This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

One of the huge crises facing America because of Joe Biden's presidency was, and is, the flood of millions of illegal aliens who arrived in the country through his open borders agenda.

President Donald Trump, who had implemented a long list of border security plans, including building a wall, during his first presidency, made it a key campaign issue.

And on his first day back in office announced that the "birthright citizenship" agenda used for years in America, granting citizenship to any baby born on American soil, would no longer include the offspring of illegal aliens.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – The anti-Israel and pro-Hamas president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, recently made his intentions clear to speak at an upcoming Holocaust memorial event in Dublin, in spite of the vociferous objections of the small Irish-Jewish community. And insult was added to injury on Wednesday when a statement from the community's leadership highlighted how Israel's ambassador to the country had not been invited to speak.

In what seems an extraordinary move, Holocaust Education Ireland decided not to invite Israel's ambassador, Dana Erlich, who is still in situ, despite a decision by Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar,' late last year to shutter the embassy, at least partly over the Irish decision to recognize a "Palestinian" state. It is the first time in 10 years the ambassador has not been invited, since a similar incident a decade ago when the then-Irish ambassador was similarly not invited. HEI claimed all current ambassadors were invited and that Israel had recalled its emissary in May 2024, followed by its closure of the embassy in December.

Chair of the Jewish Representative Council Maurice Cohen released a statement regarding the controversy in which he conveyed the community was "deeply disappointed and troubled" by HEI's decision not to allow Israel's ambassador to speak. "The Holocaust Memorial Day observance is meant to unite us in remembrance, reflection, and resolve against anti-Semitism and hatred. Excluding the Israeli ambassador undermines both the spirit and intention of this solemn commemoration," he wrote.

"The State of Israel welcomed survivors in 1948 after they had been wandering around Europe for 3 years. Today nearly 50% of all Holocaust survivors live in Israel bearing daily witness to the horrors endured and the resilience born out of that darkest chapter in history. Furthermore, a large portion of our local Irish Jewish community today is Israeli in origin, underscoring Israel's role as a cornerstone of Jewish identity and continuity," he added.

Irish lawyer and former minister of justice, Alan Shatter, joined the condemnation, saying: "Holocaust Education Ireland is the only Holocaust Remembrance group hostile towards Israel. This is sadly an historical issue entirely disconnected from recent conflicts that has never been publicly explained by its board members," according to the Jewish Chronicle.

The current imbroglio merely heaps additional strife on already fractious relationship between Higgins and the Jewish community specifically, and also with Israel more broadly. In Sa'ar's explanation for closing the embassy he stressed the "actions, double standards, and antisemitic rhetoric of the Irish government against Israel are rooted in efforts to delegitimize and demonize the Jewish state." Latterly this not only included recognizing a "Palestinian" state, it also backed South Africa's claims of the IDF committing 'genocide' in the Gaza Strip, as well as supporting the ICC's issuance of arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. Higgins himself has been at the forefront of seeming to cause deep offense to the Jewish community, backed by an array of like-minded supporters on social media.

Ireland's Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said Higgins "has neglected even to acknowledge the scourge of contemporary antisemitism in Ireland, let alone do anything to address it," reported the JC.

"I fear his address marking Holocaust Memorial Day will inevitably ring hollow for many Irish Jews," he added.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

First Liberty Institute has dispatched a letter to a Connecticut school district suggesting that it reconsider its demands that a devout Catholic teacher purge her workspace of a crucifix – or get fired.

"Requiring a teacher to purge their workspace of anything religious is blatant discrimination that violates the First Amendment," explained Keisha Russell, a senior counsel at the legal organization.

"The Supreme Court said in the recent Kennedy decision that teachers have the right to engage in personal religious expression under the Free Exercise Clause, including when students are present."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – Israel reportedly requested an extra 30 days to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon as part of the ceasefire between itself and Hezbollah, amid murmurings U.S. President Donald Trump is determined to rebuff the plea and keep to the current timeline, which would see the IDF vacate the area on Sunday.

