‘Diverse Perspectives’: Biden, Harris Unveil All-Women Communications Team

The Biden-Harris transition team on Sunday announced its picks for the White House communications team – a group of liberal, Democrat and Obama-era operatives, all of whom are women.  Read

Iran Vows to Avenge Nuclear Scientist’s Killing, Deplored by Bernie Sanders, Ex-CIA Chief Brennan

Iranian generals and regime officials are threatening to avenge the assassination of a top nuclear scientist, blaming Israel for the killing of the man who led Iran’s nuclear weapons program until it was publicly suspended – but then allegedly continued to oversee clandestine work of concern to the international community.  Read

Pompeo Derides ‘Multilateralism for the Sake of Hanging Out With Your Buddies at a Cool Cocktail Party’

Reacting to implied criticism from the diplomat nominated to be the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested on Tuesday that a Biden administration may embrace multilateralism for reasons of international acceptance rather than actually getting things done that are in the United States’ interests.  Read

Kerry Tapped For Climate Czar Post: ‘The Climate Crisis Demands Nothing Less Than All Hands on Deck’

Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who signed the Paris climate accord in 2016 on behalf of the Obama administration, has been named “special presidential envoy for climate” in a Biden administration, a position which for the first time will see a White House National Security Council include an official focused on the subject.  Read

Sen. Cotton: Biden’s Team of ‘Panda Huggers’ Could Undo Progress Made Against Beijing

Responding to Monday’s announcement of nominees for top national security posts in a Biden administration, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) expressed concern that those named may “roll back all of the progress made against Beijing over the past four years.”  Read

Trump Tells GSA, and His Team, to Begin the Transition Process; Vows to ‘Keep Up the Good Fight’

President Trump said on Monday evening that he has instructed his team and the General Services Administration to “do what needs to be done” to begin the transition process – even as he vowed to continue the “good fight.”  Read

WHO Hopes Int’l Team Probing Virus Origin Will Reach Wuhan ‘As Soon As Possible’

Almost a year after a man in Wuhan became the first person known to have symptoms of the as-yet unknown illness later named COVID-19, an international team of experts has been convened, and the World Health Organization hopes it will be deployed in the Chinese outbreak city “as soon as possible.” Read

Iranian Regime in the Crosshairs as ‘Diplomat’ and Three Others Go on Trial Over Paris Bomb Plot

A potentially explosive trial is due to open in Belgium later this week, despite evident attempts by the Iranian regime to prevent revelations of the extent of its terror activities on European soil.  Read

After Russian Breaches, Trump Takes US Out of Open Skies Treaty; Menendez Urges Biden to Rejoin

The United States on Sunday formally withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty after years of alleging Russian violations, prompting a senior Democratic senator to “urge the incoming Biden administration to rejoin.”  Read

After UN ‘Database’ Targets Israeli Settlements, Trump Administration to Blacklist BDS Supporters

 Nine months after the U.N.’s human rights office released a blacklist of private companies doing business in Israeli “settlements” in disputed territory claimed by the Palestinians, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday that the State Department will now start identifying groups supporting the boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) movement, with a view to denying them U.S. federal funding.  Read

Vaccine Pledge: 24 Hours From Approval to Distribution; 24 Hours Later, Injections Begin

Twenty-four hours after the Food and Drug Administration grants authorization for a coronavirus vaccine, distribution to administration facilities across the nation will be underway, according to the four-star U.S. Army general overseeing the mammoth task of delivering the vaccine under the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed.  Read

US Envoy: China Is ‘One of the Worst’ Religious Persecutors in the World, ‘If Not the Worst’

The Chinese government is responsible for “one of the worst religious persecution situations in the world today, if not the worst,” U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said this week, urging the Chinese Communist Party to end its “war on faith.”  Read

4 Years After Obama’s Parting Blow to Israel, Planned Settlement Visit Underlines How Much Has Changed

 Drawing a striking contrast between the Trump administration and its predecessor, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was expected on Thursday to became the first top U.S. diplomat to visit Jewish communities on disputed territory, claimed by the Palestinians and Syria’s Assad regime respectively.  Read

McCarthy Hails ‘Historic Political Upset, Fueled by Conservative Women, Minorities, and Veterans’

 An upbeat House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday the election had delivered a “historic political upset, fueled by conservative women, minorities, and veterans,” projecting that the GOP could end up with more than 210 seats in the House of Representatives.  Read

