News of the World

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US NEWS

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Georgia Prosecutors Warn of Prison Sentences for Trump, Top Allies

The emails, first reported by the Guardian, reveal deepening hostilities between prosecutors and defendants in the monumental Georgia criminal case against Trump and his top allies.

“We have a long road ahead,” Willis wrote in a previously unreported email last month to Trump’s attorneys. “Long after these folks are in jail, we will still be practicing law.”

Willis and her team allege Trump and codefendants violated the racketeering statute as part of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. A handful of defendants, including Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro, have flipped on Trump, presumably to avoid long prison sentences of their own.

Trump’s allies argue the case is politically motivated “lawfare,” and Trump maintains he has done nothing wrong.

Willis has insisted her case is simply about enforcing the law, although her actions and words haven’t always backed up her assertion.

Willis says she is in no hurry to resolve Trump’s legal issues before November’s general election and recently made clear that she intends to still have Trump on trial on Election Day 2024.

Billionaire who refused to hire anti-Israel grads demands Ivy League chiefs ‘resign in disgrace’ for antisemitism failures

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is calling for the presidents of three prestigious universities to “resign in disgrace” following their comments during a congressional hearing on Tuesday.

The Harvard alumnus was angered by his alma mater’s leader Claudine Gay, along with the University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) president Sally Kornbluth, for their failure to call out antisemitic protests that have taken place on their campuses.

“In short, they said: It ‘depends on the context’ and ‘whether the speech turns into conduct,’ that is, actually killing Jews,” Ackman said in a post on X. “This could be the most extraordinary testimony ever elicited in the Congress, certainly on the topic of genocide.”

Being called before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the three university leaders were all questioned about the rise in violent antisemitic demonstrations on their campuses since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed over 1,200 people.

The remarks came after Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) pressed the trio on whether students had the right to free speech “even when calling for the mass murders of African Americans,” a comparison to protesters on the campus calling for “global intifada” against Jews.

Ackman went on to remind his followers of the definition of genocide as “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.”

The Pershing Square Capital founder said the school leaders’ answers amplified the failures of the universities.

More News

Despite the Pandering, Hispanics Disapprove of Eric Adams Most of All

In this week’s Quinnipiac poll (a reliably left-wing pollster, by the way), Adams is already facing a dismal overall approval rating of just 28 percent. The internals are even more interesting…

No racial group is more unhappy with Sanctuary City Eric than Hispanics.

Here’s the breakdown of the approve/disapprove number when registered voters were asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Eric Adams is handling his job?”:

Black: 48 percent approve, 38 percent disapprove
Men: 38 to 58 percent
White: 28 to 61 percent
Women: 26 to 59 percent
Asian: 22 to 60 percent
Hispanic: 20 to 65 percent
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For those of you who think Hispanic disapproval of Adams has something to do with all the other horrors (crime, homelessness, inflation, schools, etc.) that Democrat-run city is dealing with thanks to its stupid voters, let me assure you it is not.

When asked specifically about illegal aliens — “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Mayor Adams is handling – the surge of migrants seeking sanctuary in New York City?” — Adam is upside-down 43(!) points with Hispanics: only 25 percent approve, while 68 percent disapprove—only Asians (21 to 65 percent) polled lower on this question.

Masked Burglars Steal Firearm from Keanu Reeves’ Home

Masked burglars struck actor Keanu Reeves’ Hollywood Hills home early Thursday, stealing a firearm and getting away before police could apprehend them.

TMZ reported that police first went to Reeves’ home at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday in response to a trespass call, but did not locate anyone. Hours later–at 1:00 a.m. Thursday–an alarm at the property sounded and police went to the home again. This time they saw masked burglars on security footage, and a firearm had reportedly been stolen.

It is not known if anything else was stolen and the New York Post noted that Reeves was not at home at the time of the burglary.

Reeves is renowned for his role as John Wick in films bearing the same name. His character demonstrates a mastery of firearms in the films, and the actor trains for that role with Taran Butler at Los Angeles’s Taran Tactical.

On October 24, 2023, Breitbart News pointed to a video of Reeves at the range, shooting a semiautomatic handgun, a carbine-sized firearm, a .308 rifle, and a semiautomatic shotgun, among other guns.

