/qresearch/ -  Q Research

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THREAD ARCHIVES

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CURRENT DOUGH

https://controlc.com/783728d88

Kevin Rudd Tweets

This is a physical attack on the institutions of democracy by a far right mob.All because of extremist statements by political leaders attacking the legal results of a democratic election,echoed faithfully by a cancerous far right media.This affects us all

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1346913554117525509

https://archive.ph/DaUHy

Pro-Trump mob storms Capitol as former DC police chief denounces 'coup attemp'

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2021/jan/06/georgia-election-latest-news-senate-ossoff-warnock-democrats-republicans-trump-biden

—

Unbelievable that Murdoch media would publish this outrageous cartoon of President Biden calling him “Creepy Joe” - and for what reason? Then suggesting he’s controlled by a non-existent organisation - “Antifa”. All QAnon crap. #MurdochRoyalCommission

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1352905036305637377

https://archive.ph/iI7Sz

Gold Coast Bulletin, January 22 2021 - Page 23

>>18046171

Kevin Rudd Tweets

Murdoch has zero interest in stopping dangerous far-right extremism. He sees QAnon as just another marketing tool to sucker people into his parallel universe where he can take their money and tell them how to vote. #MurdochRoyalCommission

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1357519643410272256

https://archive.ph/sGLEq

Tucker Carlson defended QAnon and said attacks on it were part of a government plot to control people's minds

The Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday defended the QAnon conspiracy-theory movement, whose adherents groundlessly believe that Donald Trump is planning a purge of child-abusing Democrats who run the world.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/fox-news-tucker-carlson-defends-qanon-conspiracy-theory-movement-2021-1

—

In America, the Murdoch media continues to support a QAnon congresswoman who is notorious for her racist, antisemitic nonsense. The lesson for Australia? Murdoch will back bigger fruitcakes than Craig Kelly if he thinks there’s money and power to be gained

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1357556909650243584

https://archive.ph/76u1O

Fringe-Watching: Marjorie Taylor Greene

From The Daily Show

>>18046171

Chris Bowen Tweet

Qanon is a conspiracy driven cult. And the Prime Minister has serious questions to answer. Watch my brief speech in Parliament

https://twitter.com/Bowenchris/status/1404673224638550018

https://archive.ph/IvmTH

—

Kevin Rudd Tweet

Great speech by Chris Bowen on Morrison and his close personal relationship with an activist from QAnon - the far right, extremist, religious conspiracy group that stormed the US Capitol.

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1404718885220151306

https://archive.ph/Ztyfi

>>18046171

Kevin Rudd Tweet

Morrison has questions to answer on his personal relationship with a leading activist of the same extremist religious/conspiracy group that stormed the US Capitol. His wife worked for Morrison.His family have reported him to the National Security Hotline

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1404418922787446784

https://archive.ph/Yptjm

QAnon follower Tim Stewart's an old friend of Scott Morrison. His family reported him to the national security hotline

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-14/qanon-follower-old-friend-scott-morrison-stewart-family-speaks/100125156

https://archive.ph/BdiY9

—

Kevin Rudd Tweet

Could you imagine any other Australian PM refusing to answer questions about inviting an extreme, far-right religious cultist to Kirribilli House? What about accepting his help to write a speech to parliament? His own family reported him to the National Security Hotline.

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1405070098008711169

https://archive.ph/1Hl4j

>>18046171

Kevin Rudd Tweet

Premier Andrews is right to call out Morrison's offensive courting of political extremists at the expense of ordinary law-abiding Australians. Whether it's far-right radicals, anti-vaxxers or the QAnon cult. Just appalling.

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1461569968214974466

https://archive.ph/q81hH

Prime Minister's War Of Words

From The Today Show

>>18046171

Kevin Rudd Tweet

Donald Trump is a traitor to the West. Murdoch was Trump’s biggest backer. And Murdoch’s Fox Television backs Putin too. What rancid treachery.

https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/1497863031497564161

https://archive.ph/gbMyl

Trump defends praise of Putin, makes strongest hint yet of a run for president in 2024

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/26/trump-2024/

—

Q Post #2576

Dec 10 2018 15:24:28 (EST)

https://twitter.com/SamanthaJPower/status/1071755419499069441

Those with the most to lose are the loudest.

Those who 'knowingly' broke the law in a coordinated effort [treason] are the most vocal.

Crimes against Humanity.

Q

https://qanon.pub/#2576

Julian Assange to ask for prison release to attend Vivienne Westwood’s funeral

Latika Bourke - December 31, 2022

London: Stella Assange says her husband, Julian Assange, will apply to British authorities for leave from Belmarsh Prison to attend the funeral of their dear friend, Dame Vivienne Westwood.

Westwood, one of Britain’s most-loved designers and a long-time political activist and supporter of the WikiLeaks founder, died on Thursday in the UK, aged 81.

In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Stella Assange said she first met Westwood at Julian’s 40th birthday party when he was under house arrest in Norfolk in 2011, and Westwood had remained his friend and supporter “until the end”.

A decade later, Westwood attended celebrations for Julian’s 50th birthday held in his absence because he was in jail.

“Vivienne is irreplaceable. She was a huge friend, a great supporter, and it’s an enormous loss,” Stella said in an interview by phone from Spain, where she spent Christmas with her 91-year-old father as she said she could not visit her husband in prison.

“She was such a generous spirit and she really, really cared about the future of the world and future generations and she really saw all of these issues as justice and truth and the destruction of the planet as interrelated causes.

“She used her profile and her fashion to fight for the causes she believed in.”

Stella said she got to know Westwood well during her husband’s seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy, where he lived as an asylum seeker to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where authorities wanted to question him over now-lapsed sexual assault allegations.

“Every couple of weeks, she would come on her bicycle and spend some time with Julian, and they loved each other’s company, and they would spend hours talking about all sorts of things,” Stella said.

“There was so much laughter and she was a very intelligent and curious spirit, she was very creative and they found each other’s company riveting.”

Julian Assange is on remand in Belmarsh Prison, a facility in south-east London often used to hold prisoners in high-profile cases involving national security, and is fighting an order for him to be extradited to the United States to face charges over the hacking of classified US intelligence cables, which he published more than a decade ago.

Stella said she spoke to her husband shortly after the news of Westwood’s death was posted on the designer’s social media feeds and that he had provided her with the first quote since he had been in prison.

Julian Assange said Westwood would be “terribly missed”.

“Vivienne was a Dame and a pillar of the anti-establishment,” he said. “Bold, creative, thoughtful and a good friend. The best of Britain.”

Asked how she planned to represent her husband at Westwood’s funeral, Stella said: “Julian’s going to put in a request to be able to attend.”

Westwood was one of Julian Assange’s earliest supporters and staged stunts dressed in yellow in a cage outside the Old Bailey to draw attention to the Australian’s case, which Assange and his supporters argue is a political witch-hunt.

She designed the wedding dress and tartan kilts for the Assanges’ wedding inside Belmarsh Prison earlier this year.

Stella Assange said Westwood made careful alterations for the dress, including replacing the metal boning in the corset so it wouldn’t get caught in metal detectors and sewing a fresh rose into the bodice so that the bride would have a flower during the ceremony.

Her bouquet was taken from her by security and prison staff made her sign an agreement to never share the photographs of her and Assange marrying.

“There was so much detail and love in that dress and it’s really heartbreaking that she didn’t see how much joy she brought to our wedding day,” Stella said.

“But she knew that she had made our wedding day so amazing.

“It brought a lot of additional attention to our wedding and this was part of her magic and her intelligence to be able to give exposure to important political causes.”

Stella hopes to share the “unique gift” of her Westwood wedding gown and one day exhibit her dress alongside her husband’s kilt.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/julian-assange-to-ask-for-prison-release-to-attend-vivienne-westwood-s-funeral-20221230-p5c9kg.html

Australia to resist international moves to test Chinese tourists for COVID

Sumeyya Ilanbey - December 29, 2022

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Australia is resisting moves by a number of countries to impose mandatory COVID tests and quarantine on travellers from China after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would rely on medical advice, which is to keep the borders open.

China is experiencing a wave of COVID infections after its surprise lifting of restrictions earlier this month, with almost 37 million people possibly having been infected on a single day last week.

The United States, India, Japan, Italy, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea and Britain have all either imposed new restrictions on Chinese travellers, or are considering doing so. Most involve compulsory testing but some are imposing quarantine for those who test positive. Almost half of the passengers arriving in Italy on two flights were found to be infected with the coronavirus.

But Albanese said on Thursday Australia was making no change to its rules on allowing travellers from China into the country.

“We will take the appropriate advice from the health experts,” Albanese told the ABC.

“There is no change in the travel advice at this point in time, but we are continuing to monitor the situation, as we continue to monitor the impact of COVID here in Australia as well as around the world.”

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said he was comfortable with the current arrangements because Australians had already been confronted months ago by the variants that were believed to be circulating in China.

The “soup of variants” that had confronted Australia over the past 12 months included the main variant in China, and had contributed to “high hybrid immunity” in the Australian community, he said.

Australians were also highly vaccinated and had access to testing and antivirals, meaning they were “very well protected from the severe issues”.

However, neither he nor Albanese ruled out future action.

“The biggest issue in China that we need to watch is the emergence of other variants, and at this stage that hasn’t happened,” Kelly said in an interview with ABC radio. “It’s a dynamic situation. We certainly need to watch closely what’s happening in China, and that’s what we’re doing.”

The stance has not satisfied everyone. The Victorian president of the Australian Medical Association, Roderick McRae, said anyone arriving from China should be screened at the airport and forced to quarantine at the Mickleham quarantine facility for seven days.

He said Australia should prepare for an avalanche of cases. “We need to think that every jet that comes into Tullamarine from China is just riddled with COVID-19, and we need to take it seriously,” McRae said.

“Do we want to fill our hospitals with tourists from China coming to the Australian Open, or do we want to look after Victorians who have already got deferred care, larger cancers in their bodies [and other illnesses]? It’s an important conversation the community needs to have.”

He also warned of new variants, saying: “It was the circumstances in China that started SARS-COVID-2 … If someone comes off a plane from China coughing or sneezing, they’ve got COVID.”

Adwin Town, of the Chinese Association of Victoria, said imposing stricter rules, such as mandatory quarantine, on travellers from China would be unfair and discriminatory.

“If you only isolate and only pinpoint on one country [the need for quarantine] because of what they do or what they think, that is unfair,” Town said. “We should have a more satisfactory reason to execute such a restrictive process.”

(continued)

>>18046525

2/2

The United States has announced mandatory COVID-19 tests on travellers from China beginning on January 5. All air passengers aged two and older will require a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong or Macau. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Americans should reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau.

It would also apply to passengers from China who enter the US through a third country, or who connect through the US to other destinations, The New York Times reported.

India has mandated a COVID-19 negative test for travellers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, its health minister said. Passengers from those countries will be put under quarantine if they show symptoms of COVID-19 or tested positive.

Japan will require a negative test on arrival for travellers from mainland China from midnight on December 30. Those who test positive will be required to quarantine for seven days.

Italy earlier mandated tests for all travellers coming from China. Milan’s main airport, Malpensa, had already started testing passengers arriving from Beijing and Shanghai. “The measure is essential to ensure surveillance and detection of possible variants of the virus in order to protect the Italian population”, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said.

Taiwan said all passengers arriving on direct flights from China, as well as by boat at two offshore islands, would have to take PCR tests on arrival from January 1.

Malaysia announced new tracking and surveillance measures for those who test positive, while South Korea is requiring virus tests for visitors from China. Officials in Britain are expected to decide on Thursday (London time) if tests will be required.

Lunar New Year, which begins on January 22, is usually China’s busiest travel season. Officials said on Tuesday they would resume issuing passports for tourism for the first time since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Italian authorities are also sequencing the Milan tests to see if there are new variants, the Health Ministry said. If a new strain is found, officials may impose stricter curbs on travel from the country.

Italy was the first European country to be hit hard by COVID in early 2020.

While the high rate of passengers with the virus has put authorities on alert, one factor in Italy’s favour is its high vaccination rate. More than 80 per cent of people are fully inoculated, according to the World Health Organisation, and many have also received booster shots. It’s a similar story across much of Western Europe.

In Germany, health authorities were “closely watching” the situation, according to Health Ministry spokesman Sebastian Guelde.

“We have no indication that a more dangerous mutation has developed in China that would give rise to a declaration of a virus variant area, which would result in corresponding travel restrictions,” he said.

The French Health Ministry was also monitoring developments, and said it was “ready to look at all useful measures that could be put in place as a consequence, in collaboration with France’s European partners”.

Early in the pandemic, the US barred entry to foreigners travelling from China, weeks after the virus first emerged there three years ago. Americans were allowed to return home and flights from China were funnelled to selected airports where passengers were screened for illness.

But the virus was already spreading in the US among people with no travel history.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/italy-reports-50-per-cent-of-passengers-on-china-flights-have-covid-20221229-p5c976.html

>>18046525

War of words erupts over tests for China travellers

ED BOURKE - 31 December 2022

A war of words has erupted between medical leaders over how Australia should handle visitors entering the country from Covid-stricken China.

China is experiencing an explosion in Covid-19 infections and deaths after Beijing reversed its policies and let the virus run rampant.

According to authorities in Italy, 50 per cent of passengers on China flights to the country have Covid-19.

Victorian president of the Australian Medical Association Dr Roderick McRae attracted the ire of industry peers after calling for arrivals from China to be quarantined at Victoria’s Mickleham facility for seven days.

Authorities had to assume every plane arriving at Melbourne Airport from China was “riddled with Covid”, Dr McRae told The Age this week.

“Do we want to fill our hospitals with tourists from China coming to the Australian Open, or do we want to look after Victorians who have already got deferred care, larger cancers in their bodies,” he said.

“It was the circumstances in China that started SARS-COVID-2 … if someone comes off a plane from China coughing or sneezing, they’ve got Covid.”

Top emergency doctor and former Victorian AMA president Dr Stephen Parnis took to Twitter to blast Dr McRae for his hardline comments.

“I would expect these sorts of crude, inflammatory comments to come from an extremist politician, not a current state AMA leader,” Dr Parnis wrote.

“Our responses to Covid in Dec 2022 must, of necessity, be very different to those of Feb 2020.”

Australia has so far resisted calls to follow countries including the US, UK and France in imposing restrictions or mandatory Covid testing on Chinese arrivals, amid fears from infectious disease experts that concerning new variants could be released overseas.

Another Melbourne doctor, Dr Kate Gregorevic, tweeted that she “absolutely did not stand with” Dr McRae’s comments.

“I look forward to the AMA putting out a statement that will confirm that they do not support labelling people from an ethnic group or country as a threat,” Dr Gregorevic wrote.

It comes as Victorian Covid cases decreased by more than 30 per cent on the previous week, according to new Department of Health data released Friday.

There were 745 people hospitalised and 44 in intensive care due to the virus, with 16,568 new Covid cases reported during the week.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton warned the drop away may be due to lower levels of reporting during the holiday period.

“Covid hospitalisations edged higher in the past week, having stabilised earlier in December,” Prof Sutton said.

“The risk of Covid infection can increase through large family and social gatherings.

“It is important to consider older family and friends and those who may be more vulnerable to severe Covid illness.”

The UK, France, Spain, South Korea and Israel on Friday became the latest countries to impose mandatory coronavirus tests on visitors from China.

They join Italy, Japan, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States in requiring negative Covid tests for all travellers from mainland China, in a bid to avoid importing new variants from the Asian giant.

Chinese state media reacted furiously to the restrictions.

“… the real intention is to sabotage China’s three years of COVID-19 control efforts and attack the country’s system,” the Global Times stated in a report.

It also published a cartoon attacking Japan for its policies targeting Chinese citizens.

The paper described the restrictions as “unfounded” and “discriminatory.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/politicsnow-new-year-boost-for-1-million-welfare-recipients/live-coverage/c1379724ba2e8fcfc46f901563fb34e6#85836

https://twitter.com/SParnis/status/1608670029863882754

https://twitter.com/DrKGregorevic/status/1608655012854657024

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1282939.shtml

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1282966.shtml

>>18046525

‘The scale, speed … it’s unbelievable’: millions of Chinese now infected

Covid-19 has not spread as fast as it is in China right now. At its current rate, more than a billion Chinese citizens may catch the coronavirus by March. It could happen even sooner than that.

WILL GLASGOW - December 30, 2022

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Covid has not spread as fast as it is in China right now. Hundreds of millions of people have been ­infected in the past three weeks.

At its current rate, more than a billion Chinese may catch the coronavirus by March. It could happen even sooner.

The haste with which Xi Jinping’s “zero Covid” apparatus has been dismantled has stunned even the closest observers of China’s pandemic policy.

Until three weeks ago, people who tested positive for Covid were sent to offsite quarantine centres. A stint was mandatory even for those with only mild symptoms or none at all.

Now Covid-infected employees are being instructed to return to work, unless they have extreme symptoms. Three years after the coronavirus’ initial outbreak, the world’s focus is again fixed on China. Some epidemiologists fear a new variant could emerge and change the course of the pandemic. Others hope the biggest health crisis in 100 years is finally coming to an end.

This week The Australian struggled to speak to anyone in China – of the world’s last “zero Covid” hold out – who had not been infected in December.

“It’s unbelievable. The scale, the speed,” says Huang Yanzhong, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and expert on China’s healthcare system.

“Very likely it’s already infec­ted more than 30 per cent of the population,” Professor Huang tells The Australian. This would be more than 400 million people.

For years, he and other medical experts had advised Beijing to let go of its “zero Covid” mentality – but not like this. Only 66 per cent of people over 80 have had two jabs of a vaccine, a damning statistic in a country where supplies have been plentiful for ­almost two years.

Supplies of Pfizer’s Covid-19 antiviral drug, Paxlovid, are in short supply, due to a mixture of nationalism and protectionism. The life-saving drug, now being sold at exorbitant prices, has ­become one of the highest status gifts among China’s wealthy elite.

Rather than take measures to flatten the wave as the healthcare system is subsumed with patients, some are urging the infection of the country’s 1.4 billion people. Supporters call the strategy “quickly reaching the peak”.

The goal, they argue, is to get through the pain as fast as possible so that economic normality can resume.

Many investment banks see good news on the other side of the outbreak. In recent days Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse have released bullish forecasts for China’s stockmarket in 2023. The Economist Intelligence Unit has upgraded its outlook for Chinese growth for 2023 from 4.7 per cent to 5.2 per cent.

But others argue its messy ­reopening will damage its tarnished reputation with the international business community.

“Xi’s failures to prepare for ­reopening will tarnish his authority and the party,” said Lawrence Brainard and Jon Harrison, analysts at TS Lombard, a macroeconomic forecasting consultancy.

A doctor in one of Beijing’s overwhelmed hospitals laments China’s first nationwide outbreak is happening in winter, the peak season for respiratory illnesses. “Most of my colleagues have been infected,” she says.

So long as their symptoms are not extreme, medical staff keep working in their respiratory disease department, which is overrun with patients.

One, Mr Li, 72, a retired schoolteacher, was brought by his wife. He was worried his recovery had taken longer than his neighbours, who had all been infected.

(continued)

>>18046597

2/2

Xi goes missing

China’s leader – long hailed as the “commander-in-chief” of the “people’s war” on Covid – has been notably silent on the dismantling of his signature policy.

Only this week did one of Beijing’s most senior health bureaucrats finally reveal the Communist Party’s most senior comrades, including General Secretary Xi himself, had been jabbed with Chinese-made vaccines. They did not say when.

Mr Xi’s only comments on the outbreak have been an oblique observation that the “epidemic prevention and control faces new circumstances and new tasks”. What to do about it was left to others.

Beijing’s propaganda machine is running at overdrive to counter the “futile slandering” of China’s fight with the virus.

“Shame on those trying to ­belittle and slander the nation’s efforts,” huffed the China Daily.

China’s Foreign Ministry says the country is going “through a ­period of adaptation”, as has ­happened in countries that have allowed community transmission.

“China is no exception as we shift gear in our Covid policy. China’s Covid situation on the whole remains predictable and under control,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

State secrets

Where China is exceptional is its secrecy. On Christmas Day, Beijing announced it would no longer publish daily Covid statistics. That day, modelling by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention estimated 250 million people had been infected in the first 20 days of December, according to people familiar with the briefing. Officials estimated 37 million people had been infected on the day before the meeting, according to the Financial Times. The official figure for the day was just over 4000.

Beijing has crowed about the US’s death toll exceeding a million, which it has argued demonstrates the failure of its political system and China’s superiority. Now China’s death toll is being treated as a state secret. Modelling from The Economist suggests in a worst-case scenario 1.5m Chinese people will die from the virus in the coming months.

Professor Huang thinks it is likely more than a million will die.

“That, of course, has political implications,” he says.

The security agencies are also doing their bit to obscure the toll. This week, journalists based in China were threatened with having their residency visas removed if they reported on the country’s overwhelmed crematoriums.

Earlier news stories had ­embarrassed officials, who claim that only six people have died of Covid in China in December.

A video report by CNN days before Christmas showed containers full of bodies in yellow storage bags, with more being ­delivered as the team filmed. Hundreds of cars waited in a queue to deliver more, but were told the overwhelmed facility had no place for cremation.

Some people waiting said the hospitals where their loved ones had died had told them they had no room to store the bodies.

Videos posted on social media show similar queues at funeral homes around the country.

Those facilities are now surrounded by police. Instructions have been issued to staff ordering that “no interviews with journalists are allowed; no disclosure in any kind of the present operation now”. They warn of punishment for any breaches.

Forgetting about Covid

This week, Beijing announced China’s border will open to the world from January 8. Chinese citizens will, for the first time in three years, be allowed to travel outside the country.

Those travelling to the US, Japan and India will need a negative test. Other destinations, ­including Taiwan, will test Chinese tourists on arrival.

