Sen. Paul: Tell Taliban There’ll be Consequences – Bombs, Not Troops – if it Harbors Terrorists

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) urged the administration on Thursday not to condition final troop withdrawal from Afghanistan on having a “perfect deal” with the Taliban, which he said was unlikely to happen. Read

Australia Wants Facebook, Google to Pay For News Content; Tech Giants Say its Value is Marginal

The Australian government wants Facebook and Google to start paying for using news content, but the U.S. digital giants claim that the value they derive from it is marginal, and they should not be expected to pay for it. Read

US is ‘Satan,’ Israel is its ‘Chained Dog,’ But Twitter Gives Ayatollah’s Tweets a Pass

Iran’s supreme leader, in a tweet Wednesday that was not flagged, restricted, or blocked by Twitter, called the United States “Satan” and labeled Israel America’s “chained dog,” drawing fresh attention to questions about the platform’s content policies. Read

As China, Cuba, Saudis Line Up For UN Human Rights Council Seats, Democrats Want to Rejoin Too

At a time when the Chinese Communist Party is eyeing another three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Council, a pledge in the Democratic Party’s draft 2020 platform for the U.S. to return to a body plagued by the presence of rights-abusing regimes is drawing some criticism. Read

‘Unbreakable Alliance’: Pompeo Commends Australia For Resisting CCP Bullying

Underlining the strength of what he has dubbed an “unbreakable alliance,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday praised Australia for standing firm in the face of “intense, continued, coercive pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to bow to Beijing’s wishes.” Read

USDA on Suspicious Seeds Reportedly Sent From China: Don’t Plant Them

Americans who receive unsolicited packages containing seeds, apparently sent from China, should not plant them but immediately notify regulatory officials in their state and await instructions for their collection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday. Read

Russian, Chinese Foreign Ministries to Work Together Against ‘Fake News’ Campaign by Western Gov’ts

Under growing international pressure, the Russian and Chinese foreign ministries’ spokespeople have agreed to step up their cooperation in combatting a campaign of “disinformation” which they say is being conducted against them by “certain countries.” Read

Tehran Says it Will Make The US Regret its Actions After F-15 Nears Iranian Plane Over Syria

Iran’s foreign ministry warned on Monday that the regime would make the United States regret an incident in which a U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jet approached an Iranian passenger plane over Syrian airspace on Thursday, calling it an act of terrorism and violation of international law. Read

Orthodox Christians Mourn, Protest Over Ancient Cathedral’s Reconversion into a Mosque

As the Muslim call to prayer resounded through Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia on Friday, church bells tolled in mourning in Greece, flags flew at half-staff, and during at least one protest Turkish national flags were set alight. Read

Islamic Prayer Returns to Hagia Sophia; Erdogan Says Some Still Haven’t Accepted Muslim Conquest

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday shrugged off the dismay expressed by many Christians over the decision to revert one of the faith’s most important cathedrals into a mosque, saying some people clearly have never accepted the Muslim conquest of Istanbul, the city once known as Constantinople. Read

China Shuts Down US Consulate in Retaliatory Move

Chinese officials entered and took control of the U.S. Consulate in the city of Chengdu early on Monday, 72 hours after ordering its closure in retaliation for the U.S. decision to shut China’s consulate in Houston. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had called the mission in Houston a “hub of spying and intellectual property theft.” Read

Chinese Researchers at US Universities Charged With Lying About PLA Affiliation

Four Chinese nationals face criminal charges for allegedly lying about their links to the People’s Liberation Army when applying for visas to undertake academic research in the U.S., Department of Justice officials said on Thursday. Read

Almost 50 Years After Nixon Went to China, Pompeo Characterizes Engagement as a Failure

Nearly half a century after President Nixon’s historic visit to China paved the way for one of the world’s most significant bilateral relationships, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday characterized engagement with Beijing as a failure, and urged free democracies to work together to “induce” the Chinese Communist Party to end its malign behavior. Read

CCP Paper Suggests Shutting US Mission in Hong Kong a Fitting Response to Houston Consulate Closure

