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President Donald Trump on Sunday played down a report that Chinese entities provided Iran with high-resolution satellite imagery of an American military base in Jordan before an Iranian missile strike killed three U.S. service members, saying that China conducts intelligence operations against the United States just as Washington spies on Beijing.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter, that Iran obtained satellite images of Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in northeastern Jordan from Chinese entities both before and after Tehran’s July 17 attack. U.S. officials have linked the imagery to the strike, although they have not accused the Chinese government itself of directly participating in the attack.

Asked aboard Air Force One on Sunday about the report and whether he intended to raise the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump did not directly address the question, instead noting that intelligence gathering is conducted by both countries.

“They basically do what we do,” Trump told reporters.

“You know what they say? That China spies on us,” Trump said.

“I say you’re right, and we spy on them, too,” he added.

Trump also offered a relatively measured assessment of Xi’s conduct amid the tensions between Washington and Beijing.

“I think he’s behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well,” Trump said as he returned to the United States following a weekend trip to Ireland.

The President’s comments came after the Journal reported that U.S. officials believe Chinese-sourced imagery was connected to Iran’s deadly July 17 ballistic missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a major U.S. Air Force hub in Jordan.

Three American service members were killed when Iranian ballistic missiles struck a housing area at the base where U.S. personnel were staying. Four other American troops were wounded.

The three troops killed were First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25; Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19; and Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28. They were assigned to missile-defense units at the base.

Iran had already targeted Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in the days preceding the deadly attack. Subsequent visual and satellite analysis showed damage to living quarters, hangars and drone shelters at the sprawling installation.

According to the Journal, Tehran obtained high-resolution imagery of the base from Chinese sources ahead of the attack and additional imagery afterward. U.S. officials reportedly regard the finding as the clearest indication thus far that assistance originating from Chinese entities may have contributed directly to Iran’s ability to strike American forces during the war.

The officials cited by the Journal did not identify the Chinese entities that allegedly supplied the images, and they stopped short of alleging that Beijing itself authorized or participated in providing the intelligence used by Iran. Reuters said it could not independently verify the Journal’s report.

Senior U.S. officials have nevertheless raised the satellite imagery issue directly with Chinese officials. Beijing has rejected the allegations and demanded that Washington provide evidence supporting them.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington defended China’s relationship with Tehran, saying cooperation between the two countries complies with international law and accusing unnamed critics of “maliciously linking and smearing other countries.” The spokesperson did not specifically address the allegation involving the July 17 strike.

Concerns about Chinese satellite support for Iran had surfaced well before the deadly Jordan attack. According to the Journal, the Trump administration had warned Beijing months earlier that Chinese companies appeared to be supplying Iran with satellite imagery that could be used for military targeting.

The United States also imposed sanctions in May on three Chinese companies over satellite imagery sales to Iran. U.S. officials are now concerned that Chinese-sourced data could also improve Tehran’s ability to locate and target American naval vessels and other U.S. military assets operating in the Middle East.

One element of the relationship under scrutiny involves Iran’s access to Chinese satellite technology. The New York Post, citing the Journal’s reporting, said Tehran acquired the Chinese TEE-01B satellite in 2024 for approximately $36 million and gained access to ground stations operated by Chinese satellite company Emposat. It remains unclear, however, whether those systems supplied the particular imagery connected by U.S. officials to the July attack.

The revelations come at a particularly sensitive moment in U.S.-China relations, with Trump and Xi expected to meet in the United States on September 24. China has not yet officially confirmed the planned summit.

Despite the report about Iran’s use of Chinese-sourced imagery, Trump indicated Sunday that he continues to view his relationship with Xi positively and did not suggest that the allegations would derail the anticipated meeting.

The administration’s response comes as Washington attempts to manage its broader competition with Beijing while simultaneously confronting Iran and scrutinizing the extent to which Tehran has received assistance from China and other foreign sources during the war.

For U.S. officials, the central concern extends beyond the July 17 attack. If Iran is receiving timely, high-resolution commercial satellite imagery from Chinese entities, that information could potentially improve Tehran’s ability to monitor American bases, ships and troop movements throughout the region. The Journal reported that those concerns have become increasingly urgent following the deaths of the three U.S. troops in Jordan.

PHOENIX — A newly unveiled statue honoring slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk was vandalized with red spray paint outside Turning Point USA’s Arizona headquarters early Sunday, just three days after the memorial was installed to mark the first anniversary of Kirk’s assassination.

The eight-foot bronze-colored statue was found covered with red paint Sunday morning, with paint sprayed across Kirk’s face, neck, torso and hand. A frowning face was drawn on the statue’s chest, while a nearby memorial display was also defaced. Phoenix police are investigating and, as of Sunday evening, had not announced any arrests or identified a suspect.

Police said they received reports of vandalism at the memorial shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday. Officers responded to Turning Point USA’s headquarters near 48th Street and Beverly Road, where the statue and a nearby sign had been spray-painted.

Photographs from the scene showed red paint concentrated on several portions of the statue, including Kirk’s neck — the area where he was shot during the September 10, 2025, attack at Utah Valley University. Red paint also covered his face and left hand, while the sad-face image was painted across his torso.

The vandal or vandals also targeted a memorial display positioned near the statue. According to Turning Point USA, Kirk’s face was crossed out on one sign and the name “Jesus” and a cross were also marked over. Turning Point USA Chief Operating Officer Tyler Bowyer said he believed another marking left at the scene spelled “Satan.”

“This morning we woke up to radical criminals vandalizing our Headquarters,” Bowyer wrote. “Crossing over Charlie’s face, scratching out Jesus and the Cross & spraying red paint on his neck. This isn’t the country we want to live in. Arizona is not Gotham.”

Turning Point USA said surveillance footage from the overnight incident was being reviewed and that the organization was cooperating with law enforcement in an effort to identify those responsible. The group said the statue would be repaired and the damaged memorial signs replaced.

“We will restore the statue and replace the signs, but we are also reviewing the footage of the incident and are working with law enforcement to identify who did this and hold them accountable,” the organization wrote. “But vandalism like this is not funny, it’s diabolical. The incident happened in the middle of the night because evil never sleeps. Beyond spray painting on the neck and face, they made the intentional decision to cross out the name of Jesus on a nearby sign.”

Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, also responded Sunday, saying the vandalism would not diminish her husband’s influence or the work of the organization he helped build.

“They thought a bullet would silence my husband’s voice but it only made it louder. They think spray paint can obscure his legacy, but it will only spread it further. Every attempt to tear down what Charlie built makes us root deeper and work even harder.”

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell condemned the vandalism as well, declaring, “These acts of vandalism will not be tolerated.”

The statue had been unveiled Thursday, September 10, exactly one year after Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. The statue stands eight feet tall and depicts Kirk wearing a T-shirt bearing the word “FREEDOM,” resembling the clothing he wore on the day he was killed.

Utah sculptor Quintin McCann, who created the statue, told FOX 10 that he began working on Kirk’s likeness almost immediately after learning of his assassination.

“Someone’s death, who I’ve never met, has never impacted me so much. And I’m sure many people can agree. And I just stayed at work that evening and just started sculpting his portrait,” McCann said.

Kirk, 31, was speaking before a crowd at Utah Valley University when he was shot in the neck. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died. Tyler Robinson was arrested two days later and charged in connection with Kirk’s killing. Robinson has pleaded not guilty, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if he is convicted. His next scheduled court appearance is October 23.

Supporters of Kirk who gathered near the vandalized memorial Sunday expressed anger over the attack.

“He was non-violent, so he just died for his beliefs, his challenge to make society better,” Kirk supporter Kyle Elliott said. “Like Turning Point, just like the name of the company, Turning Point USA, so we are at a turning point for sure, and it’s because of Charlie Kirk.”

