News of the World

[kyonides]

NORTH AMERICA

USA

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Mass. Teachers Association under fire for alleged antisemitic learning materials on the Israel-Hamas war

The Massachusetts Teachers Association is under fire from a special state commission on antisemitism for distributing educational materials on the Israel-Hamas war that commissioners contend are antisemitic and offensive.

The Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism gathered more than two dozen examples of MTA learning materials and other resources that its members said presented a one-sided view that favors Palestinians over Jews and Israelis. The materials intended for classroom use or to broaden educators' knowledge of the issues were posted on the members-only section of the MTA’s website.

Among the materials: a replica of the Star of David made out of folded dollar bills, a poster featuring a hand grabbing the tongue of a snake that read “Unity in Confronting Zionism,” another poster promoting the Free Palestine movement that read “Zionists [expletive] Off,” and another poster seemingly depicting a Palestinian fighter with a rifle that warned, “What was taken by force can only be returned by force.”

The MTA resources also included a storybook about a young Palestinian girl whose family had to flee their home because “a group of bullies called Zionists wanted our land so they stole it by force.” The book asked students to repeatedly write the girl’s name, suggesting it was intended for students who are still learning to write letters, and recommended ways students could help, such as engaging in letter-writing campaigns, raising money, or chanting at protests.

It’s unclear whether Massachusetts educators have used any of the materials as part of classroom lessons.

The 19-member commission, which includes Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker and Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, grilled MTA’s president, Max Page, for two hours and repeatedly lambasted him for allowing the MTA to assemble learning materials that presented only the Palestinian perspective on the Israel-Hamas war. State Senator John Velis, the commission’s cochair, said he couldn’t find anything in the MTA materials that presented the Jewish or Israel perspective.
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The commission’s probing of the MTA’s activities around the Israel-Hamas war follows more than a year of criticism that the state’s largest teachers union has encountered from some of its own members as well as students, families, and Jewish advocacy organizations over public statements and educational materials they characterize as antisemitic.

Among the actions critics found egregious: the MTA’s board of directors approved a cease-fire statement in December 2023 that equated Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s military actions against Hamas to a “genocidal war” against Palestinians, and a webinar on anti-Palestinian racism that a union task force held last spring that included materials many Jewish members found offensive and antisemitic.

Then, in December, the American Jewish Committee, a nonprofit whose New England director, Robert Leikland, also serves on the Special Commission, released a report that accused the MTA of demonizing Israel and promoting one-sided educational material about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Page has repeatedly defended the MTA’s actions, even as he has noted he doesn’t agree with the viewpoints of all the materials, some of which he said he found offensive. He said the actions have emerged organically among the union’s members and he did not want to censor individual members.

Open Editorial on Antisemitism

I think that one of the terrible mistakes the Jews are making here is focusing on including the Israeli side of the story while leaving the pro-Palestinians continue spitting their lies and threats like crazy. Seriously, they should focus on eliminating the fake Palestinian discourse once for all, for it's nothing but classic Nazi antisemitism. It's not my idea, the IDF has found copies of Mein Kampf and other Nazi propaganda published in Arabic while looking for the hostages and dangerous terrorist leaders like Sinwar.

Sometimes they simply had to enter a couple of homes of the UNRWA workers, including teachers, to find such materials full of antisemitic ideology pretty much anywhere. Just go back to previous editions of NOTW to get access to the evidence that they had accumulated up to that time against those terrorists pretending to be simple, hard working teachers. Or how can we forget that alleged UNRWA workers gave Sinwar a passport with the clear intention of letting him pretend to be one of their coworkers so he could easily escape Gaza and continue his reign of terror from another location? Had he and his bodyguards not made the lethal mistake of firing at some IDF soldiers that were passing by, he wouldn't have been found and killed that fateful day. (Actually, they only learned he was Sinwar AFTER they had shot him down.)

Remember the day when Islamic Jihad operatives on behalf of Hamas tried to launch a rocket with the intention of hitting some Israeli target but it ended up hitting the parking lot of a local hospital. Who did those terrorists blame for it? Israel, and even the BBC had a rough time trying to admit they were wrong about the way they covered the whole incident.

Before I finish this OP of sorts, I want to remind you of the fact that NO Arab country nor Egypt want to shelter Palestinians in their own territories, except for Jordan that could let 2,000 kids stay there for some time. Ask yourself why wouldn't they allow 2,000 families to be relocated to Jordan but just their kids. People could ignore the issue and even claim that the Jewish people are overreacting here. If you think so, simply remember this: that attitude would just allow the holocaust to take place once again. And again and over again.

