Around the World
China tells Taiwan to prepare for war
China has told Taiwan’s opposition party to “prepare for war,” Just the News reports. The threat was made through China’s state-sponsored Global Times news outlet on Wednesday.
Trump tweets that US troops in Afghanistan should be home by Christmas
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the remaining American troops in Afghanistan “should” be home in the US by Christmas, Politico reports. In February this year, the US and the Taliban agreed that American soldiers would withdraw from Afghanistan in spring 2021.
Azerbaijan, Armenia Clashes Damage Church As World Rushes For Ceasefire
Armenia says neighboring Azerbaijan has attacked a historic cathedral in the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh amid raging battles over the contested region.
Dam building projects could fuel water stress in Middle East
Over the last 30 years, Jassim Al-Asadi has witnessed the Mesopotamian Marshes of southern Iraq where he was born undergo dramatic changes.
US Announces Sanctions on 18 Iranian Banks
The U.S. government imposed new sanctions on 18 Iranian banks as Washington turned up the pressure on Tehran by further isolating it from the global banking system and hindering the country’s attempts to build nuclear weapons.
Countering China on tech minerals
President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at countering China’s drive to corner the international market on rare earth minerals -- key elements used in high-tech products that are the backbone of the U.S. economy and key weapons systems.

Israel-Palestinian Conflict
EU says no extra funding for Palestinian Authority while it refused to collect its own money from Israel
The European Union has told the Palestinian Authority that it cannot have extra EU funding while Ramallah refuses to accept its own tax money collected by Israel, the Jerusalem Post reports. Anticipating Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced in May that he would cease all cooperation with Israel.

Inside the United States
FBI Is Stonewalling Congressional Oversight On Hunter Biden
The FBI is refusing to provide answers to a congressional inquiry pertaining to Hunter Biden’s potentially criminal overseas business activity revealed in a Senate report last month that chronicles the Biden family’s conflicts of interest abroad.
After Chinese Scientists Steal Billions in American Research, U.S. Finally Bans Communists
The U.S. government has finally issued an official policy on the inadmissibility of foreigners affiliated with Communist or totalitarian parties. The critical new rule appears to be the Trump administration’s response to an epidemic of Communists, mainly from China, that have stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded scientific research while working in the United States with Uncle Sam’s permission.
Federal deficit tripled to $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020, largest as share of the economy since World War II
The federal deficit for fiscal year 2020 was $3.1 trillion, triple last year's figure, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday.
Federal appeals court reinstates criminal convictions of Hunter Biden's business partner
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday reversed a lower court decision to grant a new trial in a fraud case involving Hunter Biden's ex-business partner Devon Archer.
Biden: Voters 'will know my opinion on court packing when the election is over'
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Thursday that voters will know his opinion on packing the Supreme Court "when the election is over.”
Coronavirus Hit the U.S. Long Before We Knew
The Wall Street Journal interviewed disease detectives and reviewed hundreds of pages of new research to piece together how the coronavirus infiltrated the wealthiest nation on earth. The latest genetic, epidemiological and computational research suggests it was spreading inside the country before anyone started looking.
More than 6.6 million Americans have already voted, suggesting record turnout
Americans are rushing to cast ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election at an unprecedented pace, early voting numbers show, indicating a possible record turnout for the showdown between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.