This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Middle East/Israel:
U.S. to provide Israel with THAAD missile defense capabilities vs. Iran?
The U.S. military is sending Israel an advanced anti-ballistic missile defense system – which requires American troops to operate it – in the event of an Iranian reaction to an expected Israeli response to the Oct. 1 ballistic missile strike.
U.S. officials: 'Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites off the table'
New book alleges NSA Sullivan advised Iran to carry out 1979 Tehran embassy-style attack on U.S. Baghdad delegation
Renowned investigative journalist Ken Timmerman alleges current National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan sent secret communications to Iranian leadership in an effort to prevent former President Donald Trump from winning the 2020 election.
WATCH: Israel begins revenge on Iran for its ballistic missile strike with an allegedly massive cyber attack
Read: Hamas planned 9/11-style attack on Tel Aviv, Hezbollah knew of Oct. 7 plot
U.N. claims Israeli troops fired on southern Lebanon position
Some 18 years after it first failed to fulfill its mandate of not allowing Hezbollah to arm or to encroach beyond the Litani River, UNIFIL troops allegedly came under Israeli fire for the third time over the weekend, with reports of two U.N. soldiers being wounded. Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Hezbollah is using them as human shields.
Heavy fighting between Hamas and IDF troops in Gaza Strip's Jabaliya kills dozens of terrorists
The IDF's "Gaza Division" is operating across swaths of the Gaza Strip, including in Jabaliya, a conurbation some 2 miles north of Gaza City. Dozens of terrorists were eliminated in fighting Saturday.
IRGC Quds force leader Qaani is alive; but did he suffer a heart attack under interrogation following accusations he colluded with Israel?
The fate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' leader Gen. Esmail Qaani was recently unknown, with speculation he was killed in one of the strikes on Hezbollah HQ in Beirut. However, rumors are now circulating he is alive, but might have suffered a heart attack after interrogation, which followed accusations he colluded with Israel.
Israel sets aside National Day of Mourning on Hebrew date of Hamas massacre
Despite the commemorations on Oct. 7, Israel's government approved a "National Day of Mourning," on which there will be two ceremonies. The first will honor fallen soldiers from that day to this, and the other will commemorate the civilian casualties. It is not permitted to fast on a feast day (other than Yom Kippur), so the day will be delayed until after Simchat Torah.
Palestinian-run California café names drink in honor of Hamas' Sinwar
A Palestinian-owned café in Oakland, California caused a stir after it named one of its juices "Sweet Sinwar," in honor of the architect of the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel – Yahya Sinwar – which took the lives of some 1,200 Israelis and started a war where many times that have been killed. The menu also has a number of inverted red triangles, the symbol for Hamas targeting Israelis.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – On day 373 of the war between Israel and Hamas – although more correctly between Israel and Iran – evidence has emerged the Oct. 7, 2023 attack which started it, was designed to be significantly more deadly, part of an extraordinary plan which would have seen both Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists shaking hands in Tel Aviv.
International media outlets obtained a series of documents – released Saturday – which make for sobering reading. One of the first points of note is Hamas had wanted to undertake its operation – self-labeled "the Big Project" among a secret cabal of its leadership – already in 2022.
The Washington Post said it had obtained letters from Yahoo Sinwar of Hamas to Iranian officials, which discussed financing such an operation as early as 2021. Indeed, the Gaza terrorist's group seeking to co-opt both Hezbollah and Iran more directly to its cause, turned out to be the source of the delay.
The report, which first appeared in the New York Times, was based on IDF-recovered recordings in January, of meetings with Hamas' now undisputed leader Yahya Sinwar, at which his brother, Muhammad, as well as now-eliminated leaders Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa, were present at several.
According to the report, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, Khalil al-Hayya, informed senior Iranian commander Mohammed Said Izadi of the plot in July 2023, in Lebanon. According to Izadi, Hezbollah and Iran both sanctioned the operation "in principle" – although they cautioned more time was needed to "prepare the environment." Now-eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was supposed to meet with Hamas representatives in person, although it was postponed.
Hamas leaders seemed to be mollified it would not be left "exposed," although it reportedly left open the possibility it would go it alone, whether it had the explicit material support of either Hezbollah and Iran – which are effectively two sides of the same coin.
