Report: Israel Declares State of Emergency After Launching Strike on Iran

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a state of emergency after launching a strike on Iran, according to several reports.

“Two sources with knowledge of the operation” told Axios that Israel had carried out a strike on Iran.

Per the outlet, “it’s not clear whether Israel has ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear program.”

ABC News reported that Katz had declared “a special state of emergency in the country following what he called a preemptive strike against Iran.”

(Read more from “Report: Israel Declares State of Emergency After Launching Strike on Iran” HERE)

Hamas Attacks Bus of Workers From American Aid Group in Gaza; 5 Deaths; Hostages Possible

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas attacked a bus full of aid workers with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Wednesday, killing at least five local Palestinians who worked with the group.

Several members of the group may also have been taken hostage.

In a statement, GHF said:

Tonight, at approximately 10 p.m. Gaza time, a bus carrying more than two-dozen members of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation team, local Palestinians working side-by-side with the U.S. GHF team to deliver critical aid, were brutally attacked by Hamas. At the time of the attack, our team was en route to one of our distribution centers in the area west of Khan Younis.

We are still gathering facts, but what we know is devastating: there are at least five fatalities, multiple injuries, and fear that some of our team members may have been taken hostage. We condemn this heinous and deliberate attack in the strongest possible terms. These were aid workers. Humanitarians. Fathers, brothers, sons, and friends, who were risking their lives everyday to help others. Our hearts are broken and our thoughts and prayers are with every victim, every family, and every person still unaccounted for.

(Read more from “Hamas Attacks Bus of Workers From American Aid Group in Gaza; 5 Deaths; Hostages Possible” HERE)

Conservative Presidential Candidate Shot in the Head

As if this weekend couldn’t get more chaotic as Los Angeles descends into a pro-illegal alien rager that’s required the deployment of National Guard units, in Colombia, conservative presidential candidate Miguel Uribe is reportedly in stable but critical condition after being shot in the head during a campaign event in Bogota (via Bloomberg):

Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot at a campaign event in Bogota on Saturday in an act reminiscent of the drug-fueled political violence that roiled the nation in the 1980s and early 1990s.

The 39-year old senator from the opposition Democratic Center party was rushed to a medical center. He was stabilized there before being moved to a major hospital in north Bogota, according to the Attorney General’s office.

Footage posted by local media showed Uribe’s head and back covered in blood.

The gunman has been detained, Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan said on X. Attorney General Luz Camargo said that a 15-year-old youth was arrested, after being beaten up by members of the public, and that authorities captured a 9mm gun. The minor is currently in a medical center, she said.

[Warning: graphic content]

(Read more from “Conservative Presidential Candidate Shot in the Head” HERE)

Chinese Nationals Charged With Smuggling Potential Agroterrorism Pathogen Into US

FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital that the case involving two Chinese nationals who were charged Tuesday with allegedly smuggling a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the U.S. to study at the University of Michigan laboratory demonstrates a serious national security threat to America’s food supply.

“This case is a sobering reminder that the Chinese Communist Party continues to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate our institutions and target our food supply, an act that could cripple our economy and endanger American lives,” Patel told Fox in a statement. “Smuggling a known agroterrorism agent into the U.S. is not just a violation of law, it’s a direct threat to national security. I commend the FBI Detroit Division and our partners at CBP for stopping this biological threat before it could do real damage.”

University of Michigan research fellow Yunqing Jian and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu – both citizens of the People’s Republic of China – have been charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan announced Tuesday. The investigation is being conducted by the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The couple are accused of smuggling a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a “potential agroterrorism weapon,” according to the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors note the noxious fungus causes “head blight,” a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and “is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.”

The Justice Department also says fusarium graminearum’s toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and “reproductive defects in humans and livestock.” (Read more from “Chinese Nationals Charged With Smuggling Potential Agroterrorism Pathogen Into US” HERE)

Special Forces Officer Blocked 1,585 Afghans From UK

A UK Special Forces officer personally rejected 1,585 resettlement applications from Afghans with credible links to special forces, newly released documents say.

The files, disclosed by the Ministry of Defence in court on Thursday, show the unnamed UKSF officer rejected every application referred to him in the summer of 2023, in what was described as a “sprint”.

The MoD told the court that the officer may have been connected to matters under examination by the ongoing inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by the SAS.

The admission comes after the BBC revealed last week that the UKSF officer – who previously served in Afghanistan – rejected applications from Afghans who may have witnessed the alleged crimes.

Afghan commandos, known as the Triples, supported the SAS and SBS for years in Afghanistan and were in danger of reprisal after the Taliban seized back the country in 2021. (Read more from “Special Forces Officer Blocked 1,585 Afghans From UK” HERE)

Egypt Closes World’s Oldest Continuously Functioning Christian Monastery Founded 15 Centuries Ago: ‘Unprecedented and Unacceptable!’

Egypt has ordered the closure of the world’s oldest continuously functioning Christian monastery, much to the fury of Christian groups.

The Egyptian government has decided to shut down Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sina and expel the 20 Greek Orthodox monks serving there.

The monastery was founded by Byzantine Emperor Justinian 15 centuries ago and has been described as “the world’s oldest Orthodox Christian monument”.

Despite surviving numerous historical upheavals throughout its existence, the sacred site now faces what Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos II called “a period of great trial—one that evokes memories of darker times in history”.

