Germany on Track to Miss Climate Goals Despite $500 Billion Plus Green Spending Spree

Germany is on track to fall short of its ambitious long-term climate change goals despite its plans to have spent more than $500 billion to reach them, according to Reuters.

The German government is primed to miss its targets of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030 and reaching net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, according to Reuters. The German government will have spent by 2025 the equivalent of at least $580 billion toward achieving the goals that it is now forecasted to miss, according to Bloomberg.

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Feds Urged Biden to Give Aid to Ukraine Before He Held Back to Force Burisma Prosecutor’s Firing

Just weeks before then-Vice President Joe Biden took the opposite action in late 2015, a task force of State, Treasury, and Justice Department officials declared that Ukraine had made adequate progress on anti-corruption reforms and deserved a new $1 billion U.S. loan guarantee, according to government memos that conflict with the narrative Democrats have sustained since the 2019 impeachment scandal.

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Biden Admin Quietly ‘Disposing’ of Trump Border Wall Materials to Be Auctioned Off

For months, the Biden administration has been “disposing” of portions of the Trump border wall to be auctioned off, a local official at the southern border and the Department of Defense (DOD) told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The auction house GovPlanet has been selling off the “thick wall tubes” and other wall materials since April, according to listings on its website, and has already sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of wall materials. The Pentagon confirmed that the Biden administration is “disposing” of portions of the border wall construction materials in a statement to the DCNF.

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New GOP Group Launches Campaign to Encourage Continued Support for Ukraine

Republicans launched an organization Tuesday to advocate for continued financial support of Ukraine in the war against Russian aggression, according to a press release.

GOP Strategist Sarah Longwell and commentator Bill Kristol will head Republicans for Ukraine, which unveiled its $2 million campaign to encourage party voters and politicians to stand with the nation, according to the press release. The organization will run digital ads of Republican voters’ testimony about why they believe the party should continue providing aid to Ukraine on cable, television and YouTube throughout the remainder of 2023.

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Biden’s Border Crisis Is Helping Fuel a Surge in Mexico’s Economy, New Data Shows

The border crisis under President Joe Biden has fueled Mexico’s economy through an increase in Mexican migrants in the U.S. sending money back home, according to multiple reports.

Remittances, the money sent by Mexicans working abroad sent back home, increased from $33.5 billion in 2018 to $60 billion in 2023 after a record number of migrants crossed the southern border, according to The Associated Press. From 2018 to 2022, Mexico’s poverty rate declined from 49.9% of the population to 43.5%, declining by 5.7 million, according to a study conducted by Coneval, an autonomous organization coordinated by the Secretariat of Welfare in Mexico.

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Commentary: NATO Without Limits Would Lead to Endless Wars

Jessica Berlin, a policy analyst writing in the Center for European Policy Analysis’ online journal, has proposed a NATO without limits–an expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to all democratic nations. “The 21st-century threat landscape,” she contends, “calls for a global alliance capable of mutual defense.” “NATO must open its doors,” she writes, “to new members beyond Europe and North America.” Her proposal is breathtaking in scope: an attack on any democracy is an attack on all democracies. It is a recipe for endless wars on all continents and a reckless extension of America’s nuclear guarantee to all the world’s democracies. It turns John Quincy Adams’ prudent counsel on its head: America goes abroad in search of monsters to destroy and is the champion and vindicator of the freedom and independence of all democracies.

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Biden Wants Another $24 Billion for Ukraine, Just $4 Billion for the Border

The White House on Thursday outlined a $40.1 billion funding request in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that includes $24 billion for Ukraine-related expenses but just $4 billion to bolster security at the southern border.

Specifically, the White House wants $13.1 billion for the Pentagon to send military aid directly to Kyiv and replenish its own stocks. It further seeks $8.5 billion for the State Department to provide humanitarian and economic support. Lastly, it seeks $2.3 billion for the Treasury to provide financial programs for the country in place of Chinese or other adversarial sources.

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Commentary: The Emerging ‘Cold Tech War’ Between the U.S and China

The Sino-U.S. “cold tech war” is reaching new heights—or rather depths—as tensions are building under the sea. First it was semiconductors. Now it’s submarine cables.

Undersea cables, unseen and often ignored, are essential to daily life and critical to U.S. national security. Over 97 percent of global data traffic travels through a network of cables that sit atop the seabed of the world’s oceans. Those same cables transmit upwards of $10 trillion in financial transactions every day and are a central component of the American military’s network-centric warfare operations.

