News of the World

[DerVVulfman]

Here are all the Hollywood stars vowing to leave the US
over Trump’s presidential election win

Read the article here

Packing their bags!

After former President Donald Trump’s election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, some of the biggest stars in Hollywood have threatened to leave the US.

America Ferrera is reportedly ready to pack her bags after Trump’s victory. The 40-year-old is allegedly looking to start a new life in the UK with her husband, Ryan Piers Williams, and their two children, son Sebastian, 6, and daughter Lucia, 4.

A source told Daily Mail that the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” alum is in search of a better life for her kids.

“America is sick that Donald Trump is President again,” the insider claimed to the outlet. “She is devastated that Kamala lost. She thought the country she lived in was better than that.”

Sharon Stone echoed her fellow actress’s sentiments, stating it’s time for her to flee America.

“I am certainly considering a house in Italy,” Stone told the Daily Mail in July. “I think that’s an intelligent construct at this time. This is one of the first times in my life that I’ve actually seen anyone running for office on a platform of hate and oppression.”

Meanwhile, in a 2023 interview with the Guardian, Cher, 78, said she fell ill under Trump’s administration. “I almost got an ulcer the last time. If he gets in, who knows? This time I will leave [the country].”

“Game of Thrones” vet Sophie Turner also pledged to “get the f–k out” of America and move back to her home country of the United Kingdom if Trump were to step into power.

...

Trump, 78, won the Electoral vote by a total of 295 to 226. The popular vote came out to 72,765,347 for Trump and 68,114,042 for Harris.

After Trump’s win, he addressed the American people, stating in a powerful message, “This is a movement like nobody’s ever seen before and, frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There’s never been anything like this in this country, and maybe beyond. And now it’s going to reach a new level of importance because we’re going to help our country heal. We’re going to help our country heal.”

He added, “We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We’re going to fix our borders, we’re going to fix everything about our country and we’ve made history for a reason tonight, and the reason is going to be just that.”

Harris conceded the next day, sharing in a poignant speech, “”Let me say my heart is full today. My heart is full today, full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country, and full of resolve.”

She added, “The outcome of this election was not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

The elites of Hollywood vowed the same thing after Trump won in 2016. I highly doubt they'll keep this promise since they didn't last time.

Newsom calls for special session
to Trump-proof California ahead of inauguration

Read the article here

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) on Thursday convened a special session of the state legislature intended to quickly address climate change, secure access to abortion, protect immigrants, and a host of other issues ahead of President-elect Donald Trump‘s January inauguration.

Newsom’s preemptive strike on a conservative federal agenda that is likely approaching has triggered the return of a hostile relationship between one of the most liberal states in the nation and the Trump administration. It also no doubt helps burnish the credentials of Newsom as a foe of Trump for the next four years. Newsom is among the betting favorites for the 2028 Democratic presidential ticket in the very early stages.

California sued the Trump administration more than 120 times during his first four years in office.

“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle,” Newsom said in a statement. “California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond. We are prepared to fight in the courts, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”

The special session would start in Sacramento on Dec. 2 and is an effort to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration,” Newsom’s office said.

“Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” the governor also posted on X.

California is also home to Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA), who centered his campaign on being the country’s chief Trump antagonist.

While he did not mention Trump by name during his victory speech, he vowed to guard the country’s democratic institutions.

Schiff said that as senator, he is “committed to taking on the big fights to protect our freedoms and protect our democracy.”

In May, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said his staff had used Trump’s campaign platform to prepare legal challenges should Trump win another term. On Thursday, he, too, weighed in on Trump.

“No matter what the incoming administration has in store, California will keep moving forward,” Bonta said. “We’ve been through this before, and we stand ready to defend your rights and protect California values. We’re working closely with the governor and the legislature to shore up our defenses and ensure we have the resources we need to take on each fight as it comes.”

...

HOWEVER... if they try to create laws that go against the Federal Government, they have a severe problem:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Known as the Supremacy Clause, it essentially states that the laws of the Federal government supercedes the State laws. It literally says they must obey Federal law, first and foremost.


FEMA official who allegedly told workers
to avoid Florida homes with Trump signs fired

Read the article here

The Federal Emergency Management Agency supervisor accused of ordering her subordinates to skip Florida homes with Trump campaign signs has been fired.

