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FLASHBACK: Harris declined to intervene on behalf of native tribe push to protect sacred site from wind farm

Vice President Kamala Harris, while serving as California’s attorney general, declined to intervene on behalf of efforts by local Native American tribes to protect a sacred burial site from being turned into a wind farm that critics labeled a green energy boondoggle. California’s Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) voted in 2013 to declare land used for the Ocotillo Express Wind Facility as a “sacred site” after hearing several hours of “emotional” testimony from local Native Americans who, according to East County Magazine, contended “that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ignored their concerns and its duty to protect a clearly documented sacred site and cemetery in the fast-tracked approval process for the Ocotillo Express Wind Facility.” Tribal leaders at the time described the Ocotillo wind project as “utter destruction,” “constructed on top of the graves of our ancestors,” and a “violation of trust.” Local Native Americans argued that the wind facility was built on what is known as the “Valley of the Dead,” which they claimed for over 10,000 years as a site where ancestral remains were buried. While some tribes supported the wind farm, the NAHC voted 4-0 to ask Attorney General Harris to explore legal options. VP HARRIS RIPPED BY VICTIM OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASED UNDER HER PROGRAM OVER RESURFACED SPEECH “I really want to say, ‘Dismantle it and give the land back to the tribes’ . . . I’d like to ask the Attorney General to . . . give this commission more teeth so we could say, ‘Tear that wall down,’” NAHC Commissioner Marshall McKay said at the time. Then-AG Harris did not step in to take legal action in favor of the activists, instead, Harris’ office “determined that the Native American Heritage Commission has no jurisdiction to bring action in the form of a lawsuit against a federal agency for a project situated on federal land.” “Further, the Attorney General can no longer represent the Native American Heritage Commission on the Ocotillo Project due to a conflict of interest.” SWING STATE GOP CHAIR SLAMS BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN FOR BEING OUT OF TOUCH ON KEY ISSUE: ‘ABANDONED THIS COUNTRY’ Local media described Harris’ actions as having “thwarted” the efforts of the tribes. “Pattern Energy’s industrial wind facility was built atop lands known as ‘Valley of the Dead’ by Native American tribes for over 10,000 years,” East County Magazine wrote. “The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians also objected to the desecration of ancestral remains and persuaded the California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) that the state should take action on their behalf, but those efforts were thwarted by California Attorney General Kamala Harris.” The Ocotillo wind farm facility has had a litany of problems including safety issues and shut-downs. Those safety issues included equipment spraying oil across the sacred site, turbines catching fire, and one tower catastrophically losing a blade. In 2021, BLM temporarily shut down the plant after its second tower collapse in five years. Questions have also been raised whether the wind farm facility has even delivered on its promised green energy benefits after it fell short of its capacity forecast three years in a row and prompting experts to wonder whether the need for the plant was simply “spin.” “It was heartbreaking to see this project desecrate such a historically and culturally significant landscape, and it’s even worse when you find out that it was built on false claims by the developer, and with the assistance of the BLM. “Anthony Pico, Chairman, Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, said, according to East County Magazine. “Does economics trump justice in this country? I believe it does, and that profoundly saddens me,’ Pico told commissioners during the showdown. “I cannot understand, we cannot understand, how federal and state institutions who have trusted fiduciary responsibility to Native Americans, allowed the utter destruction of arguably the richest cultural resource in our country in Ocotillo Valley.’” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment. “The Ocotillo Wind facility began operations 12 years ago after it was designated by the U.S. government as a critical resource for protecting the country’s energy security. The vital clean energy facility brought 370 jobs to Imperial County and provides enough clean electricity to provide power for 300,000 Americans each year without any emissions or water use,” a spokesperson for Pattern Energy told Fox News Digital. “Ocotillo Wind uses American-made wind turbines that generated more than $20 million in sales tax revenue for Imperial County and the state of California. Over the first 20 years of operations, Ocotillo Wind expects to generate more than $100 million for local taxing jurisdictions, with Imperial County, Imperial Valley College, and the Imperial Unified School District being significant beneficiaries.”  “The Ocotillo facility was carefully sited to not directly impact cultural resources while supporting America’s energy needs. During development, the company spent three years carefully planning, listening to the community and addressing feedback through numerous project revisions, which resulted in a final design that received the support of many local residents, officials and Native American Tribes.”

