In his address to the UN General Assembly, US President Donald Trump said that the Cuban government is a failed state currently under enormous pressure: “My administration seeks a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba… It is an absolute failed state… and it will fall. Marco Rubio is leading the negotiations.”
In response, the Cuban delegation stood up and walked out of the plenary session in protest. Trump continued: “Cuba is a haven for foreign adversaries who threaten America right on our doorstep… The Cuban regime has also spent decades coordinating with left-wing radicals and communist networks here in the United States… They have cultivated ties with subversive and radical groups.”
The remarks did not go over well in Havana, where the government has categorically rejected the US right-wing leader’s statements. Leading the response is the country’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who asserted that freedom in Cuba is non-negotiable.
“Freedom came to Cuba on January 1, 1959, [the date the Cuban Revolution began], and we are not going to lose it; we are going to defend it. Once again, we are seeing the true face of that empire and its contempt for the peoples of Latin America – and in particular for Cuba and the Cuban Revolution – because of what it represents.”
Díaz-Canel made the remarks on a program called Criterio Compartido on Radio Rebelde. In them, Díaz-Canel described Trump’s statements as “arrogant,” “high-handed,” and “interventionist.”
He also asserted that behind Trump’s thinking lies a justification for a certain view of US imperialism: “what most underpins that genocidal, criminal, and contemptuous mindset toward Cuba and the Cuban people.”
Regarding the label of “failed state,” the leader of the Communist Party of Cuba said: “They are always trying to label us a failed state to shift the blame for the genocide they are committing with that intensified and prolonged blockade.”
Díaz-Canel is referring not only to the long and sustained economic and commercial blockade that the United States unilaterally imposed on Cuba in an effort to defeat the revolution that began in 1959. In US President Donald Trump’s first term, he imposed an additional 243 sanctions on the Caribbean island and added Cuba to the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSoT) list, which devastated the Cuban economy. In January 2026, Trump further tightened the grip by imposing an energy blockade on Cuba.
Since early 2026, following the US attack on Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and the deaths of more than 100 people – including several dozen Cubans – Cuba lost one of its main energy partners, which used to supply crude oil to the Cuban power grid.
Since then, only one Russian ship has managed to circumvent the US blockade; the United States is currently threatening to impose additional tariffs on any country that sells fuel to Cuba. This has triggered Cuba’s worst energy crisis, which is hindering the normal operation of hospitals, schools, and food production, among other essential activities.
Cuba has denounced the blockade as a form of “silent genocide,” specifically because of the direct humanitarian consequences it is having on the civilian population, which has seen a reduction not only in its electricity supply but also in access to surgeries, water, food, and so on.
In this regard, Díaz-Canel has once again emphasized on X that Cuba does not pose a threat to the United States; rather, it is the United States that is endangering Cuba’s civilian population: “Unable to justify the punishment against the people of Cuba and its genocidal economic war, the US president repeats at the UN that Cuba poses a threat. Lies are the weapon of those who refuse to accept the Cuban people’s right to self-determination.”
He concluded: “We will continue to fight for peace, defend our sovereignty, and work together to overcome the ruthless aggression imposed on us by the US government. Cuba is not a threat, the blockade is.”
Il viaggio di Leone XIV in Francia si apre con un contrasto reale, ma più complesso di una rottura diplomatica: Parigi ha cercato di valorizzare la dimensione istituzionale e presidenziale ...
Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.
This week’s caption reads:
BERLIN, GERMANY JUNE 16: Heavy iron doors between different rooms during a media event on June 16, 2026, at the former Cold War-era Pankstraße subway station, now used as a nuclear fallout shelter. Built in the 1970s, the bunker offers sleeping accommodations for 3,339 people, has independent water and electricity supplies, and is hermetically sealed off from the outside world by massive steel doors. The bunker will be open to the public as part of guided tours of Berlin’s underground. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rekindled German authorities’ interest in providing nuclear fallout shelters in the event of war. (Photo: Carsten Koall/Getty Images)
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Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an inflammatory address to the United Nations on Thursday, decrying what he said was a global anti-Jewish conspiracy and swatting aside criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Israeli settler gangs are using drones to terrorize Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, harassing families and guiding armed raids that have killed Palestinians, TheNew Arab(TNA)reported on 25 September.
“When herders left their homes in the morning, the drones would pursue and shadow them; if they approached certain areas, settlers would gather to attack and drive them away. Eventually, the drones began monitoring residents inside their homes around the clock, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop them,” Rabie Abu Naim, a displaced resident of Al-Khalayel, east of Ramallah, told TNA.
Settlers later rigged the drones with speakers blaring abuse and orders to leave, and drones were also used to drop tear gas on targeted communities, as violent assaults wounded many until terrified families fled, the report said.
