This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Terrorists destroyed three buses in Israel on Thursday, but there apparently were no casualties because the bomb timers were set to go off when no one was aboard.
A report from the Daily Mail said footage showed smoke rising into the sky while the vehicles burned.
Israeli officials labeled the episode a "suspected terror attack" that happened about 9 p.m. local time.
They said bombs also were found on other buses, and they were searching for suspects.
A defense official explained the timers on the bombs that exploded were set for 9 p.m., instead of 9 a.m., when "hundreds" of people could have been aboard.
A spokesman said: "These are identical explosive devices with a timer. Three have detonated, and two additional ones have been located and are currently being neutralized."
The report said a branch of Hamas reportedly has 'hinted" at responsibility.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately called for a security meeting to review the attack.
Images from the scene showed smoke into the sky, and only the skeleton of the buses remaining.
Local media was confirming that Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev stopped all buses, trains, and light rail trains in order to check for possible explosive devices.
And Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed the IDF has been instructed the increase its counterterrorism work.
"We will hunt down the terrorists to the bitter end and destroy the terror infrastructure in the camps used as frontline posts of the Iranian evil axis," one official warned.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Amid rumors that an all-female flight crew was at the helm of the Delta Air Lines flight that crashed and flipped upside down in Toronto this week, the company's chief executive officer is refusing to identify the pilots.
"I can't provide any details," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Wednesday morning on CBS. "It's an ongoing investigation."
When asked specifically about the pilots, Bastian said: "It was an experienced crew."
"There is one level of safety at Delta," Bastian said. "All these pilots train for these conditions."
While he called video of the crash "horrifying," he praised the actions of the crew deducting the evacuation process.
"This is what we train for," Bastian noted. "We train for this continuously."
Meanwhile, video has emerged of the pilots of Endeavor Air, which operated the Minneapolis-to-Toronto flight.
One clip is set to the 2004 Disney movie "The Incredibles" and includes the lyrics: "Girls, come on? Leave the saving of the world to the men? I don't think so. I don't think so."
A female pilot os shown lip-synching the words as she wags her finger in a negative manner.
LibsofTikTok says it appears Endeavor "is fixated on promoting all-female 'unmanned' flights." The reference to "unmanned" implies male-free.
As WND reported Tuesday, Delta Air Lines is coming under severe criticism for doubling down on its push for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, just days before Monday's spectacular crash at Toronto Pearson Airport.
On Feb. 6, Peter Carter, chief external affairs officer at Delta, said: "We are steadfast in our commitments because we think that they are actually critical to our business."
"Sustainability is about being more efficient in our operations and really DE&I is about talent and that's been our focus."
"The key differentiator at Delta is our people," Carter added, according to Fox5Atlanta.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Marco Rubio, America's secretary of state, has outlined several basic points on which agreement already has been reached for developing peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
That has been one of the major goals President Donald Trump has emphasized for his presidency.
Rubio, according to a report in the Daily Mail, revealed plans to "re-establish diplomatic facilities," appoint a high-level diplomatic team to work on an "enduring peace," and address plans for economic and geopolitical cooperation.
The U.S. launched talks with Russian officials with the goal of reaching an agreement involving the various parties that will halt the war between the two. Trump already has talked with Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky by phone.
And America has announced that it no longer is giving virtually unlimited funding to Ukraine.
Involved so far have been Rubio, U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.
The war has been raging since 2022 and has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars.
"The talks came after Trump spoke with Putin last week as the U.S. moves away from isolating Russia, but Ukrainian representatives were not present for the sit-down in the Middle East," the report said. Zelensky has insisted that no deal will be accepted if Ukraine is not at the negotiating table.
The report said additionally, the five people at the first meeting will remain engaged, "so they know it is moving along 'in a productive way,'" the report said.
Commentator Charlie Kirk explained, "America does NOT have to be engaged in an endless proxy war with Russia. We can have peace and even cooperation. What a breath of fresh air."
Rubio noted, "The only leader in the world who can make this happen, who can even bring people together to begin to talk about it in a serious way is President Trump."
And he affirmed that "everyone involved" has to be on board with a resolution.
Waltz said the issue of territory taken by Russia would have to be discussed.
"What the president did not find acceptable was an endless war in Europe that was literally turning into, has turned into a meat grinder of people on both sides," Waltz said.
