Quote:Sen. Adam Schiff is reportedly under federal investigation for alleged mortgage fraud after a federal housing agency sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department in May regarding the California Democrat’s ownership of a Maryland home.
The US Attorney’s Office in Maryland is leading the probe, which could result in charges against the junior senator from California and former 12-term congressman, a Trump administration source told Fox News “Ingraham Angle” host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday.
The DOJ, Maryland US Attorney’s Office and Schiff did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte sent a referral letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on May 27 detailing “multiple instances” between 2003 and 2019 when Schiff allegedly “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments” for property he owns in Potomac, Md. — one of the most affluent Washington, DC, suburbs.
Schiff, 65, listed the Maryland home as his primary residence in several mortgage refinancing filings between 2009 and 2013, despite being an elected official representing the Golden State and having taken out a homeowner’s tax exemption on a Burbank, Calif., condo he purchased — which he also claimed as his primary residence — over the same time period, according to Pulte.
Schiff and his wife did not list the Potomac property as a secondary residence until 2020, Pulte noted.
“Mr. Schiff appears to have falsified records in order to receive favorable loan terms, and also appears to have been aware of the financial benefits of a primary residence mortgage when compared to a secondary residence mortgage as a spokesperson in 2023 told the media outlet CNN that, ‘Adam’s California and Maryland addresses have been listed as primary residences for loan purposes because they are both occupied throughout the year and to distinguish them from a vacation property,’” the letter explained.
Quote:Federal immigration agents escaped an arson attack at their office in Yakima, Washington, over the weekend, The Post has learned.
An unidentified crazed arsonist first threw a rock through a window of the building — which is listed as a field office on ICE’s website — before setting a fire in the back of the property on Saturday, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Post.
Photos taken during the torching show flames charring the grass behind a chain link fence surrounding the building while a thick cloud of black smoke billowed above.
There were no injuries reported.
While McLaughlin said it’s not confirmed that immigration agents were the target of the firebombing, the building has public signage identifying it as a Department of Homeland Security office.
The complex, 140 miles southeast of Seattle, is also home to a Washington state Department of Social and Health Services office.
Assaults on ICE personnel are up 830% as the Trump administration pushes a mass deportation campaign, according to McLaughlin.
She railed against sanctuary leaders for demonizing immigration agents.
“Make no mistake, Democrat politicians like [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries, Mayor [Michelle] Wu of Boston, [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, and Mayor [Karen] Bass of Los Angeles are contributing to the surge in assaults of our ICE officers through their repeated vilification and demonization of ICE,” said McLaughlin.
“From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi Gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale,” she said.
Quote:Disney and Lucasfilm said Thursday that they had settled a lawsuit filed by the actor Gina Carano, who alleged she was wrongfully terminated from the Star Wars television series “The Mandalorian” in 2021.
Carano filed a lawsuit in federal court in California in February 202,4, alleging she was fired from her role on the show for voicing right-wing opinions on social media. She claimed she suffered emotional damage and lost millions in income following the termination. She sought a court order that would require Lucasfilm to reinstate her or compensate her at least $75,000.
The terms of the settlement were not immediately disclosed. The Lucasfilm statement said the agreement will “resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit against the companies.”
“Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars, and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect,” Lucasfilm said in a statement. “With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future.”
Carano also announced the settlement in a statement via her agent, saying the deal “is the best outcome for all parties involved.”
“I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter. My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me,” said Carano, who had a supporting role on “The Mandalorian” as Cara Dune, a mercenary.
Quote:A gunman is dead after opening fire at Georgia’s Emory University Friday afternoon, spraying bullets at a police cruiser and a nearby CDC headquarters building – leaving one officer injured, according to police and photos.
The suspect died after the frightening shooting that prompted students to shelter in place on the last day of the summer term, according to the Atlanta Police Department.
“There is no ongoing threat to the Emory Campus or the surrounding neighborhood,” police said in an updated alert on X around 6:45 p.m.
“The incident involved a single shooter, who is now deceased. One law enforcement officer was injured in the course of the response.”
The Atlanta school issued an urgent alert shortly after 5 p.m., reporting an active shooter near the Emory Point CVS on campus and urging all students to “RUN” and “HIDE.”
A rapid barrage of gunfire can be heard in horrifying social media videos as police and first responders raced to the scene.
In one video filmed by a nearby resident, eight gunshots ring out, followed by a brief pause, then more than a dozen pop in rapid succession.
“It sounded like fireworks going off, one right after the other,” Brandy Giraldo, the owner of a nearby deli, told the Associated Press.
A post from the school had advised students to shelter in place as the Atlanta Police Department responded to 1760 Clifton Road – close to where the CVS referred to in the bulletin is located. The lockdown was lifted by 6:30 p.m.
Police swarmed Emory Point and the main campus of the CDC, FOX 5 reported, while chilling photos shared on social media showed bullet holes piercing the windows of the health agency’s headquarters, located right next to the university.
Quote:At least five soldiers were wounded after an Army sergeant who was recently arrested allegedly opened fire Wednesday at Fort Stewart in Georgia.
The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Quornelius Radford, a U.S. Army active-duty automated logistics sergeant from Jacksonville, Florida, who was assigned to the installation.
Army officials said Radford allegedly used a personal handgun in the shooting, and was tackled by other soldiers before being taken into custody. He had not deployed to combat.
"These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further casualties," Brig. Gen. John Lubas, 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield commander, wrote in a statement. "Right now, our primary focus is on supporting the family members of the five victims and the Soldiers of the Spartan Brigade."
Though the Army said Radford did not have any prior disciplinary or behavioral issues, court records show he was arrested in Liberty County on May 18, and charged with driving under the influence and failure to obey traffic control devices.
Army officials said the charges were unknown to Radford's chain of command.
Radford is currently being interviewed by Army investigators and is being held in pre-trial confinement. A motive has not yet been released.
President Donald Trump weighed in during a news conference Wednesday afternoon, noting the perpetrator will be prosecuted "to the fullest extent of the law."
"The Army Criminal Investigation Division is on site to ensure that the perpetrator of this atrocity, which is exactly what it is, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Trump said. "The entire nation is praying for the victims and their families, and hopefully they'll fully recover. We can put this chapter behind, but we're not going to forget what happened. We're going to take very good care of this. This person that did this horrible person."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed the president's sentiment in a statement on X.
"Today, a cowardly shooting at Fort Stewart left five brave Soldiers wounded. Praise God they are all in stable condition," Hegseth wrote in a post. "Our prayers are with them, their families, and the entire Fort Stewart community in the aftermath of this attack. We owe profound gratitude to the law enforcement heroes who charged into danger. Swift justice will be brought to the perpetrator and anyone else found to be involved."
Quote:The US Army veteran wanted for allegedly killing four people in a smalltown Montana bar was captured Friday after seven days on the run, according to a report.
Michael Brown, 45, was taken into custody at 2 p.m. after the week-long manhunt in the rugged countryside outside the town of Anaconda, KTVH reported, citing the Clark County Sheriff’s office.
The alleged madman is in custody of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County authorities, the report stated.
The arrest comes exactly one week after the military veteran allegedly opened fire in the Owl Bar in Anaconda killing Nancy Kelley, 64, Daniel Baillie, 59, David Leach, 70, and Tony Palm, 74.
“I am proud of the unrelenting law enforcement effort this week to find and arrest Michael Paul Brown,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in a statement following the arrest.
“The support we’ve seen for the community of Anaconda from across the state and the nation has also been remarkable. The families and friends of the victims remain in my prayers,” the statement read.
Brown fled the Owl bar on Aug. 1 in just his underwear after allegedly committing the heinous murders and disappeared into the wilds of Montana, according to authorities
The suspect lived next door to the bar and was a regular at the dive.
Quote:New York Attorney General Letitia James was hit with a pair of subpoenas as part of a grand jury probe scrutinizing a $454 million civil fraud case against President Trump, a source familiar with the investigation told The Post Friday.
Acting Albany US Attorney John Sarcone convened the grand jury to address potential deprivation of rights allegations after launching an investigation of James in coordination with the FBI this past May.
One of the subpoenas related to the civil fraud judgment won by the Empire State AG’s office against Trump, which is still under review by the First Department appellate division.
A second subpoena reportedly sought information on James’ own investigation of the National Rifle Association, along with other records.
Separately, a grand jury in Virginia is examining whether to hand up an indictment against James for allegedly falsifying records to receive favorable loans on a home she purchased in Norfolk in 2023, The Post’s Miranda Devine has learned.
The Albany subpoenas were first reported by Fox News and the New York Times.
“Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American,” a James rep said in a statement. “We stand strongly behind our successful litigation against the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association, and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers’ rights.”
James had been a fierce critic of the 45th president’s administration and brought the civil case in 2022, claiming that the Trump Organization inflated the value of its real estate holdings to get favorable loans and other financial perks.
New York’s top cop and her supporters often professed “no one is above the law” in discussing the case, which started with an investigation launched in 2019 while Trump was still serving his first term.
Yet, he had paid his loans back without issues. Who was the victim there?
Quote:The FBI announced the arrest of a sheriff from Suffolk County, Massachusetts, on charges of extortion. The arrest of the immigration sanctuary county sheriff follows an investigation into allegations that he extorted $50,000 from a Boston-based cannabis company.
FBI agents arrested Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins on Friday in the Southern District of Florida, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He will be transported to Boston after an appearance in the Florida federal court.
Tompkins is charged by indictment for two counts of Extortion under Color of Official Right. He allegedly extorted $50,000 from the owner of a national cannabis retailer based in Boston.
“Mr. Tompkins is a sitting Sheriff, responsible for over 1,000 employees, who was elected by the good people of Suffolk County,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks said in a written statement. “Today, he is alleged to have extorted an executive from a cannabis company, using his official position as Sheriff to benefit himself.”
Elected officials, particularly those in law enforcement, are expected to be ethical, honest and law abiding – not self-serving,” Docks said. “His alleged actions are an affront to the voters and taxpayers who elected him to his position, and the many dedicated and honest public servants at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. The people of Suffolk County deserve better.”
Court records reveal that the cannabis company sought to open a retail cannabis dispensary in Boston. Following the application with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, Sheriff Tompkins allegedly pressured one of the owners to obtain stock in the venture. After increasing pressure from the sheriff, he wired a $50,000 payment for shares in the company.
The stock eventually decreased in value to the point that the sheriff allegedly lost money in his investment and demanded a refund of the $50,000. The individual refunded the money in smaller payments, labeling them as “loan repayments” to disguise the nature of the payments, prosecutors stated.
Quote:President Trump has secretly authorized the military to use force against Latin American drug cartels classified as foreign terrorist organizations, The Post has learned.
The move is the most aggressive action Trump has yet taken against gangs trafficking drugs like fentanyl across the US-Mexico border, the activities of which were previously the purview of federal law enforcement.
The order, first reported Friday by the New York Times, gives US forces official permission to engage cartels on land and sea.
“The president is determined to not just dismantle – but completely destroy – [Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro’s Cartel de Los Soles and obliterate their operations in the Western Hemisphere,” a source close to the White House said.
The State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations involved in drug trafficking include Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and Cartel de Los Soles, as well as El Salvador-rooted Mara Salvatrucha, known as MS-13.
Trump, 79, publicly mulled authorizing the military to target drug cartels inside Mexico on the 2024 campaign trail.
Since taking office, the president has upped tariffs on Canada and Mexico, citing their inability to shut down drug and people smuggling into the US — and directing immigration agents to go after new arrivals with gang ties.
Quote:President Donald Trump has removed former U.S. Rep. Billy Long as IRS commissioner less than two months after his confirmation, a White House official said Friday.
The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not give a reason for the dismissal. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will serve as acting commissioner, the official said.
The Senate confirmed Long on a 53-44 vote despite Democrats’ concerns about the Republican’s past work for a firm that pitched a fraud-ridden coronavirus pandemic-era tax break and about campaign contributions he received after Trump nominated him.
While in Congress, where he served from 2011 to 2023, Long sponsored legislation to get rid of the IRS. A former auctioneer, Long has no background in tax administration.
Quote:Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has blasted “South Park” creators as “lazy” and “petty” after the show cruelly mocked her appearance — depicting her as a vain, Botoxed bimbo.
“It never ends, but it’s so lazy to constantly make fun of women for how they look,” Noem, 53, told Glenn Beck on his podcast Thursday.
“It’s always the liberals and the extremists who do that. If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can’t, they just pick something petty like that.”
Noem admitted she hadn’t watched the latest episode in which she’s portray as a glammed-up ICE agent who loves Botox, kills puppies and arrests anyone who is Hispanic.
She said she was too busy “going over budget numbers and stuff.”
It comes after the White House ripped “South Park” as “irrelevant” and accused the show’s creators of desperately seeking attention following a spate of recent episodes that roasted President Trump and his administration.
The day before the Noem episode aired, Homeland Security used an image from the show to advertise its ICE recruitment drive.
“We want to thank ‘South Park’ for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment: We are calling on patriotic Americans to help us remove murderers, gang members, pedophiles, and other violent criminals from our country,” a statement from the agency said ahead of the show.
“Benefits available to new ICE recruits include an up to $50,000 signing bonus, student loan forgiveness, and retirement benefits.”
Quote:The trade deal struck between the U.S. and the European Union will allow the EU to escape the latest tariffs President Donald Trump has threatened to place on pharmaceuticals, Newsweek understands.
On Tuesday, Trump said he was planning to place a "small tariff" on drug imports that will eventually grow to 250 percent. But thanks to the pact agreed in late July, the EU will see its pharmaceuticals hit with only a 15-percent tariff, far below the rates other countries may encounter.
Why It Matters
This aligns with the terms of the deal published by the White House, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's assurance that pharmaceuticals were among the sectors for which the 15 percent rate represented a firm "ceiling."
However, Trump's comments on new pharmaceutical tariffs sparked uncertainty over whether these would apply on top of agreed rates, triggering the share prices of many European drug companies to plummet.
What To Know
During an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Trump said he was planning to impose new sectoral duties on pharmaceuticals, like the tariffs already placed on steel, aluminum and auto imports.
"On pharmaceuticals, we'll be putting a initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals," Trump said. "But in one year, one and a half years maximum, it's going to go to 150 percent, and then it's going to go to 250 percent, because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country."
The president went on to say that he would be announcing specifics "within a week or so," and that this new tariff would be separate from country-specific duties.
Quote:A string of NATO state pledges to acquire mostly U.S. weapons to provide to Ukraine has marked a victory for President Donald Trump in his effort to strike a balance on shifting the burden of Washington's role in the war to European allies while maintaining a role in the conflict.
The developments take place as Trump has hardened his rhetoric against Russian President Vladimir Putin, offering him until Friday to demonstrate progress on stalled peace talks.
"This initiative strikes the correct balance between ensuring Ukraine has the weapons needed to continue to resist Russian aggression and buying time for President Trump's diplomacy and economic pressure to take hold," Alexander Gray, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council who served on the staff of the National Security Council under the first Trump administration, told Newsweek.
Gray also pointed out the broader geopolitical stakes that the Trump administration had in mind, including "the very real need of the United States to empower Europe to take the lead in its backyard while U.S. attention adjusts to the existential threat of China in the Indo-Pacific."
Money and Munitions on the Move
The Netherlands was the first to announce on Monday that it would deliver an estimated $580 million package of U.S. weapons, including Patriot air defense systems and artillery equipment, to Ukraine.
NATO reported the following day that Denmark, Norway and Sweden had confirmed they would purchase $500 million worth of U.S.-sourced equipment. Both moves mark the first two tranches under the NATO-led Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce welcomed the back-to-back moves as critical for Ukraine, as well as for the Trump administration's broader outlook on recalibrating the transatlantic security partnerships in a way that was more beneficial to the U.S.
"These commitments deliver on President Trump's initiative to facilitate billions of dollars in investment to the United States defense industry and create American jobs while ensuring Europe can ultimately defend itself long term," Bruce told reporters on Tuesday.
They also come on the heels of a trade deal reached late last month between the U.S. and the European Union, through which Trump said EU member states—the majority of whom are also in NATO—agreed to purchase "hundreds of billions of dollars-worth of military equipment" from the U.S.
Last week, EU Ambassador to the U.S. Jovita Neliupšienė spoke to the importance of the military component of the trade agreement, both in the context of the war in Ukraine and EU member states' own security, in an interview with Newsweek.
"Because of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and because for European countries, security is really an existential topic right now," Neliupšienė told Newsweek at the time, "I think cooperation on the strategic level, but as well on defense procurement with the U.S., is extremely important."
Quote:Russia is aiding North Korea in modernizing its nuclear weapons delivery systems, according to Ukraine's top military intelligence official.
The disclosure could reinforce long-standing suspicions among U.S. and South Korean officials that North Korea has been receiving technical support in exchange for providing weapons and troops to bolster Russia's war effort in Ukraine.
Newsweek has contacted the North Korean Embassy in Beijing and the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment via written requests.
Why It Matters
Last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin deepened military cooperation with a defense pact that raised alarm in Western capitals.
The deployment of an estimated 11,000 North Korean troops to join Russian forces fighting a Ukrainian insurgency in the Kursk region late last year further escalated tensions on the Korean Peninsula, already at their highest levels in decades.
Kim continues to expand his United Nations-sanctioned nuclear program and test increasingly advanced ballistic missiles—justifying the moves as responses to "provocations" from Washington and its allies.
What To Know
Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, told local media that while Russia was unlikely to assist Iran in building nuclear weapons, technical support to North Korea was already underway.
"I can say this directly. As for North Korea, the situation is quite difficult. First of all, North Korea already has nuclear weapons, but the Russian Federation is helping it modernize its nuclear weapons carriers. This is really happening," Budanov said.
Last month, he said the Kim regime had already acquired Russia's Pantsir-S1 self-propelled anti-aircraft system and was deploying it to defend the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
Quote:President Donald Trump on Friday said there will be "swapping of territories" between Russia and Ukraine as part of a deal to bring an end to Moscow's long-running invasion of the neighboring country.
Why It Matters
Trump's comments come as he prepares for a high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin over bringing an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. The summit will take place on August 15 and cap weeks of intensified pressure from the Trump administration for Russia to agree to the terms of a ceasefire proposal. The president has accused Putin of being disingenuous and throwing "a lot of bulls***" at the U.S.
Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, also had a meeting with Putin in recent days, which took place against the backdrop of public pressure from the U.S. and the threat of new sanctions and tariffs aimed at countries buying Russian oil.
What To Know
Asked Friday whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country was invaded by Russia in 2022, will have to give up territory as part of a peace deal, Trump responded: "Well, you're looking at territory that's been fought over for 3 1/2 years ... you know, a lot of Russians have died. A lot of Ukrainians have died."
"So we're looking at that, but we're actually looking to get some back," the president added. "Some swapping. It's complicated ... but we're going to get some back, we're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both, but we'll be talking about that either later or tomorrow."
What Happens Next
Trump announced on Friday night that he and Putin will meet on August 15 in Alaska.
Quote:Iran said it has executed a man caught working as a spy for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, accusing him of passing on secrets—including information about an Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed in Israel's recent attacks.
...
The reported execution reflects Iran's intensifying efforts to root out suspected espionage following the "12-day war" in June, which saw Israel and the U.S. strike Iranian nuclear facilities. Amir Hatami, the commander in chief of Iran's military, warned on Sunday that threats from Israel persisted and that Iranian forces "were ready for operations," Iranian state media reported.
Iran executed three men charged with spying for Israel on June 24 as part of a sweeping crackdown. Human rights groups have condemned a wave of hundreds of arrests and warned that the government is using the June conflict as a pretext to escalate repression. Rights groups have also cited concerns over forced confessions.
What To Know
The Iranian news agency SNN, or Student News Network, reported that a man named Roozbeh Vadi had been found guilty of "espionage and intelligence cooperation in favor of the Zionist regime" and hanged on August 5.
"According to the case documents and Roozbeh Vadi's statements, the man was fully aware of his cooperation with the Mossad spy-terrorist service and deliberately collaborated with the Zionist enemy," SNN reported, according to an unofficial translation of its report.
"The defendant was active in one of the country's important and sensitive organizations and, given the level of access he had, had become an attractive subject for the Zionist regime's spy service," it said.
The news agency did not elaborate on which organization Vadi worked for but said he had traveled to Vienna five times, including for training, where he met Mossad agents.
In the course of his "extensive cooperation with the Zionist regime," the man "provided information to the Mossad spy service about one of our country's nuclear scientists who was martyred in the recent Israeli aggression," SNN reported.
Israel targeted and killed several prominent Iranian military figures and nuclear scientists in its strikes in June, the Israel Defense Forces and Iranian media reported.
Vadi had been placed under surveillance after he returned from one of his trips abroad and was arrested "when his connections and cooperation with the Zionist enemy were discovered," SNN said.
Quote:Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem has rejected a U.S.-backed proposal to disarm and vowed that any Israeli escalation would be met with a forceful response.
"The state must provide protection, not strip its people and resistance of their strength; it should benefit from it rather than disarm in favor of 'Israel,' America, and an Arab country," Qassem said on Tuesday.
...
The Iran-aligned Lebanese militant group is showing defiance despite months of political and military pressure, including a declaration in June that it would not respond to Israel and U.S. strikes on Iran—out of respect for the Lebanon ceasefire.
Israel has long sought the disarmament of Iran's network of proxy groups, but Hezbollah argues there are no credible guarantees that Israel will honor a ceasefire. The group also faces internal pressure, as Lebanon's prolonged economic crisis has tied potential international aid to state control over weapons.
What To Know
"We reject any timetable proposed under the umbrella of Israeli aggression," Qassem said on Tuesday, rejecting the government's plan to set a disarmament deadline by year's end, according to Hezbollah's official channel Al-Manar TV.
Referring to what he called "American guardianship," he said the U.S. plan sought to serve only Israel's interests. U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack presented a plan in Beirut on June 19 that called for Hezbollah to disarm by November—in exchange for an Israeli troop withdrawal, a halt to airstrikes, economic reforms and border demarcation, according to Reuters.
Qassem said Barrack demanded Hezbollah give up even basic arms in 30 days and cut capabilities by half in return for a limited Israeli pullout. When asked at a July news conference in Beirut whether the U.S. could guarantee Israel's withdrawal, Barrack replied that Washington "cannot compel Israel to act."
In July and early August, incidents along the Israel–Lebanon border put the U.S.-brokered ceasefire under strain. Qassem warned Israel that any escalation would trigger a forceful response, saying, "Rockets will fall inside the entity, collapsing the security they have built over eight months within one hour."
The Lebanese government is under intense pressure to secure foreign aid, especially from Gulf countries and international institutions. As part of this effort, there is mounting internal and external pressure on Hezbollah to agree to disarmament or at least reduce its military role.
"We refuse to be slaves to anyone. To those who talk to us about concessions because of funding cuts, we ask: What funding do you mean?" Qassem said.
Lebanon has been grappling with one of the worst financial collapses globally, with its gross domestic product dropping by more than 38 percent and the currency losing more than 98 percent of its value since 2019, according to the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in 2025. The crisis has been deepened by widespread corruption, mismanagement and a lack of credible reforms.
Barrack told Lebanon's LBC TV that Gulf partners—traditionally the main investors in Lebanon's recovery—remain skeptical of channeling funds without meaningful reforms and guarantees.
Quote:Senior Iranian official Abbas Araghchi issued a stark message regarding the future of nuclear negotiations with Washington, telling the media that Tehran had no intention of returning to talks with the U.S. under pressure.
...
U.S. threats and Iran's hardened stance in nuclear negotiations increase the risks for a renewed military confrontation in the region. Iran and European countries are at odds over the soon expiring 2015 nuclear deal and Tehran's restriction of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from accessing key nuclear sites.
Iran is vowing a severe response to any renewed attacks by Israel or the U.S. and is demanding guarantees before engaging with Washington, along with financial compensation for damage to key nuclear facilities caused by bombings.
What To Know
Speaking with state media on Wednesday, Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, confirmed that Tehran had received messages from Washington but noted that no concrete steps toward negotiations had been taken.
"Whether dialogue and negotiations take place in the near or distant future depends on what our national interests require," Araghchi said, according to the U.K.-based outlet IranWire.
Iran is engaged in talks with the U.K., France and Germany, which have threatened a "snapback" mechanism that would reimpose U.N. sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear accord if Iran fails to commit to diplomacy and international nuclear oversight.
Araghchi said Iran was imposing "new conditions" for its relationship with the IAEA, which must now obtain approval from the Supreme National Security Council, an entity closely tied to the supreme leader and the military-security establishment, Iranian media reported.
Iran said it would not permit access to its nuclear facilities to IAEA inspectors, which the U.N. watchdog pulled out of the country following Tehran's decision to suspend cooperation in the aftermath of the Israel and U.S. attacks.
"Regarding our nuclear program, we must say that the Agency has not performed well, especially in the last few months when they prepared a report, before the war, which led to a resolution in the Board of Governors," Araghchi said on Wednesday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
Quote:Israel's Security Cabinet approved a plan to take over Gaza City and eventually implement "Israeli security control" of the entire Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement early on Friday.
Gaza City is in the north of the 26-mile coastal enclave and has been largely devastated by Israeli military strikes over the past 22 months.
Why It Matters
The Security Cabinet's decision capped months of failed ceasefire talks between Netanyahu's government and Hamas, with both sides accusing each other of repeated violations.
Israel has also faced increased international pressure to reach a ceasefire deal after Hamas released videos showing emaciated Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, which the group said was the result of Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid to the war-torn territory.
After the videos were released, Netanyahu said he would convene a Cabinet meeting to discuss how Israel can meet the three main goals he set out for the war: defeating Hamas, returning the hostages and ensuring Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) leadership has expressed strong resistance to a full-scale ground reoccupation of Gaza, according to multiple Israeli officials. Expanding military operations would also further isolate Israel internationally as several of its closest Western allies have called on it to end the war and facilitate more humanitarian aid.
What To Know
Israel's military says it controls about 75 percent of Gaza. Most of its population of about 2 million has been displaced multiple times in the past 22 months, following Hamas' devastating October 7, 2023, attacks that claimed the lives of as many as 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians.
Aid groups are warning of looming famine in Gaza.
Netanyahu's office said early on Friday that the Security Cabinet had "approved the Prime Minister's proposal for defeating Hamas."
"The IDF will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones," the office said in the statement on X.
Netanyahu's office added that a majority of the Security Cabinet adopted "five principles for concluding the war." The principles were disarming Hamas; having all hostages—living and dead—returned to Israel; the "demilitarization of the Gaza Strip"; Israeli "security control in the Gaza Strip"; and the "establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority."
Quote:Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings with a stark warning that nuclear war "cannot be won and must never be fought," as Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul condemned growing threats to the global nuclear order.
In a statement released Wednesday, Wadephul criticized Russia for engaging in "nuclear blackmail," warning it undermines decades of arms control efforts and poses a threat to global security.
"Unfortunately, we also see countries like Russia engage in nuclear blackmail, thereby calling into question the nuclear order and its function as a central pillar of global security," Wadephul said.
Wadephul also expressed Germany's dedication to ensuring that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.
Why It Matters
The remarks reflect mounting concern within NATO that global nuclear stability is eroding amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
There has been international concern over Iran's nuclear program. Iran has said that its nuclear program is peaceful and for civilian energy use, but international observers believe the country has enriched uranium beyond what is needed for non-nuclear purposes.