Abu Naim also pointed to the killing of a boy and a young man in Al-Mughayyir days ago, saying drones “played a major role” in a raid that began with a drone tracking a flock of sheep, after which settlers moved in to steal the animals while shielded by the Israeli army, which “killed the two victims in cold blood during the incident.”
In Mikhmas, shepherd Mohammed Abu Siyam told TNA that settlers sent a drone after his 19-year-old son, Nasrallah, and other young men searching for livestock stolen from the village in February.
With the drone watching their every move, armed illegal settlers lay in wait for the young men, then opened fire, killing Nasrallah and wounding others.
Another Palestinian living in Hajjah, near Qalqilya, told TNA that settler drones fly so close to village homes that families fear the machines will crash through their windows, leaving residents under constant watch and feeling that “privacy is non-existent, and everyone feels constantly threatened.”
Illegal Israeli settlement councils have recently begun arming settlers with drones to film, scout, and watch the areas around outposts, building on earlier Israeli funding that equipped outposts with drones as part of a so-called security package.
Palestinians, meanwhile, are barred from owning drones even for their work, and the Israeli army has arrested numerous Palestinian photojournalists over the past three years for having them, citing a military order that has banned Palestinians from possessing the devices since 2017.
Israeli occupation forces have also raided toy shops across West Bank cities dozens of times, confiscating every drone on the shelves, including those made for children, and threatening shop owners with arrest if they sell them.
In May, OCHA documented settlers using drones to chase residents of Arab al-Mleihat, a community since emptied.
Salah al-Khawaja of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission told TNA that the constant surveillance of Palestinian homes can become “an additional factor driving families to leave the areas where they live.”
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Geneva – The Israeli military continues to use armed quadcopter drones to carry out deliberate killings of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has documented the killing of at least 60 civilians by gunfire from these drones or by munitions dropped by them since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 through early September 2026.
The repeated occurrence of these incidents after the ceasefire, and the targeting of children, displaced people, farmers, shepherds, and people returning to check on their homes, reveals a continuing pattern of the deliberate killing of Palestinian civilians, in which Israel employs military technology capable of identifying specific individuals, tracking their movements, and striking them with precision, despite the clear civilian status of those targeted and their non-participation in hostilities or posing of any imminent threat to Israeli forces or others.
Quadcopters are small, multi-rotor tactical drones, some systems of which can be operated by a single soldier. They can be equipped with daytime and thermal cameras, target-identification and tracking systems, and weapon stabilization systems. Depending on the mission, some models can also be fitted with 5.56mm and 7.62mm weapons or 40mm explosive munitions, enabling the operator to closely monitor individuals, track their movements, and then fire at them or drop munitions toward them with a high degree of accuracy.
These technical capabilities give the operator the ability to observe the targeted person, verify their identity, and track their movements before opening fire. This greatly narrows the margin for error in target identification and heightens the obligation to refrain from an attack when the civilian nature of the target becomes apparent or when there is any doubt as to their status. The repeated killing of children, displaced people, farmers, and shepherds by direct gunfire or munitions dropped from these drones, despite their clear civilian status and absence of any direct participation in hostilities or imminent threat, therefore provides, taken together, strong evidence that civilians themselves were intentionally selected as targets of attack, rather than being killed as a result of mistaken identification or accidentally struck. Such attacks are prohibited in themselves and cannot be justified by military necessity or subjected to a proportionality assessment, since a direct attack against a civilian is prohibited from the outset and cannot be made lawful by invoking military necessity or the rules of proportionality.
The data Euro-Med Monitor has collected shows that at least 60 civilians have been killed in attacks carried out by quadcopters since the ceasefire, while Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during the same period had reached 1,368 as of the date of the statement.
Field monitoring revealed three main patterns in the use of these drones. The first involved precise and direct gunfire against individuals whom the operator could see and distinguish; the second involved dropping explosive munitions on civilian gatherings and tents housing displaced people; and the third involved using these drones to impose fire control over areas adjacent to what is known as the “Yellow Line,” by targeting civilians as they attempted to reach their homes and lands or carry out their work there.
Under the first pattern, Euro-Med Monitor’s field team documented the killing of 12-year-old Abdullah Nour Saeed Dawas on the evening of 11 April 2026, after a quadcopter opened direct fire on displaced people in the vicinity of Abu Hussein Schools and Al-Fakhoura Health Centre in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. It also documented the killing of 26-year-old Fatima Al-Zahra Ramzi Ahmed Al-Ma’ni by fire from the same type of drone east of Deir al-Balah on 21 May 2026. It further documented the killing of 62-year-old Nidal Eid Salmi Abu Halib on 11 October 2025, after an Israeli quadcopter opened direct fire on him while he was heading to inspect his family’s home in Al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis.
