Month: October 2024

Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

Zelensky finally presented the first five parts of his much-ballyhooed “Victory Plan” to the Rada on Wednesday while still keeping three of them secret per his own admission. Readers can review his full speech here and Reuters’ concise summary here.

Upon doing either, they’ll see that it’s unrealistic due to Ukraine demanding: an invitation to join NATO; the joint interception of Russian missiles; and hosting “a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” on its soil, among several other demands.

All three are non-starters for NATO since the bloc doesn’t want to get directly involved in this proxy war, which its comparatively more pragmatic policymakers who still call the shots fear could easily spiral out of control into World War III, hence why nothing of the sort has happened yet. That’s not to say that their hawkish rivals stand no chance of changing that, and some are speculatively working behind their governments’ backs to this end, but just that Zelensky won’t get what he wants unless that happens.

The abovementioned calculations will likely remain constant seeing as how they’ve been in place for over two and a half years so far, which he’s keenly aware of, thus raising the question of what he sought to achieve by making such demands from his partners that have already been rejected. The argument can be made that he was driven by one of two ulterior motives: hint at what he wants after possibly “escalating to de-escalate” in the near future or sow the seeds for a “stab-in-the-back” theory.

Regarding the first, this could take the form of a nuclear provocation and/or attacking Belarus, while the second was coincidentally lent credence two days prior to Zelensky’s speech by the Royal United Services Institute in an article about “The Impending Betrayal of Ukraine”.  These scenarios could be averted if the G7 agrees to comply with at least some of his military demands in exchange for being allowed to extract Ukraine’s critical mineral riches like one of the points of his “Victory Plan” strongly suggests.

That implied proposal builds upon what he promised the G7 in May 2022, which was analyzed here at the time and followed up on in February 2024 here, the point being that there’s a precedent for him offering up his country for sale in exchange for getting what he wants. If these critical mineral riches don’t tempt the West into fulfilling at least part of his “Victory Plan”, and it was explained above why they probably won’t, then he’ll likely resort to either of the two backup plans that were discussed.

The takeaway from what he just revealed is that ulterior motives are clearly at play since his main demands have already been rejected.

Even the innuendo that Ukraine’s critical mineral riches could be swapped for supposedly game-changing military support might not get the West to reconsider since it fears an uncontrollable escalation sequence with nuclear-armed Russia.

That being the case, observers should expect him to soon “escalate to de-escalate” or pin the blame for Ukraine’s defeat on the West.

Boeing was humiliated after NASA called up Elon Musk’s SpaceX for assistance in a future rescue mission to retrieve two stranded Starliner crew members at the International Space Station, slated for early 2025. SpaceX soared ahead of Boeing’s space program by lightyears, as Starship launches and Starlink deployments show, and is also outpacing Airbus’s space division. 

On Wednseday, Airbus announced its defense and space divisions would experience significant cuts, upwards of 2,500 workers over the next couple of years. 

Airbus Defence and Space is announcing plans to adapt the Division’s organisation and workforce in light of a continued complex business environment, especially in the Space Systems segment where significant financial charges were recorded in 2023 and 2024.

Intended measures will include creating a more effective and efficient organisational structure for the Division, especially with regard to headquartered functions, as well as a full operative end-to-end accountability for its business lines Air Power, Space Systems and Connected Intelligence.

It is expected that these measures will result in a reduction of up to 2,500 positions within Airbus Defence and Space until mid 2026.

As Boeing and now Airbus have found out, SpaceX has become the global leader in rocket launches and LEO satellite deployment, even beating out entire nation-states like China and Russia. 

Using data from BryceTech, SpaceX launched 525 spacecraft into orbit in the first quarter, far outpacing China and Russia. 

Musk is America’s rocket program: SpaceX launched about 429,125 kg of spacecraft upmass in the first quarter, significantly outpacing China’s rocket program (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation), which launched a measly 29,426 kg. 

Much of this is due to SpaceX’s Starlink deployment in LEO, as thousands of these satellites provide high-speed internet coverage to millions of customers worldwide. 

Just listen to this French media outlet blaming SpaceX for being so far ahead of Airbus as one of the main reasons for the layoffs in Europe. 

NEWS: Airbus announced today it plans to cut 2,500 jobs in its Defense and Space division – Specifically in the area of communication satellites.

