This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A California city that had banned home Bible studies, and threatened one resident with zoning violation prosecutions, has decided to back down.

Officials there also say they are reworking their present city ban on renting any public facility for "any" religious event.

The news about the developments in the City of Manhattan Beach, California, comes from the American Center for Law and Justice, which has worked on the situation there.

The legal team announced this week that the city "has reversed course and provided assurances that it will not interfere with residents' in-home gatherings and Bible studies simply because they are religious."

The ACLJ joined the dispute after a resident was issued a notice of an alleged zoning violation for holding a gathering in his home for a religious meeting on a Sunday.

"In early 2024, our client (a resident of the City of Manhattan Beach) began gathering in the privacy of his own home with fellow Christians to watch church on TV and fellowship together. In April 2024, our client received a notice from the City of Manhattan Code Enforcement notifying him of an alleged zoning violation: establishing a new religious assembly use without a permit," the ACLJ explained.

The resident requested a meeting with city officials, which didn't go well, as they insisted that holding a gathering in his home "for any religious purpose or activity without a permit" was banned.

The resident then told city officials via email that his understanding was "that any amount of people in my house, assuming no noise or no valet parking, that is meeting to discuss religion or even to watch a religious service on the television is in violation of city code. However, if I were to have a party with any amount of people, then I am not in violation of city code."

The city declined to respond.

So the ACLJ entered the fray, and informed the city "it cannot regulate any and all religious gatherings in residential homes and that any effort to do so in a manner different than non-religious gatherings constitutes discrimination and violates federal law."

Eventually the city admitted that "typically sized home gatherings, whether for a bible study, Seder or other religious purposes, or for non-religious purposes are permitted in the 'RS' Residential Single-Family zone…"

The resident, fearful of city attacks should he hold religious events, had tried to find another location, and discovered, the ACLJ reported, the city "banned him from renting any public space from the city to hold such a religious service."

That dispute continues, as the city has promised it is "amending" its discriminatory practice.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A court in New Jersey has issued a ruling protecting the freedom of an Orthodox Jewish school to choose who will carry out its religious mission.

"Judges have no business picking Jewish rabbis or Orthodox priests," explained Laura Wolk Slavis, a counsel at Becket, which filed a brief in the fight.

"The court's ruling reinforces that common-sense principle, allowing Rosenbaum Yeshiva to choose who passes on its Jewish beliefs to the next generation."

The dispute involved Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey and ended up before the state Supreme Court.

The case happened when the school parted ways with a rabbi "who it said violated Jewish law by allegedly interacting inappropriately with his elementary-age female students," Becket's report explained.

The rabbi sued the school, claiming defamation.

Becket filed his arguments on behalf of Serbian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, and Antiochian Orthodox church bodies to clarify "the importance of allowing religious groups to select, control, and discipline their leaders without undue government interference," the report said.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

To Americans, the 2024 presidential election appears to be a choice between the mostly conservative GOP President Donald Trump and wildly progressive Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris.

A basic pro-life agenda or radical abortion promotions.

National security and strength or open borders and vacillating foreign policy.

An economy to make families comfortable or higher taxes and more wild spending.

But to a Jewish rabbi, it's a choice between another Cyrus, the ancient king who, although not Jewish, helped that nation rebuild the temple, or the 4th kingdom of Daniel, which describes a power struggle that leads to national downfall.

It is Israel365 that cites the warning from Rabbi Isser Z. Weisberg,

The report explains in his video, Weisberg says Americans have the option of "the fourth kingdom described by Daniel that comes before total societal collapse" or … "A second Trump term in office would, on the other hand, be a replay of Cyrus, the non-Jewish 'Messiah' who will help Israel build the Temple in Jerusalem."

Weisberg, who lectures on biblical prophecies and Jewish eschatology, cited his prediction in 2020 that Trump would be in the White House for a second term.

He explained, "The Torah records prophecies to Rebecca and Isaac, stating that ultimately, at the end of days, Esav (Esau) will serve his younger brother, Jacob. Esav evolved into the mighty Roman Empire, which metamorphosed into the various Christian nations, and then into Western society with all of its diverse components. Jacob becomes the Jewish people. The story of Jacob and Esau was told to be a long and bitter subjugation, humiliation, and suffering of Jacob at the hands of Esav and all his offshoots. It was also foretold that there would be reconciliation at the end of days."

