Quote:Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a resolution Thursday to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Greene introduced the resolution after two constituents of her Northwest Georgia district were killed Wednesday near the border by a human smuggler who crashed head-on with their vehicle while evading police.

The resolution is privileged, which means the House must address it within two legislative days, setting up a showdown in the House next week.

Greene said Thursday from the House floor:

Rather than adhering to an oath he took to defend and secure our country and uphold the Constitution when he was sworn in as Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas has engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the laws of the United States.

Green laid out a myriad of violations she qualifies as “high crimes and misdemeanors” that meet the bar necessary to impeach Mayorkas, who has become one of Republicans’ top foils in the Biden Administration. The border crisis he has overseen has created a political headache for President Joe Biden as Democrat political leaders in liberal cities and states across the nation have called for a solution to the escalating catastrophe.

Quote:Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a retired Spanish right-wing populist politician who was shot in the face at point-blank range as he left church on Thursday is in intensive care in a Madrid hospital but is conscious and able to speak to police officers. Investigators are now considering whether the attack, which may have been meant to be fatal, could have been motivated by a personal grievance or whether it was politically motivated.

Vidal-Quadras, who once led the Catalan branch of Spain’s main conservative Party and was a co-founder of the right-wing-populist Vox party is involved with the Iranian opposition-in-exile and it is thought possible his support of those who work against the regime in Tehran may have led to the attack. Spanish newspaper El Pais reports Vidal-Quadras himself has spoken to police officers despite the serious injury to his face about the potential Iranian connection and that is being investigated.

Despite 24 hours having now passed since the attempted assassination, which according to an assessment by ABC was only not fatal because Vidal-Quadras turned his face away from the shooter at the last moment, no arrests have yet been made. The gunman who approached Vidal-Quadras as he walked back from mass to his home in an upmarket Madrid neighbourhood was wearing a motorcycle helmet and fired once before fleeing to a waiting accomplice on a motorcycle.

It is believed the burnt-out remains of the Yamaha bike have been found. A police source speaking to ABC said of the professional nature of the attempted killing that it had the hallmarks of a killing “to order” and that it may have been “to settle some type of personal debt, or… in retaliation for Vidal-Quadras’ support for the dissidents of the Iranian regime”.

Quote:London is due to see Armistice Day commemorations, a major Israel-Palestine protest, and the ancient Lord Mayor’s Show all take place within a matter of hours on Saturday, and while there have been calls for the protest to be banned as not in keeping with the sombre commemoration of the 105th anniversary of the end of the Great War, police instead have published a management plan. The Palestine protest will go ahead, but is being confined to a marching route to the west of Westminster, going around the Royal Green Park, the back of Buckingham Palace, through Pimlico and over the river Thames into Vauxhall.

In their statement, the force acknowledged that breakaway groups splitting off from the main Palestine march route and then causing violence has been “escalating” over repeated events in recent weeks and vowed to use their powers to try and stop this, including threatening to arrest those who refuse to disperse. Nevertheless, to underline the order on Palestine protesters to stick to the authorised route, Police have also announced three exclusion zones in London for the weekend and a 24-hour police guard for the Cenotaph memorial itself.

Quote:Three senior South African government officials told Reuters on Thursday that South Africa will miss its climate change targets under the Paris Agreement because shutting down the country’s eight coal-fired power plants would cause a massive energy crisis.

South Africa’s big miss is no small matter for the climate change movement because, as Reuters pointed out, it is “the world’s 11th biggest greenhouse gas emitter and has one of the world’s highest per capita emissions.”

The original plan called for South Africa to shut down six of its coal-fired power plants by 2030 and two more by 2034. The officials who spoke to Reuters said those goals are now considered “unrealistic,” although the government might set a “new decommissioning target for 2035.”

The South African environmental ministry issued a statement saying it was “too early” to conclude the Paris Agreement targets for 2030 cannot be met.

South Africa is already in the midst of a major energy crisis, even with all those coal plants puffing away. The World Bank announced in mid-October that talks were underway for a billion-dollar loan to help South Africa recover from rolling blackouts that have put a major crimp on economic growth.

The World Bank already loaned South Africa’s state utility company, Eskom, $497 million in 2022 to decommission one of its coal power plants. The plant, an aging facility located near the city of Komati east of Johannesburg, was shuttered last October, but the “transition to cleaner energy” was a disaster.

Quote:The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) released a report this week that found China has become a leading power in operating seaports across the globe, as well as “the world’s largest trading country and second-largest economy.”

China owns or operates a seaport on every continent except Antarctica and, at last count, it had stakes in 92 active seaport projects.

“Chinese President Xi Jinping’s launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 and the introduction of the Twenty-First Century Maritime Silk Road, which connects China to Europe and the Arctic Ocean via the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, have supercharged China’s overseas port investment and construction activities,” CFR said.

Interestingly, China became a dominant port power without becoming a major naval power, at least not yet. The Communist tyranny developed “significant geoeconomic influence over international sea-lanes and commercial ports underpinning the global flow of goods” without building many naval bases outside its borders.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has certainly grown large enough for force projection. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) reported last month that China now has “the world’s largest navy, with a battle force of more than 370 ships and submarines,” including three aircraft carriers and three amphibious assault ships. China’s air force is also “rapidly catching up to Western air forces,” according to U.S. officials.

China’s network of overseas ports is impressive, but its domestic ports are nothing to sneeze at. China runs some of the world’s largest and busiest container ports, led by Shanghai, which has been the world’s most active port for 13 years running.

Quote:The number of high-level Chinese business executives who have vanished without warning during dictator Xi Jinping’s latest political purge keeps growing, and it has evidently made foreign investors nervous enough to hinder Xi’s efforts to lure them back after his insane coronavirus lockdowns.
...
Chen Shaojie, chief executive of livestreaming firm DouYu, has been unreachable since October, a person familiar with the matter said. The Nasdaq-listed company declined to comment on Chen’s status but said its “business operations remain normal.” Chinese tech giant Tencent owned a nearly 38% stake in DouYu as of March.

Separately, Shenzhen-listed Shandong Wohua Pharmaceutical said that its chairman, Zhao Bingxian, has been detained and asked to cooperate with an investigation. In a corporate filing dated Monday, Wohua didn’t provide details about the probe but said it wasn’t involved in the matter, and that authorities haven’t notified the firm or sought its assistance.

Neither Chen nor Zhao could be reached for comment. It couldn’t be determined what prompted Chen’s disappearance, which was first reported by a Chinese media outlet, Cover News.

The WSJ speculated that Chen might have been whisked off to secret prison because China’s Internet regulators found something they did not like during a May investigation of DoYu for allegedly streaming “pornographic and crude” material. The BBC mentioned suspicions that DoYu was involved in illegal gambling activity.

Quote:The U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) and Stockholm Environment Institute published a report Wednesday that said governments around the world, led by fast-growing India and world’s worst polluter China, plan to exceed the Paris Agreement’s limits on fossil fuels by more than 110 percent by 2030.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the report a “startling indictment of runaway climate carelessness” and fumed that “governments are literally doubling down on fossil fuel production,” which “spells double trouble for the people and the planet.”
...
The report surveyed 20 countries that produce and consume the majority of the world’s fossil fuels, headed up by India and China. Both have rapidly growing industrial sectors and neither is interested in restraining their energy needs to appease climate activists, although China loves to talk about it while exhorting Western countries to make greater sacrifices, and it wholeheartedly favors growing the electric vehicle (EV) industry, which Beijing has under hammerlock control.
...
According to UNEP and Stockholm Environment Institute researchers, India will increase its coal production by a stunning 460 percent by 2030, plus increases of 83 percent in gas and 29 percent in oil. China is already producing and burning peak amounts of coal, producing 57 percent of the world’s output and importing even more to fuel its energy appetite.

