National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

Federal government invokes Emergencies Act for first time ever in response to protests –Act grants cabinet ability to take ‘special temporary measures that may not be appropriate in normal times’ | 14 Feb 2022 | Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first in time in Canada’s history to give the federal government extra powers to handle ongoing protests against [insane and totalitarian] pandemic restrictions [and mandates]. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told his caucus he will invoke the never-before-used Emergencies Act to give the federal government extra powers to handle anti-vaccine mandate protests, sources say. Those sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly, said the prime minister informed the premiers of his decision this morning. The act gives special powers to respond to emergency scenarios affecting public welfare (natural disasters, disease outbreaks), public order (civil unrest), international emergencies or war emergencies.

Clinton Campaign Lawyers Paid Tech Company to Infiltrate Trump White House Servers | 12 Feb 2022 | To protect the effort and to ensure it would continue after the Trump White House, AG Barr gave former U.S Attorney John Durham special counsel status… Durham’s efforts have unearthed a plot by Clinton campaign lawyers to infiltrate Trump tower and the servers of the Trump White House to tie the former president to the Russian collusion myth: Lawyers for the Clinton campaign paid a technology company to “infiltrate” servers belonging to Trump Tower, and later the White House, in order to establish an “inference” and “narrative” to bring to government agencies linking Donald Trump to Russia, a filing from Special Counsel John Durham says. Durham filed a motion on Feb. 11 focused on potential conflicts of interest related to the representation of former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman, who has been charged with making a false statement to a federal agent.

Clinton campaign paid tech firm to link Trump to Russia – court filing  | 13 Feb 2022 | Lawyers working for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign paid an IT firm to “infiltrate” servers at Trump Tower and the White House in order to establish a “narrative” that would link Donald Trump to Russia, an explosive new legal filing alleges. The legal motion, filed in a District of Columbia court on Friday by a Justice Department (DOJ) prosecutor investigating the origins of the FBI’s “Russiagate” probe, relates to potential conflicts of interest by former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann. Sussmann has previously pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of lying to federal agents.

Hillary Clinton 2016 tweets pushed now-debunked claim of Trump use of ‘covert server’ linked to Russia –Clinton tweet that it was ‘time for Trump to answer serious questions about his ties to Russia’ | 13 Feb 2022 | Unearthed Hillary Clinton tweets from days before the 2016 presidential election show the candidate pushing now-debunked information that Donald Trump was using a “covert server” linking him to Russia. Just a day after Fox News first reported that Special Counsel John Durham alleged that lawyers from her campaign had paid to “infiltrate” servers belonging to Trump Tower, and later the White House, in order to establish an “inference” and “narrative” to bring to government agencies linking Trump to Russia. Clinton, on Oct. 31, 2016, tweeted: “Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank,” and shared a statement from her campaign’s senior policy advisor Jake Sullivan, who now serves as President [sic] Biden’s White House National Security advisor.

Former DNI Ratcliffe told Durham intelligence supports ‘multiple’ indictments in probe – sources –Hillary Clinton purportedly approved ‘a plan to distract the public from her email scandal,’ sources told Fox News | 14 Feb 2022 | Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe met with Special Counsel John Durham on more than one occasion and told him there was evidence in intelligence to support the indictments of “multiple people” in his investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, sources told Fox News.Fox News first reported on Durham’s latest filing, which alleged that lawyers from Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016 had paid to “infiltrate” servers belonging to Trump Tower and later the White House, in order to establish an “inference” and “narrative” to bring to federal government agencies linking Donald Trump to Russia… Sources told Fox News this week that during his meetings with Durham, Ratcliffe, who served as a congressman and as the former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, said he believed there was “enough evidence” in those materials that he provided to indict “multiple people.”

Newly declassified letter warns CIA has conducted ‘secret’ program that collects ‘bulk’ data on Americans | 11 Feb 2022 | The Central Intelligence Agency has used a “secret” program to collect data on American citizens in “bulk,” according to a letter that was partially declassified on Thursday. Two Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee — Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Martin Heinrich (N.M.) — wrote CIA Director William Burns and National Intelligence Director Avril Haines in April 2021 expressing concern over the apparent unlawful data collection on American citizens. The letter was released on Thursday with significant redactions. The data collection is reportedly connected to counterterrorism intelligence, Bloomberg reported, and the program is being operated under Executive Order 12333 [from 1981]. But according to Wyden and Heinrich, the CIA “has secretly conducted its own bulk program” and “has done so entirely outside the statutory framework that Congress and the public believe govern this collection, and without any of the judicial, congressional or even executive branch oversight that comes with FISA collection.”

