This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Israel/Middle East Morning Brief

Poll shows a large majority of Israelis want ultra-Orthodox to be drafted into the IDF

As the Swords of Iron war drags on into its second year – and the country comes under even greater economic pressure, a new poll shows Israelis overwhelmingly support Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men being drafted into the IDF; and for evaders to face financial and criminal sanctions.

Eight Austrian UNIFIL soldiers in Lebanon were injured when a missile struck their base in Nakura, likely fired by Hezbollah or an allied terrorist group. The incident comes following Israel's exhortations for the United Nations to remove their 'peacekeepers' out of harm's way.

An IAF strike Wednesday, in the area around Nabatieh in southern Lebanon killed the deputy Radwan Force commander Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi. He had advanced numerous terrorist attacks against Israel and oversaw strikes against IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon, and his elimination further degraded Hezbollah's "Conquer the Galilee" plan.

Floyd Mayweather visits Israel in solidarity mission

Former champion boxer Floyd Mayweather is visiting Israel, which he has done numerous times since Oct. 7, 2023. He paid a visit to a rehabilitation center where he offered help and encouragement to those soldiers wounded in the war.

A British teenager of Rwandan extraction from Wales, Axel Rudakubana, who was charged with the stabbing murder of three young girls – aged, 6, 7, and 9 – at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in the northern town of Southport, has had two further terrorism charges added to his docket. One charge was for the possession of an al-Qaida training manual, and the other for the production of the toxin ricin.

Spain cancels contract to buy police ammunition from Israeli firm

Spain's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday it was canceling a contract to buy ammunition from an Israeli firm, widening a Spanish pledge not to sell weapons to Israel to include purchases too.

Counting the cost of war: Israel's Defense Ministry says 12,000 IDF, security personnel treated for rehabilitation

Israel's Defense Ministry released figures, which show some 12,000 IDF soldiers, as well as security personnel, have been wounded since the start of the Swords of Iron War. At least 900 injuries have taken place since the start of ground operations in Lebanon.

U.S. Marines drill with air defense system, integrating Iron Dome interceptors

The system tested is based on American radar and control systems, alongside Iron Dome interceptor missiles — known as Tamir — and portable launchers made by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and American contractor Raytheon.

Biden negotiators head to Middle East to try iron out Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire

U.S. President Joe Biden dispatched Special Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, deputy assistant to the president and senior adviser for energy and investment to try and seal a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, rumors of which have been circling for the last day or two.

IDF chief warns Iran if it strikes Israel again, it'll get hit with unseen capabilities, hit new targets in retaliation

IDF Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, sent a clear warning to Iran saying another ballistic missile strike on the Jewish state would incur retaliation showcasing new capabilities and hitting targets "set aside" during the previous strike on the Islamic Republic.

Gallant: Hezbollah only has access to about 20% of its pre-war arsenal

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed Iran's Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah has lost approximately 80% of its pre-war capabilities, and is unable to launch large-scale barrages of rockets or missiles due to the IDF's disruption of its senior leadership.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A new report from Reuters has detailed how China's President Xi Jinping put pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to change the official language used to describe the U.S. stance on Taiwan's independence.

China claims ownership of Taiwan in its entirety, claiming China has historical rights to the democratically run nation, which was founded after the communist army defeated Nationalist forces in mainland China om 1949. The island was established as the Republic of China after the nationalists fled the mainland for Taiwan.

Reuters reported Xi had pressed Biden during a meeting last year in San Francisco, while he was in the U.S. for the 2023 APEC Summit. Xi requested Biden and his officials "tweak" the language used when the U.S. makes official statements about Taiwan.

Currently, in official statements, the U.S. says it "does not support" Taiwan's independence. Xi wanted the U.S. to officially say "we oppose Taiwan Independence," according to anonymous sources who spoke to Reuters.

The report goes on to note the U.S. has declined the suggestion to change, and aides of Xi have consistently followed-up on the request since then.

Biden told reporters the point of his meeting with Xi was to get back to normal communication between the U.S. and China, including their respective military forces, and improve the relationship for the better.

"We're not trying to decouple from China, but what we're trying to do is change the relationship for the better," Biden said, adding, "But I'm not gonna continue to sustain the support for positions where if I want to invest in China, we have to turn over all our trade secrets."

