USA - Acting US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller is apparently preparing to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, saying the conflict "isn't over," but adding that "all wars must end." “This is the critical phase in which we transition our efforts from a leadership to supporting role,” Miller said on Friday in a letter to all Department of Defense employees. “We are not a people of perpetual war. It is the antithesis of everything for which we stand and for which our ancestors fought. All wars must end.” Trump is challenging the election results in court, based on allegations of fraud by voters and election officials, but he also appears to be acting with increased urgency to fulfill his 2016 campaign promise of ending the war in Afghanistan, which has now dragged on for 19 years – making it the longest in the history of the US.

USA - Despite campaign-trail overtures to progressives, a Joe Biden presidency seems to spell a return to normalcy in the most time-honored American way: by placing the military-industrial complex in charge of the country’s defense. Joe Biden’s campaign message focused almost entirely on Donald Trump, and on Biden’s supposed ability to “unify” a polarized electorate and “restore the soul of America.” Since he claimed victory last week, Biden’s prospective administration has begun to take shape, and the reality behind the rhetoric has started to emerge. On matters of defense, restoring America’s “soul” apparently means placing weapons manufacturers back in charge of the Pentagon. Biden announced his Department of Defense landing team on Tuesday. Of these 23 policy experts, one third have taken funding from arms manufacturers, according to a report published this week by Antiwar.com.

USA - Based on Reports By Auditors, IT Specialists, Data Analysts, and Statisticians – The Number of Illegitimate Votes Identified In Four Swing States Are Enough to Overturn Election. In a little over a week, groups of volunteer IT specialists, Data Analysts, Auditors and more, have uncovered enough potential fraud to overturn the 2020 Election.

USA - President Trump, facing the prospect of leaving the White House in defeat in just 70 days, is harnessing the power of the federal government to resist the results of an election that he lost, something that no sitting president has done in American history. In the latest sign of defiance, the president’s senior cabinet secretary fueled concerns on Tuesday that Mr. Trump would resist handing over power to President-elect Joseph R Biden Jr after legal challenges to the vote. “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

USA - The Senate is calling on the State Department to certify that a pending sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to the UAE does not pose security threats to Israel or weaken American military systems in the face of Russian and Chinese threats. The Senate Appropriations Committee included the certification requirement as part of a fiscal 2021 spending bill for the State Department and foreign operations released Tuesday. Representative Eliot Engel (Democrat for New York), the outgoing chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced legislation last month that would restrict the sale of advanced weapons systems to countries in the Middle East other than Israel unless they meet certain benchmarks, such as normalized relations with Israel; that weapons are modified to be identified and tracked by Israel; that the recipient country will protect the weapons from theft or "diversion of sensitive defense technology" to any other country; and that the recipient country will consult with the US over their use.

ISRAEL - The Israel Navy is gearing up to receive its next generation of missile ships, the Sa’ar 6-class corvette, which for the coming decades will defend the country’s strategic maritime assets from enemies such as Hezbollah. On Wednesday, the Israel Navy formally received the INS Magen, hoisting the Israeli flag on the ship during a ceremony held at the Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems shipyard in Kiel, Germany, and attended by Navy commander Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit and other senior officials. The INS Magen along with the other new vessels, Sharvit said at the ceremony, “are excellent, precise, optimal and versatile ships” that will protect Israel’s strategic assets in its economic waters. They “are armed with the best defensive and offensive combat systems that are at the forefront of world military technology,” Sharvit added.

ETHIOPIA - Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabi Ashkenazi has ordered the deployment of a task force of Israeli locust fighters and experts to support Ethiopian efforts in fighting the worst outbreak of locust swarms in 25 years. Israel's top locust expert, Yoav Mortro, heads the task force, which will operate in Ethiopia for two weeks to train Ethiopian locust fighters. The task force is bringing more than 2 tons of equipment and advanced appliances that will be handed over to the Ethiopian authorities at the conclusion of the operation.

