"A member of the Royal Saudi Air Force opened fire with a handgun early Friday in a classroom building at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., where he was training to become a pilot, killing three people in what some elected officials called an act of terrorism...The gunman, a Saudi national identified by a United States military official as Second Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, was killed by a sheriff’s deputy." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/us/nas-pensacola-shooting.html
"Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, called on Thursday for a Western-Arab alliance headed by the US against Iran, in order to curb its missile development and “aggression”...This call came following a letter sent by France, Germany and the UK to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, warning that “Iran’s developments of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles” violates a UN Security Council resolution endorsing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal." https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191207-israeli-minister-calls-for-western-arab-alliance-against-iran/
"The Trump administration has made it clear that it prefers Netanyahu over his primary rival Benny Gantz. Ganz on his part has made it clear he opposes the deal being negotiated...Netanyahu noted that Ganz and his party were opposed to the deal but said:“We will do it with full cooperation with the IDF and security forces and ensure total freedom of action for the US and the IDF.” Relevant officials in Israel and the US have reviewed a draft of the agreement, which was originally proposed by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America...Netanyahu is actually claiming that the deal shows he needs to stay in power because of his unique ties to the US. Details of the pact have not been released beyond the fact that it will commit the US to war to defend Israel." http://m.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/netanyahu-and-pompeo-push-ahead-with-us-israel-defense-pact/article/563107
"Turkey appointed governors for both towns for coordination purposes, Abdullah Erin, the governor of Turkey’s southeastern Şanlıurfa province, said on Thursday, after visiting both towns and meeting Turkish military and intelligence officials as well as the commanders of pro-Turkey Syrian militia groups...Ankara plans to establish a 32 km deep safe zone along a 120 km stretch of the Turkish-Syrian border between Ras al Ayn and Tel Abyad, after the withdrawal of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the region as a result of a Turkish-Russian deal agreed in October to halt the Turkish offensive...Turkish armed forces will start training some 1,800 Syrian men within a week, with more to follow later to bring the total number to about 4,000, to be appointed as rural and urban police officers in the two towns, according to Erin." https://ahvalnews.com/syria/turkey-appoints-governors-recently-invaded-northern-syrian-towns-rudaw
"Back in March, Anthony Comello allegedly killed reputed Gambino crime boss Francesco Cali, effectively pulling off one of the highest-profile mob killings in decades...Comello was apparently obsessed with conspiracy theories, telling his lawyer that he murdered Cali outside his Staten Island home based on the belief that the mob boss was part of “the deep state,” an underground anti-Trump liberal operation...Now, the New York Times reported, Comello’s lawyer, Robert C. Gottlieb, is in the process of mounting an insanity defense hinging on Comello’s delusional faith in far-right conspiracy theories...The argument poses an interesting question, one that is in many ways a unique product of the conspiracy theory renaissance that’s erupted in the social media era: At what point does belief in conspiracy theories constitute legal insanity?" https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/news-opinion/when-does-belief-in-conspiracy-theories-become-legal-insanity
"From the perspective of the global capitalist class, Obrador is indeed a much bigger threat than Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro's agenda of neoliberal hyper-capitalism made plutocrats around the world celebrate his election, while the presence of the anti-neoliberal Obrador has rattledmarkets. In March, Obrador declared that "The neoliberal model and its economic policy of pillage and handouts are abolished" in Mexico, starting on a 2019-through-2024 plan to undo the country's privatization and redistribute wealth. Since Obrador has given Asylum to Evo Morales and said that Morales is the victim of a coup, the U.S. has gained further interest in advancing regime change in Mexico." https://www.opednews.com/articles/U-S-Regime-Change-Operati-by-Rainer-Shea-Mexico_Regime-Change-191206-298.html
"The amount of active Dash wallets on Android devices in Venezuela has been exploding in 2019. This is clearly in response to the current economic crisis affecting the nation, with Dash being an attractive alternative to the Venezuelan Bolivar, the Petro, or even Bitcoin...This trend was first brought up by Twitter user Mark Mason (@StayDashy), who wanted to be clear that this statistic refers to active wallets – used at least once in the last 30 days – not just total downloads. This is an important distinction because it implies people are actually using Dash, not just curious about it." https://beincrypto.com/dash-taking-over-in-venezuela-as-active-android-wallet-use-rises-400-in-7-months/
"Bolivia’s interim government wants Israel to help local authorities fight “terrorism” in the South American country, the interior minister told Reuters on Friday, alleging plots by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other leftists to destabilize regional governments." https://www.reuters.com/article/
"“Hezbollah in the minds of our people is a resistance that has liberated the land, represents the people in a right way, serves their interests and serve their future as well.”...“We consider that the US is leading the terror in the world. If they (US) designate us as terrorists this doesn’t mean that they are right,” Sheikh Qassem said." http://english.almanar.com.lb/884556
