WORLD NEWS
Blinken in Saudi Arabia: Mideast ‘Normalization’ with Israel Will Require a Palestinian State
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Saudi Arabia on Monday that the leadership of that country, and other Arab neighbors of Israel, had an “interest” in normalizing ties but would not pursue that avenue without the creation of a “Palestinian state.”
“With regard to integration, to normalization, yes, we talked about that actually on every stop, including of course here in Saudi Arabia,” Blinken said. “And I can tell you this: There’s a clear interest here in pursuing that; there’s a clear interest in the region in pursuing that. But it will require that the conflict end in Gaza, and it will also clearly require that there be a practical pathway to a Palestinian state.”
“This is what I heard from everyone we talked to about it. But this interest is there, it’s real, and it could be transformative,” he added.
Blinken is currently on a tour of the Middle East including stops in Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (IAE), and Israel, including Saudi Arabia. Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders on Tuesday. Prior to his arrival there, however, he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday in a luxury tent in the “historic oasis” of AlUla to discuss Israel’s ongoing self-defense operations against the Sunni terrorist organization Hamas and related issues, such as the ongoing threat of attacks by the Shiite Houthi terrorist organization on international shipping in the Red Sea.
An official readout of the meeting from the State Department claimed that Blinken “emphasized … the establishment of an independent Palestinian state” in talks with the Crown Prince. Mohammed bin Salman, in turn, reportedly “emphasized the crucial need to halt military operations in Gaza.”
Blinken told journalists that the leaders he met with in Israel’s Muslim neighboring governments agreed on several points, including “that Israel and Israelis should be able to live in peace and security” and that both the West Bank and Gaza “should be united under Palestinian-led governance.” The West Bank is currently controlled by the Palestinian Authority, while Gaza is under the control of Hamas.
Blinken in Saudi Arabia: Mideast ‘Normalization’ with Israel Will Require a Palestinian State
The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, declared a 60-day nationwide state of exception and curfew on Monday in response to a new wave of gang violence that erupted following the disappearance of José Adolfo Macías, Ecuador’s “most-wanted criminal.”
Macías seemingly vanished from the prison housing him in Guayaquil over the weekend.
Macías, commonly known as “Fito,” is the leader of Los Choneros, one of the most dangerous gangs in Ecuador, with extensive ties to Mexican and Colombian drug cartels. Macías was serving a 34-year sentence that began in 2011 on organized crime, drug trafficking, and murder charges.
Macías was missing from his cell on Sunday just before he was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security prison, automatically prompting the dispatching of 3,000 law enforcement agents to search for him throughout the Guayaquil regional prison system. Local authorities announced on Monday that they do not know Macías’s current whereabouts.
Sunday’s incident marks the second time Macías has escaped prison. In February 2013, the gang leader briefly escaped captivity until local authorities captured him again three months later.
Macías’ disappearance prompted riots in several of Ecuador’s prisons. Argentine news outlet Infobae reported on Monday that it had reviewed and confirmed footage of prison staff being subdued by inmates and being forced to deliver a statement to Noboa urging him to reconsider broad security measures he announced in the new year.
Videos circulating on social media show masked inmates holding prison security staff at gunpoint and threatening to kill them. The inmates proclaim themselves to be a “real mafia,” unlike El Salvador’s “stupid gangs.”
Armed gang storms Ecuador TV station as state of ‘internal armed conflict’ declared
Heavily armed gangsters have stormed the studio of a major television station in Ecuador during a live broadcast, prompting the country’s president to declare a state of “internal armed conflict” amid a series of seemingly coordinated attacks across the South American country.
Police special forces later arrested all the masked gunmen who invaded the headquarters of the TC Televisión network in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, at about 2pm local time on Tuesday.
Toting pistols, shotguns, machine guns, grenades and sticks of dynamite, a number of men overran the studio during the El Noticiero news programme. With the cameras broadcasting live, the men could be seen on camera while some employees lay down on the floor and someone was heard yelling “Don’t shoot!” before the signal was eventually cut.
The newspaper El Universo said panicked reporters and camera operators flooded messaging groups with pleas for help as the outlaws rampaged through the building. “They want to kill the lot of us. Help us,” one message read.
Alina Manrique, the head of news for TC Television, said she was in the control room, across from the studio, when the group of masked men entered the building. One of the men pointed a gun at her head and told her to get on the floor, she told the Associated Press.
“I am still in shock,” Manrique said in a phone interview. “Everything has collapsed … All I know is that it’s time to leave this country, and go very far away.”
Taiwan Claims China Using ‘All Means’ to Interfere with Presidential Election
Taiwan’s front-running presidential candidate, William Lai Ching-te, said Tuesday that China is resorting to “unprecedented” levels of interference in Saturday’s general election.