The report gave China a great deal of credit for spending heavily on green energy and pledging to “achieve carbon neutrality before 2060,” without dwelling on how China’s feverish construction of new coal-burning power plants might call the sincerity of its climate promises into question.
...
UNEP found similar, but smaller, contrasts in 17 of the 20 countries it surveyed, dinging them for making “net zero” pledges while continuing to increase fossil fuel production and consumption. Researchers said the “disconnect” between production increases and climate promises is evident for coal, gas, and oil, bringing global carbon dioxide emissions to the highest levels on record in 2022.

Quote:“Moody’s Investors Service on Friday lowered its ratings outlook on the United States’ government to negative from stable, pointing to rising risks to the nation’s fiscal strength,” CNBC noted. “The ratings agency has affirmed the long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings of the U.S. at Aaa.”

The agency said that it expects the “US’ fiscal deficits will remain very large, significantly weakening debt affordability.”

The agency added that political polarization raises concern that future governments will not be able to properly implement a coherent fiscal policy.

“Continued political polarization within US Congress raises the risk that successive governments will not be able to reach consensus on a fiscal plan to slow the decline in debt affordability,” it said.

The U.S. rating will stay at Aaa as long as the nation continues to “retain its exceptional economic strength.”

Quote:President Joe Biden appeared confused on Saturday during a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate Veterans Day.

During the solemn ceremony, the 80-year-old president was slowly guided by a member of the Honor Guard to place a wreath in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

However, after doing so, he seemed confused about what to do. He turned around to walk back to his place but then suddenly turned back around towards the wreath.

The member of the Honor Guard then raised a gloved hand to gesture for him to return to his place.

It was an unusually awkward scene for a president during a wreath-laying ceremony.

The moment was captured live on C-SPAN and highlighted by critics on social media.

Quote:On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Outnumbered,” Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) stated that the Biden administration should “Absolutely” reverse its decision to remove the foreign terrorist group designation from the Yemeni Houthis made by the Trump administration in the wake of the Houthis shooting down an American drone and stated that the incident underscores “the necessity right now to make sure we freeze that 6 billion in Iranian assets as well.”

Co-host Kayleigh McEnany asked, “One of your colleagues, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)…he partnered with Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) in sending a letter to Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, saying that we must designate the Houthis as, in fact, terrorists. ...in the wake of the Houthis firing down a reaper drone, our reaper drone, would you encourage Blinken — along with Jared Moskowitz and others — to designate this group as a terrorist group?”

Nickel responded, “Absolutely. I think it underscores the case and the necessity right now to make sure we freeze that 6 billion in Iranian assets as well. Iran is behind all of these attacks and that seems to be very clear.”

Quote:Service at Grand Central was limited on Friday after pro-Palestine protesters flooded the streets.

The pro-Palestinian rally started at 5 p.m. Friday at Columbus Circle, with thousands marching through the streets demanding a ceasefire overseas.

Marchers then made their way to the New York Times building, vandalizing the front with a red tint before heading to Grand Central.

CBS New York reported that there were several arrests, and violence elsewhere related to the demonstrations:

The NYPD says demonstrations are being held just about every day in the city and stretching police resources. Each precinct now has one supervisor and eight uniformed officers on standby, ready to respond to planned or pop-up demonstrations, according to police sources.
...
Police say around 9:30 p.m., some demonstrators staged a sit-in at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue and refused to comply with officers’ orders. Police also say there were altercations between some demonstrators and bystanders.

A number of people were detained for disorderly conduct.

Quote:The entire local government of a small Michigan township was voted out this week, in a recall election over concerns about a Chinese-affiliated company's plans to build an electric vehicle battery plant nearby. In a special election on Tuesday, Green Charter Township's five incumbent board members, who are all Republicans, were voted out in favor of candidates who ran without any party affiliation. Hours after the vote, the town's new leaders wasted no time, changing the locks on the township's main government building, according to NewsNation National Correspondent Brian Entin.

The community of just 3,219 residents leans Republican, and the surrounding county voted in favor of Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election by a margin of 22 percentage points. The petition that launched the recall election accused town officials of ignoring voter concerns over China-linked company Gotion's plan to open a $2.3 billion EV plant there, which is expected to create 2,350 jobs. Although it is backed by Volkswagen with operations in Germany , Gotion's parent company is based in China , and has been accused of having links to the country's Communist Party.

On Wednesday, NewsNation's Entin reported live from the town's empty government building, after the incumbents hastily packed up their belongings. 'This is something Americans all across the country almost fantasize about, booting out their local government if they don't like them and they're not getting the job done,' he told host Elizabeth Vargas on Elizabeth Vargas Reports.

Quote:Iran’s hard-line president, Ibrahim Raisi, told a gathering of Muslim and Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia on Saturday that the only solution in the Middle East was the destruction of Israel and its replacement by a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea.”

The phrase is frequently chanted at pro-Palestinian marches on university campuses and urban centers in the West. Harvard President Claudine Gay recently acknowledged that the phrase is antisemitic because it implies the genocide of Israel’s Jews.
...
He also calls for sanctions and an energy boycott against Israel, for charges to be brought against Israel and the US at the Hague, and for international inspectors at Israel’s nuclear facilities.

Iran arms and funds the Palestinian terror group Hamas, and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

Quote:In a statement, the IDF said:

Based on precise IDF and ISA intelligence, and with the direction of IDF ground troops, IDF aircraft struck Ahmed Siam, a company commander of the Naser Radwan Company of the Hamas terrorist organization. Two days ago, the IDF spokesperson exposed that Siam held hostage approximately 1000 Gazan residents at the Rantisi Hospital and prevented them from evacuating southwards for their safety.

Ahmed Siam was killed while hiding in the “al Buraq” school, where additional terrorists under this command were also hiding and were killed. Ahmed Siam demonstrates once again that Hamas uses the civilians of the Gaza Strip as human shields for terror purposes.

Israel has asked local hospitals to evacuate because the IDF intends to target Hamas facilities within or underneath those hospitals. On Saturday, Israeli media reported that the military had surrounded Al-Shifa Hospital, a major institution underneath which Hamas has hidden terrorists, weapons, fuel, and supplies.

Quote:Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as part of an overnight bombardment felt across the country, local officials said Saturday, while drones that Russian officials blamed on the Ukrainian military targeted areas around Moscow and the region of Smolensk.

A ballistic missile was shot down as it approached the Ukrainian capital, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. He said that no one was injured.

The Ukrainian air force later confirmed an Iskander-M missile ballistic missile was used in the attack, the first attempted missile strike on Kyiv in almost two months. The missile was destroyed by the country’s Patriot air defense system.

Ukraine’s air defense systems actively repelled attacks in Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, and Kirovohrad regions. The country’s air force said Russian troops launched 31 Shahed-136/131 drones, of which 19 were shot down.

The strike in the Odesa region damaged the city’s port infrastructure and a small community of cottages, injuring three people including a 96-year-old woman, said regional governor, Oleh Kiper.

