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Heavy rains caused a landslide that struck homes in a rural community in Guinea, killing at least 11 people, authorities said Thursday. Another 10 people were seriously injured and the death toll was expected to rise. The landslide occurred Wednesday night in Maneah, a rural commune in Coyah prefecture 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the capital Conakry, according to a statement by the National Agency for Emergency Management. “Last night, it was around 7 p.m. It was raining, and suddenly I saw the mountain come off. It fell on the houses at the foot of the mountain. The mud buried the houses. No survivors came out alive,” said Kone Pepe, a local resident. Search and rescue operations were continuing late Thursday. “It’s a part of the mountain that gave way under the effect of the rain and spilled onto the buildings,” Mory Condé, minister of urban planning and housing, said during a visit to the site. The collapse followed heavy rains in the area and comes after West Africa experienced record flooding last year that killed over 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. (AP)

President Donald Trump said on Friday in Washington, D.C., that his ambitions for the nation’s capital go far beyond crime reduction, outlining plans for a massive transformation of the city.

During a speech at the Kennedy Center, Trump revealed that he and his White House team are finalizing a $2 billion initiative designed to make the capital “beautiful” again.

“Now it’s going to be clean,” he said. “I’m giving out a contract real soon.”

Trump brought up Chief of Staff Susie Wiles while explaining how the effort is being coordinated.

“Susie’s with me — we’re going to be raising about $2 billion from Congress. And Congress is happy to do it. And we’re going to wisely spend the money.”

The beautification effort aligns with Trump’s move to expand federal oversight of public safety in Washington, including his deployment of the National Guard to help lower crime rates. He told reporters he was pleased with recent progress, noting an unusual milestone.

“That’s the first time in anybody’s memory that you haven’t had a murder in a week.”

Earlier in the day, Trump posted that if D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser fails to improve city management, he is prepared to assume full federal control over the District’s operations.

According to Trump, the plan to revitalize the capital covers a significant section around the Capitol itself.

“We’re going to head out right from the Capitol and the White House. And if you look at a circle, and go about three miles out, it’s going to be beautiful.”

As part of the proposal, the president highlighted upgrades such as newly paved streets, fresh asphalt, and modernized lighting. He assured residents that the quality of work would be top-notch.

“I know all the good contractors. So this place will be beautified within a period of months. So it’ll be safe and beautified.”

Trump praised what has already been achieved under his leadership and said that adding a comprehensive beautification program will elevate the capital even further.

“D.C. is a miracle,” he proclaimed.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had no prior knowledge of the FBI raid on the home of his former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, explaining that he learned about it through media coverage.

“No, I don’t know about it. I saw it on television this morning,” Trump told reporters when asked whether he was briefed about the operation beforehand.

A source confirmed to Newsmax that the raid is part of an investigation into how classified materials and sensitive national security information were handled.

The president did not hold back in his criticism of Bolton, who served as his national security adviser from 2018 until 2019.

“I’m not a fan of John Bolton. He’s a real sort of a low-life,” Trump said.

He went on to describe Bolton as someone who “wants to always kill people” and “is very bad at what he does,” though Trump noted that Bolton’s reputation occasionally worked to the administration’s advantage during diplomatic negotiations.

According to Trump, other world leaders sometimes assumed the U.S. was prepared to take a more forceful stance simply because Bolton was in the room.

When asked if he anticipated receiving an update from the Department of Justice about the raid, Trump replied, “Yeah, they’ll be probably [briefing me] today sometime.”

Bolton joined the Trump administration in 2018 but was removed from his post the following year after disagreements with the president on policies involving countries such as Iran and North Korea. Since then, the two have publicly feuded, with Bolton releasing a memoir critical of Trump’s foreign policy and Trump repeatedly portraying Bolton as ineffective and disloyal.

Just last week, Trump blasted Bolton for remarks made about the planned summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Before the meeting, Bolton cautioned that the discussions could weaken Ukraine and strain the Western alliance while giving Putin an upper hand.

Trump fired back on his Truth Social platform, writing: “Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin. Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, ‘Putin has already won.’”

