Facebook pays contractors to read your ‘encrypted’ WhatsApp messages, shares info with prosecutors – reports

When Facebook acquired WhatsApp, it promised to respect the privacy of its users. That hasn’t been the case, and the firm now employs thousands of staff to read supposedly-encrypted chats.

Social media behemoth Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg promising to keep the stripped-down, ad-free messaging app “exactly the same.” End-to-end encryption was introduced in 2016, with the app itself offering on-screen assurances to users that “No one outside of this chat” can read their communications, and Zuckerberg himself telling the US Senate in 2018 that “We don’t see any of the content in WhatsApp.”

Allegedly, none of that is true. More than a thousand content moderators are employed at shared Facebook/WhatsApp offices in Austin, Texas, Dublin, Ireland, and Singapore to sift through messages reported by users and flagged by artificial intelligence.

Based on internal documents, interviews with moderators, and a whistleblower complaint, ProPublica explained how the system works in a lengthy investigation published on Wednesday.

When a user presses ‘report’ on a message, the message itself plus the preceding four messages in the chat are unscrambled and sent to one of these moderators for review. Moderators also examine messages picked out by artificial intelligence, based on unencrypted data collected by WhatsApp. The data collected by the app is extensive, and includes:

“The names and profile images of a user’s WhatsApp groups as well as their phone number, profile photo, status message, phone battery level, language and time zone, unique mobile phone ID and IP address, wireless signal strength and phone operating system, as a list of their electronic devices, any related Facebook and Instagram accounts, the last time they used the app and any previous history of violations.”

https://www.rt.com/news/534257-facebook-whatsapp-moderators-read-messages/

Blackrock Responds To Soros' Scathing Op-Ed, Ray Dalio Also Chimes In

Yesterday we reported that in George Soros' escalating crusade against China in general, and Xi Jinping in particular, the 91-year-old billionaire penned a scathing WSJ op-ed in which Soros shifted his sights away from China and toward the the one fund that is actively legitimizing Xi's regime by allocating more resources to the country. Blasting the world's largest asset manager, Soros described BlackRock’s investment in China as a “tragic mistake” that would “damage the national security interests of the U.S. and other democracies.”

The op-ed, titled “BlackRock’s China Blunder,” said the firm’s decision to pour billions into the country was a “bad investment” likely to lose money for its clients. By publishing the article, the prominent liberal and Democrat donor exposed Wall Street's ESG hypocrisy - where it is perfectly acceptable to slam the US but where most keep their mouths shut when it comes to Beijing, well aware any criticism could lead to an immediate loss of access to China's 1.4 billion consumers. As we said yesterday, "Soros is, of course, correct in his disdain and criticism of China although due to his ideological presence in the US, we expect that his laments will be soundly ignored and mocked, even if his criticism opens a rare schism within the otherwise unbreakable facade among Wall Street's most prominent firms such as BlackRock, Blackstone, Bridgewater and Goldman, where criticism of America is perfectly acceptable and encouraged but any badmouthing of Xi's regime is grounds for an immediate career short-circuit."

The op-ed also came shortly after BlackRock - whose AUM rose to a stunning $9.49 trillion in Q2, up from $7.32 trillion a year earlier - launched a set of mutual funds and other investment products for Chinese consumers. The initiative saw BlackRock become the first foreign-owned company to operate a wholly owned business in China’s mutual fund industry. Blackrock told CNBC that its China mutual fund subsidiary set up its first fund in the country after raising 6.68 billion Chinese yuan ($1.03 billion) from more than 111,000 investors, suggesting the fund was targeting retail investors.

Of course, Blackrock - whose boss Larry Fink has emerged as an outspoken social justice warrior and paragon of virtue on topics such as stock buybacks, minority rights and climate change but refuses to touch China's oppressive regime with a 10 trillion foot long pole - could not afford to leave the op-ed without commenting, and this morning a BlackRock spokesperson responded to Soros’ comments, telling CNBC that “the United States and China have a large and complex economic relationship,” adding that "total trade in goods and services between the two countries exceeded $600 billion in 2020. Through our investment activity, US-based asset managers and other financial institutions contribute to the economic interconnectedness of the world’s two largest economies."

The above is a great example of "responding" without actually responding, and certainly without addressing Soros' key point, namely that "the U.S. and China are engaged in a life and death conflict between two systems of governance" and that by profiting from China, Blackrock is directly enabling the country to eventually overtake the US.

Blackrock continued with its "non-response" response: “The overwhelming majority of the assets BlackRock manages are for retirement. BlackRock’s clients around the world — including many US clients — seek a broad range of investments, including in China, to achieve their retirement and other financial objectives,” the spokesperson said, once again without addressing any of the points raised by Soros.

