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A Senate Republican wants to give the U.S. a leg up in its race against China and to ween the nation off of its reliance on imports of key raw materials needed for weapons systems.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., would like to fast-track the harvesting of raw materials in the U.S. needed for the nation’s defensive capabilities, and plans to blow through federal and judicial red tape to do it.

Cotton plans to introduce legislation that would allow critical mineral mining projects deemed necessary to bolster the nation’s military and defensive readiness by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to skirt environmental laws and possible blockages by the courts.

His bill is designed to give the U.S. an edge against China, the world’s largest producer of critical minerals like cobalt, lithium, graphite and other rare earth minerals used in weapons systems, electric vehicles and consumer electronics.

Currently, China produces roughly 60% of the world’s critical mineral supply, and processes up to 90%.

‘Current environmental laws put our readiness to counter Communist China at risk and waste taxpayer dollars on projects that stall out and die on the vine,’ Cotton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘This bill will create jobs, better arm and prepare our soldiers, and spend taxpayer dollars more efficiently.’

Cotton’s bill, dubbed the Necessary Environmental Exemptions for Defense Act, would create a waiver for mining activities and projects related to countering China and to allow the Pentagon to ‘operate with maximum agility and efficiency to ensure it is prepared to deter and, if necessary, fight and win a conflict with the Chinese Communist Party,’ according to bill text first obtained by Fox News Digital.

Among the regulations and environmental review standards that could be skirted with the waiver are the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

Cotton argued in his legislation that the aforementioned regulations ‘frequently and unnecessarily delay’ the preparedness of the military without ‘substantial benefit to the environment or protected species,’ and that time is of the essence when it comes to national defense.

The projects that would fall under the umbrella of the regulation exemption include testing and production and deployment of technologies, systems or equipment and the construction, maintenance, expansion, or repair of facilities or Defense Department infrastructure, among others.

It would also prevent projects from being snarled in the courts, as long as the initiative is deemed necessary for military preparedness by the Secretary of Defense.

The bill fits into the White House’s broader plan to jump-start critical mineral mining in the country, be it through executive action, a bid to buy Greenland, a minerals agreement with Ukraine, or opening up more offshore mining in the Gulf of America.

It also comes after President Donald Trump reached a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping to resume trade of critical minerals after shipments were stopped earlier this year following the White House’s slew of tariffs against China and other countries. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

 

Brunswick Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: BRW, OTCQB: BRWXF; ‘ BRW ‘ or the ‘ Company ‘) is pleased to report the final set of results obtained as part of the 2025 Winter drill campaign conducted on its Mirage Project. The Mirage Project is located in the Eeyou Istchee–James Bay region of Quebec, approximately 40 kilometers south of the Trans-Taiga Road. This press release primarily focuses on the drilling work carried out in the eastern extension of the MR-6 dyke and the ‘Stacked Dyke’ zone.

 

  Highlights include:  

 

  • The discovery of a further three new major dykes located between 200 and 500 meters northeast of MR-6, which returned 33.2 meters at 1.1% Li    O in drill hole MR-25-110, 20 meters at 1.3% Li    O and 11 meters at 1.2% Li    O in drill hole MR-25-112.
  •  

  • The ‘Stacked Dyke’ zone was extended 150 meters to the north, with hole MR-25-106 intersecting 17.4 meters at 1.01% Li    O .
  •  

  • Over the course of the Winter 2025 program, BRW has discovered a total of 4 new major dykes measuring between 10 meters and 35 meters, all located near surface and in the core of the project all of which remain open in all directions.
  •  

  • Elevated tantalum concentrations continue to be strongly associated with lithium mineralization with values consistently ranging from 150 to 350ppm. Further metallurgical work will be completed to determine the viability of producing a tantalum byproduct.
  •  

Mr. Killian Charles, President and CEO of BRW, commented: ‘Brunswick Exploration remains one of the most compelling stories in the mining sector as we leverage the atypical combination of advanced exploration work at Mirage alongside an aggressive global lithium grassroot program which has no comparable peers. As the lithium market regains strength over the coming quarters and years, we are uniquely positioned to benefit from new discoveries and the continued development of Mirage.

 

‘Today’s results serve once more to highlight the exploration potential of Mirage. Even after more than 20,000 meters of drilling over the last 18 months, we have repeatedly and continue to intercept new dykes of appreciable width and grade. As we move toward a maiden resource estimate in late 2025, I am extremely proud of the work the BRW exploration team has achieved across its still growing pipeline of projects.’

 

  Mirage Project Drilling Overview  

 

The Mirage Project comprises 427 claims located roughly 40 kilometers south of the Trans-Taiga Highway in Quebec’s James Bay region and 34 kilometers northeast of Winsome Resources’ Adina Project.

