[Just The News] The FBI shared new information Friday pertaining to President Donald Trump's would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks,
…sometimes merely Thomas Crooks (2003 – July 13, 2024), the bright, pimply-faced incel was the child of professional counselors, which did not stop him from being bullied. Registered Republican but donating via ActBlue and highly active in the hateful corners of social media, his father noticed his mental deterioration in his last months, but was it blossoming mental illness or drugs, both of which show up in his family history, or something else? He worked as a kitchen aide in a nursing home until he was killed by Secret Service counter snipers when he tried to assassinate President Trump at a campaign stop…
releasing text messages he shared with an unidentified person related to a 3D printer he used to build a firearm.
The information was released through a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act request and contained text messages the bureau determined were "pertinent" to the investigation.
The 20-year-old fired on Trump in July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a presidential campaign speech, grazing his ear, and seen live on TV. An attendee at the rally was killed while attempting to shield his family. Crooks, who fired his shots from a nearby rooftop, was shot dead almost immediately.
Unredacted text messages were exchanged a year before the shooting, where the unknown contact texted Crooks in February 2023, asking "did you 3D print the parts?" to which Crooks replied that he did minus the "fan blades."
It was not clear what the two people were referring to but they moved on from the printer to discuss classes at separate colleges, according to the New York Post.
The messages also revealed Crooks was close enough to the individual that the pair traded gifts for Christmas 2022, though it was not clear what the gifts consisted of.
[BB] Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae announced this week that her government will establish Japan’s first national security agency with an eye toward creating an external intelligence operation similar to the American CIA.
Takaichi made the announcement at the first meeting of a 17-member expert panel on intelligence and counterespionage on Monday. She said it was time for Japan to step up its game on intelligence gathering because of the sophisticated threats surrounding it.
“In the region surrounding Japan, China and North Korea are strengthening their military capabilities while we are also seeing closer cooperation between China and Russia, as well as between Russia and North Korea,” she told reporters after the meeting.
“We must strengthen our intelligence capabilities to ensure public safety and protect the national interest,” she declared.
The victorious Allies dismantled most of Japan’s spy networks after World War II, and the pacifist postwar Japanese public was not enthusiastic about rebuilding an intelligence gathering machine. The United States agreed to provide foreign intelligence as part of its security arrangement with Japan as a patchwork of small agencies scattered through the Japanese bureaucracy handled local matters.
This state of affairs persisted until the mid-1980s, when modern Japan launched its first centralized intelligence agency, the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO). This office did not dramatically expand national intel operations, although it provided central organization. Japan did not even have a solid system for classifying state secrets until 2013.
CIRO plugged along for decades, surviving without reforms even after Japan grew more concerned about terrorism during the rise of the Islamic State. The game changer was a dramatic increase in Chinese espionage following the election of the hawkish Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, in October 2025.
The Chinese Communist regime expressed loathing toward Takaichi after she said in November 2025 that Japan might respond to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. China has been nearly psychopathic in its fury against Japan ever since the prime minister made that comment.
Japan is also increasingly worried about Russia, which has some territorial disputes with Tokyo and has demonstrated considerable belligerence since invading Ukraine in 2022. After the Ukrainian invasion, most Western countries made a point of booting as many Russian spies as possible from their soil — and a lot of those dislodged spies ended up in Japan, often using jobs with Russia’s Aeroflot airline as cover.
The Russians proceeded to go on an industrial espionage binge, stealing Japanese technology to use against Ukraine. A disturbing number of Japanese components that were restricted from export to Russia have been turning up in the debris from Russian missiles that struck Ukrainian buildings.
Takaichi mentioned the theft of advanced technology by foreign intelligence operatives as one reason for creating the security agency in her remarks on Monday. She also cited the danger of foreign influence and disinformation operations.
In May 2026, the Japanese parliament approved the creation of a successor agency to the CIRO called the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB). At around the same time, Japan loosened its restrictions on exporting lethal weapons and established a board to review foreign investments comparable to the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States, which further angered China. Taken together, these measures signaled a shift under Takaichi to a more aggressive defense policy.
The NIB was explicitly intended to become an intelligence service on par with the CIA and other members of the “Five Eyes” Western intelligence alliance. The NIB and its supervisory agency, the National Intelligence Council — which the prime minister personally chairs — were officially established in July, and are scheduled to receive an influx of personnel, funding, and legal authority in the coming months. Takaichi has expressed a desire to have the NIB playing on the same level as the CIA by March 2028.
[FOX] The Canadian-registered aircraft is owned by Latitude Air Ambulance, according to records from the Official Canadian Civil Aircraft Register database reviewed by Fox News Digital.
