The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than 15 states

A hazmat crew from the National Guard's Civilian Support Team investigates after a suspicious package was delivered to election officials at the Missouri Secretary of State's Jefferson City, Mo., office on Tuesday Sept. 17, 2024. (AP)
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A hazmat crew from the National Guard's Civilian Support Team investigates after a suspicious package was delivered to election officials at the Missouri Secretary of State's Jefferson City, Mo., office on Tuesday Sept. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Oklahoma State Election Board Office inside the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, was one of at least five states in the U.S. which received suspicious packages on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP)
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The Oklahoma State Election Board Office inside the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, was one of at least five states in the U.S. which received suspicious packages on Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 18 September 2024
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The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than 15 states

The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than 15 states
  • The FBI is collecting the packages, some of which contained “an unknown substance,” agency spokesperson Kristen Setera in Boston said in a statement

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri: The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service on Tuesday were investigating the origin of suspicious packages that have been sent to or received by elections officials in more than 15 states, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or that any of the packages contained hazardous material.
The latest packages were sent to elections officials in Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Rhode Island. Mississippi authorities reported a package was delivered there Monday, and the Connecticut Secretary of State’s office said the FBI alerted it of a package that was intercepted.
The FBI is collecting the packages, some of which contained “an unknown substance,” agency spokesperson Kristen Setera in Boston said in a statement.
“We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters,” she said. “As this is an ongoing matter we will not be commenting further on the investigation, but the public can be assured safety is our top priority.”
It’s the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple states.
The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices, causing disruption in an already tense voting season. Local election directors are beefing up security to keep workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures won’t be tampered with.
The National Association of Secretaries of State condemned what it described as a “disturbing trend” of threats to election workers leading up to Nov. 5, as well as the second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“This must stop, period,” the group said. “Our democ­racy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind.”
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said a package containing white powder and with the sender listed as “US Traitor Elimination Army” was intercepted at a mail facility. It said the package was similar to those sent to other states and that early indications suggest the powder was harmless.
On Tuesday, the FBI notified the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office that postal service investigators had identified a suspicious envelope delivered to a building housing state offices. The package was intercepted.
Packages also were sent to secretaries of state and election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming this week. The packages forced evacuations in Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Hazmat crews quickly determined the material was harmless.
The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Elections Division said it received a package similar to those sent to other states and that the state Department of Homeland Security was testing it. The division said it has notified county election officials to be on the lookout.
Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour.
“We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines.
A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement.
Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees were exposed to it and were being monitored.
In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said. Testing determined the substance was flour.
State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home Monday pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of state’s office.
Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections.
One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting.
The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone.
Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase security amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged.
 

 


Ukraine’s Zelensky: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn

Ukraine’s Zelensky: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn
Updated 01 October 2024
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Ukraine’s Zelensky: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn

Ukraine’s Zelensky: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn
  • Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday that its forces had captured the village of Nelipivka, south of the city of Toretsk, one of Moscow’s targets in the area

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the situation on the front line of the war against Russia was “very, very difficult,” and Ukraine’s forces had to do everything they could over the autumn period.
“Reports on each of our frontline sectors, our capabilities, our future capabilities and our specific tasks: The situation is very, very difficult,” he said in his nightly video address, referring to a more than 2-1/2 hour meeting with top commanders.
“Everything that can be done this autumn, everything that we can achieve must be achieved,” he said.
It was the second time in less than a week that Zelensky referred to the need to act quickly in the coming months in terms of military action.
Ukrainian military bloggers have reported in recent days that Russian forces have been advancing on the hilltop town of Vuhledar, which Ukrainian forces have defended over the course of the war, in the south of the Donetsk region.
The popular blog Deepstate quoted Russian reports as saying Russian forces were shelling the town and “their infantry was moving in the city and among high-rise blocks. The Russians have raised their flag in western districts of the city.”
Russian forces have also been advancing slowly for months further north, with the aim of capturing the entire Donbas region, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Monday that its forces had captured the village of Nelipivka, south of the city of Toretsk, one of Moscow’s targets in the area.
Ukraine’s General Staff made no acknowledgement of the village changing hands, but said Russian forces had launched 10 attacks in and around it.
Zelensky made similar comments about the need for fast military action after meeting US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York on Friday.
Zelensky has taken great care to steer clear of controversy and suggestions of preference in the US presidential election and made no reference to the poll in his calls for fast action.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate, has pledged continuing steadfast support for Kyiv.
Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News after his meeting with Trump that he received “very direct information” from Trump that the former US president would support Ukraine if re-elected.
Trump has questioned US spending on Ukraine’s war effort. During Zelensky’s visit to the United States last week, he repeated earlier statements that he would find a rapid resolution to the conflict if he won the election, without providing details.