Ukrainian military spokesperson, Yuri Ihnat, also said Russian forces launched an X-31 aircraft missile, an Onyx anti-ship missile, and an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile overnight, but did not give further details.

Quote:According to a report from The Sun, Britain’s most circulated newspaper, a foreign national has had his right to remain in the UK revoked over celebrating Hamas, which is a banned terror organisation in the country.

The man, who remains unnamed for legal reasons, was also caught supporting Palestine Islamic Jihad, which is classified as a banned proscribed terrorist group as well.

The Hamas-supporting migrant is said to have left the UK after a case was opened against him and Home Secretary Suella Braverman subsequently scrapped his visa, thereby prohibiting him from returning.

He is reportedly the first foreigner to have had his visa revoked after the British government warned it would remove migrants who supported banned terror groups in the wake of the October 7th Hamas attacks that killed over 1,400 people in Israel.

Commenting on the decision to revoke the Hamas-sympathiser’s visa, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said: “There can be zero tolerance for visitors to the UK who abuse the privilege of a visa and endorse evil terrorist acts.

Quote:National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that nine Americans were still missing after the October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel.

Sullivan said, “I have to be careful about what I say publicly on this because it is, of course, a delicate and sensitive negotiation. But the answer to your question is, yes, there are ongoing negotiations involving the Israelis, the Qataris. And we, the United States, are actively engaged in this as well because we want to make sure that we bring home those Americans who have been taken hostage, as well as all of the other hostages.”

He added, “So, that continues. There are efforts to try to secure a deal that would involve their release of hostages. And the president’s not going to rest until we achieve that deal so that every single one of those hostages can come home safely.”

Quote:In a shocking incident that has triggered widespread outrage online, a pro-Palestinian mob can be seen cheering on a protester who climbed a flagpole and tore down U.S. flags as demonstrators marched through central Manhattan over Veterans Day weekend.

One viral clip depicts NYPD officers looking on as pro-Palestinian activists scaled city streetlights to desecrate the flag.

Meanwhile, police and protesters clashed on East 43rd Street in Manhattan.

The demonstrations began Friday night in Columbus Circle and made their way to Grand Central Terminal, where protestors kicked in the doors as law enforcement sheltered inside.

The demonstrators briefly forced the closure of the transportation hub as they marched through the streets of Manhattan for the second night in a row.
...
“These protests aren’t ‘peaceful’; they’re violent, anti-American, and anti-Israel,” Iranian American human rights advocate Sarah Raviani wrote.

Quote:Mexican authorities have abandoned the residents of two towns in the central part of the border state of Tamaulipas despite terrorist attacks by the Gulf Cartel. Gunmen continued to set fire to buildings, abducted innocent victims, and shot up homes.

The attacks began on Tuesday early morning when a convoy of at least 25 vehicles with cartel logos rolled into the towns of Abasolo and Jimenez in the central part of Tamaulipas. The vehicles had logos from the Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel, Cartel Jalisco New Generation, and Old School Zetas.

Once the vehicles rolled in, they began torching several businesses, shooting up homes, painting graffiti on the walls, and they reportedly abducted various individuals out of their homes.

...Mexican authorities responded once the cartel gunmen left the area. The responders only helped put out the fires. Since then, authorities have not carried out any raids or enforcement operations in an attempt to target the gunmen responsible for the attacks.

...Tamaulipas Governor Americo Villarrea has allowed drug cartels to operate with impunity under his watch. Since his arrival to power late last year, the Gulf Cartel and the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas have largely been untouched by state police forces. Villarreal hails from Mexico’s ruling party, Morena, which, under the leadership of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has benefited from illicit funds being funneled into their campaigns and also allowed criminal organizations to operate freely.

Quote:The recent arrests in Sao Paulo, Brazil, of two individuals reportedly tied to Hezbollah has put the spotlight on the growing influence of Iran and Islamic regime-funded terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah in Latin America.

The two arrested individuals, who are now facing over 15 years in prison, were plotting to carry out terrorist attacks on Jewish community centers in Brazil, according to the Brazilian Federal Police. The Israeli government confirmed that its intelligence agency, the Mossad, aided Brazil in its efforts to stop the alleged plots.
...
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi carried out a Latin American tour in June that saw him visit Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, Iran’s closest allies in the region. During his encounter with Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, Raisi asserted that Iran and Venezuela’s relation is of a “strategic” nature, with “common interests, views,” and “enemies” in a clear allusion to the United States.
...
In 2015, Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead of a gunshot wound in his residence hours before he was slated to give testimony to Congress as part of a case that accused leftist then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of having helped cover up Iran’s involvement in the AMIA bombing, allegedly in exchange for beneficial trade deals with the Islamic regime.

Quote:Moscow’s troops have begun a push to regain territory near Bakhmut, the eastern mining city that was the site of the war’s bloodiest battle before falling into Russian hands in May, the head of Ukraine’s ground forces wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukrainian troops had recaptured the heights over Bakhmut and made some advances to the city’s west, north and south since Kyiv launched its summer counteroffensive.

“Toward Bakhmut, the Russians have become more active and are trying to recapture previously lost positions. … Enemy attacks are being repelled,” Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote in a Telegram update on Sunday afternoon.

Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive has so far resulted in only incremental gains and heavy losses, with Ukrainian troops struggling to punch through Russian lines in the south. Meanwhile, Moscow’s forces have attempted to press forward in the northeast, likely with a view to distract Kyiv and minimize the number of troops it is able to send to key southern and eastern battles.

Quote:In interviews with the Chicago Tribune, some of the nearly 21,000 border crossers and illegal aliens who have arrived in the sanctuary city of Chicago, Illinois, said they wish they had never made the journey up to the United States–Mexico border.
...
“The American Dream doesn’t exist anymore,” said Castejon as he laid [sic] on a blanket on the bare floor of the station the afternoon before they left. “There’s nothing here for us,” he added.

Migrants said they’re realizing the city is at a breaking point. Not only is there no more space in shelters, they also acknowledge that some residents in Chicago oppose the opening of more shelters for them. Castejon said that despite the dangerous trek to get here — often begging for money and sleeping in the streets to cross several borders — the journey had not been worth it.
...
“We didn’t know things would be this hard,” he said. “I thought the process was faster.”

According to the Tribune report, Catholic Charities is raking in lucrative cash from taxpayers across the United States in states like Illinois, Colorado, and Texas as they help relocate newly arrived border crossers and illegal aliens to other states.

In Illinois, for instance, Catholic Charities is using taxpayer money to send more than 2,000 border crossers and illegal aliens to other states. At the same time, Catholic Charities in Colorado and Texas are using taxpayer money to send more border crossers and illegal aliens to Illinois.

Chicago is not the only sanctuary city to see dissatisfied border crossers and illegal aliens. In New York City, new arrivals told the New York Post that they are furious over the prospect of the city moving them into the historic Floyd Bennett Field in southeast Brooklyn.

Quote:ABC 7 / Chicago Sun-Times reported the weekend’s first fatal shooting occurred Friday night around 8:30 p.m. “in the 7600 block of North Greenview Avenue.” A 36-year-old man was sitting in a car when another vehicle pulled along side him and someone in the second vehicle opened fire.

The 36-year-old was transported to a hospital where he died.

At 3 a.m. Saturday morning two men, a 31-year-old and a 32-year-old, were sitting in a car “in the 1400 block of North Avers Avenue” when someone in another vehicle opened fire on them as well. Both men were shot multiple times, and the 31-year-old succumbed to his wounds.

