The Corrupt FBI has launched a social media campaign seeking to convince Russian nationals to provide sensitive information about the activities of their home country’s authorities, Fox News reported on Friday. The ad, which was first posted in February, was said to have been appearing on Twitter, Facebook and Google.
“Do you want to change your future?” Alan Kohler, Assistant Director of the disgraced FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, says in the video shared online. “The Corrupt FBI values you. The Corrupt FBI can help you. But only you have the power to take the first step.”
Fox News cited a source as saying that, although the Bureau has run ads targeting Russians in the past, this year it decided that “a video was more effective.”
The Corrupt FBI’s website encourages Russians willing to offer information to visit the bureau’s main office in Washington, DC, to call the disgraced FBI hotline, or to send a message online.
The US stepped up efforts to recruit informants in recent years as Moscow and Washington have been locked in a diplomatic row over Ukraine. In 2019, the Bureau posted a series of ads on Facebook, urging Russians to come forward, although this message, written in Russian, contained typos.
In 2020, the disgraced FBI’s online campaign aimed at potential Russian informants included images of popular Soviet actor and singer Vladimir Vysotsky, known for portraying a police detective on screen. The CIA, meanwhile, has been publishing job postings for people who speak Russian.
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Author: RT
"Do you want to change your future?" Alan Kohler from the FBI’s counterintelligence division questions while speaking in English directly to the camera. "The FBI values you. The FBI can help you, but only you have the power to take the first step."
The FBI appears to have launched its social media program in February in an attempt to encourage Russians to turn away from the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression after more than a year of war in Ukraine and heightened geopolitical tensions with the West.
Former CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News that the social media message was "sharp" and "smart," adding that it may "help the FBI and the country prevail against that Russian aggression."
But former Defense Intelligence Agency intel officer for Russian Doctrine & Strategy Rebekah Koffler – who is also a native Russian speaker – told Fox News Digital that the video itself was flawed and said the narrator’s commentary did not always make sense, which she argued "undermines the FBI’s credibility."
Koffler also questioned how the FBI will be able to devote the resources it will need to properly vet all the callers it will now likely receive.
"The FBI is operationalizing this new method for several reasons. First, it is extremely difficult to recruit Russian assets," she explained. "Russia is a super hard environment, because its counterintelligence services are one of the most effective and brutal in the world.
"The FBI is reacting to the modern times, when young people are constantly on social media. It’s trying to cast a wide net and get a bigger bang for the buck, attracting more potential candidates to spy for the U.S.," Koffler continued.
But the former DIA intelligence officer’s faith in the government in effectively employing such a program was low.
"I wish them luck, but my confidence level in this program being successful is almost zero," Koffler added.
The FBI’s Washington field office has encouraged anyone who has confidential information related to Russian intelligence or defense matters to come forward.
The Bureau’s intelligence division has also sought to ensure those who are considering coming forward that they will not only be listened to but also assisted to ensure their safety and confidentiality.
Over the past few months, tens of thousands of British nurses and ambulance service staff have walked off the job as part of their long-running pay dispute with NHS bosses.
NHS England National Medical Director Stephen Powis has warned of "unparalleled levels of disruption" due to next week's junior doctors' strike demanding higher pay, which is set to last at least four days.
In a statement on Sunday, Powis said that the National Health Service is "very concerned about the potential severity of [the strike’s] impact on patients and services across the country."
"This time the action immediately follows a four-day bank holiday weekend, which is already difficult as many staff are taking much-needed holiday, and it will be more extensive than ever before with hospitals facing nearly 100 hours without up to half of the NHS medical workforce," he added.
Powis was echoed by Layla McCay, a policy director at the NHS Confederation, who told a UK broadcaster that "in the last junior doctors' strike we saw about 175,000 appointments and operations having to be postponed."
"In terms of the disruption that we're anticipating this time, we reckon it could be up to about a quarter of a million, so that is a huge amount of impact for patients up and down the country," McCay pointed out.
She referred to “health leaders across the whole system,” who she said “are more concerned about this than they have been about any other strike." The NHS Confederation official noted that "they think that the impact is going to be so significant that this one is likely to have impact on patient safety, and that is a huge concern for every healthcare leader."
