ADP Employment Report Shows Labor Market Rebound In October
Following the new weekly update of ADP’s employment report showing a rebound to job additions after two straight month of declines, analysts expected a 30k rise in jobs for October’s monthly report.
And analysts were right with ADP reporting 42k jobs added in October (better than expected)
Source: Bloomberg
Services added 32k jobs while Goods Producers added 9k…
Last month delivered a rebound from two months of weak hiring, but the bounce wasn’t broad-based.
Education and health care, and trade, transportation, and utilities led the growth.
For the third straight month, employers shed jobs in professional business services, information, and leisure and hospitality.
“Private employers added jobs in October for the first time since July, but hiring was modest relative to what we reported earlier this year,” according to Dr. Nela Richardson Chief Economist, ADP.
“Meanwhile, pay growth has been largely flat for more than a year, indicating that shifts in supply and demand are balanced.”
Small Businesses have also lost jobs for three straight months.
But, this overall rebound fits with the Revelio Labs monthly job growth data…
Source: Apollo
And a slight decline in job cut announcements (despite all the headlines)…
Source: Apollo
Finally, wage growth for job stayers and job changers was flat from September…
With females seeing higher gains across all age cohorts…
Hardly a major gain in jobs but its not a decline. Having said that, we find it hard to believe that The Fed will see this number and feel like another cut in December is not required.
All countries should remove mercury from vaccines following the precedent set by the United States, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said via a video address during the Nov. 3 meeting of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The Minamata Convention was born from a shared moral conviction that no human being should suffer from exposure to mercury,” Kennedy said.
“Article 4 of the Convention calls on parties to cut mercury use by phasing out listed mercury-added products. But in 2010, as the treaty took shape, negotiators made a major exception. Thimerosal-containing vaccines were carved out in the regulation,” Kennedy said, referring to the mercury-based preservative used to prevent microbial growth in vaccines.
The treaty, which began to phase out mercury in cosmetics and lamps, opted to allow the substance to be used in products that are injected into vulnerable people, pregnant women, and babies, the health secretary said.
“We have to ask: why? Why do we hold a double standard for mercury? Why do we call it dangerous in batteries, in over-the-counter medications, and makeup, but acceptable in vaccines and dental fillings?” he asked.
Kennedy said thimerosal has never undergone proper safety testing in human beings. He said that hundreds of peer-reviewed studies have identified the substance as a potent neurotoxin, carcinogen, endocrine disruptor, and mutagen.
“Thimerosal’s own label requires it to be treated as a hazardous material and warns against ingestion. There is not a single study that proves it safe,” he said. “That’s why in July of this year, the United States closed the final chapter on the use of thimerosal as a vaccine preservative, something that should have happened years ago.”
According to a March 2024 safety data sheet on Thimerosal, the substance is “considered hazardous” under the 2012 Hazard Communication Standard from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The substance may cause damage to organs through repeated or prolonged exposure. If a person ingests thimerosal or comes into contact with it via skin, they must immediately get in touch with a poison center or doctor, according to the fact sheet.
Beginning in 1999, thimerosal was removed from many vaccines in the United States after certain studies suggested that exposure to mercury in early stages could negatively affect children.
In July, Kennedy signed a recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to remove thimerosal from influenza vaccines. Roughly 50 percent of thimerosal, by weight, is mercury.
“I want to be clear, it’s inexcusable that governments around the world still allow mercury-based compounds in health care, and safe alternatives exist. Now that America has removed mercury from all vaccines, I call on every global health authority and every party to this convention to do the same,” Kennedy said in his video address.
The Department of Health and Human Services chief said vaccine manufacturers have already confirmed they can produce single-dose vaccines free from mercury without interrupting supply chains.
In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times in July, a spokesperson for CSL Seqirus, which produces influenza vaccines, said that delivery of thimerosal-free flu vaccines for the fall season was “already underway.”
“We don’t expect the ACIP recommendation to have any impact on our vaccine supply or shipment timings,” the spokesperson said.
