A PhD candidate at Cornell University whose hatred of the United States &#8220;knows no bound” has been ordered to surrender to immigration authorities after his student visa was revoked by the Trump administration.
Momodou Taal, a dual citizen of Gambia and the United Kingdom, is a plaintiff in a lawsuit attempting to block the enforcement of Trump’s executive orders to deport foreign nationals who participated in anti-Israeli protests at various American universities. Taal is an outspoken left-wing activist whose <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2024/09/from-cairo-to-cornell">academic career</a> has centered on the study of Marxism, Islam, anti-colonialism and Pan-Africanism.
“We cannot allow international students, faculty, immigrants and people of conscience to live in fear,” Taal <a href="https://x.com/MomodouTaal/status/1901258157545967998/photo/4">stated</a> after filing suit. “This is a fight for a future free from oppression. A fight that refuses to normalize genocide and our ability to speak out against it. I expect this will be a long drawn out battle, but we will be victorious.”
On Friday, the Trump administration <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/trump-admin-yanks-visa-from-cornell-protest-leader-who-said-he-takes-his-cue-from-the-armed-resistance-in-palestine/">sent</a> Taal and his legal counsel an e-mail informing him that his visa was revoked and that he was no longer welcome in the United States. &#8220;ICE invites Mr. Taal and his counsel to appear in-person at the HSI Office in Syracuse at a mutually agreeable time for personal service of the NTA and for Mr. Taal to surrender to ICE custody.&#8221;
Taal’s supporters claim that his visa was revoked as retaliation for the lawsuit.
“Lawyers at the so-called Justice Department made this request to his attorneys within hours of us having asked the court to stop them from doing precisely that,” immigration attorney Eric Lee told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/ice-cornell-university-student-sued-trump-administration">The Guardian</a>. “It’s very difficult to explain how unprecedented this is.”
Hundreds of Cornell students and faculty rallied in support of Taal on Thursday, after a failed attempt by law enforcement to detain him.
“We have academic freedom on this campus; we have freedom of speech on this campus,” Cornell Professor Risa Lieberwitz <a href="https://www.wbng.com/2025/03/20/rally-held-cornell-momodou-taal-amid-lawsuit-against-trump/">said</a>. “We will act together collectively to push back and to protect our colleagues, our students, and our staff.”
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-895987" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_1-1024x375.png" alt="" width="1024" height="375" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_1-1024x375.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_1-300x110.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_1-768x281.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_1.png 1158w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Those who support deporting Mr. Taal have pointed to his long history of violent anti-American rhetoric. In 2022, shortly before entering the United States, Taal wrote: “The end of the US in our lifetime in sha Allah [god willing].” He has also <a href="https://thepostmillennial.com/trump-admin-revokes-visa-of-cornell-student-that-took-cue-from-the-armed-resistance-in-palestine-called-for-americas-destruction">stated</a>: “My Hatred of the US Empire knows no bounds” and that “absolutely anyone the US calls an enemy is my friend.”
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-895989" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_2-1024x189.png" alt="" width="1024" height="189" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_2-1024x189.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_2-300x55.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_2-768x142.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/original_taal_2.png 1180w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
As if to belabor the point, in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks, which killed roughly 1,200 civilians in Israel, including more than 40 Americans, Taal <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/trump-admin-yanks-visa-from-cornell-protest-leader-who-said-he-takes-his-cue-from-the-armed-resistance-in-palestine/">voiced</a> his support for Hamas, stating: “Wherever you have oppression, you will find those who [are] fighting against it. Glory to the resistance!&#8221; In a 2024 campus demonstration, Taal told fellow protestors to take their “cue from the armed resistance in Palestine.”
Taal has also called for the destruction of the state of Israel, repeating genocidal slogans such as “from the river to the sea” and stating that “there can be no path forward except for the complete eradication of zionism.”
The case bears some similarities to the recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student whose green card was revoked in response to his participation in violent anti-Israel campus protests during his time as a grad student.
“In the past 48 hours, the administration has taken unprecedented steps to bypass the courts, by pressuring our client, Mr. Momodou Taal, to surrender to ICE,” Taal’s lawyer, Maria Kari, <a href="https://x.com/MomodouTaal?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">said</a> in a statement. “This case is a litmus test for the state of free speech in America. Each of us &#8211; regardless of our political beliefs &#8211; should be alarmed by the government punishing people for their opinions.”
The Trump administration remains adamant that the deportation of Taal, Khalil, and their fellow travelers is a matter of national security, not an infringement on freedom of speech, and that immigration to the United States is a privilege and not a right.
“I find it ironic that a lot of these people out there defending the First Amendment speech, alleged free speech rights of these Hamas sympathizers, they had no problem pressuring social media to censor American political speech,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-rips-censorship-advocates-for-saying-pro-terrorist-foreigners-have-first-amendment-rights">said</a> last week during his appearance on CBS’ &#8220;Face the Nation.&#8221; “The bottom line is this, if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus … you’re going to leave. We don’t want terrorists in America.”

Sturgeon Moon Over Cornell

Trump Admin Revokes Visa Of Self-Styled ‘Enemy Of America’