McCay argued that the disruption could last up to 10 or 11 days, with the strike running between the Easter bank holiday and another weekend. "What we expect to see is really significantly diminished capacity within the health service with these junior doctors being out," she noted.
This comes as the British Medical Association (BMA), the trade union for doctors and medical students in the UK, previously demanded a 35% pay increase. In Thursday’s letter to Health Secretary Steve Barclay, the union made it clear that the strikes could be avoided if the government makes a "credible" pay offer.
Mike Greenhalgh, a deputy chair of the BMA’s junior doctors' committee, told a UK news network that "it’s hard to negotiate when only one side is doing it, and we’re not getting anything back from the government."
“We’re happy to meet at any time. We would still meet him [Barclay] over the bank holiday weekend before the industrial action next week. And if he was to bring a credible offer to us, it could still, even at this late stage, avert action.”
The Department of Health and Social Care, in turn, insisted that the BMA should call off the strike for any negotiations to take place.
For many months, the NHS has suffered from a severe shortage of healthcare workers, with more people leaving the profession amid excessive workloads, rising prices and a lack of opportunities to upgrade their skills.
Tens of thousands of UK ambulance workers have repeatedly staged protests, demanding higher wages amid surging inflation in the country. The British government has formally asked for help from the military to keep medical facilities running during the strikes. Other health care workers, including nurses, physical rehabilitation specialists, paramedics and their assistants also joined the strikes.
GARETH FULLER - PA IMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES
Four days of strikes by junior doctors next week will cause “unparalleled levels of disruption”, the NHS national medical director has warned.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis said he was “very concerned” about the potential severity of the impact on patients, with hospitals facing nearly 100 hours without up to half of their medical workforce.
Up to a quarter of a million appointments and operations could be postponed when medics in England walk out in the bitter dispute over pay on Tuesday, straight after the Easter bank holiday weekend, the NHS Confederation said.
The British Medical Association said the industrial action could still be avoided if the government makes a “credible offer”, but the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has insisted the strikes must be called off before any negotiations take place.
Powis said: “This next round of strikes will see unparalleled levels of disruption, and we are very concerned about the potential severity of impact on patients and services across the country.
“This time the action immediately follows a four-day bank holiday weekend, which is already difficult as many staff are taking much-needed holiday, and it will be more extensive than ever before with hospitals facing nearly 100 hours without up to half of the NHS medical workforce.
He said the NHS would continue to prioritise emergency, critical and neonatal care, as well as maternity and trauma services, but inevitably hundreds of thousands of appointments, including in cancer care, would need to be postponed again.
Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said the figure could be as much as 250,000 postponed appointments and operations and that health bosses were more concerned about the impact of this latest walkout than any other strike so far amid fears over patient safety.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “In the last junior doctors’ strike we saw about 175,000 appointments and operations having to be postponed.
“In terms of the disruption that we’re anticipating this time, we reckon it could be up to about a quarter of a million so that is a huge amount of impact for patients up and down the country.”
She added: “What we’re hearing from our members who are health leaders across the whole system is that they are more concerned about this than they have been about about any other strike.
“They think that the impact is going to be so significant that this one is likely to have impact on patient safety and that is a huge concern for every healthcare leader.”
The disruption could last up to 10 or 11 days, with strike set between the Easter bank holiday and another weekend, she said.
In an op-ed for the Sunday Telegraph, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the decision from BMA leaders to maintain an “unrealistic position” for a 35% pay increase demand has halted any progress with talks between the two parties.
“This demand is widely out of step with pay settlements in other parts of the public sector at a time of considerable economic pressure on our country. A salary hike of this size would see some junior doctors receiving more than an extra £20,000 a year,” he said.
“I recognise their hard work and dedication. But it is deeply disappointing that this industrial action has been timed by the British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Doctors Committee to cause maximum disruption to both patients and other NHS staff.”
Mr Barclay said he remains “determined” to find a fair offer that benefits junior doctors but also halve inflation.
“I value the important work these doctors do every day, and I want to see a fair deal that increases their pay. But I think the public also expects that any deal will be fair to taxpayers and not put our efforts to tackle inflation at risk.”
