North American grocery wholesaler United Natural Foods (UNFI), the primary distributor for Whole Foods Market, has been hit by a cyberattack that temporarily paralyzed U.S. operations. The company is working to restore systems by the weekend. The disruption has already led to reports of empty shelves at some Whole Foods locations due to delayed shipments.

Last Thursday, UNFI revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it “activated its incident response plan and implemented containment measures, including proactively taking certain systems offline,” after uncovering unauthorized network activity on its systems. 

“The incident has caused, and is expected to continue to cause, temporary disruptions to the Company’s business operations,” the Form 8-K continued, adding, “The Company is working actively to assess, mitigate, and remediate the incident with the assistance of third-party cybersecurity professionals and has notified law enforcement.”

Fast forward to Monday, UNFI told customers in an email obtained by Bloomberg that it was “working toward the goal of returning to full operational capacity by Sunday or sooner,” while apologizing for the disruption.

What’s happened so far (via Bloomberg): 

• Operations Halted: UNFI shut down all business systems, including ordering and shipping, after detecting intruders in its network.

• Customer Impact: Forklift operators were sent home, and some resumed work using pen-and-paper systems. Clients like National Co+op Grocers made special requests to keep top-selling products moving.

• Response: UNFI is working with cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and has reported the incident to the FBI. CEO Sandy Douglas said the situation is being handled by “a strong team of experts.”

• No Payroll Disruptions Expected.

• Whole Foods: Confirmed supply disruptions; shelves in some Manhattan stores were visibly empty. 

UNFI CEO Sandy Douglas informed investors during a Tuesday earnings call that intruders had compromised its IT systems, and backend systems related to the supply chain were down. 

“We believe we are managing the incident capably with a very strong team of inside and outside professionals, including specialized experts,” Douglas said, adding, “We will continue to keep our customers, suppliers and associates regularly updated on our progress and next steps.”

Bloomberg reported that at least one Whole Foods location in Manhattan had partially empty shelves as a result of the disruption.

X users report disruptions…

At Whole Foods just now. Lotsa shelves empty

I asked what’s going on. One of the largest food distributors in the US got cyberattacked

That’s umm troubling the food supply can be disrupted this way pic.twitter.com/GG9UsftcI4

— Julie Chang (@JulieChangRE) June 10, 2025

Tech blog BleepingComputer noted about the increasing cyber threats targeting America’s food supply chain:

UNFI is just the latest company in the food industry to have been breached in recent years. For instance, in March, ​Walmart-owned warehouse supermarket chain Sam’s Club disclosed it was investigating claims of a Clop ransomware breach. Food giant JBS Foods, the world’s largest beef producer, also paid an $11 million ransom in 2021 after a REvil ransomware attack forced it to shut down production at multiple sites worldwide.

The key takeaway: UNFI’s cyberattack underscores the fragility of the U.S. just-in-time supply chain and its heavy reliance on vulnerable IT infrastructure. 

Our view—well known to readers—is clear: Take control of your food supply. Whether that means planting a garden, raising chickens, or building direct relationships with local ranchers and farmers, the message is the same: stop relying on globalist multinational corporations. 

Authored by Gary Abernathy via The Empowerment Alliance,

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” – designed to put most of President Trump’s campaign promises into action – squeaked through the House of Representatives on May 22 and was immediately greeted by expressions of horror from activists and corporations invested in so-called “alternative” energy.

The big business interests that drive the solar and wind boom have for years operated at a huge advantage. Most startups historically identify a need and create a quality product or service to meet the demand in the hope of becoming profitable within a few years. By contrast, the “renewables” industry has had the backing of the United States government in the form of tax incentives designed to virtually guarantee success. Even with so much government largesse, it’s astounding how many solar companies have been so badly managed that they have gone out of business.

Still, with Uncle Sam cheering them on, solar companies have converted more than a million acres of cropland and pastures to unsightly collections of solar panels. The rapid deployment often stirred controversy, pitted neighbor against neighbor, and sent state lawmakers scurrying to craft new and evolving rules and regulations.

Many people viewed the encroachment of solar as a blight on generational farmland, as ugly glass and metal panels replaced corn, soybean, wheat and other crops. Some landowners, though, eagerly grabbed the lifeline offered by solar companies in the form of per-acre sale or lease prices that were far above average market values, in many cases allowing them to escape mountains of farming debt.