Under the second pattern, Euro-Med Monitor documented the killing of at least three civilians on 6 December 2025 after a quadcopter dropped an explosive munition on a group of civilians near Al-Atatra roundabout in Beit Lahia. It also documented the killing of Fadi Adel Khalif on 20 February 2026 after an Israeli drone dropped a bomb on his tent in the northern Gaza Strip, and the killing of 52-year-old Inaam Abdullah Al-Attar on 17 July 2026 after a bomb was dropped near Abu Tammam School in Beit Lahia.
The third pattern involved the use of quadcopters to impose fire control over areas adjacent to the “Yellow Line” and target civilians as they attempted to reach their lands and sources of livelihood. Euro-Med Monitor documented the killing of 42-year-old shepherd Raafat Adel Ibrahim Barika by fire from a drone of this type in the Al-Shakoush area near the “Yellow Line,” northwest of Rafah, on 22 May 2026. It also documented the killing of farmer Hamouda Fayeq Al-Attar on 29 August 2026 while he was working on his land east of Al-Masdar village, coinciding with the Israeli forces’ advance along the line in the area.
Children were among the victims of this precision weapon. Euro-Med Monitor’s field documentation is consistent, in terms of pattern, with the findings of a multidisciplinary report published by the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute on 17 June 2026. The report was based on 18 cases involving children who were killed or wounded by gunfire that was examined and documented by a physician who participated in preparing the report during her work in Gaza Strip hospitals between August and September 2024. Witnesses who brought the children to hospital reported that quadcopters were responsible for the gunfire in 90 percent of the cases, while most wounds were caused by single, small-calibre bullets that struck the head, neck, chest, or abdomen.
The report presented five detailed cases supported, in each instance, by X-ray images or diagrams based on clinical photographs and witness testimonies. One case involved a seven-year-old child who was wounded inside an area designated as humanitarian while playing in the street, with no one else in the surrounding area being struck by gunfire. Medical, imaging, and ballistic analysis in three cases concluded that the entry angles and trajectories of the bullets were from above, consistent with gunfire originating from a drone. Although these incidents occurred in 2024, these findings are consistent with the pattern documented by Euro-Med Monitor at a later stage and constitute strong evidence of the use of precise, targeted gunfire directly and deliberately against children.
Euro-Med Monitor documented the circumstances of a child’s injury that resulted in permanent mobility impairment after he was directly shot by a quadcopter, providing additional evidence that Israeli forces deliberately used these drones to kill and inflict serious harm without any justification.
In testimony to Euro-Med Monitor’s team, the father of 11-year-old Amir Mohammed Khalil Shaath, a resident of Qizan Rashwan south of Khan Younis who was displaced to an area near Al-Sikka, adjacent to the Yellow Line, described what happened, saying: “On that day, 12 August 2026, I received a text message inviting them to collect a food parcel, so I went with my son Amir to the designated warehouse in the afternoon. On our way back on foot to our residential area in Al-Sikka neighbourhood, at around 5 p.m., we came under random and intense gunfire from a quadcopter flying at low altitude between abandoned residential buildings. This was followed by the dropping of an explosive bomb, which caused a violent explosion and sent shrapnel flying. Metal fragments became lodged in my son Amir’s skull and thigh, causing fractures and severe damage to the skull bones, and he lost consciousness for a long period as a result. He was taken to Nasser Hospital, where doctors said that if he had arrived a few minutes later, he would have died from internal bleeding in the brain. Medical teams managed to control the bleeding, but the fragments lodged in his skull could not be removed with the locally available capabilities. The child sustained a permanent mobility impairment, losing the ability to walk or stand. Medical teams declared that the available local treatment options had been exhausted and recommended that he travel abroad for treatment to remove the fragments lodged in his skull.”
The operator’s ability to clearly see the targeted person, distinguish their status, and track their movement before opening fire, and then strike them with a single bullet or guided munition, effectively eliminates the pretext of mistaken target identification, particularly when the target is a child, farmer, or shepherd carrying no weapon and posing no threat. This demonstrates that these civilians were not struck accidentally, but were deliberately selected as targets of attack.
Targeting these civilians establishes the intent to kill them and constitutes wilful killing and direct attacks against civilians, both of which are war crimes. Because such conduct occurs as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population in Gaza, with knowledge of that attack, it also constitutes the crime against humanity of murder. Within the context of Israel’s commission of genocide, it falls under the material act of killing members of the protected Palestinian group and, alongside the other acts, policies, and statements, constitutes additional evidence of the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a substantial part of the Palestinian group.
Euro-Med Monitor calls on the international community, particularly states parties to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to take immediate and coordinated action to halt all international crimes being committed by Israel against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, foremost among them the crime of genocide in its various acts and means of implementation, including the deliberate killing of civilians using armed quadcopters. We call on these states to employ all available political, economic, diplomatic, and legal means to fulfil their obligation to prevent genocide and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, and to refrain from providing any support or assistance that contributes to the continuation of these crimes.