The decision has been characterised as “unprecedented and unacceptable” by religious leaders. (Read more from “Egypt Closes World’s Oldest Continuously Functioning Christian Monastery Founded 15 Centuries Ago: ‘Unprecedented and Unacceptable!’” HERE)

Putin Escaped ‘Massive’ Ukraine Drone Assault on His Helicopter, Moscow Claims

Moscow has claimed that that a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack targeted Vladimir Putin’s helicopter as the Russian leader visited the embattled Kursk region earlier this week.

Russian air defence officer Yury Dashkin said on Sunday that Putin’s helicopter was at the “epicentre of an operation to repel a massive drone attack” on Tuesday, state media RT reports.

The alleged attack came as the Russian leader visited the Kursk region, which saw the most significant incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War after Ukraine’s forces launched a daring counterinvasion last summer.

During his first visit to the Russian region after expelling the Ukrainians, Putin’s helicopter became embroiled in an “unprecedented” drone attack comprised of dozens of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Dashkin claimed.

“I would like to stress the fact that the intensity of the attacks during the flight of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s aircraft over the territory of Kursk Region increased significantly,” he said. (Read more from “Putin Escaped ‘Massive’ Ukraine Drone Assault on His Helicopter, Moscow Claims” HERE)

Leftists Cry ‘Islamophobia’ as France Looks to Ban Veiling of Girls Over Muslim Brotherhood Sharia Plot

French President Emmanuel Macron’s political party has called for a ban on young girls wearing Islamic veils in public and a new law against “Islamist entryism” after a bombshell government report found that the Muslim Brotherhood has waged a multi-generational campaign to infiltrate institutions and control Islamic communities in service of instituing Sharia law to the West.

Former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who leads President Macron’s Renaissance party in the National Assembly, proposed on Wednesday that the ban on wearing veils in public be extended to girls under the age of 15. France became the first European country to impose such a ban for adults in 2011.

However, Attal argued that the government must go further in the wake of the publication of a government report, which found that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood has sought for at least seven decades to subvert France and other European nations through clandestinely entering institutions and taking control over various facets of Muslim communities to promote Sharia practices to Islamise the West.

According to the report, the movement has seized upon supposed social justice campaigns through its various Muslim association proxies against “Islamophobia” — a term coined by the Muslim Brotherhood — and the veil ban to create a veneer of legitimacy in public discourse and to rally Muslim communities to their cause.

Meanwhile, local arms of the Brotherhood, in which trained Islamist activists are installed as managers at community shops, sports groups, private education, financial services, dating sites and elsewhere, have been established to control all aspects of life within Islamic communities and enforce strict Muslim practices, such as forcing the veil on women and girls. (Read more from “Leftists Cry ‘Islamophobia’ as France Looks to Ban Veiling of Girls Over Muslim Brotherhood Sharia Plot” HERE)

How Chinese Operatives Are Laundering Mexican Drug Money In Broad Daylight

Mexican drug cartels are partnering with Chinese money laundering networks to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds to Chinese nationals in the United States, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

The Sinaloa Cartel — formerly headed by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán — is allegedly working with Chinese groups based in the U.S. to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in cartel cash through American banks and ultimately into the hands of Chinese nationals living in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The scheme often begins in Mexico, where cartels make billions of dollars selling cheap drugs into the United States.

Chinese nationals in the U.S. travel to Mexico to pick up large amounts of cash directly from the cartels. They then deposit the cash into a network of accounts held at major American banks before selling it to wealthy Chinese clients who pay using Chinese yuan, according to the Journal. The money laundering groups then purchase low-cost goods from China, which are shipped to Mexico, and sold under the cover of legitimate trade. The proceeds — in pesos — are returned to the cartels.

Chinese laundering groups in the U.S. have grown in prominence in recent years, partly due to financial restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, added the Journal’s report. Beijing prohibits individuals from moving more than $50,000 out of the country in foreign currency, and many wealthy Chinese nationals also face sanctions, creating strong incentives to bypass legal channels. To purchase homes in America or pay for their child’s tuition at an American university, wealthy Chinese buyers have to find cash somewhere else. (Read more from “How Chinese Operatives Are Laundering Mexican Drug Money In Broad Daylight” HERE)

Paris Issues Denial of Macron Cocaine Bag on Ukraine Train

President Emmanuel Macron’s office decried “disinformation” after footage showed him self-consciously snatching a small white object from a conference table while sitting with Britain’s Sir Keir Starmer and Germany’s Friedrich Merz.

The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany made a then-secret trip to Ukraine on Friday evening for joint events on Saturday, travelling from Poland to Kyiv by overnight train provided by the Ukrainian government. In the now-familiar travelling conference room used by dozens of world leaders on their trips to Ukraine during wartime while air warfare makes executive jet travel impossible, the three men met for a brief photo-call with their attendant journalists.

After these images and the trip were made public, footage of President Macron himself sitting at the head of the conference table before noticing a small white object on the table and snatching it to his pocket spread on social media along with claims that it had, in fact, been a bag of cocaine.

The assertion gained sufficient traction that the Élysée palace itself, the private office and residence of the French President, felt forced to deny the claims. Sharing high-resolution images of the interior of the railway carriage, the palace said, with apparent contempt: “this is a tissue. For blowing your nose”. (Read more from “Paris Issues Denial of Macron Cocaine Bag on Ukraine Train” HERE)