As I wrote in a Washington Post column a few short years ago about a public hearing I attended on the topic of solar developments in southern Ohio, “The testimony was sometimes heart-wrenching. Some members of multigenerational farm families who have made deals with the solar companies spoke with tears in their eyes. Farming is in their blood, and in a perfect world they would continue the family tradition. But for them, it’s been a long time since the world was perfect.”

The kicker, of course, is that solar companies were able to offer such lucrative deals almost entirely because of subsidies and tax incentives offered by the Obama administration, curtailed somewhat by the first Trump administration, but reinvigorated on steroids by the Biden administration’s misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act.

In a follow-up Post column in 2021, I noted that suspicions about the solar installations were increasing. “Questions are growing about neighboring property values and environmental issues,” I wrote. “What about responsible land practices such as plant maintenance, erosion protection and water runoff? When the solar fields are dismantled someday, will the soil be safe for reuse? Solar companies are providing answers, but trust is not always evident.”

For solar, the return of Trump and GOP congressional control means the gravy train might be rolling to a stop. The budget passed by the House ended many tax credits for companies installing rooftop solar panels, but, more importantly, the bill “also ends the investment and electricity production credits for clean energy facilities that begin construction 60 days after the legislation is enacted or enter service after Dec. 31, 2028. Those credits have played a key role in the rapid expansion of utility-scale solar projects in the U.S.,” as CNBC reported. Solar stocks immediately plunged.

But political considerations are always in play, and it’s telling that the House budget bill “left the manufacturing tax credit relatively unscathed.” That’s almost certainly because of the fact that domestic solar component manufacturing is well underway, including in many red states where members of Congress aren’t anxious to pull the plug on jobs that benefit local communities – even if they are based on the artificial tax subsidies from a government picking winners and losers.

When it comes to energy, the House bill will likely see some revisions in the Senate. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) was probably smart, politically, when he said he would push for a slower phase-out of clean energy subsidies.

“For companies that have made major capital deployment decisions, we need to respect that or people are going to start thinking that the United States has massive changes in policy every two years in this space, and that will be devastating to the U.S.’s current position as the innovation leader,” Tillis said.

As Doc Holliday said in the movie “Tombstone,” that’s the damnable misery of it. Subsidies have backed the manufacture of solar initiatives in state after state, so while there are endless unknowns about the future, jobs are here now, at least in the short term. Abruptly shutting them down would give Democrats an election issue that a slow phaseout might help to avoid, or at least alleviate.

An “all-of-the-above” approach to energy is a popular political slogan, and indeed, alternatives will continue to be part of our energy mix. But recent blackouts, brownouts and general grid failures around the world due to an overreliance on solar demonstrate that the various resources that make up “all of the above” are not created equal. They do not generate equal energy, or give consumers the same dollar-for-dollar value.

The success of “alternatives” should be based on merit. Are they affordable? Are they effective? Are they reliable? Are they in demand? Our system of capitalism decides winners and losers. When government bureaucrats try to make those calls, taxpayers end up footing inflated bills for inferior products. That outcome should be an alternative no one supports.

Gary Abernathy is a longtime newspaper editor, reporter and columnist. He was a contributing columnist for the Washington Post from 2017-2023 and a frequent guest analyst across numerous media platforms. He is a contributing columnist for The Empowerment Alliance, which advocates for realistic approaches to energy consumption and environmental conservation. Abernathy’s “TEA Takes” column will be published every Wednesday and delivered to your inbox!

Jefferies Financial Group is ramping up its outsourced trading business by hiring 17 new traders, aiming to tap into the growing trend of asset managers looking to cut costs and expand their trading capabilities, according to Bloomberg.

The firm has already recruited nine traders and plans to hire eight more, extending its services to fixed-income products in addition to its existing equities desk.

This expansion comes as more asset managers consider outsourcing their trading operations. UBS’s exit from the outsourced trading business earlier this year has opened opportunities for competitors to gain market share. “A main theme has been the increase in the larger asset managers looking at this,” said Amy Thorne at Northern Trust. “This is not just a cost play.”

Outsourced trading allows money managers to execute trades during busy periods, access new markets, or even replace their entire trading divisions. Advocates say it provides better pricing and access to major counterparties, while critics worry it could erode market knowledge and relationships.

Jesse Forster at Crisil Coalition Greenwich said, “The buy-side’s doing more with less these days. So those hesitancies are wearing away, but there is still an element of: ‘Hey, I’m giving up a little bit of control. Is my boss going to like them better than me? Are they going to do too good of a job?’”