Latitude Air Ambulance is a medical transport company that brings patients home from around the world when they require specialized care. The company did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The U.S. Coast Guard is looking for a plane with six people on board that disappeared Saturday morning while en route to Boston from Bermuda.
Authorities are searching for the Gulfstream G100, a twin-engine, mid-size jet, off the coast of Nantucket. Both air and surface crews have been deployed to the area, according to the Coast Guard Northeast District.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported losing contact with the aircraft early Saturday, the Coast Guard said.
According to data from FlightAware, the plane took off from Bermuda L.F. Wade International Airport at 11:41 p.m. ET. The FAA told Fox News Digital it issued a Search and Rescue Alert Notice at about 1:20 a.m. ET.
While classified as a super-light jet, the G100’s impressive range rivals some midsize jets and it can fly non-stop from Seattle to New York and Singapore to Tokyo.
About this aircraft
Originally called the Astra SPX, the first variation of the Gulfstream G100 was the IAI 1125 Astra in 1989, with subsequent upgrades including the IAI 1125 Astra SP and IAI 1125 Astra SPX. It was renamed the G100 after Gulfstream took over marketing for the aircraft in 2001.
The interior is typically configured for seven passengers, with an extra seat in the enclosed lavatory if required.
The Gulfstream G100 was designed to travel long distances and newer versions boast coast-to-coast range in the United States.
Models fitted with an extension fuel tank have baggage space for six suitcases, while those without one can fit even more.
#4
US Coast Guard searches for medical aircraft carrying six from Bermuda to Boston Oct 3 (Reuters) - A medical transfer aircraft carrying six people was reported missing on a flight from Bermuda to Boston, the US Coast Guard said on Saturday.
The Federal Aviation Administration told the Coast Guard early on Saturday that it had lost contact with the plane, a Gulfstream jet, a Coast Guard spokesperson said by email.
Four Canadians are on the plane, Canadian Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon said on X.
"We are closely monitoring the situation and are working with the relevant authorities as search and rescue efforts continue," he wrote.
The aircraft, registered to Latitude Air Ambulance, departed Bermuda at 12:41 a.m. local time, according to data from flight tracking website FlightAware. The plane was flying at 24,000 feet (7,300 metres) for much of the flight before descending 13,000 feet in about two minutes shortly before flight controllers lost contact, data showed.
Local TV station Boston 25 posted an audio clip from Boston Logan International Airport in which an air traffic controller can be heard asking the Gulfstream pilot, "You said you're coming in blind? Is that what you said?"
The controller then asked whether the plane was declaring an emergency. No response was heard.
Latitude is based in Ontario, Canada, and provides medical evacuation services. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Coast Guard said it dispatched air and surface crews to search for the plane near Nantucket, an island community south of mainland Massachusetts.
Two hero NYPD cops saved a 10-month-old boy who was choking to death in the Bronx last week — and were visited by the grateful mother and infant in an emotional reunion Friday.
Officers Julio Arias and Karolin Abreu Garcia of the South Bronx were responding to another call on Sept. 26 when someone suddenly stopped them near Grand Concourse and East 168th Street, cops said.
“Baby not breathing,” the person frantically yelled to the officers and pointed toward a nearby apartment building, Garcia said.
Arias took the baby — and began slapping his back to force out whatever was blocking his airway.
“I was giving him the backslaps,” Arias said during the reunion with Montana and her baby boy outside the 44th Precinct.
“I had felt something fall off, and that’s when he started crying, started breathing again.”
The officers made sure Jheyler was taken to a hospital, then later returned to check on him, she said.
At Friday’s reunion, Montana greeted the officers as “mis héroes” — my heroes in Spanish — when she saw them outside the precinct.
WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - California, New York and two dozen other states, cities and counties sued the US Transportation Department on Friday over its decision this week to finalize sharply lower vehicle fuel economy standards in a win for gasoline-powered vehicles.
The revised standards seek to reverse former President Joe Biden's push toward greater fuel efficiency and electric vehicles. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the new rules violate requirements that the standards be set at the maximum feasible level. A coalition of environmental and consumer groups also filed a separate lawsuit challenging the new rules.
The new standards will cut the cost of new vehicles but increase fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for decades, according to the department's estimates.
The states — which also include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Washington — as well as the District of Columbia, New York City, Chicago and Denver and several environmental groups, filed suits in the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
#1
CAFE standards were a push to eliminate affordable cars and freedom. Leftists are big mad. China would have taken over our automotive sector. Some leftist judge will side with the commies.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/03/2026 10:54 Comments ||
Top||
[GaroweOnline] Æthiopian federal forces and allied militias are advancing toward Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, as fighting intensifies between the government and an armed alliance led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Rooters reported Friday.