The details of the proposed attack are well-delineated in the report, and there was a clear intention to make it as spectacular as possible. At its heart was using subterfuge to allow Israel to be drawn deeper into its own conception, i.e. the impression Hamas was a rational actor, which wanted to improve the people of Gaza's economic standing, and could be placated by doing so.
Hamas leadership was relieved when an uptick in tension – presumably such as the often violent demonstrations against the border fence – never fully boiled over. In this way, it was able to maintain the ruse it sought to tamp down conflagrations and was instead in search of calm. Meanwhile, Sinwar and his cronies were plotting an attack, alongside a broader regional war, which he hoped would bring about Israel's collapse.
However, Hamas was dissuaded from this course of action after it concluded it lacked the ability – whether as a technical problem of the right amount of explosives or given the mall's proximity to IDF headquarters of time sensitivity and a lack of detection – to bring the towers down.
The mechanics for the attack – which presumably looked on paper a lot like what transpired on Oct. 7 – were in place around the Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year – in mid-September 2022. Hamas appeared ready to attack military bases and then pivot to civilian residences. However, it would be almost 13 months later when the attack was so infamously carried out.
There was seemingly no specific reason for the delay, other than the one outlined above about Hezbollah and Iran wanting more time to prepare the ground. However, there were at least four significant catalysts for Hamas choosing to strike when it did:
- The concern about reports of significant advancements in Israel's military defense technology particularly with regard to lasers capable of shooting down rockets and missiles at a fraction of the cost of the Iron Dome and David's Sling etc.
- A perception about the nature of Israel's most ring-wing government ever, specifically coupled with the notion that the status quo on the Temple Mount might be in jeopardy – hence calling the eventual operation on Oct. 7, "the al-Aqsa Flood."
- A sensitivity to the divisions within Israeli society, practically ripped apart as it was over the judicial reform bill. Hamas leaders thought soldiers refusing to appear for reserve duty or air force pilots from topping up their training would be a perfect time to strike.
- There was a strong desire to scupper the possibility of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which would have been perhaps the crowning achievement of the Abraham Accords.
Only a very select few of the Hamas leadership was aware of the plans, and apart from the now-eliminated Ismail Haniyeh, there was a clear delineation between Gaza and the so-called "hotel guys" in Qatar. With secrecy at a premium, even lower-level operatives – the ones who would actually lead and take part in the attack – were only informed mere hours before it took place.
On the Jewish festival of Simchat Torah – Oct. 7, 2023 – Sinwar unleashed his hordes, the result of which has changed the face of the Middle East forever.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A new database has revealed the "Dirty Dozen," the 12 "worst-offending" hospitals in America for inflicting transgender agenda injuries on children.
And Mat Staver, the chief of Liberty Counsel, which has battled the leftist, and unscientific, ideology that males can be turned into females and vice versa, said, "Mutilating children for profit is criminal. It is biologically impossible to change one's gender.
"The insanity of gender ideology and greed has made a mockery of the medical profession's duty to 'do no harm.' There are only two genders, and the medical profession needs to return to sound science to treat mental health issues with proven psychiatric therapies to heal rather than harm."
Under the science, being male or female is embedded in the human body down to the DNA level, and it cannot change.
Not surprising, many of the offending hospitals are located in far-left states, where the social agenda has taken over.
So it would be expected that Children's Hospital Colorado, in the leftist Rocky Mountain state, and Children's Minnesota, in that state now run by leftist Gov. Tim Walz, and Seattle Children's, in the leftist Pacific region state, are included.
The full list of those hospitals:
The listing is from a database compiled by Stop the Harm.
"According to the database, the top billing hospitals were Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York billing more than $8.2 million and Boston Children's Hospital billing more than $6.5 million. The database also contains a detailed breakdown of each state and hospital where gender-related interventions were performed on children in the time period analyzed. The top states in both number of children mutilated and in total revenue for hospitals were California, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Specifically for California, with three hospitals on the 'dirty dozen'" list, the state recorded 1,359 mutilating surgeries and 725 minors prescribed puberty blockers and hormones – all at a cost of $28,877,427."
The report cited the nearly 14,000 "gender-confused children" "mutilated" by an industry that inflicts "harmful and irreversible genital surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormones" between 2019 and 2023.
