Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

France and the US are expected to apply a three-pronged policy for pushing back against this…

Thursday was an historic day for African geopolitics since Chad announced that it’s expelling French troops while Senegal said that it plans to do the same in the near future. These are France’s last military outposts in the Sahel after it was expelled from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, which now form the Sahelian Alliance that’s also merging into a Confederation. The immediate consequence is that Russian influence will likely surge while France is expected to turn the Ivory Coast into its top regional base.

These trends align with the larger one of Africa becoming a theater of competition in the New Cold War. The West wants to retain its declining unipolar hegemony while Russia and China are leading the push by the non-West to accelerate multipolar processes there. The first manifests itself through coups, Color Revolutions, and insurgencies (collectively known as Hybrid War) while the second takes the form of Russia helping its partners counteract these threats as China provides no-strings-attached economic aid.

The latest development confirms that the African Hinterland is the continent’s bastion of multipolarity while the coastal periphery serves as both the entry point and redoubt for unipolarity, which mirrors the dynamics in Eurasia. This in turn lends further credence to Professor Alexander Dugin’s theory about the historical rivalry between land powers and sea powers. In the African context, Eurasia’s land powers are helping their fellow Hinterland partners liberate themselves from the influence of Eurasia’s sea powers.

These same sea powers, in this case France (which historically has a dual sea-land identity) and the US, are now retreating to the sea-aligned Ivory Coast after being kicked out of the Sahel. This will place more pressure on Nigeria, which is an African land power that has a long history of close ties with Western sea powers like the UK and the US. The aforesaid were on full display during summer 2023’s Western-backed debacle after it unsuccessfully pressured Niger to reinstall its ousted leader and threatened to invade it.

The failure to reap any tangible dividends from this needlessly aggressive policy led to a grand strategic rethinking that culminated in Nigeria becoming an official BRICS partner after October’s summit. This was a positive step, but nothing has yet been done to resolve the country’s infamous corruption nor its seemingly intractable spree of long-running ethno/religious-regional conflicts, both of which can be externally exacerbated by the West to manipulate its foreign policy or punish it if this approach fails.

It’s one thing for the West to lose its geostrategic position in the Sahel, which includes some of the world’s poorest countries (Senegal is head and shoulders above the rest but still has lots of poverty), and another entirely to lose Nigeria, which has huge energy reserves and is Africa’s most populous country. France and the US’ post-Sahelian retrenchment in the Ivory Coast is only useful insofar as providing a base from which to destabilize the Sahelian Alliance/Confederation but is useless vis-à-vis Nigeria.

Observers can accordingly expect the West (led by the US and France) to apply a three-pronged policy for pushing back against the latest multipolar achievements: 1) more Hybrid War against the Sahelian Alliance/Confederation; 2) more outreaches to Nigeria; and 3) Hybrid War against it too if this fails. The Ivory Coast will play a central role in the first aspect; the second will take diplomatic and economic forms; while the third can manifest through covert support (including military) for existing armed groups.

No suggestion is being made about the success of this predicted policy, just that part or all of this sequence will likely unfold due to the friction between Western/non-Western and unipolar/multipolar interests in Africa, which was worsened by France’s latest military blow in the Sahel. It and the US might still need time to cook up a plan for how to most effectively respond to everything, but nobody should doubt that they’ll do something, and whatever it is will be aimed at restoring their lost hegemony.

Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

America’s nuclear energy industry has something special going for it.

“Nuclear energy is one of the few issues that receives bipartisan support across the country,” Maria Korsnick, the president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, told The Epoch Times in a statement.

Democrat-aligned billionaires like Bill Gates have invested heavily in advanced nuclear, as have Republican-aligned billionaires like John Catsimatidis. Meanwhile, sustained, large-scale opposition to nuclear power from the left has mostly dissipated, at least in the United States. Environmentalists increasingly see it as an attractive source of carbon-free baseload power.

Physicist James Walker, CEO of the microreactor firm Nano Nuclear Energy Inc., pointed out that the ADVANCE Act of 2024, key legislation for the deployment of new reactor technologies, was backed by Republicans and Democrats alike. As part of the Fire Grants and Safety Act, it gained overwhelming support from both parties in the House of Representatives, where it passed 393 to 13, and in the Senate, where it passed 88 to 2.