Marn’i Washington was sacked for telling disaster relief workers in Lake Placid, Fla., to “not go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Trump,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Saturday.

“This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation,” she said, adding, “This employee has been terminated and we have referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel.

“I will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again.”The disturbing directive was allegedly made in late October, as Washington, 39, worked with a FEMA team in the central Florida town in the wake of Hurricane Milton.

“Avoid homes advertising Trump,” she wrote in a “best practices” memo to employees, a copy of which was obtained by Daily Wire.



The instructions also advised them to stay hydrated and to “follow the rules.”

She also gave the direction verbally, according to the report.

Washington’s sister April Brown, 39, claimed she was stunned to hear about her sibling’s brazen actions.

“I’m completely shocked,” she said. “I can tell you that she set out to help and serve all people. With her being in that position with FEMA I can’t see her doing anything like that.”

Washington, who according to her now-deleted LinkedIn has been employed by FEMA since 2019, also works as a regional manager in the Bay Area for the property management firm Avanath Capital Management LLC and lists herself as an owner of the logistics company Olam Industries LLC.

...

Workers told the Daily Wire they ultimately skipped about 20 homes displaying Trump signs or flags between late October and early November due to Washington’s edict, denying those residents the chance to sign up for federal relief aid in the wake of the harrowing Category 3 storm that caused an estimated $50 billion in damage across the state.

...

Nathan Hochman wins race for Los Angeles County D.A.,
beating George Gascón

Read the article here

A tumultuous first term in office for Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón ended in a failed reelection bid Tuesday night, with challenger Nathan Hochman defeating him by a wide margin.

Hochman, who polls long predicted would oust Gascón, held a commanding 23-point lead based on early returns, outpacing the progressive incumbent by more than half a million votes. Gascón called Hochman to concede early Wednesday morning.

“The rightward shift across America last night is heartbreaking. Democrats have a long road ahead, but the work is more vital than ever and our commitment will not waver,” Gascón said in a statement, referencing President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past four years and grateful to the communities who have been and will always be the heart of criminal justice reform,” Gascón continued.

Gascón swept into office in 2020 on a promise of reform and restorative justice, but Hochman — a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney — has spent months painting the incumbent as responsible for increases in crime and homelessness around L.A.

Gascón’s supporters and criminologists dispute that link, but Hochman’s message resonated with voters, with polls consistently forecasting his victory ahead of election day.

Returns as of Wednesday morning showed Hochman receiving more than 1.4 million votes and Gascón around 890,000 — or about 61% to 38% in favor of the challenger.

The Associated Press called the race for Hochman late Tuesday night.

“While the final votes haven’t been tallied, all indications are the voices of the residents of LA County have been heard and they’re saying enough is enough of George [Gascón’s] policies and they look forward to a safer future,” Hochman said after the first results were announced.

...

“We will go back to just two things: the facts and the law,” he said.

...

Maria Ramirez, a veteran prosecutor who ran in the primary and later endorsed Hochman, said knocking Gascón out of office would represent a “return to normalcy” for hundreds of deputy district attorneys who have spent years fighting with Gascón over his vision for the office and refusal to involve them in his policy decisions.

“Through these four years, because we have been so distracted with all of the lawsuits and the fighting, really what we want is to be able to go back to what we do — and that is really do our jobs and protect people, prosecute crimes and keep our community safe,” she said.

...

For Gascon, reform mostly favored the convicted. By his actions, he disbanded the unit that informed victims of their attacker's parole hearings, halted any prosecutors from being at any parole hearings including that of A Manson Family murderer sparking outrage, and calling for a new sentencing for the Menendez brothers over [i]a letter claimed to be new evidence never mentioned once and could have been written after the murders.[i]

Netanyahu fires Gallant,
says no trust in defense minister at time of war

Read the article here

Citing a lack of mutual trust, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces he is firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a longtime rival within the Likud Party.

In a terse letter given to the defense minister and then released by the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu tells Gallant that “your tenure will end 48 hours from the receipt of this letter.”

“I would like to thank you for your service as defense minister,” he concludes.

Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister.