Airbus says it has a lot of difficulty competing against @SpaceX which has far more advanced “space conquest” technology than Europe. pic.twitter.com/PLffiJay5o

— ALEX (@ajtourville) October 16, 2024

Stateside, Boeing is in rough shape after a months-long strike. It announced 10% job cuts one week ago and risks losing its prized investment-grade credit rating. Plus, there’s no future data on when the malfunctioning Starliner craft will fly next.

What’s outrageous is that the Biden-Harris administration and Democrats seem to be using lawfare against Elon Musk to deliberately slow down SpaceX’s rocket launches. By doing so, they’re allowing America’s competitive edge in the pace race provided by SpaceX, to narrow in favor of foreign adversaries. 

Just look what SpaceX achieved last weekend.

POV @SpaceX catching a rocket pic.twitter.com/cZvNj4UlDn

— Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire) October 13, 2024

Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

Americans need to ask the tough questions of why Democrats would want to undermine SpaceX—essentially America’s rocket program. Are these far-left radicals being influenced by foreign powers? 

Authored by Liz Heflin via Remix News,

Desertion is rampant in Ukraine, and attempts to escape military service continue to be a major issue for Ukraine’s armed forces, reports Do Rzeczy. 

“Ukrainians who do not want to go to war are looking for various ways to avoid conscription. Border guards near the border with Moldova detained two groups of men who tried to escape from Ukraine. They received administrative notices of having committed a crime,” the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported.

Officers detained two groups, consisting of eight and 11 men. In order to flee the country, they had paid $3,000 to $5,000 for online instructions from an organizer via the Telegram channel, which had them split into two groups to be more mobile and less conspicuous. 

The men have been written up for attempting to illegally cross the state border of Ukraine.

This is not the first such situation.

On Sept. 6, border guards from the Volyn detachment detained two men who intended to illegally cross the state border, and on Sept. 7, four fugitives were detained in Zakarpattia who had been hiking in the mountains for five days and wanted to cross the Tisza River.

Meanwhile, in the Rivne Region, fugitives who tried to get to Belarus almost ran into mines.

Ukraine is now instituting a new law, whereby parliament has banned the mobilization of men under the age of 25. Support for the change was high, and the law is now on President Zelensky’s desk to be signed.

The act prevents the mobilization of people aged 18-25 who have not completed military service or studied at military universities but fall under the status of so-called “limited usefulness.” This means a person who is not suitable for military service in times of peace due to their health condition but can be called up for service during war.

Another law, however, was passed back in April, whereby a soldier can no longer decide to end his service after 36 months, as had previously been allowed.

Read more here…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told his parliament while presenting his ‘victory plan’ on Wednesday that future membership in the NATO alliance is a central part of the plan.

The military bloc’s secretary general Mark Rutte, who recently took over after Stoltenberg’s term expired, responded in a generally positive manner to this, expressing that his vision is for Ukraine to eventually become a member; however, comments made ‘between the lines’ which were intended as a message caution are sure to disappoint Kiev.

Referencing the Washington-hosted summit of NATO leaders in July, Rutte said that “Ukraine will be a member of NATO in the future. That is what we decided in Washington.” He claimed that Ukraine’s path to NATO was deemed “irreversible”.

While many Western media headlines seized on this ‘path to membership’ aspect of his remarks, Rutte at one point admitted that another nation could be in line first.

He spelled out that another candidate may “pop in front” in the line, following the recent admission of Sweden and Finland. The following words of the NATO chief:

“At the moment it seems that it will be Ukraine as number 33 but maybe somebody else pops in front of him,” Rutte said.

With this remark it has become clear that there is no guaranteed timeline of Ukraine’s accession whatsoever.

As for Zelensky’s victory plan, it is has received a less than enthusiastic response in the West. Rutte in reflecting on it called the plan “a strong signal from Zelensky” but also included a key caveat: “That doesn’t mean that I here can say I support the whole plan,” he said.

“The plan has many aspects and many political and military issues we really need to hammer out with Ukrainians to understand what is behind it, to see what we can do, what we cannot do,” he added.

“In the meantime we will continue massive military aid moving into Ukraine. Russia has to understand we will keep on doing that as long as they continue the war effort,” the NATO leader pledged.

Still, Ukraine has complained this aid is not coming fast enough, or in large enough quantities. At this point Russian forces are capturing new towns and villages in Donetsk on a weekly basis and could soon conquer the whole of the Donbass.

