The Connecticut Appellate Court on Friday affirmed a $965 million verdict from 2022 against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, determining there’s “sufficient evidence” to support the damages awarded to relatives of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims and an FBI agent. In its unanimous opinion, the court cited the “traumatic threats and harassment” the families endured “stemming from the lies, as propagated by the defendants, that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax.” “Our review of the record reveals that there was sufficient evidence to support the $965,000,000 in compensatory damages awarded by the jury,” according to the 62-page decision. It marks the largest jury verdict in Connecticut history. The appellate court did grant Jones a $150 million reprieve. It determined the plaintiffs “failed to assert a legally viable” claim under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and that $150 million in punitive damages awarded by the lower court must be vacated, noting the plaintiffs alleged injury came from false language and not from speech related to advertising, marketing or the sale of goods. “We’re relieved that the Court protected the press with its decision reversing the damages in the unfair trade practices claim, but we are otherwise disappointed,” said Norm Pattis, Jones’ attorney, in a statement. He said the jury in the case was “sold a bill of goods and led to believe” Jones made millions spreading conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook mass shooting. “He didn’t. The jury was also encouraged to believe that all the sorrow that befell the plaintiffs was Mr. Jones’s fault. It wasn’t.,” Pattis said. “We had hoped the Appellate Court would have seen through the charade and farce that this trial became. It didn’t.” Jones now owes a total of roughly $1.2 billion, counting the $965 million to the Connecticut families and nearly $50 million awarded by a Texas jury to the parents of a Sandy Hook child who was killed. Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in 2022, and the sale of his Infowars platform is part of that case. A bid by The Onion satirical news outlet to buy Infowars is scheduled to return Monday to a Texas courtroom, where a judge will be deciding whether a bankruptcy auction was properly run. Jones alleges collusion and fraud. Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families hailed the Connecticut appellate court’s ruling on Friday as an overall victory. “Today, Alex Jones’s effort to overturn the jury’s historic verdict against him and his corrupt business, Infowars, was unanimously rejected by the Connecticut Appellate Court. The jury’s $965 million rebuke of Jones will stand, and the families who have fought valiantly for years have brought Alex Jones yet another step closer to true justice,” the lawyers said in a statement. Pattis said he will ask the Connecticut Supreme Court to review the appellate court decision. Jones repeatedly told his millions of followers the 2012 massacre that killed 20 first graders and six educators was staged by “crisis actors” to enact more gun control. The appellate court also determined that a lower court “properly exercised its discretion” in finding Jones and his Infowars’ parent company Free Speech Systems LLC., liable for damages by default for failing to cooperate with court rules on sharing evidence. (AP)
The United States has opened an investigation into whether NATO ally Spain has been denying port entry to cargo vessels reportedly transporting U.S. weapons to Israel. The Federal Maritime Commission, an independent body charged with monitoring and evaluating conditions that may affect shipping and U.S. international trade, said it had opened the probe after receiving information that Spain had refused to allow at least three cargo vessels into its ports. “The commission is concerned that this apparent policy of denying entry to certain vessels will create conditions unfavorable to shipping in the foreign trade,” it said Thursday in a notice published in the Federal Register. If the investigation determines that Spain has interfered with such commerce, the commission could levy millions of dollars in fines, up to $2.3 million per voyage, it said. The notice said the commission had been informed on Nov. 19 that Spain was denying port entry to ships, including those enrolled in the U.S.-run Maritime Security Program, which is supposed to afford vessels and their owners protection against “restrictive and discriminatory” licensing because their services are often used by the U.S. military. Two of the three incidents noted by the commission involved vessels run by the Danish shipping giant Maersk in November. The other occurred in May. Spanish authorities did not immediately comment on the November incidents. But in May, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente said the foreign ministry had denied a request to dock by the Danish-flagged ship Marianne Danica, saying it “was carrying weapons to Israel.” A day later, on May 17, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE that this was the first ship carrying arms to Israel that had been denied entry. “We are not going to contribute to any more arms reaching the Middle East,” he said. “The Middle East needs peace. That is why that this first denial of authorization will start a policy for any boat carrying arms to Israel that wants to dock at a Spanish port.” The refusal to allow the Marianne Danica to dock at the Mediterranean port of Cartegena came just days before Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, recognized a Palestinian state on May 28. Spain stopped its own defense companies from shipping arms to Israel in October 2023. (AP)
