Quote:Former President Donald Trump donned a McDonald's uniform and manned the fry station at a Pennsylvania franchise on Sunday, igniting a social media frenzy and intensifying his critique of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The unorthodox campaign stop in Feasterville-Trevose, a swing area northeast of Philadelphia, saw Trump swap his signature suit for the fast-food chain's iconic attire. "I'm going for a job right now at McDonald's," Trump told reporters as he disembarked from his plane, adding, "I really wanted to do this all my life."
The visit to the Bucks County McDonald's comes amid Trump's escalating attacks on Harris's claims of having worked at the fast-food giant during her college years. Trump has repeatedly questioned the veracity of Harris's statements about her summer job at McDonald's while attending Howard University, despite offering no concrete evidence to support his skepticism.
Newsweek contacted Trump and Harris' campaign via email on Sunday for comment.
The McDonald's visit quickly became a spectacle, with police closing off surrounding streets and cordoning off the restaurant. A large crowd stretching several blocks gathered across the street, with supporters waving Make American Great Again (MAGA) flags and holding signs as they strained for a glimpse of the former president behind the counter.
Derek Giacomantonio, the owner of the McDonald's franchise, welcomed Trump's request to visit. "It is a fundamental value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to everyone who visits the Feasterville community," he said in a statement.
He added that this was why he accepted Trump's request "to observe the transformative working experience that 1 in 8 Americans have had: a job at McDonald's."
Harris campaign spokesman Ian Sams told The New York Times, "When Trump feels desperate, all he knows how to do is lie. He can't understand what it's like to have a summer job because he was handed millions on a silver platter, only to blow it."
The vice president herself has previously addressed Trump's accusations, reaffirming her past employment at McDonald's. "Part of the reason I even talk about having worked at McDonald's is because there are people who work at McDonald's in our country who are trying to raise a family," Harris stated in a recent MSNBC interview. "I worked there as a student."
As images of Trump behind the fry cooker circulated online, social media erupted with a mix of support, ridicule, and heated debate.
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And there's always someone that can't stand whatever other people are doing elsewhere.
Quote:Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) issued a seemingly triggered response to former President Donald Trump working at a Philadelphia McDonald’s on Sunday.
Walz, the vice presidential running mate of Vice President Kamala Harris, responded to a video of Trump wearing an apron at McDonald’s and learning how to make french fries. In his post on X, Walz referenced Harris’s unproven claim that she had previously worked at a McDonald’s.
“This guy spent decades stiffing workers pay, cut overtime benefits for millions of people, and opposed any effort to raise the minimum wage,” Walz wrote in his post.
“You know who has actually worked at McDonald’s, joined workers on picket lines, and fights for working people?” Walz added, “@KamalaHarris.”
Walz’s social media post criticizing Trump’s visit to McDonald’s where he learned to make french fries, served customers their orders, and spoke with several customers in the drive-through.
One customer told Trump that he and his wife were praying for him.
“Thank you, Mr. President,” the customer said from the drive-through window. “You made it possible for ordinary people like us to meet you. Thank you so much for everything you are doing. We pray for you, and you are the type of person we want to be the president.”
The customer’s wife added: “Thank you for taking the bullet for us.”
“Mr. President, please don’t let the United States become Brazil, my native Brazil,” another customer told Trump.
“We’re going to make it better than ever,” Trump responded.
Trump’s visit to the McDonald’s comes as Harris has previously alleged that she used to work at a McDonald’s.
During an interview with Drew Barrymore, Harris was asked if “rumors” that Harris had worked at a McDonald’s were true.
“I did,” Harris said. “Yes, I did work at McDonald’s. When I was at school … I did fries. I did fries. I did fries, and then I did the cashier.”
Harris has also previously claimed during a labor rally in 2019 while running for president in the 2020 presidential election that she used to work at McDonald’s.
“I worked in McDonald’s,” Harris said at the time. “I was a student when I was working in McDonald’s.”
Harris’s claims that she used to work at a McDonald’s come as she has previously “never mentioned it” while campaigning or even put it in her “two books,” the Washington Free Beacon reported in August, adding that McDonald’s was also not listed on her previous job applications or resumes:
Harris’s work at McDonald’s, which allegedly took place at a franchise in the California Bay Area the summer after her freshman year in college, is a recent addition to her carefully curated life story. For decades, Harris never mentioned it, not on the campaign trail nor in two books. It’s absent from a job application and resume she submitted a year after she graduated from college. Third-party biographers did not write about it. Not until Harris ran for president in 2019 and spoke to a labor rally in Las Vegas did she mention the jobb, telling the crowd that she “was a student when I was working in a McDonald’s.”
A campaign ad for Harris from August also references the McDonald’s claim: “She grew up in a middle-class home. She was the daughter of a working mom, and she worked at McDonald’s while she got her degree. Kamala Harris knows what it’s like to be middle-class, it’s why she’s determined to lower healthcare costs and make housing more affordable.”
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"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:Vice President Kamala Harris plagiarized material in addition to her book Smart on Crime, an analysis by Washington Free Beacon’s Aaron Sibarium found Tuesday.
The additional allegations of plagiarism diminish the credibility of the Harris campaign’s denial of plagiarism.
The Beacon’s Sibarium reported Harris also plagiarized pages of congressional testimony from a Republican colleague and a fictionalized story about human trafficking.
Sibarium reported on Harris’s material from congressional testimony:
Virtually her entire testimony about the bill was taken from that of another district attorney, Paul Logli of Winnebago County, Illinois, who had testified in support of the legislation two months earlier before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both statements cite the same surveys, use the same language, and make the same points in the same order, with a paragraph added here or there. They even contain the same typos, such as missing punctuation or mistaken plurals. One error — a “who” that should have been a “whom” — was corrected in Harris’s transposition.
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Harris, who also testified about two other bills that day, devoted approximately 1,500 words to the John R. Justice Act. Nearly 1,200 of them—or 80 percent—were copied verbatim from the statement Logli submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 27, 2007, two months before Harris delivered her testimony.
Sibarium reported on Harris’s material apparently lifted from a fictionalized story about a victim of sex trafficking:
The story came from Polaris Project, a nonprofit that runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline. By June 2012, the project had posted a series of vignettes on its website that were “representative of the types of calls” the hotline receives and “meant for informational purposes only,” according to an archived webpage. To preserve confidentiality, the project said, key details like “names, locations, and other identifying information” had been changed.
Last week, New York Times’ plagiarism consultant Jonathan Bailey admitted Harris’s “plagiarism scandal” is far “more serious” than previously stated.
Quote:Vice President Kamala Harris called for eliminating the Senate filibuster during a Wednesday CNN town hall.
The filibuster is a long-standing tradition and tactic used to delay or prevent a vote on a measure from passing on the Senate floor.
While speaking with Harris’s tough talk about codifying Roe v. Wade, CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Harris how she would get a measure passed to codify Roe v Wade when the filibuster is a hurdle to passage.
“Let me ask you, you’ve talked about codifying Roe v. Wade, that would obviously require 60 votes in the Senate, a majority of the Senate … If that’s not possible, to codify it in the house, what do you do?” he asked.
“I think we need to take a look at the filibuster, to be honest with you,” Harris replied.
Breitbart News’s Katherin Hamilton reported on Harris’s past calls to terminate the filibuster:
Harris has previously called to end the filibuster but for a different reason. During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris said she would back ending the filibuster to pass the radical Green New Deal, which is essentially a far-left socialist wishlist.
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National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT) warned in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News in July that the Democrats have “radical” power-grabbing plans for the United States, which include ending the filibuster if they hold the majority in the upper chamber of Congress.
Nuking the filibuster would drop the 60 required votes to pass legislation to just 51 votes, enabling Democrats to ram through their radical agenda, Daines warned. That agenda, he said, includes packing the U.S. Supreme Court to 13 justices instead of nine, making Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico states to add four Democrat U.S. senators to the Senate, and conducting a federal takeover of election operations everywhere in the country.
Quote:During a town hall on CNN on Wednesday, 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris responded to a question on whether she supports expanding the Supreme Court by stating that “I do believe that there should be some kind of reform of the court, and we can study what that actually looks like.”
One of the town hall attendees asked, “[W]ould you be in favor of expanding the court to say, 12, so each justice has only one circuit court, other than [the] chief justice to assist in making judgments more balanced?”
Harris responded, “Well, to your point, there is no question that the American people, increasingly, are losing confidence in the Supreme Court, and, in large part, because of the behavior of certain members of that court and because of certain rulings, including the Dobbs decision and taking away a precedent that had been in place for 50 years, protecting a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. So, I do believe that there should be some kind of reform of the court, and we can study what that actually looks like.”
Harris then turned to criticism of her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Quote:Vice President Kamala Harris is under fire for accepting campaign contributions — originally sent to President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign before he backed out — from a Chinese auto executive with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Officials with Driving Force Action PAC wrote to Harris on October 11:
We are deeply concerned about the reported $50,000 in political contributions your campaign received from Stella Ke Li, a Chinese national and senior executive at BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle company with close ties to the CCP and a company identified as a national security threat on par with Huawei.