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Biden Admin Secretly Encouraged Overthrow of Leader Who Wasn’t Pro-Ukraine Enough, Leaked Cable Reveals

President Joe Biden’s administration’s diplomats encouraged Pakistani political leaders to remove former Prime Minister Imran Khan from office after he hesitated to criticize Russia for its war against Ukraine, according to a new report on Wednesday.

Imran Khan was removed from office in April 2022 after a controversial vote of no-confidence by the Pakistani National Assembly. On March 7, 2022, officials from the Department of State met with Pakistan’s then-Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan and encouraged Imran Khan’s removal from office after he visited Russia shortly after it began hostilities in Ukraine, according to a diplomatic cable that was published by The Intercept.

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U.S. Authorities on Alert After Discovering New Chinese Migrant Smuggling Route in Florida

by Jennie Taer   Federal authorities are growing increasingly concerned about a route Chinese migrants are utilizing to make their way to Florida illegally, according to an internal federal intelligence report obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The report states that law enforcement lacks information regarding who is coordinating…

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Coyotes: The Lynchpin to Human Smuggling Operations and Purveyors of Misery

by Bethany Blankley   A coyote, a colloquialism for a human smuggler, is critical to Mexican cartel human smuggling operations. Combined, they cover thousands of miles primarily guiding foreign nationals first through Central America into Mexico, then through Mexico and into the U.S. They also operate along the U.S.-Canada border.…

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Judge Orders Catherine Herridge to Reveal Sources for Stories on FBI, Chinese American Scientist

A federal judge ordered CBS News senior correspondent Catherine Herridge to reveal her sources for a series of stories about the FBI’s investigation of a Chinese American scientist back when she worked for Fox News.

The order last week from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington D.C. comes after scientist Yanping Chen filed a lawsuit against the FBI, claiming that the agency violated the privacy act by improperly leaking information about her.

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Commentary: A Second Trump Term Can Walk Us Back from the Brink of War

Voters should remember that a President’s role is primarily foreign affairs, which includes trade and border security. In 2016, and today, President Trump is the only candidate that has consistently focused on what the actual job of the president is, rather than what those with outsized influence want it to be.

President Trump is the first president to start no new wars since Jimmy Carter. Like Carter, he also affected a Middle East peace deal with Israel – not just one of them, but four. Arguably the first realist president since Richard Nixon, Trump’s combination of unpredictability enforced by blunt and brutal talk, credible military deterrence reinforced through a more robust military that was less used and overstretched, and a genuine and authentic desire to be a peace-maker created a moment in time for cooperation and peace through strength. Unfortunately, under Biden, the promise of peace has become a Shakespearean tragedy when considering our present dilemma in Europe and East Asia.

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Another National Sports Body Bans Men from Competing in Women’s Division

British Rowing announced biological men will be banned from female-only competitions starting next month, according to The Times.

The organization said there is now an open category for anyone who is eligible to compete in it and also a separate category solely for biological women, according to the The Times. It also said that only biological women will be allowed to represent England in international rowing events.

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Commentary: Slaughter of Nigerian Christians Warrants International Attention

“If we keep quiet, we are going to go extinct,” says Catholic Bishop Chipa Wilfred Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi in Benue state, Nigeria.

In June, the Congressional Values Action Team caucus met with Anagbe and the Rev. Remigius Ihyula who shared their testimonies of atrocities committed against Christians in Nigeria by Islamic extremists and about the complacency of the Nigerian government.

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Rep. Chris Smith to Introduce Federal Child Trafficking Legislation Drafted in Collaboration with ‘Sound of Freedom’ Producer

U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced Friday in advance of Sunday’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons that he is planning to introduce legislation that would require the federal government to provide reports on its work investigating potential child trafficking related to the unaccompanied minors released from federal custody and with whom contact has now been lost.

“In the near future, I will be introducing new legislation drafted in collaboration with Eduardo Verastegui—the producer of ‘Sound of Freedom’ and Roger Severino of The Heritage Foundation,” Smith said in a press statement sent to The Star News Network, further detailing that the legislation would “require the federal government to report on efforts to locate, establish contact with, conduct wellness checks on, and investigate any suspicion of human trafficking related to the approximately 85,000 unaccompanied minors who were released from federal government custody and with whom subsequent contact has been lost.”

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525 Known, Suspected Terrorists Apprehended Attempting to Illegally Enter U.S. in Nine Months

Nine months into fiscal 2023, more known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the northern and southwest borders than in all of fiscal 2022.

So far this fiscal year, 525 known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended attempting to illegally enter the U.S. compared to 478 last fiscal year.

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Judge Blocks Biden Rule Allowing Some Migrants to Be Turned Away

A federal judge Tuesday blocked a Biden administration rule that allowed migration officials to turn away asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border if the migrants did not apply online first or seek protection in a country that they traveled through. 

