WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
When it comes to whoever decided an early debate was a good thing, we have no idea what they were trying to do – and we don’t think they had any idea what they were trying to do either.
On June 27, CNN hosted the first – and maybe last – Presidential Debate of 2024 between presumptive Democratic nominee – the 46th President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. – and the presumptive Republican nominee – the 45th President Donald J. Trump. The word “presumptive” is being used because the debate was held before either man actually accepted a nomination at their respective National Conventions.
The debate was moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who added a new word to the lexicon when she called a prior 2020 debate between the two men a “s—show.” After this debate, she may need to call up Webster’s again.
According to statisticians, Trump was said to have made 31 false or misleading statements, whereas Biden was said to have nine. The moderators were called out for not fact checking the candidates during the debate.
However, the biggest takeaway was Biden’s lackluster performance, notably freezing and stumbling over his words like Porky Pig in a Looney Tunes cartoon. This happened despite the incumbent president spending over a week with 16 people solely dedicating his time to the debate, and having rules that mostly favored him, notably having no audience and microphones being shut off when the other person is speaking. Meanwhile, Trump was out campaigning.
A snap opinion poll had Trump winning 67-33%. After one of Biden’s gaffes, Trump scored one of the biggest burns in presidential debate history, when he replied, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence – and I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Biden’s people said that he had a cold, but no one was buying it. The Democrat’s performance was so bad, that many in the media called for Biden to drop out of the race. The New York Times and other papers even called out Biden in scathing editorials.
There is no guarantee that either candidate will even make it to November, with Biden’s health in question and Trump facing sentencing in his hush money case on July 11, four days before he is supposed to accept the Republican Party nomination on July 15.
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 7-1-2024 at 12 p.m.
2024 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2024)
- Total Mass Shootings: 300
- Total Dead: 378
- Total Wounded: 1222
- Shootings Per Day: 1.64
- Days Reached in Year 2024 as of July 1: 183
ASIA
UN HAS EYES ON RUSSIA & NORTH KOREA
Any relationship that any country has with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK / North Korea), including Russia, “must entirely abide” by Security Council sanctions, Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs said on Friday, as she briefed ambassadors.
Ms. Nakamitsu noted that in recent months there had been allegations of transfers of ballistic missiles and ammunition from the DPRK (more commonly known as North Korea) to Russia, in violation of Council resolutions, allegedly for use in Moscow’s continuing invasion of Ukraine.
“UN Security Council sanctions regimes are at the top of such international collective efforts for the maintenance of international peace and security, and to prevent illicit transfer of arms,” she said.
“I recall that the relevant Security Council resolutions are legally binding on all UN Member States.”
Ms. Nakamitsu also referred to the final report of the Panel of Experts that supported the Committee overseeing the sanctions measures imposed by the Security Council in resolution 1718.
The report stated that the “Panel is investigating reports from Member States about supplies by the DPRK of conventional arms and munitions in contravention of sanctions.”
The Panel was reviewing, before the expiration of its mandate, a report by the Government in Kyiv on missile debris recovered in Ukraine, following information about short-range ballistic missiles manufactured in the DPRK and used by Russian forces, she said.
Although the mandate of the Panel of Experts expired on April 30, the 1718 Committee continues its work and will oversee the implementation of the sanctions regime.
Ms. Nakamitsu stated that importing, transit, producing, and exporting states “must act responsibly at every step” along the arms and ammunition transfer chain to prevent diversion, illicit trafficking, and misuse.
“Any transfer of weapons and ammunition must be compliant with the applicable international legal framework, including of course, relevant Security Council resolutions and the sanctions regimes that they establish,” she said.
“As the Secretary-General has stated, any relationship that any country has with DPRK, including Russia, must entirely abide by the relevant Security Council sanctions,” she recalled.
Further in her briefing, Ms. Nakamitsu noted that the DPRK continues its nuclear weapons program and development of its means of delivery, having “significantly increased” ballistic missile launches in recent years.