Where BlackRock did somewhat touch on Soros' criticism iw when it said that it believes it can help China to address its growing retirement crisis by providing retirement system expertise, products and services.

“We believe that globally integrated financial markets provide people, companies, and governments in all countries with better and more efficient access to capital that supports economic growth around the world.”

This naive justification that BlackRock is engaging China out of pure altruism, was clearly debunked by Soros himself, who said that “earlier efforts could have been morally justified by claims that they were building bridges to bring the countries closer, but the situation now is totally different."

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/blackrock-responds-soros-scathing-op-ed-ray-dalio-also-chimes

Theater?

French intelligence knew cement giant Lafarge paid MILLIONS to ISIS & capitalized on its ties with terrorists – leaked papers

French cement giant Lafarge, charged with “crimes against humanity” over paying Islamic State to keep its Syrian plant running, had been informing the country’s spy agencies about its ties with terrorists, leaked papers revealed.

According to a batch of official French documents obtained by Turkish Anadolu news agency, Lafarge representatives have held multiple meetings with domestic, foreign and military intelligence services during the Syrian conflict. The French spy agencies were accused of having used the company’s relationship with Islamic State (IS, Daesh, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and other militant groups to keep up to date with the events on the ground in Syria. They also refrained from warning the cement maker that its ties with terrorists were a crime, according to the agency.

Lafarge is blamed for paying almost €13 million ($15.3 million) to IS and other armed groups to make sure its plant in northern Syria remained operational after the fighting in the country erupted in 2011. Rights groups, which brought claims against the company, alleged that this money had been used to facilitate the movement of staff and goods through terrorist checkpoints. Lafarge reportedly also purchased oil and raw materials from the militants, while supplying them with cement that they used to build fortifications and underground tunnels.

The plant in Jalabiya, some 150km (95 miles) northeast of Aleppo, had eventually fallen into the hands of IS in 2014. It forced the company to leave the country and evacuate foreign staff, while its Syrian employees had to stay and work at the facility.

On Tuesday, France’s supreme appeals Court of Cassation ruled that the charges of “complicity in crimes against humanity” should remain against Lafarge, overturning a decision by a lower court to dismiss them. The cement maker also faces accusations of financing terrorism, violating an EU embargo and endangering the lives of others over its activities in Syria.

Lafarge, which merged with Swiss group Holcim in 2015, acknowledged paying middlemen in Syria to negotiate with the militants, but denied any responsibility for the money ending up in the hands of terrorists. The date for the trial of the company hasn’t been set yet, with the legal investigation still ongoing.

It’s not clear if the probe will be expanded to also look into any role the intelligence agencies may have played, but Anadolu claims that the papers it saw indicate that the French operatives held more than 30 meetings with Lafarge in 2013 and 2014.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/anadolu-agency-accesses-documents-showing-french-intelligence-aware-of-lafarge-financing-daesh-isis/2357992

https://www.rt.com/news/534240-syria-isis-france-intelligence-lafarge/

Senator Rand Paul & top Republicans demand Fauci’s firing after new docs indicate his agency funded risky Covid studies in China

Top White House Covid adviser Anthony Fauci is facing calls to resign after newly released documents suggested his agency funded dangerous “gain-of-function” research in China, despite previous denials.

Demands for the health adviser’s firing come after the Intercept obtained more than 900 pages of material related to coronavirus research funded by Fauci’s agency – the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) – including previously unpublished grant requests from a US-based organization that passed federal funds to the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.

Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), who has repeatedly sparred with Fauci throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, touted the document dump in a Tuesday tweet, saying the materials “make it abundantly clear that [Fauci] needs to be held accountable,” noting he had already asked the Justice Department to review the adviser for “lying” in previous congressional testimony.

The documents published by the Intercept show that the US-based organization, the EcoHealth Alliance, was granted some $3.1 million in funding approved by Fauci’s NIAID – later increased to exceed $3.7 million in total, according to other government records. Of that grant, $599,000 was funneled to the WIV, specifically to fund work to “identify and alter bat coronaviruses likely to infect humans,” according to the Intercept.

The firm’s grant application acknowledged potential dangers posed by the project, noting that “fieldwork involves the highest risk of exposure to SARS or other CoVs [coronaviruses] while working in caves with high bat density overhead and the potential for fecal dust to be inhaled.”

The EcoHealth Alliance’s joint research with the WIV has raised other questions about potentially unsafe work at the Wuhan lab, and whether ‘gain-of-function’ research – which aims to increase the virulence and infectiousness of pathogens to better study them – was carried out there. The research was considered so risky that the government imposed a halt on federal funding in 2014, though that has since been lifted.