In June, Sanofi, another flu vaccine manufacturer, said that the company would have “sufficient supply of Sanofi flu vaccine to support customer preference.”
Safe or Dangerous?
In a July 15 statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said extensive research has shown thimerosal to be safe for use. Banning vaccines without solid scientific facts sets a “dangerous precedent,” it said.
Thimerosal is an ethyl mercury, different from methyl mercury, for which there are toxicity concerns, AAP said.
“There is no evidence that thimerosal has adverse neurological or neurodevelopmental adverse outcomes when used as a preservative in vaccines,” AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases member James Campbell said.
“This fact was definitively determined years ago, and the FDA, the CDC, and many academic institutions have excellent reviews of the safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines in children. Raising this topic now has only one purpose—to sow distrust in vaccines in general and in the process to determine vaccine safety.”
A May 2024 study published in the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology exposed rats to thimerosal, mimicking how a human infant would be exposed during vaccination.
Researchers found that the exposure in rats “significantly damaged brain bioenergetic pathways.” The study “supports the ability of TM exposure to preferentially damage the nervous system,” it said.
A 2013 study said thimerosal in childhood vaccines contributed to “accumulating mercury toxicity” in the kidneys.
According to an Oct. 28 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, side effects of thimerosal in vaccines are minor, such as swelling and redness at the injection site.
“Research does not show any link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder,” it said.
In 2024, the U.S., China, and Russia were the top countries by military spending, representing more than half of the global total.
Overall, global military expenditures hit a record $2.7 trillion, a 9.4% increase over the year. Amid rising geopolitical tensions, all five regions of the world increased their military spending for the second consecutive year.
In the table below, we show the countries with the largest military budgets in 2024. Figures are represented in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms:
With a $949 billion budget, America has 1.5 million active duty personnel across 4,790 military sites globally.
China follows next, with $450 billion in spending. Overall, Taiwan stands as a top priority for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with widespread U.S. intelligence suggesting that Xi Jinping wants to be capable of seizing the country by force by 2027.
Ranking in third is Russia, which increased expenditures by an estimated 38% in 2024 amid ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The Top 10 Countries by Military Spending Per Capita
When it comes to military spending on a per capita basis, North Korea ranks first by a wide margin.
Qatar, a small gulf state bordering Saudi Arabia, stands in second, driven by broad-based modernization of its military, navy, and air force.
Interestingly, Singapore comes in third by this measure, despite being known as a neutral state. In fact, Singapore has consistently spent around 3% of GDP on defense for decades, higher than most European countries.
The Top 10 Countries by Military Spending as a Share of GDP
Once again, North Korea leads globally in terms of military spending as a share of GDP, reaching 34% in 2024.
Standing in second place is Ukraine, at 17% of GDP, totalling $103 billion.
In comparison, Russia’s military budget was 6% of GDP, at $352 billion in 2024. Today, Russia has the largest army in Europe, with 1.3 million active duty personnel, while Ukraine follows with 900,000 active troops.
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on military spending by country in 2024.
British news channel BBC “doctored” President Donald Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, to make it appear he called on supporters to riot at the Capitol before lawmakers certified the 2020 election.
The alteration was exposed in an internal memo first reported by British newspaper The Telegraph. The doctored footage concerned Trump’s speech on the Ellipse as aired by BBC’s Panorama in a 2024 special called Trump: A Second Chance.
The broadcast trimmed Trump’s remarks to make it seem he said he would walk to the Capitol with his supporters to “fight, fight like hell.”
In reality, Trump said he would walk to the Capitol to “cheer on” lawmakers opposing the certification. The “fight like hell” line came nearly an hour later, long after he vowed to head to the Capitol.
Worse still, Trump had explicitly called on his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
🚨 BREAKING: The BBC was just exposed for DOCTORING President Trump’s Jan 6 speech to make it seem he ENDORSED rioting, per whistleblower
The discrepancy was first identified by a BBC standards committee in a 19-page dossier. According to The Telegraph, the document found that Panorama made Trump “say” things he never said.