BYD has been described as a company that benefits from substantial support from the Chinese government through direct subsidies and military-civil fusion initiatives. As detailed in various reports, BYD collaborates with military affiliates on significant projects, including data aggregation from vehicles and technology sharing with state-owned enterprises. Furthermore, Ms. Ke Li, who made these contributions, appears to be married to Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s founder and a prominent CCP member. [Emphasis added]
The acceptance of political contributions from an executive of a company with such ties to the CCP raises serious ethical and national security concerns, especially in light of your campaign’s previous stance on reducing reliance on foreign adversaries for critical industries like electric vehicles. While you have recently spoken in support of American manufacturing and expressed concern about China’s dominance in the electric vehicle market, accepting contributions from BYD appears inconsistent with these statements. [Emphasis added]
“In light of these concerns, Driving Force Action demands that your campaign return the $50,000 contribution made by Ms. Li and publicly disassociate from any financial ties to BYD,” the letter continues. “We believe this action is necessary to demonstrate your commitment to protecting American jobs, defending national security, and maintaining transparency in your campaign.” [Emphasis added]
Driving Force Action is primarily funded by the Specialty Equipment Market Association, opposing Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates like those implemented by the Biden-Harris administration.
The campaign contributions were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon’s Thomas Catenacci, who noted, “BYD Americas was selected in late 2022 to receive $395,000 under the administration’s Clean School Bus program, which was spearheaded by Harris and EPA administrator Michael Regan, EPA documents show,” Catenacci wrote. “That funding was disbursed in May 2023, six months before Li’s donations to the Biden-Harris campaign, according to the EPA.”
Trump Can't Say "Enemy from Within" According to Harris
Quote:Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her surrogates have been attacking former President Donald Trump for using the phrase “the enemy within” to describe his political opponents, but in 2021, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) used a similar phrase to describe Republican members of Congress.
Pelosi said on January 29, 2021, “We will probably need a supplemental [funding bill] for more security for members, when the enemy is within the House of Representatives, a threat that members are concerned about, in addition to what is happening outside.”
Asked what she meant by “the enemy is within,” Pelosi said, “It means that we have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress.”
Harris referenced Trump using the phrase just on Wednesday, in a public statement she made from the Vice President’s residence at the Naval Observatory. She said:
In just the past week, Donald Trump has repeatedly called his fellow Americans the “enemy from within” and even said that he would use the United States military to go after American citizens.
Harris’s statement was about an anonymously-sourced hit piece from The Atlantic claiming that Trump used a racially-tinged epithet to describe a deceased Hispanic soldier.
The soldier’s sister, Mayra Guillen, slammed the hit piece, and said Trump treated her family with nothing but respect and said she even voted for him. She slammed the outlet for “exploiting” her sister for political purposes.
Multiple people have also spoken on the record refuting the stories’ claims, including that Trump made admiring comments about Hitler’s generals.
Alex Pfeiffer, a Trump campaign adviser, said in a statement: “This is absolutely false. President Trump never said this.”
Quote:President Joe Biden let the veil slip during a Thursday stop in New Hampshire.
Biden told a small crowd “We gotta lock him up” during a screed on his nemesis Donald Trump, according to several reports.
The President had restrained himself from publicly endorsing jailing Trump for years.
Biden later collected himself and attempted to clean up the mess he created.
“Lock up him politically,” Biden said, reports Stephen Michael. “Lock him out, that’s what we have to do.”
Biden has denied White House involvement in the lawfare against Trump, which has continued after Biden was deposed atop the ticket for his Vice President Kamala Harris.
But in November 2022, after reports surfaced Trump would seek a return to the White House, Biden pledged to pursue measures beyond the ballot box to prevent Trump’s reelection.
During a November 9, 2022 press conference, Biden, when asked about the prospects of Trump running against him in 2024, said, “We just have to demonstrate that he will not take power, if he does run, making sure he, under legitimate efforts of our Constitution, does not become the next president again [sic].”
That sensational pledge preceded an eruption of extraordinary legal assaults on Trump, most vividly represented by a trio of events on a single date – November 18, 2022.
On that day, just over a week after Biden’s pledge and Trump subsequently entering the race, three events, two which took place behind closed doors, occurred – suggesting White House coordination.
Necessarily out in the open, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate Trump on November 18.
Quote:The migration network created by President Joe Biden’s deputies welcomed five illegal migrants through the border in 2024 for every two legal migrants admitted by Congress’s 1990 immigration law.
The combined inflow means that Biden’s deputies admitted roughly one legal or illegal migrant for every American born in 2024.
The constitution says Congress controls immigration rules, “but this is a parallel immigration system” outside the law passed by Congress in 1990, noted Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge who now works with the Center for Immigration Studies. He added:
Congress has said that people who don’t have visas, who aren’t admissible, aren’t supposed to be coming through the borders.
Border officials registered 2.9 million “inadmissible” migrants at the southern border in the fiscal year of 12 months up to October, according to agency data released on October 22.
At least 1.3 million were invited to cross the border via the humanitarian parole programs created by Biden’s pro-migration border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas. These migrants can be counted because they are registered and released by the Office of Field Operations, which works at the official “ports of entry” along the border.
In 2021, Kamala Harris declined Biden’s invitation to help oversee Mayorkas’s migration policy.
Quote:An official who joined the Biden-Harris Department of Homeland Security a year ago has been caught using social media to encourage illegal immigration to the U.S., according to reports.
Wilson Osorio, who was hired at DHS in 2023, works for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of the Chief Counsel as an associate counsel, Fox News reported.
The social media posts were uncovered by the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), which surveys Spanish-language social media posts aimed at migrants.
“Osorio uses his TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram channels to post video content, mostly of conversations with illegal immigrants, where he asks the individuals to tell those watching how much money they make, how they came to the United States, and how wonderful it is to illegally enter and settle in the U.S.,” the AAF said.
The organization discovered that Osorio began uploading videos and other social media posts to encourage migrants in July and had posted dozens of the messages on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Videos included one person claiming to be an illegal migrant from Honduras who tells viewers that he now owns his own restaurant in America.
“The American Dream is alive and well. This is the story of a Honduran immigrant who entered the United States illegally ~20 years ago. With hard work and dedication, he is now the owner of an expanding restaurant which brings in over $1 million in sales,” an Instagram message read.
Other videos claim to show illegals who are earning good money in the U.S. doing various jobs along with videos giving tips on how to break U.S. immigration laws and sneak into the country illegally.
Sometimes Not Sending Anything Overseas is the Decent Option
Quote:Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) sent a letter to Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin on Wednesday demanding an explanation for the revelation in September that the Department of Defense sent Taiwan, an informal ally of America’s, packages of military equipment that were expired, unusable, and, in some cases, moldy.
The Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General (DoD OIG) revealed in September that an audit had discovered the Pentagon made the delivery to Taiwan of “unserviceable and poorly packaged equipment and munitions.” Some of the pallets of equipment included gear “soaking wet and covered in mold.” Others included expired ammunition and messy packages of mismatched munitions that made it difficult for the Taiwanese to fully grasp what the Pentagon sent them.
The mistake cost over $700,000 in taxpayers’ funds to correct, the oversight office revealed.
The shipments reportedly occurred between November 2023 and March 2024. President Joe Biden met with Chinese communist dictator Xi Jinping – who falsely claims Taiwan as Communist Party territory and regularly threatens to invade it – in November 2023 as the shipments began. One of the top issues Xi raised in that meeting was pressuring Biden to “stop arming Taiwan,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry at the time.
Sen. Ernst, addressing Secretary Austin in her letter, described the situation as an “embarrassing debacle” and demanded that Austin clarify what the Pentagon is doing to ensure that such a situation is not repeated, lest it erode international trust in the U.S. military. Sen. Ernst is also asking the Pentagon to detail where the $730,000 to make amends for the error came from exactly.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have found millions for shady Chinese labs and gifted cutting-edge weapons to the Taliban but can only manage outdated ammunition and moldy equipment for Taiwan,” Sen. Ernst told Breitbart News in a statement on the necessity of her letter to Austin.
“Delivering damaged military aid to a key partner is sadly part of a dangerous pattern of incompetence by the White House that has pushed the world to the brink and jeopardized America’s national security,” she added. “We cannot afford four more years of Kamala Harris continuing to alienate key partners and allies while emboldening adversaries.”
In the letter, obtained by Breitbart News, Sen. Ernst similarly condemned the “shortcomings” of the Biden-Harris administration in addressing the threat to America from China and its unsuccessful foreign policy generally.
“This embarrassing debacle highlights shortcomings in the Biden-Harris administration’s counter-China strategy,” the senator wrote, “undermining our relationship with a key regional partner, weakening deterrence against China, and wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.”