Iran has sought support from Russia following the United States and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
What To Know
Wadephul reaffirmed Germany's commitment alongside France and the United Kingdom to strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty and preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, signed in 1968, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. With nearly 200 parties, it is the most widely adhered-to nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently told the Financial Times that the country has the technology to restart uranium enrichment despite damage to its facilities.
"Buildings can be rebuilt. Machines can be replaced because the technology is there. We have plenty of scientists and technicians who used to work in our facilities," he said. "But when and how we restart our enrichment depends on the circumstances."
What People Are Saying
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, in a statement: "To safeguard peace and security, we must continue to bolster our deterrence and defence capabilities, while continuing to work with determination to promote the international order."
Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Financial Times: "We can negotiate, they can present their argument, and we will present our own argument. But with zero enrichment, we don't have a thing."
Quote:Germany will suspend all arms exports to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced Friday.
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Germany's suspension of arms exports to Israel marked a significant development in European-Israeli relations and international debate over the ongoing conflict in Gaza. As one of Israel's principal allies, Germany's decision highlighted rising global concerns about the humanitarian impact of Israel's intensified military actions in the region and signaled possible shifts in Western policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The move underscored the growing divide among international stakeholders regarding military escalation and how Israel aims to achieve its stated security objectives in Gaza.
What To Know
Merz announced that the federal government would immediately halt the approval of any arms exports to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip. The announcement came in direct response to a late-night decision by Israel's political-security Cabinet to move forward with a plan to take control of Gaza City as part of a broader operation to eradicate Hamas from the enclave.
"Israel has the right to defend itself against the terror of Hamas," Merz said. "The release of the hostages and determined negotiations on a ceasefire are our top priority. The disarmament of Hamas is essential. Hamas must not play a role in the future of Gaza."
However, Merz expressed doubts over Israel's latest military strategy, saying that it was "increasingly difficult to see how these goals can be achieved" through the intensified campaign. He added that "under these circumstances, the German government will not approve any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice."
Germany, which granted export licenses for military equipment to Israel worth 485 million euros ($564 million) between October 2023 and May 2025, had been one of Israel's largest arms suppliers in Europe.
Quote:The U.S. State Department has reiterated a strong advisory against travel to Iran, particularly for dual nationals, because of the risk of detention. The warning came in response to Iranian President Massed Pezeshkian's public call for diaspora Iranians to return home.
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Iran remains under a long-standing "Level 4: Do Not Travel" advisory because of the risks of terrorism, kidnapping, wrongful detention and civil unrest. In July, the U.S. issued a warning about Iran allegedly working with criminal cartels to target regime critics, including dissidents and activists, even inside the United States.
What To Know
The United States has reiterated its warning to Americans to avoid travel to Iran in light of tensions that escalated into a 12-day military conflict that culminated in U.S. strikes on nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic in June.
According to Iranian media, Pezeshkian told officials that efforts are underway to make it easier and safer for Iranians living abroad to return to the country.
"They are the country's assets and their capacity should be used in a desirable way," he said, Eghtesad News, a Persian-language Iranian news outlet, reported. He did not explicitly mention dissidents or political exiles.
In past years, rights critics said the Iranian regime had expanded its clandestine program of foreign assassinations, renditions and harassment of dissidents and political opponents.
Two American citizens remain detained in Iran on suspicion of spying for Israel, state media said, although efforts are ongoing—externally and internally—to secure their release.
Quote:Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum claimed U.S. troops will not be entering her country to fight drug cartels. The claim comes just hours after a report pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump having signed a secret order directing the U.S. military to move against drug cartels.
When asked about it during her morning news conference, Sheinbaum said that U.S. troops would not be entering Mexico, adding that her government had been very straightforward with the Trump administration, stating that they would not allow U.S. action but were willing to cooperate.
“We cooperate, collaborate, but there will be no invasion,” she said. “That is off the table, absolutely off the table.”
The report that triggered the heated question came from the New York Times, which claimed that the order provides an official basis for direct military operations at sea or on foreign soil against cartels.
Sheinbaum stated that in prior calls and discussions with the Trump administration, her government had informed the U.S. that military intervention was not permitted and was not part of any accords.
“We had been told that this order was coming, and it was expressed to us that there was going to be no participation of any military or institution in our territory,” the Mexican president said. “The U.S. agencies that have a presence in this country are very strictly regulated. We are the country that has more regulations on foreign agencies.”
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America faction supported a radical pro-North Korea rally where the crowd chanted “Death to imperialism” from the US, The Post has learned.
The New York chapter of the ultra-progressive group, of which Mamdani is the most prominent member, endorsed the People’s Summit for Korea in the city, which bizarrely calls for the reunification of the country — with despot Kim Jong Un in charge.
The DSA’s International Committee was among several Marxist “supporting organizations” that backed the anti-American event, calling for Korea to be reunited as a socialist paradise under the iron grip of its Communist northern powers.
Over 500 people attended the propaganda summit, which continually glorified the rogue nuclear North Korean state — one of the US’ main adversaries on the world stage — and featured participants calling for “death to imperialism” and for the end of US military and “economic domination of Korea.”
Although he did not attend, sources said state Assemblyman and city mayoral candidate Mamdani’s proximity to the event, held at Riverside Church in Harlem between July 25 and 27, was ill-advised.
“What does it tell New York’s Chinese and Korean immigrants who fled to the city to get away from oppressive regimes?” veteran political strategist Hank Sheinkopf told The Post Tuesday.
“What does it say to [others] who fled here because of repressive regimes? It tells them that if you support Mamdani, the people who are with him are going to do terrible things to us.”
The decidedly anti-American speeches included keynote speaker Brian Becker.
“One of the problems that we face in the United States is the nonstop demonization and caricaturing of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea],” he said.
“What happens here in the belly of the beast, in the center of imperialism, would make all the difference in the world … for those yearning to take the socialist path,” he continued.
Becker serves as national director of the ANSWER Coalition, an anti-war group linked to Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine, groups with alleged ties to Hamas and Iran.
Becker is also one of the organizers of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which was also listed as one of the supporters of the People’s Summit for Korea.
Quote:President Donald Trump announced Saturday he will nominate Tammy Bruce, currently the State Department’s spokeswoman, to serve as Deputy U.S. Representative to the United Nations with the rank of ambassador.
“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Tammy Bruce, a Great Patriot, Television Personality, and Bestselling Author, as our next Deputy Representative of the United States to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on August 9. “Since the beginning of my Second Term, Tammy has been serving with distinction as Spokesperson of the State Department, where she did a fantastic job. Tammy Bruce will represent our Country brilliantly at the United Nations. Congratulations Tammy!”
Bruce was appointed State Department spokeswoman in January 2025, shortly before the start of Trump’s second term. Trump named her to the role in a Truth Social post on January 4, describing her as a “highly respected political analyst” and noting her earlier work in media and political commentary.
A political analyst, author, and former Fox News contributor, Bruce earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern California. Earlier in her career, she was involved in liberal activism before becoming a prominent conservative voice in television and radio. She has conducted several interviews with Breitbart News and has previously commented on foreign policy topics, including China’s interest in Greenland’s infrastructure development.
Quote:The United States is offering a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday.
In a video posted on X, Bondi accused Maduro of working with criminal organizations such as Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel.
"Today, Department of Justice and State Department are announcing a historic $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro," Bondi said.
She continued, "Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country. The DOJ has seized over $700 million in Maduro-linked assets, including two jets and nine vehicles. Maduro is one of the world's largest narco-traffickers and a threat to national security. Under President Trump's leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and will be held accountable."
The U.S. was previously offering a $25 million reward for information relating to Maduro.
Newsweek has reached out to the DOJ via email on Thursday night for further comment.
U.S. Pressure on Venezuela Cartels
Last month, the U.S. designated the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a terrorist group and said it is headed by the president of the South American country.
The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced it had sanctioned the cartel as a specially designated global terrorist organization.
The OFAC statement said the group supports foreign terrorist organizations threatening the peace and security of the United States, namely Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel.
Maduro, of the country's United Socialist Party, was sworn in for a third six-year term in December, despite credible evidence that he lost last year's election by a more than 2-to-1 margin to Edmundo González, a Democratic Unity Roundtable (UMD) candidate. The U.S. government, including both the Biden and Trump administrations, along with several other Western nations, continue to reject the authoritarian president's claim to victory.
How the U.S. Utilizes Large Reward Offerings
By offering such significant rewards, the U.S. government seeks to motivate insiders, opposing factions, or foreign allies to provide actionable intelligence on high-profile individuals like Maduro. This method is particularly used in cases where direct access is constrained by sovereignty, security, or diplomatic considerations. In Maduro's case, imposing a $50 million bounty heightens the cost for anyone harboring or assisting him, and could catalyze his capture should he leave Venezuela or lose protection.
In 2022, U.S. authorities placed a $20 million bounty on drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, and a $5 million reward on Humberto Montoya Sánchez in 2007 — both captures were achieved through intelligence-driven operations. More recently, the U.S. refreshed a $5 million bounty for MS-13 leader Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías.
Quote:The U.S. Department of Justice has released an update confirming that it plans to ask the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.
The announcement was disclosed in a joint status report filed Wednesday, August 6, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Why It Matters
The Justice Department's plan to seek a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship—entitled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship"—marks a critical juncture in the national debate over immigration and constitutional rights.
Signed on January 20, 2025, it directs the federal government to deny citizenship documents to children born in the U.S. to undocumented or temporary immigrant parents.
At stake is the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which has long been understood to guarantee citizenship to nearly all individuals born on U.S. soil. A ruling in favor of the order could reshape federal authority over citizenship, impact millions of U.S.-born children, and redefine the limits of executive power—making this one of the most consequential legal battles in recent memory.
What To Know
On February 6, 2025, the district court in Seattle issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of President Trump's executive order.
The case under review, State of Washington v. Trump, was just one of several ongoing legal challenges in which lower courts have largely rejected the administration's legal theory. District courts in Maryland (February 5), New Hampshire (February 10), and Massachusetts (February 13), have each upheld that the order conflicted with constitutional protections and halted its enforcement in their respective jurisdictions.
Quote:President Donald Trump has directed an "increased presence" of federal law enforcement officials in Washington, D.C., beginning at 12:01 a.m. Friday, the White House announced.
The office of Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declined comment when contacted by Newsweek.
Why It Matters
Trump has repeatedly suggested that authority over Washington could be returned to federal authorities and threatened to federalize the city in recent days while citing a high rate of violent crime.
Giving the federal government control of Washington would require Congress to repeal the Home Rule Act of 1973, a step Trump said lawyers are examining but could inspire significant pushback.
What To Know
A weekend attack on a former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency has shined a light on street violence in the nation's capital.
Edward Coristine, nicknamed "Big Balls," was attacked in the city's Logan Circle neighborhood by a group of teenagers during an attempted carjacking around 3 a.m. Sunday. Two 15-year-olds were arrested as they attempted to flee the scene, police said.
A picture of a bloodied, shirtless Coristine sitting on a street after the attack was shared on Truth Social by Trump, who posted that crime was "out of control."
"Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control. Local 'youths' and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released. They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it's going to happen now!" he said.
"If D.C. doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they're not going to get away with it anymore. Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago," the president added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump had "directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens."
"Starting tonight, there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C. President Trump is committed to making our Nation's capital safer for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors from all around the world," she said.
The White House said federal law enforcement officers will be in the city for a period of at least seven days, with "the option to extend as needed."
The patrol will be led by the U.S. Park Police and include members of what the White House called the "D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force," which Trump established in a March 28 executive order.
That task force includes officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Department of Transportation, the Department of the Interior and more.
Despite the move by Trump, according to Washington Metropolitan Police data, violent crime is down 26 percent this year, compared with the same period last year.
This includes a 12 percent dip in homicides, a 28 percent decrease in robbery and a 20 percent drop in assault with dangerous weapons. Carjackings are down 37 percent this year, according to the police data.
NBC Washington cited statistics showing that about 1 percent more juveniles have been arrested in the capital through June this year compared with 2024's first six months.
Quote:Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) invoked Beyonce and laughed off troubling accusations about her workplace behavior on Thursday when asked about The Post’s exclusive report on her “diva” antics on Capitol Hill.
Crockett’s response to allegations that she’s a boss from hell came after she repeatedly refused requests for comment from The Post.
The congresswoman erupted in laughter when asked about the report during an interview on “The Takeout with Major Garrett” on CBS News.
“Oh my goodness, listen, I know that I have arrived, honey,” Crockett said, after composing herself. “That is the way that I see this.”
“Because as Beyoncé says, if they’re not talking about you, then obviously you must not be doing anything,” she added.
Multiple former staffers and congressional aides that have worked with Crockett described the Dallas-area rep as “rude,” rarely present in the office and a terror to work with when she does show up.
“She is focused almost exclusively on being an influencer, not a member of Congress,” one source said, describing Crockett as “all diva, no wow.”
“She is laying around her apartment, won’t come into the office, and is really just indifferent to staff and will scream at them,” a former aide said, claiming that the foul-mouthed congresswoman “freaks out over the most random things.”
Another source indicated that Crockett demands staffers rent high-end vehicles– “has to be an Escalade” – to chauffeur her to and from the Capitol every week.
“She expects her staff to drive her around while she’s in the back seat,” the source added, calling it a “power play” akin to “treating the staffer like an Uber driver.”
Quote:A Brooklyn woman who worked as a youth organizer for “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was arrested Friday on charges she urged her 25,000 social media followers to “attack” a public high school because Jewish students attend it.
Iman Abdul, 27, is accused of posting a screenshot on Thursday of the location of Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences in Manhattan Beach on Google Maps and a chilling caption.
“If anyone needs a public school in NYC to attack for whatever reason … Lexus driving Israhell (sic) loving Zionisits (sic) all attend here,” the since-deleted post read.
“They’ve all gone on ‘Birthright,’ it added, referring to a popular program that offers free 10-day trips to Israel for Jewish young adults.
The NYPD arrested Abdul at her Brooklyn home on Friday, charging her with making a terroristic threat, acting in a manner injurious to a child, aggravated harassment, and making a threat of mass harm.
Abdul worked on the Democratic primary campaigns of socialist pols AOC and state Sen. Julia Salazar in the summer of 2018. She was a paid canvasser for Salazar, the lawmaker told The Post.
She also described herself in the 2019 interview as a student at City College of NY, majoring in childhood education, sociology and Latino studies; and a director at IntegrateNYC, a youth–led group advocating for “desegregation” of city schools.
The Instagram post alarmed Jewish advocates fighting against antisemitism in city schools.
“A map. A pin. A call to harm Jews, fellow New Yorkers, children, teachers. This isn’t just dangerous. It’s evil. Jew-hatred doesn’t stop with a threat. It escalates. We need immediate and unequivocal action,” Tova Plaut, a DOE pre-K staffer and Jewish activist, told The Post.
“I am outraged and horrified that a NYC school was publicly marked for attack simply because of its Jewish population,” she added.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, and the department’s intelligence unit were quickly alerted to the threat, sources said.
Quote:A tourist was among the three people shot in Times Square early Saturday, the victims told The Post.
The 17-year-old gunman was inside the restaurant Raising Cane on Broadway when he got into an argument with a Citibike rider just after 1 a.m. and decided to settle his beef by leaving the eatery — and opening fire, sources said.
He went onto the street and fired three shots at a group of about a dozen Citibike riders, striking one of them — a 19-year-old — in the foot as well as a man, 65, standing on the sidewalk, the sources added.
His bullets also grazed the neck of an 18-year-old tourist as she rode with her parents and siblings in an Uber, her mother and father, who were visiting from Maryland, told The Post.
“We heard gunshots,” the teen’s mom said. “My daughter was holding her neck. She was bleeding.”
The parents – who also had their 11-year-old twins with them – had just taken a late night bus tour around the city and were getting a ride back to their car in a parking lot.
“It’s a very horrific experience,” said the mom, who asked to remain anonymous. “We decided to take our time to come to Times Square. We just felt that we would have a beautiful experience at night to see the whole city.”
Her daughter was treated at Bellevue Hospital and released. She plans to start college at Morgan State University in the fall.
“They were going to put stitches in but decided not to,” the mom said.
Her husband, who also asked that his name be withheld, said the family was shocked by what happened.
“We were traumatized,” said the father, who’s originally from Nigeria. “If anyone told me to come to Times Square for even $1 million I wouldn’t do it.”
The injured 65-year-old, who was shot in the thigh, was also taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Cops took the teen shooter into custody at the scene and recovered a Glock from him, the sources said. Three .380 mm shell casings were also recovered at the scene.
Quote:You may have to switch to rice milk for the next month or so.
A plague of rats is causing havoc at almond farms in California, where the rodents are running amok and damaging farms in the San Joaquin Valley, the Fresno Bee reported.
It is expected the rats will cost farmers and taxpayers more than $300 million in combined crop losses and infrastructure damage, the report said.
Growers told the Bee that roof rats, also known as black rats, have gnawed through irrigation lines, stripped bark from branches, and chomped on ripening almonds.
“We live in an infinite sea of rats,” said Niamh Quinn, a University of California Cooperative Extension wildlife adviser, speaking to the Fresno Bee. “They are everywhere.”
The rats, experts said, have taken to burrowing underground whereas they’ve typically nested in the almond trees.
This has made the rats harder to control.
One farmer estimated a 50% crop loss, thanks to the pesky rats, the paper reported.
A 2024 survey by the California Department of Food and Agriculture found up to 32 rats were being captured each night at some area trapping locations.
Analysts admitted they’re probably underestimating the true impact of the infestations, and suggest the climate crisis may not be helping, as rat populations grow faster in warmer conditions.
Researchers are urging farmers to perform burrow fumigation to contain booming rat populations.
Quote:A southern California wildfire that has threatened thousands of homes is still only 21% contained, officials said Saturday, warning of the blaze’s “extreme” behavior amid low humidity and summer heat.
The Gifford Fire, which started Aug. 1, has prompting widespread evacuation orders and scorched more than 104,000 acres across San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, where evacuation orders and warnings are in place.
Nearly 3,600 firefighters are battling the flames amid hot, dry conditions.
“We have hot weather, and we have low relative humidity,” said Santa Barbara County Fire Department Capt. Scott Safechuck.
“So, we expect extreme fire behavior.”
Gifford’s destruction has already surpassed last month’s Madre Fire in San Luis Obispo County, which burned 80,000 acres before containment.
Nearly 100 hand crews, 267 engines, 98 water tenders, 21 helicopters, and 142 bulldozers have been deployed, according to The Fresno Bee.
Flames continue to burn inside Los Padres National Forest, where officials reported “two large smoke columns” Saturday, with the largest rising from an area crews have fought to control for two days.
Meanwhile, the Canyon Fire, which started Thursday afternoon, has burned more than 5,000 acres in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
Quote:A subway rider was stabbed in the neck at an East Village subway station on Saturday night, according to the NYPD.
A 44-year-old straphanger got into a physical altercation with an unknown man stemming from a verbal argument on the northbound platform of the 2nd Avenue F-train station just before 9:15 p.m., cops said.
As the two tussled, the assailant whipped out a blade and stabbed the 44-year-old once in the right armpit and once in the neck, according to the NYPD.
The victim fled the station and received medical attention on the street level at 1st Avenue and 1st Street.
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, alert and conscious, and is expected to survive, the NYPD said.
Police said no suspect is in custody and an investigation is ongoing.
Quote:Indian-made components have been discovered in Russian drones used for deadly attacks on Ukraine, one of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s top officials has claimed.
The Iranian-made Shahed drones containing Indian parts have been involved in attacks along the frontlines and against civilians, Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram.
He called on the world to “deprive Russians of the ability to receive components from other countries and stop the killing of Ukrainians,” according to Kyiv-based Ukrainian news agency UNN.
“Also, buying Russian energy resources is financing the war, which does not contribute to peace,” Yermak added.
The White House and National Security Council didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
The drone development comes as President Trump has threatened to slap new tariffs on India if it does not stop purchasing Russian oil.
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.
Trump added on Friday that he was also seeking to impose new sanctions on Russia and any country that purchases its energy exports like crude oil and electricity.
India, as the third-biggest oil importer and consumer in the world, has a high demand and draws one-third of its supply from Russia.
A source from the Indian government noted that its purchases have helped balance global oil prices by easing the pressure on supplies from other regions.
The relatively inexpensive Shahed drones that included the Indian-made components have become a crucial part of Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine since late 2022.
Quote:The United States is auctioning off the $325 million yacht Amadea, its first sale of a seized Russian luxury ship since the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The auction, which closes Sept. 10, comes as President Donald Trump seeks to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. The U.S. has said it’s working with allies to put pressure on Russian oligarchs, some of whom are close to Putin and have had their yachts seized, to try to compel him to stop the war.
The 348-foot-long (106-meter-long) yacht, seized three years ago and currently docked in San Diego, was custom built by the German company Lürssen in 2017. Designed by François Zuretti, the yacht features an interior with extensive marble work, eight state rooms, a beauty salon, a spa, a gym, a helipad, a swimming pool and an elevator. It accommodates 16 guests and 36 crew members.
Determining the real ownership of the Amadea has been an issue of contention because of an opaque trail of trusts and shell companies. The yacht is registered in the Cayman Islands and is owned by Millemarin Investments Ltd., also based in the Cayman Islands.
The U.S. contends that Suleiman Kerimov, an economist and former Russian politician, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018 for alleged money laundering, owns the yacht. Meanwhile, Eduard Khudainatov, a former chairman and chief executive of the state-controlled Russian oil and gas company Rosneft, who has not been sanctioned, claims to own it.
U.S. prosecutors say Khudainatov is a straw owner of the yacht, intended to conceal the yacht’s true owner, Kerimov. Litigation over the true ownership of the yacht is ongoing.
A representative of Khudainatov said in an emailed statement Wednesday that the planned sale of the yacht is “improper and premature” since Khudainatov is appealing a forfeiture ruling.
“We doubt it will attract any rational buyer at fair market price, because ownership can, and will, be challenged in courts outside the United States, exposing purchasers to years of costly, uncertain litigation,” said the representative, Adam Ford.
Quote:Russia struck a key gas pumping station in Ukraine, undermining the nation’s preparation for winter in an attack that President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted as “absolutely cynical.”
The Orlovka gas interconnector, which pumps in LNG imported from the US and Azerbaijan, was struck during a Russian airstrike on the village of Novosilske, along the Romanian border, Zelensky confirmed Wednesday.
“This was a deliberate blow to our preparations for the heating season, absolutely cynical, like every Russian blow to the energy sector,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram.
The attack on the gas line was also confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense, according to the TASS state news outlet.
Kyiv has faced a serious gas shortage since Russia began escalating its daily bombardments on Ukraine earlier this year, plummeting domestic production and forcing the besieged nation to rely more on imported LNG as winter approaches.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said that the station that was hit on Wednesday was part of the gas route connecting Greek LNG terminals with domestic facilities facing shortages.
The gas line had already been used to deliver LNG from the US to Ukraine, with successful tests also conducted to move Azerbaijani gas, bolstering plans for a large energy deal between the two nations.
“This is a Russian strike purely against civilian infrastructure, deliberately targeting the energy sector and, at the same time, relations with Azerbaijan, the United States and partners in Europe, as well as the normal lives of Ukrainians and all Europeans,” the energy ministry said in a statement.
Quote:A US soldier with top-level security clearance was arrested this week after allegedly attempting to hand over sensitive information about military battle tanks to the Russian government, according to authorities.
Private First Class Taylor Adam Lee, 22, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Bliss, allegedly passed on sensitive and classified information to a person he believed was a Russian Ministry of Defense representative, the Department of Justice said in a press release.
He was nabbed Wednesday in El Paso on federal charges of attempted transmission of national defense information to a foreign adversary and attempted export of controlled technical data, the feds said.
In June, the alleged two-faced soldier began to transmit classified technical information to the Russian government about the M1A2 Abrams tank online and offered his assistance to the Russian Federation, authorities detailed.
Lee holds a top-secret and sensitive compartmented information security clearance, federal agents said.
“The USA is not happy with me for trying to expose their weaknesses,” Lee allegedly said in a message to a supposed Russian official.
“At this point, I’d even volunteer to assist the Russian Federation when I’m there in any way,” he stated, according to authorities.
In July, Lee met up with someone whom he believed to be a Russian official in person, handing over an SD card packed with sensitive information about the M1A2 Abrams tank and another armored vehicle used by the US military, federal agents claimed.
Lee was not licensed to obtain several documents on the SD card, and the private continually told the official it contained “sensitive and likely classified” information, authorities detailed.
After discussing a specific piece of internal tank hardware during the July meeting, he allegedly dropped off the part at a storage unit in El Paso on July 31, sending a “mission accomplished” message to a supposed Russian contact when he was done, authorities said.
“This arrest is an alarming reminder of the serious threat facing our US Army,” Brigadier General Sean F. Stinchon, the commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command, said in a statement.
Quote:Russia has launched a twisted adoption database where kidnapped Ukrainian children can be sorted by age, eye and color, and number of siblings, according to the NGO seeking to return Kyiv’s stolen children.
Mykola Kuleba, CEO of the Save Ukraine organization, raised the alarm over the Russian database on Wednesday, warning that the 294 children on the site are effectively being trafficked by the Kremlin.
“These children are presented like products in an e-commerce store, sortable by age, gender, eye and hair color, health status, and even personality traits,” Kuleba wrote on X.
“These children are not ‘war orphans.’ They had names, families, and Ukrainian citizenship,” he added. “Many lost their parents to shelling. Others were forcibly taken and re-registered with new documents.
“Now, they’re being matched with Russian families, treated like animals in a pet adoption database.”
Ukrainian officials estimate that some 35,000 children have been kidnapped and taken into custody by Russia since the start of the invasion in February 2022.
Kuleba said that most of the children found in the catalog were those who lived in the Luhansk region before it fell under Russian occupation.
He accused Moscow of systematically deporting the children deep within Russia so that they would be separated from their loved ones permanently and raised to be Russian.
“With a single click, a child is stripped of their identity, issued a Russian passport, and subjected to ideological control,” Kuleba said.
“This is not adoption. This is not care. This is digital child trafficking, masked as bureaucracy,” he added.
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed he will not give up any land Russia seized during its three-year invasion, as President Trump plans to meet with Vladimir Putin in an attempt to end the war.
“The Ukrainian people deserve peace. But all partners must understand what a dignified peace is,” Zelensky told his compatriots in a video speech posted to X. “This war must be brought to an end—and Russia must end it. Russia started it and is dragging it out, ignoring all deadlines, and that is the problem, not something else.
“We are ready to work together with President Trump, together with all our partners, for real and, most importantly, lasting peace. A peace that will not collapse because of Moscow’s desires,” he said.
Zelensky’s Saturday morning speech comes hours after Trump announced his plans to meet Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15.
“Very far away from this war, which is raging on our land, against our people, and which anyway can’t be ended without us, without Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky warned he will not allow Russia to be rewarded with Ukrainian land if a peace deal is reached with the US.
“Any decisions that are against us, any decisions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not achieve anything. These are stillborn decisions. They are unworkable decisions. And we all need real and genuine peace,” Zelensky’s X post was captioned.
The 47-year-old leader blasted his Russian adversary for not considering the Ukrainian citizens when he launched the attacks on the European nation.
