Thousands of U.S. Troops to Be Deployed to Saudi Arabia

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The United States is deploying an additional 2,800 U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of Iran’s attack on Saudi oil facilities in September, the Pentagon announced on Friday. The deployment includes fighter squadrons, early detection aircraft, and air defense systems.

The new forces will join the 200 American service members that are part of the Patriot air defense battery and radars sent to Saudi Arabia in late September in response to the Sept. 14 attack that the United States blames on Iran.

“[Defense] Secretary Esper informed Saudi Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Muhammad bin Salman this morning of the additional troop deployment to assure and enhance the defense of Saudi Arabia,” said Chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman in a statement on Friday. “Taken together with other deployments, this constitutes an additional 3,000 forces that have been extended or authorized within the last month.”

“We have been concerned, based on what we hear from partners and allies in the region, about continued Iranian behavior,” Esper said at a Pentagon news conference on Friday.

“There are things that we pick up, if you will through intelligence, that we thought it was important to deploy forces to deter and defend and to send the message to the Iranians do not strike another sovereign state,” he added. (Read more from “Thousands of U.S. Troops to Be Deployed to Saudi Arabia” HERE)

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Turkey Attacks U.S. Special Forces in Syria, Apparently by Mistake; Pentagon Chief on Decision to Move Troops in Syria: ‘We Put the Safety of Our Soldiers First’

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By Newsweek. contingent of U.S. Special Forces was caught up in Turkish shelling against U.S.-backed Kurdish positions in northern Syria, days after President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart he would withdraw U.S. troops from certain positions in the area. A senior Pentagon official said shelling by the Turkish forces was so heavy that the U.S. personnel considered firing back in self-defense.

Newsweek has learned through both an Iraqi Kurdish intelligence official and the senior Pentagon official that Special Forces operating on Mashtenour hill in the majority-Kurdish city of Kobani fell under artillery fire from Turkish forces conducting their so-called “Operation Peace Spring” against Kurdish fighters backed by the U.S. but considered terrorist organizations by Turkey. No injuries have been reported.

Instead of returning fire, the Special Forces withdrew once the shelling had ceased. Newsweek previously reported Wednesday that the current rules of engagement for U.S. forces continue to be centered around self-defense and that no order has been issued by the Pentagon for a complete withdrawal from Syria. . .

The Turkish Defense Ministry issued a statement in response to Newsweek’s report, denying that its military had targeted U.S. forces. The ministry affirmed that “Turkish border outposts south of Suruc came under Dochka and mortar fire from the hills located approximately 1,000 meters southwest of a U.S. observation post.” (Read more from “Turkey Attacks U.S. Special Forces in Syria, Apparently by Mistake” HERE)

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Pentagon Chief on Decision to Move Troops in Syria: ‘We Put the Safety of Our Soldiers First’

By Breitbart. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday the Trump administration decided to pull back less than 50 U.S. troops from northern Syria in order to make sure they were not caught in a pending fight between Turkish and Syrian Kurdish forces.

“When Turkey notified us of an imminent military operation, we relocated a small contingent of less than 50 special operations soldiers out of the immediate zone of attack,” he said. “This decision was made to ensure that American troops were not caught up in the fighting between Turkish and Kurdish forces.”

“The safety of our men and women in uniform remains our top priority,” he added.

Esper said Turkey’s decision put the U.S. in a tough situation, given that Turkey is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally. He said:

The impulsive action of President Erdogan to invade northern Syria has put the United States in a tough situation, given our relationship with our NATO ally Turkey, who has fought alongside the United States in the past, and the Syrian Democratic Forces who helped us destroy the physical caliphate of ISIS, and the safety of U.S. military personnel.

(Read more from “Pentagon Chief on Decision to Move Troops in Syria: ‘We Put the Safety of Our Soldiers First’” HERE)

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U.S. and China Agree to Start Potentially Massive Trade Deal (VIDEO)

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The White House announced Friday evening that the United States and China have agreed to the first step of a massive trade deal that is seemingly beneficial on both sides. The Wall Street Journal reports that the core part of this initial economic “truce” means that the U.S. will “shelve a planned increase in tariffs on goods imported from China, while Beijing said it would increase purchases of U.S. agricultural products.”

(Read more from “U.S. and China Agree to Start Potentially Massive Trade Deal” HERE)

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DISGUSTING: Woman Wins Quarter Million Dollars Because She Didn’t Get to Abort Her Baby With Down Syndrome

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A mother, who said that she would have aborted her baby if she knew that he had Downs syndrome, has been awarded financial compensation from the NHS, which could amount to £200,000.

Edyta Mordel, aged 33, pursued legal action against the NHS for ‘wrongful birth’ after medical staff allegedly failed to test her unborn baby for Down’s syndrome, and so deprived her of the opportunity to end his life through abortion.