Euro-Med Monitor also calls on states, the United Nations, and international investigative mechanisms to take urgent measures to ensure the preservation and acquisition of all evidence related to these attacks, including drone camera recordings, flight and positioning data, firing records, the types of munitions used, mission orders, rules of engagement, and targeting data, as well as the names of operators and commanders who ordered or authorised the attacks, and to prevent the destruction, alteration, or concealment of such evidence.
We further urge the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to include the use of armed quadcopters in the ongoing investigation into the Situation in Palestine and to investigate the individual criminal responsibility of operators and those who issued or authorised targeting orders, as well as the responsibility of commanders who knew or should have known that these crimes were being committed and failed to take the necessary measures to prevent them or punish those responsible.
Euro-Med Monitor also calls on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to investigate these incidents as a systematic pattern of deliberate killings and to identify the types of drones and munitions used, their manufacturers and suppliers, and the relevant supply chains, and to request all related recordings, digital data, and military orders.
We also call on states to impose an immediate and comprehensive ban on the export, transfer, re-export, or financing of armed drones to Israel, including their components, munitions, sensors, targeting and tracking software, maintenance services, training, technical upgrades, spare parts, and brokering, as well as to suspend existing licences and contracts and halt all forms of military and security cooperation that could contribute to or facilitate the commission of these crimes.
Euro-Med Monitor also calls on manufacturers and suppliers to halt any direct or indirect support that could enable such uses, trace the components of their systems, preserve sales, end-user, maintenance, and upgrade records, and fully cooperate with international investigative mechanisms.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also urges states to investigate individuals suspected of responsibility for these crimes and prosecute them before their national courts where jurisdiction exists, including on the basis of universal jurisdiction; impose targeted sanctions on officials and entities involved in these crimes; work to ensure access for international investigators and forensic experts to the Gaza Strip; protect witnesses and survivors; and guarantee victims and their families the right to truth, justice, and full reparation.
Um homem de 71 anos perdeu a vida esta sexta-feira na sequência de uma colisão entre um veículo ligeiro de passageiros e um pesado de mercadorias, na Autoestrada 25 (A25), na zona de Viseu.
O acidente deu-se ao quilómetro 89,4, junto à saída para Nelas, no sentido Aveiro – Guarda. O alerta para a ocorrência foi dado às 16h12.
Segundo fonte do Comando Sub-regional de Emergência e Proteção Civil Viseu Dão Lafões à agência Lusa, o óbito do condutor do veículo ligeiro foi declarado no local.
Nas operações de socorro e assistência estiveram envolvidos 19 operacionais, apoiados por sete veículos, dos Bombeiros Voluntários de Viseu, Bombeiros Sapadores de Viseu, Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa, Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) e Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica (INEM). A GNR tomou conta da ocorrência e investiga as causas do sinistro.
Por: Dino Frazão 25 de setembro de 2026 Imagens Daniel Lopes Se gostou do que leu e ainda não é seguidor, siga a nossa página para ver mais conteúdos!
The U.S. Navy has given us the first look at Blackbeard hypersonic strike missiles under the wings of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets during actual flight testing. The Navy is hoping to have Blackbeard in at least limited service no later than 2028, giving its carrier air wings an all-new fast-flying standoff weapon, particularly for engaging enemy ships. The missile is also being designed to be relatively cheap and quick to manufacture.
The Navy’s Office of the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Aviation (PAE-A) has released a video montage of Blackbeard undergoing flight testing, seen in the social media post below. The service confirmed that it had at least begun test-loading the missiles onto F/A-18E/F Super Hornets in a presentation at the Tailhook Association’s annual convention last month. Now we know the program has moved ahead substantially from that point.
The company behind Blackbeard, defense start-up Castelion, has received several multi-million-dollar contracts from the Navy just this year explicitly to support integration of the weapon onto the Super Hornet, as well as otherwise accelerating its development. In its daily contracting on September 14, the Pentagon announced the Navy had struck yet another deal with Castelion, valued at $43.65 million, “for the manufacturing, assembly, testing, and delivery of the first production lot of 444 All-Up Rounds (AURs), defined as fully functional tactical missiles packaged within specialized shipping and storage containers.”
A screen capture from the Blackbeard flight testing video montage the Navy released today. USN capture
In terms of what we know today about Blackbeard’s design and capabilities, as we have previously written:
“A profile photo [seen below] at the company’s headquarters reveals a weapon with a ballistic missile-like booster, on top of which is mounted what could be an unpowered hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). A booster brings an HGV to the desired velocity and altitude before releasing it toward its target. The concept is in contrast to air-breathing cruise missiles capable of traveling at hypersonic speeds. Hypersonic speed is generally defined as anything above Mach 5, which larger ballistic missiles also reach in the course of their flights. More precise performance figures for Blackbeard are lacking, but Castelion has previously hinted it could hit targets out to just under 500 miles. Alternatively, the second stage may also have its own motor, allowing it to continue accelerating or sustain high-speed flight. A similar arrangement has been suggested as the propulsion system for the Russian Zircon missile.”