“Putin did not believe in our people and therefore made the hopeless decision to try and take Ukraine. This was his main mistake, not taking Ukrainians into account,” Zelensky said.
“I believe in our people. Ukrainians are strong. Ukrainians defend what’s theirs. Many in the world have sided with Ukraine during the war. Even those who are with Russia know that Russia is doing evil,” he added.
The highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Putin is the latest attempt by the 79-year-old commander in chief to quash the deadly conflict that began when Russia launched its invasion of its western neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.
Quote:Russia pounded Ukraine overnight, killing at least eight civilians and injuring 24 others, as tensions mount ahead of scheduled high-stakes talks between President Trump and Vladimir Putin next week.
Moscow launched 47 Shahed-type drones and two missiles over the past day, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
Kherson, a partly Russian-occupied territory just north of Crimea, suffered a brutal bus attack Saturday.
A drone struck a bus in the city’s suburbs killing two people and injuring 19 others, local authorities reported.
Then as police officers were recovering bodies of the victims, a second drone hit the vehicle, leaving three officers wounded, Ukraine’s National Police said.
“This is how Russia ‘wants peace,'” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak slammed. “An attack on a civilian bus in the suburbs of Kherson, where Russians hunt civilians every day.”
Kherson has been repeatedly targeted by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion.
“Russians are fooling everyone around them, pretending that they are ready to stop the war, but doing nothing to achieve this goal,” Yermak added.
In Donetsk — the eastern Russian-occupied region Putin wants in exchange for ending the war — three people were killed, Gov. Vadym Filashkin reported.
Zelensky vowed Saturday, however, that he would not relinquish any land Russia occupied during its three-year invasion. His remarks came after President Trump said a cease-fire deal could involve “a swapping of territories” — something Putin has repeatedly pushed for.
Quote:European officials rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calls that Ukraine give up territories annexed during the war — instead demanding Saturday an immediate ceasefire from Moscow and NATO membership for Kyiv.
The counter-offer demands rock-solid security guarantees for Ukraine — namely the long-coveted membership in NATO for the war-torn country before any territorial concessions, sources familiar with the talks told The Post.
Ukraine has been seeking NATO membership since 2008 — eyeing it as a shield against future Russian aggression.
If Putin were to attack a NATO member it would compel all others member countries to respond with military force — under its defense pact — a move that could ignite a global war.
The European plan – put forward by the UK, France, Germany and Ukraine — also proposes that any land exchange must be reciprocal. If Ukraine removes troops from some regions, Russia must pull out of others.
And a cease-fire agreement would need to be reached before any other steps are taken.
“You can’t start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting,” one European negotiator told the Wall Street Journal.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Vice President JD Vance and senior Ukrainian officials met Saturday to discuss Putin’s proposal.
“The UK’s support for Ukraine remains ironclad as we continue working towards a just and lasting peace,” Lammy posted Saturday on X.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukraine Envoy Keith Kellogg were also consulted.
President Trump had acknowledged “there will be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” in a press conference at the White House Friday.
Earlier this week, Putin told Witkoff he would agree to end the war in exchange for the Ukrainian region of Donetsk, according to the Journal.
It’s one of five regions in the south of Ukraine currently under the Russian strongman’s control that’s been targeted by constant air strikes since the start of the more than three-year-old conflict.
Russia currently has full control of the neighboring Luhansk region as well as the Crimean peninsula, but the annexations are not internationally recognized and considered illegal under international law.
Quote:One person was killed, and several apartments and an industrial facility were damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack on the south Russian region of Saratov, the governor said on Sunday.
Roman Busargin posted on the Telegram messaging app that residents were evacuated after debris from a destroyed drone damaged three apartments in the overnight attack.
“Several residents required medical assistance,” Busargin said. “Aid was provided onsite, and one person has been hospitalized. Unfortunately, one person has died.”
Russian air defense units destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones overnight, including eight over the Saratov region, the defense ministry said.
It reports only how many drones its defense units down, not how many Ukraine launches.
Busargin did not specify what kind of industrial site was damaged.
Social media footage showed thick black smoke rising over what looked like an industrial zone.
Reuters verified the location seen in one of the videos as matching file and satellite imagery of the area.
Reuters could not verify when the video was filmed.
Ukrainian media, including the RBK-Ukraine media outlet, reported that the oil refinery in the city of Saratov, the administrative centre of the region, was on fire after a drone attack.
Reuters could not verify those reports.
There was no official comment from Russia.
The Rosneft-owned ROSN.MM refinery in the Saratov city was forced to suspend operations earlier this year for safety reasons after Ukrainian drone attacks, industry sources told Reuters.
Russia’s SHOT Telegram channel, which often publishes information from sources in the security services and law enforcement, reported about eight explosions were heard over Saratov and Engels, cities separated by the Volga River.
Quote:A Trump-brokered peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan represents a major breakthrough after decades of fighting between the neighboring nations — and offers the US “leverage” over Russia, an expert tells The Post.
The deal calls for the creation of a 20-mile transit corridor, modestly labeled the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” that will allow Azerbaijanis direct access to their country’s westernmost region, explained Hudson Institute senior fellow Luke Coffey.
“If you look at a map of Azerbaijan, it’s in two chunks — you have Azerbaijan proper and then there’s Nakhchivan, which is an enclave,” Coffey said. “Think of it like the United States and Alaska, but instead of having Canada in between, you have Armenia.”
With Azerbaijan and Armenia at war since the late 1980s, Azerbaijanis have not been allowed to pass through Yerevan’s territory — forcing much longer trade trips to reach Nakhchivan.
In 2020, Russia — which has relations with both nations — oversaw an agreement to open a transit route through this region, “not for [Azerbaijan] to control it, but to open it, like in the same way we can ship goods to Alaska through Canada,” Coffey said.
“This never happened, though, because Russia as the power broker failed to implement it,” he explained.
Armenia — once heavily supported by Moscow — became frustrated, and the bad feelings grew in 2023 when Russia failed to come to its defense during a push by Azerbaijan to retake the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Armenia had occupied for more than 20 years.
The deal announced by Trump Friday — which also gives the US exclusive development rights along the new route — would allow Washington to fill the void left by Moscow, further distancing Russia from its former possessions in West Asia as Vladimir Putin pursues expansionist goals in Ukraine.
Putin has long lamented the fall of the Soviet regime, which he has called the “disintegration of historical Russia” and “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century.”
Should the US deal hold up, it would demonstrate Russia’s “diminishing sway within its so-called ‘near-abroad,’” said John Hardie, director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy’s Russia program.
“They’re being sidelined in a conflict that they used to play a key role in keeping frozen, and using it as a form of leverage over the two parties,” he added.
While it’s unclear whether the Armenia-Azerbaijan deal will help end the Ukraine war, Russia “is not going to be happy,” about the US’ new prominence in the Caucuses, Coffey said.
Quote:India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft during clashes in May, India’s air force chief said on Saturday, in the first such public claim by the country after its worst military conflict in decades with its neighbor.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif rejected the statement, saying India had not hit or destroyed a single Pakistani aircraft.
At an event in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh said most of the Pakistani aircraft were downed by India’s Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system.
He cited electronic tracking data as confirmation of the strikes.
“We have at least five fighters confirmed killed, and one large aircraft,” he said, adding that the large aircraft, which could be a surveillance plane, was shot down at a distance of 300 km (186 miles).
“This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill,” he said, prompting applause from the crowd that included serving air force officers, veterans, and government and industry officials.
Singh did not mention the type of fighter jets that were downed, but said that airstrikes also hit an additional surveillance plane and “a few F-16” fighters that were parked in hangars at two air bases in southeastern Pakistan.
In a post on X, Pakistan’s defence minister accused India of dishonesty.
“If the truth is in question, let both sides open their aircraft inventories to independent verification – though we suspect this would lay bare the reality India seeks to obscure,” he said.
Quote:Japan saw nearly 1 million more deaths than births in 2024, marking the country’s steepest single-year population decline since the government surveys began nearly six decades ago.
In 2009, Japan’s population peaked at around 126.6 million, but has dropped steadily ever since, according to data published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on Wednesday.
Last year, two records were set: a low for births, and a high for deaths.
Just 687,689 births were recorded in 2024, the lowest since the government first started keeping track in 1968. On the other end, a whopping 1.6 million people died, bringing the total population to 120 million, according to the data.
The ever-growing natality crisis pushed the Japanese government to promote family-oriented policies, including free childcare, expanded access to healthcare and shorter work weeks to in part help free up time for procreation.
Even with the mass incentives, the birth rate continues to drop while more foreign residents seek to make Japan their new home.
In 2024 alone, the number of foreigners living in Japan rose by 10% to a high of 3.6 million people, according to the data.
The heightened presence of foreign residents combined with the shrinking natality spurred increased reports of xenophobia, racism and discrimination against newcomers.
The cycle in part is also worsened by Japan’s elderly, who make up around 30% of the entire population, on top of the country’s slim pool of youth and childbearing adults, according to the data.
Japan’s working-age population, falling between 16 and 64 years old, only makes up 59% of the population — a whole six points lower than the global average, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Quote:Thousands bowed their heads in prayer in Nagasaki on Saturday to mark the 80th anniversary of the city’s atomic bombing, as the mayor warned that current global conflicts could push the world again into nuclear war.
The western Japanese city was levelled on August 9, 1945, when the United States dropped a 10,000-pound plutonium-239 bomb, nicknamed “Fat Man”, instantly killing some 27,000 of the city’s estimated 200,000 people. By the end of 1945, the death toll from acute radiation exposure had reached about 70,000.
Nagasaki’s destruction came three days after a U.S. uranium-235 bomb destroyed Hiroshima.
Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War Two.
After a moment of silence at 11:02 a.m., marking the time of the blast, Mayor Shiro Suzuki called on leaders to return to the principles of the U.N. Charter and show a concrete path toward abolishing nuclear weapons, warning that delay was “no longer permissible”.
“This is a crisis of human survival that is closing in on each and every one of us,” Suzuki told the crowd, estimated by Japanese media at 2,700.
He quoted the testimony of a survivor to illustrate the reality of a nuclear attack: “Around me were people whose eyeballs had popped out… Bodies were strewn about like stones.”
“Is it not this ‘global citizen’ perspective that will serve as the driving force behind stitching back together our fragmented world?” Suzuki asked, calling for a solution based on mutual understanding and solidarity.
The U.S. military is believed to have chosen Nagasaki as a target due to its significance as a major industrial and port city.
The city’s geographical features, including its hilly terrain, were also thought to concentrate the blast.
Quote:The brother of the hostage forced by Hamas to dig his own grave blasted the “well-fed” terrorists for leaving his brother like a “living skeleton” — and ignoring the plight of those starving across Gaza.
“We saw the well-fed hand of the terrorist in that video that Hamas released this past weekend,” Ilay David told “Fox & Friends” Wednesday of the horrific footage of his 24-year-old brother, Evyatar David.
“You can see that the terrorists have food and the testimonies of captivity survivors says the same,” he said.
“The terrorists always had food … and they’re intentionally starving Evyatar as much as they starve their own population,” he added.
Hamas “are the only ones who have food” in Gaza, the brother said.
In the roughly five-minute video, David’s ribs are clearly visible, proving he is being starved. At one point, a man behind the camera hands him a can of beans.
“This can is for two days,” David says. “This whole can is for two days so that I don’t die.
“This is the grave I think I’m going to be buried in,” he says, digging into the ground with a shovel. “Time is running out.”
His brother said the video should provoke immediate world outrage and action.
“It’s so urgent that he looks like a living skeleton. He’s so weak, he could barely move, he could barely speak, he could barely recognize his voice,” he continued. “And right now, what we need, as you said, is action.”
Quote:The US has presented a plan calling for Hezbollah’s full demilitarization by the end of the year, along with Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, officials said.
Lebanese lawmakers are reviewing the plan submitted Thursday by President Trump’s envoy, Tom Barrack, which seeks to “extend and stabilize” the fragile cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel following last year’s war.
“The urgency of this proposal is underscored by the increasing number of complaints regarding Israeli violations of the current ceasefire, including airstrikes and cross-border operations, which risk triggering a collapse of the fragile status quo,” the proposal read, according to Reuters.
The document calls on Beirut to publicly announce its commitment to disarm Hezbollah by Dec. 31, 2025, which would be partnered with Israel ending all ground, air and sea military operations in Lebanon.
The Jewish state currently controls five points in the nation’s southern half, with Israeli officials reiterating that the buffer was needed to hinder attacks from the Iran-backed terror group.
The second phase of the proposal required Lebanon to oversee the disarmament process within 60 days, with the lawmakers tasked with providing a detailed plan for the army to take control of all the weapons.
Under this phase, Israel would begin withdrawing its forces from the five points, with the Jewish state also agreeing to free Lebanese prisoners who were taken into custody during last year’s war, a process that will be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Quote:The Associated Press shocked many social media users on Wednesday by publishing a story that they viewed as sympathetic to Hezbollah terrorists.
In September, over 3,000 members of the Iran-backed terror group were injured and at least 30 killed when a covert Israeli operation launched two waves of near-simultaneous detonations of the organization’s pagers and other electronic devices across Lebanon and Syria.
The AP story focused on how “[s]urvivors of Israel’s pager attack on Hezbollah struggle to recover.”
Reporters Bassem Mroue and Sarah El Deeb spoke to six people wounded during the attack, who they acknowledged were all “Hezbollah officials or fighters or members of their families.”
Despite Hezbollah being designated a terror organization by the United States, the article does not refer to Hezbollah members as “terrorists” and instead describes them as a “militant group” or “a major Shiite political party with a wide network of social institutions.”
One of the people interviewed was Mahdi Sheri, a 23-year-old Hezbollah fighter who was injured in the pager attack. The AP reported on how he returned from the front lines and was spending time with his family before his pager vibrated, and he went to go check it. Sheri lost his left eye and has very limited sight out of his right eye, according to the AP.
Sheri had been ordered back to the front line on the day of the attack. Before leaving, he charged his pager and spent time with family. For his security, no mobile phones were allowed in the house while he was there.
“For a while, he could see shadows with his remaining eye. With time, that dimmed. He can no longer play football. Hezbollah is helping him find a new job. Sheri realizes it’s impossible now to find a role alongside Hezbollah fighters,” the AP wrote.
X users roasted the story for presenting Hezbollah terrorists in a compassionate light, calling it “jaw-dropping.”
“This is me; playing my tiny violin,” Twitchy’s Amy Curtis remarked.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck wrote, “Nothing shocks me anymore with media, but this really did. They’re literally presenting Hezbollah terrorists as victims. Absolutely jaw-dropping.”
“Imagine in 1944, the Associated Press published a news article about how Nazi SS soldiers ‘struggle to recover’ from wounds they suffered from battles with the Allies in Europe. It’s a moral abomination that this is not a fantasy for the @AP in 2025,” Antonin Scalia Law School professor Adam Mossoff commented.
“The hostages held by Hamas struggle to survive,” radio host Tony Katz wrote.
Quote:A rift is reportedly emerging between allies Russia and Iran, after Tehran feels it’s gotten shortchanged in strongman Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Moscow inked a $1.75 billion weapons deal with the Islamic Republic in 2023 — called at the time “a covert partnership” — to get the designs to domestically produce Iran’s infamous Shahed drones, which it had been importing since launching its full-scale invasion on Ukraine a year earlier.
But Tehran has been growing increasingly frustrated with the little backing it’s received from Russia since, CNN reported, citing a Western intelligence source.
The resentment hit a high note during the Islamic Republic’s 12-day war with Israel in June, when Tehran was expecting more than just words from its ally.
Russian officials condemned Israel’s attack as “unprovoked and unacceptable” and offered to mediate the conflict — but did not provide any military support to Iran, despite the two countries’ partnership.
Left to fend for itself, the Iranian regime was badly battered and weakened during the conflict. The Jewish state carried out numerous devastating aerial strikes on the Islamic Republic and its nuclear facilities, killing more than 30 Iranian commanders, at least 11 of the regime’s top nuclear masterminds and sending the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei into hiding.
It showed Russia’s “purely transactional and utilitarian nature,” the intelligence official told the outlet.
“This explicit disengagement demonstrates that Russia never intervenes beyond its immediate interests, even when a partner – here an essential supplier of drones – is attacked,” they said.
The Shahed drones — also referred to as kamikaze drones — have since become the cornerstone of Moscow’s war machine, when hundreds are often launched on Ukraine in a single evening.
To add insult to injury, Putin’s men have taken Tehran’s designs and developed better, cheaper versions — and failed to make some of its payments to Iran because of the Western sanctions placed on the Kremlin.
It is unclear how much Moscow has yet to pay its counterpart toward the deal.
Russia has also modernized the drones to make them more lethal and harder to bring down, according to Ukraine, leaving Tehran in the dark about the developments.
Quote:As it prepares to sack Gaza City, Jewish state leaders are signaling to the US that their military takeover can be halted in favor of a cease-fire and the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, Israeli television reported Saturday.
US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators are said to be discussing a comprehensive package of proposals to end the war, which include the release of the remaining 50 hostages — 20 of which are believed to still be alive.
The deal on the table would also see full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, demilitarization of Palestinian armed groups and the exile of some Hamas military wing leaders.
A new civilian authority would be established in Gaza, according to Times of Israel reports which cited sources familiar with the negotiations.
The three countries are hashing out the proposal among themselves, before presenting it to Israel and Hamas.
Mediators are also in intense last-minute negotiations with Israel to try and prevent the Jewish state from executing its military objective in Gaza, Saudi media reported.
Israel’s security cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan Friday to take full control of Gaza City in an effort to wipe out the terror group — a major escalation of its nearly two-year conflict.
The timeline for the Israeli operation remains unknown.
But even if the controversial plan moves ahead, Israeli TV said Tel Aviv would be willing to suspend the operation to strike a deal.
Quote:The dismembered remains of 32 people have been discovered in an abandoned house in Mexico’s cartel-ravaged region of Guanajuato, according to local officials.
Body parts were found in plastic bags in a shallow grave under the property near the city of Irapuato, some 160 miles north of Mexico City, just months after 17 bodies were found in the same city, according to local reports.
So far, 15 of the victims have been officially identified through “highly complex forensic techniques,” the Guanajuato prosecutor’s office said in a statement Monday.
The remains were discovered during a search for missing people in Guanajuato, Mexico’s deadliest state, which is ravaged by gang turf wars linked to the ongoing conflict between the Jalisco New Generation cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima gang.
Relatives of missing people, who formed the “Hasta encontrarte” (“Until I find you”) collective, visited the site after the news broke Monday.
“We hope to find our loved ones,” a woman who requested anonymity for safety reasons told Agence France-Presse.
“It’s been many years and we still know nothing. When these mass graves are found, we want to be present.”
Guanajuato saw more than 3,100 murders last year, over 10% of total homicides nationwide, according to official figures.
It also had around 3,600 missing persons cases, out of the national figure of more than 120,000.
The state has been plagued by further violence this year.
Last month, a local official was shot dead while attending an amateur basketball game.
A shooting at a neighborhood party in Irapuato last month also saw 11 people killed and around 20 others injured. In May, 17 bodies were discovered in a different abandoned house in the same city.
Quote:Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the house arrest for former President Jair Bolsonaro, on trial for allegedly leading a coup attempt after losing the 2022 election.
The court’s Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the order, saying in his decision that Bolsonaro had violated the precautionary measures imposed on him by posting content on his son’s social media channels.
Prosecutors accuse Bolsonaro of heading a criminal organization that plotted to overturn the election, including plans to kill President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and a Supreme Court justice.
Monday’s order followed one from the top court last month that ordered Bolsonaro wear an electronic ankle monitor and imposed a curfew on his activities while the proceedings are underway.
The latest decision keeps the far-right leader under ankle monitoring, allows only family members and lawyers to visit him and seizes all mobile phones from his home in Rio de Janeiro.
Quote:A 13-year-old Chinese exchange student has been charged with murder over the alleged stabbing death of a 14-year-old girl at a home in Newcastle, Australia.
The 14-year-old, also an exchange student from China, was found with a single wound to her torso at Euston Close, Edgeworth, about 10:20 p.m. Monday, after police were called on reports of a stabbing.
She was treated by paramedics at the scene before being rushed to a hospital in critical condition.
The younger girl will appear in a children’s court on Wednesday on the murder charge.
Superintendent Tracy Chapman, commander of the Lake Macquarie Police District, said both girls were from China, having traveled to Australia as part of a program where they stayed with local residents who acted as hosts.
They were attending a local school and visiting locations around the Hunter area.
“They arrived in Australia eight days ago and were expected to depart Australia on the 16th of August,” Chapman said.
“NSW Police continue to work with the program facilitators to ensure that all of the appropriate processes and notifications are being undertaken.”
Quote:Brisbane Airport has been thrown into chaos after a technical fault at security forced thousands of people to be re-screened.
The fault was found in a single metal detector at the domestic terminal on Monday, which delayed about 10 flights departing from for one hour or longer, according to the Courier Mail.
A Brisbane Airport spokesman said everyone who was inside the terminal had to be re-screened.
“The fault was quickly identified and there is no safety or security threat,” a spokesman said.
“However, it will take some time to re-screen all passengers and staff, delaying flights.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and thank passengers for their patience and understanding.
“Our care team has been activated and is on the ground to support passengers.”
There has been no impact to flights at the International Terminal.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:Crowds on Demand CEO Adam Swart told "Fox & Friends" on Friday that his company has received 400% more paid protester requests this year than during the same period last year.
Fox News' Lawrence Jones asked the Crowds on Demand CEO how much the paid protesters that he curates for political protests typically make for their services.
"We don't comment on specific protests, but generally the range can be from the low hundreds, the low one hundreds, into a few hundred," he told Jones. "It really depends on the location, the duration and any challenges, for example, cold weather or early morning. You guys at 'Fox & Friends' know all about getting up early in the morning. We tend to pay people more [for] that."
Swart's company, Crowds on Demand, states on its website that they are "best known for organizing passionate demonstrations, rallies, flash-mobs, corporate PR events, and light-hearted events such as paparazzi, brand ambassadors, and PR stunts."
The CEO noted that while there is "a lot of misinformation online" about paid protesters, the individuals employed by Crowds on Demand are only deployed for "peaceful and law-abiding protest," and are focused on "persuasion."
When asked by Jones whether protesters are paid on an hourly basis, and how much they are paid per hour, Swart didn't answer the question directly but offered some insight into what circumstances would warrant an increased pay rate.
"It's hard to give you a specific figure… If you're organizing a conservative demonstration in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that would be a higher pay rate — or a left-wing demonstration in rural Mississippi, that would be a higher rate, because finding and identifying those people is harder and that might be a more tense environment in those particular locations, as you would imagine," he explained.
Jones then asked the CEO whether the people who are being paid to protest at political events are typically aligned with the causes that they are protesting for, or if they're "just out for a paycheck."
"They genuinely share these beliefs, and I'll put it this way, right? I'm asking your listeners, your viewers right now, if you got paid a couple hundred dollars, probably mostly your viewers lean conservative, would you guys go to a BLM protest for a couple hundred dollars?" he proposed. "I bet most of your viewers are shouting into their TV screens, ‘No, I would not do that’, right?"
"So whether it's conservative, we provide — there's a lot of misinformation that we only work for the left. We work for the left and the right, but always on the side of common sense and generally on the side of the underdog. So we, a lot of conservatives, use our service because, a lot of times, there's a case where hippies with a trust fund are out there protesting, but conservatives are more likely to have jobs and families, so actually they require a little bit more of an incentive to turn out to a demonstration."
Following up on Swart's response, Jones asked the CEO which side of the political aisle hires more paid protesters from his company, the right or left.
"So we tend to be hired by the oppositional party, right? So, in the sense of right now, we are getting more requests on the federal level from Democrats, as you would imagine. But for example, in liberal states such as California, we are often brought in by conservatives because we are an outside-the-box strategy, right?" Swart responded, adding that the number of paid protesters requested by either side of the aisle "depends on who's in power."
Quote:Wild, newly released dashcam footage shows the Democrats’ choice to run for governor in South Carolina getting arrested recently in just his underwear — while swearing, using the n-word and referring to himself as both God and Superman.
Married father of four William “Mullins” McLeod, 53, is facing calls from his own party to step down from the gubernatorial race that he only formally entered Monday after video emerged a day later of his bizarre arrest just months earlier in May, according to WCBD.
The prominent attorney was stopped in downtown Charleston while “yelling at the top of his lungs” and wearing only underwear and shoes, according to a police report — which suggested he showed signs “typical of an individual under the influence of a stimulant narcotic.”
The Dem referred to his upcoming election race — even threatening to kick an opponent’s “f–king teeth in” — while refusing to tell cops his name, instead referring to himself as God and Superman, the hour-long video released through a Freedom of Information Act request shows.
“It doesn’t matter, my friend, trust me,” he told one officer when asked his name. “I’m one of the most just humans to ever walk this soil,” he said.
“Superman sounds good,” he added bizarrely.
McLeod also issued threats toward current and former Palmetto State politicians during the profanity-laden rant.
“I’m gonna kick your f–king teeth in,” he says at one point, appearing to reference Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson, who announced his bid for governor earlier this summer.
McLeod — who is heard uttering the n-word at least twice in the video — also refuses to get out of the patrol car when it arrives at the jail, instead telling an officer he would sleep in the back seat.
Quote:Upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik is calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to come clean about this year’s massive corrections workers strike and whether she knew about the brewing “powder keg” in state prisons.
The Republican North Country rep, in a statement first obtained by The Post, said Hochul “must immediately address” a new report by the prison workers’ union largely blaming the state for allegedly ignoring warning signs of the simmering crisis and strike threats.
“What did she know, when did she know it, and why did she refuse to act?,” Stefanik writes in the statement.
Thousands of corrections officers illegally walked off the job in February, requiring Hochul to deploy over 6,000 National Guard troops to supplement staffing shortages in the problem-plagued facilities.
The memo from the state Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association issued last week alleged its leadership had showed a top Hochul aide a video of members threatening to strike at an annual meeting weeks earlier, and were told the issue would be raised to the governor.
“The deterioration of prison conditions statewide and the indifference of the State’s elected leaders to cries for help from the rank-and-file pushed staff to the breaking point, and then they broke,” the union memo reads.
Stefanik — who is widely believed to be mounting a Republican challenge to Hochul in next year’s gubernatorial election — slammed the Democrat for allegedly failing to act to prevent the strike.
“The union representing Correction Officers stated they warned Kathy Hochul before their strike that prisons were a dangerous powder keg, a strike was imminent, and that lives of officers were at risk. Hochul did nothing,” Stefanik wrote.
While the Hochul administration declared an end to the strike in early March, upwards of 2,000 National Guard troops remain to backfill staffing holes at the facilities, which are 4,000 to 5,000 personnel short of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervisions’ ideal staffing level, Commissioner Daniel Martuscello wrote in a recent court filing.
The department was already suffering from staffing shortages even before the strike, a report from the state comptroller’s office said last month.
A spokesperson for Hochul, in response to Stefanik’s statement, accused the congresswoman of condoning the illegal strike and called the corrections officers’ demands “unrealistic.”