Trump Fires DHS Cyber Official, Disputing His Evaluation of the 2020 Election

President Trump in a Tuesday evening tweet fired the head of the Department of Homeland Security division responsible for election security, drawing strong criticism from Democrats, and an unapologetic response from the targeted official himself.  Read

Biden on Afghanistan in 2019: ‘We Don’t Need Those Troops There. I Would Bring Them Home’

While campaigning for the White House, Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden declared of the military engagement in Afghanistan, “We don’t need those troops there. I would bring them home.”  Read

Cyprus Worries That Turkey May Try to Annex the Island’s North in 2023

The foreign minister of Cyprus expressed concern on Monday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be planning to mark a significant national anniversary in 2023 by formally annexing the Turkish-occupied northern part of the divided island.  Read

Biden: ‘The Only Reason People Question the Vaccine Now is Because of Donald Trump’

Former Vice President Joe Biden said on Monday he would have a COVID-19 vaccination if a vaccine is approved, and he charged – not for the first time – that the only reason some people would be hesitant to have it was because of President Trump.  Read

Slaying of Wanted Terrorist in Tehran Underscores Long-Held Assertions of Iran-al Qaeda Ties

The Iranian regime rejected reports at the weekend that a senior al-Qaeda fugitive was assassinated in a joint U.S.-Israeli operation in Tehran last August, and it reiterated denials of any link with the terrorist group.  Read

‘Let Us Pray’: French Catholics Deplore Ban on Mass During Second COVID Lockdown

France is halfway through its second national COVID-19 lockdown, amid signs of growing resistance from sectors of society ranging from devout Catholics to bookstore owners.  Read

Election Standoff: Sen. Coons Says He’s Getting ‘Dozens of Calls’ From Foreign Ambassadors

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), whose name is among those being floated as a possible pick for secretary of state in a Biden administration, said Thursday he has received “dozens of calls” from foreign ambassadors puzzled about the situation in Washington, and “simply trying to figure out how to appropriately communicate” with Joe Biden.  Read

Amid Pandemic, WHO Assembly Devotes Four Hours to Condemning Israel

The world may be grappling with a once-in-a-century pandemic, but World Health Organization member-states dedicated four hours of its annual gathering in Geneva on Thursday to discuss and condemn Israel, accusing it of violating the health rights of Palestinians in the disputed territories and Syrians in the Golan Heights.  Read

Focus on ‘Racism, Islamophobia and Hate Crimes’ At Home, Turkey Advises US Ahead of Pompeo Visit

Turkey’s Islamist government has taken issue with the fact that an upcoming visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has a religious freedom focus.  Read

US Scolds WHO Over Sluggish Approach to Investigating Origins of Coronavirus in China

A top U.S. health official took the World Health Organization to task this week for a sluggish and non-transparent approach towards a long-planned mission to China to investigate the origins of the coronavirus that emerged in the city of Wuhan late last year, noting that member-states just days ago had been made aware of the “terms of reference” for the mission.  Read

Pompeo Refers to ‘a Second Trump Administration,’ and Outrage Ensues

Controversy erupted Tuesday after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said – with a smile – that “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”  Read

Number of New Pro-Life Republican Congresswomen Has Climbed to 16--Could Keep Growing

The number of new, pro-life Republican women elected to the House of Representatives has climbed further, and now stands at 16, with the possibility of three more joining the group. Read

At UN, Repressive Regimes Make Recommendations to the US on Improving Its Human Rights Record

Some of the world’s most repressive regimes joined others at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, making recommendations to the United States on how it can improve its human rights record.  Read

China Blasts Trump Administration for Removing Uyghur Separatist Group From Terror List

In what may be one of a series of parting shots over the coming weeks, the Trump administration has lifted the terror designation of a Uyghur separatist group which Beijing cites in justifying its policies in the far-west Xinjiang province, including the mass incarceration of more than a million minority Muslims. Read

CAIR Wants Biden to Dump Trump’s Travel Bans, Obama-Era Visa Curbs, and Bush-Era Terror Database

As the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) looks towards a Biden presidency, its wish list includes the scrapping not only of President Trump’s travel bans, but also of legislation, signed into law by President Obama in 2015, which created the basis for visa restrictions on visitors from seven Muslim-majority “countries of [terrorism] concern.”  Read

Democrat Activists Compiling a Do-Not-Hire Blacklist of People Who Supported or Worked for Trump