Meanwhile…

Zelensky gives the West an ultimatum: NATO membership or he will acquire nuclear weapons
– Either way, Europe ends up in nuclear war pic.twitter.com/EAGoA8r3D0

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) October 17, 2024

Via Remix News,

In a harrowing interview, a long-time teacher in a predominately migrant school describes a “hellish” experience that involved “knife violence, bullying, and sexism.” Her testimony is laying bare the lie that diversity is always a strength, and her experience may help explain Germany’s plummeting PISA test scores and worsening educational outcomes.

Birgit Ebel has taught for 15 years at a “problem school,” where she says everyday life was an “absolute hell,” in her interview with Focus Magazine,

Ebel, who has since moved to a new school district, warns:

“The system is coming back to haunt us.”

Ebel does not beat around the bush and is not afraid to say that foreigners are the main cause of the chaos in the school she spent years in.

“At our comprehensive school, 80 to 90 percent of the students had a migrant background. Many come from predominantly Islamic countries such as Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Algeria, Bosnia, Chechnya, Afghanistan or Pakistan, but also from Russia and North Africa.” Ebel says among these students are also refugees who fled war and harsh Islamic rule.

She says the connection between immigration and Germany’s disintegrating school system cannot be denied, but says the view is controversial.

“In my view, the connection cannot be denied. But hardly anyone dares to say it openly,” she said.

The extreme violence she saw was “mainly the responsibility of migrant students, i.e., male adolescents,” she said. “It’s more about who can hit or kick the fastest. And then the others even celebrate you for it. Many do martial arts, and a toned body is the ultimate plus.”

She said stronger boys who can handle weapons like brass knuckles and knives are considered “masculine” and others look up to them. Ebel added that many of the students are armed with such weapons and that it is “normal.”

Despite claims that “diversity is a strength” from the left, this teacher, who actually works with true diversity, saw the other side of the equation.

“The conflict between Turks and Kurds or between Muslims and Yazidis is almost always present,” she warned.

She also noted that sexism is far different for both male and female teachers, with male teachers avoiding the worst of it, which is also a product of the culture many of the students come from.

“When students insult us or want to offend, they usually do so in sexualized, fecal language,” she warned.

She told Focus that she was routinely insulted with incredibly brutal language, including students saying: “You old whore’s daughter,” “I’ll fuck your head,” “whore,” “slut,” “cunt,” and threats like “I’ll give you AIDS,” while others told her, “Shut up, you Jewish whore!”

Ebel said many of her colleagues also experienced such abuse. Other students praised Hamas, which became especially intense after Ebel showed her support for Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.

She said that students would also play the race card, accusing her of being “racist” if she gave bad grades. In fact, parents also accused her of the same thing.

“Almost always the students played the racism card. And parents also joined in,” she said. In other cases, students have threatened to punch her for “insulting Islam,” including a student from Albania who barely spoke German. In that instance, she filed a criminal complaint but the investigation was dropped.

Ebel says that allegations of racism are “absurd,” as she is a member of the Kurdish community in Germany. She also belongs to an organization, the Society of Threatened Peoples, and has campaigned for human and women’s rights in Germany, especially in regard to Islamist movements, which she sees as being against these rights.

Although her experience sounds dire, violence and harassment in German schools are no longer uncommon in Germany. Last year alone, security authorities nationwide counted around 27,500 violent crimes such as knife attacks and assaults in schools, an increase of 27 percent compared to 2022. In Berlin, there are an average of five police operations every school day. However, those are just cases of outright violence. In terms of daily harassment, the numbers are far higher.

Ebel also provided a video to Focus Magazine she obtained that took place in her former school, which showed the brutal beating of one boy by four others, all while he screamed for help that never came. In fact, the beating took place directly in front of a teacher, who is seen fleeing the room. Ebel said that such violence was commonplace.

“I have experienced a systematic increase in violent behavior among children and young people, especially in the lower and middle grades,” she said.

Ebel also said a brawl between 20 students in the school saw five teachers try to enter the fight to break it up, with one pregnant colleague being punched in the stomach.

In 2011, her school was even nominated for the German School Prize; however, Ebel said that while the school was on the “right track” then, the educational environment has swiftly plummeted.

She also notes that the demographics in the school have rapidly shifted since that time.

