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White House Deputy Chief of Staff for policy Stephen Miller delivered a dramatic assessment of the sprawling Minnesota welfare-fraud scheme, calling it “the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars through welfare fraud in American history.” Miller, who also advises President Trump on homeland security, argued that the scandal tied to Somali migrants in the state will “rock the core of Minnesota politics and American politics.”

During his appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program, Miller said investigators are only beginning to grasp the scale of the fraud. “We believe that we have only scratched the very top of the surface of how deep this goes,” he told Hannity, warning that what has been uncovered so far may be just the beginning.

The sweeping criminal enterprise first came to light in 2022, after prosecutors described the scheme as the “largest pandemic fraud in the United States.” Central to the operation, according to federal authorities, was the group Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit entrusted with delivering meals to children during COVID. Investigators say the organization fabricated invoices and meal logs to mimic legitimate food-service operations. As then-U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger explained when announcing charges, “Their goal was to make as much money for themselves as they could while falsely claiming to feed children during the pandemic.”

The scale of the case has astonished even seasoned prosecutors. Nearly 80 individuals have been charged, and 59 have already been convicted, with the fraud total soaring to $1 billion. The case originally appeared to involve $250 million, but as federal agents continued tracing the money, the losses ballooned into the largest theft of its kind in the country.

The fallout is now rippling through Minnesota’s political establishment. Washington officials have opened multiple probes into whether other state-run programs with federal funding were similarly exploited. That has brought Gov. Tim Walz under increased scrutiny as congressional investigators demand answers. Minnesota Republican floor leader Harry Niska told The New York Post, “The scrutiny is intense and it’s going to get more intense and I think he realizes that.” According to Niska, “He’s never gotten this level of scrutiny — he’s definitely going to continue to get skepticism from the administration, from Congress and I expect that is only going to intensify.”

Niska added that fraud vulnerabilities appear widespread across state agencies, remarking, “The list is so long all of the programs that have just been shoveling money out the door to anyone that sets up an LLC or a nonprofit.”

As public anger grows, President Trump has not held back. In an online message, he vowed to send certain Somali migrants “back to where they came from,” and during a cabinet meeting this week he declared, “They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Your country stinks and we don’t want them in our country.”

Minnesota’s Somali population numbers around 80,000, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been photographed with Abul Dahir Ibrahim — one of the men implicated in the fraud network. Ibrahim, long known to law enforcement, has been under a removal order since 2004.

Federal scrutiny is now sprawling beyond food-aid programs. Small Business Secretary Kelly Loeffler has ordered a fresh audit of Paycheck Protection Program loans issued in Minnesota during the pandemic. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has launched a separate investigation into whether any misappropriated state funds were funneled to al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based terrorist organization designated by the U.S. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who oversees the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, has initiated yet another review targeting potential health-care fraud linked to the same network.

With billions in federal funding flowing through state systems each year, Washington investigators say this Minnesota scandal could become the catalyst for a nationwide crackdown. Miller’s warning on Hannity may prove prescient — the political and legal reverberations are only beginning.

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Elon Musk amplified his attacks on Brussels this weekend, using his platform on X to argue that the European project should come to an end. “The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people,” he declared, injecting fresh fuel into a trans-Atlantic clash now spreading beyond tech policy and into broader geopolitics.

His criticism erupted just as European regulators intensified their campaign to impose the rules of the Digital Services Act, a sweeping framework aimed at policing online platforms. Less than 24 hours before Musk posted, the European Commission had hit X with a €120 million ($140 million US) penalty, accusing the site of flouting the DSA’s obligations regarding paid “blue check” verification, ad transparency, and access for qualified researchers. The move immediately provoked objections from American officials, who characterized the fine as part of a wider European offensive against U.S. innovation and free expression.

The dispute comes at a moment of shifting strategic winds. The National Security Strategy released Friday by President Donald Trump took an unusually blunt tone toward Europe, warning that the continent’s political drift, regulatory zeal, and lagging defense commitments could strain trans-Atlantic cohesion unless European states assume greater responsibility within NATO and rethink their dependence on supranational institutions. The administration’s message highlighted how far Washington and Brussels have diverged on issues ranging from tech governance to security burden-sharing.

Europe’s governing architecture itself has become part of the debate. What began in the 1950s as modest postwar economic cooperation through the European Coal and Steel Community gradually evolved—via milestones like the 1957 Treaties of Rome—into the fully integrated structure established by the Maastricht Treaty, which took effect on Nov. 1, 1993. That long trajectory toward deeper union now faces renewed philosophical and political scrutiny amid pressure from both sides of the Atlantic.

Musk, seizing the moment, returned to the theme later in the day with an even starker provocation: “How long before the EU is gone. Abolish the EU.”

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President Donald Trump used his morning Truth Social post to lash out at “fake news CNN” and anchor Kaitlan Collins while touting his ambitious overhaul of the White House, particularly the construction of a new ballroom he says is larger, grander, and still not costing taxpayers anything.

“Caitlin Collin’s of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago,” Trump wrote, explaining that the soaring estimates stem from a deliberate expansion in scope. “I said because it is going to be double the size, and the quality of finishes and interiors has been brought to the highest level. Also, the column SPAN has been substantially increased for purposes of viewing.”

Trump insisted the project remains on track financially and operationally. “It is actually under budget and ahead of schedule, as my jobs always are,” he continued. “It’s just much bigger and more beautiful than originally planned. Interestingly, and seldom reported, there are no taxpayer dollars involved. It is being fully paid for by private donations.”