The Nov. 27 truce agreement at least paused if not ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which started when the Lebanese Iranian proxy group – although in reality at the time the forwardmost unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – began firing missiles into northern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The attacks were in support of Hamas' brutal onslaught across the southern border and the truce deal was supposed to see the IDF cede all of its positions in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese Armed Forces. In tandem, Hezbollah is required to retreat north of the Litani River, some 18 miles from the Israel's northern border.

Israel's political and security cabinets are due to convene this evening local time to discuss the ceasefire agreement, and the fear the country's leadership has about numerous aspects of the situation. One of the concerns is the pace at which the Lebanese Army, which is a distant second in terms of power compared with Hezbollah, is deploying across the region. The IDF, having taken these areas in tough fighting against experienced and seasoned Hezbollah fighters, is understandably loath to surrender these positions in the knowledge the terrorist organization will likely overpower the Lebanese Army and take them back anyway.

In addition, IDF soldiers are continuing to uncover Hezbollah weapons caches in areas covered by the truce, amid IDF reports Lebanon's military is in some locations providing succor for the Iranian proxy.

"Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel is entitled to act against immediate threats posed by Hezbollah, but must forward complaints about longer-term threats to an oversight committee composed of representatives from the U.S., France, Lebanon, and the international observer force UNIFIL," according to the Times of Israel.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The day after the inauguration, among the rants of the women on "The View" was a swipe by Sunny Hostin. She took issue with Trump's pronouncement that he will end all Diversity Equity and Inclusion, DEI, programs and make us a merit-based country, in order to realize Dr. Martin Luther King's dream.

She pointed out what she considers hypocrisy: "He had no political experience whatsoever, he had no business experience. He was given everything he has. He is a legacy hire."

Donald Trump did end up running the businesses his father started despite being one of the youngest of five siblings. He was the only one who showed an interest in business. However, running a business isn't as hard as staying in business, much less making it grow. Businesses fail every single day. In fact about 65% of all American businesses fail within 10 years. About 57% of real estate businesses fail, which was the Trump model.

Trump has had his share of failures, but today a large share of his business remains, and he went from being a millionaire to a billionaire.

Arguably, the United States government is one ginormous business. Just because one wins a political office doesn't mean he or she is the least bit capable of running a business, let alone a large one. It's no wonder this country is in such poor shape, trillions in debt with red ink as far as the eye can see.

Being a career politician does not equip someone to run the country. In fact, our Founding Fathers never intended for our congressmen to be full-time politicians. Most of the power wisely was left in the hands of the states. A few patriotic individuals were chosen to represent us in handling the relatively small amount of business of the federal government. They spent a couple of months in New York and then Philadelphia, did their patriotic duty, went home to real jobs and lived under the laws they passed.

Our first congressmen in 1789 were paid a per diem of $6. Six dollars would be about $215 today. Those trips were long and tedious. Furthermore, living away from home in a big city was expensive. That is why a third of the members of the Senate in the 1890s would resign before their terms were finished. Today our congressmen are paid $174,000 to $193,400 depending on one's position, plus generous allowances for staff, postage, travel and now lodging.

Our Founding Fathers wisely left money matters in control of members of the House of Representatives who have to stand for reelection every two years. Why? Because they knew we would hold them accountable for any reckless spending. Today, most people can't name the person who represents them, let alone how he or she votes on all those spending measures. Not only that, the longer these people stay in Washington, regardless of political party, the more they spend. Check out the report card issued on each member of Congress by the non-partisan National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

Is it any wonder we are now $36 trillion in debt, which is growing each and every day?
The average life of a democracy is 200 years. Most fail, not through war or revolution, but because of loose fiscal policy.

Most people are in favor of term limits, but they just keep electing the same people to represent them because they don't know who they are or what they've done. Therefore, voters are reluctant to fire anyone.

Many representatives go to Washington with good intentions. Once there, however, they get sucked in by the power and benefits, so they stay. Many have never had any real-world experience in the private sector. Fewer still have ever met a payroll.

Joe Biden, sadly, was a case in point. Like many in Congress, he stayed too long. You would be surprised how many of our representatives and senators simply are propped up by their staffs when they reach a certain age.

Sadly, if you are basing your choice of president on his or her time in government, you are only making matters worse.

Trump may not be the perfect president (there never will be). The things he says at times drives me crazy, but he knows how to run a business. We need more businessmen and women in Washington who will stay for a short time and then leave.