‘Deadliest’ storms ‘since Katrina’: Georgia Republican demands emergency session of Congress

FIRST ON FOX: A House Republican from southeast Georgia is urging congressional leaders to call lawmakers back to Washington, D.C., as soon as possible to approve additional disaster relief funds. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other leaders on Friday, weeks after two hurricanes battered parts of the Southeastern United States. “The rain, wind, and flood damages from Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton have killed over 200 Americans, and caused hundreds of billions of dollars of damages, including to our critical infrastructure such as the electrical grid, major roadways, bridges, and more,” Carter wrote. “Together, these storms have been the deadliest and most destructive storms to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Katrina.” ‘THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW IS FUEL’: REP. GREG STEUBE OF FLORIDA TALKS HURRICANE AFTERMATH It is a notable demand coming from a House GOP leadership ally like Carter, particularly after Johnson all but definitively ruled out the possibility of calling the House back early. It comes days after the Small Business Administration (SBA) warned it had run out of funding for disaster relief loans and as Biden administration officials warned FEMA does not have sufficient cash levels to last through the hurricane season. The speaker told Fox News Digital earlier this month that the $20 billion in FEMA funding freed up by Congress in September would be enough to meet the immediate needs for storm recovery. State and local officials would also likely take until mid-November to tabulate how much supplemental funding is needed as well, Johnson reasoned, at which point lawmakers would be back in Washington. Biden administration officials have agreed that FEMA has enough funds to meet immediate needs but warned it would not have the money for the entirety of the season. SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’ Meanwhile, the bipartisan chorus calling for Congress to return early – mainly from lawmakers in affected states – has continued to grow. Helene, which hit roughly three weeks ago, left a trail of devastation and dozens dead after ripping through parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and other states. The next week, Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s Gulf Coast with its own deadly force. Those storms and Hurricane Debby have led to potentially billions of dollars in damage to both public and private property, likely leaving hundreds of Americans who survived the storm homeless. The severity of the situation was compounded earlier this week when the SBA said in a press release “that it has exhausted funds for its disaster loan program after warnings that funding would soon run out following increased demand from Hurricane Helene.” FUEL SHORTAGES, POWER OUTAGES HINDER HURRICANE CLEANUP EFFORTS IN FLORIDA, GOP REP SAYS “Until Congress appropriates additional funds, the SBA is pausing new loan offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term loans to disaster survivors,” the SBA said. Carter wrote in his letter, “We appreciate congressional leadership’s commitment to replenishing funds for these critical disaster relief programs, but the current pause on new SBA loan offers to those attempting to rebuild their businesses and homes is already delaying recovery efforts.” “Considering the immediate and pressing need for assistance for millions of Americans, we ask that you call Congress back into session as soon as possible to replenish SBA’s disaster loan program and ensure there is funding certainty for our other disaster programs, including FEMA,” the congressman wrote. Johnson’s office pointed Fox News Digital to prior comments from the speaker when asked for a response, “There’s no question these devastating back-to-back storms have stressed the SBA funding program. But the Biden-Harris Administration has the necessary disaster funding right now to address the immediate needs of American people in these hurricane affected areas. Congress is tracking this situation closely, and when Members return in just a few short weeks, the Administration should have an accurate assessment of the actual dollar amount needed and there will be strong bipartisan support to provide the necessary funding.” Fox News Digital also reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.

