This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Democrats lost retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, now an independent of Arizona, and Sen. Joe Manchin, now an independent from West Virginia, from their party ranks some time ago.
The result was that party members lost no opportunity to trash them, their accomplishments, and their ideas.
Now, those two have responded with a parting gift to Joe Biden, who leaves office in a few weeks: A move to torpedo his choice for a spot on the National Labor Relations Board.
It is the Washington Examiner that notes up for a vote was Lauren McFerran, an activist who likely would have left the NLRB under Democrat control for years to come.
The report said, "McFerran's term expires Monday. Her reinstalment would've secured a Democratic NLRB majority on the five-person panel tasked with protecting organized union labor until at least August 2026, at which point Trump could have replaced another expiring Democrat with a Republican. The NLRB's current makeup is three Democrats, one Republican, and one absent Republican seat. The agency may not have more than a 3-2 partisan majority for either party. Each seat's term runs five years, regardless of when members are seated."
But Sinema and Manchin joined Republicans in a 50-49 vote to reject McFerran.
The reaction from Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who leads his party in the Senate, was expected: "It is deeply disappointing, a direct attack on working people, and incredibly troubling that this highly qualified nominee, with a proven track record of protecting worker rights, did not have the votes."
Now Trump will have the opportunity to replace McFerran, as well as making a nomination to the open Republican seat, and the results could push the board to a 3-2 Republican majority.
The report noted, "Conservatives opposed McFerran over a range of NLRB decisions made under her leadership that they say have been anti-business, restricted employer free speech, undermined secret ballot union elections, and violated the Civil Rights Act from labor law interpretations."
A comment at RedState explained, "Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Joe Manchin (I-WV), both former Democrats who were savaged by their own party for not eliminating the filibuster, left President Joe Biden one final parting gift on Wednesday. Biden nominated Lauren McFerran to a five-year term on the National Labor Relations Board, which is essentially a federal agency dedicated to protecting big unions, and her confirmation was set to hand Democrats control of the body for the entirety of President-elect Donald Trump's second term."
However, the plan failed.
Schumer was left "furious."
"Someone should teach Chuck about sowing and reaping. He and his party members trashed Sinema and Manchin, with the former having to endure a Democratic Party-backed primary challenge that ultimately drove her to not seek re-election. Both were stalked and harassed for years, with left-wing protesters even following Sinema into the bathroom. Why? Because they had the audacity to not blow up an important Senate institution to allow a Democrat free-for-all, including the changing of voting laws to try to ensure a permanent majority," the report said.
That institution was the filibuster, which Democrats treasure when they are in the minority and hate when they are the majority.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Officials from Louisiana are asking a federal appeals court to protect their ability to have public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments, a key component among the ideas and beliefs on which the nation was founded.
The state already has adopted such plans for its schools, although there is flexibility in the requirement that schools display posters including the Ten Commandments that acknowledge their influence on American law and history.
However, the ACLU sued and a federal judge put a hold on the law.
Now, represented by Becket, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and Louisiana Solicitor General Ben Aguiñaga are asking on behalf of the state for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to protect its rights.
"If the ACLU had its way, every trace of religion would be scrubbed from Louisiana's public square," explained Becket senior counsel Joseph Davis. "Thankfully our Constitution says otherwise: Louisiana is allowed to acknowledge every aspect of our history and culture—including the Ten Commandments."
The Becket report on the dispute explained religious symbols have been a fixture of American public life since before the Founding.
"Just after declaring Independence, the Continental Congress tasked Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams with designing a national seal. Though the Great Seal eventually adopted a different design, all three proposed overtly religious designs drawn from the Hebrew Bible," Becket said.
"Over the centuries, many state and local governments have followed the Founders' lead by including religious elements in their flags, seals, and buildings to commemorate history and culture and to acknowledge the beliefs of their citizens. Among the most enduring of these religious symbols is the Ten Commandments, which is even featured prominently on the walls of the U.S. Supreme Court."
Louisiana's law has schools display the Ten Commandments with a context statement explaining the history of their presence in public education.
Schools may choose to incorporate the Commandments alongside other historical documents, like the Declaration of Independence and the Mayflower Compact.
The ACLU's contention is that knowledge of such facts will harm children.
