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Second Fukushima nuclear sample removal eyed for March

CNA 26th Dec 2024

Three of Fukushima’s six reactors went into meltdown in 2011 after a huge tsunami swamped the facility.

TOKYO: The operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant said on Thursday (Dec 26) it will start the second round of a tricky operation to collect samples of radioactive debris from the site this spring.

Around 880 tonnes of hazardous material remain at the Fukushima site, 13 years after a catastrophic tsunami caused by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered one of history’s worst nuclear accidents.

Removing the debris is seen as the most daunting challenge in a decommissioning project due to last decades, because of the dangerously high radiation levels.

Last month, operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said a trial debris removal operation using a specially developed extendible device had been completed.

The sample weighing just below 0.7g – equivalent to about one raisin – was delivered to a research lab near Tokyo for analysis.

A TEPCO official told a press conference they are now gearing up for a second sample removal due in “March to April”……….
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/fukushima-nuclear-plant-sample-removal-march-2025-4826701

December 28, 2024 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Did Israel explode a small nuclear bomb in Syria? Spike in radiation report says…

Story by support@india.com (India.com News Desk), 25 Dec 24,  https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/did-israel-explode-a-small-nuclear-bomb-in-syria-spike-in-radiation-report-says/ar-AA1wqXyT

In a step that has shocked the whole world, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike on the weapons depot in Tartus, Syria on 16 December 2024. Through the massive strike, Israel reportedly destroyed the Scud missile facility. However, reports are speculating that the damage caused by the strike was much more and a small nuclear weapon might have been used. Here are the details you need to note about the Israeli strike on Syria.

As a result of the attack, an earthquake of magnitude 3 also occurred along with the massive explosion. The earthquake was so huge that it was felt up to Iznik in Turkey, 820 km away. Moreover, Russian media organization Sputnik had then said that Israel had targeted it with a new missile from a warship. However, some reports also claim that the B61 nuclear bomb developed by America was used here.Expand article logo  

Reports have also added that the European Union’s Radioactive Environmental Monitoring surprisingly found that the amount of radiation increased in Turkey and Cyprus 20 hours after the intense blast, pointing towards a small nuclear attack.

Israeli army in the Golan Heights after UN extends peacekeeping mission between Syria, Israel

Israeli forces continued to operate along the Syria-Israel ceasefire line in the Golan Heights on Sunday (December 22) after the United Nations Security Council on Friday (December 20) extended a long-running peacekeeping mission between the two countries.

The UN mission was extended for six months and the security council expressed concern that military activities in the area could escalate tensions.

Ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Since a lightning rebel offensive ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Israeli troops have moved into the demilitarized zone – created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war – that is patrolled by the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

Israeli officials have described the move as a limited and temporary measure to ensure the security of Israel’s borders but have given no indication of when the troops might be withdrawn. Armed forces from Israel and Syria are not allowed in the demilitarized zone – a 400-square-km (155-square-mile) “Area of Separation” – under the ceasefire arrangement.

(With inputs from agencies)

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Israel, radiation, Syria | 1 Comment

US Military Supported Syrian Rebel Offensive That Toppled Assad Government

Geopolitical Economy, By Ben Norton, 12 Dec 24

Syrian rebel commanders have boasted that the US military helped them overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad.

They acknowledged this in a report published by major British newspaper The Telegraph, titled “US ‘prepared Syrian rebel group to help topple Bashar al-Assad’”.

The article revealed that a rebel group armed, trained, and funded by the United States, based in the south of Syria, collaborated with rebranded al-Qaeda in the north to jointly topple the Syrian government.

According to the report, the US military helped to create a Syrian militia called the Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA). The US and UK armed and trained the RCA. The Pentagon paid its fighters a salary of $400 per month, which The Telegraph noted was “nearly 12 times what the soldiers in the now defunct Syrian army were paid”. (This was because illegal unilateral Western sanctions on Syria had crushed the country’s economy, causing high rates of inflation that decimated local purchasing power.)

The US military knew that an offensive was being planned to topple Assad, The Telegraph reported. The Pentagon pressured disparate rebel groups and mercenaries in southern Syria to unify behind the US-funded RCA.

In the lead-up to the assault, which was launched in November 2024, US military officers met with Syrian rebel commanders in the Al-Tanf base that the US had built on the border with Iraq………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… more https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/12/23/us-military-syria-rebels-assad/

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Syria, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Northwestern Ontario nuclear waste site selection raises concerns

The Hill Times: Canada’s Politics and Government News Source, BY ERIKA SIMPSON | December 12, 2024, https://www-hilltimes-com.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/story/2024/12/12/northwestern-ontario-nuclear-waste-site-selection-raises-concerns/444838/

The selection process has overlooked the broader impact on local and Indigenous populations near highways that could be used to transport nuclear waste north.


Opinion | BY ERIKA SIMPSON | December 12, 2024

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization selection of two northwestern Ontario communities—Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Ignace—as host communities for Canada’s proposed Deep Geological Repository raises concerns and controversy. Located approximately 1,500 km from Toronto, the distance highlights the geographical separation between the selected communities and Toronto, home to the Darlington and Pickering nuclear power plants that will eventually be decommissioned.