Half a century of rule by the Assad family in Syria crumbled with astonishing speed after insurgents burst out of a rebel-held enclave and converged on the capital, Damascus, taking city after city in a matter of days. Opposition forces swept across the country and entered Damascus with little or no resistance as the Syrian army melted away. President Bashar Assad, Syria’s ruler for 24 years — succeeding his father, Hafez Assad — was reported to have fled the country for an undisclosed location. It’s a stunning development in Syria’s devastating 13-year conflict. Anti-government protests in 2011 met with a brutal crackdown, escalating into a civil war that has killed more than half a million people and displaced half of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million. Assad, backed by Iran and Russia, gradually regained control of more than two-thirds of Syria, leaving the rebels with one stronghold in the northwest of the country. And there the conflict remained, largely frozen, for years until late November. Here’s a look at a seismic two weeks for the Middle East. Wednesday, Nov. 27: Rebel offensive begins Armed opposition groups launch a large-scale attack on areas controlled by government forces in northwestern Syria and claim to have wrested control of over 15 villages from government forces in northwestern Aleppo province. The government and its allies respond with airstrikes and shelling in an attempt to halt the insurgent advances. The offensive is led by the jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Formerly the Syrian branch of al-Qaida and known as the Nusra Front, HTS later distanced itself from al-Qaida, seeking to market itself as a more moderate group. It is classed as a terrorist group by the United Nations and the U.S. The attack on Aleppo follows weeks of simmering low-level violence, including government attacks on opposition-held areas. Turkey, a main backer of Syrian opposition groups, says the rebels began a limited offensive to stop the attacks, but it expanded as government forces began to retreat. Thursday, Nov. 28: The offensive expands The offensive expands to reach the countryside of Idlib province amid reports government troops are retreating. Friday, Nov. 29: Rebels enter Aleppo The insurgents enter Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, for the first time since they were pushed out in 2016 after a grueling military campaign by Syrian government forces backed by Russia and Iran. They meet with little resistance. Saturday, Nov. 30: Aleppo falls under insurgent control The rebels say they control Aleppo, raising a flag over the city’s citadel and occupying the international airport. The Syrian armed forces claim to have redeployed troops and equipment in preparation for a counterattack. By evening, the insurgents have seized at least four towns in the central Hama province and claim to have entered the provincial capital. Sunday, Dec. 1: The government fights back The Syrian military launches a counterattack with troops and airstrikes on Idlib and Aleppo. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visits Damascus, telling Assad that Tehran will support the counteroffensive. But Assad receives little, if any, help from his allies. Russia is busy with its war in Ukraine, and Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular airstrikes. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad’s forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Monday, Dec. 2-Wednesday, Dec. 4: Fighting rages near Hama The insurgents push south, advancing to within 10 […]
A Texas man who was the first rioter to go on trial for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was resentenced on Friday to nearly seven years in prison after he delivered an angry, profane rant to the judge who agreed to modestly reduce his original sentence. Guy Reffitt benefitted from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that led to the dismissal of his conviction on an obstruction charge. His new sentence — six years and eight months — is seven months lower than his original sentence. Reffitt repeatedly shook his head and appeared to be agitated as he listened to U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich and a prosecutor describe his role in a mob’s attack on the Capitol. He told the judge that he was “in my feelings” and upset about the “lies and the craziness” that he perceived. “I was not there to take over no government,” Reffitt said. “I love this country.” “No one has a problem with your feelings,” the judge said. “It’s the actions you took with your feelings.” Reffitt stormed the Captiol with a holstered handgun on his waist. He also was carrying zip-tie handcuffs and wearing body armor and a helmet equipped with a video camera when he advanced on police officers outside the building. He retreated after an officer pepper sprayed him in the face, but he waved on other rioters who ultimately breached the building. Prosecutors said Reffitt told fellow members of the Texas Three Percenters militia group that he planned to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol building by her ankles, “with her head hitting every step on the way down.” “His objective was to overtake Congress, physically and with violence,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler. “In his own words,” Nestler added, “Congress was the demon and he was going to cut the head off the demon.” Reffitt is one of several Jan. 6 defendants to be resentenced after a Supreme Court ruling in June limited the government’s use of a federal obstruction law. The high court ruled 6-3 that a charge of obstructing an