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The game of chicken Donald Trump is playing with China as part of his tariff war is reportedly on the verge of doing irreparable harm to America’s soybean farmers with Chinese negotiators holding the upper hand.According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, soybeans farmers are poised to harvest “tens of millions of tons of soybeans,” but their biggest market, China, is not buying, thereby putting pressure of the Trump administration to make a tariff deal.As the Journal’s Jon Emont and Patrick Thomas are reporting, China’s buyers are boycotting American soybean crops unless Trump first drops the 20 percent tariff the the president imposed.Trump’s reluctance to bend now has U.S. farmers on edge, fearing this could be the end for them.“It is U.S. farmers who are feeling the pain. Nearly a quarter of the more than 4 billion bushels of soybeans American farmers grow each year are exported to China, which is by far the world’s biggest soy importer. The country imported nearly $13 billion of soybeans from the U.S. last year, compared with about $2 billion two decades ago,” the report notes before adding that Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky soybean farmer, lamented, “We have a large number of farmers that won’t survive this.”At a U.S. soy industry conference in August, Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng laid the blame of the Trump administration and stood up for the U.S. farmers by noting, “After confusion and chaos in the plowing season, our farmer friends may soon have to face new uncertainty in the harvest season.”According to the Journal, China anticipated the fight with the American president and created stockpiles to lessen the blow in their own country, with China turning to other trade partners, including Argentina and Uruguay, to make up for their own shortfalls.You can read more here.

Exactly one year ago last night, Vice President Kamala Harris confidently walked up to Donald Trump, looked him in his bloodshot eyes, offered her hand, and then proceeded to spend the next 90 minutes dragging him all over the stage of Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center in their one-and-only 2024 presidential debate.Harris was prepared, disciplined, and clearly demonstrated her keen understanding of both domestic and foreign policy issues. She wasted no time stating her key plans for her administration, and effortlessly illustrated a command of the Constitution. She made it clear that she, not her opponent, who was a convicted felon, had spent an entire professional career upholding our nation’s laws, not violating them.She even predicted how the debate would go down telling the world that Trump would haul out “the same old, tired playbook,” and warning he would resort to “a bunch of lies, grievances and name-calling.”While Harris strongly defended a woman’s right to choose, Trump stammered and lied saying, “As far as the abortion ban, no, I’m not in favor of an abortion ban. But it doesn’t matter because this issue has now been taken over by the states.”Then he weirdly said, “I have been a leader on fertilization.”With an incredulous look, Harris stared at him and then the camera, and said without speaking, “I have no idea what the hell he is talking about, either.”This was repeated several more times, as Trump used the shovel Harris casually tossed him to bury himself.When she wasn’t relentlessly fact-checking and battering the haggard Trump with the facts, she was nonchalantly casting a line and patiently waiting for the two-ton sucker fish to hit it, before setting the hook, and reeling him in.By the time she was done, the orange, flapping fish was bleeding out all over the stage, and screaming, “They’re eating the dogs! They’re eating the cats!”Harris also effortlessly dog-walked Trump into the very racist trap that he set weeks earlier when he questioned Harris’s “Blackness.”“All I can say is, I read where she was not Black, that she put out. And I’ll say that, and then I read that she was Black. And that’s OK. Either one was OK with me. That’s up to her. That’s up to her.”That’s up to her … How kind.Harris again looked at the camera, with a “you decide” look.When the ass-kicking was finally over, Harris had masterfully humiliated Trump. She had proven she had the capacity to be one damn fine president, and knew how to stand up to fascist bullies, not roll out the red carpet for them.So badly was Trump beaten, he actually flat turned down an offer from Republican state media at Fox TV to host a second debate, saying “there will be no rematch.”It’s fitting then, that on the one-year anniversary of Harris’s knockout of Trump on that Philadelphia stage, we are getting news of Russia President Vladimir Putin’s incursion into Polish airspace today. High-ranking Polish military officials are decrying an “unprecedented violation” as a “huge number” of Russian drones were shot down by Polish and NATO forces over that country.This is the first time in the history of NATO that alliance fighters have engaged enemy targets in allied airspace.Read that again.As I type this, Poland’s government has invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty, that states alliance members “will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened.”Without invoking Article 4, there cannot be Article 5, which could entail military action.From reporting in The New York Times this afternoon:Since NATO’s founding in 1949, Article 4 has been invoked eight times. Before Wednesday, the last was on Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.What we know for sure right now is that the world is less safe today than it was yesterday, and certainly one year ago. We still don’t have a clue what Trump has to say about any of it, except what he posted on his social media account:"What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!"Here we go? Good God.This is the terrifying stuff of world wars, but of course, Harris was on top of this issue, too, during that debate, because unlike Trump, she read her national security briefings, and could tell our friends from our enemies.At one point, Harris turned to Trump and said this:“Why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor, and what you think is a friendship with a known dictator (Putin) who would eat you for lunch?”She wasn’t done:“If Ukraine loses, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland.”Holy hell …And let me remind you that Trump promised to end Russia’s war with Ukraine on Day One of his presidency. Of course, anybody who was paying attention, and/or really loves this country, knew that like so much of the heated bilge that pours out of his lying mouth, it was all complete bulls–––.Instead, just last month he surrendered to Putin on American soil by giving the murdering dictator the red-carpet treatment Harris had predicted.But if we are really being accurate here, all of this was forecasted on another debate stage in 2016, when Trump was dragged around by another smart, tough, unflappable woman.When Hillary Clinton went after Trump’s bromance with Putin, the man who would violently attack America only four years later said this:“He (Putin) said nice things about me. He has no respect for her (Clinton), he has no respect for our president (Obama). I’ll tell you what, we’re in very serious trouble.”Clinton responded this way:“Well that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president of the United States.”Truer words have never been spoken.Both of these patriotic women were right about everything, and we should all be reminded of that every single day.D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here.