Fauci has repeatedly denied that his agency funded, directly or indirectly, any gain-of-function work at the WIV, including in high-profile confrontations with lawmakers such as Senator Paul.

However, according to Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University who spoke to the Intercept after reviewing the documents, the research funded by EcoHealth included work to engineer novel viruses and test “their ability to infect mice that were engineered to display human type receptors on their cell.”

In a lengthy Twitter thread posted following the Intercept story, Ebright went on to argue that the WIV work indeed constituted “gain-of-function research as defined in federal policies,” and that Fauci and other top health officials have lied to the public about it.

The documents make it clear that assertions by the NIH director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV are untruthful.

https://www.rt.com/usa/534201-republicans-fauci-resign-documents/

Bitcoin Shaken After Coinbase CEO Slams SEC For "Engaging In Intimidation Tactics Behind Closed Doors" Over Crypto-Lending Platform

As if the crypto world wasn't hit hard enough yesterday with a sudden vacuum drop lower in prices across all the major coins, it appears US regulators may be getting a little more aggressive in their actions (and not just words).

"Some really sketchy behavior coming out of the SEC recently."

That is the first sentence in a lengthy Twitter tirade from Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, as he revealed last night that the securities regulator had threatened to sue over the crypto exchange's new lending program.

As CoinTelegraph.com reports, Armstrong explained that the crypto exchange approached the SEC earlier this year to brief the enforcement body over the up-and-coming Coinbase Lend program that intends to offer 4% annual yield returns on deposits of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin.

According to the Coinbase CEO, the SEC responded by telling the firm that the lending program is a security without any explanation and threatened to sue if the service was launched:

“They refuse to tell us why they think it’s a security, and instead subpoena a bunch of records from us (we comply), demand testimony from our employees (we comply), and then tell us they will be suing us if we proceed to launch, with zero explanation as to why.”

Armstrong pointed out that there are other crypto firms on the market that currently provide similar lending services to their customers and called for the SEC to provide regulatory clarity on the topic. The SEC’s actions, if Armstrong has reported them accurately, appear to be bad news for competitors BlockFi and Celsius, which already offer crypto yield products. BlockFi is facing investigations in a number of states over its high-interest products.

Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, announced the SEC threat in a blog post on Tuesday night. Decrypt.co reports that in the post, Grewal described how the company had been in discussions with the SEC about Lend for six months but that the agency then abruptly warned last Wednesday it may sue if Coinbase goes forward.

Coinbase publicly announced its plans to launch Lend in June. At the time, the company touted the product as a way for crypto owners to earn far high interest than what is offered at regular banks, and promised to offer a "peace of mind" guarantee as a substitute for the FDIC insurance that comes with traditional interest-bearing accounts.

The Lend proposal did not appear controversial at the time Coinbase announced it. The high yield product it described only applied to USDC stablecoins, which are akin to cash - a more conservative approach than the likes of BlockFi, which has for many months advertised returns of up to 8% on a variety of crypto assets.

In response to the SEC's legal threat, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong lashed out at the agency on Twitter, complaining that his company had attempted to do the right thing, but that the SEC has failed to be transparent about its crypto policies, and is instead "engaging in intimidation tactics behind closed doors."

https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/bitcoin-shaken-after-coinbase-ceo-slams-sec-engaging-intimidation-tactics-behind-closed

Former Disney Star Demi Lovato Tells Followers to ‘Be A Sl*t’ and ‘Make Porn’

Pop star and former Disney actress Demi Lovato promoted sex work to her fans while urging them to “be a sl*t” and have sex with many different people.

Back in May, Lovato announced that her “preferred pronouns” are “they/them” and that her gender is “nonbinary.”

In an Instagram image posted to her stories on Monday, Lovato told her followers to “Be a slut. Show your body. Get naked. Have all the safe, different, consensual sex you want. Be Kinky. Masturbate. Make/watch porn. Make money.”

It concluded, “Just a reminder that being sexual is okay.”

The image was originally posted by podcast host Vas Morgan.

“SEX IS AMAZING! If you watch porn or subscribe to an X-rated onlyfans account. You are directly benefiting from the sex workers industry,” Morgan captioned his post. “Stop judging people for getting paid for something you’re so freely offering out yourselves.”

“Whether you love sex or hate it. What other people do with their lives or bodies is NOT your business,” he added. “Sex work is work. Sending love.”

The Daily Wire notes that Lovato has previously said that she’s ashamed to be white and declared gender reveal parties “transphobic.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/09/former-disney-star-demi-lovato-tells-followers-slt-make-porn/

Explosions and MASSIVE INDUSTRIAL FIRE in Kidderminster, England

Explosions have been reported and an enormous industrial fire has broken out in Kidderminster, England. With black smoke towering over the town, police have advised people to avoid the area.