On Nov. 28—the same day of Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO) announcement—the Municipality of South Bruce took many by surprise by announcing it was exiting the site selection process for the proposed Deep Geological Repository (DGR). Despite South Bruce’s proximity—just 46 km from the Bruce reactor, the world’s largest-operating nuclear facility on Lake Huron’s shores—the NWMO decided to pursue the Ignace location.

This raises questions about why the NWMO chose to bypass South Bruce, which, due to its location, appeared to be a more logical choice for Canada’s first DGR.

Despite being presented as a “community-driven, consent-based” process, the selection process launched in 2010 sought to narrow 22 potential sites down to just one willing community. The process has thus far overlooked the broader impact on local and Indigenous populations near highways that could be used to transport nuclear waste northward.

Media outlets like The Globe and Mail and The Hill Times report that the NWMO’s DGR plan involves transporting nuclear waste by truck for over four decades, from all Canada’s reactor sites to the nuclear facility, where the waste could be stored underground. More than 90 per cent of the waste is currently at Pickering, Darlington, and Bruce nuclear stations in Ontario, with the rest located in Point Lepreau, N.B., Quebec, Manitoba, and Ottawa.

With the NWMO selecting the Ignace site and an all-road transportation method, the trucks are expected to travel a total of 84 million km on Canadian roads. There is always the risk that radioactive material will leak while in transit or short-term storage, something that has happened in Germany and New Mexico over the past two decades.

The NWMO’s claims of a rigorous and independent process are undermined by a lack of public dialogue and transparency. Few have been aware of the proposal to build a national underground nuclear waste site. Northwatch and We The Nuclear Free North raised concerns about the NWMO’s decision involving Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON) in the project.

WLON’s Nov. 28 statement clarifies that the First Nation has not approved the project but has agreed to proceed with the next phase of site characterization and regulatory processes. Their “yes” vote reflects a commitment to assess the project’s feasibility through environmental and technical evaluations, not an endorsement of the DGR itself.

South Bruce, the other potential willing community, held a referendum on Oct. 28, which revealed deep divisions. The final tally was 1,604 votes in favor (51.2 per cent) and 1,526 against (48.8 per cent), with a total of 3,130 votes cast. A margin of just 78 votes decided a by-election with far-reaching implications for millions of people across multiple generations.

The decision to allow a local municipality to oversee the referendum on the nuclear waste disposal site has been met with significant controversy. Critics argue that the arrangement posed a conflict of interest, as municipal staff—partially funded by the NWMO—actively promoted the project, casting doubt on their impartiality and raising concerns about financial influence on the referendum’s outcome. The council’s firm opposition to allowing a paper ballot raised further suspicions. Why reject a voting method that could be physically verified?

Located about 19 km southeast of Dryden, WLON faces similar concerns regarding the fairness of the online voting process and voter eligibility. These issues could erode public confidence in municipal referendum processes, and the handling of decisions by councils.

The nuclear waste storage site selection marks an early shift to the regulatory phase, raising concerns about whether the process is premature. Over the coming year, the effectiveness of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and its regulation of all steps in the management of radioactive waste will come under scrutiny, particularly as Ontario’s new energy minister, Stephen Lecce, emphasizes the need to invest in energy infrastructure to meet rising electricity demand over the next 25 years.

Critics argue that despite evaluations with long-term implications, ethical and environmental concerns surrounding nuclear waste disposal remain long unaddressed. Ontario Power Generation’s initial 2005 proposal to the safety commission for a DGR near the Bruce reactor was rejected in 2020 following a Saugeen Ojibway Nation vote.

While many acknowledge the potential benefits of nuclear energy and DGR technology, the NWMO’s approach to the project over the past two decades has drawn significant scrutiny. Questions centre on the decision to place untested DGR technology in populated farmland near the Great Lakes, the world’s largest source of freshwater. The risks of radiation leakage into Hudson’s Bay and the Arctic over thousands of years are particularly troubling, especially as the technology remains unproven in such a critical and sensitive location.

Despite objections, the NWMO pressed forward, with its process viewed as federally approved bribery through financial incentives. South Bruce has already received millions and will receive $4-million more for its involvement, with another $4-million due in 2025. Mayor Mark Goetz has announced plans for alternative development, but critics like W.J. Noll from Protect Our Waterways question why such options weren’t considered earlier, given the risks to farmland, water sources, and the divisions left in the local farming community.

The growing influence of the nuclear industry on international and local governance has left many feeling powerless, fearing that war-torn regions, Indigenous lands, and rural communities are being sacrificed, threatening ecosystems from Ukraine and Russia to the Great Lakes and Arctic rivers.

If no Canadian community agrees to host a permanent nuclear waste depository, it may be necessary to reconsider nuclear energy expansion, halt new plant construction, and scale back capacity at existing reactors. In the interim, managing waste at above-ground sites could offer a safer alternative until technology ensures long-term environmental protection.

Erika Simpson is an associate professor of international politics at Western University, the author of Nuclear Waste Burial in Canada? The Political Controversy over the Proposal to Construct a Deep Geologic Repository, and Nuclear waste: Solution or problem? and NATO and the Bomb. She is also the president of the Canadian Peace Research Association.

The Hill Times

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Canada, wastes | Leave a comment

Ontario First Nation challenging selection of underground nuclear waste site in court

Eagle Lake First Nation is seeking a judicial review of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s decision to select the Township of Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation area as the repository site.

