Month: June 2021

The Group of Seven leaders, whose UK conclave will shortly be joined by Joe Biden, appears set to infuriate China, and in its draft communique seen by Bloomberg News, the world’s most developed nations not only call for a fresh, “transparent” (which suggests the previous study was anything but), WHO-convened study into the origins of the coronavirus (although since the China-controlled WHO, which is run by the “prevaricating” Tedros, is in charge it naturally won’t find anything new) but also pledge to tackle “forced labor in global supply chains”, including in the solar and garment sectors and involving state-sponsored forced labor of minorities. While that section does not mention China by name, it clearly targets China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Separately, the G7 vowed to deliver at least 1 billion extra doses of vaccines – courtesy of taxpayer funding of course – over the next year to help cover 80% of the world’s adult population. This is core part of the of the G-7 agenda that outlines a plan to end the pandemic by December 2022. The document has yet to be finalized but will form the basis of final-stage talks at the summit of leaders in Cornwall, southwestern England, starting Friday.

Here are the other highlights, as per Bloomberg:

• G-7 pledge to better tackle forced labor in global supply chains, including in the solar and garment sectors and involving state-sponsored forced labor of minorities. While that section does not mention China by name, it follows global criticism of its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.
• Calls for a fresh, transparent, WHO-convened study into the origins of the coronavirus.
• There is a call for Russia to hold to account groups within its borders who conduct ransomware attacks, use virtual currencies to launder ransoms, and carry out other cybercrimes.
• The group welcomes the recent talks toward a full resumption of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, while condemning its use of proxy forces and non-state armed actors.

On fiscal policy, trade and travel:

• A commitment to end unnecessary trade restrictions on vaccine exports
• G-7 stress need to ensure long-term sustainability of public finances once the recovery is firmly established.
• G-7 support common standards for international travel, including recognizing vaccine status certificates across countries.

On climate change, the draft agreement includes:

• There is a commitment to accelerating the shift to zero-emission vehicles
• Leaders haggling over climate funding but vow to step up and to try and meet a $100 billion target, without giving details of how to get there. They will pledge new funding to support green transitions in developing countries.
• G-7 recognizes the potential of carbon markets and carbon pricing to drive emission reductions.

Late on Wedensday, Joe Biden arrived in the UK as part of his first trip abroad since taking office, where he will take place in the G7 summit in St Ives in Cornwall. Biden is expected to underscore America’s unwavering commitment to NATO and warn Russia it faced “robust and meaningful” consequences if it engaged in harmful activities, by which of course he means the CIA, the FBI and various other deep state tentacles.

Biden, speaking to about 1,000 troops and their families at a British air base, said he would deliver a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet next week after separate summits with NATO, G7 and European leaders.

“This is my first overseas trip as president of the United States. I’m heading to the G7, then the NATO ministerial and then to meet with Mr. Putin to let him know what I want him to know,” Biden said, drawing cheers from the troops, who will be amazed if Biden remembers what it is he wants Putin to know.

“We’re not seeking conflict with Russia,” the Democrat said at the start of his eight-day visit to Europe. “We want a stable and predictable relationship … but I’ve been clear: The United States will respond in a robust and meaningful way if the Russian government engages in harmful activities.”

Biden told reporters as he left for Europe that his goals were “strengthening the alliance, making it clear to Putin and to China that Europe and the United States are tight.”

His summit with Putin on June 16 in Geneva is the capstone of the trip. President-in-waiting Harris is surely hoping for some “unexpected” twist in the narrative to take place, so she can finally get her promotion.

After the US Senate on Tuesday passed a historic bill to commit some $250 billion to fund scientific research as well as subsidies for chipmakers and robot developers, including an overhaul of the National Science Foundation – the largest effort to date in efforts to boost a US competitive edge over China as a tech powerhouse – Beijing has reacted by mocking Washington’s “paranoid delusion” and “Cold War mentality”. It’s also calling for an “immediate” halt to the legislation’s progress as it goes to the House.

The bill, called the US Innovation and Competition Act passed the chamber 68-32 and had clear bi-partisan support, now ranking among the largest industrial bills in American history. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hailed it as “the moment when the Senate lays the foundation for another century of American leadership,” in Tuesday night statements from Senate floor Tuesday. A $52 billion emergency allotment to the Commerce Department to bolster domestic semiconductor development and manufacturing is considered the centerpiece of the bill. 

No doubt thinking primarily of China, he said, “Around the globe, authoritarian governments believe that squabbling democracies like ours can’t unite around national priorities,” before adding, “Well, let me tell you something: I believe that they are wrong. I believe that this legislation will enable the United States to out-innovate, out-produce, and out-compete the world in the industries of the future.”

President Joe Biden seconded the statement on the eve of his departure for the G-7 summit (where China is expected to be a front and center topic), saying late Tuesday: “We are in a competition to win the 21st century, and the starting gun has gone off.”

On Wednesday China’s Foreign Ministry urged Washington to stop treating Beijing as an “imaginary enemy” while alleging Senate leaders’ rationale ultimately constitute a “smear” on China’s achievements, and that it “interferes in China’s internal affairs under the banner of innovation and competition.” The statement claimed that China ultimately seeks to develop a “a win-win relationship” with the US on the global stage.

And a statement from China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) foreign affairs committee appeared to take direct aim and Biden and Schumer’s statements: “The bill shows that the paranoid delusion of egoism has distorted the original intention of innovation and competition,” it said according to Xinhua.