He warned, "The evil components of Esav will separate from the good and be vanquished. Esav will then have the clarity to understand his role, not as an adversary to his younger brother, but rather as a supporter who offers his hand to assist his brother Jacob in spreading the truth of God to all the inhabitants of the world. Our sages have passed down to us a tradition that at the end of days, the representative of Esav will approach the Jewish Messiah, who will reign from Jerusalem. With humility and penance, he will return all the riches that Esav and his offshoots plundered from the Jews in the long and bitter exile."

He charged, "It makes no sense that this incredible honor of participating with the Jewish Messiah and in the building of the Holy Temple, and of the establishment of God's kingdom on earth should be given to someone who is undeserving. This is someone who represented the ugly side of America, which has been engaged in undermining the security and safety of the Jews who had returned to their ancestral homeland since day one when the state was established in 1948.

"President Donald Trump was the first American president who stood up in defiance to the entrenched and endemic anti-Israel attitude of all previous U.S. administrations towards our presence in the Holy Land. This attitude has been in place for the past 70 years. Only [Trump], or somebody like him, would be the person who deserves this great honor of representing Western society and fulfilling the prophecy uttered to our matriarch Rebecca, that the elder one will serve the younger one."

He said of the Joe Biden administration, which succeeded Trump's first term, "Western society led by the United States had to go through further degradation and humiliation under the lowly and weak Biden administration before goodness could emerge from the ashes of the failed American Dream. Biden's incredible incompetence and intellectual decay is but a symbol of the total obliteration of the fourth beast envisioned by Daniel some 2500 years ago."

The Bible's book of Daniel notes there are four kingdoms to precede the "end times," and the fourth is described as having legs of iron and feet of iron and clay, interpreted to mean a failing and divided kingdom that will fall.

The rabbi said, "Biden's replacement with someone whose only qualifications are for gender or skin color and the birthplace of her parents further underscores the complete composition of the fourth beast."

He said the Biden years held "a deeply anti-Israel American establishment who have emboldened, financed, and even encouraged the thoroughly wicked Iranian access of pure, sadistic evil, who are now at the cusp of the obtaining nuclear capabilities," but "Now we are about to move on to the next phase."

He noted that history shows only one non-Jew to have been given the title of "messiah," and that was Cyrus the Great, "who freed the Jews from their exile forced upon them by the Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon."

Today, he said, "God does not articulate his plans through the mouths of human beings, but he has other ways of communicating. I'm no prophet, and I could be wrong. Still, it seems obvious to me that on Shabbat, July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania, and front of the eyes of the entire world, God's voice was heard loud and clear to anyone whose ears were open, and he chose the second non-Jewish Messiah. Not to redeem the world. That job is reserved for the Jewish Messiah, a direct descendant of King David and his son Solomon. But like Cyrus, the first non-Jewish Messiah who was chosen to assist the Jews and reestablish on the land of Israel after the seventy-year exile in Babylon, [Trump] is the current non-Jewish Messiah who was chosen to be of service to the Jewish people and the Jewish Messiah."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

An "amazing" parody video spoofing the candidacy of Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race has been shared by Elon Musk, prompting outrage from left-leaning media.

"I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate. Thanks Joe," Kamala appears to say in the phony ad.

"I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire. I'm both a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything I say, you're both sexist and racist."

"I may not know the first thing about running the country, but remember, that's a good thing if you're a Deep State puppet. …

"Joe taught me Rule #1: Carefully hide your total incompetence."

"I take insignificant things and I discuss them as if they're significant, and I believe that exploring the significance of the insignificant is, in itself, significant."

The video, which has more than 123 million views as of Sunday afternoon, was originally posted Friday morning by @MrReaganUSA, clearly indicating it's a "parody," though Musk's sharing comment did not mention that.

It's actually a reworked version of a Harris campaign ad, deleting images of of former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance, while adding images of Biden.

After Musk shared the video with a laughing emoji, there was plenty of reaction.

Investigative journalist and conservative activist Laura Loomer said: "They should run this on TV."

Other commenters stated: "Finally, an honest campaign ad ."

"This is brilliant."

The New York Times wrote about the video, headlining its news story: "Elon Musk Shares Manipulated Harris Video, in Seeming Violation of X's Policies."

The report by Ken Bensinger of the Times said: "Mr. Musk's post … would seem to run afoul of X's policies, which prohibit sharing 'synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm.'