 

The drilling campaign was primarily aimed at extending the mineralized ‘Stacked Dyke’ zone to the northeast. The highlights presented in this press release are shown in Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2. Collar locations are provided in Table 2.

 

  Figure 1 : Zone Location at Mirage Project

 

 Figure 1: Zone Location at Mirage Project

 

  Figure 2 : Central Zone of the Mirage Project

 

 Figure 2: Central Zone of the Mirage Project

 

Drill hole MR-25-110 led to the discovery of a new spodumene-bearing pegmatite dyke, grading 1.1% Li₂O over 33.2 meters from 217 to 251 meters (vertical depth of 180 meters), while drill hole MR-25-112 returned 1.3% Li₂O over 20 meters from 367.9 to 387 meters (vertical depth of 290 meters). These two new dykes are interpreted to be sub-parallel, oriented approximately N130/30. Drill hole MR-25-112 also intersected another dyke grading 1.2% Li₂O over 11 meters from 328 to 339 meters (vertical depth of 250 meters), which is believed to be also parallel to the others. These new intersections highlight the stacking of sub-horizontal mineralized dykes in this area. The dykes remain open in all directions.

 

  Figure 3 : Section A-A’

 

 Figure 2: Section A-A

 

Drill hole MR-25-117 also intersected a 27-meter-wide pegmatite from 329 to 356 meters. This pegmatite is interpreted to be the same one intersected in drill hole MR-25-112 (which returned 1.3% Li₂O over 20 meters from 367.9 to 387 meters). However, due to the proximity of the Lac Orion fault, in MR-25-117, the pegmatite shows significant alteration and the spodumene has been largely replaced by cookeite. As a result, lower values of lithium were reported and only a smaller subinterval returned significant lithium with 1.8% Li₂O over 3.2 meters. Nonetheless, the presence of the dyke over sizeable widths is extremely encouraging and remains an excellent follow-up target for further drilling campaign.

 

Drill hole MR-25-109 extended the ‘Stacked Dyke’ zone by more than 100 meters to the North, with several spodumene-bearing pegmatite intersections. The widest interval returned 1.3% Li₂O over 13.3 meters, from 21.4 to 34.7 meters. The dykes in this hole are sub-horizontal and demonstrate a change in orientation compared to the central zone, where dykes typically dip 60 to 70 degrees to the southeast.

 

Drill hole MR-25-116 intersected over forty moderately mineralized pegmatite dykes, generally of limited thickness. While the lithium grades were modest, this hole highlights the strong potential for the mineralized system to continue toward the Northeast. The intersected dykes remain open in all directions.

 

Drill hole MR-25-113, located approximately 4.5 km northeast of the central zone, was completed as a reconnaissance exploration hole. Unfortunately, no spodumene-bearing pegmatite was intersected in this hole.

 

  Table 1: 2025 Winter Drilling Program Discussed in this Release

 

                                                                                                      
  Hole ID     From (m)     To (m)     Length (m)     Li2O (%)     Ta2O5 (ppm)  
  MR-25-109     21.4     34.7     13.3     1.3     351  
MR-25-109 64.5 69.2 4.7 1.2 266
MR-25-109 106.6 111.8 5.2 1.3 222
MR-25-110 42.6 47.6 5.0 1.0 245
  MR-25-110     217.8     251.0     33.2     1.1     128  
MR-25-112 113.9 116.3 2.3 1.4 183
MR-25-112 251.5 253.7 2.2 0.8 172
MR-25-112 316.0 321.4 5.4 1.2 193
  MR-25-112     328.0     339.0     11.0     1.2     160  
  MR-25-112     367.9     387.8     20.0     1.3     231  
MR-25-116 52.6 55.8 3.2 0.9 172
MR-25-116 74.5 76.8 2.3 0.5 140
MR-25-116 152.0 164.9 13.0 0.3 123
MR-25-116 200.7 203.6 2.9 1.1 141
MR-25-117 210.9 212.9 2.0 1.2 281
MR-25-117 341.5 344.6 3.2 1.8 309

 

  True thickness is estimated to vary between 80% and 90% across all reported holes in the 2025 Winter campaign.  

 

  Table 2 : Drill Hole Collars

 

                                          
  Hole ID     Azimut     Dip     Length (m)     UTM NAD83 z18 – East     UTM NAD83 z18 – North  
MR-25-109 300 -55 279 683432 5941447
MR-25-110 300 -55 267 683227 5941533
MR-25-112 300 -55 399 683324 5941492
MR-25-113 300 -55 169.7 686828 5943668
MR-25-116 340 -45 300 683577 5941438
MR-25-117 300 -50 363 683463 5941701

 

  3D model update  

 

Following the completion of the 2025 Winter drill campaign, Brunswick Exploration, in collaboration with PLR Resources (https://www.plr-resources.com/), updated its 3D model in preparation for a first resource estimate planned for late 2025. Figure 3 shows the location of the sections presented in Figures 5 and 6.