Fire crews were swiftly dispatched to an industrial unit in the Worcestershire town after explosions were reported.

Video footage showed what appears to be a burning factory, with a column of smoke rising over residential neighbourhoods nearby. The scene has been described as “absolute chaos” by locals.

Police have asked people to avoid the area and residents have been advised to close their windows to keep the choking black smoke out.

Firefighters say the blaze broke out at a building on Park Street. Though the street is lined with houses and small businesses, a large metal refinery sits at one end, and appears to be the source of the blaze.

The co-owner of another nearby sheet metal fabricator told local media that he wasn’t sure which unit first caught fire. “It's shocking it happened so quick,” he said. “I tried to get in and get my backpack and there were flames at the top of the unit. I thought it was thunder, I looked outside and it was black.”

The West Midlands Ambulance Service has dispatched an ambulance, multiple paramedics, an air ambulance and trauma doctor to the scene, but there is no word yet on potential casualties.

https://www.rt.com/uk/534269-massive-fire-kidderminster-industrial/

MSNBC host suggests Supreme Court is engaging in 'collusion' with GOP-controlled states to roll back abortion rights

MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace suggested Tuesday that Republican-controlled states are engaging in "collusion" with the Supreme Court to protect unborn lives by enacting abortion restrictions.

Even more odd, Wallace said Robert Mueller should investigate the "collusion."

Abortion advocates have been voicing outrage for the last week after the Supreme Court declined to block a Texas law that bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The law controversially relies solely upon civil, not criminal, enforcement.

In a 5-4 decision — with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the court's liberal-leaning jurists in dissent — the Supreme Court ruled the plaintiffs "raised serious questions regarding the constitutionality of the Texas law," but ultimately said the plaintiffs failed to sufficiently argue their case was "likely to succeed on the merits."

What did Wallace say?

While ranting against the Supreme Court's decision, Wallace referred to the justices she disagreed with as "far-right" — despite zero evidence suggesting the high court's conservative-leaning justices are motivated by far-right politics — and suggested that, perhaps, a crime has taken place.

Don't miss out on content from Dave Rubin free of big tech censorship. Listen to The Rubin Report now.

"What I don't understand is the Republicans have revealed themselves over and over and over and over and over again. If you want to know how radical today's GOP is, it's so radical that the man picked by my old boss [former President George W. Bush], Chief Justice John Roberts, sided with the liberals on the court in the Texas abortion ban," Wallace said.

"And what Joyce just described, I don't know the legal term, but it sounds a whole lot like collusion between Republican-dominated, right-wing-centric legislatures and the far-right members of the United States Supreme Court," she continued. "Whether it's a crime, or whether it's real, maybe [Robert] Mueller will look into it."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/msnbc-host-supreme-court-collusion-with-gop

Cop Arrested After Body Cam Showed Him Shove His Flashlight Up Teen’s Buttocks

Chicago, IL — A 17-year-old troubled kid who allegedly carjacked a motorist should be riding out his sentence in prison for his crimes. However, because Chicago Police Department lieutenant Wilfredo Roman — with a history of excessive force complaints — couldn’t contain his sadistic and violent impulses, that 17-year-old kid will likely be receiving a hefty sum of taxpayer money.

The incident unfolded on February 9, 2021 when the 17-year-old and a 16-year-old allegedly approached a man sitting in a 2005 silver Mazda on the 1900 block of North La Crosse Avenue, and carjacked him at gunpoint.

Police reported that Roman spotted the car about 20 minutes later and attempted to pull them over. The teens then ditched the car and Roman reported over the radio that they were fleeing on foot.

According to police, the 16-year-old threw a Hi-Point C9 handgun over a fence before attempting to jump the fence to get away. Before he could scale the fence, however, police took him down and he was arrested.

The 17-year-old boy did not attempt to flee once police told him to stop and he immediately surrendered and was placed in handcuffs. Once in custody, the teen told officers that his handcuffs were too tight and while one officer adjusted the cuffs, Roman saw his opportunity to sexually assault the teen with his flashlight.

As the teen was handcuffed and pressed against the car, Roman yelled at him to “shut up!” before walking up behind him and shoving his flashlight up the teen’s buttocks.

According to the body camera footage, the teen yelled out in pain as Roman again barked at him to “shut up!”

“That’s what you get for carjacking,” Roman told the boy as he walked away.

After the body camera footage came to light, Roman was subsequently suspended with pay in July and charged this month with two felonies, aggravated battery and official misconduct.

During a recent hearing this month, Roman’s police union-appointed attorney downplayed the sexual assault via flashlight and likened it to a spanking.