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General

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Nearly two thirds of American voters support President Trump’s policy of deporting illegal migrants, according to a recent Fox News poll.
The survey was released on Thursday, roughly two months after the president took office, and covered a broad range of the Trump administration’s agenda, from tax policy to foreign affairs to cultural issues.
According to the data, Trump’s most popular policy was banning trans-identified athletes from competing in women’s sports, which respondents supported by more than 2 &#8211; 1, with 68% in favor and only 30% opposed. Clear majorities also supported making English the official language (66% &#8211; 32%), deporting illegal aliens (63% &#8211; 35%), having the government only recognize two genders (54% &#8211; 44%) and increasing the production of fossil fuels (53% &#8211; 44%).
Other keystone policies of the Trump era were more contentious – slight majorities opposed significantly cutting the federal workforce (51% &#8211; 46%) and ending federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs (51% &#8211; 45%). A majority of voters (57%) said that much or even almost all government spending was wasteful, but a larger majority expressed concern about Trump’s implementation of spending cuts.
Trump’s least popular policy was his proposed annexation of Greenland.
&#8220;Trump’s more flamboyant ideas about expanding U.S. territories and holdings have limited public support, so much so that one wonders if they are simply designed to rattle some cages,&#8221; Daron Shaw, a Republican pollster who conducted the survey along with Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-voters-are-split-on-trump-policies">Fox News</a>. &#8220;But on some of his more specific cultural and social policies, there is substantial support across a broad range of constituencies.&#8221;
Some Democratic pundits have struggled to reconcile their opposition to Trump’s immigration platform with its broad popular support.
“I think that, obviously, the president has kind of blanketed the airwaves, saying that all of these people being deported are criminals,” PBS White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/03/21/cnn-panel-downplay-poll-showing-americans-support-deporting-illegal-immigrants/">told</a> CNN’s Dana Bash on Friday. Polling before Trump took office also showed majority support for deportations – a Harris poll from last April found that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/over-half-of-americans-support-mass-deportations-of-illegal-immigrants">51%</a> of Americans supported mass deportation of illegals.
Support for Trump’s tariff policies varied dramatically based on the target nation. Mexico, Canada, and China, the United States&#8217; three largest trading partners, respectively, have all been hit with tariff hikes since Trump took office. A clear majority (55% &#8211; 44%) supported increased tariffs on China, which has emerged as America’s leading geopolitical adversary in the 21st century, but support for tariffs on Mexico was much more tepid (43% &#8211; 56%). Tariffs on Canada were the least popular, with only 38% of Americans in favor and 61% opposed.
The president’s <a href="https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/03/fox_march-14-17-2025_national_cross-tabs_march-20-release.pdf">net approval rating</a> in the poll was -2, (49% approved to 51% who disapproved). Men were slightly more likely than women to approve of Trump’s job performance (50% vs 47%). 52% of white respondents approved of the president’s performance compared to 44% of Hispanics and 29% of blacks.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/morning-brief-dems-divided-trump-hits-terrorists-and-a-space-rescue-unfolds">Recent polling</a> has also found that support for the Democratic Party is at an all time low – a CNN poll found that just 29% of Americans have a favorable view of Democrats, the lowest number since the survey began in 1992, and an NBC poll found that only 27% of Americans approve of the party.

ICE Arrests Undocumented Immigrants In NYC

Nearly Two Thirds Of Americans Support Trump’s Deportation Policy: Poll

Deportations

Donald Trump

Executive

Politics

Polls

Ukraine has accepted a partial ceasefire with Russia on Wednesday after a “very good phone call” between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky.
The call came one day after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-putin-agree-to-begin-ceasefire-negotiations-on-three-hour-call">similar conversation</a> between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and centered on many of the issues previously discussed in that call. Putin rejected an unconditional ceasefire offered by American and Ukrainian negotiators earlier this month, but did accept an offer to restrict attacks on energy infrastructure in both countries. Further negotiations will be conducted in Saudi Arabia, and will include discussions on potentially expanding the partial ceasefire to include the Black Sea as an intermediate step to a full ceasefire.
“I had a positive, very substantive, and frank conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump,” Zelensky said in a statement posted to <a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1902412196304531701">X</a>, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year.” 
Trump also seemed optimistic about the ongoing peace talks, and said that he and Zelenskyy had a “very good phone call”, a far cry from the explosive confrontation between the two leaders last month during a joint press conference in the Oval Office.
“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” Trump posted on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114189841352600682">Truth Social</a>. &#8220;We are very much on track, and I will ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, to give an accurate description of the points discussed.”
Rubio and Waltz put out a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/03/statement-from-secretary-rubio-and-nsc-waltz-on-call-with-zelenskyy/">joint statement</a> shortly afterward, describing the conversation as “fantastic” and offering up additional details, including Ukrainian requests for additional air defense systems, prisoner exchanges, and the thousands of missing Ukrainian children allegedly abducted and taken into Russia.
Trump and Zelensky also discussed Ukraine’s energy supply, including its nuclear power plants. Trump proposed American investment in and ownership of parts of Ukraine’s grid, apparently following a similar train of thought to the previously proposed minerals deal, which would have created an American economic interest in Ukraine and potentially put America contractors in the way of future Russian aggression. 
The risk of killing American civilians or harming American interests could act as a deterrent in lieu of a traditional security guarantee. “American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure,&#8221; the joint statement from Rubio and Waltz read.

President Trump Calls Prime Minister Of Ireland From Oval Office

Ukraine Accepts Partial Ceasefire After ‘Very Good Call’ Between Zelensky And Trump

Russia

State Department

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Ukraine-Russia War

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed in principle to the 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, although the exact details would have to be brokered with the United States.
“The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it,” Putin told a news conference in Moscow. “But there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to discuss it with our American colleagues and partners.”
The announcement comes days after Ukraine offered a temporary truce at the urging of the United States. In February, the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia entered its 4th year, and President Donald Trump has made ending the conflict a priority of his administration.
Ukraine has been vocally skeptical of any deal with Putin, pointing to his history of reneging on previous agreements. For example, the 2014 Minsk Accords, which France and Germany negotiated to end hostilities in the Donbas region, an area in eastern Ukraine with a large Russian-speaking population that rebelled against the Ukrainian government after a pro-EU revolution ousted the previous Russian-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February of that year.
This skepticism led to a brief but very public falling out with the United States after a contentious joint press conference saw Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-cancels-meeting-sends-zelensky-packing-he-can-come-back-when-he-is-ready-for-peace">ejected</a> from the Oval Office without signing a pre-negotiated minerals deal with the United States. The rift, and the subsequent suspension of American military aid and intelligence sharing, appears to have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ukraine-russia-ceasefire-rubio">mended</a> on Tuesday.
“Now is the time to begin a process toward lasting peace,” a joint<a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/spilna-zayava-za-pidsumkami-zustrichi-delegacij-ukrayini-ta-96553"> statement</a> by American and Ukrainian diplomats read. “The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.”
The United States has applied considerable pressure on the Ukrainians to get them to the negotiating table. It has significant leverage over the embattled nation as its primary military supplier. Still, the Trump administration recently signaled that a similar pressure campaign could be used against Russia if they refused to accept the deal.
On Wednesday, Trump said peace was “up to Russia now” and hinted that he might ramp up economic sanctions against Russia if Putin did not accept the offered ceasefire.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified this stance on Thursday in an interview with CNBC, stating that America was “willing to apply maximum pressure on both sides” with sanctions of ‘the highest scale’ on Russia.
Many observers have argued that Russia has little incentive to accept the ceasefire at the moment, as their forces are currently advancing across much of the Ukrainian front, and a 30-day pause could allow the Ukrainian troops to retrench and recuperate, thus breaking their current momentum. 
&#8220;A 30-day temporary ceasefire. Well, what does it give us? It gives us nothing. It only gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to regroup, gain strength and, to continue the same thing,&#8221; Yuri Ushakov <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-kursk-u-s-ceasefire-talks-ukraine-1.7482377">told</a> Russian media.
Others have made the opposite case – that Russia may use the pause to rearm and recuperate before a renewed offensive.
However, some have argued that the glacial pace of the advance, the heavy cost of each square mile, and the economic benefits of loosened sanctions could incentivize Russia to accept a deal.
Meanwhile, Russia has made considerable gains in Kursk, a Russian territory that was invaded by Ukraine roughly 7 months ago and has been slowly taken back. On Wednesday, Putin told Russian media that he expected Russian forces “to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future.”
The announcement by the Russian President came <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-kursk-sudzhba-military-occupation-17cebbc24642ab56d78112eba7eb7509">hours</a> after American Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to continue peace negotiations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin Attends The Annual Meeting Of The Interior Ministry Board