Lai is the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and would-be successor to President Tsai Ing-wen, who is loathed as a “separationist” by Beijing.
“In addition to political and military pressure, it is also using economic means, cognitive warfare, disinformation, threats and incentives. It has resorted to all means to interfere with this election,” Lai said of China’s election meddling.
The UK Guardian quoted international analysts who agreed China is throwing everything it has at Taiwan’s election, from disinformation campaigns to “gray zone” psychological warfare — such as the flotilla of suspicious Chinese balloons that has lately been driftingover Taiwan Island — and outright threats that are not concealed at all.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Tuesday that China has the same basic objective as usual, namely to “influence a critical minority in a tight race,” but this time around, Beijing seems most interested in playing up divisions within the Taiwanese public to create an atmosphere of distrust and resentment.
Lead researcher Tim Niven of Doublethink Lab said China shifted tactics away from blunt efforts at intimidation and crude subversion, perhaps concerned that Taiwanese voters would resent such heavy-handed bullying and rally around the candidates China does not want them to support.
Instead, the Chinese are putting a great deal of effort into swarming Taiwanese social media with agents and amplifying “pro-China material produced in Taiwan.” China’s objective, according to Niven, is to put “the polarization of Taiwan on steroids.”
Even the fishy Chinese weather balloons floating into Taiwan’s airspace could be an effort to goad Tsai’s outgoing government into overreacting, which could alienate Taiwanese voters who worry about the DPP provoking China too much.
Not all of China’s interference in the 2024 Taiwan election is a subtle game of shadows. China has framed the election as a “choice between war and peace,” promised economic incentives if Taiwan votes the way Beijing wants, and ominously suggested “reunification” is inevitable, so the Taiwanese should stop resisting it.
Who is Gabriel Attal, the French PM who climbed the ranks in record time?
In just over a decade, Gabriel Attal has risen from a work experience recruit in the health ministry to the second-highest office of state in France. As of Tuesday, he has also become France’s youngest prime minister at 34 and the first openly gay leader of the government.
It is a spectacular trajectory, even for someone from Attal’s privileged background, for whom each career advancement appears to have come remarkably easy.
In the early years of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, Attal was one of a group of well-educated young men from comfortable backgrounds picked to advise and support the equally young French leader.
In the past decade, Attal’s politics appears to have shifted from the centre-left to centre-right. In 2018, he responded to strikes by staff at SNCF, the national railway company, saying France had to “get out of the strike culture” and accused students protesting against changes to the education system as “selfish bobos (bourgeois Bohemians)”.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Trump Defendant Alleges ‘Improper’ Relationship Between Georgia DA and Top Prosecutor
A new court filing accuses Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of having an “improper” relationship with her top Trump prosecutor and financially benefitted from their alleged relationship. The court papers did not offer any further details and the district attorney did not publicly deny the claims.
The potential bombshell court filing on Monday alleged that Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor, paid for vacations with Ms. Willis while using Fulton County funds that his private law firm had received. Mr. Wade has played a significant role in the case against former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants.
Records obtained by a local media outlet also show that Mr. Wade was paid more than $650,000 in legal fees since January 2022 and that the district attorney is the one who authorizes it.
It wasn’t President Trump who made the filing. A former Trump attorney, Michael Roman, did so and is now seeking to disqualify Ms. Willis, a Democrat, from overseeing the case.
Mr. Roman accused Ms. Willis of having potentially committed “an act to defraud the public of honest services” due to what he called an “intentional failure” to disclose her alleged relationship with Mr. Wade, which she “personally benefitted from.”
“Accordingly, the district attorney and the special prosecutor have violated laws regulating the use of public monies, suffer from irreparable conflicts of interest, and have violated their oaths of office under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and should be disqualified from prosecuting this matter,” the filing stated.
In multiple comments to media outlets, a spokesperson for Ms. Willis said that she will “respond through appropriate court filings.” No other comment was given. The Epoch Times contacted the district attorney’s office and Mr. Wade’s law firm for comment on Tuesday.
Mr. Roman’s court papers cited “discussions with individuals with knowledge” about Ms. Willis and the special prosecutor but provided few details other than that they were “romantically involved” before Mr. Wade was brought by her onto the case against President Trump and the others, including Mr. Roman. It also accuses the district attorney of bringing him on as a special counsel without obtaining proper government authorization.
“Sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney have confirmed they had an ongoing, personal relationship during the pendency of the special prosecutor’s divorce proceedings,” the filing added, noting that Mr. Wade allegedly had a “lack of relevant experience” although he was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the county.