“This is a spank or a spanking, for the love of God. I had nuns that treated me far worse,” Roman’s attorney James McKay told Cook County Judge Arthur Wesley Willis during Roman’s hearing. “Your honor, the flashlight in question is smaller than my pen,” he added.

The court, however, disagreed and pointed out the obvious — the teen was in custody, no longer a threat, and Roman is not the judge, jury, and executioner.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-arrested-flashlight-arrest-buttocks/

Biden Falsely Claims Nobody Yelled At Him When He Visited Ida Devastation, In Reality He Got Cursed At In New Jersey

Joe Biden misremembers how he was greeted in New Jersey

Joe Biden falsely claimed that nobody complained or yelled at him when he visited the regions affected by disastrous flood from Hurricane Ida. In reality, video went viral yesterday showing Biden being cursed at in New Jersey by residents who felt abandoned by the federal government.

“None of them were shouting or complaining, every one of them were thanking me as if it was something special, I mean this sincerely, that I was here,” Biden falsely claimed before reporters.

In reality, Biden made national news while being heckled by a group of individuals in New Jersey. “Is this a f**king photo op? You ain’t gonna do shit. Leave them in ruins and leave Americans behind, shit. You leave Americans behind,” the crowd then directed their anger at the police escorting Biden. “We will leave you behind, you guys, protecting him, we’ll leave you guys behind. Leave no American behind!”

It appears some protesters were referring to Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, while others were referring to the federal government’s lackluster response to the natural disaster.

As the New York Post reported, many detractors were holding signs and flags in support of President Donald Trump. One New Jersey man shouted, “Resign, you tyrant!” Elsewhere, “Multiple protesters were photographed giving the president a middle finger as he drove from Hillsborough Township to nearby Manville.” Another held a sign that read “F— Biden And F— You for Voting For Him.” Yet another read “Biden go back 2 the basement.”

Biden’s trip to New Jersey was fraught with embarrassing moments that highlighted the 78-year-old president’s apparently-failing mental faculties. At one point, he began discussing tornadoes, despite the region being hit by a hurricane, but quickly asserted that “they don’t call ’em that anymore.” It is not clear what Joe Biden believes tornadoes are actually called.

https://nationalfile.com/biden-falsely-claims-nobody-yelled-at-him-when-he-visited-ida-devastation-in-reality-he-got-cursed-at-in-new-jersey/

NatGeo Documentary Lauds Embattled Fauci, Stars George Bush & Bill Gates.

A new National Geographic chronicling the life and career of Anthony Fauci featuring interviews with Bill Gates and former President George W. Bush is set to be released on September 10th.

The hagiographic film, which also includes exclusive interviews with Fauci, his wife, and his children, praises the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director as “one of our most vital public servants, whose work saved millions while he faced threats from anonymous adversaries” in its summary:

“With his signature blend of scientific acumen, candor and integrity, Dr. Anthony Fauci became America’s most unlikely cultural icon during COVID-19. A world-renowned infectious disease specialist and the longest-serving public health leader in Washington, D.C., he has valiantly overseen the U.S. response to 50 years’ worth of epidemics, including HIV/AIDS, SARS and Ebola. FAUCI is an unprecedented portrait of one of our most vital public servants, whose work saved millions while he faced threats from anonymous adversaries.”

The documentary comes amidst controversy over Fauci’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) agency’s documented relationship – via personnel and funding –with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Chinese Communist Party-controlled lab is believed by many, including the former Director of National Intelligence and Center for Disease Control and Prevention Chief, to be the source of COVID-19.

The documentary, however, portrays the criticism of Fauci in a different light.

“When COVID hit, he became this target,” a narrator posits in a recently released trailer.

“I don’t understand the hate that people have,” Fauci’s wife Christine Grady, NIH Clinical Center Bioethics Department Chief, laments before former President Bush adds “Fauci says here are the facts, and here’s my recommendation for a way forward.”

“If you’re a public servant, you don’t do it because you want to make money,” former Obama-era National Security Advisor Susan Rice comments despite Fauci’s position as the highest-paid federal government employee.

https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/doc-praising-fauci-covid-response-stars-bush-gates/

https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/doc-praising-fauci-covid-response-stars-bush-gates/

Sen. Cotton wants probe into Fauci after report exposes Chinese lab ‘lie’

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton called revelations that Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared to have lied about “gain-of-function” research at a Chinese lab at the center of the coronavirus pandemic “one of the biggest scandals in Washington” and said the infectious disease expert should be investigated and prosecuted.

Sen. Rand Paul, who has sparred with Fauci over funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology in several congressional hearings, said he should be removed immediately because of his “poor judgment.”

“He should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Cotton (R-Ark.) told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Tuesday night.