For now many in China are nervous about leaving their apartments. Subway numbers, domestic flights and traffic congestion have plummeted.

Even James Cameron’s anticipated blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water is struggling to sell tickets. The original Avatar was a massive hit. Sun Linlin was at a screening on Tuesday. She is also one of the rare people to not have caught Covid in China’s capital. “If I really get infected, I will be a true ‘fever fan’ of Avatar! Let me complete my Avatar dream by that,” she joked.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/china-throws-caution-to-the-wind-on-covid/news-story/a4e37ca3e9741075119d84e9ea5ab36c

How sexual assault victims may soon make claims on paedophiles’ superannuation

Large lump sums of superannuation tucked away by paedophiles will soon be open to compensation claims by sex assault victims.

Mark Buttler - December 31, 2022

A wave of claims by sex assault victims on the superannuation of paedophiles is set to emerge, a legal expert says.

The federal government has paved the way for victims to move on the money of bankrupt perpetrators who, under law, do not have to pay up.

Paedophiles have for years hidden their wealth in superannuation accounts which cannot be retrieved by crime victims.

But the federal government has made it clear it would soon be open season on super tucked away by abusers.

Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones has signalled loopholes quarantining the money would be closed, a stance supported by the Opposition.

Lawyer Andrew Carpenter, who specialises in pursuing claims for sex assault victims, said he had dealt with multiple cases of affluent paedophiles transferring their wealth to super so it could not be grabbed for victim compensation.

Mr Carpenter said some abusers were sitting on many millions of dollars in super, while those they hurt struggled to survive.

He said there would be many Victorian victims able to take advantage of the new rules, which are expected to be available for use by next year.

“It’s going to be a wave. A lot of people in the past haven’t been able to go against the offender,” he said.

Mr Carpenter said the move would help ease the burden on taxpayers who are helping pay for the ongoing treatment of victims, many who are unable to work.

“It’s effectively taxpayers providing the redress now,” Mr Carpenter said.

Mr Carpenter, the Grace Tame Foundation, the Carly Foundation and Fighters Against Child Abuse Australia have lobbied hard to have paedophiles’ super assets open to their victims.

A petition with 20,000 signatures gave the move more momentum.

It will require changes to the legislation covering bankruptcy and superannuation.

One of the cases which has sparked most outrage is that of former Bega Cheese chief executive Maurice Van Ryn, who committed ­grotesque ­assaults on nine children.

Van Ryn had a multi­million-dollar superannuation portfolio but it was shielded from being used to provide compensation to the victims.

It was ruled to be a protected asset under civil law.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/how-sexual-assault-victims-may-soon-make-claims-on-paedophiles-super/news-story/840760ac178080a13832ee7e6c818bf3

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre sues his ex-girlfriend Rina Oh over defamation case

Priscilla DeGregory - December 30, 2022

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre claims a defamation suit filed against her by the dead pedophile’s ex-girlfriend is “a sham,” new court papers show.

Rina Oh, 43, filed a $10 million-plus federal lawsuit against Giuffre in January for publicly naming Oh as one of Epstein’s recruiters. Oh claims she has since realized she was also a victim of Epstein “and his gang.”

Oh also alleged Giuffre, 38, sexually abused her “at Epstein’s direction.”

Giuffre has now fired back with her own lawsuit — claiming Oh’s case is an attempt to silence and punish Giuffre for Twitter posts protected under her constitutional right to free speech.

Oh’s “lawsuit is a sham attempt to silence and harasses Ms. Giuffre, while defendant Oh is afforded the opportunity to continuously defame and disparage Ms. Giuffre,” the suit alleges. “Oh’s civil action was not to remedy a wrong but was brought for the malicious and intentional purpose of harming Ms. Giuffre and to punish her for exercising her constitutional right to free speech and to participate in the public discourse.”

Giuffre is suing for unspecified damages under New York’s free speech laws.

Giuffre has been described as Epstein’s underage “sex slave,” and claims she was even sex-trafficked to Prince Andrew – whom she subsequently sued, and then settled with for an estimated $12 million in February.

The new legal action is the latest salvo between the two women whose feud began on Twitter in October 2020, sparked by Oh’s admission that she brought at least three women to Epstein. The disclosure came during the podcast “The Recruiters, Broken: Seeking Justice.”

On the podcast, Oh admitted Epstein was her “older, rich boyfriend” in the early 2000s, and said she took the then-teenage Giuffre to buy a school girl outfit to please the rich financier — justifying the outing by saying “17 to me is not a child.”

Giuffre alleges Oh’s interview “re-traumatized” her, according to the court papers.

Oh brought her own case against Giuffre for calling Oh a “co-conspirator for” Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in a series of tweets about the interview.

On the same podcast, Giuffre claimed Oh cut and slashed her as “part of the sadomasochist” abuse “for Epstein’s pleasure,” the court papers say.

Oh’s lawyer, Alexander Dudelson, told The Post: “This is simply a baseless counterclaim filed in response to Ms. Oh’s defamation suit against Ms. Giuffre in the US District Court.”

https://nypost.com/2022/12/30/jeffrey-epstein-accuser-virginia-giuffre-sues-his-ex-girlfriend-rina-oh/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-recruiters/id1478460758?i=1000496307220

U.S. Embassy Australia Tweet

Thank you for a fantastic 2022, Australia! Happy New Year!

https://twitter.com/USEmbAustralia/status/1608939285214015490

Happy New Year Aus Baker!

Thanks for your tireless work.

>>18046525

Australia mandates Covid test for arrivals from China

LAURA PLACELLA - 1 January 2023

Travellers from China heading to Australia must submit evidence proving they have tested negative to Covid before boarding their flight, Health Minister Mark Butler has announced.

Mr Butler, speaking at a press conference in Adelaide, said the decision has been made "out of an abundance of caution" and was a temporary, modest measure.

"The government has decided … to require travellers from China to submit evidence before boarding their flight of a negative Covid test," he said.

The ruling would come into effect at 12.01am on January 5, in line with countries such as the United States and England who have made similar declarations.

"There is a broad consensus among all the jurisdictional chief health officers … that the resumption of travel between China and Australia poses no immediate public health threat to Australians," Mr Butler said.

"It's clear … that the Omicron subvariant BF.7 that appears to be driving the wave right now in China has been present in Australia for several months.

"Nonetheless, the Australian government shares the concerns that have been expressed over recent days by a number of other governments and importantly by the World Health Organisation."

Mr Butler said several other countries – including the United States, England, France, Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Italy and Spain – have or will, on January 5, put similar arrangements in place "not to restrict travel from China, but to gather better information about what is happening epidemiologically in that country".

"The World Health Organisation … described yesterday such measures as … understandable in the absence of comprehensive information about the situation in China right now," he said.

"I want to stress that these arrangements have not been put in place lightly.

"I want to stress again that we warmly welcome, as a government, the resumption of travel between our two countries. This is going to be a wonderful thing for families, who haven't seen friends and relatives for months, if not years, particularly as we move into the Lunar New Year period."

Mr Butler refused to be drawn on whether this ruling would impact Australia's trade relations with China, saying he did not expect it to have "any broader impact".

"It will not come as any surprise to the Chinese government that Australia is putting this (ruling) in place, given the broad range of countries that have taken similar steps over the last 48 to 72 hours," he said.

The government intended to put in place additional measures, which might include testing the wastewater of airplanes.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/politics-now-russia-strikes-ukraine-hours-before-new-year/live-coverage/fe1633816161647aa628178a7990681e#85876

>>18046525

COVID test to be required for travellers from China

Anna Patty - January 1, 2023

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Travellers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau will need to take a COVID-19 test and get a negative result before flying to Australia from Thursday.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the new requirement was in response to the significant wave of COVID-19 infections in China and the potential for emerging viral variants there.

“The decision to implement these temporary measures has been made out of an abundance of caution, taking into account the dynamic and evolving situation in China and the potential for new variants to emerge in an environment of high transmission,” he said.

“This small but sensible move will help to protect people who are at risk of severe illness and safeguard our healthcare system.”

From 12.01am on January 5, travellers will be required to undertake a COVID-19 test within 48 hours before travel and show evidence of a negative test result when travelling to Australia.

A spokeswoman for Butler said that a decision about whether it will be a RAT or PCR test would be made in coming days.

Butler said the new measures were precautionary and temporary and will remain under review based on available health advice.

“Australia is well positioned in its pandemic response. We continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation in Australia and internationally, in collaboration with medical experts. Our absolute priority is keeping our community safe and continuing to be a world leader when it comes to responding to the global COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“In making this decision, I have been briefed extensively by the chief medical officer. Australia now joins other countries across the world including France, India, Japan, Malaysia, Spain, the Republic of Korea, England and the United States of America in implementing similar measures.”

The World Health Organisation has pointed to the lack of a clear global understanding of the genomic sequencing of cases in China.

Butler said Australia would introduce the testing requirement, explore the feasibility of wastewater testing from aeroplanes, strengthening community wastewater testing arrangements across the country and voluntary testing at airports for inbound travellers “in light of that lack of comprehensive information”.

It is unclear how Australia can rely on the transparency of test results from China.

(continued)

>>18052610

2/2

At the end of 2022, 17,052 COVID deaths had been reported in Australia since the beginning of the pandemic, and 14,790 occurred last year alone. Last Friday, 3599 people were in hospital with COVID, almost half of them in NSW.

In November, Butler said ATAGI would make third booster recommendations in the new year ahead of the Australian winter.

While the reporting of positive COVID tests and isolation are no longer mandatory, NSW Health recommends staying home when you are sick and taking precautions against infecting others, such as wearing a mask, for at least seven days. It continues to recommend people keep up to date with their vaccinations and wear a mask in crowded indoor spaces.

Butler said his department was working with states and territories to monitor the situation in Australia very closely.

“The government continues to work closely with state and territory governments to improve our capacity to detect and rapidly respond to any new emerging variants of concern,” he said.

“There is no advice to change our current approach to managing this phase of the pandemic in Australia. Fortunately, in Australia we have readily available access to vaccines and treatments, and high underlying population immunity.”

Butler said all people should stay up to date with vaccinations and all single people eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine should make an appointment as soon as they are eligible. Anyone who is eligible for oral anti-viral treatments should have a plan to access those if they test positive.

Universities Australia said universities were ready to welcome back international students and the new government decision would not close the door to Chinese students returning to Australia to start or continue their university studies.

“In line with the health advice, they will be required to test negative to COVID-19 before entering Australia. This is a sensible measure in response to the evolving situation in China, and mirrors what other countries are doing,” chief executive Catriona Jackson said.

China is Australia’s biggest market of international students, but around 36 per cent enrolled in universities remain outside the country.

“Education is Australia’s largest services export – contributing over $40 billion to the economy and supporting 250,000 jobs in 2019,” Jackson said.

“It’s imperative we do everything we can to recover the position of strength we held prior to the pandemic.”

https://www.smh.com.au/national/covid-test-to-be-required-for-chinese-travellers-20230101-p5c9q0.html

>>18046525

Taiwan offers China help with COVID surge

Jeanny Kao - 1 January 2023

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has offered to provide China with "necessary assistance" to help it deal with a surge in COVID-19 cases, but says Chinese military activities near the island are not beneficial to peace and stability.

In an abrupt change of policy, China last month began dismantling the world's strictest pandemic regime of lockdowns and extensive testing, meaning COVID-19 is spreading largely unchecked and likely infecting millions of people a day, according to some international health experts.

Tsai, in her traditional new year message, delivered at the presidential office, said everyone had seen the rise in cases in China, which views Taiwan as its own territory and has ramped up military pressure to assert those claims.

"As long as there is a need, based on the position of humanitarian care, we are willing to provide the necessary assistance to help more people get out of the pandemic and have a healthy and safe new year," she said, without elaborating.

Taiwan and China have repeatedly sparred over their respective measures to control the spread of COVID.

China had criticised Taiwan for ineffective management of the pandemic after soaring domestic infections last year, while Taiwan has accused China of a lack of transparency and trying to interfere with vaccine supplies to Taiwan, which Beijing has denied.

Tsai reiterated a call for dialogue with China, saying war was not an option to resolve problems.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his New Year address on Saturday evening, made only brief reference of Taiwan, saying people on either side of the Taiwan Strait "are members of one and the same family", and made no mention of seeking to bring the island under Chinese control.

Tsai, taking questions from reporters, said she had noted Xi's "gentler" remarks.

"But I want to remind people - the military activities of the People's Liberation Army near Taiwan are not at all conducive to cross-strait relations nor regional peace and stability," she added.

Shortly after Tsai spoke, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said 12 Chinese military aircraft had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which had previously served as an unofficial buffer between the two sides, in the past 24 hours.

China staged war games near the island in August after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, and those military activities have continued.

Tsai has repeatedly said she wants talks and peace with China but that Taiwan will defend itself if attacked and that only its 23 million people can decide their future. China views Tsai as a separatist and has refused to talk to her.

https://thewest.com.au/politics/taiwan-offers-china-help-with-covid-surge-c-9323330

Pope Benedict leaves a ‘mixed’ legacy: Pell

Anna Patty - January 1, 2023

Cardinal George Pell remembers Pope Benedict as an inspiration to younger priests and one of the finest theologians, but says he leaves a mixed legacy and will be mostly remembered for his abdication.

Speaking from Rome, Pell said Benedict, who died on Saturday, was not a natural governor or manager “and things did not turn out exactly as he hoped”.

“The latter years of his pontificate were bedevilled by financial and other scandals,” he said.

“As always therefore his legacy is mixed, but his contribution was invaluable for more than fifty years, from the beginning of the Second Vatican Council.

“But he will be mostly remembered for his abdication.”

Benedict stunned the world on February 11, 2013, when he announced that he no longer had the strength to run the Catholic Church.

Pell said Benedict, who had lived longer in retirement than as pope, inspired a decade of young vocations to the priesthood and religious life and was “one of the finest theologians of the twentieth century and indeed the best theological writer from the long list of more than nineteen hundred years of popes”.

He was the first pope to abdicate since Celestine V in 1294 and controversial because of his social and theological conservatism.

“He was regularly assailed by a wide variety of enemies, who understood his importance. He had been a brilliant junior partner to his predecessor, St John Paul the Great,” Pell said.

“A Christian gentleman and a German scholar of the old school, Pope Benedict will be long revered for his faith, learning and fidelity.

The Bishop of Broken Bay, Reverend Anthony Randazzo, said when Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope on April 19, 2005, some Catholics feared that he would be a severe, rigid, and controlling leader.

“Likewise, it is fair to say that some Catholics hoped that this indeed would be the case,” he said.

Having been called to Rome by Cardinal Ratzinger in 2003, Randazzo said he encountered “a gentle man, by nature a shy person, who went out of his way to be hospitable and welcoming”.

“As priest, theologian, bishop, prefect and Pope, Joseph Ratzinger tended to avoid things showy or overstated. It struck me that he was not so much interested in himself, rather he was captivated by the beauty of culture and life.

“Benedict XVI will be remembered for many different reasons; however, I will always remember him for his work of uncovering the truth. Not some subjective opinion dressed up as ‘truth’, but the objective truth, who is Christ Jesus.”

The Vatican on Saturday announced the death of Pope Benedict, aged 95.

The Vatican said Benedict’s remains would be on public display in St Peter’s Basilica from Monday. His funeral will be held in St Peter’s Square on Thursday and will be presided over by Pope Francis.

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher, who oversaw World Youth Day in 2008, said in a statement that Pope Benedict had been a key influence and someone with whom he became close. Benedict visited Australia in 2008 for World Youth Day, drawing huge crowds.

“I had the great privilege of spending some private moments with Pope Benedict, away from the spotlight,” Fisher said.

“They were moments I will forever cherish. He had a great intellect, which he shared through his work as a professor, a Church leader and ultimately as Pope.”

https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/pope-benedict-leaves-a-mixed-legacy-pell-20230101-p5c9p9.html

>>18046697

Prince Andrew braced as accuser Virginia Giuffre to be freed from gagging clause

Agreement signed by Duke of York will come to an end in February, which could mean allegations resurface once more

Victoria Ward - 31 December 2022

The Duke of York is braced for his sex abuse accuser to return to the public eye as a gagging clause signed by both parties is lifted in February.

Prince Andrew paid millions to settle a civil case with Virginia Giuffre earlier this year, securing a deal that bought him just one-year of silence. The Duke did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the civil case settlement.

However, that agreement will come to an end within weeks, meaning that Ms Giuffre, who now lives in Australia with her husband and children, will be once again likely to be free to talk about the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.

It raises the prospect that she could resume television interviews, or even write a book.

Ms Giuffre sued the Duke for unspecified damages last year, claiming she was forced to have sex with him on three separate occasions in 2001, when she was 17.

The Duke, who denied any wrongdoing, was determined to take the civil case to trial and clear his name.

But Buckingham Palace urged him to settle as increasingly damaging and lurid claims dominated the news agenda and threatened to overshadow Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The late Queen was becoming increasingly frail and may have known at the time that she did not have long to live. There was concern that, among other things, the early February announcement that Camilla, the then Duchess of Cornwall - with her mother-in-law’s blessing - would be known as the Queen Consort when Charles acceded the throne would be eclipsed by the ongoing legal battle.

Buckingham Palace announced in January that it had stripped Prince Andrew of all military titles and patronages, ordered him not to use his HRH title and ruled out any return to public duties.

However, the Duke came under intense pressure to strike a deal - eventually announced on February 15 - that would draw a line under the case and allow him to retreat from the public eye.

In order to facilitate the deal, the late Queen contributed to a hefty financial settlement which was accompanied by a 12-month gagging clause, ensuring that neither side could discuss any aspect of the case or the financial deal.

The majority of the $12 million settlement went to Ms Giuffre, while around $2 million was donated to her sex trafficking charity, it is understood.

The inclusion of the gagging clause was considered critical and is understood to have been a prerequisite for the Duke borrowing sufficient money from his family to settle the case.

However, some aides were said to be “incredulous” that Prince Andrew could have paid so much money only to have the allegations repeated after such a relatively short space of time.

A friend said when the deal was signed: "If you’re going to go for legal resolution at those sorts of prices then you want silence - but what we’ve got is silence for the Platinum Jubilee."

The gagging clause will be lifted in late February, although the specific terms of the deal have not been revealed.

It is thought that while Ms Giuffre might be free to speak publicly about her experience of being sex trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, she may have agreed not to discuss the Duke or repeat her allegations about him.

A spokesman for the Duke declined to comment.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/12/31/prince-andrew-braced-accuser-virginia-giuffre-freed-gagging/

https://archive.ph/5mwvg

https://qanon.pub/#4568

https://qanon.pub/?q=Prince%20Andrew

>>18052655

Pope Benedict: A Christian gentleman of the old school

Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, is universally regarded as one of the finest theologians and writers in the papacy’s almost 2000-year history.

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL - December 31, 2022

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Three anecdotes from the years in Joseph Ratzinger’s long life when he was not yet famous, but only infamous in certain circles, throw light on the enigma presented by his personality, capacity, and achievements.

Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI and later emeritus pope, died on December 31 aged 95.

In 1968 when he was lecturing in Tubingen, near Stuttgart, in Germany, he did clash with radical Marxist students, who, however, did not shout him down, as Catholic theologian Hans Kung alleged. On one occasion after a lecture by the Dutch Dominican Edward Schillebeeckx, he was on a discussion panel which included Kung. He had said nothing until the students began shouting, “Ratzinger must speak”. When he then summarised and analysed the debate for 15 minutes, the chairman announced that nothing more needed to be said and the gathering closed happily.

Almost 30 years later in 1996, he gave the then-Communist author Peter Seewald a long series of interviews on the Church in the world at the end of the millennium. A former editor of German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung refused to review this interview of a freelance journalist with “someone”, saying it was out of the question for them. The “someone” was the then-Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican and, in book form, The Salt of the Earth sold 500,000 copies in 20 languages.

After Ratzinger’s election as Pope in 2005, the publishers of Seewald’s first article were looking for an accompanying photo – 25 photos were rejected because Ratzinger looked “too good”; they did not conform to the hostile stereotype.

Ratzinger was born in the Bavarian village of Marktl am Inn on April 6, 1927. One of three children, he spent his adolescent years in Traunstein, a small town on the Austrian border. He described himself as a Mozartean, and not simply because of his knowledge and love of classical music. His brother, George, with whom he was ordained a priest on June 29, 1951, in Freising, was for many years director of music in Regensburg Cathedral.

Like all his German countrymen, Ratzinger suffered during the Nazi period and once saw his parish priest beaten by the Nazis before celebrating Mass. Towards the war’s end, he was conscripted into the anti-aircraft service.

He wrote a doctorate on Saint Augustine’s concept of the Church, qualified as a university professor in 1957 and then lectured successively in Freising, Bonn, Münster, and in Tubingen during the upheavals of 1968. The following year, he was appointed professor of theology at the University of Regensburg, eventually becoming dean and vice-rector.

He wrote prolifically during his whole priestly life. At one stage, I thought I had read most of his writings and was amazed to see the number and variety of his earlier works, none of which I had read.

(continued)

>>18057713

2/4

The Second Vatican Council in Rome (1962-65), attended by all the Catholic bishops, was the most important event in Church life in the 20th century and Ratzinger was present as a young priest-theologian for all four sessions, appointed as theological adviser to Cardinal Josef Frings, the Archbishop of Cologne.

Although not as well known to students as senior theologians such as Yves Congar, Karl Rahner, Henri de Lubac, and Kung, he was active in the reforming majority movement which prevailed in the consensus-making for the conciliar decrees.