“Willis has benefitted substantially and directly, and continues to benefit, from this litigation because Wade is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to prosecute this case on her behalf,” the filing added. “In turn, Wade is taking Willis on, and paying for vacations across the world with money he is being paid by the Fulton County taxpayers and authorized solely by Willis.”
The filing alleges the checks sent to Mr. Wade from Fulton County and vacations that he purchased with Ms. Willis might be honest services fraud, which is a federal crime. It further said that the two could be prosecuted under a federal racketeering statute.
In response, the 45th president wrote on Truth Social that the new filing shows that all charges against him and the others “should be immediately dropped” and with “apologies” from the district attorney.
Melania Trump’s mother Amalija Knavs dies aged 78
The mother of Melania Trump, Amalija Knavs, has died at the age of 78 after falling ill late in December, the former first lady has confirmed. Former President Donald Trump’s wife shared the news of her mother’s passing in a heartfelt post on X, formerly Twitter, late last night. Ms. Trump did not disclose the cause of her mother’s death. Ms. Knavs died in Florida, ABC News reported. Ms. Knavs was born on July 9, 1945, in Judendorf-Strassengel, Austria, and grew up there and in Slovenia, during communist rule, according to reports. She began her career harvesting red onions on her family’s farm before going on to work in a textile factory, where she later met her husband, Viktor Knavs, 79, The New York Times reported.
Cockpit voice recorder ‘completely overwritten’ on Alaska Airlines plane
Cockpit voice recorder data on the Alaska Airlines Boeing plane that lost a panel during a flight this past week were “completely overwritten,” said a top U.S. investigator on Jan. 8.
The devices, which record engine sounds and the pilots’ voices, are currently mandated to retain only up to two hours of audio at one time, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy said in an update.
The plane’s cockpit voice recorder on the January 5 flight was “completely overwritten,” she said.
The U.S. requires cockpit voice recorders to log two hours of data versus 25 hours in Europe for planes made after 2021. The industry has been wrestling with the length of cockpit recordings since the disappearance of a Malaysian jet in 2014.
“There is nothing on the cockpit voice recorder,” she added, saying that the plane’s maintenance team obtained the recorder at the two-hour mark when the devices started recording a new, two-hour recording cycle.
“We’re disappointed that the cockpit voice recorder was overwritten,” the NTSB chief said.
“If that communication is not recorded, that is, unfortunately, a loss for [the NTSB], and a loss for the FAA and a loss for safety because that information is key not just for our investigation, but for improving aviation safety,” Ms. Homendy said, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Boeing’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were sent to the NTSB on Jan. 7, she said. That’s when they discovered that no voice data were available, she added.
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane, was in the air for approximately 20 minutes as it was returning to Portland International Airport right after takeoff, according to data from Flightradar24.
iPhone Miraculously Survives 16,000-Foot Plunge from Alaska Air Flight
An iPhone reportedly plummeted 16,000 feet from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 and
astonishingly survived, intact and functioning.
Ars Technica reports that in a situation that sounds like something straight out of an Apple marketing video demonstrating the toughness of their phones, an iPhone survived a 16,000-foot drop from Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. The incredible story began when game developer Seanathan Bates stumbled upon an iPhone under a bush near a roadway. This discovery came after a terrifying incident on Flight 1282, during which the plane experienced an explosive decompression due to an accidentally dislodged door plug. Bates was surprised to find the phone, not only because of its unexpected location but also due to its surprisingly intact condition. The phone was in airplane mode and had a 50 percent battery charge and a damaged charging cable attached. The phone even displayed notifications that were in sync with the timing of the flight. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed the find, adding that this was one of two phones retrieved post-incident, with the second phone discovered in a local resident’s yard.
This incident is similar to a case reported by AppleInsider, where an iPhone belonging to a skydiver continued to function normally after falling from a height of 14,000 feet. The phone’s survival was attributed to several factors, such as the trajectory and landing environment of the device. Landing in a bush likely cushioned the impact and the build of the phone.
Rep. Matt Rosendale moves to impeach Lloyd Austin after botched hospitalization disclosure
A U.S. congressman is moving to impeach Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin after the secretary and his staff hid the fact he was hospitalized from the White House and the public.
“Secretary Austin has violated his oath of office time and time again, and has jeopardized the lives of the American people,” Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said in a statement.
Mr. Rosendale pointed to how the U.S. military allowed a Chinese spy balloon to fly over the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which holds intercontinental ballistic missiles, and subsequently fly further without shooting it down or taking any other action.
“Moreover, recent reports show that Secretary Austin lied about the balloon repeatedly, putting the American people in danger,” Mr. Rosendale said, highlighting reports that the Biden administration planned to keep the balloon’s existence secret and that they later found out the balloon used an American internet service provider to communicate with China.
