Category: Middle East

CloseTrump celebrates sirens in the distance during Charlie Kirk Medal of Freedom speechPresident Donald Trump gave a self-congratulating speech on Tuesday as he posthumously awarded conservative activist Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The award ceremony took place in the White House Rose Garden, on what would’ve been Kirk’s 32nd birthday. Kirk was killed on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. His widow, Erika Kirk, accepted the award on his behalf.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for honoring my husband in such a profound and meaningful way,” she said. “And thank you for making this event a priority amid the peace process in the Middle East.”
In a rambling speech at the ceremony, Trump praised Kirk as much as he praised himself and his allies. He took time to highlight his “very historic trip” to Israel, applauded several members of his administration who were in attendance and claimed “people are loving” the newly renovated Rose Garden.
At one point, ..

A bipartisan trio of former White House ethics lawyers warned “no American is safe from political prosecution” after the Trump administration’s recent indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
President Donald Trump, who publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute his political rivals without “delay” last month, has since used a federal prosecutor to embark on a retribution campaign.
Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s newly appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, secured grand jury indictments against Comey and James. Comey has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have dubbed it a “vindictive” prosecution; James has yet to make a formal plea, but called the charges against her a “weaponization of our justice system.”
Richard Painter, Norman Eisen and Virginia Canter, who served as ethics counsels for Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton respectively, asked for investigations int..

Amid a slew of mainstream news publications rejecting the Pentagon’s prohibitive new press restrictions ahead of a Tuesday signing deadline, right-wing cable channel Newsmax surprisingly declared that it would also refuse to sign the new agreement, calling the policy “unnecessary and onerous.”
In fact, amid the continued backlash against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new rules – which the Pentagon Press Association called an “unprecedented message of intimidation” – only one media organization has agreed to sign the letter: Trump-boosting channel One America News.
Late last month, the Department of Defense – which the Trump administration recently rebranded as the War Department – announced that it was imposing severe restrictions on reporters covering the Pentagon, including requiring them to cease gathering any information that the department hadn’t already cleared. Hegseth declared that any journalist who didn’t sign the pledge would have their press credentials revoked.
Followin..

A Las Vegas man with a prosthetic leg is suing his former employer after being “forced back” to work under a strict return-to-office policy he claims violated his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Even though John Waudby, 54, had requested an ADA accommodation, and could do his work sufficiently from home, he was instructed by a supervisor to “get his a** on-site or find another job,” according to a federal discrimination lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
“It was further communicated to [Waudby] by his training director, ‘[T]he company does not care about your ADA accommodation. Either come on-site or find another job,’” Waudby’s complaint states.
Waudby, an animal lover who has raised money for abused pets, says being made to show up physically each day caused him “to suffer severe pain,” according to the complaint. When he complained, however, it says he was soon fired.
Foundever, formerly known as Sitel, provides “customer experience” services to some 800 companie..

Donald Trump is en route to Israel and Egypt to oversee the critical hours of a Gaza ceasefire he helped broker, as relatives of hostages “held their breath” ahead of their expected release.
For the first time, Hamas militants have agreed to release all 48 remaining hostages – 20 alive, 26 confirmed dead, and two whose lives were “serious danger” with an unknown status. The deadline for Hamas to return the captives who have been held for two years expires at midday Monday (10am BST).
Shortly afterwards, 1,700 Palestinians detained from Gaza since October 2023 and 250 more serving life sentences will be released from Israeli detention. The bodies of 360 Palestinians Israel is holding will also be returned.
Leaving to fly to Israel ahead of the planned releases, Mr Trump told reporters Trump his trip would be: “very special event”.
“We're going to have an amazing time,” he added: “This is going to be a very special time. Everybody is very excited about this moment in time.”
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CloseHerzog: As soon as hostages return, Israel is not going to warDonald Trump has said that all sides in the Middle East are “cheering at one time” as he flies there ahead of Hamas’ expected release of the Israeli hostages.
Speaking to reporters as he boarded Air Force One on Sunday, the US president said “that's never happened before”, adding that his trip to Israel and Egypt is going to be a “very special event”.
Meanwhile, Israel has warned against “any sick displays by Hamas” during the release of hostages, which a spokeswoman said is expected to take place early Monday morning.
“We are expecting all 20 of our living hostages to be released together at one time to the Red Cross and transported among six to eight vehicles without any sick displays by Hamas,” spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said.
But if Hamas decides to free the hostages any earlier, “we will be ready to receive them”, she added. Palestinian detainees and prisoners will be released once the hostages have crossed..