Quote:Hunter Biden crassly brushed aside first lady Melania Trump’s threat to sue him for $1 billion if he doesn’t retract “false” and “defamatory” comments linking her and her husband to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“F–k that. That’s not going to happen,” Biden said with an arrogant smile during an interview on YouTube show “Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan” released Thursday.
The first lady’s team revealed Wednesday that it had put the scandal-scarred former first son on notice for suggesting that Epstein introduced Melania to her husband, President Trump.
Melania’s office has made similar threats to other media figures and outlets. Last month, for example, the Daily Beast retracted an article that peddled similar claims after being warned of legal action.
Democratic strategist James Carville also apologized and scrubbed an episode of his podcast last week in which he speculated there was an “Epstein connection” involving the first lady.
“Failure to comply will leave Mrs. Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to her to recover the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that you have caused her to suffer,” the first lady’s attorney Alejandro Brito wrote in an Aug. 6 demand letter reported by Fox News.
Despite his bravado, Biden could find himself in a lot of financial trouble if he were sued. The 55-year-old has claimed in court documents that he is saddled with “significant debt in the millions of dollars range” amid sagging art and book sales and mounting legal bills.
Last month, during an interview on the same YouTube channel, Biden weighed in on the Epstein drama dogging the president.
“[It is] beyond a doubt that he [Trump] and Epstein were very close friends for a very long period of time. They spent enormous time together — they spent an enormous amount of time together around young women,” he said on the show last month.
“According to his biographer, Jeffrey Epstein introduced Melania,” he added.
Biden, like the Daily Beast and others, was citing author Michael Wolff, who has made bold and dubious claims about the president in the past that have been subject to dispute.
The president cheered his wife’s threat against Hunter Biden Thursday, insisting that he met Melania through “another person,” but not Epstein.
“Well, I said, ‘go forward.’ I have done pretty well on these lawsuits lately. And I said, ‘Go forward,'” the president told Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade. “Jeffrey Epstein had nothing to do with Melania and introducing, but they do that to demean. They make up stories.”
“She was very upset about it,” the president added of his wife.
A DC dimwit who slung a Subway sandwich at a federal agent on the streets of the capital earlier this week has been identified as a now-former Justice Department worker.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that Sean Charles Dunn, 37, who is facing a felony assault charge for the sandwich strike, has been fired from his DOJ role.
“If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you,” Bondi declared. “I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice — NO LONGER. Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a felony.”
“This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ,” she added. “You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement.”
Dunn worked as an international affairs specialist in the Justice Department’s criminal division — which handles cases of fugitives abroad and helps foreign countries on extradition matters with their own fugitives, according to the DOJ.
Dunn appeared to have been similar to a paralegal — assisting attorneys in handling a “large volume of cases, including the litigation of those matters,” according to the DOJ’s job listing for the position.
He does not appear to be an attorney as his name isn’t listed on the DC bar’s website.
An attorney for the suspect did not immediately respond to requests for comment and attempts to contact Dunn directly were unsuccessful.
Dunn was allegedly caught on camera berating a group of federal officers as “fascists” before lobbing his deli sandwich and hitting a US Customs and Border Protection agent in the chest.
Quote:U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Tuesday announced an indictment in Washington, D.C., accusing Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier and Bazile Richardson, a naturalized U.S. citizen, of conspiring to send U.S. funds to finance Chérizier’s Haitian gang.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Chérizier is a fugitive and is believed to be in Haiti.
His co-defendant, Richardson, who also goes by “Fredo,” “Fred Lion,” “Leo Danger,” and “Lepe Blode,” was arrested in Pasadena, Texas on July 23.
Pirro said Tuesday that Chérizier is a gang leader who orchestrated and committed various acts of violence against Haitians.
In 2020, the U.S. sanctioned Chérizier under the Magnitsky Act for his alleged human rights violations. His indictment makes it the first of its kind for an individual sanctioned under the international Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, Pirro added.
Richardson and Chérizier grew up together in Haiti, though the former later became a naturalized U.S. citizen and was living in North Carolina.
Richardson was indicted for allegedly sending money to Chérizier, knowing that he had been sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.
“I want to let the public know that anyone who was giving money to Chérizier, also known as Barbecue, because of his violent acts in his home country, cannot say ‘I didn’t know. I didn’t know that he was sanctioned by the U.S government,’” Pirro said. “They will be prosecuted, and we will find them because they are supporting an individual who was committing human rights abuses. And we will not look the other way.”
The State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program announced Tuesday that it is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Chérizier. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is encouraged to contact the State Department.
Quote:A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected an effort by a group of labor unions to block President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing potentially sensitive U.S. user data from several government agencies.
Judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to vacate a lower court’s preliminary injunction that blocked DOGE from accessing certain user data, citing concerns that DOGE’s access would violate federal privacy laws.
The ruling is a near-term win for the Trump administration, allowing DOGE to access sensitive user information compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, Treasury Department, and Office of Personnel Management.
Unions had sued to block the access earlier this year, citing privacy concerns.
The 2-1 appeals court ruling vacates the lower court's preliminary injunction, handed down by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardma, and remands it back to the lower court to be heard on its merits.
The computerized data could include access to Social Security numbers and immigration and citizenship status. The case will continue to be litigated on the merits, but for now it is a legal victory for the Trump administration.
Quote:A controversial Princeton professor with strong ties to the Iranian regime has quietly stepped down from the Ivy League school, following a campaign from dissidents to remove him.
Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist, retired from his position after 15 years as the head of the school’s Program on Science and Global Security on June 1, according to an announcement listing retiring employees on Princeton’s website.
The professor is controversial for being heavily involved in Iran’s chemical and nuclear programs beginning in 2004, long before the country was known to have been building up its nuclear arsenal, according to German journalist Bruno Schirra.
The move comes amid the news Princeton could lose more than $200 million in grants from the Trump administration for not tackling antisemitism on campus, The Post has learned.
Iranian opposition activists as well as Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, a Princeton alumnus, had long urged the school to fire Mousavian.
“It’s a victory, but one has to wonder if he’s staying behind the scenes somehow,” said Lawdan Bazargan, a former political prisoner in Iran, a human rights activist and member of the US-based Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists.
The group has waged a two-year campaign to get the university to ditch Mousavian.
“We exposed the truth,” the group said in a press release last week. “Mousavian is not a neutral scholar but a former ambassador of the [Islamic Republic of Iran] who defended the fatwas to kill author Salman Rushdie.”
Shirin Ebadi, a former Iranian judge who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, has also previously accused Mousavian of supporting the fatwa.
Before being hired by Princeton in 2009, Mousavian had also worked as a diplomat and editor of the Tehran Times, the English-language newspaper which is a mouthpiece for the regime.
Mousavian was also Iran’s ambassador to Germany in 1992 when four dissidents were murdered in the back of a restaurant in Berlin.
The group of dissidents which campaigned to get him fired from Princeton has previously alleged when Mousavian was ambassador to Germany, 23 Iranians were killed in Europe for being enemies of the mullahs.
In 1997, a German court concluded that the Iranian leadership, including the foreign ministry, masterminded the murders and that the headquarters for plotting them was the Iranian embassy, but did not name Mousavian.
During the trial, German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported a former Iranian spy, Abolghasem Mesbahi, said under oath, “Mousavian was involved in most of the crimes that took place in Europe.
Quote:Department of Justice Special Attorney Ed Martin was spotted in Brooklyn Friday inspecting Tish James’ multi-family residential property that is at the center of a federal mortgage fraud investigation.
Martin, conspicuous in a beige trench coat, visited the Clinton Hill brownstone a week after being appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi to run parallel mortgage fraud probes into the New York attorney general and her fellow Trump-deranged Democrat, California Sen. Adam Schiff.
Grand juries in Virginia and Maryland are currently weighing criminal indictments for James and Schiff respectively over allegations they falsified property records to secure favorable loan terms.
James’ Brooklyn property at 296 Lafayette Avenue is classified as a five-unit dwelling, but James is alleged to have misrepresented the building on mortgage applications, building permits, and filings for government assistance as having only four units.
The alleged misclassification allowed her to qualify for loans with better interest rates and lower down payments through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are only available for properties with four or fewer residential units.
At the time Martin was inspecting the property on Friday afternoon, there was one doorbell visible at the main entrance and an additional four door bells at a side entrance, with weathered labels signifying “1 Floor,” “2 Floor,” “3A,” and “3B.”
A neighbor confronted Martin and an unidentified colleague as they were standing out the front of the property and asked them what they were doing.
“Tell me why you’re here,” said the middle aged blonde in navy gym shorts and black tank top.
“We know who lives here . . . You’re not here about the houses. You’re here because of who lives here. It’s my neighborhood. It’s my block. I have a right to know what you guys are doing.”
Martin replied: “I’m just happy to be on a block looking at houses . . . I’m just looking at houses, interesting houses. It’s an important house.”
Quote:Moscow troops made one of their most dramatic advancements of the year Tuesday when they pushed deeper into the Donetsk region of Ukraine — just three days before President Trump is set to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s invasion forces marched some six miles past the frontlines in Donetsk to encircle the towns of Kostyantynivka, Dobropillia and Pokrovsk, advancing Moscow’s goal of taking full control of the region, according to Ukraine’s authoritative DeepState war map.
“The situation is quite chaotic, as the enemy, having found gaps in the defense, is infiltrating deeper, trying to quickly consolidate and accumulate forces for further advancement,” DeepState said in an update.
Donetsk has seen some of the most intense fighting of the war, which is in its third year, with Moscow reportedly demanding full control of the region as part of the upcoming peace talks with Trump.
The latest advancement was centered on the coal mining town of Dobropillia, which lies just north of Pokrovsk, a key city Russia has been targeting for months.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s top military commander, said Russia was using sheer numbers to overwhelm his forces along the frontlines to make small gains in the region, local Interfax-Ukraine reported.
The Russian forces have recently made 35 attempts to push back Kyiv’s defenses before making the six-mile gain, Andriy Kovalov, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian army, told the local outlet.
Syrskyi has since ordered a new wave of reinforcements to the frontlines to end Moscow’s advancements.
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that it controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the leader categorically rejected.
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine would not withdraw from territories it controls, saying that would be unconstitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion.
He said diplomatic discussions led by the US focusing on ending the war have not touched on security guarantees for Ukraine to prevent future Russian aggression and that meeting formats currently being discussed do not include Europe’s participation, both key demands of Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Russian forces on the ground have been closing in on a key territorial grab around the city of Pokrovsk.
Zelensky said the necessity of territorial concessions was conveyed to him by US officials ahead of a summit Friday between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and in further meetings at the level of national security officials.
It remained unclear whether Ukraine would take part in the Friday summit. European Union leaders also have been sidelined from the meeting, and they appealed to Trump on Tuesday to protect their interests.
Zelensky says Ukraine will not withdraw from the Donbas
Zelensky said Putin wants the remaining 9,000 square kilometers (3,500 square miles) of Donetsk under Kyiv’s control, where the war’s toughest battles are grinding on, as part of a ceasefire plan, in a press briefing on Tuesday in Kyiv.
Doing so would hand Russia almost the entirety of the Donbas, a region comprising Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted.
Zelensky learned of Russia’s position after holding a call with Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff, after the latter’s bilateral meeting with Putin. Witkoff told Zelensky that Russia was ready to end the war and that there should be territorial concessions from both sides. Some European partners were also part of the call.
“And that, probably, Putin wants us to leave Donbas. That is, it didn’t sound like America wants us to leave,” he said, recounting the call.
Zelensky reiterated that withdrawing from Ukraine-controlled territory was out of the question, especially as the question of security guarantees for Ukraine, were not being discussed.
“We will not leave Donbas. We cannot do this. Everyone forgets the first part – our territories are illegally occupied,” Zelensky told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. “Donbas for the Russians is a springboard for a future new offensive.”
Zelensky said this is what occurred in 2014 when Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
Quote:Ukraine is open to a US-backed aerial cease-fire with Russia, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky has said — as President Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin prepare to meet for high-stakes talks in Alaska.
“Ukraine is ready to discuss it, is ready to consider this scenario, and sees it as the initial stage for reaching realistic negotiating positions,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published Tuesday.
However, Podolyak said Putin is unlikely to cooperate.
“Russia is unlikely to forgo the use of strategic aviation and the massive deployment of drones,” he warned. “Aerial bombardments are a key tool with which Moscow exerts psychological pressure on the country and influences our position.”
He also cast doubt on hopes for Friday’s summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska, where the pair will discuss the bloody three-year conflict.
“Putin is not ready for realistic negotiations. His main task at this stage is to stall and mislead the US administration,” Podlyak warned.
He also called for the greater use of sanctions to step up pressure on Putin’s regime alongside further military support for Kyiv.
“Without the use of coercive instruments, such as economic sanctions, and without a military defeat, nothing will happen. The two go hand in hand,” he said.
Discussions about a mutual halt on aerial strikes have been part of negotiations since the start of the war, but have never been fulfilled.
Quote:Thousands of children across Ukraine have been stuck behind computer screens for more than five years as Russia’s constant bombings have left them unsafe to leave COVID-era online schools the rest of the world discarded years ago.
Moscow routinely targets civilian infrastructure all over Ukraine, making even the most basic activities an intolerable risk.
Fourth-grader Kyrylo has only attended classes in person for three months out of his entire life. The little boy started kindergarten in 2020, as the pandemic forced students across the world into virtual homeschooling.
When schools reopened in the fall of 2021, Kyrylo was delighted to meet friends in first grade and learn critical social skills — but Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine the following February, forcing kids back online.
“It’s very scary, because I have to think about my son’s life. He’s only 10 years old and I cannot just let him go and hang out outside on his own,” his mother, Vlada, a part-time tram driver, told The Post. (The parents who agreed to be interviewed asked to be identified by first names only to protect their children from Russian targeting.)
“We struggle with school classes because they are conducted online and teachers are not able to reach all of them. I have to re-teach him what he’s learned.”
Kyrylo has one real friend — the son of his next-door neighbor. It’s hard to meet other children his age when he has to stay home all day before joining his mother on her nightly route so they can be assured of making it to a shelter if and when air raid alarms go off.
“It’s like never-ending COVID times,” Vlada said. “But this time, with bombs.”
As in the US, most schools in Ukraine are not equipped with bomb shelters. That means parents often have to make steep sacrifices to ensure their kids get the educations they need, as safely as possible.
Some try to scrape together enough funds to send their children to expensive private schools, which do have shelters.
“I have to work long hours to give him a proper education now,” said Kharkiv resident Slava, a pharmacist, of her 10-year-old son.
“The first year [of the war], he was alone online and it was difficult, so now I decided I want to give him something — a real, normal education.”
Quote:President Trump assured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on a Wednesday call that his main goal for Friday’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is to push for a cease-fire — but he is “not very optimistic” the dictator will budge, a US source familiar with the discussion told The Post.
“If Putin does not agree to [a] cease-fire, then Trump [is] likely to hit them [Russia] with sanctions,” the source said.
Hours earlier, Zelensky told reporters in Berlin that he, Trump and other European leaders “demonstrated one voice, one desire, and one principle” ahead of the US-Russia summit in Anchorage, Alaska.
“There should be a cease-fire, there should be security guarantees. President Trump said he supports this and spoke about America’s readiness to take part,” the 47-year-old said in laying out his position.
An American source told The Post that the conversation had gone “mostly well,” while Trump himself gave the call a perfect score.
“We had a very good call,” the president told reporters at the Kennedy Center. “I would rate it a 10.”
Notably, the American president promised the European leaders that he would not discuss the status of Ukrainian territory with Putin, with a source confirming it was ultimately “up to Ukraine to decide if and what territorial concessions to make.”
Before any negotiations on a final deal take place, the Western leaders agreed, a cease-fire must be observed — and Ukraine must be included once peace talks begin.
Trump, 79, also said a second meeting with Putin would take place with Zelensky present — but only if Friday’s sitdown aimed at “setting the table” for a future meeting went well.
“If the first one goes OK, we’ll have a quick second one,” Trump told reporters. “I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself, if they’d like to have me there.”
If Trump’s skepticism about Putin’s willlingness to play ball is proven true, he and the European leaders agreed that they would “hit Russia with more pressure and sanctions,” the source said.
Ukraine has repeatedly pushed for security guarantees — such as NATO membership or nuclear weapons — but both current and former US administrations have reacted cooly to those ambitions.
Quote:British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to London on Thursday, a day before a critical US-Russia summit in Alaska.
Zelensky’s trip to the British capital comes a day after he took part in virtual meetings from Berlin with US President Donald Trump and the leaders of several European countries.
Those leaders said Trump had assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Anchorage.
Both Zelensky and the Europeans have worried the bilateral US-Russia summit would leave them and their interests sidelined, and that any conclusions reached could favor Moscow and leave Ukraine and Europe’s future security in jeopardy with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its fourth year.
Yet some of those leaders, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, praised Wednesday’s video conference with Trump as constructive. Speaking after the meetings to reporters, Trump warned of “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after Friday’s meeting.
Territorial integrity
Starmer on Wednesday said the Alaska summit would be “hugely important,” and could be a “viable” path to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
But he also alluded to European concerns that Trump may strike a deal that forces Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, and warned that Western allies must be prepared to step up pressure on Russia if necessary.
During a call Wednesday among leaders of countries involved in the “coalition of the willing” — those who are prepared to help police any future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv — Starmer stressed that any deal reached on bringing the fighting to an end must protect the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine.
Quote:Russia appeared to be preparing to test its new nuclear-armed cruise missile just days before leader Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with President Trump on Friday.
Experts with the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) and CNA research and analysis organization found evidence that Russia was readying to test its SSC-X-9 Skyfall nuclear-powered cruise missile.
Jeffrey Lewis, of the MIIS, and Decker Eveleth, of CNA, said activity had skyrocketed at Russia’s Pankovo test site on the Barents Sea archipelago, including increases in personnel and equipment and ships and aircraft associated with earlier tests of the nuclear weapon.
“We can see all of the activity at the test site, which is both huge amounts of supplies coming in to support operations and movement at the place where they actually launch the missile,” Lewis said.
“It’s full steam ahead,” he said of the pace of test preparations.
Lewis and Eveleth, who monitored the activity at the Pankovo test site using Planet Labs commercial satellites, said the images showed stacks of shipping containers, equipment, and personnel arriving at the test site since late July.
Lewis also noted the presence of at least five ships associated with previous tests, with a sixth ship due to arrive next Tuesday, according to ship-tracking website VesselFinder.com.
A separate Western security source confirmed with Reuters that Russia was preparing a cruise missile test at the site.
A series of notices on the US Federal Aviation Administration’s Defense Internet NOTAM Service issued by Russia also showed a possible launch window between Aug. 9 and 22.
Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the Trump administration’s “energetic” and “sincere” efforts to end the war in Ukraine — and suggested the US and Russia could reach a deal on nuclear arms control at their summit in Alaska on Friday.
Putin appeared optimistic that forthcoming meetings in Anchorage between Moscow and Washington could “create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, as well as in Europe, and in the world as a whole,” he told senior officials during a briefing on Thursday.
“The current American administration… is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” Putin said, according to CNN.
A possible peace deal is possible in the “next stages” of negotiations if the US and Russia can “reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons,” the 72-year-old said, referring to nuclear arms.
The US and Russia signed a pact in 2011, known as New START, capping strategic nuclear weapons deployments. The deal expires on February 5, 2026.
New START has been tested by Russia’s war in Ukraine and has been on life support since Putin announced Russia would no longer comply with its requirements in February.
The treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The pact also called for mutual site inspections, which were paused during COVID-19 in 2020 and have not resumed.
The Kremlin also indicated they want to bring other topics to the table during Friday’s meeting — including economic cooperation — alongside conversations about the war on Ukraine.
Quote:A huge explosion ripped through a gunpowder factory in Russia on Friday as fighting also continued in Ukraine ahead of a bombshell summit between Presidents Putin and Trump in Alaska.
Five people were killed and at least 20 were injured, 10 of them seriously, in the blast that sparked a huge fire at the Elastik gunpowder plant near the city of Ryazan, just over 100 miles southeast of Moscow.
More bodies are feared trapped under the rubble, local reports said.
The blast was not immediately blamed on Ukraine, with local media noting an earlier explosion at the same factory killed 17 people in 2021.
However, it came as Ukraine forces hit a Russian oil refinery in Samara Oblast with a drone overnight, and also targeted an enemy ship loaded with Iranian-supplied weapons in the port of Olya on the Caspian Sea.
The attacks came even as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, encouraged Trump to get a cease-fire deal from Putin when they meet in Alaska on Friday.
The death toll at the Elastik factory is expected to rise, with more bodies trapped under the rubble where more than 100 workers were evacuated, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Russian media reports that said at least 100 people had been evacuated.
Dramatic video shows an enormous plume of black smoke and huge flames leaping into the sky, visible from miles around.
No official cause for the blast has been given. But Russian media has blamed possible safety violations at the plant where 17 people were killed in a 2021 blast.
Meanwhile, Russia may be close to a new breakthrough on the frontlines in Ukraine, with its forces encircling the key city of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region, according to open-source online mapping site DeepState.
Quote:Russia’s foreign minister arrived in Alaska for Friday’s high-stakes US summit wearing a Soviet Union sweatshirt — an apparent jab reminding the world of the Kremlin’s ultimate goal to reassemble the Communist state.
Sergei Lavrov was seen wearing a gray sweatshirt emblazoned with “CCCP” — the Russian letters for USSR — that was partly covered by a black puffer vest as he entered the site of the talks in Anchorage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022 as part of his personal ambition to re-form the Soviet Union, the collapse of which he has called “the greatest geopolitical disaster of the century.”
Lavrov’s choice of sweater taunted the formerly Soviet Ukraine, a democratic country that has been independent since the USSR’s dissolution in 1991.
The foreign minister told reporters in Alaska that he wasn’t making “any predictions” about the outcome of the talks between Presidents Trump and Putin.
“We have solid arguments, we have our own clear and comprehensible position,” he said. “We will present it here.”
Further symbolism was on display during a special flight from Moscow to Anchorage, where Russian journalists were served Chicken Kyiv, chief Putin propagandist and RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan posted to social media.
It was unclear if the choice of meal — which is standard fare on Russian airlines because it can be easily frozen and reheated — was intentional.
At Russia’s request, Ukrainian officials were not invited to Friday morning’s summit at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, northeast of downtown Anchorage.
Quote:Illia, a two-year-old Ukrainian boy, was kidnapped by a high-ranking Russian officer for his “good looks” — only to be abandoned when his underlying health issues were uncovered.
He was never seen again.
The innocent toddler is one of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia during the war that Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, is fiercely fighting for.
Now, as a possible peace deal between Ukraine and Russia gains momentum, Zelenska wants the return of her country’s missing children to be a priority, she told The Post in an exclusive interview from Kyiv Thursday.
Ukraine has struggled to locate and repatriate the children kidnapped by Russian forces since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in 2022 — many of whom were taken from schools, orphanages, or their families during the chaos of occupation.
Ukrainian officials say at least 19,500 children remain unaccounted for, but the actual number could be far higher.
The Russian government has previously claimed far higher numbers. In 2023, Russian Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova cited 744,000 Ukrainian children as having been moved to Russia —before both she and President Vladimir Putin were indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes related to these deportations.
“For all Ukrainians, this is one of the most heartbreaking consequences of this war,” Zelenska said. “We could not protect their rights when the Russians took them — without consent, without records, without any transparency.”
Thousands of children were removed during what the Kremlin called “evacuation” procedures — but were actually forced deportations.
In some cases, entire boarding schools were emptied and the children loaded onto buses, disappearing without a trace.
Ukrainian social services scrambled to locate them, but with much of the occupied territory under Russian control, answers have been scarce.
“In the first weeks of the invasion, civilians couldn’t evacuate freely,” Zelenska said. “There were no green corridors. Anyone who tried to leave towards Ukrainian-controlled areas risked being shot, even families with children. The only direction open was towards Russia.”
Many children were also separated from their parents during so-called “filtration” procedures at controversial checkpoints where fleeing civilians were subjected to interrogations, phone checks, and even body inspections for pro-Ukrainian tattoos.
Quote:President Trump on Friday described it as “very nice” that former rival Hillary Clinton promised to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize if he’s able to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine without Kyiv being forced to give up territory.
“Well, uh, that was … very nice,” Trump told Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier, after a prolonged pause.
“I may have to start liking her again,” the president added of the former first lady, secretary of state and two-time defeated presidential candidate, as he traveled aboard Air Force One for a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Clinton’s surprising offer to nominate her 2016 presidential election opponent for the illustrious prize came during an interview with the “Raging Moderates” podcast released Friday.
“Honestly, if he could bring about the end to this terrible war, if he could end it without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor, could really stand up to Putin — something we haven’t seen, but maybe this is the opportunity — if President Trump were the architect of that, I’d nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize,” she told podcast host Jessica Tarlov.
“Because my goal here is to not allow capitulation to Putin,” Clinton added.
Trump has said he is confident Putin is looking to strike a deal to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, putting the chance of failure at just 25%.
The president has already been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his efforts in securing a cease-fire between Israel and Iran.
The governments of Pakistan and Cambodia also indicated they have nominated Trump for the prize, for the president’s role in settling disputes with India and Thailand, respectively.
Trump’s role in negotiating a peace framework between Azerbaijan and Armenia similarly resulted in the leaders of both nations expressing support for Trump winning the prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is expected to announce the peace prize winner on Oct. 10.
Quote:Russian reporters are whining about having to sleep on cots and being served old tuna for breakfast while covering the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska — but their own country may actually be to blame.
The Kremlin journalists griped that they’ve had to rough it on portable beds with no sheets set up at the Alaska Airlines Center sports arena in Anchorage, where they were hardly able to make phone calls.
They — gasp — even had to get by without bottled water.
“After being assigned for [Thursday] night to what appeared to be a disaster evacuation zone, Russian journalists were being treated to breakfast of tuna mayo left out overnight, some chips, and an unlimited supply of water (from a drinking fountain),’’ wrote an irked Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of the Russian state-run outlet RT.
But critics said Russia is at least partly to blame for what its scribes consider practically Third World conditions.
The country flew roughly 50 of its own “reporters” over to supposedly cover the event, and it’s lucky so many of them got into the US at all, considering the nation’s intelligence services regularly send spies to work as “journalists,’’ a security source told The Post.
There wasn’t much time to vet them or get enough accommodations for quickly planned summit, the source noted.
Many US reporters didn’t get hotel rooms in the small capital city of roughly 290,000, either.
On Friday, footage showed members of the Russian media receiving stepped-up food including breakfast sandwiches, packaged snacks and beverages at the arena, which hosts basketball games on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus.
“Americans finally provide journalists with proper food,” declared the X account Alaska Summit News First.
But in some corners, the Russian journos are in no position to complain about the US.
“Sanctions mean roaming doesn’t really work, so they are stuck on WiFi, and Russia blocked most calls on WhatsApp and telegram the other day,’’ wrote Financial Times’ Moscow Bureau Chief Max Seddon on X.
Another X user wrote, “So, better treatment than Ukrainians in the occupied territories.
“You have access to running water, something people in occupied Donetsk don’t have.
Quote:The Museum of the Holocaust—Museo del Holocausto in Guatemala City was vandalized this week by pro-Palestinian activists, in a rare incident of antisemitism in the Central American country, the museum’s director said on Thursday.
