National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

Breaking:Hunter Biden was indicted Thursday on nine charges – including three felonies | 7 Dec 2023 | Hunter Biden was indicted Thursday on nine charges – including three felonies – in part for allegedly dodging over 1 million in taxes while living a hard-partying “extravagant” life over a four-year period. The three felonies leveled against Joe Biden’s 53-year-old son – who faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison if convicted on all counts – include one count tax evasion for his 2018 personal taxes and two counts of filing a false return for his 2018 personal taxes and on a corporate income tax return for his company Owasco, PC. He has also been hit with six misdemeanor counts of failure to pay and failure to file charges for the 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 tax years. “The Defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least 1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019,” Special Counsel David Weiss writes in the 56-page indictment out of the Central District of California. [Read the indictment here.]

UK special forces secretly operated in Ukraine – report –A new book alleges that Western commandos were on the ground in Kiev | 6 Dec 2023 | British special forces operators were embedded with Ukrainian troops in the early days of the conflict, Declassified UK reported on Wednesday, citing the newly published book by Polish journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz. Parafianowicz is the Ukraine correspondent for the Polish daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna (DGP). His latest work, Polska na Wojnie (Poland at War), examines Warsaw’s role in the neighboring conflict. According to Declassified, at one point, a Polish government minister – who is not named – told Parafianowicz about a time in March 2022 when he was traveling from Kiev to Zhitomir. “It was a time when the Russians were still standing in Bucha, and the route was a gray zone. It was possible to run into Russians. We passed the last checkpoint. The Ukrainians told us that we continue at our own risk,” the unnamed minister reportedly said. “Well, and who did we meet next? Ukrainian soldiers and…British special forces. Uniformed. With weapons.” According to Parafianowicz’s source, the British and the Ukrainians worked together, driving around the countryside with artillery tracking radars, “learning about this war.”

Zelensky abruptly cancels U.S. Senate appeal –The meeting descended into partisan squabbling after the Ukrainian leader unexpectedly decided not to appear | 6 Dec 2023 | Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky abruptly canceled a briefing with U.S. senators and White House officials on Tuesday due to a “last-minute” snag, according to a high-ranking Democrat. The sit-down then became heated, as lawmakers shifted their focus to the debate over U.S. border policy and continued aid to Kiev. Zelensky’s team called off the virtual appearance just moments before it was set to go ahead, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, noting that something had come up for the leader without elaborating. Administration officials were expected to offer updates on a massive military aid package for Israel and Ukraine currently under negotiations in Congress, which the White House has repeatedly urged lawmakers to pass.

U.S. Senate blocks Ukraine funding | 6 Dec 2023 | The White House proposal that included over 60 billion in funding for Kiev failed to pass in the Senate on Wednesday, falling short of the 60 votes necessary to proceed. The final vote was 49 in favor and 51 against, with Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who normally votes with the Democrats, joining the Republican opposition. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, also voted “no” so he could bring the bill up again at a later date, according to The Hill. The White House originally requested 105 billion in emergency supplemental “national security” funding in October, choosing to bundle the aid to Ukraine with m-ney for Israel, Taiwan and “border security” in order to appeal to Republicans. The GOP-majority House has insisted on dealing with each issue in a separate appropriations bill – which the Democratic-dominated Senate refused.

U.S. to ‘quadruple’ munitions production – Pentagon chief –Among the reasons for the move is “Ukraine’s high burn rate for artillery,” according to Lloyd Austin | 3 Dec 2023 | Spending on the production of artillery shells by the Pentagon has almost doubled in recent years and will be increased even further, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has said. “Ukraine’s high burn rate for artillery [amid the conflict with Russia] has hammered home the need to invest even more in munitions,” Austin told the participants of the Reagan National Defense Forum at Simi Valley, California on Saturday. This comes as Kiev’s counteroffensive has failed to deliver significant gains despite billions of dollars’ worth of military support from the US and other Western backers. The Pentagon chief said, “Compared to the defense budget from just five years ago, we’re putting nearly 50% more m-ney into munitions.”

