Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Kerry: Pakistan Is Acting ‘Authoritatively’ Against Terrorist Network; Pentagon Disagrees

Secretary of State John Kerry said in New Delhi Tuesday that Pakistan in recent months has been acting “authoritatively” against strongholds of the Haqqani network (HQN), arguably the region’s most effective terrorist group. Read

Is Administration Doing Anything About ISIS Genocide Against Christians? Lawsuit Filed

Seeking to establish what the Obama administration is doing in response to the genocide being waged by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) against Christians, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed a lawsuit Tuesday, after the State Department failed to respond to earlier to Freedom of Information Act requests. Read

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

WH Calls Russian-Made Missiles Deployed at Iran Nuclear Site ‘Objectionable’ – But ‘Defensive in Nature’

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday the administration finds “objectionable” Iran’s deployment of Russian-made surface-to-air missile launchers at a key underground nuclear facility, but described the weaponry as “defensive in nature.” Read

Communist China’s Legislative Body Mulls Paris Climate Accord, As Obama Takes the Executive Route

The Standing Committee of China’s rubberstamp parliament is meeting to discuss formally acceding to a far-reaching climate change agreement negotiated in Paris last year, amid signs that President Obama is preparing to take the same step – but without Senate ratification – possibly within days. Read

Monday, August 29, 2016

Russian-Made Missiles Deployed at Iranian Underground Site Kept Open Under Nuclear Deal

Iran has installed sophisticated Russian-made surface-to-air missile launchers at a secretive nuclear facility which the Obama administration contends has been rendered harmless under the nuclear deal. Read

10,000: Administration About to Hit Syria Refugee Target; Fewer Than 0.5% Are Christians

The Obama administration is expected on Monday – a month ahead of schedule – to achieve its goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees this fiscal year. Read

Friday, August 26, 2016

Shots Fired in Persian Gulf; Iran Warns Encroaching U.S. Ships Will be ‘Severely Punished’

Iran’s defense minister vowed Thursday that any U.S. or other warships that enter Iranian waters would be “severely punished,” as the Pentagon confirmed that a U.S. patrol vessel had fired warning shots after being approached by an Iranian attack boat in an “unsafe” manner. Read

Thursday, August 25, 2016

‘Terrorists are Terrorists,’ Says Turkey’s Erdogan, a Key Supporter of Hamas

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking alongside Vice President Joe Biden in Ankara Wednesday, said governments should not make distinctions between “bad” and “good” terrorists. Read

Wire Transfer? Check? Cash? State Dept. Won’t Discuss ‘Mechanics’ of $1.3B Payment to Iran

President Obama told reporters three weeks ago that the U.S. had flown $400 million in cash to Iran last January because it could not send a check or wire the funds to the regime. The administration will not say how a much larger sum – $1.3 billion in interest – was paid around the same time. Read

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

State Dept. on Iran Payment Details: ‘There Are Reasons For Us Withholding This Information … Confidentiality’

“This stuff keeps coming out – drip, drip, drip, drip, drip,” a reporter said during Tuesday’s State Department briefing, as spokesman Mark Toner declined to share details about how $1.3 billion in U.S. taxpayers’ money was paid to Iran last January. Read

Foreign Election Observers in U.S. to Increase Tenfold From 2012

When Americans went to the polls four years ago, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) deployed 44 observers, a quarter of whom came from countries deemed by a leading democracy watchdog to be “not free” or “partly free.” Read

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

US Refugee Admissions From Around the World: 45.9% Muslims, 43.5% Christians

As the Obama administration races towards its goal of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States this fiscal year, its overall refugee admission program has opened the door to more Muslims than Christians from around the world. Read

Philippines President Slams US: ‘Killing Black People There, Shooting Them Down When They Are Already on the Ground’

As a spokesman for the Philippines’ controversial leader walked back his threat to withdraw from the United Nations, a State Department spokesman declined Monday to react to President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated insults and criticisms of the United States. Read

Monday, August 22, 2016

As Muslim World Suffers 2 Major Terror Attacks, Islamic Bloc Silent, Except for Blast at Israel

The Muslim world suffered two major terrorist attacks over the weekend – in Turkey and Somalia – but the bloc of Islamic states found just one subject worthy of commenting on on Sunday – the “painful occasion” of the anniversary of a failed arson attempt at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque almost half a century ago. Read

Administration Nears Syrian Refugee Goal: 9,077 Muslims; 47 Christians

With less than six weeks of the fiscal year to go, the Obama administration is speeding towards meeting its target of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States, and is currently fewer than 900 refugees away from the goal. Read

Thursday, August 11, 2016

At State Dept., Sparring Over Clinton Foundation Emails: ‘Am I Not Speaking English?’

