Trump Tightens the Noose on China; U.S. Firms Clash With President Over ‘Order’ to Abandon China

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By Daily Wire. President Donald Trump announced retaliatory measures against China on Friday after the Chinese government imposed tariffs on the United States, stating that he is increasing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods by an additional 5%.

“For many years China (and many other countries) has been taking advantage of the United States on Trade, Intellectual Property Theft, and much more. Our Country has been losing HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year to China, with no end in sight,” Trump tweeted. “Sadly, past Administrations have allowed China to get so far ahead of Fair and Balanced Trade that it has become a great burden to the American Taxpayer. As President, I can no longer allow this to happen! In the spirit of achieving Fair Trade, we must Balance this very….” . . .

“Trump’s tweets about China earlier Friday helped to send major U.S. stock indexes spiraling more than 2% for the day,” CNBC reported. “The trade war intensified in the morning when China announced new tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. goods in retaliation to the U.S. duties on $300 billion in Chinese products.” (Read more from “Trump Tightens the Noose on China” HERE)

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Trade War Explodes as Trump Clashes With Us Firms Over ‘Order’ to Abandon China, Block Fentanyl Shipments

By Fox News. President Trump’s trade war with China boiled over Friday as Beijing slapped retaliatory tariffs on America and the president declared he’s ordering U.S. companies to prepare to leave the country and relocate back home — prompting pushback from corporate America. . .

But as Trump rejects such warnings while keeping his foot on the gas in the clash with China, American businesses responded to his latest guidance by urging continued trade talks.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a statement saying it wants to see continued “constructive engagement” with China.

“The U.S. business community has for many years called out the lack of progress in addressing China’s unfair trade practices. … Despite our concerns, the 40-year-old trade relationship between our two countries has been for the most part productive, constructive, and mutually beneficial,” said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“While we share the President’s frustration, we believe that continued, constructive engagement is the right way forward. Time is of the essence. We do not want to see a further deterioration of US-China relations. We urge the administration and the government of China to return to the negotiating table.” (Read more from “Trade War Explodes as Trump Clashes With Us Firms Over ‘Order’ to Abandon China, Block Fentanyl Shipments” HERE)

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Jesuit Superior General: The Devil Is a ‘Symbol,’ Not a Person

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On Wednesday, the Jesuit order’s superior general announced that Satan himself is a “symbol” rather than an actual being that was once created by God before falling into damnation.

According to Catholic News Agency, Fr. Arturo Sosa told the Italian magazine Tempi that the devil “exists as the personification of evil in different structures, but not in persons, because is not a person, is a way of acting evil.”

“He is not a person like a human person. It is a way of evil to be present in human life,” asserted the priest. “Good and evil are in a permanent war in the human conscience and we have ways to point them out. We recognize God as good, fully good. Symbols are part of reality, and the devil exists as a symbolic reality, not as a personal reality.”

The Jesuit leader’s statement about the devil stands in stark contrast with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches that Satan and his demons are “spiritual, non-corporeal beings” who are nonetheless “personal and immortal creatures” with an “intelligence and will.” . . .

Of the 1,496 adults in the United States polled, only 17% of self-identified Catholics said they believe in the existence of Satan, with 83% regarding the being as a mere symbol. Conversely, 55% of Evangelical Protestants believed in Satan’s literal existence. (Read more from “Jesuit Superior General: The Devil Is a ‘Symbol,’ Not a Person” HERE)

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Trump Warns Europe: I’ll Air Drop ISIS Fighters from Europe Back into Your Countries

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On Wednesday, President Trump sent a stern message to European leaders: if the countries from which captured ISIS fighters came don’t take them back, he’ll air drop them into Europe.

As The Daily Mail reported, Trump told reporters, “We’re holding thousands of ISIS fighters right now, and Europe has to take them. We beat them. We captured them. We’ve got thousands of them. And now, as usual, our allies say, ‘Oh. no. We don’t want them.’ Even though they came from France and Germany and other places. We’re going to tell them and we’ve already told them, ‘Take these prisoners that we’ve captured because the United States is not going to put them in Guantanamo for the next 50 years and pay for it.’ If Europe doesn’t take them, then I have no choice but to release them into the countries from which they came, which is Germany, and France, and other places.” He concluded, “It’s moving along, my deadline. They know.”

Hours later, the president repeated his assertion before a group of veterans in Kentucky, saying, “Certain countries in Europe, they’ve got to take them back. Because we don’t want to hold them. They’d rather have us hold them, and let us have them for 50 years. We don’t want them. They should take them. Do we agree? They should take them? They say to us, ‘Why don’t you hold them in Guantanamo Bay for 50 years and you just hold them and spend billions and billions of dollars holding them.’ And I’m saying, ‘No, you gotta take them.’” . . .