A Nov. 12 policy blueprint from the Biden White House outlines a plan to triple the country’s nuclear energy capacity over the next quarter century.

It certainly appears that the outgoing administration and Democrat-led Senate are pro-nuclear. Yet, with Donald Trump’s reelection, “there also might be additional benefit,” Walker told The Epoch Times.

He hopes the new administration will spur domestic production of a fuel used by advanced nuclear reactors. Russia and China dominate the supply chain for that fuel, which is called high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

Earlier this year, the U.S. banned the importation of Russian uranium, with any waivers set to expire by 2028. In October, the Department of Energy awarded six companies contracts for HALEU production.

“I can’t see, even under the new administration, that relationship being remedied enough that we can go back to sourcing Russian weapons-grade material,” Walker said.

At a Nov. 21 Heritage Foundation roundtable on nuclear energy, Constellation Energy’s David Brown said that American firms involved in producing low-enriched uranium, also supplied by Russia and other countries, have generally set the end of this decade as their launch date, but progress has been slow.

Even amid the bipartisan push for advanced reactors, some scientists and activists worry HALEU is far more easily weaponized than low-enriched uranium, which has become more of a concern recently as the possibility of nuclear war lurches back into public discourse.

“The risk of nuclear war is currently higher than it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Matthew Bunn, a nuclear and energy policy analyst at the Harvard Kennedy School, told The Epoch Times via email.

“The acute issue is Iran, which is now closer to the edge of a nuclear weapons capability than ever before.”

‘We Need to Revolutionize How We Think’

Trump’s vision includes a new National Energy Council that, in his words, will cover “all forms of American energy” and blaze a trail to American energy dominance. Its prospective members include his pick for energy secretary, fracking innovator Chris Wright. Wright sits on the board of directors of a fission reactor company, Oklo Inc.

The council’s chair, likely Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, would also be part of the National Security Council.

Trump’s planned Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will be led in part by businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. During his own presidential run, Ramaswamy called to eradicate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or NRC.

He described the agency as “the damper on the revival of nuclear energy in the United States of America.”

Some other insiders have shared similar frustrations with the regulatory status quo.

“We need to revolutionize how we think, how we regulate,” said Jack Spencer, an energy and environmental policy researcher at the Heritage Foundation, during the Nov. 21 nuclear energy roundtable.

Doug Bernauer, the CEO of microreactor startup Radiant Nuclear, objected to the pace of reactor licensing in a Nov. 20 post on X.

“No new nuclear reactor design has been licensed in over 50 years in the US. … Will DOGE fix nuclear?” Bernauer wrote.

Mixed Reactions From Industry to DOGE

Some in the nuclear industry have reservations about DOGE.

John Kutsch, the leader of the Thorium Energy Alliance, hopes the administration makes its cuts carefully.

“There’s actual useful things the Department of Energy does,” he told The Epoch Times, citing the agency’s role in nuclear weapons management.

Kutsch believes the closure of the Bureau of Mines during the 1990s was a mistake that ultimately hampered American mining. He said he doesn’t want to see something similar happen again.

“We don’t have critical materials readily available in this country because we can’t open up a mine to save our lives,” he said.

Walker also sounded a note of caution about possible cuts.

“Downsizing something like the NRC might not inherently make it better, because they still will need a lot of people to do a lot of work,” the nuclear industry entrepreneur said.

Walker was cheerier about the prospect of using artificial intelligence to speed up licensing of new reactor designs, at least if such an approach proves technologically feasible.

“You could probably reduce the number of people by an order of magnitude,” he said.

Walker hopes that the administration can develop a better approach to regulating advanced reactors. The current framework, he said, is adapted to the large, light-water reactors currently operating on the U.S. grid.

DoE Destruction of Uranium-233 Worries Thorium Advocates

While Kutsch defended some aspects of the Department of Energy, he’s not happy with its approach to uranium-233, a uranium isotope that can be used in thorium-based nuclear energy production.

“This is what gets me mad about bureaucracies,” said Kutsch, whose organization in 2023 signed a memorandum of understanding with El Salvador.

Kirk Sorensen of Flibe Energy, a molten salt reactor company exploring thorium in one of its designs, described uranium-233 as “a marvelous pre-fuel” during the Heritage roundtable with Spencer and Brown.