Bloomberg writes that to address potential conflicts, Jefferies stresses that its outsourced traders operate independently. “The information barriers we have in place ensure full segregation of order flow,” said Dean Gray, Jefferies’ head of international outsourced trading.

Other firms are also entering the market. Clear Street has hired six traders so far, with plans to grow to 20 within 18 months. Cantor Fitzgerald is expanding its offering to crypto, while Northern Trust and Marex Group are scaling up globally. “They don’t have to build their own infrastructure and capability, that’s what these firms are plugging into,” said Jack Seibald at Marex.

Data from a 2024 State Street survey shows nearly three-quarters of institutional investors plan to use outsourced trading for foreign exchange, and 67% plan to use it for derivatives.

Rebecca Crowe at Bank of New York Mellon said, “Eventually the drive for returns and client outcomes has to win.”

Authored by Yeny Sora Robles via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The pistol used to shoot Colombian presidential candidate Sen. Miguel Uribe Turbay was purchased in the U.S. state of Arizona, the South American country’s top police officer said Monday.  

Speaking at a press event, Gen. Carlos Fernando Triana of the Colombian National Police said, “According to the verification carried out by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, within the framework of international cooperation, the firearm was purchased on August 6, 2020, in Arizona, United States, that is, it was purchased legally.”

Monday’s media event follows Uribe’s being shot twice at close range in the head and once in the leg during a pre-campaign event in the Modelia neighborhood of Bogotá on Saturday. Uribe, 39, who is of the conservative Centro Democrático party, remains hospitalized in critical condition.

El momento en que el disparan contra @MiguelUribeT, senador, precandidato presidencial y nieto del expresidente Julio César Turbay, durante un mitin en Bogotá https://t.co/dVWNPngstZ

— Pascal (@beltrandelrio) June 7, 2025

Triana further told the media that the Colombian Attorney General’s Office is investigating the shooting with the assistance of the country’s army and international cooperation to investigate how the weapon entered the country.

Luz Adriana Camargo Garzón, attorney general of Colombia, told the media event that investigators are also trying to identify whether the firearm used against Uribe has been involved in other similar attacks.

The alleged shooter, a 15-year-old boy from a poor neighborhood in Bogotá, was shot in the leg by police as he attempted to flee the scene and was captured. 

The motive behind the attack remains unclear.

Condition Is ‘Extremely Serious’

 The Santa Fe Foundation clinic, which is treating Uribe, issued a statement about his condition early on Monday.

“After completing the neurosurgical and left thigh procedures, he was transferred to intensive care for postoperative stabilization. His condition is extremely serious, and the prognosis is reserved,” the foundation stated on Monday.

His wife, Maria Claudia Tarazona, sent a message asking people to pray for him.

“Miguel is currently fighting for his life. Let us ask God to guide the hands of the doctors who are treating him. I ask everyone to join us in a chain of prayer for Miguel’s life. I put my faith in God,” she said in a post on X.

Uribe is the son of journalist Diana Turbay, who was kidnapped by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel and killed during a botched rescue operation in 1991. He is also the grandson of former President Julio César Turbay, who served as the country’s leader from 1978 to 1982. Uribe was a councilman in Bogotá, secretary of government in Enrique Peñalosa’s mayoral office, and, since 2022, has held a seat in the Senate for the Democratic Center.

Weeks after Germany decided to reverse course and ‘re-embrace’ nuclear power following their supreme idiocy on the matter, the UK government announced on Tuesday that it would invest 14.2 billion pounds (US$19.3 billion) to build a new nuclear plant in the southeast of England.

The move was revealed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero as part of its broader spending review, which will lay out priorities for the next four years.

The new plant, named Sizewell C, will be located in Suffolk county, and is predicted to create around 10,000 jobs during construction, according to a government statement. Once operational, it will create enough electricity power roughly 6 million homes.

“We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance, because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis,” said Energy Minister Ed Miliband. “This is the government’s clean energy mission in action, investing in lower bills and good jobs for energy security.”

As the Epoch Times notes further, the UK has also been tapping up new investors to fund the construction of Sizewell C, but no new partners were mentioned in the announcement.

Neither the total cost of construction nor a date for expected completion has been announced.

Sizewell C was originally an EDF Energy project but is now majority-owned by the British government, with EDF Energy a minority shareholder.

EDF Energy is the British arm of Électricité de France (EDF), which is wholly owned by the French state.

The UK government’s stake was 83.8 percent and EDF’s stake was 16.2 percent at the end of December, EDF’s financial results showed in February.