“More and more poor people, parents without jobs, lack of German language skills, and so on. We were then considered a school for foreigners. The number of registrations fell drastically,” she said.

Other schools are seeing similar levels of violence, including the case of 17-year-old Sinan Y., who stabbed his vocational school teacher Sabine K. to death after she reprimanded him for aggressive behavior. She died in the classroom in front of her students. Her attacker then committed suicide while in custody.

As Remix News has previously reported, there are a record number of violent attacks in the Berlin school system, with the police being called five times per day on average to different schools.

Read more here…

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Politico cited a senior Senate aid and two sources in the Biden Administration to report on Wednesday that the US is much more afraid of an uncontrollable escalation sequence with Russia than with Iran due to the first’s nuclear capabilities.

As proof of this, the US has no qualms about shooting down Iranian missiles launched against Israel but won’t consider shooting down Russian ones launched against Ukraine, which has upset Zelensky and some of his compatriots who thus feel like second-class allies.

The difference between Russia/Ukraine and Iran/Israel in this regard accounts for the US’ different approach towards each pair.

As was explained last month in this analysis about why “Putin Explicitly Confirmed What Was Already Self-Evident About Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine”, the comparatively more pragmatic policymakers who still have the final say in Russia and the US have thus far managed to avoid the uncontrollable escalation sequence that their respective hawkish rivals want.

Here’s how they did it:

“[The US hawks’] comparatively more pragmatic rivals who still call the shots always signal their escalatory intentions far in advance so that Russia could prepare itself and thus be less likely to ‘overreact’ in some way that risks World War III. Likewise, Russia continues restraining itself from replicating the US’ ‘shock-and-awe’ campaign in order to reduce the likelihood of the West ‘overreacting’ by directly intervening in the conflict to salvage their geopolitical project and thus risking World War III.

It can only be speculated whether this interplay is due to each’s permanent military, intelligence, and diplomatic bureaucracies (‘deep state’) behaving responsibly on their own considering the enormity of what’s at stake or if it’s the result of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’. Whatever the truth may be, the aforesaid model accounts for the unexpected moves or lack thereof from each, which are the US correspondingly telegraphing its escalatory intentions and Russia never seriously escalating in kind.”

There’s no equivalent balance of nuclear power between the US and Iran, with the most that Iran can do is launch saturation strikes against American bases in the region, not existentially threaten it like Russia can.

If Iran’s potential retaliation to Israel’s expected strike harms or kills some of the nearly 100-member team operating the US’ THAAD in the self-professed Jewish State, then the US could either take the hit, retaliate against Iranian-aligned Resistance groups in the region, or strike the Islamic Republic.

Regardless of whatever might happen, non-nuclear Iran is incapable of existentially threatening the US like nuclear-armed Russia could if the latter retaliated to the interception of its missiles by hitting targets inside of NATO, which could easily catalyze a possibly apocalyptic escalation sequence.

To be sure, there are indeed some US hawks who want to risk that scenario and the abovementioned comparatively less consequential one in West Asia, but their more pragmatic rivals are still able to stop them for now.

On the day the Biden admin decided to flagrantly misrepresent the last retail sales report before the election, and used the biggest ever September seasonal adjustment on record to make an unadjusted retail sales decline into a blazing hot print, once again misleading the Fed that the economy is doing much better than it is, something Powell lamented after the BLS recently “revised out” some 818K jobs …

… China decided to out BS the BLS, and moments ago reported economic “data” that was fake, goalseeked and, well, BS from top to bottom.

In its Friday morning data dump when Beijing reported all the key economic metrics for the month, as one would expect from the only country eager to outmanipulate the US when it comes to rigging econ data, every single data point beat estimates but only ever so slightly, you know… to make it realistic:

• Q3 GDP 4.6%, beating estimates of 4.5% (but down from 4.7$ in Q2).
• Retail Sales Sept 3.2%, beating estimates of 2.5%, and up from 2.1%
• Industrial Output 5.4%, beating estimates of 4.5%, and up from 4.5%
• Fixed Investment Jan-Sept 3.4%, beating estimates of 3.3%, and unch sequentially
• Urban jobless rate dropped to 5.1% from 5.3% in August

Why this miraculous “beat” across the board? Simple: to instill confidence that the fake bazooka which Beijing pretended to fire in late September, yet which appears to be just another major dud where Xi Jinping hopes to sent stocks and home prices surging without actually massively expanding credit into the economy, is already succeeding. The better-than-expected retail sales figures in September also received a boost from government subsidies for buying home appliances, which saw a 21% surge in sales from a year ago, picking up from a 3% gain in the previous month.