The Department of Energy has started eliminating the U-233 stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“Originally created in the 1950s and 1960s for potential use in reactors, U-233 proved to be an unviable fuel source,” the Department of Energy stated in a June post on its disposition project webpage.

Sorensen said the department’s U-233 disposition “should be stopped immediately.”

Kutsch said much of that stored U-233 could be used in thorium-based molten salt reactors or in nuclear medicine.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) proposed bill, the Thorium Energy Security Act of 2022, aimed to facilitate U-233 storage and mandate reports on China’s thorium-based reactor research. It never moved out of committee.

Don’t call it a comeback…days after President Trump has been re-elected, Seattle has announced it has seen its first net increase in police officers in four years, according to an exclusive new report from KIRO.

The Seattle Police Department reported its first net increase in officers in four years, adding five to seven in the last quarter, reversing losses since 2020.

Council President Sarah Nelson attributed the earlier decline to a 2020 pledge by most council members to halve police funding, which led to officer departures and reduced the force to about 900, well below the 1,400 target.

Nelson said: “Morale was significantly impacted when officers felt their jobs were at risk. However, this recent net positive is a step in the right direction.”

KIRO reported that as the city council reviews its budget, the focus is on addressing underspending and ensuring effective allocation of funds. Council President Sarah Nelson stressed the need for transparency and accountability, particularly in public safety and social services.

The 2025-2026 budget includes key investments: $3.2 million to sustain 300 shelter beds, $3.5 million for 23 new CARE positions, and $14.5 million for health initiatives. Nelson underscored the importance of measurable performance metrics to evaluate the impact of these expenditures.

She added: “We need to see the big picture by knowing exactly what we’re spending right now. Transparency is absolutely key.”

Nelson highlighted additional ongoing efforts to address public safety and budget challenges, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability in spending. Initiatives include maintaining the Storefront Repair Fund to assist small businesses, boosting police hiring with competitive wages, and investing in addiction treatment to tackle the fentanyl crisis and homelessness.

Nelson called for improved oversight of departmental budgets and nonprofit grants to ensure funds align with policy goals, alongside performance reviews for programs like affordable housing and emergency response. She remains hopeful these measures will enhance public safety and fiscal efficiency.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

The US could do to China in Myanmar what it’s currently doing to Russia in Ukraine…

The latest phase of Myanmar’s nearly four-year-long conflict, which is part of the world’s longest-running civil war that first began in 1948, has seen the military (locally known as the Tatmadaw) retreat from the minority-majority and resource-rich periphery since October 2023’s Operation 1027. They now only control less than half of the country’s territory. Here are some background briefings over the past year to bring unaware readers up to speed about this worsening conflict and its military-strategic dynamics:

* 8 February: “Myanmar’s Three-Year-Long Conflict Isn’t As Simple As It Seems At First Glance”

* 23 February: “America Is Preconditioning The Public For More Meddling In Myanmar”

* 5 March: “American Meddling Could Disrupt Myanmar’s Fragile Chinese-Mediated Peace Process”

* 18 March: “Myanmar’s Rebels & Their Foreign Supporters Really Dislike Thailand’s Four-Point Plan”

* 28 March: “TASS’ Interview With Myanmar’s Leader Had An Interesting Connectivity Tidbit”

* 5 April: “The West Is Returning To The Rohingya Issue In An Attempt To Divide & Rule This Part Of Asia”

* 27 May: “Bangladesh Warned About A Western Plot To Carve Out A Christian Proxy State In The Region”

* 2 June: “There’s A New Coordinated Push For More Western Meddling In Myanmar”

* 7 August: “Russia Has Limited Means For Helping Myanmar Wage Its War On Terror”

What’s most important for casual observers to know is that China has ties with the “Three Brotherhood Alliance” (3BA) that’s behind Operation 1027. The People’s Republic relied on some of their members for facilitating trade with the rest of Myanmar in prior years but then pivoted to supporting last year’s offensive so as to punish the Tatmadaw. China was angry about its past fling with the US as well as its alleged refusal to crack down on cross-border cybercrime and human trafficking rings.