The facilities were paid some $120 million for that, the report said.
Stop the Harm is a coalition of thousands of doctors, nurses, medical students and more "focused on keeping identity politics out of medical education, research, and clinical practice."
Liberty Counsel revealed, "According to recent, peer-reviewed research published by the Heritage Foundation, U.S. states with easy access to puberty blockers and hormones for children actually have increased suicide rates. Additional data shows up to 88 percent of girls and up to 98 percent of boys with gender confusion 'will desist' from gender confusion with age, especially with counseling."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Like thousands of others, Jessica Sheffield, a former United States Navy lieutenant commander, was forcibly separated from the service in 2022 for refusing the COVID jab.
When Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin mandated the COVID-19 shot in August 2021, Sheffield was concerned not just with the experimental vaccine's safety, but with the legality of such an order. After careful consideration, she decided to take her oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution seriously, telling WorldNetDaily: "I was absolutely going to do the right thing no matter what, and in this situation, it meant that I was not going to follow this unlawful order."
"I was vocal to my commander, chief of staff, and the command doc in private," she said, "about not taking the 'vaccine,' because it was experimental, thereby, it was also unlawful. The command doc, in a one-on-one meeting with me, wouldn't even put his words behind the order, claiming it was 'coming from higher up,' which was especially alarming," she said.
Sheffield brought to the attention of Navy Vice Admiral Robert Gaucher the reality that many members of the command – all holding security clearances – were "lying out of fear," which she considered a violation of their oath. For this, she was called "disgruntled" and accused of "stirring up trouble."
Through the experience, she learned a lot about some of the Navy's current leadership, she told WND: "They basically showed me that they're willing to lie for money, or worse, they don't see a forced experimental injection that was actively injuring sailors as unlawful. They put their own selfish needs ahead of standing up for what was right."
The most concerning issue, Sheffield added, was that "\many in leadership seemed to truly believe the order was lawful, and still do."
After meeting with a Navy chaplain to consider requesting a religious accommodation, she learned, "You had to agree that the order was lawful to get the exemption." For Sheffield, "that defeated the purpose of getting an exemption, considering it was an unlawful, experimental injection that was being offered in the first place."
So rather than being separated on May 25, 2022, for disobeying an unlawful order, Sheffield fought to have her DD-214 discharge papers state "COVID Injection Refusal" as the reason for her separation. "The official separation code still shows 'Unacceptable Behavior,' which I protested, but remain somewhat satisfied I was at least able to get the note including the COVID-injection refusal," she told WND.
After the January 2023 rescission of the shot mandate, Sheffield submitted a request to the Board for Correction of Naval Records, or BCNR, on March 5, 2023 to be reinstated. Her reinstatement request also asked for the Department of Defense to admit to the unlawfulness of the 2021 mandate, acknowledge that retaliatory actions were taken against her, and cleanse any blemishes from her performance record. Unfortunately, her reinstatement would never occur.
After waiting a year, Sheffield said the BCNR altered her official record to state that she had voluntarily resigned, which was untrue. "They had also deleted all COVID-related retaliatory documents from my official record, and claimed that is what I had asked them to do," she said.
"I contacted my congressman and, through him, demanded they stop deleting evidence and return my record to its unaltered state since they refused to reinstate me and acknowledge the unlawfulness of the order."
Confessing she was "terrified" to discover a letter the Navy wrote to U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., Sheffield said "they lied about the nature of my initial BCNR request, claiming I had only asked them to delete COVID-related detrimental FITREPS (fitness reports), and called my assertions of their behavior 'disingenuous.'" She fears "they're quietly doing the same for everyone who was kicked out for COVID jab refusal, under the guise of 'cleansing' records of bad behavior."
Sheffield submitted a second request to the Board for Correction of Naval Records on May 5 of this year: "I asked that my record remain untouched as evidence for an eventual reconciliation of this injustice," she explained. "My re-submitted BCNR states that if they refuse to admit to the unlawfulness of the COVID injection order and restore my commission, my record must remain untampered until things can be reconciled."
"The jab requirement was nothing less than a purge of all those willing to uphold their oath and protect their sailors and others from the unlawful order, and the proof is now bare for all to see," Sheffield told WND. "After almost a year of deliberation, I now have 15 pages on official letterhead of the BCNR doubling down on the assertion that the jab order was lawful and that I was right to be removed." That, in addition to altering her paperwork, told her "they were trying to cover up the entire experience, as if it had never happened."