Mordel’s medical notes say she was “very upset and angry” when her son, Aleksander, was diagnosed after his birth in 2015. However, the hospital’s ultrasound reports system recorded “Down’s screening declined”, showing that Mordel had been offered a screening process, and had refused it.

Mr Justice Jay, who presided over the ‘wrongful birth’ case, has now ruled that Mordel is entitled to a damages pay-out from the NHS trust. Mordel’s lawyers have asserted that she should receive a pay-out sum larger than £200,000. . . .

Currently, in the UK, 90% of babies diagnosed with Down’s syndrome are aborted. The UK’s 1967 Abortion Act also permits abortion until birth, if the unborn baby is suspected to possess to foetal anomaly such as Down’s syndrome. (Read more from “Woman Wins Quarter Million Dollars Because She Didn’t Get to Abort Her Baby With Down Syndrome” HERE)

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Report Claims Pope Francis Said Jesus Was Not God

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Controversy erupted this week when atheist Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari published a serious charge in an article for the center-left outlet La Repubblica — namely, that Pope Francis previously told him in a private interview that Jesus Christ was not God. If true, this would be a blatant statement of heresy that denies the Nicene Creed and the Catechism.

According to Catholic News Agency, Scalfari, who has interviewed the pope on several occasions, said he discussed the topic of Jesus’ divinity sometime in the past. He allegedly challenged Pope Francis about church teaching by noting several scriptures of Christ expressing agony, which apparently led Scalfari to believe that Jesus was not divine. In response, Pope Francis allegedly told him, “They are the definitive proof that Jesus of Nazareth, once he became a man, even if he was a man of exceptional virtue, was not a God.”

Immediately after the article went public, the Vatican issued a rather tepid statement denying Scalfari’s claims, saying it was not a “faithful account” of what Pope Francis said.

“As already stated on other occasions, the words that Dr. Eugenio Scalfari attributes in quotation marks to the Holy Father during talks with him cannot be considered a faithful account of what was actually said but represent a personal and free interpretation of what he heard, as appears completely evident from what is written today regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ,” Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See’s press office, said in a statement.

After significant backlash over the wording in Bruni’s denial, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, the Vatican’s prefect of the dicastery for communications, effectively called Scalfari a liar and affirmed that Pope Francis believes in rudimentary Catholic teaching about the divinity of Jesus. (Read more from “Report Claims Pope Francis Said Jesus Was Not God” HERE)

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Hunter Biden Invested in a Chinese Tech Company That Was Recently Blacklisted for Human Rights Concerns

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A Chinese tech company recently blacklisted by the United States government over human rights concerns has business ties to Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that 28 Chinese entities would be added to the list of firms that U.S. companies are barred from doing business with, as they “have been implicated in human rights violations and abuses in China’s campaign targeting Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities.”

“The U.S. Government and Department of Commerce cannot and will not tolerate the brutal suppression of ethnic minorities within China,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

One of the added entities is Megvii Technology, a company in which Hunter Biden owns a stake through his investment fund, Bohai Harvest RST (BHR). According to Fox Business, Biden has a 10 percent stake in the investment company.

A story in the Intercept from earlier this year explains the Biden-Mevii relationship in greater detail. In 2017, the report explains, BHR invested in one of Megvii’s divisions, Face++, which makes facial recognition software.

Human Rights Watch initially issued a report in May that said Face++ code was found in an app used by Chinese police to track people in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The organization later said that the code was “inoperable.” In April, the New York Times listed Megvii as one of multiple tech companies behind software used in China’s technological crackdown on Uighurs, but the company at the time said that it was focused on “commercial not political solutions.”

Megvii also says that the U.S. government’s blacklist decision was a wrong.

“Megvii strongly objects to the company’s designation on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List, for which there are no grounds,” reads a company statement. “We are committed to making sure our technology has a positive impact on society and we are in compliance with all laws and regulations in jurisdictions where we operate.”

Megvii is a private company that is currently trying to go public, though Goldman Sachs said it is re-evaluating its involvement in the initial public offering (IPO) in light of the blacklisting. A September story at Wired points out that the IPO filing admits that police make use of its technology, but not in the context of Uighur surveillance. Instead, “It presents case studies that make its surveillance offerings sound more cuddly.”

Hunter Biden’s role at BHR and the fact that the announcement of the fund coincided with his 2013 trip to China aboard Air Force Two as part of a U.S. delegation are at the heart of President Donald Trump’s efforts to have both Bidens’ dealings in the country looked at by the Chinese government.

Trump suggested last week that “China should start an investigation in to the Bidens, because what happened in China was just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.” A Chinese official responded this week that the country has “no intention of intervening in the domestic affairs of the United States.” (For more from the author of “Hunter Biden Invested in a Chinese Tech Company That Was Recently Blacklisted for Human Rights Concerns” please click HERE)

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China Warns U.S. Brands to Accept Communism

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The Chinese government newspaper Global Times warned “global brands” to “make their members speak cautiously” on Chinese political issues Monday in response to an ongoing controversy following an NBA executive lending support to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. . .

