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Quote:New Yorkers elected their first socialist mayor Tuesday, handing far-left Democrat Zohran Mamdani a historic victory — as he claimed a mandate for his potentially budget-busting progressive agenda and all but declared war on President Trump.
The Associated Press and NY1 called the race for the 34-year-old Mamdani about 40 minutes after polls closed at 9 p.m., eliciting cheers from his supporters at his campaign’s Brooklyn watch party.
“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city that we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” he said, taking the stage after 11 p.m.
He then taunted Trump, prompting cheers from the fired-up crowd.
“So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, carried 50.4% of votes to independent candidate Andrew Cuomo’s 42% at midnight, with nearly 98% of precincts reporting, the city Board of Elections said. GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa came in third with a rock-bottom 7.1%.
The Uganda-born Mamdani will be the Big Apple’s first Muslim, first South Asian and first socialist mayor, as well as one of the youngest.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani said in his 20-minute address.
“I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in his private life but that [will be] the final time I utter his name.”
The state assemblyman’s rise from dark-horse candidate laser-focused on affordability to ascendant mayor-elect came despite concerns over his youth and inexperience and his “Tax the rich” platform that business elites warned would harm the city.
Mamdani, a proud Democratic Socialists of America member, also faced repeated questions over his past anti-police stance and accusations of antisemitism for his fierce, long-running criticism of Israel.
His stunning win capped an explosive campaign that exposed rifts in the Democratic Party and drew widespread attention, including from Trump — who issued an election-eve endorsement of Cuomo and threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if Mamdani won.
“…AND SO IT BEGINS!” Trump posted on Truth Social during Mamdani’s victory speech.
The election’s high stakes inspired a stunning 2 million New Yorkers to cast ballots — the biggest turnout since 1969, preliminary results show.
Mamdani appeared poised to capture at least 50% of the vote, and the ability to claim a mandate from the majority of New Yorkers.
But Cuomo — the former three-term Democratic governor who spent $12 million on his campaign and was buoyed by $55 million from supportive super PACs — argued that the New Yorkers who didn’t vote for Mamdani shouldn’t be left behind.
“This campaign was the right fight to wage,” he said in his concession speech. “It’s also important to note that almost half of New Yorkers did vote to support a government agenda that makes promises that we know cannot be met.”
Quote:A House GOP lawmaker is proposing to block federal funds from New York City for as long as Zohran Mamdani is mayor.
Forthcoming legislation led by Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., is called the Moving American Money Distant from Anti-National Interests Act, or the “MAMDANI Act” for short.
The two-page bill text stated that “notwithstanding any other provision of law, during any period in which Zohran Mamdani is mayor of New York, New York” that “any unobligated Federal funds available” for the city “are hereby rescinded” and that “no Federal funds may be obligated or expended for any purpose to New York, New York.”
It is expected to be introduced on Friday, Fox News Digital was told.
The 34-year-old socialist won the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday, defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo running as an independent and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
His victory was not a surprise to election watchers; New York City has not elected a Republican mayor since Michael Bloomberg won a second term in 2005.
While Carter’s bill is not likely to be taken up in the House, it’s a symbol of how the GOP has been hyper-focused on Mamdani’s win, with Republican leaders in the House positioning him as the new leader of the Democratic Party.
A House Republican campaign operative signaled to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the GOP would seek to tie vulnerable Democrats across the country to Mamdani and his far-left platforms.
Carter, who is running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, said taxpayer dollars from his state “should not be wasted on programs that will bankrupt the financial capital of the world.”
“If New Yorkers want communism, we should let them have their wish and not artificially prop them up with our successful capitalist system,” Carter said. “Any New Yorker with common sense is welcome to move to the great, FREE state of Georgia.”
Historically, New York State has sent more taxpayer dollars to the federal government than it takes in federal dollars.
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump was delighted by the news Thursday that his longtime adversary, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is retiring at the end of her term in January 2027.
“The retirement of Nancy Pelosi is a great thing for America. She was evil, corrupt, and only focused on bad things for our country,” Trump told Fox News’s Peter Doocy. “She was rapidly losing control of her party.”
“I’m very honored she impeached me twice and failed miserably twice. Nancy Pelosi is a highly overrated politician.”
Pelosi, 85, announced that she won’t vie for a 20th full term in the lower chamber and instead will round out her four-decade career in the House, where she became the first woman to wield the Speaker’s gavel.
Later in the day, Trump doubled down on his attacks against Pelosi, chiding that “she did the country a great service by retiring.”
“She’s an evil woman. I’m glad she’s retired,” Trump further vented to reporters. “I think she was a tremendous liability for the country. I thought she was an evil woman who did a poor job, who cost the country a lot. a lot, in damages and in reputation. I thought she was terrible.”