Sizewell C would be just the second new nuclear plant built in Britain in more than 20 years, after another EDF project, Hinkley Point C, which was first announced in 2010.

Hinkley Point C, based in Somerset, southwest England, has been beleaguered by delays and budget overruns and is currently expected to come online in 2029.

Sizewell C would be the third power station built on the site after Sizewell A and Sizewell B, both of which are currently in the process of being decommissioned.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero also announced that it had picked Rolls-Royce SMR to build Britain’s first small modular reactors (SMRs).

About 2.5 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) of government funds will be dedicated to the SMR program over the next four years, in a bid to get one of Europe’s first small-scale nuclear industries going.

SMRs are usually around the size of two football fields and composed of parts that can be assembled in a factory, making them quicker and cheaper to build than conventional plants.

The moves by Britain come amid a renewed interest in nuclear power across Europe, sparked by spiraling energy costs due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, which is hampering the continent’s supply of natural gas.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a keynote speech in August 2024 that the European Union needed more nuclear power.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling government coalition stands on the brink of being toppled by a bill that would dissolve the country’s parliament and force new elections, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has controversially inserted himself into the country’s domestic affairs by lobbying ultra-Orthodox members of Netanyahu’s coalition — urging them to rethink their plans to vote in favor of the measure.

The rebellion by the ultra-Orthodox parties springs from their anger over the prospect of ultra-Orthodox youth being included in the country’s military draft — after having been exempt from conscription since Israel’s 1948 founding. Last summer, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the government must start drafting the Haredi men, who typically dedicate their entire lives to religious study. Since then, the ultra-Orthodox have been pushing hard for the Knesset to pass legislation to render the Supreme Court decision on the subject moot. With the IDF poised to conscript 54,000 Haredi yeshiva students in July, the parties have been boycotting various votes and are now poised to tip the scales in favor of new elections. 

According to polling, Netanyahu would be thrown to the curb in a new election. Enter Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor and fervent Evangelical Christian Zionist has been meeting with senior Haredi politicians, imploring them to give Netanyahu more time to solve the draft crisis. His pitches reportedly include a caution that “government stability is important for dealing with the Iranian issue.” (Pursuing a resolution of tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, Trump administration diplomats will have a sixth round of talks with Iranian counterparts on Sunday in Oman’s capital, Muscat.) Another report has Huckabee telling ultra-Orthodox leaders that “Washington will have difficulty supporting Israel during an election period,” though it isn’t clear what means, exactly. 

As you might expect, Huckabee’s intervention isn’t appreciated by opposition members working to trigger new elections. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid diplomatically said he hoped the reports were untrue: 

“Since I have no doubt that Ambassador Huckabee respects Israel’s independence and its democracy, I hope and believe that the report that he is interfering in Israel’s internal politics and trying to help Netanyahu [deal with] the ultra-Orthodox in the military draft law crisis are not true. Israel is not a protectorate.”

So far, Huckabee has been tight-lipped about his machinations. “He is holding meetings with various Israeli figures. The content of those conversations remains private,” a Huckabee spokesperson told Channel 13. The outlet reported that Netanyahu is aware of Huckabee’s lobbying and is pleased about it. Huckabee has long been aligned with right-wing, expansionist elements in Israel. “I consider [the two-state solution] no solution whatsoever,” he told a Republican Jewish Coalition audience in 2015, insisting that Israel has a “God-given…title deed” to all the land it controls — including the West Bank — or, as he insists on calling it, “Judea and Samaria.” 

Mike Huckabee, after being named Ambassador to Israel by Trump, declares “there is no occupation” of Palestinian territory by Israel. Rather, Israel has had the “rightful deed” to the territory since the days of Abraham. He says he’ll be using Biblical terms like “Promised Land” pic.twitter.com/hRjlMpwcBM

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) November 16, 2024

The measure to dissolve the parliament was introduced last week by Israel’s largest opposition party. There are 120 seats in the Knesset, and Netanyahu’s coalition controls 68 of them. Of his coalition, 18 come from Israel’s two main ultra-Orthodox parties, which means their defection would guarantee the dissolution of the Knesset and a new round of elections. Last week, two spiritual leaders of a faction of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party instructed members to move forward with an attempt to topple Netanyahu’s government over the draft issue.

Netanyahu has been also been making the rounds with ultra-Orthodox Knesset members. On Monday, Israel’s Channel 12 quoted Netanyahu as telling Haredi lawmakers, “We are in a dramatic period. There are extraordinary challenges on the table. This is a historic window of opportunity that will not return, and therefore, under no circumstances should the foundations of the government be shaken.”