Following condemnation from the Communist Party and its puppets in Chinese society, social media, and the NBA, the NBA itself issued a statement also condemning Morey for simply challenging the dogma of a country currently maintaining a million-strong concentration camp population. The NBA has established a training camp in the same province as the concentration camps. . .

The Global Times called Americans “ridiculous” for defending freedom of speech, especially targeting 2020 Democratic candidate Andrew Yang for criticizing China.

“Morey does have the freedom to praise Hong Kong protesters, just like the Chinese fans also have the freedom to abandon the Rockets,” the Times claimed. “The problem is that Morey’s freedom is at the expense of Rockets’ huge commercial interests, which the team is unwilling to give up.”

The newspaper went on to insist that the controversy “has nothing to do with the Chinese government” – even though the Chinese government controls all aspects of the country’s relationship with the NBA and heavily regulates speech, meaning Chinese “fans” say only what the government legally allows them to. The Global Times then dared accuse the United States of using “ideological pressure” against the Houston Rockets to keep them from surrendering to China. (Read more from “China Warns U.S. Brands to Accept Communism” HERE)

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Ecuador Declares State of Emergency as Violent Protests Sweep Major Cities (VIDEO)

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President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno declared a 60-day state of emergency on Thursday after transportation workers and leftist groups began rioting against the repeal of a decades-old government gasoline subsidy.

Moreno ended the subsidy, in vigor for 40 years, as part of an economic plan to reduce government spending in exchange for a large loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Among other reforms, Moreno also announced this week that he would withdraw from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) so that Ecuador would no longer be beholden to that cartel’s production limits, increasing oil supply and thus driving down the price of gasoline without government spending.

Transportation professionals – drivers of buses, taxis, and trucks – led citywide strikes in the capital Quito, and Guayaquil, the nation’s economic hub, to protest the gasoline price increase, which would adversely impact their businesses. The strikes rapidly turned into chaos as protesters threw Molotov cocktails, burned tires, and blocked major roads. Businesses also reported looting and vandalism.

Moreno published a state of emergency decree on Thursday evening.

“Rights are demanded without hurting that which is fundamental for the progress of the nation: work, education, and freedom of mobility,” he wrote on Twitter. “We guarantee citizens’ security, free movement, and protection of their property”:

(Read more from “Ecuador Declares State of Emergency as Violent Protests Sweep Major Cities” HERE)

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China Bans ‘South Park’ – Show’s Creators Hilariously Troll Them

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The Communist Party of China banned the wildly popular TV show “South Park” after the show blasted the communist nation for shaping American culture by forcing American companies to not do anything it deems offensive if they want to be able to sell their products and services in China.

“Now, those very same government censors, in the real world, have lashed back at ‘South Park’ by deleting virtually every clip, episode and online discussion of the show from Chinese streaming services, social media and even fan pages,” The Hollywood Reporter reported. “The draconian response is par for the course for China’s authoritarian government, which has even been known to aggressively censor ‘Winnie the Pooh,’ because some local Internet users had affectionately taken to comparing Chinese president Xi Jinping to the character.”

On Monday, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone issued a statement trolling the Chinese government:

Like the NBA, we welcome the Chinese censors into our homes and into our hearts. We too love money more than freedom and democracy. Xi doesn’t look like Winnie the Poo at all. Tune into our 300th episode the Wednesday at 10 p.m. Long live the great Communist Party of China. May the autumn’s sorghum harvest be bountiful. We good now China?

. . .The statement from Stone and Parker comes one day after the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Houston Rockets received intense backlash from across the American political spectrum for apologizing for offending China after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted out support for Hong Kong. Morey’s tweeting had sparked an immediate backlash from the Chinese government.

(Read more from “China Bans ‘South Park’ – Show’s Creators Hilariously Troll Them” HERE)

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2020 Hack Attack: Iranian Hackers Go After Trump’s Re-Election Campaign

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Iranian hackers attempted to hack President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, The New York Times reported Friday afternoon, citing sources who are familiar with the matter but who cannot comment publicly.

The report comes hours after Microsoft said hackers made more 2,000 attempts to identify the email accounts of current and former U.S. officials and accounts associated with presidential campaigns. The sources said it was unclear what if any information was obtained.

“We have no indication that any of our campaign infrastructure was targeted,” Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said in a press statement addressing the matter. . .

Researchers have long-warned that such attempts would increase, especially after Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The Iranian hackers used online information to get ahold of passwords, The NYT reported. (Read more from “2020 Hack Attack: Iranian Hackers Go After Trump’s Re-Election Campaign” HERE)

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