Police have not publicly identified a motive for the vandalism, and there was no immediate indication that investigators had identified any suspects. Authorities asked anyone with information about the incident to contact Phoenix police or Silent Witness.

[Video below.] House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined Sunday to rule out the possibility that Democrats could pursue impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump if they capture control of the House in the November midterm elections, saying any future action would depend on the facts, the law and the Constitution.

“No, we haven’t ruled anything in and we haven’t ruled anything out in terms of impeachment,” Jeffries said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Jeffries said he would look to Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and other Democrats serving on the House Judiciary Committee, as well as Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee, to take the lead in examining potential wrongdoing.

“[And] be guided by the Constitution, and then let the chips fall where they may, in the best interests of the American people, so that the House, once again, can function like a separate and co-equal branch of government and a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch,” Jeffries said.

Trump was impeached twice by the House during his first term and acquitted by the Senate on both occasions. The President has recently predicted that Democrats would attempt to impeach him again if they regain the House majority.

“They’re going to impeach me. They have no idea why,” Trump said at a rally last week.

Jeffries also promised that a Democratic-controlled House would use its investigative and oversight authority to pursue individuals it determines have engaged in wrongdoing, saying Democrats would “hold the crooks accountable.”

“If someone has been screwing over the American people, shortchanging the American people, or stealing from the American people, they’re going to be held accountable under a Democratic majority,” Jeffries said.

Reuters reported last month that House Democrats have been developing plans for extensive investigations if they regain control of the chamber, focusing in part on companies and financial institutions connected to Trump. According to that report, Democrats involved in the planning were emphasizing investigations rather than an immediate effort to impeach the President.

Despite his sharp criticism of the Trump administration, Jeffries also left open the possibility that a Democratic House majority could work with the President on issues where the two sides find agreement.

“We’ve said from the very beginning of this Congress, if the other side of the aisle is willing to find the common ground necessary to decisively address the fact that everyday Americans are drowning in this Republican economy, working hard, playing by the rules, can’t thrive and can barely survive, then we’re committed to actually trying to find that common ground, as we just recently did with the housing affordability bill that is now law,” Jeffries said.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

A new academic study by a Yale University professor concluded that The New York Times’ reporting on Israel’s war against Hamas systematically presented the conflict in ways unfavorable to Israel, including by giving far greater attention to Palestinian suffering than Israeli suffering and minimizing Palestinian violence.

The study was conducted by Edieal Pinker, a professor at the Yale School of Management, and published in the academic journal Studies in Conflict & Terrorism.

Pinker examined 1,559 New York Times articles published between the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and June 7, 2024. His analysis found that the newspaper frequently left out Israeli military casualties while giving less prominence to acts of violence carried out by Palestinians.

“Personal accounts of Palestinian suffering appear two out of every three days, while comparable accounts of Israeli suffering rarely appear,” Pinker wrote in his study.

According to Pinker’s analysis, the cumulative effect of the newspaper’s reporting was to depict Israel as the “sole aggressor” in the conflict while presenting Palestinians primarily as “passive victims.”

The New York Times rejected Pinker’s conclusions and defended its reporting on the Israel-Hamas war.

“Our editors make careful and deliberate choices about every story we publish to ensure our language, framing, prominence and tone remain true to our mission of independent journalism,” a spokesperson for the Times said in a statement.

“We remain open to good-faith disagreement but will not change our coverage to buttress entrenched perspectives,” the spokesperson added. “Our commitment is to independent reporting that our readers can trust.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also responded to the study, sharply criticizing the Times and what he described as broader bias in mainstream news organizations.

“When you didn’t think you could have more contempt for the NYT & the bias of MSM, this will solidify your outrage as to how unreliable once respected & now discredited news organizations have become,” Huckabee wrote on X.

A British Breslover, Yitzchok Elmkies z”l, a father of seven, was found dead in a wooded area near Uman over Rosh Hashanah, with Ukrainian authorities investigating the circumstances of his death amid reports that signs of violence were discovered on his body.

Elmkies was approximately 45 to 50 years old and a resident of England and had been staying in Uman in recent months. One report said that he had been living in the Ukrainian city for approximately a year and a half.

According to sources, Elmkies was discovered by Breslover chassidim who had gone into the forest for hisbodedus during Rosh Hashanah. They came across him lying unresponsive and summoned emergency personnel and local authorities. Responders who arrived at the scene were unable to save him and pronounced him dead.

Signs of violence were found on Elmkies’ body, raising the possibility that he had been murdered. Investigators were examining a possible homicide. However, as of Sunday night, Ukrainian authorities had not officially confirmed that Elmkies was murdered, and the precise circumstances surrounding his death remained under investigation.

United Hatzalah confirmed that a Jewish man from England had been found dead in the forest near the tziyun of Rav Nachman of Breslov.

“During the holiday, we dealt with a case involving a person, a Jewish resident of England, who was found lying lifeless in the forest. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” said Aharon Ben Harush, director of the United Hatzalah delegation and deputy head of its Uman branch.

Ben Harush said United Hatzalah representatives in Uman were also working with Ukrainian officials in an effort to have the body released as quickly as possible for kevurah.

“United Hatzalah representatives in Uman are working with the authorities to have his body released for burial as soon as possible,” he said.

The discovery occurred during the massive annual Rosh Hashanah gathering in Uman, where tens of thousands of Yidden from Israel, the United States, Britain and countries around the world had traveled to spend the Yom Tov near the tziyun of Rav Nachman of Breslov.

During the two days of Rosh Hashanah, United Hatzalah personnel operating their Uman medical clinic treated dozens of people who became ill or suffered injuries of various kinds.

Elmkies’ death cast a pall over the enormous Rosh Hashanah gathering, particularly as word spread that he had been found by fellow chassidim in a forest used by visitors for hisbodedus.

Ukrainian police were continuing to investigate the case Sunday night and had not yet publicly announced a definitive cause or manner of death. Reports emphasizing the possibility of murder remained based on the reported signs of violence and information from people familiar with the scene rather than an official determination by investigators.

Elmkies is survived by seven children.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

Rudy Giuliani said he put aside his sharp disagreements with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during an unexpected face-to-face encounter at Friday’s 25th anniversary commemoration of the September 11 attacks, telling Mamdani during their handshake that he regularly prays for him.

“We ended up facing each other. I said, ‘I pray for you all the time,’” Giuliani, 82, told the Post.

Mamdani responded, “Thank you,” according to Giuliani’s account.

The brief interaction came after Giuliani had publicly called on Mamdani not to attend the Ground Zero ceremony, citing his objections to the mayor’s views and associations related to the September 11 attacks.

Giuliani said that once the two men found themselves facing one another, he concluded that refusing to acknowledge Mamdani would have shifted attention away from the victims and their families and turned their political dispute into the story of the day.

“We realized that if either one of us turned our backs [on the other], that would have been the story,” Giuliani told the Post.

“It’s about respect for the families, the solemnity of the occasion,” he added.

Despite their significant political disagreements, Giuliani also had some praise for Mamdani, noting that the mayor remained at the lengthy Ground Zero commemoration through its conclusion.

“He stayed until the very end. I give him credit for that,” Giuliani told the Post, while making clear that the cordial encounter had not altered his broader views of Mamdani.

“Our differences are strong and haven’t changed,” Giuliani said.

Among the issues Giuliani had raised before the anniversary was Mamdani’s association with controversial podcast host Hasan Piker, whose past comments concerning the September 11 attacks have drawn criticism.

“I’m concerned about him hanging around with guys saying 9/11 was our fault,” Giuliani told the Post.

Mamdani, 34, nevertheless attended Friday’s ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial plaza in Lower Manhattan, despite Giuliani and some relatives of 9/11 victims publicly objecting to his presence.

Mamdani said afterward that the anniversary should remain centered on those murdered in the attacks, their families, the first responders and others affected by September 11 rather than on political disputes.

