Unseen Presence Moves the Light?

The U.S. men’s national team will kick off its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign against Paraguay on June 12th at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood — a matchup confirmed during Friday’s official tournament draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The signs are everywhere. Climate change is dead. Democrats have found another cause. Tom Steyer, a climate catastrophizer, is running for Governor of California, only he’s not running on his favorite topic: environmentalism and the climate. He’s switched over to a more popular topic that seems to have brought out the electorate of late: affordability. […] The post With Climate Change Drying Up, Democrats Switch to Affordability appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

President Donald Trump aims to prevent conflict with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea by building up U.S. and allies’ military power, according to a new U.S. strategy document. The Trump administration laid out its approach to one of the world’s most sensitive diplomatic issues in an official National Security Strategy document, released on Friday. It comes as Beijing ratchets up pressure on democratically governed Taiwan and Japan, deploying vessels across East Asian waters this week in its largest maritime show of force to date. “Deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” said the document, a periodically updated vision statement from the administration to Congress and the first since Trump took office in January. China views Taiwan as its own, and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. China also has vast regional claims, including almost the entire South China Sea, which are disputed by many of its smaller neighbors. The United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but Washington is the island’s most important international backer and is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. The issue has been an irritant in U.S.-China relations for years. The document’s language on Taiwan is stronger than the national security strategy produced during Trump’s first term in office. The document in 2017 mentioned Taiwan three times in a single sentence, echoing longstanding diplomatic language. The updated strategy, however, mentions Taiwan eight times across three paragraphs and concludes that “there is, rightly, much focus on Taiwan” because of its strategic location in trade-rich waters and dominance in semiconductor manufacturing. “We will build a military capable of denying aggression anywhere,” in the chain of islands stretching from Japan to Southeast Asia, said the latest document. “But the American military cannot, and should not have to, do this alone. Our allies must step up and spend – and more importantly do – much more for collective defense.” That will reinforce “U.S. and allies’ capacity to deny any attempt to seize Taiwan” or any other steps that would “make defending that island impossible,” the report said. 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. Trump, a Republican, has largely avoided directly saying how he would respond to a rise in tensions over the island. Trump’s penchant for dealmaking and effort to seek closer ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping have kindled fears in the region of weakening U.S. support for Taiwan and regional allies from Tokyo to Manila. Trump plans to travel to Beijing in April, where the leaders will discuss extending the truce in their trade war. Last month, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi drew Beijing’s wrath when she told parliament that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan that threatened Japan could justify a military response. Trump privately asked Takaichi not to escalate the dispute with China, Reuters previously reported. But Trump also signed a new law requiring his administration to regularly review how it interacts with Taipei. It also approved the sale of fighter jet and other aircraft parts to Taiwan for $330 million. Both were seen as signs of support by Taiwan. Trump has also pressed Japan and South Korea, two key regional allies, to hike defense spending. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; editing by Philippa Fletcher, Don Durfee and Diane Craft)

'lame excuses'

The State Department and a congressional delegation have engaged with a top-ranking Bosnian official who earlier this year reportedly touted potential cooperation with the government of Iran for military industry development.  The same official, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Defense Minister Zukan Helez, also smeared Heritage Foundation Research Fellow Max Primorac over his congressional testimony this week.  Last week, the U.S. Embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina promoted a meeting Helez had with two members of Congress, Reps. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Donald Norcross, D-N.J.  Rep. Mike Turner and Rep. Donald Norcross met with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Defense Zukan Helez and Deputy Minister of Defense Aleksandar Goganovi? today to discuss our shared interest in a secure and stable BiH, and to highlight the importance of our continuing… pic.twitter.com/JY6AkMwKOa— US Embassy Sarajevo (@USEmbassySJJ) November 25, 2025 The embassy, which used “BiH” to refer to the Balkan state, said the members of Congress and Helez discussed “shared interest in a secure and stable BiH, and to highlight the importance of our continuing U.S.-BiH security partnership, which has secured 30 years of peace in BiH, bolstered regional stability, and enhanced economic opportunities for citizens of both the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina.” In May, Helez met with Brigadier Mahmoud Mohaghagh Pour, the non-resident military envoy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Sarajevo Times reported.  “Minister Helez emphasized that he will never forget the assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Iran provided during the war years, when it was most needed,” the outlet reported. “He noted that he believes that Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina can also cooperate in the field of military industry development, taking into account all political circumstances and the state structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” The report went on to say: “Pour announced to Minister Helez an invitation for high-level delegations from BiH and Iran to exchange visits, with the aim of considering the possibility of establishing closer bilateral cooperation between the Ministries of Defense of BiH and Iran.” Helez is an “extremist,” and “Iran’s point man in the Balkans,” said J. Michael Waller, senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy in a post on X Friday.   Why is US Embassy promoting Bosnia's Islamic extremist defense minister Zukan Helez? Helez is Iran's point man in the Balkans. In league with jihadists, Helez executed Christian prisoners. @RepMikeTurner @DonaldNorcross https://t.co/F2NMslhiel— J Michael Waller (@JMichaelWaller) December 5, 2025 Waller also noted that Helez verbally attacked Max Primorac, a senior research fellow with The Heritage Foundation, after Primorac testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe. Helez called him the spawn of “fascists” and “Nazis”, Waller noted.  Immediately after @Heritage foreign policy veteran Max Primorac testifies in the House to defend the president's foreign policy agenda, Bosnia's defense minister Zukan Helez calls him the spawn of fascists and Nazis. The @USEmbassySJJ is promoting Helez. @DeputySecState https://t.co/qBimgVl3mz— J Michael Waller (@JMichaelWaller) December 5, 2025 Primorac said the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo has not criticized the Helez statement. A former official in the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, Primorac said that embassies typically defend Americans.  “Helez is sending the message to anyone in the future, you criticize us, we will come after you,” Primorac told The Daily Signal.  He also blames the embassy more than the members of Congress for the meeting, since embassies have the background information on officials.  “The embassies arrange meetings for congressional delegations. They put these guys in a compromising position,” Primorac said. “There are no new political employees in the embassy there. Nothing has changed from the Biden administration.” The Daily Signal reached out to the State Department, as well as to the offices of both Turner and Norcross, but did not get a response by Friday afternoon.  The Daily Signal also reached out to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Embassy in the United States by phone and email, as well as Bosnia’s Ministry of Defense and the office of the prime minister by email. None responded by publication time.  Primorac wrote a Heritage Foundation report in July detailing some of the historic ties between the Balkan nation and Iran.  “Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps established long-term ties to Bosniak leaders, especially those in the intelligence services,” the report explains. “Thirty years on, these ties remain as BiH’s Muslim leaders have revived wartime ties with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood while undergoing radicalization via years of external funding of hardline imams.” “The May 2025 visit of a high-level Iranian defense official to meet with the BiH’s Muslim minister of defense prompted a sharp rebuke from the Trump Administration,” Primorac’s report continued. “The radicalization of BiH’s Muslim authorities reached its apex last month [June 2025] when they cancelled the biannual meeting in Sarajevo of the Conference of European Rabbis, calling their meeting ‘morally offensive’ as ‘support will be sent to the occupier [Israel]… who commits genocide against the innocent population of Gaza.’” The post Why Are US Officials Promoting a Meeting With an Ally of Iran? appeared first on The Daily Signal.