China Rapidly Expanding Nuclear Arsenal – Report
China has been expanding its nuclear arsenal “faster than any other country” in recent months, an annual report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has claimed. Beijing has supposedly added 90 warheads to its inventory since January 2023.
The document does note, however, that other nuclear-armed nations have also been modernizing their weapons of mass destruction and ramping up the number of operational nuclear warheads at their disposal.
According to the SIPRI report published on Sunday, the US and Russia are by far the largest nuclear powers, possessing nearly 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.
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However, China is “expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country,” according to Hans M. Kristensen, associate senior fellow with SIPRI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Program. SIPRI’s findings indicate that Beijing’s nuclear arsenal grew from 410 to 500 warheads between January 2023 and January 2024.
A separate report by the US Department of Defense last October concluded that China “possessed more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 – on track to exceed previous projections.”The Pentagon predicted at the time that this number would likely exceed 1,000 by 2030.
SIPRI claims that, “for the first time, China may also now be deploying a small number of warheads on missiles during peacetime.” While Beijing allegedly has 24 nuclear warheads on high operational alert, that number stands at more than 1,700 each in the case of the US and Russia.
The report concludes that “China could potentially have at least as many intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) as either Russia or the USA by the turn of the decade, although its stockpile of nuclear warheads is still expected to remain much smaller than the stockpiles of either of those two countries.”
READ MORE: US may expand nuclear arsenal – Biden aide
In an interview with The Telegraph on Sunday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg revealed that member states were discussing the removal of more nuclear-capable missiles from storage and placing them on standby. He cited perceived threats emanating from Russia and China, insisting that the US-led military bloc needed to send a clear message regarding its own nuclear capabilities to Moscow and Beijing.
Intelligence Committee Chair: “Highest” Threat of Terrorist Attack to US
The US is currently facing the “highest level” of threat from a terrorist attack, said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio).
Turner made the remarks in an interview with CBS News on Sunday. He was asked about reports of recent arrests of illegal immigrants with known ties to terrorist groups including ISIS. At least eight Tajikistan nationals with links to ISIS are reported to have been arrested across the US in recent weeks.
“What’s important about these reports and what we’re seeing, especially in conjunction with [FBI] Director Wray’s public statements, that we are at the highest level of a possible terrorist threat, that the administration’s policies have absolutely directly related to threats to Americans,” Turner said.
At the beginning of the month, FBI Director Wray told a Senate committee that the risk of terrorist attacks had risen “to another level” since the 7 October attacks on Israel, and he also pointed to the Moscow theatre attack, which was apparently orchestrated by the ISIS faction known as ISIS-K, as further evidence of the increased danger.
Turner made it clear that the threats were no longer “speculative” and that the Biden administration’s border policies are making the country far less safe.
“We have actual administration officials stepping forward and certainly our committee and our committee members have concurred on the intelligence that we’re seeing,“ Turner continued.
”That as a result of the administration’s policies allowing people to cross the border unvetted, we have terrorists that are actively working with inside the United States that are a threat to Americans.”
Earlier in the month, Sen. Lindsay Graham sent a letter to Senate majority and minority leaders requesting a briefing for all senators about potential threats from ISIS.
“I have never been more worried than I am right now about an attack on our homeland” after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, combined with what he described as lax border security,” Graham wrote on Twitter.
In recent months, a worrying trend has emerged of foreign nationals attempting to gain entry to US military facilities. In Quantico, Virginia, two Jordanian nationals, both in the country illegally, attempted to ram their way onto a Marine base in a box truck, in an apparent “dry run” for a terrorist attack.
Vehicles have attempted to breach gates at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story, in Virginia, Naval Base San Diego and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California. The attempted breach at the Air Ground Combat Center involved a Chinese national.
