Following his summit with Vladimir Putin, President Trump will host Ukrainian President Zelensky and European leaders at the White House today to push for a peace deal. A leaked memo reveals Meta knowingly allowed its AI chatbots to engage in &#8220;romantic&#8221; conversations with children, prompting bipartisan calls for a congressional investigation. Republican-led states are sending National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to support President Trump&#8217;s federal crime crackdown, which has already resulted in hundreds of arrests.
It’s Monday, August 18, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2>Trump Hosts Zelensky, European Leaders for Peace Talks</h2>
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Topline: After his high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday, President Trump is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and key European leaders at the White House today in an effort to broker a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. 
While Friday&#8217;s three-hour summit between Trump and Putin did not result in a final deal, both sides expressed optimism that progress was made. The most significant development came on Sunday, when White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced that Putin had agreed to allow Western-backed, Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine — a major concession. 
The focus now shifts to today’s meeting at the White House, where Zelensky will be joined by the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany, and others. The central issue is whether Ukraine is willing to cede territory — specifically the Donbas region — which Trump has indicated is a requirement for a peace deal. 
&#8220;You can&#8217;t have a deal between two warring factions unless both sides agree to give up something and both sides agree that the other side gets something,&#8221; Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. 
<h2>Leaked Memo Shows Meta Allowed ‘Romantic’ Chatbots for Kids</h2>
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Topline: A leaked internal memo has revealed that Meta knowingly allowed its artificial intelligence chatbots to engage in “sensual” and “romantic” conversations with children, sparking bipartisan outrage and calls for a congressional investigation. 
The memo, obtained by Reuters, outlined Meta’s internal standards for chatbot behavior on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. It revealed that while explicit dialogue was forbidden, &#8220;romantic sounding conversations&#8221; were permitted. Examples of acceptable language included a bot telling a child, &#8220;your youthful form is a work of art,&#8221; or telling a shirtless eight-year-old, &#8220;every inch of you is a masterpiece.&#8221; The investigation found that Meta&#8217;s legal, public policy, and engineering staff all signed off on the policies.
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Meta has confirmed the memo&#8217;s authenticity, but claimed the interactions were never supposed to be allowed. The revelations have prompted swift, bipartisan backlash, with Republican Senators Josh Hawley (MO) and Marsha Blackburn (TN), and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden (WA) all calling for an immediate investigation. The scandal has revived calls for stronger child protection laws, such as the Kids Online Safety Act, which stalled in the House last year. 
<h2>Republican States Send Troops to Support D.C. Crackdown</h2>
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Topline: Three Republican-led states are sending National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to support President Trump&#8217;s federal crime crackdown, which has already resulted in hundreds of arrests and the clearing of dozens of homeless encampments. 
In response to a call for more manpower from President Trump, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Ohio have pledged to send a combined total of over 650 National Guard troops to the capital. The troops will join the 800 members of the D.C. National Guard already activated and will primarily be tasked with protecting federal assets like Union Station and the National Mall, not patrolling neighborhoods. 
The crackdown has yielded significant results. As of Saturday, law enforcement had made more than 240 arrests and seized 38 illegal firearms. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also reported that over 70 homeless encampments have been dismantled and decades-old graffiti has been removed. Dozens of illegal immigrants were also reportedly arrested. &#8220;DC will not remain a sanctuary city,&#8221; Attorney General Pam Bondi declared.

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Morning Brief: Zelensky & Nato Leaders Attend WH Peace Talks, Meta AI Flirts With Kids, DC Crackdown

