Former Sydney teacher charged with 90 sexual assault offences

A former teacher has been charged with 90 offences over the alleged historic sexual abuse of more than a dozen young students at a Sydney school over three decades.

The teacher is accused of sexually abusing 14 boys while working at a school in Earlwood over the course of three decades between 1978 and 1994.

Investigations into the teacher began four years ago in 2017 when allegations were made about sexual and physical abuse by the former teacher.

Police yesterday executed a search warrant at a home at Yowie Bay about 8am yesterday and arrested a 64-year-old man.

He was charged with a total of 90 offences, including multiple counts of each sex assault (indecent assault) of a person under 16 and under authority, indecent assault on male, indecent act with male, incite aggravated indecency-victim under 16 and under authority, solicit male or incite male to commit indecent act, attempt to solicit or incite male to commit indecent act and common assault.

The victims were aged between seven and eight at the time of the alleged offences.

The man has been refused bail and is due to appear before the court today.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-teacher-charged-90-sexual-assault-offences-again-14-boys-earlwood/15bb8fdf-2ad8-4564-8472-fc302ae738c2

320 of the UK’s most dangerous child sex offenders among 4,760 arrested since first coronavirus lockdown

UK law enforcement reveals results of enhanced response to child sexual abuse

The National Crime Agency and police forces have arrested 320 people and safeguarded over 400 children as part of an operation targeting the UK’s most dangerous child sex offenders.

The operation formed part of an enhanced UK law enforcement response to online child sexual abuse (CSA) since the first coronavirus lockdown, which led to 4,760 arrests and 6,500 children being safeguarded between April and September.

The figures are being released today as the Home Office publishes the first ever Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy.

The strategy recognises the evolving scale, severity and complexity of this threat and outlines the whole-system response required to tackle it.

Last year the NCA assessed there were at least 300,000 individuals posing a sexual threat to children in the UK, and warned of a spike in online CSA offending during the pandemic.

Rob Jones, NCA Director of Threat Leadership, said:

“The NCA welcomes this strategy at a time when the threat to children is more severe than it has ever been. It is vital that every part of the public and private sector recognises it has a part to play in tackling it.

“As part of the whole system approach, the NCA is focusing on the most dangerous offenders. Many feel they can operate with impunity online – using anonymisation techniques, secure accounts and the dark web – but as we have shown with this operation they are wrong and we have the capabilities to track them down.

“We have also provided hundreds of leads to police forces, and out of the 320 arrested, 122 were targeted by NCA officers. Seventeen were in positions of trust, including a volunteer with the Scouts, church youth group leaders, a social worker, primary school and college teachers, a hospital care assistant, a police officer, and a civil servant.

“In addition to operational activity against high harm offenders, the NCA also manages a huge number of referrals of child sexual abuse material from the tech industry. In 2020 alone, there were more than 84,000 referrals which resulted in over 16,500 actionable cases being developed and sent to police forces.

“These are not just images or videos being viewed online. What we are uncovering here is evidence of the horrific, real-world sexual abuse of children. It’s really important that connection is not lost or diluted.”

One of the 122 high-harm offenders investigated by the NCA included the deputy head of a primary school in Middlesbrough, who admitted watching videos of children being raped on the dark web. Following his arrest, indecent images and 87 category A videos of child abuse were recovered on his laptop. He told officers he had used TOR software in an attempt to make himself anonymous online. He was sentenced in September 2020.

In November last year, the NCA received a referral relating to over 1,000 indecent images, including images of babies. Intelligence work identified that a vicar was linked to the images and the case was urgently sent to the local force. The suspect was arrested and the young children he was due to adopt were safeguarded.

In another case disseminated by the agency, the investigating force arrested two men and found more than 4,000 indecent images on their devices. This included images of contact abuse they had committed at their home address. They were sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison in October, and their victims were safeguarded.

National Police Chiefs' Council lead for child protection, Chief Constable Simon Bailey, said:

"We welcome this strategy and look forward to building on the work already being carried out by police and partner agencies on a daily basis.

https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/320-of-the-uk-s-most-dangerous-child-sex-offenders-among-4-760-arrested-since-first-coronavirus-lockdown

D.C. Mayor Bowser: Dem-Led House, Senate Will Pass D.C. Statehood, Bring It to Biden’s Desk

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told “Just the News” on Friday that the Democratic-led Senate and House will vote in favor of statehood for the District of Columbia and send the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk, who has expressed support for D.C. statehood in the past.

Bowser said, “The nation’s capital, the federal enclave, continues to exist as the nation’s capital and everything outside of those new boundaries becomes the 51st state. Our congresswoman – we had our first successful vote on statehood in the House of Representatives last year. She reintroduced the bill. She has a record number of sponsors.”