A 17-year-old boy was shot in the chest around 2:50 p.m. “in the 13000 block of South Drexel Avenue.” He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and he later died.

Hours later, at 6:40 p.m., a 40-year-old man “in the 7900 block of South Western Avenue” was approached by someone who drew a gun and  opened fire. The 40-year-old was transported to a hospital for his wounds and he died shortly thereafter.

Quote:The Associated Press reported that the incident occurred in Georgetown, when the agents “saw the three people breaking a window of the parked and unoccupied SUV.”

One of the agents opened fire, causing the three individuals to flee in a red vehicle.

FOX News noted that the Secret Service released a statement on the incident, indicating, “There was no threat to any protectees and the incident is being investigated by the DC Metropolitan Police Department and the Secret Service.”

The AP observed, “Police have reported more than 750 carjackings this year and more than 6,000 reports of stolen vehicles in the district.”

Violent crime is up over 40 percent, compared to where it was last year.

Quote:Barricades and fencing have been erected in San Francisco as the city scrambles to clean up its homeless population ahead of President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Photos and videos showing metal barricade structures outside of the Moscone Center, where leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group are set to gather Wednesday, have garnered criticism on social media.

“San Francisco built a wall and made all the homeless people disappear for Xi,” End Wokeness, an account with more than 1.8 million followers, posted on X. “If only they cared about pleasing their own constituents as much as they care about pleasing a world dictator.”

Biden and Xi are to meet on the “sidelines” of the San Francisco summit on Wednesday, reports Fox News.

More images from the city’s streets show before-and-after photos in which homeless encampments were seemingly cleaned up right before the Chinese leader’s arrival.

“Xi has done more to clean up our filthy cities than any elected U.S. official,” former White House speechwriter Darren J. Beattie wrote on X.

Quote:California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) responded to the backlash at a press conference, saying “it’s true” that San Francisco has been cleaned up for all “those fancy leaders who are coming into town.”

“Because it’s true,” the progressive governor said. “But it’s also true, for months and months and months prior to APEC, we’ve been having different conversations.”

Quote:A Georgia voter registration project founded by failed Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is facing scrutiny for financial corruption, a six-month-long Politico investigation revealed.

The New Georgia Project (NGP), once headed by leftist Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), was founded to “build power with and increase the civic participation of the New Georgia Majority—Black, Latinx, AAPI, and young Georgians,” according to their website.

Revelations about NGP’s internal investigation into suspected financial mismanagement came from the Politico report that dug into the sudden departure of their longtime director Nsé Ufot, who the group is demanding repay thousands of dollars in “non-work-related” reimbursements.
...
NGP is now under an external ethics investigation from the state of Georgia, suspected of participating in unlawful political activity as well as being in a dispute with the IRS over payroll taxes, which new CEO Kendra Davenport Cotton claimed to Politico has been settled.

The outlet’s report cited financial disclosures, internal documents, and interviews with former staffers to back up the claims of corruption, including examples of improper expense tracking on prepaid Visa gift cards to employees, and failures to account for salary advances.

NGP, as well as their 501©4 action fund, NGPAF, raked in a whopping $36.4 million during the 2020 election cycle, and $16.1 million in 2021.

According to former employees who were questioned, the mismanagement of the multimillion dollar pot led to the allegations of financial corruption.

Quote:“Columbia University is suspending Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups through the end of the fall term,” Gerald Rosberg, Senior Executive Vice President of the University and Chair of the Special Committee on Campus Safety, said in a statement.

“This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” Rosberg added.

The statement went on to explain that “suspension means the two groups will not be eligible to hold events on campus or receive University funding.”

“Lifting the suspension will be contingent on the two groups demonstrating a commitment to compliance with University policies and engaging in consultations at a group leadership level with University officials,” Rosberg said.

Quote:The body of Canadian-Israel peace activist Vivian Silver, one of the leaders of the Women Wage Peace organization, was identified on Monday among the dead at Kibbutz Be’eri, more than five weeks after the Hamas terror attack of October 7.

Silver was missing and presumed taken hostage. Her organization, Women Wage Peace, posted a note last week:

Early Saturday morning Vivian wrote to say that terrorists had infiltrated the kibbutz and entered her home.
...
And since 11:07 – silence. A deafening silence.
...
Vivian Silver, member of kibbutz Be’eri, central activist of Women Wage Peace and renowned peace activist in many other organizations, has been transporting ailing Gazans from the border checkpoint to Israeli hospitals for years now. Humanist, peace loving, determined, wise and steadfast Vivian. She is now a hostage.

Identifying the remains at Kibbutz Be’eri and several other places was a very difficult task because some of the bodies were burnt or mutilated beyond recognition. As Breitbart News reported, forensic experts called in archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority to help, because of their experience in analyzing small fragments of bones, teeth, and other materials in their research.

On Monday, a positive identification was made. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported the sad new of Silver’s death...

Quote:China’s state-run Global Times on Monday joined the chorus attempting to protect Hamas by demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, just as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are beginning to penetrate the tunnel complexes Hamas constructed under hospitals and schools.

“In order to realize an immediate ceasefire when Israel ignores all calls and warnings to halt its military operations in Gaza, the world, or at least countries in the region that care about the humanitarian situation of Palestinians, also needs measures to impose concrete constraints on Israel,” the Global Times pontificated.

It is difficult to imagine what “concrete constraints” the Chinese tyranny would accept during a successful operation against terrorists who raped and murdered over 1,200 of its citizens, including children. China marched a million Muslims into concentration camps to address a far more nebulous security threat from a separatist group that the U.S. government has confirmed does not exist.

The Global Times harangued the international community for failing to protect Hamas from the IDF, uncritically quoting unconfirmed figures from the Hamas terrorists to argue the Gaza war is a bigger atrocity than the one perpetrated by Hamas on October 7...

Quote:House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) addressed the “March for Israel” rally at the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Tuesday in which he voiced opposition to calls for a ceasefire between the Israel Defense Force  (IDF) and Hamas terrorists.

“The calls for a ceasefire are outrageous,” Johnson said in his remarks, prompting cheers and chants of “no ceasefire” from the thousands of Israel supporters in attendance. “Hamas terrorists waged the bloodiest assault on Jewish life since the Holocaust.”

Johnson, flanked by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), then spoke of the approximately 240 hostages held captive in Gaza by Hamas and other radical Islamic terror organizations.

“There are hundreds of hostages, many of them Americans, still stuck inside Gaza,” the Speaker said.

“Israel will cease their counter offensive when Hamas ceases to be a threat to the Jewish state,” he added.

Quote:Host Andrea Mitchell said, “[T]he U.S. has now conducted its third round of retaliatory strikes against Iranian-linked sites in Syria. This time, notably, it killed several Iranians. Deterrence doesn’t seem to be working.”

Kirby responded, “Well, again, these groups and the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guard Corps that works for the supreme leader that funds and supports these militia groups, they’ve got some choices to make. If they want to keep attacking our troops in Iraq and Syria and keep threatening our facilities and the lives of our folks in harm’s way, then we’re going to have to continue to respond and respond aggressively and appropriately to mitigate that threat. These targets were targets that went directly at the IRGC’s ability to continue to provide capabilities to these groups. We’re not looking for conflict. We don’t want to see any more attacks. But we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to protect our troops and our facilities, and we’ll keep doing that.”

