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In September 2015, the Obama-Biden administration approved the sale of a strategically sensitive Michigan manufacturer, Henniges Automotive, to a firm connected to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and a Chinese military contractor that was on an American watch list because of its close ties to the People’s Liberation Army. Hunter Biden’s equity fund, backed by the Communist Chinese government, and the Chinese contractor, Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC), needed special approval for the deal from the Committee of Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CIFIUS) because Henniges produced technology with potential military use. AVIC entities have been sanctioned by the United States on...

Armenians are renowned the world over as a resourceful and skillful people. For a small nation, they have produced a remarkable number of impressive and original minds, and Kardashians too. But Armenians’ fabled ingenuity notwithstanding, the country of Armenia has fallen into a sophisticated trap of its own making – bankrupting its intellectually wealthy but economically fragile nation and stifling its own advancement. The trap – initially designed as a ploy to secure the permanent, internationally condoned transfer of a large swath of sovereign territory in neighboring Azerbaijan – now appears to have backfired. The stage was set by 1994,...

President Donald J. Trump has informed Congress of his intent to formally rescind Sudan’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.  This follows on Sudan’s recent agreement to resolve certain claims of United States victims of terror and their families.  Yesterday, in fulfillment of that agreement, the transitional government of Sudan transferred $335 million into an escrow account for these victims and their families.By finally serving justice for the American people, President Trump was able to achieve what previous presidents could not – the resolution of longstanding claims of victims of the East Africa embassy bombings, the attack on...

In 2016, Adnan al-Afiyuni, left, led prayers as President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public appearance to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday in Daraya outside Damascus [File: SANA] A prominent Syrian Muslim leader in charge of the Damascus region was killed on Thursday when a bomb planted in his car exploded outside the capital, state news agency SANA said. Adnan al-Afiyuni, the Sunni Muslim mufti for Damascus province, was considered to be close to President Bashar al-Assad who hails from the Alawite offshoot of Shia Islam. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor said the 66-year-old Muslim scholar...

The US Army said Thursday it carried out a drone strike against Al-Qaeda leaders in northwest Syria near the border, killing 14 jihadists, according to a war monitor. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said the victims included five foreigners and six commanders. "US Forces conducted a strike against a group of al-Qaeda in (AQ-S) senior leaders meeting near Idlib, Syria," said Major Beth Riordan, the spokeswoman for United States Central Command (CENTCOM). "The removal of these AQ-S leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks threatening US citizens, our partners and...

A group of armed Jihadis are reported to have stormed a prison in Beni, Congo, and freed at least 900 prisoners during a "coordinated attack" in the early hours Suspected ISIS militants freed at least 900 prisoners from a jail in Congo during a overnight raid, according to reports. A “coordinated attack” was carried out by armed gunmen in the early hours of Tuesday, according to the local mayor. Modeste Bakwanamaha, Mayor of Beni, said: “Unfortunately, the attackers, who came in large numbers, managed to break the door with electrical equipment. We believe that it was the ADF who did...

At least two people were killed Tuesday, and three others were wounded, when a bomb blast targeted the nation’s immigration and naturalization chief in Mogadishu, according to officials. Police captain Abdifatah Hassan confirmed the deaths to Anadolu Agency. The attack occurred near the busy KM4 intersection in the capital. Government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar Oronjo told the Turkish news agency the attack targeted Mohamed Aden Kofi, head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "A roadside bomb blast targeted the immigration chief. He survived the attack but three security guards were wounded,” he said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack...

At least 16 people were killed and 90 others wounded after a powerful explosion rocked outside a provincial police office in Firoz Koah, capital of Afghanistan's western Ghor province on Sunday, a local official confirmed. "The final number of casualties would be shared with media later in the day. The number of casualties may change as the rescue of victims from under debris is continuing," Abdul Latif Rahimi from the provincial health directorate told Xinhua. Many wounded remained in critical condition, he said. The blast occurred roughly at 11:15 a.m. (local time) when an explosive-laden minibus was detonated along a...

Five Bahai women in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, were sentenced to a total of five years of prison by the Revolutionary Court. On October 19 the 3rd Branch of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court sentenced Nika Pakzadan, Faraneh Daneshgari, Sanaz Eshaghi, Nekisa Hajipour, and Naghmeh Zabihian to one year of prison each for “spreading propaganda against the state by being Bahai”. According to the Human Rights News Agency, the Bahai women were first detained in Mashhad on November 15, 2015 by security forces. On the same day, 11 other Bahai citizens were detained in Tehran and Isfahan, central Iran. An informed source...