official proceeding must include proof that a defendant tried to tamper with or destroy documents — a distinction that applies to few Jan. 6 criminal cases. A jury convicted Reffitt of four other counts, including a charge that he threatened his two teenage children after returning to their in home in Wylie, Texas, after the riot. Reffitt’s son Jackson, then 19, testified that his father told him and his younger sister, then 16, that they would be traitors if they reported him to authorities and warned them that “traitors get shot.” Reffitt’s two daughters spoke favorably of their father during his resentencing. They described him as a caring father who doesn’t pose a danger to anybody. Prosecutors said Reffitt’s recent communications from jail indicate that he “views his imprisonment as an injustice and as part of a greater cause, and that he maintains pride in actions on January 6 and his involvement in the community of those who he believes have been wrongly prosecuted for their crimes on that day.” More than 1,500 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. About 1,000 of them have pleaded guilty. Roughly 250 others have been convicted by a judge or jury […]
Hamas has directed other Gaza-based terrorist organizations to prepare detailed information on the captives they are holding as part of a potential deal with Israel, according to sources cited Sunday by AFP. Members of groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Resistance Committees were reportedly asked to confirm the status and conditions of their hostages—specifically, whether they remain alive. The request is seen as an indication of possible negotiations aimed at exchanging hostages for a ceasefire. A Hamas insider told AFP that contacts have intensified with Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators. The source added that the terrorist organization anticipates another round of indirect talks with Israel to begin “in the coming days” in Cairo. However, the source urged a halt to Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, claiming the presence of Israeli troops on the ground complicates efforts to locate and assess the hostages. According to IDF figures, 96 of the 251 hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack remain in Gaza after 425 days. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza nearly a decade ago, along with the remains of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014’s “Operation Protective Edge.” Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz suggested on Wednesday that Jerusalem’s pressure on Hamas may have opened a window for a potential hostage-for-ceasefire agreement. Talks between the two sides—conducted indirectly through American, Egyptian, Qatari, and other intermediaries—have stalled repeatedly over the past year. A Hamas official told AFP last week that the group is awaiting heightened international pressure on Israel to end the conflict and finalize a deal, similar to past arrangements. Meanwhile, an internal Hamas document, cited by Reuters, warns that if Israeli forces attempt a rescue operation, the terrorists have been instructed to kill their hostages. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
The U.S. government on Friday ordered testing of the nation’s milk supply for bird flu to better monitor the spread of the virus in dairy cows. Raw or unpasteurized milk from dairy farms and processors nationwide must be tested on request starting Dec. 16, the Agriculture Department said. Testing will begin in six states — California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Officials said the move is aimed at “containing and ultimately eliminating the virus,” known as Type A H5N1, which was detected for the first time in March in U.S. dairy cows. Since then, more than 700 herds have been confirmed to be infected in 15 states. “This will give farms and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. The risk to people from bird flu remains low, health officials said. Pasteurization, or heat treatment, kills the virus in milk, leaving it safe to drink. Veterinarians, farmers, scientists and academics have been calling for nationwide milk testing for months, said Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who led the efforts. “It’s another step in the right direction,” Poulsen said. “They’re coming around that we need a better handle on it.” Dairy farmers and processors across the U.S. have been reluctant to test animals or milk for the virus, fearing economic or other repercussions. Jamie Jonker, chief science officer of the National Milk Producers Federation, said the industry supports USDA efforts to eliminate the virus. Under the federal order, dairy farmers and those who handle raw milk intended for pasteurization must provide samples of the milk on request for testing for bird flu. It requires reporting of positive tests to the USDA and it requires herd owners to provide basic information to allow tracing of the disease in cattle. The move follows an April 24 federal order that mandated testing of certain dairy cattle before they could move between states and required reporting of any positive tests. Despite that order, the virus has continued to spread, Poulsen noted. Raw milk from infected cows contains high loads of live virus, testing has shown. At least 58 people in the U.S. have been infected with bird flu, mostly farm workers who became mildly ill after close contact with infected cows, including their milk, or infected poultry. Bird flu has also been spreading among wild birds and a number of other animals. Federal officials continue to warn against drinking raw milk, which can contain a host of germs that make people sick. In California, officials quarantined a farm and halted distribution of milk after bird flu virus was detected in raw milk sold in stores. Raw Farm of Fresno issued a voluntary recall of raw milk and cream produced after Nov. 9. (AP)