U.S. warship attacked – Pentagon | 3 Dec 2023 | An American warship and multiple commercial vessels came under attack in the Red Sea on Sunday, the Pentagon said, in what is being seen as the latest in a series of maritime attacks on regional shipping routes linked to the Israel-Hamas war. In a statement released by the Department of Defense, US officials did not immediately identify the source of Sunday’s attack. Soon after, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said that two ships linked to Israel had been attacked by its forces with a drone and a missile but did not acknowledge targeting a U.S. Navy vessel. “We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said in a statement to the Associated Press.

Israel launches 10,000th airstrike in Gaza, 700 people reported killed in past 24 hours | 3 Dec 2023 | Israel on Sunday unleashed its 10,000th airstrike in Gaza since the war began Oct. 7, with at least 700 Palestinians reportedly killed in the past 24 hours alone as the war heats up again post-cease-fire. The Israel Defense Forces said that since Israel’s ground invasion into northern Gaza began in early October, it has launched 10,000 airstrikes at the Palestinian-controlled area, with the bombardments intensifying over the weekend after Israel and Hamas failed to reach a deal that would have seen all the female hostages kidnapped by the terrorist group freed. Israel said more than 400 targets in northern Gaza have been struck since Friday, with the Hamas-run Ministry of Health stating that at least 700 people have been killed in the renewed bombings, one of the highest daily death tolls recorded since the war began.

Was That John Lennon We Spotted in Times Square? | 6 Dec 2023 | Lenn Johnston, the world’s #1 John Lennon actor-musician, appears in Times Square this week advocating for peace. His Christmas billboard message “WAR IS GONE! – if you halt it” appears high above 43rd and Broadway, giving homage to John Lennon, known for his peace activism. Lennon’s 1970 “WAR IS OVER! – if you want it” billboard campaign in Times Square at 43rd and Broadway was a celebrated Christmastime effort to promote peace. On the afternoon of December 8, on the anniversary of John Lennon’s death, Lenn Johnston revives Lennon’s spirit. Appearing in Strawberry Fields, Central Park, he will sing and spread his message of ending war forever. Lenn engages people with his humour, music, souvenir cards, and knowledgeable steps toward peace.

EU warns of Christmas terror attacks | 5 Dec 2023 | The European Union (EU) faces a “huge risk” of terrorist attacks over the Christmas holiday period in a society increasingly polarized by the Israel-Hamas war, the bloc’s home affairs commissioner has said. The warning, issued by EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, comes days after a German-Filipino tourist was fatally stabbed in Paris. The suspect, a 26-year-old Frenchman who reportedly comes from a non-religious Iranian family, is said to have made reference to the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS [I-CIA-SIS]) group during the attack. Two other people also sustained injuries after being struck with a hammer. “With the war between Israel and Hamas, and the polarization it causes in our society, with the upcoming holiday season, there is a huge risk of terrorist attacks in the European Union,” Johansson told reporters on Tuesday ahead of meeting with EU interior ministers in Brussels.

Ex-DEA informant pleads guilty to role in killing Haitian president | 5 Dec 2023 | Joseph Vincent, a former informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), on Tuesday became the fourth person to plead guilty in a U.S. court for his role in the 2021 assassination of Haiti’s president that left a destabilizing power vacuum. A Haitian-American national, Vincent is among 11 defendants, including Colombian ex-soldiers and businessmen accused of helping supply funds and weapons and carrying out the nighttime attack at President Jovenel Moise’s Port-au-Prince home. Vincent was arrested days after the attack alongside another Haitian-American, James Solages. Both men initially said they were hired by the conspirators as interpreters. At the time of the attack, the gunmen reportedly masqueraded as DEA agents, though the DEA later said neither Vincent nor Solages were acting on behalf of the agency.