"With this ongoing BCNR trouble, it feels like the DOD as we used to know it is effectively gone," Sheffield lamented. For her, it's "just a mercenary force now, one whose loyalty lies with keeping their paycheck, rather than upholding the sacred oath undertaken for the protection of the United States of America and its founding Constitution."
Like thousands of other service members and veterans who desire the same, she questions whether there will there ever be accountability for the wrongs committed against her and the countless sailors who were failed by their leaders, with the implementation and enforcement of the COVID-19 shot and its many negative repercussions.
Nearly 38,000 have signed a petition to support 231 service members and veterans who signed on to the Declaration of Military Accountability to "hold accountable military leaders who failed to follow the law when their leadership and moral courage was most desperately needed." What's more, they have pledged "to recall from retirement the military leaders who broke the law and will convene courts-martial for the crimes they committed."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A prominent author and broadcast host is telling Christians, and others, quite bluntly that it is President Donald Trump who has been chosen by none other than God to help America at this time in its history.
When it is besieged by communism and Marxism from within, its morality undermined by the agendas of abortion, transgenderism and even child mutilations.
When its leaders have thrown out their responsibility to protect the nation and have opened its borders wide.
"He's not perfect. He's not a god. He's a human, although I believe super-human. But Trump is clearly chosen by God for this role, at this time and place – to save America and make America great again," explains Wayne Allyn Root in a commentary.
"Like the heroes of the Bible, Trump is a courageous warrior, with a killer instinct, perhaps you might call him a Barbarian, chosen by God to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! And to protect our country, our values, and our childrens' future."
Root is author of multiple books and has a television show, "The ROOT Reaction" on Real America's Voice TV, as well as a weekend program.
His comments, he explains, are being repeated from 2016. But they are never more true than now, he said.
"Every word I wrote back then is as true today as it ever was back in 2016 – except now SQUARED to the 10,000 degree. Our nation is on the line. Our personal and religious freedoms are on the line. Our parental rights are on the line. It's time for every Christian who loves God, faith, family and country to support President Trump – and to each pledge to bring at least ten Christians with you to the polls.
"Only one man can save America, American exceptionalism, the American Dream, capitalism, and Judeo-Christian values. That man is President Donald J. Trump," he said.
Identifying as "a Jew who took Jesus Christ as my savior 34 years ago," he said that gives him a "deep understanding of President Trump's one-in-a-billion skill-set and unique role in protecting and saving America."
From 2016, he said, are his words that "are more true today than ever…"
His message was that Christians who don't like Trump are "MISSING THE BOAT:"
A deeply faithful Christian man is stuck on the roof of his home with massive flooding up to 2nd floor. A rowboat comes to save him. The man says, "No, I won't go. I'm waiting for God. I've prayed and I know he's coming." A 2nd rowboat comes to save him. The man says, "No, I won't go. I'm waiting for God." A 3rd rowboat comes. The man says, "No, I won't go. I'm waiting for God." The flood water rises and the man drowns. Now he's meeting God in heaven. The religious man says "Where were you God? I prayed. I was faithful. I asked you to save me. Why would you abandon me?" God says, "Hey dummy, I sent you 3 rowboats. Are you blind?"
Root pointed out, "Trump is our rowboat. Maybe God is trying to tell us something important – that now is not the time for a 'nice Christian guy' or a 'gentleman' or a typical Republican powder puff. Maybe now is the time for a natural born killer, a ruthless fighter, a warrior, a barbarian who knows how to fight."
Pointing to other leaders, like "John McCain, Gerald Ford, or Paul Ryan," he pointedly asked, "Did any of them win? Did they lead the GOP to 'the promised land?' Did they save America? Did they make America great again? No, because if you don't win, you have no say."
He warned, "Maybe God understands we need a 'war leader' at this moment in time. A General. Maybe God understands if we don't win this election, America is dead. It's over. The greatest nation in world history will be gone. Finished. Kaput. Adios."
At the time the Democrat nominee was the now- twice-failed Hillary Clinton. The 2024 opponent is Kamala Harris.