“This dishonesty seems to be a repeated pattern for the secretary as he once again lied to our military and the American people about his health last week,” Mr. Rosendale added.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Austin, 70, a retired general, underwent an elective procedure on Dec. 22, 2023, before being released home, according to the Pentagon. Neither Mr. Austin nor other officials told the White House or the public about the procedure.
Mr. Austin started suffering from “severe pain” on Jan. 1 and was rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has said. Mr. Austin was treated in intensive care and was “in quite a bit of pain” but was conscious, Mr. Ryder said.
A small circle of officials were told of the hospitalization, but not the White House nor Kathleen Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense. Some of Mr. Austin’s authorities were transferred to Ms. Hicks on Jan. 2, but she was not informed of the hospitalization until Jan. 4. National security adviser Jake Sullivan was told that same day.
“The secretary of defense’s chief of staff had been out sick with the flu, which caused a delay in these notifications. We are currently reviewing how we can improve these notification procedures, to include White House and congressional notifications,” Maj. Gen. Ryder told reporters on Monday.
The public was not informed until Jan. 5, when the Pentagon said Mr. Austin had resumed his full duties.
Mr. Austin said he took “full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure” and was committing to being more transparent in the future. President Joe Biden has not fired Mr. Austin and will not accept his resignation, White House spokesman John Kirby has said.
Some members of Congress have called on Mr. Austin to resign.
“He absolutely should resign. He should be fired by the president,“ Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said on Fox News. ”The engine is running, but nobody’s behind the wheel. That’s the story of the Biden admin at a time of chaos for the United States across the world.”
The new impeachment resolution can be considered by the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. Some members may be interested in voting for Mr. Rosendale’s resolution, but its prospects are unclear given the GOP has so far failed to impeach any Biden administration officials.
A bid to remove Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to combat the worst border crisis in history was shelved in a bipartisan vote in 2023, with eight Republicans siding with Democrats, though the GOP says it is preparing to try again this year.
The House is also investigating President Biden for possible wrongdoing relating to his son’s business dealings.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underwent surgery in December 2023 for prostate cancer, the U.S. Department of Defense disclosed on Jan. 9.
Doctors from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, identified the cancer through laboratory tests in early December. They decided to perform an operation to treat and cure it. Mr. Austin went to the center on Dec. 22 and underwent a “minimally invasive surgical procedure” to treat and cure prostate cancer, the doctors said. He was under general anesthesia.
Mr. Austin was released the following day.
After experiencing complications including severe abdominal pain, Mr. Austin returned to the hospital on Jan. 1. Doctors diagnosed a urinary tract infection and transferred him to the intensive care unit for close monitoring. Additional evaluation revealed fluid had collected in his abdomen, which affected his small intestines and resulted in a backup of intestinal content. Doctors placed a tube through Mr. Austin’s nose and drained the fluid.
Since then, Mr. Austin has “progressed steadily,” said Dr. John Maddox, trauma medical director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, a urology specialist, in a joint statement. The infection has cleared and Mr. Austin is expected to fully recover, “although this can be a slow process,” they said.
Mr. Austin was still hospitalized, in good condition, as of Jan. 9. He has been working, according to military officials.
Prostate cancer refers to cancer that starts in the prostate, a male organ. It affects about 288,000 men per year and has a five-year survival rate of 97 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.
President Joe Biden did not learn of the cancer diagnosis until Tuesday, John Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters in Washington.
“Nobody at the White House knew Secretary Austin had prostrate cancer until this morning,” Mr. Kirby said.
Biden Admin Vows To Hunt Down ‘All’ Jan. 6 Suspects – Even Those Who Weren’t There That Da
The Biden administration has pledged to continue to pursue and convict all people who broke the law in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incident, including those who never entered the building or who weren’t even present at the U.S. Capitol that day.
Prosecutors have, to date, charged over 1,250 people with various crimes related to Jan. 6, ranging from being present on Capitol grounds without authorization, to assault of a police officer, to seditious conspiracy.
Former President Donald Trump has said on several occasions that he thinks Jan. 6 detainees are being mistreated by the Biden administration and has vowed to issue pardons for many of them.
President Trump rallied his base in Iowa on the eve of the Jan. 6 anniversary.
“The J6 hostages, I call them. Nobody has been treated ever in history so badly as those people,” President Trump said at a rally in Iowa on the eve of the Jan. 6 anniversary, where he pledged to pardon a “large portion” of imprisoned Jan. 6 defendants.
President Joe Biden, by contrast, last week celebrated the jailing of Jan. 6 defendants in a speech to mark the third anniversary of the Capitol breach.