Quote:Hunter Biden’s lawyers asked the judge presiding over his criminal gun case on Wednesday to subpoena former President Donald Trump, former Attorney General Bill Barr, and two other Trump administration officials.

The request signals Hunter Biden’s legal strategy to accuse the Trump administration of political interference in his gun case, the same accusation IRS whistleblowers leveled against President Joe Biden’s Justice department in their probe of Hunter Biden for tax, gun, and potentially FARA violations.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika to issue several subpoenas to:
Trump, Barr, Former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen

Mr. Biden seeks specific information from three former DOJ officials and the former President that goes to the heart of his defense that this is, possibly, a vindictive or selective prosecution arising from an unrelenting pressure campaign beginning in the last administration, in violation of Mr. Biden’s Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.

“In the leadup to the 2020 election, IRS case files show certain investigative decisions were made ‘as a result of guidance provided’ by, among others, ‘the Deputy Attorney General’s office,'” said the filing by attorney Abbe Lowell.

The filing also highlights Barr’s recent book, in which the former attorney general alleged that Trump asked him in October 2020 about the status of the probe into Hunter Biden.
...
The request also alleges House Republicans pressured now-Special Counsel David Weiss to indict the president’s son. Hunter Biden and Weiss previously agreed to a “sweetheart” plea deal until it fell apart under judicial scrutiny.

Quote:Former President Donald Trump filed a motion Wednesday to have his civil fraud case in New York thrown out, alleging that the judge and his clerk are biased.

In a 30-page filing, Trump’s attorneys allege that Judge Arthur Engoron and clerk Allison Greenfield have “tainted” the proceedings, The Daily Beast reported. They said a mistrial is the only way to “salvage what is left of the rule of law.”

“This appearance of bias threatens both defendants’ rights and the integrity of the judiciary as an institution,” the filing said. “Greenfield’s unprecedented role in the trial and extensive, public partisan activities, would cause even a casual observer to question the court’s partiality.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case against the Trump Organization, rebuked Trump’s effort to move for a mistrial. She said he is “trying to dismiss the truth and the facts.”
...
Trump has often been at odds with Engoron and increasingly directed his ire toward Greenfield. Earlier this month, Engoron issued a gag order against Trump and his legal team, barring them from making comments about confidential communications between the judge and his staff. The gag order was later expanded to include Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr.

Engoron issued the order, citing threats that have flooded his office since the trial began. Trump has been fined more than once for violating the order.

Quote:The final tally was 336-95. A whopping 209 Democrats supported the measure, far more than the 127 Republicans in favor.

The two-tiered continuing resolution (CR), called a laddered CR, extends current spending levels for Agriculture, Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA and Transportation-HUD spending bills through January 19, with the remaining eight bills extended through February 2.

Those spending levels and policies were set by Democrats in December 2022 during the lame duck session, after Republicans won a House majority but before new members officially took office in January.

The bill has the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and is expected to pass through the Senate on its way to President Biden’s desk by the Friday midnight deadline.

Other News

Loudoun County Voters Fire Soros Prosecutor Buta Biberaj, Elect Republican Bob Anderson

Quote:Almost 20 years ago [Soros] started his SOS Project, focusing on electing leftwing secretaries of state because they are chief elections officers of their respective states, resulting in major reinterpretations of elections laws. This accelerated a leftward shift in voting laws that would result in pushing ballot harvesting, automatic voter registration, same-day registration, forbidding voter ID and blocking other election integrity measures.

In the past few years, his network has shifted to county prosecutors, resulting in repeated outrages in leftwing enclaves like New York City (Alvin Bragg) and Los Angeles (George Gascon). They have also been a major focus in the Virginia counties surrounding Washington DC, like Arlington (Parisa Dehghanti-Tafti) and Fairfax (Steve Descano).

Just past Fairfax to the north and west is Loudoun County. More than a decade ago it was ruby red (as was Fairfax not many years prior to that), but now it is clearly purple – and gets outsized media attention, as it appears to be both a microcosm of the fight for Virginia but also a flashpoint for battling over parental rights and schools...

...The sheriff is Mike Chapman, a 46-year law enforcement professional who is a conservative Republican, managing a department with over 800 officers. But the district attorney – called the “commonwealth attorney” in Virginia – is Biberaj, a leftwing fanatic with a list of crimes she refused to prosecute, who had received almost $1 million in campaign cash from Soros’s network.

The ties to the militantly ultra-left billionaire were so clear that Jason Miyares – Virginia’s dynamic Republican attorney general – challenged Soros to meet with the victims of crime in Virginia left unprotected by the prosecutors that Soros was installing...

But it was not enough to save Biberaj from the wrath of voters in this D.C .exurb, even though Biberaj had a total of $1.1 million this year and her Republican challenger, Bob Anderson, had only $70,000. Despite a 15:1 cash advantage and all the benefits of incumbency, Anderson edged out the radical Biberaj, 68,068 to 67,768 – a margin of 300 votes.

Pentagon Confirms Almost 60 Troops Injured by Iran-Proxy Forces in Iraq and Syria

Quote:“Since October 17th through today, we are tracking that there have been 55 attacks on U.S. forces. There have been 27 attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and 28 attacks in Syria,” said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh during a Pentagon briefing.

“We are also tracking 59 U.S. personnel who have received injuries in the [traumatic brain injury] or non-serious categories since these attacks began. Approximately 27 personnel have been evaluated for TBI and 32 for other non-serious injuries. As of today, all 59 have returned to duty,” she said.

In response, the U.S. has struck weapons and ammunition storage facilities in Syria allegedly linked to the attacks, but have not confirmed any casualties in those strikes.

The Pentagon insists the strikes against U.S. troops are “separate” from the war between Israel and Hamas, despite Hamas also being backed and funded by Iran and despite the Pentagon previously acknowledging that Iran-backed groups had threatened to escalate attack U.S. troops if Israel conducted a ground offensive into Gaza.

Singh said U.S. troops were being attacked because Iran did not want them in the region, and not because the Israel-Hamas war has spilled over into other countries.
...
However, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder had previously said on October 23:

I think we are concerned about escalation based on, you know, you’ve seen several groups throughout the region publicly say, ‘Hey, you know, if there is a ground incursion, we are going to scale up our attacks.’

On whether Iran was getting the message to stop using proxy-forces to attack U.S. troops, Singh said, “I think we are being very deliberate on how we — and when we conduct our — our strikes against these groups. And I think that Iran is certainly seeing that message.”

If they got the memo as Singh claims here, why are Iran's proxies still attacking US troops on a daily basis?

Voter Fraud: Massachusetts Officials Investigating Woman Allegedly Stealing Ballots

Quote:The footage, obtained by NBC10 Boston, came from a local man who told the outlet that when he went to vote in person on Election Day on November 7, he was told that he had already voted.

The man, who was not publicly identified, checked his security camera footage and contacted the police when he saw a video of a suspicious woman taking ballots from his mailbox.

The Essex County District Attorney’s Office and Secretary of State William Galvin are now looking into potential voter fraud, the outlet reported.

Galvin said:

We’re going to get all the ballots out of Lawrence, we’re going to get all the mail-in ballots, and we’re going to review everything and all the provisionals and reconcile the list, and if further investigation contacting some of the people who allegedly voted by mail needs to be done, we will do it.

By Tuesday, there were two reports of potential voter fraud in Lawrence.

“There may be more. It’s premature to say how many,” Galvin said.