I won't say there's no use for a firearm like a rifle but was that all they could ever steal from him!?
 Something doesn't make any sense here unless the burglars were real fans of John Wick...

MIDDLE EASTERN NEWS

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Putin, MBS Agree to Pressure OPEC+ to Keep Oil Production Reduced

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Thursday that the two countries would pressure fellow members of OPEC+ to “adhere” to their agreements “in a way that serves the interest of producers and consumers,” a sign the two would join to pressure smaller member nations to keep production reduced.

The commitment followed an in-person meeting between bin Salman and Putin in Riyadh, where Putin arrived for a short Middle Eastern trip that included both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Kremlin published a long joint statement from the two countries on Thursday after their meeting, touching on a variety of subjects including the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and cooperation in agriculture, space, and trade. Bin Salman welcomed Putin warmly, proclaiming him a “cherished guest” of Saudi Arabia. Putin, in turn, celebrated the positive relations between his country and Saudi Arabia as unprecedented.

“In the field of energy, the two sides commended the close cooperation between them and the successful efforts of the OPEC+ countries in enhancing the stability of global oil markets,” the joint statement read. “They stressed the importance of continuing this cooperation, and the need for all participating countries to adhere to the OPEC+ agreement, in a way that serves the interests of producers and consumers and supports the growth of the global economy.”

Russia and Saudi Arabia collectively represent about a fifth of the world’s daily oil production, the news agency Reuters noted Thursday. They are also the most influential members of OPEC+
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A week before Putin’s visit to Saudi Arabia, OPEC+ agreed to another new cut of 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), but the move did little to increase oil prices, in part because of rumored divisions between OPEC+’s larger powers and smaller African nations seeking to not lose their share of the market.

LATIN AMERICAN NEWS

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Pentagon Holds Joint Exercises with Guyana as Socialist Venezuela Threatens Invasion

The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) conducted joint military flight drill operations with Guyana on Thursday, the first such operations since socialist Venezuela declared it would annex most of Guyana.

The joint operations with Guyana occurred less than a week after the Maduro regime held a sham referendum to annex the disputed Essequibo region, which represents about two-thirds of the current territory of Guyana. Socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro announced a list of actions on Tuesday that his regime will allegedly carry out to annex the territory and create a new state for Venezuela.
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“The U.S. will continue its commitment as Guyana’s trusted security partner and promoting regional cooperation and interoperability,” the statement concluded.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López condemned the military exercises on Thursday, describing them as an “unhappy provocation.”

“This unhappy provocation by the United States in favor of ExxonMobil’s praetorians in Guyana is another step in the wrong direction, Padrino López wrote on Twitter. “We warn that we will not be diverted from our future actions for the recovery of the Essequibo, make no mistake, long live Venezuela!”

ASIAN NEWS

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Taiwan Says It Spotted Chinese Surveillance Balloon Crossing Median Line

Taiwan’s military also spotted 26 Chinese fighter jets and 10 naval vessels around the island.

A Chinese military surveillance balloon was spotted crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday, according to the Taiwanese defense ministry, amid growing military threats from communist China.

The ministry said it detected the balloon at around 11:52 a.m. local time, traveling southwest of Keelung at an altitude of 21,000 feet. It was observed heading east before disappearing around 12:55 a.m. local time.
Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters that while the ministry considered the possibility of it being a weather balloon, they believed it was their obligation to make the public aware of the incident.

"Otherwise, if after other units or other countries have reported it, everyone will wonder why [we] did not report it. The defense ministry requires all our subordinate units to have a grasp of the enemy situation," Mr. Chiu said.

Taiwan’s military also spotted 26 Chinese fighter jets around the island at around 6 a.m. local time, 15 of which crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

At the same time, 10 Chinese naval vessels were spotted around the island. The ministry said its military deployed aircraft, ships, and land-based missile systems to monitor their activities.
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Taiwan is on high alert for Chinese activities ahead of its election, especially what Taipei views as Beijing's efforts to interfere in the ballot to get electors to vote for candidates the CCP may prefer.
Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary polls on Jan. 13, and campaigning has kicked into high gear with how the next government handles relations with China—a major point of contention.