The committee also called out BBC executives and its chairman for ignoring scathing complaints about bias, including in its Arabic coverage of the Israel-Gaza war.
The damning dossier surfaced amid a string of humiliating losses for legacy media outlets over their coverage of Trump.
In July, CBS News’s parent company, Paramount Global, entered a $16 million settlement with Trump after its 60 Minutes program edited a 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris to make her appear more eloquent.
Holy. Shit.
60 Minutes cut Kamala’s nonsense answer on Israel and replaced it with a completely seperate sentence she said earlier in the interview…
Similarly, ABC News’s parent company Disney agreed to pay Trump $15 million in December 2024 after embattled host George Stephanopoulos falsely accused him of raping anti-Trump figurehead E. Jean Carroll.
This settlement included a $1 million payment to cover Trump’s legal fees.
Social media companies have also been forced to pay Trump for banning him following the 2020 election.
Google’s YouTube paid Trump $24.5 million following its decision to shut down his channel after Jan. 6, 2021. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta paid Trump $25 million, while X (then named Twitter) paid $10 million for the same act of censorship.
Nigerian Officials Deny Christian Slaughter, Call For “Sit Down” With Trump
When South African president Cyril Ramaphosa traveled to the White House this year with his big grin and large entourage, he did not seem to understand the nature of the visit. He seemed to believe he was there to wine and dine with President Trump, as he had done with Joe Biden on multiple occasions, and that American money would flow from the encounter as it always had.
South Africa had become so accustomed to easy US cash they felt entitled to it. What Ramaphosa did not understand, however, was that he was in Washington DC to be interviewed and tested. He failed miserably. His denials of mass murders and government oppression specifically targeting white farmers were exposed in real time. The man was crushed like a bug in front of the very western liberal media that had protected his government from scrutiny.
A similar tone is being taken by the leaders of Nigeria. With Trump threatening potential US intervention in the region due to ongoing attacks on Christians by Muslim militants, the Nigerian government is resorting to the same denials. A Nigerian presidential adviser has made a statement to the press, asserting that the country refutes reports of Christian persecution, but is willing to have a ‘sit down’ with Washington to find a common front in fighting insurgency.
Sources cited by the adviser do not have any regular observers on the ground in Nigeria, except for Amnesty International. The left leaning organization is notorious for glossing over religious violence aimed at Christians in the country, designating it as a byproduct of non-religious civil unrest and crime, instead.
It’s a similar tactic used by South Africa to dismiss targeted violence and oppression of the white minority, along with crime data rigging to under-report murders or mislabel race motivated killings and politically motivated killings as simple “robberies gone wrong.” The problem is, the citizens and observers on the ground in these countries cannot be gaslit. They see the tragedies unfold every day.
The data relies on how the attacks are categorized vs perceived motives of the culprits. Some organizations post raw data on total Christians killed during these incidents while avoiding interpretations of motive. Others specify motives and take a nuanced approach. All of these groups, however, agree that Christians are vastly more likely to be killed due to militant violence than anyone else in Nigeria.
Islamic militants of various terror groups do kill each other at times, often because of internal politics. Christians are targeted specifically for their beliefs, while the Nigerian government attempts to partially blame them as if they are involved in the sectarian warfare.
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), a Nigeria-based NGO that produces detailed investigative reports on religious violence, estimates 125,000+ Christian deaths since 2009 (part of 185,000+ total civilian killings), with 7,087 killed in the first 220 days of 2025 alone, alongside 19,100 churches destroyed and thousands abducted.
Open Doors, an international Christian persecution watchdog, ranks Nigeria as the deadliest country for Christians in its annual World Watch List. It reports a more conservative 3,100–4,118 Christians killed for their faith in recent tracking periods (e.g., Oct. 2022–Sept. 2023), accounting for 70–82% of global faith-related Christian deaths.
