The terrorist attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines were beneficial to the US, and the UK was involved in devising the plot, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev revealed, speaking on Thursday at a meeting of Secretaries of CIS Security Councils.
He recalled that literally from the first minutes after the reports had emerged about the blasts along the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, an active smear campaign was launched to pin the blame on Russia. "However, it is obvious that the main beneficiary of these terrorist attacks is the US, and the British Navy was involved in their planning and implementation, according to the Russian Defense Ministry," Patrushev pointed out.
The top official highlighted that what could not be ignored is the text message by ex-UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, informing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken immediately after the bombing of the gas pipelines that "everything was done".
In general, as the security chief noted, the US, using the most advanced technologies, created a favorable information field for itself, acting as organizer of smear campaigns and shifting the responsibility for what was happening to other members of the international community.
“It’s Done”
Among the most serious claims following the reported hack came from Kim Dotcom (which we also cannot confirm), the German-Finnish entrepreneur and activist who founded Megaupload, an online file hosting service that was shut down by the U.S. government following accusations of criminal copyright infringements, wire fraud, and money laundering.
In a tweet published on Sunday, Dotcom claimed that the Russians know the British government had a hand in the Nord Stream explosions because of a message sent by Truss from her personal iPhone to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“How do the Russians know that the UK blew up the North Stream pipelines in partnership with the US? Because @trussliz used her iPhone to send a message to @SecBlinken saying ‘It’s done’ a minute after the pipeline blew up and before anybody else knew?” Dotcom wrote, adding, “iCloud access rocks!”
How do the Russians know that the UK blew up the North Stream pipelines in partnership with the US?
Because @trussliz used her iPhone to send a message to @SecBlinken saying “It’s done” a minute after the pipeline blew up and before anybody else knew?
iCloud is an online service used by iPhone and Apple Mac users that allows messages, files, photographs, and contacts to be saved online and accessed by authorized computers and devices.
Dotcom added that China and Russia have “sophisticated cyber units” that allow them to gain backdoor access to Big Tech databases, suggesting that users’ data may not be as secure as they think.
“The funny thing is Govt officials with top security clearance still prefer using iPhones over their NSA & GCHQ issued encrypted sh*t-phones,” Dotcom added.
The British government has not confirmed Dotcom’s claims, nor has Russia explicitly stated that the text message exists or was intercepted by hackers.
The Foreign Ministry summoned Britain's ambassador to Russia on Thursday in connection with last week's Ukrainian attack targeting Russian military and civilian vessels in Sevastopol. The act of terrorism prompted Moscow to temporarily freeze its participation in the Black Sea grain export deal with Kiev.
Moscow summoned British Ambassador to Russia Deborah Bronnert in connection with London's suspected involvement in the October 29 attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Foreign Ministry has revealed.
In a statement, the Ministry indicated that it had information that London transferred a number of unmanned underwater drones to Kiev, and that British specialists have been actively involved in the training and supply of Ukrainian special operations forces, including those involved in sabotage operations at sea.
Moscow warned that Britain's actions threaten to escalate the security crisis and lead to "unpredictable and dangerous consequences," and that such "hostile provocations" on London's part were "inadmissible" and must be stopped immediately.
"If such acts of aggression, fraught with (the UK's) direct involvement in the conflict, continue, the entire responsibility for their disastrous consequences and the growth of tensions in relations between our states will lie entirely on the British side," the Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet port of Sevastopol repelled a massive drone attack on October 29, shooting down multiple UAVs and remote-controlled surface vessels in Sevastopol Bay. According to Russia's Defense Ministry, the warships attacked included ships providing security for the so-called 'grain corridor' - the secure maritime route agreed by Moscow and Kiev this summer through which cargo vessels carrying grain from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea for export abroad.
The Russian military later retrieved drone wreckage from the sea floor to examine the remains, finding Canadian-made navigation modules installed on the maritime drones. Preparations for the drone attack were carried out under the guidance of British specialists in the Ukrainian port city of Ochakov, according to the Russian MoD. Russia destroyed a multi-million pound British-built and financed military base in Ochakov in a missile strike in February during the opening stages of its military operation in Ukraine.