OldieButtGoodie"YouTube has changed its secretive search algorithms in response to the spread of conspiracy theory videos about the mass shooting in Las Vegas...The home-video behemoth came under fire in the wake of the shooting, when several unsubstantiated claims made their way into the top new results about the massacre. Videos such as "Proof Las Vegas Shooting Was a FALSE FLAG attack—Shooter on 4th Floor" made it into the “Top News” section on Tuesday, just two days after the shooting occured, according to the Wall St Journal." https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/youtube-las-vegas-shooting-second-shooter-false-flag-conspiracy-theories-search-results-change-a7987236.html
OldieButtGoodie "Anti-vaxxers have been banned from raising money on GoFundMe in an attempt to stop the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation...GoFundMe spokesman Bobby Whithorne said: “Campaigns raising money to promote misinformation about vaccines violate GoFundMe’s terms of service and will be removed from the platform." https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/antivax-gofundme-ban-donation-crowdfunding-vaccines-conspiracy-a8870716.html
"Sir Richard wrote in the Mail on Sunday that the Labour leader would pose a "present danger to our country" if he became PM...But a Labour source told the Mirror: "As head of MI6 was involved in the infamous dodgy dossier that helped take us into the illegal Iraq War..."He has no credibility whatsoever on the subject of security." https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/labour-slam-ex-mi6-chief-20949600
"Getting its world premiere at documentary festival IDFA in Amsterdam, Tonje Hessen Schei’s gripping AI doc “iHuman” drew an audience of more than 700 to a 10 a.m. Sunday screening at the incongruously old-school Pathé Tuschinski cinema. Many had their curiosity piqued by the film’s timely subject matter—the erosion of privacy in the age of new media, and the terrifying leaps being made in the field of machine intelligence—but it’s fair to say that quite a few were drawn by the promise of a Skype Q&A with National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, who made headlines in 2013 by leaking confidential U.S. intelligence to the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper." https://variety.com/2019/digital/festivals/idfa-edward-snowden-1203416674/
"The authors state that Comey was guilty of having done "nothing to warn the American public of the FBI’s deep concerns regarding possible illicit dealings between the government of the Russian Federation and the campaign of the Republican nominee for president of the United States,” adding: “In fact, the FBI went out of its way to do the opposite.”...Simpson and Fritsch conclude: “It really did feel like a conspiracy, with a hidden hand guiding Trump into the presidency.”" https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ex-spy-christopher-steele-accused-comey-of-treasonous-intervention-in-2016-election
"Scotland Yard says it is helping the FBI investigate sex-trafficking allegations against Prince Andrew's paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein and his network of associates...For the first time, the Met Police has admitted the force has 'liaised' with US law enforcement probing Epstein's alleged trafficking of women around the world in order to be abused...One of the specific allegations levelled at the billionaire financier is that he arranged for a 17-year-old Virginia Roberts - now known as Giuffre - to be taken to London in 2001, where she had sex with Prince Andrew." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7737351/Scotland-Yard-helping-FBI-probe-Prince-Andrews-paedophile-friend-Jeffrey-Epstein.html
"Keeley, widely reported to be a British soldier who infiltrated the IRA using the pseudonym Kevin Fulton, referred to the hijacking in his book 'Unsung Hero'...He claimed the heist was organised to help him gain credibility within the paramilitary organisation...In court today counsel for Mr Quinn, Stephen Toal, indicated a dispute over Keeley's status as an agent when the hijacking was carried out...He revealed an intention to seek an affidavit from the ex-spy about whether he is prepared to stand over the contents of his memoirs." https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/british-spy-in-ira-asked-to-testify-about-role-in-lorry-hijacking-38745608.html
"A group of elite Russian military intelligence officers, including some of those who planned the poisoning of a defector in Britain, have been operating out of picturesque villages in the French Alps, Western intelligence officials tell NBC News...Confirming a report in France's Le Monde dailythat could have been ripped from the pages of a John le Carré spy novel, the officials said European and American intelligence agencies had been tracking up to 15 members of the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU who had lived for a time in France. Le Monde published what it said were the names of the officers, some of which had already been published by Bellingcat, an open source investigative group." https://www.nbcnews.com/news/vladimir-putin/russian-agents-planned-hits-assassins-lairs-french-alps-say-intel-n1096576
"Canada's foreign signals intelligence agency is on the lookout for threats to Britain's election as the country heads into the final week of campaigning...Communications Security Establishment spokesperson Evan Koronewski said the agency regularly shares information with its international allies "that has a significant impact on protecting our respective countries' safety and security."..."Regarding assistance to the U.K. election, CSE has a strong and valuable relationship with its Five Eyes alliance partners, including our intelligence and cyber defence counterparts in the United Kingdom," said Koronewski in an email to CBC. The Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance includes Canada, the U.K., the U.S., New Zealand and Australia..."While we can't offer specific details on the intelligence shared, we can tell you that threat information to help defend against cyber threats directed at democratic processes is regularly shared and acted upon."" https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cse-uk-election-1.5385818?cmp=rss
