America Let Its Military-Industrial Might Wither. China's Is Booming.
Adapting to the dual challenge of China's military and its economy has been a focus of U.S. administrations for years. America is losing ground.
Modern warfare is a contest of industrial might, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown. Both sides are burning through arsenals of artillery shells, rockets and military vehicles. Automated factories now spit out drones day and night. Even an old-fashioned howitzer requires precision manufacturing.
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CNN
32 minutes ago
- CNN
A growing number of New Orleans fugitives' friends and family arrested for aiding in jail escape
FacebookTweetLink Follow The 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail more than two weeks ago by cutting out a hole behind a toilet received help from at least 14 people, many of them friends and family who provided food, cash, transport and shelter according to court documents. Records reviewed by The Associated Press show how some of the fugitives received aid before and after their escape — including from a number of people named in police reports but not yet facing charges. A former jail employee is accused of driving escapee Lenton Vanburen to a relative's home and helping him FaceTime family the day of the escape, while another friend later offered him a hiding place in a vacant apartment he had been hired to repaint. Others sent money via apps, lied to authorities during interrogation and messaged or called the fugitives, police say. Some are now held on bonds $1 million or higher and most face the felony charge of accessory after the fact. In a city with an entrenched mistrust of the criminal justice system, authorities on Thursday raised the reward to $50,000 per fugitive. They stressed that friends and family are key to capturing the two remaining escapees, convicted murderer Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey, who faces kidnapping and rape charges. 'We understand that some of you might be reporting a friend, a loved one, a relative and albeit not easy, it is critical to your safety and the safety of the public that you report them,' Jonathan Tapp, special agent in charge of FBI New Orleans, said Thursday. After the audacious escape in the early hours of May 16, a woman who police described as 'associated' with Groves 'picked up' and transported escapee Vanburen to a relative's residence, the documents show. She then video-called Vanburen's sisters, who came to meet him. This woman — who has not been charged with aiding in the escape — shares the same name as a former Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office employee, according to court records. In 2023, that employee was arrested for bringing a folding knife and a bag of Cheetos containing tobacco and marijuana into the jail. The charges were dropped in part due to the woman's lack of criminal history and she 'successfully completed' a pretrial diversion program, the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office told The Associated Press. The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office did not respond to request for comment. In a text message to an AP reporter, the woman denied bringing in contraband or aiding fugitives. Separately, authorities arrested a jail plumber they say helped the men escape, but his attorney maintains he was just trying to unclog a toilet. Several escapees, including Massey, relied on internet phone services to communicate with accomplices and 'avoid detection' by not leaving a trail of cellular signals, police reports say. Escapee Corey Boyd used an internet phone service to message several contacts seeking money and access to their iCloud accounts, threatening to kill one person if they did not comply, court records show. The FBI reviewed months of calls from Boyd's 'top caller' while incarcerated. They then found a brief call from a new phone number the night after the escape and used that to help track down Boyd. They discovered that Boyd's aunt was messaging him on Instagram to help him get food as hid in the apartment where a SWAT team captured him May 20. One of the women accused of helping Massey suffered from years of physical abuse from him, court records show. The woman, who had previously filed a protective order against Massey after he attempted to strangle her, was aware of his planned escape and later misled authorities, police say. She exchanged messages with Massey's 31-year-old sister saying they hoped he 'never gets caught.' Authorities staked out the New Orleans home of Massey's sister but a search six days after the escape turned up empty-handed. Police learned Massey had been inside the home before the raid and altered and deleted evidence on his sister's phone. Court records show police accuse Massey's sister of lying to them, slowing down the manhunt and forcing them to lose 'critical days and hours' in the search. At least seven of the people facing felony charges for aiding the fugitives have ties to Lenton Vanburen, Jr. according to authorities. After alerting two of his sisters by prison phone in the hours before his escape, he instructed they contact 'my girl' and provide her with a 'clean phone' so the two could communicate. The woman identified by police as Vanburen's love interest told The Associated Press she never received the phone and denied involvement in the escape plans. Vanburen's sisters met up with him the night of his escape at a family member's residence where he was able to shower, change clothes and was given toiletries. Another family member later reportedly took him to a relative's home in Mississippi. Vanburen was ultimately captured in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Monday and two men arrested this week were accused of helping him find shelter in a hotel — paid for in cash — and an apartment undergoing renovation. The Baton Rouge court system had no record of their legal representation. In another case, a 59-year-old Louisiana woman is accused of sending cash to fugitive Jermaine Donald, a family friend, according to her attorney. Lindsey Hortenstine, communications director for the Orleans Parish Public Defenders' office, said that most of the people arrested in connection with helping the fugitives have not yet secured attorneys. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Colonel Robert Hodges said tips from friends and family remain essential to locating the remaining fugitives. 'They're tired, they're looking over their shoulder, looking for resources,' Hodges said. 'I think the advantage goes to law enforcement and we need the public's help to ensure that we keep that advantage.'