Castelion
“Both stages of the weapon have cruciform fins, while the upper one features a prominent ‘chine’ line along the length of its body, and a slightly beaklike nose. The trolley on which the weapon is mounted provides some idea of its overall size. The blue stripes seen on each stage normally signify that a munition is an inert, non-explosive round utilized for training or tracking purposes. This would indicate a real (unarmed) missile rather than a dummy or mockup.”
A picture shown at Tailhook had also offered a new look at the front of the missile, exposing what looked to be an aperture on one side of the design’s wedge-shaped nose. As we wrote after that image emerged:
“The apparent apertures are also seen pointed up, but many air-launched munitions do flip down after release.”
“How exactly Blackbeard is guided remains unknown, but a downward-angled aperture at the nose end for a seeker system would make sense for this weapon, which the Navy is pursuing primarily as a new way to target enemy ships. In particular, a wide array of existing anti-ship and land attack missiles, as well as certain anti-air types, have variously shaped apertures in their noses for imaging infrared seekers. Imaging infrared has the benefit of being immune to radio frequency electronic warfare jamming. In addition, it is a passive capability that does not send out signals that can give an opponent advance notice of an incoming attack. Blackbeard’s full guidance package very likely also includes some means of navigating to a target area first, and it could have multiple modes of operation.”
The new flight testing footage released today also underscores the relatively small size of Blackbeard overall. While the Super Hornet is set to be the first operational launch platform, it is very likely to be integrated on other aircraft quickly thereafter. The Navy is acquiring Blackbeard under a program called the Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE).
Another screen capture from the new Navy video offering a different of Blackbeards under the wings of a Super Hornet, underscoring their relatively small size. USN capture
Requirements for MACE that the Navy put out previously explicitly called for a design compact enough for carrier-based F-35C (and land-based F-35A) Joint Strike Fighters to carry four of them internally. Whether that remains a goal in any way is unclear. Still, being able to carry some number of Blackbeards internally would not only give those jets a hypersonic strike weapon, but one that they could carry in the most stealthy configuration. The Navy also notably does operate the F-35A outside of the test and evaluation community, which might point to air-launched Blackbeards entering service elsewhere in the future. As an aside, the U.S. Army is pursuing a ground-launched version of this missile, as well.
As mentioned, the Navy’s stated goal now is to reach an early operational capability with Blackbeard by 2028, if not sooner. What the exact fielding plan for those missiles might be is unclear. PAE-A did write “Coming soon to a theater near you” in its post on X containing the video montage, and tagged the official accounts for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM). CENTCOM oversees U.S. military activities in and around the Middle East, including ongoing operations against Iran. U.S. military officials have also long touted hypersonic weapons, in general, as key to success in any future conflict in the Pacific, especially a high-end fight against China.
The latest report by the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq contains detailed testimonies by the victims of violent, grotesque attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the occupied West Bank.
The public-private partnership, a criminal enterprise that uses sovereign government powers to shield itself from liability, launders massive profits resulting from no-risk investment of billions of dollars in public monies into guaranteed no-bid government purchasing contracts. Thus, the public is made to foot the bill for its own poisoning and removal of rights.
Due Diligence and Art by Sasha Latypova | Sashalatypova.substack.com
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” ~ President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address on January 17, 1961
Dr. Helmut Sterz is a former senior pharmaceutical toxicologist who worked at Pfizer. Dr. Sterz retired from Pfizer prior to 2020. He has written a book “Vaccine Mafia” exposing the fraudulent pharmaceutical practices and collusion with the government globally to force poisoning shots under false labels of “lifesaving vaccines”. The book has been released in German. Dr. Sterz is now preparing the English version, and has kindly asked me to provide a foreword. I am publishing my “director’s cut” foreword to his book below. Note that it may be different from the final version when the book is released.
The book The Vaccine Mafia by Dr. Helmut Sterz documents a massive crime of unleashing unregulated, liability-free biochemical poisons as pharmaceutical products, under false labels of “safe and effective vaccines.” The words mafia, crime, and poisons may be perceived as emotional hyperbole by people who are unfamiliar with this subject matter, those who trust the government propaganda machine, or those whose incomes are directly tied to Project COVID. Let me assure the readers that these are not creative metaphors. The book thoroughly documents the organized COVID crime from the perspective of an experienced drug development professional.