However, since then the relationship with China has soured, with the Biden administration's move to fund a new arms package to Taiwan valued at $2 billion. The deal includes advanced missile defense systems, and China has vowed to take countermeasures.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Democrats in the leftist city of Denver, in the leftist state of Colorado, have learned they can't quite escape all the election laws yet.

Already, the party's elite in the state led by radical left Gov. Jared Polis, and governed by a Democrat-majority legislature and all-Democrat state Supreme Court, have tried to remove President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot.

They were publicly humiliated with a scolding from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now, a report from the Denver Gazette documents how they planned an Election Night party at ReelWorks Denver, at 1399 35th St.

But that is virtually the same place at which the city has located a polling place.

Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez pointed out that state law requires a polling location "be free of electioneering all of Election Day."

He said if the Democrats didn't move their party, a lawsuit would be needed against the party.

"We have worked out arrangements to ensure that every voter has an opportunity to vote at Reelworks/Tracks while Colorado Democrats gather at another exciting location with friends, colleagues, and fellow Coloradans. We're looking forward to a smooth election night," said a joint statement from Lopez and Shad Murib, head of the Colorado Democratic Party.

Lopez, when he discovered the plans for a Democrat party at the same place as a polling station, had concluded that was illegal.

"Lopez wrote that holding the election night watch party constitutes electioneering and that if the Democratic Party didn't find an alternate location for its watch party, his office would need to explore all available remedies to comply with election law 'up to and including litigation,'" the report said.

Lopez said, "While we would [love] to be an accommodating partner, when it comes to protecting the integrity of elections, the safety of voters and poll workers, and the nonpartisan reputation of our office, we simply cannot negotiate what election law dictates."

Tracks sit as 3500 Walnut, but Lopez noted the city's leased space for a polling location, technically at 1399 35th, is "nearest where your party attendees would enter."

The state limits "electioneering," which is what a partisan party would be considered, within 100 feet of "a polling center."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

In a day when the federal government sends grandmothers to jail for advocating for the lives of the unborn, insists it can coerce Christian companies to pay for abortion and promote an LGBT ideology that is out of the mainstream, and more, a federal bureaucracy's blast against religious freedom shouldn't, perhaps, be a surprise.

It is the U.S. Department of Energy that has begun tracking employees' beliefs through a plan to monitor employment accommodations.

And Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., is objecting.

He wrote Ann Dunkin, a DOE official, to "express my strong opposition to the Department of Energy's recent notice regarding the establishment of a new system of records … ."

He warned the agenda "represents a grave violation of religious liberty as protected under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act."

It is the Washington Stand that obtained a copy of the letter Lankford delivered to the DOE.

It included his warnings that the agency may be violating the constitutional rights of workers with its policy that requires the agency "to collect and store detailed information regarding requests for religious exemptions to various mandates," the report said.

The DOE has claimed its accumulation of information about employees' beliefs is needed to "collect, maintain, and disseminate records on employees and applicants for employment who seek and receive medical and non-medical accommodations."

Also caught up in the information dragnet is information about workers with varying disabilities, and their accommodations.

But it also insists on keeping records regarding, "Federal employees or applicants for employment requesting accommodation based on a 'sincerely held' religious belief, practice, or observance under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This system includes requests for a medical or religious accommodation."

The report said Lankford has concerns that "collecting detailed records on an individual's sincerely held religious beliefs and practices — alongside other personal and sensitive information — poses a significant threat to the privacy and religious freedoms of federal employees."

He said the government should protect those workers' religious – and privacy – rights.

"The new DOE policy also 'risks creating an environment in which employees may feel compelled to disclose private details about their faith or religious practices to justify their accommodation requests,' Lankford warned, observing that such an environment 'can lead to potential religious discrimination or bias in the workplace,'" the report said.

He suggested the bureaucrats find other ways to ensure that reasonable accommodations are available.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

'Around the country, woke school boards are closing schools and shifting programs because they don't like the racial makeup. This is illegal and immoral race discrimination

A school district in Wisconsin is facing the possibility of a legal challenge after it announced plans to shutter some programs for being "too white."

Technically, according to the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, the district objects that the students in the programs are "not as diverse as the district's overall population."

"To be sure, you view higher populations of white students in any given program or school as a negative factor that must be corrected," the legal team told district officials in the Wauwatosa School District.