Robot photos appear to show melted nuclear fuel at Fukushima reactor –The fuel at Unit One is submerged in highly radioactive water as deep as two metres (6.5 feet). –Details of how the highly radioactive material can be safely removed, stored and disposed of at the end of the cleanup have not been decided. | 11 Feb 2022 | A remote-controlled robot has captured images of what appears to be mounds of nuclear fuel that melted and fell to the bottom of the most damaged reactor at Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, officials said. A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 damaged cooling systems at the power plant, causing the meltdown of three reactor cores. Most of their highly radioactive fuel fell to the bottom of their containment vessels, making its removal extremely difficult. About 900 tonnes of melted nuclear fuel remain inside the plant’s three damaged reactors, including about 280 tonnes in Unit One. 

Police arrest ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters at blocked US-Canadian bridge | 13 Feb 2022 | At least a dozen so-called “Freedom Convoy” protesters were arrested Sunday as officials worked to finally reopen the busy US-Canadian border bridge that’s been shuttered for days over COVID-19 mandates. Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario remained closed Sunday but US and Canadian authorities remained hopeful it would soon reopen to traffic after safety checks. Windsor police began detaining protesters and towing vehicles just after dawn near the Ambassador Bridge, which runs from the Canadian city to Detroit. “We are protesting the government taking away our rights,” said Windsor resident Eunice Lucas-Logan, 67, who has been out demonstrating for four days.

Thousands Pour Into Ottawa Amplifying the Voice of Protest Around the Capital | 13 Feb 2022 | The center of Canada’s capital city was flooded on Feb. 12 by thousands of protesters demanding an end to the country’s COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. Many more joined the ongoing trucker-led protest in Ottawa with the arrival of the weekend. Its numbers grew from the night of Feb. 11 into the next morning, as supporters seemingly poured into the city. Greater masses of people were particularly noticeable on Parliament Hill and then later on the streets, where they spilled out from the immediate vicinity of the truck blockade.

Ottawa Police Chief Worked for Company That Built Vaccine Tracking System for Feds | 9 Feb 2022 | Peter Sloly, the Jamaican-born police chief in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, worked for the multinational consulting firm Deloitte before he took over the Ottawa police force. Deloitte operates the vaccine tracking system for the Canadian federal government and also for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States. Peter Sloly collected years of income from Deloitte, and now he is trying to use the power of government to force the Freedom Truckers out of Ottawa. In 2021, The Globe and Mail reported, “Deloitte to track Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts.” The newspaper later explained “Canada’s last-minute technology solution was purchased, via a private tendering process that began in late November, to help track vaccine shipments, monitor their storage, count the vaccinations and keep tabs on any adverse reactions.

”Tow truck companies refuse to haul away large trucks gridlocking Ottawa | 8 Feb 2022 | All tow truck companies on contract with the city have refused to haul away the big rigs that have gridlocked Ottawa’s downtown for the second week in a row, the city’s manager says. Steve Kanellakos said the consensus among many of the companies seems to be that they don’t want to do the work because the heavy truck industry is such a large part of their livelihoods and they don’t want to damage that part of their businesses. The city has contracts with 10 companies, which are typically used to tow vehicles during parking bans so city plows can remove snow.

New Zealand Police Back Off as Freedom Convoy Protests Build | 11 Feb 2022 | An estimated 1,500 pro-freedom demonstrators continued to rally outside the New Zealand Parliament on Friday in defiance of the police and the government. They gathered in what was described as a carnival atmosphere just 24-hours after some 120 of their number were arrested and removed. After witnessing the shocking footage of how New Zealand’s police handled the protesters, who were initially supported by politicians and allowed onto the lawn outside the Wellington parliament, alongside the mass arrests — including a lady who was dragged naked by her hair across the lawn by the police — the freedom convoy crowd has increased from 200 to 1,500… Deloitte also got the job tracking vaccines for the CDC in the United States in 2021, even though a black woman claimed that Deloitte ripped off her project.

Supreme Court rejects NYC teachers’ religious exemption appeal over vax mandate –Sotomayor did not offer an explanation, which is the court’s usual procedure. | 12 Feb 2022 | The Supreme Court on Friday shot down an appeal from a group of New York City school teachers who sought to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, arguing it violated their religious freedom. Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejected the emergency appeal on Friday, the same day as the deadline for city employees to comply with the mandate or face losing their jobs. Sotomayor did not offer an explanation, which is the court’s usual procedure. The appeal was filed Tuesday by 15 Department of Education workers, who claimed the city was violating their religious freedoms by not accepting their exemption claims.