Like Dr. Sterz, I am a former pharmaceutical research and development industry executive. I spent twenty-five years working in the industry in various roles, ultimately managing my own companies. In my early career I worked as an econometrics and management consultant, and later as clinical trials contractor for more than sixty pharmaceutical companies, large and small. I interacted with the FDA and other regulators on behalf of my clients and as a member of the Cardiovascular Safety Research Consortium on subjects related to cardiovascular safety testing standards for new drugs.
I had sold my companies and left the pharmaceutical industry by 2018; however, since the start of the “COVID [flu renaming, fake] p[l]andemic” in 2020, I was compelled to spend countless hours on research, uncovering the perverse legal, regulatory, and military frameworks utilized by the “public-private partnerships for pandemic preparedness”—an amorphous union of global governments and corporations that is more properly defined as a global crime cartel. I collaborated with numerous brave people—dissident scientists, doctors, engineers, software wizards, lawyers, and citizen journalists.
A well-known adage states that if one lets politicians break the law in an emergency, they will create a permanent state of emergency in order to continue breaking the law. As of July 2025, ninety national emergencies have been declared in the United States; forty-two have expired and another fifty-one are currently in effect, each having been renewed annually by the president.[1] Despite the prevailing disingenuous political narrative that the “COVID p[l]andemic is over,” currently ten public health emergencies, including COVID [flu renaming], are active, declared in the US via the PREP Act issued by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. The PREP Act (2005) is federal legislation designed to provide immunity from liability for certain individuals and entities involved in the development, manufacture, distribution, and administration of “covered countermeasures” during a declared public health emergency.[2]
The Act is activated upon the declaration of a public health emergency by the Secretary of HHS. Such declarations are based solely on the HHS Secretary’s opinion and require no justification or evidence of an actual emergency. This opinion is not reviewable by the judiciary branch, nor by Congress. PREP Act declarations by the HHS Secretary provide liability immunity coverage for those deploying “medical countermeasures”—a vague military term which describes many types of responses to an attack.
The PREP Act was designed to provide rapid distribution of medical supplies, especially to first responders, in a very remote scenario of a biological, chemical, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack on US soil. At its passage, the law was challenged as unconstitutional, violating civil rights and several Constitutional Amendments, especially with regard to citizens’ rights to sue for damages, injuries, and deaths resulting from the government actions.[3] The law was not meant as a method of bypassing the FDA regulations and “approving” new pharmaceutical technologies that had previously repeatedly failed safety testing and market clearance in non-emergency conditions. The law was not meant for mass vaccination campaigns of civilians, nor for forcing vaccination mandates while escaping all normal regulations and manufacturers’ liability. Yet, this is precisely how the PREP Act has been misused and abused to facilitate COVID p[l]andemic crimes since 2020.
In non-emergency conditions, FDA must formally approve any new investigational drug product prior to a manufacturer introducing it into interstate commerce.[4] This process requires the manufacturer to open an Investigational New Drug application and obtain an exemption from the FDA for its use in regulated clinical research (trials). This regulated process is therefore referred to as an “investigational” regulatory pathway. It requires a manufacturer to conduct regulated clinical research (trials) under the IND, obtaining an Institutional Review Board’s (IRB) approval for clinical trial protocols, independent safety monitoring oversight, and informed consent from clinical trial volunteers. In addition, manufacture of the drugs and biologics subject to the investigational status is regulated by the current Good Manufacturing practices (cGMP)[5] in a strictly enforceable manner.
EUA Medical Countermeasures are radically different drugs, biologics, and devices[6] that are carved out from all normal pharmaceutical regulations by their legal status as non-investigational products. A product legally declared “non-investigational” cannot be formally studied in clinical trials, which are known as “clinical investigation” in legal terms. The US federal law states that “use of Emergency Use Authorized (EUA) covered countermeasures under a declared Public Health Emergency cannot constitute a clinical investigation (21 USC 360bbb-3(k))”; therefore, these countermeasures do not have to be tested for safety or efficacy in accordance with US law (21 CFR 312 and 21 CFR 601), nor must they comply with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) or Good Distribution Practices (GxP in general) that are enforced by the FDA. Thus, what is normally deemed a violation of pharmaceutical law is explicitly allowed for EUA Countermeasures for the duration of the PREP Act declaration of a public health emergency.
The FDA has the discretion to issue an EUA if, in the sole opinion of the HHS secretary, the product “may be effective” in treating the relevant disease or condition.[7] No other criteria for approval apply in an enforceable way. While the manufacturers may choose to undertake some of the activities typically expected from an investigational clinical trial and manufacturing validation process (or the FDA may ask them to), none of the typical pharmaceutical regulatory standards are applicable in an enforceable way.