House Dems sue FEC accusing GOP of exploiting campaign loophole

The House Democrats‘ campaign arm filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Thursday, alleging the agency’s failure to take action has led to Republican candidates using a campaign finance loophole in their television advertisements.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) filed its initial complaint for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief in D.C. District Court, which was first reported by Axios. The DCCC is arguing that Republicans are disguising attack ads paid for by joint fundraising committees as fundraising ventures, therefore circumventing fundraising caps.   The suit comes after Senate Democrats previously accused Republicans of using the tactic and appealed to the FEC to rule if such a strategy is allowed. The commission voted 3-3 along party lines last week, thus allowing the GOP to continue with its ads.  FIRST ON FOX: TOP OUTSIDE GROUP BACKING SENATE REPUBLICANS SHOWCASES FUNDRAISING HAUL “Federal law is clear that party committee expenditures coordinated with candidates are subject to limits. Republican candidates are so cash strapped that they’re now brazenly exploiting a self-created loophole to spend party committee money on candidate ads, well in excess of applicable limits, at the lowest unit charge,” Rachel L. Jacobs, general counsel for the DCCC, told Fox News Digital in a statement.  “Their actions require DCCC and Democratic House candidates to make a choice between engaging in conduct they think is illegal at the risk of getting penalized by the FEC and/or Department of Justice, or being at a competitive disadvantage to their Republican counterparts to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.” The DCCC is now asking the federal court to rule on whether the practice is illegal ahead of the Nov. 5 election. FIRST ON FOX: TOP OUTSIDE GROUP BACKING HOUSE REPUBLICANS SETS FUNDRAISING RECORD FEC Chairman Sean Cooksey told Axios, “I fully expect the FEC to prevail in this frivolous lawsuit. We will see the DCCC in court.”  The FEC declined to provide additional comment on ongoing litigation when asked for a statement by Fox News Digital.  In a statement to Axios, National Republican Senatorial Committee General Counsel Ryan Dollar called the suit “a desperate stunt,” saying the television ads were “approved unanimously in 2007 and reaffirmed last week.” “I’d be curious to hear what Harris Victory has to say about this ridiculous lawsuit, given that they have engaged in these ads themselves,” Dollar told the outlet.  TRUMP UPS THE ANTE WITH HIS SEPTEMBER FUNDRAISING HAUL With just a few weeks out from Election Day, Republicans are fighting to maintain control of the House and take over the Senate. The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), the leading outside group supporting House Republicans and closely aligned with House Speaker Mike Johnson, reported its highest fundraising quarter ever earlier this month, announcing an $81.4 million haul during the July-September third quarter of 2024 fundraising.   The CLF also announced at the time that it would be funneling another $11 million in new ad reservations, sharing the news first with Fox News Digital.  Likewise, the Senate Leadership Fund, the leading super PAC supporting Republican incumbents and candidates, announced it hauled in $114.5 million during the same fundraising quarter.  Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

British invasion: Labour Party to descend on US to help Harris

In a now-deleted social media post, the head of operations for the left-wing British Labour Party indicated “nearly 100” current and former party staffers will be headed to the U.S. to help Vice President Kamala Harris during the final stretch before the election. The Labour Party leader, Sofia Patel, took to LinkedIn earlier this week to solicit help from current and former members of the party who would be willing to campaign for Harris in the key battleground state of North Carolina. Patel indicated in her post that she had already organized “nearly 100 Labour Party staff” to stump across the key battleground states of Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia but had about 10 spots left for anyone willing to head to North Carolina.  “We will sort your housing,” Patel assured anyone interested. “Email me on labourforkamala@gmail.com if you’re interested.”  Patel, in addition to deleting the post, appeared to delete her entire LinkedIn page as of Friday morning as well.    There is no indication the Labour Party’s efforts have been coordinated with the Harris campaign. Fox News Digital reached out to both for comment but did not receive any on-the-record response by publication time.  KEIR STARMER ELECTED NEW UK PRIME MIISTER AFTER BIG LABOUR PARTY WIN Following news of the Labour Party’s plans to help Harris, critics took issue with the move, with some slamming it as foreign election interference.  “Yet another reason to vote for President Trump,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said. “More foreign election interference from the Democrats,” added Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y.  Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., called for an investigation. “Election interference from foreign nationals. Investigate!” Collins wrote on X.  PARLIAMENT FOR NEW UK LABOUR GOVERNMENT OPENS WITH KING’S SPEECH, PLANS FOR ‘NATIONAL RENEWAL’ Elon Musk and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., both outright called the move illegal.   “You are breaking FEC laws,” Greene said in a social media post directed at the Labour Party. “Foreign nationals are not allowed to be involved in anyway in U.S. elections. Please go back to the UK and fix your own mass immigration problems that are ruining your country.”  Musk, meanwhile, simply responded “This is illegal.” IRAN TRIED TO INFLUENCE ELECTION BY SENDING STOLEN MATERIAL FROM TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO BIDEN’S CAMP, FBI SAYS X’s “Community Notes” function, which serves to provide context for inaccurate or misleading information on the platform, flagged Greene’s remarks for additional context, however. According to the additional context added to her post, while federal election law does not allow foreign-nationals to make monetary or in-kind contributions in connection with federal races, it is permissable to participate in campaign activities as an uncompensated volunteer. American journalist Isaac Saul, who founded a digital news project called Tangle News aimed at providing a non-partisan take on news headlines, echoed the arguments from X’s community note. “Elon Musk claiming Labour Party leaders are violating the law by coming here to campaign. They aren’t,” Saul wrote on X in response to Musk’s comments that the Labour Party’s work was “illegal.” “This is only illegal if they are being compensated – the FB post indicates they are seeking volunteers,” Saul pointed out.