Authored by Paul Thacker via The DisInformation Chronicle,

Senior officials inside the NIH are working to shut down a Tony Fauci initiative launched in 2020 called the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases or “CREID.” Meanwhile, attorneys inside the Justice Department have launched initial inquiries into one of the CREID grants awarded to Scripps Research Institute researcher Kristian Andersen, who is now in the process of fleeing the United States for a position being created for him at the University of Oslo.

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but an NIH spokesperson confirmed the agency is shutting down the CREID grants. “Though the grants have been properly terminated, money will be released to the grantees to assure safe shutdown of these programs in terms of biosafety and security,” said an NIH spokesperson, adding that pandemic preparedness remains important but the dangers of health comorbidities in infectious disease outbreaks was further underlined during COVID. “Strengthening overall health through proactive disease prevention offers a more resilient foundation for responding to future health threats—beyond reliance on vaccines or treatments for yet-unknown pathogens.”

Tony Fauci announced the formation of CREIDs in 2020, awarding 11 grants worth around $17 million, with $82 million in expected funding in succeeding years. NIH did not explain how much of the $82 million slated for CREID had already been spent. Two CREID grantees have been the focus of intense scrutiny since Fauci’s announcement: Peter Daszak of the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance and Kristian Andersen of Scripps.

Daszak was later discovered to have undisclosed ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), having provided an NIH subaward to WIV researcher Shi Zhengli. At the close of the Biden Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finally debarred EcoHealth Alliance and Peter Daszak from receiving federal funds, in part because “in response to NIH’s multiple safety-related requests” EcoHealth Alliance had not provided WIV records.

Andersen also faced close inspection for his CREID grant. Some months before Fauci gave final sign off on Andersen’s CREID award, Andersen and other researchers published a paper in Nature Medicine titled, “Proximal Origin” that dismissed the possibility of a Wuhan lab accident. Andersen’s paper was widely hailed by scientists as proof, at the time, that discussions of a COVID lab accident was a conspiracy.

Nature Medicine’s editor-in-chief, Joao Monteiro, tweeted that the “Proximal Origin” paper “put conspiracy theories” about the pandemic’s possible lab origin to rest.

Andersen echoed Monteiro’s statement days later, associating “conspiracy theorists” worried about a possible lab accident with people who doubt the Moon landing.

The paper would go on to become one of the most heavily cited scientific papers in 2020. However, emails made public through freedom of information act requests and by congressional investigators later found that the papers’ authors had run it past funders—Collins and Fauci at the NIH, as well as with Jeremy Farrar, then at the Wellcome Trust and now with the World Health Organization.

Congressional Republicans later charged that Fauci had helped orchestrate the paper, while House Democrats pointed the finger at Jeremey Farrar, publishing a report that concluded Farrar helped “organize and facilitate” and “led the drafting process of the paper.”

The group BioSafety Now has demanded Nature Medicine retract the “Proximal Origin” paper, calling it a “a product of scientific misconduct.” Two weeks ago, The DisInformation Chronicle reported that the Justice Department began an initial inquiry into the paper, sending Nature Medicine a list of questions that included, “How do you handle allegations that authors of works in your journals may have misled their readers?” The existence of the Justice Department letter to Nature Medicine had not been previously reported.

Justice Department officials opened the inquiry as they suspect the paper may have been a quid pro quo, published by the authors to dismiss the possibility of a lab accident in exchange for the Fauci CREID grant. Andersen addressed these bribery allegations two years ago during a congressional hearing.

“There is no connection between the grant and the conclusions we reached about the origin of the pandemic,” Andersen wrote in sworn testimony to Congress in July 2023. “We applied for this grant in June 2019, and it was scored and reviewed by independent experts in November 2019.”

The Intercept later reported that Andersen “knew that was false.” NIH records show the Fauci CREID grant to Andersen wasn’t finalized until May 21, 2020, two months after Andersen published “Proximal Origin” in March 2020.

Misleading intelligence agencies

Justice Department officials are also likely to examine Andersen’s possible role in misleading US intelligence agencies. A week after Nature Medicine published “Proximal Origin,” the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) published an intelligence report that circulated inside security agencies. First reported by The DisInformation Chronicle, the INR report is marked “UNCLASSIFIED/FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY.”