He wrapped the message with another swipe at the network he has long derided. “FAKE NEWS CNN, and the guy who runs the whole corrupt operation that owns it, is one of the worst in the business. Their ratings are so low that they’re not even counted or relevant anymore. MAGA!!!”

Meanwhile, preparations for the new venue are moving ahead in Washington. The White House is set to submit the formal designs to the National Capital Planning Commission before the end of the year, roughly three months after work began. Will Scharf, tapped by Trump to chair the commission and also a senior White House aide, noted at the panel’s Thursday meeting that he was informed the detailed plans would arrive sometime in December. “Once plans are submitted, that’s really when the role of this commission, and its professional staff, will begin,” Scharf said, adding that the review would proceed at a “normal and deliberative pace.”

The administration confirmed this week that a second architectural firm has joined the effort. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle announced that Shalom Baranes, a prominent D.C. architect whose firm has worked on major federal landmarks including the Pentagon and Treasury, has been added as construction enters its next phase. “As we begin to transition into the next stage of development on the White House Ballroom, the administration is excited to share that the highly talented Shalom Baranes has joined the team of experts to carry out President Trump’s vision on building what will be the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — the White House Ballroom,” Ingle said. “Shalom is an accomplished architect whose work has shaped the architectural identity of our nation’s capital for decades and his experience will be a great asset to the completion of this project.” McCrery Architects, the original firm, will remain involved as a consultant.

If completed as planned, the 90,000-square-foot hall — unveiled earlier this year and projected to open before Trump’s term ends in 2029 — would nearly double the footprint of the current White House. Trump has said the ballroom will hold 999 guests and carry a price tag of $300 million, up from an earlier $200 million estimate. Still, he insists that not a single dollar will come from the public purse, saying the funding is covered entirely by “patriots,” corporations, and his own contributions. The White House has released a list of 37 donors ranging from tech and tobacco giants to philanthropies, sports owners, financiers, media firms, Republican backers, and Palm Beach neighbors.

For years Trump has lamented the limited capacity of the executive mansion’s largest indoor spaces — the State Dining Room and the East Room — and criticized the use of tents for state dinners and other large gatherings. Last month, during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump said he had to reject numerous requests to attend the dinner due to overcrowding. “I only wish we had about 2,000 more seats. We would have filled every one of them two times over,” he joked before hinting again at the ballroom’s necessity. “But very soon you’ll be having that, and we’ll have to do another one in about two years from now.”

Trump authorized site preparation for the ballroom in September even before the National Capital Planning Commission completed its approval process. Scharf has argued the commission only oversees above-ground construction, not demolition, while L. Preston Bryant Jr., who chaired the body under President Barack Obama, noted that typical reviews include four separate stages, beginning with conceptual consultation.

By October, demolition of the East Wing — the intended site of the new ballroom — was underway. Construction noise has since become part of the daily White House landscape as crews continue clearing and preparing the area. The East Wing, long used by first ladies and various administrative offices, has now been vacated, with staff working from other parts of the complex or the adjacent office building while the transformation proceeds.

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Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani declared that the situation in Gaza cannot be described as a true ceasefire, insisting that such a designation would require Israel to completely pull its forces out of the enclave. His remarks came during a panel at the Doha Forum, where he also emphasized that the region had reached a pivotal point in the diplomatic process. “We are at the critical moment,” Al Thani said, underscoring the fragility of the ongoing negotiations.

He pushed back firmly on the characterization of the current lull in fighting. “What we have just done is a pause. We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire. A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of the Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza [and] people can go in and out, which is not the case today,” he maintained. His framing was later echoed by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who outlined Ankara’s conditions for carrying out the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace initiative.

Under the truce that took effect on October 10, Israel repositioned its troops to the designated Yellow Line, splitting Gaza into eastern and western zones. However, Israel refrained from reopening the Rafah Border Crossing for more than a month, citing Hamas’s refusal to return the bodies of all fallen hostages. One of those still held is the body of slain police officer Ran Gvili.

This point was stressed by Gvili’s family, who issued a statement Saturday evening. “The first phase of the hostage deal is still not completed, while Rani hasn’t returned home. We demand that Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump pressure Hamas and Islamic Jihad to return Rani home immediately! We can’t move to the second phase of the deal without Rani here,” they said, in comments carried by Hebrew media.

Israel this week agreed to allow Rafah to open in one direction to let Palestinians exit the Strip, but Egypt rejected that arrangement and insisted the crossing must permit entry into Gaza as well. Meanwhile, Al Thani said the mediating countries — Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and the US — are “getting together in order to force the way forward for the next phase.”

A US official told The Times of Israel that Washington aims to formally introduce the transition to phase two within the next two weeks. That stage includes the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian government and an International Stabilization Force overseen by a Board of Peace chaired by President Donald Trump.

Al Thani stressed that Doha views this stage as an interim measure. He cautioned that “temporary” structures will not resolve deeper issues if they focus only on Gaza. “This conflict is not only about Gaza, but also the West Bank. It’s about the rights of the Palestinians for their state,” he said. “We are hoping that we can work together with the US administration to achieve this vision.”

He credited the Trump administration’s direct engagement — even with Hamas — for breakthroughs that made the October ceasefire possible. According to Al Thani, this willingness to communicate was essential for crafting agreements on both the truce and hostage releases.

When asked about resistance within Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s coalition to elements of the Trump plan, particularly those hinting at a future Palestinian state, Al Thani said Washington’s involvement will be central to ensuring Israeli compliance.