 

  Figure 4: Location of Section B-B’ and C-C’

 

 Figure 3: Location of Section B-B

 

  Figure 5 : Section B-B”

 

 Figure 4: Section B-B

 

  Figure 6 : Section C-C’

 

 Figure 5: Section C-C

 

Observations from field work and drilling indicate that the geometry of the pegmatite dykes in the core of the project (covering North, Central and South Zone) is closely linked to a regional antiformal folding pattern. Although the dykes locally appear to be folded, evidence strongly supports that their emplacement was primarily controlled by the hinges of these antiformal folds, rather than the dykes being simply passively deformed post-emplacement.

 

The emplacement of the pegmatites is interpreted as syn- to post-tectonic, likely occurring towards the final stages of the second deformation event in the region. This timing corresponds with a decrease in regional stress conditions, allowing pegmatitic melts to be focused and emplaced in structurally favorable zones such as fold hinges and lithological contacts.

 

Hydrothermal alteration observed in specific segments of certain pegmatite dykes, notably at MR-3 and MR-6, indicates post-emplacement metasomatic fluid activity. These fluids are believed to be associated with reactivation along nearby structures, particularly the Orion Lake Fault, which likely acted as a fluid conduit during late-stage tectonism.

 

Of note, the role of gabbroic units in the area remains to be fully determined; however, their consistent spatial association with pegmatite dykes suggests they may also have influenced pegmatite emplacement. Some pegmatite dykes could be guided by contacts between metagabbro and metavolcanic rocks, potentially acting as rheological boundaries favorable to dyke propagation.

 

  QAQC  

 

All drill core samples were collected under the supervision of BRW employees and contractors. The drill core was transported by helicopter and by truck from the drill platform to the core logging facility in Val-d’Or. Each core was then logged, photographed, tagged, and split by diamond saw before being sampled. All pegmatite intervals were sampled at approximately 1-meter intervals to ensure representativity. Samples were bagged; duplicated on reject, blanks and certified reference materials for lithium were inserted every 20 samples. Samples were bagged and groups of samples were placed in larger bags, sealed with numbered tags, in order to maintain a chain of custody. The sample bags were transported from the BRW contractor facility to the AGAT laboratory in Val-d’Or. All sample preparation and analytical work was performed by AGAT by sodium peroxide fusion with ICP-OES and ICP-MS finish. All results passed the QA/QC screening at the lab and all inserted standard and blanks returned results that were within acceptable limits. All reported drill intersections are calculated based on a lower cutoff grade of 0.3% Li2O, with maximum internal dilution of 5 meters. Host basalts adjacent to the dykes may grade up to 0.3% Li2O but were excluded from the reported intersections.

 

  Qualified Person  

 

The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Simon T. Hébert, VP Development. He is a Professional Geologist registered in Quebec and is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

 

  About Brunswick Exploration  

 

 Brunswick Exploration is a Montreal-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V under symbol BRW. The Company is focused on grassroots exploration for lithium in Canada, a critical metal necessary to global decarbonization and energy transition. The company is rapidly advancing the most extensive grassroots lithium property portfolio in Canada and Greenland.

 

  Investor Relations/information  

 

Mr. Killian Charles, President and CEO ( info@brwexplo.ca )

 

  Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information  

 

  This news release contains ‘forward-looking information’ within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; changes in equity markets; inflation; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of projects; the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and those risks set out in the Corporation’s public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Corporation believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.  

 

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

 

  https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d95734af-c249-4da4-a9c2-bb5fbe0aab0f  

 

  https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/41eac253-f61c-43b4-9753-2cd3d0d6d55d  

 

  https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/550313e2-f6ad-4966-987c-6d023678ec1f  

 

  https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e588a1b4-6128-41e3-944c-5b1097b8ab98  

 

  https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/58151d57-78ac-4465-adbf-aaf2e0b9ff43  

 

  https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2f47949b-b03c-4a78-b3f1-a3c289f8b234  

 

  Primary Logo 

 

 

News Provided by GlobeNewswire via QuoteMedia

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The State Department is investigating an impostor who reportedly pretended to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the help of AI. 

The mystery individual posing as one of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members reached out to foreign ministers, a U.S. governor and a member of Congress with AI-assisted voice and text messages that mimicked Rubio’s voice and writing style, the Washington Post reported, citing a senior U.S. official and State Department cable. 