“Collectively, to date, they have been sentenced to more than 840 years in prison,” he said.
“And what has Trump done? Instead of calling them ‘criminals,’ he’s called these … insurrectionists ‘patriots.’ And he promised to pardon them if he returns to office,” he added.
Off the campaign trail, the country’s top prosecutor has made clear that the DOJ under President Biden has no intention of letting Jan. 6 participants off easy—including those who weren’t even there that day.
“We have initiated prosecutions and secured convictions across a wide range of criminal conduct on January 6, as well as in the days and weeks leading up to the attack,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a speech on Friday.
Prosecutors have, to date, secured over 890 convictions in connection to the Jan. 6 incident, with Mr. Garland vowing to press ahead to cast the DOJ dragnet widely.
“Our work continues,” he said. “As I said before, the Justice Department will hold all January 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under the law—whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.”
“We are following the facts and the law, where they lead,” he added.
Jan 6 conspiracy target Ray Epps sentenced to probation for Capitol riots role
WASHINGTON—Ray Epps, who participated in the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced on Jan. 9 to 12 months of probation.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasberg also sentenced Mr. Epps to 100 hours of community service and ordered him to pay $500 in restitution due in 60 days.
Mr. Epps—who, along with his lawyer, Edward Ungvarsky, appeared virtually via Zoom while Judge Boasberg and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gordon were in the courtroom—appeared to show no emotion as Mr. Boasberg rendered the sentence.
Mr. Boasberg remarked that it was a difficult sentencing and that, while Mr. Gordon was “balanced in [his] presentation,” it is a “vast overstatement” that Mr. Epps was a leader on Jan. 6 despite having been toward the front of the mob of supporters of President Donald Trump in that he sought to diffuse tensions at least five times—a mitigating factor in the sentence.
Nonetheless, Mr. Boasberg noted that Mr. Epps went through barricades outside the Capitol despite knowing that doing so was unlawful, though Mr. Epps did not break the barricades and only turned back when he was near the Capitol steps.
Mr. Epps, 62, turned himself in to the FBI on Jan. 8 and confessed to his actions and testified before the House Jan. 6 Select Committee the following year.
Mr. Boasberg, Mr. Gordon, and Mr. Ungvarsky all criticized threats Mr. Epps had received since Jan. 6 stemming from his actions that day.
Mr. Gordon said Mr. Epps has been “unfairly scapegoated” but argued he deserves to go to prison as he committed multiple crimes even though he ultimately pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds. Mr. Epps, according to Mr. Gordon, sought to intimidate Congress during its certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory and even attended a rally the night before the riot.
“He didn’t start the riot,” said Mr. Gordon. “He made it worse.”
Mr. Gordon presented a slideshow featuring videos of what he said were “six key incidents” of Mr. Epps playing a role on Jan. 6, including attending that Jan. 5 rally, where, according to the federal prosecutor, he “viewed this as 1776” and attempted to increase the size of the group of protesters.
The first video was of the Jan. 5 rally, during which he told protesters there that they “need to go into the Capitol—into the Capitol,” drawing calls from those around him that he was a “Fed.” The footage, however, was choppy as the playback was slow.
The second video showed Mr. Epps on Jan. 6 saying that as soon as President Trump finished his speech the The Ellipse across from The White House, it was time to go inside the Capitol. Mr. Gordon acknowledged the rhetoric was protected under the First Amendment.
The third video, which was also choppy, showed Mr. Epps breaching the barricades even though he did not break them down as Trump supporters chanted “our house” and “1776.”
The fourth video showed Mr. Epps working his way to the front of the crowd as Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards was knocked down.
The final three videos—all of the same incident but from different angles—showed members of the crowd holding a massive Trump 2020 banner. It appeared Mr. Epps held the banner.
At the end of the day, said Mr. Gordon, Mr. Epps made a “conscious decision” to be part of the mob and that he committed a misdemeanor that deserved a “stiff sentence.” He called for Mr. Epps to be sentenced to six months behind bars.
Mr. Ungvarsky, who argued his client should get probation, said that Mr. Epps’s “words and actions” sought to “de-escalate” the mob and that he did not go past the Capitol steps as he told the crowd to support the police officers, adding that he even rendered medical aid.
Mr. Ungvarsky remarked that Mr. Epps “broke [from] groupthink” and realized that the mob was not Antifa, as Mr. Epps had previously claimed, and that it consisted of Trump supporters. He also realized that President Biden, not President Trump, won the election, said Mr. Ungvarsky, who added that Mr. Epps viewed Jan. 6 as an “insurrection.”