Pressed on Qatar’s hosting of Hamas leaders, Al Thani defended the arrangement, arguing it has been indispensable in securing every ceasefire and hostage deal throughout the war. He suggested that some of Qatar’s harshest critics rely heavily on Doha’s mediation — a thinly veiled reference to Israel. “Qatar provides a platform for those parties to talk. It doesn’t mean that we are taking one side or the other. Our role is to make sure that the dialogue is ongoing and the dialogue is coming out with a positive outcome… that ends conflicts,” he said.

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a newly published interview that although he appreciates President Donald Trump’s opinion regarding a possible pardon for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, the ultimate decision will rest solely on what serves Israel’s national interest. He stressed that Israel’s sovereignty and its legal institutions—not external pressure—will determine the outcome.

“Everybody understands that any pre-emptive pardon has to be considered on the merits,” Herzog told Politico, pledging to “deal with it with utter seriousness.” He added that he holds Trump’s advocacy in high regard, noting the repeated appeals from the president to grant Netanyahu clemency. “I respect President Trump’s friendship and his opinion,” he said.

Herzog underscored why Trump’s views matter to him personally. “Why? Because as I tell many Israelis, it is the same President Trump we begged and asked to bring back our hostages and who led bravely an enormous step to bring back our hostages and get the UN Security Council resolution through. But Israel, naturally, is a sovereign country, and we fully respect the Israeli legal system and its requirements.”

After Netanyahu submitted a formal pardon request last Sunday—without admitting guilt—Herzog reiterated that his focus remains on the country’s welfare. “The well-being of the Israeli people is my first, second and third priority,” he told the outlet.

Netanyahu currently faces one bribery charge and three counts each of fraud and breach of trust across several corruption cases. Prosecutors allege he manipulated media coverage and received unlawful gifts in exchange for political favors. He has rejected the claims entirely, arguing the indictments were engineered by elements within the police and state prosecution attempting a political coup.

Herzog’s interview comes just ahead of his trip to New York, where political tensions have escalated following the election of socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor. Mamdani has unsettled Jewish and pro-Israel communities with a series of radical stances. He initially refused to denounce chants like “globalize the intifada” or call for Hamas to disarm, positions he later softened only under significant backlash—stating he would “discourage” the slogan and that Hamas should lay down its weapons. While he now says he supports Israel’s right to exist, he has refused to affirm its identity as a Jewish state, opposing what he calls a “hierarchy of citizenship.”

Adding to the uproar, Mamdani has vowed to instruct police to arrest Netanyahu should he visit New York, citing an International Criminal Court warrant—despite U.S. law making such an arrest impossible. The warrant accuses Netanyahu of war crimes in Gaza, allegations Israel rejects in full.

“I’m extremely bothered by the statements of Mayor-elect Mamdani,” Herzog told Politico. “The rights of Jews, of the Jewish people, for self-determination and for independence, do not depend on Zohran Mamdani.”

Herzog contrasted Mamdani’s rhetoric with his own family’s history. He noted that his father, as Israel’s ambassador to the UN, famously tore up a now-revoked resolution branding Zionism as racism. “He also spoke about people throughout the ages, leaders who negated the Jewish people’s rights, and they’ve all disappeared, and their views disappeared,” Herzog said.

When asked if he would extend an invitation for Mamdani to visit Israel, Herzog replied that the mayor-elect should first better understand the very city he is about to lead. “I think Mayor-elect Mamdani should understand that in his own city, there are so many people who have Israel minted in their DNA, in their love of both America and Israel. He should study better and understand better their viewpoints and not show such disgust and hate.”

Herzog also expressed concern over the growing wave of anti-Israel sentiment in the United States, which he blamed partly on social media. He argued that the hostility “comes from TikTok, from a very shallow discourse of the current situation, pictures or viewpoints, and doesn’t judge from the big picture.”

While acknowledging the legitimacy of debate about Israel’s military actions, Herzog pleaded for honesty and context. “I respect the debate,” he said, “but all I’m asking is for fair reporting, not fake reporting, and not something superficial. You cannot just buy a TikTok message, which you know immediately blames Israel, without understanding what’s behind it. We are operating in self-defense according to international law and we are trying to defend our citizens.”

He ended with a stark warning about the scale of the misinformation campaign Israel faces. “There are billions and tens of billions of dollars poured into this brainwashing machine which doesn’t want to tell the real truth,” Herzog said. “And we may be all alone, but we will keep on saying the truth: We did not seek this war. We did not want this war.”

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Sen. John Kennedy tore into the massive COVID-era fraud case uncovered in Minnesota’s “Feeding Our Future” scandal, blasting it as one of the most staggering abuses of federal aid ever exposed. The Louisiana Republican didn’t hold back on the Senate floor, calling the situation “a clown world on steroids” and “deeply disgusting.”

Speaking about the scheme, Kennedy highlighted what federal prosecutors have described as an unprecedented theft of taxpayer funds. “For the last five years, there has been massive welfare fraud in the great state of Minnesota. Over one billion dollars of American taxpayer dollars has been stolen — just stolen. They can call it fraud, but a better term would be stealing. And this fraud has been centered in the Somali community in Minnesota,” he said, adding that learning how taxpayer dollars were misused makes him “angry.”
“It makes me want to knee someone in the groin,” Kennedy said, directing his fury at state officials and insisting on full accountability. “It just makes me furious and I think the American taxpayers feel the same way.”

Kennedy emphasized that his criticism was not aimed at every member of Minnesota’s Somali population. He noted that he does not wish to “criticize the 80,000 members of the Somali community” living in the state, while also stressing, “it is a fact that this one billion dollars in welfare fraud occurred almost exclusively in the Somali community.”