In early August, Trump stated, “We have thousands of ISIS fighters that we want Europe to take, and let’s see if they take them. If they don’t take them, we’ll probably have to release them to Europe.” NBC News reported at the time, “Experts estimate U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces hold some 800 European ISIS fighters in makeshift prisons, but the mostly Kurdish militia group is struggling to maintain them more than four months after ISIS lost the last significant part of its so-called caliphate.” (Read more from “Trump Warns Europe: I’ll Air Drop ISIS Fighters from Europe Back into Your Countries” HERE)

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If China Prevails in Hong Kong, Religious Freedom Could Be the First Right to Disappear

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The world is watching while a record number of Hong Kong residents flood the streets protesting encroachment by China into their way of life. While news coverage has rightly focused on Hongkongers’ defense of their civil liberties, the faith community should be particularly troubled about the future of Hong Kong’s religious freedoms. . .

Under an agreement between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Britain, which ruled Hong Kong for 156 years until 1997, the people of Hong Kong were supposed to be able to live freely in their capitalistic society under a “one country, two systems” model until 2047. The Hong Kong protesters see the extradition bill as an attempt by China’s Communist Party to demolish their way of life and discard their freedoms. . .

Religious persecution is rampant in communist China. Pew Research has named it the fifth most oppressive nation on the planet when it comes to restrictive laws and policies on religious freedom. Since the 19th century, religious groups have suffered greatly in China, with as many as 100,000 lives lost during the Boxer Rebellion and scores of Buddhist and Christian practitioners murdered during Mao Zedong’s reign of terror. . .

Christians are a frequent target of the religious police, often being banned from attending church services or imprisoned because of their faith. In 2017, a Christian pastor, her daughter and her toddler grandson were arrested and the two women were detained after singing a religious song in public (not their first run-in with police). Catholic bishops, who are historically only installed by the Vatican, are strictly appointed by Beijing alone.

There are countless reports of Chinese government officials arresting, torturing and physically abusing members, including children, of both registered and unregistered religious groups. Christians are far from the only people suffering under Xi’s crackdown. As many as 3 million Chinese citizens who practice the supposedly state-sanctioned religion of Islam have been transported to “counterterrorism” camps, where they are tortured until they renounce their faith. (Read more from “If China Prevails in Hong Kong, Religious Freedom Could Be the First Right to Disappear” HERE)

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Leftist Has a Meltdown on CNN, Justifies Palestinian Suicide Bombings

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In case you missed it, the organization sponsoring a planned trip to Israel by Democrat Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib celebrates suicide bombings and the slaughter of children. They also spread vicious lies about Israel to fuel anti-Semitic hatred.

The group’s name is Miftah. During a panel discussion yesterday on CNN, Atlantic writer and CNN contributor Peter Beinart justified the use of suicide bombings by Palestinian terrorists. He did so during a ranting defense of Omar and Tlaib’s association with the organization. National Review’s Rich Lowry pushed back.

(Read more from “Leftist Has a Meltdown on CNN, Justifies Palestinian Suicide Bombings” HERE)

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Now Those Who Fight AGAINST ISIS Get Prosecuted

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By WND Staff. . .Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer, political analyst and senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute wrote about the problem.

“Some European countries are actually in the process of prosecuting nationals who travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight against ISIS,” she explained. “In the U.K., it is estimated that just a few dozen British volunteers fought against ISIS. By comparison, approximately 850 U.K. nationals travelled from the U.K. to join ISIS.”

Jim Matthews was the first person prosecuted in the U.K. for fighting with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, which is not a proscribed terrorist group in Britain.

“A second British national, Aidan James, who fought with the YPG against ISIS, was arrested and charged with terror offences in February 2018,” Bergman wrote. “James was charged with receiving training from the PKK, before going on to fight with Kurdish YPG units in Syria. James’s case, tried in April, was inconclusive: the jury failed to reach a verdict on whether he had committed terror offences by fighting against ISIS. Prosecutors said they would be seeking a retrial of his case.”

In Denmark, Tommy Morck was sentenced under a law that prohibits nationals from going to areas of conflict in Syria and given six months in prison. (Read more from “Now Those Who Fight Against ISIS Get Prosecuted” HERE)

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Jihadi Jack: IS Recruit Jack Letts Loses UK Citizenship

By BBC. A Muslim convert who joined the Islamic State group as a teenager has had his British citizenship revoked.

Jack Letts – nicknamed Jihadi Jack in the press – was 18 when he left school in Oxfordshire in 2014 to join IS fighters in Raqqa, Syria.

Mr Letts, who is a dual UK-Canadian national, was jailed after being captured by Kurdish YPG forces while trying to flee to Turkey in May 2017.