Nevada Judge Delays Trial for Suspect in Tupac's Murder to Next Year

ANevada judge on Tuesday delayed the murder trial of the sole suspect ever charged in the 1996 killing of rap legend Tupac Shakur, postponing it for nearly a year.

Citing new developments from the defense and the need for a fair trial, the judge said she had little choice but to reschedule.

Why It Matters

Duane "Keffe D" Davis is the only suspect ever charged in the 1990s murder of rap legend Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas. A former gang leader, Davis is accused of orchestrating the shooting near the Las Vegas Strip that resulted in Shakur's death shortly after a casino brawl involving Shakur and Davis' nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson. Davis was arrested in September 2023 in his neighborhood near Las Vegas.

In interviews and his 2019 memoir detailing Davis' experiences as a leader of a Crips gang faction in Compton, he recounted acquiring a .40-caliber handgun and giving it to his nephew, who was seated in the back of a car. According to Davis and authorities, shots were fired from this car at Shakur, who was in another vehicle. Shakur succumbed to his injuries a week later at the age of 25.

Davis and his attorney had previously contended that he should not have been charged with murder due to immunity agreements he claimed to have made with federal and local authorities years ago. Their attempt to dismiss the case failed.

What To Know

Originally set for next month in Las Vegas, the trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis is now scheduled for February 9, 2026. The judge also ordered prosecutors and the defense to return for a status hearing over the summer.

"It looks like there are quite a few things that are left to be done to get this case prepared so that Mr. Davis can have effective assistance of counsel," Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny said Tuesday.

When the judge asked if he was OK with the lengthy delay, Davis agreed.

Elon Musk ‘uncovers’ 20M in Social Security database over age 100 — here’s why they’re listed and don’t get benefits

Tesla and X CEO-turned-special government employee Elon Musk claimed to have uncovered “the biggest fraud in history” when he stumbled across more than 20 million people listed in the Social Security database as over 100 years old.

“According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE!” Musk posted on X late Sunday, showing a chart of ages ranging from zero to 369 years old.

“Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” he joked, adding that “there are FAR more ‘eligible’ social security [sic] numbers than there are citizens in the USA. This might be the biggest fraud in history.”

However, Musk’s bombshell has long been known by the Social Security Administration (SSA) watchdog, which released an audit in July 2023 showing that 18.9 million people listed as 100 years or older — but not dead — were in the database.

Only 86,000 people living in the US at the time were actually centenarians, according to the Census Bureau.

FAA fires fewer than 400 workers, transportation chief says

The Federal Aviation Administration fired fewer than 400 employees out of its workforce of 45,000, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Monday, as questions rise around air traffic safety amid a spate of recent plane accidents.

Duffy posted the number of layoffs in a social media post message on X, formerly known as Twitter, responding to a post by his Democratic predecessor Pete Buttigieg, who has been critical of the Trump administration's Department of Transportation.

"Less than 400 were let go, and they were all probationary, meaning they had been hired less than a year ago. Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go," Duffy wrote on Monday.

The Trump administration sent air traffic controllers buyout offers but later said they were not eligible, also declaring other safety officials, including TSA officers, ineligible. The FAA remains about 3,500 controllers short of targeted staffing levels.

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union said Saturday the FAA had fired several hundred probationary FAA employees.

The union said Monday it believed just under 300 FAA workers it represents were fired, including maintenance mechanics, aeronautical information specialists, aviation safety assistants and management and program assistants.

"These are positions that are vital to supporting public safety," a union spokeswoman said.

The FAA and Transportation Department have declined to say what jobs the fired workers held or why they were fired.

The disclosure came on the same day that Elon Musk's government downsizing team DOGE was visiting the FAA's Air Traffic Control command center in Warrenton, Virginia, Duffy said.

Judge Chutkan Rejects Bid to Block Musk and DOGE From Federal Systems

The Trump administration scored a legal victory on Tuesday, when a federal judge denied a bid to block Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive information and firing employees across different government agencies.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied the request from 14 states for a temporary restraining order against Musk and DOGE, saying the plaintiffs did not show "clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm" that could result from Musk having access to federal agency systems that house the bank account and personal information of millions of American taxpayers.

The Context

The lawsuit, filed by New Mexico and 13 other Democratic states, challenged DOGE's authority to access sensitive government data. The plaintiffs argued that the actions Musk has taken while heading up DOGE can only be taken by an official who was nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

What To Know

"Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight. In these circumstances, it must be indisputable that this court acts within the bounds of its authority," Chutkan wrote in a ten-page opinion.