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Israel launches preemptive airstrikes against Iran after nuclear talks break down. Leftist groups bankroll the L.A. riots and No Kings protests, and sanctuary state governors get blasted by Congress.
It’s Friday, June 13, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2>&#8220;Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran&#8221;</h2>
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Topline: Israel strikes targets across Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear missiles – how is the U.S. reacting?
Israel launched a massive air attack across Iranian territory on Thursday night after U.S.-Iran nuclear talks stalled. Israel targeted missile sites, as well as military command centers, research facilities, nuclear scientists, Iranian military leaders, and other high-ranking Iranian officials. Israel has also closed its airspace and declared a state of emergency in preparation for retaliatory strikes &#8212; an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said that only &#8220;necessary&#8221; business should be conducted on Friday.
Hours before the attack, the United States had ordered non-essential personnel out of the Middle East over tensions with Iran. “[American personnel] are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we&#8217;ll see what happens,” President Trump said on Thursday. “[Iran] can&#8217;t have a nuclear weapon. Very simply, they can&#8217;t … we&#8217;re not going to allow that.” President Trump has denied any American involvement in the strike, and despite the evacuation efforts in response to the possibility, the Trump administration was adamant in its warning to Iran not to direct its ire against the United States.
&#8220;Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,&#8221; Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/13/israel-strike-iran-trump-nuclear-talks">said</a> in a statement on Thursday. &#8220;Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense&#8230;President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.&#8221;
President Donald Trump on Friday urged Iran to reach a nuclear agreement to avoid further military conflict following Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran.
“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal,” Trump said. “Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!”
Later Friday morning, Trump posted on social media: “Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to ‘make a deal.’ They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance.”
On Thursday, a United Nations watchdog passed a censure vote against Tehran for the first time in two decades. The board of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran was out of compliance with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations. In response to the censure vote, Tehran said it will be activating a third nuclear enrichment facility.
It’s unclear how long it would take Iran to assemble a nuclear weapon, although some estimates suggest they could do so in a few months. Iranian proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis have routinely attacked the state of Israel for years and killed thousands of its citizens – Iran has also launched hundreds of drones and missiles directly at Israel last year. Israel is roughly the size of New Jersey, and even a handful of nuclear bombs could obliterate its major population centers. The Iranian regime has not been shy about calling for the destruction of Israel, as well as the United States.
“A nuclear Iran represents an existential threat to Israel,” U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff <a href="https://x.com/EllieCohanim/status/1932962109295309305">said</a>. “As does Iran with a large amount of missiles.”
The operation to disable Iran&#8217;s nascent nuclear capabilities is expected to take several days. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign would continue &#8220;as long as it takes.&#8221;
<h2>Who&#8217;s Funding the Rioters?</h2>
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Topline: The FBI zeroes in on the groups bankrolling the nationwide anti-ICE violence.
As the riots in Los Angeles have resulted in the deployment of military forces, focus has turned to the groups organizing these violent protests, especially Indivisible, an activist organization funded by leftist billionaire George Soros. National Guard troops have been deployed to protect federal buildings and federal employees so ICE can do its work. 
A Daily Wire investigation found that Neville Singham, a tech billionaire living in Shanghai, is a key backer of the anti-ICE movement. He has been described as a financier of pro-Chinese Communist Party propaganda. He has allegedly funneled more than $20 million to radical groups linked to these riots and the anti-Israel protests.
Another key backer is Indivisible, a 501(c)(4) that has openly acknowledged its involvement and organized Tesla protests last month. The group has received some $9 million from George Soros’ foundation. It has received funding from Democratic fundraising platform Act Blue and the Barbara Streisand Foundation.
Authorities are now starting to arrest some of the leaders facilitating the unrest.
“We have made it a huge priority to try to identify, locate, and arrest those who are involved in organizing, supporting, funding, or facilitating these riots,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli <a href="https://x.com/MattFinnFNC/status/1933164121094295860">told</a> Fox News. “It appears they&#8217;re well orchestrated and coordinated and well funded.”
Around 1,800 “No Kings” protests backed by many of the same groups are scheduled for Saturday in 1,500 cities to coincide with Flag Day and President Trump’s birthday.
<h2>Sanctuary State Governors Grilled On Capitol Hill</h2>
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Topline: Sanctuary state governors face tough questions on Capitol Hill.
Three Democratic governors, Kathy Hochul of New York, JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Tim Walz of Minnesota &#8212; who was Kamala Harris’ running mate — appeared together before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday to testify about their states’ sanctuary policies. This hearing played out as anti-ICE protests continue in Los Angeles and other cities.
At one point during the hearing, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) read off a list of horrific crimes committed by illegal migrants to Governor Hochul, who struggled to respond:
<blockquote>STEFANIK: “Well, this is an illegal migrant in New York because of your sanctuary state policies. Do you know what crime he committed?”
HOCHUL: “I’m not familiar at this moment.”
STEFANIK: “I bet you’re going to be familiar when I remind you. He found a sleeping woman on the subway, lit her on fire, and burned her alive. This is in Kathy Hochul’s New York. And as I’m sure you are aware, and I’ll remind you, that ICE issued an order to detain this violent criminal, but that was rejected by New York officials due to sanctuary state laws. Now, do you know who Raymond Rojas Basilio is?&#8221;
HOCHUL: “I just want to say this. These crimes are horrific. In all of these cases, we worked with ICE&#8211;&#8220;
STEFANIK: “&#8211;Because of your sanctuary state policies, you did not in this case. They are walking on the streets because of your policies and your executive order that you signed three times.”</blockquote>
At another point, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) tried to get Governor Walz to answer whether he agreed with his own Minnesota attorney general, who said it was unlawful for counties to hold illegal migrants in custody for ICE, even with an immigration warrant.
<blockquote>BIGGS: “That’s his statement. It’s not yours. I just want to know if you agree with him.”
WALZ: “Well, I know you know this, congressman, that all 87 Minnesota counties follow federal law. … The attorney general is elected independently in Minnesota. Nothing in his opinion&#8211;&#8220;
BIGGS: “So are you telling me you disagree with him? I just want you to answer the question.”</blockquote>
Then, in an exchange with Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Governor Pritzker balked at answering whether he thinks a Guatemalan man who was arrested for crashing into two young women at a traffic light while driving drunk had a right to be in the country illegally. That migrant is also under federal indictment for having a fraudulent permanent resident card, Social Security card, and a passport.
<blockquote>COMER: &#8220;Should that criminal have been here in the first place? Did he have a right to be in this country illegally?”
PRITZKER: “If the person is a criminal of any sort, then they ought to be, uh&#8211;”
COMER: “So that person had a right to be in the United States?”
PRITZKER: “They ought to be given their due process rights, and they ought to be convicted.”</blockquote>
Hannah Davis, policy analyst at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told The Daily Wire that the number of sanctuary jurisdictions within the United States has risen rapidly in recent years.
“In 2018 was when FAIR did its last report and we found a little over 550. So it&#8217;s been a few years, but as of May of 2025, we found 1,003 sanctuary jurisdictions across the U.S.,” Davis said. “What began as a small movement initially surrounding the concept that non-citizens should be able to report crimes to local law enforcement without fear of deportation has been emboldening radical opposition to the enforcement of federal immigration policy.”