 Toronto Star, Dec. 24, 2024 , By Sonja Puzic The Canadian Press

A First Nation in northern Ontario is challenging the selection of a nearby region as the site of an underground repository that will hold Canada’s nuclear waste, arguing in a court filing that it should have had a say in the matter as the site falls “squarely” within its territory.

Eagle Lake First Nation has filed an application in Federal Court seeking a judicial review of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s decision to build the deep geological repository in the Township of Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation area.

The decision was announced in November after Ignace’s town council and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation both agreed to move forward, but Eagle Lake First Nation says it was “unjustifiably” rejected as a host community and denied its own right to consent to the project.

“NWMO rejected ELFN as a host community and not for any fair, justifiable or defensible reasons,” but because members of the First Nation had raised concerns about the nuclear waste site, court documents filed last Friday allege.

The court filing, which also names the federal minister of natural resources among the respondents, accuses the NWMO of acting in “bad faith” and seeks to have its decisions quashed.

The NWMO, a non-profit body funded by the corporations that generate nuclear power and waste, said it is reviewing the legal challenge…………………………….

The $26-billion project to bury millions of used nuclear fuel bundles underground will include a lengthy regulatory and construction process, with operations not set to begin until the 2040s. ………………………………………………………. more https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/ontario-first-nation-challenging-selection-of-underground-nuclear-waste-site-in-court/article_375e4d88-c0bd-53e5-ba7a-03a2c2f8e4e1.html?utm_campaign=Nuclear+Free+North++e-news+%7C+Eagle+Lake+First+Nation+is+seeking+a+judicial+review+of+the+NWMO+Site+Selection&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

December 27, 2024 Posted by | Canada, indigenous issues, wastes | Leave a comment

FRANCE’S NUCLEAR ENERGY POLICY: A CHRONICLE OF FAILURE – FLAMANVILLE 3.

FRANCE’S NUCLEAR ENERGY POLICY: A CHRONICLE OF FAILURE – FLAMANVILLE 3

25 December 2025

France’s ambitious nuclear energy policy, once hailed as a cornerstone of its energy independence, has faced a long series of missteps, delays, and spiralling costs. The Flamanville 3 reactor, emblematic of these challenges, has taken over two decades from decision to anticipated commercial operation, showcasing the systemic failures in planning, execution, and financial management. This timeline highlights the stark realities behind France’s nuclear endeavours.

TIMELINE: 2002 FRENCH NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE

2002: POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS BEGIN

Discussions around a nuclear renaissance gain traction in France. Policymakers and EDF propose new reactor designs to bolster energy independence and address climate goals.

DECISION: 2004

The decision to build the Flamanville 3 reactor marked the beginning of a new chapter for France’s nuclear ambitions. With an estimated cost of €3.3 billion and a planned construction timeline of 56 months, this European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) was touted as a symbol of technological advancement. However, the project’s initial promise soon gave way to setbacks.

INITIAL WORKS: 2006

Preliminary works commenced in 2006, with optimism running high. The EPR design, developed to enhance safety and efficiency, was heralded as the future of nuclear energy. Yet, from the outset, the complexity of the design began to reveal challenges that would compound over time.

REACTOR CONCRETE: 2007

In 2007, construction on the reactor’s concrete base began, symbolising tangible progress. Simultaneously, the cost estimate was revised to €3.3 billion, as technical adjustments and initial delays started to emerge. Early warnings about budget overruns and scheduling issues were largely ignored.

GRID CONNECTION: 2024

After 17 years of setbacks, the reactor was finally connected to the grid. By this point, the budget had ballooned to €13.2 billion, a nearly fourfold increase from the original estimate. The delays and cost overruns underscored critical deficiencies in project management and regulatory compliance, as over 7,000 design changes required significant material additions.

COMMERCIAL OPERATION: 2025 Q1 The reactor is expected to achieve commercial operation in early 2025, over a decade behind schedule. The protracted timeline—more than 20 years from decision to operation—illustrates the systemic inefficiencies plaguing France’s nuclear energy strategy.

COST OVERRUNS AND FINANCIAL STRAIN

The financial fallout from Flamanville 3 is emblematic of broader challenges in the nuclear industry. Initially budgeted at €3.3 billion, the project’s costs had soared to €19.1 billion by 2020, with further increases likely. These overruns mirror similar issues faced by EDF’s international projects, such as Hinkley Point C in the United Kingdom and Olkiluoto 3 in Finland. Hinkley’s budget has nearly doubled to an estimated £46 billion, with completion now pushed to 2029–31.

EDF’S MOUNTING DEBTS AND CHALLENGES

EDF, the state-owned utility tasked with leading France’s nuclear initiatives, has been burdened by mounting debts. With a €65 billion debt load and a near €18 billion loss in 2022, EDF’s financial woes have raised questions about its capacity to handle multiple large-scale projects. Efforts to stabilise its finances through state support and electricity price adjustments have provided temporary relief but have not addressed structural issues.

BROADER IMPLICATIONS

The delays and cost overruns at Flamanville and other EPR projects have cast doubt on the viability of France’s nuclear renaissance. President Macron’s commitment to building six to 14 new reactors appears increasingly untenable given EDF’s financial and operational struggles. Moreover, these challenges have weakened France’s position as a global leader in nuclear technology, with international competitors advancing at a faster pace.