Putin Backs Trump Admin’s Ceasefire Proposal In Principle

Europe

On Monday President Trump signed an executive order directing the Commerce and Treasury departments to create a US Sovereign Wealth Fund, which might be used to purchase a stake in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok">TikTok</a>. 
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment portfolio that governments use to purchase various financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, etc. SWFs have become increasingly common over the last few decades – nations such as China, Norway, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have <a href="https://www.swfinstitute.org/fund-rankings/sovereign-wealth-fund">trillions of dollars in assets</a>, and several American states including <a href="https://apfc.org/performance/">Alaska</a>, <a href="https://www.utimco.org/media/3939/2022-puf-audited-financial-statements.pdf">Texas</a>, and <a href="https://www.sic.state.nm.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/SIC-Stakeholders-Report_20210818_WEB.pdf">New Mexico</a> have SWFs worth tens of billions of dollars.
It&#8217;s not quite clear where the money would come from for the U.S. SWF because &#8220;the U.S. has significant budget and trade deficits&#8221; and not a budget surplus, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/sovereign-wealth-fund-trump-executive-order-2ee5088f">The Wall Street Journal</a>. 
SWFs are often financed by budget surpluses or profits generated by state-owned enterprises – after covering costs the government invests some taxpayer dollars to generate more revenue in the future via capital gains, pay for pension benefits, or promote certain policy goals like economic development or the control of &#8220;essential&#8221; resources. 
Like, say, a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/trump-signs-executive-order-create-sovereign-wealth-fund-2025-02-03/">massive social media company</a>.
President Trump has expressed interest in taking a stake in the social media giant before  –  he entertained the idea during the first press conference of his new administration.
“TikTok is worthless if I don’t approve it,” Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS62kZg19eE">said</a>, “If I do the deal it’s worth maybe $1 trillion … if I do the deal for the United States I think we should get half.”
TikTok has more than 170 million American users and is one of the <a href="https://explodingtopics.com/blog/most-visited-websites">most frequently visited websites in the world</a>, but has come under considerable scrutiny as ‘Chinese spyware’ – the platform is currently owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance, and it has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-china-bytedance-user-data-d257d98125f69ac80f983e6067a84911">allegedly</a> been used to spy on American citizens and domestic enemies of the CCP. 
“TikTok’s own conduct makes clear that it is beholden to the CCP and presents an unacceptable threat to U.S. national security,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in support of efforts to ban the app.
Last year Congress, with <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024145">bipartisan support</a>, passed a <a href="https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/TIKTOK_xml_655b9d7933.pdf">law</a> that effectively banned TikTok in the US unless the company was sold to a different owner. The Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-allows-tiktok-ban-to-take-effect">upheld</a> that decision in January, shortly before Trump returned to the White House, concluding that the ban did not violate the First Amendment.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the court wrote. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
The ban went into effect on January 19th, and the app briefly went dark in the United States, but one of President Trump’s Day 1 executive orders gave ByteDance a 75-day extension to find a buyer.
Trump has been highly critical of TikTok in the past, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-says-he-will-take-action-to-ban-chinese-owned-app-tiktok-from-u-s">attempted to ban the app</a> during his first term. However, his attitude towards the platform has warmed considerably since then – he currently has more than 15 million followers on TikTok and used the app during the election campaign to drive up his support among <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-gen-z-voted-may-surprise-you">younger voters</a>, who disproportionately use TikTok.
Previously the President has indicated that he was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/trump-signs-executive-order-create-sovereign-wealth-fund-2025-02-03/">in talks</a> with multiple potential buyers and that a decision would likely be made sometime in February. Other private investors have <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3z55zz7xo">expressed interest</a> in purchasing TikTok, including Shark Tank investor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-oleary-signals-eye-popping-sum-of-cash-on-the-table-to-buy-tiktok">Kevin O’Leary</a>, and major American tech companies like <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/white-house-talks-have-oracle-us-investors-take-over-tiktok-npr-reports-2025-01-25/">Oracle</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/trump-says-microsoft-is-talks-acquire-tiktok-2025-01-28/">Microsoft</a>.
While TikTok is still accessible to current users, the app is not available on major American app stores. The exact details of a potential deal remain unclear, and the president’s efforts to save the platform have generated some <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-intel-chairman-tom-cotton-leads-charge-against-reviving-tiktok">pushback</a> on Capitol Hill.