"Yesterday we filed our opening brief in the Fifth Circuit defending Louisiana's Ten Commandments law," said Murrill. "As we have illustrated in our briefs, there are numerous ways for our schools to constitutionally implement the law. And this should not be controversial: As the Supreme Court has said, the Commandments have historical significance as one of the foundations of our law. We look forward to the Fifth Circuit's decision in this case."
The case is to be heard by the appeals court on Jan. 23.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Almost two-thirds of America's abortion industry businesses are breaking federal law by handing out abortion pill chemicals for use after the Food and Drug Administration's deadline of 10 weeks, according to a new report.
It is the "2024 survey: American abortion facilities," done by Operation Rescue that provides the alarming details.
Dispensing those drugs for use beyond the FDA's limit increases "the chances mothers will experience harmful – and potentially deadly – side effects," the report confirms.
Chemical abortions, using mifepristone and misoprostol, accounted for about 56% of all abortions in 2022, and while the FDA originally wanted those drugs not to be used beyond seven weeks of pregnancy, Barack Obama unilaterally changed that limit to 10 weeks in 2016.
But the survey says a large majority of abortion businesses are violating even that.
"Sixty-four percent of abortion clinics have gestational cut-off limits set between 11 and 13 weeks for abortion pills. This range indicates a significant majority of clinics provide abortion pills to women beyond the FDA's limit of 10 weeks," confirms the Operation Rescue report.
"Twenty-six percent administer or mail pills from 7 to 10 weeks, and the remaining 10% that limit the pills to 6 weeks or less are located in states with heartbeat protection laws in place. … The latest gestational age at which pills are administered at clinics nationwide is 13 weeks — three weeks beyond the FDA approved limit."
The complications from that pro-abortion agenda already is evident, explained a report in the Washington Stand.
"Complications of the abortion pill, and doctors' refusal to administer legally sanctioned miscarriage care, claimed the lives of at least two mothers in Georgia: 28-year-old Amber Nicole Thurman and 41-year-old Candi Miller," the report said.
Operation Rescue confirmed, "We know women are dying from these dangerous abortion pills, especially when taken with little or no medical oversight. If the pro-life movement stands united in holding drug companies and abortion pill suppliers accountable for these egregious deaths, we have the opportunity to win back some ground — which will save preborn lives as well as the lives of their mothers."
It maintains an archive of maternal deaths.
"A 16-year-old black girl underwent a chemical abortion at New York City's Choices Women's Medical Center in 2018, which left her 'sick, sore, lame and disabled.' Her child survived the abortion and was born with 'severe brain injuries' and other 'profound birth defects,'" according to various court records.
The report explained from 2000 to 2021, the FDA confirmed 4,207 "adverse events" from the abortion drug use, "including 26 deaths" and 1,045 hospitalizations.
The flagrant violations are just part of the record of the industry, OR said.
"Abortionists continue to exist as a privileged class of 'physicians' who cannot be touched. Their barbaric work of child-killing is too sacred to ever be lessened by disciplinary actions, meanwhile preborn children and their mothers pay the cost," explained OR chief Troy Newman.
Also revealed was that more than one in four (28%) — or 189 of 674 abortion facilities — hand out the chemicals without the mother actually seeing a doctor.
"Concerning abortion pills, it is deeply concerning to consider the appalling lack of oversight and accountability and the disturbing consequences we are already witnessing," Newman told the Washington Stand. "How many life-altering injuries and unnecessary deaths will be needed to establish standing for a lawsuit that ultimately addresses the dangerously under-regulated drugs?"
The report also noted that after the fall of the faulty Roe v. Wade precedent that fabricated a federal right to abortion, 14 states remain abortion free in 2024: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.
And Florida, Georgia, Iowa and South Carolina have heartbeat protection laws that typically protect unborn babies after six weeks gestation.
Other states, like Colorado, are turning their pro-abortion ideology into an industry, drawing women from surrounding states for abortions.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A lawsuit over anti-Semitism by officials in the New York village of Atlantic Beach is being revived because they refused to abide by a settlement reached earlier that would have allowed a Jewish organization to operate a center in town, according to a report from First Liberty Institute.
The fight is over scheming by officials there to exclude Chabad of the Beaches, a Hasidic Jewish group, from opening a religious center.
In private messages Mayor George Pappas said, "Very true," when a fellow town official said, "Most people don't want the Chabad and just don't want to say it. Any secular Jew doesn't want them."