She continued, “It is going to be reintroduced in the Senate in a couple of weeks, and we expect to have a favorable vote in the Senate as well, and then it goes to the president of the United States. We have made a big focus to President Biden to support D.C. statehood and make it part of his 100-day agenda.”

She added, “Just like you, we pay the same federal taxes as every citizen of the fifty states of the U.S. expect we do not have two senators. We literally have no one to speak for us in the Senate. We have to have full representation.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/01/22/d-c-mayor-bowser-dem-led-house-senate-will-pass-d-c-statehood-bring-it-to-bidens-desk/

Biden Administration Officials Go Maskless During White House Press Briefing

White House press secretary Jen Psaki and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese both spoke without masks during Friday afternoon’s press briefing as members of President Joe Biden’s administration, and Biden himself, continue to appear to violate his executive order which largely requires face coverings on federal property.

Both Pskai and Deese spoke from the podium without masks on, just two days after Biden signed an executive order requiring “heads of executive departments and agencies” to take immediate action and “require compliance with CDC guidelines with respect to wearing masks,” as well as other public health measures, on federal property.

The executive order states that heads of agencies “may make categorical or case-by-case exceptions” but should require “additional physical distancing measures, additional testing, or reconfiguration of workspace, consistent with applicable law.”

Per the order, heads of agencies must document all exceptions in writing:

Tune in for a briefing with Press Secretary Jen Psaki and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. https://t.co/6PGCAIt0C8

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 22, 2021

“It’s requiring as I’ve said all along, wherever I have authority, mandating that masks be worn and social distancing be kept on federal property, on interstate commerce, et cetera,” Biden said from the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Biden seemed to violate his own order, appearing at the Lincoln Memorial and posing for a photo op alongside his family members, many of whom are not members of his immediate household:

Does Joe Biden’s new executive order mandating masks on federal property not apply to Joe Biden while he’s on federal property?

Because here he is at the Lincoln Memorial with no mask just hours after signing it.

pic.twitter.com/NpGcKyMriA

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 21, 2021

I love how they took a picture with their masks on and off as if that would be any better pic.twitter.com/RfAak5wQRI

— Caleb Hull (I'm With the CCP Don't Ban Me) (@CalebJHull) January 22, 2021

Biden violated his own order yet again Thursday, speaking from the State Dining room without a mask and coughing into his hand during his address:

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/01/22/biden-administration-officials-go-maskless-during-white-house-press-briefing/

Gangster Disciples Leaders Sentenced to Prison

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/gangster-disciples-leaders-sentenced-prison

Israeli Diamond-Mining Mogul Gets Five Years in Prison Over Corruption in Guinea

The case focused on suspected payouts of millions to late Guinean President Lansana Conte's former wife, revealing the shady and complicated world of deal-making and cutthroat rivalry in the lucrative mining industry.

A court in Geneva convicted Israeli diamond and mineral magnate Beny Steinmetz on Friday on charges of abuse of foreign agents and falsification of records in a trial in Guinea over an attempt to extract luxurious iron ore resources, sentencing him to a five-year term in prison, the Times of Israel reported Friday.

64-year-old Steinmetz, who is considered one of Israel's wealthiest citizens, was also ordered to pay a $56 million fine in Swiss francs to the state of Geneva. Marc Bonnant, his defense counsel, said he would appeal Saturday's court decision.

Steinmetz, who holds both French and Israeli citizenship, listened and jotted down notes as the judge, Alexandra Banna, read the details of the case and the decision for two hours, according to the report.

"It is clear from what has been presented… that the rights were obtained through corruption and that Steinmetz cooperated with others" to obtain them, said Banna, as she sentenced Steinmetz “to a deprivation of liberty for five years”, in accordance with the prosecutors’ application.

The Israeli businessman reportedly denied the charges, calling the verdict a "big injustice".

The case, according to the report, dating to the mid-2000s, involved the BSGR Party of Steinmetz pushing out a competitor in Guinea's southeastern Simandou region for mining rights for large iron ore deposits. According to the Swiss prosecution, Steinmetz and two partners bribed the wife of former Guinean President Conte and others in order to gain those mining rights. Shortly before Conte died in 2008, Steinmetz secured the rights after around $10 million was paid in bribes over a number of years, some via Swiss bank accounts.

Conte's government reportedly forced the global mining company Rio Tinto to give up two concessions to BSGR in 2008 for around $170 million, and just 18 months later, BSGR sold 51% share of the purchase to Brazilian mining giant Vale for approximately $2.5 billion.