"On December 30, 2009, al-Qaida scored perhaps its greatest success ever against the Central Intelligence Agency and its Jordanian partner service. A triple agent blew himself up at Forward Operating Base Chapman — a U.S. military base in Khost, Afghanistan — killing seven CIA officers and one Jordanian officer. It was the second-worst day in terms of casualties in the agency’s history, exceeded only by the attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut in 1983. There is still unfinished business from Khost." https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/12/06/the-remarkable-case-of-the-triple-agent-and-the-bombing-in-khost-afghanistan/
"Hans-Georg Maassen, who headed the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic secret service, from 2012 to 2018, has published an article in the right-wing Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche that can only be described as a fascist manifesto. Die Weltwoche is the unofficial house organ of the right-wing populist and anti-immigrant Swiss People’s Party. Roger Köppel, who has headed the newspaper since 2001, is a deputy in the Swiss parliament for the People’s Party...In a piece entitled “Germany needs a change of course,” Maassen warns that “Germany’s future and the stability of our democracy” is under threat from “socialism.” Thirty years ago, the West German elites “underestimated the dangers of socialist ideology,” he writes. “In the euphoria of unification, they assumed that socialism was defeated and the opponent was giving up their weapons. It was, in my view, a naive opinion for which there was no justification.”...Maassen justifies his warning with a list of ten points which sound as though they had been lifted directly from the programme of the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD)." https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/07/maas-d07.html
"Simon Cornwall, who set up the probation service’s central extremism unit, said that as a result of “a dumbing down of how things are done”, the current approach was missing the safeguarding and human relationships required to modify behaviour and reduce risk...His intervention follows the attack at London Bridge by convicted terrorist Usman Khan, who was out on licence from prison when he killed Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, and injured three others during a meeting of the Cambridge University rehabilitation initiative Learning Together on 29 November." https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/07/london-bridge-attack-follows-changes-to-management-of-freed-terrorists-says-expert
"Federal workers in the US seem set to be given 12 weeks of paid parental leave – in return for Donald Trump being given his cherished space force...The agreement is not finalized and comes after extensive behind-the-scenes battling on the annual defense measure...The potential deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/07/donald-trump-space-force-deal-federal-workers-paid-parental-leave
"One of the leading co-sponsors of an amendment to the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would end US support for Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen appears to be withdrawing his support...Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) spoke at an American Enterprise Institute event on Thursday. When Smith took a question about his efforts to end US support for the war, he said, "There is nothing we are going to pass in Congress that’s going to stop the war in Yemen." Smith said Iran’s involvement in the war cannot be ignored and that he does not want to "cut off Saudi Arabia’s and UAE’s ability to deal with Iran."" https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2019/12/06/rep-adam-smith-backtracks-on-support-for-ndaa-amendment-to-end-war-in-yemen/
"BPA is used in many plastic products, including food and drink containers, and animal studies have shown that it can interfere with hormones. Exposure to BPA in the womb has been linked to growth, metabolism, behavior and fertility problems, as well an increased risk of cancer...The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, contends human exposure to BPA is at very low, and therefore, safe levels...The new method developed by researchers and outlined in their study suggests that the measurements used by the FDA and other regulatory agencies underestimate BPA exposure by as much as 44 times." https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/12/06/BPA-levels-in-humans-higher-than-previously-thought-study-suggests/6751575662179/
"The current hearing will examine allegations that US troops and intelligence operatives tortured, raped and abused Afghan prisoners between 2003 and 2004. In December 2014 the US Senate released a 480-page summary of a previously classified 6,000-page report detailing how dozens of innocent individuals were wrongfully detained by the military and CIA due to mistaken identity and faulty intelligence, how these and other detainees were subjected to horrific and even deadly torture and abuse, and how the brutality and scope of the program were hidden from the Justice Department and even high-ranking members of the Bush administration, including President George W. Bush...By 2006, at least 100 prisoners had died in US custody in Afghanistan and Iraq, most of them violently, according to government data. The most well-publicized detainee death happened at the notorious “Salt Pit,” a CIA black site, or secret prison, in Afghanistan, where Gul Rahman died of hypothermia after being severely beaten, stripped naked and chained to a wall in near-freezing temperatures. Abuse of prisoners, who were often kidnapped from third countries in a practice known as extraordinary rendition, was rampant at black sites around the world, including Detention Center Green in Thailand, which current CIA Director Gina Haspel ran in late 2002." https://original.antiwar.com/Brett_Wilkins/2019/12/05/icc-holds-hearing-on-afghanistan-war-crimes-including-us-torture/