Two complementary and sometimes contrasting themes were predominant among the majority: those who favoured “aggiornamento”, bringing the Church up to date, and those who believed that vitality lay in “ressourcement”, returning to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles as lived and explained in the first centuries. Ratzinger was always prominent in the second group, an explicit disciple of the French Jesuit de Lubac, who insisted until the end that the council was an example of doctrinal development, of evolution and continuity, that did not provoke a rupture from previous Church history, as proposed by the Bologna school of historians, a theory which has made something of a comeback in recent years.

The Holy Father was not a disciple of Thomas Aquinas, although he always acknowledged the massive contribution of Thomism; much less was he a scholastic, never setting out his writings as a clear, dry series of propositions. An Italian curialist pointed out to me that he never studied in Rome as a seminarian or a young priest and he was never interested nor much involved in the intrigues which swirl around the papal court. He stubbornly believed in the goodness of people, although he often, but not always, came to accept the different estimates of his secretaries and friends. For his 40 years in Rome, actively engaged at the centre of Church life, he remained something of an outsider.

In 1972, while still at Regensburg in Bavaria, he was one of the founders of a new international magazine, Communio, which reflected a parting of ways from the line of the Concilium magazine, with its more radical appeal to aggiornamento (modernisation) and the spirit, not the texts of the council.

A destructive revolutionary zeal swept through many parts of the Western world after the council where eventually 30,000 men left the priesthood – vocations to the priesthood and religious life plummeted and Church life imploded in Holland, Belgium, and Quebec. In 1972, Pope Paul VI, who had been slow to grasp the extent of the disaster, announced that the “smoke of Satan had entered the Church”.

However, it was only on March 24, 1977, that Pope Paul VI appointed Professor Ratzinger as Archbishop in Munich and Freising and then in June created him a cardinal. This was a year before Pope Paul VI’s death, the brief reign of Pope John Paul I, and the advent of the Polish Pope John Paul II. The new Cardinal Ratzinger was an active, pastoral archbishop during his five years in Munich, committed to implementing the Council decrees, not opposing them, as Pope Paul VI desired.

(continued)

>>18057716

3/4

Pope John Paul II appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, once known as the Inquisition, and he commenced there in February 1982, beginning a brilliant partnership with the Polish pope. They were very different, Polish and German, extrovert and reserved, public leader perhaps mystic and intellectual, and a philosopher and a theologians’ theologian, with an unusual gift for clear and elegant writing. It was here Benedict did his best work, just as some claim Paul Keating was a better treasurer than prime minister and Tony Abbott was Australia’s most successful opposition leader and a less effective prime minister.

The then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s most outstanding achievement was as president of the committee (1986-92) which produced the Catechism of the Catholic Church, on the beliefs of the faithful, a classic which ranks with the authoritative 1566 Catechism of the Council of Trent. As prefect, he was also involved in the drafting of Pope John Paul II’s encyclicals, including the major moral teaching in Veritatis Splendor and Evangelium Vitae. The Marxist substratum in the theology of liberation from South America was exposed and rejected, another important contribution.

He broke with tradition and continued to write while prefect. While it would be untrue to claim that the chief executive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published only anathemas (for centuries the pope himself was the prefect), they generally published little outside their rulings; until Ratzinger.

In November 2002, the Cardinal was elected by his brother Cardinal bishops as dean of the College of Cardinals, preaching his famous sermon at the funeral mass of Pope John Paul II, denouncing the “dictatorship of relativism”.

On April 19, 2005, he was elected pope, the 265th pope, successor of Peter, taking the name Benedict XVI after the founder of rules-based Western monasticism, which provided one of the cornerstones of the Western civilisation in which we still live and which is being steadily eroded.

The new pope continued to write and teach at a level which was historically rare among popes and senior ecclesiastics, as evidenced in his encyclicals Caritas in Veritate, Spe Salvi, and Deus Caritas Est, his discourses to the British and German parliaments, and especially his three volumes on the life of Jesus Christ.

In countries as different as Poland, the United States and Australia, his teaching won over the majority of the young lay Catholics, a minority in their cohorts, who opted to continue to live as Catholics. The changed Church circumstances of recent years have only deepened these Benedictine loyalties. He is loved and has inspired many vocations.

This Mozartian pope understood well the centrality and importance of the liturgy in the life of the Church, the celebration of Mass and sacraments with faith and reverence. Whenever Church life has collapsed, so has liturgical discipline with the official Eucharistic texts abandoned or mutilated and the Sacrament of Penance banished.

He re-established the legitimacy and availability of the Latin Tridentine Mass in 2007 so that each priest has a right to celebrate the “old Mass”. This has spread, wider and faster than most expectations, and in France, half the number of seminarians preparing for priesthood follow the Tridentine rite. Pope Francis through his letter Traditionis Custodes is attempting to curb if not quash these enthusiasms.

(continued)

>>18057719

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Pope Benedict also established an Anglican Ordinariate, with its own English language rite derived from the Anglican ceremonial for Anglican priests and laity who converted to Rome – “crossed the Tiber”. Hundreds of priests came across. This was ecumenically sensitive, but ecumenical dialogue and cooperation have continued.

He did good work in the battle against paedophilia and dealt effectively with the corrupt founder of the Legionaries of Christ, although he was regularly under attack from the secularising forces. His speech at Regensburg exploring the links between Islamic teaching and violence eventually produced orchestrated waves of protest, ironically validating his central thesis. His attempt to improve relations with the schismatic Society of Saint Pius X was mismanaged.

The Holy Father did not have much interest or aptitude for governance, rarely meeting with most of the curial heads, leaving that dimension of his role largely to his secretary of state, with long-term unfortunate consequences. The papal household itself was somewhat dysfunctional and thousands of documents were leaked to the press by Paolo, the butler, probably in a bizarre attempt to help the pope.

Some progress was made financially, although the then-Monsignor Vigano’s reforms were not supported. Significantly, Pope Benedict did commission a secret report on corruption in the Vatican, which has never been published, was not made available to the Conclave which elected his successor, but was consigned to Pope Francis.

My personal conjecture, which is not supported by evidence, is that when Benedict saw the report, he concluded that he did not have the organisational capacity, nor the energy at 85 to cleanse the Vatican stables. Whatever his reasons, he resigned from the See of Peter in 2013, the first such resignation since that of Pope Celestine V in 1294, whom Dante consigned to the outer reaches of Hell for his “great refusal”. Benedict deserves no such fate, although it was an extraordinary decision for a prelate and scholar deeply versed in Church history, aware of the challenges in maintaining unity in a worldwide Church; for a pope who in every other way was the champion and exponent of Catholic tradition.

It is unlikely that Benedict anticipated that Pope Francis would be his successor, or that he would live more years in retirement than as pope to see some of the consequences of his decision.

Like many Germans, he admired and understood the English-speaking world, supporting efforts for an accurate, non-ideological English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which he entrusted to Archbishop Eric d’Arcy, then Archbishop of Hobart; and of the third edition of the Missal of the Roman Rite.

He was a good friend to Australia with a disconcertingly broad knowledge of our situation. He visited us for the successful World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008, which attracted more overseas visitors than the Beijing Olympics in the same year, and, finally, against the prognostications of the experts, Pope Benedict blessed and opened Domus Australia, the Australian pilgrim centre in Rome in 2011.

Pope Benedict was a holy and prayerful priest; a Christian gentleman of the old school, who always remained a learned and reserved German professor. He was a good pope, not a great pope, but neither a failure. He preserved the Apostolic faith, taught regularly and magnificently, so that he is universally regarded as one of the finest theologians and writers in the papacy’s almost 2000-year history. He inspired many seminarians, who moved through to become zealous priests, and the numbers at his Wednesday audiences remained high. However, the hopes and bright expectations at his election were not all realised, and both his resignation and long years in retirement were surprises.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/george-pell-pope-benedict-was-a-good-pope-but-not-a-great-one/news-story/eb9959d00a12db5abde06d0801cfa8bc

https://qanon.pub/?q=Pell

https://qanon.pub/?q=pecking

https://qanon.pub/?q=cardinal-george-pell

>>18052655

Cardinals Pell, Krajewski Reflect On Pope Benedict XVI’s Legacy

Paulina Guzik - 2 January 2023

In interviews with OSV News, two cardinals pleased to call Pope Benedict XVI a friend reflected on his death and what the pope emeritus brought to the life of the church.

The world lost “a wonderful man. A very kind man,” Cardinal George Pell, former prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, told OSV News. “I’ve seen him regularly since I came back to Rome to talk about the life of the church and many things. So I will miss him.”

The world in general, he added, will miss Joseph Ratzinger’s brilliant thought.

“I think he was one of the finest theologians of the last century,” Cardinal Pell said. “And, seriously speaking, I think he is the best theologian who was ever the pope. I don’t think any of them wrote with the quality that Pope Benedict demonstrated — and for years, decades before he became pope — on such a variety of topics.”

“He very much believed in reason and tradition and learning. In no sense was he a fundamentalist. He was quintessentially the opposite of that,” Cardinal Pell told OSV News, adding that whoever calls Joseph Ratzinger “panzer-cardinal,” [indicating a strong, rigid personality] is simply spreading “fake news,” he said with a smile.

“He was very much a Christian gentleman. Very much the German professor, a man of exquisite manners, high, high culture, a gentleman of the old school, and very, very polite,” Cardinal Pell recalled, adding: “He wasn’t a particularly energetic or successful executive or manager. He was a man of faith and prayer as a writer and thinker. And he was a spectacularly good participant in discussions, for example, at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. His ability to synthesize what he’s heard and analyze it and then present a point of view — I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone who was better at it than him.”

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI was a man of great tenderness.

“When he talked to someone, he always looked him in the eyes,” Cardinal Krajewski told OSV News, “like there was nothing else in the world, just you and him.”

The Polish cardinal was a master of papal ceremonies during the 2005 conclave that followed John Paul II’s death.

“When we were already on the balcony and Pope Benedict was putting on his white vestments, Archbishop Piero Marini, former master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, told me: “You’ll go ahead of the Holy Father with the cross,” Krajewski told OSV News.

“When I was walking, I remember Archbishop Marini whispering, ‘Turn left, turn left,’ like there was anywhere else to go other than falling down 30 meters from that balcony,” he laughed.

“But what I truly, fondly remember is what I saw from my corner of that balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica — a different Joseph Ratzinger. It was already a different man, a humble servant of Lord’s vineyard, as he himself put it that day,” the Polish cardinal recalled, “someone already filled with the Holy Spirit that chose him to be the leader of the church.”

What Pope Benedict XVI taught us is the love of the imperfect Church, Cardinal Krajewski told OSV News.

“As the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, he dealt with things that rather often go wrong in the church. And he knew how weak this church can be in its human capacity. At the same time he knew that this is the Church of Christ, led by Christ. And without looking at Christ, this Church cannot be understood. That’s what guided Cardinal Ratzinger,” Cardinal Krajewski remembers.

Pope Benedict understood well, Cardinal Pell added, “that we stand under the word of God, which is normative as a unique authority. We are the defenders and the servants of the apostolic tradition. We are not the masters of the apostolic tradition. We are not free to change its essentials in either faith or morals,” he said in a conversation with OSV News.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski told OSV News he will miss seeing the Holy Father in Vatican Gardens. “Every day at 4 p.m. he would be sitting there at his bench, and I was passing by jogging trying to lose my additional pounds. And he would just humbly pray.”

“Benedict XVI was focused on Christ,” Cardinal Krajewski said. “He placed the cross in the middle of the altar, which we, young priests, at the beginning did not understand — but he just celebrated Christ. For him, Christ was the center, the compass, the everything.”

https://www.osvnews.com/2023/01/01/cardinals-pell-krajewski-reflect-on-pope-benedict-xvis-legacy/

The Block buyer Emese Abigail Fajk accused over Ukraine war rorts

NICHOLAS JENSEN - JANUARY 2, 2023

An alleged “international con woman” who placed a $4m winning bid on a house on Nine Network’s The Block but failed to pay has been accused of stealing a multimillion-dollar shipment of medical supplies intended for Ukraine’s Foreign Legion.

Emese Abigail Fajk – who was last seen holding an assault rifle and conducting a press conference alongside foreign fighters in July – has been accused of a raft of offences within the Foreign Legion, including blackmail, misappropriation of donations and stealing a “massive shipment” of medical supplies valued up to $US2.5m.

In a confidential dossier sent to Ukrainian Ground Forces command and viewed by The Australian, a senior member of the Foreign Legion alleges Ms Fajk poses a serious “counterintelligence threat” to the international force, and has repeatedly threatened to leak top-secret information that would “be catastrophically bad geopolitically” if her position within the legion is undermined or challenged.

The Hungarian national, who is understood to hold the rank of private in the Ukrainian Army, made headlines in Australia in 2020 after she made the winning bid on a property at an auction on the TV show The Block.

It was later revealed that Ms Fajk, who goes by the alias “Mockingjay” in Ukraine, allegedly produced false bank transfers to the network, indicating the funds had been sent.

In the dossier sent to Ukrainian Ground Forces command last month, a senior medical and intelligence officer in the Foreign Legion alleges that the 30-year-old committed several “financial crimes” while in her position as “communications director and troop support for 1st Battalion”.

“The author of this report is aware of a massive shipment of medication delivered by one of his assets to Kyiv for distribution to the 1st and 3rd Battalion,” wrote the senior officer, who spoke to The Australian on the condition of anonymity.

“I have the EUC (end use certificate) for the delivery of these medications whose estimated value is nearly US $2,500,000.

“I have confirmed that none of this medication was ever delivered to the 1st or 3rd Battalions and have made con­siderable efforts to locate where the medication may have gone … I am willing to testify that Mockingjay was present during the delivery.”

The officer, who cited testimony from several witnesses and senior members of the ­Foreign Legion, further alleged that “large amounts of additional donations” made to the international military unit were “confiscated by Mockingjay and sent to places ­unknown”.

“In every aspect of her job, she has proven to be an abject failure. She does not have the confidence of the rank and file of the soldiers, the local or international press or even those who work directly with her,” the dossier concluded.

“It is a nearly unanimously held belief within the Legion that she is a cancer on the organisation that must be excised lest she destroy the entire body of the organisation itself.”

In another dossier, a second intelligence officer wrote Ms Fajk’s “illicit behaviours” made her “extremely susceptible to blackmail, bribery, extortion and/or open recruitment by officers of the Russian Federation Security Services”.

It further claims she was arrested by Ukrainian military authorities last March in Yavoriv “on suspicion of espionage” but was “inexplicably released”.

The two dossiers, which were independently written without instruction from Ukrainian Ground Forces command or the Foreign Legion, were subsequently forwarded to the US Embassy in Kyiv and called for the immediate termination of Ms Fajk’s role.

The Australian does not suggest Ms Fajk is guilty of these allegations, only that they have been raised by several senior members of the Foreign Legion.

Ms Fajk, who previously lived in New York and the UK, relocated to Australia in 2019.

While her LinkedIn profile states she has worked as a “senior consultant” for the UN since 2015, in December 2020 she told The Australian she was not an employee of the UN.

In July 2022, Nine’s A Current Affair program reported Ms Fajk supplied a fake ANZ banking receipt after she placed multiple bids on a property featured on The Block, ultimately winning the auction for $4,256,000.

But Nine did not receive the funds from Ms Fajk and the ­contract of sale was voided by the network, which subsequently handed all its evidence to law-enforcement authorities.

An AFP spokesman said it was not currently investigating Ms Fajk.

The Australian sought comment from Ms Fajk.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/the-block-buyer-emese-abigail-fajk-accused-over-ukraine-war-rorts/news-story/73386c36f1aea7672bba842eea5374f4

>>18046525

>>18052595

China’s COVID wave a ‘key risk’ for Australian economy: Chalmers

Matthew Knott and Emma Koehn - January 2, 2023

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned the surge of coronavirus cases triggered by the Chinese government’s abrupt removal of tough restrictions poses a major risk to the Australian economy this year and is already disrupting local supply chains.

China’s factory activity shrank for the third straight month in December, recording its biggest drop since the pandemic began, in a sign the infections sweeping across the country are already hitting the superpower’s manufacturing industry hard.

“The impact of COVID on China and on supply chains is one of the key risks to our economy in 2023,” Chalmers said on Monday.

“We are heavily reliant on Chinese markets and Chinese work forces for a lot of the goods in our economy. It’s really right across the board.”

“And so as we look ahead to what will be a challenging year for the global economy, a big part of that, in a whole range of industries, will be the pressure on supply chains brought about by this COVID wave in China,” he added.

Chalmers said many financial analysts expect conditions to worsen in China before they improve, a major concern given the nation remains Australia’s largest trading partner.

“The COVID wave in China is already having a substantial impact on supply chains, and we expect that to get more difficult, before it eases,” he said.

Chalmers added the Albanese government was closely monitoring the knock-on effects for the Australian economy as China moves away from a “zero COVID” approach to managing the pandemic.

The federal government will introduce mandatory COVID-19 testing for travellers arriving from China on Thursday, a policy driven by doubt about the accuracy of the Chinese government’s coronavirus data.

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported one new COVID-19 death on the mainland on Sunday, the same as a day earlier, when it reported 5,138 official confirmed cases.

Experts say the actual number of infections is likely to be significantly higher given mass testing is no longer in operation.

Betashares chief economist David Bassanese said the speed of China’s transition away from a COVID-zero policy had surprised Australian businesses.

According to Bassanese, disruptions at factories due to the virus will hurt businesses across the board, with Australian manufacturers and retailers reliant on imports the hardest hit.

“There could also be disruptions in all manner of consumer electronics. The short-run impact is that it’s going to make supply chain problems worse, not better.”

Despite expectations of short-term pain for supply chains, some sectors are focused on the long-term gains that could be on offer after China retreats from its COVID-zero stance. Mining stocks rallied in the last months of 2022 in anticipation that China’s reopening would bolster Australian mineral exports.

“We suspect it won’t just be a weaker US dollar supporting commodity prices, a recovering Chinese economy should be a positive for prices too,” MST Marquee analysts said in a note to clients.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking in first public address since the change of policy, acknowledged the country had entered a new era in the pandemic following the removal of lockdown rules and widespread testing.

“At present, the epidemic prevention and control is entering a new phase,” Xi said in his new year’s address.

“It is still a time of struggle, everyone is persevering and working hard, and the dawn is ahead.

“Let’s work harder, persistence means victory, and unity means victory.”

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/china-s-covid-wave-a-key-risk-for-australian-economy-chalmers-20230102-p5c9w2.html

>>18052595

'Infect us all': Wild claim as Chinese tourists to return to Australia

The US's former secretary of state Mike Pompeo has accused China of a sinister act.

Tom Flanagan - 2 January 2023

The US's former secretary of state Mike Pompeo believes China is attempting to infect the entire world with a new strain of Covid-19.

Australia is one of a handful of countries that has demanded Chinese travellers coming into the country to provide a negative Covid test over fears Beijing is withholding key information about its surging wave of infection after it abandoned its zero-Covid strategy last month. There are growing fears a new variant resistant to current vaccines could emerge.

Chinese tourists will be able to travel abroad from January 8, while those with work and study visas, as well as those visiting family, will be able to reenter the country.

But Mr Pompeo believes the world should go one step further and ban Chinese travellers altogether.

"There is no reason we should allow the Chinese to do this again, to send Chinese-infected persons around the world, knowingly infecting people all across the globe," he told Cats Roundtable host John Catsimatidis.

Mr Pompeo was a relentless critic of China's Covid response when in office as a key member of the Trump administration, claiming he had intelligence Beijing originally released the virus from a laboratory in Wuhan.

"Xi got away with this once… I regret he wasn't held accountable. We should still do that for the 6 million people who died between the spring of 2020 and today," he said.

"He's doing it again."

China's low death rate in recent days has raised suspicion authorities are severely underreporting Covid data, with the surge in activity at funeral homes across the country painting a far different picture. Several Western experts have predicted China could experience more than one million deaths in the coming months.

Chinese state media lashes out

Chinese state media has taken aim at countries imposing new restrictions on Chinese travellers, accusing them of discriminating against China.

"It should be pointed out that the US and some other Western countries have chosen to "live with" the virus from the very beginning," Beijing mouthpiece the Global Times said.

"Why have some politicians in those countries begun to suddenly show increased concern for the spread of the virus? There are reasons to believe that political prejudice against China contributes some part to their "shifted attitude" toward the spread of the virus."

The nationalistic tabloid said preventing tourists from entering would not stop the spread of the virus and would only harm nations' economies.

The Global Times also took aim at Western media over its reporting of China's current wave, saying its response to Covid-19 should be judged on the entire three years of the pandemic.

"Western media outlets and elites are only accusing China to make themselves feel better. The truth is, there will be pains in China's transition period, but the day the West wants to see – when China is trapped in a worse quagmire of the epidemic than the West – will not come," it wrote.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/infect-us-all-wild-claim-as-chinese-tourists-to-return-to-australia-210918258.html

https://catsroundtable.com/former-sec-of-state-mike-pompeo-report-from-around-the-world-2/

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1282946.shtml

>>18052595

Chinese travellers to test for COVID under doctor’s eye to be let into Australia

Matthew Knott and Melissa Cunningham - January 3, 2023

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The Albanese government is forging ahead with mandatory COVID-19 testing for arrivals from China, even as Beijing labelled the move unnecessary and the opposition accused the government of creating “chaos and confusion” by overruling the advice of the nation’s chief medical officer.

The government released details of the policy revealing travellers who transit through Hong Kong, Macau or mainland China en route to Australia will be exempt from testing requirements while those who use a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) will need to have their test supervised by a doctor.

The rules come into effect on 12.01am on Thursday.

Health Minister Mark Butler defended the decision, which has been criticised by an array of public health experts, on the grounds the “fast-moving” coronavirus situation in China and the Chinese government’s lack of transparency justified special measures.