Since 2022, the DPRK conducted over 100 launches of ballistic missiles, including solid-fuel inter-continental ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles using ballistic missile technology.
These were in violation of several Security Council resolutions, Ms. Nakamitsu said.
She also referred to the report from nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that the discharge of warm water from the cooling system of the Light Water Reactor at Yongbyon was indicative that the reactor has reached criticality.
“The IAEA also observed indications of the ongoing operation of the reported centrifuge enrichment facility in Yongbyon, and expansion of another facility in Kangson Complex,” she said.
Additionally, while there were no indications of change at the Nuclear Test Site at Punggye-ri recently, the site remains occupied.
Ms. Nakamitsu also expressed concern over the reports of malicious cyber activities attributed to Pyongyang-affiliated actors, noting that malicious activity continues through the targeting of cryptocurrency-related companies.
Other trends observed include the targeting of supply chains.
She stressed that such reported actions were not in line with the General Assembly framework for responsible State behavior in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT).
Instead, such acts imperil international peace and security and undermines trust and stability between States, she said.
EUROPE
ONLINE SCAMMERS GET JACKED
A global police operation spanning 61 countries has delivered a financial blow to online scam networks by freezing 6,745 bank accounts, seizing assets totaling USD 257 million, and disrupting the transnational organized crime networks involved.
Targeting phishing, investment fraud, fake online shopping sites, romance and impersonation scams, Operation First Light 2024 led to the arrest of 3,950 suspects and identified 14,643 other possible suspects in all continents.
Police collectively intercepted some USD 135 million in fiat currency and USD 2 million in cryptocurrency. Fiat currency, such as the US Dollar, Euro, or Yen, is official currency issued and regulated by governments.
Other assets worth over USD 120 million were seized, including real estate, high-end vehicles, expensive jewelry, and many other high-value items and collections.
Using INTERPOL’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) mechanism to help them trace and intercept the illicit proceeds of crime, both in fiat and cryptocurrency, police intercepted USD 331,000 in a business email compromise fraud involving a Spanish victim who transferred money to Hong Kong, China.
Likewise in another case, authorities in Australia successfully recovered AUD 5.5 million (USD 3.7 million) on behalf of an impersonation scam victim, after the funds were fraudulently transferred to bank accounts in Malaysia and Hong Kong, China.
Director of INTERPOL’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC), Dr Isaac Kehinde Oginni, said, “The results of this global police operation are more than just numbers – they represent lives protected, crimes prevented, and a healthier global economy worldwide.
“By confiscating such large amounts of money, and disrupting the networks behind them, we not only safeguard our communities but also deal a significant blow to the transnational organized crime groups that pose such a serious threat to global security.”
On behalf of China’s Ministry of Public Security, Yong Wang, Head of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Beijing, said:
“The world is grappling with the severe challenges of social engineering fraud, and organized crime groups are operating from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Africa, with victims on every continent.
“No country is immune to this type of crime, and combating it requires very strong international cooperation.”
Notable achievements from the operation include the dismantling of a sophisticated international scam network in the Namibian capital. In this operation, 88 local youths, who were forced into conducting scams, were rescued. Authorities seized 163 computers and 350 mobile phones, and the data they contained handed over to INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters for analysis.
Similarly, coordination between Singapore Police Force’s Anti-Scam Centre, and Hong Kong, China, Police Force’s Anti-Deception Coordination Centre and local banks prevented an attempted tech support scam, saving a 70-year-old victim from losing SGD 380,000 (USD 281,200) worth of savings.
Joint investigations between Brazilian and Portuguese authorities disrupted several scam networks operating globally.
Operation First Light was strengthened by the participation of four regional policing bodies: AFRIPOL, ASEANAPOL, GCCPOL, and Europol.
First Light operations are funded by China’s Ministry of Public Security, which recently hosted the concluding meeting in Tianjin, bringing participating countries together under one roof to analyze results, share intelligence, and plan future operations.
Operation First Light 2024 commenced in 2023 and culminated in its final tactical phase from March to May 2024.