‘Litigation minefield’: Georgia Republicans readying post-election legal strategy

Georgia Republicans are already prepping for a potential “litigation minefield” after Election Day. “Well, of course, you have to be prepared, right, in the case of a close election to look at the recounts,” Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon said. The former Peach State lawmaker spoke with Fox News Digital on Thursday after back-to-back legal setbacks for the GOP-controlled State Elections Board (SEB). On Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney temporarily blocked a new rule that would have required Georgia precinct Election Day ballots to be counted by hand by three county officials after being machine tabulated, to ensure the totals matched. GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK STATE The next day, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox, Jr. ruled that measure and several other provisions passed by the SEB to be “illegal, unconstitutional, and void.” “We think he’s absolutely wrong with regard to the hand-count rule. We intend to appeal that decision,” McKoon said of the McBurney ruling, while praising him for a separate decision acknowledging “election board members are entitled to election-related information” ahead of the certification process. He said the Georgia GOP had already filed an emergency appeal for Cox’s ruling. “His decision was wrongheaded. I think it lacked any rational legal basis,” McKoon said. “If his decision were upheld, it would severely curtail the ability of the state elections board to regulate our elections and to do the job.” Democratic critics of the new SEB rules accused the Republican members who voted for them of trying to sow doubt and chaos in Georgia’s election process. GOP skeptics, including State Secretary Brad Raffensperger, have argued their implementation is unworkable this close to the election. TRUMP VS. HARRIS ROUND 2? VOTERS IN KEY GA COUNTY REVEAL IF THEY WANT SECOND DEBATE However, Republican Party officials like McKoon say such guardrails are necessary to ensure voter confidence – and that not having them in place would be fomenting uncertainty. “These rules are designed to increase public confidence and reduce sort of this post-election chaos around a potential election contest or a recount. And so, if we don’t have these rules in place, it increases the likelihood in a close election of the kind of litigation minefield that we witnessed in 2020,” McKoon said. “And nobody wants that.” He suggested Republicans were getting ready for that possibility, however. “Now, I believe President Trump is going to win Georgia. I think he’s going to win by a margin so large that we’re not going to be in a litigation mode,” McKoon said. “But obviously, you work for the best outcome, but prepare for the worst.” “So we’ve got our legal team in place. We’re certainly prepared for a close election to deal with those post-election legal processes you go through. So we have prepared for that, and we’re ready for that if that happens.” Litigation in battleground states, both before and after an election, is not a new phenomenon for either party. Georgia voters stunned election watchers in 2020, when the traditionally red state went for President Biden by less than 1%. Though no findings of fraud were made by Georgia officials or the courts, allies of former President Donald Trump questioned the validity of the results and vowed to close what they saw as exploitable gaps in the electoral system. GEORGIA DEMS CHAIR REVEALS MESSAGE TO UNDECIDED VOTERS AS HARRIS WORKS TO BUILD BROAD BASE Democrats have accused the GOP of trying to engineer chaos in their favor via the legal system, citing the lack of proven instances of fraud. In his Tuesday ruling, McBurney temporarily blocked implementation of the hand-count ballot rule after a lawsuit by the Cobb County Board of Elections. He ruled that the lack of plans for its implementation would likely do more harm than good at ensuring smooth elections, writing “the timing of its passage make implementation now quite wrong.” Cox’s ruling also invalidates that measure, while also invalidating a rule directing county officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results and giving them the ability “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.” Additionally, Cox blocked new signature and photo ID requirements for people dropping off absentee ballots for others. In the second case, civil rights groups and some current and former Republican state officials argued the SEB did not have the constitutional right to implement such measures. Defendants, which included the Georgia Republican Party, unsuccessfully lobbied that the state’s General Assembly gave the SEB the scope to craft such rules. The rules were passed last month in a 3-2 vote by Trump-aligned Republicans on the elections board.