A State Department spokeswoman’s evident reluctance to answer a question about the propriety of the relationship between the department and the Clinton Foundation during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tenure raised hackles during Wednesday’s daily press briefing. Read

Putin Accuses Ukraine of Armed Incursion Into Crimea – Its Own Territory

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused the Ukraine military of “infiltrating Crimean territory” and said the U.S. and Europe should rein in their “clients” in Kiev. Read

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Terrorists Posing As Aid Workers? Israel Says U.N. Staffer Colluded With Hamas

When Israeli authorities last week accused a senior staffer for a leading Christian relief group of diverting charity funds to Hamas, they signaled he would not be the last – and now a U.N. agency employee has been indicted for allegedly supporting the Palestinian terror group. Read

State Dept. Won't Say If Plane Carrying Cash for Iran Landed Before US Prisoners Were Allowed to Leave

Facing ongoing question about claims of a link between Iran’s release of imprisoned Americans and the administration’s payment of $400 million to the regime, the State Department on Tuesday would still not say whether a plane carrying the cash landed in Tehran before one carrying the prisoners took off. Read

Tuesday, August 09, 2016

Trump, Clinton Camps Exchange Barbs Over Executed Iranian Nuclear Scientist

The execution of an Iranian nuclear scientist surfaced on the campaign trail Monday when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested that his Democratic rival’s private server emails may have been linked to his death. Read

Executed Nuclear Scientist Returned to Iran After His Family Was Held ‘Hostage,’ Opposition Says

The Iranian nuclear scientist executed last week for allegedly spying for the U.S. moved here under under mysterious circumstances in 2009, then returned to Iran a year later because his family back home was threatened with persecution, an Iranian opposition group said Monday. Read

Friday, August 05, 2016

World Vision Charity, Long Accused of Anti-Israel Bias, Caught Up in Hamas Funding Controversy

orld Vision said Thursday it was “shocked” to hear allegations that a senior staff member in Gaza diverted millions of donors’ aid dollars to Hamas for terrorist activity. The international Christian charity finds itself under an uncomfortable spotlight after facing accusations of anti-Israel bias for years. Read

Thursday, August 04, 2016

Sen. Cotton: Flying Untraceable ‘Cold, Hard Cash’ in an Unmarked Plane to Iran ‘Like a Drug Cartel Transaction’

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Wednesday likened the manner in which the Obama administration paid $400 million to Iran on the day five imprisoned Americans were released to a “drug cartel transaction.” Read

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

Chairman Royce on Reports That Obama Secretly Sent $400M to Iran: ‘It Keeps Getting Worse’

Republicans lashed out Tuesday at the Obama administration over a news report claiming it airlifted $400 million in foreign currency to Tehran on the same day the regime released five imprisoned Americans. Read

Dueling Libyan Governments At Odds Over US Airstrikes

The State Department stressed Tuesday that U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) targets in Libya had been carried out “at the specific request” of the Western-backed “government of national accord” (GNA) in Tripoli. But angry condemnation from a rival government in eastern Libya underscored how fractured the country remains, five years after the Western-backed toppling of Muammar Gaddafi led to Libya’s disintegration. Read

Tuesday, August 02, 2016

Palestinian Goads Little Boy Into Throwing Stones, Urges Israelis: ‘Shoot Him and Kill Him!’

In a video clip posted on social media this week, a Palestinian man is seen encouraging a small child, possibly three-years-old, to throw stones at armed Israeli border policemen, and yells at the Israelis to shoot the boy. Read

7,551 Syrian Refugees Admitted to U.S. in FY16--Only 35 Christians

The Obama administration admitted 2,340 Syrian refugees into the United States in July, almost as many as the record number of admissions in June (2,406), keeping it on track to reach its goal of 10,000 by the end of September. Read

Monday, August 01, 2016

Pope on Islamic Terrorism: There Are Violent People in Almost All Religions

Pope Francis said Sunday he does not like speaking about Islamic violence, telling reporters on a flight to Rome that violent people were found in all religions, including his own. Read

‘We Know’: Clinton Accuses Putin of Hacking, Leaking DNC Emails

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said Sunday that Russia’s intelligence service, controlled by President Vladimir Putin, hacked Democratic National Committee emails and “arranged for a lot of those emails to be released.” Read