The Golden State Democrat had been one of Trump’s fiercest rivals during his first term in the White House, siccing the chamber’s powerful investigative committees on him and backing two separate and unsuccessful impeachment efforts.
“This president is impeached for life regardless of any gamesmanship on the part of Mitch McConnell,” Pelosi gloated following the first House impeachment in late 2019. “There is nothing the Senate can do to ever erase that.”
Months later, Pelosi ripped up Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address while seated behind him on the House rostrum.
“She’s a sick puppy in my opinion, she really is,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” weeks later. “She’s got a lot of problems.”
“He’s just a vile creature, the worst thing on the face of the earth,” Pelosi told CNN of the 47th president this week, later agreeing with the interviewer’s language that Trump was “the worst thing on the face of the Earth.”
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Thursday that two major pharmaceutical companies will be lowering the cost of popular GLP-1 drugs used to treat diabetes and for weight loss — and that the government will, in turn, expand eligibility for Medicare users.
Denmark-based Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy; and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, which makes Zepbound, agreed to sell their drugs to Medicare at a lower “most favored nation” rate, as well as offer discounts directly to other consumers on the TrumpRx website that will launch in early 2026.
“Americans should pay no more than the lowest price corporate anywhere in the world,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“Americans have been spending as much as 540% more for Zepbound and 1,400% more for Wegovy than patients in Europe… for the exact same box. And that ends starting today.”
The president said the price overhaul would “save lives or improve the health of millions and millions of Americans — amazing thing.”
The drug group, which also can reduce the risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease, burst into the spotlight in recent years due to dramatic weight loss associated with use — and Trump’s reforms will authorize Medicare to cover the drugs specifically to combat obesity for the first time, though patients will need to have a body-mass index above 35 to qualify.
Trump said that the medications have “very little side effects” but joked that “someday maybe it’ll come out, which we’ll notify you [of] immediately.”
The agreements are the latest in a string of similar deals with drugmakers to avert Trump’s threat of 200% tariffs on the industry as the president pushes to return manufacturing to the US.
The announcement also comes as affordability issues top voter concerns ahead of next year’s midterm elections — with Republicans trounced in New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races due to the issue, according to exit polls.
In exchange for dropping prices, authorities are relaxing eligibility rules for senior citizens on government-run Medicare programs — including covering prescriptions for people who are severely overweight and expanding comorbidity requirements for other customers.
The roughly two-thirds of Americans who are covered by private health insurance also stand to benefit, officials said.
“The commercial insurers will also be able to access lower prices, we estimate at least 25% lower than the current cash price market today,” one administration official told reporters on a White House-organized call ahead of Trump’s remarks.
“What we are observing is, in some instances, insurers are beginning to enable beneficiaries to purchase or pay their members to make purchases through the cash market, and then have that count toward their deductible and out-of-pocket maximum.”
Quote:WASHINGTON — Rep. Riley Moore is pushing a resolution “condemning” the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria after President Trump threatened to enter with US military forces “guns a-blazing” to halt Islamic extremists.
Moore (R-WV), a first-term congressman from the Mountain State, will introduce the measure Friday to help stop “the persecution of Christians in Nigeria” who face an “existential threat” from Boko Haram Islamists.
“For too long, the slaughtering of Christians has been ignored. No more,” he told The Post.
“I urge my colleagues — Republican and Democrat alike — to join me in sending a clear message that the United States will not stay silent while our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer grave persecution, and even martyrdom, for their faith in Jesus Christ,” he also said.
“Thank you, President Trump, for your incredible leadership in defending persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Your bold actions will save the lives of thousands of Christians, and I am grateful for your trust to lead this effort in the House alongside Chairman Tom Cole.”
More than 7,000 Christians have been massacred in the West African nation, one of the continent’s most populous and its largest oil producer, in the first 220 days of 2025 alone, according to human right NGO Intersociety.
The resolution “calls upon the United States Government to use all available diplomatic, economic, and security tools to pressure the Nigerian Government” into also working “to return internally-displaced persons to their homelands, particularly amongst Christian communities; and repeal blasphemy laws and release all prisoners detained for their faith.”
It also “encourages coordination with international partners to deliver humanitarian aid directly to victims through trusted nongovernmental and faith-based organizations; and affirms the commitment of the United States to stand in solidarity with Christians and to defend their right to practice their faith without fear of persecution, violence, and even death.”
The West Virginia Republican hopes that the resolution will “broaden support among faith-based and human rights advocates, and reassert the US’ role as a defender of religious freedom,” according to a spokeswoman.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has already introduced a bill to protect Nigerian Christians by imposing sanctions on government officials who permit violence and enforce sharia or blasphemy laws, which in the nation carry the death penalty.
In 2009, the extremist terror group launched an insurgency in Nigeria, leading to the murder of more than 125,000 Christians, Intersociety noted in its report. Another 19,000 churches were also destroyed.