Alas, as we discussed earlier, it is doing anything but and investors are already fleeing from Chinese markets just days after mainland stocks soared as much as 30% on what in retrospect appears to have been hollow promises, lies and David Tepper dumping his bags while using gullible CNBC viewers as exit liquidity telling them to buy China no questions asked.

Yet not even the fake data could cover up that China’s economy continues to sink: yes, the numbers may have beat, but the Q3 GDP – the slowest since Q1 2023 – remains well below the government’s target for full-year growth of 5% and less than the 4.7% recorded in the previous quarter as sluggish consumption and a property slump weighed on household sentiment.

“It makes the official growth target of 5% difficult to achieve if this trend continues to year end,” said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. “This may be why the government decided in the Politburo meeting to change policy stance and boost growth.”

The National Bureau of Statistics said there’s reason for caution despite improvements in the main indicators as the stimulus measures are rolled out. “We also need to see that the external environment is increasingly complex and grim, and the economy’s foundation for rebound and improvement needs to be further solidified,” a spokesperson said in a statement accompanying the release, pretending it is somehow everyone else’s fault Beijing has completely lost its ability to reflate the economy.

Data released before Friday painted a mixed picture for growth in September. Exports slowed sharply, curbing a trade rebound that has been a bright spot for the economy. Deflationary pressures continued to build, with consumer prices still weak and factory gate prices falling for 24 straight months.

The softer growth will underscore the need for more support for the economy from Beijing, which in late September announced its biggest monetary stimulus since the pandemic and followed up with promises of heavy fiscal spending, yet which have yet to materialize.

As noted earlier, China’s markets reacted exuberantly to the news of monetary stimulus but – once Jim Cramer said to rush into Chinese stocks – have slumped as desperate investors await confirmation of the coming fiscal stimulus. The CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng benchmark are down in October, although they remain up for the year to date.

Efforts by the country’s economic planner, finance ministry and housing ministry to boost confidence have been consistent duds, falling far short of investor expectations. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties index fell 6.7% on Thursday after the housing ministry’s support for the real estate sector disappointed markets. Authorities have yet to quantify the extra fiscal spending, but analysts have said this might be announced at a standing committee meeting of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament, in the coming weeks.

And amusingly, just as Chinese and Hong Kong stocks slumped after the strong Chinese data (because they were not misses, taking away from the urgency to stimulate more), with the CSI 300 already into negative territory, the central bank stepped in yet again with what has now become a daily market-boosting gimmick, which today came in the form of a slew of headlines to show that more easing and support for markets lie ahead.

• *PBOC SAYS FIRST BATCH OF SFISF QUOTAS EXCEEDED 200 BILLION YUAN
• *PAN REITERATES PBOC MAY FURTHER LOWER RRR YEAR-END: CAILIAN

As a result, the CSI 300 is now up nearly 1%, although not even the algos buying Chinese stocks will be fooled for long and having seen this same old song and dance day after day, the selling will resume momentarily as traders indicate they no longer want words but demand actions.

New data coming out of the Issaquah Police Department in Washington have revealed a 350% increase in fights among juveniles since the start of August this year, compared to last year. 

The data, highlighted by KOMO News, was driven by “juveniles in middle school”, according to the report. 

Between August 1 and October 15, Issaquah police received 18 reports of juvenile fights, up from 4 during the same period in 2023.

Officers noted these incidents occurred in public settings and reported a pattern of increased fights at the start of the school year, with most reports coming from adult witnesses, parents, or students.

Police reported that 72% of juvenile fights occurred between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., often near school properties or within a few blocks of Issaquah schools. 

The KOMO News report obtained an Oct. 3 memo from Issaquah Middle School Principal Mark Jergens-Zmuda, addressing the rise in student fights, some recorded by bystanders.

“School safety is paramount, and some measures have been put in place. Ensuring a safe and supportive school environment is our top priority,” the memo said. 

To address the issue, the school held assemblies on expectations, safety, and conflict resolution. Jergens-Zmuda also reminded parents of school rules, including requiring students to stay seated for the first 15 minutes of lunch and banning gatherings on a nearby hill after school, where several fights had occurred.