International Christian Concern (ICC), a U.S.-based persecution monitor that tracks specific incidents via on-ground partners, documents attacks like the June 2025 Middle Belt killings (85+ Christians in one week) and Boko Haram raids.
Global Christian Relief estimate at least 4000 religiously motivated killings of Christians in Nigeria every year.
To be clear, there are no organized Christian militant or terrorist groups in Nigeria equivalent to Boko Haram, ISWAP, or radical Fulani militias that initiate systematic attacks on Muslims or others for religious reasons. There are also no widespread attacks on Muslim Mosques in Nigeria, and there are no specific incidents of state officials singling out Muslim communities or religious buildings for demolition.
For Christians it’s a different story. For example, in 2021 in Kaduna State (under Sharia Law), authorities demolished 263 buildings in the predominantly Christian Gracelands community in Zaria, including 6 churches, a school, and homes. Officials claimed the land belonged to an aviation college, despite residents holding certificates of occupancy.
Events involving the government destruction of Christian properties are common across Nigeria. The Nigerian government, though it boasts of being secular and balanced, has only had one Christian president in the past 50 years. The rest have been Muslim, including the current president (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) and vice president in control of the country since 2023. Tinubu’s wife is a Christian, but the base of power in Nigeria is with Muslim groups, primarily because they are willing and able to project violence at will.
This is why 12 of the 36 Nigerian states are under total Sharia Law. The Nigerian government will be hard-pressed to convince Trump that Christians are not being singled out and targeted. Too much evidence exists to the contrary, and simply categorizing political violence as average crime did not work for the South Africans, so it’s unlikely to work for the Nigerians.
Solutions will probably focus in financial cuts at first. Nigeria receives over $1 billion annually from the US along with around $6.5 billion in FDI inflows. Much of this cash can be frozen by Trump within days using sanctions and tariffs. A kinetic response, though improbable, is currently on the table.
Children whose mothers contracted COVID-19 while pregnant face an elevated risk of developing autism or another neurodevelopmental disorder, according to a new paper.
About one in six children born to mothers who tested positive for COVID-19 during pregnancy was diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder by age 3, researchers with Mass General Brigham said in the study. That was higher than the one in 10 other children who received a diagnosis of one of the disorders and were born to a woman who did not have COVID-19 during pregnancy.
“These findings highlight that COVID-19, like many other infections in pregnancy, may pose risks not only to the mother, but to fetal brain development,” Dr. Andrea Edlow, a specialist at Mass General Brigham and the senior author of the paper, said in an Oct. 30 statement.
In the paper, published by the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology last week following peer review, the researchers detailed how they analyzed records from births that took place within the Mass General Brigham system between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021.
The time period was chosen due to there being universal COVID-19 testing in labor and delivery units across the system.
Mothers were defined as having COVID-19 if they tested positive for the illness during pregnancy, and defined as not having COVID-19 if they did not test positive.
The overwhelming majority of each group was unvaccinated, as vaccines only became available in late 2020.
Of the 18,124 women who gave birth and were tested, 861 tested positive for COVID-19 while pregnant.
Other records were reviewed to see if the children received neurodevelopmental diagnoses, using codes for autism and other disorders.
Sixteen percent, or 140 children, born to those women received a neurodevelopmental diagnosis by their third birthday, compared to 1,680, or 9.7 percent, of the 17,263 other children.
After adjustments, the researchers said COVID-19 infection during pregnancy was linked to 29 percent higher odds of neurodevelopmental disorders in children born to the COVID-positive mothers. The risk was higher for infection during the third semester.
Even though there was an elevated risk recorded, Dr. Roy Perlis, another author of the study, said in a statement that the “overall risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in exposed children likely remains low.”
Funding for the study came from grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Massachusetts General Hospital Executive Committee on Research.
In the conflicts of interest section, Perlis listed being a paid editor at another journal, the Journal of the American Medical Association, while Edlow said she is a consultant for several pharmaceutical companies, including Merck.
