EU

Israel has not ruled out pre-emptive strike on Iran

Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel is not ruling out a preliminary strike against Iran, the Jerusalem Post reports. The PM made his statement during a memorial service for those who died in the Yom Kippur War, when Arab states led by Syrian and Egyptian armies ambushed Israel in a surprise attack on October 8th 1973. At the time of the strike which led to war, Israel had been observing Yom Kippur, the most solemn and holy day in the Jewish calendar, and a time when the country comes to a standstill.

U.S. Vice President Pence Joins Massive Prayer March

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence joined tens of thousands of Christians to pray in Washington for a nation beset by political and social turmoil ranging from deadly riots to fierce political infighting.

New report says positive studies on hydroxychloroquine as effective coronavirus treatment were impugned or ignored in efforts to discredit Trump

In an article published Tuesday, the WND news outlet reports that the COVID-19 death rate in the US is higher than in many other countries because opponents of President Trump have presented hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug publicly endorsed by the president in March, as harmful and ineffective in treating coronavirus. WND bases its report on a white paper published by the Economic Standard (ES) called: “Hydroxychloroquine and the Burden of Proof: An Urgent Call to Depoliticize Medicine in the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

US hopes to agree sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to UAE by December 2020

Reuters has learned that the US and the United Arab Emirates hope to have a letter of agreement on the sale of American of F-35 stealth fighter jets to the Arab state in time for UAE National Day on December 2. A close ally of America, the UAE has long been interested in purchasing the jets and was promised it would be able to do so upon normalizing relations with Israel.

Israel joins new regional forum in hope of selling gas to Europe

Against a backdrop of rapidly changing geopolitics in the Middle East, Israel on Tuesday joined Egypt, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and the Palestinian Authority to sign the statute of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), formally establishing the brainchild of Israel and Egypt as a regional intergovernmental organization, based in Cairo.

US to deploy small number of additional troops to Syria

The US is sending around 100 extra troops to Syria to protect against increasing Russian aggression and signs of renewed activity from ISIS in the region, the New York Times (NYT) reported Friday. The newly deployed soldiers will be added to a contingent of some 500 American troops in Syria. Additional military hardware will also be sent and there will be more fighter jet patrols.

Christian watchdog says abduction of Coptic Christian women and girls in Egypt is a “bane”

A Christian watchdog group has published a report describing the widespread trafficking and abduction of Coptic Christian women and girls in Egypt as a “bane”, CBN News reports. Coptic Solidarity released its report “Jihad of the Womb: Trafficking of Coptic Women & Girls in Egypt” last Thursday. The report will be submitted to United Nations agencies and the US Office for Trafficking in Persons.

U.S. Imposes New Sanctions On Iran Defense, Atomic Industries

The United States has imposed sanctions on more than two dozen people and entities involved in Iran’s atomic activities or its missile and conventional weapons programs, as Washington unilaterally seeks to enforce a UN arms embargo against the Middle East country.

‘Russian President’s Friend Laundering Millions Through Bank’

Leaked documents suggest that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest friends used a prominent British bank to launder millions of dollars and evade Western sanctions. Separately the company of U.S. President Donald Trump allegedly benefited from laundered money, but officials denied those charges.

Bulgaria Jails Two Men Over Bus Bombing Killing Israeli Tourists

A Bulgarian court sentenced two Islamic militants to life imprisonment without parole over a 2012 bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian driver in an attack blamed on Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim group Hezbollah.

Global debt has sky rocketed

In a reflection of the COVID-19 crisis and ensuing governmental measures, Global debt/GDP skyrocketed to an all-time high in the first quarter of 2020, Zero Hedge reports. Overall debt for the non-financial sector has jumped from 241% of global GDP at the end of 2019 to 252% of global GDP now. This is the biggest jump ever recorded by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

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