A FAILED STRATEGY

The failure of France’s nuclear energy policy is evident in its inability to deliver projects on time and within budget. The Flamanville 3 reactor, once a beacon of innovation, has become a cautionary tale of mismanagement and overreach. As France doubles down on nuclear energy, it must confront the hard truths of its flawed approach and consider whether a pivot to more agile and cost-effective renewable energy solutions is necessary to ensure its energy security and economic stability.

France connected its first nuclear reactor to the grid this century. Construction was to take 56 months.

2002 TIMELINE STARTS THE

FRENCH NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE

Initial works: construction was to take 56 months.

Timeline:

• decision: 2004

• initial works: 2006

• reactor concrete: 2007

• grid connection: 2024

• commercial operation: 2025 Q1

22 December 2024 Reports

We don’t know the final cost of France’s new #nuclear reactor at Flamanville, but guestimates it’ll be a few hundred $million higher than the 2020 figure:

• 2007 cost estimate: €3.3bn

• 2020 cost estimate: €19.1bn

December 26, 2024 Posted by | France, politics, Reference | Leave a comment

Workers Seek Shelter As Hanford Nuclear Complex Issues Leak Alert

Oil Price, By Alex Kimani – Dec 23, 2024

Workers at the Hanford nuclear site were ordered to take cover on Friday after a large holding tank with ammonia vapor was discovered to be leaking near the vitrification plant in the 200 East Area. Workers in that area were told to shelter in place with doors, windows and ventilation closed while other workers were told to avoid the 200 East Area. The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington

The 200 East Area has a vitrification plant, built and commissioned to treat the tank waste for disposal. The waste was left from the past production of plutonium from World War II through the Cold War for America’s nuclear weapons program. Today, there are 177 underground storage tanks on the Hanford Site, holding about 56 million gallons of highly radioactive and chemically hazardous waste.

The Hanford incident highlights the ongoing challenges of dealing with nuclear waste. Currently, there are thousands of metric tons of used solid fuel from nuclear power plants worldwide and millions of liters of radioactive liquid waste from weapons production sitting in temporary storage containers, some of which have begun leaking their toxic contents. Nuclear waste is notorious for the fact that it can remain dangerously radioactive for many thousands of years. ……………..https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Workers-Seek-Shelter-As-Hanford-Nuclear-Complex-Issues-Leak-Alert.html

December 26, 2024 Posted by | USA | Leave a comment

Israel to Annex the West Bank – Why Now? And What are the Likely Scenarios?

By Ramzy Baroud / CounterPunch, December 23, 2024

Israel is getting ready to annex the occupied Palestinian West Bank. The annexation will be a major step backward on the road to Palestinian freedom and will likely serve as a catalyst for a new Palestinian uprising.

Though annexation has been on the Israeli agenda for years, this time around a ‘great opportunity’ – in the words of extremist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – has presented itself and, from an Israeli point of view, cannot be missed.

“I hope we’ll have a great opportunity with the new US administration to create full normalization (of the Israeli occupation),” the minister was quoted as saying by Israeli media.

This is not the first time that Smotrich, among other Israeli extremists, has made the connection between Trump’s advent to the White House and the illegal expansion of Israel’s borders.

Two reasons make Israel’s far-right optimistic about Trump’s arrival: One, the Israeli experience during Trump’s first term in office, where the US president allowed Israel to claim sovereignty over illegal settlements, the Syrian Golan Heights, and occupied East Jerusalem; and, two, Trump’s more recent statement in the run-up to the elections.

Israel is “so tiny” on the map, Trump said while addressing the pro-Israeli group ‘Stop Antisemitism’ at an event last August, wondering: “Is there any way of getting more?” The statement, absurd by any definition, caused joy among Israeli politicians, who understood it to be a green right for further annexations.

Israel’s aims for colonial expansion also received a boost in recent days. Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria, Israel immediately began invading large swathes of the country, reaching as far as the Quneitra governorate, less than 20 kilometers away from the capital, Damascus.

What is taking place in Syria serves as a model of what to expect in the West Bank in coming months…………………………………………………………………………………………………

While such annexation will not change the legal status of the West Bank, it will have dire consequences for the millions of Palestinians living there, as annexation is likely to be followed by a violent campaign of ethnic cleansing, if not from the whole of the West Bank, certainly from large parts of it.

Annexation will also render the Palestinian Authority legally irrelevant – as it was created following the Oslo Accords to administer parts of the West Bank in anticipation of a future sovereignty, which never actualized. Will the PA agree to remain functional as part of the Israeli military administration of a newly annexed West Bank?

Palestinians will certainly resist, as they always do. The nature of the resistance will prove critical in the success or failure of the Israeli scheme. A popular Intifada, for example, will overstretch the Israeli military, which will likely use an unprecedented degree of violence to suppress Palestinians but will unlikely succeed.