The handshake between the current and previous mayors was captured during the commemoration and quickly attracted attention, particularly because it followed days of public criticism of Mamdani by Giuliani ahead of the 25th anniversary.

Federal health officials have declared the largest cyclospora outbreak in U.S. history over after nearly 20,000 confirmed infections, two deaths and hundreds of hospitalizations — even as authorities investigate a separate salmonella outbreak linked to broccoli sprouts.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that the cyclospora outbreak had ended after confirming that all products covered by the recall had been removed from the market.

But health officials are now warning about another potential threat in the produce aisle.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a multistate salmonella outbreak associated with broccoli sprouts produced by Evergreen Fresh Sprouts. So far, 22 people have become ill and two have required hospitalization.

Idaho-based Evergreen Fresh Sprouts voluntarily recalled affected cases distributed in Idaho, Montana, Utah and Washington.

Officials are concerned that the sprouts may be contaminated with Salmonella Bovismorbificans, a strain of bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness, including bloody diarrhea.

The cyclospora crisis began in July and rapidly grew into an unprecedented outbreak. Federal officials ultimately received reports of nearly 20,000 laboratory-confirmed infections — several times the number recorded during the same period a year earlier — along with more than 6,100 suspected cases.

Two people died and approximately 570 others were hospitalized, according to the CDC. Cyclospora infection can cause severe and prolonged diarrhea as well as vomiting, bloating and other gastrointestinal symptoms.

Investigators linked the outbreak to Mexican operations belonging to California-based Taylor Farms. Taco Bell restaurants were particularly affected, while the widespread publicity surrounding the outbreak also contributed to a major decline in lettuce sales.

Numerous people who later became ill had eaten at Taco Bell locations in Michigan, Ohio and other parts of the country.

At the outbreak’s height, federal officials recorded more than 1,000 infections in a single day. By August, that figure had plunged to fewer than two newly detected infections per day.

Hundreds of people who became sick have filed lawsuits against Taco Bell and Taylor Farms. The Post previously reported that some victims could eventually receive tens of thousands of dollars in compensation for their injuries and suffering.

Taylor Farms initially disputed the government’s conclusion that its lettuce was contaminated and said the FDA “apologized” over conflicting produce test results, maintaining that the agency had made a “mistake.”

The FDA rejected that account, saying it did not apologize to Taylor Farms and pointing out that the company ultimately recalled 236,192 cases of salad products because of possible contamination.

Despite declaring the outbreak over Friday, federal authorities said their investigation into how the contamination occurred was continuing.

Before this year’s unprecedented surge, 2019 had been the second-worst year on record for cyclospora infections in the United States, with approximately 4,700 cases reported nationwide.

Kamala Harris accused Republicans of “cheating” ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, saying she is devoting her time to helping Democrats capture control of Congress in an effort to “stop the madness.” Her allegations centered on Republican-backed redistricting and voting restrictions, claims Republicans disputed.

“Midterms, midterms, midterms, full-time occupying my thoughts, my mind and my work,” Harris said.

“We have to win these midterms. These — these folks are cheating. They’re redrawing lines. They’re trying to make it more difficult for people to vote so they won’t vote because they are afraid of the power of the people.

“And, so, I’m spending full-time working on doing everything I can to help people restore some balance in our government, which is, through the midterms, winning back Congress, the House and the Senate so that we can stop the madness,” Harris told former women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe on her podcast, “What Are You Like?”

During the conversation, Rapinoe asked Harris what had prompted her to return to a more active role in politics and public life.

“I don’t know how to live and not serve. I honestly don’t. I just don’t. It’s something I’ve come to terms with. I don’t know how to, I just don’t know a life without figuring out how I can help move the needle,” she said.

Harris said her objective was to bring back “some sense of sanity” and what she described as a properly functioning federal government.

The Republican National Committee pushed back sharply against Harris’ accusations, with RNC election integrity Communications Director Ally Triolo accusing Democrats themselves of seeking to undermine election safeguards.

“If Kamala Harris is upset Republicans are going after the illegals and fraudsters trying to vote, it makes you wonder if she’s taking crazy pills again. Voter ID and proof of citizenship are common sense, but Democrats can’t win elections without cheating the system,” RNC election integrity Communications Director Ally Triolo told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Rapinoe also questioned Harris about whether she had reached a decision on seeking the presidency again in 2028.

“I haven’t decided,” Harris said. “From my perspective, ’28 doesn’t matter if we don’t win ’26.”

Harris has made clear in other recent interviews that her immediate political focus is on this year’s congressional races rather than a potential presidential campaign two years from now.

In an interview last week with MS NOW’s Peter Alexander, Harris was also asked about reports that some Democratic candidates in Republican-leaning states would prefer that she stay away from their campaigns. Harris said she supported candidates making whatever strategic decisions they believe will help them win.

“Listen, Peter, we need to win, OK? Bottom line, we need to win,” Harris said. “I have run locally, I’ve run for statewide office and, obviously, nationally. And these candidates know what they need to do to win, and I would expect nothing less.

“I look forward to being on the trail and helping folks where I can be helpful, but we have got to put a check on this lawless administration and deliver what Americans need and deserve. Lower costs, affordable healthcare, affordable childcare, you name it. So, I support them in doing whatever they need to do to win.”

The discussion with Harris eventually shifted from electoral politics to Rapinoe’s experiences in women’s athletics.

“I’m thinking about my own experience being a female athlete, and I went through, in the prime of my career, just the most historic time in women’s sports,” she said.

Rapinoe described enormous advances in women’s sports during her career, while arguing that those gains have subsequently been accompanied by setbacks involving what she characterized as equal rights.

“I mean, it was crazy in the best ways. We saw a huge amount of progress, which has led into a pretty significant regression in terms of just equal rights and people’s rights in general. I definitely think those two are tied.

“It was for the longest time, you know, don’t talk about women’s issues,” she added. “Same kind of thing. It was like, ‘Well, you’re not that good,’ or ‘You’re not that entertaining’ or, ‘Don’t do it like this or whatever.’

“And then we did it, and all women’s sports sort of did it. And then it was like, ‘OK, we’re just going to do something else.’ And I always just felt like they’re like they’re not going to let us just win.”

Newly declassified CIA documents show that Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush received repeated intelligence warnings in the years before September 11, 2001, that Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda were seeking to attack the United States, with one 1998 briefing raising the possibility that terrorists could fly an explosives-filled aircraft into an American city. The newly released material confirms and expands upon intelligence failures previously examined by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

The documents, released by the CIA on Friday as the nation marked the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, include intelligence reports dating to 1998. Some of their contents had previously become public, but the release represents the largest collection of declassified Presidential Daily Brief material related to 9/11 ever made public by the agency.

Among the warnings were reports indicating that Al Qaeda operatives were already inside the United States and that individuals associated with bin Laden’s network may have conducted a practice run at a New York airport almost three years before terrorists hijacked four passenger jets on September 11, killing nearly 3,000 people.

“Bin Laden [sic] Preparing To Hijack US Aircraft,” a Dec. 4, 1998, document prepared for Clinton’s Presidential Daily Brief ominously warned.

“Some members of the Bin Laden network have received hijack training, according to various sources,” the document said. “Bin Laden could be weighing other types of operations against US aircraft.”

The same intelligence report cited information that “Bin Laden might implement plans to hijack a US aircraft before the beginning of Ramadan on 20 December and that two members of the operational team had evaded security checks during a recent trial run at an unidentified New York airport.”

An even earlier briefing delivered during the Clinton administration contained a striking reference to the possibility of an aircraft being used in an attack against an American city. The September 10, 1998, material said: “Bin Laden late last month said his preferred option is to strike the US on its own soil in Washington … the same group responsible for the [US Embassy] bombings in Africa [Kenya and Tanzania] may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city.”

