Vatican defrocks former US cardinal McCarrick over sex abuse

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has defrocked former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick after Vatican officials found him guilty of soliciting for sex while hearing confession and sexual crimes against minors and adults, the Holy See said Saturday.

McCarrick, 88, is the highest-ranking churchman to be laicized, as the process is called. It means he can no longer celebrate Mass or other sacraments, wear clerical vestments or be addressed by any religious title.

https://apnews.com/33645dd626674bec9ef6198528267dc6?

No clue what happened to Jussie (whomever he is) but it was such an obvious distraction tactic that I'm amazed at the attention has been spent on it….plastered everywhere. Who cares?

Russia’s Lukoil Halts Oil Swaps In Venezuela After U.S. Sanctions

Litasco, the international trading arm of Russia’s second-biggest oil producer Lukoil, stopped its oil swaps deals with Venezuela immediately after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and state oil firm PDVSA, Lukoil’s chief executive Vagit Alekperov said at an investment forum in Russia.

Russia, which stands by Nicolas Maduro in the ongoing Venezuelan political crisis, has vowed to defend its interests in Venezuela—including oil interests—within the international law using “all mechanisms available to us.”

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russias-Lukoil-Halts-Oil-Swaps-In-Venezuela-After-US-Sanctions.html

MICHAEL HASTINGS. MICHAEL HASTINGS. MICHAEL HASTINGS.

The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act (2012) reads:

Sec. 501. (a) The Secretary and the Broadcasting Board of Governors are authorized to use funds appropriated or otherwise made available for public diplomacy information programs to provide for the preparation, dissemination, and use of information intended for foreign audiences abroad about the United States, its people, and its policies, through press, publications, radio, motion pictures, the Internet, and other information media, including social media, and through information centers, instructors, and other direct or indirect means of communication.

(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary and the Broadcasting Board of Governors may, upon request and reimbursement of the reasonable costs incurred in fulfilling such a request, make available, in the United States, motion pictures, films, video, audio, and other materials prepared for dissemination abroad or disseminated abroad.

According to Michael Hastings: “The new law would give sweeping powers to the State Department and Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public.”

“It removes the protection for Americans,” says a Pentagon official who is concerned about the law. “It removes oversight from the people who want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.”

http://themillenniumreport.com/2016/01/false-flags-are-legal-propaganda-produced-by-the-department-of-defense/

Congressmen Seek To Lift Propaganda Ban

Propaganda that was supposed to target foreigners could now be aimed at Americans, reversing a longstanding policy. "Disconcerting and dangerous," says Shank.

By Michael Hastings

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mhastings/congressmen-seek-to-lift-propaganda-ban

Boko Haram kills eight in northeast Nigeria, militia says

Boko Haram fighters shot residents while two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Friday attack on Maiduguri's Jiddari Polo neighbourhood.

The killings came after the group overran a military base north of Maiduguri on Thursday, stealing an armored vehicle and torching buildings in an attack that left "several soldiers" missing, two military sources said on condition of anonymity.

The day before, at least four people were killed when the insurgents struck a convoy belonging to the governor of northeast Nigeria's Borno state, of which Maiduguri is the capital.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-kills-eight-northeast-nigeria-militia-says-114116083.html