https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-uae-reach-peace-agreement

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have reached a US-brokered agreement to normalise relations, a joint statement said on Thursday.

Under the deal, Israel has agreed to suspend its attempts to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

Mohammed bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, tweeted: "During a call with President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, an agreement was reached to stop further Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories.

"The UAE and Israel also agreed to cooperation and setting a roadmap towards establishing a bilateral relationship," he added.

In a joint statement, Israel, the UAE and the US said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohammed bin Zayed and US President Donald Trump had "agreed to the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates".

"This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region," the statement said.

Netanyahu descibed it as "a historic day" and announced he would make a televised statement at 8pm Jerusalem time.

The UN wants you invaded UK

https://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/press/2020/8/5f3567a84/unhcr-iom-interception-sea-solution-channel-crossings.html

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are troubled by the proposal to intercept boats and return those attempting to cross the English Channel irregularly. The foreseen deployment of large naval vessels to deter such crossings and block small, flimsy dinghies may result in harmful and fatal incidents.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/virginia-mayor-urged-resign-after-saying-biden-picked-aunt-jemima-n1236601

A Virginia mayor is facing calls for his resignation over a Facebook post in which he said that Joe Biden "just announced Aunt Jemima" as his vice-presidential running mate.

Luray Mayor Barry Presgraves posted the comment last weekend on his Facebook page. The comment was condemned by a council member, town officials and other residents before he took it down that same weekend.

Luray is about 90 miles west of Washington, D.C.

Presgraves apologized at a town council meeting on Monday night.

https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/08/13/china-hitchhikes-to-space-with-u-s-intellectual-property/

CHINA’S CONSISTENT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT THEME

Ang was not the only source for China’s aerospace program.

Remember the case of Ji Chaoqun, who was arrested in 2018? Ji, employed by a Chicago aerospace company, was also a member of the U.S. Army via the MAVNI program. He had entered the armed forces in exchange for permanent residence. Ji served to spot and assess individuals on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) efforts.

Then there was the case of the ten Chinese MSS intelligence officers largely focused on the aerospace industry who were indicted by the DOJ for attempting to recruit sources to penetrate U.S. companies, specifically defense contractors.

And finally the arrest and extradition to the United States of Chinese MSS deputy division director Yanjun Xu for targeting GE Aerospace in Ohio.

TIP OF THE ICEBERG?

Every counterintelligence professional ponders, that while the above details the neutralization and prosecution of a number of individuals who have been assisting China in purloining U.S. aerospace technology, this may just be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/john-durham-grills-former-top-fbi-lawyer-hired-by-twitter-report

U.S. Attorney John Durham has interviewed the former top FBI lawyer during the Russia investigation.

James Baker, who in June was hired by Twitter, met with Durham's team in recent weeks and was quickly brought back for follow-up questions, a source told CNN.

The report noted that witnesses who have spoken with Durham are unable to figure out who is a major target for prosecution in his criminal inquiry into Russia investigation.

Baker, who became general counsel in 2014 and resigned from the FBI in 2018, defended the Russia investigation and the FBI’s handling of British ex-spy Christopher Steele's anti-Trump dossier. He was involved in the sign-off process of at least the first Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant application targeting onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/alexcorey/2020/08/13/oregon-public-health-offiicials-question-the-environmental-impacts-of-tear-gas-in-n2574299

Oregon officials announced they are conducting studies to see the environmental impact of tear gas to the city of Portland after months of rioting, AP reported.

The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services cleaned and took samples from six storm drains last week around the federal courthouse and a building with a police station and jail that have been targeted in nightly demonstrations.

After almost 80 nights of rioting, environmentalists are looking to determine the damage done to the environment from the use of tear gas.

Those officials are trying to determine whether or not the residue from the gas reached the Willamette River, which runs through downtown Portland and is popular with kayakers, canoeists, and boaters. Approximately 2.5 million people live in the Willamette River basin.

Spokesperson for the agency Diane Dulken said that there is no American city that she is aware of "that has endured the level of tear gas."

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and state Rep. Karin Power sent a letter in July to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality seeking an investigation into the “the public health and environmental risks of tear gas and other chemicals to people, wildlife, aquatic life, and local air and water quality.”

A "Karen" writes an article

https://www.salon.com/2020/08/13/is-qanon-the-new-christian-right-with-evangelicals-fading-a-new-insanity-rises/

Is QAnon the new Christian right? With evangelicals fading, a new insanity rises

Right-wingers desperately need a myth that turns them into the good guys. With QAnon, they've outdone themselves

White evangelicalism is in decline, but another movement is rising to take its place, a movement that scratches that same right-wing itch towards false piety and elaborate tribalist mythologies that are incomprehensible to outsiders: QAnon.

Yes, QAnon, the bizarre paranoid conspiracy theory that holds (more or less) that behind the scenes of observable reality lies a shadowy worldwide pedophile ring run by Democrats and prominent celebrities, and that Trump's bizarre and self-serving authoritarian behavior is actually an elaborate ruse to hide his secret fight to destroy this elite child-abuse conspiracy.

QAnon has grown rapidly since it first emerged in 2017, morphing from an online conspiracy theory to an explosive political and cultural phenomenon, one that can probably be considered a cult — although it lacks leaders in any conventional sense. While there hasn't been systematic research into how many Americans are QAnoners, an NBC News study earlier this month discovered that QAnon accounts on Facebook have more than 3 million followers.

Embracing ridiculous beliefs, whether in the Rapture or in Pizzagate, seems to be a part of American right-wing DNA, perhaps because wild fantasies are the only way they can distract themselves from the real evil they do in the world. In light of that, the rise of QAnon makes sense. It's the perfect mechanism, in Trump's America, for conservatives to tell themselves a story about how they're noble warriors for truth and justice in the face of overwhelming evidence that they're not. Hardly anyone likes to face the genuinely bad things they've done, and QAnon provides Trump-loving conservatives a fable to justify all their dreadful choices.

This chick is bent and on her way to broken