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Zelensky’s ‘Peace Conference’ was Doomed to be Pointless Without Russia – Bundestag MP
Zelensky’s summit on Ukraine held in Switzerland fell short of its goals, with major powers and high-level representatives largely absent, including US President Joe Biden, China’s President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s Swiss-hosted “peace conference” on Ukraine was bound to be pointless without Russia’s participation, Steffen Kotre, Bundestag MP for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told Russian media.
As a result, it was reduced to nothing more than a venue for political posturing and wishful thinking, he said.
“It was to be expected that the conference would not bring any results, since Russia did not take part in it. The United States and its allies once again offered Ukraine pledges of support, and promised to supply it with weapons. Therefore, Zelensky spouted assurances that Russia can be defeated. This is nothing but wishful thinking, and is far from reality. In three weeks, everyone will have forgotten about this conference,” Kotre said.
According to the German politician, there can only be one first step on the path to peace – an “unconditional ceasefire.” He added that the “rights of [Russian speaking] minorities must be respected,” and underscored that “Ukraine cannot become a member of NATO if Russia’s security interests are to be taken into account.”
“Territorial issues must be resolved jointly by the conflicting parties,” Kotre emphasized.
Global South neutrality highlighted as Swiss summit on Ukraine misses peace goals
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) June 16, 2024
The Swiss-hosted summit on Ukraine, according to retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen, fell short of its goals, functioning more as a political rally than a true peace conference.… pic.twitter.com/ik8azLTWQt
Switzerland offered to host the conference to discuss Volodymyr Zelensky’s 10 -point “peace plan” at the Burgenstock resort near Lucerne on June 15 and 16. While delegations from 92 countries and eight organizations, including the European Union, Council of Europe, and UN agreed to participate, major heads of state such as US President Joe Biden, China’s President Xi Jinping, as well as the leaders of Brazil, South Africa, and India opted to give the summit a miss.
US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived at the conference in place of Joe Biden, who opted to attend a California fundraiser instead. China urged for a real peace conference to be held that would be recognized by both Russia and Ukraine. Colombian President Gustavo Petro pulled out at the last minute, as the summit was not a “free forum” for peace between Moscow and Kiev.
The process of achieving peace in Ukraine requires Russia’s participation, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said. “Any credible peace process in Ukraine requires Russia’s participation,” he underscored during his speech at the conference in Switzerland.
BRICS countries, as well as several other states that attended the Swiss-hosted summit on Ukraine, did not sign a joint declaration on the results of the talks on Sunday, the signatory list displayed by the organizers on the screens of the press center revealed.
The document was signed by 79 countries out of 91 present, but Armenia, Bahrain, Brazil, the Holy See, India, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates did not sign it.
Russia dismissed the conference, to which it was not invited, as “meaningless.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the summit was not result-oriented, as it was impossible to hold peace talks on Ukraine without Russia’s participation.
The goal of the conference is to deliver an ultimatum to Russia in the form of Zelensky’s “peace plan,” Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told Sputnik.
Broken Promises: Canada’s Censorship Law Targets User-Generated Content Despite Assurances
The Canadian government has submitted a court filing, based on one of the country’s online censorship laws of recent years, the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11). And that filing critics say proves the opposite of what the authorities have been promising the law’s goal would be.
Namely, as C-11 was being pushed and eventually adopted, the promise was that it was not aimed at regulating user content on social media. But now a court filing reveals a very different story, observers of Canada’s, at this point burgeoning, online censorship legislation say.
C-11 was controversial – when it was proposed and debated, and eventually passed – but it’s just one of many over in Canada.
One thing the government said the Online Streaming Act wouldn’t do was affect third-party user content through regulation. However, the new court filing indicates that it, in fact, does.
C-11 was an updated version of C-10, and critics said before it became law that it addressed some of the precedent’s problems – but not the key ones.
The essence of the Online Streaming Act was to expand the powers of the Broadcasting Act to vest the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) regulatory powers over online content as well – meaning Big Tech, such as YouTube (Google), all the way down to podcast clients.
Despite persistent protestations from government representatives to the contrary, the new court filing – that happened to be a response to a Google challenge – appears to paint a different picture.