Butler also denied accusations from racial justice groups that the government had unfairly singled out Chinese travellers and shown “blatant disregard” for Australians of Asian heritage.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said requiring negative coronavirus tests 48 hours before travel were “not especially onerous requirements for people travelling from that part of the world” and said the government had decided to “err on the side of caution”.

In Beijing’s first official response to the policy, the Chinese foreign ministry said the measures were “unnecessary” and urged Australia to formulate policy based on the advice of “authoritative medical experts”.

“China always believes that for all countries, COVID response measures need to be science-based and proportionate without affecting normal travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.

In written advice to Butler, dated December 31, Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said: “I do not believe that there is sufficient public health rationale to impose any restriction or additional requirements on travellers from China.”

Kelly said there was a “strong consensus” among state and territory chief medical officers that any new restrictions would be inconsistent with Australia’s national approach to living with the virus and “disproportionate to the risk”.

Butler said his decision to go beyond Kelly’s advice was “really about acting out of an abundance of caution”.

“It’s a modest measure,” he told Adelaide radio station 5AA.

As China rapidly loosens tough coronavirus restrictions, Butler said the world was witnessing “a very fast evolving COVID wave in the largest country on the planet”.

Butler said many countries around the world – including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Japan and South Korea – had recently implemented similar testing requirements.

He noted the World Health Organisation was particularly concerned that China is not uploading the genomic sequencing of COVID cases in real time, making it difficult to tell whether new COVID variants are emerging there.

(continued)

>>18064671

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needed to explain why he was not following the expert advice.

“The last thing our country needs is a panicked response from a government that doesn’t have a plan and, frankly, over the last week, has been making it up as they go along,” Dutton and Ruston said in a statement.

“Chinese Australians want to return home after their holidays and need more certainty in their travel plans … Australians expect that their government is prepared for situations like this; instead, we are left with chaos and confusion.”

A government fact sheet released on Tuesday said arrivals from China could use a RAT or polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-style test to demonstrate they are COVID negative. If they use a RAT, however, it will need to be administered or supervised by a medical practictioner.

The testing requirements apply to anyone whose flight originates in China - including Australian citizens - even if they transit through a third country.

Travellers on flights that originate in other countries but transit through mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau are exempt from the testing requirement, as are children aged under 12, airline crew and people who can prove they have recovered from the virus in the previous 30 days.

Melissa McIntosh, the assistant opposition spokeswoman for mental health, said it was “perplexing” the government had ignored Kelly’s advice.

“It’s leading people to be confused,” she told Radio National.

“Why would you have the chief medical officer say one thing, and the government ignore that, and do another?”

Neha Madhok, director of racial justice organisation Democracy in Colour, said the decision to test people arriving from China, Hong Kong and Macau was “bizarre”.

Madhok said Butler had “shown blatant disregard for Australians of Asian background, a group who has borne the brunt of COVID-19 racism since the start of the pandemic”.

Asked whether his decision was racist, Butler said: “I reject that entirely”.

He said China was in a “unique position” as it was restarting travel and reopening its economy significantly later than other countries.

An array of leading health experts have criticised the government’s decision, saying it lacked a public health rationale and was driven by politics rather than science.

Former World Health Organisation advisor and Australian epidemiologist Adrian Esterman, said there remained serious gaps in the intelligence coming out of China and doubts over the accuracy of official figures, including the number of infections, hospitalisations and deaths.

“The answer is we don’t really know an awful lot about what’s going on,” he said.

But Esterman said it was unfair to single out China, when other countries across the world, including Australia, should be strengthening their own surveillance measures.

He also questioned why China was being targeted, when about 40 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States were caused by the highly contagious Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5, which is thought to be “the most concerning and notable sub-variant circulating.”

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/butler-defends-perplexing-decision-to-ignore-expert-advice-on-china-covid-testing-20230103-p5ca0p.html

https://origin.go.theaustralian.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/covid-19-advice-from-chief-medical-officer-professor-paul-kelly-to-minister-butler.pdf

>>18052595

China hits back at traveller restrictions imposed in more than a dozen countries amid COVID-19 surge

Zena Chamas - 3 January 2023

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China has hit back at entry restrictions enforced by Australia and other countries on Chinese travellers, saying any COVID-19 control measures need to be "proportionate" and "science-based".

It comes after the federal government announced travellers from China to Australia will be required to take a pre-departure COVID-19 test and show evidence of a negative result.

It followed similar decisions by a number of countries, including the US and UK, and more countries have followed suit.

During a press conference, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was asked about China's stance on the restrictions.

"China always believes that for all countries, COVID response measures need to be science-based and proportionate without affecting normal travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation," Mr Wang said.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently said restrictions some countries had introduced in response to China's COVID outbreak were understandable given the lack of information from Beijing.

Mr Wang responded that "authoritative medical experts" from different countries had said entry restrictions on travellers arriving from China were "unnecessary".

"China will, in light of the Chinese people's inclination for outbound travel, resume outbound tourism to countries where conditions allow," he added.

Countries imposing curbs on Chinese travellers

Authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travellers from China as COVID-19 cases surge following its relaxation of "zero-COVID" rules. China has rejected criticism of its COVID data.

More than a dozen countries have already slapped travellers from China with fresh travel regulations.

Here is a rundown of the countries that have imposed mandatory COVID tests and other rules on arrivals from China:

The United States will impose mandatory COVID-19 tests on travellers from China beginning on January 5.

All air passengers aged two and older will require a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong or Macau.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said US citizens should reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau.

(continued)

>>18064709

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The UK will require a pre-departure negative COVID-19 test for passengers from China as of January 5.

France will require travellers from China to provide a negative COVID-19 test result less than 48 hours before departure.

Starting January 1, France will also carry out random PCR tests upon arrival on travellers coming from China, a government official told reporters.

France has urged all 26 other European Union member states to test Chinese travellers for COVID-19.

India has mandated a COVID-19 negative test report for travellers arriving from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Passengers from those countries will be quarantined if they show symptoms or test positive.

Air travellers to Canada from China must test negative for COVID-19 no more than two days before departure.

Japan will require a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival for travellers from mainland China. Those who test positive will be required to quarantine for seven days. New border measures for China went into effect at midnight on December 30. The Japanese government will also limit requests from airlines to increase flights to China.

Italy has ordered COVID-19 antigen swabs and virus sequencing for all travellers from China, while Spain will require a negative COVID-19 test or a full course of vaccination against the disease for travellers from China.

Malaysia will screen all inbound travellers for fever and test wastewater from aircraft arriving from China for COVID-19.

Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Centre said all passengers on direct flights from China, as well as by boat at two offshore islands, will have to take PCR tests upon arrival, starting on January 1.

South Korea will require travellers from China to provide negative COVID-19 test results before departure, South Korea's News1 news agency reported.

Morocco will impose a ban on people arriving from China, whatever their nationality, from January 3.

Qatar will require travellers arriving from China from January 3 to provide a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours of departure, state news agency QNA said.

European Union government health officials will hold talks on Wednesday on a coordinated response to the surge in COVID-19 infections in China, the Swedish EU presidency said on Monday, after December talks concluded with no decisions on the matter.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-03/china-reacts-to-travel-restrictions-amid-covid-sruge/101823306

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/202212/t20221230_10999130.html

Edward Snowden Tweet

Free Julian Assange.

https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1609902808165191682

https://qalerts.app/?q=snowden

https://qalerts.app/?q=roadmap

Pilot Daniel Duggan paid $116,000 to train Chinese aviators, US claims

LIAM MENDES and ELLEN WHINNETT - JANUARY 3, 2023

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A former US military pilot ­arrested in Australia was paid more than $116,000 to train People’s Republic of China pilots to take off and land on aircraft carriers, the US government alleges.

New details from the indictment lodged against Daniel Edmund Duggan, 54, have emerged alleging Mr Duggan received 12 payments from a Chinese-based business which was responsible for acquiring military training, equipment and technical data for China’s government and military.

Eight of the 12 payments were listed as being for “personal development training.

Each was for $9900, or $9500, and the payments were made between January 11, 2011 and July 6, 2012. They totalled between $116,250 and $116,400.

The payments were allegedly in return for providing “military training to PRC military pilots” through the controversial South African company Test Flying Academy of South Africa, which is at the centre of a “threat alert” warning issued by the British Ministry of Defence.

It has previously been alleged the TFASA was a proxy for Beijing to enlist veteran Western fighter pilots to assist the Chinese military to improve capabilities in which they fall behind Western counterparts.

(continued)

>>18064786

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The indictment, unsealed in the District of Columbia courts in the US, alleges Mr Duggan was involved with eight “co-conspirators’’ in providing military services to Chinese air force pilots, in contravention of US laws.

The indictment further alleges Mr Duggan and his co-accused sought to “defraud the US government’’ in its efforts to regulate the export of defence articles and services through “deceit, craft, trickery and dishonest means”.

In bombshell allegations, the indictment claims:

• Mr Duggan was also known by four other names, including three Chinese names – Ding San Xing, Ding San Qing, DSQ and Ivan.

• He conspired with six people and two businesses in the allegedly illegal provision of training services to Chinese pilots.

• Another US military pilot conspired with him.

• Some members of the group provided “false information” to be granted permission to export a training aircraft – a T-2 Buckeye previously used as a training aircraft for US Navy and Marine students – from the US to South Africa where it would be used to train Chinese pilots.

• The aircraft, specifically designed for training aviators on ­aircraft carriers, was allegedly purchased by a South African ­national, lawyer and associate of Mr Duggan.

• The US government warned Mr Duggan as early as 2008 that he was required to register with, and apply for authorisation from, the State Department’s Directorate of Defence Trade and Controls before providing defence training to the People’s Republic of China or Chinese foreign nationals.

• Mr Duggan, while in China, was negotiating the terms of his service and wrote in an email that “he hoped his children would be set for life as a result”.

(continued)

>>18064789

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Mr Duggan, who renounced his US citizenship in 2012 and is an Australian citizen, was ­arrested in Orange, in rural NSW, in October, on a provisional warrant from the US, which is seeking to extradite him to face four ­charges.

The father of six strongly ­denies any illegality, and is fighting his extradition in the courts, after Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus agreed to accept the US’s request for extradition.

A former US Marine who flew Harrier “jump jet’’ warplanes, which take off and land on aircraft carriers, Mr Duggan moved to Australia after retiring from the US military.

None of the co-accused listed in the indictment are named. However, one of them, so-called Co-conspirator D, is known to be former British pilot Keith Hartley, who now resides in Adelaide, and was previously the chief operating officer of the TFASA.

Mr Hartley, who The Australian last month revealed to be a second Australian-based former military fighter pilot being investigated, is alleged to have sent an email to Mr Duggan describing aircraft carrier training he had conducted for Chinese pilots.

The South Australian resident and former RAF top gun, who went by the call sign “Hooligan”, allegedly solicited Mr Duggan’s help in conducting training via email in September of 2010.

Mr Hartley declined to comment to The Australian.

(continued)

>>18064797

4/4

The TFASA is one of the two businesses listed as co-conspirators on the indictment.

The company, which is directly linked to Chinese state-owned aviation giant COMAC, provides training for Chinese pilots and has confirmed it previously employed Mr Duggan on one short-term contract.

The indictment alleges the company, referred to only as “Co-conspirator H”, entered into a contract between a state-owned entity of the People’s Republic of China to provide “aircraft carrier approach and landing training to PRC pilots”.

“The training was to occur in China, South Africa and other locations both known and unknown to the grand jury,’’ the indictment alleges.

“The training provided by Co-conspirator H required instructor pilots with knowledge and experience in naval aviation meeting NATO standards. To that end, Co-conspirator H contracted with Duggan.”

The indictment claimed Mr Duggan “provided military training to PRC pilots by, with, and through Co-conspirator H in and around October-November 2010, March 2012, November 2012, and other times both known and unknown by the grand jury”.

The arrest of Mr Duggan – more than 10 years after the ­training is alleged to have ­occurred and six years after he was investigated by a grand jury – has been shrouded in mystery and led to intense speculation about why the action had been taken now.

The indictment sheds light on the allegations the US government is relying on in order to seek Mr Duggan’s extradition.

It alleges Mr Duggan negotiated with a Chinese national, the owner of a business named as ­Co-conspirator F, to instruct in ­tactics, techniques and procedures associated with launching and landing aircraft from an aircraft carrier, for which he allegedly received financial compensation.

It is also alleges he provided evaluation of military pilot trainees and tested naval aviation-­related equipment.

It further claims he would be delivering a presentation in January 2011 titled The Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Mission Success, as well as another in May that year called the Naval Aviation Indoctrination Course to associates of the Chinese business.

The course allegedly referenced aircraft carrier training instructions and Landing Signal Officer training.

Mr Duggan is being held in custody and will return to court in Sydney on January 10.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/pilot-daniel-duggan-paid-116000-to-train-chinese-aviators-us-claims/news-story/bdb11e0c8d4f702e82d332579fd18cf7

https://www.law360.com/articles/1557950/ex-marine-pilot-accused-of-unlawfully-training-chinese-pilots

>>18052595

China threatens payback over new Covid measures

GREG BROWN and WILL GLASGOW - JANUARY 3, 2023

1/2

China has warned it will retaliate against nations that have imposed “discriminatory” Covid-19 testing requirements on travellers leaving the communist nation, arguing the policy is political and lacks a scientific basis.

The warning from Beijing comes as Peter Dutton accused ­Anthony Albanese of mishandling the response to China’s Covid-19 outbreak while key ­industry groups stand by new requirements despite the shake-up not being recommended by official health advice.

“Some countries adopt entry restriction measures only targeting China, which lacks a scientific basis,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing on Tuesday night.

“We firmly oppose the practice of manipulating epidemic prevention and control measures to achieve political goals, and will take corresponding measures according to the principle of reciprocity according to different situations.

“New strains can emerge anywhere, so there is no need for special entry restrictions on China.

“China always believes that the epidemic prevention measures of various countries should be scientific and appropriate, and should not take the opportunity to ­engage in political manipulation, discriminatory practices, and normal personnel exchanges, exchanges and co-operation should not be affected.”

Australia on Sunday joined more than a dozen nations including the US, Britain, India and Japan, to require the screening of travellers entering from China over concern about a lack of transparency of data that would indicate the emergence of new strains of Covid.

The Opposition Leader said on Tuesday there was “chaos and confusion” within the government over the handling of ­Chinese arrivals after Health Minister Mark Butler rebuffed advice from Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly that found no new testing requirements were needed.

Extra information released by the government on Tuesday clarified that travellers to Australia from China – including Hong Kong and Macau – could use a rapid antigen test to prove they were free from Covid, but the testing would have to be administered or supervised by a medical practitioner.

Under the new rules, which take effect from Thursday, a negative test must be returned 48 hours before departure, with the exception of airline crew, children under 12 and those with evidence they have contracted Covid-19 in the past 30 days and are no longer infectious.

More stringent requirements will apply to passengers using RATs than those taking PCR tests.

“If a RAT test is used, a certificate from the medical practitioner administering, or super­vising, the test will be required,” the new information said.

“This certificate should include: the date and time of the test; the name of the individual tested; the type of test conducted; the brand and make of the test; that the specimen for the test was collected, and the test was carried out, by or under the supervision of a medical practitioner; the result of the test; the signature of the medical practitioner providing the certificate.”

Australian citizens returning from China will also need to comply with the new measures.

(continued)

COVID-19 subvariant wreaking havoc in US reaches Australia

Melissa Cunningham - January 4, 2023

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As the pandemic enters its fourth year, a new COVID-19 subvariant that is spreading fast in the US and leading to increasing hospitalisations has been detected in Australia, where high transmission rates have also led to the country’s first homegrown strain, in NSW.

Virologist Associate Professor Stuart Turville said his team had already detected about eight samples of the US’s Omicron offshoot, dubbed XBB.1.5, in Australia.

The variant first emerged in New York state in late October. By the end of December, the number of cases in the US had more than doubled in a week. The strain now accounts for 40 percent of coronavirus cases in the country and has been linked to rising hospitalisations.

Turville said that while XBB.1.5 “is definitely one to watch”, there is no evidence it causes more severe disease than any of the other hundreds of Omicron subvaraints already circulating.

“A lot of the virus trackers across the world that I collaborate with are saying, ‘Look, it could push the prevalence of cases in Australia a little bit and it might dominate eventually’,” said Turville, who is head of the containment lab and the Kirby Institute.

“But interestingly, what’s playing out is that the immunity in each population is subtly different, so a subvariant that pops up in some regions may have an edge for that particular population but not for another.”

The subvariant XBB.1.5 is a close relative of the Omicron offshoot XBB, a fusion of two different B.A.2 variants, which has already spread widely in Australia.

The reason XBB.1.5 has raised alarm among experts around the world is because it contains an unusual mutation known as F486P.

Professor Robert Booy, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Sydney, said this mutation meant XBB.1.5 was more transmissible than its predecessors and, he suspects, more easily able to evade our immunity.

“I am calling it the Extra Bad Boy,” Booy said. “It is spreading like crazy in the US, but there’s no evidence to say that it’s more virulent.

Despite the spread of the subvariant leading to higher hospitalisations in New York, Booy said Australians should not be alarmed.

“We should purely be alerted to it, and monitoring it with surveillance closely in Australia.”

(continued)

>>18071595

2/2

Dr Michael Lydeamore, infectious diseases modeller at Monash University, said that if the Kirby Institute had detected a handful of XBB.1.5 samples, then “chances are it is already spreading “everywhere” in Australia.

Meanwhile, Turville said the high rates of transmission in Australia had also seen the country create its own subvariants for the first time in the pandemic.

In NSW, BR.2.1 has become the most dominant subvariant, and Turville said all the data suggests the virus mutated in the state, making the strain “one of our own”.

The detection of XBB.1.5 in Australia comes as infectious diseases experts warn a rich “soup” of Omicron descendants are becoming increasingly adept at evading immunity. This has rendered some antiviral medications ineffective against strains currently circulating.

Full vaccination and being up-to-date with booster shots still provides significant protection.

Turville, who recently studied the ability of approved monoclonal antibody therapies to neutralise variants, said many of the treatments were no longer effective against XBF, the most dominant subvariant in Victoria, accounting for about a third of all infections, and BQ.1.1, which is also circulating widely.

Paxlovid, an oral antiviral medication, still remains effective against the subvariants. But Turville said the study indicated how important it was for Australia to focus on advancing antiviral treatments for those most at risk of severe disease.

“When we become complacent, that’s when it’s going to rear its ugly head,” he said.

US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding recently warned that the XBB.1.5 super-variant was among the most immunity-evasive variants to date. In November, the World Health Organisation said there is early evidence pointing to a higher reinfection risk from XBB.1.5 compared with other circulating Omicron sublineages.

Lydeamore said as coronavirus infections exploded overseas, cases in Australia would increase again.

But he said excess mortality estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics were starting to come down again, following surges of deaths in the latest coronavirus wave.

Over the next year, Lydeamore predicted the management of COVID-19 would become more like influenza, where there were either annual or biannual vaccination.

“It will be a bit rocky while we get everyone on the right schedule because we know there are people who got their last dose eight or six months and aren’t eligible for another dose yet,” he said.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/covid-19-subvariant-wreaking-havoc-in-us-reaches-australia-20230104-p5ca8n.html

>>18046171

Rudd tells US not to ‘throw allies under a bus’

John Kehoe - Jan 4, 2023

Australia’s soon-to-be ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, says America needs to stop throwing some foreign allies “under a bus” on trade and economics if it wants to build international support to push back against China.

Dr Rudd’s frank public assessment about Australia’s closest ally raised mixed reactions among foreign policy experts on Wednesday, amid contention about the Albanese government’s announcement last month that the former prime minister would become Australia’s next envoy in Washington.

Dr Rudd said in a television interview that the Biden administration’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan “have done a good job in herding the cats, both in Asia and also, frankly, in Europe so far.

“However, for the future, what is the missing element in US grand strategy?” he asked on Bloomberg TV.

“It’s called the economy, stupid,” he said, echoing a political line used by former US president Bill Clinton’s adviser to help win elections.

“And that is, you cannot continue to assume that there’ll be collective solidarity on security questions.

“But on the economy, the United States is happy to throw some of its allies under a bus.

“And for those reasons the United States Congress needs to embrace instead a different strategy, which opens its markets more towards allies in Asia and in Europe, despite the overriding protectionist sentiment of the US Congress and political class.”

Dr Rudd made clear he was speaking in his capacity as president of the New York-based Asia Society and that he would officially commence as ambassador in three months.

John Lee, a former adviser to former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop, said a credible US strategy required enhanced American market access and that Mr Rudd was likely to tell Americans this in "his typical forthright manner".

"It is in the national and regional interest that he do so," Dr Lee said.

Another foreign policy scholar who has worked in Washington and Canberra said it was “just remarkable he is out there like this before becoming ‘ambo’.”

“He cannot shut up. The Yanks won’t like being lectured in public.”

In the joint interview with Mr Rudd, Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer said Dr Rudd was “completely right”.

“We, the United States, do not have a trade policy. We don’t have one.

“And so as Kevin said, unless Congress, the Democrats, the Republicans are prepared to actually speak coherently about a long-term US economic strategy, the national security policy by itself doesn’t get you there.”

Offset China’s growing power

Dr Rudd said the US could not afford to have a strategy on China with “one arm tied behind its back”.

His remarks about US trade protectionism follow former US president Donald Trump imposing tariffs and other trade restrictions on foreign allies in Asia and Europe.

Mr Trump also stopped the US from joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral trade deal with Pacific Rim nations including Australia.

A strategic aim of the TPP was for the US to forge closer economic ties with Asian nations to offset China’s growing economic power in the region.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and several other world leaders at the time lamented the US’s retreat from trade liberalisation and towards protectionism, including Kurt Campbell, who is now US President Joe Biden’s top Asia adviser.