The failures presented in the moldy shipment to Taiwan, she continued, “are particularly alarming, not only because of Taiwan’s critical role as a key security partner but also because they could impact the confidence of other U.S. allies and partners that rely on timely and reliable defense support.”
Quote:Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the UK’s left-wing Labour Party, accusing it of “blatant foreign interference” in the U.S. election by sending staffers to campaign for Kamala Harris in swing states.
The complaint, as seen and reported on by the BBC, cites media reports about contact between Labour and the Harris campaign as well as apparent volunteering efforts, arguing this amounts to illegal “contributions.”
Specifically, the complaint cites newspaper reporting that Labour-linked individuals have travelled to the U.S. to campaign for the vice president.
That coverage, the complaint alleges, creates a “reasonable inference that the Labour Party has made, and the Harris campaign has accepted, illegal foreign national contributions.”
As Breitbart News reported, around 100 British left-wing activists are being funded to campaign for Harris in swing states.
A social media post by the Director of Operations of the UK’s governing party, Labour, recruiting “Labour Party staff” for campaigning in North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia has caused concern.
The message from Labour’s Sofia Patel promised paid-for accommodation for those taking up the offer. She wrote, in the now-deleted post:
I have nearly 100 Labour Party staff (current and former) going to the US in the next few weeks heading to North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia. I have 10 spots available for anyone available to head to the battleground state of North Carolina – we will sort your housing. Email me on labourforkamala@gmail.com if you’re interested. Thanks!
NBC15 News notes Patel has previously campaigned in the U.S. for the Hillary Clinton 2016 effort.
Quote:A small town in southern Mexico voted to kick out U.S.-bound migrants who had been staying in their community during their journey north. The vote to expel the migrants comes after at least one of them is believed to have killed a local woman.
The crime occurred on September 29 in Barras de Copalita, Oaxaca, the local station Encuentro Radio reported. The victim, 28-year-old Rebeca Hernandez Flores, was in her house when at least one migrant who was working a construction job nearby barged in, assaulted her and beat her to death.
In the days after, authorities arrested a migrant identified only as Jose Enrique A.E., who is from Honduras. The Honduran migrant had been part of one of the caravans headed north but had remained in town for at least two months, working odd construction jobs. It remains unclear if other individuals were involved in the violent killing. The state attorney general’s office announced the suspect’s arrest and classified the case as femicide, a particular classification under Mexican law for female killings due to their gender. The offense can carry stricter penalties than a traditional homicide.
According to a report from Mexico’s Proceso, local town officials and officials from the municipality of San Miguel del Puerto voted in their local assemblies to kick migrants out of their town and to stop migrants in transit from settling there. Authorities are planning to carry out operations where they will ask migrants to leave their community, Proceso reported.
The controversial measure comes when immigration remains a top issue in Mexico. Earlier this month, six Middle Eastern migrants and several others were injured in the border state of Chiapas after Mexico’s military mistook the convoy that human smugglers were moving the migrants in for a convoy of cartel gunmen, Breitbart Texas reported.
Quote:The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) said on Tuesday that the situation in the impoverished and violence-torn nation has “regrettably worsened” because ambitious gangs are now attacking territory they do not control yet, rather than merely terrorizing people on the turf they already rule.
“The situation in Haiti has not improved. There has been a 22% increase in the number of displaced people, and the political process is facing significant challenges, turning hope into deep concern,” BINUH director Maria Isabel Salvador told the U.N. Security Council (UNSC).
Salvador said the security environment in Haiti “remains extremely fragile, with renewed peaks of acute violence.” She highlighted the savage October 3 gang attack on Pont-Sonde in the Artibonite Department, in which 115 civilians were killed by heavily armed gangsters seeking revenge for police killing members of their organization.
Another massacre spotlighted by the BINUH director occurred in the town of Arcahaie, famed as the birthplace of Haiti’s flag, during the first two weeks of October. Gang enforcers murdered entire families in Arcahaie and tossed their bodies into mass graves, evidently to extend the authority of warlord Jeff Larose and his Canaan gang over the area.
Salvador said the rapid expansion of gang violence into the suburbs of Port-au-Prince, and then into the surrounding farmlands, is too much for the Haitian National Police (HNP) and the handful of officers sent by Kenya to keep up with. She said gang leaders are “spreading terror and fear, overwhelming the national security apparatus.”
Several countries have pledged to send over 3,000 troops to Haiti for peacekeeping, but only a few hundred have arrived to date. Gang leaders have scoffed at the Kenyan officers, deriding them as entirely ineffective. Kenyan officers have only been involved in one major operation to date, recapturing the town of Ganthier from a gang called 400 Mawozo in July. The gangsters simply left town when the Kenyan officers arrived, then recaptured the town within days of their departure.
Catherine Russell, advocate for Haiti from the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said Haiti’s gangs are increasingly using sexual violence against women and children to keep the population in line.
Quote:Israeli Ambassador to Costa Rica Mijal Gur-Aryeh denounced on Monday that Hezbollah and other Iranian radical groups have established bases in Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
Gur-Aryeh issued the warning in remarks during an online press conference with Nicaraguan journalists working in exile on the subject of Israel-Nicaraguan relations — organized by the Israeli Diplomatic Mission in Costa Rica after communist dictator Daniel Ortega recently ordered the rupture of Nicaragua’s diplomatic ties with Israel.
“I can say that there are also other countries in the region that have Iran and Hezbollah bases, and in particular Venezuela and Bolivia,” Gur-Aryeh told journalists.
The Israeli diplomat stated that her government is following Hezbollah’s presence and that “when we see that there is an opportunity to stop these terrorists, we cooperate with governments on the American continent.”
Gur-Aryeh was asked if Israel maintains cooperation with the United States in Latin America against Hezbollah, which the diplomat responded affirmatively.
“It is very, very close … We share information,” she said, stressing that she “cannot say more than that in the media” due to the nature of the intelligence.
The Iranian regime, and its proxy terror group Hezbollah, has maintained a decades-long presence in the region that has dramatically increased in recent years under the auspices of leftist governments such as Venezuela’s socialist regime — whose dictator Nicolás Maduro publicly lamented the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) airstrike in late September.
Bolivia, led by socialist and pro-Iran President Luis Arce, has been widely denounced by experts as the Islamic regime’s “most successful project” in spreading its influence in the region. Arce’s government has signed several agreements with the Iranian regime, including a deal for the purchase of Iranian-made drones and a highly controversial “memorandum of understanding reportedly on defense and security” whose contents have not been publicly disclosed.
Bolivia is among the leftist-led Latin American nations that broke ties with Israel in response to the start of its self-defense operations against the jihadist terror group Hamas.
While Ambassador Gur-Aryeh did not disclose specific details to the Nicaraguan journalists, she listed Hezbollah’s terrorist attacks against Israeli targets in Argentina as an example, and asserted that the Israeli government “clearly knows that they were handled inside the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires.”
The Argentine government believes Iran, via Hezbollah, is responsible for the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) — the deadliest terrorist attack in the Western Hemisphere prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks.
“We have this information about attacks in the past and I can only say that we are following the situation now as well,” Gur-Aryeh said.
Similarly, the ambassador assured that there is cooperation “all over the world … unfortunately, very close cooperation between terrorist organizations and organized crime.”
“They cooperate very fluidly. In fact, you don’t generally know when organized crime ends and when terrorism begins, because many of these terrorist groups are very, very involved in organized crime,” she asserted.
The Bolivian government rejected Gur-Aryeh’s “irresponsible statements” in a note issued by its Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, in which it claimed that “Bolivia is a pacifist state that promotes the culture of peace, which is why it has constitutionally assumed the prohibition of installing foreign military bases in its territory.”
“Unsubstantiated statements such as the one issued by the Israeli diplomat, seek to generate confrontation between Latin American states, governments and peoples, contrary to the objective outlined in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to consolidate Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace,” the statement read.
“The Plurinational State of Bolivia calls upon the brotherly Latin American countries not to fall into these provocations that seek to affect the brotherly relations between states and peoples of the region,” it continued.
Prior to Monday’s press conference, the Ortega regime released a statement condemning other comments made last week by the Israeli Ambassador and Consul Amir Rockman, who accused the communist regime of allowing Iranian-linked terror groups to freely operate in Nicaragua and of turning the country into a “platform for terrorism in the region.”
“Israeli officials claim that in Nicaragua there is now a terrorist base being used as a platform for terrorism in the region. In this regard, Nicaragua rejects such statements, which are aimed at diverting attention from the genocide being carried out by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories,” the statement reportedly read.
Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin scored a public relations victory on the second day of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, by embracing Chinese dictator Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — a photo opportunity that sent the message that Western efforts to diplomatically and economically isolate Russia for invading Ukraine have failed.
Putin claimed at the summit that over 30 nations have expressed interest in joining BRICS. The group was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2009, adding South Africa the following year.