Federal judge green-lights firing of unvaccinated NYC municipal workers | 11 Feb 2022 | A federal judge on Friday gave New York City the green light to fire as many as 4,000 municipal workers for refusing to get vaccinated [allegedly] against COVID-19 as Mayor Eric Adams said officials would be working over the weekend to determine who gets the ax. During an evening teleconference, Brooklyn federal Judge Diane Gujurati rejected a last-ditch, emergency motion for a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the vaccine mandate imposed last year by former Mayor Bill de Blasio. The decision, shortly before 7 p.m., involved a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday by New Yorkers for Religious Liberty and 13 named plaintiffs, including members of the NYPD, FDNY and various other city agencies, who claim the order discriminates against people who “refuse experimental vaccines that conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs.

California bill would make vaccine mandatory for employment | 12 Feb 2022 | Democratic California officials have introduced a bill which would force businesses to require their employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or face fines and other penalties. California State Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks — a DemocRAT who worked on former President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns — introduced the bill on Thursday alongside fellow Democratic assembly members Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Evan Low, and Akilah Weber. Employers would then have to show proof to the state authorities that the employees complied with the requirement by January 23 or face penalties.

Medical Company CEO Suggests No Public Health Care for Unvaccinated | 11 Feb 2022 | The CEO of a major medical equipment maker said that those who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine should be “automatically considered” to have forfeited the right to obtain COVID-19 treatment in a public hospital. Stefan Drager, the CEO of major German medical manufacturer Drager, told Die Welt that those who reject getting a shot for the coronavirus should not be able to get publicly funded hospital treatment for the disease… “Anyone who refuses vaccination must forgo treatment in the hospital,” he said, reported other German media citing Welt, according to a German-to-English translation. “If he refuses, this is automatically considered a patient decree that if he falls ill with the virus, he will not be treated in hospital at the expense of the general public,” Drager also said in the interview, published Thursday.

Over 600 Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines Given in Clinic Were Stored Improperly – Connecticut Officials | 13 Feb 2022 | Hundreds of individuals who received COVID-19 vaccines at a clinic in New Haven, Connecticut, need to receive another shot, officials said. The reason why, said the New Haven Health Department on Feb. 11, is because vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were improperly refrigerated before they were administered, reported the Hartford Courant. Authorities told local Connecticut media that the mishap impacts upwards of 650 people.

Calif. school mask rules to remain in effect after mandate expires | 14 Feb 2022 | California Health & Human Services Agency Sec. Dr. Mark Ghaly announced Monday that although the indoor mask mandate will be lifted for vaccinated people on Feb. 15, it will remain in effect for schoolchildren. After Feb. 15, unvaccinated people still will be required to be masked indoors, and everyone – vaccinated or not – will have to wear masks in higher-risk areas like public transit and nursing homes and other congregate living facilities, officials said.

U.K Hospital Patient Dies From Confirmed Case of Lassa Fever | 11 Feb 2022 | One patient in Bedfordshire has died from a confirmed case of the Ebola-like virus Lassa fever, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. In a statement on Friday, the agency said the individual died as they confirmed the case of the acute viral illness, which is endemic in parts of West Africa. It comes as the third case of the potentially fatal infectious disease to be confirmed in recent days after the discovery of two cases in the east of England on Wednesday.

Inflation surges 7.5% on an annual basis, even more than expected and highest since 1982 –Core inflation rose at its fastest level since August 1982. | 10 Feb 2022 | Consumer prices surged more than expected over the past 12 months, indicating a worsening outlook for inflation and cementing the likelihood of substantial interest rate hikes this year. The consumer price index for January, which measures the costs of dozens of everyday consumer goods, rose 7.5% compared with a year ago, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That compared with Dow Jones estimates of 7.2% for the closely watched inflation gauge. It was the highest reading since February 1982.  

Bodycam Footage Shows Capitol Police Striking Unconscious Trump Supporter Who Died on Jan. 6 | 11 Feb 2022 | Heavily redacted bodycam videos from the West Terrace tunnel on Jan. 6, 2021, provide a glimpse into conditions at the time Rosanne Boyland lay unconscious–including the sound of her being beaten with a large wooden stick by police. Several bodycam videos obtained by The Epoch Times have much of the screen blurred out by authorities, but key audio and video clues back up witness statements and other videos previously released by the U.S. Department of Justice. A 39-second video clip from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department shows the gloved hand of Officer Lila Morris picking up a long stick that was lying alongside an unconscious Rosanne Boyland, and then striking the prone woman multiple times. The sound of the stick making contact with Boyland’s body is clearly audible.