Its text cites how Boko Haram has joined with Islamic State West Africa Province and Fulani militants who have “systematically targeted Christian communities through massacres, church burnings, kidnappings, and sexual violence, leaving villages destroyed and millions displaced.”
Quote:Two alleged New Jersey jihadi yuppies said they wanted to behead infidels and become famous for ISIS-inspired terror attacks and also fantasized about executing Jews and carrying out antisemitic attacks in the multicultural New York City suburb, according to chilling new docs released by the feds.
Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzel, 19, who lived at his parents’ million-dollar home in the wealthy New Jersey city, was arrested at Newark Airport on Wednesday as he waited to board a flight to Turkey.
Authorities said he planned to travel to Syria to join ISIS, to which he had sworn allegiance, according to a 48-page criminal complaint.
The feds also released pics of Jimenez-Guzel, the son of a UN diplomat who heads a women’s business agency, posing in front of an ISIS flag and wielding a knife.
Suspect Milo Sedarat, 19, the son of a noted Iranian-American poet, meanwhile, raged about his mother having Jewish friends and said he wanted to execute “500 Jews” and make their wives and children slaves, according to federal docs.
He also said he wanted to use his car to mow down a pro-Israel march in Montclair — which is NJ Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s hometown, authorities said.
Also arrested was alleged co-conspirator Saed Ali Mirreh, also 19, of Kent, Washington, whom feds tracked down and busted at his suburban Washington a day before he too was scheduled to fly to Turkey.
Group chats held by the teens, and other participants in the alleged conspiracy, painted a portrait of angry, violence-obsessed young men who fell deeply into jihadist indoctrination.
In one video call, Mirreh said all of the plotters would have to be prepared to slice people’s throats if the group needed to make any propaganda videos. Jiminez-Guzel disagreed, and happily volunteered to do any beheadings himself, coldly saying, “I’ll do it, bro,” the complaint alleges.
In another group chat, Jimenez-Guzel mused about desiring infamy, and said he wanted the group to “do something that’s going to leave a mark in history. Something that’s gonna make them create a documentary on you on Netflix. Something that’s gonna make you have a Wikipedia page.”
He also boasted to the group chat that he would wind up being “one of the most 100 evil people in the world.”
Mirreh noted in the chat at one point that everyone in the group would have to “unalive” — meaning to kill somebody — similar to an inner-city gang initiation “to get that mentality and to get into our brain that we unalive someone and once we come, we don’t hesitate no more,” he allegedly said.
Jimenez-Guzel responded, “bro, it’ll be easy for me,” and Mirreh agreed.
A social media post shared by Jimenez-Guzel included a document in Arabic titled in English “KILL THEM SILENTLY.” The document encouraged Muslims to practice the “obligation” of jihad and “terrorize the disbelievers to avenge their Muslim brothers.”
Quote:A suspect accused of plotting the Michigan Halloween terror attack allegedly “sought guidance” on when to carry out the violence from the father of a local “extremist” Islamic preacher who has previously called on American Muslims to wage jihad.
Mohmed Ali, 20, and an unnamed juvenile had a conversation last week about reaching out to the father of the so-called “Islamic ideologue” to ask for advice on timing for a “good deed,” the FBI alleged in a criminal complaint.
The feds didn’t specifically identify the Islamic ideologue but described a research paper on radicalization that clearly named the radical preacher as ISIS supporter, Ahmad Musa Jibril, according to the court filing.
Jibril’s father, Shaykh Musa Abdullah Jibril, who also isn’t named in the complaint, founded a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan.
The juvenile is said to have called the preacher’s father on Oct. 29 to tell him he intended to do a “good deed” but was unsure of “what day to do it,” the court papers charge.
The preacher’s dad then allegedly told the juvenile that he shouldn’t wait and to carry out the deed.
There is no suggestion that the preacher’s dad was aware of the alleged plot.
Still, the FBI alleged the pair went on to use the “guidance” to forge ahead with plans for the attack, according to the complaint.
When the juvenile was relaying his conversation with the preacher to Ali, Ali acknowledged that “if the Islamic Ideologue’s father knew about the actual plan to which Ali and [the juvenile] had agreed, the Islamic Ideologue’s father would not have said what he did when [the juvenile] asked him about the timing of doing a ‘good deed’,” the filing states.
The younger Jibril has a history of spewing hate-filled sermons, including some that reportedly helped inspire the London Bridge terror attack.
The preacher also previously called on Muslims in the US to wage jihad against the “infidel West” and for followers to turn away from what he described as a watered-down “American-Zionist Islam” that ignores the idea of jihad.
Meanwhile, Ali is one of several that have been charged this week over the widespread alleged terrorism-style attack.
Ali and two other Michigan suspects — Ayob Nasser, 19, and Majed Mahmoud, 20 — are charged with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a designated terrorist organization and receiving and transferring guns and ammunition for terrorism.