“You know for 18 months he’s been saddling up his moral high horse and plucking his tongue at college kids who want to go celebrate a football game at an outdoor stadium on a nice fall day or parents who don’t want their kindergarteners to have to work masks their entire lives, telling you you have to work very mask, when all along, he’s been lying, not just in Congress, but to the American people about his role in funding the very reckless and dangerous research at a Chinese communist lab that unleashed this pandemic on the world,” Cotton continued.

“It is a disgrace, and it’s time for Tony Facui to be held accountable,” he said.

Ingraham asked how he would rate the developments.

“One of the biggest scandals in Washington modern times, and they funded a laboratory that in all likelihood is the source of this once-in-a-century pandemic that has upended so many of our lives. Hundreds of thousands of people dead,” Cotton said.

He noted that many more people have become seriously ill, kids have lost critical time in the classroom, weddings have been postponed, jobs have been lost and businesses have shuttered.

Paul (R-Ky.) said Fauci must be removed now for violating the public trust.

“He has lied dozens of times. Usually he tells us that it’s for our own good. But, yes, he has dissembled, he has obfuscated … but he has definitely lied to the American public, and he should be held responsible,” Paul said on Fox News’ “Hannity” Tuesday.

“But not just that – the judgment that we should continue to fund this lab and that the virus in all likelihood came from the lab – I think it’s such an incredibly poor judgment that he should be immediately removed,” he continued.

A report by The Intercept, citing newly released documents, appears to contradict Fauci’s claims that the National Institute of Health did not fund gain-of-function research at the lab.

Gain-of-function involves increasing the transmissibility of a virus to predict what new diseases could emerge and to develop vaccines and therapeutic to treat them.

The documents show a grant proposal that EcoHealth Alliance filed with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, the agency Fauci runs.

The grant proposal was for a project entitled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergency” and involved screening thousands of bat samples and people who worked with animals for novel coronaviruses, the report said.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology received $599,000 for bat coronavirus research after the grant won $3.1 million in funding over a five-year period between 2014 and 2019. The Trump administration ended the funding in April 2020.

The proposal pointed out the high risks involved in conducting such research.

https://nypost.com/2021/09/08/sen-cotton-wants-dr-fauci-probe-after-chinese-lab-funding-report/

https://nypost.com/2021/09/08/sen-cotton-wants-dr-fauci-probe-after-chinese-lab-funding-report/

US, Britain to Judge New Taliban Government on Actions

The United States and Britain are concerned about the makeup of the newly named Taliban government in Afghanistan, while some other countries expressed support for the interim ruling structure.

The Taliban on Tuesday named Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, a longtime top Taliban official, Afghanistan’s interim prime minister, and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar his second-in-command.

Other top officials include Sirajuddin Haqqani, a member of the Taliban affiliate Haqqani network, and Mohammad Yaqoob, son of one of the founders of the Taliban.

“We note the announced list of names consists exclusively of individuals who are members of the Taliban or their close associates and no women. We also are concerned by the affiliations and track records of some of the individuals,” a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

“We understand that the Taliban has presented this as a caretaker cabinet. However, we will judge the Taliban by its actions, not words,” the spokesperson added.

Britain echoed U.S. concerns about the new government.

“We would want to see, in any situation, a diverse group in leadership which seeks to address the pledges that the Taliban themselves have set out and that’s not what we have seen,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “We will continue to judge the Taliban on their actions.”

The United States has said that it would not recognize a Taliban-led government if it was not inclusive. The Taliban said last month the terrorist group would form “an inclusive government” and initially said women could attend school and work.

The group, though, later told women to stay home. A spokesman said its security forces were not trained in “how to deal with women” or “how to speak to women.” And an official this week told SBS, an Australian broadcaster, that women would not be allowed to play sports because they would be in a situation “where their face and body will not be covered.”

Under the previous era of Taliban rule, women’s rights were strictly curtailed. Out in public, they were forced to wear burqas, which cover all body parts except for the eyes.

“Upon initial analysis of the names announced, it does not look like the inclusive and representative formation in terms of the rich ethnic and religious diversity of Afghanistan we hoped to see and that the Taliban were promising over the past weeks,” a spokesperson for the European Union said in a statement to news outlets.

“We are looking very, very carefully at how the new government is behaving before engaging,” European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic added to reporters in Brussels.

A United Nations spokesman, while acknowledging its leader doesn’t recognize governments, told reporters in New York regarding the announcement that “only a negotiated and inclusive settlement will bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the exclusion of groups outside the Taliban, coupled with the violence perpetrated by Taliban terrorists against protesters and journalists in Kabul, “are not signals that give cause for optimism.”