A July 1998 intelligence document reflected the uncertainty surrounding some of the information reaching U.S. officials at the time, saying “[w]e have received four reports from highly questionable sources suggesting Usama [sic] Bin Laden is making plans to conduct an attack in the United States.”

By February 11, 2000, Clinton’s intelligence briefers were reporting that authorities had obtained a manifesto listing possible terrorist targets “such as the Statue of Liberty” in New York Harbor and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Other intelligence assessments raised concerns that bin Laden could be considering an attack on a shopping mall in Washington, D.C.

The newly released collection also includes the well-known 2001 Presidential Daily Brief concerning bin Laden and the threat of an attack inside the United States. The briefing, received by Bush in August 2001, was titled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US.” The 9/11 Commission later examined the document and the administration’s response to it in detail.

“Al-Qa’ida [sic] members-including some who are US citizens—have resided in or traveled to the US for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks,” that file said.

The briefing also reviewed bin Laden’s longstanding determination to retaliate against the United States and cited FBI findings concerning suspicious activity on American soil.

“After US missile strikes on his base in Afghanistan in 1998, Bin Laden told followers he wanted to retaliate in Washington,” the document states, noting the FBI found “patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.”

By August 2001, only weeks before the attacks, intelligence presented to Bush indicated that the FBI was “conducting approximately 70 full field investigations throughout the US that it considers Bin Laden-related.”

When Bush was interviewed by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission in April 2004, he said he had not been provided with “actionable intelligence” that could have enabled his administration to prevent the attacks. According to the commission, Bush said he understood Al Qaeda to be dangerous but had not been told that a terrorist cell inside the United States had been identified.

The newly declassified records were released as part of a broader transparency initiative under President Donald Trump. The Trump administration has also released previously classified government records concerning the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

“Today I authorized the release of 71 Presidential Daily Briefs to honor the lives of those killed on 9/11,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement.

The CIA said the 71 declassified products total more than 100 pages and document how intelligence analysts’ understanding of bin Laden and Al Qaeda evolved before September 11 amid what the agency described as information that was often incomplete, vague and difficult to assess.

Hours before the documents became public, Condoleezza Rice, who was serving as Bush’s national security adviser when the September 11 attacks occurred, apologized to victims’ families for the government’s failure to recognize and prevent the danger in time.

“Those of us in authority on that day did not see the nature of the danger in time to prevent the attack of 9/11,” Rice said.

“I will always carry deep personal remorse for the pain that you, the families of the fallen, still feel, and for the trauma that our country endured.”

The declassified material also shows that intelligence officials believed bin Laden was interested not only in attacking the United States but in securing the release of Omar Abdel-Rahman, the so-called “blind sheikh,” who was serving a life sentence in federal prison in North Carolina after being convicted in connection with a plot to attack New York landmarks following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Bush later confirmed to the 9/11 Commission that he had seen intelligence concerning the possibility that terrorists could hijack an airliner in an attempt to force the release of Abdel-Rahman or other imprisoned extremists. He maintained, however, that his administration had not received intelligence specifically warning that passenger aircraft would be turned into missiles.

Clinton, meanwhile, strongly defended his administration’s record against Al Qaeda during a September 2006 appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”

“I got closer to killing [bin Laden] than anybody has gotten since. I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it.”

When then-host Chris Wallace continued questioning Clinton about his administration’s handling of the terrorist leader, Clinton responded: “You did Fox’s bidding on this show. You did your nice little conservative hit job on me.”

The newly released intelligence also underscores that not every pre-9/11 warning proved accurate. U.S. agencies collected numerous reports describing possible terrorist operations that never materialized, highlighting the difficulty officials faced in distinguishing credible threats from unreliable intelligence.

One example came in a July 21, 1999, CIA memorandum reporting that bin Laden had said his organization “made a dry run of a bombing of the FBI headquarters” in Washington and suggesting an attack would happen “soon.”

But CIA analysts explicitly warned about the reliability of that information, noting that they had “reservations about the source.”

Intelligence officials also investigated whether bin Laden might have acquired a nuclear weapon, potentially from Russia. They ultimately concluded that he did not possess one, but remained deeply concerned about Al Qaeda’s efforts to obtain chemical or biological weapons. The newly released CIA collection includes several reports examining bin Laden’s interest in weapons of mass destruction.

“If Bin Laden succeeded in buying a chemical or biological weapon,” a document noted in February 1999, “his past behavior and statements indicate he would have no reservations about using it and he would begin searching for a suitable target.”

Another intelligence report prepared for Clinton’s daily briefing on February 11, 2000, described bin Laden as promoting a “global drug trafficking” operation aimed at sending heroin and opium into Europe and the United States as part of “his anti-West campaign.”

At the time, bin Laden was based in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where the cultivation of poppies and production of narcotics generated enormous revenues.

“Afghan territory under Taliban control is now the largest producer in the world of illicit opium, which is refined into heroin,” a December 2000 State Department fact sheet stated. “Narcotics-related income strengthens the Taliban’s capacity to provide support for international terrorism.”

Representatives for Clinton and Bush did not immediately respond to requests for comment following the release of the documents. Both attended the 25th-anniversary remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan on Friday.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that Tehran would not capitulate to the United States or Israel, delivering a defiant message as the widening conflict threatened critical Middle Eastern shipping routes and rattled global energy markets.

“Iran has successfully stood against Israel and the US,” Pezeshkian said late Friday while addressing a gathering of religious leaders in New Delhi.

“Since we are seeking truth and justice, we will not yield in front of bullying arrogance.”

Pezeshkian also accused the United States of attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure during its military campaign against Iran.

“If Americans are warriors, let them face our valiant military forces,” Pezeshkian wrote on X.

“Why wage war on civilian infrastructure, food supplies, and livelihoods?”

“If they’re human, why deny people access to water, food, and medicine?” he continued.

“Our people can’t be bullied into submission. Iran won’t surrender.”

The Iranian president made the remarks ahead of the weekend BRICS Summit in India and only days after President Donald Trump defended the U.S. military campaign against Tehran.

“If I had it to do again, I would do exactly what I did,” Trump said Thursday, arguing Iran posed a threat to Israel, the Middle East and US cities.

Even as Pezeshkian publicly vowed that Iran would continue resisting the United States and Israel, Tehran was simultaneously pursuing an intensive diplomatic effort aimed at addressing a war that has increasingly endangered international shipping and global energy supplies.

Iran and the United Arab Emirates on Saturday endorsed a joint BRICS declaration voicing “deep concern” over the continuing escalation across the Middle East and calling for restraint. The declaration came despite a deterioration in relations between Tehran and Abu Dhabi during the conflict.

Pezeshkian also held talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed on the sidelines of the summit, as governments across the region worked to prevent the fighting from expanding further.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met with Pezeshkian on Friday, emphasized the importance of protecting seafarers, preserving freedom of navigation and ensuring that maritime commerce can continue safely.

Modi also renewed India’s call for the confrontation to be resolved through “dialogue and diplomacy.”

The diplomatic activity came as Iran prepared for negotiations in Oman on Monday concerning the Strait of Hormuz, where commercial shipping has been badly disrupted by the conflict.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Saturday that the talks in Oman were not expected to immediately result in a signed agreement governing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most consequential oil-shipping routes in the world.

Iran is seeking an expanded role in overseeing passage through the strategic waterway, including authority to collect fees from ships traveling through it.

Meanwhile, the threat to regional energy infrastructure expanded beyond the Strait of Hormuz when Saudi Arabia temporarily closed its East-West oil pipeline following a drone attack. The pipeline is particularly important because it allows Saudi oil to avoid the Strait of Hormuz and instead reach export terminals on the Red Sea.

Saudi authorities said the drones responsible for the attack originated in Iraqi territory, although Riyadh did not publicly accuse Iran of carrying out or directing the strike. President Trump said Saturday that he believed Iran was “probably” responsible.