Reporting from the New York Times was the first to outline how the scheme proliferated within segments of Minnesota’s Somali community, with various individuals setting up entities that billed state agencies for social services that were never delivered. Some of those involved were connected to Feeding Our Future, a fraudulent nonprofit that claimed to provide meals to needy children and received $250 million through the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

According to the Times’ earlier reporting, “Federal prosecutors say that 59 people have been convicted in those schemes so far, and that more than $1 billion in taxpayers’ money has been stolen in three plots they are investigating. That is more than Minnesota spends annually to run its Department of Corrections.”

Peter Schweizer, head of the Government Accountability Institute, said the evidence makes the fraud unmistakable. “Hundreds of millions of dollars were diverted again by several dozen Somali nationals, who took the money they were supposed to be using to feed children. And in fact, we’re pocketing for criminal instances,” he said. “It was 125 million meals that this charity claimed that they were providing to children that were not provided at all.”

The White House has described the scandal as involving “a massive, complex network of nonprofits and affiliates” that purported to aid thousands of underprivileged children, serve the homeless, and offer therapy for autistic Somali youth. In reality, “Kickbacks were paid, lavish lifestyles were funded, and money was sent overseas — some of it even allegedly funneled to a terror group,” the administration said.

President Donald Trump weighed in sharply on the revelations, denouncing Minnesota as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and announcing he was ending Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals in the state. He also made clear he opposed allowing additional Somali immigrants to remain in the U.S. “We can go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country,” he said, arguing that the state had become a “hellhole” because of the community. “Somalians should be out of here,” he told reporters. “They’ve destroyed our country.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz fired back, condemning Trump’s remarks as inflammatory and beyond the bounds of any past presidential rhetoric. He said Trump had slurred an entire community — the largest Somali population in America — and insulted the state as a whole. “We’ve got little children going to school today who their president called them garbage,” Walz said, calling the comments “unprecedented for a United States president.”

Republican legislative leaders, while not embracing Walz’s rebuke of Trump, countered that the outrage now engulfing the state could have been avoided if the governor had acted sooner and more forcefully to prevent fraud within Minnesota’s welfare programs.

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Governor Kathy Hochul made clear on Thursday that New York City’s incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has no legal power to detain Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, directly contradicting Mamdani’s repeated claims that he would attempt to do so if Netanyahu sets foot in the city.

The governor’s comments came as she sought to distance herself from several of Mamdani’s hard-line positions on Israel ahead of his January 1 inauguration. While Hochul has consistently aligned herself with Israel, Mamdani has long been identified with anti-Israel activism and has drawn widespread concern from Jewish communities. Despite her differences with him on these matters, Hochul endorsed Mamdani during his campaign.

Speaking to reporters, Hochul addressed the mayor-elect’s declaration directly. According to Politico, when asked about Mamdani’s vow to arrest Netanyahu, she rejected the notion outright and added, “The New York City mayor does not have the power to do that.”

Mamdani has pointed to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant as justification for his threat, but the argument does not stand on firm legal ground. The ICC has no jurisdiction inside the United States, and federal law expressly forbids state or municipal authorities from cooperating with the court. Additionally, another federal statute protects foreign officials — including sitting heads of state — from detention or interference.

Legal specialists have echoed this assessment, noting that Mamdani’s threat carries no legal weight whatsoever.

Netanyahu, for his part, brushed aside the mayor-elect’s remarks, announcing Wednesday that he still intends to travel to New York. The prime minister traditionally visits the city each fall to address the United Nations General Assembly.

The controversy over the ICC warrant has intensified in recent weeks. The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutor Karim Khan accelerated the issuance of the warrant for Netanyahu without carrying out a planned investigation, doing so after a subordinate accused him of misconduct. The report added that Khan then leveraged the warrants in an effort to pressure that accuser into abandoning the allegations.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came under sharp questioning today over whether he intends to follow through on President Donald Trump’s public assurance that the full video of the controversial double-tap airstrike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean will be released.

Hegseth appeared at the Reagan National Defense Forum, where Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson raised the issue directly during a Q&A. Referring to recent briefings that Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley delivered on Capitol Hill, Tomlinson asked, “After Admiral [Frank ‘Mitch’] Bradley’s meetings from Capitol Hill with joint chiefs, President Trump said he would have no problem if the full video of the strike is released. When can we see that video? When will you release it?”

Hegseth avoided making any commitment, saying only that the Pentagon is considering the implications. “We are reviewing it right now to make sure sources, methods — I mean, it’s an ongoing operation right now, TTPs,” he said. “We have operators out there doing this now. Whatever we decide, we have to be responsible and we are reviewing it.”

Tomlinson then referenced a Washington Post report alleging that Hegseth had instructed forces to kill everyone on the vessel, even survivors. The secretary immediately shot down the claim. “Is anybody here from The Washington Post? I don’t know where you get your sources, but they suck.”

He went on to reject the report entirely. “Of course not! Anybody that has been in this situation room, or has been in the war room there, the secretary’s office, know you don’t walk in and say, ‘Kill them all —’ It’s patently ridiculous. It’s meant to create a cartoon of me.”

Hegseth then offered a broader defense of the operation and the professionals carrying it out. “What people think is cavalier or cowboy about it is the opposite. These are the most professional Americans going through specific processes about what they can and cannot do, understanding all the authorities, all the laws of war, all the capabilities, and applying it to deter our adversaries.”

He intensified his argument by detailing the operational goals behind the missions. “And by the way, there are not many people getting in boats right now running drugs, which is the whole point. We want to stop the poisoning of the American people. The catch and release program of the ‘pat them on the head and release them so they can go back to the fight’ did not work in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it’s not gonna work in the Caribbean. So, we’re putting them at the bottom of the Caribbean, which forces them to change the way they operate, and hopefully it makes the American people safer — not hopefully, it will make the American people safer in the process.”