Maas was speaking in Berlin before meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

https://www.ntd.com/us-britain-to-judge-new-taliban-government-on-actions_672878.html

House Ethics Committee Reviewing Rep. Malinowski’s Stock Trades

The House Ethics Committee on Tuesday said that it is reviewing whether Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), the vice-chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, violated ethics rules and federal law when he allegedly failed to disclose his stock trades.

Chair of the House Ethics Committee Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Ranking Member Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) said that pursuant to House and committee rules, they “have jointly decided to extend the matter regarding Representative Tom Malinowski, which was transmitted to the committee by the office of congressional ethics on July 23, 2021.”

It comes after two ethics complaints were filed against the New Jersey Democrat earlier this year, following a report from Business Insider that he failed to disclose dozens of stock transactions worth at least $671,000 in violation of the 2012 Stock Act, and a report by The Associated Press (AP) that found he bought or sold as much as $1 million of stock in medical and tech companies that had a stake in the COVID-19 pandemic response.

The Stock Act is a 2012 law intended to curtail stock market speculation by lawmakers, and requires Congress members to report any securities transactions exceeding $1,000 within 45 days of the trade execution.

Malinkowski told AP that it was “a mistake that I own 100%.” Last month, he placed his financial assets into a blind trust, which is operated by an independent trustee.

A formal probe into the lawmaker hasn’t been opened by the House Ethics Committee, but it is reviewing a report from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), an independent ethics watchdog, which, unlike the Ethics Committee, cannot issue subpoenas or discipline members.

“Rep. Malinowski continues to participate in this routine process in good faith, and remains committed to complete transparency with the public; going beyond the requirements for Members of Congress by placing his holdings in an Ethics Committee approved qualified blind trust,” Malinowski’s office said in a statement.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Malinowski’s office for additional comment.

The Ethics Committee noted that its disclosure of extending the review into Malinowski does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred.

“The committee will announce its course of action in this matter on or before Thursday, October 21, 2021,” Deutch and Walorski wrote.

The House Ethics Committee on Tuesday also announced the extension of reviews of alleged misconduct by three other lawmakers—Republican Reps. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Jim Hagedorn of Minnesota, and Alex Mooney of West Virginia.

The offices of Kelly, Hagedorn, and Mooney didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment by The Epoch Times.

https://www.ntd.com/house-ethics-committee-reviewing-rep-malinowskis-stock-trades_672779.html

Hong Kong Police Arrest Pro-Democracy Group Leaders Citing Foreign Collusion

Hong Kong police on Wednesday morning arrested four leaders of a pro-democracy group, alleging the group was working as a “foreign agent.”

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China is known for organizing the city’s annual vigil commemorating those who died in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

The arrested members of the group included vice chairwoman and barrister Chow Hang-tung, as well as standing committee members Leung Kam-wai, Tang Ngok-kwan, and Chan Dor-wai.

The Hong Kong police sent a letter to the group last month, citing the national security law introduced by Beijing last year. The police alleged the group to be a “foreign agent” and requested it hand over its membership and financial information no later than Sept. 7. In response, the group went to the Wan Chai Police Headquarters, stated the request was based on “reasonable grounds to believe,” which has no justification thus refused the request. On Sept. 8, Wednesday morning, the police went to Chow’s work office in the Bank of America Tower to arrest her. According to the group, several standing committee members were subsequently arrested, including Leung, Tang, and Chan.

Chow was broadcasting live on Facebook early Wednesday morning, showing the police were ringing her doorbell and attempting to open her door. Leung’s arrest footage was also broadcast live.

Later, Chow posted a series of messages saying that someone was slamming her keypad at the door and questioned if it was a daytime robbery. Chow is a prominent barrister in Hong Kong; she was originally scheduled to represent Gwyneth Ho, a Hong Kong journalist charged with “conspiring to subvert state power,” in high court to apply for her bail. Chow was preparing for Ho’s bail statement in her office overnight before the police came for her arrest. She later expressed regret for not being able to represent Ho.

Before Chow’s arrest, she posted a photo of the sunrise in Victoria Harbour from her office, suggesting that this may be “[her] last time to look at this scenery.” At the same time, many people left messages on her post wishing for her return.

In the evening after Chow’s arrest, her assistant updated her Facebook and wrote: “Argue on the basis of reason, never fear nor regret. We will always stick to our principles!” Chow’s updated Facebook page suggested she is in good spirit and had already met with her lawyer. She is now a plea in the June 4 case and will be sentenced in the Wan Chai District Court on Sept. 9 and 10. Chow showed great concern for her colleagues in custody.

The police stated that the four (Chow, Leung, Tang, and Chan) were arrested for “failure to comply with the submission requirements” under Article 43 of the Hong Kong national security law. It suggests that more people may be charged.