The private messaging deteriorated further, with comments like that Jews "procreate" too much, "don't tip" and "are "buying the world."
The town had claimed that it wanted to condemn the property, an old bank, and take it for municipal use, as soon as the Jewish group bought it.
But the lawsuit earlier noted that the property had been for sale for years, and the town never made any effort to acquire it until after the Chabad purchased it.
The legal team explained the newly filed complaint seeking to reopen the case pointed out, "In private communications produced in this case, Village officials freely and frequently engaged in open anti-Chabad and anti-Orthodox sentiment and trafficked in vile antisemitic tropes, including that Jews are 'buying the world,' 'procreate' too much, and 'don't tip.'"
It continued, "These messages reveal that the Village's proffered reason for seizing Chabad's property is and always has been pretextual."
The case came up in 2022, but in 2023 a settlement was reached.
That plan was "subject to several conditions, including the approval of basic building permits. Because the Village refused virtually all of those permits—including the use of the building for religious purposes—the agreement has been terminated and the lawsuit re-opened with an amended complaint," the legal team said.
A federal court already has issued an injunction preventing the village from taking the property, and now the new complaint seeks punitive damages.
"What we once suspected is now confirmed: Village leadership has been driven by blatant, openly expressed religious animus against their Jewish neighbors," said Jeremy Dys, First Liberty Institute lawyer.
"Rather than a neutral act by an unbiased city council, what we now know is that the decision to try to take Chabad's property by eminent domain was driven by a religious hostility to Hasidic and Orthodox Jews that has no place in our country."
When the Jewish group bought the bank, the town demanded to take it for a community center.
"In the two years since Chabad first challenged the attempted taking of its property, the Village has not had a single meeting, presented a single plan, or lifted a single shovel to build the community center it claimed was central to the future of the village. Those claims appear to have been pretext shielding the Village's religious animus," the lawyers explained.
WND reported earlier when U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert imposed a preliminary injunction against any action against the property until the case is fully resolved.
The judge expressed concern over the town's actions: "It is not the taking of the property, but rather the alleged resulting interference with Chabad's constitutional Free Exercise rights, that warrants finding irreparable harm upon the present record."
The judge had noted the town's decision "to acquire the property by eminent domain will burden Chabad's religious exercise by curtailing its outreach mission to the Jewish community and by eliminating its highly visible presence in the Village. Based upon the record evidence, and considering 'the historical background of the decision under challenge, the specific series of events leading to [it], and the . . . administrative history,' as well as statements made by community members, the Village's acquisition decision was made in a manner intolerant of Chabad's members' religious beliefs and which would restrict Chabad's practices because of its religious nature. Thus, the Village's acquisition decision was targeted and not done neutrally, thereby requiring the Court to apply strict scrutiny in deciding whether that decision is constitutionally permissible."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A U.S. congressman dropped a bombshell Wednesday concerning the source of mystery drones flying over New Jersey, saying they're being launched from an Iranian "mother ship" off the eastern seaboard of the United States, a claim being denied by the Pentagon.
"From very high sources, very qualified sources, very responsible sources, I'm gonna tell you the real deal," said U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J.
"Iran launched a mother ship probably about a month ago that contains these drones. That mother ship is off … the east coast of the United States of America. They've launched drones is everything that we can see or hear and again these are from high sources. I don't say this lightly."
Van Drew, a member of House Judiciary Committee, told Harris Faulkner of Fox News: "Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, mother ships and technology in order to go forward. The sources I have are good. They can't reveal who they are because they are speaking to me in confidentiality.
"These drones should be shot down whether it was some crazy hobbyist that we can't imagine or whether it is Iran. I think it very possibly could be. They should be shot down. We are not getting the full deal and the military is on alert with this."
Realizing the gravity of Van Drew's statement, Faulkner responded:
"Look, you've given us some pretty dire information just here. And I want to make sure that our viewers are digesting this. Iran has the capability to pull up along our eastern seaboard and launch drones the size of an S.U.V. into the skies of several states, particularly New Jersey, where we know the incoming president has a large home. Also in the same county or nearby where some of these drones in New Jersey have been seen.
