Uganda accuses World Bank of coercion over anti-gay law

The institution underestimates Africa and the continent should be allowed solve its own problems, President Yoweri Museveni has said

The World Bank is attempting to force Uganda into abandoning its principles and sovereignty, the country’s president, Yoweri Museveni, has claimed.

Museveni’s comments follow the World Bank’s announcement on Tuesday that it will not approve new loans for Kampala, in response to an anti-gay law introduced in the country in May.

The institution claimed that the legislation, which imposes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts and a 20-year prison sentence for promoting homosexuality, contradicted its values.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ugandan leader called the bank’s decision “unfortunate” but vowed that his country would “develop with or without loans.”

“They really underestimate all Africans. We do not need pressure from anybody to know how to solve problems in our society. They are our problems,” he stated.

Museveni’s government has been widely condemned since the Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed, with growing demands for sanctions against state officials from human rights groups and activists.

Activists argue that the new law legalizes “homophobia and transphobia,” while the government claims it is necessary to preserve cultural values and prevent “disoriented” LGBTQ people from recruiting others.

The World Bank is the latest entity to sanction the East African country, following the US government’s imposition of visa restrictions on sponsors of the anti-gay law in June and the threat of further action against officials responsible for human rights violations.

Earlier this week, the bank concluded that no new public financing for Kampala will be approved until the efficacy of additional anti-discrimination measures in projects it funds is tested.

Uganda and the bank are continuing talks to “avoid this diversion if possible,” President Museveni said on Wednesday.

https://www.rt.com/africa/581095-uganda-world-bank-coercion-accusation/

Texas Troopers Find 10 Migrant Children Abandoned by Smugglers near Border

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers found a group of ten migrant children abandoned by human smugglers near the border with Mexico. The children ranged in age from ten to 16 years.

DPS spokesman, Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, tweeted a photo of a group of migrant children found near the border with Mexico. The children had been abandoned near Sullivan City, Texas, after human smugglers moved them across the Rio Grande.

Olivarez reported the smugglers guided the group across the Rio Grande on a raft and then returned to Mexico. The troopers, assigned to Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star turned the ten children, ages ten to 16, over to Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents.

Earlier this week, CBS Austin reported that Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX) called upon the Biden administration to “end all cooperation” between the Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Border Patrol agents. It is unclear what would happen to migrant children abandoned in 100+ degree heat along the Texas border under Castro’s proposal.

“I’m calling on the Biden administration to end all cooperation between U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Public Safety,” Castro said during a press conference following a tour of the border near Eagle Pass, Texas on Tuesday.

Castro was on the border to get a briefing from Texas DPS officials regarding the floating border barriers put in place by Governor Abbott last month. During his visit, the Texas Democrat decried the State’s use of “razor wire” along the border to deter migrant crossings. He made no mention of the same type of wire being used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry, Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark reported.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/08/10/texas-troopers-find-10-migrant-children-abandoned-by-smugglers-near-border/

Biden to ask Congress for more Ukraine money – Bloomberg

The US president is reportedly seeking at least $25 billion in additional funding

US President Joe Biden is seeking significant additional funding from Congress, including for Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The president reportedly intends to ask for at least $25 billion from legislators.

The request for supplemental funding is said to include around $12 billion for disaster relief, as well as $13 billion for defense funds. The latter package will reportedly involve more funds to prop up Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. However, it was not immediately clear how much would specifically be allocated for Kiev.

The Biden administration has thus far provided around $100 billion in funding for Ukraine during the conflict with Russia. Congress passed the latest and by far the largest package of $45 billion in December.

The ballooning costs of supporting Ukraine have seen growing opposition among Republicans, with repeated calls for better oversight of spending. In June, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed to block any bill that would undercut new caps on US spending, and warned that any request to allocate more funds for Ukraine would be carefully scrutinized.

“You don’t get to just throw money and say somebody needs money. What about the money we have already spent? What is the money for and what is victory?” McCarthy asked.

Reports of an impending request for more Ukraine aid follow a damning poll commissioned by CNN and published last week, which showed that the majority of Americans believe Congress should not authorize additional funding for Kiev.

The White House has attempted to downplay the results of the survey, insisting that American backing for Ukraine remains as “solid” as ever. Enduring support is “not just important to the people of Ukraine, but it’s important to our European allies and partners, particularly our NATO allies, given that this fighting is on the on the doorstep of many of those NATO allies,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.

