Comment by Riaz Haq 7 hours ago

Epstein Received Sensitive Military Intelligence Amid Gates Foundation Polio Campaign in Pakistan

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/epstein-sensitive-military-intellige...

Justice Department emails show that Epstein helped the Gates Foundation gain access to the Taliban—and received confidential reports and intelligence on Pakistani military operations.

Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice reveal surprising details about one particular episode: Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan. Epstein long maintained a close personal relationship with Gates as well as with officials from his charitable foundation, which he used to steer resources toward politically sensitive research projects and technology firms.

The email correspondence in the disclosures about Pakistan came a few years before the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in neighboring Afghanistan. They also suggest that Epstein’s interest in the region was not strictly limited to public health matters. In a series of emails on the polio vaccination campaign from the International Peace Institute (IPI)—a nongovernmental organization that Epstein funded and often used as a vehicle for backchannel diplomatic efforts—Epstein also received confidential reports and on-the-ground military intelligence, including sensitive information about NATO operations at Zhob Airport, a small domestic airport in Balochistan, only an hour’s flight away from the Afghan capital in Kabul.

Epstein leveraged his relationship with Gates and contacts in the region to become a central figure in Pakistan’s anti-polio efforts from 2013 to 2018. By personally orchestrating the partnership between the Gates Foundation and IPI, Epstein positioned himself as the gatekeeper for the Gates-Pakistan relationship for five years. During this time he also explored developing backchannel contacts with the Taliban over polio eradication.

The fallout for Gates from his connection to Epstein continues. This week, he was scheduled to be one of the headline draws at India’s high-profile AI summit—a gathering to showcase the country’s ambitions to become a global artificial intelligence powerhouse—before the Microsoft founder abruptly announced he was dropping out of the event.

At a town hall meeting Tuesday with foundation staff, Gates acknowledged having two consensual affairs that were known to Epstein, but denied any involvement in illicit activity or contact with victims of sex trafficking, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Gates said he deeply regretted his relationship with Epstein, claiming that he had been aware of an “18-month thing” that had previously restricted Epstein’s ability to travel—a reference to his conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution—but had failed to properly scrutinize Epstein’s background before associating with him.

This is the latest in Drop Site’s series on Epstein. We are partnering with Jmail, a searchable inbox of Epstein’s emails, to make all the Epstein messages public.

Comment by Riaz Haq 4 hours ago

Whatever the reason for the visit, Prime Minister Modi humiliated both himself and India. He acted and spoke like the leader of a minor state visiting a global power, desperate to curry favour.

https://thewire.in/diplomacy/prime-minister-modi-humiliated-india-d...

From the outset, the visit to Israel by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, was questionable in its timing – months ahead of elections and at a moment when most world leaders are avoiding visits to the country or meetings with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, widely regarded as politically toxic to their public image. This is so even as, despite condemnations of the brutality of Israel’s war in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, many of those same leaders continue to do business with Israel as usual.

Yet the first day of the visit exceeded anything one might have imagined from a trip by the leader of one of the world’s largest and most important countries. In fact, it stands out as one of the most baffling – and embarrassing – visits by a foreign leader to Israel in recent memory.

Prime minister Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are not merely spouses but political partners, currently in the midst of an election campaign in which Modi served largely as a prop. When Modi’s plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport, he was greeted by Netanyahu – heavily made up, like a theatrical actor – and by Sara, who wore an orange-saffron suit, a color symbolising holiness in Hinduism. In a photograph Netanyahu posted on X, he can be seen pointing to his wife’s outfit; both of them also shared an image and a video of Modi warmly embracing Netanyahu.

On the morning of the visit, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement that effectively presented Modi not as an official guest of the State of Israel but rather as a private guest of the Netanyahu family. The statement said Modi had arrived at Netanyahu’s invitation, noting that the two leaders “maintain a close personal relationship, and that the deep and long-standing friendship between them powerfully radiates onto relations between the two countries.” It also announced that a “personal meeting” would take place, followed by a joint dinner hosted by the Netanyahu couple. The language fits neatly with the authoritarian trajectory Netanyahu has taken in recent years, one in which no distinction exists between him and the state. The State of Israel is him – and without him, there is nothing.

Prime minister Modi sought to address the Knesset, despite the fact that it no longer functions as a democratic institution but rather as a rubber stamp for Netanyahu. Opposition parties announced in advance that they would boycott the event after the speaker of the Knesset, Amir Ohana – widely regarded as Netanyahu’s puppet – violated protocol by refusing to invite the president of the Supreme Court, whom the government has been boycotting while conducting an incitement campaign against him.

To prevent the plenary hall from appearing empty, Speaker Ohana invited former members of Knesset to fill the opposition benches. Among them was Oren Hazan, who was exposed by the Israeli media as having run a casino in Bulgaria that also provided escort services, while he was using hard drugs, and who later confessed in a plea deal to assaulting a mayor after his mother’s bank account was frozen. He was joined by Pnina Rosenblum, a cosmetics businesswoman who occasionally records and releases war-themed songs drenched in heavy Auto-Tune – this time, at least, she limited herself to a selfie with Modi and did not break into song.

https://youtu.be/eZ8xhuvv7js?si=ttFg-DHn_vj508by

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