"I guess you think God is only nice and gentlemanly. Really? Then you've missed the whole point of the Bible. When necessary God is a tough guy. When necessary, God strikes with pain, death and destruction. When necessary, God inflicts vengeance. Maybe you think God couldn't possibly be associated with someone like Trump. Trump is too vicious, rude and crude," he said.
But, "When we won WWII, was God 'nice?' Were we gentlemanly when defeating Hitler? Were we gentlemanly when firebombing Germany? Were we gentlemanly when dropping atomic bombs on Japan? Is God ever 'nice' on the battlefield? Or does he send us vicious SOB's like General George S. Patton, so the good guys can defeat evil?"
And he warned "war leaders" are not the same as a "church leader."
"I was reading the Bible this morning and I found the perfect verse that explains the success of Donald Trump… Isaiah 40:30-31. 'Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.' It's almost like God created this verse for Donald Trump and this moment in history."
He wrote, "God is about miracles. We don't need a 'nice guy,' or a 'gentleman' right now. It's the bottom of the 9th inning and we're losing 9-0. We need a miracle. I believe Trump is our miracle. I believe Trump is our rowboat…"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
COVID-19, that modified bat virus first spotted near a Chinese research institute that was toying around with those dangerous pathogens, undoubtedly was and remains a threat to many people.
But the shots that the world's pharmaceuticals created to battle it also have been found to be related to heart diseases and failures as well as a multitude of other health threats.
Now even the World Health Organization, that bureaucracy that worked with China first to conceal the threat, then demanded entire populations be forced to take the experimental COVID shots, has admitted that they are problematic.
To the point they now are being blamed for creating a side effect: "Monkeypox."
It is Slay News that revealed the admission by the WHO, a part of the United Nations.
The report confirmed the "admission" is buried deep on the WHO's Vigiaccess web page.
Among the "known" side effects of the use of Pfizer's BioNTech vaccine, WHO now lists "monkeypox," "smallpox," and "cow pox."
Along with a long list of additional threats.
"The website contains a database that lists all known side effects of all drugs and vaccines that have been approved for public use," the report said.
The report adds, "They are listed under 'infections and infestations' that emerge as 'side effects' of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine."
The report noted the website was working when the report was assembled, "However, a swift cover-up usually ensues when we draw attention to such things."
The site noted it earlier reported a renowned German physician confirmed at the time the monkeypox "outbreak" was a hoax and it was just side effects from the COVID mRNA treatments delivered to patients.
It was Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg who said reports of a monkeypox "global emergency" was just "fearmongering."
The report continued, "These bombshell developments emerged after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a shocking admission about the monkeypox "vaccines." As Slay News reported, the FDA quietly admitted that people who are unvaccinated for monkeypox could face "serious complications," including "death," if they come into "close contact" with those who have been vaccinated for the virus."
It said, "Alarmingly, those risks are not limited to those who receive the shots as the side effects can also be suffered by unvaccinated people who have "physical contact" with the vaccinated."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Doug Emhoff, according to investigative reports from the Daily Mail, got a family nanny pregnant, later slapped a girlfriend in the face, and was a "misogynist" when he worked at California law firms.
He was asked about the claims during an interview.
And he did not deny them.
It is the Daily Mail that now has updated its reporting on the man, who if Kamala Harris is elected, would be in the White House for four years.
It reported, "Doug Emhoff has dismissed bombshell stories that he slapped his ex-girlfriend and had an affair during his first marriage as a 'distraction,' but didn't deny them. … Emhoff was asked by MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Friday whether the allegations about his personal life 'p—–' him off. The Morning Joe host didn't question him over the details or ask whether DailyMail.com reports about his past were true. Scarborough even reduced them to being 'tabloid' stories being pushed by Donald Trump and Republican critics. But Emhoff avoided the chance to slap them down and instead brushed them off while he insisting he was focused on his wife's presidential campaign."
The results of the Daily Mail's investigations already have been reported.
Those include that he "forcefully slapped" a former girlfriend allegedly for "flirting" with another man.
That report came from three "friends" who confirmed that Emhoff "assaulted his ex-girlfriend."
"The Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, 59, allegedly struck the woman in the face so hard she spun around, while waiting in a valet line late at night after a May 2012 Cannes Film Festival event in France," the report said. "One of her friends told DailyMail.com that the woman called him immediately after the incident, sobbing in her cab, and described the alleged assault."
