National Security

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Just when you were wondering whether Washington, D.C., is still the dumbest place on earth, along comes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Human traffickers from Pakistan and China are forcibly prostituting hundreds of predominantly Christian new wives sold to Chinese men by impoverished relatives under pretenses that they will live out better lives in China, Voice of America (VOA) reported over the weekend.

China’s state-run Global Times on Sunday criticized the United States for reportedly launching a cyberattack on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and turned American criticism of Chinese technology on its head by claiming Washington is the party waging a long campaign of electronic espionage against Beijing.

North Korea reportedly held talks with Russia and Syria this weekend amid renewed speculation that its regime is ready to go back to the negotiating table with the United States.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Jun said on Monday that China will not allow the massive protests in Hong Kong to be discussed at the upcoming G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

Today, 16-year-old Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl from the town of Dapchi, Nigeria, remains in the monstrous hands of the Islamic terror group Boko Haram – which keeps Leah in its barbaric captivity because she refuses to deny Jesus Christ and convert to Islam.

The Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times ran a full slate of columns Sunday and Monday attacking the United States’ escalating tensions with Iran, prompted by multiple attacks near Iranian territory that Washington has published video proving were acts of the Iranian military.

An enormous demonstration was held in Taipei, Taiwan, on Sunday to oppose Chinese authoritarianism and spotlight Taiwanese media outlets that spread Beijing’s ideology and propaganda.

“[President Trump] won’t allow them to engage in nuclear blackmail, disrupt global oil markets, and continue to terrorize their own people,” said Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway on Monday during a short Q&A at the White House.

“We do not seek conflict with Iran or any other country,” Trump said to reporters.

A court in Vietnam jailed an American citizen for 12 years on Monday after he was found guilty of attempting to “overthrow” the ruling communist regime. 

The government of Iran on Monday insisted a reported U.S. cyberattack carried out in retaliation for Iran shooting down an American drone was completely ineffective. “They try hard, but have not carried out a successful attack,” claimed information and technology minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi.

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told National Security Adviser John Bolton and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman that he would hear out the Trump administration’s peace plan “fairly and with openness,” but stressed that Israel would never surrender its security presence in the Jordan valley. 

TEL AVIV – The IDF has increased its alert status amid fears that Iran could attack Israel next following the Gulf oil tanker incident, Channel 12 reported Sunday.

Health workers in Hong Kong accused police of spreading “terror” by arresting at least five anti-communist protesters while they received treatment at local hospitals for police-inflicted wounds. Police also allegedly eavesdropped on doctors’ treatments and made arrests without showing a warrant.

A man is being held by police in Brussels, Belgium on suspicion of planning a terror attack on the U.S. embassy.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo teased the possibility of renewed talks with North Korea’s rogue communist regime Sunday after rumors began to swirl of a potential President Donald Trump visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during his trip to South Korea next week.

President Donald Trump set demands for Iran Monday as the rogue nation continues to challenge the United States and raise tensions in the region. “The U.S. request for Iran is very simple – No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring

Istanbul Mayor-elect Ekrem Imamoglu called his election Sunday – in a special election called to overturn his initial victory in May – a victory for Turkey and democracy generally after winning by a wider margin than during the first election.

Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini gushed Sunday over his recent visit to the United States, declaring that he found “total harmony” between the current political course of the two nations.

TEHRAN, Iran — As the U.S. piles sanction after sanction on Iran, it’s the average person who feels it the most.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Saudi Arabia early Monday morning for talks with the close ally amid mounting tensions with Iran.

TEL AVIV – Palestinian officials on Saturday slammed a $50 billion economic peace plan that was unveiled by the White House as bribery, with PA President Mahmoud Abbas saying it effectively “ended the Palestinian cause.”

On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) reacted to what he called Iran “marching up the escalation chain,” which includes interference with international shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf and the downing of an unmanned

“They want us to bankrupt ourselves, that’s the goal,” said Ret. Gen. Robert Spalding of China’s plan to usurp America’s global position.

TEL AVIV – In a rare interview with a Hebrew-language newspaper, a senior Saudi diplomat said it was time the Arab world realized that the “age of war with Israel” is over.

JERUSALEM – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah party has called for days of violence against Israel in protest over the U.S.-led Bahrain economic peace workshop.

While disavowing regime change in Iran, Trump is creating the conditions for it, to America’s long-run strategic advantage.

(AFP) — A minister from Britain’s Foreign Office arrived in Tehran on Sunday and met with a top diplomat from Iran’s foreign ministry amid escalating regional tensions, state-run IRIB news agency reported.

Iran should not “mistake U.S. prudence and discretion for weakness” U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Sunday.