Dr Rudd was Labor prime minister from 2007 to 2010, before being ousted by Julia Gillard. He briefly returned as leader in 2013 before Labor lost the election.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last month the 65-year-old Dr Rudd had unmatched qualifications to represent Australia’s interests with Joe Biden, and on Capitol Hill.

“Dr Rudd brings unmatched experience to the role,” Mr Albanese said last month.

“He will conduct himself in a way that brings great credit to Australia.”

Dr Rudd is due to replace outgoing ambassador Arthur Sinodinos in March.

Mr Biden is due to visit Australia for a meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue leaders in Australia in the first half of 2023.

Mr Albanese will also visit the US this year.

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/rudd-tells-us-not-to-throw-allies-under-a-bus-20230104-p5cach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4PowGIeJIg

(1:28:34)

The Wiggles slammed for hinting at ‘new collab’ with Lil Nas X: ‘You betrayed us’

Sarah Fittock - 3 January 2023

The Wiggles have been blasted on social media after hinting at a “new collab” with US rapper Lil Nas X.

The popular children’s music group posed for a picture with the controversial American rapper, who was holding a purple Wiggles shirt, at Falls Festival in Melbourne.

The children’s entertainers cheekily captioned the image: “New collab in the wind?” - sparking outrage among furious fans.

“Such a shame, my daughter loved The Wiggles. I don’t see how someone who lap dances the devil in their music videos is a good candidate for working in the children’s music industry,” one infuriated mother wrote.

The 23-year-old rapper, who is in town on his Australian tour, has copped backlash in the past over his controversial music video for his number one hit Montero (Call Me By Your Name).

In the clip, the artist, whose real name is Montero Lamar Hill, rides a stripper pole to hell and gives Satan a lap dance, before removing the devil’s horns and placing it on his head.

Fans of The Wiggles were left enraged by the idea of the group collaborating with the rapper.

“Why are you guys collaborating with someone who worships the devil and put human blood in his sneakers and sold them,” one unimpressed fan wrote.

The comment was referencing the rapper’s 2021 special edition “Satan Shoes” in which a drop of human blood was added to 666 modified Nike sneakers that sold out in less than a minute.

‘Oh dear you can’t be serious?’

A second fan said: “I’m sorry but Lil Nas should have nothing to do with children. Period.”

Which provoked a response from another disappointed fan: “I agree they need to collab with someone who is a good role model for kids and Lil Nas X is not one of them.”

“Oh dear you can’t be serious? The Wiggles should remain a source of light not dark,” a third concerned fan commented.

Another said: “Why Wiggles, WHY!?! You have betrayed us.”

One conspiracy theorist even suggested: “They all sold their souls years ago for celebrity, and they’ll do as they’re told.”

The comment section wasn’t entirely angry, with many posting their excitement at the possibility of a collaboration.

“100 per cent support this can’t wait to take the little one if Lil Nas comes to Melbourne,” one parent said.

“I WAS WAITING FOR THIS,” another wrote.

“Awesome just awesome… you guys were such a highlight,” A third added.

This isn’t the first hint at a collab between the artists.

‘Ready to wiggle’

Back in April of last year, back and forth tweets between the rapper and children’s group got fans excited.

The 23-year-old prompted a discussion after tweeting: “Trying really hard to get The Wiggles to co-headline the tour with me. I will keep you guys updated.”

Within four hours, the Australian children’s band replied: “Ready to wiggle with you!”

https://7news.com.au/entertainment/the-wiggles-slammed-for-hinting-at-new-collab-with-lil-nas-x-you-betrayed-us-c-9337653

https://twitter.com/TheWiggles/status/1519385861338861568

https://twitter.com/TheWiggles/status/1609171347451838467

https://qresear.ch/?q=Lil+Nas+X

https://qresear.ch/?q=LilNasX

>>18071684

Fans criticise The Wiggles for posing with Lil Nas X at Australian music festival

Charisa Bossinakis - 03 January 2023

The Wiggles have sparked outrage after posing with controversial rapper Lil Nas X.

After the long-awaited Falls festival performance of the two acts, The Wiggles and the rapper were photographed together, with Lil Nas X holding up a newly minted band shirt.

The Wiggles took to Instagram to share the pic with their 178,000 followers with the caption ‘New collab in the wind?’

However, many disgruntled parents weren’t too pleased with the unlikely pairing.

One person wrote: “Such a shame, my daughter loved the Wiggles. I don't see how someone who lap dances the devil in their music videos is a good candidate for working in the children's music industry.”

Another said: “Oh dear you can’t be serious? The Wiggles should remain a source of light not dark.”

While a third commented: “I’m sorry but Lil Nas should have nothing to do with children. Period.”

Last year, the 23-year-old rapper was swept up in controversy following the release of his music video for 'MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)'.

In the clip, the musician is seen sliding a ginormous pole right into the pit of hell - more specifically, right into the arms of Satan for a little lap dance while straddling him.

And yes, as you guessed, parents weren't happy in the slightest.

One outraged Twitter user wrote: "You're riding Satan in your new music video. You're proud of that?"

Another said: “Lil Nas X new music video ‘Call Me By Your Name ……. if that doesn’t scream I sold my soul to the devil than idk.”

While a third shared: “I'm sorry lil Nas X, your 'Call Me by Your Name' video giving Satan a lap dance, among other things, made you disgusting for me and probably the BET folks. No one cares that you are gay.”

However, Lil Nas X was quick to fire away at critics, revealing that struggled with his sexuality because of conservatives who deemed him immoral.

He wrote: “I spent my entire teenage years hating myself because of the sh*t y’all preached would happen to me because I was gay.

“So I hope you are mad, stay mad, feel the same anger you teach us to have towards ourselves.”

A little louder for the people at the back!

Ah, once again, Nas has cemented himself as the king of clapbacks.

https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/the-wiggles-panned-for-posing-with-lil-nas-x-526736-20230103

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm1T_WfScoz/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swmTBVI83k

>>18022458 (pb)

Australia to buy long-range HIMARS missile system from United States after Ukraine praises weapon's effectiveness against Russia

Andrew Greene - 5 January 2023

Australia's Army will have an unprecedented long-range strike capability with the purchase of the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket (HIMARS) system, which Ukraine has praised for its devastating effectiveness against invading Russian forces.

The Albanese government has finalised a deal to buy 20 of the truck-mounted rocket launchers by 2026, while signing another deal to acquire the Norwegian-made Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) for Australian warships next year.

Precise costs of the purchases are being kept secret for security reasons, but the government has confirmed to the ABC the overall figure is "between one and two billion dollars".

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said during an October visit to the United States he held "productive discussions" with the Army and Lockheed Martin on how Australia could start producing the rockets used in HIMARS.

On New Year's Day, a Ukrainian strike using the US-donated HIMARS system killed dozens, possibly even hundreds of Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region.

Mr Conroy said the deadly precision of HIMARS in Ukraine has confirmed why Australia should acquire the technology.

"We'll have an Army ground launched missile that can reach targets up to 300 kilometres away and we're part of developmental program in the United States called the precision strike missile that'll allow Army to hit targets in excess of 499 kilometres".

"This will give the Australian army a strike capability they've never had before," Mr Conroy told the ABC.

Congress was first notified of a possible sale of the Lockheed Martin-produced HIMARS to Australia seven months ago, while the NSM purchase was flagged by the Morrison government in April last year.

"The Naval Strike Missile is a major step up in capability for our Navy's warships, while HIMARS launchers have been successfully deployed by the Ukrainian military over recent months and are a substantial new capability for the Army," Mr Conroy said.

NSMs are produced by Norwegian company Kongsberg and will replace the ageing Harpoon anti-ship missiles on the Royal Australian Navy's Hobart-class destroyers and Anzac-class frigates from 2024.

Labor says the HIMARS and NSM purchases will together cost over $1 billion, but Mr Conroy says precise details are being kept deliberately hidden.

"We won't be disclosing the total cost of the two announcements," he told the ABC.

"The two combined costs is between one and two billion dollars, the reason that we're not disclosing the specific amount is that gives information to potential adversaries which isn't useful beaming out there."

In its notice to Congress in May, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency estimated the cost of 20 HIMARS and associated munitions and equipment at US$385 million ($561 million).

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-05/australia-america-himars-missile-system/101827334

>>18046171

>>18071608

Former PM Kevin Rudd tells United States to stop throwing allies 'under a bus' to limit Chinese influence in the region

Andrew Greene - 5 January 2023

Australia's incoming ambassador to Washington, Kevin Rudd, has been accused of engaging in "opinionated lecturing" after he declared the United States needs to stop throwing its allies "under a bus" on the economy.

The former Prime Minister, who takes up his prestigious appointment in March, claimed the Biden administration was operating with "one arm tied behind its back" in the Asia-Pacific because it had not focused on the importance of trade in favour of security ties.

"For the future, what is the missing elements in US grand strategy? It's called the economy, stupid," Mr Rudd told Bloomberg TV, invoking a famous phrase attributed to president Bill Clinton's former adviser, James Carville.

"You cannot continue to assume that there'll be collective solidarity on security questions but, on the economy, the United States is happy to throw some of its allies under a bus.

"And, for those reasons, the United States Congress needs to embrace, instead, a different strategy, which opens its markets more to its allies in Asia and in Europe, despite the over-riding protection sentiment of the US Congress and political class in general."

In his first media appearance since being named the next US ambassador, Mr Rudd argued that America's strategic stance would only succeed if the world's largest economy opened up its markets.

"You cannot have a strategy which has one arm tied behind its back, namely, trade and the economy," Mr Rudd said.

"You must, in fact, have both wings flying. Otherwise, this bird doesn't take off," the former Labor leader told a panel discussion focusing on the international economy and markets.

Last month, Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham noted the significance of Mr Rudd's appointment but has now criticised the former Prime Minister's language.

"Encouraging the US to pursue deeper economic engagement in our region and with other allies is smart, strategic and consistent with recent Australian ambassadors to the US," Senator Birmingham said.

"Opinionated lecturing of the US before you've even started your new ambassadorial role in the US is far less strategic.

"I doubt many will see Kevin Rudd's tone as an encouraging start to a role that requires both deft handling and policy smarts."

Inside government ranks, some MPs have privately expressed concern at the outspoken approach their former colleague may take in his new diplomatic role, suggesting he could become a "second foreign minister" based in Washington.

Mr Rudd stressed he was speaking in his capacity as president of the Asia Society and had not begun his ambassadorial role, noting it was "three months before I turn into a pumpkin".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-04/kevin-rudd-wants-us-to-stop-throwing-allies-under-a-bus-economy/101827944

>>18064786

US security vs Aussie citizenship in Duggan case

DONALD ROTHWELL - JANUARY 5, 2023

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What new threats are posed for Australian defence secrets by AUKUS? Will the government enact new laws to ensure military personnel and civilian contractors are bound to not disclose AUKUS military secrets?

These are some of the questions the Albanese government is pondering as AUKUS arrangements deepen this year. Alarm already has been raised that Chinese and other foreign actors will seek to exploit any weakness in Australia’s AUKUS nuclear security arrangements.

The arrest of Australian citizen Daniel Duggan, and a subsequent US extradition request on charges Duggan allegedly engaged in several counts of providing unauthorised military services to Chinese pilots, gives some clues as to what Australia’s AUKUS legal criminal security framework may look like.

Duggan was arrested on October 21 in Orange, NSW, at the request of the US and is being held at the Goulburn supermax prison.

The government, through Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, initially endorsed the US extradition request. The matter is back in court on January 10, when Duggan’s legal team has indicated it will contest the extradition.

Duggan is a former US Marine Corps commissioned officer and naval pilot with 10 years’ experience. He settled in Australia in the late 2000s and became an Australian citizen in 2012. Since then he has lived in Australia and overseas, including in China.

Duggan’s life after leaving the marines has ranged from his Top Gun Tasmania business, which spruiked providing “participants with the opportunity to truly experience the thrill of flying in a jet fighter plane”, to working as a military trainer in China and South Africa with Chinese military pilots. It is this activity, conducted between 2010 and 2012 when Duggan was still a US citizen, that attracted the interest of US law enforcement and is the foundation for the criminal charges and the subsequent extradition request.

The US Department of State was aware of these activities as far back as 2008, when Duggan was advised of the need to register with the US government if he wished to provide training to a foreign air force.

The US District of Columbia Court indictment against Duggan was unsealed in mid-December and revealed four US charges including conspiracy to unlawfully export defence services to China, money laundering and violations of arms export controls and international traffic in arms regulations. Those are the charges that will be assessed against the terms of Australian-US extradition arrangements that are governed by a 1974 treaty and the commonwealth Extradition Act.

(continued)

>>18079456

2/2

Several substantive and procedural legal issues need to be met before an extradition request can be approved. This involves judicial review by Australian courts and ultimately sign-off by the Attorney-General. These arrangements are not exceptional and have been applied routinely through the years, including in cases that have been appealed to the Australian Federal Court. In 2003, for example, the US successfully sought the extradition of Hew Griffiths on copyright infringement matters that took place in the US despite the fact Griffiths had never set foot in the US. Griffiths’s crimes, however, did have a direct impact in the US.

The biggest legal mystery concerning Duggan’s case is how an Australian citizen can be subject to US law for conduct that did not take place or have a direct impact in the US. The only possible grounds for US law to apply to Duggan is that his alleged crimes were committed when he was an US citizen. This is a principle known in international law as nationality. US law therefore could apply to Duggan for his conduct up until the time he became an Australian citizen in 2012.

Nevertheless, it still will be necessary for American prosecutors to demonstrate US law applies to citizens wherever they are in the world. Equivalent provisions in Australia are exceptional and generally apply only in the case of certain international or transnational crimes. It also will be necessary for the US to prove the existence of “double criminality”, which requires mutual recognition in Australia and the US of the same criminal offence. That may prove challenging as some of the charges against Duggan are specific to US law.

Duggan’s arrest must be seen in a much wider context. It came soon after British media reports that retired RAF fighter pilots had been engaged in training the Chinese military. Also, Australia has announced an investigation into the conduct of former Australian military personnel engaged in training activities with China.

This may be the first test of Australia’s resolve in responding to potential breaches of shared military intelligence and security in the AUKUS era. The government will need to balance the interests of an Australian citizen against demonstrating to the US that it takes the security of military secrets seriously.

Donald Rothwell is professor of international law at the Australian National University.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/us-security-vs-aussie-citizenship-in-duggan-case/news-story/e2351dd7e15cbdee12a25c594099a350

>>17637158 (pb)

NSW ‘ISIS bride’ charged for allegedly entering Islamic State-run areas of Syria

Ben Cubby and Matthew Knott - January 5, 2023

Less than three months after she was returned to Australia, one of the so-called “ISIS brides” has been charged after police said they had new evidence she had willingly entered Islamic State territory in 2014 and knew of her husband’s activities with the group.

Mariam Raad, who now lives in Young in the state’s South West Slopes, was arrested on Thursday morning after properties were searched at Young and Parklea in Sydney’s north-west.

Raad, 31, was charged on Thursday with entering and remaining in the “declared zone” of al-Raqqa province in Syria, which was an IS stronghold in 2014.

Police said new evidence had come to light that Raad was aware of the activities of her then-husband Muhammad Zahab, though Raad has previously said she knew nothing of Zahab’s role with Islamic State.

Zahab, a former Sydney maths teacher, was the most senior Australian member of IS and was thought to have enticed at least a dozen other Australians to join him in Syria. He was reportedly killed by an airstrike in 2018.

“It will be alleged in court that the woman, who is now living in Young, travelled to Syria in early 2014 to join her husband, who left Australia in 2013 and joined Islamic State,” the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police said in a joint statement.

“It will also be alleged the woman was aware of her husband’s activities with Islamic State, and willingly travelled to the conflict region.”

It is an offence under Commonwealth law to enter and remain in areas where the government has declared “a listed terrorist organisation is engaging in a hostile activity”. It carries a penalty of up to 10 years in jail.

Raad was returned to Australia in October along with three other Australian women and 13 children who had been living in squalid conditions in the Al-Roj Internally Displaced Persons camp in north-east Syria.

The decision to bring the families of former IS fighters home was criticised at the time by the federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who had previously resisted calls to repatriate them. Eight children and grandchildren of two dead IS fighters were brought home under the former government in 2019.

“I made a decision based on the intelligence that I received at the time: these women shouldn’t come back to Australia,” Dutton said in October, adding the decision was based on advice from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the federal police and defence force.

When the women and children were brought home, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said that decision was also informed by national security advice and the government had considered a range of security, community and welfare factors.

After Raad’s arrest on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said: “This arrest is the result of an ongoing Joint Counter Terrorism Teams investigation and concerns alleged conduct that occurred outside of Australia in 2014. Since her return, there has not been any threat to the Australian community.”

On their return, the so-called “ISIS brides” released a joint statement, apologising “for the trouble and hurt we have caused … We are willing to do whatever is asked of us by government authorities to ensure the safety of our families and the Australian community and we will fully co-operate with all Australian law enforcement agencies.”

Raad told the ABC in 2018 she knew nothing about Zahab’s role with Islamic State.

“We’re, like, now emotionless. I would say probably I was angry [at him],” she said while in the al-Roj camp.

AFP acting Assistant Commissioner Sandra Booth said the Joint Counter Terrorism Teams would continue to investigate Australians returning from war zones.

“Individuals will be brought before the courts when evidence supports allegations that returned individuals have committed offences in conflict areas,” Booth said in a statement.

“The JCTT will continue to target criminal activity and does not target specific ideologies or beliefs.”

The Save the Children organisation, which has been campaigning for families to be repatriated, said: “Australia has a clear moral obligation and international legal requirement to repatriate its citizens from camps in north-east Syria, just as nations including the United States, Germany and France have done.

“Australia is showing that it is possible to repatriate its citizens while balancing any potential risks and ensuring the safety of the wider community.”

About 40 Australian women and children remain in displaced persons camps in Syria.

Raad is expected to face Wagga Wagga Local Court on Friday.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/nsw-isis-bride-charged-for-allegedly-entering-islamic-state-run-areas-of-syria-20230105-p5cakj.html

>>18052595

>>18071573

China ‘hypocritical’ on Covid testing requirement

GREG BROWN - JANUARY 5, 2023

Australians will need to take a PCR test ahead of going to China when its borders reopen next week, prompting accusations the communist nation was being hypocritical for condemning countries that are adopting the exact same requirements on Chinese travellers.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior fellow Peter Jennings said he was not surprised about the double standards being displayed by Beijing, after a Chinese government spokesman said the regime was preparing to retaliate against nations that were forcing its citizens to undertake a Covid test ahead of entry.

“That is very much how they operate, it is always to shift the blame on to another country,” Mr Jennings said.

“We shouldn’t be taking any notice of it.”

Last week, China’s National Health Commission said international visitors would no longer need to quarantine on arrival.

However, the requirement for travellers to take a PCR test 48 hours ahead of arriving in China will remain.

Jim Chalmers said he was not “not especially” concerned about Beijing’s threats to retaliate against Australia and other nations that have decided to temporarily screen Chinese travellers.

“If they take any steps in response to the responsible steps we’ve taken, then that will be a matter for them. I’m not going to pre-empt or guess what they might do,” the Treasurer told ABC radio.

Dr Chalmers said there was “lot of concern around the global health community and the global economy about the transparency and quality of data that we see out of China on Covid”.

“It’s really important to get as much transparency as we can so that we can understand the implications for us here in Australia,” Dr Chalmers said.

Lowy Institute senior fellow Richard McGregor said China’s threats were probably aimed at the domestic audience and would unlikely amount to much.

“I don’t think, at the moment, this has any large implications for the bilateral relationship,” Mr McGregor said. “There are many countries that are asking this of China and it is not an onerous requirement. The Chinese have been getting tested nearly everyday for over three years.”

The European Union on Wednesday was moving to set co-ordinated control on passengers coming from China, after EU member states France, Spain and Italy unveiled independent testing requirements.

But New Zealand announced it would buck the trend and instead implement a voluntary testing system for Chinese travellers.

New Zealand Science Minister Ayesha Verrall – an infectious-diseases physician – said Chinese travellers posed a ““minimal public health threat”.

“(Chinese) visitors won’t contribute significantly to our Covid case numbers meaning entry restrictions aren’t required or justified,” she said.

Responding to China’s threats of retaliation, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the testing requirement was “an approach that is based solely and exclusively on science”.

Back in Australia, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the government’s handling of the Covid outbreak in China was “perplexing”.

“It is so perplexing and concerning that Anthony Albanese doesn’t seem to be fronting the cameras or hitting the airwaves himself to explain why they’ve ignored the advice of the chief medical officer,” Senator Birmingham told 2GB radio.

“Why it is that they have flip flopped in their position over the course of the last week or so, and just what the actual rationale for it is, because the story just seems to keep changing.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/china-hypocritical-on-covid-testing/news-story/ddd1a781b2e58cf25c75e1f2721513b2

>>18052595

Five things Australia has wrong on China and COVID-19

For a start, it’s nonsense that Beijing is hiding the true extent of infections across the country, writes the Chinese government’s consul general in Sydney.

Zhou Limin - Jan 3, 2023

The Chinese government recently refined its COVID-19 prevention and control measures. However, there are many misconceptions developing in Australia about what’s going on in China.

Myth 1: China’s COVID-19 situation has been out of control

The omicron variant is for now the dominant strain around the world. On the basis of scientific assessment of the characteristics of the virus and the pandemic situation, as well as reference to the prevention practices of other countries, the Chinese government decided to gradually adjust its prevention measures in response to the people’s wishes and shifted the focus to preventing severe diseases with targeted measures.

This is a decision made by the Chinese government after careful analysis and deliberation. The process is under control and the current situation has been expected.

As China’s COVID-19 prevention measures are shifting gears, there will inevitably be a process of adaptation, like what other countries around the world have gone through when adjusting their own policies.