Trump campaign slams ‘witch hunt’ after Jack Smith court docs released less than 3 weeks before election

The judge in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case on Friday made public more documents from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president just weeks before the 2024 election.  U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered on Thursday night that additional documents be made public. The hundreds of pages of documents are Smith’s appendix of exhibits in the fight over whether Trump has a level of presidential immunity that negates the charges against him. “Radical Democrats are hell-bent on interfering in the presidential election on behalf of Lyin’ Kamala Harris,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. “With just over two weeks until Election Day, President Trump is dominating this race and Crazed Liberals throughout the Deep State are freaking out.”  Cheung added, “As mandated by the Supreme Court’s historic decision on Presidential Immunity and other vital jurisprudence, this entire case is a sham and a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely — as should ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.” JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING IN SPECIAL COUNSEL’S ELECTION CASE AGAINST TRUMP The majority of pages released to the public remain under seal and are not viewable by the public. Much of the unsealed material has been previously released in some form, including transcripts by the House Select Committee on Jan. 6. Other documents include old Trump campaign press releases, fundraising emails, White House press conference transcripts and news articles.  In the order to release the documents, Chutkan cited Trump’s claim that the “asymmetric release of charged allegations and related documents during early voting creates a concerning appearance of election interference.”  According to the judge, while there is a public interest for courts to avoid involving themselves in elections, “it is in fact Defendant’s requested relief that risks undermining that public interest.” “If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute — or appear to be — election interference,” she argued.  TRUMP BLASTS DOJ FOR ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE,’ CALLS JACK SMITH CASE A ‘SCAM’ AFTER JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING She added that the court would continue keeping political considerations out of decisions, despite the defense’s request.  Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith.  The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts.  Smith was then required to file another indictment against Trump, revising the charges in an effort to navigate the Supreme Court ruling. The new indictment kept the prior criminal charges but narrowed and reframed the allegations against Trump after the high court’s ruling that gave broad immunity to former presidents.  Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in the new indictment as well.  TRUMP ATTORNEYS ARGUE JACK SMITH’S OBSTRUCTION CHARGES BE DISMISSED CITING SUPREME COURT’S ‘FISCHER’ DECISION In a filing unsealed earlier this month, Smith outlines a “factual proffer,” alleging Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election. “With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote.  Smith claims that the “throughline of these efforts was deceit,” claiming Trump and co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government function by which the nation collects and counts election results, which is set forth in the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act (ECA); a conspiracy to obstruct the official proceeding in which Congress certifies the legitimate results of the presidential election; and a conspiracy against the rights of millions of Americans to vote and have their votes counted.”  Fox News’ Julia Johnson, Jake Gibson, David Spunt and Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

Judge releases more Jack Smith Trump investigation docs to the public

The judge in former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case on Friday made public more documents from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president just weeks before the 2024 election.  U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered on Thursday night that additional documents be made public.  The documents pertain to the appendix of exhibits in the fight over whether Trump has a level of presidential immunity that negates the charges against him. Chutkan cited in the order Trump’s claim that the “asymmetric release of charged allegations and related documents during early voting creates a concerning appearance of election interference.”  This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.  Fox News’ Julia Johnson, Jake Gibson, David Spunt and Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