“We have we have seen throughout this war solid support from the American people, solid support from the Congress in a bipartisan and bicameral way for continuing to support Ukraine, and we’re going to stay focused on that,” Kirby added.

https://www.rt.com/news/581101-biden-congress-ukraine-aid/

Niger: Coup Leaders Reject U.N. Mission, Accuse France of Freeing Terrorists on Purpose

The leaders of the “National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland,” a group of soldiers who staged a coup in Niger on July 26, failed to allow diplomats representing the United Nations and African Union from entering the country on Tuesday, claiming public “anger” made it unsafe for them to land.

The Council — led by the former head of the presidential guard, General Abdourahamane Tchiani — seized power via a nationally televised address in late July, ousting democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum. The coup plotters are currently keeping Bazoum under house arrest at the presidential estate in Niamey, the national capital, and have allowed him to maintain communications with the outside world, including holding conversations with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and publishing an opinion article in the Washington Post demanding international intervention. The group has rejected restoring Bazoum to power, however, accusing him of squandering international aid, including from the United States, meant to fight radical jihadist terrorist groups.

Tchiani’s group claims it will prioritize stabilizing the country and eliminating jihadist threats. It issued a formal statement on Wednesday accusing France, Niger’s former colonial ruler, of attempting to hurt the military junta by deliberately freeing terrorist leaders from their military facilities and violating Nigerien airspace.

Coup leaders shut down the entirety of Niger’s airspace on Sunday in response to threats from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that it would consider force to restore Bazoum’s government.

ECOWAS, led by Nigeria, issued a statement initially in response to the coup demanding that Tchiani vacate power by August 6 or face a string of sanctions and the potential “use of force.” The threat of invasion prompted the governments of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, which also recently fell to military coups, to declare that they would consider any military action against the Niger coup leaders a “declaration of war” against themselves, creating the possibility for a world war.

The ultimatum came and went without the promised “use of force.” The president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu – who also serves as the chief of ECOWAS – called for an emergency meeting to address the future of the Niger coup scheduled for Thursday.

In the meantime, ECOWAS organized a diplomatic delegation along with representatives of the African Union and the U.N., which planned to land in Niamey on Tuesday. The coup leaders refused to allow the diplomats entry into the country. According to the local outlet aNiamey, the coup government issued a statement claiming, “the current context of people’s anger and revolt following sanctions imposed by ECOWAS does not allow us to welcome the so-called delegation with the required serenity and safety.”

In addition to the threat of the use of force, ECOWAS announced a series of sanctions on the Nigerien economy, including cutting off business with the coup government and freezing critical assets. On Tuesday, Tinubu announced expanded sanctions including Nigeria ceasing to provide Niger with 150 megawatts of electricity a day, as it had previously done, and unspecified financial sanctions on individuals involved in the coup.

The coup’s Foreign Affairs Ministry nonetheless claimed to be interested in “discussions with delegations or emissaries concerning the situation in Niger,” suggesting it may be open to a similar delegation in the future.

ECOWAS had already sent diplomats to Niamey on August 4, but they departed the country with no significant progress made between the coalition and the coup plotters. Niger is a formal member of ECOWAS, though no longer enjoying a democratically elected government may result in its suspension from the bloc.

https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2023/08/09/niger-coup-leaders-reject-u-n-mission-accuse-france-of-freeing-terrorists-on-purpose/

All-Africa war possible – ex-presidential aide

ECOWAS intervention in Niger risks a continental conflict, the ousted leader’s adviser has warned

A military intervention in Niger could set off a broader war, Antinekar al-Hassan, a political adviser to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

“I don’t think ECOWAS will make the mistake of intervening militarily in Niger, because if they intervene militarily, that means all of Africa will be at war,” al-Hassan said.

Bazoum was arrested on July 26 by a group of Nigerien military officers led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has threatened to deploy troops unless he is restored to power, but their ultimatum to Niamey expired on Sunday.

In the meantime, the bloc has closed borders and stopped all trade and transactions with Niger. Al-Hassan said he was against these sanctions, calling them “illegal and illegitimate.”

“We’re against the sanctions. They will hurt the people of Niger, not the junta,” he said.

The new military government has refused any talks with the ousted president, who has no intent of stepping down, according to al-Hassan. “He did not sign anything and is not preparing to resign. He would rather die than resign,” al-Hassan said.