The researchers said one limit of the study was not tracking children’s diagnoses outside the Mass General Brigham system, which includes eight hospitals. Another was potentially missing asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 among pregnant women.
Germany Dodges Russia’s Offer Of Non-Aggression Guarantee For NATO, EU
Amid enduring anxiety over the potential for the Ukraine war to escalate into a third world war, Russia last week offered to cement its disinterest in invading Europe by entering into a formal non-aggression pact with European Union and NATO states. However, Germany quickly signaled its disinterest in such a treaty — at least for now.
In making the case for pouring weapons and money into Ukraine and urging it to prolong the war at any cost, Western hawks routinely claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin is bent on reconstituting the Soviet Union and eventually conquering Europe. Speaking at the Third Minsk International Conference in Belarus last Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov not only rejected those accusations, but said his country was willing to enter into a non-aggression pact:
“We have repeatedly said that we had, and have, no intention to attack any current NATO or EU member. We are ready to enshrine this position in future security guarantees for this part of Eurasia.”
Lavrov also expressed exasperation with Western governments, saying meaningful dialogue with them is futile for now, given their refusal to entertain “genuine collective security guarantees” that address the security interests of all parties — including Russia:
“The heads of state and government of the European Union avoid considering these future guarantees, which are based on a completely collective foundation, and proudly declare that, after the Ukraine crisis, security guarantees should exist not with Russia’s participation, but against Russia. This is an example of their mindset.”
Following up on Russia’s offer at a press conference held by German Foreign Office spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer, journalist Florian Warweg of NachDenkSeiten asked about the German state’s assessment of the non-aggression-pact overtures. Rather than crediting Russia’s peaceful overture, Deschauer sidestepped the question, saying its Germany’s position that “the Russian side must end its war. In the meantime, “the German government will continue to support Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression.”
Russia’s offer and Germany’s deflection come several weeks after Lavrov used an address to the United Nations General Assembly to refutethe notion that Russia is seeking to attack European Union or NATO states. “Threats of force against Russia, accused of practically planning an attack on the North Atlantic Alliance [NATO] and the European Union, are becoming increasingly common,” Lavrov said. “President Putin has repeatedly debunked such provocations.”
At least temporarily rejecting a potential, major avenue of escalation that’s been making headlines, President Trump on Sunday said he wasn’t about to approve the shipment of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Asked aboard Air Force One if he was thinking of selling the long-range, precision-guided missiles to Ukraine, Trump replied, “No, not really.”
🚨@POTUS: “No, we’re not planning to supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. While I always reserve the right to adjust policy, that’s not under consideration right now.” pic.twitter.com/hNAqSd7uh8
On Oct 22, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte brought the proposal up at a meeting at the White House, but Trump has expressed concern over depleting America’s supply of the weapons. Last week, the Pentagon told Trump that the DOD had no such reservations, increasing the pressure on Trump to escalate America’s arming of Ukraine. Though dismissing the idea Sunday, he didn’t rule out subsequently changing his mind.
With a 1,550-mile range, Tomahawks could put targets across a huge swath of Russia within Ukrainian range — including Moscow. Russia has warned against introducing Tomahawks to the war — arguing that their use would necessarily involve American service members. “Using Tomahawks without the direct participation of American military personnel is impossible,”said Putin. “This would mark a qualitatively new, completely new stage of escalation between Russia and the US.”
The EU has a serious shortage of rare earths, which are vital for industrial and technological production on the continent. Poland may have at least a partial solution, and it has to do with Poland’s expertise in mining and extraction.
In a wide-ranging interview, Tomasz Zdzikot from the SET Foundation talks about how Europe has lagged behind in the mining of rare earth minerals for. years, with China clearly dominating the industry.
“Europe correctly diagnoses that raw materials are crucial, for example, in technological development and energy. (…) While the diagnostics have been good for over a decade, this has not translated into actions that could mitigate the identified risks,” the SET Foundation’s Tomasz Zdzikot told the DoRzeczy news portal.