Tomlinson pressed again: “So, Mr. Secretary, you will be releasing that full video?”

Hegseth repeated his earlier line. “We are reviewing it right now.”

The reporter pushed for clarity: “Is that a yes or no?”

The secretary again declined to give a definitive response. “That is — We’re — The most important thing to me are the ongoing operations in the Caribbean with our folks that use bespoke capabilities, techniques, procedures in the process. I’m way more interested in protecting that than anything else. So, we’re reviewing the process and we’ll see.”
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Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that once he enters office in January, the city will halt all future clearings of homeless encampments — a dramatic reversal of one of the Adams administration’s defining enforcement strategies.

Speaking to reporters at an unrelated Manhattan press event, Mamdani dismissed the current policy as ineffective and fundamentally misguided. Pointing to the failure to place displaced individuals into long-term living situations, he argued, “If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success.”

He said the city must pivot toward a strategy centered entirely on securing stable places to live for those on the streets. “We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing,” Mamdani said.

The incoming mayor emphasized that all forms of housing should be on the table — supportive units, rental apartments, and other available options — while faulting the belief that homelessness is simply an unavoidable urban condition. “Whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is, because what we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact, it’s more often a reflection of a political choice being made.”

Despite the sweeping shift he promised, Mamdani did not provide any concrete plan for how to resolve the sprawling encampment-related complaints that flood the city’s system. Between January and November 2025 alone, more than 45,000 311 calls were filed concerning makeshift camps.

Mayor Eric Adams made encampment removal a central policy goal early in his term, unveiling the push in March 2022 with a blunt declaration: “We cannot tolerate these makeshift, unsafe houses on the side of highways, in trees, in front of schools, in parks. This is just not acceptable, and it’s something I’m just not going to allow to happen.”

But the results were grim. A subsequent audit revealed that roughly 95% of the individuals displaced in these clearances ended up back on the streets soon after their shelters were dismantled.

City Hall rejected the comptroller’s findings, defending the policy as far more successful than critics claimed. In a separate statement Thursday, spokesperson Fabien Levy said, “Cherry-picking numbers and sharing them out of context paint a disingenuous picture as these cleanups have actually connected more than 500 New Yorkers to safe, stable housing.”

Levy also stressed the city’s broader achievements, adding, “New York City continues to have the lowest rate of unsheltered homelessness of any major city in the nation.”

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Israeli officials have informed mediators that members of Islamic Jihad possess direct knowledge of the whereabouts of Yasam officer Ran Gvili, who was seized amid the fighting in Gaza. According to the same message, Hamas is also believed to have the ability to access him.

Channel 12 News reported that Israel supplied mediators with intelligence pointing to Gvili’s potential location and is insisting on swift, forceful diplomatic engagement to secure his return. Israel has emphasized that any delay is unacceptable and expects concrete movement immediately.

An Israeli official told reporters, “The mediators are signaling that Hamas is showing interest in honoring the hostages-and-missing agreement and wants to move to the next stage, which includes disarmament and demilitarization of the Strip.”

The official added that Hamas is aware of its narrowing options. “Hamas already understands they have no choice but to move toward disarmament and demilitarization. Either they agree to it, or we will dismantle their weapons ourselves. We will not leave in Gaza a threat to the State of Israel.”

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Canada revealed Friday that it is taking Syria and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham off its roster of designated terrorist entities, marking a major shift in its approach to groups now tied to the interim authorities governing Syria following the fall of the Assad regime. The organization, once under the leadership of Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, is now formally linked to the transitional government attempting to rebuild the country.

In a statement laying out the policy change, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand emphasized that the move parallels steps made by key Western allies. She explained that the decision “is consistent with policy taken by Canada’s partners – the United States and the United Kingdom – and is part of a broader effort to promote stability in the Middle East and to combat global terrorist threats.”

Anand stressed that Canada has not softened its stance toward global jihadist networks, underscoring that Ottawa maintains a strict posture toward organizations such as al-Qaida and ISIS. She said Canada remains fully committed to countering these threats, even as it recognizes “positive steps taken by the interim government in Syria.” She added, “We stand with the Syrian people in their struggle for a future of stability and prosperity.”

Canada’s engagement with Syria over the past decade has included significant humanitarian investment. From 2016 to 2025, Ottawa allocated $4.7 billion to support relief efforts in Syria and in countries absorbing displaced Syrians. During the same period, more than 100,000 refugees fleeing the civil war were resettled in Canada as part of its national admissions program.

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A major gathering at Ancient Shiloh on Friday turned sharply political when Dr. Mike Evans, a prominent Evangelical figure and onetime adviser to President Donald Trump, publicly challenged remarks made by US Vice President JD Vance regarding Israel’s authority over Judea and Samaria.

The event, organized by Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz, brought roughly 1,000 Evangelical leaders to the Binyamin region. From the podium, Dr. Evans confronted Vance’s recent comments head-on. “You said something, Mr. Vice President, that is not accurate. You said, ‘The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy.’”

Evans stressed his admiration for America and for Vance personally, but insisted that biblical history and divine promise override political talking points. “Mr. Vice President- we love you. We love you and we love America. But there’s something you have to understand. The policy of the G-d who birthed America and the policy of the God who gave these people this land is, in fact that Judea and Samaria is Bible land.”

He invoked the deep historical roots of the area, emphasizing how central it is to Jewish identity. “Eighty percent of the Bible stories come out of Judea and Samaria, Mr. Vice President. And here in Shiloh was the spot. This was the capital of Israel. This is where the Samuel was and the Tabernacle was. It was all right here.”