The vandals spray-painted “Gaza Viva” on the museum’s walls in Guatemala City on Sunday night, and affixed some 18 posters referencing the Gaza Strip.
“With all the problems happening in far-away Guatemala with criminal gangs, it is disturbing how a small group of people is using the excuse of the war in Gaza to target the Jews,” Marco Gonzalez, director of the museum, told JNS on Thursday.
The vandalism took place the night after about two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters held a small demonstration in Guatemala City, he said.
Security cameras caught the images of three vandals just before midnight, the museum director said. No arrests have been made in the case.
The museum, which opened in 2016 and is operated by a Paris-based Christian organization, is the only Holocaust museum in Central America.
“We stand firm in the face of the international antisemitism that attacked our monument; with the Jewish people and their friends, we say: No to antisemitism disguised as defense of the Palestinians,” said Father Patrick Desbois, founder of the Holocaust research organization Yahad-In Unum, which runs the Museo del Holocausto. “We will not stop teaching the Holocaust to new generations, so that tomorrow Guatemala will be free of hatred and antisemitism.”
Last year, nearly 20,000 people visited the museum.
The strongly pro-Israel Guatemala, whose 18 million residents are split between Catholics and evangelicals, includes Holocaust education in its school curriculum.
Guatemala’s friendship with Israel dates back to the vote by the United Nations General Assembly to create a Jewish state in 1947, when it became the first country in Latin America to recognize the newly-reestablished Israel. It was also the second country to move its embassy to Jerusalem after the United States did so in 2018 during the first administration of President Donald Trump.
Quote:A coin minted by Jewish rebels just before the destruction of the Second Temple – an event Jesus predicted in the Gospels – has been unearthed in Jerusalem.
The 2,000-year-old artifact was found at the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, located in the Old City and just a stone’s throw away from the Temple Mount.
The discovery was announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on July 31, just days before Tisha B’Av – the Jewish day of mourning that marks the Romans’ destruction of the Temple, near where the coin was found.
“The obverse side of the coin carries the inscription in ancient Hebrew script: ‘For the Redemption of Zion’ – expressing the heartfelt desire of Jerusalem‘s Jews, toward the end of the revolt,” the IAA noted.
The bronze coin was minted by ancient Jews between 69 and 70 A.D. The IAA said it was found near the southwest corner of the Temple Mount.
The coin was discovered by Yaniv David Levy, a coin specialist with the IAA, who described its state of preservation as “quite good.”
“On its reverse is a lulav, a palm frond used in the Sukkot festival ritual,” Levy said.
“Next to it are two etrogs, the citron used in that same ritual.”
He noted, “The [Year Four] inscription denotes the number of years since the outbreak of the rebellion and allows us to accurately date the coin to the period between the Hebrew month of Nissan (March-April) of the year 69 CE, and the month of Adar (February-March) of the year 70 CE.”
Speaking about her experience during the excavation, archaeologist Esther Rakow-Mellet told the IAA she had a feeling it was an unusual discovery.
“From the looks of it, [we thought] it might be a rare coin,” Rakow-Mellet recalled.
“We waited anxiously for several days until it came back from cleaning, and it turned out that it was a greeting from the Jewish rebels in Year Four of the Great Revolt.”
She also noted the striking timing of the discovery, just days before Tisha B’Av.
“Two thousand years after the minting of this coin … [we found] such a moving testimony to that great destruction, and I think there is nothing more symbolic,” said Rakow-Mellet.
The IAA noted that Year Four coins are “relatively rare,” since they were minted toward the end of the revolt when rebels had reduced production capabilities.
Excavation director Yuval Baruch said the coin’s inscription “indicates a profound change of identity and mindset, and perhaps also reflects the desperate situation of the rebel forces.”
“It would seem that in the rebellion’s fourth year, the mood of the rebels now besieged in Jerusalem changed from euphoria and anticipation of freedom at hand, to a dispirited mood and a yearning for redemption,” the archaeologist observed.
The coin will be put on display at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem.
The recent discovery is one of many archaeological finds made in Jerusalem this year: an ancient garden was recently found at the holiest site in Christianity, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
In the Room of the Last Supper, located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, centuries-old inscriptions have also recently resurfaced.
Quote:The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency visited Qatar on Thursday to revive the cease-fire and hostage exchange talks with Hamas, officials said.
David Barnea met with Qatari Prime Minister Abdulrahman al-Thani in hopes of restarting the peace talks, which were left frozen after Israel and the US exited Doha and accused Hamas of not negotiating in good faith, two officials with the Jewish state told Reuters.
Barnea’s trip comes as Hamas reportedly sent its own negotiation team to Cairo to try and revive the peace talks, with the terror group claiming it was open to ceding its power in Gaza, but not its weapons.
Hopes for a diplomatic end to the war, which has raged on for more than 21 months, were seemingly dashed last month after the US and Israel pulled out of the negotiating table, claiming Hamas showed “a lack of desire to reach a cease-fire in Gaza.”
The tension at the negotiating table stemmed from Hamas’ refusal to give up its hold over the Gaza Strip and demilitarize, with Israel also rejecting any deal that would establish the groundwork for a full military withdrawal and permanent peace.
With the talks dead in the water, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans last week for a full military takeover of Gaza City, with the aim of pressuring the terror group to come back to the negotiating table.
Hamas officials did just that on Thursday, with one official telling Reuters that the terrorist group was ready to relinquish governance on Gaza to a non-partisan committee.
Hamas, which bills itself as a resistance group, however, said it would not demilitarize until a Palestinian state is formally established.
Netanyahu has long rejected the idea of a Palestinian state, claiming that recognizing one would only reward Hamas and the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, where the militants killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.
Quote:The Israel Defense Forces killed Nasser Musa, a senior operative in Hamas’s Rafah Brigade who headed the terrorist group’s Military Control Department, last week in a strike near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the military announced on Friday.
Musa, killed on Aug. 9, was responsible for the operational readiness and training of the Rafah Brigade, which carried out attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians during the war.
He was a close associate of Rafah Brigade commander Mohammad Sabaneh, who was killed in May 2025. He also held multiple positions within the brigade, including in military intelligence and the observation network.
“Musa’s elimination further degrades the Rafah Brigade’s operational capabilities and Hamas terrorists’ abilities,” said the IDF.
Meanwhile, the IDF continues operations in Khan Yunis. On Thursday, it struck a structure used by terrorist groups to store rockets intended for attacks on Israeli targets. Troops also located and dismantled additional terrorist infrastructure and neutralized active terrorist cells.
In northern Gaza, IDF soldiers killed terrorists and demolished tunnel shafts, and “continue to defend the civilians of the communities near the Strip,” the military added.
Earlier this week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir confirmed a new phase in the war against Hamas, focused on securing operational control of Gaza City.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will not occupy the enclave, saying the expansion of the war is aimed at destroying Hamas and freeing the local population from its regime of terror.
On Thursday night, he outlined conditions for ending the fighting, including the full disarmament of Hamas; the return of all 49 remaining hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023 and of the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin, taken in 2014; the demilitarization of the entire Strip; security control of Gaza by the IDF; and establishing “an alternative civilian administration” in the enclave.
Quote:American kids may have grown up with Mr. Rogers telling them, “You are special just the way you are,” but for a child in Gaza there was Farfour—a plushy, genocidal TV mouse screaming “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Farfour, a costumed Mickey Mouse knockoff, was co-host of a kid’s program called “Tomorrow’s Pioneers” which aired on Hamas-affiliated television station Al-Aqsa TV from April 2007 to October 2009.
For anyone wondering how the ideologically-crazed fanatical fighters of Hamas came to be, the show offers some answers.
Billed as educational programming to teach Islamic values to schoolchildren — much like a “Sesame Street” or “Barney & Friends” for the Middle East — “Tomorrow’s Pioneers” was a colorful, sing-song blood orgy celebrating Jew hatred and martyrdom.
The kids who grew up watching it are now fighting age men — like those who carried out the October 7 massacre of nearly 1,200 Israelis and abducted 251 hostages.
On the show, Farfour promised the kids of Gaza that together they’d oversee Islamic world domination and liberate Jerusalem from the “murderers.” He mimicked grenade-throwing and shooting an AK-47.
Mia Bloom, professor of communication and Middle East studies at Georgia State University, remembers “Tomorrow’s Pioneers” well from her research into terror tactics.
“It’s a constant stream of horrific propaganda that is almost impossible for a child to break out of. And so the kids grow up thinking that every Israeli should be killed because every Israeli is bad and evil,” she told the Post.
The show’s co-host, Gaza child star Saraa Barhoum — around 10 years old when the show first aired and the daughter of a university professor mother and a Hamas spokesman father — said in a 2007 interview she wanted to be either a doctor or a martyr when she grew up.
She also launched a singing career, recording pop songs with lyrics like, “raise your sail for the sailors, and let your lighthouse illuminate the sea of blood.”
“There’s a concept in criminology called a deviant peer. If I’m a recruiter—if I’m trying to get kids—I’m not going to use a 75-year-old man. I’m going to use a cool kid who’s maybe a few years older,” Bloom says.
“Unfortunately, it’s a common thing that happens within the child abuse space.”
Disney, notorious for swooping in on copyright infringement, was aware of Farfour’s Mickey Mouse likeness but chose to remain silent. They didn’t have to for long: the network murdered Farfour on air during the first season. In the scene, the terror Mouse is being interrogated by IDF soldiers who beat him to death after he refuses to hand over documents.
“[Hamas’s] argument would be: ‘These kids are already traumatized — this kid doesn’t have a house, lost a sibling — the trauma is already there and the trauma is all around them.’
“By traumatizing the children through the ‘Pioneers’ show, Hamas basically controlled the narrative and they could direct the trauma, instead of having this vague generalized trauma across society,” Bloom, author of the book “Small Arms: Children and Terrorism” said.
On the show, Farfour was replaced by a bloodthirsty bumblebee with a squeaky voice named Nahoul, who preached to the kiddos: “We will liberate Al-Aqsa from the filth of the criminal Jews,” referring to the fictional town where the characters lived, and “revenge upon the enemies of God, the murderers of the prophets.”
In season two, Nahoul gets sick. The Israeli authorities won’t issue him a travel permit to receive medical treatment in Egypt and he dies. Nahoul is replaced by his rabbit brother, Assoud, a mangy Bugs Bunny knockoff, who tells the tykes at home in one episode: “A rabbit is a term for a bad person and coward. And I, Assoud, will finish off the Jews and eat them.”
In another episode Assoud is tempted by Satan to steal money from his father and sentenced to have his hand cut off, “as the Prophet Mohammed commanded.” Assoud later dies in an Israeli strike and is replaced by a bear.
In another episode, children were invited into the studio to tell the hosts of their wish to die as martyrs, and then sing a song about it.
“This kind of layered trauma that you’re deliberately exposing young Palestinian children to was not just a form of child abuse, but a long-term manipulation,” Bloom says.
“It relates to October 7th. To have those resources and instead of making things better, you’ve just made things so much worse.”
While little information is publicly known about the estimated 3,000 Hamas fighters who conducted the Oct. 7 slaughter, ages 16-35 are considered “fighting age” for men—meaning many of those combatants grew up watching their favorite plushy woodland creatures get executed by Jews on afterschool television.
“It’s not just the ‘Pioneers’ TV show. It was amplified and reinforced by the textbooks that the children would read in school that demonized Jews and basically referred to Jews as apes and pigs and other dirty animals,” Bloom says.
A 2008 analysis of Palestinian schoolbooks found a passage comparing Jews to “invading snakes.” In popular media, a late 1990s Palestinian magazine article explained that Jews are the actual sons of apes and, due to the shame felt by this, the “Jewish ape Darwin” invented the theory of evolution and applied it to all humans.
Bloom, who has studied genocide, extremist movements, and child soldiers across the world, says it reminds her of the Taliban and ISIS—both of whom held public beheadings and required children of the community to attend.
“It’s not exactly the same because killing Farfour was fake. But it’s this idea of exposing children to obscene levels of violence. And it creates a preparedness to justify violence and to choose violence over other options.”
Quote:President Trump signed an executive order on Monday extending a tariff truce with China by another 90 days – just hours before levies on Chinese goods were due to snap back to triple-digit rates.
“I have just signed an Executive Order that will extend the Tariff Suspension on China for another 90 days. All other elements of the Agreement will remain the same,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The order prevents tariffs on imports from China – currently subject to a 30% duty – from sky-rocketing to 145%.
Similarly, China’s 10% tariff on US goods – which was set to climb to 125% just after midnight Tuesday – will remain in place.
Washington and Beijing struck a deal in May to pause their raging trade war for 90 days, as negotiations on a long term trading agreement continued.
Earlier Monday, Trump was noncommittal when asked if he would extend the tariff truce, but noted that negotiations were going “quite nicely.”
“We’ll see what happens,” the president told reporters. “They’ve been dealing quite nicely. The relationship is very good with President Xi [Jinping] and myself.”
The initial truce was agreed to after talks in Geneva, Switzerland in May – led on the US side by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Both sides met again in Stockholm, Sweden in late July, but no agreement on a trade deal, nor extending the pause, was reached.
Trump cut preliminary trade deals with several nations, including the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and the European Union, ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline he had set for his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs to go into effect.
Quote:A British prison officer could be headed for her own cell after recently fessing up to a month-long inappropriate relationship with an inmate, according to a report.
Megan Breen, 23, made the shocking admission in a Welsh court, becoming the latest of more than a dozen UK prison workers charged with similar conduct in recent years, the Telegraph reported.
Breen initially denied the allegations before owning up to the affair, while the prisoner involved remains unnamed.
Exactly what happened between Breen and the inmate remains unclear.
But their relationship was carried out between February and May 2022, while Breen was working at two South Wales prisons — HMP Usk and HMP Prescoed.
Prescoed is a minimum security prison, according to the Telegraph, while Usk is a tighter security facility that houses the likes of sex offenders.
It also remains unclear which prison the relationship happened at.
“While acting as a public officer, namely a prison officer, willfully and without reasonable excuse or justification, [you] misconducted yourself in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder by having a relationship with a prisoner,” Breen’s charges read.
She was released on bail until her sentencing next month.
Quote:Firefighters in Spain, Portugal, and Greece continued to battle wildfires Friday on a public holiday in all three countries as persistent hot, dry conditions challenged efforts to contain the blazes.
Spain was fighting 14 major fires. Temperatures were expected to climb over the weekend.
“Today will once again be a very tough day, with an extreme risk of new fires,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X.
The national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in most of the country, including where the largest blazes were burning in the north and west.
A heatwave, which brought temperatures exceeding 104 Fahrenheit on several days this month, was expected to last through Monday.
Fires in the Galicia region forced the closure of several highways. The high-speed rail line connecting it to Spain’s capital, Madrid, remained suspended.
The fires in Spain this year have burned 610 square miles, according to the European Union’s European Forest Fire Information System.
That is an area roughly as big as metropolitan London.
In both Spain and Portugal, it was the Feast of the Assumption, a major Catholic holiday usually marked by family gatherings and religious processions.
In Portugal, nearly 4,000 firefighters were battling seven major fires.
Authorities extended the state of alert until Sunday, amid high temperatures expected to last through the weekend.
A wildfire in Greece burned out of control for a fourth day on the island of Chios, prompting several more overnight evacuations.
Two water-dropping planes and two helicopters were operating in the north of the island in the eastern Aegean Sea, where local authorities said a lull in high winds was helping firefighters early Friday.
Quote:Indian refiners, the top importers of Russian crude oil, are searching for alternative suppliers ahead of Friday’s summit between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, is looking to switch up its procurement process after Trump imposed a total 50% tariff rate on New Delhi, accusing the country of effectively fueling Russia’s war machine.
Oil importers are hedging their bets that even harsher punishments are in store for anyone who purchases petroleum from Moscow once Trump meets with Putin, with India’s state processor buying large bulk quantities of non-Russian crude this week to prepare for the worst, Bloomberg reported.
Both Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. have purchased cargo from all over the world, including the US, Brazil and the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia remains one of the top exporters of oil to India, with Riyadh sending about 22.5 million barrels of crude that are expected to arrive in September, according to Bloomberg.
The full 50% tariff rate imposed by Trump is due to take effect Aug. 27, supplanting the 25% rate currently in effect.
The race to stock up comes as Indian Oil, the country’s top refiner, missed its quarterly profit estimates on Thursday, reporting revenue about $200 million below expectations.
On average, India imported about $130 billion in Russian oil per year since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to an analysis from the New York Times.
“Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement responding to Trump’s Aug. 6 tariff announcement.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:A group of rabbits in Colorado with grotesque, hornlike growths may seem straight out of a low-budget horror film, but scientists say there's no reason to be spooked — the furry creatures merely have a relatively common virus.
The cottontails recently spotted in Fort Collins are infected with the mostly harmless Shope papillomavirus, which causes wart-like growths that protrude from their faces like metastasizing horns.
Viral photos have inspired a fluffle of unflattering nicknames, including "Frankenstein bunnies," "demon rabbits" and "zombie rabbits." But their affliction is nothing new, with the virus inspiring ancient folklore and fueling scientific research nearly 100 years ago.
The virus likely influenced the centuries-old jackalope myth in North America, which told of a rabbit with antlers or horns, among other animal variations. The disease in rabbits also contributed to scientists' knowledge about the connection between viruses and cancer, such as the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer.
The virus in rabbits was named after Dr. Richard E Shope, a professor at The Rockefeller University who discovered the disease in cottontails in the 1930s.
News about the rabbit sightings in Fort Collins, 65 miles north of Denver, started getting attention after residents started spotting them around town and posting pictures.
"It looks like it was black quills or black toothpicks sticking out all around his or her mouth," Susan Mansfield, a Fort Collins resident who saw one of the rabbits, told 9News. "I thought he would die off during the winter, but he didn't. He came back a second year, and it grew."
Kara Van Hoose, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the agency has been getting calls about the rabbits seen in Fort Collins.
But she said that it's not uncommon to see infected rabbits, especially in the summer, when the fleas and ticks that spread the virus are most active. The virus can spread from rabbit to rabbit but not to other species, including humans and pets, she said.
Quote:Terrifying video shows the moment a minivan ploughed into a tractor-trailer making an outrageous rogue U-turn on a Florida highway last week — with all three people in the van killed and the truck’s illegal-migrant driver charged with homicide.
The roadway horror happened around 3 p.m. Tuesday on the Florida Turnpike near Fort Pierce when the tractor-trailer driven by suspect Harjinder Singh made a hard left turn across the highway and attempted to cross the median through an “Official Use Only” pass, authorities said.
The truck’s trailer blocked all lanes of oncoming traffic as it nosed over the median — with footage from inside its cab showing a black minivan driving toward it with no time to stop and nowhere to turn to avoid a collision.
Within seconds, the minivan slammed into the trailer at full speed and became wedged underneath.
Photos from the wreck showed the minivan obliterated — with its contents strewn across the highway after apparently bursting from the van’s side, while the roof was shorn back and crumpled over the trunk in a twisted mess of metal.
Inside the truck’s cab, Singh appeared completely unaffected by the violence unfolding on the highway.
He looked out the cab window and watched as the minivan flew down the highway into the trailer, and when it collided and the truck was sent shuddering, his face remained unchanged as he calmly put his vehicle into park and turned the engine off.
Additional footage from alongside the truck after the wreck — as rescue crews used jacks to lift the trailer from the van and extricate the passengers’ remains — showed Singh standing by and watching the operation with his arms at his side and no expression on his face.
Two passengers in the minivan were killed instantly, while the driver clung to life and was pulled from the wreck. The driver was later declared dead at a nearby hospital.
The victims’ names have not been released, but were confirmed to be a 37-year-old Pompano Beach woman, a 30-year-old Florida City man and a 54-year-old Miami man, Treasure Coast Newspapers reported.
Singh was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and is in Florida custody.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer also was put out for him after it was determined that he’d been in the US illegally since 2018, when he crossed into the country over the Mexican border, CBS12 reported.
It remains unclear what country Singh is originally from.
He had been driving with a California commercial driver’s license.
If found guilty of homicide, Singh will likely serve his sentence in Florida and then be deported.
“Three people lost their lives as a result of his recklessness, and countless friends and family members will experience the pain of their loss forever,” said the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ executive director, Dave Kerner.
“Harjinder Singh is in custody on state vehicular homicide charges and immigration violations. He will no longer be able to damage and destroy the lives of Floridians and visitors,” he added, according to CBS 12.
Quote:A truck driver from the California city of Stockton, who is at the center of a major case getting national attention, has been extradited back to Florida.
Harjinder Singh is accused of making an illegal U-turn, causing a crash in Florida that killed three people. He was held at the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp in California's Central Valley.
Florida's new Lieutenant Governor, Jay Collins, flew to California on Wednesday to pick up Singh and bring him back to Florida to face charges. On Thursday, Singh was guided onto a plane at the Stockton airport by Collins and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed the plan in a statement, saying, "We're going to extradite him back to Florida and throw the book at him."
Singh, an Indian national, entered the U.S. illegally in 2018. After the deadly crash on August 12, he returned to California and was arrested four days later by U.S. Marshals.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said this move by Florida is all for show.
"Florida let a murder suspect walk. California arrested him. Now, Florida wants a photo-op picking him up," a spokesperson for Newsom's office said.
The governor's office also mentioned California's sanctuary law, SB-54, which prevents local police from handing people over to immigration authorities if they don't have a criminal history.
In a news conference Thursday morning, Collins questioned how Singh was able to drive a commercial vehicle and said Singh answered three of the 16 questions officers asked him at the scene in Florida.
"He fled here because of the failed policies, these open border nonsense," Collins said. "The fact that you want to be a sanctuary state here because Gavin Newsom fails to understand his own citizens and the American citizens have given President Donald J Trump a mandate. Gov. Ron DeSantis has led on this. That gentleman, that thug, fled back here because he knew those policies would defend him."
San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said that Singh had no criminal record before this crash. Withrow said it's still unclear whether the crash was an accident or intentional.
Quote:President Trump on Wednesday called on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign on the basis of allegations made by one of his political allies about mortgages she holds in Michigan and Georgia, intensifying his effort to gain influence over the central bank.
Cook said she had “no intention of being bullied to step down” from her position at the central bank after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte raised the allegations in a tweet.
“I do intend to take any questions about my financial history seriously as a member of the Federal Reserve and so I am gathering the accurate information to answer any legitimate questions and provide the facts,” she said in a statement.
Trump has also told aides he is considering attempting to fire her, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing a senior White House official and another person familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Trump has also told aides he is considering trying to fire Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed board, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing a senior White House official and another person familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
The White House declined to comment on the WSJ report.
Pulte alleged in a post on X earlier on Wednesday that Cook had designated a condo in Atlanta as her primary residence after taking a loan on her home in Michigan, which she also declared as a primary residence. Pulte told CNBC he is also probing property Cook has in Massachusetts.
Loans for a primary residence can carry easier terms than for second homes or investment properties. Pulte said the loans date to mid-2021, before Cook was appointed to the Fed by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate the following year.
She is a native of Georgia and at the time was an economics professor at Michigan State University.
Pulte asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate, and Trump quickly amplified the allegation. The Justice Department was taking the matter very seriously, a department official told Reuters.
Quote:A woman erupted in a temper tantrum and attacked a Southwest Airlines gate agent, smashing a computer and kicking him after missing multiple flights, video of the freak-out shows.
The outraged traveler had an epic meltdown at Orlando International Airport last Thursday after she failed to make the standby list for three consecutive flights, according to witness Peyton Turberville, who filmed the ordeal.
“She tried to get in through the gate after it closed and they asked her to stop,” Turbeville told Storyful.
Video shows the unidentified woman approach the desk repeatedly screaming “Are you kidding me?” at a desk agent in a pink shirt, who calmly asks her to back away.
She then kicks the man in pink.
“Ooh that’s assault,” Turberville can be heard saying from behind the camera.
She walks away, incoherently rambling before she walks back towards the desk and bashes the computer, causing bystanders to gasp.
“Two flights wasted!” she yells. “Three planes! After 45 minutes!”
The man in the pink shirt walks away from the woman, who tries to rally witnesses to “call the police.”
She then walks back over to the desk, winds up and throws a punch at the computer monitor, knocking it to the ground.
The woman follows the desk agent around as he tries to avoid her before she gives up and walks away.
Quote:A Russian Uber driver working illegally in the US was caught on camera head-butting a South Carolina CEO as he held his service dog, leaving the knocked-out rider with a brain injury, according to the victim and a new lawsuit.
Charleston-based CEO Bryan Kobel, 45, canceled a ride home from a French restaurant, Maison, in April because the driver refused to take his service dog, Kobel told The Post on Thursday.
Disturbing surveillance footage shows the driver — identified as Vadim Uliumdzhiev, 42 — suddenly marching over and knocking out Kobel as he holds his 17-pound golden doodle in the parking lot.
“The next thing I know, I’m waking up in a hospital bed with seven staples in my head and four stitches,” Kobel said. “It’s been a brutal experience to this day.”
Kobel, who is the CEO of a biotech company, suffered a concussion, amnesia, and scarring— and soon learned from cops the driver had gotten the Uber job with a fake license, he said.
“Uber has to take more accountability for its drivers,” he said. “They’re opening the door to mayhem.”
Kobel said he had just asked the driver if his service dog was allowed in the car and the driver responded “no.”
When he told the driver to cancel the ride, in an interaction Kobel described as “innocuous,” the driver attacked him — and his memory went black, Kobel said.
An onlooker is shown in footage snapping a photo of Uliumdzhiev’s driver’s plate, and a dramatic 911 call ensued.
Quote:The Trump administration will begin reviewing all 55 million US visa holders to see if any have committed deportable offenses.
Any immigrants holding US visas found with “indicators of overstays, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity, or providing support to a terrorist organization” will have their permits to live in the US revoked and be deported, the State Department announced Thursday.
State Department representatives told the Associated Press all US visa holders are subject to “continuous vetting” intended to identify deportable offenses.
“We review all available information as part of our vetting, including law enforcement or immigration records or any other information that comes to light after visa issuance indicating a potential ineligibility,” the department said.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration has begun cracking down on the visa system, with particular scrutiny cast on the nation’s student visa holders.
Since Trump took office in January, 6,000 student visas have been revoked – with about 4,000 being taken from international students who broke the law.
And the “vast majority” of those people had committed crimes like driving under the influence, burglary or assault, a State Department official previously told The Post.
Upwards of 300 were revoked after holders were found to harbor “support for terrorism” – which the State Department said included “raising funds for the militant group Hamas.”
“Every single student visa revoked under the Trump Administration has happened because the individual has either broken the law or expressed support for terrorism while in the United States,” a State Department official told Fox News.
That crackdown is part of a wider move by President Trump to target illegal immigrants in the US – which has resulted in the first drop in immigrant populations the country has seen in 50 years.
Quote:President Trump won a huge, symbolic victory Thursday when a New York appeals court threw out the more than $500 million fine he owed in Attorney General Letitia James’ business fraud case.
The Appellate Division, First Department, overturned the whopping $464 million judgment against Trump, 79, but upheld a finding that the real estate tycoon-turned-president engaged in fraud by exaggerating his net worth for decades.
“I had a victory today. You know, they stole $550 million from me with a fake case, and it was overturned,” Trump told dozens of law enforcement officers later Thursday during a visit related to his crime crackdown in Washington, DC.