The first expansion since 2010 occurred in January when Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Ethiopia were added to the roster.
BRICS has previously hinted that 13 more potential members are working closely with the group, but Putin’s claim on Wednesday more than doubled that number. BRICS officials said representatives from 36 nations, plus U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, attended the Kazan summit.
Putin said BRICS should consider further expansion carefully.
“It would be wrong to ignore the unprecedented interest of the countries of the Global South and East in strengthening contacts with BRICS. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a balance and prevent a decrease in the effectiveness of the BRICS,” he said.
“We are all witnessing the dynamic growth of BRICS and the strengthening of its authority and influence in global affairs,” he said.
Putin said the BRICS approach is “especially relevant in the current conditions when truly radical changes are underway across the globe, including the shaping of a multipolar world.”
India and China have serious differences, but they are united in their appetite for buying Russian oil. India is more concerned than China about the war in Ukraine, but Modi merely expressed his hopes for peace at the summit without stern criticism of Russia’s brutal conduct in the conflict.
Putin squeezing Xi and Modi in his onstage embrace was a signal that a new post-American order is rising. Some analysts believe Putin could hammer that message home by accepting some version of the peace proposal for Ukraine that has been floated by China and Brazil, freezing the U.S. and European powers out of the process. The Ukrainians, however, have displayed little interest in accepting the China-Brazil proposal.
The “Kazan Declaration” produced by the summit excoriated Israel for the Gaza war, but only mentioned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine once. Ukraine mocked this outcome as transparently absurd.
Quote:Lord Waheed Alli, the Labour Party megadonor at the centre of the donations scandal, has been found to have violated House of Lords rules regarding declaring interests.
Lord Alli, who was elevated to become a peer of the realm by Tony Blair, committed four breaches of the upper chamber of the British Parliament’s code of conduct, according to a House of Lords commissioner for standards investigation over conflicts of interest that might influence parliamentary actions.
“While I consider each individual breach of the Code to be minor, I have found there to be four breaches in total, and have therefore recommended that Lord Alli write a letter of apology to the Chair of the Conduct Committee, Baroness Manningham-Buller,” the report said per The Telegraph.
The breaches included failing to disclose that he serves as a “person with significant control” of Silvergate BP Bidco Limited and as an unremunerated director of The Charlie Parsons Foundation.
Meanwhile, Lord Alli was also found to have breached the code of conduct by failing to register in time his interest as a director of the MAC (BVI) Limited firm.
Admitting fault, Lord Alli said in a letter of apology: “I am writing to you today to offer my apology for my breach of conduct by not registering my interests correctly.
“I will endeavour to keep to the code of conduct at all times to avoid such circumstances again.”
The case is separate from the ongoing scandal surrounding so-called “freebies” gifts given to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and senior members of his cabinet.
Lord Alli, one of the left-wing Labour Party’s top donors, has reportedly given Prime Minister Starmer the equivalent of £134,000 in hospitality and gifts since 2019, making him the largest personal donor to the now-Prime Minister.
This year alone, the Trinidadian-Guyanese heritage media mogul gave Stamer some £19,000 for “work clothes” and designer glasses. Additionally, the Labour Party leader was given use of Lord Alli’s £18 million Central London penthouse and his £4 million Soho townhouse.
Quote:South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) director Cho Tae-yong told lawmakers on Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops are already in Russia, training and preparing for deployment against Ukraine.
The U.S. government confirmed for the first time that it has seen evidence of North Korean troops in Russia.
South Korean parliamentarians who attended the briefing with Cho said the North Korean troops have been split up between several Russian military bases for training, including the use of Russian drones. Russian instructors are reportedly somewhat frustrated by the language barrier and the North Koreans’ lack of familiarity with modern military tactics.
Cho’s report said the Russians are bringing in more interpreters to help with overcoming the language barrier. He said the North Korean troops are being paid about $2,000 per month each, which is much higher than typical wages in the harsh Communist country.
Meanwhile, the North Korean government is reportedly taking steps to “isolate” the family members of soldiers deployed to Russia, to keep them quiet. This was evidently necessary because rumors of the troop deployments are spreading through North Korea like wildfire, but both Pyongyang and Moscow are still officially denying that North Korean soldiers are in Russia.
Cho’s estimate of 3,000 troops already training in Russia is double the previous estimate offered by South Korean intelligence. Cho said North Korea plans to have 10,000 troops in Russia by the end of December.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate, said on Tuesday that Russia plans to send its North Korean mercenaries to take back the Kursk region of Russia, which was invaded and occupied by Ukrainian troops in August.
Budanov said he expected the first North Korean forces to arrive in Kursk imminent, perhaps even as early as Wednesday.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday became one of the first U.S. officials to offer public support for South Korea’s claims.
Austin said the U.S. has seen “evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia.”
“What exactly they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out,” he said.
Quote:Breaking from tradition, the populist Freedom Party will not be given a chance to form a government despite winning last month’s elections.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen announced Tuesday that incumbent Chancellor Karl Nehammer would be granted the chance to form a new government, despite his centre-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) coming in second place at 26 per cent of the vote behind the Freedom Party of Austria’s (FPÖ) 29 per cent.
The 80-year-old president argued that even though tradition dictates that the winner be given the first crack at forming a coalition because the other parties have ruled out working with the anti-mass migration populist party, the only option would be to provide Nehammer an opportunity to band together with left-wing parties to form a government, Kronen Zeitung reports.
Like leaders of other so-called conservative parties in Europe, the Chancellor steadfastly ruled out a partnership with the Freedom Party following the September election, accusing leader Herbert Kickl of being a “conspiracy theorist.”
Therefore, to stay in power, Nehammer’s quote-unquote “conservative” party will need to partner with the leftist Social Democrats (SPÖ).
However, because a partnership between the two main establishment parties would only have a majority of one seat in the parliament, Nehammer will likely seek a third partner, either the liberal-globalist New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS) or the climate alarmist Green Alternative (GRÜNE).
Responding to being formally shut out of government despite winning the election, Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl said: “This may seem like a slap in the face to many of you. But I promise you: The last word has not yet been spoken. Today is not the end of the world.”
“On September 29, the majority of voters voted in favour of bringing Austria five good years. It was an unmistakable call for change and renewal. The situation our country has been brought into due to political mistakes is more than challenging, and the issues are on the table.
“I, therefore, see it today as I have done up to now: it is our political responsibility to keep our hand outstretched. We want to work for Austria and are prepared to take on responsibility.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:"FOX & Friends" co-host illustrates the history of Democrats referring to every Republican presidential candidate going back to Barry Goldwater a fascist and a "Hitler."
[Video]
PETE HEGSETH: All the way back to Barry Goldwater, and even before that, in the [1948] Truman race, Republicans have been called "Hitler" or "fascists" or "tyrants." From Nixon to Reagan -- I mean, Gerald Ford and Mitt Romney are about as moderate as you can get, and they're called Hitler.
But with Donald Trump it is different, let's be real here, those were maybe one-offs. This is their slogan. This is the blood red dripped, you know, Independence Hall with the Marines behind him saying it's a "threat to democracy." This is the characterization they have made. There have been two assassination attempts, and they're not going to stop.
KEVIN MCCARTHY: And that's the dangerous part about this. When this election is over, you want people to unite. All the language they're using right now is they want the keep fighting. And when you have two assassination attempts, we do not want the next president of the United States to be fearing for their life every single day. What does that do to the nation?
Think about this president who went back to Butler. That was to help heal the nation. The other party is encouraging even more of this rhetoric and more direction in the wrong place that we need at this moment in time.
Quote:Famed Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein blasted Jeff Bezos’ decision to keep the Washington Post neutral in the 2024 presidential race by declining to endorse Kamala Harris for president.
“We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page, but this decision 11 days out from the 2024 presidential election ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy,” the pair said in a statement published by CNN Friday.
“Under Jeff Bezos’s ownership, the Washington Post’s news operation has used its abundant resources to rigorously investigate the danger and damage a second Trump presidency could cause to the future of American democracy and that makes this decision even more surprising and disappointing, especially this late in the electoral process.”
Both men are longtime establishments in journalism and worked at the Washington Post, where their celebrated coverage of Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal helped end his presidency.
Bezos, who bought the Washington Post in 2013, scrapped a planned endorsement of Harris from his editorial board this week, a move that precipitated a public newsroom temper tantrum.
“I didn’t sign up to be a journalist to be silent on what matters most. I didn’t come here to be a coward. Some of us really, truly believe in speaking truth to power. We were betrayed today,” Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah wrote on X Friday.
One WashPo editor, Robert Kagan, has already resigned over the decision, while 2,000 readers canceled their subscriptions within 24 hours, which one staffer said was “an unusually high number,” Semafor reported.
LA Times Editorial Boss Resigns Because Owner Won't Endorse Harris
Quote:The editorials editor for the Los Angeles Times stepped down Wednesday after the newspaper’s billionaire owner stopped the publication’s expected endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mariel Garza is leaving her post at the Times because she wants “to make it clear that I am not OK with us being silent” after biotech entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong scrapped the paper’s endorsement for president.