Startling video shows Russian fighter jet flying within feet of US F-16 near Alaska

Startling video shows Russian fighter jet flying within feet of US F-16 near Alaska
Updated 01 October 2024
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Startling video shows Russian fighter jet flying within feet of US F-16 near Alaska

Startling video shows Russian fighter jet flying within feet of US F-16 near Alaska
  • The video release of the close encounter Sept. 23, with the US pilot under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, comes after a series of Russian incursions into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Military officials have released new video of a startling encounter between a Russian fighter jet flying near Alaska and a US Air Force F-16 sent to intercept it.
In the video released Monday, the Russian plane comes from behind the camera and swoops by the US jet, just feet from the aircraft.
The video release of the close encounter Sept. 23, with the US pilot under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, comes after a series of Russian incursions into the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone just beyond US sovereign airspace.
The interaction drew condemnation from NORAD’s top officer and one of Alaska’s US senators.
“The conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all – not what you’d see in a professional air force,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander, NORAD and US Northern Command. The NORAD aircraft flew “a safe and disciplined” routine to intercept the Russian aircraft, he added.
A message sent to the Russian Embassy Monday seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The close pass of the Russian jet comes just weeks after eight Russian military planes and four of its navy vessels, including two submarines, came close to Alaska as China and Russia conducted joint drills.
None of the planes breached US airspace. However, about 130 US soldiers were sent along with mobile rocket launchers to Shemya Island, about 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. They were deployed to the Aleutian island for a week before returning to their bases.
In July, Russian and Chinese bombers flew together for the first time in international airspace off Alaska, a sign of cooperation that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said raised concerns.
In 2022, a US Coast Guard ship about 85 miles (137 kilometers) north of Alaska’s Kiska Island in the Bering Sea came across three Chinese and four Russian naval vessels sailing in single formation.
US Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, said the close pass of the Russian jet is another reason to build America’s military presence in Alaska and the Arctic.
“The reckless and unprofessional maneuvers of Russian fighter pilots — within just a few feet of our Alaska-based fighters — in Alaska’s ADIZ on September 23 put the lives of our brave Airmen at risk and underscore the escalating aggression we’re witnessing from dictators like Vladimir Putin,” Sullivan said in a statement.

 


Austria faces uncertainty after far-right historic election win

Austria faces uncertainty after far-right historic election win
Updated 30 September 2024
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Austria faces uncertainty after far-right historic election win

Austria faces uncertainty after far-right historic election win

VIENNA: Austria entered uncharted territory Monday after the far right scored a historic national election win, with parties facing an uphill task to form a new government.

The far-right Freedom Party, also known as FPOe, under Herbert Kickl has rapidly regained ground lost in a string of corruption scandals, winning 28.8 percent in Sunday’s vote, according to preliminary projections.

The FPOe beat the ruling conservative OeVP into second place and the left-wing Social Democrats, also known as SPOe, into third on 21.1 percent.

But all other parties have refused to work with Kickl because of his radical proposals.

“Winner — and what now?” said the daily Kurier’s main headline with a photo of Kickl giving a thumbs-up.

A vocal critic of the EU and its sanctions against Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kickl’s abrasiveness has left him isolated among Austrian lawmakers — and beyond.

Uncertainty over what would happen next dominated the Alpine country, as Kickl’s FPOe could end up being sidelined like some of its far-right allies in Europe.

“Times are changing,” Dutch far-right firebrand Geert Wilders posted on the X social media platform after Austria’s election results were announced, listing 11 European countries where nationalist parties were “winning.”

In neighboring Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban hailed the FPOe victory as “another win for the #Patriots.”