Following the end on the 18th of October of the 13-year United Nations’ embargo on Iran buying or selling weapons, the roll-out of the military component of the 25-year deal between China and Iran will begin in November, as exclusively revealed by Oil Price.com. After a series of meetings in China on the 9th and 10th of October between Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Zarif, and his China counterpart, Wang Yi, this military component may now also feature the deployment in Iran of North Korean weaponry and technology, in exchange for oil, according to sources very close to the Iranian government...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) stated that Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe’s statement that Iran is seeking to undermine President Donald Trump could just be Ratcliffe putting a political spin on intelligence and “it’s very difficult to rely on what he has to say.”

Israel's minister of regional cooperation said Wednesday that he expects normalize relations with another Arab state before the U.S. elections. Reuters reported that Ofir Akunis, who is also a member of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, told Army Radio that the announcement would come before Nov. 3. "I have a reasonable basis to believe that the announcement will come before November 3 - that, if you'll permit me, is what I understand from my sources," he said, according to the news service. "I will be very happy if the announcement will happen - and before the elections in the United States,"...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stated that based on a classified briefing he received, he believes Iran is really just trying to undermine faith in American elections, not hurt President Donald Trump, and what Iran and Russia are trying to do is “similar, in a different way of course, than what President Trump is doing, undermine confidence in our elections.”

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday that Iran and Russia are working to undermine the integrity of the 2020 election. “We would like to alert the public that we have identified that two foreign actors, Iran and Russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections,” Ratcliffe said during an evening press conference, following efforts by the intelligence and law enforcement communities to ensure the election is safe and secure. According to Ratcliffe, Iran and Russia got their hands on U.S. voter registration information, enabling the foreign adversaries to...

As October began, Iran's religious dictators were peddling a narrative of imminent triumph on "a momentous day," Oct. 18. On that day, the 13-year-long U.N. arms embargo imposed on Iranian security forces would expire. U.N. Security Council members Russia and China refused to renew it. Both dictatorships acknowledge they would love to sell weapons to Iran. According to Tehran's propagandists and western media apologists, on the momentous day, The Great Satan (the U.S.) and its malign President Donald Trump would suffer a stinging diplomatic defeat. The regime survived the embargo! Unlike the Obama administration, the Trump administration understands that the...

SANTIAGO, Chile, October 20, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Two Catholic churches were destroyed in Chile’s capital city Sunday in the wake of riots marking the one-year anniversary of anti-government protests that called for a new constitution. “Television images from Santiago on Sunday showed masked protesters filming with their smartphones and cheering as the spire of the burning La Asunción church crashed to the ground,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Demonstrators also set fire to San Francisco Borja church, which dates from the mid-19th century.” The Church of St. Francis Borgia is regularly used for law enforcement ceremonies. The Church of the...

This Sunday, October 18, there were several “peaceful” protests and mobilizations in Santiago de Chile as a result of the commemoration of the first anniversary of the beginning of the social unrest in Chile. A group of hooded men violently attacked two churches in the vicinity of Plaza Italia: one of them was San Francisco de Borja, where police officers celebrate their institutional ceremonies, and the other was the church of La Asunción. one of the oldest in Santiago. The first of the sanctuaries, in addition to being attacked, was looted and some of the religious images were burned in...

Chile has been in chaos since October 2019. Roiled by mass protests and looting, the government of Chile has declared a state of emergency and imposed curfews in many cities across the country: About 20,000 soldiers are patrolling the streets, over 2,300 people have been injured and thousands have been arrested and at least 23 have been killed - the worst unrest Chile has faced since Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship three decades ago. To make matters worse, the Chilean authorities have begun advancing an increasingly authoritarian message implying that the conflict must be solved with repression. The government of President Pinera...

...The two attacks on opposite sides of Africa are among the scores of violent episodes to shake the continent in what experts are calling a breakout year for extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. .... The spike in terrorist attacks mirrors a steady, if less dramatic, increase in Islamist violence in parts of Syria and Iraq, driven by Islamic State fighters who slipped away after the caliphate’s defeat and have now regrouped.... The resurgence threatens to undermine one facet of President Trump’s reelection pitch to voters: his oft-repeated claim of victory over the Islamic State. ...The rise...

Had the terrorists targeted non-kosher establishments with non-Jewish victims, Amman would likely have been cooperative.” An FBI “Most Wanted Terrorist” poster for Palestinian terrorist Ahlam Ahmad Tamimi, one of the masterminds of the Aug. 9, 2001 bombing of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem that led to the deaths of 15 civilians, two of them Americans. Speak to policy analysts or policy-makers about the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and you’ll frequently encounter a series of truisms. For example, that Jordan is both a friend of the West and a vital, respected component of the Arab world. Or that Jordan’s peace treaty...