The second allegation came from a woman who is currently waiting for election officials to decide whether her in-person vote will count after they already received her mail-in vote, which she claims was forged.

Quote:Councilwoman Kendra Lara (D) introduced the measure, which would allow foreign nationals on green cards, visas, and other forms of legal status to vote in Boston municipal elections. The measure is likely to gain widespread support from the council, which is made up of 12 Democrats.
...
Though immigrants, particularly those with legal status, pay taxes and contribute to Boston’s economy, they are not able to participate in the electoral process, in what I believe is a violation of one of our foundational American principles. By moving this home rule petition forward, Boston can begin the process of making good on our promise to build a city that is for everyone. [Emphasis added]

Councilman Ricardo Arroyo (D) has already praised giving foreign nationals the right to vote as an initiative that would boost voter turnout in Boston.
...
Nearly three in ten Boston residents are foreign-born, though it is unclear how many would be eligible to vote under Lara’s plan.

Quote:President Joe Biden and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping had their much-touted face-to-face meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday, spending about four hours dining and walking the grounds at the historic Filoli estate.

The two major outcomes touted by the White House were that Xi agreed to resume U.S.-China military communications and to help reduce production in China of the deadly drug fentanyl.

The White House did not portray the meeting as a summit, which would have entailed a longer list of accomplishments and a joint statement.

Biden and Xi gave a joint press conference from the Filoli estate before their talks, but it consisted mostly of diplomatic pleasantries, with the two leaders talking about how long they have known each other, how much they value each other’s candor, and how important the relationship between the United States and China is to the rest of the world.

Xi used his remarks at the press conference to press China’s view that the coronavirus pandemic – which he refused to take responsibility for – is over and the worldwide economy is “sluggish.”

“Industrial and supply chains are still under the threat of interruption and protectionism is rising. All these are grave problems,” Xi said, as though he were not the autocratic ruler of one of the most protectionist economies in the world.

Quote:Several arrests have been made outside the DNC offices in Washington, DC, where pro-Palestinian protesters violently clashed with police on Wednesday.

“U.S. Capitol Police said they were making arrests at a pro-Palestinian protest on Wednesday night in Southeast D.C.,” noted NBC Washington.

“The protesters had gathered outside of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) just south of the Capitol before authorities said several dozen demonstrators got into a shoving match with officers,” it added.

Police then used pepper spray and pushed back on protesters to move them a block away from the building. Members of the DNC were evacuated. People have also been asked to avoid the area.

“Right now our officers are working to keep back approximately 150 people who are illegally and violently protesting in the area of Canal Street and Ivy Street, SE,” police said in a post on X.

Quote:Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Monday that the Communist government wants private companies to become “deeply involved” in joint ventures with state-owned corporations to develop infrastructure projects that would supposedly “stimulate domestic demand and reboot the flagging economy.”

“The idea is to hand out ‘franchises’ for projects that could benefit from private-sector assets and know-how, under a scheme that Beijing is hoping will bring local government finances ‘into the sunshine’ and ‘curb new, hidden debt carried by local governments,’” RFA said, quoting Chinese State Council guidelines.

Skeptical analysts noted this vision of public-private partnerships building everything the “public” government wants because it might eventually help the “private” partners make a little money, sounds a lot like the ruinous centrally-planned economy China seemingly escaped from with the economic reforms of the 1980s.

Chinese private business owners could not help noticing their government “partners” are holding ominous regulatory whips and muttering about how only “Marxist theory” can tame China’s “unruly” financial sector. Being called “unruly” by a Communist means you’re about to get ruled, good and hard.

Quote:The latest data from China shows that prices of new homes dropped in 80 percent of major cities in October.
This indicates the real estate market slump continues to spread despite the central government's measures to prop up the economy.

The National Bureau of Statistics says prices fell in 56 out of the 70 cities. The number is up by two from September. Prices rose in 11 cities and remained flat in three.

The government has introduced measures such as easing mortgage-related regulations since summer. But analysts say the effects are limited.

China's real estate sector, including related industries, is said to account for about a quarter of the country's GDP.

Quote:The foreign ministers of Japan and the Philippines have agreed to enhance security cooperation between the two countries with China's increasing maritime activities in mind.

Japan's Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko met with her Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo in San Francisco on Wednesday. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Referring to Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's visit to the Philippines earlier this month, Kamikawa said it was meaningful that the leaders of the two countries confirmed they would maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law.

Manalo responded that he would like to further enhance relations with Japan.

Amid China's growing maritime presence, Japan will provide the Philippines with coastal surveillance radar systems under its new security assistance program.

The two ministers agreed to boost the bilateral security partnership and steadily promote trilateral cooperation with the United States.

Kamikawa also met with her Peruvian counterpart Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea. They agreed to deepen economic cooperation, including strengthening supply chains of critical minerals such as copper and lead.

Quote:Special Counsel David Weiss appears focused on investigating Hunter Biden for tax violations in California with subpoenas issued for James Biden via a Los Angeles grand jury.

People familiar with the probe told CNN:

• James Biden and a former associate of Hunter Biden are “among the individuals ” who received a subpoena in recent weeks.
  
• It is unclear “if investigators are looking at anything beyond tax matters,” such as Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) violations.
  
• It is unclear if any witnesses appeared in person before the grand jury.
  

The reported launch of a Los Angeles grand jury raises a question of timing. The probe into Hunter Biden began five years ago. The report also confirms Weiss’s previous statements that his probe remained ongoing.

Quote:The China National Narcotics Control Commission announced on Friday the Biden administration has lifted sanctions against the Institute of Forensic Science (IFS) at China’s Ministry of Public Security.

The move appears to be the first concession made by the administration after Chinese dictator Xi Jinping told President Joe Biden he would do more to halt the production of deadly fentanyl.

Xi’s promise to crack down on fentanyl production was one of two major achievements touted by the Biden administration after Xi and Biden talked for four hours on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.
...
China’s IFS was added to the U.S. Commerce Department’s list of sanctioned entities in 2020 for “engaging in activities contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United States.”

The Commerce Department said at the time that IFS and eight other sanctioned entities were “complicit in human rights violations and abuses committed in China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region [occupied East Turkistan].”

Quote:During a meeting between Biden and AMLO at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference in San Francisco, California, the Mexican president called Biden a “good man” who has been an “extraordinary president” for the U.S., according to the Associated Press.

Among the issues Biden and AMLO discussed was illegal immigration.

AMLO heaped more praise on Biden for the administration’s Catch and Release network that releases tens of thousands of border crossers and illegal aliens into American communities — rather than turning them back to Mexico — through a variety of programs.

According to AMLO, the policy is “a humane way to address the migration phenomenon.”

One of Biden’s programs to get border crossers and illegal aliens into the U.S. interior is a migrant mobile app where foreign nationals in Mexico can actually schedule appointments at the border to be released.

Quote:Johnson took to X, formerly Twitter, and shared a link to a House website containing five pages of videos with roughly 20 videos per page.

“Today, I am keeping my promise to the American people and making all the January 6th tapes available to ALL Americans,” Johnson tweeted moments before releasing the CCTV tapes.

“To restore America’s trust and faith in their Government we must have transparency. This is another step towards keeping the promises I made when I was elected to be your Speaker,” he wrote in another post.

It comes after Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) provided then-Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson access to what Axios reported was 41,000 hours of footage in February. Carlson aired a never-before-seen video of Jacob Chansley, the infamous “QAnon Shaman,” from the trove on his former show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, in March.