Zelensky has said Ukraine will not "give in" to Russian ultimatums.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Four workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency are being fired for unilaterally sending a massive $59 million payment for hotels in New York City to house illegal aliens.
The "egregious payment" came about after they decided to go about "circumventing leadership" on the issue of payments of federal monies to sanctuary cities.
Fox News reported the firings come after Elon Musk explained on social media, "The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants."
The report explained the FEMA works with Customs and Border Control to dispense money to the Shelter and Services Program, which provides housing and other benefits for illegal aliens released into the United States.
This was an exploding program under Joe Biden's administration, which allowed millions of illegal aliens to cross into America under his open borders agenda.
As part of that, his administration reportedly lost track of hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children., too.
President Trump already has instituted a number of program changes to crack down on illegal immigration, and to round up known criminal illegal aliens and deport them.
City officials in New York admitted to Fox the city had gotten the money that had been designated by Biden for housing.
"Of the $59.3 million, $19 million was for direct hotel costs, while the balance funded other services such as food and security. According to NY City Hall, the funds were not part of a disaster relief grant," the report explained.
"These funds have been misappropriated going back to the Biden administration and New York City – a sanctuary city – has been wasting billions of dollars of taxpayer money to provide free housing, clothing, food, education and healthcare to illegal immigrants, including criminal aliens that are here illegally," charged, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.
"That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high-end hotels for illegals," Musk, who heads Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, said. "A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds."
Musk noted, "Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President's executive order. That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals! A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds."
Biden embedded throughout the government multiple ways for tax money to be spent on illegal aliens after they break the law and enter the U.S. without permission. One of Trump's agenda points is to eliminate that spending.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The transgender agenda failed, catastrophically, on the U.S. House floor when Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., in the chair, addressed Rep. Tim "Sarah" McBride, D-Del., as "Mister."
It's because McBride calls himself a woman. In fact, he created a scandal for a time when first elected last year with the suggestion that he be allowed to use the women's restrooms and such in the Capitol.
House Speaker Mike Johnson vetoed that immediately.
"The chair recognizes the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. McBridge," Miller said.
Miller explained, "Today on the House Floor, I refused to deny biological reality. President Trump restored biological truth in the Federal Government, and I refuse to perpetuate the lie that gender is open to our interpretation. It is not."
A commentary at Twitchy noted, "McBride made news in 2024 by becoming the first 'transgender' member of the House of Representatives, but he soon found out that the Republicans in Congress weren't about to bend the knee to his mental illness. Rep. Nancy Mace led a personal crusade to prevent McBride from using the women's bathrooms (because, you know, he is not a woman). Reality won that fight when Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that men like McBride must use either his own private bathroom or the men's room. Yesterday, Illinois Rep. Mary Miller gave reality another victory when she refused to recognize McBride as a woman on the House Floor."
College athlete Riley Gaines, who famously battled the now-defunct NCAA agenda of promoting transgenderism in college sports, said Miller's comments simply were "based in reality."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Iranian regime is at its most vulnerable point in decades. Faced with mounting internal dissent after four major nationwide uprisings in the past seven years, growing international isolation, severe blows to their regional strategy, and tightening economic and diplomatic pressure by the international community, the mullahs in Tehran are racing against time. Their desperate push to accelerate their nuclear weapons project is not a show of strength but a sign of profound weakness. Now, Iran's nuclear ambitions are once again at the forefront of global security concern.
For years, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has warned that Iran's nuclear program is not meant for peaceful purposes. Tehran has systematically deceived the world while working toward nuclear weapons capability. The West is gradually recognizing this reality.
On Feb. 4, President Trump signed a new memorandum reinstating the 'Maximum Pressure' policy.
This move will further restrict Iran's access to financial markets, intensify sanctions on individuals and entities tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and prevent the regime from acquiring the resources needed to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
According to news reports, Trump's order, among other things, orders the U.S. treasury secretary to impose "maximum economic pressure" on Iran, including sanctions and enforcement mechanisms on those violating existing sanctions!
The Iranian people, who have long suffered under the brutal dictatorship, have shown unwavering resilience. Over the past four decades, 120,000 political activists, the overwhelming majority of them affiliated with the main Iranian resistance movement, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), have been executed. Inside Iran, protests have erupted in nearly every major city. From factory workers to teachers, students to retirees, all have taken to the streets demanding change. The regime's response has been predictably violent – mass arrests, torture and executions. But this has not deterred the Iranian people; it has only made them more determined.