WILL explained that a legal action could result.

"Around the country, woke school boards are closing schools and shifting programs because they don't like the racial makeup," explained Dan Lennington, a lawyer for WILL. "This is illegal and immoral race discrimination. (The school) should resist this plan or face the consequences."

WILL reported Wauwatosa officials announced plans "to shut down the Wauwatosa STEM school, currently ranked the third-best elementary school in Wisconsin by U.S. News and World Report."

Further, officials want to dump "other STEM-specific programs and opportunities district-wide because the programs are too white."

However, the lawyers explained in the letter that federal law and the U.S. Constitution prohibit school districts from implementing policies to "racially balance" student populations.

If needed, WILL said it will bring a civil action against the district.

"According to the district website, a task force is proposing to fix several 'challenges' and 'concerns' in the district, including the fact that in certain programs and schools, the 'student population [ ] not as diverse as the District's overall population.' This is just code for race, and the district's desire to shift around students to have a preferable balance," the legal team said.

However, "Title VI asserts that all students must be treated equally, without regard to race."

Its letter said public documents already show "you are making recommendations on which programs to offer and which schools to operate based on the racial demographics of the students using those programs (at least in part). Race-based decision-making like this violates the constitutional guarantees of equal protection. You seem to be under the impression that you have the power to manage the racial composition of classrooms. You don't."

The legal team also called on the district to release communications about the scheme, including "emails sent by or to any member" of the board that discuss racial balance or diversity.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Businessman and conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, caught in the bull's-eye of the Democrats' lawfare campaigns against President Donald Trump and jailed for refusing to comply with the partisan agenda of ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's special committee on Jan. 6, 2021, has returned to his "War Room" broadcasts on fire.

According to comments transcribed by the Gateway Pundit, he promised Pelosi, "Nancy Pelosi sent me to a federal prison. She sent me to a federal prison as a political prisoner to do two things, to make sure that she tried to tamp down the power of this show, right? Tamp down the power of the show and also to break me. Nancy Pelosi, take out your No. 2 (pencil) and write this down. This show has never been more powerful. … The audiences behind it have never been more powerful. The audience has never been more powerful. And we're going to deliver a knockout blow to your progressive insanity on 5th of November, and then we're going to secure the deal after that."

He said, "It's Tuesday, the 29th of October in the Year of Our Lord 2024. We're, what, six and a wake up away from one of the most important political days in the history of this country. But I want to make sure everybody understands something."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Officials in a South Carolina city are claiming they have the right to decide when and how Christians can talk about their faith on public sidewalks.

And their agenda has drawn a terse letter from a legal organization warning that the town's prior restraint restrictions on signs are unconstitutional.

The fight against the town of Chapin, South Carolina, is being handled by First Liberty Institute on behalf Ernest Guardino.

For months, he's held small signs while he's on public walkways in the town to share his faith.

He recently held a 20×24 inch sign that said, "Trust Christ He paid the price" on one side and "He Saved Others—Jesus—He'll Save You" on the other side.

He was at the intersection of Old Lexington Road and Chapin Road, but had held similar signs with like-minded messages over the previous eight months without incident.

However, in June of this year, a Chapin police officer informed him he had to have town permission to share his faith, the institute reported.

"No one needs the government's permission to express their faith in public," said First Liberty lawyer Nate Kellum. "The First Amendment is his permit. Like any citizen in any city in America, Mr. Giardino is free to peacefully share his religious beliefs on a public sidewalk. Chapin's ordinance is overbroad, unconstitutional, and must be repealed or enjoined."

The legal team explained the town followed up with messages from a code enforcement officer and police official, who gave him a permit application that said his sign-holding was limited to 30 minutes, and during that time he would have to move to another corner every 15 minutes.

First Liberty has responded with a letter to town officials, including Mayor Al Koon and Police Chief Thomas W. Griffin.

The team told the town, "Permit schemes, like the one found in Chapin, have the effect of freezing speech before it is uttered. Permit schemes are thus viewed skeptically, being 'the most serious and least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.' A prior restraint like Chapin's ordinance can survive challenge only if it does not delegate overly broad licensing discretion to government officials. Chapin's permit scheme falls short of this standard, in multiple ways."