“The Act does allow for regulation of user-uploaded programs on social media services,” the filing reads, as noticed by Professor Michael Geist.
The issue has always boiled down to whether Big Tech can be efficiently “taxed and regulated” – while third-party content they host remains unaffected. And these latest legal movements are not encouraging for “ordinary” internet users in Canada at all.
It was Google, trying to protect its business, that challenged CRTC ruling about online (and streaming) broadcasting fees.
The Canadian authorities wanted advertising dollars that come with user content to be inclined into revenue fees – despite the fact the ads are run by Google, not content creators.
Here C-11 comes out of the publicity closet and into its true life. Reads the filing:
“Contrary to the applicant’s (Google’s) position, the Act does allow for the regulation of user-uploaded programs on social media services, so long as certain conditions are met.”
CNN Unveils Rules for First Presidential Debate
With the opening presidential debate just ten days away, host CNN has provided the first details of the rules of engagement.
In a change to the format that is clearly aimed to benefit the President, candidates’ microphones will be muted except when it is their turn to speak. This will prevent candidates from interrupting each other. With Biden’s failing cognitive abilities, this change will clearly relieve some of the pressure on him and reduce the potential for confusion.
Candidates will not be allowed pre-written notes, but they will be given a pen, paper and a bottle of water.
The moderators—Jake Tapper and Dana Bash—had already been announced.
The rules also appear to prevent any third-party candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., from taking to the debate stage. To meet the requirements, a candidate must appear on enough state ballots to reach the 270 electoral-college threshold to win the presidency and have polled at least 15% in four separate national polls.
Although Kennedy is in the process of having his named entered on the ballot in all 50 states, he clearly doesn’t meet CNN’s requirements.
It’s widely believed that the debates will be of greater importance to the presidential race than the verdict in Trump’s recent “hush money” case. Polling has already showed that the verdict has had little effect on Trump’s popularity or the voting intentions of his supporters.
The debate will take place on 27 June, with a second scheduled for 9 October.
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Indiana Cop Used Facial Recognition Scans to Preform Non-Work-Related Searches
The use of Clearview’s facial recognition tech by US law enforcement is controversial in and of itself, and it turns out some police officers can use it “for personal purposes.”
One such case happened in Evansville, Indiana, where an officer had to resign after an audit showed the tech was “misused” to carry out searches that had nothing to do with his cases.
Clearview AI, which has been hit with fines and much criticism – only to see its business go stronger than ever, is almost casually described in legacy media reports as “secretive.”
But that sits badly in juxtaposition of another description of the company, as peddling to law enforcement (and the Department of Homeland Security in the US) some of the most sophisticated facial recognition and search technology in existence.
However, the Indiana case is not about Clearview itself – the only reason the officer, Michael Dockery, and his activities got exposed is because of a “routine audit,” as reports put it. And the audit was necessary to get Clearview’s license renewed by the police department.
In other words, the focus is not on the company and what it does (and how much of what and how it does, citizens are allowed to know) but on there being audits, and those ending up in smoking out some cops who performed “improper searches.” It’s almost a way to assure people Clearview’s tech is okay and subject to proper checks.
But that remains hotly contested by privacy and rights groups, who point out that, to the surveillance industry, Clearview is the type of juggernaut Google is on the internet.
And the two industries meet here (coincidentally?) because face searches on the internet are what got the policeman in trouble. The narrative is that all is well with using Clearview – there are rules, one is to enter a case number before doing a dystopian-style search.
“Dockery exploited this system by using legitimate case numbers to conduct unauthorized searches (…) Some of these individuals had asked Dockery to run their photos, while others were unaware,” said a report.
But – why is any of this “dystopian”?
This is why. Last March, Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That told the BBC that the company had to date run nearly one million searches for US law enforcement matching them to a database of 30 billion images.
“These images have been scraped from people’s social media accounts without their permission,” a report said at the time.