This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Just exactly how the Department of Justice investigates foreign nationals sent to spy on the United States now needs to be under investigation, too.

That's according to Republicans in the U.S. House who are calling on the Government Accountability Office to launch that review.

Published reports reveal that Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the head of the House Oversight Committee, says he's learned that Chinese nationals are posing as tourists, or sometimes delivery truck drivers, to "access" U.S. military bases.

Joining Comer in his comments was Glenn Grothmann, of Wisconsin, the head of the House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs.

Those base invasions have happened as many as 100 times over recent years, the Washington Times reported.

"The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating how the U.S. Department of Justice investigates and prosecutes foreign nationals sent to the United States to collect sensitive information but are not professionally trained intelligence officers (IO), or 'nontraditional collectors,'" the members of Congress told GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.

Foreign intelligence organizations often utilize traditional intelligence officers for higher-risk collection, but they also use nontraditional collectors such as foreign nationals on student visas to collect less high-risk information, they charged.

"While these individuals might not be professionally trained intelligence officers, they may still be positioned and motivated to collect information aimed at jeopardizing U.S. national security," they said.

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.

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.

The number of Americans who blame Kamala Harris for hiding Joe Biden's now-obvious mental decline from the American public for months, even years, is a stunning, way-beyond-supermajority, figure.

Ninety-two percent.

The New York Post reports that's the result of a poll of nearly 1,200 registered voters by YouGov/Times of London.

"The July 22 to 23 survey was in the field after President Biden renounced his re-election campaign but before he offered a halting delivery of what was effectively a farewell speech Wednesday night from the Oval Office," the report said.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

There's an entirely new hazard to being outdoors, following a windstorm that swept over one part of Montana.

Streams that might be electrified.

It's a danger, authorities warn, because of power lines that were blown down – and ended up in streams.

A report from Cowboy State Daily said winds reached 109 mph in the storm on Wednesday.

It was so strong it broke trees and "knocked potentially live power lines into the waterways."

Roads were clogged with debris.

The report said, "Emergency personnel are warning people to stay away from streams and other waterways, which may be electrified from downed power lines. They're also warning people to 'look up' to make sure breaking and dangling trees don't fall on them."

"Avoid waterways because there may be power lines in the water, and power and water don't mix very well," explained Nick Holloway, the coordinator for disaster and emergency services in Missoula County.

The storm damage was localized, according to Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Confiscating Americans' firearms, by force, is one of the ideologies that Kamala Harris has supported.

"We have to have a buyback program, and I support a mandatory buyback program," she has affirmed.

It's just one of the wilder components of what she wants for America, others to include a ban on fracking, changing guidelines to suppress the availability of red meat to consumers, a ban on offshore explorations, to legalize illegal aliens, to abolish ICE, and let convicted murderers and terrorists have the vote.

Her positions are available in video in a new ad launched by Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick, whose posting notes that his opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, is endorsing the "policies of presumptive Democratic president nominee Kamala Harris."

Casey is on the video stating, "Kamala Harris is inspiring and very capable, the more people get to know her they're going to be particularly impressed by her ability."

The ad, which has been seen millions of times already, although it's not yet days old, then includes video of Harris and her wilder ideas.

A report at Fox News explains that conservatives are praising the "blistering" video.

The report noted journalist Mairead Elordi said on social media, "Wow."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A new report at the Gateway Pundit charges that the security for President Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania last weekend, in which a sniper tried to kill him, was a "setup," since most of the security officers there were replacements and not even Secret Service members.

The report noted Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has written to Alejandro Mayorkas, Joe Biden's homeland security secretary, demanding answers about the situation.

Hawley confirmed whistleblowers had notified him "that a majority of the security officials working the rally last weekend were not even Secret Service personnel but were with the Homeland Security Investigations team…"

Other reports revealed that the Secret Service was shorthanded that weekend because of commitments to provide security to Joe Biden and Jill Biden, who were at separate events.

The senator explained to Mayorkas, "I write to raise concerns brought to me by whistleblowers about your department's stunning failure to protect former President Trump on July 13, 2024. As Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), you are ultimately responsible for your agency and its components, including the U.S. Secret Service."

He said, "Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office. According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a 'loose' security event. For example, detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner. Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas. Department personnel did not appropriately police the security buffer around the podium and were also not stationed at regular intervals around the event's security perimeter."

He further charged insiders confirmed the agents there were not Secret Service but from Home Security.

"This is especially concerning given that HIS agents were unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events…"

Hawley wants to know how did DHS determine its staffing for the rally, what percentage of the agents were Secret Service, or not, were those agents properly trained and were there gaps in the security perimeter.

The gunman took a ladder, gun and ammunition, climbed atop a building only about 100 yards away from the podium with a line of sight to Trump, and fired, hitting Trump's ear but missing his head by a fraction of an inch.

The letter also was sent to Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle, who has refused multiple calls for her to resign because of the security failures that day.

The Gateway Pundit commented, "It was a setup!"

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The American Center for Law and Justice has taken on a wide range of religious and civil rights fights over the last year and one of those recent disputes was a decision by a senior housing center to ban Bible studies from common areas that otherwise are used for games, knitting clubs, book clubs and the like.

Then a complaint arose about another senior housing center doing what essentially was the same thing.

Then a senior housing facility banned religious decorations, even while allowing other decorations.

Then another banned any advertising in a common area for any religious event, even though other events were advertised.

Then yet another senior housing center banned religious literature – even though it allowed individuals to share various other pamphlets, flyers and information.

