The Faithful Watchman

Lawmakers Asking Whether Cyberattack Is Act of War

Jeffrey Rodack – December 18, 2020

Congressional lawmakers are questioning whether the cyberattack on the federal government is an act of war.

According to The Hill, the cyberattack, widely attributed to Russia, may be the biggest in U.S. history.

It noted any U.S. response could be complicated by the presidential transition.

“We can’t be buddies with Vladimir Putin and have him at the same time making this kind of cyberattack on America,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told CNN. “This is virtually a declaration of war by Russia on the United States and we should take that seriously.”

And Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told SiriusXM’s Olivier Knox in a Thursday interview: “What I find most astonishing is that a cyberhack of this nature is really the modern equivalent of almost Russian bombers reportedly flying undetected over the entire country. And they didn’t drop bombs, but they had the capacity to show that our defense is extraordinarily inadequate.”

The Energy Department and its National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains America’s nuclear stockpile, were targeted as part of a broader attack, according to a person familiar with the matter. The hack didn’t affect mission-essential national security functions.

In addition, three unidentified states were also targeted.

CNN reported that Marco Rubio urged people not to jump to conclusions.

“There’s still information gathering occurring, so I’d caution anyone reaching conclusions or making pronouncements until all that is in,” said Rubio, who is Senate Intelligence Committee chairman.

https://www.newsmax.com

Brexit: Some progress, more gaps as UK, EU race to lock down trade deal

DW – December 18, 2020

Leaders from Britain and the European Commission did not take an overly optimistic tone following talks late Thursday over a trade deal that would keep the UK from crashing out of a transition period with the EU without a deal in place.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said “substantial progress” had been made on several issues, but fishing rights remained a point of contention. At the same time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a no-deal outcome was becoming “very likely.”

“We welcomed substantial progress on many issues. Yet big differences remain to be bridged, in particular on fisheries. Bridging them will be very challenging,” von der Leyen said following Thursday’s talks, adding that negotiations will continue on Friday.

With just days to go before the end-of-year deadline, Downing Street opted for a more pessimistic tone.

“The prime minister repeated that little time was left,” a spokesman for the British PM said. “He said that, if no agreement could be reached, the UK and the EU would part as friends, with the UK trading with the EU on Australian-style terms.”

Australia doesn’t have a free trade deal with the bloc.

https://www.dw.com

Goverment Restrictions on Religion Hit Highest Level Since 2007

Milton Quintanilla – December 16, 2020

Faith leaders are addressing the recent Pew Research study that shows record-high levels of restrictions on religious freedom.

According to CBN News, Religious Freedom Ambassador Sam Brownback says that in order for other human rights to flourish, the right of religious freedom must also be protected.

“We look at this religious freedom foundational right that if you can get it right as a nation other human rights will flourish. If you get it wrong other human rights will diminish,” Brownback asserted.

Last month, Pew Research revealed that in 2018, government restrictions on religion hit an all-time high since 2007. The study also showed that high or very high government restrictions peaked in 56 countries, with the highest restrictions being in Africa and the Middle East.

We’ve never been more institutionalized, but we’ve never seen more persecution. The new Pew reports are out and there has never been more persecution, so we are getting our act together on how this gets institutionalized but obviously, we have to go to another level here as a civil society, as a government,” Chris Seiple of Templeton Religion Trust said.

In 2018, the White House intervened to free pastor Andrew Brunson, a missionary who was arrested in Turkey after he was falsely arrested for partaking in an alleged coup with Kurdish terrorists against Turkish president Erdogan.

Last week, Christian Headlines reported that Brunson predicted increasing persecution against U.S Christians in the future.

Brunson, who shared his remarks at the “Global Prayer for US Election Integrity” event on Facebook earlier this month, explained how Christians across the nation are unprepared for the forthcoming hostility that will be made against them.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Losing Jaw Bones and Eyesight: 9 Dead, Over 100 Hospitalised as Rare Fungal Disease Spreads in India

Rishikesh Kumar – December 18, 2020

As India inches towards a grim milestone of ten million COVID-19 cases, a new rare disease known as mucormycosis is spreading across the country. According to doctors, the COVID-triggered disease has a 50 percent mortality rate.

Authorities in northern and western Indian states have alerted people as hospitals have reported the rapid spread of a deadly fungal infection, mucormycosis, across the region. At least nine people have already reportedly died due to this rare disease, while over a hundred more have been hospitalised in different hospitals in Delhi and Ahmedabad.