CNN
36 minutes ago
- CNN
A growing number of New Orleans fugitives' friends and family arrested for aiding in jail escape
FacebookTweetLink Follow The 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail more than two weeks ago by cutting out a hole behind a toilet received help from at least 14 people, many of them friends and family who provided food, cash, transport and shelter according to court documents. Records reviewed by The Associated Press show how some of the fugitives received aid before and after their escape — including from a number of people named in police reports but not yet facing charges. A former jail employee is accused of driving escapee Lenton Vanburen to a relative's home and helping him FaceTime family the day of the escape, while another friend later offered him a hiding place in a vacant apartment he had been hired to repaint. Others sent money via apps, lied to authorities during interrogation and messaged or called the fugitives, police say. Some are now held on bonds $1 million or higher and most face the felony charge of accessory after the fact. In a city with an entrenched mistrust of the criminal justice system, authorities on Thursday raised the reward to $50,000 per fugitive. They stressed that friends and family are key to capturing the two remaining escapees, convicted murderer Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey, who faces kidnapping and rape charges. 'We understand that some of you might be reporting a friend, a loved one, a relative and albeit not easy, it is critical to your safety and the safety of the public that you report them,' Jonathan Tapp, special agent in charge of FBI New Orleans, said Thursday. After the audacious escape in the early hours of May 16, a woman who police described as 'associated' with Groves 'picked up' and transported escapee Vanburen to a relative's residence, the documents show. She then video-called Vanburen's sisters, who came to meet him. This woman — who has not been charged with aiding in the escape — shares the same name as a former Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office employee, according to court records. In 2023, that employee was arrested for bringing a folding knife and a bag of Cheetos containing tobacco and marijuana into the jail. The charges were dropped in part due to the woman's lack of criminal history and she 'successfully completed' a pretrial diversion program, the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office told The Associated Press. The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office did not respond to request for comment. In a text message to an AP reporter, the woman denied bringing in contraband or aiding fugitives. Separately, authorities arrested a jail plumber they say helped the men escape, but his attorney maintains he was just trying to unclog a toilet. Several escapees, including Massey, relied on internet phone services to communicate with accomplices and 'avoid detection' by not leaving a trail of cellular signals, police reports say. Escapee Corey Boyd used an internet phone service to message several contacts seeking money and access to their iCloud accounts, threatening to kill one person if they did not comply, court records show. The FBI reviewed months of calls from Boyd's 'top caller' while incarcerated. They then found a brief call from a new phone number the night after the escape and used that to help track down Boyd. They discovered that Boyd's aunt was messaging him on Instagram to help him get food as hid in the apartment where a SWAT team captured him May 20. One of the women accused of helping Massey suffered from years of physical abuse from him, court records show. The woman, who had previously filed a protective order against Massey after he attempted to strangle her, was aware of his planned escape and later misled authorities, police say. She exchanged messages with Massey's 31-year-old sister saying they hoped he 'never gets caught.' Authorities staked out the New Orleans home of Massey's sister but a search six days after the escape turned up empty-handed. Police learned Massey had been inside the home before the raid and altered and deleted evidence on his sister's phone. Court records show police accuse Massey's sister of lying to them, slowing down the manhunt and forcing them to lose 'critical days and hours' in the search. At least seven of the people facing felony charges for aiding the fugitives have ties to Lenton Vanburen, Jr. according to authorities. After alerting two of his sisters by prison phone in the hours before his escape, he instructed they contact 'my girl' and provide her with a 'clean phone' so the two could communicate. The woman identified by police as Vanburen's love interest told The Associated Press she never received the phone and denied involvement in the escape plans. Vanburen's sisters met up with him the night of his escape at a family member's residence where he was able to shower, change clothes and was given toiletries. Another family member later reportedly took him to a relative's home in Mississippi. Vanburen was ultimately captured in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Monday and two men arrested this week were accused of helping him find shelter in a hotel — paid for in cash — and an apartment undergoing renovation. The Baton Rouge court system had no record of their legal representation. In another case, a 59-year-old Louisiana woman is accused of sending cash to fugitive Jermaine Donald, a family friend, according to her attorney. Lindsey Hortenstine, communications director for the Orleans Parish Public Defenders' office, said that most of the people arrested in connection with helping the fugitives have not yet secured attorneys. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Colonel Robert Hodges said tips from friends and family remain essential to locating the remaining fugitives. 'They're tired, they're looking over their shoulder, looking for resources,' Hodges said. 'I think the advantage goes to law enforcement and we need the public's help to ensure that we keep that advantage.'