Evans concluded with a pointed admonition to Washington to avoid pressuring Israel on territorial concessions. “We’re grateful that America is getting the illegals out of America. We’re supporting that. But don’t pressure Israel to give illegal, radical, Islam, Jew haters: Judea and Samaria.”

Israeli forces blocked what could have been a devastating assault in the Chevron region this evening, when IDF paratroopers stopped two attackers who tried to ram their vehicle into Israelis at a police checkpoint. One Israeli sustained only minor injuries in the incident.

According to the IDF, “a short while ago, two terrorists accelerated their vehicle toward IDF soldiers during an operational activity at a security checkpoint in Chevron.” Troops immediately opened fire, bringing the threat to an abrupt end. “The soldiers fired at the terrorists and eliminated them,” the statement added.

Following the clash, the IDF reported that an uninvolved Palestinian Authority Arab was also killed amid the gunfire exchange, noting that the circumstances are under review.

Volodymyr Zelensky said he held a “constructive” conversation with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, describing it as a focused effort to explore how to bring an “end to the bloodshed.” The call coincided with the third consecutive day of American and Ukrainian delegations convening in Miami for another round of discussions aimed at halting the conflict.

After the call, Zelensky wrote on X that “we covered many aspects and went through key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full scale invasion, as well as the risk of Russia failing to honour its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past.” He added that “we agreed on the next steps and formats for talks with the United States.”

Kyiv’s security leadership — including national security adviser Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, chief of staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces — is slated to brief Zelensky upon returning home, he noted. Their report is expected to outline what, if anything, the latest exchanges with Washington might yield.

The diplomatic track unfolded against the backdrop of one of Russia’s most punishing overnight assaults in months. Ukraine’s air force reported that Moscow launched 653 drones and 51 missiles in a sweeping overnight strike that hammered the country’s already fragile energy network and set off air raid sirens nationwide.

Local authorities said at least eight people were injured, with three hurt in the Kyiv region. Substations and power-generation facilities took significant hits, and one of the two power lines feeding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was knocked offline, causing the facility to lose external electricity yet again — the eleventh such outage since the start of Moscow’s invasion, officials said. The head of Ukraine’s state grid operator characterized the destruction as “quite severe,” according to the Kyiv Independent.

Zelensky condemned the barrage on Telegram, calling it “a meaningless strike from a military point of view.” He stressed that “the main targets of these strikes are once again energy infrastructure. The goal of the Russians is to hurt millions of Ukrainians, and they have already fallen so low that they launch missiles at peaceful cities on St. Nicholas Day.”

Poland’s air force revealed that its fighter jets were scrambled as the hours-long attack on western Ukraine approached its borders, prompting Warsaw to reinforce its airspace defenses.

These latest developments follow an earlier, extended sit-down in Moscow between Vladimir Putin, Witkoff, and Kushner — a meeting that culminated in the Kremlin declaring parts of the peace framework “unacceptable.”

After the follow-up talks in Miami, which began Thursday, the U.S. delegation acknowledged the challenges ahead. In a statement on Friday, Witkoff wrote: “Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings.”

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s government has officially approved the 2026 state budget following a brief cabinet meeting held Friday. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened the session by stating that the budget would pass that same day and praised the ministers and the finance minister for what he described as a focused and constructive approach.

Netanyahu told the cabinet that the budget brings meaningful benefits to the country, including tax reductions, support for active-duty and reserve IDF soldiers, and accelerated development for northern and southern communities affected during the war. He stressed that the government is stable and has no intention of heading to early elections, declaring: “This government will serve out its full term.”

The Finance Ministry and Defense Ministry reached an agreement setting the defense budget at 112 billion shekels — approximately 30 billion shekels less than what the Defense Ministry originally demanded at the start of negotiations.

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich welcomed the compromise, saying the government is committing massive resources to strengthen the army while still ensuring that Israel’s economy remains on a path toward growth and relief for citizens.

Ministers also approved Smotrich’s dairy reform plan during the meeting. The prime minister and most cabinet members supported the reform, with Agriculture and Food Security Minister Avi Dichter casting the sole opposing vote. The proposal will now move to the Knesset for legislation.

Netanyahu noted that the budget includes several major initiatives: tax cuts — including reductions to income tax — decreased regulation, streamlined government systems, and significant investment in communities in the north and south that suffered during the conflict. He said the budget also expands assistance, grants, and benefits for IDF soldiers in both regular service and reserves, along with increased support for their families.

Shortly after the meeting ended, the Prime Minister’s Office released a confirmation statement announcing that the government had approved the 2026 budget.

{Matzav.com}

Derek Chauvin is again attempting to overturn his conviction, filing a new appeal that asks a Minnesota court to throw out the verdict in the death of George Floyd and allow him to be retried. The request, submitted last month in Hennepin County District Court, argues that significant legal and evidentiary problems undermined the fairness of his 2020 trial.

Central to the filing is Chauvin’s argument that the medical testimony used against him was fundamentally flawed. His attorneys assert that the four physicians who evaluated the medical examiner’s findings relied excessively on video footage that captured officers restraining Floyd — including the widely seen recording in which Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe and bystanders pleaded with officers to stop. According to the appeal, “This led to many errors throughout, as improperly qualified experts opined on events in the various videos in this case. This served to deprive Chauvin of his right to due process.”

Chauvin contends that he has now brought in outside medical experts from the Forensic Panel who are prepared to testify that the physicians used during the trial relied on methodology that “is not generally accepted in the scientific community,” as reported by Fox News.