The pro-government Tigray Peace Forces militia said it had captured Milazat, a town about 20 kilometres (12 miles) southeast of Mekelle. Videos posted on social media appeared to show fighters in the town, but Rooters said it could not independently verify the footage. Æthiopian government and military officials, as well as the TPLF, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reported advance.
The Æthiopian military and allied forces have reported rapid advances in Tigray since fighting erupted again last week. The renewed conflict is the most serious escalation in the region since the 2020-2022 war between the federal government and the TPLF, which killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Fear was growing in Mekelle on Friday as residents prepared for the possibility that the fighting could reach the city. Two residents told Rooters that banks and most shops had closed. A diplomatic source also said some senior TPLF leaders had already left Mekelle, although the source said fighting could continue even if federal forces captured the regional capital.
TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael acknowledged that federal forces had taken control of parts of Tigray but said his forces would launch a counterattack. The latest fighting follows the formation by the TPLF and six other Æthiopian gangs of an alliance that says it seeks to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government.
The escalation has coincided with a sharp deterioration in Æthiopia's relations with Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... . Addis Ababa said Thursday it was closing its embassy in Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave Æthiopia within 48 hours, accusing Eritrea of acts of hostility. Eritrea subsequently announced that it was severing diplomatic ties with Æthiopia. The two countries fought a border war between 1998 and 2000 before restoring diplomatic relations in 2018.
Æthiopia has also accused Eritrea, Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... and Egypt of supporting the armed opposition alliance, allegations all three countries have denied. The diplomatic dispute with Egypt escalated this week after Æthiopia expelled an Egyptian diplomat, prompting Cairo to expel an Æthiopian embassy counsellor in a reciprocal move.
The African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Commission has urged Æthiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to exercise maximum restraint and resolve their differences through diplomatic channels and peaceful dialogue, warning against actions that could worsen regional tensions.
The fighting has also raised concerns about a wider regional conflict. Tigray borders Eritrea to the north and Sudan to the west, while Sudan has been engulfed in a civil war for more than three years. Explosions were heard in Addis Ababa late Wednesday, with a source linked to the opposition alliance claiming that drones had targeted federal military facilities and other sites. Rooters said it could not independently verify the claim.
The renewed conflict comes as Tigray remains fragile after the 2022 peace agreement that ended the previous war. Humanitarian and communications disruptions have already been reported, while the advance toward Mekelle has increased fears of another major battle for the regional capital.
[France24] In recent months, the eastern Central African Republic has been hit by several attacks attributed to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan militia infamous for its massacres and mass abductions of children in the 1990s and 2000s. The group's leader, Joseph Kony ... The Lords Resistance Army is a religious and military group formed in 1987. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, and who is periodically possessed by demons, Beelzebub and Legion prominent among them. Kony advises his soldiers to draw crosses on their chests as a protection against bullets. This does't work, but nobody outside the LRA minds. The group is based on a hodge podge of apocalyptic Christianity, mysticism, and traditional Acholi religion, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on an odd interpretation of the Ten Commandments. The LRA is famous for systematic criminal conduct, including murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and children, forcing children to participate in hostilities, and occasional cannibalism. The LRA operates mainly in northern Uganda and also in parts of Sudan, Central African Republic and DR Congo. As of 2022, he is reported to be hiding in Darfur.... , wanted by the International Criminal Court for more than 20 years, remains at large. FRANCE 24 spoke to Leonie von Braun, the ICC’s lead investigator on the Kony case, about the group's resurgence.
A former altar boy and self-proclaimed messiah, prophet and messenger of God, Kony founded the rebel group in 1987 with the aim of overthrowing Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and establishing a theocratic regime based on the ten commandments in the Bible.
The LRA's bloody insurgency is one of Africa's longest and most brutal conflicts.
It has claimed more than 100,000 lives and displaced more than two million people, mainly in northern Uganda, according to the UN.
RESURGENCE IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Driven out of the country in 2006 by the national army, the group gradually faded from the public eye, although it remains active in isolated border areas of Central Africa.
But in recent months, the LRA has once again made headlines. Central African authorities are concerned about a resurgence of attacks in the east and southeast of the country. At least 25 children have been abducted there during several raids on villages in attacks attributed to Kony’s notorious militia.
FRANCE 24 spoke to Leonie von Braun, Senior Trial Lawyer at the ICC and lead investigator in the Joseph Kony case, about the group's resurgence.
The Lord’s Resistance Army seemed to have virtually disappeared in recent years. How do you interpret these new attacks?
Leonie von Braun: The LRA is much less powerful than it was in the 2000s. The organisation used to be highly hierarchical, with four brigades, each estimated to have several hundred fighters. Today, they operate on a much smaller scale.
However, they remain active, employing a survival strategy very similar to the one used in northern Uganda and, later, when they were driven out of their country, in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In the Central African Republic, we are seeing attacks on villages located in the region where they have set up their camps. Civilians are being abducted and enslaved.