{Matzav.com}

Wall Street’s major indexes surged by as much as 2% on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested the possibility of an upcoming interest rate cut during his address at the Jackson Hole Symposium.

Powell’s remarks signaled that a potential rate reduction could come at the Fed’s next policy meeting scheduled for September 16-17, though he emphasized that the decision would depend heavily on incoming reports on employment and inflation.

“Chair Powell was able to talk about the balance of risk shifting and therefore the potential… shifting of policy would be appropriate,” explained Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.

“Leaning into the fact that the labor market weakness is clearly the driver, as opposed to concern over the core goods price increases that we’ve seen because of tariffs… the clear message to the market is September is now very live.”

Following Powell’s speech, traders increased their bets on a September rate cut, assigning nearly a 90% chance of a reduction, up from roughly 75% before his comments.

By 11:46 a.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had jumped 933.69 points, or 2.08%, reaching 45,719.19 — a new record high.

The S&P 500 advanced 106.45 points, or 1.67%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 424.12 points, a gain of 2.01%.

All 11 sectors within the S&P 500 traded in positive territory, with real estate — which is particularly sensitive to interest rates — up 1.8%, and consumer discretionary stocks rising nearly 2%.

A key semiconductor index surged 3.7%, while several major growth stocks posted strong gains. Tesla led the pack with a 5.2% jump.

If the market holds these gains, the S&P 500 is on pace to end a five-day losing streak triggered by a widespread selloff in large-cap tech names earlier in the week.

The Dow and S&P 500 are positioned to notch modest weekly advances, while the Nasdaq appears set for a slight weekly dip.

U.S. equities have staged a strong comeback since their April lows, when markets tumbled following President Donald Trump’s announcement of new trade tariffs. Recently, the indexes have been edging back toward record territory.

Strong corporate earnings, optimism surrounding trade negotiations between the U.S. and its partners, and the growing likelihood of rate cuts have all contributed to the recent rally.

Earlier Friday, UBS Global Wealth Management raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 for the second time in two months, citing robust earnings, easing trade tensions, and expectations of monetary policy easing.

Among notable individual movers, Intuit’s stock slid 6.2% after the TurboTax-maker projected first-quarter revenue growth below Wall Street’s forecasts due to weaker results from its Mailchimp marketing unit.

Workday fell 4.4% after the HR software company provided an outlook that aligned with analysts’ expectations but failed to impress investors.

On the NYSE, advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by a ratio of 12.14 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, gainers led losers by 6.3 to 1.

The S&P 500 recorded 21 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq posted 101 new highs and 30 new lows.

{Matzav.com}

Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, rov of Ramat Elchonon and a member of Degel Hatorah’s Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah, released a letter addressing yeshiva bochurim in advance of Elul, delivering sharp criticism of the Israeli government’s draft policies.

In the letter, he expressed grave concern, alleging that the Israeli government is attempting to dismantle the framework of Torah study for yeshiva students.

“We are currently in great distress, as they want to remove the yeshiva students from their Torah study, and even take some of the yeshiva students to imprisonment.”

Citing the words of Rav Dov Landau, he continued: “The golus is increasing its burden on us, and it is a great trouble that Jews are persecuting Jews because of Torah study.”

Rav Zilberstein encouraged the yeshiva bochurim to fortify themselves during this period of challenge, urging them: “Be strong and courageous, do not let your hearts soften, and begin this term with all your strength and desire. Engage in Torah at all times and hours, without idle talk, and through this, you will merit to be the true protectors of the entire Jewish nation.”

He concluded the letter with a heartfelt bracha: “And may we soon merit to be saved with eternal salvation, and may all the evil decrees be nullified for all of Yisroel.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

A group of 16 Democratic senators, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who votes with the Democrats, wrote to Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, questioning Israel’s claim that Anas al-Sharif was a Hamas member posing as a journalist.

“The recent targeted Israeli strike on a group of journalists and media workers, which killed six journalists, including well-known Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, is just one example of attacks on reporters in Gaza and part of a pattern of violence that has silenced the voices of far too many Gazan journalists,” wrote the senators, led by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who is Jewish.