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria’s President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. In recent days, the insurgency even dropped his nom de guerre and began referring to him by his real name, Ahmad al-Sharaa. The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test. Insurgents control capital Damascus, Assad has fled into hiding, and for the first time after 50 years of his family’s iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed. Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad’s state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix. The 42-year-old al-Golani is labeled a terrorist by the United States. He and his insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – many of whose fighters are jihadis — stand to be a major player. For years, al-Golani worked to consolidate power, while bottled up in the province of Idlib in Syria’s northwest corner as Assad’s Iranian- and Russian-backed rule over much of the country appeared solid. He maneuvered among extremist organizations while eliminating competitors and former allies. He sought to polish the image of his de-facto “salvation government” that has been running Idlib to win over international governments and reassure Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities. And he built ties with various tribes and other groups. Along the way, al-Golani shed his garb as a hard-line Islamist guerrilla and put on suits for press interviews, talking of building state institutions and decentralizing power to reflect Syria’s diversity. “Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, no one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” he said in an interview with CNN last week, offering the possibility HTS would eventually be dissolved after Assad falls. “Don’t judge by words, but by actions,” he said. Al-Golani’s beginnings in Iraq Al-Golani’s ties to al-Qaida stretch back to 2003, when he joined extremists battling U.S. troops in Iraq. The Syrian native was detained by the U.S. military but remained in Iraq. During that time, al-Qaida usurped like-minded groups and formed the extremist Islamic State of Iraq, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In 2011, a popular uprising against Syria’s Assad triggered a brutal government crackdown and led to all-out war. Al-Golani’s prominence grew when al-Baghdadi sent him to Syria to establish a branch of al-Qaida called the Nusra Front. The United States labeled the new group as a terrorist organization. That designation still remains in place and the U.S. government has put a $10 million bounty on him. The Nusra Front and the Syrian conflict As Syria’s civil war intensified in 2013, so did al-Golani’s ambitions. He defied al-Baghdadi’s calls to dissolve the Nusra Front and merge it with al-Qaida’s operation in Iraq, to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Al-Golani nonetheless pledged his allegiance to al-Qaida, which later disassociated itself from ISIS. The Nusra Front battled ISIS and eliminated much of its competition among […]
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President Joe Biden said Sunday that the sudden collapse of the Syrian government under Bashar Assad is a “fundamental act of justice” after decades of repression, but it was “a moment of risk and uncertainty” for the Mideast. Biden spoke at the White House hours after after rebel groups completed a takeover of the country after more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by Assad and his family. Biden said the United States was unsure of Assad’s whereabouts, but was monitoring reports he was seeking refuge in Moscow. The outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump were working to make sense of new threats and opportunities across the Middle East. Biden credited action by the U.S. and its allies for weakening Syria’s backers — Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. He said “for the first time” that they could no longer defend Assad’s grip on power. “Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East,” Biden said, after a meeting with his national security team at the White House. After 13 years of civil war in Syria, more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule by Bashir Assad, his father before him, rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office and flee the country. We’re not sure where he is but there’s word that he’s in Moscow. At long last, the Assad regime has fallen. This regime brutalized and tortured and killed literally hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians. The fall of the regime is a fundamental lack of justice. It’s a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country. It’s also a moment of risk and uncertainty as we all turn to the question of what comes next. Biden said the US would wor with its allies to help Syria in its next chapter in a post-Assad world. He also blasted Iran and Russia and credited support for Israel and Ukraine during his term for helping to end the conflict in Syria. “You know, for years, the main backers of Assad have been around Hezbollah and Russia,” he said. “But over the last week, their support collapsed, all three of them, because all three of them are far weaker today than they were when I took office. And let’s remember why. After Hamas attacked Israel on October the 7th, 2023, when much of the world responded with horror. Iran and its proxies chose to launch a multi-front war against Israel. That was a historic mistake on Iran’s part. Today, Iran’s main territorial proxy, Hezbollah, is also on its back. And only 12 days ago, I spoke from the Rose Garden about the cease-fire deal in Lebanon, a deal that was only possible because Hezbollah has been badly degraded.