Saudi Arabia said it would refrain from an immediate retaliatory response, providing the Iraqi government with an opportunity to prevent additional attacks from being launched from its territory.

The escalating regional tensions have also driven oil prices sharply higher. Brent crude closed Friday at $104.61 per barrel, while U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate ended trading at $100.05. Those figures represented increases of approximately 18% and 21%, respectively, since August 14.

President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed increasingly dire warnings about the dangers of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, arguing that the United States cannot afford to slow down and risk surrendering its technological advantage to China. Speaking at his golf resort in Doonbeg, Ireland, Trump said maintaining American leadership in AI outweighed calls for a broad slowdown in development.

“We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins,” Trump told reporters.

Trump argued that some of the darkest predictions surrounding AI are exaggerated, while emphasizing that his overriding objective is to keep the United States at the forefront of the rapidly developing technology.

“And we can put guardrails; we can do this and that,” he added.

“But I think you have a lot of negative voices that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”

The President’s remarks came after Anthropic safety researchers Joe Benton and Jacob Coxon resigned from the company amid concerns about the direction and speed of AI development, adding to a rapidly intensifying debate over the potential dangers posed by increasingly powerful systems.

Coxon’s warnings drew enormous attention on X last Tuesday, where he accused Anthropic and OpenAI of acting irresponsibly and charged that they are “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.”

Amid the growing controversy, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for slowing the advancement of frontier AI systems so that safety research and safeguards have time to keep pace. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI’s Elon Musk subsequently backed the broad call for a slower pace of development.

Some Republicans have also called for a greater government role in AI oversight and for technology executives to assume more responsibility for ensuring that increasingly sophisticated systems remain safe.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Congress, the White House and leading AI executives should work together on appropriate safeguards, while agreeing with Trump that the United States cannot allow China to overtake it in the global AI race.

“We have to do this right, safely and wisely,” Johnson told CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding that Congress and the White House need to come together as soon as possible to “figure out what the right balance is.”

“We cannot put a moratorium on this because China will overlap us, and that’s the challenge — national security balanced with the immediate security of making sure the models are safe,” he added.

David Sacks, who previously served as Trump’s AI czar and is now co-president of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, criticized the calls from Amodei and Altman, questioning whether their push for slowing development was entirely about safety.

“[S]top pretending you need anyone else’s permission. Stop pretending antitrust law has to be suspended so you can form a cartel. Stop pretending you need a regulatory approval process that supersedes product liability,” Sacks chided on X in response.

“Most of all, stop pretending the motivation to slow down is purely altruistic,” he added. “China is very unlikely to join a global agreement, as you know, and that has to be taken into account as well. So go ahead and pace the frontier. You are the ones setting it.”

Amodei, in explaining his concerns, pointed to an incident this summer involving OpenAI agents and Hugging Face in which AI agents behaved outside their intended constraints and conducted autonomous cyber activity while attempting to succeed at an evaluation. Amodei argued that more capable versions of such systems could pose dramatically greater dangers.

He noted that “[s]imilar, though less severe, incidents” have taken place at other firms.

“Given the accelerating rate of AI capability development, it’s my worry that in 6–12 months such a swarm could be capable of taking over the entire internet with a persistent botnet … and that the scale of damage would continue to increase from there if AI becomes more powerful without the necessary guardrails,” he wrote in a piece on Saturday.

Democrats have likewise raised concerns about the speed of AI development. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, has called for a moratorium on new data centers and urged Trump to pursue an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping restricting the development of the most advanced AI systems.

“With the future of humanity at stake, Trump must negotiate a comprehensive treaty with President Xi of China to establish a pause on advanced AI development and a ban on super intelligence,” Sanders posted on X Sunday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said artificial intelligence would receive significant attention when House Democrats gathered for their caucus meeting Tuesday, saying a “high priority will be action on artificial intelligence.”

“We certainly need to begin to act urgently to address the challenges that exist,” Jeffries told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. “What we did as Democrats was to begin last December a Commission on Artificial Intelligence and the Innovation Economy so we could evaluate the steps that needed to be done and then present an aggressive framework.”

Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona has called for Congress to establish a select committee devoted specifically to artificial intelligence and its potential risks.

“AI is unlike any technology we’ve seen before,” he said on “State of the Union. “Once it becomes fully dangerous, it won’t care whether you’re Chinese or American. We can’t afford to wait three years to act; we have to move now to regulate it.”

Earlier this year, the Trump administration temporarily restricted access to Anthropic’s frontier Mythos model following concerns about its ability to identify and exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities, according to the Post.

Trump has repeatedly emphasized what he sees as AI’s transformative potential, describing the technology as “bigger than the internet” and pointing in particular to possible breakthroughs in medicine.

Despite widespread public concern about artificial intelligence and the enormous data centers required to support increasingly advanced models, Trump has continued to argue that the United States must press ahead, repeatedly identifying continued American technological leadership over China as his central priority.

Beijing is moving to prohibit virtually all private possession of drones within the Chinese capital, significantly expanding restrictions that already bar unauthorized flights and have blocked the sale of the devices since May.

The new prohibition, announced Sunday, will take effect November 15 and will make it illegal to possess or store drones — as well as certain critical drone components — anywhere within Beijing’s municipal boundaries.

Chinese authorities have already prohibited unauthorized drone operations in Beijing on security grounds, designating the entire administrative region of the capital as restricted airspace.

The tougher regulations follow a deadly aviation accident in late June, when a small aircraft crashed into a Beijing skyscraper, killing the pilot and leaving 13 other people injured.

Under an earlier set of regulations approved in March and implemented May 1, Beijing residents who already owned drones were required to register the devices using their real names and identities. Those who completed the registration process were permitted to retain their drones as long as they complied with stringent requirements.

That exemption will disappear under the revised regulations approved this month. Beginning November 15, even storing or possessing a drone or designated key components inside Beijing will be prohibited, authorities announced Sunday.

Individuals and businesses that violate the restrictions could have their drones confiscated and may also face financial penalties.

To help current owners dispose of their devices, Beijing authorities plan to offer subsidies to residents who turn in their drones at designated buyback locations, according to the state-owned Beijing Daily. Owners will also have the option of scrapping and recycling their drones in exchange for a smaller subsidy or transporting them outside Beijing before the prohibition takes effect.

Drone use will remain possible in other areas of China, although operators are generally required to register their devices under their real names. Beijing, as the national capital and seat of China’s central government, routinely operates under tighter security restrictions than many other parts of the country.

Tourists and other visitors are also subject to the restrictions. Bringing a drone into Beijing from outside the city is already prohibited.

Federal investigators examining California Gov. Gavin Newsom have expanded their scrutiny to include his international travel, private funding for those trips and possible payments toward personal and living expenses, according to newly revealed subpoenas involving a nonprofit closely connected to the governor.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office issued subpoenas in September seeking roughly six years of communications involving the California State Protocol Foundation, a nonprofit that has used privately donated money rather than taxpayer funds to cover expenses associated with Newsom’s travel.

According to the subpoenas, investigators sought records concerning the foundation’s donors and fundraising activities, Newsom’s overseas trips and events, and any foundation money that may have been used for the governor’s personal or living expenses.

Federal authorities also sought information involving several Newsom aides, including Becca Prowda, the governor’s chief protocol officer, who plays a significant role in arranging his international travel. Prowda is married to San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.

Investigators reportedly also requested communications involving members of the Protocol Foundation’s board, several of whom have longstanding personal or professional relationships with Newsom.

Since becoming governor in 2019, Newsom has directed more than $7.5 million in outside donations to the Protocol Foundation, according to state records cited by the California Post, with approximately $5.1 million coming from money left over from his inaugural activities.