Third Major Act of Sabotage With London's Fingerprints All Over it
The Sevastopol attack is the second time in weeks that Moscow has called out London on terrorism-related charges. Last week, Russia's Defense Ministry concluded that the Royal Navy took part in the planning, organization and execution of the late September attacks on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline network.
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova asked London to explain the mysterious "It's done" iPhone text message reportedly sent by now former Prime Minister Liz Truss to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken just moments after Nord Stream was struck.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian and Western media reported that Moscow and Kiev appeared to be on the brink of a peace agreement this spring, but that (now former) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quickly dispatched to the Ukrainian capital to scuttle any potential agreement.
In the wake of Sweden's NATO bid, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Army, General Micael Bydén, admitted that his country - which has supplied Kiev with arms in blatant neglect of its principle not to send weapons to warring nations - was an “actor” in the Ukrainian conflict and ventured that it must act accordingly, though he refused to elaborate.
The Swedish Armed Forces have unveiled a new plan for the years ahead with the underlying message that the Scandinavian country must prepare for war.
“We are not ruling anything out at the moment,” General Micael Bydén, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Army, said in his presentation, as quoted by the Swedish media. He called the present situation “very serious” and said the military cannot rule out “even more serious developments”. “It is the task of the total defense to prepare for what is the highest level of preparedness and armed attack. By definition, you can use the word war,” he added.
Bydén admitted that Sweden - which, in violation of its principle not to send weapons to nations at war has been supplying Kiev with an increasing amount of arms, and training Ukrainian soldiers - was an “actor” in the Ukrainian conflict, “at least in Russia’s eyes”, and ventured that it must act accordingly, although he refrained from giving any detail.
However, the plan provided an insight into the Swedish command’s wish-list regarding materiel. Among other things, the Armed Forces want to acquire kamikaze drones, which they referred to as “single-use unmanned aerial vehicles with warhead”.
“It is an asset that has proved itself to be effective. And as for unmanned in general, it is a development track where we need to do more. It's called a patrol robot unit, it's an unmanned craft with some kind of kinetic effect. It is part of our plans,” Bydén told Swedish media.
Furthermore, until 2030, the military wants, among other things, 60 new Gripen E fighter jets, a battalion with rocket artillery, another (fifth) submarine, a new cyber-unit and field hospitals.
To augment the country’s defense capability, Bydén proposed increasing the number of immediately available units, providing all combat forces with new equipment, increasing the volume of conscription and bolstering the military organization as such. The general also called for necessary political adjustments until the turn of the year 2023/24 at the latest.
Lastly, Sweden’s membership in NATO, which has yet to be rubber-stamped by Turkey, would entail fundamental changes in the country’s defense and security policy. According to its military, Sweden will have to take a special regional responsibility and join the same operational area as fellow Nordic countries, led by the same management structure. This, in turn, would imply an integrated air and missile defense, interoperable command systems and development of host nation support.
To accomplish its tasks within NATO, the Swedish military proposed to strengthening air defense - among others things - through the acquisition of new sea-operational and ground-operational helicopters, gradually replacing the present load of transport aircraft and developing the nation’s ability to launch satellites. It is also proposed to strengthen the navy through increased surface combat capability and continued rotation of systems and ships. Ground forces will be supplied with long-range combat systems and more unmanned systems.
Sweden submitted its NATO membership application jointly with Finland in May, three months into Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, citing a changed security landscape and finally abandoning decades of non-alignment which had already been damaged by growing cooperation with NATO and the US. So far, 28 out of 30 NATO members have formally ratified the accession agreements, with Budapest officially supporting the bids and pledging to ratify them by mid-December.
Today, both Sweden and Finland are in talks with Turkey to dispel Ankara’s concerns over their alleged support of Kurdish organizations which Turkey labels as terrorist.
Russian officials earlier slammed Finland and Sweden’s NATO bids as “destabilizing”, and as something that will increase tensions in the region. Moscow has repeatedly warned that NATO membership would entail “serious military and political consequences”, obliging it to “restore military balance” by strengthening its own defenses in the Baltic Sea region. President Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia would respond in kind if NATO were to set up military infrastructure in Finland and Sweden after they joined the US-led alliance.