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday called the fire deliberately set by mask-wearing perpetrators at a Melbourne shul on Friday an “act of terror” “The atrocities that occurred at the synagogue in Melbourne clearly were designed to create fear in the community and therefore from my personal perspective certainly fulfill that definition of terrorism,” Albanese told the press in Perth. “There has been a worrying rise in antisemitism,” he added. Albanese has come under fire from local and international politicians for failing to call out the increasing antisemitism in the country and even contributing to it via the Labor government’s anti-Israel policies. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed the Australian government following the attack, saying that “it’s impossible to separate this reprehensible act from the extreme anti-Israeli position of the Labor government in Australia, including the scandalous decision to support the UN resolution calling on Israel “to bring an end to its ‘unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory’…and preventing a former Israeli minister from entering the country.” “Anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitism,” Netanyahu concluded. Opposition leader Peter Dutton also slammed Albanese, saying on Sunday that the prime minister believed “that by not taking a strong stance in relation to antisemitism, that somehow that will deliver him political benefit domestically.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
The rebels have not yet managed to free all prisoners from the Red Building in Sednaya Prison. This facility houses political prisoners. Several underground floors remain inaccessible due to advanced security mechanisms and access codes that are no longer available.
President Joe Biden faces a stark choice as he contemplates broad preemptive pardons to protect aides and allies from potential retribution by Donald Trump: Does he hew to the institutional norms he’s spent decades defending or flex the powers of the presidency in untested ways? The deliberations so far are largely at the level of White House lawyers. But the president has discussed the topic with senior aides, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject. No decisions have been made, the people said, and it is possible Biden opts to do nothing at all. Biden is taking the idea seriously and has been thinking about it for as much as six months — before the presidential election — but has been concerned about the precedent it would set, according to another person familiar with the president’s discussions who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Pardons are historically afforded to those accused of specific crimes –- and usually to those who have already been convicted of an offense — but Biden’s team is considering issuing them for some who have not even been investigated, let alone charged. The president could, if he chooses, issue blanket pardons to specific people whom Trump and his allies have threatened to punish. Or he could pardon a broad class of people — not unlike pardons issued to those convicted of federal marijuana offenses or those ensnared in the “don’t ask, don’t tell” military policies. Either way, he’d be using the powers of the presidency in a new way. Some worry that Trump and his allies, who have talked of enemies lists and exacting “retribution,” could launch investigations that would be reputationally and financially costly for targeted people even if they don’t result in prosecutions. The door has already been opened, given that Biden has extended a broad pardon to his son, Hunter, who was convicted and pleaded guilty in tax and gun cases. Biden explained that decision by saying he believed the prosecution of his son had been poisoned by politics. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that Biden plans additional pardons before leaving office though she would not elaborate on the process. She repeatedly referenced “changing factors” that motivated the president to pardon his son despite promising he wouldn’t. She said Republicans have continued to try to see Hunter Biden investigated for an array of alleged offenses, a rationale that could support additional pardons for Biden aides and allies. It was two weeks ago that one of the president’s closest allies in Congress, Rep, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, encouraged Biden to pardon his son Hunter. The morning after that conversation, Clyburn told Biden’s staff that he believed the president should also pardon those being targeted by Trump. “I was very forceful in my discussions with him about what I thought he ought to do regarding his son,” Clyburn said Friday. “But I also told them that I thought he ought to go even further, because all the noise about Jack Smith and Liz Cheney and Doctor Fauci and all of that.” Special Counsel Jack Smith has been investigating Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and for accusations he hoarded classified documents at […]
So much for rumors of a plane crash, an airstrike or other theory. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow, where they have been granted asylum by Russian authorities, according to Russian news agencies citing a Kremlin source. The Interfax news agency quotes the unnamed source as saying: “President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds.”