"Accordingly, it cannot issue a TRO, especially one as wide-ranging as Plaintiffs request, without clear evidence of imminent, irreparable harm to these Plaintiffs," she wrote. "The current record does not meet that standard."

Chutkan's ruling came one day after the White House said in a legal filing that Musk is not the head of DOGE.

Musk is "an employee of the White House Office" and "holds a position as a non-career Special Government Employee," the filing said. "Like other senior White House advisors, Mr Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO's exact role in the Trump administration could be a crucial factor as it relates to DOGE's access to government data. Positioning Musk as an adviser as opposed to someone overseeing daily operations could strengthen the administration's defense against lawsuits claiming Musk wields excessive power as an unelected official who was not confirmed by the Senate.

Infamous Sinaloa Cartel is deeply entrenched in American communities: DEA agent

A retired Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) supervisory special agent says Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa drug cartel is deeply entrenched in major US cities and in smaller communities, describing its influence as so pervasive, it’s “woven into our communities.”

The cartel’s reach, Brian Townsend said, is more expansive and destructive than many realize with its grip on both urban and rural areas across the US.

“We have some larger locations that are well known for Sinaloa control, like Chicago, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, Dallas, Atlanta, and New York City,” he told Fox News Digital. “But they have distribution points throughout the United States, and from there, they use those hubs, and then [the distribution] spoke out from there into our communities.”

The head of the DEA said last year that the US is facing the “most dangerous and deadly drug crisis” in its history with fentanyl and methamphetamine flowing across the border — and that the “Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels are at the heart of this crisis.”

Townsend noted that 300 people per day die from drug overdoses in the US.

The former DEA agent, who founded Eagle 6 Training, shared that the Sinaloa Cartel works with chemical suppliers to receive the materials for “pennies.”

“It’s primarily from China,” he said. “There are other countries and other suppliers, like India, involved. But China is by far number one.”

“From the ports, they are trucked to various locations where the manufacturing of fentanyl occurs. And then from there, they’re smuggled into the United States.”

Townsend said the Mexican cartel is “very good at this,” and by adding fentanyl to their distribution, they are “making a lot of money killing Americans with it.”

CANADA

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Delta's DEI Stance Called Out After Toronto Plane Crash

Delta Air Lines' stance on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is under fire after a plane crash in Toronto on Monday that injured at least 17 people.
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DEI policies have come under fire following at least four major aviation incidents this year, with President Donald Trump questioning if such initiatives were partly to blame for the fatal mid-air collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter in Washington, D.C., in January that killed 67 people.

Following the crash, Trump said that DEI programs had "lowered standards" for hiring air traffic controllers in the Federal Aviation Administration during the Joe Biden and Barack Obama presidencies.
Days later, the Trump administration began firing hundreds of FAA employees.

There is no evidence to suggest DEI policies were to blame for any of the plane crashes that have occurred this year.

On his first day in office, Trump ordered the removal of officials overseeing DEI efforts across federal agencies as well as the dismantling of federal diversity programs. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management, released in January, directed agency heads to place all DEI staff on paid administrative leave, and to plan for staff reductions by January 31. The memo also mandated the removal of DEI materials and the withdrawal of documents that conflicted with the new directives.
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At least 17 people were injured, three critically, when a Delta plane crashed at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday after taking off from Minneapolis, the Associated Press reported. One of the critically injured passengers was a child.

Aviation expert Scott Hamilton told Newsweek strong that strong winds and snow in Toronto could have played a role in the crash.

Footage from the scene, posted by News Channel3 Now, showed the Delta plane overturned on snow-covered tarmac, with passengers walking away from the wreckage.

Because the article above mentioned the disasters that have hit the US in the last couple of weeks, I think people need to read another one published back in January 2025.

FAA embroiled in lawsuit alleging it turned away 1,000 applicants based on race — that contributed to staffing woes

The Federal Aviation Administration is fighting a class-action lawsuit alleging it denied 1,000 would-be air traffic controllers jobs because of diversity hiring targets — as it was revealed that staffing levels were “not normal” at the time of this week’s deadly midair collision.

Complaints about the FAA’s hiring policies resurfaced after the American Airlines passenger plane and a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, killing 67 people in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter-century.

Details of the litigation re-emerged, too, as Andrew Brigida, the lead plaintiff in the suit filed in 2015, suggested the federal aviation agency’s obsession with diversity hiring and inclusion had only ensured that an accident was likely to happen.