Annexing the West Bank at a time that Palestine, in fact, the whole region is in turmoil, is a recipe for perpetual war, which, from the viewpoint of Smotrich and his ilk is the actual ‘great opportunity’, as it will secure their political survival for years to come.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net  https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/12/23/israel-to-annex-the-west-bank-why-now-and-what-are-the-likely-scenarios/

December 26, 2024 Posted by | Israel, politics | Leave a comment

British energy supplier Centrica is prepared to “walk away” from a planned investment in the Sizewell C nuclear plant

British energy supplier Centrica is prepared to “walk away” from a
planned investment in the Sizewell C nuclear plant, according to its chief
executive. In an exclusive interview with Energy Voice, Centrica chief
executive Chris O’Shea said “there are a number of criteria we have to
consider to invest in the project”. “We’ve said that we are part of the
Sizewell C process but there are a number of criteria we have to consider
to invest in the project,” O’Shea said. “If these are not met, the
right thing to do would be to walk away to protect the business.”

The UK-based supplier owns a 20% stake in the nuclear power stations, amounting
to a 9 terawatt-hour capacity out of a total of 45 TWh. “When the
conditions are right, we’ve seen how good investing in nuclear can be for
Centrica,” said O’Shea. He added that access to that nuclear power
capacity “will be very valuable to the company and to the UK’s energy
system”. “New nuclear will play a crucial role in the future energy
system, however we will only invest if the risks-and-rewards balance is
right for us,” he said. “If it is not right for us, we will not
invest.”

Energy Voice 23rd Dec 2024 https://www.energyvoice.com/renewables-energy-transition/nuclear/564808/centrica-prepared-to-walk-away-from-sizewell-c/

December 26, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

References to ‘inducing a North Korean attack’ found in ex-military official’s notes

2024-12-24 , By Lee Ji-hye, staff reporter, HANKYOREH,

A notebook found at the home of Roh Sang-won, the former Defense Intelligence Command, included jottings about shooting people to death and “concentration and handling” of those who were to be arrested.

A memo written by Roh Sang-won, the former head of the Defense Intelligence Command identified as the secret mastermind of the Dec. 3 insurrection attempt, contained the phrases “inducing a North Korean attack around the Northern Limit Line (NLL),” and “trash balloons.” With evidence pointing to attempts to stoke conflict with North Korea surfacing, police have stated that they are investigating President Yoon Suk-yeol, his former defense chief Kim Yong-hyun, and others on suspicions of treason. 
 
Roh’s notebook also mentioned the “means of concentration and handling” of those who were to be arrested, even going so far as to suggest “execution by shooting.” Such drastic phrases suggest those plotting to punish so-called “anti-state forces” may not have been satisfied with simply detaining these figures.
 
The special unit investigating the martial law declaration under the Korean National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation announced on Monday that Roh’s notebook contained the phrase “inducing a North Korean attack around the Northern Limit Line (NLL).”

When asked by Democratic Party lawmaker Youn Kun-young whether “trash balloons” also appeared in Roh’s notebook during a plenary session of the parliamentary Public Administration and Security Committee on the same day, Woo Jong-soo, the head of the National Office of Investigation, confirmed that the phrase was spotted in the notebook.
 
This is the first time that a plot to provoke North Korea has been confirmed in the investigation into the Dec. 3 insurrection attempt……………………………………………………………………………..more https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1174701.html

 

December 26, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, South Korea | Leave a comment

Pentagon Admits It’s Been Lying About the Number of Troops in Both Iraq and Syria

 December 25, 2024, By Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com,  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/12/23/pentagon-admits-its-been-lying-about-the-number-of-troops-in-both-iraq-and-syria/

The Pentagon said on Monday that the US has more troops deployed in Iraq than it has been disclosing, an admission that comes after it revealed there are significantly more US troops in Syria than the US has said.

For years, the Pentagon has said there are 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq. Last week, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder revealed the US was lying about the number of troops in Syria, saying the real number is 2,000.

In a statement meant to clarify the situation that was released on Monday, Ryder also said there were more than 2,500 US troops in Iraq but refused to say how many. “However, due to operations security and diplomatic considerations, we do not have any more specifics to provide,” Ryder said.

Ryder’s statement revealed that the number of US troops in Syria has been higher than publicly disclosed since 2020. “In addition to the approximately 900 baseline troops, there are also approximately 1,100 US military personnel in Syria that deploy for shorter durations as temporary enablers in support of force protection, transportation, maintenance, or other emerging operational requirements,” Ryder said.

“The numbers of these additional temporary forces have fluctuated over the past several years based on mission needs but in general have increased over time as the threat has increased to baseline forces,” he added.

Lying about the actual number of US troops in Syria goes back to at least the Trump administration. In 2020, James Jeffrey, the outgoing US envoy for Syria at the time, admitted his team was “always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there.” In 2019, after reversing an order to withdraw all troops from Syria, Trump agreed to keep 200 in the country. But Jeffrey said there was “a lot more” than that deployed.

In his statement on Monday, Ryder also said that “some additional temporary enablers” had been deployed alongside the 2,500 US troops in Iraq.

Sources told CNN that the US had been lying about the number of US troops in Syria because it didn’t want to anger neighboring countries, particularly Iraq, where the presence of US troops is strongly opposed by many political factions.

The sources said the US was worried if Iraqi officials found out the US had more troops in Syria than it was disclosing, officials would fear the same is happening in Iraq. Ryder’s statement that there are more than 2,500 US troops in Iraq will likely cause trouble for Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who has been under significant pressure to get the US to leave.