Timeline of the Arrest

On Aug. 25, the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force sent a letter to the pro-democracy group requesting it to hand over sensitive information citing the national security law. The group’s standing committee went to the Wan Chai Police Headquarters to deliver a response letter, stating refusal and denying being a foreign agent. The group criticized the Hong Kong police for failing to provide any justification and for violating the principles of natural justice.

The group’s Standing Committee member, Tsui Hon-Kwong, requested the high court to rule the police letter invalid. “The group’s full name is the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China,” Tsui said to the media in front of the police headquarters, adding that they are patriots and not foreign agents.

Chow was also at the police headquarters. “To the people of Hong Kong: You must continue to fight. Don’t cave to authoritarian power, don’t live in humility. Be yourself and live with your conscience,” he said.

Chris Tang, the Secretary for Security in Hong Kong, stated on Sept. 7 that if someone fails to hand over information as required by the Hong Kong police, swift enforcement action will be taken. The police also issued a press release denouncing “[unnamed] groups blatantly refuse to submit information” and reiterated that the groups could be fined $15,500 and imprisoned for six months if they failed to submit information on time.

https://www.ntd.com/hong-kong-police-arrest-tiananmen-vigil-leaders_672789.html

Prince Andrew has avoided NY sex accuser’s attempts to serve him legal papers

Prince Andrew has reportedly avoided “multiple attempts” to serve him legal papers on behalf of his sex-assault accuser — and has bolted 500 miles to the safety of mom Queen Elizabeth II’s Scottish getaway, just days before the first hearing.

Lawyers for Virginia Roberts Giuffre — who is suing Andrew in New York — had already conceded that it would be “difficult” to serve the 61-year-old royal in person.

The scandal-scarred royal has since been a recluse at his home in the Royal Lodge in Windsor — where security guards have turned away lawyers trying to serve the US court papers, according to the Sun.

After avoiding “multiple attempts” in the past two weeks, Andrew on Tuesday bolted for an even safer location — his mother the monarch’s Scottish estate, Balmoral, the paper noted.

He was photographed in a car with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, as the pair drove from their shared home to the Queen’s 50,000-acre (78-square-mile) estate, where they had been earlier in the summer, the outlet said.

The photographs show them arriving in the same Range Rover they left Windsor in — suggesting they were driven the more than 500-mile journey, which would typically take at least 9 hours, rather than risking catching a flight.

https://nypost.com/2021/09/08/prince-andrew-avoids-legal-papers-by-fleeing-to-queen-in-balmoral/

Bataclan Terrorist Declares Himself ‘Islamic State Soldier’ as Trial Begins

Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving terrorist who took part in the 2015 Bataclan massacre in Paris, has declared himself a soldier of the Islamic State during the first day of his trial.

The trial for the November 13th, 2015, attacks which saw Islamic State terrorists murder 130 people and injured 350 others, began on Wednesday in the special Assize Court of Paris and is expected to last at least nine months.

At the opening of the trial, the court asked Abdeslam to verify his identity, to which he replied, according to CNews: “First of all, I want to testify that there is no god apart from Allah and that Mohammed is his messenger.”

The court then asked Abdeslam about his profession, with the Islamist responding: “I gave up any profession to become an Islamic State soldier.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/09/08/bataclan-terrorist-declares-himself-islamic-state-soldier-as-trial-begins/

12 to 15 Year Olds Can Defy Parents to Be Vaccinated, Says Health Sec Days After Vax Minister Denials

Britain’s two senior heath ministers continue to give mixed messages on whether parental consent is needed to vaccinate 12- 15-year-olds against the Chinese coronavirus.

On Friday, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) declined to recommend vaccines for non-vulnerable children aged 12 to 15. But the government is reportedly consulting medical officers on whether to go against the advice.

So far, no decision has been made, but questions have been raised over the past few days on the issue of parental authority for teens so young, after the government said last month that children 16 and over could be vaccinated without consent from their mothers and fathers.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday morning, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid told Kay Burley that younger teens wanting the vaccine should be allowed to be jabbed against their parents’ wishes.

Mr Javid said: “I think we should follow the same rules that we’ve had in this country and successive governments for decades which is that you first would try to seek the consent of parents.

“We’re going to ask all parents for consent… If they don’t give consent.. and there’s a difference of opinion between the child and the parent, then we have specialists that work in this area in the school’s vaccination service that would usually sit down with the parent and child and try to reach some kind of consensus.

“If ultimately that doesn’t work, as long as we believe the child is competent enough to make this decision, then the child’s will will prevail.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/09/08/12-to-15-year-olds-can-defy-parents-to-be-vaccinated-says-health-sec-days-after-vax-minister-denials/

Israel Did 9/11 - All the Proof in the World

https://www.bitchute.com/video/wWkYFRBUmydE/