In an op-ed supposedly written from prison and published in the Washington Post on August 4, Bazoum appealed to the “US government and the entire international community to help us restore our constitutional order.”

ECOWAS military chiefs reportedly finalized their war plans last Friday, but noted the actual intervention requires a political decision by the bloc’s governments. Chad and Guinea have opposed both sanctions and intervention in Niger, while Burkina Faso and Mali said they would regard any military move against Niamey as a declaration of war against both of them as well.

According to the French broadcaster RFI, which was banned in Niger, ECOWAS was mustering a force of about 25,000 troops, most of them from neighboring Nigeria.

The new military government in Niamey accused France on Wednesday of setting free terrorists so they could attack a military camp in Niger, and of violating the country’s airspace as part of a campaign of destabilization.

Paris denied that any terrorists were set free, or that any attack took place, and insisted the French aircraft were operating in Nigerien airspace under a military pact with Bazoum’s government. France refused to recognize the generals’ repudiation of the deal last week, and vowed to keep around 1,500 troops in the Sahel country.

https://www.rt.com/africa/581068-niger-ecowas-war-adviser/

WWIII Watch: Poland to Deploy 10,000 to Border As Tensions Mount With Belarus

Poland’s defence minister says the country is going to considerably grow its deployment to its eastern border, where NATO meets Moscow satellite state Belarus, with 10,000 troops to be stationed.

Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Thursday Poland was making a bigger deployment of men to its border, which he said would amount to 10,000 in all: 4,000 actually at the border supporting the Border Guard and a further 6,000 in the second line. The purpose of moving more men closer to the frontier was, Blaszczak said per Reuter’s report: “We move the army closer to the border with Belarus to scare away the aggressor so that it does not dare to attack us”.

The announcement came after an announcement by the Polish government on Wednesday that it was sending up another 2,000 troops to the border.

While tensions rose over Russia’s re-invasion of Ukraine last year and a period of intensive asymmetric warfare against Poland and the European Union by Belarus at the border the year before that, in fact the recent deployments have been in response to Russia’s mutinous Wagner mercenaries being exiled to Belarus this year. This move has been followed by a series of Belarussian military training exercises coming right up to the Polish border, including an incident where two military helicopters are said to have crossed into Polish, and therefore NATO airspace.

One of the responses to that incursion was Poland sending more of its own combat helicopters to the border. This has come with consequences of its own, with Poland announcing that a detonator from one of the helicopter-carried missiles appeared to have fallen off during a “combat flight” patrol. Poland says it is searching for the detonator, but insists there is no risk to the public and the helicopter did not overfly built-up areas, reports the Associated Press.

Belarus has taunted Poland over the presence of the battle-hardened Wagner mercenaries in the country, with President Lukashenko making pretence he was having to hold them back from invading Poland on their own initiative. In July, Berlarus’s president said the killers for hire wanted to “go on tour” to Warsaw.

Minsk has denied any wrongdoing and insists it is Poland, Latvia, and NATO who are cranking up the tension in the region. Russian state media cites the comments of Belarussian commission deputy chair Tengiz Dumbadze who said yesterday: “Latvia and Poland are bringing themselves to the abyss we are seeing a build-up of forces along our borders, which is particularly evident in Poland, whose rapid reaction brigades are already 40 kilometers from the border. This shows that [Warsaw] is not adopting a defensive posture but rather is pursuing an offensive stance.”

Belarus insisted it represented no “threat to anyone”, a position clearly at odds with the feeling of some. Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last week: “Russia and Belarus are increasing the pressure on the borders, increasing the number of their provocations, and we must be aware that the number of these provocations will grow”.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/08/10/wwiii-watch-poland-to-deploy-10000-to-border-as-tensions-mount-with-belarus/

Self-reinforcing propaganda: A new poll shows people dislike China, but there’s a catch

Anti-Beijing pundits see no irony in the fact that their cartoonish views have actually rubbed off on the public

A survey published in late July by the Pew Research Center showed that public opinion toward China has reached record lows in 24 countries, most prominently in high-income nations.

According to the views gathered from 27,000 adults, 67% of respondents have unfavorable views of the Asian country, while only 28% have favorable opinions. China observers in the West are blaming Beijing’s perceived threat and so-called ‘wolf warrior diplomacy’, but these takes are painfully ironic.

For example, Isaac Stone Fish, the CEO of Strategy Risks, Barron’s columnist, CBS News contributor, and visiting fellow at the Atlantic Council, said that “like it or not, support it or hate it, this [China being the biggest threat to the US] is our reality,” and that decision-makers need to “understand and discuss this.”

