Important Takeaways:
- Without giving any further details, South Korea’s spy agency the National Intelligence Service confirmed an earlier report by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, which said that a counsellor responsible for political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba had defected.
- Among Ri Il-kyu’s jobs at the embassy was to block North Korea’s rival South Korea and old ally Cuba from forging diplomatic ties
- Details on North Koreans defections often take months to come to light, with defectors needing to be cleared by authorities and going through a course of education about South Korean society and systems.
- “Every North Korean thinks at least once about living in South Korea. Disillusionment with the North Korean regime and a bleak future led me to consider defection,” he told the paper.
- “In fact, North Koreans yearn for reunification even more than South Koreans. Everyone believes that reunification is the only way for their children to have a better future. Today, the Kim Jong-un regime has brutally extinguished even the slightest hope left among the people.”
- He said he flew out of Cuba with his family but he did not elaborate further on how he pulled off the high-risk escape.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russian naval vessels practiced hitting targets with long-distance missiles in simulated drills in the Atlantic Ocean ahead of a planned visit to Cuba.
- The nuclear-powered Kazan submarine and Admiral Gorshkov frigate, which carries hypersonic Zircon missiles, staged the computer drills with high-precision weapons against “naval groups of a mock enemy” over a distance of 600 kilometers (373 miles), the Defense Ministry in Moscow said in a statement Tuesday.
- The vessels are due to arrive in Cuba on Wednesday, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news service reported, citing Russian Navy chief Alexander Moiseyev.
- None of the Russian vessels is carrying nuclear weapons and they pose no threat to the region, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said on its website June 6. The visit to Havana from June 12-17 is in line with the historically friendly relations between Cuba and Russia, it said.
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Important Takeaways:
- Havana says fleet does not have nuclear weapons, but arrival comes amid rising tensions between Russia and the United States over Ukraine
- “This visit corresponds to the historical friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federation and strictly adheres to the international regulations,” said the ministry in a statement.
- But the unusual deployment of the powerful nuclear submarine Kazan and three other naval vessels so close to the United States comes amid major tensions over the war in Ukraine
- Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested this week that Moscow could take “asymmetrical” steps if Western countries like Germany and the US were to supply Ukraine with weapons that were then used on Russian soil
- During the Cold War, Cuba was an important client state for the Soviet Union. The deployment of Soviet nuclear missile sites on the island triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when Washington and Moscow came close to war. The incident led to the US imposing a trade embargo on Cuba, which remains in force.
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Ecclesiastes 5:8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still
Important Takeaways:
- A retired American intelligence official told the Miami Herald in a report published Wednesday that China has been conducting espionage activities in Cuba since at least 1992, taking advantage of the fall of the Soviet Union to forge a closer relationship with the fellow communist nation.
- The base, Simmons claimed, is located in Bejucal, a suburb of the greater Havana area.
- Simmons described the base as a “signals intelligence facility,” meaning a base to intercept American communications for espionage purposes
- John Kirby, national security council coordinator, called it “shameful” that anonymous sources were informing the public of potential Chinese espionage activity 90 miles from U.S. soil.
- It’s shameful that somebody, or somebodies, somehow think it’s okay to put this kind of information in the public bloodstream,” Kirby scolded reporters, “Clearly, there’s a source or sources out there that think it’s somehow beneficial to put this kind of information into the public stream, and it’s absolutely not …
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- China in high-level talks for military training facility in Cuba to station troops off US shores: report
- The Wall Street Journal first reported Tuesday that U.S. intelligence suggests talks about a facility on Cuba’s northern coast “are at an advanced stage but not concluded,” as the Biden administration has contacted Cuban officials to stall the agreement and dissuade any course of action due to concerns the Communist nation might have about ceding sovereignty.
- Citing current and former U.S. officials, the Journal reported that the proposal for the China-Cuba military training facility was referenced “in highly classified new U.S. intelligence, which they described as convincing but fragmentary.”
- The sources reportedly said the prospect of a facility could mean China permanently hosting troops in Cuba and broadening intelligence gathering against the United States.
