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New York Post
13-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
House GOP launches probe of China-based billionaire linked to protest groups, including anti-ICE agitators in LA
WASHINGTON — House Republicans launched an investigation Friday into a China-based billionaire purportedly backing left-wing protest groups in the US — including one linked to the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots in Los Angeles — and asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to determine whether he was part of a larger Chinese Communist Party influence operation. The reclusive Neville Singham, who was born in Chicago but lives with his activist wife Jodie Evans in Shanghai, 'may have acted as an agent for the CCP' through his support of the demonstrations, GOP members of the House Oversight Committee alleged in letters to the billionaire himself as well as Bondi that have been obtained by The Post. Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Declassification Taskforce Chairwoman Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who has threatened to subpoena Singham if he refuses to cooperate with their investigation, drew attention to the CCP's self-described 'Strategy of Sowing Discord' in the letters. 4 The reclusive Neville Singham was born in Chicago but lives with his activist wife Jodie Evans in Shanghai. Getty Images for V-Day 'Under General Secretary Xi [Jinping], the CCP is known for its 'Strategy of Sowing Discord,' which 'refers to efforts to make internal disputes amongst the enemy so deep that they become distracted from conflict,'' Comer and Luna wrote in the letters, which were signed by 19 other Oversight GOPers. 'If you are, in fact, carrying out this strategy on behalf of the CCP, you may have a [Foreign Agents Registration Act] registration obligation. In addition, your funding and relationship with the PSL, which has been implicated in the violence and riots in Los Angeles, may violate other federal laws.' The letters focus in particular on Singham's ties to the Party for Liberation and Socialism (PSL), as well as the People's Forum and the ANSWER Coalition, but request information about 16 other groups. 4 PSL has been involved in the Los Angeles-based demonstrations as well as other protests nationwide against federal immigration actions, according to public social media posts. Toby Canham for NY Post Public social media posts indicate PSL has been involved in the Los Angeles demonstrations as well as other protests nationwide against federal immigration actions, some of which have devolved into riots and property destruction. The People's Forum and ANSWER Coalition have also helped organize large anti-Israel demonstrations in the US since the outbreak of Jewish state's war against Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. 'Reportedly, you have supported these groups with the aim of causing destruction and division in our country — including most recently through ongoing riots and violence in Los Angles, California,' the Oversight Republicans said in the letter to Singham. 4 The Oversight lawmakers asked Attorney General Pam Bondi if he was part of a larger Chinese Communist Party influence operation. AP 'You have created an elaborate dark money network which allows you to send funds to a series of non-profits,' they added, 'that have almost no real footprints.' Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), now secretary of state, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had asked Biden's DOJ last year to look into any activities Singham may have been supporting 'on behalf of the CCP' to promote civil unrest in the US, the Oversight panel noted. Both Singham, the founder of the software firm Thoughtworks and a purported admirer of Maoism, and Evans have denied working for the Chinese government, but have shared office space with the Maku Group — a CCP-promoting propaganda network. 4 'You have created an elaborate dark money network which allows you to send funds to a series of non-profits,' the GOP lawmakers added, 'that have almost no real footprints.' Toby Canham for NY Post Dark money nonprofits connected to Singham — including the United Community Fund and the Justice Education Fund — have also bankrolled Maku's operations, according to an extensive New York Times report cited by the Oversight panel. 'Maku's website shows young people gathering in Mr. Singham's office, facing a banner that reads, 'Always Follow the Party,' with an image of General Secretary Xi Jinping in the background,' the Republicans wrote. 'Moreover, it appears that Mr. Singham supports BreakThrough Media, a platform known for promoting pro-CCP talking points and geopolitical interests.' Singham, 71, sold the tech company to a private equity firm for $785 million in 2017. Evans, 70, co-founded the anti-war group Code Pink, which Republicans have also accused of ties to the Chinese government, and currently sits on the board of the People's Forum. Alex Goldenberg, senior advisor to the National Contagion Research Institute, which tracks disinformation on social media platforms, previously told The Post: 'The Singham network operates as a coordinated movement incubator.' The Post reached out to reps for Singham and the Justice Department for comment.