At the same time, the US has also been backing the 3BA and other armed anti-state militias from the get-go since it considers them to be its best chance for carrying out regime change in this geostrategically positioned country at the crossroads of East, South, and Southeast Asia. The US also wants to threaten China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) projects there that are part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which includes pipelines, a port at Kyaukphyu in the Bay of Bengal, and a planned railroad.

The 3BA’s unexpected military success, which was facilitated by Beijing’s tacit support and refusal to punish them by cutting off their economic lifelines in the People’s Republic, threw China into a dilemma. It can either let events unfold at the risk of losing all influence in Myanmar after the US superceded its own over the 3BA, possibly leading to CMEC’s cancellation or it falling under the US’ proxy control, or it can intervene with private military contractors (PMC) like the latest reports claim that it’s planning:

* 15 November: “Myanmar Junta Planning Joint Security Firm with China”

* 20 November: “China’s joint security proposal sparks controversy in Myanmar”

* 21 November: “Are Chinese private armies entering the fray in Myanmar?”

* 23 November: “What happens when China puts boots on the ground in Myanmar?”

* 26 November: “Myanmar: How far will China go to keep junta afloat?”

None of these reports have been confirmed by China or the Tatmadaw so readers should be cautious, but in the event that there’s any truth to them, they’d represent an unprecedented escalation of the conflict. China’s latest call for peace talks might fall flat just like the ceasefire that it mediated earlier this year so it might feel compelled to unconventionally intervene via PMCs so as to safeguard its investments and influence there out of desperation.

That fateful move would entail the following risks:

1. From Mission Creep To Quagmire

Chinese PMCs might only be authorized to defend BRI projects at first, but this could easily evolve into providing logistical, intelligence, and eventually battlefield support to the Tatmadaw, thus raising the chances of a larger intervention that might even become a formal one with time just like Vietnam did. They might even get trapped in a quagmire due to the ethno-regional complexity of the world’s longest-running conflict as well as the mountainous and jungled geography in which it’s being fought.

2. China’s PMCs Lack Experience

There are no credible reports indicating that China’s PMCs have anywhere near the level of experience that American, other Western, and Russian ones do. Their possibly creeping involvement in this potential quagmire might therefore prove disastrous since they’ll either be defending or advancing against militants with literally decades-worth of experience on their home turf. The Chinese state and its people might also have less of a tolerance for high casualties than their aforesaid counterparts do.

3. Hastening The US’ Return To Asia

Trump 2.0 is already expected to “Pivot (back) to Asia” upon the inevitable end of the Ukrainian Conflict, whenever that might be and regardless of the terms, but they’ll have an even greater incentive to accelerate this process if China unconventionally intervenes in Myanmar. That development would predictably be spun as “aiding a genocidal military dictatorship” in order to justify this move, which could also lead to increased American involvement in the conflict as their proxy war there intensifies.

4. Falling Into A Brzezinski-Esque Trap

The above risk directly leads to the next one of the US having possibly planned this entire time to set a Brzezinski-esque trap for China in Myanmar along the lines of what that late National Security Advisor set for the erstwhile USSR in Afghanistan. The purpose is to draw it ever deeper into this seemingly intractable series of ethno-reginal conflicts in order to bleed it dry, establish the pretext for more sanctions, and rally a growing number of countries across the world against it.

5. Cross-Border Proxy Attacks

Just like the US uses Ukraine to launch cross-border artillery attacks and even raids against Russia, including the now-infamous invasion of Kursk that still hasn’t been pushed back one-quarter of a year since it started, so too might the US use the 3BA or other anti-state militias against China. The purpose would be to humiliate the People’s Republic and provoke an overreaction like more mission creep or an outmatched response that’s exploited to rally even more countries against it.

China is certainly aware of the risks that any unconventional PMC intervention in the Myanmarese Conflict would entail, but the military-strategic dynamics have changed so much over the past year that it might be willing to throw caution to the wind. That would be uncharacteristic of China, however, so it might ultimately not happen. If it does go through with this, then it might become as much of a game-changer as Russia’s special operation has been, for better or for worse depending on how it unfolds.

Americans are constantly on the move, with many leaving their home states in search of better opportunities, lower living costs, or a change in scenery. Some states see more departures than others, raising the question of what’s driving people to pack up and leave.

This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the top five states that American residents moved away from in 2023 and their migration outflows, with the top three states where people from those states moved to labeled.