Among the foundation’s donors are corporations and organizations that conduct business in California or are affected by state government decisions, including CVS, a Blue Shield-affiliated foundation and autonomous-vehicle company Zoox. Newsom has also solicited contributions from the New Venture Fund and cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen.

Foundations connected to wealthy philanthropists Susie Tompkins Buell and Lisa Stone Pritzker have also contributed. Both women have financially supported Newsom’s political activities as well as nonprofit organizations associated with his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

The Protocol Foundation is not the only subject attracting federal scrutiny. Investigators have also been examining tax matters involving Siebel Newsom, according to previous reporting. The precise scope and potential criminal theories behind the various investigations have not been publicly established.

Newsom has accused President Donald Trump of using the Justice Department to retaliate against him politically, pointing to his repeated criticism of the Trump administration and his consideration of a possible presidential campaign in 2028. The Justice Department has declined to comment publicly on those allegations.

“Governor Newsom went after the king — and as he warned in June, the tyrant is now coming after everyone around him,” Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said in a statement to The Post.

“This is what Donald Trump does to his enemies: investigate first, hunt for a crime that doesn’t exist second.”

Records obtained following a public-records dispute this summer showed that Newsom held more than 30 briefings or meetings with Prowda concerning his extensive travel schedule and planned meetings and events involving foreign officials.

Newsom’s international travel this year has included visits to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and the Munich Security Conference in Germany. He also traveled to London to sign an environmental agreement. Earlier in his governorship, Newsom led a weeklong delegation to China in 2023.

According to the governor’s calendars, Prowda has accompanied or assisted Newsom at events ranging from the California Hall of Fame ceremony to meetings with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and David Lammy, who previously served as Britain’s deputy prime minister.

Several of Newsom’s longtime political advisers also hold influential positions within the Protocol Foundation.

The organization’s chairman, Steve Kawa, previously served as Newsom’s chief of staff when Newsom was mayor of San Francisco. Newsom recently appointed Kawa to chair the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Jason Elliott, another longtime Newsom adviser who was also appointed to the rail authority, serves on the Protocol Foundation’s board.

Jim DeBoo, who previously served as Newsom’s chief of staff in the governor’s office, is listed as secretary of the Protocol Foundation in its latest IRS filings.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Protocol Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Post. Foundation officials told the San Francisco Standard that they could not discuss the federal investigation.

A spokesperson for the foundation said it “has proudly supported both Republican and Democratic administrations in fulfilling their duties representing all of California through public events and international engagements.”

The foundation’s spending has extended beyond paying expenses associated with Newsom’s overseas travel.

Protocol Foundation money was also used when Newsom delivered his State of the State address from an empty Dodger Stadium during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nonprofit also reportedly paid for burner phones that Newsom sent to prominent technology executives last year.

Financial records indicate that the foundation’s resources had fallen sharply by the end of 2024. After spending nearly $600,000 more than it collected over the preceding two years, the organization reported just $7,790 in net funds, according to IRS records.

The newly disclosed subpoenas provide additional detail about the federal investigation but do not establish wrongdoing by Newsom, his wife, his aides or the Protocol Foundation.

A 15-year-old Alaska boy who survived nearly three days stranded atop an overturned boat in the frigid Bering Sea revealed after his dramatic rescue that he had watched his older brother and cousin die during the horrifying ordeal.

Derek Parker Aghnaanga had gone halibut fishing with his brother and cousin on September 4 when their small skiff capsized near St. Lawrence Island and was swept into the Bering Sea.

Aghnaanga, the only member of the group to survive, managed to remain atop the overturned vessel for approximately 62 hours as his brother became trapped beneath the boat and his cousin eventually disappeared into the water.

“Through the teeth chattering, he had mentioned that his brother was still under the skiff and then he said that in the previous night before our rescue that his cousin had slipped away off the top of the skiff,” Adam White, captain of the Northwest Explorer, told Alaska’s News Source.

The Coast Guard located Aghnaanga clinging to the capsized vessel at approximately 10:30 a.m. Monday. Alaska State Troopers had alerted the Coast Guard the previous night after the three fishermen failed to return home. The Northwest Explorer, which had a crew of 13 aboard, was then asked to assist in retrieving the teenager.

“We saw the unusual object on the horizon. We blasted our horn a couple times,” White said.

Video of the dramatic rescue showed the Northwest Explorer approaching what initially appeared to be nothing more than an overturned boat in the distance. As the vessel drew closer, crew members realized that someone was still alive and sitting on top of it.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s remarkable, and it’s cold. The water is 10 degrees Celsius,” White added, describing the rescue.

The Northwest Explorer, a fishing vessel that was also carrying scientists, reached Aghnaanga and brought him safely aboard.

By then, the teenager was exhibiting symptoms of hypothermia. Crew members immediately wrapped him in blankets and worked to keep him awake and talking as the vessel traveled toward Nome, where he could be reunited with his family.

A family member told Alaska’s News Source that Aghnaanga had desperately held onto the overturned boat while his brother, 35-year-old Sidney Kulowiyi, and his cousin, 34-year-old Barton Rookok, were lost in the water.

According to Aghnaanga’s mother, the teenager went days without food or water after his older brother, who had been captaining the boat, became trapped underneath the overturned skiff and died.

“Saturday, all the way to Tuesday, that kid was on top of that skiff. I mean, that’s one tough kid,” White said.

A GoFundMe campaign established to assist Aghnaanga’s family and help pay funeral expenses for the two men had already raised nearly its $40,000 goal.

Bill Clinton said Sunday that the CIA called off a pre-9/11 operation targeting Osama bin Laden because agency officials feared that a failed attempt could kill innocent civilians, a decision Clinton now believes may have cost the United States an opportunity to stop the al Qaeda leader before the September 11 attacks. The 9/11 Commission later documented several Clinton-era efforts to capture or kill bin Laden, including a 1998 CIA plan that agency leadership ultimately judged too risky to recommend.

Clinton, 80, recounted the episode during an interview with John Catsimatidis on WABC’s “Cats Roundtable,” while also describing how he immediately suspected bin Laden when he watched the September 11, 2001, terror attacks unfold from Australia.

“I had authorized the CIA to try to take him out,” Clinton told Catsimatidis, adding that he told the agency it would have been good to capture bin Laden alive, but the main priority was to stop him.

“I was scared, and I was mad because we tried to get him before, and the CIA at the last minute killed the plan that I think might well have succeeded,” the former Democratic president said.

“But they were afraid that if they missed, they’d kill a lot of innocent civilians. They didn’t want to run the risk. I didn’t second-guess them, but I think, in the end, [bin Laden] was determined to do what he did, and he had lots of money and lots of capacity,” Clinton reflected.

The 9/11 Commission found that the Clinton administration pursued multiple covert approaches against bin Laden during the years preceding the attacks. Clinton authorized CIA-backed efforts involving Afghan tribal forces and other foreign partners, but intelligence limitations, operational risks and disagreements over the scope of authorization repeatedly complicated those plans.

“I wish we had done even more to get him. I always thought he was our biggest threat … I wanted to get him, and I did what I could to do that,” he said.

Clinton also recalled the moment he concluded that bin Laden was responsible for the September 11 attacks. He was in Australia at the time, while Hillary Clinton was in Washington and their daughter, Chelsea, was in Lower Manhattan.

“At the time, I was in Australia. Hilary was in Washington. But our daughter was in Lower Manhattan, and we were worried to death about her. She was one of the thousands of people who were told to just walk north. We couldn’t get in touch with her,” Clinton told Catsimatidis.

Clinton said he was watching the attacks on television when the second hijacked aircraft slammed into the World Trade Center, convincing him that what was happening was a coordinated terrorist assault and that bin Laden was responsible.

“I was watching television in Australia when the second plane hit. I immediately said that bin Laden did this. They all looked at me and said, ‘How do you know this?’ I said, ‘Well, because the only adversaries we have with the capacity to do this are Iran and bin Laden,” he recalled.