A recent report from the SET Foundation addressed what the EU has identified as a key pillar of national security: the mining industry, and more broadly, the raw materials industry.
Highlighting that Europe must “join the ongoing raw materials race,” Zdzikot said, “For over a decade, Europe has been correctly recognizing that raw materials are crucial, for example, in technological development and energy.”
How can Poland help?
This is where Poland’s mining industry will play a key role, Zdzikot told DoRzeczy. The country is not just involved in coal mining but copper mining, lithium mining, and titanium mining.
Poland’s KGHM is one of the world’s largest silver producers, as well as a major copper producer. The company has mines and mining projects in Chile, the United States, and Canada, allowing it to play a significant role in ensuring Europe’s resource security.
He also emphasized that Europe must promote careers in mining.
“From 2000 to today, the number of mining graduates in Europe has fallen by 60 percent. The average age of a miner in Europe is now over 50. Fortunately, we in Poland still have miners, experts, and excellent universities that educate miners,” Zdzikot said.
“We also have excellent academic staff capable of leading complex projects,” he continued, adding that what Poland lacks “is a coherent resource policy.”
The EU as a whole must decide what raw materials to pursue to try to gain a competitive advantage. This can start in Poland, as the country can provide the continent with all the copper and coal it needs. However, Poland’s mining sector needs to be expanded to other resources as well.
The SET Foundation report also calls for a European Commodities Fund to support raw material investments worldwide, help identify deposits, and establish financial structures to acquire rights to raw materials.
The challenges are huge
Europe is, however, currently vulnerable to disruptions in the supply of almost all key raw materials.
There are plans, the expert noted, to increase extraction, simplify and shorten procedures, and diversify supply sources, but the EU — along with many other countries — remains highly dependent on outside sources, namely, China.
This is no accident. China, the report emphasizes, has been pursuing its rare earths policy since the 1980s. Today, it supplies 100 percent of global demand for 10 heavy rare earth elements.
Asked about China’s recent decision to limit exports of rare earth metals, Zdzikot confirmed that all companies (including those outside China) that export products containing at least 0.1% Chinese rare earth elements or using Chinese mining, processing, or recycling technologies will be required to obtain a license issued by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
It was also announced that, as a rule, approvals will not be granted if it involves building military capabilities or even developing dual-use technologies, such as artificial intelligence with defense potential.
In 2024, NATO published a list of 12 raw materials it designated as crucial to the defense industry. This is where China still enjoys a global monopoly, Zdzikot said.
Electric vehicles and other key climate-friendly developments also require increasingly larger amounts of various resources. All in all, demand will be increasing across all metals and rare earth resources.
For example, global demand for lithium is forecast to increase 40-fold between 2020 and 2040, 25-fold for graphite, and 7-fold for rare earth elements.
Mining countries have an edge
It would take years for countries to just acquire or develop the technology for extracting and processing rare earth resources. Highly advanced mining countries, such as Australia and Canada, estimate that at least six years are needed to achieve the capacity to refine rare earth elements without using Chinese technologies.
The European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act states that the EU aims to meet at least 10 percent of its demand for strategic raw materials through domestic extraction by 2030. Its goal is a processing capacity of 40 percent of its demand for strategic raw materials and a 25 percent recycling capacity.
The Act also seeks to ensure that no country supplies the European Union with more than 65 percent of a single strategic raw material.
The key to achieving all of this is to shorten the time required to get mining production up and running, according to Zdzikot.
While there are reasons to suspect that the Taliban has self-interested political motives in peddling lies about Pakistan, there are also reasons for Russia to take its latest claim very seriously…
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed over the weekend that “American drones are indeed operating in Afghanistan’s skies; they pass through Pakistani airspace and violate our airspace. This must not happen. They [Pakistan] are helpless here, they can’t stop it. Naturally, this should be seen as a form of incapability, and we understand that. We suspect that major global powers, those who once clashed with us or claimed Bagram are behind this pressure.”