USA national flag and currency usd money banknotes. Business and finance concept

Trump Orders The Creation Of U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund, Signals Interest In TikTok

China

Department of Commerce

Department of the Treasury

Social Media

TikTok

Time is money, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-government-efficiency-doge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Government Efficiency</a> might have a low hanging fruit in its quest to save both.
DOGE, an outside advisory group led by Trump allies Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, has expressed interest in abolishing Daylight Saving time in the United States as part of their broader crusade to cut government waste. Daylight Saving time (DST) is observed between the 2nd Sunday of March to the 1st Sunday of November – every year Americans move their clocks forward, then back, in an effort to maximize the number of waking daylight hours.
Advocates of DST have argued that it boosts economic efficiency by decreasing the need for artificial lighting and encouraging people to spend more time outdoors – however, a <a href="http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2021/ph240/segal2/">meta-analysis</a> of several dozen studies conducted by Stanford University in 2021 found that DST only reduced energy consumption by ~0.34%. A <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w14429/w14429.pdf">2008 study</a> by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that DST might actually increase energy consumption by as much as 1%.
Meanwhile, the arbitrary shift forward or backward by an hour complicates international travel and can cause scheduling errors for travelers or businesses who aren’t used to observing the change.
The economic costs of disrupting American’s sleep schedules by moving the clock forward an hour could also be quite high – one <a href="https://www.chmura.com/blog/2016/march/11/sleepbetter-lost-hour-economic-index">study</a> by Chmura Economics and Analytics linked the DST time change to a consistent increase in heart attacks, workplace injuries, and a drop in workplace productivity. The study estimated these side effects cost the American economy $434 million dollars every year.
Recently, Musk and Ramaswamy have both suggested that they would support getting rid of DST.
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“Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!” Musk said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in response to a user who requested the end of DST as a birthday present.
“It’s inefficient &amp; easy to change.” Ramaswamy responded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It’s inefficient &amp; easy to change.
&mdash; Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) <a href="https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1861808163512627652?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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DST is a relatively recent phenomenon in the United States – while the U.S. briefly observed it during both World Wars in an effort to save power, moving the clocks forward and backward by an hour wasn’t standardized until 1966. Hawaii and most parts of Arizona already do not observe DST, and there have been mounting efforts to stop the annual time change in recent years.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), another Trump ally whom the President-Elect nominated to become Secretary of State, sponsored a bill to stop the regular time changes (“The Sunshine Protection Act”) in 2018, 2021, and 2023. More than a dozen senators from both parties co-sponsored the most recent edition of the bill.
“This ritual of changing time twice a year is stupid,” Rubio <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/777356/daylight-saving-time-costs-us-almost-434-million-in-productivity-study/">said</a>. “Locking the clock has overwhelming bipartisan and popular support.”