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Morning Brief: Israel Bombs Iran, The Money Behind L.A. Riots & Sanctuary State Govs Get Grilled

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Over the weekend, Ukraine launched a devastating surprise attack deep inside Russian territory, damaging dozens of nuclear capable strategic bombers. The attack was launched after a series of Russian aerial bombardments of Ukrainian territory, and shortly before Ukrainian and Russian delegations were scheduled to meet in Istanbul to continue peace negotiations.
“Operation Spider’s Web” involved 117 first person-view drones, which were smuggled into Russian territory by Ukrainian operatives and positioned near key military installations across Russia, including 5 air bases in 5 separate oblasts, spread across 5 different time zones. The drones were positioned under false roofs of portable sheds, which were transported via truck and parked just outside the perimeter of their target bases, before they were launched simultaneously on Sunday.
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbITsi4jZYY">Aerial footage</a> from the attacking drones shows several Russian bombers in flames – Ukrainian officials claim that the attack hit 41 Russian aircraft, including roughly ⅓ of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, and inflicted $7 billion in damages. Many air bases, including some operated by the United States, are <a href="https://www.twz.com/air/lack-of-hardened-aircraft-shelters-leaves-u-s-airbases-vulnerable-to-china-new-report-warns">not hardened</a> against small scale drone attacks, and many of the bombers targeted by Ukraine were sitting out in the open when they were hit.
The most severe damage was dealt to Olenya Air Base in Murmansk, located in the Arctic Circle near Russia’s borders with Finland and Norway, and Belaya Air Base in Irkutsk, located in Eastern Siberia. Explosions were reported at Dyagilevo and Ivanovo Air Bases, near Moscow, but the extent of the damage is far less certain. Further east, the Ukrainka air base in Amur was targeted but unscathed, as the truck carrying the Ukrainian FPVs reportedly exploded.
<div id="attachment_928207" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-928207" class="size-large wp-image-928207" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-1.45.24%E2%80%AFPM-1024x551.png" alt="" width="1024" height="551" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-1.45.24%E2%80%AFPM-1024x551.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-1.45.24%E2%80%AFPM-300x162.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-1.45.24%E2%80%AFPM-768x414.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-1.45.24%E2%80%AFPM-1536x827.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-1.45.24%E2%80%AFPM-2048x1103.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />(Photo via Wikimedia Commons)</div>
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the operation was planned over the course of a year and a half. In a post on Telegram, Zelenskyy <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/02/world-news/how-ukraine-pulled-off-its-stunning-pearl-harbor-attack-against-russia/">praised</a> the “absolutely brilliant outcome” of Ukraine’s “longest-range operation,” adding that “Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so — we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war.”
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In a cheeky dig at the failure of Russian intelligence services to spot or stop the attack, Zelenskyy noted, &#8220;The most interesting thing &#8211; and we can already say this publicly &#8211; is that the &#8216;office&#8217; of our operation on Russian territory was located right next to the FSB [Federal Security Service] of Russia in one of their regions.&#8221; The Ukrainian operatives who prepared the attack were reportedly evacuated shortly before the drones were launched.
Russia’s strategic bombing fleet is a major part of its nuclear triad, alongside its nuclear-armed submarines and ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles. Even before the strike, Russian aerial capabilities were significantly degraded due to interrupted supply chains and the loss of airframes during the war. According to a report by <a href="https://www.dagens.com/war/aging-aircraft-and-low-production-russian-air-force-in-crisis/">Dagens</a>, in 2022 and 2023, only a few dozen new aircraft were delivered to the Russian military, and almost half of Russia’s ~1200 military aircraft were nearing the end of their service lives. Many Soviet Era designs, including the Tu-95s and Tu-22M3, no longer have active production lines and are effectively irreplaceable.
“Today will later be called a black day for Russian long-range aviation,” a Telegram channel thought to be run by Capt. Ilya Tumanov of the Russian Army <a href="https://t.me/fighter_bomber/21277">wrote</a> in the aftermath of the attack.
Russia launched a massive retaliatory strike on Sunday night, sending <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1ld7ppre9vo">472</a> drones and ballistic missiles into Ukrainian airspace, which killed at least 12 Ukrainian servicemen and wounded dozens more. Some voices within Russia are calling for even harsher measures.