Russian media reports state that deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is in Russia, having been granted asylum by President Vladimir Putin. Assad may have escaped Syria on the flight pictured below.
TikTok’s future in the U.S. appeared uncertain on Friday after a federal appeals court rejected a legal challenge to a law that requires the social media platform to cut ties with its China-based parent company or be banned by mid-January. A panel of three judges on The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that the law withstood constitutional scrutiny, rebuffing arguments from the two companies that the statute violated their rights and the rights of TikTok users in the U.S. The government has said it wants ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest its stakes. But if it doesn’t and the platform goes away, it would have a seismic impact on the lives of content creators who rely on the platform for income as well as users who use it for entertainment and connection. Here are some details on the ruling and what could happen next: What does the ruling say? In their lawsuit, TikTok and ByteDance, which is also a plaintiff in the case, had challenged the law on various fronts, arguing in part that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and was an unconstitutional bill of attainder that unfairly targeted the two companies. But the court sided with attorneys for the Justice Department who said that the government was attempting to address national security concerns and the way in which it chose to do so did not violate the constitution. The Justice Department has argued in court that TikTok poses a national security risk due to its connections to China. Officials say that Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to spread, or suppress, information. However, the U.S. hasn’t publicly provided examples of that happening. The appeals court ruling, written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg, said the law was “carefully crafted to deal only with control by a foreign adversary.” The judges also rejected the claim that the statute was an unlawful bill of attainder or a taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Furthermore, Ginsburg wrote the law did not violate the First Amendment because the government is not looking to “suppress content or require a certain mix of content” on TikTok. What happens next? TikTok and ByteDance are expected to appeal the case to the Supreme Court, but it’s unclear whether the court will take up the case. TikTok indicated in a statement on Friday the two companies are preparing to take their case to high court, saying the Supreme Court has “an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech.” “We expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” a company spokesperson said. Alan Morrison, a professor at The George Washington University Law School, said he expects the Supreme Court to take up the case because of the novelty of the issues raised in the lawsuit. If that happens, attorneys for the two companies still have to convince the court to grant them an emergency stay that will prevent the government from enforcing the Jan. 19 divestiture deadline stipulated in the law, Morrison said. Such a move could drag out the process until the Justices make a ruling. Tiffany Cianci, a TikTok content creator who has supported the platform, said she was not shocked […]
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The massacre of October 7th, 2023, will be remembered as the day Iran’s grand strategy began to crumble before the world’s eyes. When Hamas launched its barbaric assault on innocent Israeli civilians, it was acting at the behest—or at least with the tacit encouragement—of the Iranian regime. Tehran believed that a decisive terror attack would pressure Israel, rally sympathizers across the Middle East, and reaffirm Iran’s stature as the region’s puppet master. Instead, the opposite occurred: what was meant to show Iranian strength and influence exposed its vulnerabilities and set off a chain reaction that left Iran’s proxies shattered and Iran’s regime imperiled. Hamas, long considered Iran’s frontline force against Israel, was the first domino to fall. Israel’s swift and overwhelming retaliation not only decimated Hamas’s infrastructure, it also peeled back the veneer of strength that Iran had painstakingly cultivated. No longer was Hamas the spearhead of Iranian influence in the Levant; it had become a cautionary tale of overreach and poor calculation. Hot on Hamas’s heels came the dismantling of Hezbollah’s position in Lebanon. Once regarded as a mighty Iranian asset boasting sophisticated missile stockpiles and entrenched political sway, Hezbollah’s attempt to open another front against Israel ended in disaster. Israeli strikes and international pressure starved the group of its critical resources, leaving it limping, leaderless, and devoid of the capabilities that had once made it formidable. In a matter of weeks, Hezbollah, like Hamas, had been rendered virtually irrelevant. The cascading failure has now extended to Syria. For years, Iran had propped up Bashar al-Assad’s regime, aiming to maintain a corridor of influence stretching from Tehran through Baghdad to Damascus and Beirut. But the fallout from the October 7th massacre, combined with emboldened opposition forces and shifting international alliances, has