The Citizen
09-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Frustration as Motshekga in Russia while SANDF begins DRC withdrawal
Defence Minister Angie Motshekga is in Russia for V-Day celebrations while SANDF troops leave Goma to begin their journey home. Minister of Defence Angie has been rebuked for her trip to Russia. The minister skipped a joint standing committee on defence briefing on 9 May in order to attend World War II Victory Day celebrations in Russia. The briefing was held for the Department of Defence (DoD) to explain the withdrawal of troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an operation which began in late April. Minister Motshekga excused Committee chairperson Malusi Gigaba excused the minister, relaying that her apology said that the ANC had deployed her to Russia. Committee members suggested postponing the meeting due to Motshekga's absence, with many expressing their frustration that the minister would not be present for an important briefing. Deputy Minister of Defence Bantu Holomisa attended in Motshekga's absence, with Gigaba defending the minister's trip to Russia. 'It is not just about the celebration, there are diplomatic issues involved,' Gigaba said. 'There are diplomatic relations involved between countries and I think we need to respect that we are not privy to the reason why the president deployed the minister to Russia,' he elaborated. SADC and M23 leadership meet The briefing proceeded, with Holomisa and DoD chief financial officer Edem Abotsi explaining the withdrawal from DRC was being managed by the South African Development Community (SADC). The force needing to be withdrawn from the DRC includes a South African battalion of 700 soldiers, 137 members of the helicopter unit, 24 tactical intelligence soldiers and 250 members of a quick reaction force. Other SADC forces include troops from Malawi and Tanzania who joined the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members in supporting Congolese troops with peacekeeping efforts. SANDF officials explained on Friday that SADC leadership had met with the M23 rebels leadership face to face to negotiate the withdrawal. 'The engagements came out with concrete agreements and commitments by both parties to create appropriate conditions for a safe and secure withdrawal,' said Abotsi. SANDF withdrawal plans The SANDF said an air withdrawal was considered preferable but explained that Goma airport was not a suitable point of departure. Withdrawal by road became the second option, with the most navigable route leading from Goma, through Rwanda and into Tanzania. Rwanda was engaged and after an agreement was reached, ground reconnaissance of the route was conducted with a view to leaving Tanzania by air or sea. As of 28 April, an advanced convoy consisting of SANDF, Malawian and Tanzanian troops had begun establishing a transit camp in Tanzanian territory. A second convoy departed Goma on 2 May and is believed to have arrived safely in Tanzania on 7 May A third convey left Goma on Friday and several more convoys are due to leave on dates throughout the coming week. Limited info due to operational security The DA's Chris Hattingh asked why Goma airport could not be used, as well as what would happen to damaged helicopters and equipment left at the airport. The department said it could not discuss matters relating to the equipment left behind or other operational matters for security reasons. Hattingh disagreed with the information possibly compromising operational security and expressed his belief that the department was not sharing all the relevant info it had on the withdrawal. Other committee members wanted to know the cost of the withdrawal, but Holomisa stated that as a SADC mission, much of the cost and responsibility of the withdrawal lay with the regional body. It has now been five months since SANDF troops were killed in battle and Abotsi shared his thoughts on the soldiers' morale. 'I don't want to say it's high, but I want to say it's good,' said Abotsi, relaying sentiment expressed by soldiers who had returned home earlier in the year. Next SANDF engagement South Africa's next military involvement is the extension of Operation Copper, a SADC strategy to fight pirates along Africa's east coast. 'Over the past few years, maritime piracy has migrated from the Somali water down south to the Mozambican channel,' the SANDF stated on Friday. 'South Africa and other countries have noted with concern that the scourge of piracy is extending towards Southern Africa. Maritime piracy remains a threat to all countries sharing sea borders in the Indian Ocean,' it added. President Cyril Ramaphosa has approved Operation Copper involvement from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. South Africa will deploy 200 personnel during the 12 month contract at a total cost of R61 million. NOW READ: SANDF in DRC: Trump administration did what SA couldn't, says DA
Hindustan Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Serbia Prez Vucic Defies Europe, Arrives In Russia For Victory Day, Says This On Cam: ‘Never Allow…'
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić attended Moscow's Victory Day celebrations, defying mounting pressure from the European Union. His presence signals continued ties with Russia despite Western warnings and what he called "blackmail" attempts. The EU had threatened to take away Serbia's bloc candidacy if it attended the V-Day celebrations in Russia.
