The U.S. has imposed new sanctions against the Syrian military, 18 government officials and a tech company, just days before the President-elect Donald Trump is due to take office. The reason cited was “in response to the use of chemical weapons” by the Syrian government, despite no solid evidence being provided.
WikiLeaks has released information that shows Hillary Clinton campaign staffers bribing 6 Republicans to “destroy Trump”. In an email from John Podesta to Huma Abedin, the pair discuss diverting Clinton campaign funds to various Republicans who were secretly on the Clinton payroll. Conservativedailypost.com reports: The email, sent in July of this year, describes how funds were being diverted from Clinton’s campaign to the Super PACS of Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, and John Kasich. According to the email: “JB, CF, and JK PACS will be noticeably silent for the rest of the campaign.
France are threatening President-elect Donald Trump with “serious consequences” if he moves the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned Trump against the embassy move, saying that it would threaten peace in the region. Yahoo News reports: Speaking as 70 countries gather in Paris to try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, Ayrault told French TV he believed Trump would find it “impossible” to fulfil the pledge he made during his campaign to transfer the embassy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the US intelligence services of performing a massive cyberattack against Russia. According to a senior security official, Russia is facing “increased cyber attacks” originating in the U.S. Reuters reports: U.S. intelligence agencies say Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a cyber campaign aimed at boosting Donald Trump’s electoral chances by discrediting his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign. Russia has dismissed the accusations as a “witch-hunt”.
The departing CIA director John Brennan has launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump, warning the President-elect does not fully understand the threat posed to the US by Russia.
"I think Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia of various actions it has taken in the past number of years is a road that he needs to be very, very careful about moving down."