“Since early reports of this rare disease spread through various mediums including that of media, more people have contacted hospitals. As of now, over a hundred people are being treated for this black fungal infection in different hospitals in Delhi alone”, Dr Manish Munjal, Senior Consultant at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital told Sputnik.

Doctors say that ignoring the early signs of the rare disease may be fatal.

“Nose obstruction, swelling in the eyes or cheeks, and black dry crusts in the nose are the early symptoms of the infection. These signs should immediately prompt the conduct of a biopsy in the OPD and start of antifungal therapy as early as possible”, Munjal added.

The doctor admitted that he found some cases in non-COVID patients as well, however, most of the infections are found in recovering COVID-19 patients.

Doctors say the frequency of cases as well as high morbidity and mortality has never been seen before and is alarming.

State chief of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot has also alerted people of the state about mucoramycosis. “In this disease, there is a risk of damage to many organs of the body including the brain. An alert for the disease has been issued in Mumbai and Ahmedabad”, Gehlot said.

https://sputniknews.com

Apocalyptic footage shows huge swarm of locusts turning sky black – ‘No tree survived’

Alessandra Scotto di Santolo – December 17, 2020

A NEW generation of locust swarms is threatening to wipe out the livelihoods of farmers and herders across eastern Africa – deepening a food crisis in a region where 35 million people are already hungry, the United Nations warned on Wednesday.

From January to August, massive desert locust swarms swept across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, ravaging crops and decimating pasture in the worst outbreak in decades. Governments, supported by U.N. agencies and international charities, responded with large-scale aerial and ground spraying of pesticides to destroy the swarms, which scientists have linked to climate change.

But widespread rains in Ethiopia and flooding caused by a cyclone in Somalia last month have created favourable breeding conditions, allowing locust infestations to increase, said the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

“We have achieved much, but the battle against this relentless pest is not yet over,” said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu in a statement.

“We must not waver. Locusts keep growing day and night and risks are exacerbating food insecurity for vulnerable families across the affected region.”

Locust swarms are already forming in Somalia and Ethiopia and threaten to re-invade northern Kenya, while breeding is also underway on both sides of the Red Sea, posing a new threat to Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen, said the FAO.

https://www.express.co.uk

The push for children’s ‘sexual rights’ is coming

Mattea Merta – November 30, 2020

Human Rights Watch issued a submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy, Prof. Joseph Cannataci, that states their concern with “the privacy rights of children and issues relating to their independence and autonomy.”

The submission “focuses on the importance of privacy for children with respect to their sexual and reproductive health and rights, physical and emotional well-being in school, safety in the online space, and the protection of their information online.”

Human Rights Watch calls for children to have “access to confidential adolescent-responsive and non-discriminatory reproductive and sexual health information and services, available both on and off-line, including… safe abortion services.” It also recommends that governments ensure that “children have access to confidential medical counsel and assistance without parental consent, including for reproductive health services,” as well as “specifically calling for confidential access for adolescent girls to legal abortions.”

If implemented, this submission by Human Rights Watch would allow for children to have legal rights to bypass parental consent to access with absolute privacy: abortions, hormone injections for the purpose of gender transition and/or puberty blockers, complete privacy rights in accessing online and offline information on any subject and to any materials (this means inside their classrooms, schools, at doctors offices, extra curricular activities, etc), access to explicit information contained within Comprehensive Sexuality Education, male children using female bathrooms and change rooms, as well as medical provisions tailored for full access to minors with zero parent assistance or knowledge. It also classifies, amongst other issues, abortion, as a child’s “right.”

This submission, if accepted, would assist children in completely bypassing parents which is a dangerous situation for any child to be in. Abortions, puberty blockers, the removal of parental guidance, and comprehensive sexuality education all have side effects. But the chief concern is that this calls for institutions to help children bypass their parents towards the legal implementation of children’s self-determinative rights, without guardian or parental oversight.

In place of parents or guardians having a say over the well-being of their children, this measure would encourage children to beleive that the state is the final arbiter of their best interests. It creates a schism between parents and children.

https://thepostmillennial.com

July 2020 may have been deadliest month ever for young Americans, including wartime

RT – December 18, 2020

A damning new report suggests that, in the month of July alone, some 16,500 young Americans aged 25 to 44 lost their lives in what may prove to be the deadliest month in US history for young adults.

