WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
On Nov. 8, Farhad Shakeri, 51, of Iran; Carlisle Rivera, also known as Pop, 49, of Brooklyn, New York; and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, New York, were charged in a criminal complaint in connection with their alleged involvement in a plot to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York. Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, and Loadholt was arrested in Staten Island, New York. Shakeri remains at large and is believed to reside in Iran. Rivera and Loadholt made their initial appearance in the Southern District of New York yesterday and were ordered detained pending trial.
“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump. We have also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on U.S. soil, an American journalist who has been a prominent critic of the regime. We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security.”
According to the complaint and other public statements and filings, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (the Government of Iran) is actively targeting nationals of the United States and its allies living in countries around the world for attacks, including assault, kidnapping, and murder, both to repress and silence dissidents critical of the Iranian regime and to take vengeance for the January 2020 death of then-Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force (IRGC-QF), Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.
The IRGC is an Iranian military and counterintelligence agency under the authority of Iran’s Supreme Leader, comprised of components including an external operations force, the IRGC-QF, and has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State since April 15, 2019. The IRGC has publicly stated its desire to avenge the death of Soleimani, and, among its activities, the IRGC plots and conducts attack operations outside Iran targeting U.S. citizens residing in the United States and abroad.
Shakeri is an IRGC asset residing in Tehran, Iran. Shakeri immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction. In recent months, Shakeri has used a network of criminal associates he met in prison in the United States to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations of IRGC targets. Two members of Shakeri’s network are his co-defendants, Loadholt and Rivera.
At Shakeri’s instruction, Loadholt and Rivera have spent months surveilling a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin residing in the United States (Victim-1). Victim-1 is an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime and has been the target of multiple prior plots for kidnapping and/or murder directed by the Government of Iran. In exchange for Shakeri’s promise of $100,000, Rivera and Loadholt repeatedly sought to locate Victim-1 for murder.
During their efforts to locate and kill Victim-1, Shakeri, Loadholt, and Rivera shared messages about their progress and photographs relating to their scheme. For example, in or about February 2024, Rivera and Loadholt messaged about an incoming payment from Shakeri, and then traveled to Fairfield University, where Victim-1 was scheduled to appear, and took photographs on campus. In or about April, Shakeri sent Rivera a series of voice notes discussing their efforts to locate and kill Victim-1.
In addition, according to statements made by Shakeri in recorded interviews with law enforcement agents, the IRGC has also tasked Shakeri with carrying out other assassinations against U.S. and Israeli citizens located in the United States. In particular, Shakeri has informed law enforcement that he was tasked on Oct. 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump.
Shakeri, Rivera, and Loadholt have all been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; and money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Shakeri has also been charged with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI New York Field Office is investigating the case. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection New York Field Office and Drug Enforcement Administration New York Division assisted in the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob H. Gutwillig and Michael Lockard and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Isaacson for the Southern District of New York, Trial Attorneys Dmitry Slavin of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, and Christopher Rigali and Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 11-12-2024 at 12 p.m.
2024 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2024)
- Total Mass Shootings: 522
- Total Dead: 623
- Total Wounded: 2177
- Shootings Per Day: 1.65
- Days Reached in Year 2024 as of November 12: 317
MIDDLE EAST
DESPERATION TAKES HOLD IN GAZA
Dead bodies are lying in the streets of besieged northern Gaza while hospitals run out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Nov. 12.
Briefing reporters in Geneva from central Gaza, UNRWA senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge warned that amid looming famine in the Gaza Strip and as winter approaches, those forcibly displaced are sleeping on the floor in makeshift shelters surrounded by sewage.
“We are extremely concerned when the rains come to the Gaza Strip, what will happen to 500,000 people who are in areas of flooding?” she said.
Ms. Wateridge stressed that the volume of aid currently entering the war-torn enclave is “the lowest in months,” with an average in October of only 37 trucks per day for the entire 2.2 million population.
According to UNRWA, this represents only around six per cent of the commercial and humanitarian supplies allowed in before the war.
Asked about a deadline set last month by the United States for Israel to improve the aid situation in the enclave by November 12, the UNRWA official said that instead, “aid supplies have lessened.”
The UN continues to be denied access to northern Gaza where people are “begging for pieces of bread, for water,” Ms. Wateridge said, noting that 1.7 million people in the enclave – a full 80 percent of the population – did not receive their food rations in October.
On Nov. 8, food security experts from the UN-partnered Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee issued an alert over imminent famine in areas within the northern Gaza Strip.
As suffering continues to worsen, “people are losing hope,” Ms. Wateridge said.
Just this week, two missions to northern Gaza which she was due to take part in were denied; the aim had been to deliver chlorine tablets and assess the facilities for those sheltering.
“No one from UNRWA has been able to access the besieged north in over a month,” she insisted.
Late last month, the Israeli Parliament voted to ban UNRWA from operating in the country and prohibit officials from having any contact with the agency. The laws are set to come into force 90 days from their adoption.
Asked about any message that UNRWA may have for Hamas, Ms. Wateridge said: “Our call for Hamas as well as the Israeli forces is a ceasefire.” She underscored that the Palestinian militant group initiated “horrific attacks against Israeli civilians on October 7,” adding that it was unacceptable that the war continued and civilians suffered.
“We have seen horrific suffering of Israeli civilians, the October 7 attacks, followed by horrific suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip. There needs to be a ceasefire, a release and return of the hostages home and finally some respite to all the civilians, not just in the Gaza Strip, but the surrounding region,” she concluded.
There is no word on how the appointment of Mike Huckabee by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as Ambassador to Israel will affect the region.
UKRAINE
WAR APPROACHING 1,000 DAYS
With Ukraine approaching 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion, civilians are facing mounting challenges as intense attacks continue and winter tightens its grip, according to UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Recent attacks on energy infrastructure have decimated 65 percent of Ukraine’s energy generation capacity, severely disrupting electricity, heating and water supplies across the country.
“The deepening emotional toll on innocent people became clear during my visit to the country last week,” Kelly Clements, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees reported, noting that, “the intense attacks on critical infrastructure and civilian sites – constant war-raid attacks on critical infrastructure and civilian sites” and air raid warnings, “are exacting a grave toll on physical and mental health.”
Since August, approximately 170,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Eastern Ukraine, adding to the nearly four million who remain displaced within Ukraine and 6.7 million more who have sought refuge outside the country.
This includes 400,000 new refugees who fled to other European countries, from the beginning of 2024 to the end of August.
In Kharkiv, one of the most war-affected regions of the country, the reality of conflict is starkly evident.
During a visit to a center supported by UNHCR, Ms. Clements recalled that “explosions sounded in the background.”
During her visit, Ms. Clements met Svitlana, a 65-year-old woman whose apartment was destroyed by a glide bomb, describing her “quiet determination” as a powerful reminder of “Ukraine’s spirit, even as the trauma of war permeates daily life.”
The visit coincided with the season’s first snow, marking the start of what will be the third winter of full-scale war. With continued attacks on energy facilities and civil structure, civilians face severe challenges in the months ahead.
The impact of education has been particularly severe, with countless children missing out on social interaction and classroom experiences. In Kharkiv, children have been forced to study in underground shelters; “metro” schools which lack natural light and playgrounds, to avoid frequent air raids.