Sekretaris Daerah Provinsi Jawa Barat Setiawan Wangsaatmaja mengemukakan, mewujudkan Jabar Digital Province sejalan dengan visi terwujudnya Jabar Juara Lahir Batin dengan Inovasi dan Kolaborasi.
Khususnya pada misi kelima, yakni mewujudkan tata kelola pemerintahan yang inovatif dan kepemimpinan yang kolaboratif antara pemerintah pusat, provinsi, dan kabupaten/ kota. Ini disampaikan Setiawan Wangsaatmaja saat memberikan pemaparan pada Penilaian Smart Province, yang ia ikuti secara daring dari Jabar Command Center, Kota Bandung, pada hari Selasa, 01/11/2022.
Setiawan pun menyebutkan sejumlah program yang dijalankan Jabar demi mendukung Smart Province atau Jabar Digital Province, di antaranya melalui pembangunan Command Center, pengembangan Integrated Government Dashboard, serta Ekosistem Data Jabar, yang meliputi Jabar Satu Data, Satu Peta, dan Open data. Selain itu, dibentuk Unit Jabar Digital Service (JDS), serta revitalisasi dan integrasi Website Jabar Juara (Integrated Portal Jabar).
"Visi transformasi digital Jawa Barat, yakni menjadikan Jabar sebagai provinsi terdepan dalam penggunaan data dan teknologi untuk mendukung layanan publik dan perumusan kebijakan yang lebih responsif, adaptif, dan inovatif," ungkap Setiawan.
Lebih lanjut ia menerangkan, implementasi inovasi digital mencakup ekosistem data, informasi dan layanan publik Jabar, serta ekosistem layanan administrasi pemerintah.
Secara umum, grand design ekosistem layanan digital Jabar ditunjukan dengan kehadiran dua portal layanan, yaitu Portal Administrasi Pemerintahan untuk ASN, serta Portal Layanan Publik untuk Bisnis dan Masyarakat Umum.
Ada pula beberapa aplikasi, seperti untuk ASN tersedia SIAP Jabar, lalu untuk para pimpinan seperti Gubernur, Wagub, Sekda, juga para Kepala OPD tersedia akses Dashboard Jabar.
Sedangkan bagi masyarakat umum terdapat aplikasi Sapawarga, dan bagi entitas bisnis dapat mengakses portal jabarprov.go.id.
"Selain itu, dalam menghadapi pandemi, Jabar pun menanganinya dengan sentuhan digital, yakni selang satu hari setelah Jabar dideklarasikan situasi darurat COVID-19. JDS meluncurkan website Pikobar, dan 16 hari kemudian, aplikasi Pikobar dirilis," ujar Setiawan.
"Pikobar menyediakan data secara real time dan layanan penanganan COVID-19 yang terintegerasi," tambahnya.
Pikobar pun sudah diinstal sekitar 1,2 juta pengguna, sekitar 5 juta-an pengakses website, hingga mendapat penghargaan, yakni sebagai Pelayanan Publik Terbaik dalam Penanganan COVID-19 dari Kementerian Pendayagunaan Aparatur Negara dan Reformasi Birokrasi tahun 2020. Selain itu Spesial Award for Resiliency dari IDC Digital Transformation Award, juga tahun 2020.
Pikobar pun terus dikembangkan, hingga memiliki sekitar 32 fitur layanan, termasuk layanan multivitamin, obat, dan oksigen secara gratis bagi 13.818 warga Jabar, serta 17.006 layanan telekonsultasi.
"Jabar juga terus mendorong hadirnya mal pelayanan publik digital yang terintegerasi pada 27 kabupaten/ kota agar pelayanan semakin cepat, mudah, dan murah," ujarnya.
Menurut Setiawan, hingga kini aplikasi Sapawarga dan Pikobar terus bertransformasi menuju Jabar Super Apps sebagai platform yang memberikan kemudahan bagi masyarakat untuk mendapatkan informasi, layanan, hingga menyampaikan aspirasi.
Aplikasi Sapawarga misalnya, kini terintergrasi dengan layanan kependudukan, kesehatan, ketenagakerjaan, pajak, layanan khusus RW, serta terintegrasi pula dengan domain layanan lainnya.