Earlier this year, after a series of US airstrikes on Iraq, al-Sudani called for US troops to leave, and his government entered negotiations with the US. The two sides reached a deal that was announced in September, but it will only formally end the mission of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and says US troops will remain in the country under a “bilateral security partnership.”

December 26, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, Syria, USA | Leave a comment

No more research for genocide at MIT !

Every human on this planet, especially those of us at MIT, is morally obligated to use their voice, body, and labor to make an immediate material impact toward ending the ongoing genocide.

By MIT Coalition For Palestine, Mondoweiss, December 22, 2024,
https://popularresistance.org/no-more-research-for-genocide-at-mit/

Despite Censorship And Intimidation We Continue To Make This Demand.

An MIT lab is collaborating with the Israeli military to develop AI surveillance algorithms and the university censored a campus publication that tried to expose it. We refuse to be intimidated and continue to demand: No More Research for Genocide.

On November 7th, we published an op-ed titled “Daniela Rus, The People Demand: No More Research for Genocide” in the MIT Tech. Our piece detailed how Prof. Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, uses Israeli Ministry of Defense money to develop algorithms with applications in “multirobot security defense and surveillance.” Rather than engage with these publicly verifiable facts, the Tech’s editorial board (under the guidance of Prof. Rus) retracted our op-ed.

MIT sent several of us “no contact” and “no harassment” orders for Prof. Rus, disciplining one student for simply writing our Op-Ed’s title on a public chalkboard! As if this naked intimidation wasn’t enough, the Tech indefinitely halted all Op-Eds after retracting our piece. This comes directly after the suspension and effective expulsion of MIT PhD student Prahlad Iyengar, in part due to an email he sent Professor Rus’ students “offering support” and a “safe space” to discuss her research.

We refuse to be intimidated by MIT. Professor Rus takes money from a genocidal army to do research with military applications (stated in her own papers here, here and here). Retractions and suspensions cannot change these simple facts. Here, we republish our article in full:

Daniela Rus, The People Demand: No More Research For Genocide

Today, MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) conducts research funded by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMoD), with direct applications to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We, the MIT Coalition for Palestine, whose tuition and labor support CSAIL, call on CSAIL Director Daniela Rus to lead by example and end her IMoD-sponsored research.

Rus currently leads the project “Coreset Compression Algorithms,” which has received $425,000 in direct sponsorship from the IMoD since 2021, according to MIT’s 2024 Brown Books. This project develops AI algorithms for applications like “city-scale observation systems” and “surveillance and vigilance”. Many of these lightweight algorithms are ideal for teaching small unmanned vehicles, including drones, to track and pursue targets with increased autonomy. Notably, navigating human environments is central: “a human may provide the global path… and the robots will adapt their configuration automatically”.

Many of us have friends and family surveilled and killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) drones streamlined by Rus’s research. These quadrotor drones are used extensively to monitor, injure, and kill Palestinian civilians at close range. Last Wednesday, October 30, 2024, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha shared videos showing Israeli bombs destroying his home, including footage of a quadrotor drone with a mounted machine gun just meters away. He described how Israel’s relentless indiscriminate bombardment in Gaza has wiped out entire families he knew. Stories like his have become the norm for families in Gaza.

As we write this piece, Jabalia has been under constant siege for a month. The Israeli military is targeting hospitals and burning patients alive. The government blocks access to life-saving humanitarian supplies, worsening Gaza’s already severe health crisis, all while threatening, targeting, and killing journalists attempting to report on these war crimes. At this time, it is our moral responsibility to do everything in our power to disrupt and dismantle all which enable the continuing of this genocide.

There has been a long-standing demand for Rus’s IMoD-sponsored projects to end.

The MIT Coalition for Palestine (C4P) is a group of MIT students, staff, faculty, community members, and campus organizations who refuse to devote their labor to companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, occupation, and the violation of Palestinian human rights. Daniela Rus was first contacted by the C4P on March 8th, 2024 by email where she was informed of how her IMoD-sponsored projects made her complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Without response, we then emailed out to the graduate students in her lab informing them of these ties and of potential alternative funding arrangements. In April, we launched the Scientists Against Genocide Encampment, where we consistently highlighted her lab’s IMoD ties to the school and community.

Over a year of accelerating genocide has now since passed, seven months since we first contacted Rus, and she continues her research, violating MIT’s own rules for research sponsorship. On Tuesday October 22, 2024, the Coalition Against Apartheid, a member organization of C4P, delivered a second letter in-person to her CSAIL office, chanting and flyering in the process.

We are committed to engaging in continuing action because it works. For instance, The U.S. arm of Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems recently ended its lease of office space in Cambridge after months of demonstrations by pro-Palestinian protestors. This win reinforces our resolve, and reminds us of a crucial lesson: the only way to make material disruptions for these inhumane systems is to continuously raise the cost for conducting research for genocide.

MIT’s police and disciplinary response against peaceful demonstrators was swift and unjust.

Within fifteen minutes, MIT escalated the situation with police force by violently arresting student protestors and detaining others for merely chanting and passing out flyers. At one point, there were four to six cops pinning down one person. Even those who were simply filming the arrests were detained, pushed around, and groped. There was no warning or attempt by faculty or administrators to engage with the students in order to understand their actions. Three days after the protest, eight students received interim sanction letters from the MIT Committee on Discipline (COD).