‘The State Department, of course, is aware of this incident and is currently monitoring and addressing the matter. The department takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard its information and continuously take steps to improve the department’s cybersecurity posture to prevent future incidents. For security reasons, we do not have any further details to provide at this time,’ State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday. 

When asked by Fox News about Rubio’s reaction to being impersonated, she said, ‘We’re not at a point here where I will discuss or portray what actions are being taken or his reaction.’ 

‘The secretary… is very transparent, quite transparent, and he’s direct with everyone. I think that any description of his reaction, of course, belongs to him. And I would suspect that at some point we’ll have that for you,’ Bruce added. 

She also said that ‘We live in a technological age that we are well enmeshed in.’ 

It’s unclear who is using AI to impersonate Rubio, but it’s suspected they are doing so in an attempt to manipulate government officials ‘with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts,’ the State Department cable said, according to the Washington Post. 

The cable reportedly said the impersonation act started in mid-June when someone created a Signal account with the display name Marco.Rubio@state.gov — which isn’t Rubio’s actual email address. 

The July 3 cable reportedly added that the fake Rubio ‘contacted at least five non-Department individuals, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a U.S. member of Congress.’ 

‘The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal,’ the Washington Post also cited the cable as saying. 

The impersonation attempt ultimately was unsuccessful and ‘not very sophisticated,’ a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press.

Fox News’ Nick Kalman contributed to this report.  

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The Trump administration landed a legal victory on Monday after a federal judge allowed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to rescind nearly $800 million dollars in grants for programs supporting violence reduction and crime victims.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington denied a preliminary injunction that five organizations sought against the DOJ’s cancellation of more than 360 grant awards and granted a motion to dismiss the case. 

Metha described the DOJ’s actions as ‘shameful’ in his ruling, though he ultimately declared that the court lacked jurisdiction and the organizations had failed to state a constitutional violation or protection.

‘Defendants’ rescinding of these awards is shameful. It is likely to harm communities and individuals vulnerable to crime and violence,’ Mehta wrote. ‘But displeasure and sympathy are not enough in a court of law.’

The DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs canceled more than $800 million in grants in April as part of what it called a priority shift to include more direct support to certain law enforcement operations, combat violent crime and support American victims of trafficking and sexual assault.

Democracy Forward Foundation and the Perry Law firm filed the lawsuit, arguing the grant terminations did not allow due process, lacked sufficient clarity and violated the constitutional separation of powers clause that gives Congress appropriation powers.

The loss of the federal money triggered layoffs, program closures and loss of community partnerships, according to many of the organizations that had the grants rescinded.

The Justice Department argued in a court filing that there was ‘no legal basis for the Court to order DOJ to restore lawfully terminated grants and keep paying for programs that the Executive Branch views as inconsistent with the interests of the United States.’

Noting that it intended to redirect the grant funds, it called the suit a ‘run-of-the mill contract dispute’ and said it belonged in a different court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Doctors in Gaza say they were forced to cram multiple babies into one incubator as hospitals warned that fuel shortages are forcing them to shut off vital services, putting patients’ lives at risk.

The UN has warned that the fuel crisis is at a critical point, with the little supplies that are available running short and “virtually no additional accessible stocks left.”

“Hospitals are rationing. Ambulances are stalling. Water systems are on the brink. And the deaths this is likely causing could soon rise sharply unless the Israeli authorities allow new fuel in – urgently, regularly and in sufficient quantities,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

An 11-week Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid earlier in the year pushed the enclave’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians towards famine and into a deepening humanitarian crisis. Limited aid deliveries resumed into the besieged enclave in May but aid groups have said it is not nearly enough to meet the scale of the needs.

The director of the Al-Ahli Hospital, south of Gaza City posted a photo on social media Wednesday of multiple newborn babies sharing a single incubator which was taken at another facility, Al-Helou.

“This tragic overcrowding is not just a matter of missing equipment — it’s a direct consequence of the relentless war on Gaza and the suffocating blockade that has crippled the entire healthcare system,” Dr. Fadel Naim wrote in a post on X.

“The siege has turned routine care for premature babies into a life-or-death struggle. No child should be born into a world where bombs and blockades decide whether they live or die.”

The director of Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza said the shortages were forcing them to close kidney dialysis sections so they could focus on intensive care and operating theatres.

Footage from inside the hospital showed doctors using flashlights as they treated patients.

Another facility, the Nasser Medical Complex, said it had 24 hours of fuel left and was concentrating on vital departments such as maternity and intensive care.

Fuel vital for basic services

In addition to fuel shortages, difficulty finding replacement parts for the generators that power Gaza’s hospitals risks is forcing more to shut down.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza issued an urgent statement that the facility’s main generator had broken down due to a lack of spare parts, forcing it to rely on a smaller backup unit.