Mulai Rabu (5/10) TV Analog di Jabotabek akan Dimatikan
Keminfo (Kementerian Komunikasi dan Informatika) dan penyelenggara multipleksing atau TV swasta membagikan Set Top Box (STB) gratis bagi sejumlah RTM (Rumah Tangga miskin) di Indonesia.
STB adalah antena digital TV, yaitu alat untuk mengonversi sinyal digital menjadi gambar dan suara agar dapat ditampilkan di TV analog. Dengan alat ini, masyarakat tetap dapat menggunakan TV analog atau smart TV-nya untuk menangkap siaran TV digital.
Total unit STB gratis yang akan dibagikan Kominfo dan TV swasta adalah sebanyak 6,7 juta unit. Per 31 Oktober 2022, Kominfo megeklaim sudah mendistribusikan 1.055.360 unit, termasuk unit STB gratis yang didistribusikan untuk RTM di Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang dan Bekasi (Jabodetabek).
Namun demikian, beberapa di antaranya gagal serah karena kendala di lapangan seperti adanya RTM yang tidak memenuhi kriteria. Di Jabodetabek misalnya, 60.791 unit STB gagal serah karena RTM terkait tidak memenuhi kriteria penerima.
Guna mengatasi kendala tersebut, Kominfo membentuk Posko Respon Cepat Penanganan Bantuan STB di sejumlah wilayah di Jabodetabek.
Melalui fasilitas ini, RTM yang berhak menerima bantuan namun belum kebagian karena kendala di lapangan, bisa mengajukan STB gratis secara mandiri.
Area Posko Respon Cepat Penanganan Bantuan STB dibuka sejak 2-4 November 2022 pukul 08.00 - 19.00 WIB. Berikut rincian lokasi pembagian STB gratis dari Kemenkominfo.
NO
Area
Alamat
1
DKI Jakarta - 082123816097
The Akmani Hotel
(M-Floor, Ruang Venezia 2)
Jl. H. Wahid Hasyim No. 9, Kota Adm. Jakarta Pusat
2
Kota Depok - 082123816099
Hotel Bumi Wiyata
(Lt. Dasar Ruang Wahidin)
Jl. Margonda Raya No.281, Kota Depok
3
Kota/Kabupaten Bekasi - 082123816095
Hotel Amaroossa Grande
(Lt. Lobby, Ruang Taj Mahal)
Jl. A. Yani No.88 Kota Bekasi
4
Kota/Kabupaten Tangerang - 082123816096
Hotel Novotel
Lt. PL, Ruang Eureka
Jl. Jenderal Sudirman No.1, Kota Tangerang
5
Kota Tangerang Selatan - 082123816098
Grand Zuri BSD City
Lt.2 Ruang Mulia 4
Jl. Pahlawan Seribu, Kota Tangerang Selatan
6
Kota/Kabupaten Bogor - 081212820047
Hotel Salak The Heritage
Lt.2 Ruang Batu Tulis, Lt.1 Ruang Burangrang
Jl. Ir. H. Juanda No.8, Kota Bogor
Untuk megetahui masyarakat sebagi terdaftar penerima bantuan, maka perlu memastikan terlebih dahulu apakah ia terdaftar sebagai penerima bantuan STB gratis.
Cara memastikan terdaftar sebagai penerimaa bantuan SetTopBox, sebagai berikut ini:
Buka website https://cekbantuanstb.kominfo.go.id/ Masukkan NIK dan kode captcha pada kolom yang tersedia
Klik “Pencarian”
Jika terdaftar sebagai penerima bantuan, maka masyarakayt dapat menghubungi Call Center 159 atau mendatangi lokasi Posko Respon Cepat Penanganan Bantuan STB dengan membawa KTP dan KK asli
Bila mengalami kendala dalam mengakses website, masyarakat dapat menghubungi Call Center 159 langsung atau nomor telepon posko
RTM yang menjadi calon penerima bantuan STB adalah yang terdaftar di dalam desil 1 data Percepatan Pensasaran Penghapusan Kemiskinan Ekstrem (P3KE). Khusus Provinsi DKI Jakarta, kriterianya adalah RTM yang telah terdaftar pada data carik desil 1 Provinsi DKI Jakarta.