State-by-state migration flow data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau and is updated as of August 2024. Only residents aged one year and older were included and the data includes Puerto Rico but does not include U.S. island territories.

Which States Did Americans Move Away From in 2023?

Below, we show the top five states that Americans moved away from in 2023, with each states’ total number of residents who left, and the number of residents who went to the top three outbound states.

The average American moves about 11 times throughout their life, according to Steinway Moving and Storage. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that in 2023, 12% of Americans moved to a different residence within the country.

Some stayed close to home and moved within their home state, while others embarked on cross-country relocations. Out of those who moved to a different residence in 2023, 80% moved within their state and 20% moved to a different state.

Interestingly, three out of the top five states Americans are moving away from–Florida, Texas, and California–are also seeing the highest number of new residents from other states.

These states experience high migration turnover due to factors like job opportunities, housing affordability, tax policies, and lifestyle preferences such as weather and urban amenities.

New Yorkers Have Been Leaving In Droves

New York has also seen high levels of domestic out-migration since 2012, primarily due to job transfers, family reasons, or wanting to own a new home.

As one of the most expensive states to live in, it’s no surprise that many people are leaving New York due to affordability concerns and a desire for better quality of life.

Additionally, the pandemic-driven shift to remote work led to significant workforce losses in major metropolitans like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

To learn more about American domestic migration check out this graphic which shows the top five states Americans are moving to.

Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A new study suggests potential health risks associated with carrageenan (derived from red seaweed), a common food additive used as a thickener and found in everything from ice cream to plant-based milk.

Researchers found that overweight people who ate foods with the additive became more insulin resistant and had more inflammation.

“In overweight participants, carrageenan exposure resulted in lower whole body and hepatic insulin sensitivity,” the study authors wrote, highlighting the need for further investigation into food additives that consumers might consider harmless.

Carrageenan Linked to Reduced Insulin Sensitivity, Inflammation

The research, published in BMC Medicine on Tuesday, was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 20 young, healthy male participants who received either 250 milligrams of carrageenan or a placebo twice daily over two weeks.

Key outcomes of the study included the measurement of insulin sensitivity through various tests, including the oral glucose tolerance test. Although no significant differences in overall insulin sensitivity were observed among all participants, interactions between participants’ body mass index (BMI) and their exposure to carrageenan or the placebo were notable.

In overweight people, carrageenan led to lower insulin sensitivity, increased brain inflammation, and higher levels of inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein and interleukin-6).

Additionally, carrageenan was linked to increased intestinal permeability, suggesting the participants’ digestive systems might allow substances to enter the bloodstream more easily. The study also showed immune cell activation and increased pro-inflammatory proteins released from white blood cells after carrageenan exposure. This supports the theory that the additive may influence insulin sensitivity by fostering inflammation.

While existing research demonstrates carrageenan’s correlation with heightened metabolic risks, inflammation, and gut disruption, the precise molecular mechanisms driving these adverse effects remain unclear.

While previous animal studies had suggested that carrageenan could induce glucose intolerance and worsen the adverse effects of high-fat diets, the new study represents one of the first clinical investigations into the additive’s effects on human glycemic response.

The researchers called for further research into the long-term health impacts of carrageenan and similar food additives, particularly in populations at higher risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.

Cutting Out Carrageenan

Carrageenan is fairly common in highly processed foods, dairy products such as chocolate milk and ice cream, and plant milks, Stephanie Schiff, a registered dietician and certified diabetes care and education specialist at Huntingdon Hospital, a part of Northwell Health in New York, told The Epoch Times.

The additive can be easily avoided if you’re eating a diet based on whole foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, she noted.

“If a food is made in a factory and has ingredients that are not familiar or are difficult to pronounce, it is likely highly processed and may contain carrageenan,” Schiff said. “If you’re eating a packaged good that is creamy or thick, check the label; it may contain carrageenan.” Although carrageenan is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Schiff noted that it has no nutritional value.

Schiff also recommended a whole-food, plant-focused diet to circumvent carrageenan and other unhealthy additives. Alternatives such as gellan, locust bean, guar, and xanthan gums can be used in place of carrageenan without the associated health risks. However, she cautioned that buying organic does not guarantee a product is free from carrageenan.