“Fuel will run out within the coming hours, and the lives of hundreds of patients are at risk inside the hospital wards,” the statement said.

“The hospital’s shutdown threatens to disrupt healthcare services for half a million people in the Central Governorate.”

Beyond hospitals, fuel is essential to keep basic services running in Gaza. The territory relies heavily on imports for cooking, desalination and wastewater plants, and to power the vehicles used in rescue efforts.

Israel has restricted the entry of fuel throughout the conflict, and has previously claimed Hamas could use it to launch weapons.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned of what it called “an unprecedented humanitarian crisis” unfolding in Gaza, in a statement Tuesday and called for a ceasefire and the entry of far greater levels of humanitarian aid.

“Our teams have worked to treat the wounded and supply overwhelmed hospitals as indiscriminate attacks and a state of siege threaten millions of men, women and children,” MSF said.

“We urge Israeli authorities and the complicit governments that enable these atrocities, including the UK Government, to end the siege now and take action to prevent the erasure of Palestinians from Gaza.”

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Boeing delivered 60 airplanes last month, the most since December 2023, as the plane maker seeks to raise production of its bestselling 737 Max jets after a series of manufacturing and safety problems.

The tally was the highest since before a door plug from one of its new 737 Max 9 planes blew out midair in January 2024, sparking a new crisis for the company and slowing production and deliveries of aircraft. Of the monthly total, 42 were 737 Maxes, going to customers including Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines.

CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took the top job at Boeing last August, has said the company has made progress in improving production rates and quality on its factory lines.

For the three months ended June 30, Boeing handed over 150 airplanes, its best second quarter since 2018, before two crashes of Max planes five months apart grounded the jets and sparked a multiyear crisis at the top U.S. exporter. That was also the last year Boeing posted an annual profit. Its problems also gave rival Airbus a bigger lead over Boeing.

Boeing this spring had been producing about 38 Max aircraft a month and will need Federal Aviation Administration approval to go above that limit, which the agency set after the door plug accident. Ortberg said at a Bernstein investor conference in late May that he’s confident that the company could increase production to 42 of the jets a month.

The company booked 116 gross orders in June, or 70 net orders when including cancellations and accounting adjustments. Boeing often removes or adds orders to its backlog for a variety of reasons including customers’ financial health.

Boeing’s backlog stood at 5,953 as of June 30.

The manufacturer is set to report second-quarter financial results on July 29, when investors will be focused on Ortberg’s plan to increase production and aircraft deliveries.

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In a blockbuster report, the CIA has belatedly exposed the rank corruption among top intelligence officials who connived to frame President Donald Trump and drive him from office during his first term.  

Their pernicious lie was that Trump colluded with Russia to rig the 2016 presidential election in his favor. The principal piece of so-called evidence was a document known infamously as the dossier.  

It was secretly financed by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and Democrats, conceived by a foreign agent with a checkered past in espionage, and then brokered to solicitous collaborators at the FBI, CIA, the Department of Justice and the Trump-hating media.  

The dossier was garbage, of course. The FBI largely debunked it before Trump was even sworn in and fired its author, Christopher Steele, for lying as a confidential human source. But the bureau concealed those inconvenient facts under then-Director James Comey and deftly exploited the document as a cudgel to bludgeon the newly elected president.  

Comey was aided and abetted by others in the intelligence community, including CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. This malignant force of unelected officials plotted to smear Trump with what is surely the dirtiest trick in political history.  

Recently, current CIA Director John Ratcliffe declassified and released an internal agency review of the machinations that helped fuel the Russia hoax. In a statement posted on social media, Ratcliffe stated, ‘All the world can now see the truth: Brennan, Clapper and Comey manipulated intelligence and silenced career professionals — all to get Trump.’ 

Citing previously hidden records, the review concluded that Brennan, in particular, pushed for the phony dossier to be included in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) to catalyze a false narrative against Trump. Senior CIA experts on Russia objected but were sidelined and silenced.  

The CIA’s deputy director for analysis warned Brennan in writing that including the discredited dossier in any capacity jeopardized ‘the credibility of the entire paper.’ Brennan didn’t care. The fiction penned by the ex-British spy conformed to the director’s preconceived fable that Trump colluded with Russia.  

Putin says Russia is ‘ready’ for third round of peace talks with Ukraine as war continues

The ICA, which was ordered by President Barack Obama, was rushed to completion just days before Trump’s inauguration. Brennan directed its composition and handpicked the analysts who compiled the ersatz information. To stifle dissent, 13 other key intelligence agencies were deliberately excluded. To put it bluntly, Trump was set up.  

According to the new CIA review, Comey and Clapper were all in on the scheme. In an interview with the New York Post, Ratcliffe said, ‘This was Obama, Comey, Clapper and Brennan deciding ‘We’re going to screw Trump.’’ 