Businesses Prepare For Earlier Daylight Savings Time

DOGE Considers Ending Daylight Saving Time

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Elon Musk

Marco Rubio

Vivek Ramaswamy

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/israel">Israeli</a> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the country’s War Cabinet on Monday, a  week after his longtime political rival, Benny Gantz, left the wartime unity government.
A spokesman for the prime minister <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/live-updates/israel-war-hamas-gaza-latest/?id=111174277">told</a> the press that there was &#8220;no more need for an extra branch of government.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
PM Netanyahu told the security cabinet last night that the war cabinet has been officially disbanded.
A PMO official tells me that since the war cabinet was part of Benny Gantz&#39;s demand to join the war coalition, it is no longer relevant since he left last week. &gt;&gt;
&mdash; Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lazar_Berman/status/1802634532593524767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The move comes more than 9 months after Hamas launched an invasion of Israeli territory on October 7th, which killed more than 1,200 people – mostly civilians. More than 240 more were taken hostage by terror group Hamas. More than 100 of those hostages have since been released or recovered, but according to the Israeli government as many as <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-hostages-israel-gaza-41432124">116</a> are still in Hamas’s custody – including some who are presumed dead. 
Gantz, a former IDF general who served as the country’s defense minister from 2020-2022, has been one of Netanyahu’s chief electoral opponents for the better part of a decade, but his party joined Netanyahu’s coalition in a display of national solidarity after the October 7th attack. 
However, he and his allies have clashed with other members of Netanyahu’s government on how to best prosecute the war in ongoing war in Gaza – disputes over hostage negotiations, a potential ceasefire, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-gantz-divide-c2bdd06ab06dfa59d3da12f13b8127a7">future of a post-war Gaza</a> and the influence of more <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-slams-netanyahus-obscene-tradition-of-excluding-him-from-war-decisions/">hardline elements</a> of Netanyahu’s multi-party coalition had been lingering sources of tension months before the official split. He and Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF Chief-of-Staff and a member of Gantz’s National Unity Party, left the cabinet on June 9.
Even after the defection of the National Unity Party, Netanyahu’s government retains a four-seat majority in the Knesset – the Israeli Parliament – although the loss of support limits his room to maneuver between the competing interests of his coalition which currently contains members from six parties. 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-752039" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/ghetto_knesset_breakdown_720-300x154.png" alt="" width="300" height="154" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/ghetto_knesset_breakdown_720-300x154.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/ghetto_knesset_breakdown_720.png 720w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></div>
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Gantz is seen by many as the man most likely to replace Netanayhu as prime minister – although <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-polls-show-netanyahu-party-narrowing-gap-behind-gantz-2024-06-14/">recent polls</a> suggest that his party’s electoral edge is <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-first-time-in-a-year-poll-shows-netanyahu-preferred-to-gantz-as-prime-minister/">narrowing</a> – and even <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-03-03-2024-3193becf71b8e5a533d38be7973795e7">met with</a> top U.S. officials in March to discuss humanitarian efforts in Gaza and a potential end to the war. That visit was not authorized by the Israeli government and reportedly drew a harsh rebuke from Netanyahu, who, according to the Associated Press, told Gantz that Israel has “just one prime minister.”
The Israeli government has been under considerable pressure, both domestic and international, since the war began. Before the war began, Israel was sharply divided over <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israel-passes-judicial-reform-in-face-of-mass-left-wing-protests">judicial reforms</a> championed by Netanyahu – support for his government <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-netanyahu-down-polls-over-judicial-reform-2023-07-26/#:~:text=Netanyahu%20won%20approval%20rating%20of,support%20for%20the%20legislation%20package.">declined considerably</a> and thousands of left-wing activists <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-edge-ahead-supreme-court-session-judicial-overhaul-2023-09-11/">took to the streets</a> of Israel to protest the decision throughout much of 2023. Those protests were essentially put on pause after the start of the war, but the dissolution of the war cabinet could signal an end to the political ceasefire and a renewal of mass anti-government demonstrations.
On Netanyahu’s right flank, elements of his coalition have argued that the current government has not been aggressive enough, and have castigated Israel’s humanitarian pauses and provision of aid to Gaza as “delusional.”
“The manner in which the humanitarian effort in the Gaza Strip is being managed, in the framework of which aid goes largely to Hamas and helps it to retain civilian control of the Strip in direct contradiction to the goals of the war, has been bad throughout the last few months,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/far-right-ministers-blast-delusional-daily-pauses-in-fighting-to-secure-gaza-aid/">said</a>. “This is one of the reasons for the continuation of the war.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who repeatedly clashed with Gantz and has long sought more influence over military matters, has already called for an escalation of the war effort in the north. 
Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group that controls much of southern Lebanon and has been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-06/hezbollah-and-israel-how-hamas-war-escalates-risk-of-wider-conflict">intermittently</a> firing missiles, and other artillery into northern Israel in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-gives-hezbollah-green-light-to-launch-full-scale-attack-on-israel-report">support</a> of Gaza.
“Israel is in an unacceptable situation, in which a big part of the country has been deserted,” Brigadier. General Efraim Sneh told the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/17/israel-gaza-hamas-netanyahu-war-cabinet/">Washington Post</a>. “Israel’s forces are stretched thin between Gaza and the Lebanese border.”
“Hundreds of rockets cannot be answered with surgical actions,” Ben-Gvir <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-slams-netanyahus-obscene-tradition-of-excluding-him-from-war-decisions/">said</a> last Wednesday, claiming that Netanyahi was “out of excuses” for avoiding all out war after Hezbollah fired 215 missiles into Israel. “You are the prime minister, and you cannot even hide behind Gantz and Eisenkot anymore.”
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir were part of the broader security cabinet but had been excluded from the higher level War Cabinet, to their consternation. Gantz was reportedly irritated by the influence they did have over policy and that was one of the major fissure points between him and Netanyahu. Going forward both men are likely to have more say in a smaller, more right-wing governing bloc.
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<div id="attachment_752021" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-752021" class="size-medium wp-image-752021" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-3.59.40-PM-300x172.png" alt="" width="300" height="172" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-3.59.40-PM-300x172.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-3.59.40-PM-1002x576.png 1002w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-3.59.40-PM-768x441.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-3.59.40-PM-1536x883.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-3.59.40-PM.png 1844w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Photo by Gallup</div>
While a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/2024/03/21/majority-in-u-s-say-israel-has-valid-reasons-for-fighting-fewer-say-the-same-about-hamas/">majority of Americans</a> continue to support Israel, a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/472070/democrats-sympathies-middle-east-shift-palestinians.aspx">growing number</a> of Democrats, particularly <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/12/08/views-of-the-israel-hamas-war-2/">younger</a> Democrats, are more sympathetic to the Palestinian side, with some college protesters openly lionizing Hamas and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/campus-anti-semites-plot-day-of-resistance-in-support-of-hamas">celebrating the death of Israeli civilians</a>. The war has become a major <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/magazine/israel-october-7-democrats.html">wedge issue</a> on the American Left and President Biden has attempted to walk a political tightrope of supporting Israel while simultaneously constraining their war effort. 
Biden has openly voiced opposition to Israeli operations in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than a million refugees have fled since the war began, and Hamas’ last major stronghold. In March the president threatened to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-slams-biden-for-threatening-to-withhold-military-aid-to-israel-taking-the-side-of-these-terrorists">withhold military aid</a> to Israel and he has continually pressured them to negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas’ leadership, even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/01/biden-gaza-ceasefire-deal-lack-of-influence-netanyahu">prematurely</a> announcing a deal.
Other countries and international organizations have been even less supportive – last month Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognized the existence of a Palestinian state, while the International Criminal Court (which has no jurisdiction in Israel or the United States) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“I hope [Ireland&#8217;s recognition of their state] sends the Palestinian people a message of hope that — in this their darkest hour — Ireland stands with them,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris <a href="https://apnews.com/article/eu-palestinian-state-spain-israel-gaza-6efe351e53761befc2c539c535bbcc0c">said</a> to members of Ireland’s parliament. “It is no longer enough just to condemn. It is no longer enough just to be repulsed. We must be on the right side of history.”
These decisions came shortly after the United Nations reduced its estimate of civilian casualties by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shifting-un-casualty-numbers-raise-questions-can-any-reports-from-gaza-be-trusted">nearly 50%</a>. Previous data had been collected by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas and was accused of grossly inflating the death toll. By most historical standards, the civilian:combatant death ratio in Gaza is <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/apr/18/israels-war-against-hamas-posts-lower-civilian-to-/">unusually low</a> (between 2:1 and 1:1) despite the fact that Hamas <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-biden-official-hamas-using-human-shields-u-s-does-not-trust-casualty-numbers-from-gaza">deliberately hides its forces behind civilians</a>.
On Monday the Israeli military told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/live-updates/israel-war-hamas-gaza-latest/?id=111174277">ABC</a> that they currently control about 60% of Rafah, and that the main portion of their military operation there should wrap up within “a few weeks.”
“We are there to dismantle the military framework of the [Hamas&#8217;] Rafah Brigade,&#8221;  Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the IDF, told the outlet. &#8220;We are weeks now just from achieving this goal.&#8221;