Frankly, I'd vote for someone who ran a hardware store or a beauty salon to represent me before I'd vote for a career politician.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

President Donald Trump has pardoned a number of pro-life activists who had been put in the judicial system's bull's-eye by Joe Biden, whose prosecutors charged them and jailed them for advocating for the lives of the unborn.

Jor-El Godsey, who heads Heartbeat International, expressed thankfulness for the actions of the president.

"When pro-lifers are unfairly targeted, and punished excessively, for their peaceful protests, then presidential pardons are a must. We are grateful for President Trump's effort to right the wrongs of the activist Biden administration," Godsey said.

Trump, as well as Vice President JD Vance, are scheduled to speak to pro-life advocates at the annual March for Life, the nation's largest annual pro-life demonstration, either through a video or in-person, just a day from now.

"We thank President Trump for immediately delivering on his promise to free pro-life protesters who targeted and imprisoned by Biden's Department of Justice. Pro-life moms, grandmothers and even Eva Edl, a Communist prison camp survivor, were thrown in jail for peacefully protesting abortion. As if that were not enough, aggressive sentences were handed down, like five years for Lauren Handy who sought to expose evidence of late term and potentially illegal abortions in the nation's capital," explained SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser.

"President Trump has consistently taken a strong stance that weaponizing the government to go after pro-life advocates and other ideological opponents is wrong. There is no question these prosecutions were political. Even ex-FBI director Chris Wray admits the overwhelming majority of abortion-related threats and violence since Dobbs is directed at pro-life Americans – not done by them. We look forward to the end of Biden's anti-life discrimination under Attorney General Pam Bondi."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – New – and damning – documents, the contents of which were released Thursday, highlight an IDF intelligence unit picked up signals for the preparation of rocket fire on Israel on the night before Oct. 7. According to Ynet, the same unit observed unusual activity of the Hamas aerial force.

The details of the report are deeply concerning, providing more questions than answers about the apparent unpreparedness of the IDF, in spite of the strong signs Hamas was preparing a significant attack. One of the clearest conclusions was the continuation of the prevailing sense of "conception." The Military Intelligence Directorate, governed by a wide consensus, did not brace for a possible assault. Apparently, this was part of an attempt to avoid burning sources, amid other "calming indications" suggesting Hamas was merely preparing an exercise.

It was a catastrophic failure of imagination, and scarcely believable. This information was reportedly included in official records seen by both top government and security personnel, and was presented in support of Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi's resignation earlier this week.

As early as 2 a.m. – some four-and-a-half hours before the attack – the Israeli Air Force command center was informed about unusual activity in the Hamas aerial units. There were also signs of Hamas operatives preparing for rocket launches. These signs were also discussed with the head of the Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkelman – who also tended his resignation earlier this week – other senior IDF officers as well as air force representatives and the Shin Bet. At this stage, neither the head of Military Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva – who resigned in April – nor IAF head Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar participated.

Three possible scenarios emerged from the discussions; an extensive Hamas drill, preparations by the terrorist group to defend against an IDF assault, or an operation of their own against Israel in the coming hours, which could have included a strike from the sea against a gas rig, a border breach, using the tunnels to abduct soldiers or civilians, a shooting attack, rocket attack or an aerial incursion through the use of paragliders. Those present agreed to monitor the situation, and Halevi had planned to reconvene at 8:30 a.m. unless there were "significant developments."

There was no 8:30 meeting. At 6:29 a.m. rocket sirens across much of Israel were activated as thousands of Hamas operatives used the cover of the rocket fire to begin their assault on the southern communities. They would be joined later by more than 2,000 "ordinary Gazans" as they raped, murdered and pillaged their way into kibbutzim close to the border fence.

These documents do not comprise the official probe into the failures of Oct. 7, a process which is ongoing. The IDF said it would complete its inquiries in the coming weeks and will present its findings to the public.

Other drips of information which have been released about the intelligence failings immediately prior to the Oct. 7 attacks also highlight a failure to act on suspicious activity. For example, Hamas' repeated attempts to blow up the security fence along the Gaza border in preparation for their murderous operation were dismissed as "provocations." In addition, Israeli intelligence operatives picked up hundreds of terrorists activating Israeli SIM cards in their phones. These were detected around midnight, as Oct. 6 ticked into Oct. 7.