Nervous, Mr. Epps, prior to Mr. Boasberg announcing the sentence, said it is a “privilege” to be a U.S. citizen and he expressed regret for being part of the mob. He said he respects the Constitution and lamented the threats he and his wife, Robyn Epps, continue to get. He said that he chooses God and the Constitution over politics and any politician—an apparent reference to President Trump.
Mr. Epps will have no travel restrictions—which is key as he is dealing with a civil suit in Delaware—but will have a gun restriction as he owns a gun. He will not be drug tested.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
BlackRock cuts 3% of global staff, citing industry changes
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, will lay off about 600 employees as it seeks to reshuffle its resources in response to technological changes in the financial industry.
The New York-based firm says that even with these job cuts, it expects to end the year with more employees. “We expect to have a larger workforce as we continue adding people and building capabilities to support key areas of growth,” according to the memo.
It’s been a tough few years for asset management companies, which were injured by a stock market and bond downturn in 2022 and high interest rates in 2023. BlackRock reported in October that clients had pulled $13 billion from long-term investment funds in the third quarter of 2023. The company’s total assets under management dropped by 3.2% to $9.1 trillion, down from $9.4 trillion the quarter before.
“For the first time in nearly two decades, clients are earning a real return in cash and can wait for more policy and market certainty before re-risking,” said CEO Larry Fink in a statement at the time. BlackRock also laid off about 2.5% of its workforce, or 500 people, last January.
HEALTH
RECALL WARNING:
Popular Sauces Recalled In Florida Could Pose ‘Life-Threatening’ Risk
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a recall for a popular brand of dry hot sauce sold across the nation, including Florida. According to a Tuesday (January 9) announcement , Vesta Fiery Gourmet Foods, Inc. is voluntarily recalling five of their spices sold in 1.5-ounce glass jars over undeclared wheat.
These recalled products are Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Ghost (UPC 7 94571 99498 0), Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Hot (UPC 7 94571 99497 3), Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Reaper (UPC 7 94571 99490 4), Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Scorpion (UPC 7 94571 99491 1), and Benny T’s Vesta Dry Hot Sauce Very Hot (UPC 7 94571 99499 7).
“People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products ,” officials wrote. No illnesses have been reported as of Tuesday.
Vesta Fiery Gourmet Foods, which is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, notified the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that the label on the glass jars doesn’t disclose the use of wheat flour. The recalled seasonings are sold in retail stores, delis, and online and distributed between October 1, 2023, and January 4, 2024.
The FDA also provided the affected lot numbers and expiration dates: FX001500 (expires September 2024) and FX001582 (expires September 2024) NDC 0078-0110-22.
Anyone who purchases these hot sauces is urged to avoid con- sumption. Buyers are free to discard the products if they wish.
Delaying Your Morning Coffee Will Change Your Life
Caffeine operates not by creating an energy surge, but by concealing fatigue symptoms. It effectively inhibits brain chemicals that indicate tiredness. Thus, we don’t acquire new energy. We postpone feeling tired. While this postponement has short-term benefits, it’s essential to understand that the post-coffee energy is essentially “borrowed” from later in the day.
Grasping this concept is key to maximizing our coffee consumption benefits. Properly timing our coffee intake can enhance its positive effects without depleting our innate energy resources. The goal isn’t to depend on coffee for energy creation but to strategically use it to bolster our inherent alertness and productivity.
Proper timing of your morning brew can help you to:
- Avoid Afternoon Crash
Regular coffee drinkers often encounter a drop in energy in the afternoon. This phenomenon, known as the afternoon crash, is widespread, but its cause is not widely understood.
Imagine a morning where your first coffee waits, not out of necessity, but for a promise of something better.
Emerging research suggests this beloved wake-up call might be prematurely timed. Postponing that first coffee sip could lead to a day filled with more energy and better health.
In a world where more than 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day, this morning ritual is more than just a habit—it’s a global phenomenon. For most, it’s the essential energy kick-start to our day.
However, neuroscientist Andrew Huberman argues that coffee doesn’t generate additional energy. Instead, it cleverly borrows it from our future selves. “There’s no way to create more energy in your system,” explains Mr. Huberman in a podcast. “What you’re doing is you’re changing the timing in which the sleepy signals and the more energetic signals are arriving.”
At the core of this drop in energy is adenosine, which plays a crucial role in our daily rhythm of sleep and wakefulness. Adenosine is a chemical in our brain that encourages rest. It builds up during the day, reaching its highest level when we feel most tired. Caffeine works by blocking the effects of adenosine, which is why it helps us stay awake and feel less tired.
Dr. Kelvin Fernandez, an internal medicine physician at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, explained to The Epoch Times, “Caffeine essentially hijacks the adenosine receptors. When these receptors are blocked, the natural sleep-inducing effects of adenosine are neutralized, which is why we feel more awake after a cup of coffee.”