The Canadian government said the UK had “off-loaded” its responsibilities.

The Home Office said it would not comment on individual cases. (Read more from “Jihadi Jack: Is Recruit Jack Letts Loses UK Citizenship” HERE)

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Here’s How Greenland Responded to President Trump Wanting U.S. to Buy

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Greenland dismissed President Trump’s reported intentions of purchasing the world’s biggest island, saying it was “open for business, not for sale.”

A report in The Wall Street Journal claimed that Trump has expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, for the U.S.

White House sources told the Journal that Trump asked his advisers about acquiring the island during “meetings, dinners, and passing conversations” because of Greenland’s “abundant resources and geopolitical importance.” . . .

“We have a good cooperation with USA, and we see it as an expression of greater interest in investing in our country and the possibilities we offer,” the island’s government said on its website. “Of course, Greenland is not for sale.” . . .

“Greenland is rich in valuable resources such as minerals, the purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, renewable energy and is a new frontier for adventure tourism,” the ministry said in a tweet Friday. “We’re open for business, not for sale.”

(Read more from “Here’s How Greenland Responded to President Trump Wanting U.S. to Buy” HERE)

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House Democrats Weighing Action Against Israel

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Senior Democratic members of Congress are said to have launched discussions to formally censure the U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Jerusalem’s envoy in Washington over Israel’s decision to bar entry to congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.

Around a dozen lawmakers, several of whom are Jewish, have begun talks to communicate a “deep lack of confidence and trust” in Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer and U.S. envoy to Israel David Friedman, the McClatchy news service reported, citing congressional sources.

According to the report, the Democrats are considering releasing a statement of no confidence in Dermer and opening an inspector-general investigation into Friedman.

Among the twelve are House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, two Jewish lawmakers from New York.

“We are reviewing all of our options,” McClatchy quoted a source as saying. “With Dermer, the issue is that there already was a severe lack of trust. But now there is a severe lack of confidence. It is completely unclear that he represents his government given he has made promises that he has not kept and wasn’t clear if he ever had any chance of keeping.” (Read more from “House Democrats Weighing Action Against Israel” HERE)

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Mexican President Looking to Extradite El Paso Shooter to Prevent His Possible Execution

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The El Paso shootings were horrific. Patrick Wood Crusius, a crazed man with white supremacist views, gunned down over 20 people at a local Walmart on August 3 and wounded scores more. He was targeting Mexicans. His manifesto is littered with racial overtones, yes, but he noted that his views predated Trump’s 2016 win, that Republicans are terrible, and that a lot of people have to die to in order to maintain the sustainability of the planet. There is an eco-terror angle that makes up the core of his manifesto that the media is ignoring. Eco-terrorism isn’t an activity of the far-right and the anti-Trump media need to deliver uppercuts to the White House that trashes them on a daily basis. Meanwhile, a mass shooter in Dayton, Ohio who is a self-avowed leftist is having his political views masked by the news media because, well, it just doesn’t fit the Left’s ‘all mass shooters might be racist right-wingers’ narrative. The Dayton shooter was pro-gun control, by the way. Anyway, I digress.

President Trump said that the El Paso shooter should get the death penalty. I think many would agree given the heinous nature of the crime, but Mexico’s president does not want that. In fact, he said he’s exploring ways to possibly extradite Crusius to prevent his possible execution (via AFP):

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday that Mexico does not want the El Paso shooter who killed 22 people — targeting Mexicans — to be executed, and will seek to extradite him from the United States.

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Lopez Obrador, an anti-establishment leftist, said that while Mexico condemns Crusius’s “reprehensible, abominable” crimes, it does not want to see him put to death.

“Our constitution does not allow the death penalty. We do not want the death penalty, as a matter of conviction. Life imprisonment does not exist (in Mexico), either,” he told a press conference.

(Read more from “Mexican President Looking to Extradite El Paso Shooter to Prevent His Possible Execution” HERE)

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Suicide Bombing at Wedding; 63 Dead, Over 180 Injured

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At approximately 10:40 p.m. local time on Saturday evening, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive in a wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 63 people were killed and more than 180 injured. . .

The Associated Press quotes a man named Amanullah, whose son was killed in the attack, and his body severely disfigured: “I wish I could find the pieces of my son’s body and put them as one piece into the grave.”

Ashraf Ghani, president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, sent out several tweets condemning the attack, offering condolences to the wounded and their families, and assigning a portion of the blame to the Taliban:

However, according to CNN, the area in Kabul in which the bombing took place is populated by many in the Shiite Hazara minority, and the Islamic State, a Sunni terrorist organization, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

(Read more from “Suicide Bombing at Wedding; 63 Dead, Over 180 Injured” HERE)

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