The INR report documents a briefing that non-government scientists gave to State Department officials, downplaying the possibility of a Chinese lab accident and citing the “Proximal Origin” paper. The names of the scientists who briefed State remained unknown until a couple years ago, when emails found that one of the scientists was Kristian Andersen, who is apparently a citizen of Denmark, not the US.

“Did we have a foreign national parading into the intel agencies and convincing senior officials to not look into a matter?” said a State Department official who is not cleared to speak to the media. “That’s a counter intelligence matter. We need a professional law enforcement investigation.”

Andersen’s involvement came to light in a late 2020 email sent by State Department official David Feith in which Feith wrote that Andersen had briefed State for their March 2020 INR report. “In fact, I’m told that in a briefing organized by INR earlier this year, [Andersen] said that several features that had initially raised questions in his mind were subsequently put to rest by more detailed analysis,” Feith explained by email. “Notably, it was that subsequent follow-on analysis, referred to by Anderson in the INR discussion….”

Based on the briefing by Andersen and colleagues, State’s INR report concluded there was no evidence the virus originated in a lab. “U.S. scientists said that while they cannot completely rule out that scenario, it was improbable and not supported by available evidence.”

But on April 16, 2020, a month after briefing the State Department, Andersen sent a Slack message to his “Proximal Origin” co-authors. This message contradicts what scientists told the State Department.

“I’m still not fully convinced that no culture was involved,” Andersen wrote his co-authors, a month after briefing State that a lab accident was not supported by evidence. “We also can’t fully rule out engineering (for basic research).” Andersen added that a critical part of the virus called the furin cleavage site “still could have been inserted” into the virus.

Researcher Andreas Martin Lisewski with Germany’s Constructor University published a recent study supporting Andersen’s suspicion that a furin cleavage site was inserted into the COVID virus called SARS-CoV-2. After analyzing the sequence, Lisewski concluded the SARS-CoV-2 furin cleavage site came from a laboratory-constructed MERS virus. Although legacy media have ignored these findings, virologist Christian Drosten of Charité University in Berlin presented these conclusions that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was not natural at a World Health Organization meeting last February.

“I don’t see how this not a criminal misleading and counterintelligence matter,” said the State Department official. “This is way beyond the threshold needed for a grand jury.”

During a sworn congressional deposition, Andersen testified that he also briefed the CIA and FBI, although the nature and timing of those discussions is unclear.

As the noose continues to tighten on Andersen, he has been looking to move outside the United States and has apparently found a new home at the University of Oslo. The move would be a precipitous fall in status for Andersen, as Scripps Research Institute has been ranked as one of the most influential scientific programs in the world.

Andersen did not respond to questions and repeated requests for comment sent to his Scripps email.

Finding refuge

“I have heard from several sources that there is an ongoing effort from a group of scientists at the University of Oslo to recruit Andersen, and that this might be finalized in the near future,” said Sigrid Bratlie, a molecular biologist and senior advisor at Norway’s Langsikt Policy Centre.

The campaign to find a position for Andersen at the University of Oslo apparently began last October when professors Anne Spurkland, Rein Aasland, and Nils Christian Stenseth invited Andersen to give a lecture on the Oslo campus. Nelseth has long trumpeted Andersen’s research. In 2021, he published a paper with WIV scientist Shi Zhengli that dismissed the possibility of a Wuhan lab accident, citing Andersen’s “Proximal Origin” paper.

Covering the “facts and the fiction” of the COVID pandemic, Andersen claimed during the October lecture that critiques of his research were mere political attacks that had been spread by conspiracy theorists, naming two Oslo researchers sitting in the audience: Sigrid Bratlie and Gunnveig Grødeland, a professor at the University of Oslo.

Andersen’s Oslo talk was sponsored by the Norwegian Society for Immunology which later released an apology. “Kristian Andersen’s lecture concluded by asserting that, based on his findings, SARS-CoV-2 necessarily originated from an animal at the Wuhan wet market,” the statement reads. “In retrospect, unfortunately, it seems the purpose of his lecture was just as much about stopping the free debate in Norway on this topic.”

Undeterred, Stenseth, Spurkland and Aasland then helped nominate Andersen for membership in the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Two months ago, the Academy accepted Andersen’s nomination.

The exact position being created for Andersen at the University of Oslo is unclear. Stenseth, Spurkland, and Aasland did not respond to questions and repeated requests for comment sent by email. University of Oslo officials also contacted by email did not reply.