“Israel has not provided convincing evidence for its claim that al-Sharif was a Hamas militant,” the senators wrote. “Absent a compelling explanation of the military objective for this attack, it appears Israel is publicly admitting to targeting and killing journalists who have shown the world the scale of suffering in Gaza, which would be a violation of international law.”

Israeli officials have publicized records suggesting that al-Sharif led a Hamas cell and was part of a Hamas phone directory. The Jewish state has also published photos of al-Sharif with senior Hamas members, including Yahya Sinwar, who led the terror group until he was killed in October.

Israel said it has more information about al-Sharif that is classified, and that several other journalists who were killed with him were also terrorists.

The BBC reported that al-Sharif worked with Hamas’s media unit prior to the war.

“What steps has the State Department taken to ensure that the Israel Defense Forces, a major recipient of U.S. security assistance, reforms its rules of engagement to mitigate harm to journalists?” the senators wrote.

In addition to Schatz and Sanders, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) signed the letter.

{Matzav.com}

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is preparing to eliminate Canada’s heavy tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of American imports, aiming to ease trade tensions with the Trump administration.

According to Bloomberg News, Carney will make the announcement on Friday after a cabinet meeting, confirming that Canada will lift the 25% tariffs on a wide range of U.S. consumer goods that comply with the North American trade agreement.

This marks a striking reversal for Canada, which had been among the few nations to take an aggressive stand against President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies.

With the rollback, American-made items such as orange juice, wine, apparel, and motorcycles will no longer face the steep import duties that have been enforced since March.

Insiders told Bloomberg News that the relief package impacts an estimated $21.7 billion worth of U.S. goods.

However, Carney isn’t abandoning all measures. Canada will continue enforcing the 25% tariffs on American steel, aluminum, and automobiles — sectors where Trump has imposed his own significant penalties.

The unexpected policy shift follows a phone call between Carney and Trump on Thursday, the first publicly confirmed discussion between the two leaders in several weeks.

According to sources, the decision is intended to improve relations with the White House and position Canada favorably ahead of the upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, expected in the coming months.

The move also represents a sharp pivot from the combative tone Carney embraced during his election campaign, when he pledged to deliver “maximum pain” to the United States through forceful retaliatory actions.

That hardline stance was a key factor in Carney’s victory over Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre in the recent election.

Under Justin Trudeau’s administration, Canada first launched the retaliatory tariffs in March, targeting roughly $21.6 billion in American exports. A second wave came in response to Trump’s steel and aluminum duties, applying tariffs on an additional $21.6 billion in U.S. metals and consumer products each year.

Carney escalated the trade fight during his campaign, extending tariffs to American-made automobiles after Trump placed heavy levies on Canadian vehicles.

Since becoming prime minister, however, Carney has taken a different course from his predecessor, showing increased skepticism about the effectiveness of escalating tariff battles.

In April, his finance minister began introducing exemptions, giving Canadian companies the ability to bring in certain U.S. products without paying the tariffs.

Ottawa also offered potential relief to automakers like General Motors and Stellantis, provided they maintained Canadian production and investments.

When Trump doubled steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%, Carney initially threatened to retaliate but ultimately decided against escalating the conflict further.

Similarly, Canada chose not to respond when the White House raised its so-called “fentanyl tariffs” on Canadian goods from 25% to 35% on August 1.

This measured response reflects economic considerations. Analysts at the Bank of Nova Scotia estimate that the effective U.S. tariff rate on Canadian exports remains below 7%, largely due to protections built into the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Despite the back-and-forth, Canada’s retaliatory measures have not fueled the inflation spike some experts predicted.

Statistics Canada reported that consumer prices rose just 1.7% in July compared to the previous year, staying well under the central bank’s 2% target.

The shift has nonetheless frustrated both President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who were especially irritated by Canada’s earlier aggressive countermeasures compared to the more restrained responses from other U.S. trading partners.