“Unfortunately, although in the first months of the war there was trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister,” says Netanyahu in a video statement.

He says they disagreed on the management of the war, and charged that Gallant made statements and took actions that contradict cabinet decisions.

Netanyahu also accuses Gallant of indirectly aiding Israel’s enemies: “I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider,” he says.

“They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy — our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it.”

The “crisis of faith” with the defense minister “does not enable the proper continuation of the [military] campaign,” Netanyahu says.

Netanyahu says that most members of the government and cabinet agree with him “that this cannot continue. In light of this, I decided today to end the tenure of the defense minister.”

The decision comes amid stress in Netanyahu’s coalition over the draft of ultra-Orthodox men. Gallant yesterday approved the drafting of 7,000 more Haredim into the IDF.

Gallant has opposed legislation that would largely preserve the exemption of ultra-Orthodox males from military service — legislation demanded by the two ultra-Orthodox parties on whose support Netanyahu’s coalition depends.

It also comes as Americans head to the polls, and US attention is elsewhere.

After Hamas rejection of hostage deal,
US asked Qatar to expel the group

Read the article here

he U.S. has told Qatar that the presence of Hamas in Doha is no longer acceptable in the weeks since the Palestinian militant group rejected the latest proposal to achieve a ceasefire and a hostage deal, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.

The tiny Gulf state Qatar, alongside the U.S. and Egypt, has played a major role in rounds of so-far fruitless talks to broker a ceasefire to the year-long war in Gaza. The latest round of talks in mid-October failed to produce a deal, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.

"After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas's rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal," the senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Qatar then made the demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago, the official said. Washington has been in touch with Qatar over when to close the group's political office, and it told Doha that now was the time.

Three Hamas officials denied Qatar had told Hamas leaders they were no longer welcome in the country. The spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was unclear if the Qataris provided a specific deadline to the Hamas leaders to leave the country.

...

Qatar, an influential Gulf state designated as a major non-NATO ally by Washington, has hosted Hamas' political leaders since 2012 as part of an agreement with the U.S.

Following last year's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told leaders in Qatar and elsewhere in the region that there could be "no more business as usual" with Hamas.

UN to Israel: Replacing UNRWA aid agency
is your responsibility, not ours

Read the article here

The United Nations has said that replacing its Palestinian relief agency UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank is not the world body’s responsibility, signaling it is Israel’s problem, according to a letter excerpt seen by Reuters.

The UN formally responded in a letter to Israel’s decision to cut ties with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a move that UNRWA has said leaves its operations in Gaza and the West Bank at risk of collapse.

Israel’s envoy to the UN dismissed as “absurd” the notion that UNRWA cannot be replaced, in a meeting of the General Assembly on Wednesday.

Under a new law, Israel told the UN on Sunday it was ending a 1967 cooperation agreement with UNRWA that covered its protection, movement, and diplomatic immunity. The law, which was backed by lawmakers from both the coalition and opposition, will also ban UNRWA’s operations in Israel from late January 2025.

“I would note, as a general point, that it is not our responsibility to replace UNRWA, nor do we have the capacity to do so,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s chef de cabinet, Courtenay Rattray, wrote to a senior Israeli foreign affairs official late on Tuesday.

...

Top UN officials and the Security Council describe UNRWA as the backbone of the aid response in Gaza, where Israel and Hamas have been at war for the past year, leaving the enclave in ruins. War erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a massive cross-border attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 people abducted as hostages to Gaza.

“UNRWA may be defined by a single word – failure,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told a meeting of the General Assembly on UNRWA on Wednesday. “This idea that UNRWA could not be supplemented is absurd.”

Sitting next to released Israeli hostage Mia Schem, he strongly criticized the General Assembly and all other UN bodies for failing to condemn Hamas or to hold a single session dedicated to the hostages.

Israel has long had a combative relationship with UNRWA, which it argues has perpetuated the Palestinian refugee crisis by allowing the status to be passed down through generations. Frustration with UNRWA in Jerusalem has picked up over the past decade as Israel has found the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group embedded within the agency’s infrastructure.

...

I need add that it was found UNRWA schools taught anti-israeli messaging, had hospitals that served as Hamas bases, that members of Hamas had UNRWA identification badges, and so on.