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific Program, noted that the results of the survey “should be a wake up call for [Chinese President] Xi Jinping.” And Tony Nash, founder of the AI firm Complete Intelligence, added, “Wolf Warrior diplomacy is working, but not for China.”

US state-run media agency Voice of America (VOA) published a story by Taiwan-based freelance reporter William Yang which speculated that these numbers were “caused by the public’s perception of China as a threat to their economic interests and governance system, as well as the deteriorating human rights situation in China since Xi Jinping came to power.” The headline of this piece also describes Pew’s report as a “global survey,” which is inaccurate.

That last point is the most obvious criticism of the Pew report. The agency polled adults in 24 countries; there are 193 United Nations member states, which indicates that it does not show any serious global trend purely based on its methodology. There is also a strong selection bias for high-income countries and American allies. However, some middle-income and poorer countries were polled and the data reveals what many know to be true – the Global South largely has favorable views of China.

https://www.rt.com/news/581076-china-negative-opinions-survey/

Anti-China Presidential Candidate Shot Dead in Ecuador

Unknown gunmen killed presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio – running on a strong-on-crime, anti-corruption, anti-China platform – on Wednesday night before a massive crowd outside of a campaign event in Quito, Ecuador.

Villavicencio was one of eight candidates vying for the presidency of Ecuador. The election remains scheduled to take place on August 20, the result of current President Guillermo Lasso, a conservative, using a constitutional provision to dissolve the National Assembly (the federal legislature) in May and call for general elections. Lasso claimed the unprecedented measure was necessary because leftist lawmakers’ incessant attempts to impeach him had made the regular business of government impossible. Lasso is not one of the eight candidates on the ballot.

The Ecuadorian presidential race was already heavily contested; most recent polls show no clear winner. A recent poll by the firm Click Research found that more than 40 percent of Ecuadorians were undecided on their candidates and no candidate surpassed 25 percent support. Voting is mandatory for all Ecuadorian citizens over the age of 18.

Villavicencio was running a campaign heavily centered on combatting organized crime, eliminating political corruption, and limiting the influence of China on the South American country. Among his promised first actions in office was the construction of a giant high-security prison for the upper ranks of Ecuador’s most prolific drug trafficking and other criminal gangs. He had recently accused a “capo” of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel of threatening to kill him.

Prior to his candidacy, Villavicencio had worked as a journalist, exposing socialist former President Rafael Correa’s corruption and accusing him of engaging in shady oil deals with China that hurt the Ecuadorian economy. Correa sentenced Villavicencio to 18 months in prison for insulting him in 2014, which Villavicencio avoided by living with an indigenous Amazonian tribe. He later faced a similar house arrest sentence in 2017 in which he had to wear an anklet, which he derisively referred to as the “Chinese shackle” in reference to Beijing’s investments in Correa’s repressive government.

Correa, currently in exile in Belgium due to criminal charges against him, had threatened Villavicencio as recently as this November, calling him a “shameless coward” on social media and warning, “Your party will be over soon”:

Villavicencio was walking out of a campaign event in Quito on Wednesday evening when a flurry of gunfire, caught on video, ended his life. Villavicencio reportedly received three fatal shots to the head. The Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio reported on Thursday that at least nine other people were injured during the assassination, and one more person, believed to be one of the attackers, was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Villavicencio’s security detail.

Neither the injured nor the assailant were identified by name in Ecuadorian media, but most of the injured are believed to be campaign staffers who were walking alongside the candidate towards his vehicle during the attack. At least two of the injured are police officers, and one was identified as a candidate for Ecuador’s National Assembly.

As journalists were covering the campaign event, the dramatic shootout was caught on video. Graphic images of Villavicencio’s last moments show a hail of gunfire and his vehicle’s windows shot out.

https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2023/08/10/anti-china-presidential-candidate-shot-dead-ecuador/

NATO state to place 10,000 troops on Russian ally's border – minister

Poland is moving its army forces to scare Belarus, defense chief Mariusz Blaszczak has said

Poland is set to deploy thousands of additional troops to its border with Belarus amid heightened tensions in the region, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Thursday.

Speaking to national public broadcaster Polskie Radio, Blaszczak stated that “we are moving the army closer to the border with Belarus” in order to “scare the aggressor so that he does not dare to attack us.” The minister added that security in the region would be underpinned by 10,000 soldiers, with 4,000 assigned to directly support the Border Guard, and another 6,000 held in reserve.