The amount of carrageenan in a typical Western diet can range from 250 milligrams to 2 to 4 grams per person per day. Carrageenan is the fourth-most commonly consumed food additive in pediatric patients with Crohn’s disease, according to research.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently allows carrageenan in organic food, despite opposition from the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), a federal advisory board that makes recommendations on organic food and products.

Carrageenan Isn’t the Only Additive of Concern

According to Schiff, people should be aware of other additives commonly found in processed foods, including:

• Sodium Nitrite: Found in processed meats, nitrites have been linked to a higher risk of several types of cancer when heated.
• High-Fructose Corn Syrup: This sweetener is associated with weight gain, diabetes, and inflammation.
• Trans Fats: Present in hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, these fats can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): MSG can cause sweating, flushing, numbness, palpitations, and tingling in sensitive individuals.

Via The Cradle

Militants from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) currently invading Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, are taking orders from Turkish intelligence, French news agency AFP has reported.

HTS, formerly known as the Nusra Front, launched a lightning offensive from the group’s stronghold in Idlib Governorate on Wednesday. Its fighters took over numerous villages in the Aleppo countryside before taking control of large parts of Aleppo City on Saturday, including the ancient citadel. AFP writes that “Opposition sources in touch with Turkish intelligence said Turkey had given a green light to the offensive.”

An AFP correspondent in HTS-held Idlib further reported that “The jihadists and their Turkey-backed allies took orders from a joint operations command.” During the US-backed covert war on Syria that began in 2011, the CIA and allied intelligence agencies established joint operations rooms in southern Turkey and Amman, Jordan, to direct the activities of their extremist proxies fighting the Syrian government.

Izvestia reported that the current HTS attack on Aleppo was coordinated between Turkish, Ukrainian, and French intelligence, with Israeli support and US approval.

The Russian newspaper said the assault was originally planned for March but was launched early in response to events in Lebanon. On Wednesday, a ceasefire took effect to halt 66 days of brutal fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army in Lebanon.

Just as the ceasefire began, Israel turned its sights on Syria by bombing Lebanese-Syrian border crossings in an effort to prevent weapons transfers from Syria to Hezbollah.

Syrian army sources said on Saturday that Israel was also backing the extremists attacking Aleppo and areas on the Idlib front. In the past, Israel has kept its support for Al-Qaeda groups in Syria covert so as not to damage their credibility in the eyes of Arabs and Sunni Muslims.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a special security discussion Friday evening with the heads of the defense establishment to discuss the current fighting in Syria.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Israeli officials view the Turkish-backed extremist advance on Aleppo as an opportunity to weaken Syria, which is a key ally of Hezbollah and Iran in the Axis of Resistance.

The CIA and Pentagon have armed 21 out of 28 Syrian anti-government militias repurposed by Turkey into a mercenary “national army,” according to Turkish think tank SETA

Many of these same US-backed groups participated in this week’s assault on Aleppo https://t.co/aw6ueXG7hG

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) December 1, 2024

An unnamed Israeli official told the Hebrew newspaper that the fighting “is something we need to closely monitor and see how it develops.'”

“It doesn’t necessarily affect us, especially not in the short term, but any erosion of stability in a neighboring country could also impact us. It seems here that there are also opportunities for change,” the official said.

President Joe Biden is pardoning his son Hunter, despite Biden and the White House repeatedly denying he would do so.

The pardon comes ahead of Hunter’s Dec. 12 sentencing for his conviction on federal gun charges, as well as an upcoming Dec. 16 sentencing in a separate criminal case in which he pleaded guilty on federal tax evasion charges.

The pardon, which is “Full and Unconditional,” is expected to cover both the gun conviction and the guilty plea, and covers offenses “which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in” over a nearly 11-year period from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 1, 2024. Including this, which Donald Trump was impeached for asking about.

Biden pardons his son for every possible crime that he committed over a TEN YEAR SPAN https://t.co/3RBqBqWb0s

— John Hasson (@SonofHas) December 2, 2024

In a statement, Biden said Hunter was “treated differently” by his own Justice Department, adding that the charges only came about “after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.”