“In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up,” Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review.
“This is how I’m standing up.”
Last week, Soon-Shiong told the newspaper’s editorial board through the outlet’s editor that the LA Times would not endorse Harris or former President Donald Trump, which was first reported by Semafor.
A draft of a proposed editorial giving Harris the nod was even written by Garza before it was called off, the Columbia Journalism Review reported.
She told the journalistic-centric outlet she didn’t think the endorsement would change voters’ minds because the LA Times is a “very liberal paper” and most of its readers are Harris supporters.
Quote:Voters carry a heavy responsibility in this election — one of the most consequential in the history of this great nation.
The choice will have reverberations for decades, deciding which of two very different paths for the future Americans will take.
We must choose the following:
A secure border and a sensible immigration system.
Safer cities and support for law and order.
A thriving, low-tax and low-regulation economy for all — fueled by an energy policy that supports, not penalizes, industry and households.
Common-sense policies that restore the power of parents to choose what is best for their children on school choice, gender surgery and trans athletes playing in female sports.
An America that’s respected on the world stage — feared by our enemies and trusted by our allies.
Only one candidate can credibly claim to lead us there.
Donald Trump.
If history is any guide, the track records of the last two administrations provide a clearly comparable record.
To borrow from Ronald Reagan’s famous “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”: Voters should ask themselves if they were better off under Trump or Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
His opponents focus on how Trump’s administration was marked by a relentless soap opera of high drama and chaos — much of which they fueled.
And yes, many find him offensive — and we say fair enough: He can be ridiculously hyperbolic.
But before COVID wreaked havoc across the globe, Trump’s first-term results were paychecks that grew markedly faster than inflation, the lowest unemployment in 50 years, a secure border and peace overseas.
Quote:Mayor Adams defended Donald Trump Saturday, slamming claims from Democrats that the Republican nominee is a “fascist” who could be compared to Adolf Hitler.
“I have had those comments hurled at me by some political leaders in the city; my answer is ‘No,’ ” said an embattled Adams, when asked about the criticism of Trump.
“I know what Hitler has done, and I know what a fascist regime looks like. I think, as I have called for over and over again, that the level of conversation, I think we can all dial down the temperature,” added Adams, a moderate Dem currently facing federal corruption charges.
Adams made the remarks while speaking at a Manhattan news conference outlining what he called “large police presence” being planned for Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and President Biden began hammering Trump this week after claims emerged that the former commander-in-chief had praised Hitler while in the Oval Office.
The allegation surfaced in The Atlantic and was later confirmed by retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s one time White House chief of staff.
I wouldn't be surprised if Eric Adams won't make it to the end of his tenure as mayor or won't get reelected.
Antisemitism in NYC on the rise, Promoted by Foreign Actors
Quote:Activists and foreign actors have infiltrated the city’s public schools with anti-Israel materials, fostering bias and hatred of Jews, according to a new report by a nonprofit think tank.
Teacher groups like NYC Educators for Palestine have collaborated with extremist organizations, some allegedly tied to hostile foreign governments and terrorist groups, to bring “radical, anti-American ideologies” into schools, said the Network Contagion Research Institute, or NCRI, and the advocacy group New York City Public School Alliance, which co-wrote the report.
“The report exposes how the Department of Education’s vetted resources enable radical sympathizers to shape young minds with biased information,” said Tova Plaut, a DOE pre-K coordinator and co-founder with teacher Karen Feldman of NYCPS Alliance, a group of Jewish educators who contributed to the project.
Set for release this week, the report cites DOE documents, school events and staff social media posts as evidence of its findings.
It calls on the DOE to immediately conduct a curriculum review; enforce the chancellor’s anti-discrimination policies; adopt a definition of antisemitism and mandate training on it; and increase oversight of foreign funding.
“If these ideas are left unchecked, they will be internalized by a new generation of students, who will then graduate, attend university, vote, enter the workforce, and raise families of their own, further embedding antisemitic beliefs into wider American society,” the NCRI and NYC Public Schools Alliance said.
Quote:New Jersey was once home to a fiery volcano roughly the size of Mount St. Helens – that sits in the same county as a newly mapped fault line.
Rutan Hill, in Wantage, NJ, appears to be and is merely one of many non-descript earthen formations that comprise the topological face of the Garden State.
But that small Sussex county hillock was, 430 million years ago, the Beemerville Volcano – spanning 10 to 20 miles across and spewing with lava and ash for millions of years, according to geologists.
The Beemerville Volcano is considered to be an extinct volcano and all that remains is Rutan Hill and the “volcanic neck.”
The “neck” – also called the “plug” – is the solidified remains of a volcano’s conduit and plumbing system and is the last impression an extinct volcano leaves.
Geologists say that there is no chance that the volcano can ever erupt – at least not for millions of more years.
But New Jersey was shaken by a new report this week that announced a previously unmapped fault line that also runs through Sussex County.
The study from Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory identified the fault line on April 5th – the day a magnitude 4.8 earthquake rocked New York City.
Quote:Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon has ignored credibility issues related to new evidence that prompted him to announce his recommendation that the Menendez brothers be re-sentenced for the 1989 murders of their parents in an effort to "rewrite history," an attorney for the brothers' uncle said.
Milton Andersen, the 90-year-old brother of Mary "Kitty" Menendez, has opposed the release of his nephews. His attorney, Kathleen Cady, said Gascon has ignored repeated requests that Andersen be informed on any decision taken by the DA's office.
"Despite numerous requests, Gascón has refused to inform Mr. Andersen of any decisions before holding press conferences," Cady said in a statement. "Mr. Andersen has been left in the dark, forced to learn crucial updates about his sister's case through the media, rather than being treated with the dignity and respect he deserves."
Gascon initially announced he would review the case in light of new "evidence," which includes new allegations that the brothers' father, Jose Menendez, molested Roy Rossello, a former member of the boy band Menudo, in the 1980s, as well as a letter that Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, that surfaced in 2015, in which he talked about the alleged sexual abuse.
"It is unconscionable that Gascon, whose ethical obligation is to pursue justice with integrity, has ignored my multiple notifications about individuals coming forward with information that seriously questions the credibility of the so-called ‘new evidence’ in this case," said Cady. "Yet, Gascón has shown no interest in reviewing or investigating this evidence, turning a blind eye to potential flaws in his pursuit to rewrite history."
Gascon said he plans to recommend a sentence of 50 years to life for each of the brothers, which would make them immediately eligible for parole under state law because they were under 26 at the time of the murders.
Judge Orders Virginia to Reinstate Non-Citizens to Voter Rolls
Quote:A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to halt its removal of potential non-citizens from state voter rolls, a decision expected to restore the voting rights to some 1,600 residents ahead of Election Day.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told Fox News shortly after the ruling that his administration is planning to file an emergency stay for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to block the injunction, which he noted was handed down just 11 days before the election.
He added that his administration would appeal it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.
"This is a stunning ruling by a federal judge who is ordering Virginia to reinstate individuals who have self-identified as noncitizens back on the voter rolls," Youngkin said on air on Fox News Channel via telephone shortly after the judge's decision was announced.
His remarks come after U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction Friday to reinstate all voters that had been removed from state voter rolls in the state in the last 90 days, finding that the removals had been in fact "systematic," not individualized, and were thus a violation of federal law.
Giles said Friday that there is reason to believe voters in Virginia were being mistakenly removed from the rolls. "This process has resulted in eligible voters having their voting registration flagged," she said in issuing the preliminary injunction.
And while Giles concurred it is "undoubtedly in the public interest for ineligible voters to be removed," she noted it is also in the public interest "for states to comply with federal law particularly the right to vote."
The preliminary injunction handed down by a federal judge in Alexandria comes just weeks after the Department of Justice sued Virginia over its program, arguing the removals were conducted too close to the Nov. 5 elections and violate the National Voter Registration Act — a federal law that requires states to halt all systematic voter roll maintenance for a 90-day "quiet period" before an election.
Justice Department officials also cited concerns that eligible votes may have incorrectly been removed from the rolls without adequate notice, or enough time to correct the mistake.
Quote:Mexican army troops have killed 19 suspected drug cartel gunmen in a shootout and suffered no casualties, the Defense Department said.
The ruling Morena party has criticized past administrations for lopsided death tolls in which many suspects but no soldiers died, suggesting they constituted executions or rights abuses.
The confrontation occurred Monday in the northern state of Sinaloa, on the outskirts of the state capital, Culiacan. The area has been shaken by infighting between two factions of the Sinaloa cartel since early September.
The department said that before the confrontation, troops detained a top lieutenant of the "Mayitos" faction, loyal to imprisoned drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. The army did not give the name of the suspect, who they identified only by nickname "El Max."
The army then said troops were attacked by more than 30 assailants, at least 11 of whom managed to escape and 19 of them were killed when soldiers returned fire.
