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When catastrophe strikes, its victims understandably want to know how and why — but their curiosity often morphs into snap judgments and witch hunts by those with ulterior motives. The horribly destructive wildfires sweeping through Los Angeles County neighborhoods have become fodder for irresponsible, fact-free finger pointing, mostly aimed at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Social media have erupted with vituperative attacks on both figures, alleging that they, either by actions or inactions, allowed the firestorms to destroy thousands of homes and claim dozens of lives. One expertly produced fake video depicts Newson and Bass playing...

Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip and free more than a third of the Israeli hostages, who have had to endure more than 15 months of captivity, officials say. The breakthrough deal is the first of its kind in more than a year. It will create a 42-day cease-fire in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. The pause in fighting will allow Israel and the terror group Hamas to negotiate the terms to release the 97 hostages remaining in Gaza.

Five days separate us from the historic January 20th, when Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States – but as of now, considerable progress has already taken place in one of the key foreign policy issues facing the new administration: the peace process to end the war in the Ukraine, and a new security architecture that will defuse tensions between the nuclear superpowers US and Russia.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held his annual press conference in Moscow, and although he had criticism toward the UDS on a range of subjects, he did bring...

President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to enact mass deportations — and his famous antipathy toward Chicago — have girded local immigration activists for the immediate aftermath of his inauguration. But how would such an effort, which has not happened before in modern U.S. history, actually unfold? And how real are Trump’s threats to try to go after asylum-seekers, naturalized citizens and other groups on top of immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission? ... Chicago officials are mobilizing a legal and resource playbook to stop federal immigration agents from carrying out raids at businesses, shelters, police lock-ups and beyond. It’s unclear...

A ceasefire deal has been reached to end 15 months of fighting in Gaza, Hamas and Israeli officials and a source briefed on the negotiations told NBC News on Wednesday. The hard-won agreement will also free dozens of hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, bringing the first real break in violence since a weeklong truce expired Dec. 1, 2023.

More than 650,000 people in the state of New York and parts of Pennsylvania remain under Lake-Effect Snow Warnings after 14-24 inches of snow already blanketed parts of the region, with more expected to fall Wednesday. Constableville, New York, reported 2 feet of new snow by Tuesday evening. The town has received 116 inches, close to 10 feet of snow, this winter. Martinsburg, New York, had 18 inches of new snow, while Irving, New York, reported 14.4 inches. As forecast, most of the snowfall was concentrated south of Buffalo, around Erie, Pennsylvania, and off of Lake Ontario south of Watertown,...

Julia Roberts, one of the most famous and influential donors to the Democratic Party, is suddenly upset about the looting going on in Los Angeles following the horrific wildfires that have swept the city. Here's what she posted on Instagram: Of course, looting is wrong. But isn't it weird that Julia Roberts suddenly reached this conclusion after years of endorsing riots that weren't in her own neighborhood? Remember, this is the same Julia Roberts who supported Black Lives Matter, the movement that was behind waves of riots in 2020 that caused billions in damaged property. For just one example, here's...

The Internal Revenue Service is sending out $2.4 billion in stimulus payments to approximately 1 million eligible taxpayers who didn't receive 2021 COVID recovery relief payments. The big picture: The special payments are as high as $1,400 per individual and should arrive by late January in most cases, the IRS said in a news release. Payments started going out automatically in December, the federal agency said. IRS stimulus checks eligibility Context: The payments are for taxpayers who didn't receive the Recovery Rebate Credit in 2021. The Recovery Rebate Credit is a refundable credit for individuals who did not receive one...

President-elect Trump is being inundated with so much money from corporations and wealthy donors that his team expects to raise about $500 million by summer — even though he can't run again, sources in his operation tell Axios. Why it matters: By stockpiling so much cash, Trump is signaling he doesn't want to be seen as a lame duck in his second term, and is ready to help political allies, punish opponents and help Republicans keep full control of Congress in 2026. "The money is just pouring in at Mar-a-Lago. Trump doesn't have to lift a finger. Everyone's coming to...