The official’s remarks come shortly after the Polish Defense Ministry approved a request by border officials to send in an additional 1,000 soldiers to the area. Later, the Polish authorities changed their mind, deciding to increase the number to 2,000.

Blaszczak also lashed out at Minsk, repeating accusations that two Belarusian helicopters violated Polish airspace last week, calling the alleged incident “another provocation.” Minsk has denied the accusations, saying it had provided Warsaw with “detailed data” on the matter.

“Everything that is happening in Belarus is coordinated with the actions of Russia,” Blaszczak stated, without providing any evidence.

In recent weeks, Polish officials have also sounded the alarm over alleged attempts by migrants to illegally cross the Belarusian border, as well as alleged efforts by operatives working for the Russian defense contractor Wagner Group to infiltrate the country.

Numerous Wagner fighters moved to Belarus after a short-lived mutiny attempt in Russia, with some of them now involved in the training of Minsk’s troops.

Blaszczak’s comments also come after Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced on Wednesday that Moscow would bolster its troops on its western borders amid a stand-off over the Ukraine conflict. In his speech, he described Poland as a “key instrument of anti-Russia policies of the US.” He also claimed that Warsaw is actively trying to build up “the most powerful army” in Europe, which, according to Polish officials, now numbers around 170,000 service members.

https://www.rt.com/news/581096-poland-army-belarus-border/

Türkiye’s ex-top spy admits role in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

The previous head of the country’s intelligence service has indicated his agency lost members in the Karabakh war

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who previously headed the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) for 13 years, has suggested that Ankara played a direct role in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020.

Before a meeting of Türkiye’s National Security Council (MGK), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan awarded Fidan with a medal for distinguished service for his work as deputy undersecretary and president of MIT.

Upon receiving the award, Fidan stated that “I am receiving this medal on behalf of my friends, who were martyred in Libya, Karabakh, Syria, and Iraq to carry out your orders while serving with me.”

Fidan’s statement suggested Türkiye had been involved in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, which cost thousands of servicemen and over a hundred civilians their lives.

Suspicions of Ankara’s role in the Second Karabakh War stretch back to 2020, when a number of reports, as well as several US and French officials, implied Türkiye had helped Azerbaijan prepare and instigate the conflict. Citing military and diplomatic sources, the Kommersant newspaper alleged that Ankara had helped Baku by supplying it with weapons and had even sent in fighters from Syria and Libya.

Officially, the relationship between Ankara and Baku was limited to political support, as well as occasional joint military exercises. However, Kommersant’s report claims that only one month before the hostilities in Karabakh broke out, Türkiye had deployed a large contingent of its forces to Azerbaijan, who ended up playing a key role in coordinating and planning offensive operations against Armenian positions in the region.

The Karabakh war officially ended after Russia brokered a ceasefire between the two sides and sent in peacekeepers along the contact line to help maintain it. Since then, Ankara has also said it would assist with the peacekeeping mission and has positioned 60 soldiers to serve at a joint monitoring center opened by Russia and Türkiye in the eastern part of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute dates back to 1988, when the ethnic Armenian majority region broke away from Azerbaijan, triggering an ethnic conflict that claimed thousands of lives before it was frozen by a 1994 truce. In 2020, fighting broke out once again in what is now called the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. Despite Russia freezing the conflict with a ceasefire, the region has continued to see occasional flare-ups between the two neighbors.

https://www.rt.com/news/581105-turkiye-nagorno-karabakh-war/

Pentagon eyeing Australia as missile testing ground

Washington isn’t the first foreign power to use the country as a firing range

The US could test its hypersonic missiles in Australia, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said on Wednesday. Such a move, under the three-member Australia, UK, US (AUKUS) pact, would represent a significant expansion of Washington's presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

China has accused the US of using the pact to “play up conflict and confrontation” with Beijing.

“One thing Australia has in spades is long distances and relatively unpopulated land,” Wormuth told the AFP news agency. “A challenge for us in the United States when it comes to hypersonics … is to find open spaces in the United States where we can actually test these weapons.”

“Australia obviously has a tremendous amount of territory where that testing is a little bit more doable, so I think that's a unique thing … that the Australians bring to the table,” she added.