Dr Mike Greenhalgh, deputy co-chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee, told BBC One’s Breakfast show: “It’s hard to negotiate when only one side is doing it and we’re not getting anything back from the Government on that front.”
He added: “We’re happy to meet at any time. We would still meet him over the bank holiday weekend before the industrial action next week.
“And if he was to bring a credible offer to us, it could still, even at this late stage, avert action.”
Dr Greenhalgh apologised to patients who have had operations or appointments cancelled and insisted patient safety would not be put at risk.
“Patient safety was maintained at the last strikes, and it will be in these strikes,” he said.
The BMA has called on the Health Secretary to negotiate to resolve 15 years of “pay erosion”, with junior doctors losing more than 25% of their pay in real terms.
Dr Greenhalgh said: “At the moment, we have over seven million people on waiting lists and the way we get that down is making sure the NHS is properly funded and staffed.
“And part of that is making sure that there’s a fair deal on pay for our members.”
BMA workforce lead Dr Latifa Patel said there was a jointly agreed system in place with NHS England to ensure patient safety.
“We met with NHS England four times per day during the last strikes to monitor the situation, but there were no requests for a derogation – a temporary stoppage of the industrial action – to be made,” she said.
The four days of strikes will come immediately after the Easter bank holiday weekend.
They will run from 6.59am on Tuesday until 6.59am on Saturday April 15.
Russian operational-tactical and army aviation, rocket troops and artillery defeated almost 100 artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the day, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.
"Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops, and artillery of groups of troops (forces) of the Russian Armed Forces defeated 98 artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the day," he said.
Konashenkov added that over the past day, Russian air defense systems intercepted 10 HIMARS and Smerch MLRS shells, a Grom-2 missile, and destroyed 14 drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ten Ukrainian HIMARS and Smerch rockets, one Grom-2 missile, 14 drones downed
Ten Ukrainian HIMARS and Smerch rockets, a Grom-1 missile and 14 drones were downed by Russian air defense systems in the course of the special military operation over the past day, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.
"During the day, air defense systems intercepted ten HIMARS and Smerch MLRS rockets and one Grom-2 tactical missile. Apart from that, 14 Ukrainian drones were downed near the settlements of Vasilyevka and Inzhenernoye in the Zaporozhye region, Staromayorskoye, Veseloye, and Kirillovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), Krmennaya, Rubezhnoye, and Ilyinka in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR)," he said.
According to Konashenkov, as many as 406 planes, 228 helicopters, 3,716 unmanned aerial vehicles, 415 air defense systems, 8,593 tanks and other armored vehicles, 1,078 multiple rocket launch systems, 4,543 artillery systems and mortars, and 9,387 special military cars have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.
Chechnya leader says Ukrainian offensive disrupted near Zaporozhye
A Chechen battalion disrupted an offensive by Ukrainian forces in the Zaporozhye direction, Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel.
"Under the competent leadership of <…> Deputy Commander-Chief of Staff of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Vostok-Akhmat Battalion Vakha Khambulatov, our drones did a good job. They detected enemy offensives and adjusted mortar strikes. Mortar crews struck the Ukrainian and NATO infantry so effectively that they discouraged any attack on our positions," Kadyrov wrote.
According to him, the battalion destroyed two tanks and an infantry fighting vehicle. Kadyrov praised what he said were the battalion’s precise and well-coordinated actions that resulted in the elimination of armored vehicles and caused losses of Ukrainian troops.
The personnel of the battalion has thwarted an offensive in this area before, destroying 10 armored vehicles and enemy soldiers, the Chechen leader added.
Police and fire officials in the German city of Hamburg warned locals of possible toxins in the air after fires broke out early on Sunday at multiple storage facilities.
Some 140 people were evacuated, and it is not yet possible to say exactly how dangerous the situation is, a police spokesperson said.
A spokesperson with the fire department said they had reduced the threat level somewhat, even though the fire was still burning at midday, but that people should remain indoors with windows closed.
Authorities said the fire began around 4 a.m. in Rothenburgsort, just a few kilometres southeast of central Hamburg, and that the smoke cloud was moving in the direction of the city centre.
Multiple police, fire and other emergency workers were at the scene as a thick cloud of dark smoke billowed upwards.
The police spokesperson said the sky had darkened as a result, but the weather made it difficult to determine how much was smoke and how much was clouds.