Iran's accelerated nuclear ambitions: A sign of desperation
A recent U.S. intelligence assessment confirmed what the NCRI has been exposing for years: Iran is fast-tracking its development of a nuclear weapon. Tehran knows that it may not have the luxury of time. With growing internal unrest and external pressures mounting, the regime is desperate for leverage. By rapidly assembling a nuclear capability, it hopes to blackmail the international community into easing sanctions and granting concessions.
For too long, world leaders have played into this strategy. Iran's leadership understands that nuclear brinkmanship creates panic in diplomatic circles. It uses the threat of weapons development to extract favorable deals from Western negotiators. But history has proven that such negotiations only embolden the regime. The 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) failed to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions; it merely gave the regime financial resources to suppress the Iranian people and to fund further instability across the region.
The Free Iran Rally: A global call to action
As the world is grappling to define a correct policy on Iran, thousands of Iranians and supporters of democracy will gather in Paris Feb. 8 for the Free Iran Rally. The event, organized by the NCRI, is not just another protest – it is a powerful declaration that the Iranian people reject the dictatorships of both the shah and the mullahs and demand democratic change. They support the 10-point plan of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI, for a free, democratic republic, which calls for separation of government and religion, gender equality, coexistence with the rest of the world and a non-nuclear Iran.
Among those attending will be former political prisoners, activists and international political leaders who recognize that the time for decisive action is now. This rally will shine a spotlight on the Iranian people's struggle and serve as a counterweight to the regime's propaganda. It will remind world leaders that appeasement is not an option – only a free, democratic Iran can bring stability to the region.
Why this matters now
The world faces a critical decision: Will it continue to ignore Iran's nuclear ambitions and human-rights violations, or will it stand with the Iranian people in their quest for freedom? The NCRI has long argued that the only sustainable solution is regime change from within by the Iranian people and the organized resistance. The Iranian people have proven they are ready for this change, but the international community has a duty to stand on their side.
The Free Iran Rally will make clear that the Iranian people, not the mullahs, should determine their nation's future. The international community must take concrete action and stand on the side of Iran's democratic opposition and prevent the regime from acquiring nuclear capability. It is time to act decisively.
The Iranian regime is on borrowed time. Internal unrest is growing, its economy is in shambles, and its nuclear ambitions are being exposed. The NCRI and the Free Iran movement are leading the charge.
The days of appeasement must end. The Iranian people are ready for change. It is time for the international community to stand with them.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A little-known rule of the Food and Drug Administration allows the government, pharmaceutical companies and universities to bypass "informed consent" requirements when involving individuals in certain clinical research or trials for new drug approval.
WorldNetDaily spoke to Brian Ward, the creator of CovidPenalty.com, a consultant and expert in regulations governing the $600 billion biomedical research industry. Ward reached out to WND to express concern that universities, for example, have been authorized to conduct trials using investigational compounds without the explicit consent of participants.
As Ward explained, in February 2024 Democrats finalized a new rule that fundamentally amended how clinical trials can be conducted in the United States. "Before the new rule was enacted," he told WND, "if a person's identifiable private information was known, the clinical trial's sponsor was lawfully bound to obtain the individual's legally effective informed consent before involving them."
Identifiable private information, or IPI, refers to data that can be used to trace an individual's identity or, when combined with other data, can identify the individual.
For example, suppose an individual undergoes surgery. After the patient is removed, college students arrive to study the efficacy of a new antibacterial cleaning agent. The students do not look at medical charts or obtain data relating to the surgery. In that case, the students do not need to obtain the individual's consent to research because no data is involved that can be traced back to the individual.
However, if the students were to examine the patient's medical chart or obtain the date, time and patient's code, they are legally required to obtain that individual's legally effective informed consent, because that data directly identifies the individual or can be used to trace his or her identity.
The IPI requirement has always served as a buffer between the researcher and the individual, ensuring the individual participates only after having granted legally effective informed consent.
Legally effective informed consent means the sponsor must ensure that the individual is not pressured to participate in the research activity when the opportunity to participate arises.