Beijing has vowed to retaliate after the State Department ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, and one Chinese Communist Party paper is hinting that the most appropriate U.S. mission to target in response would be its consulate in Hong Kong. Read

Rep. Tlaib Wields the Gavel as House Votes to Repeal Trump’s Travel Restrictions

With one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress presiding, the U.S. House on Wednesday voted for a measure that would repeal President Trump’s travel proclamations, which critics continue to label the “Muslim ban.” Read

House Defeats Ilhan Omar Amendment to Speed Up Full Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan

An attempt by progressive Democrats led by Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) to remove hurdles that could slow down the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan failed Tuesday, when 103 Democrats joined almost all of the Republicans in defeating her proposed amendment to a defense policy bill. Read

DoJ Indicts ‘State-Sponsored’ Hackers; Accuses China of Acting Like ‘Organized Criminal Syndicate’

Department of Justice officials on Tuesday accused the Chinese Communist Party of sponsoring cyber criminals responsible for years of global hacking operations, with targets including high-tech corporations, political dissidents, and biotech firms working on a coronavirus vaccine. Read

‘Nation’s Largest’ Muslim PAC Embraces Biden, But Activist Sarsour’s Endorsement is Tepid

Thanking a Muslim American PAC for supporting his presidential bid, Joe Biden said Monday he wished U.S. schools taught more about Islam, and pledged to scrap, on his first day in office, what he called President Trump’s “vile Muslim ban.” Read

UN Human Rights Council Extends Nebulous ‘Int'l Solidarity’ Focus; Cost: $448,000 a Year

The U.N. Human Rights Council has extended for three years the work of an “independent expert on human rights and international solidarity,” a vote highlighting again differences between liberal democracies and autocracies in the controversial Geneva-based body. Read

Mary and Jesus Behind a Veil: Hagia Sophia to Cover Christian Images During Muslim Prayer

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday held a photo-op inspection of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, five days before organized Muslim prayer is expected to resound through the renowned edifice for the first time in 85 years. Read

Russia Denies Claims of Coronavirus Research Hacking; Says it’s Close to a Vaccine Itself

Russia is denying allegations of a state-sponsored cyberattack designed to steal Western coronavirus vaccine secrets, calling them an attempt to “tarnish” its own candidate vaccine, which it claims is far advanced. Read

Delivering China Threat Speech, AG Barr Aims for ‘Despicable’ Label From CCP

Attorney General Bill Barr prefaced a major speech on China Thursday by expressing the hope the Chinese Communist Party would judge his effort “despicable,” after a recent speech by FBI Director Christopher Wray reportedly earned the epithet “particularly disgusting” from a top party official. Read

In Belgium, Lawmakers Try to Restore Monument’s Reference to ‘Arab’ Slave Trade

Long before the current targeting of monuments and statues linked to racism and colonialism, one monument in Europe was stoking controversy for a different reason – because it referred to the Arab slave trade in Africa. Read

Pompeo: Let Parents Worry About Kids’ Cell Phone Use; We’ll Worry About Chinese Data Theft

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday his recent comments about TikTok had prompted requests from moms to go ahead and ban the hugely-popular Chinese video-sharing app. Read

Iranian Diplomat Goes on Trial for Foiled Bomb Plot in Europe

A trial beginning in Belgium on Wednesday could lift the lid on Iranian regime terror plotting in Europe, according to an exiled dissident group that has been a major target of the campaign. Read

South China Sea Dispute: China Hints Again About ‘Air Defense Zone’

China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday again hinted at the possibility that Beijing could declare an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over South China Sea, one day after the U.S. government for the first time rejected the legality of most of China’s maritime claims in the strategic waterway. Read

Court Injunction Allowing Abortion Drugs by Mail During Pandemic Dismays Pro-Lifers

Pro-lifers reacted with dismay Monday to a federal judge’s ruling paving the way for a patient to be sent chemical abortion drugs in the mail for as long as the public health emergency declared over the coronavirus pandemic continues. Read

‘Badge of Honor’: Beijing Sanctions Four GOP Critics in Tit-For-Tat Move

A handful of outspoken U.S. lawmakers have long angered the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by leading the condemnation of policies including abusive behavior in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and on Monday Beijing hit back, targeting Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) for sanctions. Read

