Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some vital stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
The manhunt continues for the suspect in the murder of a health industry CEO, a massive earthquake rocks the California coast, and lawmakers meet with the world’s richest man to discuss government efficiency.
Also, hackers linked to China breach a number of critical U.S. telecom companies, and an alarming partnership takes effect between a pair of America’s biggest adversaries.
Manhunt Continues for Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting
Police are still hunting for the suspect in what’s described as a targeted shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but they’re starting to close the net.Yesterday, the New York Police Department (NYPD) released new photos of what they call a “person of interest” who’s wanted for questioning in the killing, which took place earlier this week in Midtown Manhattan.
The person in the photos is seen without a mask; he appears to be male and he is smiling, but it’s not clear where the photos were captured.
In case you’re not aware, some different photos and video footage that were released earlier this week show a male suspect, wearing a hooded jacket, approaching Thompson from behind near a Midtown hotel. The suspect is then seen firing multiple shots using a handgun with what appears to be an attached silencer.
However, those photos as well as the video footage do not show the suspect’s face, and another set of photos shows the person wearing what appears to be a dark ski mask.
In a post on the social media platform X, the NYPD reiterated a previous statement made by the police commissioner that “all indications” point to a premeditated “targeted attack.” They’re also offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction in the case.
You should know that a number of unconfirmed media reports, which cite anonymous police sources, said that some messages were scrawled on the bullets or shell casings that were left behind at the scene of the crime.
However, The Epoch Times could not independently verify those reports, and so far, the NYPD has not responded to an Epoch Times request for comment.
Massive Earthquake Rocks California
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) says that a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the Northern California coast just before 10:45 a.m. local time, promptly triggering a tsunami warning stretching from California to Oregon.In under an hour, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, which alerted people on social media to the possibility of “widespread dangerous coastal flooding,” canceled the warning.
A second warning issued by the National Weather Service in San Francisco also alerted people about possible tsunami impacts.
Additionally, the Bay Area Rapid Transit, which runs metro trains across the San Francisco and Oakland areas, reported major system-wide delays—including the complete shutdown of what they call the “Transbay Tube service” that connects the two cities via an underwater tunnel.
So you know, the temblor hit about 60 miles west-southwest of a city called Ferndale, which is located about 100 miles south of the California-Oregon border, and several significant aftershocks rocked the area off the coast following the first quake.
The USGS reports that the shaker struck at a depth of around 6 miles, and that residents as far away as California’s Central Valley also reported feeling the shaking.
A government official says that the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been briefed on the earthquake, and that she is currently “monitoring the situation.”
Musk, Ramaswamy Meet With Top Republicans on Capitol Hill
Yesterday in Washington, billionaire Elon Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy—who were recently picked by Trump to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—met with several top Republicans on Capitol Hill to discuss their plan to reform government spending.During the visit, Musk attended meetings with the two most powerful Republicans in Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
Musk was accompanied by his toddler-age son, and following his meeting with Thune, the billionaire answered a question about whether or not he would support cuts to defense spending by saying, “We just need to make sure we spend the public’s money well.”
Meanwhile, Johnson called the get-together “an important day” and “the beginning of a journey.”
He said that the federal government has grown too large, that it does too many things, and that “it does almost nothing well.” He also said that DOGE would help it become more responsive, more efficient, and leaner.
So you know, DOGE is only an advisory committee and it will have no formal power, so Musk and Ramaswamy will need to work closely with lawmakers to carry out their plan to cut costs and reduce regulations.
To that end, they will be helped by a subcommittee in the House of Representatives, as well as a Senate caucus led by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has already made a number of suggestions that could trim up to $1 trillion from the budget.
China-Linked Hackers Breached US Telecom Companies
A deputy national security adviser says that a Chinese hacking group called “Salt Typhoon” is believed to have accessed the phone calls and text messages of a small number of senior U.S. government officials, along with many other prominent political figures.However, she said that at this time, the government does not believe any classified communications have been compromised.
The official went on to say that the risk for further damage is ongoing, because so far, none of the telecommunications companies that were breached “have fully removed the Chinese actors” from their networks.
Earlier this week, a government cybersecurity director said that right now, it’s impossible to predict when the Chinese hackers will be fully purged from U.S. telecom networks.
Another senior administration official said that the group’s hacking activities began at least a year or two ago, and that a “couple dozen” countries have also been impacted by their efforts.
So you know, both the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency began investigating the hacks a couple of months ago. Earlier this week, they, along with the National Security Agency (NSA), published a guide that reveals the best ways to protect communication infrastructures.
Additionally, White House officials recently met with a group of telecommunications executives to discuss how the U.S. government and the private sector can work together to deal with a number of recent attempts by Chinese-affiliated hacking groups to target critical U.S. infrastructure.
Russia–North Korea Strategic Partnership Treaty Takes Effect
A comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between Russia and North Korea is now in effect, after the protocol was officially signed in Moscow by deputy foreign ministers from both countries.Yesterday, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency cited officials who said the treaty will help the two countries develop a “new, strategic level of friendship and cooperation,” and that it will contribute to “building an indivisible security system” across the entire Asia-Pacific region.
So you know, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency also reported yesterday that the strategic partnership treaty had officially come into effect.
By the way, earlier this year, both Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un initially approved the agreement, which includes a section regarding mutual defense.
At the time, Putin said the pact laid down benchmarks for deepening the long-term relations between the two countries, while Kim stressed the treaty’s defensive nature, which he said will elevate their ties “to the level of an alliance.”
Kim also supported Russia’s foreign policy, including that country’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
U.S., Japanese, and South Korean officials condemned “in the strongest possible terms” what they called the “deepening military cooperation” between the two countries. They also said the treaty “should be of grave concern” to anyone who has an interest in either maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula or supporting the people of Ukraine.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Friday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from William Arthur Ward, who said:
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
Ward was an American author, pastor, and teacher.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for the Saturday edition (the weekend edition) of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
