-said-he-wouldnt-agree-to-virtual-format
Executive Office for Immigration Review Announces Investiture of 20 New Immigration Judges, Resulting in a 70 Percent Expansion of the Immigration Judge Corps Since 2017
Immigration Judge Corps at Highest Level in History
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/executive-office-immigration-review-announces-investiture-20-new-immigration-judges-resulting
SYSTEMIC RACISM AT WELLS FARGO AND MICROSOFT:
Here’s a letter the US Labor Department sent to Wells Fargo recently. (I had to screenshot it in parts, which is why it’s broken up here):
The Labor Department sent a similar letter to Microsoft:
www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/systemic-racism-wells-fargo-microsoft/
That’s really gonna kill the Yelp ratings of those companies, right?
I can’t see this being abused at all. t.co/NAzJi5pdP4
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 9, 2020
pjmedia.com/instapundit/405608/
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/systemic-racism-at-wells-fargo-and-microsoft/
>>11004658 Singaporean National Sentenced to 14 Months in Prison for Acting in the United States As an Illegal Agent of Chinese Intelligence
Samuel L. Jackson joins Israeli filmmaker in docuseries on global slave trade
In ‘Enslaved,’ now streaming in the US and from October 11 in the UK, director Simcha Jacobovici gathers an all-star team to delve into the roots of an unmemorialized genocide
NEW YORK — “There are no experts with a bookcase behind them,” Simcha Jacobovici boasts to me from his home in Israel via Zoom. That, in part, is what separates his project from others on this topic.
We’re talking about his six-episode series “Enslaved,” an eye-opening look at the transatlantic slave trade available in the United States on Epix, a service you may have already have with a cable package. (If not, it’s a few bucks via Amazon.) It will also air on the BBC on October 11 and the CBC on October 17. It will then be available all over the world, which is important, because “Enslaved” touches everyone.
“Enslaved” investigates the slave trade from multiple angles — cultural, economic, scientific — and it is treated with the gravity and seriousness it deserves. The series is, however, engaging, energetic and, while I don’t want to say “enjoyable,” I will say watchable. Despite being a demoralizing history lesson of man’s inhumanity to man (you may require an aspirin after), the award-winning filmmaker Jacobovici has taken a novel approach.
Each episode uses as its anchor (!) a different sunken slave ship, each representative of the aspect of the history being explored. A group of marine archaeologists, Diving With A Purpose, makes the frequently dangerous trip to retrieve artifacts, while Jacobovici and his cohorts speak with experts in the field. Also making the journey: none other than Hollywood film star Samuel L. Jackson.
A lot of ground is covered, and the action moves from West Africa to Brazil to the Iberian Peninsula to Bristol, UK. Here, a rather prescient conversation is had about the still ubiquitous presence of slave trader Edward Colston.
Through it all, Jacobovici’s probing cameras continue to dive through this murky history, to which we are all tied whether we want to believe it or not.
More
https://www.timesofisrael.com/samuel-l-jackson-joins-israeli-filmmaker-in-docuseries-on-global-slave-trade/
Just wow, irony overload
>>11004947 Samuel L. Jackson joins Israeli filmmaker for a race baiting bonanza
Former Israeli Naval Commander Believes He Is the Messiah