There is no strict requirement to obtain an Investigational New Drug exemption (IND), nor institutional review board (IRB) approval of a clinical trial protocol and informed consent forms. Thus, the EUA process makes it impossible to obtain meaningful informed consent from the recipients of the product. EUA products, even though unregulated and non-standardized, “shall not be deemed adulterated or misbranded.”[8]
Since 2021, hundreds of contracts for COVID [psyop] countermeasures, including vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics became available in redacted form via freedom of information (FOIA) lawsuits.[9] All COVID countermeasures were ordered by the US Department of Defense (DOD), typically as “demonstrations” and “prototypes” via Other Transactions Authority (OTA) contracts and using the Defense Production Authority (compelling pharma companies to produce unregulated poison for the US DOD).
The OTA contracting method is typically used by the DOD for purchasing weapons systems as it avoids federal accountability reviews and Bayh-Dole provisions[10] for intellectual property disclosure. DOD does not have authority to use the OTA method for purchasing pharmaceutical products for mass civilian distribution. To overcome this congressional limitation, the DOD partnered with HHS as “one government entity” for Operation Warp Speed, taking the role of the Chief Operating Officer for itself and relegating HHS to the advisory role.[11],[12]
The COVID [scam] contracts include removal of all liability for the manufacturers and contractors along the supply and distribution chain under the PREP Act and related federal legislation, except in case of very narrowly defined and virtually impossible to prove “willful misconduct.” Specifically, provable death or injury from a covered countermeasure (including mRNA vaccines) is notc onsidered willful misconduct as long as the “covered person” used the “covered countermeasure” as directed by the public health agencies.
To date no legal case filed against COVID vaccine makers for death, injury, or other harm has succeeded in the US court system. The courts consistently dismiss these complaints in favor of defendants citing the PREP Act, which overrides the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs, preempts both suit and liability, and preempts all state laws that may be in conflict.
The organized COVID vaccine crime cartel is global, tying together numerous “pandemic preparedness” structures, military forces, countermeasures consortia, and “global public health” agencies, comprising an astonishing trillion-dollar industry which feeds on fraud, data manipulation, fear-based propaganda, censorship, suppression, abuse of law, and mass poisoning of unsuspecting people while accumulating global power and mega profits. In the United States, the COVID countermeasures deployment program has been coordinated through the quasi-governmental Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE)[13] and via several other public, private, hybrid, and quasi-governmental entities, including but not limited to the FDA’s Medical Countermeasures Initiative (MCMi)[14]; the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)[15]; and the Medical Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear [CBRN] Defense Consortium (MCDC).[16]
Private pharma corporations are used by the pandemic preparedness cartel as a front to launder the unregulated, liability-free biochemical poisonmade by the DOD/DARPA/BARDA-controlled bio-manufacturing assets. Some examples of the government-controlled key players include
· National Resilience, a giant biomanufacturing corporation with ties to intelligence agencies, government, and military;
· Moderna, a lavishly government-funded company commercializing NIH intellectual property assets which resulted in at least $400M+ royalty payouts to NIH;[17]
· Emergent Biosolutions, a longstanding biomanufacturing military contractor; and
· Gilead, a private company commercializing DOD (DTRA) intellectual property, maker of remdesivir.[18]
Thousands of other military and intelligence contractors are deriving profits from this vast trillion-dollar “pandemic preparedness industry.” Private pharmaceutical corporations are willing coconspirators in the COVID vaccine mafia network; however, they are used as corporate fronts to fool the public with trusted brand names, providing an illusion of regulated, compliant manufacturing. The public-private partnership, a criminal enterprise that uses sovereign government powers to shield itself from liability, launders massive profits resulting from no-risk investment of billions of dollars in public monies into guaranteed no-bid government purchasing contracts. Thus, the public is made to foot the bill for its own poisoning and removal of rights.
The COVID [fake] pandemic emergency declarations that were initially issued on February 4, 2020, by Alex Azar during the first Trump administration, are now extended to last until December 31, 2029,[19] a full decade! The current head of HHS, Robert Kennedy Jr. is fully aware of the misuse of the PREP Act as a continued ironclad liability shield for fraud, profiteering, and abuse of the public health emergency doctrine. Since our first meeting in 2022, I have discussed the PREP Act and the significance of HHS declarations with Kennedy, both in published interviews[20] and in private. While fully agreeing with my view, once appointed as head of HHS, Kennedy refused to use his legal authority to terminate this contrived state of emergency, citing President Trump’s opposition to such move.[21]
The only true reason for the US government—under both Democrat and Republican leadership—to continue the pretense of a pandemic is the ironclad liability shield ensured by the PREP Act for the pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers (“covered persons”) who participate and profit from manufacture, distribution, and administration of “covered countermeasures,” i.e., mRNA injections and other unsafe products and protocols.
