Author: Phillip Colon

China’s coercive actions are endangering regional stability, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday, following reports from Taiwan about Beijing conducting its largest maritime mobilization around the island in years. Austin, currently in Tokyo, underscored the growing challenges to peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region during discussions with Japanese officials. Austin highlighted concerns about China’s aggressive behavior in the East and South China Seas, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, and North Korea’s destabilizing actions, including its support for Moscow. He reassured Japan of America’s unwavering security commitments, emphasizing the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance. Despite not directly mentioning…

(Makurdi) In the late hours of Thursday, August 8, 2024, the world was watching the high drama of the Paris Olympics. American pundits were watching Donald Trump’s Mar a Lago Presser. But Akika Tsav, a farmer and resident of Ayati village in Central Nigeria, was watching his world fall apart. Leave Trail of 50 Dead in Benue State Tsav’s peaceful town of Ayati in Benue State, Nigeria, was again heading into mourning. Ayati, a tranquil precinct in Ukum County, Benue State, has been ravaged by wave after wave of jihadist terrorist attacks in recent years. Located 121 miles northeast of…

Au revoir Paris, Hola LA. In a nutshell, that was the just completed ceremony of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad. It was Tom Cruise leaping off the rim of the Stade de France to take the Olympic flag from LA Mayor Karen Bass and Simone Biles. As the guitar riffs of H.E.R. filled the air, Cruise then exited on a motorbike to deliver the flag to a sunny West Coast. It was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Olympic fixture Snoop Dogg getting into the pre-recorded groove down in Long Beach. It wasn’t telling of the full scope of Los Angeles and no mention was made of Snoop’s…

Washington/Vienna/Berlin (10/8 – 45.45)After a tip-off by U.S. intelligence officials and only a few hours left Austrian police made swift arrests. The plot seems too bizarre not to be true. Abul Baraa, aka Ahmad Armih, the German based hate-preacher in Berlin radicalized via Tik-tok or Istagram a 19-year Beran A. to swear the oath of alliance to the Islamic State. U.S. officials have confirmed their role in identifying a suspected terrorist plot planned for a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna this weekend. During a Friday briefing, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said the U.S. provided information to Austrian authorities, who have made several…

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources within Western intelligence agencies, has reported that Russian state officials based in Vienna paid assassins for the murder of Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov. According to the WSJ report, over ten officials from Austria, other European countries, and the United States, have indicated that Vienna has become a central hub for clandestine Russian operations. These activities include coordinating financial and logistical support for assassinations, sabotage, and recruitment across Europe. According to Spanish government sources, it was Kuzminov himself who chose to settle in Villajoyosa, a coastal town with a registered population of around 36,000, which includes 1,200…

Paris, Brussels, Kiev (11 June – 75)This meeting followed Macron’s announcement that France would be supplying Mirage combat aircraft to Ukraine, bolstering the country’s defense against Russia’s aggression. Zelenskyy’s visit to France coincided with his quest for additional Western support, particularly as Ukrainian forces battled fiercely to repel a Russian offensive near the eastern city of Kharkiv. The conflict, escalating rapidly, has become the largest in Europe since World War II, underscoring the urgent need for international solidarity and assistance. Amidst these grave circumstances, the diplomatic exchange between France and Ukraine exemplifies the crucial alliance and shared commitment to safeguarding…

A former U.S. Navy chief petty officer has been court-martialed and sentenced to 18 years in a military prison for attempted espionage and violating orders, according to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). It is the latest in a series of high-profile spying cases involving Navy personnel, and by far the most serious prison sentence. In January, Chief Fire Controlman (Aegis) Bryce Steven Pedicini was charged with multiple counts of attempted espionage for mishandling or disclosing classified information. Pedicini was a former destroyer crewmember who worked on the Aegis combat system, the Navy’s premier integrated radar and weapons control platform.…

Moscow 22/5 (57.14) According to NATO’s top military official, Russia does not have enough troops to make a significant advance in the north-east of Ukraine. “The Russians don’t have the numbers necessary to do a strategic breakthrough,” NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe Christopher Cavoli told reporters last week. “They don’t have the skill and the capability to do it; to operate at the scale necessary to exploit any breakthrough to strategic advantage,” the general said. According to earlier statements by Putin, Russia’s intention is not to take the city of Kharkiv, but rather to create a security zone, a sanitary…

As Victoria Nuland steps down, she gets real about a world on fire. Victoria Nuland has long been known as a relentless, even pugnacious, U.S. diplomat, with a strong belief in American power. The approach sometimes got her in trouble, but it rarely held her back. Nuland recently left the State Department after serving at its highest levels, first as the Biden administration’s undersecretary of State for political affairs, and, for several months, acting deputy secretary of State. She previously was a career diplomat who held an array of roles under presidents both Republican and Democratic; her first posting more than…

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) — Minnesota officially unfurled its new state flag atop the capitol for the first time Saturday on statehood day. The new flag and accompanying state seal were adopted to replace an old design that Native Americans said reminded them of painful memories of conquest and displacement. The new symbols eliminate an old state seal that featured the image of a Native American riding off into the sunset while a white settler plows his field with a rifle at the ready. The seal was a key feature of the old flag. That’s why there was pressure to change both.…