ISRAEL-US-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY

Netanyahu Dissolves Israeli War Cabinet

Benjamin Netanyahu

Benny Gantz

Gaza

Hamas

Israel

In the throes of the 2024 presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, social media giant <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta">Meta</a>, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has taken steps to suppress political content on its platforms.
The new feature rolled out <a href="https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/continuing-our-approach-to-political-content-on-instagram-and-threads">earlier this year</a> prevents any content flagged as “political” from being recommended to users on Instagram.  Posts “about laws, elections, or social topics” will not be displayed in any of the platform’s curated recommendation systems, which drives a significant amount of follower growth for platforms. 
The company claims the filter is not meant to limit the exposure of any candidate or publisher specifically, and is instead meant to insulate users from politically charged content in general. &#8220;Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person&#8217;s appetite for it,&#8221; Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/26/1240737627/meta-limit-political-content-instagram-facebook-opt-out">said</a>.
According to<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/"> Pew Research</a>, half of all American adults got their news from social media – last year 30% of all American adults consumed news on Facebook at least “sometimes” and 16% got their news from Instagram. 
The filter was automatically implemented for all accounts by default, and has to be manually disabled by each user.
In order to disable the filter, you’ll need to go to your profile page and tap the icon on the uppermost right to open &#8220;Settings and Activity.&#8221; From there, you’ll need to scroll down to the &#8220;what you see&#8221; section, where you&#8217;ll find &#8220;content preferences.&#8221; Click &#8220;political content,&#8221; and then you’ll need to select the “don’t limit political content from people you don’t follow” option.
<div id="attachment_733681" style="width: 1090px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-733681" class="wp-image-733681 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n.webp" alt="" width="1080" height="1080" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n.webp 1080w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n-300x300.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n-576x576.webp 576w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n-150x150.webp 150w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/434679726_1453416518942209_18864608352948153_n-768x768.webp 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px" />Photo by about.instagram.com</div>
As of now the feature does not appear to have been implemented on Facebook, which is still the most popular platform for online news. The Daily Wire has historically been one of the <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/the-daily-wire-top-publisher-on-facebook-in-first-quarter-of-2022-3-of-top-5-are-right-leaning/">top publishers on the platform</a> – last year it was revealed that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-pressured-fb-to-suppress-daily-wire-content-push-users-to-legacy-outlets-newly-released-docs">officials from the Biden administration pressured Meta to redirect traffic away from right-leaning </a>outlets, and specifically singled out The Daily Wire as a site they wanted to censor.
The policy has been criticized as overly broad – the filter is applied to all accounts by default and has to manually be disabled. Meta has also been criticized for limiting voter access to information about candidates and causes during an election year.
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<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-733683 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal-327x576.webp" alt="" width="327" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal-327x576.webp 327w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal-170x300.webp 170w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal-768x1353.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/pj_24.02.20_bubblesfinal.webp 840w" sizes="(max-width: 327px) 100vw, 327px" /></div>
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X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has taken a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazilian-supreme-court-takes-on-elon-musk-and-x-in-social-media-crackdown">strong anti-censorship stance</a> since it was purchased by Elon Musk in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-officially-takes-over-twitter-as-sale-is-now-final-top-execs-fired-report-says">2022</a>, and it is the fifth most popular platform for consuming news among the social media giants, after Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and controversial Chinese-owned TikTok, which is set to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-divestment-ban-what-you-need-to-know-5e1ff786e89da10a1b799241ae025406">be banned in the United States</a> early next year if parent company ByteDance doesn&#8217;t sell it.
<div class="mceTemp"></div>

In this photo illustration the Instagram logo seen displayed

Big Tech Is Filtering The Politics Out Of Your Social Feed. Here’s How To Stop Them.

Big Tech

Facebook

Instagram

Social Media Bias

Islamist extremists reportedly set fire to several Christian houses and businesses in southern <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/egypt">Egypt</a> last week.
The violence broke out on Tuesday night in the village of Al-Fawakher, which is home to about 3,000 Christian families. The local Christian community had recently received a permit to construct a new church building, prompting backlash from some Muslim hardliners.
&#8220;The attacks are believed to have been triggered by an attempt to build a new church in Al-Fawakher village in Minya [province],” one local source, who asked to remain anonymous, told <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/extremists-set-fire-christian-homes-southern-egypt">The New Arab</a>. &#8220;When religious fanatics failed to expel Christians from their homes as a form of punishment, the extremists [reportedly] burned down their houses while they were still inside.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Please share this as much as possible
Islamists are now burning and destroying Coptic homes of the village of Al-Fawakher in Minya. 
They are posting videos of what they are doing with celebrating music as they carry out the attacks and BRAGGING about it online <a href="https://t.co/ORSmLzXO4D">pic.twitter.com/ORSmLzXO4D</a>
&mdash; Ⲡⲁⲥⲟⲛ ⲛ̀Ⲕⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲥ (@miaphysenjoyer) <a href="https://twitter.com/miaphysenjoyer/status/1782918111186112583?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a href="https://twitter.com/miaphysenjoyer/status/1782918111186112583">Video</a> circulating on social media appears to show crowds of people dancing and celebrating in front of the burning buildings.
“The extremists attacked Coptic homes with stones and chants, and a number of homes were set on fire, amid the screams of women and children,” Copts United, a religious advocacy group, <a href="https://www.copts-united.com/Article.php?I=5527&amp;A=787677&amp;fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0XCpeBCCPp68E_H1NpM_vAqqgepa462QqKczW5c-uaAa1aAN8vR_KIkwo_aem_AeJkLRz1Yy1feBpmf62DwGP4svUX1gZxl1rPRjQyJ7LaRCcTmpsoqzrn3eMqIlcRXPGooSp5CYumciq2iDYrWZbS">reported</a>. “The attack continued for a long time before the security forces arrived.”
“Security forces arrived and brought the situation under control, arresting the instigators and perpetrators,” Coptic Bishop Anba Macarius said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/AnbaMacarius/status/1782931537081557325">public statement</a> on Wednesday: “State agencies will compensate those affected and hold the perpetrators accountable.Calm prevails in the village now. May God protect our dear country, Egypt, from all harm.”
Christians have long been a persecuted minority in Egypt. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is illegal and Christians are barred from holding certain public offices, and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/5/26/coptic-christians-killed-in-minya-bus-attack">terror </a> <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/8/palm-sunday-church-attacks-egypts-worst-day-of-violence">attacks</a>  <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/21/egypt-mass-attacks-churches">against</a>  <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-8-2016-009642_EN.html">churches </a> <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20220814-fire-during-mass-at-cairo-coptic-church-kills-more-than-40-say-church-officials">and</a>  <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/11/middleeast/cairo-police-foil-coptic-church-suicide-attack/index.html">religious </a> <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/15/world/meast/egypt-church-attacks/index.html">minorities</a>  <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/explosion-at-cairo-church-kills-at-least-20-injures-35-officials-say/2016/12/11/fa01d7c2-7f2e-4a94-8612-fd6d5c7f4901_story.html">are</a>  <a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/egyptian-coptic-couple-murdered-their-beds-christmas-eve">fairly</a>  <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/coptic-christians-killed-bus-attack-egypt/story?id=58924168#:~:text=At%20least%20seven%20people%20on,said%2010%20people%20were%20killed.">common</a>. Minya province in particular has been a hotbed of violence, with at least <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/opinion/egypts-cruelty-to-christians.html">77 incidents</a> recorded between 2011-2016, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
According to Copts United, a <a href="https://www.christiandaily.com/news/coptic-christians-are-attacked-in-two-villages-in-egypt.html">similar attack</a> took place on Friday in the village of Al-Kom Al-Ahmar, after a local Evangelical group was given permission to build a church there.
Bishop Macarius himself <a href="https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/09/30/minya-bishop-escapes-assassination-attempt/">survived an assassination attempt</a> in 2013.
The exact number of Christians within the country is contested, and the officially Islamic Egyptian government has been accused of trying to downplay the size of its Christian minority – <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/">estimates</a> range anywhere from 5-15% of the country’s 111 million people, although it is generally agreed that the share is shrinking – likely as a result of conversion, migration, or lower fertility rates compared to Egypt&#8217;s Muslim majority.
The majority of Egypt&#8217;s Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, which claims descent from the Patriarchate of Alexandria, one of the 5 major centers of early Christianity, alongside Rome, Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem. The Coptic Church broke away from what would become the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches in 451 AD after the Council of Chalcedon, over theological differences, and remained the dominant religion in Egypt until the country was conquered in 641 by Muhammed’s immediate successors in the Rashidun (“rightly guided”) Caliphate.
Egypt is also home to hundreds of thousands of Eastern Orthodox Christians, Protestants and Catholics.
“An unacceptable culture of intimidation and discrimination is still far too prevalent in this region despite positive steps taken by the Egyptian authorities in recent years, and the personal commitment of President Sisi to fight sectarian extremism and promote equality of citizenship,” Christian Solidarity Worldwide President Mervyn Thomas said in a <a href="https://www.christiandaily.com/news/coptic-christians-are-attacked-in-two-villages-in-egypt.html">press statement</a>. “Egyptian citizens should all be free to practice any religion or belief of their choosing without fear of threats or physical violence.”

