Month: September 2024

In one of the deadliest Russian strikes since the war began, two ballistic missiles blasted a military academy and nearby hospital Tuesday in Ukraine, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 200 others. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian military forces on Tuesday launched missile strikes in the city of Poltava, a city of under 300,000 citizens located in Poltava Oblast in the east-central part of the country (about 75 miles from the Russian border, in a region known to be a regular target of Russian missile or drone strikes).

Reuters reports that Poltava Gov. Filip Pronon announced that at least 50 people were killed and 271 wounded in the strike as Ukraine’s defense ministry said that the missile strike caught people as they tried to evacuate.The missiles struck the Poltava Military Institute of Communication’s main building, causing several stories to collapse. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video posted on his Telegram channel: “People found themselves under the rubble. Many were saved. They targeted an educational institution, and a nearby hospital, partially destroying one of the telecommunications institute’s buildings.” Zelensky said “all necessary services” had been deployed to aid in the rescue operation, adding that he had ordered a “full and prompt investigation into all of the circumstances of what happened .. The Russian scum will surely pay for this strike.”

The Ukrainian defense ministry called the strike a ‘barbaric attack’ and added in a statement: “We express our sincere condolences to the families of the victims. This tragedy is yet another evidence of the enemy’s cunning, which stops at no crime to try to intimidate Ukrainians.”  The ministry added that emergency personnel managed to save 25 people, 11 of whom were trapped underneath the debris.

Ukraine’s land forces said military personnel had been killed: “the Land Forces Command is conducting an investigation to determine whether enough was done to protect the lives and health of the soldiers at the facility.” The strike followed Sunday’s airstrikes also by Russian military forces on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv which injured more than 40 people including five children.

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Federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday that Linda Sun – a former top-level aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul – schemed to advance the interests of China while working in New York State government. Sun had worked directly for Hochul’s administration for roughly 15 months following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2021 resignation from the governor’s office amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

The indictment charges Sun with failure to register as a foreign agent, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy. Prosecutors added that Sun’s husband, Christopher Hu, also allegedly facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain. According to federal prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York and the FBI,  Sun, 40, and Hu, 41, were arrested at their home on Long Island’s North Short on Tuesday morning on unspecified charges, after the FBI had searched the Manhasset home in July.

Sun worked in state government for about 15 years before she was fired last year from her job as deputy commissioner for strategic business development at the New York State Department of Labor. She previously served as Hochul’s deputy chief of staff and in the administration of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. According to Hochul’s press secretary Avi Small, Sun was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago, before being fired last year. Small said in a statement to ABC News: “we terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process.”

The indictment alleges that Sun blocked Taiwanese government officials from having access to high-level New York State officers, acting at the request of Chinese government officials and representatives of the Chinese Communist Party. According to the indictment, it is also alleged that Sun changed New York State officers’ messaging about China and arranged meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with New York State government officials. In return for these and other actions, Sun allegedly received economic and other benefits from China, including the facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the China-based business activities of Hu; travel benefits; tickets to events; promotion of a close family friend’s business; employment for Sun’s cousin in the PRC; and Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a PRC government official’s personal chef that were delivered to the residence of Sun’s parents.

United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement: “As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as Deputy Chief of Staff within the New York State Executive Chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP. The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars.”

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Two people were killed and four others injured after a man drove his car through a restaurant patio in a Minneapolis suburb over the weekend (per The Associated Press.)

The man drove his car through a restaurant patio where a group of medical workers were celebrating in a Minneapolis suburb on Sunday, with surveillance footage captured the unidenfitied man driving into the outdoor patio of the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park, located west of Minneapolis. The footage shows the man entering the restaurant parking lot on Sunday evening but not going inside. He attempted to park, then drove into the outdoor patio.

The driver was arrested for criminal vehicular homicide. Police did not offer additional details on a potential motive, nor did they identify the victims. In a written statement on Monday, Annelise Heitkamp, a spokesperson for Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, said one of the people who died and the four who were injured worked at the facility. Said Heitkamp: “Following the tragic incident at Park Tavern, we’re grieving the loss of a loved and respected colleague and friend to many here at Methodist Hospital and HealthPartners. Our thoughts are with our colleague’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

A spokesperson for HealthPartners, a healthcare nonprofit that operates Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, told KARE-TV that nurses and staffers from the facility were among the victims.  Dr. Thomas Stark from Methodist Hospital told KSTP-TV that the group of colleagues went to Park Tavern on Sunday night to celebrate with one of the nurses, who was leaving her role for a new position. Park Tavern owner Phil Weber also told the news station that the second person who died is Kristina Folkerts, 30, a server at the restaurant.

The Minnesota State Patrol said that a law enforcement investigation into the episode is ongoing.

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Officials confirmed that four people were killed in a shooting early Monday on a Chicago Transit Authority train in Forest Park, Illinois.

The Forest Park Police Department said in a Facebook post that they received a 911 call around 5:27 a.m. about three people shot on a westbound train at the CTA Blue Line station at 711 Desplaines Avenue, Forest Park, just west of Chicago, around 5:30 a.m. local time. Authorities cleared the station, finding four victims — three were pronounced dead on scene, and the fourth was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where they died.

Forest Park police, along with CTA security, used video surveillance to help identify the offender; with Chicago Police later locating the suspect who matched the description on a CTA Pink Line train. The subject was taken into custody and a firearm was found. According to Forest Park officials, only one suspect is believed to have been involved in the shooting, which was targeted.

The CTA said in a Monday afternoon news briefing that the incident was a “heinous and egregious act of violence” that “should never have occurred, none the less on a public transit train. As soon as it was reported, CTA immediately deployed resources to assist the Forest Park Police in their investigation into the matter, including review of all possible security camera footage, which proved to be vital in aiding local enforcement.”

The CTA said it will continue to work with local law enforcement regarding the ongoing investigation.

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