In sharp contrast to Joe Biden’s calls for American to “come together as a nation and heal,” some Democratic Party activists are promoting the compilation of a blacklist of people who worked for, funded, campaigned for, were appointed by, or endorsed President Trump.  Read

Biden Has 917-Vote Lead in Georgia; Trump Whittles Away at Biden’s Lead in Arizona

While you were sleeping, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden gained a slight edge in the ongoing Georgia vote-count.  Read

Targeting Illegal Immigration, Macron Wants Europe’s Borders Tightened After Wave of Islamist Terror

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called for a tightening of border controls in Europe following deadly Islamist terror attacks in France and Austria, saying the continent’s 35-year-old Schengen agreement – which allows travel between 26 countries without border controls – needs to be overhauled.  Read

Dueling Exit Polls Paint Contrasting Pictures of Jewish Voters and Their Priorities

Depending on your choice of exit polls focused on the American Jewish vote in 2020, President Trump either just won the largest proportion of the demographic by any Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988 – or the smallest share since George W. Bush in 2000.  Read

Media Organizations Have Biden Edging Towards 270 Electoral Votes

As of around 6 PM eastern on Wednesday, the Associated Press and Fox News have assigned 264 electoral college votes to Joe Biden – just six off the 270 required to win the presidency. They have President Trump on 214 electoral votes.  Read

New Pro-Life Republican Congresswomen in House: 14 and Counting

The number of pro-life Republican women in the House of Representatives will more than double in 2021, in another likely disappointment for Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has yet to see her prediction of an increased Democratic majority materialize.  Read

Trump Says He’ll Go to Supreme Court: ‘As Far as I’m Concerned, We Already Have Won’

President Trump declared early Wednesday that as far as he was concerned he has won a second term, expressing frustration that battleground states where he’s leading have not been called for him. Read

Race Tightens: Biden Says He Believes He’s ‘On Track to Win’; Trump Predicts ‘a Big WIN!’

The race for the presidency remained too close to call early on Wednesday morning, although President Trump’s chances were looking stronger than opinion polls had suggested, with an apparent victory in Florida a major boost to his campaign. Read

Ayatollah: Whoever Wins, ‘Ugly Face’ of America Will Not Change

On the day Americans went to the polls, Iran’s supreme leader in a speech marking the regime’s annual anti-U.S. commemoration declared that it doesn’t matter who wins the presidential election, because the “ugly face” of America will never change.  Read

Mixed Results in Colorado, Louisiana Abortion Ballot Measures

Abortion was on the ballot in Tuesday’s election in two states, Colorado and Louisiana, with mixed results. Read

As Polls Begin to Close, Pelosi Says She’s ‘Prayerful’ About ‘a Day of Hope and … Healing’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told PBS on Tuesday evening she was “prayerful” about Election Day being a day of “hope” and “healing,” predicting that – unlike the “sad occasion” of four years ago – Democrats would take the presidency and the Senate, and increase their majority in the House.  Read

Chinese Warplanes Encroach; Taiwan Says Beijing May Try to Take Advantage of US Election Uncertainty

Chinese warplanes encroached on areas close to Taiwan’s airspace on eight separate occasions on Monday, as the Taiwanese foreign minister warned that Beijing may take advantage of the U.S. election to ramp up pressure on the island nation which it regards as a rebel province. Read

Trump Pledges Support ‘After Yet Another Vile Act of Terrorism in Europe’

President Trump sent a message of support to Europe late on Monday after terrorists opened fire in central Vienna, killing at least three people and injuring at least 17 more, six of them seriously.  Read

Trump to Chanting Supporters: ‘Don’t Make Me Cry’

“Don’t make me cry,” President Trump told supporters in Traverse City, Michigan at his penultimate rally of the 2020 campaign on Monday night, as they chanted, “We love you, we love you!”  Read

Warning of a Looming ‘Coup,’ Leftists Lay Out Plans for DC Disruptions

Girding up for a big week ahead, the leftist direct-action group calling itself Shutdown DC plans to hold an election result-watching gathering on the evening of Election Day at Black Lives Matter Plaza across from the White House – “a good place to respond to whatever might happen.”  Read

Eighteen Years Later, Jerusalem-Born US Citizen is Finally Assigned a Country of Birth

Almost 18 years after first challenging State Department policy, the parents of a young man born in Jerusalem watched on Friday as the American ambassador handed their son a U.S. passport which, for the first time, declared his country of birth to be Israel.  Read