He concluded by observing that “They don’t come directly, but they assign others to provoke unrest in the region and create pretexts. We stand firm against any conspiracy and won’t allow misguided ambitions to become reality in the region.”
His latest claim follows a similarly scandalous one from early October alleging that the Crocus terrorist attack was orchestrated from Pakistan.
The larger context concerns the cross-border violence between them that prompted fears of Pakistan invading Afghanistan.
This didn’t occur in a vacuum but amidst the rapid US-Pakistani rapprochement and Trump’s renewed demands to return US forces to Afghanistan’s Bagram Airbase, both of which preceded a report from the Financial Times about Pakistan offering the US a port ostensibly for economic purposes. Given this background, while there are reasons to suspect that the Taliban has self-interested political motives in peddling lies about Pakistan, there are also reasons for Russia to take its latest claim very seriously.
It’s not the first time that the Taliban claimed that those two are conspiring against it in this way.
Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob alleged around the one-year anniversary of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan that “US drone aircraft are coming from Pakistan and entering Afghanistan territory.” Pakistan denied that allegation just like it denied the latest one, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the CIA secretly reobtained access to drone bases there in exchange for Trump backing Pakistan over India lately.
Russia should therefore investigate the Taliban’s claim about US-Pakistani drone cooperation. Despite their own rapid rapprochement, Russia twice hinted in recent years that Pakistan might be playing a double game. The first indication came in November 2022 when Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said that “The Americans are openly blackmailing Taliban leaders, threatening them with a drone attack and forcing them to distance themselves from Russia and China”.
The innuendo was that these drone attacks would be facilitated by Pakistan letting the US use its airspace given that it’s the only realistic way for them to bomb Afghanistan. In late August of this year, Secretary of the Security Council Sergey Shoigu then wrote in an article that “The situation is aggravated by the recorded facts of the transfer of militants from other regions of the world to Afghanistan. There is reason to believe that behind these actions are the special services of a number of Western countries”.
As with what Kabulov said nearly three years prior, the innuendo is that Pakistan is facilitating the Western intelligence-backed infiltration of these terrorists into Afghanistan, once again due to it being the only realistic way for them to enter that country. Coupled with the Taliban’s recent claim that the Crocus terrorist attack was orchestrated from Pakistan, the pieces are in place for Russia to investigate whether its new partner is playing a double game and then reconsider their relations if this is confirmed.
Commercial Technology Most Often Target Of Chinese Spies
The case of a former aide to two New York governors who stands accused of excerting influence, falsifying documents, sharing information and carrying out shady business deals while receiving favors and kickbacks from the Chinese government and Chinese companies is expected to go to trial early this month.
While in many ways, the case of Linda Sun and her husband Chris Hu is not typical of Chinese espionage and influence in the United States, it is extremely brazen in nature and stands for a trend that experts say is growing.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies, which researched cases of Chinese espionage in the United States between the years 2000 and 2023, found that most of these cases involved Chinese citizens, not naturalized U.S. citizens like Sun and Hu.
Furthermore, just 17 percent of cases had to do with U.S. government agencies (other than military ones) or U.S. politicians.
In fact, 54 percent of cases involved spying on military installations and technology, like in the case of two Chinese citizens residing in Oregon, who were accused in the summer of having spied on the U.S. Navy.
Another 29 percent of cases analyzed out of a total of 224 had to do with commercial espionage.
46 percent involved cyber espionage, while others were carried out on the ground though agents and acquired assets.
It identifies private as well as state-owned companies, China’s Ministry of State Security, the Central Military Commission, other government offices and universities as actors carrying out espionage acts.
According to Eftimiades, these acts often target military and tech commercial technologies the country seeks to acquire in areas like clean energy, biotechnology, aerospace, information technology and manufacturing.
Geographically, cases in this second study focused heavily on California.