Statues of the Virgin Mary Targeted in Boston, New York; Church Set Alight in Florida

Boston police are investigating the deliberate setting alight of a statue of the Virgin Mary outside a Roman Catholic church in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood, an incident coming less than two days after a statue of Mary was vandalized in New York City, and after a man tried to set fire to a church in Florida. Read

Erdogan Defends Hagia Sophia Mosque Decision by Counting Number of Churches and Synagogues in Turkey

Turkey’s Islamist president and state news agency at the weekend sought to fend off criticism over a controversial decision to reconvert the fabled Hagia Sophia into a mosque, by contrasting the number of churches and synagogues in Turkey to the number of mosques in Western countries. Read

‘Independent’ Panel Launched to Evaluate How WHO and Member-States Responded to Outbreak

The head of the World Health Organization on Thursday announced an independent panel of inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic, making it clear that it would examine the global response, and not just the actions of the agency he leads. Read

Pompeo Rejects UN Expert’s Finding That Soleimani Killing Was Unlawful

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday rejected as “spurious” the conclusion of a U.N. rights expert that the killing of Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike violated international law, saying the expert simply “gives more cause to distrust U.N. human rights mechanisms.” Read

Biden-Sanders Issue Vague Platform Recommendations on ‘Green Climate Fund’

Recommendations for the Democratic Party platform compiled by Biden-Sanders “unity taskforces” include numerous proposals on “combating the climate crisis,” but they are notably thin on detail when it comes to a major U.N. global warming initiative which President Trump defunded in 2017. Read

Pompeo Unleashes on China, Criticizing ‘Xi Jinping and His Behavior Throughout the Region’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday characterized China as a malign world actor, blaming the “repressive regime” for the spread of the coronavirus, aggressive behavior towards neighboring countries, and human rights abuses at home. Read

Report Before UN Human Rights Council Says Soleimani Strike Violated Int’l Law

The U.N. Human Rights Council will on Thursday consider an expert report which charges that the Trump administration’s killing of Iranian Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike last January violated international law. Read

Trump Starts One-Year Clock for WHO Exit; Biden Vows to Rejoin ‘On My First Day as President’

The White House has given the United Nations its formal notice of withdrawal from the World Health Organization, prompting Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to declare Tuesday that, should he become president, he will rejoin the WHO on his first day in office. Read

Britain Targets Russians for Rights Abuses, Mirroring Actions Taken by US, Canada

Britain on Monday announced its first-ever unilateral sanctions for human rights abuses, freezing assets and denying entry to 47 individuals and two organizations, with Russian nationals linked to the torture and death in custody of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky the first to be listed. Read

WHO Says China Did Not Report Virus Outbreak, But Gave Info Only After WHO Inquired

The Chinese government insisted Monday that it had alerted the world about the novel coronavirus outbreak in a timely manner, shrugging off the World Health Organization’s recent revision of its official timeline, showing that WHO first approached China about reports of a new mystery illness. Read

Dozens of Countries Back China at UN Human Rights Council Over Hong Kong, Uighur Abuses

China’s foreign ministry has thanked dozens of countries for expressing support at the U.N. Human Rights Council for Beijing’s controversial security policies in Hong Kong and Xinjiang province. Read

Mystery Blasts: Iran Confirms Target Was Advanced Uranium-Enrichment Centrifuges

Iran reported another in a series of unexplained explosions at the weekend, as officials confirmed that a previous incident last Thursday had targeted a key facility in the regime’s nuclear program, a center where advanced centrifuges are being developed. Read

New Sanctions Targeting Russia-Germany Gas Pipeline Included in Defense Policy Bill

Bipartisan legislation designed to block completion of a controversial gas pipeline from Russia to Western Europe has been inserted into a new defense policy bill. Read

Religious Freedom Panel to Pompeo: Do Forced Sterilizations of China's Muslims Constitute Genocide?

A statutory religious freedom watchdog asked the State Department Tuesday to determine whether forced sterilizations of minority Muslims in western China meet the legal definition of genocide. Read