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in California’s northern district gave the Biden administration 14 days to appeal his order, which takes away a key migration enforcement tool, according to The Associated Press. 

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Commentary: Republicans Need a New Approach to Foreign Policy

A recent Fareed Zakaria Washington Post op-ed nicely summarized our new reality:

There is a debate within the Republican Party. Some senior figures, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and former vice president Mike Pence, are vigorously making the case for an active and engaged America. But the party’s base seems to be with the isolationists, as can be seen in the tilting stances of the weather-vane speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy (Calif.). From Donald Trump to his copycat, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the party’s most powerful media ideologist, Tucker Carlson, conservatives are increasingly contemptuous of America’s support for Ukraine and its strong alliance with Europe. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) told the New York Times that although some Republicans remain staunchly interventionist, “That’s not where the voters are.”

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Commentary: Defense Survey Reveals Age, Gender, Party Divides

Although Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has dominated worldwide headlines for more than a year and refocused the attention of U.S. policymakers on NATO and Eastern Europe, Americans are much more worried about China’s emerging power.

In an open question asked by RealClear Opinion Research, 53% of registered voters named the People’s Republic of China as “the greatest threat to the United States.” Russia was cited by 29% of respondents, while 4% named North Korea – the same percentage who answered that America’s biggest threat was the United States itself.

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Congress Investigating Allegation Border Patrol Official Retaliated Against After Testimony

Congressional investigating are probing whistleblower allegations that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency may have retaliated against a top agency official after he testifying before lawmakers.

House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Mark Green wrote in a letter Friday that they have been told by a whistleblower that El Centro Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino was relieved of his command after he finished a transcribed interview with two congressional committees earlier this month.

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Italian Pageant Bars Males from Competition, Will Not Participate in ‘Glittery Bandwagon of Trans Activism’

The Miss Italia beauty pageant will not allow male contestants, the contest’s curator told Italian outlet Radio Cusano.

The pageant’s curator, Patrizia Mirigliani, told Radio Cusano that only biological women are allowed to participate in the beauty competition. Weeks earlier, a man who identifies as transgender drew international headlines after winning the Miss Netherlands beauty pageant.

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More than 175,000 Came Through Southern U.S. Border in June

Over 175,000 people came through the southern border in June, according to newly published U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and preliminary data first published by The Center Square. 

The official CBP data published on Tuesday isn’t as straightforward as it normally is, possibly due to a recent shakeup at CBP with outgoing chiefs leaving June 30. A press release issued on Tuesday doesn’t include data typically published every month.  

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Iraq Summons U.S. Ambassador over State Department Comments on Treatment of Catholic Priest

The Iraqi government called U.S. Ambassador Alina Romanowski to Baghdad after the State Department made critical remarks about the government’s dismissal of a Vatican-appointed bishop, according to Reuters.

Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid recently rescinded a decree recognizing Cardinal Louis Sako the head of the Chaldean Catholic church in Iraq and all of its assets, claiming that no other state entity should appoint religious leaders in Iraq, according to Reuters. Rashid called Romanowski to Baghdad Wednesday after  State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. was disturbed by the Iraqi government’s decision.

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Border Patrol Sees Massive Surge in Illegal Migrants on Terror Watchlist

Border Patrol has arrested 143 illegal migrants on the terror watchlist in fiscal year 2023, surpassing 2022’s total by roughly 25%, according to federal data updated Tuesday.

In all of fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol nabbed 98 individuals whose names appeared on the terror watchlist, according to the data. The data include both southern and northern border apprehensions of individuals on the terror watchlist.

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U.S. Legislators Ask to Examine the Coexistence of the Mexican Government with Drug Cartels

A new cross-border conservative coalition is calling on Washington lawmakers to change their policy toward Mexico and scrutinize the neighboring country for its alleged collusion with drug cartels.

The US-Mexico Conservative Policy Coalition states: “The Mexican government and Mexican criminal cartels exist in conscious and voluntary symbiosis, at multiple levels, up to and including the Mexican presidency…the current president of Mexico has expressed openness to a pact with the cartels and has spoken of his willingness to defend them from US action.

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Commentary: Hong Kong – at China’s Direction – Offers $1 Million Bounties for Dissidents Abroad

The government of Hong Kong is offering a bounty of up to $1 million to anyone who can help find eight activists who fled to other countries and continue to fight against its authoritarian government.

I am not one of the eight, but all of us who fight for democracy in Hong Kong are in danger from a Chinese government that is chasing us for showing that it has broken its promises to keep Hong Kong a vibrant and free city-state.