"That capability exists. It's possible some of those drones are here. So I have two questions. How are they fueling them? They have to land somewhere, drones don't fly forever. Why don't they close down the airspace? Yes it's inconvenient, yes, it's the holidays. Shut it down! But if you start shooting things and you don't know how they are fueled, that's gonna be mass explosions. This isn't like one spy balloon. Congressman, this is serious!"
Van Drew replied: "We've got to bring them down and we've got to find a way to bring them down. I don't know exactly where they are landing, obviously.
"I have some information and again, this isn't just Jeff Van Drew, oh let's get on Harris Faulkner's show and say something outrageous. I'm telling you the straight deal from very high-positioned individuals who are telling me this.
"And the bottom line is they're launching 'em. They are across the country. We don't even have anything like this. Our government and also certainly our hobbyists don't. So think about it. Not only do I have the information, but it's also common sense."
"We've got to get them down, we've got to determine how they function, what they do, make sure that we can get them and, you are right, in a safe way," Van Drew continued.
"When I say shoot them down, get them down any way that you can, but right now they are probably extracting information. This is a clear and present danger to the United States and to our president-elect and it's a serious business."
The U.S. military was asked about Van Drew's claim at a briefing Wednesday afternoon, and completely denied it.
"There is not any truth to that," said Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary for the Pentagon.
"There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there's no so-called 'mother ship' launching drones towards the United States."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Christopher Wray, the FBI chief who oversaw the weaponization of the federal agency against now President-elect Donald Trump, with the bureau's SWAT raid on Trump's home, its participation in the "Russia, Russia, Russia" collusion conspiracy and more, is leaving.
The move is voluntary, but inevitable, given that Trump already had expressed his desire for a different FBI chief, and in fact already had nominated Kash Patel.
Trump responded to the word delivered by Wray to FBI employees:
"The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice. I just don't know what happened to him. We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans," he said.
"Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America. They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them."
His nominee, Patel, is different, Trump said.
"Kash Patel is the most qualified Nominee to lead the FBI in the Agency's History, and is committed to helping ensure that Law, Order, and Justice will be brought back to our Country again, and soon. As everyone knows, I have great respect for the rank-and-file of the FBI, and they have great respect for me. They want to see these changes every bit as much as I do but, more importantly, the American People are demanding a strong, but fair, System of Justice. We want our FBI back, and that will now happen. I look forward to Kash Patel's confirmation, so that the process of Making the FBI Great Again can begin."
Reports on Wray's decision described his announcement as "stunning," and confirmed he is "resigning within days."
He delivered the word to FBI workers in a statement.
He said, "After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down."
He said, "In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work. … When you look at where the threats are headed, it's clear that the importance of our work — keeping Americans safe and upholding the Constitution — will not change."
He took office in 2017, and FBI directors traditionally have a 10-year term although that's not required.
Before he took office, the FBI participated in the Democrat-created Russian collusion conspiracy of the 2016 election. Then while Wray held the post, the FBI interfered in the 2020 election, telling media outlets that accurate reports about Biden family scandals documented in Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop were Russian disinformation.
In fact, those details about scandals were accurate, and one survey after the election found that that outside influence alone – the FBI's intervention and interference in the election – likely cost Trump a second term that would have started in 2021.
Trump now is to start his second term in 2025, and already has nominated Patel to lead the FBI.
The candidate long has expressed concerns about the FBI and its connections to "Deep State" actors.
Trump several times has criticized the FBI's raid on his home in Mar-a-Lago, when the FBI claimed it found government documents in his possession.
Ironically, the same type of documents were found stashed in an unsecured garage at Joe Biden's home, too, but the special counsel in that case gave him a pass. In Trump's case, authorities filed charges, further offering foundation for Trump's charges of a two-tier justice system, one for Democrats and one for Republicans.
One report explained, "By announcing his resignation before Trump retakes office, Wray is acknowledging the political reality – while sparing Trump the need to fire him."
The FBI also has been accused in recent months of being biased against Catholics and of improperly pressuring social media companies to censor conservative Americans.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Events in the Middle East are moving so fast it's almost impossible to keep on top of them.
This could not be more true of the country formerly known as Syria, which stands at the precipice of potential Balkanization, as competing forces try to take stock of the political landscape following the massive power vacuum created by President Bashar al-Assad's rapid demise.