{Matzav.com}

The FBI continues the raid at John Bolton’s home, office in D.C. area in a 5+ hour operation

CHINA – At around 3 a.m. Friday, a construction rope snapped on a bridge being built along the Qinghai section of the Sichuan-Qinghai Railway, killing 12 workers and leaving 4 others missing.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Friday that the company is discussing a potential new computer chip designed for China with the Trump administration. Huang was asked about a possible “B30A” semiconductor for artificial intelligence data centers for China while on a visit to Taiwan, where he was meeting Nvidia’s key manufacturing partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the world’s largest chip maker. “I’m offering a new product to China for … AI data centers, the follow-on to H20,” Huang said. But he added that “That’s not our decision to make. It’s up to, of course, the United States government. And we’re in dialogue with them, but it’s too soon to know.” Such chips are graphics processing units, or GPUs, a type of device used to build and update a range of AI systems. But they are less powerful than Nvidia’s top semiconductors today, which cannot be sold to China due to U.S. national security restrictions. The B30A, based on California-based Nvidia’s specialized Blackwell technology, is reported to operate at about half the speed of Nvidia’s main B300 chips. Huang praised the the Trump administration for recently approving sales of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China after such business was suspended in April, with the proviso that the company must pay a 15% tax to the U.S. government on those sales. Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, was told to pay the same tax on its sales of its MI380 chips to China. As part of broader trade talks, Beijing and Washington recently agreed to pull back some non-tariff restrictions. China approved more permits for rare earth magnets to be exported to the U.S., while Washington lifted curbs on chip design software and jet engines. After lobbying by Huang, it also allowed sales of the H20 chips to go through. Huang did not comment directly on the tax when asked but said Nvidia appreciated being able to sell H20s to China. He said such sales pose no security risk for the United States. Nvidia is also speaking with Beijing to reassure Chinese authorities that those chips do not pose a “backdoor” security risk, Huang said. “We have made very clear and put to rest that H20 has no security backdoors. There are no such things. There never has. And so hopefully the response that we’ve given to the Chinese government will be sufficient,” he said. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet watchdog, recently posted a notice on its website referring to alleged “serious security issues” with Nvidia’s computer chips. It said U.S. experts on AI had said such chips have “mature tracking and location and remote shutdown technologies” and Nvidia had been asked to explain any such risks and provide documentation about the issue. Huang said Nvidia was surprised by the accusation and was discussing the issue with Beijing. “As you know, they requested and urged us to secure licenses for the H20s for some time. And I’ve worked quite hard to help them secure the licenses. And so hopefully this will be resolved,” Huang said. Unconfirmed reports said Chinese authorities were also unhappy over comments by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggesting the U.S. was only selling outdated chips to China. Speaking on CNBC, Lutnick said the U.S. strategy was to keep China reliant on American chip technology. “We […]

Ukrainian forces struck a key section of Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline overnight, destroying a vital energy hub as Kyiv continued to hit back against Moscow’s intensified offensives despite ongoing peace negotiations.

According to Robert Brovdy, the commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces, Ukraine carried out an airstrike late Thursday on the Unecha oil pumping station located in Russia’s Bryansk region.

Videos shared on Telegram captured massive flames engulfing the facility, showing multiple fuel tanks burning fiercely after the attack.

Bryansk regional Governor Alexander Bogomaz reported that Ukraine used a combination of HIMARS rockets and drones to target the area, sparking an extensive fire at the energy site.

The Unecha station plays a critical role in Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline, which delivers supplies to European countries, including Hungary and Slovakia.

Following the strike, both the Hungarian and Slovakian governments warned that fuel deliveries to their nations could be halted for at least five days while damage to the pipeline is assessed and repairs are made.

“The physical and geographical reality is that without this pipeline, the safe supply of our countries is simply not possible,” Foreign Ministers Peter Szijjarto and Juraj Blanar stated in a joint letter to Europe’s Executive Commission on Friday.

Over recent weeks, both Russia and Ukraine have escalated attacks on each other’s energy networks, even as President Trump continues efforts to negotiate an agreement aimed at ending the conflict.

While Moscow has repeatedly struck Ukraine’s gas infrastructure, Kyiv has targeted multiple Russian refineries in an attempt to disrupt oil exports that are helping fund Russia’s ongoing invasion.

{Matzav.com}

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas issued a sharp warning on Friday, saying that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is “just laughing” and setting “a trap” for Western nations if Ukraine ends up surrendering territory as part of a potential peace agreement.