The Defense Department claimed soldiers acted in self-defense and "strict adherence to the rule of law and with full respect for human rights."
It said that 17 rifles — including a .50-caliber sniper rifle — as well as four machine guns were seized at the scene.
Quote:A United Nations helicopter was hit by several rounds of gunfire while flying over Haiti on Thursday, forcing the chopper to land in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
U.N. officials declined to comment on the incident on the record. A U.N. source anonymously told the Associated Press (AP) that no one was injured by the attack, which was one of the more brazen assaults launched against international observers and peacekeepers by the gangs running amok in Haiti.
The AP’s source said the helicopter was carrying three crew and 15 passengers at the time of the attack.
Another source provided CNN with photos showing “at least eight bullet holes on the helicopter’s fuselage, and what appears to be its rotor system.” These photos showed the helicopter was clearly marked as a U.N. aircraft, specifically belonging to the World Food Program (WFP).
“Humanitarian air transport is essential to delivering a response across Haiti,” the WFP said in a statement. Air transport is necessary, in part, because gang attacks have made Haiti’s roads so dangerous.
The WFP canceled its planned helicopter flights for Friday and a source told CNN that U.S. airlines are considering halting flights to Port-au-Prince again, as they did for three months after a surge of gang violence in March.
Two armored vehicles belonging to the U.S. Embassy in Haiti were attacked on Tuesday by gunmen belonging to the 400 Mawozo and Chen Mechan gangs. As with the helicopter incident, no injuries were reported from the attack.
“The United States maintains its strong condemnation against ongoing gang violence aimed at destabilizing Haiti’s government and jeopardizing a future of peace and security for the Haitian people,” the State Department said when confirming the attack.
EUROPE
Zelensky Furious After UN Secretary General Partakes in BRICS
Guterres also shared warm hug with Belarus dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday clapped back at the decision by U.N. Secretary General António Guterres to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on United Nations Day — a day that officially solidified the body's dedication to the promotion of peace and to "uphold international law."
"On this United Nations Day, it’s crucial to emphasize that the world must not forget the goals and principles of the U.N. Charter and the reason this organization was created," he said. "Even though some of its officials may choose the temptations of Kazan over the substance of the U.N. Charter, the world remains structured in such a way that the rights of nations and the norms of international law will always matter."
"I am grateful to everyone who supports Ukraine in this," Zelenskyy added.
Zelenskyy’s comments were in direct response to Guterres' decision to meet with Putin on the sidelines of the international BRICS summit hosted by Russia in Kazan.
BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is an intergovernmental body that was established in 2009 to counter Western influence and bolster economic partnerships, and it has increasingly become an alliance made up of authoritarian leaders.
Nations like Russia, China, Iran and potentially, North Korea, united under the alliance, not only sit as the West’s top adversaries, they are also all involved in international conflicts that violate the U.N. Charter — including Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The U.N. has yet to respond to Fox News Digital’s repeated questions over the secretary general’s decision to meet with Putin for the first time since 2022 amid the deadly war in Ukraine.
In response to reporters' questions over the merits of the meeting with Putin, just months after Ukraine held a peace summit in Switzerland that Guterres did not attend, U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said, "The Secretary-General does look forward to visiting Ukraine at a mutually convenient time, as previously discussed with President Zelenskyy in September when they met."
Quote:Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the radical leftist President of Brazil, is against Venezuela’s prospective entry into the BRICS bloc, several Brazilian outlets reported on Monday.
According to the reports, Lula’s alleged stance against Venezuela’s entry into the group is in response to socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s fraudulent July 28 presidential election.
BRICS, an anti-American trade and security bloc led by China, is presently holding its annual meeting hosted this year by Russia, the group’s current chair, in the city of Kazan. Lula was slated to travel to Russia on Sunday but canceled his attendance after he suffered significant head trauma on Saturday. Lula will instead address the bloc through a videoconference sometime this week.
One of the subjects that the coalition will address in Kazan is potentially inviting more member nations.
The bloc – originally consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – voted in 2023 to expand, inviting six new countries: Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Argentina, and Ethiopia. President Javier Milei, a fierce anti-communist, declined the invitation, while Saudi Arabia has not finalized its membership at press time, leaving its prospective entry ambiguous.
Venezuela, ruled by the socialist Maduro regime, is among the nations vying for a prospective spot in the anti-U.S. bloc. On Monday, Lula’s top foreign policy advisor Celso Amorim gave an interview to CNN Brasil in which he opposed Venezuela’s entry to BRICS.
“I’m not advocating Venezuela’s entry. I think we have to go slowly. There’s no point filling it up with countries, otherwise it will soon create a new G-77,” Amorim told CNN Brasil.
According to Lula’s advisor, BRICS needs to be “expanded with countries with profiles that can contribute within the context of a ‘polarized and multipolar’ world” – suggesting Venezuela is not among those countries.
Quote:Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed on Thursday to fight Western nations and “Zionism” alongside Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Pezeshkian met with Maduro on the sidelines of the 16th annual gathering of the anti-U.S. BRICS group in Kazan, Russia. During his encounter with the Venezuelan dictator, Pezeshkian stated that the future belongs to those driven by “freedom, justice, and independence.”
The Iranian president availed himself of the opportunity to condemn Israel in relation to the death of Hamas “political” chief Ismail Haniyeh, who died in Tehran on July 30 after his lodgings exploded. Israel has not taken responsibility for the explosion that killed Haniyeh.
“Despite the Zionist regime’s intention to provoke the Islamic Republic of Iran into war, we exercised restraint in response to violations of Iran’s sovereignty, with the goal of advancing and concluding ceasefire negotiations [between Israel and Palestine],” Pezeshkian said. “However, this regime [Israel] has only become bolder in its crimes against innocent and defenseless women and children.”
“The Zionist regime commits the most heinous terrorist acts under the pretext of fighting terrorism,” he continued. “Is the definition of combating terrorism the massacre of tens of thousands of defenseless women and children?”
According to the Iran’s state Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Pezeshkian “noted that Iran showed restraint in face of the Israeli regime in order to facilitate progress in Gaza ceasefire talks,” and described Iran’s recent missile attack on Israel as part of “Iran’s legitimate right to self-defense.”
Venezuela’s Maduro, who traveled to Russia in a now-failed attempt to secure his regime a spot in BRICS, claimed that the war on Hamas is not limited to “Palestinian territories,” but that it reflects a “broader attempt by the Israeli regime to exert control globally,” likening it to “an octopus.”
“The actions of Americans and Westerners across various regions today reflect a troubling reproduction of neo-Nazi and neo-fascist dynamics, while Zionism embodies a resurgence of Nazism and fascism on the global stage,” Maduro said. “Today’s conflict involving the Zionists extends far beyond Palestinian territories; Zionism, much like an octopus, aims to exert control over the entire world.”
“Just as fascism and Nazism sought to distance themselves from the old international community, the Zionists are now attempting to circumvent the United Nations,” he continued. “Consequently, independent nations must unite now more than ever, as Americans and Westerners are merely engaged in deceptive diplomacy, showing no commitment to their promises or assurances.”
According to Venezuelan state media, Pezeshkian and Maduro reviewed agreements they signed and expressed to be in favor of increasing economic and commercial cooperation to $10 billion. Both countries signed in 2022 a broad 20-year cooperation agreement covering a multitude of areas, such as military, science, and industry.
Quote:Georgians go to the polls on Saturday in crucial parliamentary elections as the country struggles to move closer to the West, all while under the watchful eye of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The stakes could not be higher for the small nation that sits in the troubled Caucasus region. Georgia, once part of the Soviet Union, has been caught between heavy Russian influence since it declared independence in 1991 and trying to join the European Union and move closer to the West.
"It is within Russia’s interest to ensure Georgia’s alienation from its allies and halting of the EU integration process," Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told Fox News Digital.
For Russia, the upcoming elections present an opportunity for Putin to keep Georgia in its orbit. If Georgia manages to conduct free and fair elections and restore relations with the European Union (EU), Seskuria says, this will be a defeat for Russia.
A group of bipartisan senators, led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, put forth legislation that would hold Georgian government officials and individuals responsible for corruption, human rights abuses and efforts to advance the foreign influence law or facilitate its passage.
"The United States stands with the Georgian people and their pursuit of a Euro-Atlantic future. The Georgian government’s recent efforts to align with Russia reject the desires of Georgians and pose a significant threat," the bipartisan group of senators said in a press release.
Quote:India and China have begun implementing an agreement to end a military standoff on their disputed Himalayan border, the two sides said on Friday, in the biggest thaw between the Asian giants since deadly clashes between their armies four years ago.
Troops who were eyeball-to-eyeball at two points on the frontier in India's Ladakh region in the western Himalayas had begun pulling back, an Indian government source said, heralding an end to the standoff.
The process began on Wednesday and is expected to conclude by the end of the month, a senior Indian army official said.