Initially, the most obvious "winner" from Assad's fall seemed to be Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, its increasingly Islamist long-standing leader. However, events in the last day or so, have highlighted how a more nuanced approach is called for in determining where each piece might fit on this highly charged Middle Eastern chessboard.
The bald facts seemed to be these: Turkey's Erdogan viewed Syria's Assad, once a friend and ally, as an enemy to be gotten rid of (fighting a civil war in which millions of refugees are externally displaced across your border will do that); and he thought he possessed the means to do so. Step forward Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, a Turkish-armed jihadist group whose stronghold was in the Idlib area of northwestern Syria, abutting the border with Turkey, and the so-called rebel Syrian National Army, or SNA.
Erdogan's government is reported to have made overtures to the Assad regime as recently as late November, suggesting it should make some concessions to the opposition or risk the somewhat dormant 13-year civil war erupting again. Assad did not heed the warning, and now he is a stateless guest of Russian President Vladiimr Putin in Moscow. For how long this is the case remains to be seen.
To be sure, Turkey does not back all the groups that have caused Assad's fall, some are also supported by another destabilizing influence in the Middle East, namely Qatar. It's a somewhat bitter irony Turkey is a full NATO ally and Qatar, which is by no means averse to playing both sides of the ball (as it were), has special ally status with the United States. For now, at least.
The presence of the SNA in particular has allowed Turkey to continue its war of ethnic cleansing against the Kurds, who have been fighting for an independent Kurdistan for generations. Greater Kurdistan encompasses northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northern Syria and northwestern Iran. In fact, Turkey has been fighting the Kurds and attempting to prevent the establishment of an independent state across this region for more than 100 years – barely a year after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1922.
Both HTS and SNA have problematic histories, especially where atrocities are considered. HTS is an off-shoot of Islamic State, its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani commanded the Al-Nusra Front. He broke with now-deceased ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi over a dispute regarding subsuming Al-Nusra into the wider Islamic State tent, and not because of divergent ideology. Al-Jolani, whose wanted poster with a bounty of $10 million and shows him wearing a turban, did not want his autonomy curtailed, and struck out with his own organization.
He now stands as a potentially powerful nemesis against the machinations of a politician who British journalist and polemicist Douglas Murray terms, "Caliph" Erdogan. While Al-Jolani might be able to gull many in the West, who want to believe his message of toleration of religious differences and a smoothing of his formerly very rough edges – in much the same way the unreformed Taliban did in Afghanistan – it is doubtful Erdogan will fall for the same trick. Indeed, Anakara already designates HTS as a terrorist organization.
At the time of writing, reports are already appearing of Yazidi, Kurdish, and Christian women being abducted to presumably be used as sex slaves. There are other reports of fighters enforcing modesty laws for women, much like the Taliban in Afghanistan or those of the Islamic regime in Iran.
Did Erdogan overplay his hand with Russia?
Erdogan will also have to answer for what some in Russia consider his betrayal of them. The respective presidents of Russia and Turkey seem to have a solid working relationship. Both are Eurasian countries, and both were formerly possessors of mighty empires. They also share a wariness of the West, despite Turkey's membership of NATO. On Dec. 8, Erdogan said, "There are only two leaders left in the world: Putin and me."
Despite his warm words to his Russian ally, Putin adviser Alexander Dugin, reportedly called Syria "a trap for Turkey."
"He has made a strategic mistake. He has betrayed Russia. He had betrayed Iran. He is doomed. Now the end of Kemal's Turkey has begun; we have supported you until now, from now on you'll repent."
Dugin's use of Kemal is an interesting historical nod, for it was Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkey's father-figure who preached a maxim of: "Peace at home; peace in the world."
While Erdogan has made little secret of his wish to return the Ottoman Empire to its former glory, it is an open question if Turkey has the clout – economic and military – to make that dream a reality. Was aiding the rebels to take over Syria the first step on that road? Or will it instead lead to destabilization and downfall?
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Middle East/Israel Morning Brief
Pope Francis unveils Nativity scene, with Jesus swaddled in an Arab keffiyeh
On Saturday, Pope Francis attended a nativity scene titled "Nativity of Bethlehem 2024," crafted in the Judean city of the same name, by Johny Andonia and Faten Nastas Mitwasi and presented by Palestinian officials in Pope Paul VI Hall in Vatican City. The display depicting the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem featured baby Jesus swaddled in a keffiyeh.