Putin has insisted that Ukraine hand over the Donbas region in exchange for halting his military’s ongoing full-scale assault on the country.

Kallas cautioned that meeting those demands would only embolden Russia, rewarding the aggressor responsible for launching the war in the first place.

Speaking to BBC News, Kallas — who herself is on the Kremlin’s “wanted list” — said that ceding land to Moscow would be a “trap that Putin wants us to walk into.”

“Putin is just laughing, not stopping the killing but increasing the killing,” Kallas said.

“I mean, the discussion [is] all about what Ukraine should give up, what the concessions that Ukraine is willing to [make],” she added.

“Whereas we are forgetting that Russia has not made one single concession and they are the ones who are the aggressor here, they are the ones who are brutally attacking another country and killing people.”

Kallas also noted that President Trump’s recent efforts to mediate a resolution — including his high-profile summit with Putin in Alaska last week — played directly into the Kremlin’s hands, calling it a “propaganda jackpot” because it’s “clear that Russia does not want peace.”

“Any promises that Putin has given so far, he hasn’t kept,” Kallas stated.

“This is what he [Putin] wanted,” she continued, referring to the Alaska meeting. “It was clear before the meeting that he wants the picture, but he got so much more. He got such a welcoming in America.”

Following last week’s summit, Putin claimed the talks could potentially pave the way toward peace in Ukraine.

But within days of the highly anticipated meeting, Russian forces launched a strike on a U.S.-owned electronics plant in Ukraine where approximately 800 civilians were working at the time.

According to three sources familiar with internal Kremlin discussions who spoke to Reuters, Putin’s demands extend beyond Donbas. He also wants Ukraine to abandon plans to join NATO, adopt permanent neutrality, and keep Western forces out of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected those terms, emphasizing that Donbas remains a critical defensive stronghold preventing Russian forces from advancing deeper into Ukraine.

“If we’re talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that,” Zelensky told reporters Thursday. “It is a matter of our country’s survival, involving the strongest defensive lines.”

{Matzav.com}

At an obstacle course in the humid Georgia heat, an instructor shows recruits how to pull a wounded partner out of danger. In a classroom with desks cluttered with thick legal books about immigration law, recruits learn about how the Fourth Amendment governs their work. And on a firing range littered with shell casings, new recruits for Immigration and Customs Enforcement practice shooting their handguns. “Instructors, give me a thumbs up when students are ready to go,” a voice over the loudspeaker said before a group of about 20 ICE recruits practiced drawing and firing their weapons. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia, is the epicenter of training for almost all federal law enforcement officers, including the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who are at the center of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts. Now, with lots of money approved by Congress this summer starting to flow into ICE, the agency is in midst of a huge hiring effort as it aims to get thousands of new deportation officers into the field in the coming months. On Thursday, The Associated Press and other news organizations got a rare look at the Basic Immigration Law Enforcement Training Program that new ICE recruits — specifically those in the Enforcement and Removal Operations unit responsible for finding, arresting and removing people from the country — go through and what they learn. Ramping up hiring, training ICE is getting $76.5 billion in new money from Congress to help it meet Trump’s mass deportation goal. That’s nearly 10 times the agency’s current annual budget. Nearly $30 billion of that money is for new staff. They’re hiring across the agency, including investigators and lawyers, but the numbers they’re hiring in those areas pale in comparison to how many deportation officers are coming on board. Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, was at the training demonstration Thursday. He said the agency currently has about 6,500 deportation officers and is aiming to hire 10,000 more by the end of the year. With that hiring surge has come concerns that vetting or training of new recruits will be shortchanged. The Border Patrol went through a similar hiring surge in the early 2000s when hiring and training standards were changed; arrests for employee misconduct rose. Lyons pushed back on concerns that ICE might cut corners when it comes to training. although he said they have made changes designed to streamline the process. “I wasn’t going to water down training,” said Lyons. Caleb Vitello, the assistant director of ICE in charge of training, says new recruits will go through about eight weeks of training at the Georgia facility. But they also have training before and after they come here. One key change, Vitello noted: ICE cut out five weeks of Spanish-language training because he said recruits were only getting to the point of being “moderately” competent in Spanish. He said language translation technology can help fill that void in the field. What does the training look like? During the six-days-a-week training, new recruits live on the grounds of the sprawling facility, which is covered with pine forests and sits near the Atlantic Ocean a little less than an hour’s drive north of the Florida state line. Hundreds have gone through the training here in recent months. During the course, new recruits train […]

Federal agents carried out a search of John Bolton’s Maryland residence early Friday morning in connection with what officials described as a “national security investigation in search of classified records,” NBC News confirmed through a source familiar with the operation.