“And the Iranians wouldn’t do it because we could wipe them off the face of the Earth immediately. And bin Laden is holed up in a cave in Afghanistan.’ I just knew it had to be him. I also knew that he had been planning to do what he did to hit us for a long time.”

Bin Laden had already been a major focus of U.S. counterterrorism efforts during Clinton’s presidency. Following al Qaeda’s 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the Clinton administration launched missile strikes against targets linked to bin Laden and pursued diplomatic and covert efforts aimed at capturing or killing him.

Nearly a decade after the September 11 attacks, bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011, when U.S. Navy SEALs carried out a secret raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Clinton also warned that he believes New York City could someday again become the target of a major terrorist attack, although he said the United States is now considerably better equipped to confront such threats.

“I think it’s entirely possible. I think we have to stay on guard about that. We have to make sure we’re getting all the intelligence we can on the issue. I think there is a chance that will happen,” Clinton said when asked if New York could be targeted by terrorists again.

“We’re much better prepared [now] than we were… [But] you only have to miss once, and then you’re screwed. It’s just something that has to be a continuing part of our national security plan,” he said.

“If you’re running the country, you want to make big good things happen, and stop big bad things from happening … That’s where I think we are as a country, and where I think we can maybe find unity again.”

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that federal authorities are investigating longstanding allegations that Rep. Ilhan Omar married her brother as part of an immigration scheme, asserting that investigators could ultimately pursue deportation if they establish that she committed immigration fraud. Omar has repeatedly denied the allegation, which has not been proven in court or publicly substantiated by federal authorities.

Mullin addressed the matter during an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, where he said the federal investigation involving the Minnesota Democrat remains ongoing.

“We know that she married her brother to try to bring him to the United States,” Mullin said confidently.

“We know he lives now in London,” the DHS chief added, referring to Omar’s ex-husband.

Mullin said investigators are examining whether there may have been broader immigration violations involving Omar and members of her family and suggested that evidence of wrongdoing could potentially place her immigration history in jeopardy.

“There may be more to this, the whole family migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with,” he told Johnson.

At the same time, Mullin stressed that the investigation has not reached a final conclusion and insisted that any prosecution or immigration action would have to rest on evidence rather than political considerations.

“Here’s what I want to make sure we do: if we actually move a case forward, it’s not a political case, it’s an actual case, because they did things wrong,” he said.

Mullin added, “If you lied about certain things about your application. There’s no expiration to that. If we can prove it – that you shouldn’t have been here in the first place – we’ll deport you.”

Omar, who was born in Somalia, became a naturalized American citizen in 2000 at the age of 17.

She has consistently and emphatically rejected claims that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom she legally married in 2009, is her brother. Contemporary reporting confirms that the allegation dates back at least to 2016, but subsequent reporting examining public records was unable to conclusively establish that Elmi was Omar’s sibling.

Omar has been married to two men who are now her ex-husbands, Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi and Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. Questions surrounding her marriage to Elmi, a British citizen, emerged publicly at least a decade ago and have followed her throughout her political career.

“Insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive,” Omar told MPR News in 2016.

“This is a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract from the pedophile protection party’s unpopular war of choice, increasing gas prices, and rapidly dropping polling numbers,” Omar’s chief of staff Connor McNutt said of the marriage fraud allegations earlier this year.

Public records show that Omar legally married Elmi in February 2009. Their legal divorce was finalized in December 2017, and Omar legally married Hirsi the following month, in January 2018.

Omar has said that her relationship with Elmi was short-lived and that the couple separated in 2011. She has maintained that she subsequently reconciled with Hirsi. No children are publicly known to have resulted from Omar’s marriage to Elmi.

Questions about the relationship intensified in 2019, when the Minnesota Star Tribune examined social media material that purportedly included a June 2012 photograph of Elmi holding a newborn baby and referring to the child as his niece. Omar’s third child was born around that time. The newspaper reported that the original social media material had been removed and said it could not independently obtain some of the posts circulated by conservative outlets.

Some of the earliest public accusations that Omar and Elmi were siblings appeared on a Somali political discussion forum. The Star Tribune reported that material from some of the original social media accounts involved in the controversy was subsequently removed.

The allegations received additional attention in 2020 when Minneapolis Somali blogger and community figure Abdihakim Osman publicly claimed that he knew Omar while they were growing up in Minnesota and that she had introduced Elmi to members of the Somali community as her brother from London.

According to Osman’s account, Omar told people at the time that her sibling was seeking “papers,” an apparent reference to immigration documentation.

“No one knew there had been a wedding [to Elmi] until the media turned up the marriage certificate years later,” Osman said.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have also publicly stated that they believe Omar married her brother.

“We actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America,” Vance told Benny Johnson in March.

In May, President Trump similarly said that he believes Omar “married her brother, which is totally illegal.”

Despite those assertions, no court or government agency has publicly established that Elmi is Omar’s brother or that the marriage constituted immigration fraud. A 2019 Star Tribune investigation found discrepancies and unanswered questions in Omar’s marital history but said its review of public records could neither conclusively confirm nor disprove the sibling allegation.

Marriage fraud committed for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration laws is a federal criminal offense and can carry serious criminal and immigration consequences.

A Long Island man who ran onto the field at Yankee Stadium carrying a Palestinian flag during Friday night’s game marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks has been identified as 38-year-old Kelly Marcucci, a self-described “revisionist-Marxist” who had posted a lengthy rant about 9/11 just hours before the incident.

Marcucci is facing misdemeanor charges of interfering with a professional sporting event and trespassing, according to the NYPD.

Police said Marcucci allegedly climbed out of the stands and made his way onto the playing field during the Yankees-Mets Subway Series matchup in The Bronx.

The incident unfolded during the seventh inning at precisely 9:11 p.m., when Marcucci raced across the field carrying a Palestinian flag before security personnel quickly tackled him in centerfield, according to video of the incident.

As Marcucci was brought down on the field, fans throughout Yankee Stadium erupted into chants of “USA!”

Earlier Friday, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Marcucci had posted a lengthy and rambling message on Facebook discussing the September 11 attacks and an assortment of political and ideological subjects.

The post touched on capitalism, Zionism, Saudi Arabia and 9/11, while also mentioning several prominent figures, including President Donald Trump and podcaster Joe Rogan.

Before allegedly running onto the field, Marcucci also uploaded a short video showing himself inside Yankee Stadium. In the clip, he displayed the personalized “K. Marcucci” jersey he was wearing while seated in the stands.

The front of Marcucci’s shirt bore the words “No Kings,” a slogan associated with anti-Trump protests.

On his social media pages, Marcucci describes himself as a journalist and “spiritual tactician.” He is a graduate of Stony Brook University and appears to have experienced repeated periods of unemployment.

His Instagram account contains numerous conspiracy-related posts, including material concerning convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as reposted videos featuring political commentators including Candace Owens.

In another unusual social media post, Marcucci offered what appeared to be a spiritual analysis of Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani during the run-up to New York City’s 2025 mayoral election.

“It’s not just about left vs right. It’s not just about two candidates. It’s about what kind of energy is being installed over New York City,” he wrote in his bizarre caption.

Marcucci’s Instagram page also contains a link to an inactive OnlyFans account. On that profile, he claimed that he had created the page “as a joke.”

“Politically, I identify as a revisionist-Marxist, and the core values of this expression are very important to me,” the bio reads.

Speaking to The ny Post, Marcucci claimed that he loves the United States and described himself as “an ally to the Jewish cause.”

Neither the Yankees nor the Mets immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the incident.

Despite the disruption, the Yankees ultimately defeated the Mets 6-4 in Friday night’s Subway Series game.

The evening also included an emotional commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Married couple Brielle Saracini and Sean McGuire, both of whom lost their fathers on 9/11, were chosen to throw the ceremonial first pitches.