“In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me,” Biden continued, adding “Enough is enough.“

Wow…

Joe Biden’s 11-year blanket pardon of Hunter is even more expansive than the pardon Gerald Ford gave to Richard Nixon in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. pic.twitter.com/9ThNOEGyo5

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) December 2, 2024

In recent months Biden has said he wouldn’t pardon Hunter…

“I will not pardon him,” Biden said in June. However, according to NBC News, Biden has been discussing a pardon with his closest aides since Hunter’s June conviction, adding that the decision was made at the time for the president to lie and say he wouldn’t pardon him.

In November, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that Joe’s position hadn’t changed.

“We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands which is ‘no,’” she said.

FLASHBACK: Karine Jean-Pierre on Biden: “Will he pardon his son? No”pic.twitter.com/kDHfNbKf0F

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 2, 2024

BREAKING: President Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter Biden.

The development comes after the Biden administration promised the public that he would *not* consider pardoning his own son.

Biden now says “enough is enough.”

Official statement from Biden:

Today, I signed a… pic.twitter.com/oUS790xW8g

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 2, 2024

And when asked on Monday if Biden is still committed to not pardoning Hunter, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said “The president has spoken to this.”

Jill Biden also said Hunter wouldn’t receive a pardon.

“Joe and I both respect the judicial system, and that’s the bottom line,” she told NBC News in June.

In October, I asked Trump if he would consider pardoning Hunter Biden?

He predicted Joe Biden would pardon him instead.

He was correct. https://t.co/fcqM7L6YLI

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 2, 2024

The only thing Hunter Biden is guilty of is being unable to correctly weigh crack cocaine on a metric scale. There’s no pardon for that. pic.twitter.com/R0C5CXqlK7

— Alpha Of The Betas (@AlphaOfTheBetas) December 2, 2024

A limited pardon for Hunter for the gun crap and the other stuff pending trial?

I wouldn’t like it, but I could understand it. A blanket pardon every single crime he ever committed over the last decade? F that. Time to put Joe and James and everyone else in that garbage family…

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) December 2, 2024

No seriously tho, impeach him.

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 2, 2024

A colossally selfish decision that will allow every Trump supporter to note that Democrats say one thing and do another https://t.co/vvQ8GkC14l

— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) December 2, 2024

.@JohnJHarwood, everyone. pic.twitter.com/QiyS6yDUjl

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 2, 2024

LOL https://t.co/S24cBfQ8Qn

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 2, 2024

Do you know why Biden picked 2014 as the first year of Hunter’s pardon?

That’s when he was appointed director of Ukraine’s Burisma, starting a sequence of events that almost ended in World War 3. And so we go full circle. pic.twitter.com/6CchwEjxtz

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 2, 2024

And remember…

No one is above the law.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 31, 2024

Americans should be outraged by New York City’s $220 million sweetheart deal with Pakistan to lease the prestigious Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan as a luxury shelter for illegal aliens. The most alarming issue is that NYC paid a foreign government to help house the migrants.

X user John LeFevre resurfaced a 2023 news story, first published by The Economic Times, regarding Pakistan’s decision to lease the iconic Roosevelt Hotel to the local government, sympathetic to globalist policies, such as open borders. 

The Roosevelt Hotel NYC.

City officials are reporting that over 700 migrants are still arriving in NYC per week .

Over 300k migrants have been through NYC funded shelters and hotels .

The cost of the migrant crisis is over 5.6 billion dollars per year .

NYC has not received… pic.twitter.com/rIMhSEyNJr

— Viral News NYC (@ViralNewsNYC) September 20, 2024

For some context, Pakistan has owned the Roosevelt Hotel since 1979. State-owned Pakistan International Airlines acquired the trophy property through its investment arm, PIA Investments Limited. 

According to the 2023 report, the lease agreement spans three years, during which NYC stuffed thousands of illegal aliens into the 1,250-room hotel like cattle—funded entirely by taxpayers. This arrangement has sparked outrage about how NYC paid a foreign gov’t to help support the invasion of the third world into a first-world city.

The Roosevelt Hotel in NYC is a breeding ground for migrant gangs like Tren de Aragua to recruit new young members. pic.twitter.com/VITs4SWNu7

— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) November 24, 2024

“The hotel is owned by the government of Pakistan, and the deal was part of a $1.1 billion IMF bailout package to help Pakistan avoid defaulting on their international debt,” LeFevre wrote on X. 