China has full capability and confidence in the final victory over COVID-19. Recently, places such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have seen infections peak and normal life return. Other provinces and cities in China are also expected to return to normal in the short term.

Myth 2: China hides COVID-19 case numbers

Some people have speculated that China is hiding case numbers. This is nothing but nonsense. After the adjustment of COVID-19 prevention measures, China stopped conducting nucleic acid testing for all residents, which makes it difficult to know accurately what the case number is, as is the case in many countries around the world. The US government stopped releasing COVID-19 case numbers in October 2022.

There are two main criteria for determining death from COVID-19 globally. One is death directly caused by respiratory failure because of infection with COVID-19, the other is death within 28 days of infection. To put it simply, “deaths due to COVID-19” and “deaths with COVID-19.

China has adopted the first category of death criteria since 2020. In times of pandemic and rapid transmission, it is difficult to tell exactly what the case fatality rate is. However, China has started to collect information through questionnaires and surveys and will continue to disclose information on deaths and severe cases in accordance with the principle of truth, openness and transparency.

Myth 3: China is not ready for adjustment of its COVID-19 prevention measures

China’s decision to adjust its COVID-19 prevention measures was made in a scientific and prudent manner based on comprehensive consideration of the characteristics of the virus, the pandemic situation, vaccination, medical resource preparation, and prevention and control experiences.

The omicron variant has been less virulent and most cases of infection are mild. China has accumulated rich experiences in the past three years in COVID-19 prevention and control, which provide favourable conditions for its adjustment of the measures. China has more than 10 types of vaccines covering various technical routes and vaccination methods, and more than 3.4 billion doses of vaccines have been administered in total. More than 92 per cent of the total population is covered and more than 90 per cent is fully vaccinated.

Among people aged above 60 and 80, more than 85 per cent and 65 per cent are fully vaccinated respectively. China has the largest production capacity of antipyretic drugs in the world and has taken multiple measures to increase production; its drug supply can fully meet the market demand. Chinese authorities have also been promoting international medical cooperation in line with market principles and have approved the import of COVID-19 treatment drugs produced by Pfizer and other international manufacturers.

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Myth 4: China’s vaccine is ineffective

Chinese vaccines have helped prevent severe illness and death for millions of people around the world. According to a study published by the University of Hong Kong, the effectiveness of an inactivated vaccine in preventing severe cases caused by omicron after vaccination with booster shots was almost the same as that of mRNA vaccine, reaching 97 per cent. A Lancet sub-journal also acknowledged that inactivated vaccines have similar efficacy to mRNA vaccines.

There is scientific consensus that no vaccine in the world can completely prevent COVID-19 infection. Pfizer’s chief executive contracted COVID-19 a second time after getting his fourth mRNA vaccine booster shot. Can we conclude that Pfizer’s vaccine is ineffective because of this? Obviously not.

Myth 5: China’s COVID-19 situation is a drag on economic growth

China’s announcement to adjust its COVID-19 prevention measures and facilitate international personnel exchanges has been widely welcomed.

Many foreign chambers of commerce in China, including the American Chamber of Commerce in China, the British Chamber of Commerce and the German Chamber of Commerce, as well as some foreign diplomatic institutions in China said the move will help restore personnel exchanges and business travel between China and foreign countries, restore confidence in investment and business, and restore market optimism.

China will continue to be a priority destination for foreign investment. According to a recent survey conducted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce in China, 66 percent of Australian companies plan to expand investment in China, and 58 percent of Australian companies regard China as one of the top three investment destinations in the world in the next three years.

Several international agencies have raised their forecasts for China’s economic growth in 2023, predicting that China will achieve a growth rate of over 5 per cent, much higher than that of the world as a whole and other major economies. It is believed that as the global COVID-19 situation stabilises and the high-quality development measures set by the 20th Communist Party National Congress are put in place, the Chinese economy will enjoy faster growth and make a greater contribution to world economic growth.

We are aware that the Australian government has decided to implement some requirements on inbound travellers from China starting from Thursday. China believes that the prevention and control measures adopted by one country should be scientific and proportionate, not target certain other countries, and should not affect normal personnel exchanges and cooperation.

We hope that the Australian side will listen to the voice of the people, view China’s COVID-19 situation and prevention and control measures objectively, do more to promote China-Australia relations and provide better conditions and atmosphere for exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

Zhou Limin is the Chinese government’s consul general based in Sydney.

https://www.afr.com/world/asia/five-big-things-the-world-has-wrong-on-china-and-covid-19-20230103-p5ca0r

—

Vicky Xu Tweet

Shame on @FinancialReview for printing this garbage

If you want to get the Chinese POV, at the very least send a journalist to talk to the consul general and ask questions that will challenge the lies somewhat

What's the point of straight up printing Beijing's propaganda?

https://twitter.com/veryvickyxu/status/1610133413222318082

US senators’ leaked letter won’t sink AUKUS subs deal: defence minister

Matthew Knott - January 6, 2023

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Defence Minister Richard Marles has insisted Australia’s plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines remains on track after two US senators staged a dramatic intervention, warning Joe Biden the AUKUS pact risked stressing America’s industrial base to “breaking point”.

The letter to the US President, revealed just three months before the Albanese government unveils its submarine plan, is the first time members of Congress from either party have expressed significant misgivings about AUKUS.

The pact between Australia, the US and United Kingdom has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Washington since it was announced in September 2021.

In a letter to Biden sent on December 21, Democratic Senator Jack Reed and Republican Senator James Inhofe explicitly warned against any plan to sell or transfer Virginia-class submarines to Australia before the US Navy meets its current requirements.

“Over the past year, we have grown more concerned about the state of the US submarine industrial base as well as its ability to support the desired AUKUS SSN [nuclear submarine] end state,” Reed and Inhofe said in their letter to the White House, first reported by US website Breaking Defence.

“We believe current conditions require a sober assessment of the facts to avoid stressing the US submarine industrial base to the breaking point.

“We are concerned that what was initially touted as a ‘do no harm’ opportunity to support Australia and the United Kingdom and build long-term competitive advantages for the US and its Pacific allies, may be turning into a zero-sum game for scarce, highly advanced US SSNs.”

Reed is the chair of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, which oversees the US military and Department of Defence. Inhofe, whose Senate career ended this week, was the top Republican on the committee when the letter was sent.

A spokeswoman for Marles responded to the letter, saying: “The optimal pathway for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines is taking shape, and an announcement remains on track to be made in the first part of this year.

“AUKUS will significantly transform Australia’s strategic posture and the work undertaken over the last 16 months speaks to a shared mission between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.”

The government has said it will announce which type of submarine it will acquire by March, after receiving a recommendation from Jonathan Mead, the head of the Nuclear Powered Submarine Taskforce.

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Outgoing US ambassador Arthur Sinodinos said the US-Australia relationship was “in great shape, but there are some big challenges ahead, particularly bedding down AUKUS and getting that implemented”.

“That’s a particular challenge,” he said in a podcast released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on Friday.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has said securing a small number of Virginia-class submarines from the US would be the best way to bridge a looming capability gap between the retirement of the current Collins Class fleet and arrival of locally manufactured nuclear-powered submarines around the early 2040s.

The idea has been widely dismissed on the grounds American shipbuilding yards are struggling to meet the US Navy’s needs and don’t have capacity to build submarines for Australia.

The fact Reed and Inhofe felt a need to challenge the proposal, however, suggests it is being taken seriously at the highest levels in Washington.

They warn Biden that that selling or leasing Virginia-class submarines to Australia would “make the US Navy less capable of meeting sovereign wartime and peacetime requirements”.

“Make no mistake, we recognise the strategic value of having one of our closest allies operating a world-class nuclear navy could provide in managing long-term competition with an increasingly militaristic China,” they write.

“However, such a goal will take decades to achieve, and we cannot simply ignore contemporary realities in the meantime.”

Democratic congressman Joe Courtney, chair of the House seapower subcommittee, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age last month: “I don’t think the notion of purchasing a Virginia [class submarine] is off the table.”

Courtney, the co-chair of the Friends of Australia caucus, said: “I am very bullish on the fact that if you give shipbuilders a plan that contains a demand signal and the resources, this is not just pie-in-the-sky stuff.”

US congressman Rob Wittman, the top Republican on the House of Representatives’ sea power subcommittee, previously said: “There’s been a lot of talk about well, the Australians would just buy a US submarine. That’s not going to happen.”

William Stoltz, policy director at the Australian National University’s National Security College, said the senators’ letter showed the challenges involved in an “intergenerational” pact like AUKUS.

“This is a 100, if not 150, year venture we’re making and it assumes our interests and politics will remain in alignment over that time,” he said.

Stoltz said that as well as advancing the US-Australia alliance, American politicians also have their own domestic considerations to consider.

ASPI executive director Justin Bassi said: “The issue of constraints on defence industrial base capacity is a known issue, not just for the US but globally.

“It is important to remember that AUKUS is not just about helping Australia, but about aligning the national strategies of three close allies to deliver practical improvements to our collective defence and security capabilities.“

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/leaked-senators-letter-warns-aukus-deal-could-harm-us-submarine-industry-20230106-p5cary.html

>>18087932

EXCLUSIVE: Reed, Inhofe warn Biden AUKUS risks becoming ‘zero sum game’ for US Navy

"We are concerned that what was initially touted as a 'do no harm' opportunity to support Australia and the United Kingdom and build long-term competitive advantages for the U.S. and its Pacific allies, may be turning into a zero-sum game for scarce, highly advanced U.S. SSNs," wrote the SASC heads.

JUSTIN KATZ - January 05, 2023

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WASHINGTON — Two key US lawmakers sent a warning shot to President Joe Biden over concerns that the AUKUS trilateral security agreement could imperil America’s submarine fleet, according to a letter obtained by Breaking Defense.

“Over the past year, we have grown more concerned about the state of the U.S. submarine industrial base as well as its ability to support the desired AUKUS SSN [nuclear sub] end state,” Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., wrote in a Dec. 21 letter sent to the White House. “We believe current conditions require a sober assessment of the facts to avoid stressing the U.S. submarine industrial base to the breaking point.”

“We are concerned that what was initially touted as a ‘do no harm’ opportunity to support Australia and the United Kingdom and build long-term competitive advantages for the U.S. and its pacific allies, may be turning into a zero-sum game for scarce, highly advanced U.S. SSNs,” the two lawmakers continue, explicitly warning against any plan to sell or transfer Virginia-class submarines to Australia before the US Navy has met its current requirement.

At the time the letter was sent, Reed and Inhofe were the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Armed Services Committee, one of the four key congressional panels overseeing the Pentagon. While Inhofe has since retired, Reed remains the SASC chairman in the new Congress — and hence remains one of the most influential voices on defense issues on the hill, with oversight on the AUKUS discussion.

AUKUS refers to the security pact announced in September 2021 between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. The highlight of the agreement involves the US and UK sharing highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology with their ally down under, so that Australia can develop and operate nuclear-powered submarines, or potentially receive American Virginia-class subs outright. Leaders of the three countries said at the time their respective governments would spend 18 months on a preliminary planning phase before advancing the agreement; that initial consultation period is scheduled to end in March.

“We urge you to adopt a ‘do no harm’ approach to AUKUS negotiations and ensure that sovereign U.S. national security capabilities will not be diminished as we work to build this strategic partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom over the coming decades,” the senators wrote Biden.

A spokesman for Reed declined to comment; the White House did not return a request for comment by deadline.

Virginia Concerns

The senators outline the pressure the US Navy’s fast attack submarine program, the Virginia-class, has been under in recent years. They point out that although the program increased procurement from one to two boats per year in 2011, “just 1.2 Virginia-class SSNs have delivered, on average, per year over the past five years,” according to the letter.

In fact, a significant portion of the letter sends a clear signal to the White House: think twice before trying to send or sell Virginia-class subs to Australia.

“AUKUS options that would have the U.S. transfer or sell Virginia-class submarines prior to meeting [the Chief of Naval Operations’] requirements would make the US Navy less capable of meeting sovereign wartime and peacetime requirements. Make no mistake, we recognize the strategic value of having one of our closest allies operating a world-class nuclear navy could provide in managing long-term competition with an increasingly militaristic China.

“However, such a goal will take decades to achieve, and we cannot simply ignore contemporary realities in the meantime.”

(continued)

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The lagging deliveries for Virginia-class come despite the consistent funding lawmakers have provided both in response to annual budget requests as well as an additional $1 billion to help prop up the supplier base and workforce development initiatives over the past five years.

“This increased funding has yet to improve performance appreciably, and an assumption that even more money will change this situation is not supported by the experience of the last 10 years,” Reed and Inhofe wrote. Now, to add to the building pressure, the Navy and its industrial base must prepare for serial production of the “higher priority” Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program, the letter adds.

The US Navy has long cited 66 fast attack submarines as its requirement in varying force structure assessments. The senators note that the service has only 50 boats in the fleet today and expects to see its inventory reduced to 48 by 2027 when older subs retire more rapidly than new ones are delivered.

The lawmakers also warn that not enough has been done to understand the legal impacts of AUKUS and where there could be hurdles.

“Just as the submarine industrial base constraints are real, so are statutory and regulatory constraints. We still have little understanding of what … permissions or waivers would be needed to realize the AUKUS SSN options,” the senators wrote. “These permissions or waivers are a serious matter and should not be taken for granted in negotiating any agreements.”

The senators’ concerns over the AUKUS deal come ahead of a critical first milestone for the relatively new agreement expected early this year.

Adm. Frank Caldwell, the Navy’s most senior admiral overseeing its nuclear submarine technology, said in November that he and his British and Australian counterparts are in the process of consolidating their final recommendations due to their respective governments in March.

Despite the fanfare of the initial announcement back in 2021, all three governments publicly have deferred the most crucial details about the arrangement as issues to be worked out during the 18-month planning process. With the deadline approaching, all eyes will be on the United States and United Kingdom to elaborate on the next steps in a process that, as the senators write, could take decades to deliver an Australian nuclear Navy.

On the other side of Capitol Hill, leading members of the 2022 House Armed Services Committee embraced the AUKUS agreement as a positive development for a key US ally and even passed legislation to help train Australian naval officers. But, hesitation remains about how far the US can go to help its friends, if that help would result in harming the US Navy’s own fleet.

“There’s been a lot of talk about well, the Australians would just buy a US submarine. That’s not going to happen,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., a top House defense hawk, said in December. “I just don’t see how we’re going to build a submarine and sell it to Australia during that time.”

Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, a top US Navy officer overseeing submarine construction, has expressed similar concerns.

“If you are asking my opinion, if we were going to add additional submarine construction to our industrial base, that would be detrimental to us right now, without significant investment to provide additional capacity, capability to go do that,” he told the Mitchell Institute in Washington. “I won’t speak for the UK, but I think that exists for both the US and the UK where we’re looking right now.”

https://breakingdefense.com/2023/01/exclusive-reed-inhofe-warn-biden-aukus-risks-becoming-zero-sum-game-for-us-navy/

>>18071595

‘The Kraken’ Covid variant ripping through Australia

A new Covid variant has been identified in Australia, just days after it was confirmed as the most transmissible form of the virus yet.

Chloe Whelan - January 6, 2023

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A new Covid variant has quickly become the dominant strain in the US, and has now been confirmed in Australia – earning itself a creepy nickname along the way.

Dubbed the ‘Kraken variant’, experts have confirmed new Covid sub-variant XBB.1.5 is the most transmissible form of Covid to date. Early predictions indicate it isn’t more deadly than the forms of Covid we’ve seen in the past, but health authorities have recommended caution.

What is the new variant?

XBB.1.5 is a descendant of the omicron XBB sub-variant, which is itself a cross between two earlier strains.

The original Omicron variant triggered a global surge in infections – and a host of new pandemic measures – about a year ago, before concern waned. The latest variation is expected to be even more transmissible.

How fast is it spreading?

XBB.1.5 is “the most transmissible sub-variant which has been detected yet,” according to World Health Organisation (WHO) Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove, who spoke to reporters on Wednesday.

The sub-variant has a much stronger affinity to ACE2, which is a key receptor for Covid-19, allowing it to bind more easily and therefore be more transmissible.

Almost 30 countries have reported cases caused by the variant, but global health authorities suspect the real number is much higher as testing requirements slacken in many parts of the world.

In Australia, eight cases of XBB.1.5 were confirmed over the holiday period.

Federal health department data showed the variant made up less than 1 per cent of Australian cases as of January 3 – but that’s exactly where the Kraken sat in the US just a few weeks ago.

The variant was responsible for just 1 per cent of Covid-19 infections in the US in early December, before surging to 41 per cent by the end of the year, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In northeastern US states, that figure is higher than 70 per cent.

NSW Health indicated on Thursday the seven-day rolling average of daily hospital admissions had deceased by a few dozen. Covid cases, too, had deceased by 40 per cent compared to the previous week, but the health body noted PCR testing had also fallen by similar levels.

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Is it more dangerous?

So far, the data indicates XBB.1.5 isn’t significantly more severe than previous Covid-19 variants.

University of Sydney infectious disease expert Professor Robert Booy told Sky News Australia the variant’s arrival didn’t pose a huge risk to the community.

“Our vaccines probably do protect against it and we shouldn’t be overly concerned. Although I’ve called it ‘extra bad boy’, it’s just a way of remembering the name XBB.1.5,” Prof Booy said on Thursday.

“It’s more transmissible, it’s more active, young and able to get around, but it’s not more severe, it’s not more virulent, it’s not more likely to put you in hospital.”

Mostly, XBB.1.5 has attracted the attention of scientists because it seems to more easily evade our natural immunity and immune protection provided by vaccines – meaning it more easily reinfects people who have already had Covid.

“There is an amount of immune evasion in this new variant, so antibodies don’t work quite as well, but the other part of our immune system called the T cells do work well in order to keep us out of hospital or even from dying,” Prof Booy said.

Data is still being collected to determine the variant’s severity or ability to cause severe illness, but early indications show it’s no worse than what we’ve already seen.

Previous therapies to tackle Covid, such as monoclonal antibody treatments, were rendered ineffective by previous strains – a trend which is set to continue with the Kraken. High transmissibility also means more people are likely to get infected, which in turn exposes more people to severe outcomes.

How will it impact China?

Health officials had previously warned that new variants could form in China, which is battling a major surge in infections after abandoning its zero-Covid strategy.

The country has yet to report any domestic cases of XBB.1.5. Shanghai detected three infections caused by the variant, and claimed all were imported cases – but health authorities worldwide are concerned China isn’t being fully transparent about its Covid data.

In the meantime, the country’s Covid wave is being fuelled by two other Omicron strains, which together account for more than 97 per cent of local infections, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Why is it called the Kraken?

Covid variants are named by an expert group convened by WHO, whose job is to identify what they consider to be variants of concern and name them according to the Greek alphabet – the alpha, beta and delta strains, for instance.

The last Greek-named variant, Omicron, emerged more than a year ago, leaving no more room in the old naming system. Now, the group uses significantly less catchy combinations of letters and numbers to name new forms of Covid, such as XBB.1.5.

It’s led to a rise in viral nicknames to describe the variants, hence the Kraken. The moniker was suggested by an evolutionary professor on Twitter, who said the features of the variant earned it a rightful place in the Covid nickname hall of fame.

The kraken comes from Scandinavian folklore and is the name of a mythical, giant, octopus-like creature which can destroy entire ships and drag sailors to their doom.

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/health/the-kraken-covid-variant-ripping-through-australia/news-story/dd85acd9f4869ec9fbdedac13eaa932e

https://twitter.com/TRyanGregory/status/1608082277900161025

The year Assange walks free? Why there are cautious hopes

Matthew Knott - January 7, 2023

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On a steamy summer night last August, the trendiest place to be in New York was the Brooklyn nightclub Elsewhere. The star of the event, performing as a DJ for the first time in 15 years, was better known as one of history’s most famous and controversial whistleblowers.

In 2010, Chelsea Manning used her position as a United States Army intelligence analyst to copy hundreds of thousands of documents related to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, saving them on a CD labelled “Lady Gaga” as a disguise. Manning then sent the files to WikiLeaks, including the famous Collateral Murder video showing US troops laughing after shooting dead a group of Iraqi men, including two journalists. (All the men were civilians but some were armed.) Manning was later sentenced to 35 years in jail for America’s largest-ever leak of classified information.

Today, Manning is a free woman and celebrated transgender icon who recently published a memoir and spins tracks ranging from Britney Spears to a remix of the Succession theme song for Brooklyn ravers in her spare time. Barack Obama commuted Manning’s remaining jail time on compassionate grounds in one of his last acts in office, allowing her to return to civilian life in 2017.

Meanwhile, the man who published Manning’s leaked documents, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is languishing in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison, surrounded by notorious murderers and rapists. For the past four years, the US Justice Department has been attempting to extradite the Australian to face trial on 17 counts of breaching the Espionage Act plus a separate hacking-related charge. It’s the first time the act has ever been used against someone who received and published classified information, as opposed to leaking it.

Assange suffered a stroke in 2021 and his mental health has been battered by extended periods of isolation. His family fears he may not survive the extradition process. “He’s in a gradual decline both physically and mentally,” Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton tells me. “It’s very oppressive and is clearly taking a toll on him.”

Yet, Assange’s supporters begin the year with more hope than ever that the US will end its extradition efforts, allowing him to return to Australia. “We can feel that the momentum is building,” Shipton says.

Lawyer Greg Barns, an adviser to the Australian Assange campaign, says: “The planets are aligning pretty well.”

Earlier this week, ABC global affairs editor John Lyons heightened anticipation by declaring on air: “My expectation is that within the next two months or so Julian Assange will be released.” Lyons’ prediction caused a frisson not just because of its definitive timeframe but because it was made by one of the country’s most experienced journalists. Lyons previously served as editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, as the ABC’s head of current affairs and investigations, and as executive producer of Nine’s Sunday program.