The appeal also takes aim at testimony offered by Minneapolis police supervisors who said that the knee-to-neck restraint was outside department policy. Chauvin’s lawyers counter that dozens of officers dispute that claim. As Fox News summarized, “Chauvin also disputed testimony from three Minneapolis police supervisors, who swore the tactic of placing a knee on a suspect’s neck as a restraint was inconsistent with city police policy,” adding that the filing includes statements from “34 current and former Minneapolis police officers” asserting that the maneuver was part of their training.

This is not Chauvin’s first effort to revisit the outcome of his trial. A previous appeal seeking a new proceeding was rejected in 2023. He is currently serving both a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a separate 22½-year sentence for second-degree murder, housed at a low-security facility in Big Spring, Texas.

Prosecutors, in their closing arguments at trial, maintained that Chauvin betrayed the ethics and responsibility of his position during the incident, asserting that he chose “pride over policing” while restraining Floyd for those nine minutes.

A sweeping series of border-enforcement announcements this week signaled an intensified effort by federal authorities to deter illegal entry on every front. At the center of the rollout is a newly declared $5,000 fee that will be imposed on anyone 14 or older who entered the country without inspection, accompanied by a renewed crackdown on sea routes and a celebration by federal officials of seven consecutive months without Border Patrol releases into the U.S. interior.

In outlining the new financial penalty, Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks stressed that the rule is grounded in 8 U.S.C. §1815 and applies across the board — to those who crossed unlawfully days ago or decades ago, and whether or not they are currently tied up in immigration court. He noted that additional charges may apply under 8 U.S.C. §§2339 and 1324, signaling an expansive enforcement net.

As part of the same enforcement push, CBP’s Air and Marine Operations division issued an unambiguous warning aimed at people considering illegal maritime crossings. Their message was stark: “If you cross the border illegally, you will be caught, deported, and banned from ever returning to the United States. Don’t take to the sea!” Officials pointed to a steep rise in smuggling operations using ocean routes and vowed to block unlawful entry from the water just as aggressively as on land.

The Department of Homeland Security added to the week’s developments with a pointed declaration highlighting President Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem’s record: seven months running without a single Border Patrol release into the nation’s interior. DHS touted the milestone as evidence of a fortified enforcement strategy, describing this period as the “most secure border in history.” The agency credited interdepartmental coordination for achieving what it characterized as unprecedented control of migrant flows.

Even with that record in hand, the administration is pushing further. Banks revealed that construction of additional border barriers has resumed in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, marking a new round of wall expansion in an area long overwhelmed by illegal crossings. The move underscores that physical infrastructure remains a centerpiece of the administration’s strategy.

The combination of the new penalty, fresh maritime enforcement messaging, and DHS’s border-security declaration reflects a coordinated signal: illegal entry will meet firm consequences, and border controls are tightening at every point of access. That theme was echoed again when Banks described the fast-rising wall sections in Texas. “Solid steel wall panels are now standing tall in Harlingen, TX — marking the beginning of 17.4 miles of unyielding progress,” he said. “Impedance and denial aren’t just the goals — they’re the MISSION. THE BORDER IS STILL CLOSED.”

{Matzav.com}

The last defendant in a widely publicized hate-fueled attack in Times Square has now received his punishment, bringing an end to a case that drew national attention. Manhattan prosecutors announced that Salem Seleiman, 30, will spend two years behind bars for his role in the brutal assault on Joey Borgen.

The confrontation unfolded in 2021 as tensions surrounding the Israel–Gaza conflict spilled into the streets. Borgen had been on his way to a pro-Israel demonstration when a group of six men surrounded him near an anti-Israel rally and set upon him in an attack that was recorded and quickly circulated online.

Authorities say Seleiman was the final member of the group to face sentencing. He acknowledged his involvement earlier this year, entering guilty pleas to second-degree assault and to third-degree assault as a hate crime.

In a statement addressing the outcome, District Attorney Alvin Bragg condemned Seleiman’s conduct. “Salem Seleiman took part in the repugnant and bias-motivated assault of a Jewish man who was peacefully attending a rally,” Bragg said. “The victim was targeted based on his religion and did nothing to warrant physical violence.”

Investigators described a horrifying scene in which Borgen was forced to the pavement and repeatedly punched, kicked, sprayed with chemicals, and struck with a crutch, all while the assailants hurled slurs, calling him a “filthy Jew” and “dirty Jew.”

Borgen has since relocated to Israel, leaving New York not long after the criminal proceedings began. Seleiman, meanwhile, fled the state following the attack. Detectives tracked him down in Florida, where he was arrested in May before being extradited back to Manhattan to face charges.

Officials continue to warn that anti-Jewish hate crimes remain disproportionately high in New York City, underscoring persistent concerns about the safety of the Jewish community.

{Matzav.com}

A sweeping shift in national vaccine guidance for infants set off intense debate on Friday, as the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to push back the first hepatitis B shot for babies whose mothers test negative for the virus. For more than three decades, federal guidance has emphasized administering the vaccine within the first 24 hours of life. Now, with an 8–2 vote, the committee endorsed delaying that dose until two months of age for infants born to mothers confirmed negative.

The vote also endorsed a second change: Instead of automatically giving a newborn the hepatitis B shot, the new language advises “individual decision-making in consultation with a health care provider” for babies whose mothers have tested negative. The shift has stunned a wide range of medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, which argue that easing the universal birth recommendation erodes vital protections for infants and undermines decades of solid data demonstrating safety and effectiveness.