The letter explained, "A government entity bears the burden of justifying a restriction on speech. … Chapin is unable to meet this burden. The propriety of a speech infringement is assessed through the lens of forum analysis, contemplating the protection afforded the speech, the suitability of the venue for the speech, and the scrutiny applied to the restriction."

Further, "This analysis reveals Chapin's permit scheme is unconstitutional. The First Amendment Protects Mr. Giardino's desired speech … Religious expression is entitled to the same level of protection as other kinds of speech. … To be sure, '[r]eligious expression holds a place at the core of the type of speech the First Amendment was designed to protect.'"

Further, "Signs, in particular, garner constitutional safeguarding. The protection is sure, even if others happen to find the signs offensive."

The letter condemns the city's ideology as not being content-neutral, and not being "narrowly tailored."

The town is being asked to provide, in writing, confirmation that the town "will no longer ban his expression on public sidewalks through the aforementioned permit scheme."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

When COVID-19 came out of its Chinese home, probably a lab where technicians were working to make bat viruses more transmissible and more deadly, it quickly started killing people.

Shots, although more a treatment than an actual vaccine, were developed and approved for emergency use because they still were considered experimental.

Millions of people took the shots, many voluntarily. But millions more were ordered to take them, and one of those populations now may be in line for relief from the sometimes lethal side effects of those injections.

It is the Washington Examiner that has reported on a proposal by U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., for the University Forced Vaccination Student Injury Mitigation Act.

It would order colleges and universities that ordered their students to take part in the medical experiment to pay for injuries caused by the shots.

It would require the compensation under penalty of those schools losing federal funds from the Education Department.

"If you are not prepared to face the consequences, you should have never committed the act," Rosendale announced in a statement about his plan.

"Colleges and universities forced students to inject themselves with an experimental vaccine knowing it was not going to prevent COVID-19 while potentially simultaneously causing life-threatening health defects like Guillian-Barre Syndrome and myocarditis. It is now time for schools to be held accountable for their brazen disregard for students' health and pay for the issues they are responsible for causing."

It is the Washington Examiner that has reported on a proposal by U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., for the University Forced Vaccination Student Injury Mitigation Act.

It would order colleges and universities that ordered their students to take part in the medical experiment to pay for injuries caused by the shots.

It would require the compensation under penalty of those schools losing federal funds from the Education Department.

"If you are not prepared to face the consequences, you should have never committed the act," Rosendale announced in a statement about his plan.

"Colleges and universities forced students to inject themselves with an experimental vaccine knowing it was not going to prevent COVID-19 while potentially simultaneously causing life-threatening health defects like Guillian-Barre Syndrome and myocarditis. It is now time for schools to be held accountable for their brazen disregard for students' health and pay for the issues they are responsible for causing."

The plan would allow students to seek reimbursement for costs by providing a request, documentation of the shot, its link to a health issue, and an accounting of medical expenses.

The Examiner noted that conditions including myocarditis, pericarditis, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, Guillian-Barre Syndrome, and other diseases that the secretary of education determines are associated with a COVID-19 vaccine would be covered.

The report pointed out that at least 17 colleges or universities even today are demanding students accept the COVID-19 shots for them to be enrolled.

"Countless college students have been injured by COVID-19 vaccinations," charged Lucia Sinatra, of No College Mandates, which organizes opposition to the requirement that students be part of medical experiments.

One of the well-known fact-checking organizations online, though leftist in its leanings, even conceded that a study of "around 99 million people" revealed multiple potential side effects from the shots.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Tim Walz, the leftist governor of Minnesota now on other duties – campaigning as the vice presidential pick for Democrat Kamala Harris, often has boasted of his many trips to China over the years.

He led groups of impressionable students there. He vacationed there. He spent time teaching there. According to reports, he also spent time womanizing there, with the daughter of a Chinese Communist Party official confirming she and Walz were a thing for a time before he dumped her.

Given that China is one of the biggest threats to America that exists in the world today, the links, connections, and influences have members of Congress concerned

Also members of the Department of Homeland Security.

Which has resulted in a letter from the House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability to Joe Biden's DHS chief, Alejandro Mayorkas. Members are demanding answers to a House subpoena regarding the Chinese "elite capture" operations in the United States and specifically "documents, communications, and intelligence reports in DHS's possession related to Minnesota Go. Timothy Walz's connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)."