The US, UK, and Australia signed the AUKUS security pact in 2021, with the three powers agreeing to cooperate on nuclear submarine construction and hypersonic missile development. China views the alliance as an explicit threat, with Defense Minister Li Shangfu stating in June that by creating a “NATO-like” block in the Indo-Pacific, Washington and its allies are looking “to hold countries in the region hostage and play up conflict and confrontation.”

It is unclear which weapons the US plans on testing in Australia as the Pentagon’s various hypersonic missiles are still in development. Russia and China are widely recognized as winning the hypersonic arms race. Moscow has been using its Kinzhal missiles to strike Ukraine, while its Avangard strategic range glide vehicles have been fielded since 2019, and Zircon anti-ship cruise missiles deployed since last year.

The US considers China the world leader in hypersonic technology, with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) particularly concerned about Beijing’s DF-17 medium-range ballistic missile. DIA chief scientist Paul Freisthler claimed in March that this missile’s hypersonic payload could easily “reach US military forces in the Western Pacific.”

The struggle for hypersonic supremacy is not the first arms race in which Australia has been used as a firing range. The UK conducted 12 nuclear weapons tests in Australia between 1952 and 1958, and more than two dozen smaller detonations of radioactive material. A majority of Australians opposed these tests, which caused a spate of illnesses and deaths among nearby Aboriginal communities and site workers, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

https://www.rt.com/news/581042-australia-hypersonic-missile-testing/

UK military could recruit autistic soldiers

A broader pool of potential candidates would help bridge skills gaps, a senior MP has claimed

The British military could review its recruitment policies to allow it to access a wider pool of people, including those suffering from certain neurological conditions, MP Andrew Murrison has told the Financial Times.

Murrison, who serves as parliamentary under-secretary of state for defence people, veterans and service families, argued that this would help provide the armed forces with skilled professionals amid chronic staffing shortages.

In an interview with the FT published on Wednesday, Murrison explained that “there are pinch points where things are quite serious,” adding that the UK military should adopt a more “flexible” approach toward hiring new personnel. The MP stated that with the armed forces placing increasing emphasis on cyberwarfare, it should start “casting the net more widely” to hire “neurodiverse” people.

According to Murrison, while personnel with dyslexia and dyspraxia are already serving in the British military, the door should now be open to candidates with autism, Asperger’s, and ADHD. These people may possess skills and attributes which others don’t, the lawmaker argued.

Murrison also suggested allowing older personnel to continue serving for longer, as there is “no philosophical barrier as to why we couldn’t look at extending the age of retirement.”

In June, a government-commissioned analysis revealed that the British military was failing to attract technologically skilled recruits.

The NATO deputy supreme allied commander for Europe, General Tim Radford, also warned last month that London could cease to be a major power within the US-led bloc as its military is “too small.”

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the commander stressed that the modern technology which Britain is betting on cannot fully replace traditional armed forces.

Last month, a survey of British military personnel conducted between September 2022 and February 2023 indicated that only 42% of troops were satisfied with service life. Among the main grievances highlighted by the poll were poor housing conditions and low wages.

Commenting on the state of affairs in the British military, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace acknowledged back in January that it was “hollowed out and underfunded.”

https://www.rt.com/news/581078-uk-military-plans-recruitment-autistic/

SHOCKING VIDEO: UK Police Arrest Autistic Teen on ‘Suspicion of Homophobic Public Order Offence’ for Saying Cop Looked Like Lesbian

West Yorkshire Police arrested a terrified autistic teenage girl on “suspicion of a homophobic public order offence” for saying that a female officer looked like a lesbian.

The UK has a number of Orwellian “hate speech” laws.

The mother of the girl, who filmed the ordeal, insisted that the girl was just making an observation, as her grandmother is also a lesbian.

In the shocking video, the girl is punching herself in the head and unable to understand what is happening.

UK 🇬🇧, this may be one of the most uncomfortable videos I’ve had to watch. This is what hate speech legislation that prioritises certain groups over others, looks like in action, poor child 😢 @HMcEntee #binthebill pic.twitter.com/u7B54r7BJ0

— KellyS (@SineadKelly113) August 9, 2023

West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Oz Khan said in a statement, “We are aware of a video circulating on social media which, as is often the case, only provides a very limited snapshot of the circumstances of this incident.”

“Officers had their body-worn video cameras activated during their wider involvement with this young girl which provides additional context to their actions,” the statement continued. “We have received a complaint in relation to this incident which is currently being assessed by West Yorkshire Professional Standards Directorate.”