This information shows that they are still armed and ready to commit acts of violence. The more people they abduct, the stronger they become. They have always acted this way. They kidnap children because they are easy to indoctrinate, and they turn them into fighters. Within a few years, they have soldiers capable of handling rifles and throwing grenades.
Even though the LRA has been weakened, the risk remains very high for local populations due to these kinds of organisations, which are willing to commit the worst atrocities to ensure their survival.
You mention the recruitment of children, yet this movement defines itself as Christian. Is this recruitment based on religious grounds?
The LRA has its origins in another Ugandan rebel movement, the “Holy Spirit Movement", founded in the 1980s by a woman named Alice Auma. She called herself Lakwena, after the “spirit” from whom she claimed to receive orders. This group had already attempted – and failed – to overthrow the government.
Joseph Kony subsequently took control of it. The LRA is not a Christian movement in the strict sense but a syncretic movement that blends Christianity with local beliefs. Its leader uses belief in spirits to instill fear among his troops. But indoctrination is carried out primarily through violence.
Children are subjected to initiation rites – extremely violent acts that literally break them – and then the rules are explained to them. For example, dropping a pot of food is punished with severe beatings, just as is refusing to have sex with a commander. An escape attempt is tantamount to death or a near-death experience. Children are subjected to a system of the most severe disciplinary measures, with numerous rules designed to extract total obedience from them.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Joseph Kony in 2005. He has been the subject of an intense manhunt, including by the United States, which offered a $5 million reward for any information leading to his capture. How can we explain the fact that he is still on the run?
There have been massive media campaigns on social media calling for his arrest, particularly around 2012 and when the United States deployed US special forces to Central Africa to track him down.
His ability to stay under the radar can be attributed to several factors. On the one hand, his knowledge of the terrain and his in-depth understanding of the region’s geography; on the other hand, his ability to endure hardship.
This is not, of course, meant to praise him, but it must be acknowledged that Joseph Kony has demonstrated extreme physical and psychological resilience. He has taught the members of his group how to survive in the bush under extremely difficult conditions, how to anticipate changes in the area, and has managed to set up an intelligence network – technologically unsophisticated but highly effective – to evade surveillance and, above all, continue carrying out criminal operations.
Furthermore, the very nature of this group poses a major problem because it includes a large number of children. Any planning for an operation must take into account the risk faced by those who are unarmed, who are not combatants, and who are in no way responsible for their situation. It is therefore essential to find the right moment to act. The situation is made all the more complicated by the fact that it is difficult to obtain reliable and up-to-date information about this group.
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab said on Friday that it plans to change its Mac operating system to make it more obvious when AI agents ask to access all of the data on Macs.
Some users have criticized Meta's (META.O), opens new tab Muse, an AI agent capable of carrying out complex tasks like canceling unused subscriptions or haggling for better prices. These people claimed the agent accessed what users believed to be private messages.
On Apple's iPhones and iPads, no single app can access data inside another app by default, a technique called sandboxing. But Apple's Macs are more flexible, with a "Full Disk Access" option that allows apps such as cloud backup services to access all the data on a machine, with a user's permission.
Apple on Friday said some developers were using the Full Disk Access feature in ways that could put users at risk.
"Going forward, we will introduce additional controls to ensure that users who genuinely wish to grant an app this extraordinary level of access can only do so with very explicit user action," Apple wrote in a post, opens new tab. So no fix on 'patch Tuesday'.
"As AI agents become increasingly capable and autonomous, the risks associated with this level of access will grow substantially. We are committed to ensuring users clearly understand these risks before granting such access, so they can make informed decisions about their own data and privacy."
Apple's move comes after Inc magazine technology columnist Jason Aten accused Meta's Muse, opens new tab of reading private messages on his Mac. He said he had not enabled Full Disk Access.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone pushed back against those claims last week, saying Muse's access to Apple's Messages app is strictly opt-in.
"You have to enable both Full Disk Access and the Messages connector for Muse to be able to read your Messages content," Stone wrote on social media platform X, opens new tab. "It can't read your Messages unless you do this. And it can be revoked at any time."
#1
Update release cycle for Windows clients Windows updates help you to stay productive and protected. They provide your users and IT administrators with the security fixes they need, and protect devices so that unpatched vulnerabilities can't be exploited. Updates for the Windows client OS are typically cumulative. They include all previously released fixes to guard against fragmentation of the operating system. Reliability and vulnerability issues can occur when only a subset of fixes is installed.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
... The Lords Resistance Army is a religious and military group formed in 1987. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the 
BREAKING: Israel says pilot tried to hijack flydubai flight to Tel Aviv that diverted, landed in Saudi Arabia