With Sunday’s victory ahead of the OeVP, Kickl surpassed results bagged by his predecessors Joerg Haider and Heinz-Christian Strache.

But apart from a few hundred protesters, the far-right win did not trigger major demonstrations.

“We were expecting it, so we’re neither totally shocked nor delighted,” Isabella, a Vienna woman who declined to give her surname, said.

Austria’s powerful Kronen Zeitung tabloid noted that “something revolutionary hangs in the air,” adding that coalition talks would be “tough, long and turbulent.”


Ex-UK lawyer pleads guilty to fraud relating to Iraq abuse claims

Ex-UK lawyer pleads guilty to fraud relating to Iraq abuse claims
Updated 30 September 2024
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Ex-UK lawyer pleads guilty to fraud relating to Iraq abuse claims

Ex-UK lawyer pleads guilty to fraud relating to Iraq abuse claims
  • Phil Shiner, 67, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud relating to applications made in 2007 for public funding for legal action
  • Following the legal challenge led by Shiner, Britain launched a public inquiry into allegations of atrocities by British troops in 2004

LONDON: A former British lawyer who became known for bringing lawsuits on behalf of Iraqi civilians accusing British soldiers of ill-treatment pleaded guilty on Monday to fraud, Britain’s National Crime Agency said.
Phil Shiner, 67, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud relating to applications made in 2007 for public funding for legal action against the Ministry of Defense, the agency said.
Following the legal challenge led by Shiner, Britain launched a public inquiry into allegations of atrocities by British troops in 2004, after a battle at the Danny Boy checkpoint in southern Iraq.
Shiner and his firm Public Interest Lawyers, however, were widely criticized and the inquiry ultimately concluded in 2014 that allegations British soldiers executed captured Iraqi prisoners and tortured or seriously abused others were untrue.
The charges to which Shiner pleaded guilty related to his failure to disclose, when applying for public funding, that he had asked a middleman to approach potential claimants and had paid for referrals, which breached his firm’s contract, the NCA said.
“This conviction is a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex domestic and international investigation,” said Andy Kelly, head of the NCA’s International Corruption Unit, in a statement.
“Shiner’s actions resulted in untold pressure and anxiety on members of the British Armed Forces, pursuing legal challenges funded through dishonest actions.”
Shiner will be convicted at London’s Southwark Crown Court in December.


Pakistani court denies imprisoned former premier Khan and his wife bail in graft case

Pakistani court denies imprisoned former premier Khan and his wife bail in graft case
Updated 30 September 2024
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Pakistani court denies imprisoned former premier Khan and his wife bail in graft case

Pakistani court denies imprisoned former premier Khan and his wife bail in graft case
  • Imran Khan is embroiled in more than 150 cases since 2022, when he was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in parliament
  • Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are accused of allegedly retaining and selling state gifts in violation of government rules

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court denied on Monday a bail application by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife in a graft case, their lawyer said. It’s another blow to the popular opposition leader, who has been in prison for more than a year after being convicted on multiple charges.
Khan is embroiled in more than 150 cases since 2022, when he was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in parliament after several political allies deserted him.
He has accused the military and his archenemy and current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of ousting him under a US plot. Charges which they denied.
He faced new charges, including the graft case, in July after a court overturned the convictions and seven-year sentences of the couple in a case questioning the legality of their 2018 marriage, giving way for their release.
Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi are accused of allegedly retaining and selling state gifts in violation of government rules while he was in power. Pakistan allows government officials to buy gifts received from foreign dignitaries but they have to declare their sales as it adds to their income. Khan is charged with undervaluing such proceeds
The couple’s lawyer Intizar Hussain Panjutha denounced the court’s decision. The bail application was heard at Adiala prison where Khan and his wife are held in separate cells.
Oct. 2 is set for the couple’s indictment in the case.
On Monday, Khan’s spokesman Zulfiqar Bukhari claimed on X that Bibi was being mistreated in jail, with officers storming her cell in the middle of the night, being forced to remove her hijab, the Islamic headscarf, and having water thrown on her mattress. “These violations of human and prisoner rights must be reported and stopped,” he wrote.
There was no immediate comment from authorities on his claims.
Recently, some prison officials were fired on charges of violating prison rules to help Khan. It was unclear how they aided him.