The statement said that there is an “ongoing process” and “active criminal investigation,” which limits their “ability to fully discuss the incident in detail,” but they added some additional context.

“From 12.12am on Monday, August 7, police received calls from a family member of a 16-year-old girl who was reportedly intoxicated and putting herself at risk in Leeds city centre,” Constable Khan said. “Officers attended at about 1am and drove the teenager to her home so she could be appropriately looked after.”

Upon returning her to the address, Khan said that “comments were made which resulted in the girl being arrested on suspicion of a homophobic public order offence. The nature of the comments made was fully captured on body-worn video.”

“When the girl was eventually fit to be interviewed, that interview took place with an appropriate adult,” Khan continued.

The teenage girl has been released on bail “pending further enquiries and advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.”

“West Yorkshire Police takes its responsibilities around the welfare of young people taken into custody and around neurodiversity very seriously,” Khan said. “We also maintain that our officers and staff should not have to face abuse while working to keep our communities safe. We are fully reviewing the circumstances of this incident and ask that people avoid reaching any conclusions about it solely on the basis of the social media video.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/08/shocking-video-uk-police-arrest-autistic-teen-suspicion/

“Overwhelming Consensus” on Climate Change Crisis is “Manufactured,” Says Climate Scientist

While the scientific community widely accepts that the Earth’s climate is changing and humans are playing a significant role, Judith A. Curry, a prominent American climatologist and former chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, questions the prevailing narrative.

In a recent interview with New York Post‘s John Stossel, Curry presents her perspective that the “overwhelming consensus” is largely “manufactured.”

“It’s a manufactured consensus,” Curry told Stossel. She points to a system where scientists gain more recognition, and subsequently, more funding by promoting catastrophic scenarios.

This ‘alarmism,’ she asserted, plays a pivotal role in shaping their careers.

“There’s an incentive to exaggerate risk to pursue ‘fame and fortune,’” she added.

NEW – Scientist says the “overwhelming consensus” on the climate change crisis is “manufactured” by a massive government-funded climate alarmism complex.https://t.co/Ud6th19qzi

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/08/overwhelming-consensus-climate-change-crisis-is-manufactured-says/

Swedish police reveal consequences of Quran-burning stunts

The authorities say the country, along with Denmark and the Netherlands, has become a priority target for terrorists

Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands now top the priority lists of several terrorist groups, Magnus Sjoberg, the head of the counterterrorism department at the country’s Security Police, has warned. The high threat level is linked to a series of Quran-burning stunts in the three nations, the official explained.

Speaking to Sweden’s TT news agency on Wednesday, Sjoberg revealed that the security services had seen communications from within several terrorist organizations regarding the three European states, adding that the threat has now become “more tangible.”

However, he noted that while the Swedish police have considerably improved their counterterrorism expertise in recent years, “none of us can guarantee that there won’t be an attack.”

According to Sweden’s Expressen, a bomb was hurled toward the entrance of the Swedish Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon overnight. The device reportedly failed to detonate.

The newspaper, citing local police sources, claimed that that the attempted attack was linked to the recent string of Quran-burning stunts in Sweden.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom tweeted that “it was pure luck that no one was hurt.”

As recently as late July, a pair of Christian Iraqi immigrants stomped on a copy of the Quran and set fire to some of the pages in front of the Swedish parliament building.

The couple had twice previously staged similar controversial performances.

The latest stunt sparked an outcry from a number of Muslim-majority nations, with Iraq expelling the Swedish ambassador and recalling its own representative from Stockholm. Several others summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest.

Commenting on the Quran-burning protests in his country, Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson warned in July that these acts have resulted “in the most serious security policy situation” for the country “since the Second World War.”

The official also expressed concern over the extensive stream of applications to the police for similar stunts, which the authorities can only turn down under specific legal circumstances.

https://www.rt.com/news/581091-sweden-police-terror-threat-quran-burning/

German military employee accused of spying for Moscow

The officer allegedly volunteered his services at the Russian embassy in Berlin

Police in Germany have arrested a military officer suspected of passing classified information to Russian intelligence. The officer is the third German in less than a year to allegedly carry out espionage for the Kremlin.

The man, a military procurement specialist identified as Thomas H. was detained in the western city of Koblenz on Wednesday, the German federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“The Federal Public Prosecutor today arrested a German officer who is strongly suspected of having worked for a foreign secret service,” Justice Minister Marco Buschmann wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Thank you to everyone who was involved. Vigilance remains the order of the day.”