According to the public records website The Org, Najeeb Samie is a director at Roosevelt Hotel Corporation, as well as a director at Habib Bank and board member and managing director at PIA Investments.

Samie’s connection with Habib Bank is alarming, given that in 2017, the New York State Department of Financial Services fined the Pakistani bank $225 million and surrendered its license to operate in the US over compliance failures in its New York branch, such as weaknesses in monitoring transactions for potential links to terrorism financing and sanctions evasion. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE’s Vivek Ramaswamy (also led by Elon Musk), is livid over NYC funding a foreign gov’t entity with taxpayer dollars in supporting the migrant invasion. He called the migrant housing scheme totally “nuts”:

“A taxpayer-funded hotel for illegal migrants is owned by the Pakistani government which means NYC taxpayers are effectively paying a foreign government to house illegals in our own country. This is nuts.

A taxpayer-funded hotel for illegal migrants is owned by the Pakistani government which means NYC taxpayers are effectively paying a foreign government to house illegals in our own country. This is nuts. https://t.co/Oy4Z9qoX45

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 1, 2024

Musk also chimed in, calling it “Crazy.”

Crazy

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 1, 2024

Here’s what X users had to say: 

I cannot wait til they end this insane subsidized migrant hotel thing and NYC hotels go back to normal prices

— nic carter (@nic__carter) December 1, 2024

And Hurricane Helene victims are without homes, heat, clothing, … what an absolute disgrace. So much done behind closed doors. Money laundering and payoffs. What do Americans get in all of this wheelin’ and dealin’?

— lovin’ life (@LovinRiftss) December 1, 2024

$220m a month, year or over the 3 years?

Curious how much NYC tax payers are paying per room night!

— @jason (@Jason) November 30, 2024

What in the actual!

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

Leftist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is rumored to be a candidate in the 2028 presidential election, immediately drawing laughter and mockery from critics on social media. 

Ocasio-Cortez’s name “always bubbles to the top” when Democrats discuss the party’s future, The Hill noted Friday in a compilation list of potential presidential contenders. 

One leftist strategist claimed the congresswoman has impressed Democrats by cutting “through the BS and telling it like it is.” This positive characterization sharply contrasted with online comments from users on X. 

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz reacted to the news by jesting, “Alex has told people she’s running in 2028 since 2019.” 

Alex has told people she’s running in 2028 since 2019. https://t.co/ulDnkozFod

— Former Congressman Matt Gaetz (@FmrRepMattGaetz) November 29, 2024

This comment appears to reference the suggestion made by some Democrats in 2020 that Ocasio-Cortez would have been a presidential “front-runner” had she not been so young. 

One user shared Ocasio-Cortez’s infamous crying photo at the southern border, with a Trump-Vance sign photoshopped into the image.

Good. lol pic.twitter.com/Kosuy1sJ7F

— I Love America News (@ILA_NewsX) November 29, 2024

Another user shared an AI-generated image of Ocasio-Cortez as a swamp-like comic villain, with incoming Vice President JD Vance’s face photoshopped onto a Captain America costume in the image. 

“Think of the memes!” the second user said, predicting that an Ocasio-Cortez candidacy would invite mockery. 

BENNY! THINK OF THE MEMES! pic.twitter.com/pxpAxFQKAA

— Brick Suit (@Brick_Suit) November 29, 2024

Podcast host and author Alec Lace mocked Ocasio-Cortez by recalling how her endorsement of outgoing Rep. Jamaal Bowman failed to save him from losing his Democratic primary. 

Ask Bowman how much her endorsement meant https://t.co/AqiwB04O6W

— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) November 29, 2024

A second Democratic strategist told The Hill that Ocasio-Cortez and her leftist “Squad” are deemed too controversial. 

“She and the ‘squad’ started pushing too hard, too fast,” the Democrat said. “D.C. doesn’t work that way. And our party doesn’t work that way. We need to get back to the basics.” 

A potential Ocasio-Cortez candidacy could mirror outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris’s first presidential bid in 2020. 

Harris launched her campaign as a progressive leader but ultimately failed to make it to the primaries.

Her campaign was plagued by controversy, wasteful spending and ineffective staff. Four years later, Harris would renounce most of her leftist policies in a failed bid to appear moderate.