Untuk memastikan apakah Anda terdaftar sebagai penerima bantuan, bisa mengunjungi situs Bantuan STB. Berikut rinciannya:
Penghentian siaran TV analog atau Analog Switch Off (ASO) mulai dilakukan pada Selasa malam 2 November 2022 pukul 24.00 WIB.
Siaran TV analog yang sudah dinikmati masyarakat Indonesia selama lebih dari 60 tahun itu kemudian dialihkan ke siaran TV digital.
Wilayah Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, dan Bekasi (Jabodetabek), akan menjadi wilayah pertama yang migrasi ke siaran TV digital sepenuhnya mulai hari ini, 3 November 2022.
Recently, Russian Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19 under the auspices of the UN in a Telegram post, adding that the US runs a whopping 336 overseas bio-laboratories allegedly capable of creating such a virus.
"I strongly agree that an independent international investigation into the origins of the global COVID epidemic is absolutely essential," Ron Unz, a US technology entrepreneur, political activist, writer, and the publisher of The Unz Review, told Sputnik. "By reasonable estimates, over 18 million people have died worldwide, including more than a million Americans, and the people of my own country should be in the forefront in demanding answers about how it happened. Given current international conflicts, arranging such a non-partisan body might be difficult, but it should be attempted. I think that some very prominent Americans, such as Prof. Jeffrey Sachs and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. would be excellent choices as senior figures in such an international investigation."
Russian Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin created a poll on his Telegram account last week asking whether his followers were inclined to believe that Sars-CoV-2 was a man-made virus. Out of 352,400 respondents 94% said that the virus was artificially created, 2% did not agree, while 4% said they did not care.
"Scientists from different countries have found evidence of the laboratory origin of COVID-19," the Russian official wrote on October 29. "There are 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries capable of creating such a virus under the control of the Pentagon (…)The UN should conduct an independent investigation into Washington's involvement in the emergence of the coronavirus."
Synthetic Origin of SARS-CoV-2'
Volodin's post came on the heels of research by Valentin Bruttel, a scientist at the University Hospital of Würzburg, and his colleagues published on October 20, 2022. In a report titled "Endonuclease fingerprint indicates a synthetic origin of SARS-CoV-2," the scientists argued that the novel coronavirus is "an anomaly, more likely a product of synthetic genome assembly than natural evolution." The scientific paper has not yet gone through the process of peer review.
"I've read the Bruttel preprint and found their analysis very solidly formulated and quite persuasive," said Unz. "I've also discussed the paper with a couple of individuals having far more technical expertise than myself and they felt the same way. Obviously, the work still needs to undergo peer review and perhaps strong arguments on the other side will appear, but as of now, I believe it makes a very powerful case that the original COVID virus was bioengineered, reinforced by all the previous arguments pointing."
The issue of COVID's origin has been surrounded by controversies from the outset of the pandemic. Thus, the Trump administration pointed the finger at China, claiming the virus could have been created at the Wuhan bio-laboratory while presenting zero evidence to back the claim. Remarkably, having assumed the Oval Office, Joe Biden followed Trump's suit and joined the blame game. For its part, Chinese media and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) questioned Washington's handling of the pandemic and its non-transparent biolab activities.
The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) appeared to be the first to produce a classified report warning about an "out-of-control disease epidemic" in the Wuhan area of China in the second week of November 2019. However, the Pentagon rushed to deny that such a report ever existed. To add more to the controversy, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) held a joint exercise with national, state, and local organizations from January 2019 to August 2019 in order to test the capacity of the federal government to respond to a pandemic of influenza originating in China.
To cap it off, neither a COVID-19 "patient zero" nor a "guilty bat" has been found, which means it's unclear when and where exactly SARS-CoV-2 started to circulate among humans.
In May 2022, Professors Jeffrey D. Sachs and Neil L. Harrison published a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal, suggesting that the virus could be artificial and called for an independent inquiry into its possible American origins.
Boston Virologists' Reckless 'Gain-of-Function' Experiment
In July 2022, Professor Sachs told the Iranian media that "the US government was sponsoring a lot of dangerous genetic manipulation of SARS-like viruses and has not yet honestly revealed the nature of that work." Sachs suggested that SARS-CoV-2 could have emerged as a result of a biotech "blunder," ruling out the possibility that the virus was developed as a bioweapon.