The White House is reportedly “infuriated” following the surprise Israeli strike Tuesday on American-ally Qatar, an operation that the United States was given little advanced notice of and has put a key international alliance in jeopardy.According to Israeli officials, the strike on Doha, the capital of Qatar, was intended to eliminate Hamas leadership, specifically those actively involved in the ongoing ceasefire negotiations. The strike was immediately condemned by Trump, who said he was “very unhappy” with what he called an “unfortunate incident.”But behind the scenes, Trump was reportedly “infuriated,” and had a heated phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to insiders familiar with the matter who spoke with Axios in a report published Thursday.“It's unacceptable,” Trump told Netanyahu during a phone call Tuesday, according to “two sources with knowledge,” speaking with Axios. “I demand that you do not repeat it.”The strike has also jeopardized the United States’ relationship with Qatar, which for decades has remained a key ally in the Middle East, having even been designated a major non-NATO ally by the United States.A “source with direct knowledge” told Axios that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani told Steve Witkoff, the United States’ special envoy to the Middle East, that the country would reevaluate its security partnership with the United States, and “maybe find some other partners.”Netanyahu’s response to Trump during their phone call Tuesday is unclear, but in the days since, he has defended the strikes as necessary to protect Israel’s security and to bring “terrorists to justice,” while also proclaiming that Israel would “continue to strike” as necessary.According to Axios, Trump was not notified of the impending attack until “missiles were in the air.” According to Axios, Al-Thani told the White House that it considered the attack a “betrayal” by the United States, and that Qatar was actively engaged in conversations with other Persian Gulf nations on how to respond.

Lord Peter Mandelson has been removed as British ambassador to the U.S. over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.UK Prime Minster Keir Starmer ordered his firing after a series of damaging revelations about his longtime friendship with the disgraced financier and convicted child sex abuser, reported The Telegraph, which had previously revealed emails showing Mandelson advised Epstein on how to respond to criminal charges over soliciting a minor in 2008."The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment," the Foreign Office said in a statement. “In light of that, and mindful of the victims of Epstein’s crimes he has been withdrawn as Ambassador with immediate effect.”Mandelson and Epstein had worked together on a $1.35 billion business deal after the late pedophile's conviction for child sex crimes, and while Mandelson was serving as a government minister.The former ambassador described Epstein as his "best pal" in notes written for a book on the financier's 50th birthday in 2003, but Starmer had stood by Mandelson until the emails leaked Wednesday.The move comes just days before U.S. President Donald Trump, who was also longtime friends with Epstein, is scheduled to arrive in the UK for his second state visit.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt argued without evidence that The Wall Street Journal had proven President Donald Trump did not send a birthday letter to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, even though the publication released a copy of the note.On Monday, the Journal reported that House Democrats had obtained a copy of the letter from Epstein's estate. The note included a doodle of a woman and mentioned a "wonderful secret.""The latest piece published by the Wall Street Journal PROVES this entire 'Birthday Card' story is false," Leavitt claimed later on X. "As I have said all along, it's very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it.""President Trump's legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation," she added, referring to a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal.Leavitt also complained that reporter Joe Palazzolo had not given her enough time to respond before publishing the story."This is FAKE NEWS to perpetuate the Democrat Epstein Hoax!" she exclaimed.Supporters of the president have insisted that the signature on the note to Epstein does not match Trump's.