In this book, Dr. Sterz kindly quotes my analysis of the V-Safe data (CDC data registry) for pregnancy outcomes, demonstrating how the CDC concealed a massive safety signal, a greater than 200 percent increase in the rates of pregnancy loss after mRNA vaccination. This clear safety signal was captured as early as February 2021, in just 10 weeks of the mass deployment of the COVID shots. However, the CDC and other prominent coauthors published this data in the New England Journal of Medicineconcealing, obfuscating, and misrepresenting the results with a conclusion of “no obvious safety signals.” It is truly shocking that as of the time of this writing, in mid-2026, the COVID injections are still being advertised and recommended to pregnant women as “safe at any time in pregnancy.” Most people are repulsed by the idea that the trusted government agencies have pushed a powerful toxic abortifacient onto all pregnant women as a “safe and effective vaccine.” The “Vaccine Mafia” viewpoint explains the observed reality of the past six years: We are under attack by an organized global “public-private” pandemic crime cartel.
Sasha Latypova, independent writer, “Due Diligence and Art”
Sashalatypova.substack.com
Lake Tahoe, NV, May 2026.
Dr. Sterz’s testimony in German parliament about lack of safety testing for Pfizer mRNA shots:
Interview with Dr. Sterz about his new book “Vaccine Mafia”, dubbed in English:
[5] CFR Title 21, including sections in parts 1-99, 200-299, 300-499, 600-799, and 800-1299.
[6] Section 564 FD&C Act. Note that the EUA pathway should not be confused with the “Expanded Access Use” regulatory pathway which is often colloquially referred to as an “emergency use.” The expanded access is an investigational pathway and is regulated in the same manner as all normal drug approvals. (21 CFR 312.310-320)
Tra la fine di agosto e settembre 2026 è avvenuto un cambiamento importante nella campagna aerea russa. Non si tratta semplicemente di una nuova offensiva contro la rete elettrica ucraina. ...
A television ad boosting the image of President Donald Trump, which was paid for by government funds, violates laws prohibiting the use of government resources for propaganda, the Hatch Act, and other related laws, according to a complaint filed today by Public Citizen.
The complaint, sent to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, takes issue with ads airing in two media markets that include a disclaimer: “Paid for by the U.S. government.” Both markets airing the ad contain key districts in the upcoming midterm elections.
“For anyone with a modicum of ethics, common sense or respect for the law, it’s the most basic thing: Taxpayer funds cannot pay for partisan political propaganda,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen. “These ads should immediately be pulled from the air, and the White House’s many apparent violations of the law should be investigated.”
“This administration’s repeated and flagrant violations of the law, including the Hatch Act, are an affront to taxpayers and our democracy,” said Craig Holman, Ph.D., a government ethics expert with Public Citizen. “Public Citizen has filed a dozen Hatch Act complaints with OSC over the past year and, to our knowledge, all have been ignored by the agency. That negligence is dangerous, and creates conditions that allow for the situation we are responding to today.”
Common Cause condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling today allowing the federal government to continue using the flawed SAVE system.
Statement from Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón:
“The Supreme Court’s decision to allow DHS and states to use an error-ridden system is completely unacceptable and didn’t need to happen this close to the election. This DHS system, which the federal government itself admits is flawed, has always been part of the Trump administration’s campaign to interfere in our elections and sow distrust — and it will fail.
“As the Court noted in its decision, it is flatly illegal for states to conduct mass removals of voters from the rolls within 90 days of an election. If any state official attempts to disenfranchise eligible voters using this flawed database, we will take them to court immediately, just like Common Cause is already doing in Texas.
“Our elections remain safe and secure, and nothing will stop voters from making their voices heard.”
Last year, Texas officials removed multiple eligible voters from the voter rolls based on this same flawed DHS system, without any investigation or further checks into even the state’s own records that could confirm these voters’ citizenship. Common Cause filed a lawsuit to stop this illegal voter purge, and we are ready to do so again.
Common Cause will continue leading the charge to safeguard the right to vote for every American. We urge all voters to check their registration status today and reach out to 866-OUR-VOTE by call or text for accurate, nonpartisan assistance.
Common Cause’s nonpartisan Election Protection volunteers will also be on the ground and staffing hotlines nationwide throughout early voting and on Election Day.
The UN said on Friday it remains gravely concerned by the continued deterioration of the security situation across northern Ethiopia, as fighting spreads across multiple fronts and increasingly disrupts humanitarian operations.
Climate change remains the greatest existential threat to Tuvalu, Prime Minister Feleti Teo told the UN General Assembly on Friday, warning that the pace and scale of international action are still falling far short of what vulnerable island nations need.
Le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme a publié vendredi une nouvelle mise à jour de sa base de données recensant les entreprises impliquées dans certaines activités liées aux colonies israéliennes dans le territoire palestinien occupé. Au total, 214 entreprises issues de 11 pays figurent désormais sur cette liste.
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