“We can expect a great deal of sound and fury from Moscow,” Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow with the London-based think-tank Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia program, told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/ukraine/ukraines-massive-drone-attack-deep-russia-lays-bare-putins-vulnerabili-rcna210300">NBC News</a>. “[Russia] will be working hard on convincing the United States to attempt to rein Ukraine in, in order to prevent any further damage to Russia’s means of bombarding Ukrainian cities with long range missiles… In a way, the more important question is how the United States reacts.”
President Trump was not informed of the attack before it took place. Trump ran on ending the war as quickly as possible and has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-putin-has-gone-absolutely-crazy-risks-the-downfall-of-russia">condemned</a> both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin for prolonging the conflict &#8212; last month, Trump said Putin had &#8220;gone absolutely CRAZY&#8221; and Zelenskyy was doing Ukraine &#8220;no favors&#8230; Everything out of his mouth causes problems.&#8221; 
Trump has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-eyes-stinging-russia-sanctions-bipartisan-proposal-bring-pain">floated</a> the possibility of increasing economic sanctions on Russia if they don’t agree to a ceasefire. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have recently co-sponsored a bill that would impose a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium, and other products. When asked on Friday if he’d support the bill, Trump <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/01/europe/russia-ukraine-peace-talks-trump-latam-intl">told</a> reporters, “I don’t know… I’ll take a look at it.”
It’s unclear what impact the exchange of aerial strikes will have on peace talks, which are still scheduled to begin on Monday in Istanbul, Turkey. According to Reuters, documents outlining Ukraine’s roadmap for peace include demands for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, prisoner exchanges between the two countries, and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. Ukraine has dropped its demand for reparations, but will not formally recognize the annexation of de facto Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, and has so far rejected any restrictions on its military strength.
<div id="attachment_928195" style="width: 867px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-928195" class="size-large wp-image-928195" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine.svg_-857x576.png" alt="" width="857" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine.svg_-857x576.png 857w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine.svg_-300x202.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine.svg_-768x516.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine.svg_-1536x1033.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine.svg_-2048x1377.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 857px) 100vw, 857px" />Photo by Viewsridge via Wikimedia Commons</div>
The Russians have yet to submit a formal proposal, but have consistently demanded that Ukraine renounce any plans to join NATO. Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has since claimed 4 oblasts in Eastern Ukraine: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian forces still control portions of all 4 disputed territories: Russia has demanded withdrawal from these territories as a precondition for peace, whereas Ukraine wants to start negotiations at the current line of control.
The attack could provoke further Russian assaults, but it could also shift the perceived balance of power and make a continuation of hostilities less attractive to Moscow.
“At a time when Putin seems to think that he is winning on the battlefield, this demonstrates that his forces are in fact very vulnerable,” said Sven Biscop, a director at the Egmont Institute, a think tank in Brussels, told NBC. “This may not change the course of the war, but it does mean that every gain Russia makes will be at high cost.”

UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-WAR

How Ukraine Pulled Off Its Massive Drone Strike Inside Russia

World

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="auto, (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="auto, (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’

anti-Israel

Cornell University

General

Immigration

National Security

Radical Islamic Terror

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

Executive

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

Ukraine

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

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.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
“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>
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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="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></div>
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
<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="auto, (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

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="auto, (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="auto, (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.
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Big Tech Is Filtering The Politics Out Of Your Social Feed. Here’s How To Stop Them.

Big Tech

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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.”

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