World

Conspiracy theories behind the Queensland siege

Published

2 months ago

December 14, 2022

Australian police exploring shooter’s conspiracy theories in a bid to understand the Queensland siege

Gareth Train, 47, was a paranoid conspiracy theorist and doomsday prepper. He was even building an ark to, in his words, save himself from “tomorrow”.

Police are now investigating a number of online posts Train made, in an attempt to understand how this tragedy came to be.

“From what we can see, it seemed senseless, it seemed unnecessary,” said Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll.

One of Gareth’s conspiracy theories surrounded the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. He believed this was a “false flag” operation, staged by the Australian government, to help introduce nation-wide gun restrictions.

He was also convinced he had an “intelligence file” held by Australia’s top spy agency, ASIO.

But as the four young officers made their way to the remote property in Queensland, three hours west of Brisbane, police were largely unaware of his online activity.

They arrived at the house in search of Gareth’s brother, Nathaniel, who had been reported missing.

Authorities allege the two men are responsible for the deaths of Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow. A neighbour, 58-year-old Alan Dare, was also shot and killed.

This led to a six-hour standoff between the brothers, Gareth’s wife and Queensland’s Special Operations Police.

Eventually, the three individuals were taken out, bringing the incident’s death toll to six.

Carroll has vowed to “get to the bottom” of the situation.

“Certainly in the next couple of weeks we will get a real sense as to why this occurred,” she said.

“It’s a tough time, these are dark days. It will take us a while to get over this. Particularly, for the officers involved in this.”

World

U.S. fighters shoot down Chinese spy balloon – now what?

Published

23 hours ago

February 5, 2023

ticker NEWS

U.S. military fighter aircraft shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it floated off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, drawing to a close a dramatic saga that shone a spotlight on worsening Sino-U.S. relations.

U.S. fighter aircraft, acting on an order from President Biden, shot down the balloon off the South Carolina coast on Saturday. https://t.co/huIfhz0SVo pic.twitter.com/lEmNK4X0it

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 4, 2023

“We successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” President Joe Biden said.

Biden said he had issued an order on Wednesday to take down the balloon, but the Pentagon had recommended waiting until it could be done over open water to safeguard civilians from debris crashing down to Earth from thousands of feet (meters) above commercial air traffic.

China has mounted “the largest intelligence operation in the history of the human race” against the US and Australia, a former top US intelligence official has warned, as the US military shot down a Chinese spy balloon as it neared the Atlantic coast above the Carolinas.

Multiple fighter and refueling aircraft were involved in the mission, but only one — an F-22 fighter jet from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia — took the shot at 2:39 p.m. (1939 GMT), using a single AIM-9X supersonic, heat-seeking, air-to-air missile, a senior U.S. military official said.

The balloon was shot down about six nautical miles off the U.S. coast, over relatively shallow water, potentially aiding efforts to recover key elements of the Chinese surveillance equipment among the debris in the coming days, officials said.

World

Russia throws more troops at Ukraine front line

Published

23 hours ago

February 5, 2023

ticker NEWS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says the situation on the front lines in the east of the country is getting tougher and Russia was throwing more and more troops into battle.

Russian forces are slowly gaining ground in the Donbas region, encircling the city of Bakhmut north of Donetsk and battling to take control of a nearby road which is a major supply route for Ukrainian forces. They are also trying to capture Vuhledar, southwest of Donetsk.

“I’ve often had to say the situation at the front is tough, and is getting tougher, and it’s that time again. … The invader is putting more and more of his forces into breaking down our defences,” Zelenskiy said in a video address.

“It is very difficult now in Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Lyman and other directions,” he continued.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Telegram that Russian efforts to break the defences in Bakhmut and Lyman had failed.

World

Balloon diplomacy blows China off course

Published

2 days ago

February 4, 2023

ticker NEWS

China claims an “airship” that is flying over the United States is for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes and voiced regret that it strayed into U.S. airspace.

U.S. officials said on Thursday that a Chinese spy balloon has been flying over the United States for a couple of days, in what would be a brazen act just days ahead of a planned trip to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In a statement late on Friday, China’s foreign ministry also said that it would continue to maintain communications with the United States to properly handle the unexpected situation.

“The airship is from China and is civilian in nature, used for meteorological and other scientific research. Due to the influence of westerly winds and its limited control capability, the airship deviated from its intended course,” it said.

“China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States by mistake due to force majeure. China will continue to maintain communication with the U.S. side to properly handle this accident,” it said.