Saracini and McGuire, who wore jerseys for the occasion, first met at a camp established for children who lost parents in the September 11 attacks.

Saracini also has a longstanding connection with Yankees legend Derek Jeter, who attended Friday night’s game. Her father, Victor Saracini, was the pilot of one of the airplanes hijacked on September 11. After her father was killed in the attacks, she wrote Jeter a letter.

Jeter subsequently invited Saracini, who was 10 years old at the time, to Yankee Stadium, hoping to provide her with a brief sense of normalcy during an unimaginably painful period.

“When we invited her to the stadium, you really don’t know what to say,” Jeter said during a news conference.

“So I don’t even know if I said ‘I’m sorry’ or anything like that. I just tried to make her day feel special…and you just try to make her feel as comfortable as you possibly can.”

Five separate Rosh Hashanah minyanim were held at Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim.

The central minyan took place in the main building under the leadership of rosh yeshiva Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, mashgiach Rav Binyomin Finkel and Rav Yitzchok Ezrachi.

Rav Binyomin Finkel led Maariv on the first night and Mussaf with tremendous emotion and tears.

Thousands of talmidim and alumni passed before the roshei yeshiva on the first night to receive their brachos. An especially long line formed for Rav Binyomin Finkel, continuing for many hours.

Before the tekios on the second day, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel delivered divrei hisorerus, continuing the tradition of his grandfather and the previous roshei yeshiva. The beis medrash was filled to capacity.

The first day’s tefillos concluded at 1:40 p.m., while the second day ended at 2 p.m.

On the second night, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel davened with the bnei chutz la’aretz and delivered a special shmuess before Maariv. Rav Binyomin Finkel also addressed the bnei chutz la’aretz from Europe.

At Yeshivas Mir in Modiin Illit, Rav Shemaryahu Yosef Finkel led Maariv and Mussaf with great emotion, while Rav Eliyahu Godlevsky led Shacharis. More than 1,000 people packed the beis medrash, and hundreds of talmidim and local residents passed before the yeshiva’s roshei yeshiva and rabbonim on the first night to receive their brachos.

A new musical element was introduced this year during Kedushah of Shacharis: the old Mimkomcha composed by Reb Ben Zion Shenker z”l, a niggun that has recently become increasingly popular throughout the Jewish world.

A historic first also took place in the yeshiva on Shabbos, when a bris was held on Rosh Hashanah for the first time. The baby was a grandson of Rav Reuven Haksheter, mashgiach in Mir and Lakewood, and a son of his son, Rav Yehuda Leib Haksheter. The grandfather was honored with sandakus.

Throughout the day, numerous bochurim and residents of the city came to receive brachos from the American mashgiach.

Nearly 3,000 talmidim and alumni joined together for the Rosh Hashanah tefillos at Yeshivas Ponevezh in Bnei Brak, in one of the largest yeshiva minyanim in the world.

The tefillos were held in the presence of the roshei yeshiva and rabbonim, led by Rav Boruch Dov Povarsky.

On Rosh Hashanah night, thousands of talmidim, joined by large numbers of Bnei Brak residents, passed before Rav Povarsky for more than an hour to receive his bracha for a shanah tovah.

After the daytime tefillos, because of the late hour, Rav Povarsky ascended the steps of the Aron Kodesh and gave a collective “Gut Yom Tov” to the thousands of talmidim.

Shacharis began at 6:30 a.m. on both days and concluded after 2:30 p.m. Remarkably, although no shofar was blown on the first day because it was Shabbos, the tefillos concluded at approximately the same time on both days. This was because of the yeshiva’s custom to spend considerably longer reciting the piyutim on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.

For the Kohen aliyah, Yeshiva President Rav Eliezer Kahaneman and his son Rav Yosef Kahaneman, one of the yeshiva’s rabbonim, were called up. The Levi aliyah went on the first day to Rav Refoel Shmuelevitz, one of the yeshiva’s rabbonim, and on the second day to Rav Yissachar Dov Lederman, who, despite approaching the age of 100, continues to come to the yeshiva and daven together with its talmidim.

For decades, the third aliyah had been shared between the late roshei yeshiva Rav Gershon Edelstein zt”l and Rav Boruch Dov Povarsky, with each receiving it on one of the two days. Following Rav Edelstein’s petirah in 5783, the third aliyah had been given to Rav Chaim ben Reisha Reizel Berman, one of the yeshiva’s great masmidim, for a refuah sheleimah.

This year, because of Rav Berman’s illness and hospitalization, the third aliyah was given to the yeshiva’s baal tefillah, Rav Mordechai Shmuel Edelstein, rov of the Ne’os Yosef neighborhood.

Rav Chaim Peretz Berman received Maftir. The two additional aliyos added this year because the first day fell on Shabbos were given to longtime members of the yeshiva’s minyan, Rav Yaakov Margalit and Rav Menashe Lindenfeld.

Following his aliyah, Rav Povarsky recited a special Mi Shebeirach for Rav Chaim ben Reisha Reizel Berman, as well as for the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Rav Yisroel ben Leah Esther, for a refuah sheleimah.

The baal tefillah for Mussaf, Rav Shaul Eisenstein, introduced several melodies this year from the repertoire of the legendary chazzan Reb Yossele Rosenblatt z”l. These were used for Hineni He’ani Mimaas, for the words V’karev Pezureinu during Chazaras Hashatz, and during the verses of Malchiyos.

As was begun last year, the niggun of Rav Dan Segal was sung for Areshes Sefaseinu.

One of the most emotional moments came during Zichronos, when Rav Shaul broke down in tears while invoking the zechus of Akeidas Yitzchok and pleading that Hashem remove His anger from His nation, His city and His inheritance. He wept for several minutes and was unable to continue the tefillah.

The yeshiva’s baal tokeia was Rav Yisroel Edelstein, rosh yeshiva of Ohalei Shalom and son and successor in this role to his father, Rav Gershon Edelstein zt”l. Every tekiah was sounded with clarity, without a single blast needing to be repeated.

Following davening, Rav Yisroel spent approximately an hour giving brachos to bochurim awaiting their zivugim, warmly blessing each one individually that he should soon be able to share besuros tovos.

After davening, Rav Avraham Simcha Edelstein, son of Rav Yisroel and son-in-law of Rav Chaim Peretz Berman, blew additional tekios to satisfy the opinion of the Ramban regarding the shevarim, in accordance with the longstanding custom of the yeshiva.

Ponevezh bochurim also seek to fulfill numerous additional opinions regarding the tekios, including those of Rashi and the Ritva and different forms of the teruah and shevarim. As a result, additional shofar blasts could be heard throughout the day in the dormitories, dining rooms and homes of the ramim across the yeshiva campus.

The extraordinary crowding was strongly felt throughout Rosh Hashanah, and several people fainted and required treatment on site. The yeshiva administration had installed an additional powerful air-conditioning system above the Aron Kodesh to help alleviate the intense heat.

Rav Meir Tzvi Bergman held the Rosh Hashanah tefillos in his beis medrash at Yeshivas Rashbi in Bnei Brak.

Following Maariv on the first night, thousands passed before the rosh yeshiva to receive his bracha for the coming year. Because of the enormous crowd, Rav Bergman responded to each person with the traditional expression, “V’chein l’mar” — “And so to you.”

When one of his distinguished talmidim approached, Rav Bergman quipped, “It is difficult for me to say to you ‘v’chein l’mar.’ To you, I have to say ‘v’chein l’masok’” — “And so to the sweet one.”

On the second day, Rav Bergman served as baal makreh for the baal tokeia, following the precise halachic practices he received from his rebbi, the Chazon Ish zt”l.

Before tekias shofar, the rosh yeshiva delivered stirring words calling for teshuvah and cheshbon hanefesh. As he does each year, he cited the Rambam in Hilchos Teshuvah regarding the message of the shofar.