In a statement, an FBI spokesperson explained that the bureau was “conducting court authorized activity in the area. There is no threat to public safety.”

No additional details were provided by the bureau, and Bolton, who resides in Bethesda, did not immediately respond to inquiries from NBC News.

On X, FBI Director Kash Patel posted early Friday, “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino both appeared to weigh in on the matter online.

“America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always,” Bondi wrote.

“Public corruption will not be tolerated,” Bongino stated in his own message.

The search reportedly began shortly after 7 a.m. and centered on Bolton’s handling of restricted materials, including whether some of those records had been leaked to journalists, a source with knowledge of the investigation said. The probe stems from a criminal inquiry that originated under the Biden administration but had not advanced at that time.

Another FBI official confirmed that agents also executed a warrant at an address on M Street in Washington, D.C.

Historically, U.S. intelligence agencies have sometimes opted against criminal prosecutions in leak cases, fearing that presenting evidence in court could expose even more sensitive material. It was not immediately clear whether that reasoning influenced earlier decisions by Biden officials.

Bolton’s government career spans two Republican presidencies, serving as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during George W. Bush’s tenure, and later as national security adviser under President Donald Trump for a year and a half in Trump’s first term.

Trump and Bolton left on bad terms in 2019, with Trump asserting he had dismissed Bolton, while Bolton maintained he resigned following disagreements.

After leaving office, Bolton became one of Trump’s sharpest critics, publishing a 2020 memoir that cast Trump in a highly negative light.

During Trump’s first term, the Justice Department pursued Bolton over his use of classified material, seeking unsuccessfully to block the release of his memoir and prevent him from profiting from it.

But by 2021, under Biden’s Justice Department, both the civil lawsuit and a related criminal inquiry were abandoned. NBC News reported at the time that the department had notified a federal judge it was closing its case against Bolton.

A former DOJ official, familiar with why Attorney General Merrick Garland’s team ended the case, said the decision was grounded in the strength of the evidence and the likelihood of success. The official rejected the notion that partisan politics factored into the outcome, pointing out that Garland had also appointed a special counsel to investigate Biden’s own handling of classified documents and had prosecuted Hunter Biden on unrelated charges.

“Attorney General Merrick Garland investigated Democrats and Republicans, including President Joe Biden, his boss,” the former official said. “To suggest that any decision was made based on political reasons is absurd.”

Bolton’s book portrayed Trump as someone who frequently put his personal political fortunes ahead of America’s national interest, citing numerous instances that Bolton described as misconduct or incompetence in foreign policy.

Before the book’s release, Trump’s Justice Department sued, claiming Bolton sidestepped mandatory prepublication reviews meant to ensure no classified information was disclosed. Initially, the government sought to prevent publication altogether.

When that effort collapsed, officials attempted instead to seize Bolton’s earnings from the book, alleging he violated obligations tied to his security clearance. That effort, too, failed in court.

Bolton insisted he had adhered to the process, producing a 2020 letter from a National Security Council reviewer certifying that the book contained no classified material.

Later, however, the White House initiated another review, conducted by a more senior official, which delayed the book’s release. Bolton’s lawyers argued the second review was politically driven, a “transparent effort” to prevent damaging revelations about Trump from becoming public.

When asked Friday about the FBI’s search, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News he did not view the raid as motivated by personal grievances.

“So I don’t think this is retribution, I think this is accountability,” Comer said. “We’ll see if, for no reason, they raided his house just to embarrass John Bolton, like the Democrats did to President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, then I think that they should bear some criticism. But right now, I have confidence in Kash Patel, and I don’t believe he would do anything without having ample evidence to move forward.”