"Some observers quickly called out the post. 'This is a violation of @X's policies on synthetic media & misleading identities,' Alex Howard, a digital governance expert and the director of the Digital Democracy Project at the Demand Progress Education Fund, posted on the site on Saturday. 'Are you going to retroactively change them to allow violations in an election year?'"

The paper added: "Pro-democracy groups have raised increasingly urgent alarms about deepfakes, a broad term for digital content that employs artificial intelligence and other technology to create audio, video or images that spread false information and could influence voter behavior.

"The Federal Election Campaign Act prohibits fraudulent misrepresentation of federal candidates or political parties, but the law, written in 1971, is ambiguous when it comes to modern technologies such as artificial intelligence."

The Harris campaign said Saturday: "We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity, and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

An Idaho woman has decided to fight – in a higher court – for permission to occupy her tiny home on wheels.

It was Jason Scott, a judge in district court in Ada County, who ruled against her use of her own home.

The situation is that the town of Meridian bans tiny homes on wheels, and also requires that if there is a secondary dwelling unit on a property the same person owns both.

The case being pursued by the Institute for Justice is on behalf of Chasidy Decker, a native of the Treasure Valley.

Because of the high cost of homes there, she bought a tiny home and arranged to park it on Meridian homeowner Robert Calacal's private property for rent.

The institute explained, "Although Chasidy and Robert were both happy with the arrangement, the city was not. Meridian Code Enforcement threatened Chasidy and Robert with fines and jail time if she didn't leave her only home. Chasidy and Robert filed a lawsuit in 2022 challenging the city's irrational and arbitrary ban on tiny homes on wheels for violating the Idaho Constitution."

"I'm devastated that, after waiting two years, I won't be able to move back into my tiny home on Robert's property anytime soon," Decker said in a statement released through her legal team.

"This is terrible news for tiny homeowners and others like me who need more affordable housing alternatives in Idaho."

Bob Beldon, a lawyer for the institute, said< "The city's requirement that the same person has to own both Chasidy's tiny home and Robert's house in order to get an SDU permit is irrational. But we will seek review of this ruling to help protect the property rights of Chasidy and Robert and other Idahoans who wish to make productive use of their residential property to provide more housing."

WND reported when the case developed the institute charged the city's actions were unconstitutional because the local ban on "tiny homes of wheels" actually violates the Idaho Constitution.

According to a report from the IJ's Matt Powers, the state constitution requires that all laws have a legitimate government interest.

"But Meridian's ban has none—Chasidy's home is perfectly safe, which Meridian conceded when they encouraged her to move it to an RV park to live in. The city also can't argue that her home would somehow affect the appearance of the neighborhood since her tiny home is perfectly legal to keep where it's parked—she just can't live in it," the report explained.

"At a time when so few housing options are available to low- and middle-income Americans, why is the city's zoning ordinance further reducing such options?" said IJ Senior Attorney Dan Alban. "Cities should be making it easier for residents to find affordable housing, not more difficult."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – The carnage of Hezbollah's incessant attacks on northern Israel since Oct. 8 hit a new peak Saturday, after it struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams – a largely Arab Druze town. The attack killed 11 – mostly children and teenagers – and wounded at least 30 others. Residents in the northern Golan and Upper Galilee have been instructed to stay close to protected areas.

Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency medical service, said more than 30 people – most between the ages of 10 and 20 – were taken to emergency rooms, some via IDF helicopters, as the organization's director Eli Bin said the scene was reminiscent "of a battlefield." Five are in serious condition, with fears the total number of dead may rise beyond the 11 already confirmed. Eleven youngsters were moderately wounded and a further 10 were lightly hurt, some suffering from anxiety attacks. Evacuation of the wounded was complicated, as Hezbollah continued its rocket fire, even after the strike on the soccer field.

Senior MDA paramedic Idan Avshalom described the scene: "We arrived at the football field and saw destruction and objects burning. Victims were lying on the grass, and the sights were difficult to witness. We immediately started triaging the injured. Some were taken to local clinics, and our teams were also directed there. During the incident, there were further alerts, and the medical treatment of the injured is still ongoing," according to Israel Hayom.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr parted ways with President Donald Trump, who appointed him, regarding many of the disputes about the 2020 election.

That election was impacted by several undue outside factors that never had influenced American elections before, including interference by the FBI and CIA when they falsely claimed Biden family scandals documented in Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop computer were "disinformation."