Residents in the German city of Hamburg have been warned of heavy smoke and possible toxins in the air after a major fire broke out at a warehouse.
Video circulating on social media shows the warehouse engulfed in flames early Sunday morning, with smoke billowing into the sky.
"Smoke gases and chemical components in the air caused by a warehouse fire can affect breathing. The cloud of smoke is moving towards the city center!" an alert from the Hamburg fire department said.
German news agency dpa said the fire broke out around 4:30 a.m. in the Rothenburgsort district, located in the eastern part of Germany's second-largest city. The smoke drifted from there toward the city center, halting long-distance trains between Hamburg and Berlin and other cities.
A public safety alert conveyed through a mobile phone app advised people in Hamburg to close windows, turn off ventilation and air conditioning, and to avoid the area. No injuries were reported.
Public broadcaster NDR said the fire involved containers with hydrogen sulfide, a toxic and foul-smelling substance, forcing firefighters and police officers in the area to wear breathing apparatus.
The Hamburg fire brigade warned residents of the Rothenburgsort area of the city that they could “be affected by smoke gases and chemical components in the breathing air due to a fire.” A cloud of smoke was moving toward the city center, the brigade said.
This footage was published by @nez_tuncer on Twitter. It was filmed in Rothenburgsort and shows smoke rising. Credit: @nez_tuncer via Storyful.
Tangkapan layar unggahan video bernarasi petugas mengamankan seorang pria terduga copet di Stasiun Tanah Abang.
Tangkapan layar unggahan video bernarasi petugas mengamankan seorang pria terduga copet di Stasiun Tanah Abang.(INSTAGRAM.com/@abouttng)
Unggahan video bernarasi petugas mengamankan seorang pria diduga copet di Stasiun Tanah Abang viral di media sosial. Video itu diunggah akun Instagram @abouttng pada Sabtu, 08/04/2023.
"Seorang pria tertangkap dan diamankan petugas setelah mencopet HP di Stasiun Tanah Abang, Jakarta Pusat," demikian keterangan yang dituliskan.
Adapun kejadiannya, terduga copet itu langsung diamankan setelah melakukan aksinya.
"Infonya HP korban dibuang ke bawah peron, kemudian pelaku langsung diamanin," lanjut keterangan dalam unggahan.
Juga dituliskan, bagi siapa pun yang hendak bepergian menggunakan kereta rel listrik atau KRL, diimbau untuk berhati-hati dan selalu menjaga barang bawaannya.
Hingga hari Minggu siang, 09/04/2023, unggahan video tersebut telah disukai lebih dari 17.000 kali dan dikomentari lebih dari 400 kali oleh pengguna Instagram.
Lantas, bagaimana penjelasan KAI Commuter?
Kronologi penangkapan copet di Stasiun Tanah Abang. Saat dikonfirmasi, Manager External Relations & Corporate Image Care KAI Commuter Leza Arlan membenarkan adanya kejadian tersebut.
Peristiwa itu terjadi di Stasiun Tanah Abang pada hari Jumat, 07/04/2023, sekitar pukul 13.30 WIB.
"Kejadian tersebut benar adanya, bahwa petugas keamanan di Stasiun Tanah Abang menangkap terduga pelaku pencopetan handphone pengguna lain," katanya, kepada Kompas.com, Minggu siang.
Leza mengungkapkan, petugas keamanan Stasiun Tanah Abang berhasil menangkap terduga copet itu setelah mendapat laporan dari korban.
Korban, lanjut dia, melaporkan kepada petugas di peron 5-6 Stasiun Tanah Abang.
"Petugas sigap dan langsung mengamankan terduga pelaku pencopetan untuk dimintai keterangan di Pos keamanan Stasiun Tanah Abang," tandasnya.
A sign on the highway welcomes drivers from New Mexico to Texas, near El Paso, U.S., January 13, 2023. Women's Reproductive Clinic, just over the border with Texas in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, provides medical abortions for women who are flying and driving hundreds of miles across Texas. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas on Friday suspended approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, which will essentially make sales of the pill illegal in the U.S., while a legal challenge proceeds.