The crux of the lawsuit is that the FAA, under the Obama administration, dropped a skill-based system for hiring controllers and replaced it with a “biographical assessment” in an alleged bid to boost the number of minority job applicants.

Brigida, who is white, alleges he was discriminated against solely based on his race when his application was rejected, court papers state.

The would-be air traffic controller, who graduated from Arizona State University’s collegiate training initiative in 2013, was turned down for a job even though he had scored 100% on his training exam, the lawsuit alleges.

EUROPE

Trump Admin Gives Update to NATO Ally About US Troops in Eastern Europe

Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday that he has received assurances from the U.S. that Washington will not reduce its troop presence in Poland or along NATO's eastern flank.

While the administration of President Donald Trump has not announced plans to withdraw forces from the region, it has emphasized that Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security. This stance has raised concerns among NATO allies about Washington's commitment to its longstanding defense obligations.

"There are no concerns that the U.S. would reduce the level of its presence in our country, that the US would in any way withdraw from its responsibility or co-responsibility for the security of this part of Europe," Duda told reporters in Warsaw.

"On the contrary, I hope that thanks to the efforts that President Trump is currently making, the war in Ukraine will end."
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The Polish president's comments come amid uncertainty in Europe over the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and the United States' involvement in the conflict, as American officials were set to meet with Russian counterparts.

Over the weekend, European Union and United Kingdom officials were working on a multibillion-dollar package to boost security in the region.

What To Know

Duda, who has long been friendly to Trump, spoke to reporters after meeting General Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, on Tuesday.

Duda said his assessment was based on conversations he had in recent days, both with Kellogg and with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom he hosted in Warsaw last week.

He called on Poles "to remain calm" in light of shifting priorities under Trump.

US Peace Plan for Ukraine 'a Gift' From Trump to Putin: EU Lawmaker

Sergey Lagodinsky, a German lawyer and member of the European Parliament, took to social media to voice his dismay regarding the U.S.'s three-stage peace plan for Ukraine, calling it a "gift by Trump to Putin."
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European countries have criticized the peace talks between American and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, accusing the U.S. of sidelining Ukraine and alleging that it had made concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin before the talks began.

Government officials representing the United Kingdom, Lithuania and Germany have spoken out and demanded that Kyiv have a seat at the table during peace negotiations.
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On Tuesday, Lagodinsky wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "According to my sources: the proposal by #Trump consists of 3 stages: 1) a ceasefire 2) ELECTIONS in Ukraine 3) signing of a final agreement."

He continued: "This is complete fulfillment of all #Putin desires. Especially the election part is a gift by Trump to Putin. Putin hates @ZelenskyyUa 'cuz he defeated his plans to subjugate #Ukraine. And dreams to get a pro-Russia candidate after the exhausting war. For Trump it would also be handy to get a president who would be so weak that he would sing off all the Ukrainian resources. It must be very clear to us, Europeans, that elections MUST take place AFTER the final stage. Not before it. Also because the final agreement cannot be the result of a pro-Russia candidate possibly elected under stage 2)."

Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that the U.S.'s proposed three-stage peace plan was the result of the peace talks between Russia and the U.S. in Saudi Arabia.

Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, told Reuters earlier this month that Ukrainian presidential and parliamentary elections, which were suspended during the war, "need to be done."

On Monday, The Telegraph reported on a U.S. proposal to Ukraine after obtaining "a draft of the pre-decisional contract, marked 'Privileged & Confidential.'"

The terms of the leaked draft contract said the U.S. and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund and that the U.S. would take a portion of recurring revenues received by Ukraine from extraction of resources, as well as some of the financial value of "all new licenses issued to third parties" for the future monetization of resources. Trump has pushed to strike an agreement with Ukraine for access to the equivalent of $500 billion worth of rare earth materials.

ASIA

CHINA

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China Issues New Demands to Trump's America

China had a list of demands for Washington after the State Department removed a line about the U.S.'s opposition to the independence of Beijing-claimed Taiwan from a fact sheet.
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The government in Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, has ruled the island since retreating there after losing the Chinese civil war to Mao Zedong's communist forces. Taiwan has never declared independence—a move China has threatened war over—but functions as a sovereign state with its own democratic government, military and defined territory.

To establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, China requires countries to recognize the "One China" principle and cut official ties with Taiwan. For more than four decades, the U.S. has followed a "One China" policy, acknowledging—but not endorsing—China's claim over the island of 23 million and not expressing support for de jure Taiwan independence.
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Last week, the State Department removed the phrase "we do not support Taiwan independence" from its fact sheet on Taiwan relations.