- One current and one former U.S. official told the Journal the proposed military facility is part of “Project 141,” an initiative by China’s People’s Liberation Army to set up a global network of military outposts. The Journal said the White House declined to comment.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Cuba, Iran presidents meet in Havana, vow to confront ‘Yankee imperialism’
- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel on Thursday, his last stop on a three-nation Latin American tour aimed at shoring up support among Latin American allies saddled, like Iran, by U.S. sanctions.
- Raisi told reporters at a trade forum in Havana early on Thursday that Cuba and Iran would seek opportunities to work together in electricity generation, biotechnology, and mining, among other areas.
- “The conditions and circumstances in which Cuba and Iran find themselves today have many things in common,” Raisi said in a conversation with Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel. “Every day our relations grow stronger.”
- Raisi earlier this week visited with leaders of fellow oil-producer Venezuela, where he pledged to ramp up bilateral trade and expand cooperation in petrochemicals. Prior to arriving in Cuba, the Iranian president also met with Nicaragua´s Daniel Ortega in the Central American country.
- “Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran are among the countries that have had to heroically confront sanctions (…) threats, blockades and interference by Yankee imperialism and its allies with a tenacious resistance,” Diaz-Canel told his Iranian counterpart.
- Raisi´s visit comes as Cuba also moves to bolster ties with distant, but critical, allies like Russia and China, both subject to U.S. sanctions.
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Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- China is establishing a spy base in Cuba, according to information first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
- It would be focused on the United States and give Chinese intelligence agencies a way to track electronic communication in the southwestern U.S.
- China already may have a listening post in Bejucal, a town south of Havana.
- China will reportedly pay billions of dollars to Cuba for the ability to set up this spy base.
- The Biden administration must act with urgency to help governments in the region succeed so they don’t need to turn to China for help.
- Simply allowing China’s bold step to proceed without answering it, strongly, is no option at all.
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Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”
Important Takeaways:
- Ian strengthens into major Category 3 hurricane as it makes landfall in Cuba
- Landfall was just southwest of the town of La Coloma in the Pinar Del Río province
- Maximum sustained winds of 125 mph
- In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared an emergency, saying Ian could hit the state as a punishing Category 4 hurricane, with wind speeds topping 130 mph. A direct hit on Tampa Bay is expected as soon as Wednesday.
- “That’s going to cause a huge amount of storm surge,” he said. “You’re going to have flood events. You’re going to have a lot of different impacts.”
- Oil companies evacuated workers from deep-water platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and airports in Tampa and Pinellas County in Florida announced that they would close Tuesday. American Airlines announced travel waivers for people flying to or out of 20 airports in Florida and the Caribbean.
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Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”
Important Takeaways:
- Ian Strengthens Into a Hurricane, Heads Toward Cuba, Florida
- Authorities in Cuba suspended classes in Pinar del Rio province and said they will begin evacuations
- A hurricane warning was in effect for Grand Cayman and the Cuban provinces of Isla de Juventud, Pinar del Rio and Artemisa
- It could become a major hurricane before a likely landfall in Florida around the middle of the week, possibly the state’s western coast or Panhandle
- Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency throughout Florida and urged residents to prepare for the storm to lash large swaths of the state with heavy rains, high winds and rising seas.
- Local media in Florida have reported a consumer rush on water, generators and other supplies in some areas where residents moved to stock up on goods ahead of the storm.
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Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”
Important Takeaways:
- Tampa braces for its worst hurricane in 100 years: Monster storm Ian is set to batter Florida as a ‘large and powerful force’ bringing 15 ft waves and 135 mph winds – as locals dig trenches and strip stores bare
- Tropical Storm Ian has been upgraded to a ‘large and powerful’ Category 1 hurricane by the National Hurricane Center
- Authorities in Cuba have suspended classes and will begin evacuations on Monday as Ian is set to hit a Category 3 strength or above
- Officials in Florida have also declared a state emergency over the strengthening storm, warning residents to stock up on radios and supplies
- Stores have started to run out of water and other basic supplies as many stockpile ahead of the storm hitting – including planks of plywood to board their windows up
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