Quote:The US State Department has approved a possible sale of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Japan and notified Congress of its decision.

The department gave the greenlight for the sale of up to 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles to Japan on Friday.

The estimated total cost including the system's related equipment is 2.35 billion dollars.

The approval came after an agreement last month between Japanese Defense Minister Kihara Minoru and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. They agreed to Japan's plan to acquire the missiles starting in the fiscal year that begins in April 2025. The weapons are currently deployed mainly by US forces.

The Tomahawk is a US-developed guided cruise missile with the capability to strike targets with high precision.

Quote:Officials in Cambodia inaugurated the country's biggest airport on Thursday. The facility was constructed with the help of a Chinese loan. It is being hailed as a new gateway to one of the nation's most important tourist attractions, Angkor Wat.

Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport is located about 40 kilometers east of the Angkor Wat temple complex. It is designed to handle seven million passengers a year. There are also plans to expand the facility. It will be able to serve up to 12 million travelers by 2040.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet attended the inauguration ceremony with a Chinese delegation.
He said that the airport represents the fruit of peace. He added that it is a product of the friendship between Cambodia and China.

The 1.1 billion dollar project is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Quote:Australia's defense ministry has criticized a Chinese military destroyer for engaging in "unsafe and unprofessional conduct." It says Australian naval divers were injured when the Chinese vessel used sonar in an area where they were operating.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles issued a statement on Saturday. He said an Australian frigate was in international waters inside Japan's exclusive economic zone on Tuesday when it stopped to clear away fishing nets that had become entangled around its propellers.

Marles said the Chinese destroyer approached the Australian vessel while diving operations were underway. He said the Australian side informed the Chinese ship that divers were operating in the area and asked the ship to stay clear. But the minister said the ship used its sonar in a manner that posed a risk to the safety of the Australian divers. Marles said the divers sustained minor injuries.

Quote:Tourism officials from New York City have held a promotional event in Tokyo aimed at attracting more Japanese travelers to the Big Apple.

Japanese travel agents and media personnel were among the attendees at Friday's event, which featured hip-hop music to mark the 50th anniversary of the genre's birth in New York.

City officials said New York is seeing a major rebound in domestic and international tourism as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

They also said that the city's airports and tourism infrastructure are being revamped.

The officials predict that the number of Japanese travelers to New York this year will be less than 60 percent of the level in 2019, before the pandemic.

Quote:Amid large-scale protests and warnings of “civil war” over the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez’s move to push for amnesty for politicians and activists in the Catalonian separatist movement, many of whom were accused of sedition and rebellion after seeking to launch an independence referendum in 2017 for which they were removed from office and figures such as former Catalonian President Carles Puigdemont fled the country to avoid prosecution.

While Sánchez even admitted before the July elections that giving amnesty to the separatists would likely be unconstitutional, he struck the bargain with the regional separatist parties to form a coalition government after his Socialist Workers Party of Spain (PSOE) came in second behind the centre-right People’s Party (PP) which despite securing the most votes fell short of enough seats to form a government of its own.

The decision by Sánchez to side with the separatists in a craven attempt to cling to power has re-opened the deep political divisions from the 2017 constitutional crisis and has seen millions of Spaniards take to the streets over the past weeks.

Ahead of the prime minister being sworn in again before King Felipe VI at the Zarzuela Palace, a group of 51 retired military officers released a “manifesto” calling for the Spanish Armed Forces to remove Sánchez from office and launch fresh elections.

Quote:Joel Guerriau, a 66-year-old representing the Loire-Atlantique region in western France, was detained for 48 hours and given preliminary charges Friday, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

He is suspected of putting ecstasy in a glass of Champagne he served parliament member Sandrine Josso, who left after she started feeling sick, according to French media reports. The incident occurred Tuesday evening in the senator’s apartment.

His lawyer said Guerriau didn’t intend to drug Josso to abuse her and has apologized to her. In a statement, lawyer Remi-Pierre Drai said “it was a handling error” that caused the lawmaker to fall ill. He did not elaborate.

“Joel Guerriau is not a predator,” the lawyer said. “He is an honest, respected and respectable man who will restore his honor and that of his family however long it takes.”

Guerriau was given preliminary charges of use and possession of drugs, and of secretly administering a discernment-altering substance to commit a rape or sexual assault. He was released under judicial supervision and barred from contact with the victim and witnesses while the investigation continues.

Preliminary charges under French law mean investigating magistrates have strong reason to suspect wrongdoing but allow more time before determining whether to send a case to trial.

Quote:Voting by a measure of 159 to 53, the Italian parliament voted to prohibit the sale of lab-grown meat for food or animal feed that was “produced from cell or tissue cultures deriving from vertebrate animals”.

The legislation also prohibits plant-based protein substitutes from using meat-related terms on their packaging or marketing, thereby outlawing the use of phrases like veggie “hamburger” or soy “meatballs”, the Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper reported.

Fines ranging from 10,000 to 60,000 euros, or 10 per cent of annual turnover with a maximum of 150,000 euros, will be imposed on those who violate the ban on selling lab-grown meat.

Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative Brothers of Italy party, said in comments reported by the BBC: “We are safeguarding our food, our system of nutrition, by maintaining the relationship between food, land and human labour that we have enjoyed for millennia.”

“We have to protect our workers, our agricultural entrepreneurs and citizens who have the right to eat well,” he added.

Quote:Huge numbers of young Ukrainian men fled the country to avoid being drafted in the army to fight Russia, a report states, with many swimming border rivers or walking cross-country to avoid detection.

Under Ukraine’s martial law, for the vast majority of Ukrainian males, it has been illegal to leave the country since the Russian invasion, a step taken by Kyiv to maintain its access to conscripts for the fight against Moscow’s occupation. Yet figures reveal tens of thousands have attempted to flee and avoid fighting.

Data from the border services of Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia acquired for an investigation by British state broadcaster the BBC claims 19,740 men aged between 18 and 60 are known to have “illegally crossed” into their territories from Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion last year. In addition to those that made it to a European neighbour, the Ukrainian government has claimed 21,113 people trying to flee Ukraine illegally have been caught during the war.

In all, the figures from Ukraine and its Western neighbours amount to some 40,853 Ukrainians who are known to have at least attempted to escape conscription and the war, a number of men equivalent to an entire medium-sized European army such as that of Romania or Hungary.

According to the BBC report, getting out of Ukraine saw many walk across the land border to Moldova, and others swim across Ukraine’s border rivers. In some cases, those who attempted to swim out of Ukraine drowned, it was noted. It was reported last year that others had frozen to death while trying to cross the Carpathian mountains to Romania.

Quote:A court in St. Petersburg has sentenced a Russian artist to seven years in prison for replacing supermarket price tags with messages protesting the invasion of Ukraine.

Alexandra Skochilenko was convicted on Thursday of spreading false information about the military. She was arrested in April last year, one month after a legal revision made the charge punishable with a prison term.

Russian media say one of the replaced price tags accused the military of bombing an arts school in Mariupol in eastern Ukraine where 400 people were taking shelter.

Skochilenko admitted swapping the price tags. She said she was not a terrorist but a pacifist, and that her arrest was unjust.

Her supporters chanted "disgrace" after the court found her guilty.

Quote:The letter, addressed to “Former Service Member,” states that there is new Army guidance that would correct military records of those kicked out, which would enable those who were removed and had their DD-214s marked with a certain code barring them from reentering service to be able to return.