But the case, stemming from a civil suit brought by James’ office, still remains in place and will now go to New York’s highest court as the legal battle between the state’s top lawyer and the commander in chief continues.
The 323-page decision included three separate opinions, but three of the five judges agreed the fine against Trump — which had grown to $515 million including interest — was “excessive.”
“While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture, the court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the main opinion by Judges Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton read.
Still, the five-judge panel kept in place a ban on Trump and his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, from running a company in New York for several years. And the ruling kept in place an order for an outside monitor to oversee and file reports on the Trump Organization’s business dealings for three years.
Those parts of the ruling had been on hold while the appeal was decided. And Trump posted a $175 million bond in place of paying the entire judgment during the appeal process.
The interest and fines against everyone in the case — including Don Jr. and Eric, and other Trump Org. execs — have ballooned to over $527 million since the February 2024 ruling from Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron.
Thursday’s decision was a blow to James — whose office prosecuted Trump — and to Engoron, as at least two appellate judges found Engoron made “errors” in his rulings on the case.
James accused Trump and others of carrying out a “staggering fraud” by inflating his net worth by billions of dollars over a decade to get better loan and insurance terms. But the Republican commander-in-chief maintained his innocence, claiming that he was a target of the AG’s politically motivated prosecution.
Trump lauded the ruling in two lengthy posts on Truth Social, repeating claims that the case was a “political witch hunt.”
“TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case!,” Trump posted. “I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State.”
James, in her own statement, glossed over the fact that the judgment was vacated, also playing the decision off as a victory.
“The First Department today affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court; Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud.”
James said her office would appeal.
The five-judge panel was starkly divided on various issues. Two of the judges found James’ suit was valid and that she proved Trump committed fraud but felt the fine against him was too harsh.
Quote:President Trump told dozens of law enforcement officers Thursday that his crime crackdown in Washington, DC, was having “incredible results” and that the capital would soon be “spotless” and the “best in the world.”
“It’s like a different city. It’s the capital and it’s going to be the best in the world,” Trump said during a visit to a Park Police operations center in the high-crime Anacostia neighborhood.
“We’re going to do what you’re doing with law enforcement, and very importantly, also, we’re going to physically do it,” he said, describing plans to resurface city roadways and plant new grass in parks.
“You do the job on safety, and I’ll get this place fixed up physically. And we’re going to be so proud of it at the end of six months — but let’s say at the end of a year, this place will be maxed out in terms of beauty,” he said.
“They’re going to say, ‘Boy, this place is spotless.'”
The president presented the group with a dinner of hamburgers, which he said were cooked at the White House and recommended, and pizza from “a good place,” which was revealed to be Wise Guy Pizza.
Local Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers were present for the hastily scheduled appearance, as were members of the National Guard and various federal agencies, including the US Marshals, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations.
“We’re not playing games. We’re going to make it safe, and we’re going to then go on to other places, but we’re going to stay here for a while,” the president said.
Trump last Monday asserted federal control over the MPD, citing high-profile recent crimes and allegations of data falsification involving police records. He also mobilized the National Guard and ordered hundreds of federal agents to help drive down crime.
His takeover has yielded tepid pushback from Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, and her Police Chief Pamela Smith, with both complying with Trump’s directives and saying they welcomed help to reduce violence while disagreeing with the loss of local control.
Federal agents have made 630 arrests, including apprehending 251 suspected illegal immigrants, since Aug. 7, according to figures shared Thursday by the White House. The force has seized 86 illegal guns.
“We want to make this absolutely perfect,” Trump told the law enforcement officers enforcing his orders.
“It’s our capital, and I guess it used to be, many years ago, safe, but it’s certainly not at a very good run — and you’ve got to be strong, you’ve got to be tough, you got to do your job, whatever it takes to do your job.
“Frankly, you make the whole place run,” Trump told the officers.
Quote:The active shooting reported at Villanova University on Thursday afternoon that sparked pandemonium during new student move-in was a “cruel hoax,” the school’s president said in a statement to the campus community.
Students and visitors, including many families helping their children get settled, had been directed to shelter in place following what turned out to be a false alarm, according to the Radnor Township Police Department.
An alert from the university ordered everyone to stay away from the Law School Scarpa Hall, located on the West Campus near nine residence halls and a dining hall, according to a campus map.
“Today, as we are celebrating Orientation Mass to welcome our newest Villanovans and their families to our community, panic and terror ensued with the news of a possible shooter at the Law School,” University President Rev. Peter Donohue wrote.
“Mercifully, no one was injured, and we now know that it was a cruel hoax–there was no active shooter, no injuries and no evidence of firearms present on campus. While that is a blessing and relief, I know today’s events have shaken our entire community,” Donohue continued.
The false report was sparked by a 911 call claiming that there was an active shooter and one deceased victim, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said.
Shortly after sending out the all-clear email to campus, Donohue spoke to the community outside a campus building.
The false report was one of many called in across the country, including to the King of Prussia mall just five minutes away from campus, Donohue said.
Alarming videos posted to X showed frantic students and families running for their lives and toppling over chairs during an outdoor mass that was being held to welcome the new students.
Thursday was the first day of new student orientation, according to the university calendar.
The law school’s orientation started Tuesday and concluded with a picnic held with the alumni association Thursday afternoon, according to posts on X.
Quote:Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered the largest drone strike on Ukraine in a month on Monday night — just as he hung up the phone with President Trump in a call discussing next steps for peace.
As Trump celebrated his significant progress toward ending Russia’s war on Ukraine in White House meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Monday, Moscow launched 270 drones and 10 missiles into the war-torn neighbor’s territory.
It came after at least 14 civilians were killed and more than 50 others were injured in a similar Russian strike ahead of the Monday meeting.
Among the dead was an entire family, including two children — ages one and 15 — their parents and grandmother, according to the Ukrainian government. They were at home in Kharkiv — roughly 15 miles from the Russian border — in the middle of the night when the fatal blast happened.
“An ordinary apartment block … families with small children, a children’s playground, a residential compound,” neighbor Olena Yakusheva told Reuters on Monday while fighting back tears.
That assault added to the war’s already horrifying death toll of nearly 13,000 civilians — including 569 children — since Russia invaded in February 2022, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office data shared with The Post.
Put in perspective, that’s more than four times the civilian toll of the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks.
”Several children were killed,” Zelensky’s top advisor Andriy Yermak told The Post on Monday. “How is that possible if [Putin] sat and committed to Trump: ‘Yes, I am ready for peace.’”
”[Putin] is a liar — a professional liar,” he added.
Trump has previously expressed frustration over Putin launching aerial attacks hours after promising the US president of his desire for peace, but he had not spoken out about the latest attack as of Tuesday afternoon.
“I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? Another city was just hit,’” he said in July, recounting a call earlier this summer.
“We get a lot of bulls–t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” he said another time.
Last month was the deadliest since Putin launched his full-scale war on Ukraine three and a half years ago. In July alone, 286 civilians were killed and another 1,388, according to official data.
Quote:Ukrainian teenager Vladyslav Rudenko’s life was upended when Russian soldiers blasted into his home in Kherson in October 2022.
The menacing, black balaclava-clad troops said he had 30 minutes to pack whatever he could carry then ripped him from his family — he was 16 at the time.
It was nine months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Rudenko was forced onto one of several buses filled with Ukrainian children.
The military drove them to a camp in Crimea known as Druzhba — “Friendship” in both Ukrainian and Russian — populated by some 600 Ukrainian children and teenagers who were there to be re-educated.
The forced recruits were told to discard anything that would identify them as Ukrainian. One girl wore a T-shirt stamped with the words “Glory to Ukraine,” Rudenko told The Post.
She refused to take it off, so the Russian soldiers cut it off her, according to Rudenko.
At the re-education camp, teenagers were subjected to Russian propaganda videos and had to swear allegiance every morning to the Russian flag.
When Rudenko refused to cooperate, he was stuck in a dark cell and force-fed pills “to calm me down.”
Later, the soldiers sent Rudenko to a military camp where he learned to use weapons and drive a tank.
He was offered a Russian passport, education at a Russian university and Russian citizenship.
“They were trying to bribe me,” he said, adding that he is currently in therapy after suffering “emotional and psychological pressure to switch sides.”
Before he was scheduled to go to the front, Rudenko was allowed to call his mother, who had been working with the non-profit Save Ukraine to help him.
For security reasons, he says he cannot reveal how he was rescued, but is now back in Ukraine in what he described as “a very stable” environment.
The Russians offered him a Russian passport, education at a Russian university and Russian citizenship.
Quote:While President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky work to set up a bilateral Russia-Ukraine summit, Moscow is making new demands that could cancel out the White House’s recent successes in seeking an end to the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Moscow’s latest foot-dragging includes demands for veto power over security guarantees the US and Europe would provide Kyiv — and specific conditions for a summit between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed Wednesday that Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin only agreed to thinking about “raising the level of heads of delegations” from previous talks in Istanbul — if certain requirements are met.
The talks would have to be “honest,” Lavrov said, adding that a one-on-one showdown between Putin and Zelensky would have to be a “period” at the end of talks, and not “make negotiations worse.”
The demands blunt the impact of two major wins Trump achieved in his back-to-back meetings with Putin in Alaska on Friday and with Zelensky and top European leaders at the White House on Monday.
US allies celebrated Trump’s proclamation that he had gotten Putin to finally agree to an in-person meeting with Zelensky, as well as agreement on the presence of “NATO-like” forces in Ukraine to enforce terms of a possible peace deal.
Trump, 79, and Zelensky, 47, want Putin, 72, to meet with Kyiv’s president for talks in a matter of weeks and have discussed possible locations for such a summit.
Lavrov also said Wednesday Russia wants one aspect of conversations with Ukraine to include the “political” aspects of any deal, but did not clarify what he meant.
How Kyiv responds to the mystery proposal — which Lavrov said Trump would relay — will be an “important step” to bringing about a meeting of more senior Russian leaders with their Ukrainian counterparts and settling “key questions,” the Russian foreign affairs minister claimed.
Quote:President Trump ruled out sending US military forces to Ukraine as part of any US security guarantees to the war-torn nation, but suggested he would provide some form of air protection.
Trump insisted that the American public has “my assurance” when pressed in an interview on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning that there “won’t be American boots on the ground defending that border” in Ukraine.
“Well, you have my assurance,” the president replied. “I’m president and I’m just trying to stop people from being killed.”
Trump asserted that the US would support the Europeans in providing Ukraine with security, hinting that much of that support would be from air power.
“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you could talk about by air, because nobody has the kind of stuff we have,” he said.
He noted that the Europeans will likely have boots on the ground in Ukraine.
“They want to have boots on the ground,” Trump said of European allies. “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem, to be honest with you, I think Putin is tired of it [the war]. I think they’re all tired of it. But you never know. We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks.”
“We’re going to see where it all goes. It’s possible that he [Putin] doesn’t want to make a deal,” he added.
Ukraine has long demanded security guarantees to deter Russia from possible future invasions.
Top Trump administration officials, including special envoy Steve Witkoff, have publicly claimed that Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin has agreed to a NATO-like arrangement where countries would agree to defend Ukraine.
On Monday, however, the Russian Foreign Ministry seemingly pumped the brakes on the idea of NATO participants providing guarantees to Ukraine.
“We reaffirm our repeatedly stated position on our categorical rejection of any scenarios that envisage the appearance in Ukraine of a military contingent with the participation of NATO countries, which is fraught with an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences,” the foreign ministry said, Russian state media RIA reported, per a translation.
I wonder if Trump can keep that promise after what happened in Mukachevo...
Quote:A massive Russian airstrike hit a US-owned electronics factory in Ukraine early Thursday while some 800 civilians were working there.
The Flex Ltd. plant in Mukachevo, a city hundreds of miles from the front line, was engulfed in flames after being hit by two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles around 4:30 a.m., according to Ukrainian officials.
The factory was not involved in the war and was just one casualty as “hundreds of drones, as well as hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles, targeted civilian and energy infrastructure” in the latest Russian bombardment, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, wrote on X.
“One of the missiles hit a major American electronics plant in our westernmost region, causing severe damage and casualties. This is a completely civilian facility with no connection to defense or the military,” he added.
Dramatic photos and videos shared on social media show huge plumes of black smoke rising from the damaged plant.
Some 800 night-shift employees were on site at the time, but had been moved to designated shelters once an air raid siren sounded, according to reports.
At least 15 people were wounded in the strikes on Mukachevo, which is close to the borders with Hungary and Slovakia.
“This was an ordinary civilian facility with American investment,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in condemning the attack. “They produced everyday household items, such as coffee machines.”
Flex Ltd. is a Singaporean-American multinational manufacturing company with headquarters in Singapore and Austin, Texas.
The plant, which opened 13 years ago, employs more than 2,600 people and spans nearly 600,000 square feet.
It specializes in making plastic molding along with components for electrical equipment, coffee machines, printer cartridges, electronic price tags, and other products, Ukrainian outlet Dev.ua reports.
This marks the first Russian strike on Mukachevo since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia hit Ukraine with 574 drones and decoys, along with 40 missiles, on Wednesday night, mostly targeting western regions close to the European Union borders.
Quote:A Russian drone crashed in a field in eastern Poland, according to early findings, Polish officials said on Wednesday, in an incident the nation’s defense minister described as a provocation.
The drone hit and scorched a cornfield in the village of Osiny in the eastern Lublin province overnight, just over 62 miles from the Ukrainian border and around 55 miles from Belarus.
Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck a southern Polish village in 2022, killing two people.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pawel Wronski told Reuters that the findings so far and some experts have suggested a Russian version of the Shahed drone developed by Iran was involved in the latest incident.
General Dariusz Malinowski said the drone appeared to be a decoy which was designed to self-destruct. He said it had a Chinese engine.
Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, who also serves as defense minister, said the incident bore similarities to cases in which Russian drones flew into Lithuania and Romania, and could be linked to efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
“Once again, we are dealing with a provocation by the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone. We are dealing with it in a crucial moment, when discussions about peace (in Ukraine) are underway,” he told journalists.
Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X his ministry would issue a protest against the airspace violation but did not name the perpetrator.
“Another violation of our airspace from the East confirms that Poland’s most important mission towards NATO is the defense of our own territory.”
The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
U.S. President Donald Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a group of European allies in the White House on Monday, following his meeting on Friday in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The blast shattered windows in several homes, but nobody was injured, national news agency PAP reported.
Police said they found burnt metal and plastic debris at the site and that corn had been burnt in an area of roughly 26-33 ft in diameter around the spot where the object fell.
Quote:Two German warplanes were scrambled overnight from Romania after Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack in Ukraine less than a mile from the NATO borderline.
Romania’s Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that two German Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, stationed at Romania's Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base as part of NATO's Enhanced Air Policing mission, were deployed "to monitor the air situation," but noted that this time no Russian aircraft or projectiles crossed the NATO border.
Despite last week’s talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, Moscow has continued its aerial bombardment of Ukraine, including in an overnight attack that targeted oil and port facilities in the Odesa region on and near the Danube River, which separates the Ukrainian border with the allied NATO nation of Romania.
The deployment of NATO jets comes after numerous incidents in recent weeks have increasingly threatened, and even crossed, NATO borders as the U.S. and Europe continue to push for Russia to end its war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported early on Wednesday that more than 60 drones and ballistic missiles were fired across Ukraine overnight, including the northeastern region of Sumy, where a drone strike injured 14 people — though Ukraine’s Air Force later increased the number of overnight drone strikes to 93, and noted that 62 of the Shahed-style drones were intercepted, as well as one ballistic missile.
"A family with wounded children — 5 months, 4 years, and 6 years old — sought assistance after the attack," Zelenskyy said.
A glide bomb in Donetsk damaged five apartment buildings, and three people were still trapped under the rubble as of Wednesday morning.
"The rescue operation continues," Zelenskyy added, though he did not confirm how many others were injured in the strikes.
"All of these are demonstrative strikes that only confirm the need to put pressure on Moscow, the need to impose new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy is fully effective," Zelenskyy said on X. "I thank all partners who are helping to stop this Russian war. Together with the United States, Europe, and all those who seek peace.
Quote:More than a dozen of North Korea’s top military officers are returning home from Russia, suggesting Pyongyang’s contribution to the war in Ukraine could take a back seat during the ongoing peace talks, according to a new report.
The North Korean commanders, including Col. Gen. Kim Yong Bok and Maj. Gen. Sin Kum Chol, appeared suddenly in a welcome-home ceremony with leader Kim Jong Un praising their accomplishments in taking back Russia’s Kursk region, according to reports from Pyongyang on Thursday.
The generals’ return is likely a signal that Russia is confident it can keep Kursk and fend off any Ukrainian counterattack, all while avoiding questions about Pyongyang’s involvement in the war, Michael Madden, a North Korea expert at the Stimson Center think tank, told the Wall Street Journal.
“The North Koreans shouldn’t be a bone of contention at the negotiating table as they are operating on Russian territory,” Madden noted.
North Korea had deployed around 12,000 troops to Russia to help Moscow retake the Kursk region, where Ukraine had mounted a successful counter-invasion last summer.
The Pyongyang fighters have remained solely on Russian soil, allowing the deployment of the foreign fighters to be framed as part of the two nations’ mutual-defense pact.
Both Russia and North Korea had remained silent about the presence of Pyongyang troops in Russia for months until footage aired this spring of Kim and his entourage holding a tribute for all the soldiers slain in the war.
During the welcome-home ceremony, Kim was seen happily greeting his returning generals and giving them hugs as he touted their victory.
“Ours is a heroic army,” Kim said, according to KCNA state media.
Quote:President Trump insisted Thursday that Ukraine has the right to strike inside Russia as it attempts to fend off Moscow’s 41-month-old invasion.
“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders [sic] country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offensive. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The president was likely referring to Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russian oil refineries.
A facility in Rostov Oblast, near the border with Ukraine, was set ablaze overnight after being hit with an apparent drone strike.
Ukraine also invaded Russia’s Kursk region in 2024, and successfully hit air bases deep inside Kremlin territory with a secret drone attack called “Operation Spiderweb” in June.
Trump had supported Ukraine’s counteroffensive on Kursk back in August of 2024, telling The Post at the time that the Ukrainians had to fight.
“Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND defend. How did that work out? Regardless, this is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President – ZERO CHANCE. Interesting times ahead!!! President DJT,” Trump went on in Thursday’s lengthy post.
Meanwhile, the president has fiercely condemned Russia’s strikes on civilians after Moscow launched 614 aerial munitions overnight, despite Trump’s recent efforts to secure a peace deal.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders at the White House on Monday in an effort to work out a strategy to end the war, which he pledged to do during last year’s presidential campaign.
The US president met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, face-to-face for the first time since 2019 in Alaska on Friday for what the White House described as a “listening session.”
Now, Trump is attempting to coordinate a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
Quote:The NATO Chiefs of Defense reaffirmed support for Ukraine in a virtual meeting Wednesday in Brussels that included all 32 allied military leaders and featured the first briefing in this format led by US Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the new Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine attended the meeting virtually, along with Grynkewich, who also leads US European Command, US officials confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday.
NATO officials said in a statement that the “candid discussion” centered on what security guarantees the alliance might provide Ukraine as part of a potential peace agreement to end Russia’s three-year war.
Col. Martin O’Donnell, spokesperson for Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, wrote on X that “the Supreme Allied Commander was honored to brief the Chiefs of Defense, his first in such a format. As he has said before, ‘these are consequential times.'”
“NATO has faced important times before — and these have only made our Alliance stronger. As we work through these important issues, we will all stay informed, engaged, and united in the defense of the Euro-Atlantic region and with NATO’s ongoing support to Ukraine as progress towards peace continues,” he added.
The Chair of NATO’s Military Committee also praised the discussions, writing on X that it was a “great, candid discussion among NATO Chiefs of Defence” and an “excellent update on the security environment from our new SACEUR, his first with us.”
The chair added that the meeting confirmed support for Ukraine, emphasizing the alliance’s focus on a “just, credible and durable peace” and praising the “relentless courage” of Ukrainian forces.
Quote:Terence Stamp, who has died aged 87, was a leading cultural figure of the Swinging Sixties. Despite his extensive and varied work in the decades that followed, the strikingly handsome British actor will always be associated with that exhilarating period, when he was in demand by some of the best directors of the day.
Born in Stepney, east London, Terence was the eldest of five children of Ethel (nee Perrott) and Thomas Stamp, a tugboat captain. He was fortunate that his career began at the time when it helped an actor to have working-class origins. Following Michael Caine, Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay, the cockney Stamp was catapulted into stardom in his early 20s, enjoying all the accoutrements that went with celebrity. This included a romance with Julie Christie, and a three-year relationship with the top fashion model Jean Shrimpton, who made headlines when she left the photographer David Bailey for him.
Stamp spent his early years in the East end until the blitz forced the family to move to Plaistow, then in Essex. As his father was away for long periods in the Merchant Navy, Terence and his siblings were brought up mostly by their mother, grandmother and aunts.
On leaving Plaistow grammar school, Stamp worked in several advertising agencies in London, all the time wanting to be an actor. But, as he recalled: “It wasn’t until I saw James Dean in East of Eden that I began to think that maybe I could actually do this.” He then applied for and won a scholarship to the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in South Kensington.
He had a spell as assistant stage manager, then actor, with a repertory company in Devon, before making his London stage debut in A Trip to the Castle at the Arts Theatre, in 1960. However, more important, in the same year, was the four-month tour in Willis Hall’s second world war army drama The Long and the Short and the Tall, in which the 21-year-old Stamp played Private Sammy Whitaker, the callow wireless operator, with 27-year-old Caine as the rebellious private “Bammo” Bamforth. The two Londoners struck up a friendship and moved together into a flat.
It was the younger actor who first broke into the big time when Peter Ustinov, looking for a handsome young man to play the title role of the ill-fated seaman in his film version of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd (1962), cast the unknown Stamp, more on the strength of his appearance than his experience.
Ustinov’s gamble paid off because Stamp, whose dark hair was dyed blond for the role, managed to convey the essence of Melville’s stammering angelic innocent, and gain himself a best supporting actor Oscar nomination. At the same time, he was seen in the far-from-angelic part of the school bully in Term of Trial (1962).
In December 1964, Stamp went to Broadway to star in Bill Naughton’s Alfie but, despite good reviews, the play ran for only 21 performances. (Although he was offered the chance to star in the film version of the play, Stamp turned it down, recommending his pal, Caine.)
...
Quote:A hammer-wielding madman set fire to a check-in desk at one of Italy’s major airports early Wednesday — sending scores of panicked travelers fleeing as thick smoke and flames engulfed the terminal.
The chaotic scene erupted at Milan’s Malpensa airport when the suspect suddenly doused the desk with a flammable liquid and set it ablaze at about 11 a.m. local time, Italian TV station TGLA 7 reported.
Footage shared on social media showed the assailant smashing monitors and nearby information screens as the fire grew.
The maniac, only identified as a 28-year-old born in Mali, was detained after someone struck him on the head with a fire extinguisher and others quickly pinned him to the floor.
Terrified travelers could be seen fleeing the packed terminal as the mayhem unfolded.
It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the incident.
No injuries were reported, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The terminal was evacuated as first responders extinguished the blaze, and the Lombardy Airports Association warned of ongoing delays.
Quote:Four dead bodies were found floating in Paris’ infamous Seine River — one year after the Summer Olympics as police announced an arrest in the suspected murders.
The four corpses were first reported by a train passenger who spotted one of the bodies floating in the infamously filthy waterway, which recently re-opened for public swimming for the first time in 100 years, near the French commune of Choisy-le-Roi on Aug. 13.
The gruesome discovery led police to arrest a 24-year-old Algerian man on suspicion of multiple murders, according to French newspaper Le Monde.
Police found the first body, “relatively well-preserved,” and identified the victim as a 40-something-year-old man who lived in the Paris department of Val-de-Marne.
During the investigation, officials horrifically uncovered three additional bodies submerged in the murky waters, according to the outlet.
The three additional corpses were characterized as being in a “very advanced state of decomposition,” the Créteil prosecutor’s office told the newspaper.
“There are three men of African descent and a fourth of North African descent,” Actu17 reported, citing sources.
Two of the bodies showed signs of violence, as one died of strangulation with the other sustaining “violent injuries,” prosecutors revealed Saturday.
Police launched two murder investigations following the discoveries.
Quote:Six severed heads have been found by the side of the road in Mexico alongside a chilling message in an area where such brutal violence is rare, Mexican prosecutors said.
The male remains were discovered by a road linking the central Mexican states of Puebla and Tlaxcala, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Alongside the heads was a pamphlet blaming the savage killings on the settling of scores between rival gangs, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
“The State Attorney General’s Office (FGJE) has initiated an investigation into the discovery of six male head limbs near the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala,” the office said as it announced an inquiry into the murders.
“The State Attorney General’s Office will continue the relevant investigations to clarify what happened and hold accountable whoever is found responsible,” the statement concluded.
Both Puebla and Tlaxcala are usually considered among the safest states in Mexico to visit, with the US State Department designating them a Level 2 travel advisory, the second-lowest warning.
Tlaxcala accounts for just 0.5% of the 14,769 intentional homicides recorded in Mexico this year so far, while Puebla accounts for 3.4%, according to official figures.
However, the State Department notes that both states face issues with criminal gangs that move drugs, fuel and humans through central Mexico.
Extreme violence — including decapitation — is usually concentrated around northern and western states along the Pacific coast.
Quote:Brazil’s federal police said that messages found on the telephone of embattled former president Jair Bolsonaro showed that at one point he wanted to flee to Argentina and request political asylum, according to documents seen Wednesday by the Associated Press.
Bolsonaro is currently awaiting a Supreme court ruling about an alleged coup attempt and on Wednesday found out he might face another case as police formally accused him and one of his sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, of obstruction of justice in connection with his pending trial.
The AP had access to the police investigation, messaging app exchanges, voice messages and reviewed the documents, which were sent to Brazil’s Supreme Court.
The 170-page police report said that Bolsonaro had drafted a request for political asylum from Argentine President Javier Milei’s government dated Feb. 10, 2024. Bolsonaro saved the document two days after authorities searched his home and office as part of an investigation into an alleged coup plot.
In a 33-page letter addressed to Milei, Bolsonaro claimed he was being politically persecuted in Brazil.
“I, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, request political asylum from Your Excellency in the Republic of Argentina, under an urgent regime, as I find myself in a situation of political persecution in Brazil and fear for my life,” the former Brazilian leader wrote.
Argentina’s presidential spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolsonaro did not make comments about the investigation either.
On Feb. 12, Bolsonaro reportedly spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brasília, fueling speculation among critics that he may have been attempting to avoid arrest.
Brazilian federal police investigators also said in their report that Bolsonaro’s decision to ignore precautionary measures established for his house arrest and spread content to his allies “sought to directly hit Brazilian democratic institutions, notably the Supreme Court and even Brazil’s Congress.”
With regards to Wednesday’s obstruction of justice accusations, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a lawmaker who has lived in the United States, said in a statement that he “never aimed at interfering in any ongoing proceedings in Brazil.” He added the conversations with his father that are part of the investigation are “absolutely normal” and its publication has a political bias.
I wouldn't blame Bolsonaro for trying to escape from a corrupt judicial system.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
Quote:US. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams landed a legal blow to the Trump administration Thursday night in a ruling on Alligator Alcatraz, banning site expansion and new detainees at the immigration detention center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.