Speaking at the event, a wheelchair-bound Francis called on Catholics to "remember the brothers and sisters, who, right there [in Bethlehem] and in other parts of the world, are suffering from the tragedy of war," adding, "enough war, enough violence!" and lamenting the existence of the commercial arms trade.
Benjamin Netanyahu gives court testimony at his corruption trial
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared at the Tel Aviv District Court Tuesday to defend himself against a number of charges relating to bribery, accepting illegal gifts, and corruption.
Some five years have passed since the unprecedented indictment of a sitting prime minister, and now Netanyahu will present his version of events in these cases over the course of weeks, possibly months.
U.S. assesses journalist Austin Tice is alive in Syria, thought to be held along with others as bargaining chip for former regime official
The Media Line confirms U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria in 2012, and several other detained journalists are alive, but in urgent need of food and water. Tice, a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, and the other journalists are being hidden in a secure location by a member of the ousted Syrian regime who is attempting to ensure their safe escape from the country.
Efforts to ensure the safety of the detained journalists are ongoing. A source in Damascus told The Media Line that Tice and the others have been without food or water since the regime fell. Deliveries are impossible as the person protecting them is in a separate location, and any movement risks compromising their safety.
U.K. considers removing HTS from terrorism list
Cabinet Minister Pat McFadden announced Monday that the British government will review its terrorist designation of the Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), signaling a possible modification of the U.K.'s official stance toward the organization. McFadden clarified that no decision has been reached regarding the current ban on HTS, the jihadi organization which has spearheaded the opposition campaign against the now-fallen Assad regime.
IDF strikes some 300 targets in Syria, dozens of aircraft, almost entire Syrian navy reported destroyed
The Israeli Navy carried out a significant strategic operation against the Syrian Navy overnight Tuesday, destroying a large number of vessels and preventing weapons from falling into the hands of jihadist terrorists.
In effect, Israel's action destroyed the Syrian Navy's ships. This joins a large-scale operation by the Air Force in the past two days in which Syrian Air Force aircraft were destroyed: MiG-29 and Sukhoi fighter jets, and helicopters at bases throughout Syria.
Dutch leader Geert Wilders meets with Netanyahu in Jerusalem
Dutch political leader Geert Wilders has met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the latter's office in Jerusalem, the prime minister's office says.
Wilders posted to X that he told Netanyahu "in 1 year — by crushing Hamas, pulverizing Hezbollah and significantly weakening Iran — he has done more to fight (international) terrorism than the EU has done in the last 70 years!"
Israel denies Qatari report about Hamas sharing names ahead of proposed hostage-prisoner swap
Israel denied a Dec. 9 report that the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hamas had provided a list of Israeli hostages seized during its Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities.
In a statement sent to hostage families on Dec. 9, Israel said a report published in the London-based Qatari newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed stating Hamas was willing to release the listed hostages to Egyptian negotiators as part of ongoing ceasefire negotiations was "not correct."
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a televised address that the overthrow of the Iran-backed regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria meant that Hamas's isolation "opens another opening to making progress on a deal that will bring our hostages back."
World Central Kitchen forced to fire 12% of Gaza staff after failing security background checks
Fadi Hamad, who started working with the group four months ago, said he was suspended on the basis of "a security check that recommended that I no longer continue working."
Shocking revelation … NOT. Captured records show Hamas controlled UNRWA schools in Gaza
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, managed schools throughout Gaza until they were closed following Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war. Employing approximately 13,000 staff members, including many in its schools, the agency is responsible for ensuring the neutrality of its facilities in conflict areas by preventing terrorists from accessing its premises or being on its payroll.
However, interviews and an analysis of records shared with the New York Times by the Israeli military and foreign ministry suggest UNRWA employed at least 24 people across 24 different schools, who were members of Hamas or the Islamic Jihad. Before the war, UNRWA oversaw a total of 288 schools housed within 200 building complexes in Gaza.
WATCH: Syrians in Damascus pull down statue of former Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad
Israel denies its tanks reached Qatana, within 15 miles of Damascus
The Israeli military on Tuesday denied reports that its tanks were advancing towards Damascus, insisting that Israeli forces were stationed in a buffer zone near the Israeli-Syrian border.