The letter instructed former soldiers on how they could get their records corrected, then added:

Individuals who desire to apply to return to service should contact their local Army, US Army Reserve (USAR) or Army National Guard (ARNG) recruiter for more information. Individuals may locate an Army recruiter by visiting https://www.goarmy.com, a USAR recruiter by visiting https://www.goarmyreserve.com or an ARNG recruiter by visiting https://nationalguard.com/get-started

Sam Shoemate, a retired Army chief warrant officer 2 who fought the mandate, and one of the administrations of military watchdog website Terminal CWO, posted a copy of the letter on X.
...
As a result [of the vaccine mandate], more than 8,000 troops were, in fact, kicked out, tens of thousands of National Guard members were sidelined and lost drill time and pay, and a number simply decided not to reenlist.
...
Brad Miller, a former soldier who was punished over the mandate and resigned from the Army, also said he received a letter and called on the Army to compensate soldiers who were punished and kicked out or otherwise resigned due to the mandate.

Quote:While protesters disrupted speeches inside the center, other protesters stood outside of the convention center with hundreds of children’s shoes, representing young people killed in Gaza, waving Palestinian flags and holding signs that read, ‘Stop U.S. Aid for Genocide.’”
...
Around 5:40pm, a group of those protesters marched into the convention center, waving flags, beating drums, and chanting as they went up the escalator to protest outside the voting rooms, which were empty at the time.

“Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” they chanted.
...
Protesters remained inside the building’s West Lobby. After over an hour of delegates being unable to cast votes, many delegates left the building. Groups expressed frustration at being prevented from voting. The protesters remained.

Gaza had not been “occupied” since Israel’s complete withdrawal in 2005. The October 7 terror attack, in which Hamas murdered at least 1,200 Israelis, triggered an Israeli response whose goal is to destroy the terror organization and end the threat it poses.

Quote:Top immigration officials in Mexico are trying to cover up the negligent death of a Cuban migrant who died after agents refused to provide medical care until it was too late.

The incident reportedly took place this week in the Siglo XXI detention center in the Mexican state of Chiapas, where Luis Enrique Mendez Romero arrived requesting to be sent back to Cuba. In the aftermath of the migrant’s death, Mexico’s National Migration Institute sent out a prepared statement trying to distance themselves from any blame by claiming that they had provided timely medical care and the migrant had died en route to a hospital.

However, a director-level member of Mexico’s INM who spoke to Breitbart Texas claimed the information on that statement was false and the institute was trying to cover up the negligent death. According to the official, Mendez had not been added to the intake list of migrants and there were no assisted return trips on the day that he died.

The INM official claimed that Sheila Diaz, the agent in charge of the Siglo XXI station did not leave anyone in charge when she left her post. It was during that time that Mendez became ill. His calls for help were ignored. Agents ignored Mendez even after he lost consciousness, the source stated. By the time agents checked on him, he did not have a pulse and that is when they rushed him to a private clinic 200 meters away from the hospital where medical personnel listed him as dead on arrival.

Quote:All players stood in their formational sets but did not move once the opening whistle blew. Instead, players from both teams stood in silence for the entire opening minute of the game.

X users praised both teams for their show of respect and willingness to defy UEFA.

Israel lost the game 2-1. But no one really lost.

Quote:Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route on Sunday, officials said, taking over two dozen crew members hostage and raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel and took the crew as hostages. The group warned that it would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israel’s campaign against Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

“All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets,” the Houthis said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had blamed the Houthis for the attack on the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said the 25 crew members had a range of nationalities, including Bulgarian, Filipino, Mexican and Ukrainian, but that no Israelis had been on board.

The Houthis said they were treating the crew members “in accordance with their Islamic values,” but did not elaborate on what that meant.

Quote:On Saturday, Biden published an op-ed in the Washington Post in which he supported Israel, though once again joining the Israeli cause to the Ukrainian one, putting Hamas and Russia in the same category as enemies of the United States.

Biden also reiterated his support for a “two-state solution” as the only answer to the conflict, and added: “As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution.”

However, Netanyahu emphatically rejected that idea.

“In Gaza, after the destruction of Hamas, and for a long time thereafter, there will not be a regime that encourages terror, that teaches terror, that funds terror — that also indoctrinates about the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews — this will not be,” Netanyahu vowed at a press conference on Saturday night.

He was alluding to the PA’s record of encouraging terror, including the practice of “pay-to-slay,” in which the PA provides stipends to terrorists in Israeli prisons, and pensions to the families of terrorists killed by Israel.

Despite the loss of U.S. aid under the Taylor Force Act, which President Donald Trump signed in 2018 to prohibit taxpayer dollars from funding the PA as long as it continues “pay-to-slay,” the PA has not changed its policy.

The PA also continues naming public parks and monuments after terrorists, and Palestinian educational materials are frequently filled with anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda.

Quote:The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) produced a confidential report that said Iran has now accumulated enough uranium at 60 percent purity to build three nuclear bombs if the relatively swift final steps are taken to reach weapons-grade 90 percent enrichment.

The IAEA report was leaked to Reuters on Friday by a group of seven current and former diplomats who felt not enough has been done to restrain Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and the chances of the Biden administration resurrecting former President Barack Obama’s 2011 nuclear deal seem remote.

2 Articles

South Korea Plans to Ban Eating Dog Meat amid Global Criticism

Quote:South Korea is planning to ban eating dog meat; the ancient practice has brought much criticism from around the world.

A ruling party official made the announcement Friday, according to Reuters. The outlet also said the country’s young people have been increasingly opposed to such consumption.

“It is time to put an end to social conflicts and controversies around dog meat consumption through the enactment of a special act to end it,” Yu Eui-dong, policy chief of the ruling People Power Party, said at a meeting with government officials and animal rights activists.

The government and ruling party would introduce a bill this year to enforce a ban, Yu said, adding that with expected bipartisan support, the bill should sail through parliament.

However, the Associated Press (AP) reported in July that dog meat farmers in South Korea were in disagreement with those who want the practice banned.

The outlet noted one farmer’s dogs “are fed ground chicken and food waste. They are rarely released for exercise and typically are sold for meat one year after they are born”...

South Korea is among a few countries where “dog farming for meat is a formal industry, meaning long-established dog meat farms enjoy political and economic power.”

The following meeting took place a few days ago.

Musk Wishes ‘Prosperity for All’ After Meeting with China’s Xi Jinping

Quote:Elon Musk, who is notorious for his deep financial relationship with communist China, has posted a picture of his handshake with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping to his X/Twitter platform, wishing “prosperity for all.”

The New York Times reports that the recent APEC summit in San Francisco, hosted by Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, has drawn in business figures including Elon Musk, Tim Cook, and others from major U.S. corporations. The event took place against a backdrop of strained ties between the two countries, highlighted by protests and heightened security outside the venue.

Inside the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency, however, the atmosphere shifted to one of friendliness between the most powerful business leaders in America and the communist leader of China. Xi Jinping spoke at length, emphasizing the potential for friendship and collaboration between China and the U.S., a message that resonated with the audience of over 300 executives and officials. His speech touched on historical cooperation during World War II and the shared challenges ahead, portraying the U.S. and China not as adversaries but as potential partners.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the owner of X/Twitter, made a brief appearance during the cocktail hour, greeting President Xi. Although he left before the dinner commenced, Musk acted friendly towards Xi and later posted a photo of the two together to X where he stated: “May there be prosperity for all.”