YEEEEES!!! ‘Huge Numbers’ of Kids Refusing to Test or Wear Masks – much to the despair of this useless and clueless system-minded, system-serving, union official

“Huge numbers” of pupils at 6 NW secondary schools are refusing to do LFTs and wear masks according to @NASUWT teaching union. It says one Lancashire school has only 67 children out of 1,300 willing to follow guidance. The union is calling for testing and masks to be compulsory pic.twitter.com/soxfEuVdvI

— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) January 5, 2022

Chinese scientist pleads guilty over theft of US trade secrets

The former Monsanto employee is accused of stealing American agriculture technology while resident in the US to benefit the government in Beijing

A Chinese national has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit economic espionage after he was accused of attempting to steal trade secrets from American agrochemical company Monsanto while residing in the US.

Xiang Haitao, 44, “conspired to steal a trade secret” from the company “for the purpose of benefiting a foreign government, namely the People’s Republic of China,” the US Justice Department claimed in a statement on Thursday.

Xiang allegedly attempted to steal the trade secret while working as a scientist for Monsanto in the state of Missouri, where the company is headquartered. After Xiang left his job, he allegedly purchased a one-way flight ticket to China and authorities found a copy of Monsanto’s ‘Nutrient Optimizer’ algorithm – which the company considers to be a trade secret – on one of his electronic devices.

The accused pleaded guilty to the charge this week and faces up to 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine. He is set to be sentenced on April 7.

“We cannot allow US citizens or foreign nationals to hand sensitive business information over to competitors in other countries,” said US Attorney Sayler Fleming, calling such crimes “a danger to the US economy” and “our national security.”

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Harvard professor convicted over China & Wuhan university ties

FBI Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler Jr. identified “the American worker” as the chief victim “when adversaries, like the government of China, steal technology to grow their economies.”

“It’s not just military technology developed in secret labs that adversaries want; in this case, it was agricultural technology used by American farmers to improve crop yields,” he warned.

The guilty plea is the latest victory in the US Justice Department’s war on alleged Chinese interference.

Last month, the former head of Harvard University’s chemistry department was found guilty on several charges over his ties to China and the Wuhan Institute of Technology.

Interview with gang boss costs two journalists their lives

The media workers were targeted by members of a rival crime group in a turbulent area outside Haiti’s capital

Two journalists were assassinated after interviewing a gang leader on the outskirts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday as members of a rival criminal group opened fire on them.

Three journalists, working for online outlets and a radio station, arrived in the Laboule 12 area on the day for an interview with one of the local crime lords.

Shortly after the meeting had ended, they were attacked by a rival gang. Two journalists identified as Amady John Wesley and Wilkens Louissaint were shot dead, while their colleague was lucky to escape.

Banditisme : Deux journalistes tués à Laboule 12 https://t.co/6X6HXLT1ut

— Haiti24 (@Haiti24_) January 6, 2022

The bandits then burned the bodies of their victims, according to reports in the local media.

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Haitian gang leader claiming to have US missionary hostages threatens to kill ‘these Americans’ in YouTube video

Several armed gangs are currently fighting for control of Laboule 12, a strategic area, through which one of the key routes to the southern part of the Caribbean country lies.

The chaotic situation with organized crime has deteriorated even further in one the world’s most impoverish nations since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise six months ago.

The gangs have expanded their activities beyond the poorer neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, with police lacking the resources and manpower required to counter them.

There were at least 950 kidnappings in the country in 2021 alone, according to human rights groups.