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Cycling Officials Boot Men from Competing in Women’s Division

The International Cycling Union (UCI), the world cycling governing body, announced Friday that it will bar biological males who transition after puberty from competing in the women’s division, the Associated Press reported.

Recent public outcry over transgender athlete Austin Killips, the first openly transgender athlete to win a U.S. race in the female division, prompted the cycling officials to review the transgender athlete policy and ban males from the woman’s division.

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U.S. Gives Roughly Double What EU Provides Ukraine in Military Aid, Renewing Debate over NATO

The United States has given roughly twice as much military aid to Ukraine during the first year of Russia’s invasion as European Union countries, a disparity that has renewed debate among U.S. lawmakers.

The U.S. gave $47 billion in the first year, according Kiel Institute for the World Economy data reviewed by The New York Times. 

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Border Patrol Agents: June Southwest Border Apprehension Data Is a ‘Shell Game’

Apprehension and gotaway data for June, which was significantly lower than previous months, is deceptive, a Customs and Border Patrol agent as well as the former acting CBP Chief and former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square. 

They spoke in response to lower numbers reported for the month by Border Patrol agents that total over 135,000, which is significantly lower than previous months even though large numbers of people are still coming through.

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NATO Can Consider Membership for Ukraine After War with Russia Ends, Biden Says

President Joe Biden says that Ukraine is not ready to join NATO because the country’s war with Russia must end before the military alliance can consider allowing Kyiv to join. 

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden told CNN in an interview aired Sunday. “We’re determined to commit [to] every inch of territory that is NATO territory. It’s a commitment that we’ve all made no matter what. If the war is going on, then we’re all in war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case.”

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Feds in Miami Arrest 18 Criminal Foreign Nationals, Target for Removal

Miami-based agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, working with Border Patrol agents, arrested 18 criminal foreign nationals who they say pose a danger to their communities.

The four-day operation was conducted from June 26 to June 30 by officials working in ICE ERO Miami Stuart suboffice. The majority arrested are Guatemalan citizens, followed by citizens of Mexico, Honduras, Brazil and Saint Lucia.

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Commentary: Poland and Hungary Are What Healthy Democracies Look Like

“Even by today’s low standards, this is shockingly delusional,” I thought after reading Kati Marton’s diatribe against the current Polish and Hungarian governments in the Los Angeles Times last week.

Most such pieces are relatively standard and don’t warrant a response. This one, it seemed to me, mutilated the charred corpse of the truth. As a Polish citizen and Polish speaker who has lived in Hungary, I concluded it was too much to overlook. Allow me to share some of my experiences from these two countries, which most often bear no resemblance to the ones Marton describes.

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Biden Admin to Form Global Coalition Against Fentanyl Without China

The Biden administration is set to form a global coalition of countries to target fentanyl trafficking, but it doesn’t appear that China, a major source of the synthetic drug, will participate.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to host a meeting Friday with representatives from 84 countries to discuss efforts to disrupt the global supply chains of illicit fentanyl, the State Department said Thursday. However, there’s no indication China intends to participate despite the country being the source of precursor chemicals used by the cartels in Mexico to make the synthetic drug.

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Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson Calls on Biden to Urge NATO Allies to Meet Their Defense Spending Commitments

As President Joe Biden prepares for this weekend’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is asking the president to hold NATO accountable.

Johnson joined 34 of his Republican colleagues in sending Biden a letter asking that he remind NATO allies to honor their commitment to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

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Law Enforcement Experts Warn of ‘Another 9-11’ After Bungled Release of Migrant Tied to Terrorism

Former law enforcement officials are warning of potential terrorist attacks and a repeat of 9/11 following a Homeland Security Department watchdog report that exposed government bungling that allowed an illegal immigrant on the terrorist watchlist to be released into the U.S. and roam free for two weeks before he was apprehended.

According to a report released by the DHS’s Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released an illegal immigrant on the terrorist watchlist last year, and due to a lack of coordination, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took more than two weeks to arrest the individual.

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China Implements Export Controls on Key Metals Used for Chips

by Jason Cohen   China has implemented export limits on two metals utilized in the manufacturing of computer chips and other valuable technological devices, according to an announcement by the country’s Ministry of Commerce on Monday. The export restrictions on gallium, germanium and their corresponding chemical compounds will officially take…

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Angel Mom, a Newly Elected State Lawmaker, Joins DeSantis in Fight for Border Security

Angel Mom Kiyan Michael, a Republican state representative from Jacksonville, Florida, has come full circle from running for office, endorsing Gov. Ron DeSantis for governor, getting elected, and now endorsing him for president. She celebrated her bittersweet victory and legislative accomplishments this year, joining DeSantis last week in Eagle Pass, Texas, as he unveiled his plan “to stop the invasion at the southern border.”