Speaking to reporters at a Washington, D.C., museum, Trump said he had no advance notice of the raid and would be updated on developments.

Earlier this year, only days after Trump’s second term began, the president revoked Bolton’s Secret Service protection, even though Bolton had previously been the target of an assassination plot orchestrated by an operative of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

In recent months, Bolton has again criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy, questioning his meeting with Vladimir Putin last week and condemning administration officials for discussing planned military actions over a Signal chat instead of official secure channels.

Back in 2022, Bolton publicly mused about “seriously considering” a presidential run in the GOP primary with the stated aim of blocking Trump from regaining the White House.

{Matzav.com}

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who identifies as a socialist, is facing growing scrutiny over his network of advisors and allies, many of whom have openly promoted anti-Israel sentiments and socialist policies, Fox reports. The candidate has been working to counter claims that he is “too radical” to lead the country’s largest city.

Mamdani, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, relies on a core team of advisors that the New York Times referred to as his “brain trust.” Among them is Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an organization that has long advocated for ending “state support for detention, deportation, and mass incarceration.”

Awawdeh has strongly defended providing taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants, saying they “deserve” access to those services.

“SEEKING ASYLUM AT THE BORDER IS A LEGAL RIGHT,” Awawdeh posted on X in 2022. “ASYLUM SEEKERS ARE FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES FROM VIOLENCE, PERSECUTION, & IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. THE U.S. HAS A LEGAL OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE REFUGE.”

The NYIC has financial connections to the Vera Institute for Justice, an organization that has received significant federal funding under the Biden administration to assist illegal immigrants in avoiding deportation. Additionally, NYIC has accepted $175,000 from the George Soros-backed nonprofit network.

Soros also has ties to another Mamdani advisor, Patrick Gaspard, who has held several high-profile political roles, including serving as an advisor to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, executive director of the Democratic National Committee, and, since 2021, president of the Center for American Progress (CAP).

According to reports, Gaspard made millions while leading Soros’s Open Society Foundations from 2017 to 2020. He has been outspoken in defending Soros, saying earlier this year that he was “inspired by the selection of my friend George Soros, who is one of our leading defenders of inclusive and accountable democracy and vibrant civil society,” after then-President Joe Biden awarded Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“His accomplishments, in the face of distortions and threats from extremists, will be lauded well into the future,” Gaspard added. In a 2023 X thread, he also attempted to deflect criticism from Soros following reports that Soros’s network funneled millions of dollars into campaigns for progressive district attorneys and left-leaning groups that promoted social justice policies and lighter sentences for violent offenders.

Mamdani has brushed off accusations of being a communist, laughing off the label when questioned by Fox News Digital earlier this year. However, one of his key advisors openly embraces communist associations.

Housing activist Cea Weaver, another member of Mamdani’s “brain trust,” is part of the Democratic Socialists of America and advises him on housing issues, including his controversial proposal to “freeze” rent across the city — a plan that has sparked backlash from property owners and developers.

Weaver previously served as coalitions director for Housing Justice for All, an organization linked with multiple far-left groups, including the Communist Party of the United States of America and the New York Young Communist League.

“Elect more Communists,” Weaver posted on social media in 2017, according to the New York Post. In 2018, she added another post: “Seize private property.”

Mamdani has also been criticized for his long-standing anti-Israel positions dating back to his college years, and several of his close advisors have expressed similar views.

One of them, activist Faiza Ali, previously worked for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), whose executive director Nihad Awad stated following Hamas’s October 7 attacks that he was glad to see Gazans “breaking the siege” against the “occupying power” of Israel.

Awad later claimed his remarks were misrepresented.

Ali’s associations extend to Linda Sarsour, a prominent anti-Israel activist frequently accused of antisemitism. Ali has been photographed with Sarsour, and both are connected through the Muslim Democratic Club of New York.

Sarsour has faced criticism for praising Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, rejecting the Jewish right of return to Israel, and calling for “jihad” against President Trump in 2017. She later clarified that her remarks referred to nonviolent resistance.

Another figure tied to Mamdani’s team is Maya Handa, a campaign manager who previously served as a senior advisor to former Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman. Bowman drew backlash last year after defending the phrase “from the river to the sea,” widely interpreted as a call for the elimination of Israel.