This interim letter did not indicate what charges students were being prosecuted for. Rather, they prohibited the students from entering common student spaces in CSAIL, where some of these students work. They also issued three no-contact orders to students: one for Rus, one for her collaborator on IMoD-funded projects Eytan Modiano, and one for Jack Costanza, a CSAIL employee who physically assaulted students in an attempt to unlawfully aid police in their arrests. None of the students were given the chance to review or respond to the charges. Once again, the COD demonstrates it operates primarily on the premise of treating political dissidents as “guilty until proven innocent.”

One week later, students received their alleged charges from the COD. All eight of them, whether they were chanting, putting a flyer up on a wall with painter’s tape, or simply video-taping the protest, received the same charges: assault, disorderly conduct, harassment, and threats/intimidation. COD Chair Tamar Schapiro later verbally admitted to one student in a meeting that she was aware none of the protestors assaulted anyone. Yet she still sent the letters accusing all eight of the students of assault. The COD systematically criminalizes the Coalition for Palestine as a community for protesting genocide. By indiscriminately instating a blanket no-contact order against all individuals who received a discipline letter, the COD draws a direct parallel between the acts of collective punishment MIT inflicts on pro-Palestinian advocates on its campus, and the collective punishment that Israel has long been inflicting on Palestinians themselves.

Discipline against pro-Palestinian students reinforces systemic racism at MIT.

Over the past year, MIT’s administration’s response to protests against genocide continues to be reflective of MIT’s longstanding racist and xenophobic systems. Students have attempted time and time again to address these issues, as described in this article by the Black Graduate Students Association. Despite the manufactured facade of an MIT community that is safe for students of minoritized backgrounds, racism at MIT has persisted over the last year at an institutional level.

At an institutional level, the MIT administration has been emboldened to continue to weaponize the police and inconsistent “academic” disciplinary proceedings in order to disproportionately target Black and Brown students. In the past year, 87% of the people MIT has disciplined, relating broadly to protest activity, have been people of color. Just consider MIT’s response to the letter delivery protest of Rus’ lab: people of color made up 8 out 13 student protestors present, yet 7 out of 8 people who received letters from the CoD were people of color. In addition to the disciplinary discrimination we face, many of us on campus feel incredibly unsafe, as the Institute of Discrimination Harassment and Reporting (IDHR) has failed to follow up on at least thirty reports of harassment against us. Simultaneously, IDHR selectively applies sanctions against us without evidence. To MIT, we are solely perceived as threats, never as victims. When Tamar Schapiro was asked to clarify the discipline, she told one female student that as a woman, she should understand that Daniela Rus felt unsafe by the demonstration, even though she was not even present in the lab at the time. What about the women in Gaza who fear being killed by the very technology Daniela Rus’s work contributes to? What about the women of color on campus who fear being unjustly brutalized by the frequent displays of disproportionate police violence? Tamar Schapiro, and MIT as a whole, fail to acknowledge the tangible fears of marginalized women, yet prioritize the theoretical fears of white women. This twisted, victim-blaming, racist logic matches the insinuation of Provost Barnhart in the previous Spring semester, wherein she justified the interim suspensions and eviction threats of 27 people by suggesting that MIT apply the same disciplinary measures previously reserved for when individuals are immediately at risk of sexual assault. As long as we have a broken reporting system, rapists and sexual offenders continue to freely walk on campus while students of color are treated as criminals for protesting a genocide.

To Daniela Rus and the world: no more labor for apartheid and genocide!

At the end of the day, MIT’s racism and racist discipline cannot counteract one fact: Daniela Rus is complicit in doing research for genocide. She has been complicit since 2012 when the sponsorship was first established through her then-postdoc, Dan Feldman, who currently works at University of Haifa in occupied Palestine. Professor Rus continues to deny her evident, present-day connections to the IMoD while flaunting her other morally dubious connections, such as her recent public statement of admiration, at her October book talk, for Marvin Minsky, alleged co-perpetrator of notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

As students of conscience, we cannot stand for this. The time to take action is now. We therefore call on Daniela Rus to immediately terminate all IMOD-funded projects and for MIT to provide transitional funding to all affected graduate students, in line with how MIT terminated financial ties with the Skoltech Institute in Russia the day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Why are we here at MIT? What purpose is there to any of the science and research being done on this campus when we know that ultimately our work will be used for mass murder and exploitation? It is the current leadership at MIT that is ensuring that the great potential of this community is being abused to oppress individuals globally. Therefore, it will take all people of conscience at this institution to change the course we are currently on to force MIT to embody the values it claims to have. We cannot rest until MIT completely cuts ties and divests from all entities that support genocide and colonialism.

Every human on this planet, especially those of us at MIT, is morally obligated to use their voice, body, and labor to make an immediate material impact toward ending the ongoing genocide.

December 25, 2024 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Poland threatens to arrest Netanyahu at Auschwitz

 https://www.rt.com/news/609773-israel-arrest-pm-poland/ 24 Dec 24

Warsaw has to comply with the International Criminal Court’s decisions, the deputy foreign minister has said

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he attends next month’s ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in Poland, the EU country’s deputy foreign minister, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, told newspaper Rzeczpospolita on Friday.