Daily Readings from the USCCBWhen it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Mark 1:32–34Today we read that Jesus once again “drove out many demons...” The passage then adds, “...not permitting them to speak because they knew him.”Why would Jesus not permit these demons to speak? Many of the early Church fathers explain that even though the demons had...

ADL's antisemitism global survey shows Muslim countries are still the most antisemitic - and getting worse.. The ADL released its survey of global attitudes towards Jews in most (but far from all) countries. As it always does, the ADL asks people whether they agree with a series of 11 classic antisemitic tropes. Only those people who believe in a majority of them are considered for the calculations of this index. So there are plenty of people who harbor several antisemitic attitudes that do not get counted as antisemites in this survey. The single most common factor to determine whether a...

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — So many people here in the Tampa Bay area are still rebuilding after the hurricanes. A FEMA program that has helped hundreds of displaced families is now coming to an end. Families are now being told to move out of the FEMA-funded hotels where they've been staying.

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Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, emerged from a fiery confirmation hearing on Tuesday with momentum that appears to have solidified his path to Senate approval. Over the course of four hours, the nominee faced pointed and, at times, combative questioning from Democratic senators, while Republicans largely defended his qualifications and policy stances. Prior to the hearing, Hegseth’s confirmation was far from certain. Hegseth, the former Army officer and Fox News contributor, fielded sharp criticism from Democrats who questioned his comments on military diversity programs and past advocacy for overhauling the Pentagon’s bureaucracy. Hegseth, in response,...

The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, whose history of lying puts serial liars to shame, has now been called out by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) for lying in the latest feckless attack against Pete Hegseth, incoming President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense. The same Jane Mayer who vigorously defended serial-butt-grabber and disgraced former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) by smearing one of his alleged victims, has launched her own personal jihad against Hegseth by way of the *stretch* usual-usual unnamed sources *yawn* the fake media have been using against Republicans for decades. From where I sit, the hysterical Mayer is on...

An idyllic stillness swallowed Home Ranch on Friday, as there was little to disturb the oldest dairy ranch on the Point Reyes National Seashore. California quail fluttered their wings and scattered in the brush beside a dirt road leading into the historic complex containing several barns, a silver silo and a farmhouse with green window trims that predates San Francisco’s cable cars.

The Florida Democratic Party slammed President Biden for his decision to lift Cuba’s State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) designation in exchange for freeing jailed political prisoners who protested the regime in 2021. “While any return of political prisoners from the clutches of Communist Cuba is cause for celebration, the regime’s treatment of the Cuban people continues to be one of the biggest human rights violations of the last century,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement released Tuesday. “It would be naive to think that this negotiated exchange would signal a change in treatment for the Cuban...

VIDEODid James O'Keefe just accidentally save us from a possible military coup directed against President Trump during his inauguration or soon afterwards? Think I'm exaggerating? Well, check out his latest video exposing Trump hating Joint Chiefs of Staff advisor Jamie Mannina who suffers from extreme TDS. In addition, Mannina was caught on tape bragging about meeting with the JCS for a top secret meeting supposedly about Artificial Intelligence in the high security room in the Pentagon called the Tank. What makes this especially suspicious is the speed at which the JCS announced the firing of Mannina just about an hour...

Key Points * Saudi Arabia last year increased the valuation of its unexploited mineral resources from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion, boosted by the discovery of rare earth elements and metals. * The kingdom on Wednesday announced a new mineral investment project valued at $100 billion, with $20 billion already in the final engineering phase or under construction. * Investment in critical minerals mining and processing must be happening “as fast and furious as possible” in Saudi Arabia, its energy minister said at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. =============================================================================== RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia is pushing ahead to...

Christian persecution spiked around the globe in 2024, with more than 380 million Christians suffering high levels of persecution and discrimination, according to a report released Wednesday. The human rights watchdog group Open Doors has published its World Watch List 2025, which ranks the fifty countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian.