MORE THREATS: Iranian Parliament Chairman Threatens 6,236 US Targets — The Same Number as Verses in the Koran

Earlier today the Iranian adviser to President Rouhani threatened attacks on Donald Trump properties around the world.

Hesameddin Ashena posted links to Trump properties.

Later today the Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mojtaba Zonnouri threatened to strike 6,236 US targets – the number of verses in the Koran.

Via PM News Nigeria.

The sabre-rattling is on between Tehran and Washington as a senior Iranian lawmaker responded to President Donald Trump’s threat to attack 52 Iranian targets.

Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mojtaba Zonnouri said Iran will attack as many US targets as the number of the verses of the Holy Quran if it comes under assault by the US, Fars News reported.

“If they want to hit 52 sites of ours, we will hit a number of US targets that will be as many as the number of the verses (6,236) of the Holy Quran, and we will target 124,000 of them that stands equal to the number of 124,000 prophets,” Zonnouri said on Sunday.

He said that from the closest US base in Bahrain to its farthest base in the Indian Ocean are within the range of Iranian missiles.

“If they attack our cultural centres, we will hit their bases and warships,” Zonnouri said.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/more-threats-iranian-parliament-chairman-threatens-6236-us-targets-the-same-number-as-verses-in-the-koran/

Apple To Delay Some 5G iPhone Launches Until 2021, Says Susquehanna

Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini published a research note Monday that details how the launch of the iPhone 5G will take place on two separate dates.

Hosseini said the sub-6GHz models would be launched as planned, around September 2020, but the mmWave version of the iPhone could be delayed to December or even early 2021.

"The delay in the launch, according to our checks, stems from Apple's decision to in-source the Antenna-in-Package (AiP) modules instead of purchasing from the 3rd party," Hosseini wrote.

He expects Apple to ship 60 million 5G iPhones in 2H20, with 52 million sub-6GHz to be available in September, and 8 million mmWave that could be delayed until December or even early 2021.

For some humor: "Apple reportedly delaying iPhone 5G launch to 2021 due to component design issues… Should've spent more on buybacks," tweeted Hipster Trader.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/apple-delay-some-5g-iphone-launches-until-2021-says-susquehanna

Oil rallies & gold hits 7-year high as tensions flare in the Middle East

The escalating situation in the region following the assassination of a top Iranian military commander has given the yellow metal its highest rates in nearly seven years, and raised oil to prices last seen in mid-2019.

Gold, which is considered a safe haven investment amid political and economic turmoil, gained around 1.5 percent on Monday. At one point the precious metal hit $1,579.55 per ounce, the highest price since April 2013. As of 08:07am GMT it was already down to $1,571.95 per ounce - still around 1.3 percent more than in the previous session.

Rising US-Iran tensions could further boost gold prices, according to Goldman Sachs' projections. “All in all, we stick with our three, six and 12-month forecast of $1,600/toz (per troy ounce) but see upside risks if geopolitical tensions worsen,” its strategist said in a note Monday.

Another precious metal, palladium, also rallied on Monday as it reached a record price of $2,011.48 an ounce, according to Reuters.

Crude prices have been on the rise since the news broke of Qassem Soleimani’s death in a US airstrike in Baghdad last week. Oil experienced further gains on Monday amid fears that a conflict in the Middle East could disrupt global oil supplies.

The US benchmark was up 2 percent, trading at $64.32 per barrel - its highest level since April. Futures of global benchmark Brent climbed more than 2.3 percent and topped $70 per barrel, reaching a peak not seen since May. The last time both Brent and WTI posted such large gains was in September, when an attack on energy giant Saudi Aramco’s infrastructure temporarily halved the kingdom's oil production.

Washington and Tehran traded threats over the weekend, with US President Donald Trump vowing to respond in “disproportionate manner” should Iran “strike any US person or target.” He also said that the US could strike 52 Iranian targets, including cultural sites, should Iran attempt to revenge for Soleimani’s assassination.

https://www.rt.com/business/477547-gold-rallies-us-iran-tensions/

US Slams Russia, China For Blocking UN Statement On Baghdad Embassy Attack

More international fall out after the US targeted assassination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani— and in a worrisome for Washington — China and Russia once again find themselves allies in thwarting US plans.

On Monday the United States slammed Russia and China for blocking a United Nations Security council statement condemning the Dec. 31 mob attack on the US embassy in Baghdad — an event which precipitated the Trump administration's order to take out Soleimani days later, accusing the IRGC Quds Force leader of plotting more attacks on Americans.

The US advanced the UN statement “underscoring the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises” — but to pass in needs agreement of the 15-member Security Council by consensus.

Reuters quoted the US mission to the UN as saying that while 27 countries spoke out against the attack on the Baghdad embassy, Russia and China blocked a formal statement.

US officials said the majority stood with Washington “in stark contrast to the United Nations Security Council’s silence due to two permanent members – Russia and China – not allowing a statement to proceed.”

This after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a day after Soleimani's death that the US had launched an “illegal power” move which should instead be based on dialogue with Tehran.

Forbes characterized Russian objections within the context of the UN further:

He [Lavrov] said that the actions of a UN member state to eliminate officials of another UN member state on the territory of a third sovereign state “flagrantly violate the principles of international law and deserve condemnation.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-slams-russia-china-blocking-un-statement-baghdad-embassy-attack

Puerto Rico earthquake: VIDEOS show destruction after 5.8-magnitude tremor hits US territory

A powerful earthquake has unleashed havoc in Puerto Rico, leaving many in the US territory without power. The quake is reportedly one of the largest to date to hit the island.

Videos show collapsed homes in the aftermath of the 5.8-magnitude tremor, as well as roads covered in rocks and debris – apparently the result of a mudslide.

In one clip, a crushed car can be seen underneath a raised home whose foundation gave out.

Puerto Rico's southern region has suffered a string of smaller quakes, ranging in magnitude from 4.7 to 5.1, since late December.

It’s unclear whether anyone was seriously injured by Monday’s larger earthquake. Officials said there was no tsunami threat.

https://www.rt.com/news/477577-puerto-rico-earthquake-videos/

Yale Psychiatrist Calls On Pelosi To Put "A Mental Health Hold" On Trump

I have previously criticized psychiatrists who have regularly appeared on the air to identify a variety of mental illness that they have observed in President Donald Trump from afar. As I discussed in a prior column on the demise of the Goldwater rule, this is diagnosis without examination and often seems mixed with strong political judgments about Trump’s political positions. Bandy X. Lee, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, has been one of the most outspoken and last week urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to demand some ill-defined “hold” on the president pending psychiatric examination. Her position latest position is utterly bizarre but has been treated as a serious discussion point by some media like Salon magazine.

Lee previously served as the editor of the book “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President” and has continually argued for removal on the basis for mental illness. I previously discussed the difficulties in pursuing such loose analysis as the basis for removal under the 25th Amendment.

Lee’s most recent call for some form of intervention by Pelosi seems utterly disconnected from the constitutional process. She bizarrely treated this as an office intervention. Lee told Salon that “As a co-worker, she has the right to have him submit to an involuntary evaluation, but she has not. I am beginning to believe that a mental health hold, which we have tried to avoid, will become inevitable.”

I am at a loss on this one. Does Lee think that Pelosi can “as a co-worker” force the President into an involuntary evaluation? The only provision from incapacity of a president is found in the 25th Amendment and it omits such a workplace evaluation process. As I previously discussed, Section 4 has, essentially, two avenues for dragging a president from the Oval Office. First, there is the mutiny option. A vice president and a majority of the Cabinet can agree that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” and notify Congress that the vice president intends to take over. If Vice President Pence could get eight Cabinet officers to sign a letter to that effect, he would immediately become the “Acting President.” But if the president then declares to Congress that “no inability exists,” Trump could resume his powers.

Pence and the rebellious Cabinet would then have to send another declaration within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House that says, more or less, don’t believe a word, he’s unfit. Once Congress had the second declaration, if not already in session, it would have 48 hours to assemble to debate the issue. It would then have 21 days to vote on the president’s fitness. To remove the president, two-thirds of both houses would have to agree. If Congress did not vote within 21 days, the president would get his power back.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/yale-psychiatrist-calls-pelosi-put-mental-health-hold-trump

Turkey Deploys Troops To Libya As Haftar Calls For "Jihad"

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced late on Sunday that Turkish troops have been deployed to Libya to support the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, Al Jazeera reported. Erdogan's troop deployment announcement comes days after Turkey's government approved operations in Libya after it received a request for military support by GNA.

"Our troops are gradually departing to Libya. They will coordinate [their action with the GNA] there. Our goal is to support the legitimate government," Erdogan told CNN Turk during an interview, adding that "the goal is to support a legitimate government. This will not hurt our agreement. The task of the Turkish military there is to ensure a ceasefire, not to fight. On the other hand, by supporting a legitimate government, prevent a humanitarian catastrophe."

"Right now, we will have different units serving as a combatant force," he said without giving much detail about the number of troops and the type of weapons that will be used to support GNA.

Erdogan said the object of the new deployment is not about combat operations but instead to support the government and prevent a humanitarian crisis: "Our soldiers' duty there is coordination. They will develop the operation center there. Our soldiers are gradually going right now."

Media reports have alleged that the Trump administration was mulling an ambitious plan to divide Libya into three areas based on three old Ottoman provinces: Cyrenaica in the east, Tripolitania in the north-west and Fezzan in the south-west, according to Sputnik News. And who better to implement this split than the country which once was the Ottoman Empire…

Libya has been stuck in a civil war since the killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with the country fracturing into two parts, with two separate governments controlling the eastern and western parts of the country. GNA controls Tripoli in northwestern Libya, and Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) controls the eastern part of the country that has an abundance of oil reserves.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/and-it-begins-turkey-deploys-troops-libya

Haftar = C_A/MOS

Mexican President Calls for Assange’s Release, Demands ‘He is No Longer ‘Tortured’

At a press conference in Mexico City on Friday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador called for imprisoned Wikileaks journalist Julian Assange to be “pardoned and freed.” President Obrador also called for an end to the “torture” of Assange.

Responding to a question on Assange and the diplomatic cables WikiLeaks published in 2010, Obrador said (in Spanish, original below):

“I express my solidarity [with Assange] and hope that he is pardoned and freed. I don’t know whether he has said that his actions were confrontational to norms or to the political system, but what the cables demonstrated is the workings of the global system and its authoritarian nature, these are like state secrets that have became known thanks to this investigation, thanks to these cables, and I hope that this is taken into consideration and he is freed and he is no longer tortured.”

The reporter’s question and the President’s remarks can be viewed here (from the 44:00 mark).

Barry Pollack, representing Assange in the United States, said:

“President Obrador today expressed the grave concerns that everyone who values a free press and open democracy should share. The United States has always set an example for the world with its First Amendment values. The unprecedented indictment by the United States of a publisher for Espionage is contrary to those principles.”

Thursday the European Federation of Journalists denounced the “continued arbitrary detention and psychological torture of Julian Assange”, in a statement joining the National Union of Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists to oppose Assange’s persecution.

“We believe that the arbitrary detention and criminal prosecution of Julian Assange set an extremely dangerous precedent for journalists, media actors and freedom of the press,” said EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez.

Assange is being held in HMP Belmarsh, where he awaits his full extradition hearing which is scheduled to begin February 24th in London. If sent to the United States, Assange would face up to 175 years in prison for publishing military documents and State Department cables in 2010, exposing war crimes, uncounted civilian casualties, and rampant corruption.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/mexican-president-calls-assange-release/

‘There are international conventions’: British PM Johnson warns US against bombing Iranian cultural sites

Boris Johnson has issued a veiled warning to Donald Trump after the US president threatened to destroy 52 Iranian cultural heritage sites, insisting that “there are international conventions in place” that forbid such actions.

In the aftermath of the assassination of Iran’s Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone airstrike near Baghdad International Airport on Thursday night, Trump announced a number of threats against the Iranians via social media.

In one such threat, the US president talked about “targeting” Iranian sites, the number of which represents the “52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago.”

However, on Monday, Johnson’s official spokesman insisted that “there are international conventions in place that prevent the destruction of cultural heritage.” He stopped short of saying the killing of Soleimani was a ‘war crime’, claiming instead “states have a right to take actions such as this in self-defense.”

The US administration justified the action against the man widely regarded as the second most powerful figure in Iran – after the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – by claiming Soleimani was plotting imminent attacks against American diplomats and military personnel.

In response to the killing, the UK ordered its navy vessels to provide “protection” to all British-flagged ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf near Iran.

https://www.rt.com/uk/477565-boris-warns-us-iran-cultural/

Remember:

‘I am a passionate Zionist,’ declares Boris Johnson

https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/boris-johnson-zionist/

UK urges Baghdad to allow its troops to continue ‘vital work’ as Iraqi parliament calls for withdrawal of all foreign forces

The UK government has expressed opposition to an Iraqi resolution demanding the expulsion of foreign troops, arguing that British soldiers play a critical security role in the country.

The removal of foreign military forces would prevent the US-led coalition from continuing its “vital work” countering Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Iraq, a UK government spokesman argued.

Iraq’s parliament passed the motion on Sunday following the US-ordered assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in Baghdad. The resolution is non-binding and has not yet been adopted as an official law.

The UK currently has an estimated 400 troops stationed in Iraq.

London has defended President Donald Trump’s decision to use a targeted drone strike to kill Soleimani, while also calling for restraint from both sides.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab reportedly told Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi that the Iranian general was a “regional menace,” and said the United States had the “right of self-defense”.

Trump has said US troops will not leave Iraq until Baghdad compensates Washington for military bases it has built since the start of the 2003 invasion. He vowed to impose crippling sanctions on Iraq if the US military is forced to leave on unfriendly terms.

https://www.rt.com/news/477567-uk-iraq-troop-withdrawal-iran/

Maxine Waters: Trump’s Mental Health an Impeachment Consideration

While laying out a case for President Donald Trump’s impeachment during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Kasie DC” on Sunday, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) raised questions about Trump’s mental health as one of her arguments.

Waters called Trump “a liar” and told host Kasie Hunt there were issues dealing with the president’s mental health, noting psychiatrists have previously diagnosed him from afar.

“[W]e know several things about this president,” she said. “We know he’s a liar. We know that it has been documented by The Washington Post that he’s lied thousands of times. I think it’s over 15,000 times that they’ve actually documented. We know that there is a matter of trust. We also know that from afar, you’ve had psychiatrists wondering about his mental stability. We know that the president tweets. We know that he basically makes up his mind. He said he knows more than his generals know.”

“So, American people need to know what we’re dealing with here because it is not about which party they are going to align themselves with,” Waters added. “It’s whether or not they can trust the president of the United States, whether or not he’s a liar, whether or not he’s a — mental health is good. It is whether or not he’s presidential, yes.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/01/06/maxine-waters-trumps-mental-health-impeachment/

Today's 4am talking point

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Be the calm during the storm!

GOD WINS

Delingpole: Ricky Gervais Deserves a Medal for Roasting the Wankerati at the Golden Globes

If there’s one lesson we on the freedom side of the argument can learn from Ricky Gervais’s superb, heroic, life-affirming performance roasting the Wankerati at the Golden Globes, it’s never, ever, ever apologise; always double down.

It’s, of course, possible that by so spectacularly dissing the hypocrisy of Hollywood culture, Gervais will have killed his U.S. career. But I think it’s much more likely that it will propel him to the unassailable league of Dave Chapelle – another of those rare celebrity voices who stared into the abyss of woke and – unlike Kevin Hart – refused to blink, and emerged stronger and more popular than ever before.

Chapelle, I thought, had set the bar pretty high for sheer daring and tastelessness with his quips on his brilliant recent Netflix show Sticks & Stones – like the one about Macaulay Culkin and Michael Jackson.

Last night’s Golden Globes were Gervais’s hold-my-beer response.

No cow was considered too sacred for the slaughter

Not liberal America’s favourite smug English lard-butt:

The world got to see James Corden as a fat pussy. He was also in the movie Cats, but no one saw that.

Not venerable M from the recent James Bond movies:

But Dame Judi Dench defended the film, saying it was the role she was born to play because she – I can’t do this next joke. Because she loves nothing better than plonking herself down on the carpet, lifting her leg and licking her arse hole. She’s old school. It’s the last time, who cares.

Not Hollywood’s most beloved mobster psychopath:

So lots of big celebrities here tonight. I mean legends, icons. Look at this table alone. Al Pacino. Robert De Niro. Baby Yoda. Oh no, that’s Joe Pesci, sorry. I love you man, don’t have me whacked.

Not movies about the Holocaust:

I’ve heard a rumour that there might be a sequel to Sophie’s Choice. I mean, that would just be Meryl Streep going, ‘Well it’s got to be this one then.’

But these were just warm ups for the main event: probably the most excoriating attack on Hollywood’s hypocrisy, corruption and glib political correctness in its entire ignoble history.

We got #MeToo

But tonight isn’t just about the people in front of the camera. In this room are some of the most important TV and film executives in the world. People from every background. But they all have one thing in common. They’re all terrified of Ronan Farrow. He’s coming for you. Look, talking of all you perverts. It was a big year for paedophile movies: Surviving R Kelly, Leaving Neverland… The Two Popes.

We got Jeffrey Epstein

So in the end, he obviously didn’t kill himself – just like Jeffrey Epstein. Shut up. I know he’s your friend, but I don’t care. You had to make your own way here on your own plane didn’t you?

Then, for the grande finale, we got totally unreconstructed, utterly fearless, unimpeachably accurate truth to power:

Apple roared into the TV game with The Morning Show, a superb drama. A superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing, made by a company that runs sweatshops in China. So, well, you say you’re woke, but the companies you work for. I mean, unbelievable: Apple, Amazon, Disney. If Isis started a streaming service, you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you? So if you do win an award tonight, please don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God and fuck off.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/01/06/gervais-deserves-a-medal-for-roasting-the-golden-globes-wankerati/