The legal team now has confirmed that 10 times in just the last year it has responded to violations by senior housing centers of the Fair Housing Act, which bans discrimination based on religion. Those attacks have been across eight different states.

Now it is asking the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to issue guidance that would end the campaign.

A report from the prominent legal team explained, "We've successfully defended numerous Christians in senior living centers but are concerned that more is at issue, so we just sent demand letters to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice. These letters tackle the widespread religious discrimination by senior living complexes since the beginning of 2023."

It continued, "We're requesting that the DOJ and HUD issue written legal guidance to senior living centers (much like the Department of Education issues to schools) regarding their legal obligation to uphold religious liberty. We specifically request that they address the bans on Bible studies and that they implement proper enforcement mechanisms to ensure that the law is followed."

It noted the apparent coordination of the attacks on religious faith in housing centers.

"The reasons given for the religious discrimination in the situations we addressed were eerily similar. Most complexes discriminated on the basis of religion in order to be supposedly 'neutral' or 'inclusive.' (Yes, they oxymoronically claim that banning Bible studies would promote being 'inclusive.') However, absolutely nothing in the FHA allows complexes to discriminate or prevent religious activity in the name of neutrality."

The team said it is demanding that the federal agencies "take action to protect religious liberty and stop senior centers from banning Bible studies. Such rampant unconstitutional targeting of Christian seniors must end now."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – There is only one story dominating the news at the moment, and the reactions to the "other" shot heard around the world are continuing.

As America grapples with the post-assassination attempt reality – what it means for the upcoming election, as well as the general tenor of what passes for political discourse – WND takes a look at some of the reactions.

North, Central, and South American leaders' reactions:

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

As America nears the 2024 presidential election, grave danger looms – and soon – warns a retired U.S. Navy commander and Republican candidate for Congress.

Jay Furman, running to represent Texas’ 28th Congressional District, a border district, served 28 years in the military before retiring to south Texas. He spoke to WND exclusively about the Biden administration’s unprecedented open-border policies, which he witnessed personally along the Texas-Mexico border. He characterizes the danger posed by unknown and too-often malevolent actors allowed to enter the country illegally as “an absolute country-killer.”

Having attended college in the Lone Star State decades ago, and now living in southern Texas, Furman told WND, "The border I left is not the border we have now."

Drug trafficking was once the most concerning problem associated with the U.S.-Mexico border, he explained.

“The symbiotic relationship with Mexico and its seasonal workers that would go back home to be with their families awhile, then come back to work [in the U.S.] was considered an amicable endeavor for all,” Furman said. “But here we are, years later, and the border is one of the worst borders I’ve ever seen.”

“The drug trade across the border is now completely out of control with no restraint in sight, and child sex trafficking has exploded to a level that’s unimaginable,” he pointed out. At the same time, record levels of people are crossing the Texas-Mexico border. In 2021, there were 1,115,906 illegal migrants who came across, while in 2022, there were 1,399,790.

Since 2021, there have been over seven million southwest land border encounters, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

What’s more, thousands of suspected terrorists and other nefarious actors are hiding in almost every urban area of the country.

Regarding that, Furman said, "Our country is being forced to see the consequences of weaponized mass migration – and it's reckless." For the retired Navy commander, "Weaponized mass migration is the most dangerous thing to modern civilizations, and most Americans don't understand that."

"It's an absolute country-killer, and the size of the human time bomb we've ingested, that we're all sitting on top of right now throughout the entire country, is gargantuan, and there's nothing to be done with it [from the Biden administration]," Furman pointed out. "These people aren't assimilating, and no one really knows where any of them are."

Furman is greatly concerned "things could go kinetic" before November, and some of the people who slipped across the southern border will engage various targets around the United States. "Or it could definitely happen after the election, depending on who wins," he added.

"Even if things don't go kinetic, potentially millions of people are just sitting here, and they need to be recognized as a threat," Furman said. "They don't need guns or uniforms, but what they need is an inflection point."

"Imagine the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020 multiplied by 100,000 and note that something could kick off before or after the election," Furman warned. In August 2001, he recalled, "Everyone was listening to the chatter, knowing something was going to come. Everyone was talking about it. Intelligence agencies were screaming about." And then a few weeks later, on September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 were killed and 6,000 others wounded in a series of terror attacks against the United States.

Considering the number of terrorists and other bad actors who have crossed America's southern border, Furman said: "Do we want to be standing in the rubble, or do we want to talk about solutions?" For Furman, "9/11 is a pinprick compared to what could come."

"We need to gather a bilateral consensus and do the best we can to stop this," he said. Dubbing the undocumented border crossings as "Biden's illegals" Furman said, "[the U.S. has to] make the attempt to deport as many of them as we can, messaging that if we catch you and you're illegal, you're going to be escorted out."

Apart from the physical dangers illegal immigrants, terrorists, and others pose to the country, Furman also noted an economic impact on the country as well as a moral shift. Regarding immigration, he said, the influx of people is "a tremendous burden on the system," explaining "We just can't afford to host this many people inside the country who aren't contributing to society." He warned, "We're walking into a scenario that is going to significantly depress everyone's standard of living."

And morally, he said, "There's an assault [by the LGBTQ+ community] on our culture, our schools, and our children." This, too, is part of a scheme by the left to destroy America, he argued.

"Each may seem like something that stuns us with a bloody nose, but each of these things is actually country killers," Furman asserted. "The American people have to get even more serious about these issues because we're under attack."