Earlier, it was reported that "Emhoff's first marriage ended when he got his children's nanny pregnant. The woman, Najen Naylor, 47, did not deny the story when approached by DailyMail.com at her home in the New York millionaires' playground, The Hamptons," the Daily Mail documented.
At that time, Emhoff said there had been "tough times" in his first marriage, because of "my actions."
Finally, the newest report on Emhoff comes from interviews with former coworkers at California law firms where he worked.
He was considered "inappropriate" and "misogynistic" at the office, there were claims he hired an "unqualified" part-time model as legal secretary "because she was young … attractive," and that he withdrew work benefits from women who didn't flirt with him.
The Daily Mail also uncovered opinions that he was a foul-mouthed employee.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Southeast Asian leaders were urged by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Thursday to come up with stricter code of conduct when dealing with the South China Sea, specifically, the increasing aggression from China.
The remarks came at the 27th annual ASEAN-China summit, which is the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, a union of 10 states in Asia including the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, and Cambodia.
Marcos accused Beijing of harassment and intimidation, and noted there would have to be significant progress between all parties if tensions are to be reduced, according to Reuters.
"There should be more urgency in the pace of the negotiations of the ASEAN-China code of conduct… It is regrettable that the overall situation in the South China Sea remains tense and unchanged. We continue to be subjected to harassment and intimidation," Marcos reportedly told the meeting.
A maritime code of conduct was agreed upon in 2002, but progress has been slow and plans for its implementation did not begin until 2017, according to Reuters. Some member states are concerned about the code of conduct not being legally binding or enforceable.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said during the meeting "external forces frequently interfere" to bring confrontation into Asia.
"At the same time we must also realize that our development is facing some unstable and uncertain factors. In particular, external forces frequently interfere and even try to introduce bloc confrontation and geopolitical conflicts into Asia," Li said.
Li then asked how Asia should deal with this interference, while continuing to move forward.
"When we understand that amity and good neighborliness are invaluable to a country, we will be better able to promote understanding through dialogue and promote harmony with friendliness and kindness when we deal with differences, disputes, and conflicts between countries," Li said.
The Philippines and China have been consistently involved in incidents on the South China Sea, with China claiming almost the entire area as its own, including the Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands which is within the Philippines exclusive economic zone.
Chinese Coast Guard vessels have become increasingly aggressive and confrontational, ramming Philippine Coast Guard ships, attacking Filipino crew members with batons and bladed weapons, in some cases causing severe damage to both Philippine ships and its crew.
However, the Philippines is an ally of the U.S. and has been since 1951 after the two nations signed a defense treaty. If the aggression towards the Philippines continues to escalate, the U.S. could eventually end up in a war with China.
China is accusing the Philippines of encroaching on its sovereign territory, using old maps to justify China's claim to almost the entirety of the South China Sea, which is shared by ASEAN members Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei. China has deployed ships deep into the exclusive economic zones of all four members.
When asked about Marcos' comments noting member states should not "turn a blind eye to the aggressive, coercive, and illegal actions" of an "external power," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said maritime issues should be settled through dialogue.
"With the joint effort of China and ASEAN countries, the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable. China remains committed to settling maritime differences with countries concerned through dialogue and consultation on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law," Mao said.
Mao added, however, that China will not tolerate any encroachment on territory it sees as belonging to China.
"China firmly opposes any infringement activities and provocations, and firmly safeguards its own territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. China will continue to work with ASEAN countries to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, actively advance the consultations of the code of conduct in the South China Sea, and jointly make the South China Sea a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation," Mao said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Well, that didn't go as planned for a Lycra-clad millionaire bicyclist who raged to police about a driver who got too close to him on the road and demanded police give him a ticket.
They did, but it was dropped later, and the bicyclist was fined $160 for disorderly conduct over the episode.
The case developed in Utah, but multiple Western states have laws requiring drivers to give bicyclists a clearance when they are on the road. The concept is safety, but it also allows, on narrow and winding mountain roads, for a bicyclist to insist on maintaining his or her travel, while long lines of vehicles are slowed to a bicycle pace, unable to get around because of oncoming traffic.