The school district responded in a statement:

“Schools across the country have student altercations, and our district does as well… we take every instance of student altercations seriously, and investigate them in accordance with Washington state law as well as Issaquah School District policies and regulations. Student privacy laws do not allow us to share specific information about individual instances of altercations, the students involved, or discipline. As always, we are working with students, staff and families to support our students. We appreciate the partnership of our staff, families and community members.”

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Raytheon, a subsidiary of defense contractor RTX, has agreed to pay more than $950 million to resolve federal investigations into government contract fraud, as well as violations of anti-corruption and export control laws.

The settlement, announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Oct. 16, addresses allegations involving defective pricing on military contracts with the U.S. government, as well as illegal bribes to a Qatari official, with the resolution involving both civil and criminal penalties.

An RTX spokesperson confirmed the settlement, telling The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the company acknowledges responsibility for the misconduct and has cooperated with investigators. The company also emphasized its commitment to bolstering its compliance and ethics programs.

Raytheon has admitted to two major fraud schemes affecting Department of Defense (DoD) contracts, including the provision of PATRIOT missile systems and radar systems.

In the first case, Raytheon employees provided defective pricing information, leading the DoD to overpay on two contracts by roughly $111 million between 2012 and 2018.

In a separate scheme, Raytheon failed to provide accurate cost or pricing data for numerous DoD contracts, including a weapons maintenance agreement, leading to further inflated payments.

Under the terms of a three-year deferred prosecution agreement, Raytheon will pay a criminal monetary penalty of $146.8 million and $111.2 million in victim compensation and retain an independent compliance monitor for three years.

The company received a 25 percent reduction in penalties for taking remedial actions, such as firing employees responsible for the misconduct and implementing new controls to prevent future fraud.

Additionally, Raytheon has agreed to pay $428 million to settle False Claims Act allegations related to providing false data during contract negotiations with the DoD. As part of the settlement, Raytheon admitted it misrepresented labor and material costs for weapon systems and double-billed on a radar station contract.

“The department is committed to holding accountable those contractors that knowingly misrepresent their cost and pricing data or otherwise violate their legal obligations when negotiating or performing contracts with the United States,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the DOJ’s Civil Division, said in a statement.

Bribery Scheme in Qatar

Raytheon also faced charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) for a bribery scheme in Qatar.

The company was accused of paying nearly $2 million in bribes to Qatari military officials between 2011 and 2017 to secure lucrative defense contracts through sham subcontracts.

From the early 2000s to 2020, Raytheon also paid more than $30 million to a Qatari agent, a royal family member with no military contracting experience, despite numerous internal warnings about corruption risks.

In this case, which involved a parallel investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Raytheon was accused of failing to adequately document the agent’s services while continuing to rely on this relationship to obtain defense contracts.

As part of a settlement with the SEC, Raytheon agreed to pay $124 million in penalties, with $22.5 million of that amount offset by a parallel DOJ fine.

In addition, Raytheon entered into a separate deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ for the bribery violations, which includes a $230.4 million criminal fine and a $37 million forfeiture. The company will also retain an independent compliance monitor for three years.

“Raytheon willfully failed to disclose bribes made in connection with contracts that required export licenses,“ Matthew Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s National Security Division, said in a statement. ”Today’s resolution should serve as a stark warning to companies that violate the law when selling sensitive military technology overseas.”

RTX has expressed its commitment to taking responsibility for the violations and implementing reforms.

“We have worked diligently during the investigations to remediate that misconduct and continue to do so,” an RTX spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “We are committed to working closely with the incoming independent monitor to improve and further enhance our ethics and compliance program.”

The spokesperson also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to maintaining a robust compliance program that adheres to global laws and regulations “while upholding integrity and serving our customers in an ethical matter.”

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist, shows the average number of years that a skilled worker must work in order to afford a 650 square foot condo near the city center across select markets, based on data from the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2024.

In Hong Kong, the most unaffordable city worldwide for 14 consecutive years, it takes more than two decades for an average skilled worker to buy a condo.

Paris stands as the most unaffordable city in Europe, despite real home prices falling more than 20% from post-pandemic highs.

The median sale price of a condo or co-op in Manhattan stood at nearly $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, with prices per square foot up 44% in a decade.