These decisions landed on the second day of ACIP’s December convening — a meeting marked by confusion, procedural hiccups, and unusually sharp disagreements. Thursday’s scheduled vote had to be postponed after committee members said they couldn’t clearly see the latest draft of the ballot language and were unsure how many questions they were supposed to address. Technical failures added to the disorder, prompting concerns about transparency and accuracy.

When the panel reconvened Friday, the deliberations grew more charged. Members — all appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — opened with a reading of the proposed text. One of the strongest objections came from Restef Levi, a mathematician with no medical background, who declared that experts had “never tested (the vaccines) appropriately” and insisted that the committee should refrain from recommending any timeline at all. His remarks quickly prompted pushback from longtime vaccine specialists.

Among the most vocal critics was Dr. Cody Meissner, a respected pediatrics expert who previously served on the FDA’s vaccine advisory panel. He and ACIP member Dr. Joseph Hibbeln repeatedly warned colleagues that the committee had been handed four versions of the proposal in less than a week. Hibbeln argued that “no rational science has been presented” to justify altering a schedule that has protected millions of infants for more than three decades. As Meissner cast his vote against revising the guidance, he offered a pointed reminder: “We’ve heard ‘do no harm’ as a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording.”

Hepatitis B poses life-altering risk to young children, leading to liver disease, cancer, and early death. Universal newborn vaccination has been recommended since 1991, leading to a 99% drop in pediatric infections. Experts warn that weakening the first-dose recommendations removes a crucial safety net in cases where prenatal testing is missed — a problem the CDC estimates affects roughly 16% of pregnant women each year.

Soon after the main vote, ACIP took up another contentious proposal: whether parents should test their children after the first dose to see if it provided a sufficient antibody response. The panel narrowly endorsed encouraging such discussions between families and physicians, though even supporters acknowledged the data remain thin and some wording was unclear.

If approved by the CDC director, these measures could influence not only clinical advice but also insurance coverage. ACIP recommendations often set the benchmark for what private insurers must cover. A shift in timing or structure could therefore have financial implications for families.

Friday’s debate followed a tumultuous Thursday session in which several members criticized the limited or contradictory data presented on vaccine safety. Meissner took particular issue with one presentation that suggested safety information on the birth dose was sparse — a claim contradicted by decades of published research documenting no increase in infant death, fever, sepsis, autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis, or other serious reactions.

Frustration spilled into the public comments as well. Dr. Jason Goldman, representing the American College of Physicians, condemned the approach taken during the proceedings, calling the meeting “completely inappropriate” and accusing ACIP of “wasting taxpayer dollars by not having scientific, rigorous discussion on issues that truly matter.” He reminded the panel that the hepatitis B birth dose has never been mandated nationwide and that families already retain the right to make individualized decisions with their doctors.

This is not the first time ACIP has confronted procedural turmoil. At its September meeting, confusion over ballot wording led members to vote down funding for a combined measles-mumps-rubella-chickenpox vaccine for toddlers, reverse themselves minutes later, and then shift course again the following day.

The public health stakes remain stark. Newborns who contract hepatitis B at or around birth face a 90% chance of developing chronic infection, often culminating in cirrhosis, liver cancer, or premature death. Past research has shown that limiting early vaccination only to babies whose mothers test positive results in missed cases — with devastating consequences.

For years, critics of vaccination have targeted the hepatitis B birth dose, including Kennedy, who inaccurately alleged in a June podcast that the shot was a “likely culprit” in autism. Extensive research has disproven such claims, consistently showing that the vaccine has one of the strongest safety records in modern medicine. Numerous studies confirm that delaying the dose offers no measurable safety benefit.

The American Academy of Pediatrics reiterated this point in strong terms. Dr. Sean O’Leary emphasized that the vaccine administered at birth is “one of the most well established safety records of any vaccine,” adding that early protection is essential to preventing chronic illness and liver cancer. “We’ve been using it for a long time. It’s one of our best tools to protect babies from chronic illness and liver cancer.” He warned that even a single missed infection can have lifelong consequences: “This is a situation where one missed case is too many.”

{Matzav.com}

A Brazilian scholar who admitted to firing an air rifle outside a Brookline synagogue on Yom Kippur is now leaving the United States after being taken into custody by federal immigration authorities earlier this week.

The Department of Homeland Security announced that Carlos Portugal Gouvea, 43, agreed to return to Brazil rather than proceed through deportation proceedings. “It is a privilege to work and study in the United States, not a right,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, adding, “There is no room in the United States for brazen, violent acts of anti-Semitism like this. They are an affront to our core principals [sic] as a country and an unacceptable threat against law-abiding American citizens.”

Gouvea had pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to one misdemeanor count tied to the Oct. 2 episode outside Temple Beth Zion, admitting to the unlawful use of the air rifle. During the encounter, which unfolded on the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, he told police he had been “hunting rats.”

Authorities said he had fired twice before being approached by the synagogue’s private security team, who engaged him in what the police report described as a “brief physical struggle.” He then retreated into his nearby home, according to details reported by Brookline.News.

When officers questioned him afterward, he continued to insist that his purpose had been to target vermin, although investigators determined that one of the shots had struck and broken a car window.

Prior to the incident, Gouvea had been serving as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School under a J-1 visa. That visa was revoked by the State Department shortly after the shooting, and Harvard subsequently placed him on administrative leave. The school did not announce any further disciplinary steps.

Under the plea arrangement, additional accusations—including disorderly conduct, vandalism, and disturbing the peace—were dismissed.

The clash outside the synagogue occurred just days after President Trump said that Harvard had tentatively resolved a dispute with his administration regarding $2.4 billion in frozen federal research funds, a standoff that grew out of controversies connected to antisemitism and the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.