They knew the dossier was junk, which motivated them to prop it up as a reliable indictment of Trump. By incorporating it in the ICA they could leak and propagate both documents as mutual corroboration. It was a clever ruse. An illusion.  

Those of us who have long covered the bogus collusion story knew it long ago. In my 2019 book, ‘Witch Hunt,’ I recounted how Brennan ‘insisted that the dossier be included in the classified intelligence report,’ but then told Congress under oath that the dossier was ‘not in any way used as the basis for the intelligence community’s assessment.’ Clapper’s testimony was nearly identical.  

Here is what I wrote in chapter 2: 

‘Brennan and Clapper were spinning a deception. A prominent colleague contradicted them and produced documents as proof that they were not telling the truth. In a classified letter to Congress, National Security Agency director Michael Rogers disclosed that the uncorroborated document (the dossier) ‘did factor into the ICA’ report. Having been caught in a falsehood, Clapper then repudiated his earlier statement. Brennan continued to deny all of it, the contrary evidence notwithstanding.’  

Neither Brennan nor Clapper was ever prosecuted for perjury.  

None of that bothered news organizations. MSNBC promptly hired Brennan, while Clapper went to work for CNN. I described what they did from their media perches:  

Laura on radical lawfare and collusion: These officials are officially pathetic!

‘The two super spooks launched an all-out attack on Trump, exploiting their new television platforms to advance the toxic fiction that the president was a secret Russian asset who had ‘colluded’ with Putin. It didn’t matter to CNN that a House Intelligence Committee report determined that it had been Clapper who had leaked news of the phony dossier to the network before Trump had ever taken office.’  

The collusion narrative was a conspiracy itself. The collaborators knew it was a lie, but they manipulated the dossier and the ICA to peddle their fairy tale. With Hillary and her confederates, they engineered the hoax. Brennan even accused Trump of treason.  

Comey also knew the dossier was spurious, as I wrote in chapter 4:  

‘He knew exactly where the dossier came from and who paid for it. He used it as the primary basis for the warrants, used it as part of the nonpublic version of the intelligence community assessment, and used it to debrief President-elect Trump so that it could be leaked to the media in January 2017.’ 

They knew the dossier was junk, which motivated them to prop it up as a reliable indictment of Trump. By incorporating it in the ICA they could leak and propagate both documents as mutual corroboration. It was a clever ruse. An illusion.  

Comey’s decision to purloin and leak additional FBI documents triggered — just as he planned — the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his dilating investigation of Trump that hobbled his presidency for two years.  

On the day that Mueller issued his report concluding that there was no evidence of a Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy, the sheepish Brennan conceded, ‘I don’t know if I received bad information, but I think I suspected there was more than there actually was.’  

That’s quite the Jekyll-Hyde metamorphosis for a guy who enthusiastically endorsed the dossier and who kept claiming that ‘it was in line’ with his own CIA sources, in which he ‘had great confidence.’ That, too, was a fabrication, according to the newly released CIA review.  

What did Comey have to say?  In public, the master prevaricator dissembled and pleaded ignorance.  But before Congress, he was forced to admit that some of his actions would have been different had he known then what he knows now.  Not likely.  He was wedded to the artifice of collusion because he despised Trump. 

JD Vance blisters CNN’s Tapper for pushing Russian collusion narrative: Talked about it ‘nonstop’

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has vowed a reckoning. She told Fox News, ‘We are digging deep to find everything that has been related to this, and I guarantee you there are some U.S. attorneys who are eager to see what we are finding — in some cases are already working their own cases to bring about that necessary accountability.’  

Unless those who unscrupulously weaponized their immense power for political purposes are held to account, it will happen again. And again. The only remedy for lawlessness is justice.  

The reckoning awaits. 

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More than 200 kindergarten students in northwestern China were found to have abnormal blood lead levels after kitchen staff used paint as food coloring, authorities said, in a case that’s stoked outrage in a country long plagued by food safety scandals.

Eight people, including the principal of the private kindergarten that the children attended, have been detained “on suspicion of producing toxic and harmful food,” according to a report released Tuesday by Tianshui city government, as cited by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

The principal and a financial backer of the school had allowed kitchen staff at the Heshi Peixin Kindergarten to use paint pigments to color the children’s food, leading to contamination, according to the report, which followed a days-long but ongoing probe into the cases.

Of the 251 students enrolled at the kindergarten, 233 were found to have abnormal levels of lead in their blood, the report found. The children were undergoing medical treatment with 201 of them currently in hospital, authorities said. Medical evaluation on the effects of their exposure, which can cause long-term and developmental harm, were not yet made public.