Mamdani’s senior advisor Morris Katz, described by the New York Times as one of the two most influential members of his inner circle and an “emissary” to Jewish voters skeptical of Mamdani, has also publicly criticized Israel.

Katz has stated that the real threat to Israel’s existence is “not the Palestinians who’re being oppressed and denied basic human rights” but rather Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself.

In addition, Katz highlighted Mamdani’s statement supporting Democrats who have pushed for a ceasefire and an arms embargo, quoting him as saying they are “rightfully outraged over Israel’s killing of over 40,000 Palestinians.”

{Matzav.com}

A car bomb and a separate attack on a police helicopter in Colombia killed at least 17 people Thursday, according to authorities. President Gustavo Petro attributed both attacks to dissidents of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly known as FARC. At least 12 police officers died in the attack on a helicopter that according to authorities was transporting personnel to an area in Antioquia in northern Colombia, to eradicate coca leaf crops, the raw material for cocaine. Petro had reported initially eight officers killed, but Antioquia Gov. Andrés Julián said four others died later and three remain injured. The Antioquia governor had said on X that a drone attacked the helicopter as it flew over coca leaf crops. Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said preliminary information indicates the attack caused a fire in the aircraft. Meanwhile, authorities in the southwest city of Cali reported that a vehicle loaded with explosives detonated near a military aviation school, killing five people and injuring more than 30. The Colombian air force did not immediately provide additional details of the explosion. Petro initially blamed the Gulf Clan, the country’s largest active drug cartel, for the attack on the helicopter. He said the aircraft was targeted in retaliation for a cocaine seizure that allegedly belonged to the group. The president said an alleged member of the dissident group was arrested in the area of the explosion. FARC dissidents, who rejected a peace agreement with the government in 2016, and members of the Gulf Clan both operate in Antioquia. Coca leaf cultivation is on the rise in Colombia. The area under cultivation reached a record 253,000 hectares in 2023, according to the latest report available from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. (AP)

With just one month remaining before tens of thousands of visitors are expected to arrive in Uman for Rosh Hashanah, Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, Rav Kalman Bar, and Member of Knesset Rabbi Michael Malchieli conducted a visit to the Ukrainian city on Thursday.

During their visit, the Chief Rabbi and MK Malchieli met with local community leaders and davened at the tzion of Rav Nachman of Breslov. As part of their itinerary, they also held discussions with Uman Mayor Iryna Pletnova to review the city’s preparations for the massive influx of visitors expected over the upcoming Yamim Noraim.

The visit began at the local institutions and yeshiva led by Uman’s Rav Yaakov Jan. Rav Bar delivered a special shiur to the talmidim, offering words of encouragement and expressing admiration for their dedication and commitment to Torah learning in the city.

The delegation then proceeded to the kever of Rav Nachman of Breslov, where the Chief Rabbi led tefillos for the swift return of the hostages. He also recited a special Mi Shebeirach for IDF soldiers, asking for their safety, success, and safe return from all missions.

MK Malchieli focused much of his visit on reviewing logistical preparations for the thousands of mispallelim expected to arrive for Rosh Hashanah. He toured the offices of United Hatzalah in Uman, where he received a detailed briefing on emergency medical readiness and security arrangements for the pilgrimage period.

In meetings with local officials, Malchieli and Mayor Pletnova discussed crowd management, infrastructure, and measures to ensure smooth coordination between Israeli and Ukrainian authorities during the Yom Tov period.

{Matzav.com Israel}

BREAKING: President Trump announces he will fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook if she doesn’t resign amid the mortgage fraud probe: “If she doesn’t resign, yes. I’ll fire her.”

POTUS: “I wish they’d say, ‘I need help.’ I wish the mayor of D.C. would say, ‘We’re overridden with crime and we need help’ instead of saying the stats are down. I mean, they’re under investigation now for fake numbers,”

POTUS: “I’m not a fan of John Bolton. He’s a real sort of lowlife… I know nothing about it. I just saw it this morning… I tell Pam and I tell the group I don’t want to know about it. You have to do what you have to do.”