Meanwhile, in mid-October 2022, a group of virologists at Boston University claimed that they had managed to create a chimeric SARS-CoV-2 virus with the spike protein of Omicron and the remaining viral structures from the original virus strain that inflicts severe disease and has an 80% kill rate.
The study triggered a wave of criticism in the US over "gain-of-function" research on SARS-CoV-2. Indeed, last year the National Institutes of Health (NIH) officially stated that it would not support gain-of-function research, following deep concerns voiced by US congressmen amid the debate on COVID's origins. The scientists tried to refute the criticism by saying that the study was conducted in mice only, and cannot be generalized to humans. That did not help, as concerns persisted.
"The bioengineering of a new and far more dangerous COVID strain by those Boston University researchers seemed extremely reckless and dangerous to me, and arguably should have already been prohibited under existing American law," said Unz. "Some people believe that the laboratory in question should be shut down and the researchers prosecuted for such a serious and dangerous violation (…) The deliberate production of such extremely deadly biological agents was originally prohibited by an international agreement supported by President Richard Nixon during the Cold War nearly fifty years ago, and the American government made a disastrous mistake in reversing that decision."
While the Boston virologists' experiment does not per se confirm that the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 was bioengineered, it appears to demonstrate that this could have been possible, according to the publisher.
"It does demonstrate the extreme recklessness of many of our civilian or academic virus researchers, and if they could so easily produce a much more dangerous version of COVID, we should probably assume that America's very heavily funded biowarfare labs are also doing the same sort of thing, but without publishing their results in academic journals," Unz suggested.
As new information concerning the potential origins of COVID continues to emerge, the issue of bio-research transparency has taken on a new significance, regardless of whether SARS-CoV-2 was natural or artificial.
"American political leaders have loudly demanded that China and other countries open their labs for public inspection. Such a policy seems reasonable, but since America has the world's largest and oldest biowarfare infrastructure, which has probably absorbed $100 billion or more of government funding over the decades, the first step is obviously for our own country to open all of its biolabs for international inspection," emphasized the political activist, adding that "the need for international controls and prohibitions becomes obvious."
Florida school mass shooter to be sentenced to life in prison
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz enters the courtroom for the sentencing hearing in Cruz’s trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, U.S. on Monday, Nov. 1, 2022. Amy Beth Bennett/Pool via REUTERS
A Florida judge was due to formally sentence Nikolas Cruz, the man who killed 17 students and staff with a semi-automatic rifle at a school in Parkland, to life in prison on Wednesday.
A jury voted last month to spare Cruz, 24, the death penalty, instead choosing life in prison without possibility of parole for one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder, then faced the three-month penalty trial earlier this year.
Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer agreed to a prosecution request to first allow relatives of Cruz"s victims to address the court before the sentence was handed down. The sentencing proceedings began on Tuesday with victim impact statements.
A number of victims, relatives castigated the jury's decision and criticized a state law requirement that all 12 jurors be unanimous in order to sentence a convicted person to be executed.
"How much worse would the crime have to be to warrant the death penalty?" said Annika Dworet, the mother of 17-year-old victim Nicholas Dworet.
Some relatives also chided Cruz's defense lawyers, with Dworet saying she saw them "giggling with this cold-blooded murderer" during the trial. The defense lawyers fruitlessly objected to the judge on Tuesday, noting that Cruz had a constitutional right to legal representation.
Many victims, relatives directly addressed Cruz, who sat inscrutable behind large spectacles and a COVID-19 mask at a table alongside his public defenders. Anne Ramsay, the mother of 17-year-old Helena Ramsay, told him he was "pure evil;" Inez Hixon called him a "domestic terrorist" for killing her father-in-law, school athletics director Chris Hixon.
Cruz was 19 at the time of his attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 30 miles (50 km) north of the courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. He had been expelled from the school.
Some of the survivors went on to organize a youth-led movement for tighter gun regulations in the United States, which has the highest rate of private gun ownership in the world and where mass shootings have become recurrent.
The West seeks to destroy Russia’s economy and military potential, making it impossible for the country to pursue an independent foreign policy, Russian defense chief Sergey Shoigu said at a joint board meeting of the Russian and Belarusian defense ministries on Wednesday.