USA - Are you ready for another nightmare? Earlier this year, the COVID lockdowns that were instituted all over the nation resulted in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s and forced more than 60 million Americans to file claims for unemployment benefits. After seeing how well that first round of lockdowns worked, one of the “scientists” that will be telling Joe Biden what to do about this pandemic wants to do it again. Yes, you read that correctly. During an interview with Yahoo Finance, Dr Michael Osterholm said that what we really need to do to get this pandemic under control is to lock the entire country down for four to six weeks…

USA - The clock is ticking – here is why all election controversies must be resolved in less than a month. This is going to be one of the most chaotic periods in the history of US politics, because we literally have less than 30 days to solve major election controversies in six different states. For the Trump campaign, it is going to be a race against time, and so hopefully they have some of the sharpest lawyers in the entire nation working on this 24 hours a day. Because once the Electoral College has voted, there isn’t going to be any going back.

USA - In his book Covid-19: The Great Reset, World Economic Forum globalist Klaus Schwab asserts that the world will “never” return to normal, despite him admitting that coronavirus “doesn’t pose a new existential threat.” Breitbart’s James Delingpole unveils how Schwab is even more explicit in his book about the elite’s plan for exploiting the COVID pandemic than in his public statements.

ISRAEL - Trump will push Israeli annexation before January 20 – and Israel might grab ‘once in a lifetime’ chance. Trump will push annexation of West Bank, and if Netanyahu sees it as in his political interest to be antagonistic to Biden, he will accede, say two prominent Israel lobbyists. Michael Koplow of the Israel Policy Forum said he is “very confident” that Trump will push Israeli annexation. Aaron Weinberg, government relations director of Israel Policy Forum, echoed the view that the Trump administration would push annexation in the next few weeks.

NORTH KOREA - North Korea is believed to have 15 to 60 nuclear weapons in its arsenal and continues to pose a major threat to the United States, according to a US think tank. The Institute for National Strategic Studies at National Defense University in Washington said in its most recent report the Kim Jong Un regime operates "more as a quasi-criminal enterprise than a legitimate nation-state" and MAY have developed as many as 60 nuclear bombs. The INSS' "Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition" says North Korea, Russia and Iran are a trio of "rogue, disruptor and spoiler states" that pose threats to US national security. Beyond its nuclear capacity, North Korea has also conducted arms sales and the "transfer of military technology" that has abetted Iran's ballistic missile program. Pyongyang has also "pursued military cooperation and technology transfers in the Sudan and offered small arms and ballistic missiles to the Houthi rebels in Yemen through a Syrian intermediary."

USA - Eta strengthens to hurricane as it prepares to strike Florida for second time. The National Hurricane Center's (NHC) 0735 ET tropical update has upgraded Tropical Storm Eta to a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph or higher. "Reports from an NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft and Doppler radar data indicate that Eta has re-strengthened into a hurricane offshore the southwestern coast of Florida, with maximum, sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), with higher gusts," NHC said. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was officially confirmed as the busiest on record this week, with the development of the 29th named storm called Theta, forming in the open Atlantic near Africa - breaking the 2005 record of 28 tropical cyclones in a given season.

USA - The Trump administration formally notified Congress on Tuesday that it intends to sell 50 stealth F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates as part of a broader arms deal worth over $23 billion, aimed at deterring potential threats from Iran, despite concern in Israel. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had authorized the sale in keeping with the administration’s Middle East peace efforts, and directly tied the arms sale to the UAE’s decision to normalize ties with Israel. “This is in recognition of our deepening relationship and the UAE’s need for advanced defense capabilities to deter and defend itself against heightened threats from Iran,” Pompeo said in a statement. Congress now has 30 days to debate the deal, and the final authorization will almost certainly be granted during the final days of President Trump’s current term in office.

USA - Acceptance of Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara gave US President Donald Trump the key to roping another Arab government into burying the hatchet with Israel, after the UAE and Bahrain, DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources report. A US consulate now operates in Laayoune, capital of the desert region of less than half a million inhabitants, joined by Gulf states. Trump is clearly intent on using the uncertain two-and-half-months ahead of the swearing in of the next president on January 20 to wrap up his unfinished ploy for ending the historic conflict between the Arab world and Israel.