"The reports circulated by some media outlets claiming that the Israeli Defense Forces (military) are advancing towards or nearing Damascus are completely false," military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X. "The IDF forces are stationed within the buffer zone and at defensive points near the border in order to protect Israel's borders."
IDF eliminates 10-man Hamas terrorist cell responsible for deaths of 3 Israeli troops in Jabalia
An IDF aircraft killed 10 of the Palestinian terrorists responsible for the deaths of three soldiers in the Gaza Strip on Monday, the military announced in a statement on Tuesday morning.
"In a joint operation of the 401st Brigade and the air force, an aircraft attacked and eliminated ten of the terrorists who took part in yesterday's terror act, in which Staff Sgt. Ido Zano, Staff Sgt. Barak Daniel Halpern and Sgt. Omri Cohen, of blessed memory, fell," the army stated.
The three soldiers, all members of the Givati Brigade's "Shaked" Battalion, were reportedly killed by a Hamas anti-tank missile during counterterror operations in the Jabalia area of the northern Strip.
U.N. kept quiet when Turkey ethnically cleansed 200,00 Kurds; criticizes IDF presence in Syria buffer zone as 'violation of 1974 agreement'
The United Nations accused Israel of having violated the 1974 Disengagement Agreement with Syria, after Jerusalem informed the U.N. Security Council that it had taken "limited and temporary measures" in a demilitarized strip on the border in Syrian territory to counter any threats to the Israeli Golan Heights.
Gallant speech at Washington, D.C. synagogue canceled over 'security concerns'
Adas Israel, the largest Conservative synagogue in Washington, D.C., canceled a planned event on Monday with former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing a security threat.
The synagogue shared with JNS a follow-up statement from its executive committee that was sent to congregants on Monday.
"Due to specific security concerns that arose in connection with this event, Adas Israel Congregation canceled the scheduled speaking engagement with former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant," the committee stated. "Contrary to speculation, this decision was not based on the event's subject matter, but rather on our commitment to the safety of our community."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The behavior of a researcher funded by the National of Institutes of Health, in hiding the results of a long-running study on the effects of puberty blockers on children, already has been called out by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
In his recent letter to NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, Rubio drew specific attention to an NIH-funded study by Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
Despite the Obama administration's decision to support Olson-Kennedy's study more than nine years ago, the findings have yet to be released, allegedly out of fear of the political repercussions.
Rubio has charged that Olson-Kennedy was part of a group of researchers who received nearly $6 million from NIH to study physical and mental health outcomes for children who receive puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatments as part of "transitioning" to the opposite sex.
Olson-Kennedy outlined a few of her findings in a 2020 report that said approximately a quarter of the children in the study who received these transgender medical treatments were experiencing depression or suicidal ideation.
"According to [Olson-Kennedy], she fears the findings will be used to show that puberty blockers do not improve the mental health of youth," Rubio warned.
Now the fact that those findings have been concealed may bring more trouble to Olson-Kennedy.
A report in Just the News explains that "the walls are closing in on perhaps the most influential youth gender-transition physician in America after she admitted hiding the results of her federally funded study that failed to find mental health improvements from so-called gender affirming care, contradicting her prior characterization of the study's population to explain the results."
A lawsuit with Olson-Kennedy as a defendant has been brought by UCLA student Kaya Clementine Breen, who detransitioned and reportedly can back her claims by using Olson-Kennedy's own case notes about her.
Breen lawyer Jordan Campbell told Just the News that those notes cannot be shared yet.
But multiple Republican senators just last week joined House Oversight Committee Republicans to demand the NIH turn over information on Olson-Kennedy's study and the results.
The report explained that decision on the study "helped create a false medical consensus on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical interventions for gender-confused youth."
"This case is about a team of purported health care providers who collectively decided that a vulnerable girl struggling with complex mental health struggles and suffering from multiple instances of sexual abuse should be prescribed a series of life-altering" drugs at age 12 and breast removal at 14, the lawsuit by Breen charges.
The court filing charges the sexual abuse started at age six or seven and may be related to her "anxiety, depression, presumed autism, and undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder."
The case charges, "This so-called 'treatment' of Clementine by her providers represents a despicable, failed medical experiment and a knowing, deliberate, and gross breach of the standard of care that was substantially certain to cause serious harm."