Angel parents are those whose children are killed by foreign nationals who’ve illegally entered the country.

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New State Department Report Says Biden Didn’t Know Who Was in Charge of Afghanistan Debacle

The Biden State Department did not have clarity on who was in charge of coordinating the department’s role in the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, a report released on Friday found.

A State Department after-action review team found fault with both the Biden and Trump administrations for contributing to the chaos of the August 2021 military withdrawal, which left the Afghan government vulnerable to collapse and contributed to a massive effort to evacuate thousands of Americans and allies afterward, the report shows. While the U.S. military had contingency planning for an evacuation of Kabul in place “for some time” ahead of when the withdrawal was ordered in August in 2021, the State Department’s participation in the operation “was hindered by the fact that it was unclear who in the Department had the lead.”

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Border Patrol Responds to Video of Agent Cutting Razor Wire to Let Migrants Enter: They Had Permission

U.S. Customs and Border Protection responded to a video appearing to show a Border Patrol agent cutting through razor wire on private property to allow migrants through.

Fox News correspondent Bill Melguin posted the video Friday and said it is from a source in Eagle Pass, Texas, and shows the federal official cutting the razor wire placed by the state in order to let the migrants enter for processing after they crossed illegally.

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Commentary: A CIA Agent’s Analysis of the Chaos In Russia and What to Look for Next

It’s been a wild set of events in Russia over the past week – with mutinous Russian forces marching towards Moscow, President Putin addressing the nation about their treason, and then the rebels announcing they would turn back “according to the plan” – as though nothing had happened.

As these whiplashing events evolve, here are 10 key developments that former CIA Officers like me will be watching for in the near and long term…

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Pressure Grows on Judge to Reject Hunter Biden Plea Deal amid Evidence of DOJ Interference

Pressure is growing in congressional, legal and media circles for the federal judge in the Hunter Biden case to reject a plea deal that would spare the first son from serving prison time after evidence has emerged from two IRS whistleblowers that a more serious criminal tax case was sabotaged by the Justice Department.

“I don’t understand how any judge could bless this plea agreement now that all of this evidence of obstruction and DOJ and FBI wrongdoing has surfaced,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Just the News. “So I hope this judge does reject this, and then insists and demands on an honest investigation and an honest prosecution as well.”

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Academics: Allowing Kids to Opt Out of Drag Storytime Is a ‘Dangerous Setback’ for Gay Rights

A pair of academics affiliated with York University in Canada believe that allowing parents to opt out their children from drag storytime events is a “dangerous setback for 2SLGBTQ+ human rights education.”

Writing in the Toronto Star, Beyhan Farhadi, a fellow at York’s Institute for Research on Digital Literacies, and “community educator”/York M.Ed student Joy Henderson say the Toronto School Board’s decision to allow opt-outs from the “family-friendly” activity “sends a message that [queer] rights are debatable.”

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UN Takes Cues from Organizations That Seek to Censor Conservatives

by James Cohen   A United Nations (U.N.) policy proposal that outlines how to combat online “mis- and disinformation and hate speech,” including through demonetization, is informed by work from groups that actively push to censor conservative speech online. The policy brief, titled “Information Integrity on Digital Platforms,” is intended to help…

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Texas’ Operation Lone Star: More Than 500 Buses Sent to Sanctuary Cities

Since Texas’ border security mission Operation Lone Star (OLS) launched more than two years ago, the multi-agency effort has led to the apprehension of nearly 400,000 foreign nationals who entered the U.S. illegally.

Since last April, Texas has sent over 500 buses of foreign nationals to six so-called sanctuary cities.

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Canada’s Transportation Safety Board Launches Probe into Fatal Loss of Submersible Exploring Titanic

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is launching an investigation into the implosion of OceanGate’s Titan submersible and the Canadian-flagged ship that dropped the vessel in the ocean for its doomed journey to explore the Titanic wreckage.

Officials announced the investigation Friday but said they are still assessing whether the fatal event was an accident or not.

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Illegal Border Crossers Since 2021 Total More than Individual Populations of 38 States

The number of illegal border crossings at the northern and southern borders and all ports of entry since January 2021 totals more than 8 million people, greater than the individual populations of 38 U.S. states.

Put another way, the number of foreign nationals from all over the world believed to be primarily illegally entering the U.S. is comparable to the populations of eight Delawares, four New Mexicos, two Oklahomas or more than 13 Wyomings.

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