According to the prosecutor’s statement, the man approached the Russian consulate in Bonn and the embassy in Berlin several times beginning in May, “offering his cooperation.” Prosecutors claimed that he handed over information from his workplace on one occasion, understanding that it would be passed on to Russian agents.

The prosecutor’s office did not elaborate on the nature of the information, or whether it had been received by any Russian security or intelligence agencies.

German officials have repeatedly warned of heightened Russian espionage activity in the midst of the Ukraine conflict. Berlin expelled 40 Russian diplomats last April, accusing them of being spies. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the allegations unacceptable and responded by expelling 40 German diplomats from Russia.

The arrest of Thomas H comes just eight months after police arrested an employee of the country’s foreign intelligence service (BND) and charged him with treason for leaking state secrets to Moscow. The double agent was also accused of forwarding classified information to the CIA, and sentenced to eight years in prison. His alleged accomplice, a civilian, was arrested in January and accused of helping his colleague pass documents to the Kremlin.

Prior to these two cases, Germany's cybersecurity chief was fired in October over media reports linking him to members of Russian intelligence services, while in November, an army reserve officer was found guilty of leaking military personnel files and cybersecurity information to Moscow between 2014 to 2020.

https://www.rt.com/news/581062-germany-russian-spy-arrested/

White House doesn’t know if Pentagon vetting foreign fighters it trains

Foreign fighters were trained by the US in democracy support and anti-corruption, according to the Biden administration

The White House doesn’t know if the Pentagon has a vetting process for the foreign fighters it provides with training, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has admitted.

According to Politico, the official was asked by reporters on Wednesday whether the US was conducting a review of those it is training in light of recent coups, including the one in Niger, where the country’s military mutinied and detained President Mohamed Bazoum two weeks ago.

Kirby stated that he was not aware if the Pentagon was conducting any reviews, but noted that “specific time” of US training is spent on things such as “democracy support and the rule of law and anti-corruption efforts.”

His comments come after The Intercept said it had confirmed that one of the leaders of the coup in Niger, General Moussa Salaou Barmou, who previously acted as the chief of Niger’s Special Operations Forces, had been trained by the US military.

Barmou had reportedly received training at Fort Benning, Georgia and the National Defense University in Washington, according to the outlet, citing Nigerien sources and an anonymous US government official.

The American source also said it is likely that Barmou is not the only one taking part in the coup who has received US training. “I’m sure we will find out that others have been partners, have been involved in U.S. engagements,” he said of other members of Niger’s new military government, noting that US agencies were looking into the matter.

As noted by The Intercept, the coup in Niger is the 11th in the region, which has seen the involvement of US-trained officers in recent years. Previously, officers trained by the Pentagon were also responsible for takeovers in Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Guinea, and Mauritania.

The outlet’s government sources noted that “We train to standards – the laws of war and democratic standards.” However, he noted that “these are foreign military personnel. We can’t control what they do. We have no way to stop them.”

https://www.rt.com/news/581111-white-house-pentagon-training/

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North Korea: Kim Jong-un Demands ‘Full War Preparations’ After Replacing Top General

North Korea must make “full war preparations” to “overwhelmingly contain and destroy the enemy,” communist dictator Kim Jong-un demanded in a meeting of his top military leaders on Wednesday.

The country’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported that Kim presided over the Central Military Commission meeting personally, ousting his chief of general staff, General Pak Su-il and replacing him with a deputy, Vice Marshal Ri Yong-gil. Pak was purged among several other “leading commanding officers,” which Rodong Sinmun did not name. Observers outside of North Korea have not indicated that the shake-up suggests any large-scale controversy or conflict between Kim and his generals.

Kim’s command to prepare for war follows a year of rapidly escalating tensions between North and South Korea that began with Kim demanding an “exponential increase” in the number of nuclear weapons North Korea possesses and has led to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol threatening to “end” Kim’s regime while onboard an American nuclear submarine in July.

Yoon, a conservative, took office in May and has since prioritized undoing leftist predecessor Moon Jae-in’s concessions to the communist North, including limiting military cooperation with the United States and preventing South Koreans from sending humanitarian aid balloons across the border.

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2023/08/10/north-korea-kim-jong-un-demands-full-war-preparations-after-replacing-top-general/