The judge is giving the administration 60 days, "once the population attrition allows for implementation of this order," to remove the fencing, gas, sewage, lighting, generators and "waste receptacles that were installed to support this project."
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) via email for additional comment Thursday night.
Why It Matters
The detention center is a focal point of President Donald Trump's second-term immigration platform. Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials have touted the facility—built by repurposing the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida—as representing the White House's hard-line stance on immigration enforcement and border security.
Critics—who include Democrats, civil rights groups and environmentalists—have said detainees at the facility are forced to endure unsafe, unsanitary and inhumane living conditions and that Alligator Alcatraz runs afoul of environmental laws.
The center was quickly created and holds an estimated 1,000 beds. The bunk beds are stacked together in wire-fenced cages. Alligator Alcatraz is expected to cost Florida about $450 million annually to operate.
What To Know
The judge's order comes on the heels of lawsuits challenging the facility's potential damage to the environment on the protected Florida Everglades.
The Miccosukee Tribe of Native Americans brought a lawsuit, with environmental groups, based on their ties to the land and potential disruptions to water and food supply, according to the court ruling reviewed by Newsweek.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed worries about the environmental effects of the facility.
The judge, in her ruling, prohibited "bringing any additional persons onto the … site who were not already being detained."
The ruling also prohibits the installation of "industrial-style" lighting, paving, filling, excavating, fencing or any other site expansion, including new building tents or dormitories. The order does not prohibit modifications or repairs to existing facilities for the purpose of increasing safety or mitigating environmental and other risks.
The state of Florida, which is partnering with the federal government to build the facility, filed a notice of appeal on Thursday night, shortly after the ruling was issued.
Quote:The California state legislature has passed a redistricting plan that favors Democrats on the same day that Texas looks to pass its own redistricting plan that would favor Republicans as the two parties eye the 2026 midterm elections and control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Newsweek reached out to the offices of Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom and Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott as well as the White House via email on Thursday night.
Why It Matters
The Republican-led Texas legislature on Wednesday voted to advance its controversial congressional redistricting plan, with the Texas House of Representatives voting 88 to 52 along party lines. The Texas Senate considered the map on Thursday, voting to advance it to a full vote in the afternoon.
President Donald Trump has urged other Republican-led states to similarly redraw their voting maps ahead of the 2026 midterms in order to secure a majority. The GOP holds a slim majority in both houses of Congress, and historically, the first midterm for a president sees his party suffer at the polls, which Trump witnessed during his first term.
But Democratic governors have threatened to retaliate if Texas finalizes its map, spurring Newsom to pursue a new districting map for his state, promising to "fight fire with fire" and prevent Trump from trying to "rig" the midterms.
What To Know
California's redistricting plan adds five seats that favor Democrats in a direct counterweight to the five seats the Republicans could gain in Texas, but the California measure would only replace the current map and expire in 2030 on the original deadline.
The State Assembly passed the new map by 57 to 20, and the state Senate also approved the new map just hours later on a party-line vote of 30 to 8.
"Open your eyes to what is going on in the United States of America in 2025," Newsom said at a news conference following the vote. "That's what this is about. We're responding [to] what occurred in Texas."
"We're neutralizing what occurred, and we're giving the American people a fair chance, because when all things are equal, and we're all playing by the same rules, there's no question that the Republican Party will be the minority party in the House of Representatives next year," Newsom said.
The new map still requires California voters to approve it, which will occur at a special election November 4, giving both Republicans and Democrats around 75 days to rally voters.
Newsom's plan has faced fierce backlash from Republicans in California, including former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and ex-U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who will campaign against the new map in what is poised to become a bitter fight in the Golden State.
Quote:Several suspects are in custody after authorities recovered more than 800 vases stolen from cemeteries in Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, resulting in over $100,000 in losses.
The Council Bluffs Police Department said in a news release that Shane E. Jackson, 52, Kenneth Meyerott, 66, and Miranda M. Shamblin, 27, were arrested on Wednesday. All face charges of first-degree theft related to possession of stolen property and Jackson and Meyerott are also accused of solicitation of a felony.
Frankie S. Diaz-Lopez, 26, is also charged with theft and solicitation while currently jailed in Douglas County, Nebraska, on unrelated charges.
Four other people remain at large.
Why It Matters
The predominantly bronze vases are valued from $150 to $600 apiece, depending on the brand and type.
"Ripping these vases away from their memorials is a gut punch to the family members who visit a cemetery to mourn and remember their loved one," Council Bluffs Police Chief Matt Davis said at a news conference.
The investigation involved multiple agencies, including the Council Bluffs police, Carter Lake Police Department, Omaha Police Department and the Pottawattamie County Attorney's Office.
What To Know
The investigation began late last month after officials received a tip from a "concerned citizen." The individual saw a vehicle containing multiple memorial vases traveling near a scrap metal recycler, according to authorities.
The citizen thought the activity was "suspicious" and contacted a friend who is also a local funeral home director, police said. The director then contacted Council Bluffs police.
According to police, two former contract employees at Omaha's Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery began stealing memorial vases from the graveyard and selling them as scrap metal in late June or early July, while conspiring with others to pilfer and scrap them.
Arrest warrants for the suspects were obtained on Tuesday. Kristin M. Davenport, Tracey L. Klahn, Patty M. Vance and Larry F. Trusler, all of Council Bluffs, remain at large, according to police.
Quote:The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can move forward with slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding as part of its effort to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
In a narrow 5-4 decision, the justices lifted a lower court order that had blocked $783 million in cuts made by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The majority's unsigned order frees the administration to proceed with canceling grants already targeted for elimination, while leaving in place restrictions on the administration's guidance for future funding decisions.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's three liberals in dissent, warning that the funding freeze should have remained in effect while litigation continues.
Why It Matters
The ruling is the latest legal victory for President Donald Trump, allowing his administration to accelerate its plan to cancel hundreds of existing grants while a broader lawsuit plays out in the lower courts.
Earlier this summer, U.S. District Judge William Young in Massachusetts sided with the challengers, calling the abrupt NIH cancellations arbitrary and discriminatory. Young, a Reagan appointee, expressed shock at the administration's approach. "I've never seen government racial discrimination like this," he said during a June hearing, later adding: "Have we no shame."
An appeals court left his order intact before the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court.
What To Know
Plaintiffs—including a coalition of 16 Democratic state attorneys general and public-health advocacy groups—warned that the cuts would inflict "incalculable losses in public health and human life." They argue that many of the canceled studies address urgent issues like cancer treatments, infectious diseases, and maternal health.
The Justice Department countered that research funding decisions fall squarely within the executive branch's discretion and should not be "subject to judicial second-guessing." Lawyers for the administration also claimed that programs marketed under the DEI label may "conceal insidious racial discrimination," echoing a broader push by Republicans to dismantle DEI programs across federal agencies, schools, and corporations.
At issue in the case is only a portion of the $12 billion in NIH research funding already cut under Trump's orders. In its emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, however, the administration also challenged nearly two dozen other judicial orders that have blocked similar funding cuts in related cases. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that federal judges should not be hearing these disputes at all, insisting that claims belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims under a previous Supreme Court ruling that allowed cuts to a teacher-training program.
Quote:A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, Alina Habba, has been unlawfully serving as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, declaring that her continued role as U.S. attorney after July violated federal law.
The decision, handed down by U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann, a Republican, concluded that Habba's statutory term as interim U.S. attorney expired on July 26, 2025, and that subsequent efforts by the Trump administration to keep her in office without Senate confirmation did not comply with governing procedures.
"I conclude that she is not statutorily eligible to perform the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney and has therefore unlawfully held the role since July 24, 2025," Brann wrote.
Why It Matters
Habba's tenure has been marked by controversy since her appointment. Once a White House adviser and longtime defense attorney for Trump, she was named interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey in March.
At the time, she raised eyebrows by proclaiming that New Jersey could "turn red," an unusual political remark for a federal prosecutor. She also pledged to investigate the state's Democratic governor and attorney general, further fueling concerns that her office would pursue overtly partisan cases.
What to Know
While issuing the ruling, Brann, who was nominated to his post by former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012, said he would put the order on hold pending an appeal. The Justice Department told the Associated Press it intends to appeal the ruling.
The ruling came in response to a filing brought on behalf of defendants in New Jersey, who argued that Habba lacked legal authority to prosecute them after her 120-day interim appointment lapsed in July. The defendants sought to block the charges against them entirely, contending that any case brought under her authority should not stand.
Concerns deepened when Habba's office brought a trespassing charge against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka over his visit to a federal immigration detention facility. Though the charge was ultimately dropped, Habba followed by indicting Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver on assault charges stemming from the same incident—an exceedingly rare instance of federal prosecutors bringing a criminal case against a sitting member of Congress outside of corruption allegations. McIver has denied the charges and entered a not guilty plea.
The instability surrounding Habba's role came to a head in late July, as her four-month appointment was about to expire. With no backing from New Jersey's Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, her chances for Senate confirmation were effectively dead under the long-standing practice of "senatorial courtesy," in which home-state senators can block judicial and prosecutorial nominees. Trump formally nominated her on July 1, but opposition from Booker and Kim sealed her fate. The president subsequently withdrew her nomination.
At that point, federal judges in New Jersey exercised their statutory authority to name a career prosecutor to replace Habba after her temporary term expired. But Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly fired that appointee and reinstalled Habba as acting U.S. attorney, asserting that the executive branch retained authority over federal prosecutorial appointments. The Justice Department, backing Bondi's move, argued in court filings that the judges had acted prematurely and that the administration had the power to keep Habba in place.
Judge Brann's decision directly challenges that position, siding with the defendants who argued that Habba had overstayed her lawful authority. His ruling now casts doubt on cases she initiated during her disputed tenure and leaves open questions about how prosecutions handled by her office will proceed. Brann's stay of his order pending appeal means Habba can continue in the role temporarily, but the legal and political fight over her appointment is far from over.
Quote:Erik Menendez was denied parole by a two-member panel of California state parole commissioners after an all-day hearing Thursday.
Commissioners cited repeated prison rule violations—including allegations of cellphone use, alcohol and substance-related abuse, gang activity, fights, and a tax scam—as evidence he continued to pose an unreasonable risk to public safety, The Associated Press reported.
The decision marked the first parole denial for Erik since a judge in May reduced the brothers' original life-without-parole sentences to 50 years to life, a ruling that made both Erik and his brother Lyle immediately eligible for parole.
Commissioners framed their ruling around Menendez's conduct behind bars rather than the 1989 killings themselves, allowing him to seek reconsideration in three years.
Why It Matters
The Menendez case remains a high-profile legal and cultural touchstone more than three decades after Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot dead in their Beverly Hills home. The brothers' resentencing and subsequent parole hearings tested California's evolving approach to youthful offenders and the role of prison rehabilitation in parole decisions.
The hearings also reopened public debate about accountability, victim impact and the weight parole panels placed on in-custody behavior versus past crimes.
What To Know
The case dates back to 1989, when Erik and his brother Lyle fatally shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. They were convicted after two trials, with the second ending in 1996, and sentenced to life without parole.
Thursday's hearing took place over video, with Erik appearing remotely from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
The parole commissioners denied Erik Menendez parole and barred him from reapplying for three years, meaning he will not be eligible again until that time has passed.
Prison Conduct
Much of the hearing focused on Menendez's conduct behind bars. Commissioners cited incidents involving alcohol use, alleged gang affiliation, and possession of a cellphone.
Asked why he risked using a phone, Menendez said, , "What I got in terms of the phone and my connection with the outside world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught with the phone." On substance use, he said, "If I could numb my sadness with alcohol, I was going to do it...I would have taken other drugs to numb that pain...I was looking to ease that sadness within me."
Menendez said his life began to change in 2013 when he chose sobriety and turned to faith. "From 2013 on I was living for a different purpose. My purpose in life was to be a good person...I asked myself, 'Who do I want to be when I die?' I believe I'm going to face a different parole board when I die."
Quote:California’s parole board has deemed Lyle Menendez not suitable for parole, likely leaving both brothers in jail 36 years after executing their wealthy parents.
The California Board of Parole hearings denied Lyle’s petition for freedom on Friday after a grueling, nearly 12-hour hearing in which his family members insisted he had been reformed while prosecutors painted him as a menace to society.
The board’s decision came the day after they denied parole to Lyle’s brother Erik; it will be three years before either brother can make another parole bid.
It was a heartbreaking defeat for attorneys, families and fans of the high-profile criminals, who have spent most of two years pushing for Lyle and Erik’s freedom more than three decades after they purchased shotguns and killed Jose and Kitty Menendez, execution style, in the living room of their lavish Beverly Hills mansion.
“While we are, of course, disappointed by today’s decision as well, we are not discouraged,” the killer siblings’ family said in a statement. “The process for parole is exceptionally rigorous, but we are incredibly proud of how Erik and Lyle showed up — with honesty, accountability, and integrity.”
They vowed that the ruling “is not the end of the road.”
“Both will go before the Board again, and their habeas petition remains under review. In the meantime, we know they will take time to reflect on the Board’s recommendations and will continue to lead, mentor, and build programs that support rehabilitation and hope for others,” the family said.
“We know they are good men who have done the work to rehabilitate and are remorseful. We love them unconditionally and will continue to stand by them on the journey ahead.”
The brothers claimed they were acting in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father with their mother’s help; they feared their parents would murder them to shut them up.
At their parole hearings, prosecutor Habib Balian dismissed that claim and argued that sticking to the lie showed the brothers had no “insight” into their own crimes — a key component of parole eligibility in California.
Insight means taking full responsibility for a crime and understanding the factors that led you to commit the crime, such as anger, inability to handle stress, and substance abuse, said Michael Beckman, a lawyer specializing in parole hearings.
The pair had also been cited for several rule violations while in jail. Both brothers had been dinged for possessing contraband cell phones, and Erik had been cited for fights with other inmates in 1997 and 2011.
Quote:The Democratic governor has mobilized the troops as her party criticizes Trump’s decision to send the force to Washington
Since June, and without much fanfare, dozens of National Guard soldiers in Albuquerque, the capital and largest city of New Mexico, have been listening to police communications, monitoring traffic cameras, and helping secure crime scene perimeters. These are not the typical duties of a military force designed as a locally deployable contingent, usually used to support natural disasters or emergency situations, but they are responding to an explicit request from the local police.
At the same time, in Washington, D.C., the presence of National Guard troops ordered by President Donald Trump last week to address an alleged crime crisis has drawn strong criticism from the Democratic opposition as well as protests from the city’s residents.
The deployment of 60 to 70 personnel in Albuquerque was originally requested in April by the city police, who, in an emergency petition, cited the “fentanyl epidemic and rising youth violence” as critical problems requiring immediate intervention. Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham approved the request, and a week ago, just as the National Guard arrived in Washington, she signed a declaration of a state of emergency for the northern part of the state, allowing her to mobilize more troops there if necessary.
President Trump, on the other hand, ordered 800 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. without any prior request from local authorities, citing the oft-repeated security crisis that is not backed by statistics. In response to this troop mobilization and the attempt to take direct control of the local Washington police, Democrats nationwide denounced what they consider an illegal and dangerous use of the troops. Similar criticism arose when Trump sent thousands of National Guard personnel to California in June during protests against his immigration agenda.
In a statement condemning the president’s unilateral action in Washington, Governor Grisham and the mayor of Albuquerque warned “Trump’s massive executive overreach in Washington sets a dangerous precedent and undermines safety in our nation’s capital.”
Foreseeing potential accusations of hypocrisy for taking the same action as Trump, they emphasized the differences between the two situations. “The contrast couldn’t be clearer: while President Trump uses the National Guard to trample local leadership, New Mexico brings together local and state governments to make our communities genuinely safer,” said the statement.
What would people say under such circumstances?
Oh right, same difference.
Quote:Up to 1,700 National Guardsmen are set to mobilize in 19 states in the coming weeks to assist the Department of Homeland Security with President Trump’s nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration and crime, Pentagon officials confirmed to FOX News.
Documents obtained by FOX News show planning for activations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming – with status effective from August through mid-November. Texas is projected to host the most significant Guard presence.
The National Guard soldiers being mobilized will effectively serve as a support pillar to a sweeping federal interagency effort, while also serving as a visible deterrent force, a U.S. Defense official said. The service members supporting ICE will be preforming case management, transportation, logistical support, and clerical functions associated with the processing of illegal migrants at the facilities. "The in-and-out processing may include personal data collection, fingerprinting, DNA swabbing and photographing of personnel in ICE custody," the official said.
President Trump has indicated in recent days his administration aims to broaden the DC operation to other states, telling a group of federal agents and National Guard troops at a DC patrol center Thursday, "We're going to make it safe, and we're going to then go on to other places."
On Friday in the Oval Office, Trump said, "I think Chicago will be our next. And then we'll help with New York," Trump said.
A U.S. Defense official told FOX, "We won’t speculate on further operations, but can tell you that the department is a planning organization and continues to work and plan with other agency partners to protect federal assets and personnel."
Fewer than 2% of the authorized forces have mobilized so far, but missions coordinated under state governors are projected to expand in the coming weeks – including in Virginia, where approximately 60 soldiers and airmen will begin training August 25th to begin duty by early September, the Virginia National Guard confirmed.
"VNG personnel will not conduct law enforcement functions, and VNG support will not include making arrests," a spokesperson for the Virginia National Guard tells FOX. "VNG Soldiers and Airmen will report directly to ICE leadership at their assigned duty locations but remain under the control and direction of the Virginia Governor and Adjutant General of Virginia."
The deployment of National Guard troops — a state-controlled reserve force — will allow the U.S. military to provide a more direct role in supporting federal immigration enforcement amid as the Trump administration pushes forward with mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens.
Quote:A trade group representing the trucking industry has reacted to Secretary of State Marco Rubio's announcement that the U.S. will be pausing work visas for truckers "immediately" in the interests of Americans' safety.
In a statement released Thursday, Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), said his group supported the move, and that the issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) "needs serious scrutiny, including the enforcement of entry-level driver training standards."
Newsweek has contact the ATA via email for further comment.
Why It Matters
Rubio's announcement followed a fatal crash on a Florida highway earlier this month involving a trucker from India who, officials later confirmed, was in the country illegally. Preliminary findings of an investigation by the Department of Transportation (DOT) revealed that, when questioned following the accident, the driver failed assessments on his English language proficiency as well as his understanding of highway traffic rules. While Rubio's announcement did not mention the crash, and is focused on worker visas rather than CDLs, he said that the increasing number of foreign truckers was "endangering American lives."
Depending on the length of the pause, however, this could potentially exacerbate the persistent trucker shortage already facing the U.S. By some estimates, this shortfall is expected to grow to over 100,000 drivers by the end of the decade.
What To Know
Following Rubio's announcement, a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek that the pause would affect applicants hoping to operate commercial trucks with H-2B, E-2 and EB-3 visa classifications.
"The Department will take all necessary steps to protect public safety, including on America's roads," they added.
In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to tighten regulations surrounding English proficiency for commercial drivers and ensure understanding of "commonsense" highway rules. English language requirements are already included in federal regulations, but have been minimally enforced according to the president's order.
The ATA sent a letter to Trump thanking him for responding to its concerns around the "uneven application" of existing regulations concerning English proficiency for CDL holders.
As the ATA noted in its reaction to the latest announcement from Rubio, Secretary Duffy also launched a nationwide audit into states issuing non-domiciled CDLs—licenses given to individuals who are not permanent residents of the U.S.
"Our audit is about protecting the safety of families on the road and upholding the integrity of CDLs held by America's truckers," Duffy said. "Every state must follow federal regulations, and ensure only qualified, properly documented drivers are getting behind the wheel of a truck."
In October 2024, the National Association of Truck Stop Owners (NATSO), citing Labor Department data, said that the number of foreign-born truckers in the U.S. comprised around 18 percent of the total workforce.
Quote:The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump announced on Friday.
The draw will be held on December 5, Trump said, adding: "Some people refer to it as the Trump-Kennedy Center, but we're not prepared to do that quite yet. Maybe in a week or so."
Why It Matters
The draw will determine the group-stage matchups for the expanded 48-team field. Speaking from the Oval Office alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Vice President JD Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Trump said the Kennedy Center "will give it a phenomenal kickoff."
The World Cup will be hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with games set across 16 stadiums between June 11 and July 19, 2026.
What To Know
Before Friday's announcement, Las Vegas had been considered the front-runner to host the draw. However, Washington remained a strong contender, in part because it allowed Trump to be more directly involved.
The draw is more than just a procedural event—it's a high-profile production featuring speeches, performances and global media attention. Trump is expected to play a leading role during the ceremony.
Trump's involvement with FIFA has intensified in recent months. He attended the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where Chelsea lifted the championship trophy. At a separate White House event earlier this year, Trump held the new Club World Cup trophy, presented to him by Infantino.
During Friday's announcement, Trump turned to Infantino and asked whether he could also hold the World Cup trophy. Infantino obliged, handing it over with a grin and said "only winners" are allowed to hold it. Trump joked: "Can I keep it?" and said it would fit nicely in the Oval Office.
Concerns have been raised internationally about travel to the U.S. ahead of the tournament, particularly over visa delays, travel bans, and the potential for immigration raids during the games.
Trump Advocates For Putin
While discussing the World Cup and the U.S. role as host, Trump surprised the room by holding up a photo of himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I'm going to sign this for him," Trump said. "That's a man named Vladimir Putin who I believe will be coming [to the 2026 FIFA World Cup], depending on what happens." The remark appeared to catch Infantino off guard.
The comment raised eyebrows, as Russia has been suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. All Russian national and club teams remain barred from international play "until further notice," under a joint decision by the FIFA Council and UEFA Executive Committee.
Quote:The Pentagon has created a new medal for service members who’ve deployed to the southern border to assist federal law enforcement with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The Pentagon unveiled plans for a Mexican Border Defense Medal for US troops serving with Joint Task Force Southern Border, according to a new memo the Pentagon released Aug.13 that was shared on social media.
A US defense official confirmed the authenticity of the memo to Fox News Digital Wednesday.
Now, service members will receive the Mexican Border Defense Medal (MBDM) instead of the Armed Forces Service Medal (AFSM) like they previously earned for supporting Customs and Border Protection at the border, the memo said.
The Armed Forces Service Medal, created in 1996 by former President Bill Clinton, is awarded to troops who have participated in a military operation with “significant activity” but didn’t encounter foreign armed opposition or imminent hostile action, according to a US Army description of the medal.
The Pentagon said in July that approximately 8,500 military personnel are assigned to Joint Task Force Southern Border and have been tasked with responding to security threats there.
The task force got underway in March and completed approximately 3,500 patrols between then and July, according to the Pentagon.
Those eligible for the award must have deployed since Jan. 20 to support Customs and Border Protection and served within 100 nautical miles from the international border shared with Mexico in either Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or California.
Those who’ve also served in adjacent waters up to 24 nautical miles away from the border also are eligible.
Quote:The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was fired Friday weeks after the agency drafted a preliminary bomb-damage assessment – that was leaked to the media – suggesting that US strikes on Iran only set back the rogue nation’s nuclear program by a few months.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who had led the military intelligence agency since February 2024, “will no longer serve as DIA Director,” a senior Defense Official told The Post.
DIA Deputy Director Christine Bordine is now listed as acting director on the agency’s website.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly fired Kruse over a “a loss of confidence” in the lieutenant general, two congressional officials told the New York Times.
The DIA’s classified, “low confidence” estimation of the effectiveness of the June 21 airstrikes on Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities was leaked to CNN three days after American B-2 stealth bombers and cruise missiles bombarded the sites.
The document, which an official described as being based only on limited intelligence gathered the day after the strike, reportedly indicated the Iranian regime could bring its nuclear program back online as quickly as one to two months.
The preliminary assessment also suggested that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed by the airstrikes.
President Trump and several administration officials fumed over the leak.
Trump described it as “AN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY,” in a Truth Social post.
“THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!” the president maintained.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff charged that any suggestion the US did not achieve its military objectives in Iran is “completely preposterous,” in an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” at the time.
Witkoff went on to slam the leaking of the DIA assessment as “outrageous” and “treasonous,” and called for an investigation to find the person responsible for it in order to hold them accountable.
Quote:Pentagon officials are enraged by a Washington Post report they say jeopardizes the safety of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his family by disclosing sensitive security details.
The report, dubbed a Washington Post exclusive and headlined “Hegseth’s expansive security requirements tax Army protective unit,” cites unnamed “officials” who insist Hegseth is straining the agency tasked with protecting him because of “unusually large personal security requirements.”
“The sprawling, multimillion-dollar initiative has forced the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, or CID, the agency that fields security for top Defense Department officials, to staff weeks-long assignments in each location and at times monitor residences belonging to Hegseth’s former spouses, the officials said,” the Post reported.
“Army CID has faced significant staffing and budgetary shortfalls for years, but new demands since Hegseth’s arrival in January have put added pressure on the agency.”
The article noted that Hegseth requires additional resources because of a “large blended family” with homes in several locations, “a rise in politically motivated violence as the nation has become more splintered” and a bomb threat “made against his home in Tennessee.”
The Washington Post report also revealed the state where Hegseth’s second wife currently resides, noted that “CID security assignments can entail accompanying the children to school and walking the perimeter of the homes,” and criticized the secretary of defense for taking his family to a Washington Nationals baseball game.
“We attempted to get the Washington Post to remove sensitive details about the security of Secretary Hegseth’s wife, children, and extended family, citing obvious security concerns and the potential for threats to increase after its publication. There is no justification for the Washington Post to publish this information about them,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told Fox News Digital.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell blasted the paper for putting “lives at risk.”
“In the wake of two assassination attempts against President Trump, ICE agents facing a 1,000% increase in assaults, and repeated threats of retaliation from Iran for striking their nuclear capabilities, it’s astonishing that the Washington Post is criticizing a high-ranking cabinet official for receiving appropriate security protection, especially after doxxing the DHS Secretary last week,” Parnell wrote on X, referring to a previous report that revealed the residence of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
“Any action pertaining to the security of Secretary Hegseth and his family has been in response to the threat environment and at the full recommendation [of] the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID),” Parnell continued.
“When left-wing blogs like the Washington Post continue to dox cabinet secretaries’ security protocols and movements, it puts lives at risk.”
Quote:Two seemingly normal Los Angeles hardware stores were actually elaborate fronts for a massive cargo theft operation that netted $4.5 million worth of stolen goods ripped off from trains, trucks and cargo ships, police said.
DJ General Tool & Wire’s Montebello and Huntington Park locations served as distribution centers for an organized crime ring that targeted valuable merchandise from across Southern California’s transportation network, according to the LAPD.
The stolen inventory included power tools, e-bikes and appliances from major brands including Dyson, Milwaukee, DeWalt and Makita, investigators told the Los Angeles Times.
Store owner Dojoon Park, 41, of Montebello, was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property as authorities prepare to file charges that could land him behind bars for years.
“We are in the process of fully evaluating the crimes that he has committed, and we anticipate charges being brought against him … that will involve maximum sentences of years of state prison time,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The bust represents the latest strike in an ongoing battle against sophisticated cargo theft operations that have plagued Los Angeles transportation hubs in recent years.