Many demonstrators say they are also on the streets over corruption and nepotism they allege is rampant At least 19 people have been killed during protests in Nepal over a government ban on dozens of online platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and X.The government has faced mounting criticism after imposing a ban on 26 prominent social media platforms and messaging apps last week because they had missed a deadline to register under new regulations. Continue reading...

The U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) probed a Marine assigned to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for ties to a pro-Russia neo-Nazi group in Poland, according to internal military files exclusively obtained by Raw Story.The Marine was arrested when the FBI disrupted a plot to attack an energy facility on U.S. soil. Authorities found that a co-defendant in the case, also a Marine and a Russian linguist, was in possession of classified material. The links to the pro-Russian group and details of the classified materials investigation are reported here for the first time.NCIS initially refused to provide records in response to a Raw Story Freedom of Information Act request, citing an exemption to protect privacy. Raw Story sued the federal agency, and the courts found in its favor.“‘Disclosure of the requested records would likely reveal a great deal about law enforcement policy,’ including how defendants handled investigations related to the mishandling of classified information and how the ‘military is addressing extremism in the ranks,’” Judge Lori AliKhan, a federal judge on the D.C. bench, wrote in 2024. “‘Thus, disclosure would offer the public visibility into defendants’ ‘performance of [their] statutory duties’ and would further ‘let citizens know ‘what their government is up to.’”‘Insider threat’NCIS began investigating the case in April 2020, following a Newsweek story exposing Lance Cpl. Liam Collins as a member of Iron March, a global neo-Nazi online forum. The investigation uncovered messages exchanged between Collins and two self-identified members of the Polish group, Falanga, discussing potentially coordinating paramilitary activity.By the time the NCIS began investigating Collins’ links to Falanga, he had organized a neo-Nazi paramilitary group that was illegally manufacturing guns and stealing military gear from Camp Lejeune, while plotting an attack on critical infrastructure designed to spark a race war, according to federal prosecutors. In October 2020, while Collins was under investigation for his links to the Polish neo-Nazi group, he was arrested on firearms charges, along with Cpl. Jordan Duncan, a Marine and Russian linguist assigned to the 2nd Radio Battalion of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. The two Marines had met at Camp Lejeune in late 2018.When the FBI raided Duncan’s home in Boise, ID, they seized his laptop and an external hard drive. Authorities discovered classified material on the devices, and the NCIS and FBI opened a new investigation for potential violation of a federal law regulating the handling of national defense information. As the NCIS and FBI reviewed the classified material as part of an “insider threat” investigation, the case widened to include a new charge of conspiracy to damage an energy facility, and three co-defendants, including another Marine and a New Jersey Army National Guard member.In August 2021, while Duncan was in jail awaiting trial, investigators determined that the files discovered on his devices included a secret “capabilities brief” for the 2nd Radio Battalion, according to another set of investigative files exclusively obtained by Raw Story. The files included other documents labeled “FOUO,” or “For Official Use Only,” a designation that denotes sensitive material exempt from public release, though not classified. The documents included “Standard Operating Procedures and tactics” specific to the battalion that a special security officer determined “would be detrimental to the Signals Intelligence and Electronic Warfare community as a whole if obtained by an adversary,” according to the investigation.The investigation revealed that the FOUO materials were commingled with “a large library of improvised explosive device schematics, chemical weapons schematics” and other manuals on Duncan’s hard drive. “It appears that Mr. Duncan’s hard drive was kind of a source for the entire group,” NCIS Agent Christopher Little testified during a detention hearing for one of Duncan’s codefendants in August 2021. “There was multiple documents from that hard drive on multiple other group members’ devices.”‘Fresh and ready’Before Collins met Duncan or started assembling his paramilitary group, he communicated with two self-identified members of Falanga, the neo-Nazi group with roots in the Polish skinhead scene, according to a data set of leaked Iron March chats reviewed by Raw Story. When Collins began communicating with Falanga members in June 2016, he was a rising senior in New Jersey still more than a year out from entering Marine Corps bootcamp at Parris Island, SC. Collins told other users on the forum his mother was Polish, that he was proud his “great-grandparents were Nazi collaborators,” and that he didn’t dispute Jews who claimed “Poland helped with the Holocaust.” In fact, it was a point of pride.“I have a deep interest in creating a sort of ‘alliance’ with you and any members of Falanga that might be able to talk to me,” Collins wrote to a self-identified Falanga member with the username “Phalanx22” in August 2016. “Like being able to relay information and propaganda between Poland and the United States. I will be serving in the military soon, so I want to come out fresh and ready to train my Polish brothers how to defend their blood and soil.”Falanga made no secret of its anti-American stance.The group was founded because of its leader’s perception of “liberalism, capitalism and USA/NATO as the greatest enemies,” a member with the username “Bombenhagel” told Collins.Collins’ comments in the Iron March chats do not reveal his position on Russia, but he disparaged NATO — a bulwark of the US military alliance with Poland — for its role in the Balkans war of the 1990s.