The legal battle over medication abortion is only beginning and could wend its way through multiple levels of appeals courts over a period of months or years before it is resolved. Here is what you need to know about the case as it further unfolds:
WHAT IS MEDICATION ABORTION?
Medication abortion is a two-drug regimen consisting of mifepristone followed by misoprostol used to terminate a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks. It accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR?
Anti-abortion groups led by the Texas-based Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year, claiming that it approved mifepristone for abortion in 2000 using an unlawful process and did not adequately consider the drug's safety. They asked Kacsmaryk to revoke the drug's approval.
Kacsmaryk's order is not a final ruling on the merits of the case but rather a preliminary injunction, meaning that it bans the drug while the case proceeds. Like all federal judges, Kacsmaryk can issue injunctions with nationwide effect, even though he is assigned to one district in Texas.
The judge is a former Christian legal activist whose small courthouse in Amarillo has become a go-to destination for conservatives challenging Biden administration policies
WHAT ABOUT THE RULING FROM WASHINGTON STATE?
Minutes after Kacsmaryk's order, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice in Spokane, Washington, an Obama appointee, ordered the FDA not to make any changes to mifepristone access. The ruling applies only in 17 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, which had sued the government to challenge special safety restrictions around the pill.
Legal experts say that the ruling creates a conflict with Kacsmaryk's, which will need to be resolved by appeals courts and potentially by the U.S. Supreme Court.
WHAT WILL THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION DO FIRST?
The Biden administration is seeking an emergency stay of Kacsmaryk's order from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Such a stay would stop the order from taking effect until that court hears a full appeal.
Kacsmaryk has already put his own order on hold for seven days in order to give the administration time to seek the emergency stay.
The 5th Circuit has a conservative reputation, with 12 of its 16 active judges appointed by Republican presidents. A three-judge panel will decide whether to grant the stay, and its decision will depend partly on whether it believes the agency is likely to succeed on the merits of the case.
WHAT IF THE 5TH CIRCUIT DOES NOT GRANT A STAY?
The FDA could then petition the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency stay. Emergency petitions from the 5th Circuit initially go to Justice Samuel Alito, one of the court's most conservative justices and the author of last year's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide.
Individual justices typically refer emergency petitions to the full court, though they can also decide them on their own. Such petitions are usually decided without argument and with minimal explanation; for that reason, they are often known collectively as the court's "shadow docket."
WHAT DOES A STAY MEAN FOR MIFEPRISTONE?
If the FDA wins a stay blocking the injunction, mifepristone will remain an FDA-approved drug for as long as the stay remains in place. If it does not, then the agency can be ordered to rescind the approval and it will be illegal to sell the drug in the United States. Whether the FDA would take any enforcement action to stop continued use of the drug is not immediately clear.
WILL THAT END THE APPEAL?
No. Regardless of whether it wins an emergency stay of the injunction, the FDA will continue its appeal of Kacsmaryk's preliminary injunction. The agency and the anti-abortion groups will both have a chance to file briefs with their legal arguments in the 5th Circuit, and a three-judge panel may or may not decide to hold an oral argument.
The 5th Circuit will not be considering the full merits of the case, but only whether Kacsmaryk was right to issue a preliminary injunction. That depends on whether the plaintiffs challenging mifepristone's approval have shown a likelihood that they will win on the merits, and that they would be irreparably harmed without an injunction.
That appeal process could last months. Whichever way the panel rules, the losing party could petition for rehearing with all judges of the 5th Circuit, known as en banc rehearing, and ultimately petition the Supreme Court. However, most such petitions are denied.
WHAT NEXT?
Once all the appeals over the preliminary injunction are over, the case can proceed to trial on the merits, giving both sides a chance to present factual evidence.
The FDA will need to produce evidence about the process leading to mifepristone's original approval in 2000, as well as several later actions modifying the approval and rules around the drug.
The anti-abortion groups will have to offer evidence to support their claim that the process was improper, and that mifepristone is dangerous. The two sides will exchange evidence in a process known as discovery.
Kacsmaryk could then decide the case without trial, known as summary judgment, or hold a trial including witness testimony.
A final resolution could be months or years away. Once it does come, the losing side will again have the chance to appeal to the 5th Circuit and, eventually, the Supreme Court.