led to the toppling of Syria’s pro-Iran government. Tehran’s dream of a contiguous sphere of influence has been essentially reduced to rubble. Iran’s strategic edge depended on two critical elements: a robust missile defense system and a covert, ever-advancing nuclear program. Both took crippling blows in the months following the October 7th attack. Key Iranian missile defense installations, once thought impregnable, were destroyed in precise strikes. Simultaneously, international intelligence cooperation—galvanized by Iran’s reckless gamble—exposed and dismantled a secret nuclear research site. In the blink of an eye, Tehran’s decades of painstaking nuclear progress and its intimidating missile arsenal were undone, laying bare the regime’s strategic vulnerabilities and diminishing its capacity for coercion. While the Biden-Harris administration had explored diplomatic avenues and maintained a careful balancing act in the Middle East, the October 7th massacre upended Washington’s calculus. Some supporters and advocates who once championed engagement with Iran retreated, rendered speechless by the barbarity carried out by Iran’s proxies. The ascendance of Donald Trump—whose return to the White House comrd with a promise of “maximum pressure” on Tehran—might just seal the fate of the Ayatollah’s regime. Gone are the lingering diplomatic backchannels championed by the Obama era. Instead, a revitalized American foreign policy, supported by a bipartisan outcry against terror, is snapping shut the final safety net that Iran’s rulers had counted on. Sanctions will tighten, covert operations will intensify, and the Iranian economy, already battered by mismanagement and corruption, is teetering on the edge. If there was ever a moment when the Iranian regime might have rallied its […]
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the U.S. Naval Academy can continue considering race in its admissions process, finding that military cohesion and other national security factors mean the school should not be subjected to the same standards as civilian universities. During a two-week bench trial in September, attorneys for the academy argued that prioritizing diversity in the military makes it stronger, more effective and more widely respected. The group behind the case, Students for Fair Admissions, also brought the lawsuit challenging affirmative action that resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year. The high court’s conservative majority broadly prohibited the consideration of race and ethnicity in college admissions, ending a longstanding practice meant to boost opportunities for historically marginalized groups and sending shockwaves through higher education. But it carved out a potential exemption for military academies, suggesting that national security interests could affect the legal analysis. Students for Fair Admissions later sued the Annapolis-based Naval Academy challenging the exemption. But Judge Richard Bennett rejected their arguments in a lengthy opinion released Friday. A George W. Bush appointee who served for over 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserve and the Maryland National Guard, Bennett wrote that the school had “established a compelling national security interest in a diverse officer corps.” “Specifically, the Academy has tied its use of race to the realization of an officer corps that represents the country it protects and the people it leads,” he wrote. “The Academy has proven that this national security interest is indeed measurable and that its admissions program is narrowly tailored to meet that interest.” Bennett noted that demographics are a minor factor in Naval Academy admissions — no one is admitted solely on the basis of race. He also noted that Students for Fair Admissions includes among its membership “four individuals whose prior applications to the U.S. Naval Academy were denied.” In a statement Friday, President Edward Blum said the group would appeal the decision. “It is our hope that the U.S. military academies ultimately will be compelled to follow the Supreme Court’s prohibition of race in college admissions,” he said. Attorneys for the group argued during trial that prioritizing minority candidates is unfair to qualified white applicants and that cohesion should arise from other sources such as training and command structure. The group also sued West Point last year, but the Naval Academy case was the first case to go to trial. Witness testimony included accounts from current and former high-ranking military officials who expressed varying opinions on how race affects the experiences of service members and the organization as a whole. Some argued that performance standards alone should be used to evaluate candidates while others emphasized the importance of fostering diversity. The court also heard from historians who described the military’s fraught history of racial tension, which on some occasions erupted into violence and jeopardized its wartime readiness. “The United States military has long made the judgment that developing and maintaining a fighting force that is qualified and demographically diverse at all levels is critical for mission effectiveness,” Bennet wrote in his ruling. The Legal Defense Fund, which filed a brief in support of the Naval Academy, celebrated the outcome. “The military is keenly aware that a climate of distrust caused by a lack of […]