Typically, people consume caffeine within the first half-hour after waking, leading to an immediate sense of alertness. However, as Mr. Huberman points out, this is often followed by a “dramatic dip in their overall levels of energy”—the so-called afternoon crash.
This slump is linked to the body’s delayed response to adenosine levels initially concealed by caffeine. By delaying caffeine consumption until the body naturally rids itself of adenosine, one can sidestep this afternoon downturn and enjoy more consistent energy throughout the day.
Mr. Huberman recommends completely purging your system of adenosine before having caffeine. Morning sunlight is crucial in this process, helping to reduce lingering adenosine. Physical activity also accelerates this reduction. Thus, postponing your coffee until after these activities can yield a more robust and enduring energy lift, avoiding the afternoon crash.
- Boost Natural Alertness
Finding the right time for that first cup of coffee could be the key to enhanced alertness, thanks to our body’s natural cortisol rhythm. Cortisol, dubbed the “stress hormone,” is crucial for managing stress and regulating bodily functions like metabolism and immune response.
Our cortisol levels naturally peak in the first hour after waking, helping us start our day alert and ready. However, the timing of coffee drinking in relation to this cortisol spike is critical. Evidence suggests that waiting for coffee after this peak can improve its alertness-enhancing effects.
Registered dietitian Trista Best emphasizes the importance of this delay, telling The Epoch Times, “Delaying coffee intake in the morning can help prevent an amplified cortisol spike, which is associated with the body’s stress response.”
Mr. Huberman supports this view, noting, “This is a simple performance-enhancing tool—which is to stack caffeine on the tail of that early cortisol peak.” This timing ensures the caffeine aligns with the body’s natural rhythms, optimizing its energizing effects without compromising hormonal balance.
Ms. Best concludes, “By syncing coffee consumption with the body’s cortisol patterns, you can optimize the energizing effects of caffeine without compromising the natural hormonal fluctuations crucial for overall health and well-being.” This approach preserves the stress response’s effectiveness and promotes balanced wakefulness throughout the day.
- Enhance Sleep
Caffeine and sleep quality share a complex relationship intricately linked to circadian rhythms. Before caffeine became widespread, human activities followed the natural day-night cycle—active by day, sleepy by night, with occasional naps. Mr. Huberman highlights that caffeine’s arrival enabled us to divorce ourselves from this natural cycle.
Caffeine disrupts the circadian rhythm, concealing tiredness and shifting sleep patterns. Notably, caffeine’s quarter-life is about 12 hours. For instance, 25 percent of caffeine taken at 11 a.m. still affects you at 11 p.m., impacting sleep onset and quality.
Delaying morning coffee is key to maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm. It allows your body to balance cortisol and adenosine, providing steady day-long energy. Aligning caffeine intake with your natural alertness cycle reduces the need for afternoon caffeine boosts.
This approach helps avoid afternoon fatigue and ensures caffeine effects diminish by evening. A slight delay in your morning coffee supports a consistent circadian rhythm, improving sleep quality by minimizing caffeine in your system at night.
- Balance Blood Glucose Levels
A recent study highlights the significant effect of morning coffee timing on blood sugar regulation, especially after a night of poor sleep. “Put simply, our blood sugar control is impaired when the first thing our bodies come into contact with is coffee, especially after a night of disrupted sleep.” explains study author Professor James Betts of the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise, and Metabolism in a press release.
Published in the British Journal of Nutrition, the study examined how sleep disruption followed by morning coffee affects glucose metabolism. The findings reveal that drinking strong black coffee before breakfast, particularly after disturbed sleep, can heighten the blood glucose response to breakfast by about 50 percent.
Harry Smith who holds a doctorate in physiology, nutrition, and metabolism and lead researcher of the study, advises, “Individuals should try to balance the potential stimulating benefits of caffeinated coffee in the morning with the potential for higher blood glucose levels and it may be better to consume coffee following breakfast rather than before.”
- Improve Digestive Well-Being
Morning coffee timing can significantly affect digestive health, and delaying it until after breakfast offers benefits. A primary advantage is the lowered risk of acid reflux, often experienced by coffee consumers.
Acid reflux, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), characterized by stomach acid re-entering the esophagus and causing irritation, can be worsened by coffee, particularly on an empty stomach. Coffee’s acidity and tendency to relax the lower esophageal sphincter, which usually blocks acid ascent, aggravate this issue.
Dr. Fernandez explains, “Coffee stimulates gastric acid production. Consuming it on an empty stomach can lead to increased gastric irritation and a higher risk of acid reflux.”
Research in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology shows that drinking coffee, tea, or soda correlates with a higher incidence of GERD symptoms.