The judge ruled that Steinmetz was the primary beneficiary of the crime, adding that "the court does not consider any mitigating circumstances". Steinmetz's associates reportedly received lesser sentences.

Samsung working conditions compared to medieval by new research by ITUC.

© Flickr / Jamie McCall

Samsung Chief Reportedly Sentenced to 2.5 Years in Jail Over Corruption Scandal

The case concluded an international, long-lasting investigation that started in 2013 in Switzerland. That year, Guinea's first freely elected president, Alpha Conde, initiated a review of Conte's permits and subsequently stripped the BSGR and Vale-formed VBG consortium of its permits.

Prosecutors alleged that Steinmetz and representatives in Guinea entered into a "pact of corruption" with Conte and his fourth wife, Mamadie Toure, to secure the initial contract.

As a state witness, Toure, who has confessed to having earned fees, has protected status in the United States. She and a number of other primary witnesses did not testify in the case. Steinmetz insisted Toure "told a lot of lies", claiming she wasn't even the wife of the late Conte.

https://sputniknews.com/business/202101231081854587-israeli-diamond-mining-mogul-gets-five-years-in-prison-over-corruption-in-guinea/

Congress approves waiver for Biden’s pick for defense secretary

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon took a major step toward confirmation Thursday, after House and Senate lawmakers voted to waive a law blocking the recently retired general from assuming the post.

That means Lloyd Austin, the former Army four-star general and head of U.S. Central Command, could be confirmed as the military’s new leader and the first Black defense secretary as early as Friday. A Senate confirmation vote was set for 10:30 a.m.

The House first voted on a bipartisan basis, 326-78 to waive the seven-year cooling-off period for Austin, who retired in 2016, to serve in the top Pentagon job. The Senate, where the waiver needed 60 votes to pass, approved it soon after with a bipartisan tally of 69-27.

Congress waived the same law for retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis four years ago, and he was confirmed on Inauguration Day. But in recent days, some Democrats and Republicans have opposed granting another waiver so soon, saying it undermines the principle of civilian control of the military.

Since House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., voiced similar concerns, he came out forcefully in favor of Austin’s qualifications. On Thursday, he said national security requires Biden to have his defense secretary and the Pentagon to have stability after four years of churn at the top.

“The disruption President Trump brought to the Pentagon cannot be underestimated. They need a fully confirmed secretary of defense, immediately, to begin to thoroughly clean up that mess and get the Pentagon back to being as effective as it needs to be,” Smith said of the Pentagon’s workforce.

“We have a complex threat environment, let’s just say that. We heard, in the committee today, about China and Russia and Iran, the Middle East, North Korea, not to mention the domestic insurrection that we all witnessed here just a couple of weeks ago. There is an urgency to this.”

https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2021/01/21/congress-oks-waiver-for-biden-defense-secretary-pick-lloyd-austin/

Scientists Create First Ever Living, Programmable Organism

A remarkable combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and biology has produced the world’s first “living robots”.

This week, a research team of roboticists and scientists published their recipe for making a new lifeform called xenobots from stem cells. The term “xeno” comes from the frog cells (Xenopus laevis) used to make them.

One of the researchers described the creation as “neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal”, but a “new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism”.

Xenobots are less than 1mm long and made of 500-1000 living cells. They have various simple shapes, including some with squat “legs”. They can propel themselves in linear or circular directions, join together to act collectively, and move small objects. Using their own cellular energy, they can live up to 10 days.

While these “reconfigurable biomachines” could vastly improve human, animal, and environmental health, they raise legal and ethical concerns.

Strange new ‘creature’

To make xenobots, the research team used a supercomputer to test thousands of random designs of simple living things that could perform certain tasks.

The computer was programmed with an AI “evolutionary algorithm” to predict which organisms would likely display useful tasks, such as moving towards a target.

After the selection of the most promising designs, the scientists attempted to replicate the virtual models with frog skin or heart cells, which were manually joined using microsurgery tools. The heart cells in these bespoke assemblies contract and relax, giving the organisms motion.

The creation of xenobots is groundbreaking.

Despite being described as “programmable living robots”, they are actually completely organic and made of living tissue. The term “robot” has been used because xenobots can be configured into different forms and shapes, and “programmed” to target certain objects—which they then unwittingly seek.

They can also repair themselves after being damaged.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2021/01/not-bot-not-beast-scientists-create-first-ever-living-programmable-organism.html

>>12676065

>>12675817 Former Sydney teacher charged with 90 child sexual assault offences

Taiwanese Foreign Minister warns China is 'forcing itself' into the Pacific during visit to Palau

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu has said the international community now understands "what China is about", and that more countries are questioning Beijing's activities in the Pacific Island region.