Justin Trudeau is a nauseating hypocrite

You know it’s bound to be serious when one politician holds a news conference and orders two other politicians to stand slightly behind him like mannequins while he reads from a prepared statement. That bit of staged solemnity took place earlier this week at the home of staged solemnity – Ottawa – when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was flanked by two mute, grim-looking cabinet ministers, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc. All the choreographed scene was missing was a drum roll or a fanfare commensurate with the affected profundity of the occasion. The Liberal Party’s former prince is facing a mutiny organised by a host of anxious backbenchers worried about losing their jobs – in light of public opinion polls suggesting that Trudeau’s government is listing so badly that much of the caucus is reportedly grasping for the nearest life jacket or, preferably, a large lifeboat to accommodate them all. So, in a likely futile attempt to resuscitate his on-life-support political prospects and prove to Canada’s largely white, male cognoscenti that he still has the right stuff to remain prime minister – for the time being, at least – charming, effervescent Trudeau has channeled in tough, resolute Trudeau. In effect, the prime minister declared diplomatic war on India – an emerging superpower and a supposed ally – based on “evidence” gathered by the country’s dysfunctional, scandal-racked police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). That “evidence,” Trudeau said, allegedly establishes that Indian “agents” have orchestrated a clandestine campaign “that pose[s] a significant threat to public safety”. For its part, the RCMP claims that India’s covert schemes amount to “serious criminal activity in Canada” involving coercion, threats, and the murder of Canadian citizens on Canadian soil. Aside from a bunch of cops and politicians, no one has seen so much as a morsel of the “evidence” to assess its strength – but I digress. Trudeau said he asked New Delhi to play nice and help the RCMP out by cooperating with its ongoing probes. New Delhi, unsurprisingly, told Trudeau and company to take a long, lonely hike – to put it charitably. Cue the diplomatic war. Trudeau kicked out six Indian diplomats posted in Canada, including India’s high commissioner. India, in a predictable retort, ordered six Canadian diplomats to pack their bags and head promptly home. The aforementioned white, male cognoscenti – who cheer on wars of any sort – applauded Trudeau for standing up to state-sanctioned “terrorism” and insisted that India would “pay a heavy price” for doing what the prime minister and the RCMP believe New Delhi’s agents are doing to Canadians in Canada – even though none of them are privy to the shrouded-in-secrecy “evidence”. As I said, Canada’s white, male cognoscenti just love war – diplomatic or otherwise. But here is the nauseating rub. Trudeau, his cabinet, and the familiar roster of obsequious columnists and on-TV-all-the-time commentators are rank hypocrites. They will, of course, refuse to acknowledge this because they are incapable of introspection, let alone recognising the blaring, prima facie proof of their rank hypocrisy. In defending his decision to expel India’s diplomats, Trudeau said “Canada is a country rooted in the rule of law, and the protection of our citizens is paramount.” Sure it is. Trudeau’s I’m-going-to-hold-the bad-guys-who-do-bad-things-to-Canadians-to-account tough-guy strutting is limited, apparently, by geography and which close “ally” is responsible for harming citizens he is charged, as prime minister, with protecting. Canada’s white, male cognoscenti did not bother to listen carefully to all Trudeau said before reaching for their pom poms. “We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government in threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil – a deeply unacceptable violation of Canada’s sovereignty and of international law,” Trudeau said. Let me paraphrase Trudeau for the hard of hearing. If any country, especially Israel, threatens, coerces or kills Canadians in Lebanon or what remains of the human hellscape known as occupied Gaza, I’m not going to do a damn thing about it. Oh sure, I might have my inconsequential foreign minister write a tweet or two “condemning” the killing by Israel of an elderly Canadian couple as they sought safe haven and approve of her making a short phone call to offer condolences to the surviving family. Beyond that farcical bit of performative nonsense, my government and I have, in fact, enshrined Israel’s licence to kill Canadians with impunity because our dear beloved friend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would never, ever break the rules of war or international law. Despite my tough-guy talk, Foreign Minister Joly and I will indeed “tolerate” the killing of Canadians by a “foreign government” as long as it doesn’t perpetrate its [war] crimes “on Canadian soil”. You see, in our duplicitous view, that doesn’t constitute an “unacceptable violation” of “international law”. Remember, Israel has the absolute, unquestionable right to defend itself and a few dead Canadians – blown into charred, unrecognisable bits that require DNA testing to confirm their identities – won’t change our myopic minds. Goodness knows, we can’t risk having the usual apoplectic suspects inside and outside Parliament accusing my prostrate government of being anti-Semites or siding with “terrorists”. De facto: We won’t be summoning Israel’s ambassador to Canada to Global Affairs HQ for a stiff talking-to or kicking out Israeli diplomats in response to the killing of three Canadians in Lebanon by its military over the past few weeks. Is that clear, everyone? If my rendering of the true meaning of Trudeau’s cynical, calibrated remarks offend his soon-to-be-unemployed toadies or any member of Canada’s white, male commentariat, then I urge them to speak with Kamal Tabaja, the eldest son of 74-year-old Hussein and 69-year-old Daad Tabaja, who were incinerated by an Israeli missile fired by an Israeli pilot in late September. That’s a rhetorical request because Trudeau has already forgotten about their killing. And the columnists rushing to pen pieces excoriating India’s alleged crimes have never, and will never, demand that Israel “pay a heavy price” or denounce its documented crimes – whether the victims are