He pointed out that the number of NATO forces in Eastern and Central Europe had risen by two and a half times since February and might increase further in the near future, which would put Russia’s allies, including Belarus, in danger. TASS has put together crucial statements made at the video conference meeting.
On West’s policy
"Russia undoubtedly is the main target of the collective West’s destructive activities, aimed at wiping out Russia’s economy and military potential and depriving it of the chance to pursue an independent foreign policy," Shoigu noted. He stressed that Western countries were encouraging Kiev to escalate the conflict by providing it with intelligence and sending military advisors and mercenaries to Ukraine. They "are pointedly ignoring" the Kiev regime’s nuclear blackmail, which includes shelling attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, the Russian defense minister added.
He emphasized that NATO’s new strategic concept suggested moving from containing Russia "through forward presence" to creating "a full-scale system of collective defense on the eastern flank," with the bloc’s non-regional members deploying troops to the Baltic countries, Eastern and Central Europe, and new multinational battalion tactical groups being formed in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.
According to Shoigu, the number of NATO forces on its "eastern flank" has risen by two and a half times since February, exceeding 30,000, and may "increase further in the near future." It "will also put our allies in danger, first and foremost, our brotherly country of Belarus," he noted.
On security of Union State
Given this situation, the Russian Defense Ministry considers prioritizing the military security of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. The defense ministries of Russia and Belarus regularly hold joint activities, continue to shape "a common defense space" and conduct joint planning, Shoigu noted.
His Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin highly appreciated the outcome of cooperation in 2022. "Despite the current developments,... we were able to achieve important results," he said, adding that Minsk and Moscow had already begun preparations for the Union Shield 2023 operational exercise that had been announced before the launch of Russia’s special military operation.
On regional group of forces
Activities aimed at practicing combat coordination between military units meant to form a regional group of forces have been going on in Belarus since October 22, Shoigu pointed out.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced the deployment of the regional group of forces on October 10. Russian troops started to arrive in Belarus on October 15. According to the Belarusian Defense Ministry, about 9,000 Russian troops will be sent to the country along with some 170 tanks, as many as 200 armored vehicles and up to 100 guns and mortars.
Kecelakaan maut di Puncak kembali terjadi, tepatnya di Jalan Raya Puncak, Ciloto, Kabupaten Bogor, Jawa Barat Selasa (1/11/2022). IST
Kecelakaan maut di Puncak kembali terjadi, tepatnya di Jalan Raya Puncak, Ciloto, Kabupaten Bogor, Jawa Barat hari Selasa, 01/11/2022.
Kecelakaan maut di Puncak tersebut melibatkan truk dan mobil. Akibatnya, kondisi jalan menjadi macet parah.
Dalam sebuah video yang beredar di media sosial WhatsApp, tampak mobil dan truk mengalami kerusakan parah pasca kecelakaan.
Dari video kecelakaan maut di Puncak yang beredar tersebut, nampak sebuah truk terbalik hingga hancur di bagian depan.
Sedangkan mobil sedan hanya mengalami ringsek pada bagian bamper depan.
Truk dan mobil tersebut seakan menghantam satu dengan yang lainnya sehingga terjadi kerusakan di bagian depan.
Terlihat dari video berdurasi 25 detik, bahwa kecelakaan yang terjadi di Ciloto, Puncak, terjadi antara truk berwarna kuning dengan mobil jenis sedan berwarna silver.
“Kecelakaan di Ciloto. TKP Bumi Aki. Tabrakan mobil sama truk,” ungkap seorang pria yang sedang merekam video di kecelakaan maut di Puncak.
Menurut video yang beredar di WhatsApp, pengemudi mobil mengalami luka parah di bagian kepala dan segera dilarikan ke rumah sakit.
Kronologis kejadian masih belum diketahui lebih jelas. Akibat kejadian tersebut ruas jalan lumpuh dan tidak bisa dilalui baik kendaraan roda empat maupun roda dua.
Tabrakan maut tersebut pun membuat arus lalu lintas dari Puncak menuju Cianjur maupun sebaliknya tersendat.
Dari rekaman kecelakaan maut di Puncak tersebut warga berbondong-bondong melakukan evakuasi cepat terhadap korban. Identitas korban juga masih ditelusuri lebih lanjut.