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Business Standard
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Xi Jinping arrives in Moscow on 4-day visit, attend V-Day celebrations
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here on Wednesday on a four-day official visit during which he will hold talks with President Vladimir Putin and take part in the 80th anniversary celebrations on the occasion of victory over Nazi Germany in WWII culminating with the V-Day parade at the Red Square. This will be his 11th visit to Russia since 2013, Russian news agency TASS reported. According to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, in a tete-a-tete over tea on Thursday, Putin and Xi are scheduled to discuss sensitive international issues such as Russia's relations with the United States, including Ukraine, before joining their delegations. Xi is accompanied by Foreign Minister Wang Yi who earlier today had a telephonic conversation with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on India's Operation Sindoor. India launched Operation Sindoor early Wednesday hitting nine terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Punjab in retaliation for the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 that killed 26 people. There are also speculations here that at their meeting over tea, Putin and Xi would discuss the India-Pakistan escalation after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Experts here say in the changed world, China will not throw its military might behind its all-weather friend Islamabad as India is its major trade partner. Earlier, on Tuesday local Izvestia daily quoting experts wrote that Russia could be a mediator between New Delhi and Islamabad, but both should be approached through back channels. Fresh developments in relations between India-Pakistan in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor by New Delhi can be expected to be prominently discussed by the two leaders. They note that New Delhi can heed Moscow's advice but Islamabad would have to be approached through Beijing. Tomorrow after their Kremlin talks Putin and Xi are scheduled to issue a joint statement and speak to the press, which probably would reflect their action plan to de-escalate the India-Pakistan conflict sparked by the brutal Pahalgam terror strike.
Press and Journal
03-05-2025
- General
- Press and Journal
VE Day: How we marked it in Aberdeen 80 years ago, through smiles and tears
People across the north and north-east of Scotland awoke with a smile on their face on the morning of May 8, 1945. As the Press and Journal reported the news of how Germany had surrendered and the Prime Minister Winston Churchill was poised to address the nation at 3pm, the feeling of exhilaration and relief was overwhelming. However, our headline – which simply read V-Day – reflected the reality that the conflict still wasn't over in many parts of the world and particularly the Far East. A small paragraph on the front page of the edition pointed out: 'The war lasted 2,094 days – 526 days longer than World War I'. But the paper also reported that allied diplomats were continuing their efforts to broker a peace deal with the Japanese, which dragged on until the end of the summer. Understandably, that didn't cast a veil over the celebrations which were held everywhere from Aberdeen and Inverness to Oban and Orkney and across the Mearns, the Western Isles and the Highlands, whether in large communities or tiny hamlets. In Aberdeen, there were street parties throughout the city, while thousands of people flocked to Union Street and the Castlegate. As the late Aberdeen veteran Eric Johnston, who fought on the beaches of Normandy in 1944, recalled: 'There never was a day where so many strangers walked together, sang together, and where everybody shook hands and enjoyed the fact we had won a war which was a just war. 'Many people went to church in the morning and, although it was a Tuesday, the hymns and prayers rang out. I heard from my friends that it was the same all across Scotland. 'Of course, the pubs were open and plenty of folk enjoyed a beer and a dram, but my main memory of that day was of people coming together as one big community.' The festivities were grander in some places than others. With strict rationing still in place, not everywhere could stretch to staging big events, yet there was no shortage of wood for the bonfires which burned effigies of Adolf Hitler as the day progressed. The trams which ran in Aberdeen often resembled something from a Hollywood musical with passengers breaking into spontaneous renditions of songs ranging from The Northern Lights to the National Anthem and We'll Meet Again. VE Day was a public holiday, as indeed was May 9, but, behind the scenes, there were positive developments for those who lived around the coast and, in many cases, had become wearily accustomed to life under blackout regulations. As the P&J reported: 'The Secretary of the Admiralty has announced that lighting restrictions in the coastal areas are no longer necessary for defence purposes and they are now removed for the whole country. 'The news will be hailed with delight in Aberdeen and other north-east areas where the blackout has been in force since the beginning of the war.' It wasn't just adults who were allowed to let their hair down and join the party. Youngsters were given time off to join in the celebrations and enjoyed their real-life experiences as much as their comic strip counterpart, Oor Wullie, who was depicted in rambunctious flag-waving form in The Sunday Post fun section. As the Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives related: 'At last, in May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies in Europe and Victory in Europe Day was marked at school with two days of holiday. 'At Inverey School, the headteacher wrote: 'Two days holiday was granted to celebrate the cessation of hostilities. The children made their own bonfire and lit it at night'. 