A survey showed that meddling probably changed the outcome, giving the White House to Joe Biden, while another outside influence was from the $400 million that Mark Zuckerberg gave to elections officials, who often used it to recruit voters in Democrat districts.

A lot of other claims about vote fraud were dismissed by judges, often on procedural grounds so there never was a ruling on the actual substance of claims that absentee vote procedures, ballot handling, and more were corrupted.

While Trump has argued that the election was stolen from him, Barr largely has been of the expressed opinion that nothing major was wrong.

Now, however, a report in the Washington Times points out that Barr was scolded by the inspector general for the Department of Justice.

He was described as stretching the rules to release information about an investigation into ballot irregularities during that election.

Barr, the report said, "released secret information to then-President Donald Trump, and David Freed, who was the U.S. attorney in central Pennsylvania, made a public statement about the case before charges were filed, the audit found."

The IG found that DOJ rules are too vague to determine any violation.

But the report said Freed broke several department guidelines to release investigation details. The issue now is at the Office of Special Counsel.

The report explained, "The rush to release information came deep in the 2020 campaign, as Mr. Trump was complaining that Democrat-led states and judges had rewritten the rules on casting ballots amid the pandemic, opening the door to fraud."

The specifics were that the FBI learned one election official in Pennsylvania "dumped seven returned military absentee ballots into the garbage."

All were identified as votes for Trump.

While the investigation still was developing, Freed announced an "inquiry" into the matter, wrongly reporting that there were nine ballots.

Eventually, the report said, that official was determined as "mentally impaired" and no charges were filed.

Democrats, at the time, proclaimed loudly that the case wrongly fueled election skepticism.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A telecommunications and information technology worker residing in Florida has been charged with acting as an agent for the People's Republic of China and faces a potential maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

The U.S. Department of Justice released a statement Wednesday, stating Ping Li, a 59–year–old U.S. citizen who immigrated from China, failed to register as a foreign agent and used his position in Verizon, and an international information company to spy for China's Ministry of State Security, or MSS.

The MSS handles all civilian intelligence collection for China, and uses "cooperative contacts" located in certain areas outside of China, to gather intelligence to further China's agendas. This includes any information about foreign companies and corporations and information about foreign politicians or those in foreign intelligence agencies.

These contacts are also responsible for informing the Chinese government about any Chinese political dissidents who reside in those countries.

According to the statement, since 2012, Li served as a contact and was directed to obtain "information of interest." Li obtained information concerning Chinese dissidents, pro-democracy advocates, U.S.–based non-governmental organizations, and members of the Falun Gong religious movement.

Information about Li's employer, Verizon, was also shared with the MSS, and Li frequently returned to China to meet with the MSS and used various anonymous online platforms to communicate.

The Falun Gong religious movement is not formally recognized in China and was outlawed in 1999, according to the statement. Li was ordered to spy on members of this movement and reported back in August of 2012, with the name and biographical information of a resident living in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Between 2015 and 2022, Li sent information about his employers, a training manual, details about hacking events carried out by the Chinese government involving U.S. companies, and information that included the names and addresses of individuals who had fled China.

The Tampa Bay Times reported Wednesday that Li had not made a guilty plea after appearing in court Monday. Li's attorney Daniel Fernandez told the paper he was waiting for more information from the government and Li was a "model citizen," having lived in the U.S. for over 30 years.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

World War III could be closer than anyone expects if Kamala Harris is elected to the White House in the fall.

That's according to GOP nominee and President Donald Trump, who discussed the race after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on Friday.

"We'll see how it goes. But if it all works out, if we win, it'll be very simple. It's all going to work out. And very quickly. If we don't, you're going to end up with major wars in the Middle East. And maybe a third World War. You are closer to a third World War right now than at any time since the Second World War. We've never been so close because we have incompetent people running the country."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A new video mashup has documented that Kamala Harris is, in fact, Joe Biden's "border czar," with an assignment to sort out the mess, crisis actually, at America's southern border triggered by his open borders practices.

During President Donald Trump's tenure, multiple security plans and measures had been instituted and while the problem always existed, its impact was dramatically lower when thousands were entering the nation illegally instead of millions, under Biden and Harris.

Legacy media long identified her as the "border czar," but commentator Piers Morgan explained why they now are denying what they themselves reported: "The reason they all want to deny it now is because they realize it's incredibly damaging to Kamala Harris if the American people see that she was indeed in charge of sorting out the border problem and presided over a complete disaster."