Six Middle Eastern Countries Join the U.S. in Sanctions Against Hezbollah-Linked Iranian Financial Network

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Six Middle Eastern countries have joined the U.S. in sanctioning an Iranian financial network linked to the Iranian military and Hezbollah, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Wednesday.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. are all part of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), “a collaborative approach to confronting new and evolving threats arising from terrorist financing,” according to the Treasury Department.

Mnuchin said in a Wednesday statement that he is meeting with officials “from across the region” during his tour of the Middle East to “bolster the fight against terrorist financing” through the TFTC, which was created in May 2017.

“It is a bold effort to expand and strengthen the cooperation amongst seven countries … to counter the financing of terrorism. The TFTC coordinates disruptive actions, shares financial intelligence information, and builds member state capacity to target activities posing national security threats to TFTC members,” Mnuchin continued.

U.S. officials view the collaboration as crucial to continue President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, the fifth largest oil producer in the world, according to The Wall Street Journal. (Read more from “Six Middle Eastern Countries Join the U.S. in Sanctions Against Hezbollah-Linked Iranian Financial Network” HERE)

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A Man Held In One Of China’s Internment Camps Was Beaten To Death By A Drunk Police Officer

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Last year, a Uyghur man imprisoned in one of China’s labor camps died. Chinese officials claimed he died from a heart attack.

But Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that the man, referred to only as Ghalipjan, was actually beaten to death by a drunk police officer while in custody. Ghalipjan, 35, was detained in Pichan county in one of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’s (XUAR) internment camps. RFA estimates that more than “1.5 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities accused of harboring ‘strong religious views’ and ‘politically incorrect’ ideas since April 2017” have been detained in the labor camps.

China claims the camps are education facilities to reduce terrorism, but as The Daily Wire previously reported, the centers are run like third-world prisons where detainees are regularly sexually assaulted, tortured, experimented on, and given little to no food — all while living in deplorable conditions.

RFA reports that it received a letter from a source that said Ghalipjan’s mother was told the day he died that it was due to a heart attack from an undiagnosed heart condition. The authorities told her that he was sent to a nearby hospital. Ghalipjan’s family went to the hospital to see his body and found he still had a defibrillator attached to his chest. Family members were not allowed to inspect his body.

“Communist Party cadres from No. 1 village in Pichan’s Lamjin (Lianmuqin) township, where Ghalipjan lived with his wife and five-year-old child, oversaw the burial of the young man on the same night that he died, and inexplicably denied family members the right to wash his body according to Muslim funerary traditions,” RFA reported from the letter. (Read more from “A Man Held In One Of China’s Internment Camps Was Beaten To Death By A Drunk Police Officer” HERE)

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Top Turkish Ally Donates to Ilhan Omar’s Campaign

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A top ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met far-left Democrat Ilhan Omar (MN) last month and donated a large sum of money to her campaign, a revelation that comes one day after Omar refused to sanction Turkey for their actions in northern Syria and refused to recognize the Armenian Genocide, which was committed by Turkey.

Halil Mutlu, who is the co-chairman of the Turkish American Steering Committee (TSAC), donated $1,500 last month to Omar’s campaign.

“Founded in 2015, TASC has orchestrated a public relations push to cast doubt on whether the Ottoman empire committed genocide against Armenians more than a century ago,” The Daily Caller News Foundation’s (DCNF) Chuck Ross reported. TSAC is “a U.S.-based nonprofit that has for years waged public relations campaigns in support of Turkish government policies and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan … [and] maintains close ties to Erdogan, routinely hosting the Turkish president during his visits to the U.S., including on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.”

The DCNF added that Mutlu, who is reportedly Erdogan’s cousin from Connecticut, made the $1,500 contribution to Omar’s campaign on at the end of last month and was featured in a photograph with her.