Andersen’s arrival in Oslo is likely to be greeted with some trepidation. Last week, Bratlie published a book to positive reviews in Norway titled, “The Wuhan Mystery – the hunt for the origins of the covid pandemic.” Bratlie’s book argues that the pandemic likely started from a lab accident in Wuhan, evidence that was then covered up by international scientists to protect reputations, jobs, and funding. This cover-up, she argues, impedes society’s ability to prepare for future pandemics.

Bratlie said that scientists have legitimate worries about the current climate for research in Trump’s America, but these concerns should be balanced with the need to protect democratic principles and academic integrity.

“I would be absolutely devastated on behalf of Norwegian academia if this recruitment happens,” Bratlie said of the University of Oslo’s bid to bring Andersen to her country. “If Andersen has contributed to a cover-up of the origins of the pandemic, potentially extending to criminal acts, he should be held accountable and not be given amnesty or academic shield in Norway.”

*  *  *

If you haven’t subscribed to Paul Thacker’s The DisInformation Chronicle yet, we highly recommend supporting his work here. 

Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

U.S. prosecutors have charged another Chinese national for smuggling biological materials into the United States and lying about the scheme.

Han Chengxuan, a PhD candidate from Wuhan in central China, was arrested upon landing at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on June 8. An FBI agent said authorities had intercepted four packages of biological materials that Han allegedly sent to members of a University of Michigan laboratory.

She was the third Chinese national charged in a week for smuggling materials for biological research. The previous two, accused of smuggling a crop-killing fungus, include a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan’s Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction. The criminal complaint said Han was a Chinese Communist Party member who has shown loyalty to the Party.

The complaint said Han admitted to shipping an estimated five to 10 packages, but several were lost in transit. She said that her professors at both the Chinese and U.S. universities, as well as the recipients, had no knowledge of what she sent, characterizing them as a “surprises,” according to the FBI agent.

The packages contain neither the correct documentation nor the permit required for importing roundworm-related materials, the complaint noted.

The shipments allegedly went to two recipients: one active member of the lab and another among the faculty and staff at the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan.

Han initially lied to the customs agents at the airport about the content of the packages, claiming they were plastic cups and a book, according to a court filing. Pressed, she admitted that the packages contained petri dishes of nematode growth medium for growing roundworms, as well as small circular DNA molecules called plasmids in an envelope, the FBI agent said.

Han, who is studying at the College of Life Science and Technology in the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, arrived on an exchange visitor visa; she has an offer letter presenting her as a visiting scholar to the Michigan lab, according to prosecutors. Han told the FBI that she was coming to the University of Michigan for one year for her research on roundworms.

She stated that she had produced the desired plasmids using E. coli, isolated and injected them into roundworms as a primary method for her research, according to the filing. The FBI agent noted that plasmids are often used as a vehicle for introducing genetic modifications in organisms like roundworms.

Han’s immigration paperwork said she researches how animals detect sensory cues such as touch, chemicals, and light, and how neural circuits process such information for behavioral outcome, and how genes and drugs affect such processes, the complaint said. She has co-authored two research papers on roundworms, known scientifically as C.elegans.

A U.S. consular officer initially rejected Han’s J1 visa application on March 18 due to her struggle to conduct the interview in English, which was essential for her obtaining the visa. She secured the visa successfully nine days later, with an officer noting that she “spoke credibly about her educational background, current studies, and post graduate plans,” the complaint stated.

Han tried to conceal the content of the shipment with written notes and a book, including one reading: “Hello! This is a fun letter with interesting patterns. I hope you can enjoy the pleasure within it,” according to the court document.

Labels on the same note contain terms consistent with roundworm research, the filing said. Han allegedly told the customs agent she created a “picture game” in the book and that the recipient of her note would sequence the plasmids—a process each taking about a week—to identify what they were “for fun,” the filing said.

Han allegedly deleted the content of her electronic device before coming to the United States. She stated she wanted to “start afresh” when questioned by federal agents.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Jerome Gorgon, said the alleged smuggling from a Wuhan university marks “part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security.”

“The American taxpayer should not be underwriting a PRC-based smuggling operation at one of our crucial public institutions,” he said in a statement.

John Nowak, Customs and Border Protection’s acting director of field operations, said the alleged actions compromise the integrity of U.S. research institutions.

“The guidelines for importing biological materials into the U.S. for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” he said, adding that his agency will not tolerate the smuggling of “potentially dangerous goods” through U.S. ports of entry.