"Samoan authorities have arrested a prominent anti-vaccination activist amid an outbreak that has killed at least 63 people, most of them children...Edwin Tamasese has been charged with "incitement against a government order," according to the BBC." https://www.npr.org/2019/12/06/785487606/samoa-arrests-anti-vaccination-activist-as-measles-death-toll-rises
"It’s a headline that should, by all appearances, be considered “good news.” But somehow the November 18 declaration, “VA announces plans to study military toxic exposures, connections to veteran illnesses,” just comes off as an Onion-esque parody...That’s because the Veterans Affairs Department has been vowing to “study” the effects of the ubiquitous “burn pits” on soldiers for more than a decade—so has the Pentagon. In fact, there have been tons of studies already, big and small, in both the public and private sectors. But like everything in Washington, launching one more study or task force allows the bureaucracy to stall real action—in this case, practical help for thousands of men and women who say they’re suffering from war-related illnesses." https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2019/12/04/the-burn-pit-is-the-new-agent-orange-of-our-era/
"The most recent news on this front is that BMW Group joined the “Getting to Zero Coalition” ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid, Spain. The objective is decarbonization of international maritime shipping. Driving zero emissions is one thing, but buying from a company that offsets carbon emissions in the production and transport of its EVs is also essential for the actual transition towards successful planetary sustainably." https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/06/bmw-group-joins-getting-to-zero-coalition-1st-carmaker-to-do-so/
"The U.S. military believes that an unarmed American drone reported lost near Libya’s capital last month was in fact shot down by Russian air defenses and it is demanding the return of the aircraft’s wreckage, U.S. Africa Command says..."Such a shootdown would underscore Moscow’s increasingly muscular role in the energy-rich nation, where Russian mercenaries are reportedly intervening on behalf of east Libya-based commander Khalifa Haftar in Libya’s civil war." https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/russians-downed-american-drone-near-libyan-capital-u-s-defense-officials-believe-1.8229678
"Iran is crying foul after Israeli's Defense Ministry confirmed a major test of a mystery new "rocket propulsion system" on Friday morning...“The defense establishment conducted a launch test a few minutes ago of a rocket propulsion system from a base in the center of the country,” the ministry said. “The test was scheduled in advance and was carried out as planned.”...Giving no further details, international reports were rife with speculation over the nature of the rocket, with many saying it was a nuclear-capable ballistic missile. This was enough for Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to go off, saying in a statement posted to Titter: “Israel today tested a nuke-missile, aimed at Iran.”" https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israel-conducted-nuclear-missile-test-aimed-iran-iran-fm-charges
"Last month we showed that as Trade Wars began in April, the world’s central banks and other official institutions dumped more Treasuries than in any month since January 2016, some $48.3BN, perhaps over concerns of others selling first, and precipitating a sharp move higher in yields...Fast forward one month later to May, when according to the latest just released Treasury International Capital (TIC) update, in May the selling of Treasurys by official entities continued, with another $24BN sold in the month of May, when yields continued to rise and eventually hit the 2018 highs of 3.11%." https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/russia-has-dumped-its-entire-us-bonds-portfolio-100-billion-two-months/ri24213?fbclid=IwAR22XCOst9hrv5C6weucmNMYrVDM6RhKuV7NBpXZqv0MNMsv9LWvzkjpp28
The Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday." https://news.yahoo.com/saudi-student-opens-fire-florida-145638361.html
"Al Qaeda actually translates as "the base" but it is not known whether Norman's Spear's took inspiration from the Islamic fundamentalists when he chose the name for his extremist group...As yet, they haven't committed any recorded terrorist attacks, but federal authorities accused one member Richard Tobin of organizing the vandalism of two synagogues earlier this year...He allegedly recruited vandals via The Base using the network as a way to organize the attacks in Michigan and Wisconsin." https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10490779/neo-nazi-social-network-the-base-paramilitary-training/
"President Trump said Friday that he would temporarily hold off on designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, saying he was doing so at the request of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador...“All necessary work has been completed to declare Mexican Cartels terrorist organizations,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “Statutorily we are ready to do so.”...However, at the request of Mr. López Obrador, “a man who I like and respect, and has worked so well with us,” Mr. Trump wrote, he was temporarily holding off on the designation and stepping up “joint efforts to deal decisively with these vicious and ever-growing organizations!”" https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/us/trump-drug-cartels-terrorists.html?emc=rss&partner=rss
"Syria paying the biggest price will refuse to cooperate with the newly formed OPCW team which did not get proper approval from member states of the international organization itself, the Syrian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Faisal al-Mekdad told Kamal Khalaf of Al-Mayadeen in this interview." https://www.syrianews.cc/syria-will-not-cooperate-with-the-opcw-new-investigation-team/