According to a recent research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, between March and July, 76,088 young Americans between the ages of 25 and 44 died, with the leading causes of mortality largely remaining the same, but exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

For context, during the height of WWII, US casualties averaged 6,600 per month.

Outside of wartime, the average estimated level of mortality for the month of July should be around 13,000, resulting in an excess mortality of 3,400.

Each year, some 150,000 adults in this age demographic would be expected to pass away, but thanks to the pandemic and its associated stresses, this year it looks likely to surpass 170,000.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) around 2,000 people aged between 25 and 34 have so far died from Covid-19 across the US. Some 7,070 adults in their late 30s and early 40s have also died from the disease.

Going by the official data, the Covid-19 fatalities account for only one-third of the excess deaths.

The preliminary data suggests the pandemic accelerated overdose deaths, though given the sheer volume of reports needed to accurately convey the scale of the collateral destruction wrought by Covid-19, on top of its own death toll, the true scale of the disaster that was 2020 will likely take years to fully calculate.

However, the CDC already estimates, with some degree of certainty, that the US will surpass last year’s grim record number of opioid deaths, as overall use of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, increased by an estimated 38 percent compared to 2018-2019, while some western states reported a 98-percent increase in synthetic opioid-involved deaths.

“The disruption to daily life due to the Covid-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement.

https://www.rt.com

U.S. Sends Two B-52s on ‘Show-of-Force’ Mission over Persian Gulf

Simon Kent – December 11, 2020

A pair of U.S. B-52H Stratofortresses flew a show-of-force mission across the Persian Gulf on Thursday in a display intended to deter attacks from Iran. The bombers were joined by fighter escorts from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar.

The aircraft, assigned to Louisiana’s Barksdale Air Force Base-headquartered 2nd Bomb Wing, flew a short-notice nonstop mission the military said was “designed to deter aggression” and assure allies and partners the United States can rapidly deploy military power.

“Potential adversaries should understand that no nation on earth is more ready and capable of rapidly deploying additional combat power in the face of any aggression,” U.S. Central Command’s commander, Gen. Frank McKenzie, said.

“Our ability to work together as partners on a mission like this heightens our collective readiness to respond to any crisis or contingency,” McKenzie said.

UPI reports this is the second U.S. show-of-force mission involving B-52s in the region in as many months.

The mission comes two weeks after the assassination of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Iran and amid escalating tentions between the United States and Iran, as Breitbart News reported.

https://www.breitbart.com

Boris Johnson Says ‘Strong Possibility’ of UK, EU Failing to Agree on Trade Deal

Sputnik – December 11, 2020

MOSCOW, (Sputnik) – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said on Thursday that there is a “strong possibility” that his country and the European Union will fail to conclude a free trade agreement before the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31.

During an interview at Downing Street that was screened by UK broadcasters, the prime minister said there was a “strong possibility” that both sides would fail to resolve their differences, and urged citizens and businesses to step up preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

The prime minister said that the EU’s proposals were “not, at the moment, right for the UK,” citing concerns over the bloc’s desire to establish a set of rules and procedures to prevent businesses in one country from undercutting their rivals in another country, also known as the level playing field.

Johnson also cited the ongoing disagreements over fisheries as another major issue preventing a deal being reached.

https://sputniknews.com

‘Nobody knows’: Experts baffled by mystery illness in India

ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL – December 8, 2020

NEW DELHI (AP) — Health officials and experts are still baffled by a mysterious illness that has left over 500 people hospitalized and one person dead in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The illness was first detected Saturday evening in Eluru, an ancient city famous for its hand-woven products. People started convulsing without any warning, said Geeta Prasadini, the director of public health.

Since then, symptoms ranging from nausea and anxiety to loss of consciousness have been reported in 546 patients admitted to hospitals. Many have recovered and returned home, while 148 are still being treated, said Dasari Nagarjuna, a government spokesperson.

Teams of experts have arrived at the city from India’s top scientific institutes. Different theories have been suggested and are being tested. The most recent hypothesis is contamination of food by pesticides.

“But nobody knows,” Prasadini admitted.

What is confounding experts is that there doesn’t seem to be any common link among the hundreds of people who have fallen sick. All of the patients have tested negative for COVID-19 and other viral diseases such as dengue, chikungunya or herpes. They aren’t related to each other. They don’t all live in the same area. They’re from different age groups, including about 70 children, but very few are elderly.

https://apnews.com