The answer to the question about why the Nova Music Festival – at which hundreds of Israelis were mown down, butchered and many women raped – was allowed to continue despite the warning signs seems unsatisfactory. A senior officer told Ynet "protecting sources was prioritized." The source added the music festival would have been canceled if they had assessed the threat was actually imminent, and would have been prioritized over intelligence sources. The question of why it was not, will no doubt, like the outgoing chief of staff said about his own involvement, "haunt" them for the rest of their days.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

While abortion takes the life of another human being, Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' former running mate, on a CBS News interview, called abortion "a basic human right." It's demented to think that killing your baby is "a basic human right." It was true in the days of Ahab and Jezebel when people sacrificed children to pagan gods, but today, people trying to kill their children are considered wicked and in need of being locked away somewhere … unless that person is getting an abortion, or, excuse me, "reproductive health care."

Sometimes medical procedures are necessary to save a woman's life, like in the case of an ectopic pregnancy. In those cases, it happens so early in the pregnancy, medical science is not able to save the baby. To save the mother, the child is removed; otherwise, both would die.

The Democratic Party seems intensely occupied with encouraging mothers to kill their children. Before the 2022 election, the party spent $31 million on television ads concerning inflation, $140 million on spots concerning crime, but a whopping $320 million on abortion ads. How sad that the Democratic Party thinks killing babies is their best selling point.

Our first baby was ectopic, which ruptured, sending our child to heaven and nearly sent my wife there too. Afterward, we suffered two miscarriages. My wife and I wanted children. After 10 years, she became pregnant. Having learned some things about faith, the first thing we did was to purchase baby clothes, because we set ourselves to having this baby. At six months the doctor told us there was a problem and asked if we wanted to have an abortion. For us, that option was not on the table.

When our baby girl was born, I realized I had purchased the wrong color clothing – but when my daughter smiled, I saw she had my wife's million-dollar contagious smile. I loved that baby and still do.

I determined no one was going to speak evil over our child, or her future. The doctor we had, before we fired him, told us all the things she would never do. Then we'd take our baby home, and she would do them. We believed God for our child and spoke God's blessings over her.

In Denmark, 98% of the pregnancies with the problem we were fighting, are terminated. In France, it is 77%. In the United States, 67%.

Did we have to fight some issues? Yes, but we also saw God's intervention in our lives, the lives of our new doctors and in the life of our beautiful daughter.

I've had many experiences where I learned so much from my daughter. When she was 3 years old, wild dogs came into our backyard and killed about 20 chickens in an enclosure. When the dogs came back, my wife fought them with a broom handle until they left. So, I decided to put up a fence.

I purchased 5-foot dog-wire fencing and posts, which had to be driven 2 feet into the ground. Here I was, in hot July, standing on a 6-foot stepladder, with a three-pound sledgehammer, trying to drive the first of 30 metal posts into clay ground after work.

Hitting the first post with the sledgehammer, it wobbled all over the place, and I could hear a voice speak to my spirit saying, "If you hit your hand, you are going to break every bone." Thinking I was by myself, in frustration, I let something fly out of my mouth that I should have never said.

I then heard a small voice say, "What'cha doing up there, Jesus?" (Look, I am not confused in thinking I am God, for I know the job is taken and there will be no openings, and no one has called me "Jesus" before or since.) To my horror, I looked over and saw my precious 3-year-old daughter sitting in the shade of a tree, watching me.

I came down the ladder realizing that all that my daughter had ever seen me do is preach and teach Bible studies, yet here I had said this awful thing. She walked over to me and said, "Do you think we ought to pray?" Embarrassed, I had not even thought about prayer. I said, "yes," and we held hands and prayed.

I heard a voice speak to my heart and say, "Richard, put out a soaker hose and have your wife put it on an hour before you come home from work. Then put in three post a night and quit." That is what we did, and it worked. People at my work made a steel cup to go on the top of the post, so I wouldn't mangle the tops. It took around 120 hits per post, but we got the job done.

At 8 years old, my daughter could quote more King James Bible verses than I knew when I was 23. She also has this amazing ability to memorize music, not just the first verse of a song, but all the verses. It is amazing. We sing in the car all the time, and she usually starts it.