Ukraine launches 'massive attack' on Moscow,
shutting down airports

Read the article here

Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on the Russian capital city of Moscow since the full-scale war began in 2022, injuring one person and forcing three major airports to divert flights, as Russia fired an unprecedented 145 drones against Ukraine.

Moscow's regional governor, Andrei Vorobyov, called it a "massive attack" and said two houses in the village of Stanovoye, 15 miles southeast of the city, had caught fire after the drones fell. He said a 52-year-old woman was in intensive care after she was injured by shrapnel and hospitalized with burns to her face, neck and hands.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it “intercepted and destroyed” 34 drones over Moscow following the latest strikes on the capital.

All three airports have since resumed operations, including Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, Russia’s busiest.

It is not the first time Ukraine has struck the capital, but its largest attack on the city to date comes as the United Kingdom's defense chief, Adm. Tony Radakin, estimated that Russia had suffered its worst ever month for casualties since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

...

Across the border, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russia launched "a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine" on Saturday night. The Iranian-made Shahed drones are a cheap but effective weapons being widely used by Russia.

Zelenskyy added Russia had used "more than 800 guided aerial bombs, around 600 strike drones, and nearly 20 missiles" this week.

Ukrainian troops have engaged with North Korean units
for the 1st time in Russia, an official says

Read the article here

Ukrainian troops have for the first time engaged with North Korean units that were recently deployed to help Russia in the war with its neighbor, Ukraine’s defense minister said Tuesday.

Another Kyiv official said Ukraine’s army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region.

The comments were the first official reports that Ukrainian and North Korean forces have engaged in combat, following a deployment that has given the war a new complexion as it approaches its 1,000-day milestone.

Neither claim could be independently confirmed.

The Ukrainian and North Korean troops engaged in “small-scale” fighting that amounted to the start of Pyongyang’s direct involvement in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korea’s public broadcaster KBS in an interview.

North Korean soldiers are mixed with Russian troops and are misidentified on their uniforms, Umerov was quoted as saying by KBS. That makes it hard to say whether there were any North Korean casualties, he said.

Umerov reportedly said he expects that five North Korean units, each consisting of about 3,000 soldiers, will be deployed to the Kursk area.

Meanwhile, Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation branch of Ukraine’s Security Council, said “the first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region.”

He provided no further details.

...

The ramifications extend far beyond Europe, it said.

“Despite integration challenges — including communication barriers and differing military doctrines — the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia represents a significant shift in European and Asian security relations,” the analysis said. “For the first time in generations, troops from East Asia are actively engaging in a European conflict.”

The North Korean troops, whose fighting quality and battle experience is unknown, are adding to Ukraine’s worsening situation on the battlefield.

Ukrainian defenses, especially in the eastern Donetsk region, are buckling under the strain of Russia’s costly but relentless monthslong onslaught.

...

China has increased military flights
near Taiwan by 300%, U.S. general says

Read the article here

[url=Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains]The Chinese military has increased its provocative flights around Taiwan by 300% over the last five months, according to the commander of the U.S. Air Forces in the Indo-Pacific Command.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Gen. Kevin Schneider warned that People’s Liberation Air Force activities have increased dramatically since Taiwan’s new president was inaugurated in May.

“Whether it’s coming into the air defense identification zone or crossing the center line within the Taiwan Strait, since the inauguration we have seen a 300% increase in those air activities,” he said.

From May 2023 until November 2023, China violated Taiwan’s air defense identification zone 335 times, according to figures released by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense compiled by NBC News. During that same timeframe this year, China violated that same airspace at least 1,085 times, more than three times as many as the previous year.

During some months, the difference was even more pronounced. In July 2023, for example, 50 Chinese aircraft violated Taiwan's air defense zone. In July 2024, 210 did, more than four times as many.

Schneider noted that the Chinese Air Force has maintained the increased activity level since Lai Ching-te was sworn in on May 20. Beijing, which views Lai a “separatist” and a “troublemaker,” claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, a view Lai and his government reject.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., defended the flights.

“The PLA’s relevant drills are a necessary and legitimate move to crack down on “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and their separatist activities and send a warning to external interference and provocations,” said Liu Pengyu. It is fully consistent with international law and common practices. 