The statement “strongly” urged the US House to “immediately stop” the legislation’s progress lest bilateral ties be further damaged to the point severing cooperation in key sectors.

The NPC had further charged the new US legislation as being bull of a “Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice,” and indicated China’s parliament has voiced “strong indignation and resolute opposition”. But this will do little to sway momentum for it as it now heads into the House of Representatives, also as Biden is expected to continue ramping up the pressure on China during his eight-day high stakes trip to Europe where he’ll coordinate action with world leaders.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Several election workers in Fulton County, Georgia are scheduled to be deposed in the coming days in a lawsuit that alleges thousands of fraudulent ballots were scanned in Atlanta on Election Night in 2020.

Media crews film while election workers process absentee ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 2, 2020. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Ruby Freeman, her daughter Wandrea Moss, Caryn Ficklin, and Keisha Dixon were served with notices to appear for depositions in the case, according to court records.

Freeman and Moss were two of the workers in the absentee ballot counting room in State Farm Arena when ballots were processed for some time on Nov. 3, 2020, with no observers, including no state election monitor.

Ruby Freeman is scheduled to be deposed on June 11.

She was advised to bring a thumb drive containing images of all communications she made between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, regarding the presidential election, according to a court document obtained by The Epoch Times. The communications include messages sent on cellphones, via email, on SnapChat, and over Facebook.

She was also told to bring all electronic devices that she utilized over the same timeframe.

Moss was given similar orders. She is slated to appear on June 10.

Dixon helped register voters while Ficklin works for the county.

Robert Cheeley, who is representing some of the plaintiffs in the case, asked for the depositions. Cheeley did not return repeated requests for comment, including a message left at his office with a secretary.

A Fulton County spokesperson declined to comment.

“Our position is that that’s premature. We want to get to the inspection and then we’ll figure out who we want to depose,” Garland Favorito, an election observer who is one of the petitioners, told people in an online chat over the weekend.

“I think it would nail down some of the issues, some of the things that are still unanswered at State Farm Arena. I think that’s his intent,” he added, referring to Cheeley.

Supporters of President Donald Trump protest outside State Farm Arena as ballots are counted inside, in Atlanta, Ga., on Nov. 5, 2020. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Petitioners in the case asserted in December 2020 that election workers failed to comply with state laws governing the treatment of absentee ballots. That failure “created two classes that had two different standards” when it came to mail-in ballots, they alleged.

A county official told news outlets and people in a ballot counting room around 11 p.m. on Election Night that counting was done for the evening but workers soon resumed processing ballots. Republican observers said they left because of the announcement and a state election monitor was absent for 82 minutes, according to Gabriel Sterling, an official with  Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office.

Sterling later said that there was “managerial sloppiness” and “chain of custody” issues in the county, though county officials insisted nothing untoward happened.

Petitioners received low-resolution images of ballots in the case but have more recently sought images that are 600 dots per inch or higher. Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero agreed to the request last month, but postponed the taking of new images after county agencies filed motions to dismiss the case.

A hearing on the motions will take place on June 21.

The Pentagon is touting that it’s already successfully withdrawn more than half of American forces from Afghanistan, which means it’s on a withdraw pace significantly ahead of Biden’s Sept. 11 exit deadline.

“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) estimates that we have completed greater than 50% of the entire retrograde process,” the command announced Tuesday. And in terms of the massive logistical feat of removing military hardware after a two-decade occupation and build-up of bases, the military statement added that it’s removed the equivalent of approximately 500 C-17 planeloads of material while also removing 13,000 pieces of equipment. 

Prior to the ordered drawdown which the White House announced in April there were at least 2,500 US troops amid a broader 10,000 member NATO force. The Taliban had seen the change as reneging on the Trump deal which had set the full pullout deadline for May 1st, which has come and gone. 

While so far there has not been the predicted large-scale assaults on remaining US troops and bases, there have been hundreds of Taliban attacks on Afghan national forces and civilians across the country…

In the *24hrs* since I wrote this tweet:

– 100+ attacks across #Afghanistan
– 98 Afghan security forces killed & ~200 injured
– 5 district capitals fell to the #Taliban https://t.co/sBO4WpEmiY

— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) June 8, 2021

According to The Wall Street Journal this week, US intelligence says the Taliban is carefully prepping for the moment the US mission in the country is officially over: 

The Taliban are encircling Afghan police and army positions and encroaching on government-held territory, positioning themselves for large-scale offensives against major population centers while waiting for the last American troops to depart Afghanistan.

The insurgents are pushing their advantage on the battlefield ahead of a full U.S. exit, even as they continue peace talks with the Afghan government in Doha, Qatar.

This brings up the inevitable question of “US footprint” even after the Pentagon departure. There’s been recent reports that military leaders are mulling the possibility of leaving 600 Marines to permanently guard the sprawling US embassy in Kabul. 

The Associated Press meanwhile cited CENTCOM chief Gen. Frank McKenzie, who said he’s preparing to present Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with a “range of options” for protection of the embassy, which could include “counterterrorism” operations elsewhere in the country – the latter which sounds a lot like a continuing presence and not in truth an exit. 

This remnant security “footprint” reportedly could be a few hundred to as high as 1,000 according to the AP – which again presents the question of whether this actually then would qualify as an “exit”. Certainly the Taliban and other terror groups are unlikely to see it as such.