Union Pacific Police and Los Angeles Port Police collaborated with LAPD investigators to connect specific cargo theft incidents to merchandise being sold at Park’s stores and through his online business platforms.
McDonnell emphasized the broader impact of cargo theft beyond the immediate financial losses.
“It’s also important to remember that cargo theft is not a victimless crime,” the police chief said.
“It affects retailers, distributors and ultimately all of us consumers. Protecting the integrity of our supply chain is vital to public safety as well as the economic stability of Los Angeles.”
Hochman warned others involved in similar crimes, promising aggressive prosecution for anyone participating in cargo theft or fencing operations — which are illegal businesses that sell stolen merchandise at a discount to a fence, who then resells it to unsuspecting buyers.
The term “fence” is used for someone who buys and sells stolen goods because the person acts as a barrier or middleman between the thief and the final buyer — helping hide the true origin of the goods.
Quote:A maniac threw gasoline on cops and set fire to a decommissioned police precinct in the Bronx early Friday morning using a gas-filled Coca-Cola bottle, according to sources and the NYPD.
Samantha Calderon, 32, of the Bronx, was witnessed by two police officers allegedly pouring gasoline on a decommissioned stationhouse on Alexander Avenue at around 2:30 a.m., according to sources.
The alleged firebug then lit the gasoline on fire, which ignited on the structure briefly before it self-extinguished, cops said.
When confronted, Calderon became combative and threw gasoline from the bottle of Coke onto the officers, hitting them in the face.
Calderon was apprehended and taken to Lincoln Hospital for a psych evaluation.
Both officers refused medical attention at the scene, the NYPD said.
She was later charged with arson, criminal mischief, assault and resisting arrest.
Quote:A disgraced Big Apple teacher’s aide – once entrusted with caring for disabled students – was allegedly busted with a sickening stash of child porn, including thousands of vile videos, photos and files showing infants and toddlers being sexually abused, according to federal prosecutors.
Alejandro Santos, 47, was arraigned Friday in Brooklyn Federal Court on an indictment charging him with possessing and transporting the depraved cache of files on his cellphone, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said.
Prosecutors said the Bronx resident – who spent 23 years working for the city’s Department of Education – also possessed images of clothed children in classrooms and other settings, some of whom appeared to have physical disabilities.
“The details of Alejandro Santos’ alleged crimes are among every parent’s worst nightmare,” Ricky Patel, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations New York field.
“This defendant worked closely with young kids nearly every day over the course of 23 years. Protecting minors from individuals like this defendant is not only paramount, it’s personal. I implore any person who believes they have information related to crimes involving Santos to contact authorities.”
The alleged pervert – who worked at a Bronx school with mentally disabled children, some of them nonverbal – was cuffed at JFK Airport on July 15 after flying back from the Dominican Republic.
Prosecutors said border patrol agents flagged the twisted educator as a suspected “high-risk” carrier of child sex abuse materials, initially uncovering at least 100 videos and images of the disturbing content on his phone.
Quote:A 14-year-old girl and three other teens were shot by a gunman who opened fire during a chaotic broad-daylight brawl in the Bronx Friday, cops said.
The gunfire erupted around 4 p.m. on Overing Street in Westchester Square after a dispute between a large group of youths suddenly turned violent, police said.
A 13-year-old boy was struck in the left leg while a 14-year-old girl was also hit in the same spot by a lone shooter who approached the melee.
Another 14-year-old boy suffered a graze wound to his right foot and a 15-year-old boy was grazed in both legs, authorities said.
All four victims were rushed to Jacobi Hospital in stable condition.
The shooter fled the scene on foot, leaving the teens behind as bystanders called 911.
Police have not yet identified the suspect, and no arrests have been made.
Detectives are canvassing the area for witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage in hopes of identifying the gunman.
Investigators are also working to determine what sparked the clash that erupted into gunfire.
Murders in the Bronx are down nearly 15% so far this year — with 64 reported through mid-August compared to 75 during the same period in 2024.
Shootings have also plunged more than 30%, helping drive citywide reductions in gun violence to record lows.
Felony assaults declined nearly 8% in the latest 28-day period, though overall levels remain elevated compared to pre-pandemic years.
Quote:Officers raided an illegal marijuana farm last week, removing over 2,000 marijuana plants from Sequoia National Park in northern California.
The 13-acre site also contained around 2,000 pounds of trash and infrastructure that were removed by hand and by helicopter, the National Park Service said.
Other items found at the site included a semi-automatic pistol and a number of hazardous chemicals, such as a highly toxic insecticide that was banned in the U.S. over 15 years ago.
Authorities noted other hazards and damage the marijuana farm caused within the national park:
Poaching activity was detected.
A significant amount of natural vegetation was cleared.
Trails covering an estimated two miles were illegally maintained.
Campsites, kitchen areas and cultivation sites were developed in a wilderness area.
Large pits were constructed to store diverted water, and terraces were dug into the hillside for planting marijuana.
The natural flow of water from a nearby creek was redirected and channeled to water the marijuana plants, which can each use up to eight gallons of water per day. The diversion of water takes water away from wildlife and vegetation that rely on it, according to the NPS.
The agency added that water for personal use and crop irrigation within the mountainous Sequoia National Park can cause runoff contaminated with pesticides to reach the Central Valley.
“These cultivation sites cause major damage to the parks’ natural resources and are a threat to public and staff safety,” officials said.
The recently raided marijuana farm was initially spotted and raided in 2024 by authorities, but was not rehabilitated until this year because of the presence of dangerous chemicals, according to the NPS.
No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing. The NPS asks anyone with tips on illegal cultivation on park land to please call the NPS-wide Tip Line at 888-653-0009.
Officials noted that well-organized drug-trafficking organizations have been operating large-scale cultivation operations in and around Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for nearly 20 years.
Quote:A mob of rioters ambushed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Francisco, with one knife-wielding, keffiyeh-clad agitator threatening to “stab” one of the feds and “go after” his family, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.
Adrian Guerrero was charged with assaulting an officer and destruction of property over the alleged Wednesday attack on ICE officers in the Enforcement Removal Operations division, federal prosecutors said.
“I’m going to f–k you up,” Guerrero seethed while allegedly wielding a black knife and wearing what appeared to be a black-and-white checkered keffiyeh headscarf and orange-tinted goggles, according to photos in the complaint filed by the Department of Homeland Security.
He also screamed that he was “going to go after your family” and “going to stab you,” during the melee on Montgomery Street in San Francisco.
Earlier that morning, Guerrero also allegedly slashed a tire on a white Chevrolet with DHS and official government markings. He was later arrested.
The knife-wielding menace was among a crowd of around 15 anti-ICE rioters who used pepper spray and socked officers in the ambush, DHS reps revealed Friday.
US Federal Protective Services and members of the San Francisco Police Department later appeared to clear the area of the mob, in coordination with ICE officers.
“Our brave ICE law enforcement are now facing a 1,000% increase in assaults against them as they risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
These acts of violence are fueled by sanctuary politicians’ rhetoric vilifying our law enforcement,” he added. “We will not and have not let this violence stop us or slow us down.
“Everyday our law enforcement continues to enforce the law and arrest the most depraved criminals including pedophiles, terrorists, murderers, gang members, and sexual predators.”
Quote:A defiant Mayor Eric Adams on Friday refused to condemn his embattled cronies, including freshly indicted longtime adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin — calling her his “sister” and saying she’s been a loyal friend for more than four decades.
Hizzoner convened a news conference as concerns about deep-rooted corruption at City Hall were re-invigorated Thursday when Manhattan prosecutors charged Lewis-Martin — the mayor’s former senior adviser — with a wide-ranging bribery and corruption scheme that also entangled a deputy commissioner.
“Ingrid is like a sister to me. I love Ingrid. She’s worked with me for over forty years. I served as a police officer with her husband. I know her son, and I know her, and I know her heart. And she and her attorney will deal with the case that’s in front of her. My prayers are with Ingrid, and I wish her the best,” Adams said.
“And throughout the number of years that I have known her, I found her to be a hardworking, dedicated member of city government for over 40 years.”
Adams also wished the best for Jesse Hamilton, his now-former deputy commissioner of real estate services, who was indicted alongside Lewis-Martin for allegedly trading favors for real estate developers in exchange for cash and other perks. Both have pleaded not guilty.
“The message that I am sending is due process, something we all believe in and makes our country, our country different than other places,” said Adams, who faced his own corruption indictment before federal prosecutors in Washington stepped in to scuttle the case earlier this year.
“If you condemn someone without that process, it’s a slap in the face of what our Constitution stands for,” Adams said. “Let the due process play out.”
But Adams’ lovefest didn’t extend to Winnie Greco, his ex-liaison for Asian community affairs and now-former volunteer on his re-election campaign who forced a cash-stuffed bag of chips on a reporter Wednesday.
Greco, who has not been charged with a crime, bafflingly contended the money-filled bag of sour cream and onion potato chips she handed THE CITY reporter Katie Honan this week was a “birthday gift.”
“I have no idea of the communication between Winnie and the reporter involved,” Adams said. “We don’t give money to reporters. I don’t know anything about what took place there.
Quote:Winnie Greco, the ex-adviser to Mayor Eric Adams who handed a reporter a cash-stuffed potato chip bag, bizarrely claimed Friday that the controversial packet was her “birthday gift” and implied that the journalist she slipped the money to wanted to “hurt her.”
Greco, when reached by The Post heading to her car in The Bronx, launched into the baffling explanation for giving the bag to THE CITY reporter Katie Honan on Wednesday.
“I don’t have purpose, and I treat people everyone is the same,” Greco said. “It’s angel, OK, but if somebody want to hurt me because I have love to my community, and I have love to the world, to my family, my people, and somebody try to hurt me, I cannot say nothing.”
Greco said she didn’t even know how much cash was in the red envelope found inside the Herr’s chips bag — which her attorney said contained $300 in cash — because it was “my birthday gift.”
“Before I didn’t know how much in my envelope because it’s my birthday gift that’s Chinese culture,” she said. “Somebody give me my birthday gift, I made big mistake I’m so sorry. Talk to my lawyer.”
She also double downed when The Post asked her to clarify if she really meant to say Honan wanted to “hurt” her.
“Yes. Talk to my lawyer,” she said.
The money-filled sour cream and onion ripple potato chip bag was widely seen as a failed bribe or payoff.
Greco and her attorney had previously defended the gift by contending it was part of Chinese culture to present cash to friends.
But Greco, who resigned from her City Hall position under a cloud of scrutiny, has apparently changed her tune to sound more like “Happy Birthday.” A source said Greco’s birthday is August 4, while Honan’s is in November.
“I can’t comment on the source of the money,” said Greco’s attorney Steven Brill, adding it was meant as a kind gesture, not as anything nefarious.
Quote:The Texas Senate gave final approval to a new, Republican-leaning congressional voting map early Saturday, sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.
President Donald Trump has pushed for the map to help the GOP maintain its slim majority in Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. It has five new districts that would favor Republicans.
Abbott, a Republican, is expected to quickly sign it into law, but Democrats have vowed to challenge it in court.
The effort by Trump and Texas’ Republican-majority Legislature prompted state Democrats to hold a two-week walkout and kicked off a wave of redistricting efforts across the country.
Democrats had prepared for a final show of resistance, with plans to push the Senate vote into the early morning hours in a last-ditch attempt to delay passage.
State Sen. Carol Alvarado, leader of the Senate Democratic caucus, had announced on social media that she planned to filibuster the bill with a long speech and intended to speak for several hours in a last-ditch attempt to push off the final vote.
But just when she expected to start, the Senate broke for a long dinner break.
Alvarado’s delay tactics were the latest chapter in a weekslong showdown that has roiled the Texas Legislature, marked by a Democratic walkout and threats of arrest from Republicans. Much of the drama unfolded in the House, — where the map ultimately passed Wednesday.
“Republicans think they can walk all over us. Today I’m going to kick back,” Alvarado wrote on social media Friday. “I’ve submitted my intention to filibuster the new congressional maps. Going to be a long night.”
Special envoy Steve Witkoff says Russians made concessions 'almost immediately' in first Alaska meeting
Quote:Russia gave in quickly to concessions during President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, Friday, according to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The remarks come as the U.S. and European allies are sorting out various security guarantees to accompany a peace deal and after Witkoff said Sunday that Putin was on board with permitting the U.S. and its European allies to provide additional protection for Ukraine, akin to protections included in NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.
"I don't want to delve into the specifics of what was discussed because we're in a negotiation, mediating, and I think we're going to be very successful because of the leadership of President Trump," Witkoff told Fox News Tuesday night.
"But there were concessions almost immediately made on the part of the Russians in the first meeting in Alaska," Witkoff said. "And, you know, part of getting those concessions was learning whether we were going to be able to see the Russians prepared to be more accommodating."
Historically, Russia has made demands that a peace deal include provisions to bar Ukraine from ever joining NATO, along with concessions on some of the borders that previously were Ukraine's.
Although Trump said Sunday that Ukraine could end the war by agreeing to certain land concessions to Russia and eliminating the possibility of NATO membership for Ukraine under a potential peace deal, the next step Trump and other European allies are working toward is hashing out security provisions for Ukraine under such a deal.
That was a huge focus Monday, when Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House to discuss various security measures to prevent Russian aggression against Ukraine in the future. After the meetings, Trump said Tuesday that sending U.S. troops to Ukraine to beef up security in the region was off the table.
"The president has definitively stated U.S. boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday.
"The president understands security guarantees are crucially important to ensure a lasting peace, and he has directed his national security team to coordinate with our friends in Europe and also to continue to cooperate and discuss these matters with Ukraine and Russia as well."
Quote:Ukrainian forces obliterated a critical part of Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline overnight — as Kyiv fought back against Moscow’s ramped-up attacks despite ongoing peace deal talks.
Ukraine bombed the Unecha oil pumping station in the Bryansk region late Thursday, according to the commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces, Robert Brovdy.
Footage posted on Telegram showed a huge inferno raging at a facility with multiple fuel tanks in the wake of the strikes.
Bryansk regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said Ukraine had fired HIMARS rockets and drones at the region in a combined attack, setting the energy facility ablaze.
The Unecha station, which is a critical part of Russia’s Europe-bound Druzhba oil pipeline, supplies oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
The Hungarian and Slovakian governments both said supplies to their countries could be cut for at least five days in the wake of the latest strike.
“The physical and geographical reality is that without this pipeline, the safe supply of our countries is simply not possible,” Foreign Ministers Peter Szijjarto and Juraj Blanar said in a letter to Europe’s Executive Commission on Friday.
Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure over the past few weeks — despite a push by President Trump to reach a deal to end the war.
Moscow has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, while Kyiv has damaged several Russian refineries in a bid to disrupt Russian energy exports that are financing Russia’s invasion.
Quote:Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin is “just laughing” and laying “a trap” for the West to walk into if Ukraine ends up giving up land to Russia as part of a potential peace deal to end the war, the European Union’s top diplomat said Friday.
Putin has demanded, in part, that Ukraine cede the Donbas region in exchange for halting his army’s brutal, full-scale invasion.
But the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, warned that caving in to those demands would only reward the country that started the bloodshed.
Kallas, who is on the Kremlin’s “wanted list,” told BBC News that handing territory to Russia was a “trap that Putin wants us to walk into.”
“Putin is just laughing, not stopping the killing but increasing the killing,” Kallas said.
“I mean, the discussion [is] all about what Ukraine should give up, what the concessions that Ukraine is willing to [make],” she continued.
“Whereas we are forgetting that Russia has not made one single concession and they are the ones who are the aggressor here, they are the ones who are brutally attacking another country and killing people.”
Kallas stressed that President Trump’s efforts to broker a deal, including his high-profile meeting with Putin in Alaska last week, was a propaganda jackpot for the Kremlin because it’s “clear that Russia does not want peace.”
“Any promises that Putin has given so far, he hasn’t kept,” Kallas said.
“This is what he [Putin] wanted,” she added, referring to the Alaska summit. “It was clear before the meeting that he wants the picture, but he got so much more. He got such a welcoming in America.”
In the wake of last week’s summit, Putin had said the meeting would hopefully open up the road to peace in Ukraine.
However, less than a week after the anticipated sit-down, Putin’s forces struck a US-owned electronics factory in Ukraine while some 800 civilians were working there.
Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded three conditions to achieving peace with Ukraine — he wants it to give up all of the eastern Donbas region, give up its NATO ambitions and remain neutral and keep Western forces out of the war-torn country, according to a report.
The Russian strongman outlined what it would take to end the more than three-year war during his high-stakes summit meeting in Alaska with President Trump last week, three sources familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking told Reuters.
Russian sources insisted to Reuters that Putin has cut down on his territorial demands from June 2024 that included four provinces that Moscow believes is part of their country: Donetsk and Luhansk, which encompasses the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.
Now, Russia wants Ukraine to cede the parts of the Donbas it still controls and in return would stop fighting in the other two areas, the Russian sources said.
Currently, Russia controls about 88% of the Donbas and 73% of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, US estimates and open-source data indicate.
Moscow is also willing to give Ukraine a small part of the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions controlled by Russia as part of a possible agreement, according to the sources.
Putin is still sticking by his demand that Ukraine stop its bid to join NATO and a legally binding pledge from the alliance that it won’t move more eastwards.
He also remains steadfast on limits on the Ukrainian army and no boots on the ground from Western nations will be used as a peacekeeping force, the sources said.
“Putin is ready for peace — for compromise,” one of the sources said. “That is the message that was conveyed to Trump.”
Zelensky has said his country would not hand over internationally recognized Ukrainian land to Russia while asserting the Donbas region acts as a fortress stopping Russia from invading deeper into Ukraine.
“If we’re talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that,” he said Thursday. “It is a matter of our country’s survival, involving the strongest defensive lines.”
Quote:President Donald Trump’s new deal in the South Caucasus has ended a decades-long conflict and handed Washington a rare strategic foothold on Iran’s northern border, experts say.
The agreement, signed earlier this month between Armenia and Azerbaijan, grants the U.S. a 99-year lease over the Zangezur Corridor – a narrow strip of land that will serve as a critical trade and energy route to Europe, bypassing Tehran entirely. Iranian American journalist and dissident Banafsheh Zand told Fox News Digital the move is “a wonderful gain for the U.S.” that also delivers a “slap in the face” to the regime in Tehran.
The corridor has long been at the center of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which displaced tens of thousands and fueled three decades of instability. Trump’s intervention brought both sides to the table and created what observers say is a new trade and security lifeline linking the Caspian Basin to Europe, bypassing Iran entirely.
Known as the Trump Route for Peace & Prosperity (TRIPP), economically, the agreement secures Washington a direct role in overseeing the flow of Caspian hydrocarbons to Europe. The U.S. will manage rail and road infrastructure, telecom networks and energy pipelines running through the corridor, giving American companies a dominant position in regional transit for oil, gas and goods. By controlling this artery, the U.S. not only generates billions in future trade and investment but also locks Europe into alternative supply routes that reduce reliance on both Russia and Iran.
For allies, the corridor offers cheaper and safer access to Caspian energy. For Tehran, it represents lost revenue, lost leverage, and the end of its ability to act as a mandatory gatekeeper for east-west commerce.
Zand said the deal is not only historic but also a direct win for Washington. “It’s a wonderful gain for the U.S.,” she said. “American contractors will be supervising oil and gas from the Caspian Basin, routed through Zangezur and Turkey to Europe. The profit margins are great, and it all happens under NATO’s blessing.”
Zand said the potential goes even further. “Nobody’s talking about it yet, but I don’t think it’s out of the question to see U.S. bases there,” she said. “If that happens, then checkmate the Khamenei regime and Russia.”
For Iran, the corridor represents what Zand called a nightmare scenario. Tehran has long used its geography to shape energy and trade flows. By inserting the U.S. into the region, the new deal effectively strips Iran of that leverage. Zand put it in stark terms: “Iran is shaped like a cat, a sitting cat. This corridor literally runs above the cat’s ears. It bypasses Iran, takes money away from the regime, and pushes them out into the cold.”
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Iran Program, said the corridor exposes how vulnerable Iran has become in the Caucasus. “Both the defeat of Armenia in the most recent war with Azerbaijan, as well as the political problems between Moscow and Yerevan today, have made it harder for the Islamic Republic to really benefit from its traditional economic and political relationship with Armenia,” he told Fox News Digital.
Quote:Saleh Abu Hussein, an Israeli citizen who was imprisoned in Lebanon for about a year, was returned to Israel on Thursday.
Lebanese authorities handed over Abu Hussein to Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, the Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing in the Prime Minister’s Office, at the Rosh Hanikra/Ras Al Naqoura Crossing.
After questioning and an initial medical examination, the IDF transferred the civilian to a hospital for a comprehensive medical examination, after which he met with his family.
Abu Hussain is a mentally unstable resident of Rumana, near Nazareth in the Galilee, Ynet reported.
The circumstances of the incident are being investigated by the security forces. No information was given on why he was imprisoned in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “welcomed the return of the Israeli citizen who was repatriated from Lebanon,” according to a statement from Jerusalem.
“This is a positive step and a sign of things to come,” it added.
In May, Israel agreed to release five Lebanese detained during operations against Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon.
On Aug. 5, the Lebanese government ordered the army to prepare a plan to disarm all armed militias, including Hezbollah, by the end of the year. Hezbollah said it would not comply.
In November 2024, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time that the Israel Defense Forces would respond “forcefully” to all violations of the agreement by Hezbollah.
Quote:Israel took out a terrorist during an airstrike earlier this month who was involved in the abduction of an Israeli man on Oct. 7, 2023, authorities said Tuesday.
The strike, which occurred in Gaza on Aug. 10, killed Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, announced.
“A small part of my closure happened today. Thank you to the IDF, the Shin Bet, and everyone who took part in the elimination of one of the terrorists who kidnapped me on October 7,” Yarden Bibas said in a statement provided by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “Thanks to you, he will not be able to harm anyone else.”
“Please take care of yourselves, heroes. I am waiting for full closure with the return of my friends David and Ariel, and the remaining 48 hostages,” he added.
Najjar was involved in the invasion of the Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest hit during the deadly Oct. 7 attacks, where Bibas was kidnapped. Bibas’ family was kidnapped separately and was eventually murdered while in captivity.
He spent 480 days as a hostage before he was released in January. His wife, Shiri, and their two young children, Ariel and Kfir, were killed before their bodies were returned to Israel.
While in captivity, Bibas was forced to make a hostage film in which he was seen breaking down as Hamas claimed his wife and children had been killed.
Hamas often uses hostage videos as part of what the IDF calls “psychological terror.”
Upon his release, Bibas’ family said that “a quarter of our heart has returned to us after 15 long months… Yarden has returned home, but the home remains incomplete.”
In the aftermath of Hamas’ attack, the Bibas family became a symbol of the terror group’s cruelty. Video footage of Shiri Bibas holding her two red-headed children in her arms went viral across the globe.
In April, Israel said it had killed Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Awad, a senior commander in the Palestinian Mujahideen terrorist organization and who helped lead “several” attacks on the Nir Oz kibbutz.
Quote:Palestinians fled parts of Gaza City on Thursday as Israel’s military began the first stages of its planned offensive and vowed to completely obliterate the “battered and bruised” Hamas terror stronghold.
Israel’s troops have already established a foothold on the outskirts of the Palestinian enclave’s largest city and called up an additional 60,000 reservists to serve in the next phase of the war.
“We will deepen the blows to Hamas in Gaza City, a terror stronghold … We will deepen the blows to the terror infrastructure above and below ground — and disconnect the reliance of the population on Hamas,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Wednesday.
The IDF “is not waiting” and has already begun initial operations in Gaza City ahead of the planned offensive to seize full control, he said.
“IDF troops are already taking control of the outskirts of Gaza City,” he said, adding that Hamas is a “battered and bruised guerrilla organization.”
The movement comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with his cabinet ministers later Thursday to discuss his plan to seize Gaza City.
The timeline for the offensive wasn’t immediately clear.
Still, thousands of Palestinians were fleeing their homes as Israeli forces escalated shelling on the Sabra and Tuffah neighborhoods.
“We are facing a bitter-bitter situation, to die at home or leave and die somewhere else, as long as this war continues, survival is uncertain,” said Rabah Abu Elias, 67, a father of seven.
“In the news, they speak about a possible truce, on the ground, we only hear explosions and see deaths.
“To leave Gaza City or not isn’t an easy decision to make.”
Israeli tanks have been edging closer to densely populated Gaza City over the past week.
The tens of thousands of newly called-up reservists are likely to operate in parts of Gaza City where they haven’t been deployed yet and where Israel believes Hamas is still active, an Israeli official said.
Although Israel has already targeted and wiped out much of Hamas’ senior leadership, parts of Hamas are actively regrouping and carrying out attacks — including launching rockets toward Israel, the official added.
Quote:Israel’s defense minister warned Friday that the “gates of hell” will soon open up to destroy Gaza City if Hamas doesn’t agree to Israel’s terms for a cease-fire.
The ominous threat came a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would authorize Israeli troops to mount a major operation to seize the Palestinian enclave’s largest city — while denying a global hunger monitor’s declaration that the region is already suffering a famine.
“Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas’s murderers and rapists in Gaza – until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote in a post on X.
“If they do not agree – Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will become Rafah and Beit Hanoun. Exactly as I promised – so it shall be,” he added, referring to two areas reduced to rubble early in the war.
Israel is demanding the release of all hostages and Hamas’ complete disarmament to bring an end to the bloodshed.
Hamas, however, has said it would release captives in exchange for ending the nearly two-year-old war, but rejects disarmament without the creation of a Palestinian state.
The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days after the Israel Defense Forces called up an additional 60,000 reservists this week.
Netanyahu has insisted his offensive plan is the surest way to free captives and crush Hamas.
“These two things — defeating Hamas and releasing all our hostages — go hand in hand,” Netanyahu said Thursday.
Thousands of Palestinians have already fled their homes as Israeli tanks have edged closer to Gaza City over the last 10 days.
It comes as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global hunger monitor, said Friday that roughly 514,000 people — nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza — are experiencing famine.
The number is due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September, the assessment warned.
Quote:Japanese authorities arrested the son of an elderly man on murder charges after originally believing he was fatally mauled during a bear attack, according to reports and authorities.
Fujiyosh Shindo, 93, was discovered collapsed and bleeding by his wife inside their home in the northern Akita prefecture on Monday — originally alarming police into thinking a bear had wounded him, BBC reported.
In a twist, cops arrested Fujiyuki Shindo, 51, on Wednesday for allegedly murdering his father, the outlet reported.
The bear attack theory was withdrawn when authorities recognized Fujiyosh Shindo’s wounds were more consistent with knife injuries, the outlet said.
Cops had immediately sent out bear attack warning mail to residents in the northern Japan area, where shrinking farmland and an aging population have allowed bears to encroach into areas populated by humans, local outlets reported.
A whopping 219 people were attacked by bears in the year before March 2024, resulting in six deaths, according to Japan’s Environment Ministry.
Shindo initially told police that he did not notice anything unusual at the family home, where he also resided, during the time of the “bear attack” on his father, Kyodo News reported.
He is believed to have used a knife to slash his father’s face and back, the outlet said.
The nonagenarian was taken to a hospital and was later confirmed to be deceased.
Investigators seized multiple knives from the home as they tried to identify a murder weapon, local outlets said.
No motive has been identified in the alleged murder, police added.
The incident remains under investigation.
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