Schneider oversees more than 46,000 airmen in Japan, South Korea, Hawaii, Alaska and Guam. He said the biggest challenge he faces comes from Beijing, which is building a massive rocket force, an air force, a submarine force and a cyber force, and using these forces to intimidate other nations in the region.

“It’s the behaviors that have gone along with that,” he said, “it’s the bullying, the aggressiveness.”

“My assessment is it’s a pressurization campaign designed to win without fighting, and I think just to continue to impose costs, physical or otherwise, to present a fait accompli to the world,” he added. “Not just to Taiwan, but to the world that Beijing can accomplish their objectives, and they continue to ramp up their activities, military activities, in conjunction with diplomatic activities, informational activities, economic activities, to win without fighting.”[/quote]

1 monkey recovered after dozens escape in South Carolina.
Others are ‘jumping back and forth’ near the research facility

Read the article here

Monkey mayhem continues as 42 primates remain on the loose from a research facility in South Carolina.

On Wednesday, 43 rhesus macaque primates escaped from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee.

In a noon update Saturday, the Yemassee Police Department announced one of the missing monkeys has been successfully returned unharmed. “A significant number of the remaining primates are still located just a few yards from the property, jumping back and forth over the facility’s fence,” police said in a statement.

The loose primates continue to interact with their encaged counterparts inside the facility. The update does not clarify whether the facility has eyes on all of the runaway animals.

Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard told police Saturday recovery efforts will continue “for as long as it takes,” the statement said.

Police said Friday that Alpha Genesis staff and management were on site feeding and monitoring the animals at the perimeter of the facility.

Westergaard expressed optimism regarding the monkeys’ behavior Friday, according to police. The facility is using “Have a Heart” traps, which are designed in a humane way with a trap door.

The Alpha Genesis test facility specializes in nonhuman primate research for the biomedical research community. It is one of the largest primate facilities in the country designed specifically for monkeys, with over 100 acres of land for research and breeding purposes, according to its website.

The runaway primates have been seen “playfully exploring the perimeter fence of the facility, engaging with those still inside by cooing to them,” police said Friday. The monkeys are “exhibiting calm and playful behavior, which is a positive indication,” police said.

...

This is not South Carolina’s first rodeo with monkeys on the loose. The Post and Courier in Beaufort County reported that 19 monkeys escaped from the same facility in 2016, but they were returned after six hours.

Tony Todd, ‘Candyman’ and ‘Final Destination’ Star,
Dies at 69

Read the article here

Tony Todd, an American actor known for leading the “Candyman” horror franchise as its eponymous hook-wielding ghost, died Wednesday at his home in Marina Del Rey, Calif. He was 69.

Todd’s death was confirmed by a representative for the actor. A cause of death was not disclosed.

A reliable presence in genre fare across four decades, Todd’s series of credits include iconic titles such as Alex Proyas’ comic book adaptation “The Crow,” Michael Bay’s Alcatraz actioner “The Rock” and the elaborate killing-set-piece series “Final Destination.” One of his earliest film performances came in his early thirties in Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning war epic “Platoon.” On “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Todd donned alien make-up to play Kurn, a Commander in the Klingon Defense Force and the brother of Worf (played by series regular Michael Dorn).

But Todd secured his name in the genre pantheon with his performance in Bernard Rose’s “Candyman,” an early-’90s Americanized spin on a Clive Barker short story that brought a memorable supernatural spin on themes of gentrification and racism. At a towering 6’5”, Todd played Daniel Robitaille, aka Candyman, the tortured, bee-covered ghost of an African American artist and son of a slave who was murdered for his relationship with a white woman. The film starred Virginia Madsen as a Chicago graduate student preparing a thesis on the legend of Candyman by investigating inner-city Chicago.

“My beloved. May you rest in power,” Madsen wrote in a post on Instagram after learning of her co-star’s death. “The great actor Tony Todd has left us and now is an angel. As he was in life. More later but I can’t right now. I love you.”

...

Todd never stopped working, often lending his gravitas and genre reputation to direct-to-video thrillers over recent years. His profile on IMDb currently lists more than nine titles that have entered post-production.

Todd is survived by his two children, Alex and Ariana.