Warsaw’s top diplomat stated that Poland, as a signatory of the Rome Statute, is obligated to comply with the directives of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In November, ICC issued warrants for the arrests of Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, citing alleged war crimes related to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The court accused Netanyahu and Gallant of using starvation as a method of warfare, alleging they deliberately deprived civilians in Gaza of food, water, and medicine. There was “no obvious military necessity” for such actions, which amount to violations of international law, according to prosecutors.

Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kisch is expected to be the only government representative at the Auschwitz commemoration, Jerusalem Post reports. The participation of President Isaac Herzog “seems unlikely.”

While all 27 European Union member states are parties to the Rome Statute and thus required to enforce ICC arrest warrants, responses to the court’s decision have varied. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has openly invited Netanyahu to visit, assuring him that Hungary would not enforce the arrest warrant.

Conversely, countries like Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Lithuania, and Slovenia have indicated their intent to comply with the ICC’s directives, regardless of diplomatic immunity.

France initially expressed its intention to adhere to the arrest warrant but later cited diplomatic immunity protections for Netanyahu.

The ICC’s actions have elicited strong reactions from Israeli officials. Prime Minister Netanyahu has likened the arrest warrants to a “modern-day Dreyfus affair,” asserting that they are politically motivated.

Auschwitz was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II. Over 1.1 million Jews were murdered there, alongside tens of thousands of others, including Poles and Soviet prisoners of war.

December 25, 2024 Posted by | EUROPE, Legal | Leave a comment

Iran to hold nuclear talks with France, Germany, UK

 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/24/iran-to-meet-with-germany-france-uk-in-nuclear-talks
The meeting follows an IAEA resolution denouncing Iran for what it called a lack of cooperation.

Iran says it will hold nuclear talks with officials from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom this week, amid escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

The meeting, which is set to happen on Friday, was announced by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, and UK officials confirmed the meeting.

“A range of regional and international issues, including the issues of Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the nuclear issue, will be discussed,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.

Neither London nor Tehran said where the meeting would take place.

On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution denouncing Iran for what it called a lack of cooperation. The three European nations, whose representatives will meet Iranian officials, were among those voting for the resolution.

Nineteen countries out of the 35-member IAEA voted to censure Iran – a largely symbolic gesture – while 12 countries abstained. Russia, China, and Burkina Faso voted against the resolution. Thursday’s resolution marked the third time the United Nations body had taken such action since 2020.

The move came as tensions ran high over Iran’s nuclear programme, which critics fear is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon – something Tehran has repeatedly denied.

On Friday, Iran announced a “series of new and advanced centrifuges”, technology that refines enriched uranium into gas. “We will substantially increase the enrichment capacity with the utilisation of different types of advanced machines,” Behrouz Kamalvandi, Iran’s atomic energy organisation spokesman, told Iranian state TV.

Despite the announcement, Iran said it would continue to cooperate with the IAEA.

“We remain committed to taking every diplomatic step to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, including through snapback if necessary,” the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office told the AFP news agency.

In 2015, Iran reached an agreement with world powers, including the United States, to curb its nuclear programme due to concerns about the country potentially developing nuclear weapons.

But in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and imposed sanctions on Iran – a move that stoked tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Since then, Tehran has scaled back its cooperation with the IAEA, deactivating surveillance devices put in place by the UN. Concurrently, Iran has increased its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Iran has “begun implementation of preparatory measures” to cap its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. According to leaked reports from the IAEA, Iran is close to the 90 percent threshold needed to produce a nuclear warhead.

December 25, 2024 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Trump suggests Zelensky consider ceding territories – El Pais

COMMENT. We may not like Donald Trump much.

But sometimes he gets it right.

 https://www.rt.com/news/609772-trump-zelensky-territorial-claims/ 24 Dec 24
America’s president-elect has reportedly relayed the message this week.

US President-elect Donald Trump has sent a message to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, asking him to start thinking about a ceasefire and to abandon claims to territories that are currently under control of Russia, El Pais reported on Sunday.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to end the Ukraine conflict within a day of taking office, but has yet to elaborate on how he plans to achieve this. His vows have raised concerns in Kiev that it may be facing not only a decline in aid but also an audit of the billions of dollars it has received from the White House under President Joe Biden.

“You look at some of these cities and there is not a single building in good condition left. So, when you say “restore the country,” restore what? This is a 110-year reconstruction,” the Spanish newspaper cited Trump as saying in a “message” to Zelensky from his Florida golf club this week.

Earlier this month, Trump called on both Ukraine and Russia to reach an immediate ceasefire. He posted the call on his social media platform Truth Social after meeting in Paris with Zelensky and President Emmanuel Macron.

The Wall Street Journal reported in early December, citing officials, that Trump had said Western Europe should deploy its troops to Ukraine to monitor a potential ceasefire. He reportedly added that the EU should play the main role in defending and supporting Kiev, while Washington could support the effort without sending troops.

Speaking at his end-of-year press conference on Thursday, Russian president Vladimir Putin reiterated that Moscow remains open to negotiating with Kiev without any preconditions, except those that had already been agreed upon in Istanbul in 2022, which envisaged a neutral, non-aligned status for Ukraine, as well as certain restrictions on deploying foreign weaponry. He also noted that such talks would have to respect the realities on the ground that have developed since that time.

December 24, 2024 Posted by | politics international, Ukraine, USA | Leave a comment

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