Research is broadly defined as any activity for which a person's IPI is known, and data obtained from their interaction with the activity adds to the generalizable knowledge of the product. For example, hospitals routinely administer investigational drugs to patients undergoing cancer treatment. In every instance, the hospital must obtain the individual's legally effective informed consent because the individual's IPI is known, and how he or she responds to the drug's treatment is added to the drug's generalizable knowledge.
"However," Ward pointed out, "the new rule allows governments and private entities to involve Americans in clinical trials even if their identifiable private information is known, which means the researcher is not required to ask for permission or inform the individual before involuntarily subjecting them to the research activity."
The FDA, says Ward, has not allowed sponsors of research to involve individuals in clinical trials without their informed consent since Congress enacted the National Research Act. "The trigger mechanism for obtaining consent always occurred when an individual's identifiable private information was known for the protection of human subjects," he added.
"Under this new rule, a college student, medical patient, school child or employee can be subjected to biomedical research, including invasive research, daily without their knowledge," Ward emphasized.
"The FDA was warned that the rule violates an individual's constitutional protections," he said, adding, "the constitutional protections against unwanted investigational medical treatments are well-settled" under Union Pacific Railway Co. v. Botsford (1891), Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990), Washington v. Glucksberg (1997) and Albright v. Oliver (1994).
"The Supreme Court could not be clearer," Ward argues. "In Cruzan, it held that it is considered 'assault' to involve humans with unwanted medical treatments," he explained.
"Suppose the clinical trial injures an individual but [he or she] is not informed that their injury results from the trial," Ward questioned. "How can one effectively exercise their fundamental due process rights to seek judicial remedy from the injury?"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – One of the features of the Trump administration – and which perhaps differentiates it from the first time he served in the White House – is how tightly the messaging has so far been controlled. With the exception of the president and Vice President J.D. Vance, other top officials seem to be diligently attempting to correct the mess the Biden administration left them and actually not saying too much.
Contrast this approach with the Islamic regime in Iran, which seems to be offering pronouncements – sometimes in conflict with each other – about a myriad of issues, as it seeks to test the diplomatic water with regard to President Trump and the rest of his administration.
One is left with the impression the regime in Tehran is deliberately trying to muddy the waters, and having played former secretary of state Anthony Blinken among others like a fiddle, they are trying to repeat the trick with the Trump administration. By calibrating the mixed messaging – by turns aggressive and conciliatory – they are attempting to obfuscate what their intentions truly are.
Within the last month, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released a video which purported to show an enormous underground Navy base, buried some 500m below sea level. An IRGC Navy commander based there said three Zolfaghar vessels could destroy or put out of action a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.
The Islamic regime waited until Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed on U.S. soil to post pictures and videos of its underground so-called "Missile City," displaying hundreds of cruise and ballistic missiles. Paired with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's interview with Qatari state mouthpiece Al Jazeera in which he called military action against the country's nuclear sites "one of the greatest historical mistakes the U.S. could make," the threat part of the message seems obvious and clear.
On Sunday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei noted Iranians have the courage to say "Death to America," and were prepared to push back against its perceived "arrogance." Certain sections of Iran's leadership and society has been saying this for more than 40 years, so why the reminder?
There is an argument this braggadocio, macho posturing and bravado actually masks a deep sense of unease in Tehran at Trump's return to the White House. Despite the fact this is his second administration, the four year hiatus has no doubt changed his perspective on things.
While he has publicly said he would prefer a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear ambitions – a topic of conversation guaranteed to take up significant time with Netanyahu during his trip – it might not mean he would not provide Israel the tools to try and do so.
Another thorny issue no doubt playing on the minds of the mullahs is they planned to assassinate the president – as well as having other high-value American targets on their hit lists. Although there is no concrete evidence linking Iran to the Butler, Pa., shooting in July, the Secret Service informed Trump in 2024 there were threats on his life emanating from Tehran as they did not wish him to run in the election.
There is no doubt a president who does not have to worry about reelection and who can be thin-skinned about slights perceived or otherwise, may respond extreme aggressively to leaders who plotted to have him killed.
Additionally, the elimination of former Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani still looms large. Trump's decision to take out such an important player – one who has not yet been adequately replaced – and on a third party's soil (Iraq) to boot is evidence of unpredictability and highly consequential decision-making. Under Biden and his weakling administration, Iran more or less knew what it was getting. For all its bluster, it cannot say the same of Trump.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington, D.C., on Sunday morning as he heads for crucial talks later this week with U.S. President Donald Trump, with the two having a wide range of issues to discuss.