The nuclear-armed neighbours struck a deal earlier this week on patrolling the frontier, which then paved the way for the first formal talks in five years between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia.
"According to the recently agreed solution between India and China ... their frontline armies are implementing relevant work, with smooth progress so far," Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said.
In New Delhi, a government official aware of the details said troops on both sides had started withdrawing from the areas of Depsang and Demchok, the last remaining points where they had stood face-to-face.
The source spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media on the issue.
The Indian army official said the returning troops would also remove structures such as huts and tents and take back vehicles they had brought to positions that existed before the conflict began in April 2020.
The two forces can then resume patrolling along the frontier as they did before the stand-off, the official added.
MIDDLE EAST
Saudi Arabia and Iran Partake in Joint Naval Drills
Quote:One year ago, Saudi Arabia and Israel were on the precipice of a normalization deal that would have realigned the Middle East and further isolated Iran.
This week, Saudi Arabia and Iran held their first-ever joint naval drills in the Gulf of Oman, their ministries revealed, in what would seem to be a sign of rapprochement between the longtime regional foes.
"The Royal Saudi Naval Forces had recently concluded a joint naval exercise with the Iranian Naval Forces alongside other countries in the Sea of Oman," Saudi armed forces spokesperson Turki al-Malki confirmed to the French news outlet AFP.
He added "no other exercises are being addressed during this period of time."
Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia severed ties in 2016 and have long backed opposing sides in regional conflicts. They resumed relations last year in a China-brokered deal, even as the U.S. hoped to bring them into an Abraham Accords-style deal that would normalize their relationship with Tehran’s enemy number-one, Israel.
Iran claimed that it was Saudi Arabia that organized the drills.
"Saudi Arabia has asked that we organize joint exercises in the Red Sea," the commander of Iran’s navy, Admiral Shahram Irani, was quoted as saying by ISNA.
The U.S. has military facilities and troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. conducted a large-scale logistics exercise with the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and United Arab Emirates Armed Forces in May.
"Hard not to exaggerate the significance of this. It's as if the U.S. and Russia were to hold a joint military exercise," Iranian-born commentator Hooman Majd wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Quote:Hezbollah launched a missile attack on central Israel on Tuesday, sending residents fleeing to shelters but causing no apparent damage or injuries, the Israeli authorities said.
The terrorist group fired five projectiles from within Lebanon into Israel, the Israeli military said, adding that most were intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system while one landed in an open area. Israeli police said there were no reports of damage or injury following the rocket barrage.
Meanwhile, Israel targeted a Hezbollah naval base in Beirut overnight, the Israeli military said Tuesday, as Iran worked to rally Gulf Arab nations ahead of a potential retaliatory strike from the Jewish State.
The Hezbollah naval base held a training center, an area to conduct experiments and military speedboats that were intended to be used in attacks on Israeli navy vessels and targets within Israel’s territorial waters, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
Israel also conducted strikes on Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, command centers and additional terrorist targets in Beirut, some of which were located underground, the IDF said.
Israel took steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including issuing precise and advanced warnings to civilians in the area before launching the strikes, according to the IDF.
The strikes come as speculation grows over how Israel will retaliate for Tehran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted Tehran’s neighbors wouldn’t allow their territory to be used for such an assault and that it would strike back just as hard.
IDF Thwarts Iranian Plot to Kill a Mayor & a Scientist
Quote:An Iranian plot to assassinate a "senior Israeli scientist and a mayor of a major Israeli city" has been busted, with seven suspects from Jerusalem being taken into custody, officials say.
The individuals from Jerusalem’s Beit Safafa neighborhood – who also were tasked with bombing a police car and throwing a grenade at a house -- were promised a $53,000 payment for their efforts, according to a joint statement from Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, and the Israeli Police.
"These individuals, under Iranian direction, planned to assassinate a senior Israeli scientist and a mayor of a major Israeli city," the statement said.
"An investigation revealed an Iranian intelligence network aiming to recruit Israeli citizens for missions in Israel," it added. "A 23-year-old suspect from Jerusalem was in contact with a foreign agent, recruiting others for tasks like graffiti spraying, vehicle arson in Ein Kerem, and intelligence gathering."
Israeli officials say the suspects were arrested near the scientist’s home after photographing it in exchange for around $132, as part of the leadup to the assassination attempt.
"Searches revealed 50,000 shekels, a fake police license plate, and numerous credit cards," the officials added, noting that "charges for serious security offenses" are expected to be filed.
A senior Shin Bet official said "Scientists, mayors, security officials, and other prominent Israelis are targets for Iranian agents" and that the investigation "underscores Iran’s efforts to recruit Israeli citizens for terrorism."
Quote:Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday confirmed that they have "eliminated" a Hamas commander who not only was involved in the Oct. 7 attacks – including the assault on the Reim bomb shelter where U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin was abducted – but who they also claimed "simultaneously" worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Mohammad Abu Itiwi, a commander in Hamas’ elite Nukhba force, was killed by the Israeli Airforce on Wednesday, during a joint operation by the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency.
The controversial United Nations agency did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
According to images supplied by the IDF, Abu Itiwi had been in the employ of the UNRWA since July 2022, and he was also photographed at the Reim bomb shelter near the Tribe of Nova music festival, where attendees ran for cover as Hamas terrorists attacked.
The Reim bomb shelter has become a symbol of the Oct. 7th massacre and was where Goldberg-Polin, his best friend Aner Shapira, and 25 others attempted to hide from Hamas attackers.
Abu Itiwi allegedly led the attack on the shelter, according to the IDF, and upon finding dozens hidden in the shelter on Route 232 in southern Israel, Hamas terrorists repeatedly pelted them with grenades.
Accounts of what happened next depict Shapira, 22 years old and an IDF soldier, attempting to calm the already 20-or-so people hiding in the shelter and promised to protect them.
"I’ll catch the grenades and throw them back – and if I miss any, you throw them back," one account of the horrific event described for the Times of Israel.
Quote:In the largest attack by Israel on Iran in history, Jerusalem on Friday launched a wave of retaliatory airstrikes against Iran after the Islamic Republic fired a barrage of missiles toward Israelis earlier this month.
Local Israeli news outlet Channel 12 reported that in a direct attack on Iran, Israel sent 140 Air Force planes to the skies for the assault that has reportedly targeted military facilities containing missile exports, drones, ballistic missile transmitters and Iran's air defense systems.
The local outlet further reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters in Tehran was hit by strikes, though Fox News has not been able to independently verify this.
Explosions were first heard near Iran's capital of Tehran and nearby Karaj, Reuters said, citing local media.
"In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel – right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. "The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil. Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilized. We will do whatever necessary to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel."
A U.S. official told Fox News that President Biden and Vice President Harris have been briefed on the strikes and are closely following the developments.
Two U.S. defense officials told Fox News Friday night that the U.S. was notified in advance of Israel's plan to strike Iran early Saturday morning local time in retaliation to Iran's Oct. 1attack.
Two defense officials also told Fox News that the U.S. had no involvement in Israel's operation.
Quote:After Israel’s daring aerial military strikes in Iran early Saturday, the Jewish state announced that it is prepared to continue to go on the "offense" against the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran, if Tehran responds.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said, "If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation - we will be obligated to respond. Our message is clear: All those who threaten the State of Israel and seek to drag the region into a wider escalation — will pay a heavy price."
He added, "We demonstrated today that we have both the capability and the resolve to act decisively — and we are prepared — on offense and defense — to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel."
Israel dubbed its Saturday mission "Days of Repentance" as a response to Iran’s launch of its barrage of around 200 ballistic missiles on October 1 into the Holy Land. Iran said it attacked Israel as retaliation for the IDF’s elimination of the Tehran-backed global Hezbollah terrorist, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut.
Pressure on Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the Biden-Harris administration seems to have paid off on Jerusalem limiting its historic attack on Iran to purely military installations. Israel avoided knocking out Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons sites and its vast oil production enterprises.
"Israel opted for the least-aggressive response against the Islamic Republic by conducting precise strikes on military targets," noted Lisa Daftari, an Iran expert and editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk.
Daftari told Fox News Digita, "This approach raises questions about whether the U.S. influenced Israel to adopt a more restrained response, possibly to prevent further escalation. One could argue these strikes successfully reestablished deterrence, while it can also be said that Israel missed an opportunity to target more crucial sites. Many factors, including the timing, target selection, and strike intensity, were complicated by a U.S. leak and our upcoming elections. Despite these pressures, Israel appears prepared to change its approach if the Islamic Republic decides to escalate further."
Quote:Authorities in Turkey say that a deadly explosion at an aerospace facility on Wednesday was a terrorist attack.
Authorities say five people were killed and more than a dozen injured. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed that the explosion was a "terrorist attack" in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. He added that the victims were both civilians and security personnel.
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz condemned the attack in a statement on social media. He added that security forces responded to the explosion immediately.