It is unclear why the phrase was removed or whether the move is related to a policy change ordered by the Trump administration.

During the Chinese Foreign Ministry's regular news briefing on Monday, spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the State Department had "gravely backpedaled," flouted international law and violated standing agreements with Beijing.

"This is another example of the U.S. clinging to its wrong policy of 'using Taiwan to contain China,'" he added. Guo urged the U.S. to "immediately correct its wrongdoings."

He also demanded that Washington "stop upgrading its substantive relations with Taiwan, stop helping Taiwan expand so-called 'international space,' stop emboldening and supporting 'Taiwan independence' and avoid further severe damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Munich.

In a joint statement, the trio stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and opposed "any attempts to unilaterally force or coerce changes to the status quo." In a first for the three nations, the diplomats also urged greater meaningful participation for the island in international organizations.

Beijing Responds to US Proposal for Chinese Peacekeepers in Ukraine

Beijing has issued a lukewarm response to the U.S. proposal for Chinese and Brazilian peacekeepers to be deployed to Ukraine once a ceasefire is achieved, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.
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The proposal of China sending peacekeepers to Ukraine has been met with criticism online as the U.S. previously accused Beijing of aiding Russia's war against Ukraine by providing satellite imagery for military purposes, microelectronics, and machine tools for tanks. The EU has since implemented its first "fully fledged" sanctions on Chinese firms for their support for Russia.

Other global powers, including the U.K. and France, have talked about deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine after a ceasefire has been achieved.
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In response to the U.S. proposal to send Chinese peacekeepers to Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, "We don't comment on a hypothetical question. China always upholds a just position on the issue of Ukraine crisis, and we've made this very clear on multiple occasions."

Guo's statement was in response to a report by The Economist that said that American officials were discussing the idea of sending Chinese or Brazilian peacekeepers to Ukraine to "sit along an eventual ceasefire line as a sort of buffer" instead of European peacekeepers after a ceasefire.

The report also alleged that Vice President JD Vance told Europeans that a European-only peacekeeping force would be less effective in preventing Russia from conducting further attacks on Ukraine.

Commenting on China's role in a peace agreement involving Ukraine, Guo said that "On any dispute and conflict in the world, China always advocates dialogue, consultation and political settlement. This is also true when it comes to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine."

He added that "China is not the creator of the Ukraine crisis nor a party to it. That said, we have not just sat by and watched the crisis unfold or profiteered from the crisis. Right after the Ukraine crisis broke out, China proposed to settle the crisis through dialogue and consultation. We've followed the four points about what must be done, which were proposed by President Xi Jinping, as our fundamental guidance, actively carried out diplomatic mediation, and set up the Group of 'Friends for Peace' together with Brazil and other Global South countries. The development of the situation also proved that China's proposition is objective, impartial, rational and pragmatic, and represents the prevailing consensus in the international community."

The Little Rocket Man / North Korea

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North Korea Doubles Down on Nukes Amid Rising Tensions with US and Asia

orth Korea has denounced the U.S. and its allies for pursuing what it called the "absurd" goal of denuclearization, vowing instead to bolster its nuclear capabilities under leader Kim Jong Un.

The statement, issued Tuesday by North Korea's Foreign Ministry via state media, follows a meeting in Germany where top diplomats from the U.S., South Korea, and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to countering Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions through military cooperation and sanctions.

Why It Matters

Diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and North Korea have remained stalled since the collapse of nuclear negotiations between former President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in 2019. While Trump and Kim met three times in 2018 and 2019, talks ultimately broke down over disagreements regarding sanctions relief and the North's disarmament steps.

Pyongyang has since shifted its foreign policy focus toward Russia. North Korea has supplied military equipment to Moscow amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, a move that has raised concerns in Seoul and Washington. In exchange, analysts suggest North Korea could be receiving economic aid and military technology that may further advance its weapons programs.

What to Know

North Korea accused the U.S. of attempting to implement an "outdated and absurd plan" for denuclearization and warned of "overwhelming and decisive counteraction" if it perceives threats to its security. The Foreign Ministry stated that the country would "consistently adhere to the new line of bolstering the nuclear force" and deter "the U.S. and its vassal forces" from challenging its sovereignty.

The statement comes after U.S. Secretary of State Mark Rubio met with South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Munich, Germany, on Saturday. The officials reaffirmed their commitment to North Korea's "complete denuclearization" and maintaining sanctions aimed at curbing Pyongyang's weapons program. They also pledged to strengthen military deterrence, including through expanded joint exercises and enhanced defense cooperation between Japan and South Korea.