Key points:

Palau is one of just four Pacific countries that maintain ties with Taiwan

Mr Wu urged Australia and other democracies to fight China's expansionism

Palau and Taiwan have announced plans to create a COVID-safe travel bubble

Speaking to reporters in Palau, where he was attending the inauguration of the island nation's new President Surangel Whipps Jr., Mr Wu accused China of "forcing itself into the Pacific".

"There's already a very clear awareness of what China is about … China's way of forcing itself into the Pacific is going to cause strategic problems," he said.

Palau is one of a dwindling number of Pacific countries that maintains diplomatic relationships with Taiwan, with Kiribati and Solomon Islands switching allegiances from Taiwan to China in 2019.

Both those countries were reportedly offered large sums in foreign aid by China before making the switch.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu ( left) in Palau for the inauguration of the new government. #palautaiwan #TaiwanCanHelp pic.twitter.com/oEjKDLLPW7

— bernadette carreon (@carreondet) January 21, 2021

Mr Wu said Beijing's One Belt, One Road initiative, the signature foreign policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping which aims to build infrastructure in developing nations through cheap loans from Chinese banks, was creating a "debt trap" for developing countries.

"China's One Belt, One Road initiative has been moving all the way into the Pacific," Mr Wu said.

"What it does is lead China's very strong political influence, at the same time as leaving many countries in this region in a very serious debt trap."

Several Pacific nations — including Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu — are believed to be some of the most heavily indebted countries in the world to China.

Both Canberra and Washington have voiced concerns about the level of Chinese loans in the region, fearing it would allow Beijing greater control over the Pacific's assets.

Palau's new President warns of 'foreign aggressors'

Mr Wu's comments echoed those of Mr Whipps, who in a speech following his swearing-in, warned of "foreign aggressors".

Close observers said the comment was directed at China.

While most of his speech was in Palauan, the new President briefly broke into English in a clear message for those listening overseas.

He thanked partners like Australia, the United States, Japan and Taiwan for assisting Palau with its COVID-19 response and development, and said those countries "helped us be protected from our foreign aggressors and help combat climate change".

Palau is considered COVID-free, and thanks to its close relationship with the United States, is poised to become one of the world's first countries to be mostly vaccinated against the coronavirus.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-23/taiwanese-foreign-minister-joseph-wu-visits-palau-china/13084556

Generals Tell Trump, “We Got Your Back!”

In his first 48 hours in office, President Biden eviscerated many of Trump’s noted accomplishments: He suspended construction on the border wall; he rejoined the Paris Accords; he signed executive orders mandating that law-abiding American citizens wear potentially dangerous facemasks while on federal property and on public transportation. And, among other things, he slashed America’s defense budget, which will likely cripple the nation’s defense readiness status.

And military generals are fuming mad.

Two—US Army General James Dickenson, Commander, US Space Force, and Air Force General Glen VanHerck, Commander of NORAD—contacted Biden on Thursday to question his motives for drastically slashing their budgets.

A military source speaking under promise of anonymity told Real Raw News that Biden scolded the generals for challenging his authority.

“Give me a break. I’m president now and I make the decisions, not Trump. Get on board or get fired,” Biden reportedly said to General Dickenson. “The Space Force is going away. If you want to go away, too, just say the word.”

Biden also reproached General VanHerck, saying cash Trump had slated for the nation’s strategic nuclear arsenal would now go toward funding FEMA and expanding the national domestic terrorist watchlist. VanHerck received the same ultimatum—fall in line or fall out.

Biden was so enraged at the generals’ attitudes that he instructed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to admonish top military brass from expressing loyalty and obedience for Donald Trump. Any officer caught swearing fealty to Trump would be summarily fired and possibly indicted on charges of treason, Biden warned Gen. Milley.

Precedent for such fiendish house cleaning was set by Barack Hussein Obama, who fired 197 generals and admirals—including 40 in a single vindictive day—during his eight years in office. He replaced them with officers who pledged allegiance to the United Nations.

“Biden’s been in office only two days and already he’s trying to get going where Obama left off. Make no mistake about it—Obama is back, and he’s behind the scenes, pulling the strings. It wouldn’t surprise me if he asked Biden to make that call to Gen. Milley. That call floated all the way down some ethereal echelon and pissed off a lot of high-ranking officers. Dickenson and VanHerck got dressed down twice, first by Biden, then Milley. For Dickenson that was all it took,” our source said.

https://realrawnews.com/2021/01/generals-tell-trump-we-got-your-back/