CDC issues health alert to U.S. doctors over subtype of monkeypox spreading in Congo that kills one in ten and is more infectious –Alert warned clinicians to test patients traveling from the Congo for the virus | 7 Dec 2023 | Doctors in the US are being told to look out for a more deadly type of monkeypox — amid the worst outbreak ever in the Congo. An alert issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned clinicians to test patients for the virus if they had recently returned from the area and are showing signs of infection. Americans traveling to the area were also advised Wednesday to look out for rashes and take “enhanced precautions” such as avoiding close contact with sick people. The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently in the grips of a major monkeypox, or mpox, outbreak — which is suspected to have sickened nearly 13,000 and caused a suspected 581 deaths. It is being triggered by a more deadly strain of mpox called Clade I, which causes more severe infections and is fatal in one in ten cases. Last year’s outbreak was caused by the more mild Clade II mpox, which is rarely fatal.

NZ government administrator who leaked data showing one-in-four death rate for some COVID jab batches is arrested | 5 Dec 2023 | In recent days, damaging government data was leaked out of New Zealand showing that more than 24 percent of Pfizer’s coronavirus (COVID-19) “vaccine” batches cause death. We have since learned that the government administrator whistleblower who dropped the goods has been arrested. According to reports, the man in question was taken into custody by law enforcement for “accessing computers for deceptive purposes.” The man, 56, helped manage the database where said data was being held. All he did was share that data publicly. The claim is that the man misused the database by disclosing vaccination data that exposes Pfizer’s COVID jabs as death jabs. The New Zealand government is also charging the man with “spreading misinformation about COVID-19.”

Statistician arrested after deep dive into deaths after ‘specific Covid vaccine batches’ –A former employee of New Zealand’s public health agency is on trial for leaking information on coronavirus vaccinations. | 4 Dec 2023 | A statistician has been arrested in New Zealand for allegedly leaking health data connected to the rollout of the coronavirus vaccination. Barry Young, a former employee of New Zealand’s government health agency Te Whatu Ora, is accused of “unauthorised disclosure and misuse of data.” The 56-year-old is alleged to have uploaded the leaked information online claiming to have uncovered ties between specific coronavirus vaccine batches and high mortality rates… Mr Young appeared in Wellington District Court on Monday, December 4. He faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison if found guilty.

Texas AG Paxton says Pfizer might have lied about efficacy of COVID vaccine, could be 1% effective | 6 Dec 2023 | GOP Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says that he believes that pharmaceutical company Pfizer may have lied about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine and the effectiveness could be as low as one percent. “In this case, we’re pretty sure they were lying about the efficacy and the effectiveness of this drug, saying that this…vaccine was 95% effective, when in reality, it may have been less than one percent effective,” Paxton said on the Wednesday edition of the Just the News, No Noise TV show. Last month, Paxton announced a lawsuit against Pfizer, claiming that the company misrepresented the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine to its consumers. “Pfizer did not tell the truth about their COVID-19 vaccines. Whereas the Biden Administration weaponized the pandemic to force illegal public health decrees on the public and enrich pharmaceutical companies, I will use every tool I have to protect our citizens who were misled and harmed by Pfizer’s actions,” a press release from Paxton’s office reads.

Nevada grand jury brings indictments against alternate electors in 2020 election | 6 Dec 2023 | A grand jury convened by Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has brought felony indictments against six individuals who served as alternate electors after the 2020 election as the Trump campaign worked to secure recounts to verify the results of the election. Chairman of the Nevada Republican Party Michael McDonald, vice chair Jesse Law, GOP chairman for Clark County Jim Hindle III, Jim DeGraffenreid, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice have all been indicted on felony charges. The six were charged with the Category C felony of offering a false instrument for filing and the Category D felony of uttering a forged instrument. The first charge would carry a sentence of five years in prison plus a fine of 10,000. The second felony would carry a sentence of four years and a fine of 5,000. Michigan and Georgia have also brought charges against those who served as alternate electors as the recounts and lawsuits made their way through the courts.