The main reason for the growing optimism is that Australia has a prime minister actively working to try to secure Assange’s release, even if it requires spending diplomatic capital with our most important ally. The Morrison government took a hands-off approach on the grounds Assange’s case should be allowed to play out in the British and US legal systems.

In opposition, Albanese said he believed Assange’s case had dragged on too long and needed to come to an end. During his early months as prime minister, he kept quiet about the issue, vowing not to pursue “megaphone diplomacy”. That changed in November when he gave a strikingly forthright response to a question by independent MP Monique Ryan.

“I have raised this personally with representatives of the United States government,” Albanese told parliament. “My position is clear and has been made clear to the US administration. I will continue to advocate, as I did recently in meetings that I have held.”

Albanese was essentially confirming he had raised the issue directly with Biden, given the pair met for 45 minutes just a fortnight earlier in Phnom Penh.

Then came Albanese’s decision, just before Christmas, to appoint former prime minister Kevin Rudd as Australia’s ambassador to the US. As far back as 2010, when WikiLeaks published the war cables, Rudd has repeatedly insisted the US government and Manning should be held responsible for the disclosure of secret material rather than Assange.

In June, when Priti Patel, then the British home secretary, certified Assange’s extradition to the US, Rudd tweeted: “I disagree with this decision. I do not support Assange’s actions and his reckless disregard for classified security information. But if Assange is guilty, then so too are the dozens of newspaper editors who happily published his material.”

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Assange’s supporters also see promising signs in the American media, where his case has received surprisingly little attention despite his high-profile and controversial past. In a joint open letter published in late November, The New York Times and four European news outlets called on the US government to drop the charges because the prosecution “sets a dangerous precedent” that threatens to undermine freedom of the press.

“Obtaining and disclosing sensitive information when necessary in the public interest is a core part of the daily work of journalists,” the letter said. “If that work is criminalised, our public discourse and our democracies are made significantly weaker.”

Soon after, Ari Melber – a prominent host on left-leaning cable network MSNBC – devoted a 12-minute monologue to arguing for Assange to be let free.

Since founding WikiLeaks, Assange has done some questionable – even despicable – things. Robert Mueller’s report into the 2016 US election found Assange fuelled dangerous conspiracy theories by falsely suggesting that murdered Democratic Party employee Seth Rich, rather than Russian hackers, had leaked damaging information about Hillary Clinton’s campaign to WikiLeaks. Brad Bauman, a former spokesman for the Rich family, said at the time the report showed Assange was a “monster, not a journalist”.

But you don’t have to consider Assange a noble figure – or even a journalist – to support his release after so many years in captivity.

“It is very easy for people to understand the hypocrisy of this,” Shipton says. “Why is the Australian publisher being held in prison while the US whistleblower walks free? It doesn’t pass the pub test.”

There’s no indication that Biden, or his attorney-general Merrick Garland, are invested in Assange being punished. The charges against him are a holdover from the Trump administration. The Obama-era Justice Department declined to prosecute Assange because of the precedent it could set of jailing journalists for doing their jobs.

Still, the notion that asking Biden to drop the extradition would take nothing more than a simple phone call needs to be tempered with reality.

“This is not simple, stroke-of-a-pen stuff,” a senior government source says, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The idea that Biden can just wave a magic wand on this is nonsense. This is hard and complicated.”

One of Trump’s litany of sins during his time in office was trying to reshape the Department of Justice into his defacto personal legal firm. Biden has said that one of his priorities as president is to “re-establish the reputation and integrity” of the Justice Department, which he argues was “corrupted” by Trump.

Biden had to speedily backtrack in October after saying he wanted to see individuals prosecuted for defying subpoenas from the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riots. “I did not, have not and will not pick up the phone and call the attorney-general and tell him what he should or should not do in terms of who he should prosecute,” Biden insisted.

Instructing Garland to drop the charges against Assange would be a clear breach of this vow. A more realistic hope is that Garland quietly takes another look at the case and decides it is taking up resources that could be better used elsewhere.

The Justice Department prides itself on its independence, as spokesman Anthony Coley made clear in October: “The Department of Justice will make its own independent decisions in all prosecutions based solely on the facts and the law. Period. Full stop.”

Importantly, the judicial process had already run its course when Obama granted clemency to Manning; it’s an entirely different story with Assange. Figures inside the US national security establishment – who contend Assange’s behaviour, including allegedly conspiring with hackers, went beyond normal journalist practice – want him to be held accountable. And many Democrats still regard Assange with disdain for his role in elevating Donald Trump to power by publishing Hillary Clinton’s emails in the 2016 campaign.

The argument for the charges against Assange to be dropped has always been powerful on press freedom grounds. It only becomes more compelling as time passes. He’s suffered in jail long enough.

Albanese should be commended for working to secure his release. Achieving this goal, however, will take subtlety and patience. If Assange is a free man by the end of the year, let alone the next two months, it will be a foreign policy triumph.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-year-assange-walks-free-why-there-are-cautious-hopes-20230106-p5cavb.html

>>18087932

>>18087967

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese 'very confident' AUKUS deal will benefit all three countries, despite concerns raised in US

AAP/ABC - 7 January 2023

Australia is on track to announce plans to buy new nuclear-powered submarines from the US and UK, despite scepticism in Washington.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday Australia's relationship with the US remained strong.

This came after revelations two US senators had raised concerns to President Joe Biden the new AUKUS deal between the three countries could push America's submarine-building industry to a "breaking point".

Mr Albanese said an "optimal pathway" for building the submarines would be revealed in the first quarter of this year.

"We're very confident that it's in the interests of Australia, but also in the interest of the United States and the interests of the United Kingdom," he said on Saturday.

"When we talk about optimal pathway, we talk about not just the issue of what is built, but how it is built, as well as the optimal pathway in building a capacity of skills in the Australian workforce."

Mr Marles said Australia would need to make its own industrial contribution for the US and UK deal, while working to prepare the local sector.

"We have said that we will build the capacity in Adelaide to build nuclear-powered submarine," he said.

This would include working with nuclear technology experts from universities across Australia, as well as preparing for the blue-collar roles necessary for the construction.

"This is a really exciting opportunity for Australia."

The comments follow revelations in a leaked letter dated December 21, first obtained by US publication Breaking Defense, in which the Democratic chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Republican colleague outline their anxieties over the project.

"Over the past year, we have grown more concerned about the state of the US submarine industrial base as well as its ability to support the desired AUKUS SSN [nuclear sub] end state," the letter said.

Committee chair, senator Jack Reed, and Republican senator James Inhofe, who has since retired, warned the White House against any plan to sell or transfer Virginia-class submarines to Australia before the US Navy meets its current requirements.

While it was the first time members of Congress had raised major concerns about AUKUS, a senior US Navy official warned in August that helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines could be too big a burden for America's overstretched shipyards.

Australia needs to replace its ageing diesel-powered Collins-class fleet of submarines.

The former Morrison government controversially ditched a $90 billion French contract for new ones to instead build nuclear-powered subs from the US and UK.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-07/anthony-albanese-aukus-submarine-deal/101834838

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to address Papua New Guinea's national parliament on two-day trip

Melissa Maykin - 5 Jan 2023

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to address Papua New Guinea's parliament during a two-day visit next week.

Mr Albanese had been due to visit PNG in December last year but the trip was postponed after he tested positive to COVID-19.

He will be in the country from January 12 to 13 to attend an annual Leaders' Dialogue, before flying to Wewak in the north to pay homage to the late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare.

Mr Albanese told News Corp in December that he planned to offer PNG increased defence and security support during the visit.

"We provided support for security for their recent elections, and we’re looking to provide increased support for Papua New Guinea and collaboration on defence and security issues," he said.

It will be the first visit by an Australian prime minister since May 2019.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape said the visit would reinforce the strong bond between the two countries.

"Part of the program will include Prime Minister Albanese addressing our national parliament, which we are offering as a mark of respect to the Australian leader, as PNG marches towards our 50th anniversary of independence," Mr Marape said in a statement.

"It is only befitting that the leader of the Australian Labor Party, which granted independence to PNG in 1975 — through then-leader Gough Whitlam — be given this honour of addressing our national parliament."

Sir Michael Somare led the former Australian colony to independence in 1975 and preparations are under way to celebrate its approaching 50th anniversary.

"The Australian Labor Party [was then] led by the late Gough Whitlam, who was in government in Australia, while the Pangu Pati [was] led by the late Sir Michael Somare [who] was in government in PNG," Mr Marape said.

"Australia and Papua New Guinea have a long history and this visit will strengthen our shared vision for the future.

"Australia is a very important foundation bilateral partner of PNG, in as far as nation-to-nation relations are concerned."

'Long history and shared vision'

Mr Albanese said he had enjoyed hosting "good friend" Mr Marape on several Australian visits last year and the bilateral relationship remained strong.

"Australia and Papua New Guinea are close not just geographically, but also because of our long history and shared vision for the future," he said.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles in October flagged an "ambitious" bid to expand military ties and sign a security treaty with Papua New Guinea.

It came after PNG's new foreign minister, Justin Tkatchenko, earlier said he would like officials from the two countries to strike a formal treaty.

While anxiety about China has propelled Australia's renewed push to deepen defence ties in the Pacific, Mr Marles insisted at the time that was not the primary driver.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-05/albanese-marape-say-relationship-is-strong-ahead-of-pm-visit/101829560

Australian YouTuber reported to police by Ukrainian ambassador over alleged 'harassment campaign'

In a video posted to YouTube, Simeon Boikov - also known as 'Aussie Cossack' - made a prank call to Ukraine's ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko.

Jessica Bahr and Tom Canetti - 7 January 2023

Ukraine's ambassador to Australia has reported a pro-Russia online commentator to police for allegedly unleashing a telephone harassment campaign against him.

Simeon Boikov, a right-wing social media personality, shared ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko's mobile phone number to his YouTube followers in a video posted on 5 January.

"As part of active measures, an Australian criminal & a far right activist with links to the RU intelligence Simeon Boikov aka Aussie Cossack has unleashed a major telephone harassment campaign against me. Threats, insults, intimidation," Mr Myroshnychenko wrote on Twitter.

The ambassador said he had reported the case to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The AFP is aware of the matter, and is working with the diplomatic mission, a spokesperson told SBS News.

What happened in the video?

In video posted to YouTube on Thursday, Mr Boikov showed viewers a statement Mr Myroshnychenko had sent out about the upcoming Australian Open, which included his contact number for people seeking more information.

He then made a prank call to Mr Myroshnychenko.

In the call, Mr Boikov posed as "Bill from Hunters Hill" - a character he has used in multiple phone pranks online.

He asked how he could prevent Russian flags from being brought to tennis matches in Australia.

He then asked how he could donate to Mr Myroshnychenko's "daughter's education in London," before the ambassador said he knew he was being pranked.

"Yes, I recognise you Aussie Cossack, I recognise you," Mr Myroshnychenko said.

"Your voice is very clear and I can understand who's calling. It was a good try, but you were discovered immediately. Good luck."

During the video, Mr Boikov showed a close-up of the document containing the phone number.

"There's his phone number if you want to give him a buzz as well," he said.

At the time of writing, the video had more than 18,000 views.

Following the ambassador's response, Mr Boikov released another video where he denied Mr Myroshnychenko's claim that he had links to Russian intelligence.

"The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia is an imbecile," Mr Boikov said.

"I should probably sue him for defamation."

He went on to criticise Australia for giving aid to Ukraine to defend against Russia's invasion, and argued that the government should spend the money on "hospitals" and "pot holes" instead.

Mr Boikov also criticised Liberal Senator David Van, who posted a comment on Twitter saying that the government should "deport thugs like this".

Mr Boikov was born in Australia, and said it would be "pretty much impossible to deport him," although he may "voluntarily deport" himself.

SBS News has contacted Senator Van and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment.

Who is the Aussie Cossack?

Mr Boikov is a pro-Russia social media personality and online commentator.

In December, he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm after allegedly assaulting a 76-year-old man at a pro-Ukraine rally in Sydney.

Mr Boikov was granted conditional bail and is set to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on January 25.

Mr Boikov was jailed in June for breaching court suppression orders by deliberately naming an alleged paedophile during an anti-lockdown rally, but was granted early release in September.

SBS News has contacted Mr Boikov for comment.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australian-youtuber-reported-to-police-by-ukrainian-ambassador-over-alleged-harassment-campaign/niawn7hp2

https://twitter.com/AmbVasyl/status/1610928576475590657

https://twitter.com/VanSenate/status/1611053358173024256

https://www.youtube.com/@AussieCossack

Worst floods in WA’s history cut off towns, could create an inland sea

David Estcourt and Marta Pascual Juanola - January 6, 2023

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Children are being winched out of remote communities, while livestock and wallabies are seeking refuge on small islands in what has been described as the worst flooding in Western Australia’s history, in the state’s northern Kimberley region.

“People in the Kimberley are experiencing a one-in-100-year flood event, the worst flooding WA has ever seen,” the state’s Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said.

“This situation is still changing and it’s proving to be extremely challenging.”

About 60,000 cubic metres of water per second is flowing down the swollen Fitzroy River, which is expected to create a 50-kilometre-wide inland sea as it spreads across the flood plain.

Broome became the latest town cut off by road on Thursday, joining Derby and Fitzroy Crossing, after being lashed by 400 millimetres of rainfall over 48 hours (more than double the region’s monthly average) generated by ex-tropical cyclone Ellie.

The Fitzroy River snakes more than 700 kilometres from the east Kimberley to meet the Indian Ocean near Derby.

“It’s one of the highest flow rates we’ve ever seen in an Australian river,” meteorologist James Ashley said. “The amount of water moving down the Fitzroy River in a day is about what Perth uses water-wise in 20 years.”

Only a few streets remain above the murky floodwater in the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing, a four-hour drive east of Broome, where helicopters and boats were evacuating residents, including children, from the rising water on Wednesday.

The town’s supermarket and homes were also flooded.

Authorities and community groups have been working around the clock to get people to safety, said Jane Guthrie, manager at the Fitzroy Workers Camp, which provides accommodation for workers.

“There’s a lot of scared people around out in the communities,” she said.

“There’s a lot of dead animals and the cows are basically getting flushed down the river. The wallabies have nowhere to go and there are wild pigs swanning around. Luckily we only have fresh water crocs.”

Floodwater began receding slightly from Fitzroy Crossing on Friday, after the river peaked at 15.81 metres on Wednesday, which surpassed the record 13.95 metres set 20 years ago.

But the town remains cut off.

“While the water will begin to go down over the next few days, it will still be fast-flowing and dangerous. Communities are expected to be isolated for more than seven days,” the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Fitzroy Crossing nurse Jess Grayson said many residents didn’t anticipate the extent of flooding in a region accustomed to a big wet season.

“A lot of people are climbing up on roofs because they’ve left it too long or didn’t realise the extent of the floods. People have abandoned their belongings and homes and have lost all their belongings, and might not have brought medications,” she said.

Grayson said the community remained nervous about the need to evacuate more people from remote towns should water rise again.

“The community spirit is quite high, everyone is coming together in this time of need. The mob have been making sure that everyone in their area is looked after,” she said.

“If the river rises again there is the potential that they might have to evacuate more people.”

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A 700-kilometre-section of the Great Northern Highway between Broome and Halls Creek has been closed, and it is likely the freight route south of Broome is also impassable at low-lying Roebuck Plains. That could take weeks to drain.

Authorities have temporarily allowed long road trains to use alternate routes to ensure food and essential supplies reach WA’s north and the Northern Territory.

About a dozen wallabies were photographed on Thursday huddled on a small island near Fitzroy Crossing.

Broome resident and director of environment group Environs Kimberley, Martin Pritchard, said wallabies and other animals became stranded on dirt mounds while trying to flee the fast-moving floodwater.

“Unfortunately, many have been trapped. There’s a lot of wallabies stuck on a mound in one of the most notable photos, which is really distressing,” he said.

“A lot will have been lost to the floods, including a lot of cattle.”

While communities along the Fitzroy River are accustomed to flooding, Pritchard said authorities were not prepared to deal with inundation of this magnitude.

He said “a whole-scale review of what’s happened here” was needed to plan for future extreme events.

“What we’d be looking at is a flood plan – a flood evacuation plan – making sure that in the future people aren’t taken by surprise,” he said.

Although the floods have been catastrophic for communities and wildlife, Pritchard said they would provide an unprecedented boost for the heritage-listed river.

He expected populations of barramundi, cherabin prawn and the critically endangered freshwater sawfish, as well as migratory birds, to surge.

The flood is also expected to boost life along the Kimberley coast as the floodwater flows into the ocean, providing nutrients to coral reef and seagrass beds.

More emergency evacuations were carried out in the tiny community of Noonkanbah, about 400 kilometres east of Broome, where helicopters plucked anxious residents from the sodden outstation on Thursday.

Early on Friday, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services warned the community of Balgo, about 400 kilometres south-east of Fitzroy Crossing, to brace for severe weather conditions.

The slow-moving weather system has moved to the south-east and is expected to move further inland towards the Northern Territory on Friday afternoon.

The weather bureau has warned that parts of WA’s north-east could receive up to 150 millimetres of rain within 24 hours, creating the risk of dangerous flash flooding.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/worst-floods-in-wa-s-history-cut-off-towns-could-create-an-inland-sea-20230106-p5carn.html

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-05/indigenous-communities-power-evacuations-kimberley-emergency/101827050

>>18071595

XBB. 1.5 Covid sub-variant: How worried should Australians be about new ‘Kraken’ strain

JESSICA WANG - JANUARY 8, 2023

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While life has nearly returned to normal after two years of living with a pandemic, the new XBB. 1.5 sub-variant of Covid has threatened to derail our progress.

The new Omicron strain, nicknamed the Kraken, is believed to be more transmissible and evade protection from vaccines and former infection.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has labelled the strain as “the most transmissible sub-variant that has been detected yet,” with XBB. 1.5 causing large numbers of infections in the US. It’s also been detected in Australia, the UK and several European countries including Denmark, France, Germany, and Spain.

According to the US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 40 per cent of the country’s infections have been caused by XBB. 1.5.

On Thursday, NSW Health also confirmed the new strain had been detected in “small numbers” across the state.

“There is still a highly mixed group of sub-variants circulating, the BR. 2 sub variant is the most common,” the fortnightly report said.

“NSW Health continues to monitor emerging sub-variants including XBB. 1.5, of which there have been a small number of detections in the two weeks to December 24, 2022.”

Head of the University of Melbourne’s School of Health Sciences, Professor Bruce Thompson, said the “rules of engagement haven’t changed”. He also said while increased transmissibility may see cases increase, the most important factor is whether the new sub-variant could lead to more severe illness, which initial analysis doesn’t indicate.

“This is part of living with it,” he told NCA NewsWire.

“We’re going to get new variants but the biggest question is whether they lead to greater mortality or morbidity or symptoms which make people more sick.”

‘Super variant’ storming the globe

However overseas, some governments have advised residents to remain vigilant against virus complacency.

In the UK, the Health Security Agency have advised people with cold and flu symptoms to stay at home or wear masks, as the country’s National Health System (NHS) battles cases of Covid and the flu. This comes after all Covid restrictions across the UK were scrapped by the then British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson in February 2022.

UK’s Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has also warned the NHS would face “an extremely challenging” next two weeks as the dual viruses circulated in the community.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, she said: “This winter will probably be the most challenging that the NHS has ever faced in its 74-year existence.

“That’s because of not just a rise in Covid cases but in other viral infections that have come back with a vengeance that we haven’t seen in the last couple of years.”

(continued)

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In Australia, where Covid cases have dropped to around 9000 after peaking at more than 16,000 in Mid-December, Prof Thompson says the “basic” rules should still apply.

“The new sub-variant has reminded us that we still have a problem,” he said.

“We need to go back to basics. Wear masks if you’re in a populated area, sanitise your hands, stay home if you’re feeling unwell and if you’re entitled to another vaccination, then take it with both hands.”

He also advised people to take advantage of oral antiviral treatments.

“If you’re at your GP and you’re entitled to them then potentially get the scripts ready,” he said.

“You really only have a window and once you miss that window, they’re not as effective.

“If you catch it right away, they’re quite effective for preventing severe disease.”

‘Key risks’: How China’s Covid surge could hit Aus

While foreign governments move to reduce Covid transmissions, a steep wave of new Covid cases in China could have major implications on Australia’s economy.

Considered to be our largest trading partner, this week Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the impact on supply chains was “one of the key risks to our economy in 2023”.

“We are heavily reliant on Chinese markets and Chinese work forces for a lot of the goods in our economy. It’s really right across the board,” he said.

“And so as we look ahead to what will be a challenging year for the global economy, a big part of that, in a whole range of industries, will be the pressure on supply chains brought about by this Covid wave in China.”

A senior economist and the Australia Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Richard Denniss said the impact to supply chains between China and Australia could see inflation increase in 2023. While the exact scale of how China will be impacted by its surging Covid cases has yet to be realised, globally, we will begin to see its effects within “months,” he predicted.

“The inflation we’re currently experiencing started with supply chain problems with Covid and was made worse by Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine,” Dr Denniss told NCA NewsWire. “Unfortunately, if Chinese production declines significantly, we’re going to see higher prices and more inflation. That’s inevitable.”

Any impact on China’s manufacturing capabilities will also hugely impact the availability of silicon chips and building materials, both of which were hampered during the country’s Covid-zero measures throughout 2020 to 2021.

The resulting supply chain issues saw new car production decrease, while the cost of building materials soared.

“There are 800,000 employed in manufacturing in Australia, but a lot of Australian manufacturing still relies on components made overseas, many of which are in China,” said Dr Denniss.

