News Brief: Venezuela’s Attorney General Seeks Arrest of Opposition Leader; Former Top Aide of Hochul Charged With Spying for Beijing; Volkswagen Considers Historic German Plant Closures

Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some really interesting stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
Venezuela’s top prosecutor wants to arrest the opposition for questioning the country’s presidential election, a former top aide to New York’s governor has been charged with spying for China, and an NFL team says don’t be fooled—they have not endorsed the vice president. Also, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says no one is doing more to secure the release of the hostages than him, and a major car manufacturer is considering shutting down plants in Europe.
The accusations leveled against Gonzalez, a member of the Vente Venezuela party, include usurping official functions, forging public documents, instigating public disobedience, conspiracy against the state, and sabotage.
By the way, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab has opened criminal investigations into Vente Venezuela leader María Corina Machado and the website where the opposition posted its tallies.
So you know, Venezuela’s national electoral authority and the country’s top court both said that Maduro won based on counting slightly more than half of the votes.
However, the opposition party, which had been leading in the polls, disputed those results and published their own voting records on their website, which were based on ballot box-level vote tallies.
They showed a resounding victory for Gonzalez after collecting more than 70 percent of the tallies, saying he had more than 6.2 million votes compared with Maduro’s 2.7 million. That was at the end of July, and by the beginning of August, the opposition said it had updated copies of voting tallies showing that it won with more than 7 million votes while Maduro received roughly 3.3 million. You should know that those numbers broadly match up with independent exit poll forecasts.
Also, a number of countries have also cast doubt on Maduro’s victory, including the United States, several Latin American countries, and European Union member states, and are refusing to acknowledge his win without first seeing detailed voting results.
Interesting to note, Maduro, a socialist, has denounced anyone who challenged his administration and says that González belongs “behind bars.”
Sun, who’s 41 years old, and her husband, Chris Hu, who’s 40, were arrested yesterday morning at their home on Long Island.
According to an unsealed indictment, Sun allegedly acted as an undisclosed agent of the CCP while holding high-ranking positions under former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and current governor Hochul.
She’s accused of having engaged in “numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP.” You should know that those activities included blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the governor’s office; changing the politicians’ messaging regarding issues of importance to China and the CCP; and obtaining official New York state proclamations for Beijing’s representatives without proper authorization.
Sun is also accused of arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the Chinese regime with state government officials.
Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the couple worked to “further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP,” and their illicit scheme enriched their family to the tune of millions of dollars.
So you know, Sun is also charged with visa fraud, alien smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, while her husband Hu is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, bank fraud, and misuse of means of identification.
One final note: Prosecutors say she received “substantial economic and other benefits” from Beijing’s representatives, including millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of her husband.
On the social media platform X, users uploaded images of posters with cartoon-like pictures showing Harris in an Eagles uniform and helmet, carrying a football, describing her as the “official candidate” of the team.
You should know that a spokeswoman for Intersection Media, the company that owns the ad space where the posters have been placed, told The Epoch Times yesterday that the company is aware that its bus shelters in Philadelphia have been vandalized and that the “paid advertising copy in each of those shelters has been replaced with unauthorized copy.”
She confirmed that the Eagles and her company had nothing to do with the creation of the posters and Intersection Media staff will be removing the ads as soon as possible.
By the way, it’s unclear how many of those Harris–Eagles posters were placed around the city, and currently, no artist or organization has officially claimed responsibility for the counterfeit posters.
Interesting to note, Pennsylvania is considered a key swing state that could potentially alter the outcome of the election.
One major holdup involves control of the Philadelphi corridor. That’s a strip of territory bordering Egypt and Gaza, and Netanyahu says it’s vital for the Israeli military to have control of that land in order to prevent weapons from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
So you know, the status of the Philadelphi corridor has been a major sticking point that has prevented a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Hamas rejects any Israeli presence in that area, but Netanyahu points out that Israeli troops have unearthed dozens of tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle in weapons and fuel in that area.
You should know that Hamas wants the cease-fire to lead to a final agreement ending the war in Gaza, which would also include the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. However, Netanyahu has been steadfast that Hamas has to be defeated before peace is restored.
By the way, public opinion in Israel is split on the terms of the cease-fire.
One more thing: Negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the return of the Israeli and foreign hostages are believed to be linked to the release of dozens of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.
As a result, the automaker is planning $11 billion in cuts by 2026 in order to survive the transition to electric cars. In fact, brand chief Thomas Schäfer put out a statement yesterday saying the situation is so extreme that it has forced the company to end its job security program, which prevents job cuts until 2029. You should know that program has been in place since 1994.
Volkswagen, which is Europe’s top carmaker by revenue, is also Germany’s largest industrial employer, with 680,000 workers and staff. You should also know that the cost-cutting program is leading to a major conflict with the company’s works council and IG Metall, Germany’s largest trade union, which says that it will “fiercely resist” any plant closures.
Interesting to note, Andy Meyer, chief operating officer and energy analyst at the free-market think tank Institute of Economic Affairs, told The Epoch Times that German plant closures are inevitable at Volkswagen and elsewhere, citing, among other issues, global competition and the German industrial relations model of social partnership.
That’s where costs are managed by agreement with powerful unions and political support, which he says makes it tough to change course.
One more thing. IG Metall’s regional director says this latest news threatens the very foundation of Volkswagen.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Wednesday 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 legendary entertainer Cher, who said: “Nothing lifts me out of a bad mood better than a hard workout on my treadmill. It never fails. Exercise is nothing short of a miracle.”
Cher is an awesome singer, an Academy Award-winning actress, and so much more.
Before we go, today is National Macadamia Nut Day. Although they’re native to Australia, most of today’s world supply grows in Hawaii. The only thing better than a macadamia nut is a chocolate-covered macadamia nut.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
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 Wednesday, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another 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.