Why almost eight million Venezuelans have fled their country

We speak with young Venezuelans about life in the country and their hopes for the future. In this episode of The Stream, we look into Venezuela’s displacement crisis (almost eight million people have left the country in the past decade) through the perspective of young Venezuelans who stayed behind. We discuss life under President Nicolas Maduro, re-elected in July, and the nation’s struggles with hyperinflation and economic collapse. While some blame Maduro for the crisis, others point to foreign intervention. We hear from young Venezuelans about their hopes for the future and what changes are needed for the country to thrive. Presenter: Anelise Borges Guests:German Rodriguez – Universidad Central de Venezuela studentSamuel Urbina – DiplomatCamila Godoy – Psychologist Adblock test (Why?)

South Korea’s spy agency says North Korea sending troops to Russia

Russian navy ships moved 1,500 North Korean soldiers to Vladivostok, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service confirmed. North Korea has dispatched troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, South Korea’s spy agency has said. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed in a statement on Friday that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operations forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok from October 8 to October 13. It said more North Korean soldiers are expected to be sent to Russia soon. The development could draw a third country into the conflict and further escalate tensions between North Korea and the West. The NIS reported that North Korean soldiers sent to Russia have been provided with Russian military uniforms, weapons and forged identification documents. Currently stationed at military bases in Vladivostok and other locations such as Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk, they are expected to be deployed to combat zones once their training is complete. The spy agency posted on its website satellite and other photos showing what it called Russian navy ship movements near a North Korean port and suspected North Korean mass gatherings in Ussuriysk and Khabarovsk in the past week. At a news conference on Friday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he “could not yet confirm North Korea is sending troops to Russia”. South Korean media, citing the NIS, also reported that Pyongyang has decided to dispatch a total of 12,000 soldiers in four brigades to Russia. The NIS did not immediately confirm those reports. This handout from the National Intelligence Service released on October 18, 2024, shows a satellite image by Airbus Defence and Space of Russia’s Khabarovsk military facility, where the agency said North Korean personnel gathered within the training ground on October 16, 2024 [Handout/AFP] ‘Serious security threat’ South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol convened an emergency security meeting on Friday on the move, where it was acknowledged that the close military ties between Russia and North Korea had gone “beyond the transfer of military supplies”. “The current situation, in which the rapprochement between Russia and North Korea has led to the delivery of military equipment and the actual deployment of troops, poses a serious security threat not only to our country but also to the international community,” his office said in a statement. Ukrainian media reported that six North Korean soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk on October 3. Russia has denied using North Korean troops in the war, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov describing the claims as “another piece of fake news” during a news conference last week. On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government has intelligence indicating that 10,000 North Korean soldiers are being prepared to join Russian forces in the fight against Ukraine. He warned that the involvement of a third nation could escalate the conflict into a “world war”. The United States-based Institute for the Study of War think tank also said that several thousand North Korean soldiers had arrived in Russia and were being prepared for their deployment in Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow have been allies since North Korea’s founding after World War II and have drawn even closer since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. South Korea, backed by the US, claims that Pyongyang has become a major supplier to Russia of weapons being used in Ukraine. The two countries have denied the allegations. During a meeting in Pyongyang in June, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pact stipulating mutual military assistance if either country is attacked, in what was considered the two countries’ biggest defence deal since the end of the Cold War. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen in recent months amid weapons tests in North Korea and large-scale military exercises in South Korea. Adblock test (Why?)