“After decades of Australia outsourcing so much manufacturing to China, we’ve made ourselves so much more vulnerable to China’s trade policy, health policy, health outcomes and everything else.

“The reality is that we spent decades opening up the Australian economy to the rest of the world and the consequence is that when the rest of the world struggles to make stuff, we’re going to have to pay higher prices for it.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/xbb-15-covid-subvariant-how-worried-should-australians-be-about-new-kraken-strain/news-story/8acfd74da8f2ac8c268686f814cf0edb

60 Minutes ‘Chinese spy’ Liqiang Wang refused asylum in Australia

He stunned Australians across the country when he made bold claims of espionage on prime time television, but now Liqiang “William” Wang is facing deportation back to China.

Anton Rose - January 8, 2023

EXCLUSIVE: The Chinese “spy” who claimed to have fled to ­Australia to avoid the wrath of his Beijing masters has lost his bid for asylum.

It marks the end of a long road for Liqiang Wang, 32, who made a series of bombshell claims in an interview with TV current affairs program 60 Minutes and used that to plead for a protection visa.

Back in 2019 he claimed to be a Chinese Communist Party operative on national television, however his ­alleged involvement in a fraud case means he is now facing deportation back to his homeland of China.

The Australian Appeals Tribunal has finally ruled he committed fraud before entering the country on a tourist visa — and also questioned his claims of espionage.

Mr Wang told immigration officials in 2019 he was involved in destabilising Taiwan on behalf of the CCP by manipulating election ­results and embezzling public assets.

He also claimed to have been posted to Hong Kong, where he allegedly infiltrated universities, stole military ­intelligence and weapons, all on the orders of his CCP ­handlers.

He offered ASIO a file on everything he knew, including sensational claims of his own role in the infamous kidnapping of a bookshop owner in Hong Kong.

Wang also claimed to have met the head of the CCP’s spy operations in Australia while undercover, who he said worked in the nation’s energy sector.

A few months after he made the claims to intelligence officials in Australia he went public with his claims of being a CCP spy, first in a Chinese-Australian newspaper and then on television.

“Once I go back I will be dead,” he claimed.

But a few months later his role in orchestrating a fraud on an Australian national was revealed. Two years later the Department of Home Affairs wrote to Mr Liqiang and rejected his claim for a refugee visa, which led him to appeal to a tribunal. There he is referred to under a pseudonym.

The tribunal said despite having “well-founded” fears for his return to China, he could not be given refugee status because he committed a “serious” crime before entering Australia.

That tribunal has now cast doubt over his claims and “how, if at all, this Tribunal can safely find that (Wang) was engaged in espionage ­activities”.

It also found Wang was ­involved in defrauding Sydney man Filip Shu over a bogus multimillion-dollar business deal. It can also be revealed ­Interpol refused to issue a “red notice” – an international request for arrest – for Wang, despite Beijing wanting him returned to face fraud charges.

Now that a decision has been handed down there are few, if any, avenues left to halt his deportation back to China.

There was no sign of Wang, his wife or child at his inner city home when The Sunday Telegraph paid a visit this week.

Neighbours of the Wangs were aware of who the couple were but refused to say more about his whereabouts when asked.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/60-minutes-chinese-spy-liqiang-wang-refused-asylum-in-australia/news-story/d9ee85e40bb4e452088221a09a2e4dfd

>>18102810

https://endchan.net/qrbunker/res/61496.html#q61590

Cunt neger

>>18087932

>>18087967

Dutton adamant Australia can still buy subs off the shelf

JOE KELLY - JANUARY 8, 2023

Peter Dutton says there is “no question” Australia could still buy two Virginia-class submarines from America by 2030 despite the heads of the US Senate armed services committee advising against it and warning the AUKUS pact risked stretching the nation’s industrial base “to breaking point”.

The Opposition Leader reaffirmed his view on Sunday that Australia could purchase the nuclear-powered submarines off the shelf from a Connecticut production line and urged Anthony Albanese “to press the case” in his dealings with America.

In June 2022, just weeks after the Coalition lost the election, Mr Dutton revealed that he had been working on a plan as defence minister in the Morrison government to purchase two Virginia-class submarines from the US by the end of the decade – 10 years before their scheduled arrival if they were built in Australia.

“There is no question in my mind that that option is still on the table. The ability to make sure that we can keep our region safe is really dependent on the acquisition of those assets,” Mr Dutton said on Sunday.

“I hope that the Prime Minister is able to continue to press the case because when we negotiated AUKUS, when the Coalition negotiated AUKUS, it was clear to us, as it’s now clear to the government, that the intelligence is that we live in a very uncertain time, the most uncertain time since the Second World War.”

Mr Dutton played down a letter to US President Joe Biden from Democrat Jack Reed and Republican James Inhofe, which called for a “sober assessment” of the AUKUS agreement between the US, Australia and Britain, and explicitly warned against selling Australia submarines off the production line.

They said that despite the US’s two-boat-per-year target, “just 1.2 Virginia-class (submarines have been) delivered, on average, per year, over the past five years” and that the AUKUS submarine agreement could become “a zero-sum game” for the allocation of “scarce, highly advanced” US ­nuclear boats.

But Mr Dutton said AUKUS was the “underpinning of our national security for the coming decades” and that there were “understandable questions” now being asked about what capacity the US and UK had within their submarine-building programs.

“I believe very strongly that when we negotiated with the United States and the United Kingdom, there was the option for us to see that submarine built in the United States,” Mr Dutton said.

“Representative Joe Courtney, who is a great friend of our country, has made some comments, some positive comments about the prospect of there being headroom within the supply chain.”

Mr Courtney, a Democratic congressman who chairs the House armed services subcommittee on sea power and projection forces, said last month that purchasing Virginia submarines was not “off the table” despite growing concern at the idea.

Speaking on the weekend, the Prime Minister said the government would “advance the AUKUS relationship with the United States and the United Kingdom, including the development of Australia having nuclear-powered submarines” during the first quarter of the year.

“We’re very positive in the relationships that we’ve built with the Biden administration,” he said.

“We still regard the US relationship as so important, as our most important alliance, and we place great stock in it.”

A high-level nuclear submarine taskforce led by navy Vice-Admiral Jonathan Mead is due in March to hand to government its 18-month study to determine how Australia would acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/dutton-adamant-australia-can-still-buy-subs-off-the-shelf/news-story/2702d08b67b1b4e8354dac70a12e5a84

>>18087932

>>18087967

Malcolm Turnbull fires warning shot as AUKUS submarine debate rages

Former PM Malcolm Turnbull has issued a stern warning on the AUKUS submarines deal, noting a crucial element of the plan could undermine our sovereignty.

Ellen Ransley - January 9, 2023

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says it is “truly remarkable” the renewed debate about acquiring United States submarines has not considered how significantly it would undermine Australia’s sovereignty.

The federal government will within months announce its nuclear submarine plan, with both AUKUS partners – the US and the United Kingdom – in the running for supplying vessels to Australia until domestic industry is capable.

It’s been revealed, however, that key United States senators have voiced their concern about being the chosen partner.

Jack Reed and former senator James Inhofe wrote US President Joe Biden a letter in December, which has leaked online, which says they – members of the armed services committee – wanted a “sober assessment” of the submarine component of the AUKUS deal.

They wrote that providing Australia with Virginia-class submarines risked tipping the US industry to “breaking point” and could undermine US security.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has maintained he remains “positive” about the AUKUS deal, and that Australia would ramp up its industrial contribution for the partnership.

But Mr Turnbull, taking to Twitter, said Australia was “completely overlooking” the fact that nuclear powered submarines acquired from the US “will not be able to be operated or maintained without the supervision of the US Navy”.

“It is surely remarkable that this abdication of Australian sovereignty was effected by the Morrison government and now, apparently, endorsed and adopted by the Albanese government,” he wrote.

“AUKUS is a worthwhile and natural enhancement of already intimate security and intelligence relationships, but the submarine element of the agreement delays vital capabilities and diminishes Australian sovereignty.”

On Saturday, Mr Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia’s relationship with the US remained strong, and the AUKUS partnership would benefit all members.

“We’re very confident that it’s in the interests of Australia, but also in the interests of the US and the interests of the United Kingdom,” Mr Albanese said.

“When we talk about optimal pathway, we talk about not just the issue of what is built, but how it is built, as well as the optimal pathway in building a capacity of skills in the Australian workforce.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has urged Mr Albanese to “press the case” to purchase submarines off the shelf from the US, saying there was “no question” in his mind that option was still on the table.

On Sunday, Mr Dutton said Australia’s ability to keep the region safe was “really dependent” on the acquisition of the US submarines.

“I hope that the Prime Minister is able to continue to press the case because when we negotiated AUKUS, when the Coalition negotiated AUKUS, it was clear to us, as it’s now clear to the government, that the intelligence is that we live in a very uncertain time, the most uncertain time since the Second World War and the sooner that we can acquire that capability, it is in Australia‘s interests, it’s in the United States’ interests, it’s in our partners interests within the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“That’s why we should continue to work very closely to achieve an outcome and to acknowledge from the US, and other partners, that they have their own obligations and their own needs, but we are a trusted and reliable partner and that’s why the AUKUS deal was struck in the first place.”

https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/malcolm-turnbull-fires-warning-shot-as-aukus-submarine-debate-rages/news-story/d98d145384c41ab5e99f552515f3a7e5

https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/1612192762799222785

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https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/1346919266751193088

https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/1351758982122143748

https://qanon.pub/?q=X%2FAUS

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>>18079476

Missile terrorist to return to NSW country town after prison

STEPHEN RICE - JANUARY 9, 2023

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A convicted Islamic State terrorist linked by marriage to “ISIS bride” Mariam Raad is expected to return to his home in the rural NSW town of Young after his ­release from prison this year, angering residents already reeling from the arrest last week of the 31-year-old mother of four.

Haisem Zahab was arrested in Young in 2017 and later jailed for nine years with a non-parole period of six years and nine months for designing guided missiles and laser warning devices for Islamic State.

The highly skilled electrical engineer is the cousin of now-deceased Islamic State fighter Muhammad Zahab, whose widow Ms Raad, was charged last week with entering an ISIS-controlled area, believed to be the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Ms Raad was released on bail to continue living in Young.

A former Sydney maths teacher, Muhammad Zahab became a prolific Islamic State ­recruiter and was responsible for luring dozens of his family members to Syria before being killed in a targeted air strike in 2018.

The two families are close. Members of the Raad family gave character evidence at Haisem Zahab’s 2019 sentencing, describing him as “reliable and trustworthy” after he pleaded guilty to knowingly providing support or resources to a terrorist organisation.

Zahab moved to Young from Sydney in 2012 claiming to be looking for a “quieter life in the country” but built and tested guided rockets on the cherry orchard hobby farm on the outskirts of town where he lived with his wife and six children.

Since being jailed the one-time solar panel installer has complained that his family has been “terrorised” by locals who arrive at their house late at night and create loud disturbances

Zahab unsuccessfully appealed his sentence on the grounds that he had renounced Islamic State and this made his prison conditions – in Goulburn’s high-security Supermax, among Australia’s most dangerous convicted terrorists – extremely onerous.

A clinical psychologist’s report on Zahab said his arrest had been highly traumatic for his family “given the sudden and dramatic nature of the police raid”, when police reportedly blew down the front door with explosives and held guns to family members’ heads.

Zahab told the psychologist that since his arrest locals would come to his family home “sightseeing”.

“Some hoons went to the front gate in utes and terrorised the family,” he said. The family continued to be affected by noises in the night, he said.

His wife, Mervat Zahab, had been shunned by the community, had suffered a stroke as a result of the stress and wanted to sell the house, he claimed.

However, property records show the 4ha property, which Zahab bought in 2012 for $360,000 is still owned by the family.

Young in recent years has become known as “the unofficial Muslim capital of the outback”, with at least 500 permanent residents identifying as Muslim and many more flocking to the town during holiday periods.

The establishment of halal abattoirs almost a decade ago saw an influx of Muslim families and workers, especially of Lebanese heritage, migrate to the small rural town.

With time already served from his arrest in 2017, Haisem Zahab becomes eligible for parole in December this year.

Many Young locals – including members of the Muslim community – are dismayed at the prospect of him returning to live in the town.

However, neighbour Kerry Barr, 78, said she had a lot of sympathy for Mervat Zahab, who came to her house and apologised after her husband’s arrest.

“She was crying and shaking,” recalled Ms Barr. “She said ‘I’m sorry if you were frightened.’ I don’t think she really knew what was going on. She’s a very pleasant neighbour.”

Ms Barr, a retired schoolteacher, said Haisem Zahab had paid for his crime and deserved a chance.

“I hope there’s no trouble. He’s had a lot of time to think about how he was conned.”

(continued)

>>18108831

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The eldest son of Lebanese migrants, Zahab was born in Bankstown, Sydney, and attended Bankstown Boys High School.

At the time of his arrest, he was running an online business named OzSurvivalGear from the Young property, selling items such as torches and Swiss army knives. The year before his arrest he was convicted of possessing cannabis and an unlicensed .177 air rifle.

At around the same time, Zahab’s uncle, Hicham Zahab, was arrested by Kuwaiti authorities as a suspected member of a major Islamic State arms-smuggling ring that had organised the purchase of Chinese-made FN-6 surface-to-air missiles.

Islamic State had begun manufacturing unguided rockets on an industrialised scale but lacked the technical expertise to produce guided rockets.

Zahab was determined to fill the gap, working every day for six months using hobby rocketry and computer software to perfect his design, some of which featured 100kg warheads.

He bought rocket components claiming they were for his son who was “really into space” and test-flew them on his property.

Zahab researched how to make ammonium nitrate, which can be used in the explosive composition mixture for the warhead of a rocket. He later sent Islamic State “a full chemical munitions cookbook”.

Zahab was in contact via Twitter with the notorious British terrorist and Islamic State recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, also known as “the White Widow”, now believed dead in an air strike.

He was passing his technical designs to British Islamic State member Samata Ullah, known as “the Cufflink terrorist” because he used a James Bond-style USB cufflink to store data. Ullah was later jailed in the UK for eight years.

Zahab used online profiles tagged “I’m back kuffar! So die in your rage” and “Victory or Martyrdom”. Sentencing Zahab, NSW Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Bellew said he was “guarded” about the now 48-year-old’s prospects of rehabilitation.

He viewed Zahab’s claims to have renounced Islamic State with “considerable scepticism”, noting that he had continued to refuse to provide police with passwords to his phone and an encrypted USB stick that could have unlocked further incriminating evidence.

Justice Bellew found that the assistance Zahab provided to Islamic State “was both substantial and tangible” and rejected as “fanciful” his claim that he was unaware of the evil nature of the terror group.

“His evidence essentially amounts to the proposition that he was living a hermit-like existence, cloistered in something akin to a hermetically-sealed bubble,” Justice Bellew said.

“The fact of the matter is that like the rest of the world’s population, the offender had become aware of the atrocities committed by Islamic State,” Justice Bellew said.

“His level of dedication to that organisation saw him choose to ignore what had come to his attention.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/missile-terrorist-to-return-to-nsw-country-town-after-prison/news-story/a36bb7434187b8d5428f5250287c07b0

WeChat and Tiktok: Social media key Beijing weapon in war of information

HAN YANG - JANUARY 9, 2023

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In early March, soon after Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine, a friend invited me to join a WeChat group of mainly Chinese migrants in Australia. “They are talking about the war. You might be interested,” she said.

What I didn’t expect was to find they were discussing it exclusively from the perspective of the Russians. They shared Chinese state media and social media posts wholly sourced from Russian propaganda. There were claims the “Nazi Ukrainian” government committed genocide in Donbas, President Volodymyr Zelensky had escaped to the US with stolen billions, NATO had provoked Moscow into self-defence. Amazed by how these migrants were cocooned in a Russian disinformation bubble I took screenshots and posted them on Twitter with translations, masking any identifiable information.

The tweets coincided with efforts by a group of overseas Chinese volunteers to highlight misogynist, nationalist, xenophobic and even violent posts allowed on China’s highly censored social media in what was named “The Great Translation Movement”. Naturally, Chinese state media was not amused. Dozens of articles were churned out lambasting us as “Chinese-speaking bad-faith actors” and agents of the CIA plotting to smear our former homeland. While the cheque from Langley still hasn’t arrived, my concern about WeChat’s malign influence on the Chinese-Australian community grows.

WeChat was created in 2011 in China’s tech hub of Shenzhen as a simple messaging and photo sharing app. It has become the dominant app in China, combining networking, news, entertainment, banking and e-commerce. Life in China is virtually impossible without the app, and it is also the most popular social media app among Australia’s 650,000 Chinese migrants. It is the most convenient way for them to stay connected to families and friends back in China. But, like every media outlet and social media platform in China, WeChat is under strict censorship by the Chinese Communist Party. No criticism of the party leadership is allowed. No discussion of sensitive political topics, such as Xinjiang or the 1989 student protest, can take place. Even the use of words such as Xi Jinping, democracy or Tiananmen can trigger interventions from web monitors.

Despite Beijing’s official claim of “neutrality”, China’s state media has been pumping out pro-Moscow propaganda since the start of the Ukraine war. While Chinese state propaganda reaches migrants unimpeded through WeChat and the web, Beijing prohibits access to many Western news websites, in addition to blocking Western social media sites. Most Australian media sites are banned too, including The Australian, the ABC, Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph. While Chinese state media outlets continue to operate in Australia, there has been no Australian journalist on the ground in China since September 2020.

(continued)

>>18108849

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We think the demise of the Soviet Union proved the ultimate failure of communist ideology, but the main lesson the CCP drew was to never repeat Mikhail Gorbachev’s weakness in the face of Western liberal values and his inability to control public opinion.

The internet briefly brought hope to end the monopoly on information by dictatorships. Bill Clinton once challenged Beijing’s ability to control the internet, comparing it to “nailing jello to the wall”. Yet nail it Xi did, with advanced technology and armies of human censors. We in the West pride ourselves on having a free and open society. To the Marxists-Leninists of the CCP, suppression of dissent and promotion of propaganda are matters of political life and death. We think we live in a marketplace of ideas. The CCP is not so naive. It treats it as an information war.

By building the Great Fire Wall from the global internet, and exploiting freedom of communication in the West with billions spent on external propaganda to enhance its “international discourse power”, China brings a bazooka to the ideology fight, while we debate whether to ban WeChat and Tiktok. Chinese state media operatives may insist they are real journalists but Xi himself couldn’t be more explicit: the role of Chinese media is to loyally serve the interest of the CCP. As state actors, their participation in our civil society should be regulated as all other areas of state relations, based on the fundamental diplomatic principle of reciprocity. Last June, the China Social Media Reciprocity Act was introduced in the US congress, intended to bar social media platforms from hosting accounts of Chinese government officials and state media outlets unless China lifts its prohibitions on Chinese citizens accessing content generated by US officials. Australia should liaise with the US and other like-minded nations to deny the privilege of reaching the Western audience by Chinese state media unless reciprocal access to the Chinese market can be established for Western media.

Han Yang is a former Chinese junior diplomat living in Sydney.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/wechat-and-tiktok-social-media-key-beijing-weapon-in-war-of-information/news-story/07fd269d1511d8a85a28187b0d1bbd7a

‘Return our money’: Chinese COVID test-kit workers clash with police as curbs lifted

Louise Watt - January 9, 2023

Chinese police have clashed with hundreds of workers at a COVID test kit factory after numerous staff were allegedly sacked and denied their pay following the lifting of restrictions.

Zybio, the manufacturer, reportedly sacked workers and deprived others of wages after the Chinese government abandoned its ‘zero-COVID’ policy.

Protests erupted in the city of Chongqing in south-western China, according to footage shared online.

There was no immediate comment from Zybio, which makes antigen tests.

Videos showed people chanting “Return our money”, and throwing traffic cones, crates and chairs at police with riot shields.

Test kits were apparently seen flying out of some of the crates.

The demonstration over the weekend came as China deals with the consequences of last month’s reversal of a ‘zero-COVID’ policy that harmed the country’s economic growth and led to public frustration.

China’s about-turn followed protests in several cities and universities against its ‘zero-COVID’ approach.

For much of the past three years, Chinese authorities have tried to stamp out all traces of the virus, through mandatory quarantines, mass lockdowns and frequent testing of millions of people.

Such mass testing has relied on nucleic acid tests, and the Chinese antigen test kits, which Zybio produces, have mainly been exported.

But after the country scrapped mass testing in early December, demand for antigen tests, which can be carried out at home, has soared.

Posts on social media alleged that Zybio had recruited staff in recent weeks, and then dismissed them.

The clash between police and protesters took place on Saturday night and continued yesterday morning, social media users claimed. Yesterday, searches for the confrontation appeared to be censored on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.

The police, who used loudspeakers to tell protesters to “cease illegal activities” according to footage online, declined to comment.

The videos circulated as China yesterday lifted almost all of its border restrictions, with foreign visitors and returning residents no longer having to undergo quarantine. China also reopened its border with Hong Kong for the first time in three years, with Hongkongers travelling to the mainland to see members of their family living there.

The moves come as China grapples with unprecedented infections and international accusations of a lack of transparency in case numbers, deaths and genetic sequencing data.

Yesterday, China’s National Health Commission reported more than 7000 new cases and two deaths, even as individual provinces reported that there had been as many as one million cases a day.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/return-our-money-chinese-covid-test-kit-workers-clash-with-police-as-curbs-lifted-20230109-p5cb63.html

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Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng 曾錚真言 Tweet

Jan 7, at #Chongqing city, #CCPChina, workers clashed with #CCP police whn they protested against their employer, ZY Bio(中元汇吉药厂) ‘s sudden announcement that some 10K employees would be laid off.

#ChinaProtests #China #ChinaUprising

https://twitter.com/jenniferzeng97/status/1611861096402403330