Two towered church standing in the middle of the farms of a village in Egypt

Islamist Extremists Attack & Burn Christian Homes In Egypt

Christian

Egypt

Islam

Islamists

After more than a year of negotiations, Sweden is set to become the 32nd member of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nato">NATO</a>.
The Nordic country broke with nearly 2 centuries of neutrality in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and formally applied for NATO membership in May of that year, alongside neighboring Finland, which also abandoned its longstanding policy of neutrality to join the alliance.
Joining NATO requires the unanimous consent of all current members – while most NATO nations were quick to approve the applications, Finland and Sweden both faced opposition from Hungary and Turkey. Pressure from the rest of the alliance and various concessions appear to have put those objections to rest. Finland formally joined NATO in April 2023. Turkey approved Sweden’s membership bid last month and on Monday the Hungarian parliament also approved it.
“The parliaments of all NATO member states have now voted in favor of Swedish accession to NATO.” Swedish Prime Minister <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&amp;sca_esv=59bcec2abd4eef4d&amp;sca_upv=1&amp;rls=en&amp;q=Ulf+Kristersson&amp;stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLUz9U3sDQ0sDR_xGjCLfDyxz1hKe1Ja05eY1Tl4grOyC93zSvJLKkUEudig7J4pbi5ELp4FrHyh-akKXgXZRaXpBYVF-fnAQD7xV2vVgAAAA&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwio6LbOjsqEAxVB_skDHZbBCKQQzIcDKAB6BAgeEAE">Ulf Kristersson</a> <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/sweden-to-join-nato/#:~:text=BUDAPEST%20%E2%80%94%20At%20last%2C%20Sweden%20will,vote%20to%20approve%20the%20move.">said</a>. “Sweden stands ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security.”
Sweden is expected to officially join the organization in a ceremony sometime this week, after all the necessary paperwork has been finalized.
Turkey previously accused the two Scandinavian nations of being soft on Kurdish militants, who have been in conflict with Turkey’s government for decades. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appears to have backed down in exchange for increased weapons sales to his country – including the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-says-move-forward-with-transfer-f-16-jets-turkey-2023-07-11/">transfer</a> of American made F-16 fighter jets.
Hungary’s objections appear to have been a response to past Swedish criticism of the Hungarian government under Viktor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Orb%C3%A1n">Orbán</a>. Hungary’s shift in policy also coincides with an arms deal – Hungary <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/hungary-sign-defence-industry-deal-with-sweden-pm-orban-says-2024-02-23/">purchased</a> four Swedish fighter jets days before ratifying its NATO bid.
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<div id="attachment_702025" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-702025" class="size-medium wp-image-702025" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Major_NATO_affiliations_in_Europe.svg_-300x230.png" alt="" width="300" height="230" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Major_NATO_affiliations_in_Europe.svg_-300x230.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Major_NATO_affiliations_in_Europe.svg_.png 330w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Wikimedia Commons</div>
The expansion of NATO has been a major point of contention with Russia – one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated reasons for invading Ukraine was to prevent the country from joining the Western military bloc and moving its forces to the Russian border. Finland, which, like Ukraine, was also once part of the Russian Empire, has an 830 mile long land border with Russia, and with the accession of Sweden and Finland the alliance will almost totally encircle the Baltic Sea, where the Russian port of St. Petersburg strategic exclave of Kaliningrad are located.
While Russia hasn’t taken direct military action against either nation, relations have cooled considerably between it and the formally neutral nations. Last year the Russian ambassador to Sweden said the country had become a “legitimate target for Russian retaliatory measures” and Finland closed its border with Russia.
&#8220;When it comes to Russia, the only thing we can expect is that they will not like that Sweden is becoming a NATO member,&#8221; Kristersson <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungary-set-ratify-swedens-nato-accession-clearing-last-hurdle-2024-02-26/">said</a>. &#8220;What they do in addition to that, we cannot know. We are prepared for all sorts of things.&#8221;

Hungarian parliament approves Sweden’s NATO bid, last member of alliance that had not given green light