On Tuesday, Omar was one of the only members of Congress that did not vote to recognize the Armenian Genocide and was the only Democrat member of Congress to vote against sanctioning Turkey for their actions in northern Syria. (Read more from “Top Turkish Ally Donates to Ilhan Omar’s Campaign” HERE)

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Top Ukraine Expert on National Security Council Plans to Testify; Official Set To Back Up Many Of Whistleblower’s Claims

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By Townhall. The National Security Council’s top Ukraine expert, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman of the Army, who heard President Donald Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, plans to provide details of the call to impeachment investigators on Tuesday, the New York Times reported. Vindman will be the first White House official who listened in on the conversation to testify before investigators.

According to his written statement, he was in the Situation Room with other colleagues from the NSC and the office of the Vice President when the call took place. He said he had concerns about the call and reported them to the NSC’s lead counsel once it concluded.

“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman said in his opening statement. “I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained.” (Read more from “Top Ukraine Expert on National Security Council Plans to Testify” HERE)

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White House Official Who Listened to Trump Call Set to Back up Many of Whistleblower’s Claims: Report

By Daily Caller. An official on the National Security Council will tell lawmakers Tuesday he reported concerns about President Donald Trump’s position toward Ukraine to a top White House lawyer, according to a draft of his statement.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, will be the first White House official appearing for a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry of Trump who listened in on the president’s July 25 phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.

Vindman will say he was “worried” about the pressure Trump put on Zelensky to open investigations into Burisma Holdings, an energy company linked to Hunter Biden, according to his opening statement, which The NYT first reported.

Vindman, an Army officer who served in the Iraq War, will also tell lawmakers that he raised concerns twice with John Eisenberg, the top lawyer on the National Security Council. (Read more from “White House Official Who Listened to Trump Call Set to Back up Many of Whistleblower’s Claims: Report” HERE)

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42 Bodies Found in Mass Grave Near Popular Mexican Tourist City

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Authorities reported the discovery of a mass grave containing at least 42 bodies on the outskirts of a popular Mexican tourist port city near the Arizona border. The grisly discovery occurred just outside Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, also known as Rocky Point — located approximately 60 miles south of Arizona.

Sonoran authorities announced the discovery of a mass grave near the city of Puerto Peñasco. Authorities from the state attorney general’s office reported that investigators are working the scene of the mass grave initially discovered by a group of volunteers. The group of volunteers called Madres Buscadoras De Sonora or Searching Mothers of Sonora is a group made of mothers searching for their sons and daughters who are reported missing. Most are believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by organized crime gangs that operate in the area.

According to a local media report from KGUN in Tucson, Arizona, and Breitbart Texas sources, the group of volunteers arrived in the area acting on a tip and began searching for shallow graves. On the first day, the group found a total of four bodies. They discovered 13 more bodies on the second day of digging and 25 more on Friday. In total, the volunteers discovered the remains of 42 people. Investigators will begin the forensic process to identify the remains and eventually notify relatives. (Read more from “42 Bodies Found in Mass Grave Near Popular Mexican Tourist City” HERE)

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Kurds Thank Trump for Ending Turkey’s Attack

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By Newsweek. The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces has thanked President Donald Trump for organizing an initial ceasefire to halt a Turkish-led attack on majority-Kurdish forces across northeastern Syria, just as the U.S. leader signaled it was time for other powers to step in on Syria.

Trump ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from northeastern Syria earlier this month as NATO ally Turkey launched an attack on the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a group dominated by Kurdish militias that battled the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) but were considered terrorist organizations by Turkey. As violence ravaged the region, the Trump administration arranged a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and produced a five-day ceasefire that would end the attack by Turkish forces and allied Syrian insurgents, and facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from a so-called “safe zone.”

After this deal was succeeded by a new arrangement between Russia and Turkey, Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Kobane said Wednesday that he “just spoke with President Trump and explained to him the Turkish violations of the truce that would not have been possible without his great efforts,” according to a tweet by spokesperson Mustafa Bali.

“We THANK President Trump for his tireless efforts that stopped the brutal Turkish attack and jihadist groups on our people,” Kobane was cited as saying. “President Trump promised to maintain partnership with SDF and long-term support at various spheres.” (Read more from “Kurds Thank Trump for Ending Turkey’s Attack” HERE)

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Despite Setback, Kurds Appear Ready for Spotlight

By The Jerusalem Post. Syrian Kurdish leader Gen. Mazlum Kobani received Washington’s support on Wednesday and was on the phone with the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu – all two weeks after it seemed his Syrian Democratic Forces were on the ropes against Turkey.

Mazlum and his fighters – which number around 100,000 in different units trained by the Americans – suffered setbacks between October 9 and 14 amid hammering by Turkey and Turkish-backed jihadists, but they have come through the fire with confidence. . .

For SDF commanders, this now presents an interesting opportunity. The US wants the SDF, which it helped create, to continue to secure parts of eastern Syria, particularly 10,000 ISIS detainees and some oil fields near the Euphrates River. The US will remain in this area for an undetermined amount of time. This can help keep Iranian influence out of the strategic border area and prevent ISIS infiltrating into Iraq. It also give the SDF some room to maneuver between the US and the Russians. According to Russia’s Sputnik news agency, Moscow was in contact with Washington about the Turkish agreement.

While Moscow’s sudden appearance in eastern Syria as the arbiter appeared to humiliate Washington last week, it now appears that the US and the SDF might have an avenue to speak to the Russians about some shared interests. This is because the SDF now has signed agreements with the Syrian regime while Moscow has signed an agreement with Ankara.

Turkey is ostensibly an American NATO ally. Turkey’s main concern was to remove the SDF from the border, and it has accomplished this. It has also provided Turkey’s government a way to pretend it won, and to funnel some unsavory jihadists into Syria so Turkey doesn’t have to deal with them in Idlib province. Turkey wants to dump as many Syrian extremists back into Syria as possible to cage them in and dilute them. Ankara didn’t commit many of its own forces to fighting the SDF between October 9 and 17, seeking instead to use the Syrian rebel groups as cannon fodder. Now that the fodder has been used, Turkey and Russia signed their deal. (Read more from “Despite Setback, Kurds Appear Ready for Spotlight” HERE)

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Israeli Develops Piston Engine That Runs on Water, Alcohol – No Gas

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In the annals of business, successful companies that originated in the garages of their founders have assumed an almost mythic significance. Corporate giants such as Apple, Google and Hewlett-Packard all began in small workshops adjacent to their creators’ homes. Now, another small, garage-based family business run by three Israelis near Miami, Florida, that says that they have succeeded in reinventing the internal combustion engine is aiming to join the elite group of legendary garage-based startups.

The company is called MayMaan Research, LLC, and it has developed a system to operate a traditional piston engine with a combination of 70% water and 30% ethanol (or any other alcohol) – no gasoline or diesel required. This revolutionary system can be applied, say its founders, with simple yet sophisticated modifications of existing engine designs, and saves 50% on fuel costs, produces far fewer emissions than gasoline or diesel, and is up to 60% more efficient than gasoline. MayMaan has built four operating prototypes to date, including a car, a generator and various engines. While the company has outgrown its garage-based origins, and has grown into a research laboratory facility, it remains imbued with a start-up spirit.

MayMaan is the brainchild of Yehuda Shmueli, 81, a talented inventor, engineer and master mechanic. Assisted by sons Eitan and Doron, and backed by an impressive executive management team, including Joe Nakash, founder and chairman of Jordache Enterprises; Yedidya Ya’ari, company chairman and former president and CEO of Israel’s Rafael Armament Development Authority; Malcolm Hoenlein, CEO and executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents; and other distinguished individuals, MayMaan’s disruptive technology plans to revolutionize the world of transportation, from passenger cars, to trucks, locomotives and even ships. (Read more from “Israeli Develops Piston Engine That Runs on Water, Alcohol – No Gas” HERE)

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More Evidence of Noah’s Flood: Trees From High in the Himalayas Found Half Mile Below Sea Floor

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The remains of ancient forests have been discovered deep beneath the sea, thousands of miles from their mountainous origins, with scientists finding 19 million-year-old wood chips in sediment layers at the bottom of the Bay of Bengal.

Researchers led by Sarah Feakins, from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, drilled down over two miles from the surface of the ocean, retrieving sediments from half a mile beneath the sea floor. By analyzing the core sample, the team was able to look at how trees were swept into the ocean millions of years ago before getting trapped in the ground.

By looking at the wood chips in the core, the team was able to determine where the trees had come from. In most cases, they found the wood was from trees that grew in lowlands, near the ocean. However, one layer was found to have wood from trees that would have grown high in the Himalayan mountains, about two miles above sea level.

In their study, published in PNAS, the team argues that trees within an ancient forest were uprooted by a huge release of water—potentially by a natural dam created by a glacier or a landslide. These trees would have then been transported for thousands of miles along a huge surge of water—from cyclones, monsoons or floods, the scientists suggest—before being released in the Bengal Fan. (Read more from “More Evidence of Noah’s Flood: Trees From High in the Himalayas Found Half Mile Below Sea Floor” HERE)

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President Trump Announces ‘Permanent Ceasefire’ in Syria

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President Trump on Wednesday announced that Turkey and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria will begin a “permanent ceasefire” as he renewed his pledge that the United States military will leave the region.

“Let someone else fight over this long-bloodstained sand,” Trump said in the Diplomatic Room at the White House, accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. “We were supposed to be there for 30 days. That was almost 10 years ago. So we’re there for 30 days, and now we’re leaving. It’s supposed to be a very quick hit, and let’s get out, and it was a quick hit except they stayed for almost 10 years,” he added.

Trump said that he heard on Wednesday morning that the ceasefire would begin. “Earlier this morning, the government of Turkey informed my administration that they would be stopping combat and their offensive in Syria and making the ceasefire permanent,” he said.

“I do believe it will be permanent,” he said. “How we define the word ‘permanent’ in that part of the world is somewhat questionable, we all know that, but I believe it will be permanent.” . . .

“I want to again thank everyone on the American team who helped achieve the cease fire in Syria, saved so many lives. Along with president [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan of Turkey, a man I’ve gotten to know very well, and a man who loves his country,” Trump said. “And in his mind, he’s doing the right thing for his country.” (Read more from “Trump Announces ‘Permanent Ceasefire’ in Syria Between Turkey and Kurds” HERE)

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Pontius Pilate-Commissioned ‘Lost’ Road to Temple Mount Uncovered

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A 2,000-year-old street believed to have been created under the orders of Pontius Pilate has been found in Jerusalem.

A research published in Tel Aviv: Journal of the Institute of Archaeology details a hidden road that has been excavated for the past six years. More than 100 coins that date back to 31 A.D. were founding underneath the paving stones, which “provides strong evidence that the street was commissioned by Pontius Pilate,” according to a statement announcing the findings.

“Dating using coins is very exact,” said one of the study’s co-authors, Donald Ariel, an archaeologist and coin expert with the Israel Antiquities Authority, in the statement. “As some coins have the year in which they were minted on them, what that means is that if a coin with the date 30 CE on it is found beneath the street, the street had to be built in the same year or after that coin had been minted, so any time after 30 CE.”

“However, our study goes further, because statistically, coins minted some 10 years later are the most common coins in Jerusalem, so not having them beneath the street means the street was built before their appearance, in other words only in the time of Pilate,” Ariel added.

The newly discovered stretch of road spans 220 meters (721 feet) and goes from the Pool of Siloam to Temple Mount. This roadway likely used by worshippers who were headed toward Temple Mount, considered a holy site by Christians and Jews. (Read more from “Pontius Pilate-Commissioned ‘Lost’ Road to Temple Mount Uncovered” HERE)

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