"The treacherous terrorist attack targeted Turkey's achievements in defence industry," he wrote, adding that the country's "fight against terrorism will continue."
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also acknowledged the attack in a statement, condemning "terrorism in all its forms."
Turkey's defense sector is a major exporter for the country, focusing mainly on military drones built at facilities like the one attacked on Wednesday.
No group has taken responsibility for the attack as of Wednesday afternoon.
Turkey has played a divisive role in the ongoing tensions in the Middle East throughout the year. While the country is a member of NATO, it has also expressed solidarity with terrorist groups like Hamas.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the nation's flag to half staff in after the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in August. Israeli officials condemned the move when the Turkish Embassy in Israel complied with Erdogan's order.
Quote:NATO member Turkey on Thursday carried out a second day of aerial attacks on what it said are Kurdish militant positions in Iraq and Syria, following a terrorist attack on a state-run defense agency this week in which five people were killed.
Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization reportedly targeted numerous "strategic locations" allegedly used by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – which was deemed a terrorist organization in the U.S. in 1997 – as well as targets used by Syrian Kurdish militia affiliated with the militant group.
Armed drones were used to hit military, intelligence, energy and infrastructure facilities and ammunition depots, The Associated Press reported.
However, according to General Commander Mazloum Abdi of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who is Kurdish, the Turkish attacks have been "indiscriminate" and have targeted civilian areas and health centers.
"Turkey indiscriminately and unjustifiably bombards our areas, targeting civilian, service, and health centers," he said in a message posted to X. "This is a war crime.
"We have repeatedly shown our readiness for dialogue. Meanwhile, we affirm that our forces are ready to defend our people and land," he added.
In a statement released by the SDF on Thursday, 12 people were killed during Turkey’s aerial bombardment, including two children, and 25 others were wounded.
"In addition to populated areas, Turkish warplanes and UAVs targeted bakeries, power stations, oil facilities, and Internal Security Force checkpoints. These essential civic facilities were among the 42 civic sites struck by Turkish artillery shelling," the statement said.
It is unclear if any casualties have been confirmed in Iraq. One source on the ground in the region hit, who heard fighter jets and "loud explosions," told Fox News Digital that the mountainous area that was bombed had already largely been depopulated due to previous Turkish military operations there.
It's interesting how the Kurds are treated as terrorists but Erdogan won't ever admit Hamas and Hezbollah operatives are war criminals, too. He even dares to call them "freedom fighters" no matter if they kill civilians just because.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:Health officials said on Oct. 25 that the E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders has spread more widely and sickened more people, with 75 illnesses across 13 states, including 22 hospitalizations and one death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first announced the outbreak on Oct. 22, when it said that initial investigations suggested that slivered onions used in the Quarter Pounder might be the source of the E. coli infections, which at the time numbered 49 across 10 states.
Now, in an update on Oct. 25, the CDC noted that an additional 26 cases have been reported, 12 more people have been hospitalized, and the outbreak had spread to an additional three states—Michigan, New Mexico, and Washington.
“More illnesses have been reported and everyone interviewed continues to report eating at McDonald’s before their illness started,” the CDC said in Friday’s update. “McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers are making people sick.”
Most of the E. coli cases have been reported in Colorado and Nebraska, which have 26 and 15 cases, respectively, the CDC said. Infections have also been reported in Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
“This outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses, and the true number of sick people is likely much higher than the number reported,” the CDC said in a statement.
The reason the CDC believes there are more infections than have been reported is that many people recover from E. coli infections without medical treatment and don’t get tested.
Symptoms of E. coli infections typically include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting, usually beginning 3–4 days after exposure. Most people recover within a week, but severe cases can result in hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially life-threatening condition that can cause kidney failure.
The CDC advised people who consumed a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder and are experiencing symptoms such as bloody diarrhea, fever over 102 degrees F, or dehydration, to seek immediate medical attention.
The illnesses started on Sept. 27, with the last confirmed infection on Oct. 10, according to the latest update from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). To date, two people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and one, an older adult in Colorado, has died.
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DOJ Indicts Chinese Companies for Distributing & Manufacturing Fentanyl
Quote:Eight China-based companies and eight Chinese nationals have been charged with federal crimes related to trafficking synthetic opioids and fentanyl precursors, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Oct. 24.
The defendants “openly advertised their ability to thwart border officials,” used evasive tactics such as mislabeling the contents of shipments, and had shipped “a stable supply of precursor chemicals” to clients in the United States and Mexico for years, according to the DOJ’s press release, citing the unsealed indictments.
“The global fentanyl supply chain, which ends with the deaths of Americans, often starts with chemical companies based in China,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement, according to the press release.
Mexican cartels have been buying precursor chemicals from China and then combining the chemicals into fentanyl and distributing them to the United States.
“In order to break this critical link in the fentanyl supply chain, the Justice Department has aggressively investigated and prosecuted these companies. We will continue to target every organization and individual that fuels the deadly drug trade,” Garland added.
In May, the International Journal of Drug Policy published a report saying that law enforcement seized more than 115 million pills containing illicit fentanyl in 2023, an increase of 2,300 times the nearly 50,000 seized in 2017.
Derek Maltz, former head of special operations at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told The Epoch Times last month that China’s communist regime is using drugs as part of its “unrestricted warfare game” against the United States.
“For the third time in over a year, DEA investigations have resulted in charges against chemical companies and individuals in China who we allege are supplying chemicals to the cartels to make deadly fentanyl,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.
Quote:The House China panel has called on the State Department and the Pentagon to take stronger action to address “problematic” Chinese research in the Arctic that could be used for both civilian and military applications, saying that these activities may pose significant security risks to the United States and its NATO allies.
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) outlined its concerns in an Oct. 16. letter addressed to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“In recent years, the PRC has increased its effort to seek access to and exert influence in the Arctic, including expanding dual civil-military research efforts in the region,” Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chairman and ranking Democrat member of the panel, respectively, wrote in a letter, using the acronym of communist China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
“The Arctic is critical to U.S. national security interests and the defense of our homeland, and we must work with our allies to preserve our defense treaty commitments.”
The lawmakers pointed out that China’s “access to the Arctic for satellite communication ground stations and scientific research greatly expands the operational effectiveness of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and furthers the PRC’s global ambitions.”
The bipartisan panel wants to know, among other things, how the U.S. government evaluates the threats posed by Chinese research involvement in the Arctic, especially “in terms of missile defense, submarine detection, and satellite tracking capabilities.”
The lawmakers requested a response by Nov. 15.
China has teamed up with Russia to expand its military and coast guard presence in the Arctic region, which harbors an estimated 13 percent of the planet’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its undiscovered natural gas reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Earlier this month, China announced that its coast guard vessels had ventured into the Arctic Ocean for the first time, conducting patrols alongside Russian ships in waters where the CCP had long sought to exert its influence.
Despite being 900 miles away from the Arctic Circle, China has declared itself a “near-Arctic” state and has added the “Polar Silk Road” to its Belt and Road Initiative, a multibillion-dollar project aimed at bolstering Beijing’s geopolitical sway by building ports, railways, and other infrastructure worldwide.
Quote:Former president Donald Trump said he “wouldn’t have to” use military force against a China blockade of Taiwan because Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping respects him and “knows I’m [expletive] crazy.”
Trump told the Wall Street Journal editorial board on Oct. 17 that if re-elected, he would use the threat of increasing tariffs on China-made goods to 150–200 to dissuade Xi from besieging Taiwan.
A blockade to cut off the trade routes of the self-governed island, to cause natural resource depletion and panic among the Taiwanese, is a tactic that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could deploy in an attempt to force Taiwan to surrender to its governance.
The former president’s comment regarding not using military force aligns with most Americans.
Annual surveys by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs show a year-on-year decline in the American public’s support for using the U.S. Navy to counter a CCP blockade of Taiwan. In 2022, over 60 percent of Americans supported that approach. The support ratio decreased to half last year and 37 percent this year.
The think tank also reported that Americans prefer Taiwan to maintain its status quo over seeking independence or unification with the mainland. Americans support Taiwan’s inclusion in international organizations, arming and providing other supplies to Taiwan, but not sending U.S. troops to the island.
President Joe Biden has said several times that the United States would defend Taiwan if Beijing tried to annex the island by force. However, his officials walked back those statements each time, saying U.S. policy is deliberately vague on what it would do.
Vice President Kamala Harris said in September 2022 that the United States would “continue to oppose any unilateral change to the status quo” and “continue to support Taiwan’s self-defense, consistent with our long-standing policy.”
Trump commented on the issue amid rising cross-strait tensions.
China’s People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan’s Republic of China (ROC) celebrated their respective national days on Oct. 1 and Oct. 10. On Oct. 5, days before Taiwan’s National Day, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said that the PRC had just celebrated its 75th birthday, while the ROC was approaching 113 years old.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
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He even dares to call them "freedom fighters" no matter if they kill civilians just because.