Sweden Set To Officially Join NATO

NATO

Sweden

Indian commandos recaptured a hijacked cargo ship off the coast of Somalia last week, rescuing 21 crew members.
The Liberian flagged MV Lila Norfolk was sailing 450 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia when it was boarded last Thursday by <a href="https://news.usni.org/2024/01/07/indian-navy-retakes-merchant-ship-from-armed-hijackers-in-the-arabian-sea">about a half dozen hijackers</a>. The vessel had a multinational crew of 15 Indians and 6 Fillipinos, who sheltered in the ship’s safe room and reportedly sustained no injuries. The Indian Navy’s Marine Commandos (sometimes called MARCOS) retook the vessel the following morning – the hijackers appear to have fled during the night, after the Indian Navy arrived.
&#8220;The decisive thwarting of this attempted hijack is a stellar demonstration of mission deployed efforts [by the Indian Navy] to ensure the security of our oceans and seafarers.&#8221; Shambhu Kumaran, India&#8217;s envoy to the Philippines, wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/shambhukumaran/status/1743576241641545810">X</a>, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Somalia has historically been an epicenter of piracy, although <a href="https://mc.nato.int/missions/operation-ocean-shield">anti-piracy missions</a> by the U.S. and other naval powers have led to a <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/01/16/what-is-happening-to-africas-pirates">steep decline</a> in the number of incidents since the early 2010s. 
However, Iranian backed Houthi militants from Yemen have been menacing international shopping from the other side of the Gulf of Aden, in support of Hamas and their ongoing war against Israel. There also appears to be a local spike in Somali piracy – another commercial ship, the MV Reun, was <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12868181/Commercial-ship-hijacked-pirates-heading-Somalia-Crew-no-longer-control-Spanish-warship-heads-intercept.html">hijacked</a> last December in the first major Somali attack since 2019.
<div id="attachment_677563" style="width: 451px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-677563" class="wp-image-677563 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/Un-horn-of-africa-441x576.png" alt="" width="441" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/Un-horn-of-africa-441x576.png 441w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/Un-horn-of-africa-230x300.png 230w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/Un-horn-of-africa-768x1004.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/Un-horn-of-africa-1175x1536.png 1175w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/Un-horn-of-africa-1567x2048.png 1567w" sizes="(max-width: 441px) 100vw, 441px" />(Horn of Africa by Wikimedia Commons)</div>
Nearly <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/01/03/a-joint-statement-from-the-governments-of-the-united-states-australia-bahrain-belgium-canada-denmark-germany-italy-japan-netherlands-new-zealand-and-the-united-kingdom/">15%</a> of global maritime trade passes through the Red Sea, and attacks have already sent economic shockwaves across the world in the form of higher shipping costs and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/03/red-sea-crisis-shipping-costs-delays-inflation.html">supply chain delays</a> that could ripple throughout the system for months.
The international community has condemned the Houthi strikes and several major powers have deployed elements of their navies to escort civilian ships and protect shipping lanes. While the U.S. has taken a prominent role, India has also deployed at least 5 of its own destroyers to the region.
India is highly dependent on international trade – last year they imported <a href="https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/high-dependence-on-imports-hurting-indias-economy">86%</a> of their crude oil – and would be heavily impacted by any interruption of that trade. Vessels crewed by Indian nationals and bound for Indian ports have been <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/oil-tanker-hit-near-indian-coast-amid-maritime-hostilities-against-israel-by-houthis/">struck by missiles</a> since the crisis began.
India has also poured <a href="https://news.usni.org/2022/07/20/indian-navy-expanding-to-meet-china-threat-better-team-with-allies">considerable resources</a> into growing and modernizing their navy, largely in response to China’s military build up. India and China are close trading partners and regional rivals with a fraught relation – India has increasingly aligned itself with the United States via military alliances such as &#8220;The Quad&#8221; (a &#8220;joint dialogue&#8221; between the US, Japan, Australia and India). Sending its assets into the Red Sea could be an opportunity to flex its military muscle in addition to protecting its maritime interests.
“As a rising great power in its own right, India maintains its desire to play a larger and more proactive role as a responsible security and development partner and provider, not only in the Indian Ocean Region but also the greater Indo-Pacific region,” Geopolitical Analyst Don McLain Gill told <a href="https://news.usni.org/2024/01/07/indian-navy-retakes-merchant-ship-from-armed-hijackers-in-the-arabian-sea">USNI News</a>.

Aerial view container ship full load container delivering on the blue sea for logistics, import export, shipping or transportation.

Indian Navy Retakes Ship From Hijackers

Houthis

India

Pirates

Somalia

In a lecture at Clemson University, Daily Wire Host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michael-knowles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Knowles</a> argued that IVF and surrogacy are rife with moral hazards and have effectively transformed human children into “commodities to be bought and sold.”
Knowles began the lecture by noting that the issue in some ways is a natural outgrowth of gender ideology – the practice of homosexual couples artificially conceiving a child via in vitro fertilization, and, in the case of gay men, hiring a surrogate mother to carry the child to term, has become increasingly common in recent years.
“If men and women really aren’t different, then moms and dads really aren’t different,” Knowles notes. “And if moms and dads really aren’t different, then why would anyone need, or even want, to have both of them? What’s the difference between a family and a couple of fellas if that premise is true?”
Knowles argued that children need both of their biological parents, that the bond between mother and child is unique and profound and that separating a child from their mother is inconceivably cruel. Knowles laments that while it had once been a rare tragedy for infants to lose their mothers, it is now standard practice for a growing industry.
However, Knowles argues that gender ideology is the sole cause of this situation, which he argues is most fundamentally the outgrowth of a culture where children are perceived as things that can be owned, bought, and sold rather than as people in their own right.
“I do not primarily blame the homosexuals of either sex for this awful situation.” Knowles said. “They are simply following a 60-year series of delusions that our culture and politics have promoted to their logical conclusion.&#8221;
Knowles argues that the “primary culprit” behind this phenomenon is capitalism,“more precisely… capitalism, unconstrained by morality, and more precisely still, the commodification of children… Capitalism, circumscribed by morality, is as fine a method for producing morality as has ever been discovered. Capitalism, unconstrained by morality, is a monstrosity.”
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Beyond the issue, Knowles also raised objections to the treatment of many fertilized embryos &#8212; some are aborted in cases where more embryos successfully implant than the customer anticipated, while other &#8220;extra&#8221; embryos are frozen indefinitely or unceremoniously disposed of, which Knowles contends is callous disregard for human life.
Knowles notes that many people are alive today because of IVF and that it is understandable that they and their families would be reflexively supportive of the technology, but he says that noble ends do not necessarily justify means. Knowles agrees that a human life is good and has intrinsic value no matter how that life came into existence. However, he argues that while a child conceived by rape has all the same rights and dignity as a child conceived in a loving marriage, that in no way justifies rape.
Knowles argues that children should be understood as a “blessing,” and not a “thing” people are entitled to have or buy, and that while no adult has an inherent right to have a child, children have a right to the love and support of their biological parents.

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Michael Whittaker