‘George Orwell, call your office’: State outsourced censorship of conservative media, suit says –By funding and promoting private disinformation cops who targeted advertising revenue, State Department violated First Amendment, Administrative Procedure Act and its own statutory limits, publishers say. | 6 Dec 2023 | The State Department is indirectly regulating the American media, a “scheme [that] is unprecedented in history,” by funding, promoting “and/or” marketing private organizations that seek to starve conservative publishers of advertising revenue, according to a wide-ranging lawsuit filed Tuesday. The Daily Wire and The Federalist allege the department, its Global Engagement Center and officials including Secretary Antony Blinken have violated First Amendment speech and press freedoms, far exceeded their statutory authority and ignored regulatory procedure through their efforts with the Global Disinformation Index and NewsGuard “[a]t a minimum.” “State Department disinformation tools were developed […] as tools of warfare – information warfare – to shape the perceptions and opinions of others,” limited by statute to “foreign affairs,” the suit reads. Those tools have been “misappropriated and misdirected to be used at home against domestic political opponents and members of the American press with viewpoints conflicting with federal officials,” the plaintiffs allege.

The State of Texas, Media Outlets Sue U.S. State Dept. for Conspiring With NewsGuard to Censor American Media Companies | 6 Dec 2023 | Following bombshell censorship revelations exposed over the last year, beginning with the Twitter Files, the state of Texas, The Daily Wire, and The Federalist have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department on Tuesday, alleging that the government agency funded censorship technology designed to bankrupt domestic media outlets which have disfavored political opinions. According to the Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak: “The State Department is tasked with foreign relations and has no authority over domestic affairs, yet it took a government office designed for countering foreign terrorist propaganda, the Global Engagement Center (GEC), and unleashed it against Americans engaged in what it claimed was ‘disinformation,’ according to the lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday night by the New Civil Liberties Alliance. It was ‘one of the most audacious, manipulative, secretive, and gravest abuses of power and infringements of First Amendment rights by the federal government in American history,’ said the suit, which also names Secretary of State Antony Blinken and five other officials as defendants.”

House Passes Bill That States ‘Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism’ | 5 Dec 2023 | The House on Tuesday passed a resolution that says “anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” the chamber’s latest piece of legislation conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. The resolution, which is presented as a resolution condemning antisemitism, passed in a vote of 314-14-92. Only thirteen Democrats and one Republican voted against the legislation, while 92 Democrats voted “present” in protest of a line buried in the bill that explicitly claims anti-Zionism is antisemitism. The Republican-drafted resolution declares that the House of Representatives “clearly and firmly states that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”

IRS whistleblower confirms Hunter Biden received nearly $5 million from donor for personal expenses –Joseph Ziegler also shared an example of how Hunter’s foreign business activity with Burisma could be linked to his father. | 5 Dec 2023 | Internal Revenue Service agent Joseph Ziegler told the House Ways and Means Committee in closed-door testimony Tuesday that Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, received almost 5 million in loans from a donor for personal expenses. “Hunter appeared to follow a pattern of attempting to avoid paying taxes on relevant income. This first started with Hunter not reporting the Burisma income in 2014 and allegedly falsely claiming that it was a loan to him,” Ziegler said in his testimony…

ICE arrests Romanian fugitive convicted of murder, released from custody after crossing southern border | 6 Dec 2023 | Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last week arrested a Romanian fugitive who was released from custody in 2017, despite multiple criminal convictions in the U.S. and Europe, including murder. Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston arrested the foreign fugitive last Friday in Watertown, Massachusetts, about 10 miles outside of Boston. His identity was not released. ICE said the man entered the U.S. near Hidalgo, Texas, in July 2017. Border officials at the time apprehended him and placed him in removal proceedings before he was released on his own recognizance. Since then, he’s also been convicted of theft and armed robbery in the U.S. He also has multiple felony convictions in Europe, including bodily harm, aggravated theft, financial fraud, and even murder, for which he served prison time in Romania.

UNLV mass shooter mailed ‘white powder’ to 22 university scholars before rampage, carried list of targets | 7 Dec 2023 | The scorned professor who [allegedly] slaughtered three University of Las Vegas faculty members also sent 22 letters containing laced white powder to collegiate scholars across the country before Wednesday’s shooting rampage, police said. Anthony Polito, 67, surreptitiously dropped off the envelopes at a nearby post office without bearing a return address before he headed to the UNLV campus and unleashed a deadly shooting after he was turned down for a job. “I learned that in the screening of those envelopes that we were able to intercept – after going through 14,000 pieces of mail and identifying the 22 that were sent – the first letter that we opened had an unknown white powder substance in it,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a Thursday press conference.