“Opportunists like NATO wanted a reason to build more bases in Eastern Europe after the Cold War,” Collins wrote, “so they stopped Serb and Croats from genociding every last Muslim in the Balkans.”Addressing an Iron March user in Canada, Collins said he was forming a “paramilitary.” In April 2017, Collins told “Bombenhagel” his group would be “purchasing a lot of land soon for training, so if Falanga ever organizes a trip to the U.S., you are welcome to come train with us.”“Bombenhagel” thanked Collins for the invitation. It’s unclear if Falanga members ever traveled to the U.S. to train. The last documented exchange between Collins and Falanga on Iron March took place in May 2017, but an NCIS investigative report noted that Collins expressed concern about the security of the forum, while suggesting they continue to communicate through a different platform. It is unclear how long the relationship between Collins and Falanga lasted.In early 2018, three Falanga members were detained by the Polish Internal Security Agency on suspicion of carrying out an arson attack against a Hungarian cultural center in Ukraine. The three were convicted, according to Przemyslaw Witkowski, a Polish scholar who researches the far right and pro-Russia influences at Civitas University in Warsaw, and who described the attack in the book Russia and the Far-Right: Insights from Ten European Countries as “the most infamous act of terror committed by Polish citizens in the last 20 years.”Polish prosecutors argued that the purpose of the crime was to “publicly incite national hatred between Ukrainians and Hungarians” and to cause “disruption of the political system in Ukraine.” The clear beneficiary was Russia, which in 2014 had annexed Crimea from Ukraine, and was backing separatists in the Donbas. Three years later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion that continues to exact a bloody toll.Witness testimony in the trial for the 2018 terror attack implicated Manuel Ochsenreiter, a German journalist active with the far-right Alternative for Germany party, according to Witkowski. Ochsenreiter reportedly denied involvement but relocated to Moscow, where in 2021 he died suddenly of a heart attack, aged 45. ‘Exchange of information’Falanga members have addressed the Duma in Moscow, visited Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas, and interviewed Aleksander Dugin, a Russian intellectual close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Witkowski noted. Witkowski told Raw Story he finds it unlikely that Falanga would be able to maintain such high-level contacts without some kind of approval from Russian intelligence services.“For sure there is an exchange of information in this environment,” Witkowski said.The secret “capabilities brief” and other sensitive U.S. military information Duncan obtained through his assignment to the 2nd Radio Battalion in the II Marine Expeditionary Force would likely be of interest to Collins’ counterparts in Falanga, Witkowski said. He noted that Falanga members have demonstrated an interest in infiltrating the Polish police, national guard and army.Duncan is now serving a seven-year sentence in Pennsylvania, for illegally manufacturing a short-barrel rifle. His lawyer declined to comment.Collins, who is serving a 10-year sentence in South Carolina for aiding and abetting the interstate transportation of unregistered firearms, could not be reached for comment.Emails to Bartosz Bekier, the leader of Falanga, went unreturned.NCIS told Raw Story the investigation yielded no evidence that any military information on Duncan’s devices was transferred to Falanga or wound up in Russian hands.“NCIS has determined, in coordination with the FBI and [the U.S. Department of Justice], that there were no indications that classified information was provided to other groups or to foreign entities,” said Meredith March, an NCIS spokesperson. March added that NCIS was “unable to provide information that may be contained in the FBI’s investigative files.”The FBI National Press Office and FBI joint terrorism task forces in Wilmington, NC and Boise, ID, declined to comment.The NCIS “insider threat” investigation on Duncan for potential violations of the federal law on communicating, transmitting or retaining national defense information was closed in November 2021. Federal prosecutors agreed to refrain from mention of the classified materials on Duncan’s devices, to avoid prejudicing a jury if he were to go to trial on firearms charges. Duncan pled guilty to the gun charge shortly before his trial was scheduled to begin.While the National Security Division Counterterrorism Section prosecuted Duncan, alongside federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Department of Justice opted to not charge him for mishandling classified materials.A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, where Camp Lejeune is located, declined to comment. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

President Donald Trump interrupted his appearance at the US Open to send out a message about Israel's war in Gaza."Everyone wants the Hostages HOME," the president wrote Sunday on Truth Social. "Everyone wants this War to end!" "The Israelis have accepted my Terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well," he continued. "I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one! Thank you for your attention to this matter."Before heading to the men's final tennis match in New York, Trump told reporters at the White House that he was also ready to move to a "second stage" of sanctions against Russia. The president, however, did not provide specific details.