While Netanyahu becomes the first foreign leader to be hosted at the Trump 2.0 White House, there will likely be many dedicate negotiations, including the continuation (or not) of the current ceasefires with both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the hostages-for-security prisoners "deal" with regard to the war with the Strip's terrorist rulers, the situation with Iran's nuclear ambitions, and the possibility of normalization with Saudi Arabia.
At the steps of the Wings of Zion plane – Israel's version of Air Force One – Netanyahu told reporters he thought the fact President Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader was with him was "telling."
"I think it's a testimony to the strength of the Israeli-American alliance. It's also a testimony to the strength of our personal friendship," Netanyahu added.
The prime minister referenced the impact Trump – and his negotiating team – had in securing the Abraham Accords and the peace deals emanating from them, as Israel normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Netanyahu explained Israel's prosecution of its Swords of Iron war, initiated when Hamas invaded the country, bursting across its border and massacring more than 1,200 people, had "changed the face of the Middle East."
With Hamas having admitted one of the catalysts for starting the war was the perception Israel-Saudi normalization were imminent, it seems its action worked; the Israel-Saudi normalization track has been all but shelved since Oct. 7, and it appears Riyadh will only offer it as part of a deal to put the Palestinians on a path to statehood.
"I believe we can strengthen security, broaden the circle of peace, and achieve a remarkable era of peace through strength," Netanyahu said.
It is thought Netanyahu was specifically referencing the prospect of Israel-Saudi peace, with Israel's Kan public broadcaster reporting Trump – who would likely have delivered normalization between the two if he had continued in office following the 2020 election – viewing peace between Jerusalem and Riyadh as part of the president's vision for a "golden age of peace in the Middle East."
Netanyahu's visit comes at a fork in the road moment, as the negotiations for the second part of a complex three-part ceasefire deal are supposed to commence shortly, although the prime minister is likely keeping his options open until the conclusion of his discussions with Trump.
The prime minister has a tricky domestic political situation to manage, not least from his right-wing coalition partner Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. On Trump's election, Smotrich – who called the president a "lover of Israel" – said it was an opportunity to push for Israel's annexation of Judea and Samaria.
"A great deal is at stake – complete victory in Gaza, the destruction of Hamas and the return of all our hostages, strengthening our security on all borders – in Syria, Lebanon, and of course against the head of the octopus, the Iranian regime and the nuclear threat. This danger must be removed," Smotrich insisted on Sunday in a video message aimed at Netanyahu.
It is thought Netanyahu will hold a meeting with Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff the day before he is due to hold talks with the president, regarding the initiation of the second stage of the hostage deal with Hamas. However, reports in Israel have emerged the prime minister is seriously considering a return to the war after the first phase of the deal has been completed.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Members on a list of leading FBI executives have been ordered to retire, resign, or be fired as early as Monday, according to reports.
CNN confirmed that the notifications extend "a purge that began last week at the Justice Department across the street."
It reported the officials "are at the executive assistant director level or special agent in charge level and include those who oversee cyber, national security and criminal investigations."
At DiscernReport was the explanation that the "significant shakeup" includes a "clear intent by the Trump administration to reshape the leadership of these key law enforcement agencies."
Officials overseeing the transition to the new administration of President Donald Trump have been positive about their plans to address those who were promoted by ex-FBI chief Christopher Wray.
Already, the lawyers in the Department of Justice who worked on special counsel Jack Smith's lawfare cases against Trump and been relieved of their duties, and FBI agents who worked on those cases now also are concerned and "are on edge."
Those cases included federal charges against Trump because of his opinions about the 2020 election process and his possession of presidential papers after he left office.
Smith and his team assembled a long list of felonies to sling against Trump, when in fact the same DOJ found Joe Biden had held government papers to which he was not entitled after his vice presidency, but gave him a pass on the offenses.
The changes already had begun before the latest development, the report said.
It said with the departure of the FBI's top chiefs, "Tom Ferguson, a former agent and aide to Rep. Jim Jordan, known for his critical stance against the FBI, has recently joined the FBI headquarters as a policy adviser, further illustrating the administration's direction."
Fox News said the notice apparently was given "to senior employees promoted under … Wray."