'At Rhynie School, a small committee was appointed to make arrangements for the children. A religious service was held at 2.30pm and, thereafter, the children marched to the Gordon Arms Hotel where they were entertained to tea and games. 'During a fair spell, sports were also held in the pleasure park and money prizes given. The proceedings were brought to a close by the lighting of a bonfire in the evening.' Ena Strachan was one of the pupils who joined her mother, Edie, for the VE revelry. But as she said: 'Some of us were luckier than others, because our family were all together. We felt sorry for the boys and girls whose dads had been killed or were still fighting.' Further along the coast in Moray, it wasn't only Scots who were involved in the festivities. A group of Norwegian and Danish refugees, who had flocked to the Moray Firth when their homelands fell under enemy occupation, settled in Buckie and made such an impact on their new surroundings the town became known as Little Norway. These men and women helped establish a Norwegian Consulate during the conflict, while a Sjomannskirken – a seaman's church – opened in the Main Street in 1942 and King Haakon VII visited Scotland and met his compatriots the following summer. Professor Peter Reid, of Robert Gordon University, investigated the many ties which were forged between the refugees and the locals. He said: 'People from both countries celebrated on May 8 back in 1945 and the links between them have never been forgotten. 'My grandmother married one of the Danish exiles and they went to live in Esbjerg after the war. 'I also noticed that, in Buckie cemetery, there is the grave of a little six-year-old Norwegian girl, Aud Oline Ramstad and, because she was buried near to my own family's graves, I look after it too, tidying it, repairing it, and planting flowers.' Some had mixed emotions. And there's a letter which sums up all the feelings of one north-east couple who were married, but forced to live apart, while Britons celebrated. The correspondence was sent by Mary Ann (Molly) McKenzie from her Aberdeen home on VE Day itself to her husband, Charlie McKenzie, a captain in the Royal Artillery, who was in charge of a group of Russian prisoners of war in Holland. Her words are laced with happiness, but also a sense of frustration that the pair could not be together to enjoy the occasion. And that was allied to a tinge of apprehension lest any harm befell the man she called her 'darling', her 'sweet' and her 'dearest'. The late couple's daughter, Rhona Hunt, spoke about how the letter was precious in capturing the atmosphere as Aberdeen and other cities broke out the bunting. Molly wrote about the scenes she and her family witnessed in the Granite City, both on the streets and at a church service before they went home to listen to a BBC radio broadcast by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. She said: 'The whole town has gone gay with decorations and flags. 'When we went off to church, it was grand to see all the flags fluttering and even the trams had flags on them, to say nothing of the children who were wearing a lot of red, white and blue. 'I have never seen so many people in Union Street. It was a moving mass between Market Street and the Castlegate. We took the tram to George Street and when we got to the church at 11, I offered my prayers and thankfulness for your safe deliverance. 'We went up to your mother's after we came back from the church and your Ma gave me a glass of stout and impressed on me it would do no harm. '[In the afternoon] we all gathered for the Prime Minister's speech at 3.00 and I wondered if you were listening to it. It was very impressive, it MUST have been for even Ma made us all stand up in a circle and sing God Save the King. 'We had a bottle of port and we had a toast – first to Charlie, then to sister, Kay, and brother, Bill, and last to those who shall not return [from the war]. 'In my heart, my darling, I have the feeling it won't be very long before you are home. What a glorious feeling, my sweet, to know it is really over.' Amid the exultant scenes which marked VE Day, Scottish troops cherished the end of the war in Europe and the Gordon Highlanders were, as usual, a pivotal force. However, those who could attend ceremonies in Britain on May 8 were all too conscious that so many of their comrades had either fallen in the conflict or remained incarcerated in prisoner of war camps thousands of miles away. Ruth Cox, curator of the Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen, explained how the regiment reacted as the world was changing around them. She said: 'Victory in Europe was marked by the Gordon Highlanders with celebrations and parades, with the sounds of pipe music and many dinners being held. 'The cessation of hostilities would have been welcome for the PoWs in Europe and North Africa who experienced a wide range of treatment at the hands of their captors. 'By and large, they were treated humanely, as stipulated by the Geneva Convention. 'But the same could not be said of those who were held in the Far East, who continued to suffer as prisoners of war until Japan surrendered in August, 1945. 'During the war, the Gordon Highlanders fought in a conflict that eventually ended in victory, but at the cost of the lives of 2,400 members of the regiment, scattered across three continents, who were killed in action or died of their wounds.' Ultimately, the peace which followed VE Day was a brief chance to toast the outcome. Yet, as an editorial in the Press and Journal on May 9 made clear, it was also a time to remember the immense sacrifices which had been necessary to ensure success. It urged the region to 'honour those who fought for democracy' which had been made by so many. And it spoke of the need for the country to pull together. Eighty years later, that's as relevant as it ever was.