This latest dispute is explained on video (Please be forewarned for offensive language):
The Daily Mail explained Gary Peacock, 73, was triggered when Pierce Kempton, 22, passed him on a road near Park City, Utah.
Peacock, "who lives in a $3.5 million Park City home," confronted Kempton, repeatedly threatened the driver while he called police, and insisted, "I'm riding a bike. I have more rights than you!"
He later threatens, "If I have it my way, you're going to jail. I'll press charges against you."
Kempton was fined $130 for passing too closely, but that citation was dropped shortly later when he gained access to video from his car's video camera, and provided it to prosecutors, revealing that he indeed moved over for the biker.
The report confirmed, "Dashcam footage posted to Kempton's TikTok page shows him driving along a narrow two-way road and veering slightly to the left to give the cyclist a wider berth."
And, the report noted, at one point Peacock physically put his hand on the younger man, even while calling him a "very aggressive teenager."
The report noted Peacock already had paid a fine, and Kempton reports if he wants to pursue further action against Peacock, his only option is a civil case.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Many American universities allowed, even protected and facilitated, a series of anti-Semitic events and anti-Israel protests over the last year, as Hamas-supporting propagandists tried to paint Israel's response to the terror organization's slaughter of 1,200 Israelis somehow as destroying Gaza's children.
In fact, those children do become casualties of the conflict triggered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, because Hamas sets up its military operations in schools, under hospitals and more.
Many of those schools were criticized for their schemes that allowed Jewish students to be harassed and bullied.
But one institution, the university of Pennsylvania, now is facing a backlash that is more damaging than just words.
It's losing millions of dollars in donations.
And it has been informed that major corporations no longer will emphasize hiring employees who are graduates of the school.
According to a report from Fox, the donor who has severed ties to UPenn is David Magerman, venture capitalist and philanthropist, who confirmed he's reallocated an estimated $5 million in donations away from the school.
"Magerman said he will give $1 million grants to five institutions of higher learning across Israel, including Tel Aviv University, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Bar-Ilan University and Jerusalem College of Technology," the report said.
He explained, of the community of corporate executives he knows, "I think their eyes have been opened to the mentality of some of the graduates of these schools and what they've been learning."
The report explained Magerman halted his donations to his alma mater last year when its political agenda became apparent.
Now he's announcing the $5 million being directed to Israeli universities.
More will be coming, he promised.
"My plan is to redirect my philanthropic efforts going forward largely to Israel," he told Fox News Digital. "I don't see much value generated by giving to American universities. I think that liberal colleges in America are flawed institutions that are doing a poor job of preparing students for the real world."
The report noted actually "several" major University of Pennsylvania donors have cut ties to the school over the ideologies it expressed after the terrorist attack on Israel.
He said that's a good response.
"They're fulfilling the mission they want to fulfill. Their goal, it seems, is to indoctrinate their students to question the validity of Western civilization, to question the value of the Founding Fathers and to criticize Western society. I don't think that's what these philanthropists believe and I don't think that they should be donating money to support propagating that ideology."
He said Jewish students should continue their pursuit of degrees at those institutions if that is "their best outcome."
But their decision should include whether "that's the best place for them to learn … whether I would be well served going to an institution where clearly the administration, in large part the faculty and in large part the student body, don't want me there. Is that really the environment you want to go to learn subject matter that you can learn online or abroad or at different colleges across the U.S.?" he said.
He pointedly noted that "that name on your diploma" might not be worth being subjected to an anti-Semitic environment.
Magerman himself previously had donated $10 million to UPenn, but wrote the school, "You have shown me who you are. My only remaining hope is that all self-respecting Jews, and all moral citizens of the world, dissociate themselves from Penn."
Apollo CEO Marc Rowan, who donated $50 million to UPenn in 2018, called on other donors at the time to send $1 checks with the hopes of forcing a change in leadership at the university, the report said, adding, Ross Stevens of Stone Ridge Asset Management pulled his donation estimated at approximately $100 million shortly thereafter.
The school triggered the outrage by holding on campus a Palestinian literary event that included speakers espousing anti-Semitic agendas, such as "death to Israel."
UPenn president Liz Magill eventually quit after she refused, before Congress, to say that anti-Semitic charges and demands for genocide violated the school's code of conduct.