A report at RedState explains, "Because of DHS's lack of compliance with our legal subpoena and unwillingness to cooperate in good faith, @RepJamesComer is releasing a small portion of the Department's internal communications received from a whistleblower about Governor Tim Walz. The information shows DHS officials with subject matter expertise discussing the CCP's targeting of Governor Walz on the same day VP Kamala Harris picked him to be her running mate. A whistleblower has provided further information to the Committee that indicates officials from DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis and Homeland Security Investigations have been involved in the Department's investigative and/or intelligence work connected with the CCP, the state of Minnesota, and Governor Walz."

The cryptic message released by Congress points out Harris' selection of Walz, with, "You all have no idea how this feeds into what PRC has been doing here with him and local gov. It's seriously a line of the intel. Target someone who is perceived they can get to DC"

The report explained that the Chinese Communist Party has worked to be "co-opting" leaders and officials at lower levels of government they think might advance to the Washington level.

The report suggested while there is concern about Walz's links to the communist organization, DHS leaders are covering for him by refusing to release documents and information.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A Democrat operative is on video and explains the process for influencing the results of an election.

"So think about it like this: if we're going to steal an election – Let's say Georgia is the perfect example. If you're going to steal an election here, you're not going to go to the outside of a Democratic Party, right? They're not going to go outside of Atlanta or outside of Metro Atlanta and change the numbers in Republican counties. Right? Because that s*** would just be too obvious. Change the numbers in your county. You gonna fluctuate these numbers because it will just look the same."

The video has just been released by Steve Crowder, and features the comments of Joel Caldwell, director of operations for The Coalition For The People's Agenda in Georgia.

Crowder noted the comments, "caught on tape," including statements about "potentially illegal ballot harvesting schemes used to rig American elections."

He said the comments appear to suggest fraud happened in Georgia.

A report in the Gateway Pundit, which published a transcription of the entire interview, said Caldwell "can be seen explaining to an undercover female how members of his party are stealing elections from Republicans."

"During his lengthy discussion, Joel Caldwell, the director of operations for The Coalition For The People's Agenda in Georgia explains how elections are stolen, by using a variety of methods, from kicking Republican poll watchers out of the State Farm Arena in 2020 because of an alleged water main break to ballot harvesting in nursing homes, to verifying the 2000 Mules movie was accurate while admitting he believes he was able to identify a union member's vehicle that was seen in the Dinesh D'Souza movie based on True the Vote's research," the report said.

He referenced a situation in Georgia in 2020 when officials said they had to suspend ballot counting for a time because of water leak in the building. They resumed later and found enough ballots for Joe Biden to give him the victory.

"And they were out in the parking lot when I guess they told them they could come back in. Or they were out in the parking lot and they were going to go back to headquarters. And so the Republicans left the Republican watchers—They all left. And so after they left, the Democrats went back in there and started counting. So that's the videotape. You see them when they're walking back in, pulling the s*** out from underneath the tables. And during that hour… And then the other thing, the other part was that when they were counting, I think during that hour, that stretch of that, it was only less than 100 votes was counted for Trump. And just statistically, you're downtown, there's going to be more than 100 votes for Trump," he said.

"That's what happened in 2020 because that's when the ballots, they started stuffing their ballots, and people are stuffing those ballots, and they got videotape of 'em, but nobody's talks about it. That's why Trump is making that big deal about it. You see it on videotape. It's like, Come on. We see the man pull up and put 100 ballots in his box. You know, you can't do this s***. Groups were paying people to do just that. Drop off ballots, go around and collect ballots, collect absentee ballots, drop 'em and forget 'em."

Also explained was the need to "inflate" voter numbers, so that it's not a red flag when Democrat vote totals suddenly rise.

And the focus would be on Democrat districts, he said.

"That's why the Republicans are always trying to fight the ballot. You know—that's all—that's the argument of the whole thing is because Republicans, they're the ones who put out that stuff. So, they want to do like ID, voter ID, and stuff. Democrats are fighting voter ID laws. So, you know, it's a two-sided thing. That's what they fighting over. Republicans are trying to say, like, 'Hey, look, we got the proof of this s***.' And then the Democrats are like, 'Well, we don't want voter ID laws and we want to make more like so you can just drop your ballot off. Online voting. Different things that they try to come up with."