When she was 10 years old, we were doing one of our campground services with an amphitheater somewhat full. I could smell alcohol at the podium. As I was preaching, an intoxicated woman became very disruptive. Her continual disruptions were causing a problem, and I thought of asking her to leave, but then my daughter walked over, put her arm around the woman and prayed for her. The woman began to weep. I felt so convicted. Here this 10-year-old little girl showed more of the compassion of Jesus and knew better how to express it than the minister … me. The woman was calm the rest of the service and encouraged us in our campground work as she left. I learned something very important that day from a 10-year-old full of the Spirit of God.

Today my daughter is in her 30s, and there are many more stories. She's funny too.

So, should we have followed the 67% of Americans who would have aborted our daughter? The answer is definitely, "In Jesus name … No."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – Argentina's President Javier Milei, whose style of governing has seemingly completely revolutionized the South American country, recently declared the death of a prominent prosecutor investigating the July 1994 terrorist bombing of the downtown Buenos Aires Argentine-Israelite Mutual Association, to be an act of murder.

The case remains one of the most bitterly divisive in Argentina, with the previous government's insistence that Alberto Nisman, who was found dead on the floor of his apartment's bathroom exactly ten years ago in January 2015, had committed suicide being strenuously denied by those who knew him. The failure to bring anyone to justice either for the original bombing – which claimed the lives of 85 people and until Oct. 7 was the single greatest number of Jews murdered since the Holocaust – or Nisman's death is a stain on Argentina's law enforcement and judicial system.

Beyond that, Iran's dirty fingers were assessed to have been behind the attack – via its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah – and getting to the bottom of both of these cases has significant ramifications for both Argentina in particular and South America in general.

Milei's interjection could be crucial. As a vocal supporter of Israel and Jewish causes, Argentina's president's pressure may just produce some results. He said Nisman's death was at the "hands of the darkest forces of power."

It would seem simply too neat that merely days after Nisman accused then-Argentina president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and several other ex-government officials of seeking to cover up alleged Iranian involvement in the bombing, he would take his own life. Indeed, the special prosecutor was found dead the night before he was due to testify about his allegations in Congress.

A new report, presented by a federal prosecutor one week ago, supports the hypothesis that Nisman was murdered because of his work with the AMIA Attack Investigation Unit, which sought to identify the terrorists behind the bombing.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The White House has confirmed it has issued orders that all federal DEI operations are being closed and all of those workers are being placed on leave.

The "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" ideology emphasized hiring individuals because they were a certain race or because of their claimed gender ideology rather than focusing on workers who actually were best at doing the job.

It's been used as reason for untold billions of dollars in tax spending in recent years, and in fact, has threatened Americans as key leaders in positions of authority, fire departments and such, have been chosen based on beliefs and lifestyles, not competency.

It's part of the White House effort to end affirmative action in federal employment, and probably will result in the layoffs of many of those workers in now-closed DEI offices.

President Donald Trump has identified such social agenda promotions as "discrimination" and said hiring should be based on merit.

The AP reported Trump's plans now pick up "where Trump's first administration left off: One of Trump's final acts during his first term was an executive order banning federal agency contractors and recipients of federal funding from conducting anti-bias training that addressed concepts like systemic racism."

Joe Biden reversed course immediately, installing discriminatory DEI programs throughout the government, a campaign that now is being ended.

Already, key players in the American economy, from Walmart to Facebook, have been scaling back or ending their Biden-influence discrimination programs.

The Gateway Pundit elaborated on Trump's "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions" executive order, noting, "Already, on Tuesday, DEI Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Lee Fagan was fired by the acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamin Huffman due to several operational failures under her watch along with rampant political correctness."

A template email to workers explained, "These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination."

Those DEI officer are closing as of end of business Wednesday, with notification to workers they are on leave immediately.

Further, the report explains, websites and social media accounts must be updated to reflect the new non-discrimination standard and training is canceled.

Then by noon Thursday agencies are required to report on the steps they've taken.

Further, there was a warning that concealing such social agendas behind "coded" descriptions will not be tolerated.

"We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language," the order includes.