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
We must ‘get real' about Trump abandoning Ukraine, Europe admits
British and French officials drawing up plans for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine have discussed the need to 'get real' about Donald Trump abandoning the country. Officials agreed to shift the focus from deploying European troops to back up any ceasefire to sustaining Kyiv's long-term defence against Russia's invasion without American support. There is now a genuine concern that the US president will follow through on his threat to walk away from his role as a mediator, having failed to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. 'Let's get real and admit the US will never be on board,' a Western official told the Telegraph, describing the dire mood at the meeting in the Hague. A European diplomat added: 'It was mostly about how to sustain the necessary support to Ukraine when we assume that the US would only continue providing some specific assets, such as intelligence. 'We also agreed on the need to step up economic pressure on Russia.' The meeting in the Dutch capital, attended by 'political directors' from foreign ministries, marked a stark change in roles of the 'coalition of the willing' devised by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron to uphold a possible ceasefire being pursued by the Americans. Sir Keir and Mr Macron have been pushing the 'coalition of the willing' proposal under which European allies would use their soldiers to help enforce any peace deal. More than 30 nations have indicated support, although only a handful have publicly offered to put troops on the ground in Ukraine. A central question had been whether Washington is willing to provide what has been described by UK figures as a 'security guarantee' or a 'back-up' for this force. The group still hasn't publicly conceded that its intentions have changed, with the chances of peace dwindling the longer Putin holds out against international pressure for a truce. The European nations also agreed to invite Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, to the Nato summit in The Hague next month. His attendance had previously been in doubt after Mr Trump's vocal opposition to Ukraine joining the Western military alliance. General Keith Kellogg, Mr Trump's Ukraine envoy, said on Friday: 'We've said that, to us, Ukraine coming into Nato is not on the table. 'And we're not the only country that says that. You know, I can probably give you four countries in Nato, and it takes 32 of the 32 to allow you to come into Nato.' It is likely the coalition will continue to support the Trump peace efforts in public at the request of Ukrainian officials, who fear not doing so will result in the US leader ending weapons shipments and intelligence sharing. Although Washington has not signed off on deliveries of new weapons since Mr Trump took office, it continues to ship hardware agreed under Joe Biden's tenure. The US has also signed off on sales of domestically-produced kit, such as spares for F-16 fighter jets, to Ukraine, as well as allowing European nations to deliver American-made equipment. The meeting in the Dutch capital comes ahead of a key week of diplomacy. On Monday, Britain's national security adviser is expected to attend the next round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. Gen Kellogg told ABC News: 'We'll have what we call the E3. That is the national security advisers from Germany, France, and Great Britain…When we were in London, they kind of helped us mould a term sheet for Ukraine.' Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct negotiations in more than three years in the Turkish capital earlier this month. On Friday, the Kremlin said it would only discuss the conditions of a ceasefire at the talks in Istanbul after Kyiv demanded to see a peace memorandum prior to negotiations. Ukraine said it wanted to see a document setting out Russia's peace proposal before committing to sending officials to Istanbul. Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, said: 'In order for the next planned meeting to be substantive and meaningful, it is important to receive a document in advance so that the delegation that will attend has the authority to discuss the relevant positions.' Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, announced the second round of talks earlier this week after Donald Trump further criticised Vladimir Putin. The US president had called his Russian counterpart 'crazy' and accused him of 'playing with fire' before appearing to give him a two-week deadline to secure a deal. Next week, Britain and Germany will also host a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group of 50 nations coordinating military aid to Ukraine. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