Local media cited a pediatrics professor as saying aspects of the case suggest there could be chronic lead poisoning, meaning exposure over a period of more than three months.

During the investigation, two food samples from the kindergarten – a red date steamed breakfast cake and a sausage corn roll – were found to have lead levels more than 2,000 times the national food safety standard for contamination, according to figures cited in the investigation report.

Authorities said they launched the probe on July 1 after becoming aware of reports that children at the school had abnormal blood lead levels. Lead exposure in children can lead to severe consequences, including impacting children’s brain development, behavior and IQ.

The government report did not disclose how long the exposure had gone on, with some affected parents interviewed by state media saying they had noticed abnormal signs in their children’s health and behavior for months – and clamoring for more answers about how the exposure happened.

“My mind went blank,” a mother of one affected student told state media after learning from a hospital in a nearby city that her child had a blood lead level of 528 micrograms per liter – a revelation that came after she said a local department in Tianshui told her the blood levels were normal, according to a report published by outlet China National Radio (CNR). China’s National Health Agency classifies “severe lead poisoning” as anything above 450 micrograms per liter.

“Right now, I’m not thinking about compensation – I just want my child to be healthy,” she was quoted as saying.

‘How could they be poisoned so seriously?’

The case has raised all-too-familiar concerns in China about food safety as well as the levels of transparency with which such cases are handled – especially in a system where independent journalism is tightly controlled and officials are under pressure to resolve issues quickly.

Earlier this month, after the school conducted tests on the students but did not issue individual results, many parents took their children to Xi’an – a major city a roughly four-hour drive from Tianshui – for testing, according to a report published by a news outlet affiliated with the official People’s Daily.

Reports from state-affiliated media found that 70 children who were tested in Xi’an had blood lead levels surpassing the threshold of lead poisoning, with six of those cases exceeding 450 micrograms per liter. According to China’s official guidelines, this level is classified as “severe.” A full picture of the results from all the students with abnormal levels was not publicly available.

One mother told the People’s Daily-affiliated outlet that she had been confused by her daughter’s constant stomach aches, loss of appetite and behavioral changes over the past six months, which didn’t improve after treating her with traditional Chinese medicine.

Others expressed skepticism about the results of the official investigation.

“The children only eat three-color jujube steamed cake and corn sausage rolls once or twice a week, how could they be poisoned so seriously?” one mother, who gave her surname Wu, told CNR. “If something like this happened to the children in school, at least give us an explanation. Now there is nothing.”

Earlier this week, Tianshui’s mayor Liu Lijiang said the city would “do everything possible to ensure the children’s treatment, rehabilitation and follow-up protection,” while vowing to close “loopholes” in Tianshui’s public food safety supervision.

‘Serious accountability’

The case has led to widespread expressions of outrage across Chinese social media, the latest among dozens of high-profile scandals have been reported by local media since the early 2000s.

“Serious accountability must be maintained and food safety issues cannot be ignored or slacked off. When it involves the life safety of young children, severe punishment must be imposed,” wrote one commentator on the X-like platform Weibo.

“Children are the hope of a family. I hope they can recover soon and grow up healthily,” said another.

Past scandals have also impacted children. In one of the most egregious examples, six infants died and some 300,000 others were sickened by milk powder formula containing the toxic industrial chemical melamine. Several executives found to be responsible for the 2008 case were ultimately handed death sentences, and the tragedy drove deep mistrust of domestic products and food safety in China.

Lead poisoning used to be a more widespread issue in China. In 2010, the central government for the first time allocated special funds for heavy metal pollution prevention in response to at least 12 high-profile cases the previous year that left more than 4,000 people with elevated blood lead levels, according to state media.

Officials have also moved to tighten food safety regulations in recent years, but pervasive cases have shown more needs to be done in terms of enforcement and to build back public trust, experts say.

Improving the food regulatory system calls for “more transparency, more thorough investigation of food safety cases,” said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and author of the book “Toxic Politics: China’s Environmental Health Crisis and its Challenge to the Chinese State.”

Huang also said a lack of public confidence in the safety systems could evolve into a “trust crisis.”

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Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of its invasion, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, just hours after US President Donald Trump pledged more military support for Kyiv and accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of throwing “bullsh*t” over peace talks.

The massive aerial assault involved 741 drones, Ukraine’s Air Force said, eclipsing the previous record number of 539 drones, set on July 4, by hundreds – but it was largely repelled, with the damage limited and no immediate reports of deaths.

“This is a demonstrative attack, and it comes at a time when there have been so many attempts to achieve peace and cease fire, but Russia rejects everything,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

“Our partners know how to apply pressure so that Russia will be forced to think about ending the war, not new strikes. Everyone who wants peace must act.”