Other defendants are CHLA, UC San Francisco's St. Francis Memorial Hospital, surgeon Scott Mosser and his Gender Confirmation Center of San Francisco, and therapist Susan Landon.
Among those claims made by the medical industry representatives, the lawsuit says, is that "Breen would kill herself if subsequently denied testosterone."
The claims by Breen charge that Olson-Kennedy, in "minutes," diagnosed her with "gender dysphoria and recommended surgical implantation of puberty blockers" based on a "handful of platitudinal statements" – such as "I mostly have boy friends."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
We have heard so much talk about "Good Samaritans" these days – especially with the Daniel Penny case in the news. Penny was just cleared of charges in the Manhattan criminal case against him.
Penny physically subdued Jordan Neely, a homeless, allegedly mentally ill man, who was threatening other riders in a subway in New York City in May 2023. Neely, who had previously been arrested 42 times, including three times for assaulting women on the subway, died shortly after the incident, which was recorded on video by a bystander. Penny is white; Neely was black.
Many opine that it's criminal that Daniel Penny was ever even charged, with Neely's death having been a clearly unintentional tragedy occasioned by Neely's threatening behavior. Others call Penny a vigilante racist. Already some critics have noted that any potential would-be Good Samaritans might think twice before trying to help. Why get involved?
To many, it was tragic that Daniel Penny had to go through the anguish of the case. To Black Lives Matters protesters, Penny is a racist.
But step back a moment from this particular case, and look at the notion of a "Good Samaritan," which is deeply imbedded in society. Where does this ideal even come from?
Jesus told a parable one day, and He changed all of history. It is the parable of the Good Samaritan. It's found in Luke 10.
To paraphrase the story, a traveler is robbed and left for dead on the side of the road. A priest walks by and goes to the other side, ignoring the poor man. So also does a Levite – a Levite being a man of the tribe of Levi who served as an assistant to the priests.
But then another stranger sees the man in danger and stops to help him and to bring him to safety. The kind man was a Samaritan. And the parable concludes with Jesus telling His hearers, "You go, and do likewise."
Today we think of a Samaritan as one who goes around doing good, precisely because of the influence of this particular parable. But Samaritans were viewed as "half-breeds" whose blood and worship were no longer Jewish, and therefore looked down upon by the Jews. Thus, the parable of Christ had a twist for its first-century audience. The hero of his story was a hated Samaritan.
Jesus changes everything. He changed our views on charity, and He changed our views on treating others with dignity, regardless of their socio-economic class.
The Good Samaritan ethic, showing kindness to a stranger in need, has become a hallmark of our civilization. And like many aspects of our culture, it gets back to the Bible.
This influence is even recognized by legal scholars. For example, in a U.S. District Court case from 1983, Crockett v. Sorenson, the judges wrote of the influence of the Scriptures on American law – including the concept of the Good Samaritan.
They wrote, "Anglo-American law as we know it today is also heavily indebted to principles and concepts found in the Bible. … The 'good Samaritan' laws use a phrase lifted directly out of one of Jesus' parables."
Jesus went around doing good, taught others to do the same, and thereby unleashed the forces of charity in our society – through the Luke 10 parable and others as well.
The link between believing in Jesus and charitable giving and volunteering is well-documented.
Dr. Byron Johnson, a Baylor professor of social sciences, who is the founding director of the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, has been documenting the positive impact of practical Christianity.
For example, one of his 2021 research papers is entitled, "How Religion Contributes to the Common Good, Positive Criminology, and Justice Reform." He writes of the "staggering economic benefit to American society" by volunteers.
And whence come the volunteers? "As it turns out, religious affiliation and participation is one of the key factors predicting volunteer engagement, both in sacred and secular organizations. In sum, the more religious people happen to be, the more likely they are to volunteer."
Johnson adds, "Americans not only give financially, but they are also generous with their time. Volunteers donate to charity at considerably higher rates than non-volunteers."
As the late Mother Teresa, a quintessential Good Samaritan, once said: "Today God has sent us into the world as he sent Jesus, to show God's love to the world. And we must sacrifice to show that love, just as Jesus made the greatest sacrifice of all."
Good Samaritanism is good for society, even if some naysayers abide by the principle that "no good deed should go unpunished." Above all, Jesus' imprimatur of the Good Samaritan ethic alone makes it worthwhile, whatever the cost.