Additionally, the timing of coffee consumption affects digestion. Dr. Fernandez adds, “Coffee after a meal can aid digestion by stimulating the production of gastric acid, bile, and digestive enzymes, thereby enhancing nutrient breakdown and absorption.”
Individual coffee tolerance varies—some experience no digestive issues—while others may feel discomfort even with small amounts. For those sensitive, postponing coffee until after breakfast is a straightforward method to enhance digestive health.
Identifying the ideal time for your first coffee can maximize its benefits by syncing with your body’s rhythms. Experts suggest a one-and-a-half to 2-hour wait after waking, aligning with the body’s cortisol peak to boost alertness and metabolic regulation.
Mr. Huberman advises those struggling to delay their coffee: “If you can’t wait 90 minutes right off the bat, push it out by 15 minutes each day until you hit the 90–120 minute mark.” This gradual method helps the body adapt smoothly to the new timing.
For those eager to drink coffee right after waking, Mr. Huberman proposes a compromise: “If you insist on drinking after waking, just drink half of it then and the rest an hour later. It will help offset that afternoon slump.” This approach balances immediate coffee enjoyment with the body’s energy needs.
On optimal coffee dosage, Mr. Huberman remarks, “Your body weight is a good measure by which you can measure a healthy dose of caffeine. One to 3 mg per kg of body weight is the range in which caffeine can have positive effects without being overly anxious.” For a 150-pound person, the range would be 68 to 204 mg of caffeine, equivalent to a maximum of approximately 2 cups a day.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
The Great Taking: The Largest Criminal Heist In The History Of The World
I have stated for years that the resources of the world were being stolen from the nations and, hence, the people of the world. The mechanism for total social control is Technocracy. In The Evil Twins of Technocracy & Transhumanism, I clearly showed that the Central Banks were the perpetrators. The prop for this con was climate change.
When people wake up one day and realize that not only have they lost their wealth and personal possessions but that their future has been stolen, it will result in mass hysteria and chaotic violence.
The Great Taking book is displayed in pdf format at the end of this post. ⁃ TN Editor
SURVEILLANCE STATE
The ultimate Return guide to escaping the surveillance state
Editor’s note: Fair warning: This is a very thorough guide. However, we’re facing an unprecedented moment in American history. Our government and multinational tech monopolies are making it clear that we, the people, are the target of the monstrous surveillance state they’ve constructed. The deep state is attempting to jail people who share memes, Blaze journalists, and even the leading presidential candidate. It’s time we take back control over our privacy and digital communications, and this guide will provide you with the tools to do that. This is a serious guide for serious people. If you’re concerned about what’s coming but don’t know what to do, please consider adopting some or all of these tools.
The internet was originally a peer-to-peer network where everyone ran their own servers: email, chat, and social media lived on a box in every user’s living room. Being a user of this 1980s-to-early-1990s internet was hard work and required more than a little bit of technical acumen. As the internet’s uses grew, it needed to become more accommodating to people without technical savvy, and so we traded personal autonomy for convenience. The technical weeds were farmed out to professional internet pioneers like America Online and Google, and slowly but surely, the peer-to-peer internet was replaced with the client-platform model that some disparage as “the Botnet.” Where we once could connect as autonomous peers, we now must do so through a few massive intermediaries with their own interests. The story of digital technology, for all the previously unimaginable wealth and convenience that it has brought, has also come with the growing issues of unwanted manipulation of our behavior, harm to our mental health, and threats to our security.
We’ve been sold a false narrative that privacy is over, that automation is inevitable, that the centralized vision of Big Tech is the only way to do technology, and that we just should get used to being ruled by the machine. This is false. Privacy still matters. Centralization is not inevitable. And while technology will continue to disrupt our economic and social lives, human freedom will always matter. But we need to be sure that we control technology and not have it control us and our children. The good news is that solutions are here today if you choose to accept them.
ICYMI
Actor Adan Canto, known for work on shows such as “Designated Survivor” and “The Cleaning Lady,” has passed away.
He died due to appendiceal cancer, publicist Jennifer Allen noted, according to the Associated Press. The outlet reported that Canto was just 42.
“Adan had a depth of spirit that few truly knew. Those who glimpsed it were changed forever,” Allen noted in a statement, according to the outlet. “He will be greatly missed by so many.”
The Mayo Clinic notes that, “Appendiceal cancer is a type of cancer that grows from cells that make up the appendix” and that it “is very rare. In the US, it has been thought to affect about 1 or 2 people per 1 million per year. However, recent studies show that appendiceal cancer is becoming more common. It is more common in people between the ages of 50 and 55 years old, but can happen at any age.”
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