The barrage, which mainly targeted the city of Lutsk, in northwestern Ukraine, was so intense it caused Poland’s military to scramble aircraft in its airspace. It comes after weeks of intensifying aerial strikes on Ukraine by Russia.

“Last night, our region was again subjected to a mass attack,” Ivan Rudnitskyi, the head of the military administration in Volyn region, home to Lutsk, said on Telegram. “Virtually everything was flying towards Lutsk.”

Ukraine’s Air Force said it destroyed 718 of the drones. There were no immediate reports of fatalities. One woman was hospitalized with chest injuries in the city of Brovary, near Kyiv, its mayor said.

Ukraine launched 86 drones towards Russia overnight, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Moscow’s scaled up assault on Kyiv follows a remarkable 48 hours in the White House, where Trump vented his anger about Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s lack of commitment to a peace deal and pledged more support for Ukraine.

“We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said in a Cabinet meeting. “He’s very nice all of the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

Kyiv urgently needs more US-made Patriot interceptor missiles to repel Russian attacks.

“We’re going to send some more weapons (to Ukraine),” Trump said on Monday evening. “We have to — they have to be able to defend themselves.”

“They’re getting hit very hard. We’re going to have to send more weapons,” Trump added. “Defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard.”

A Pentagon spokesman later said that “at President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not inform Trump before authorizing the weapons pause last week, according to five sources familiar with the matter.

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More than 80 years ago, the crew of the USS New Orleans, having been hit by a Japanese torpedo and losing scores of sailors, performed hasty repairs with coconut logs, before an 1,800-mile voyage across the Pacific in reverse.

The front of the ship, or the bow, had sunk to the sea floor. But over the weekend, the Nautilus Live expedition from the Ocean Exploration Trust located it in 675 meters (2,214 feet) of water in Iron Bottom Sound in the Solomon Islands.

Using remotely operated underwater vehicles, scientists and historians observed “details in the ship’s structure, painting, and anchor to positively identify the wreckage as New Orleans,” the expedition’s website said.

On November 30, 1942, New Orleans was struck on its portside bow during the Battle of Tassafaronga, off Guadalcanal island, according to an official Navy report of the incident.

The torpedo’s explosion ignited ammunition in the New Orleans’ forward ammunition magazine, severing the first 20% of the 588-foot warship and killing more than 180 of its 900 crew members, records state.

The crew worked to close off bulkheads to prevent flooding in the rest of the ship, and it limped into the harbor on the island of Tulagi, where sailors went into the jungle to get repair supplies.

“Camouflaging their ship from air attack, the crew jury-rigged a bow of coconut logs,” a US Navy account states.

With that makeshift bow, the ship steamed – in reverse – some 1,800 miles across the Pacific to Australia for sturdier repairs, according to an account from the National World War II Museum in Louisiana.

“‘Difficult’ does not adequately describe the challenge,” Schuster said.

While a ship’s bow is designed to cut through waves, the stern is not, meaning wave action lifts and drops the stern with each trough, he said.

When the stern rises, rudders lose bite in the water, making steering more difficult, Schuster said.

And losing the front portion of the ship changes the ship’s center of maneuverability, or its “pivot point,” he said.

“That affects how the ship responds to sea and wind effects and changes the ship’s response to rudder and propellor actions,” he said.

The New Orleans’ officers would have had to learn – on the go – a whole new set of actions and commands to keep it stable and moving in the right direction, he said.

The ingenuity and adaptiveness that saved the New Orleans at the Battle of Tassafaronga enabled it to be a force later in the war.

After making it across the Pacific from Australia to the US naval yard at Puget Sound, Washington state – facing the right way this time – the New Orleans undertook permanent repairs. It later participated in actions across the Pacific, including the decisive battles of Saipan and Okinawa, which led to the US gaining airfields that enabled the final blows to be made on Imperial Japan.

The ship was awarded 17 battle stars for its actions in the Pacific, tying it for the third most such decorations in the Pacific theater, according to the World War II Museum.

The New Orleans’ bow was found during the 21-day Maritime Archaeology of Guadalcanal expedition of Iron Bottom Sound by Nautilus Live, a cooperative effort among NOAA Ocean Exploration, the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, the University of New Hampshire and the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Iron Bottom Sound was called Savo Sound before World War II, but Allied sailors gave it its current moniker for the huge numbers of warships that sank in battle there.

According to the expedition, five major naval battles were fought there between August and December 1942, resulting in the loss of more than 20,000 lives, 111 naval vessels and 1,450 planes on all sides.

Before the expedition, “fewer than 100 of these US, Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand military ships and planes have been located,” it says on its website.

The expedition began on July 2 and continues until July 23. Its continuing searches are being live streamed at nautiluslive.org.

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