On Tuesday Israeli Defense minister Israel Katz has warned Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis that they could face a complete naval and air blockade if they do not halt attacks on Israel. This comes after several weeks ago President Trump withdrew American forces from engaging in the Red Sea theatre against the Houthis, having declared a US-Yemen ceasefire.

Israel’s military has just conducted its eleventh strike on the Houthis, but in a first of the conflict, this came first by sea rather than air. The Israeli Navy conducted its first-ever large-scale ops against the Houthis, targeting the port of Hodeida in western Yemen with long-range guided missiles fired from Sa’ar 6-class corvettes.

The IDF called the attack “unprecedented” – given that it was carried out from hundreds of kilometers away, or about 1,800 km from Israel, according to local media reports. The Israeli Air Force had long been active in Yemen operations, but not naval assets.

“We have warned the Houthi terror organization that if they continue to shoot at Israel, they will face a powerful response and be under a naval and aerial blockade,” Defense minister Katz said in the operation’s aftermath.

“This is what we did today, and we will continue to do so in the future,” he additionally warned. Tit-for-tat strikes between Yemen and Israel have now become routine, hearkening all the way back to the Gaza War’s start in the wake of the Oct.7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks.

However, the Houthis have tended to halt attacks on Israel during periods of truce between Israel and Hamas. But with no ceasefire on the horizon, the Shia group allied to Iran has stepped-up the drone and missile attacks, often targeting Tel Aviv, including the international airport.

Israel’s fresh use of its navy in the Red Sea seems clearly an effort to replace American military assets which were heavily patrolling regional waters. Pentagon forces (CENTCOM) are still present in the region, but have taken a backseat. 

Meanwhile, civilians on both sides will likely continue to suffer – and civilian aviation in the whole region could be impacted.

Below: Israel’s military issued footage of one a naval ship setting out for the strike on the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port in western Yemen overnight.

The IDF released footage of one of its naval ships setting out for the strike on the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port in western Yemen overnight. The unprecedented strike marked the farthest ever confirmed Israeli naval offensive, some 1,100 miles from Israeli territory. https://t.co/neyhlWtVLh pic.twitter.com/tNqcKPIdLz

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) June 10, 2025

This also as Israel has vowed to decapitate Houthi leadership, saying it will hunt down and eliminate Abdul-Malik al-Houthi in Yemen, along with his top military officials.

But short of an actual ground war, which Israel doesn’t have the stomach for – also given ongoing Gaza operations – taking out Houthi leadership and infrastructure will be easier said than done.

In a bizarre twist, after spending much of the past week pleading just how peaceful the LA riots hugfest has been, and slamming Trump for deploying the national guard to the city after the local police was ordered to stand down, moments ago LA mayor Karen Bass announced that a curfew will be put into effect for one square mile of downtown Los Angeles following four nights of violent, chaotic protests and looting, during which the LAPD arrested more than 150 people.

LA MAYOR: “I have declared a local emergency & issued a curfew for downtown Los Angeles.”

“Last night, there were 23 businesses that were looted.”

“Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew.” pic.twitter.com/N9V3DsB5GQ

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 11, 2025

The curfew will extend from 8 pm to 6 am and will extend for several days. 

But before anyone gets ideas that this was a sincere gesture meant to protect the lives of innocent civilians, keep in mind that the mayor explicitly wanted to highlight just how contained the curfew zone will be. It will apply to the area of downtown from the 5 Freeway to the 110 Freeway and from the 10 Freeway to where the 110 Freeway and the 5 Freeway merge, Bass said. In other words, see – the rest of LA is perfectly safe. Well, we’ll see. 

The mayor made the announcement Tuesday evening after suggesting earlier in the day that she would consider a curfew if violence broke out again. It did.

The curfew comes as arrests have increased every night since protests began in response to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Southern California.

No one was arrested by Los Angeles police on Friday night, but 27 were arrested Saturday, 40 were arrested Sunday, and 114 were arrested Monday, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. Some would call it a wave of escalating peace. 

Bass and other elected officials in Los Angeles have repeatedly asked protesters to remain nonviolent and refrain from spray-painting graffiti or otherwise vandalizing or burglarizing businesses. But each morning, new, often explicit, graffiti has adorned buildings across downtown. Oh, and of course, the looting did not help to demonstrate just how peaceful the illegal LA immigrant communist are. 

So to summarize leftist governance:

1. Let rioters rage
2. Call it “peace”
3. Impose curfews to protect your narrative, not your citizens

And when reality contradicts ideology, they don’t change policies—they change the vocabulary. “Mostly peaceful” is the mask they put on urban ruin.