The suspects are accused of sharing ISIS propaganda in group chats on Discord — and scouting LGBTQ+-friendly locations for a possible attack.
Quote:The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee asked Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III, to come before Congress to answer questions about his friendship with late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“The Committee is seeking to uncover the identities of Mr. Epstein’s co-conspirators and enablers and to understand the full extent of his criminal operations,” read a letter to the disgraced former prince signed by ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), and 15 other Democrats.
“Well-documented allegations against you, along with your long-standing friendship with Mr. Epstein, indicate that you may possess knowledge of his activities relevant to our investigation. In the interest of justice for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, we request that you cooperate with the Committee’s investigation by sitting for a transcribed interview with the Committee.”
In their missive, the House Democrats cited Andrew’s 2011 email to Epstein, in which he stated “we are in this together” months after the period when the royal claimed in a notorious 2019 BBC interview to have cut off contact with the financier.
The disgraced ex-prince remained an associate of Epstein even after his 2008 guilty plea to soliciting sex from a minor in Palm Beach, Fla., and flew on his plane in the years preceding the state charges from 1996 to 2006.
The Epstein estate has also turned over financial records that revealed some line items marked “massage for Andrew.” The Democrats said the documents “raise serious questions regarding the nature of your relationship with Mr. Epstein and related financial transactions.”
Andrew has until Nov. 20 to respond to the summons, which does not have the force of an authorized subpoena.
The royal formerly known as Prince Andrew was recently stripped of his titles by King Charles III in a humiliating blow.
“THE KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 3 November 2025 to declare that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of ‘Royal Highness’ and the titular dignity of ‘Prince,’” proclaimed the Crown Office in the Gazette, the UK’s official public record, in a Nov. 3 statement.
Andrew had been dogged by allegations from one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, who committed suicide earlier this year and whose posthumuous memoir recounted sickening accusations of abuse she suffered from the Duke of York as a teenager.
Giuffre allegedly had her feet kissed by Andrew during the stomach-turning episode — and was forced into sex with him three times, she recounted in “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice.”
She had been one of several minors allegedly “loaned” out by Epstein and his madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, after working at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, according to the tell-all.
An infamous photo — taken in early 2001 when Giuffre was 17 years old — shows Andrew wrapping his arm around her waist, with the two smiling for the camera as Maxwell looks on. It was among 20 images seized by the FBI in 2011.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and seven other Republican senators have rolled out legislation intended to prevent foreign donors from funneling cash into projects impacting US elections.
While it is illegal for foreign nationals to donate to federal, state or local campaigns, some have contributed to intermediaries backing specific policy goals and adjacent efforts like get-out-the-vote activity.
Hagerty’s Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act targets those workarounds.
“After years of hysteria over Russiagate and alleged foreign influence in American elections, it turns out Democrats have recently benefited from hundreds of millions of dollars in election-related contributions from a shadowy foreign billionaire,” Hagerty told The Post in a statement.
“This type of influence undermines democracy and self-government here in America, and its staggering scope should be alarming,” he continued, adding that his “legislation that will put an end to covert foreign influence on our elections and protect Americans’ voice in electing their leaders.”
Hagerty appeared to be referencing Hansjorg Wyss, a lefty Swiss billionaire whose eponymous Wyss Foundation’s associated Berger Action Fund has pumped millions into the massive liberal dark money Sixteen Thirty Fund — also known as Families Over Billionaires.
Families Over Billionaires used “paid media, rapid response, surrogate operations, and grassroots mobilization” to whip up opposition to key aspects of President Trump’s agenda, such as his One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Berger Action Fund has dumped more than $280 million into the Sixteen Thirty Fund, records show.
On Wednesday, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced a lawsuit against Wyss and six groups he’s backed over cash sent to six committees working to gin up support for ballot initiatives.
The bill, which Hagerty introduced last year as well, bars foreign nationals from contributing to efforts related to get-out-the-vote activities, state ballot initiatives, ballot harvesting, and/or public communications that elevate a political party.
Under the Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act, foreign nationals would be barred from donating to conduits that then use that money for activities related to American elections.
The measure also features safeguards aimed at stopping federal probes from being overly broad or demanding, including a mechanism that allows for petitions to squash subpoenas on the basis of bias.
Quote:An ex-Department of Justice employee was acquitted of assaulting a federal employee after he chucked a Subway sandwich at an agent who testified the hoagie “exploded all over” him, leaving him smelling “onions and mustard.”
Sean Charles Dunn, 37, was found not guilty of a misdemeanor assault charge by a jury in Washington, DC, federal court Thursday after he was captured slinging the sub at Customs and Border Patrol Agent Gregory Lairmore in a viral video on Aug. 10.
Dunn hugged his lawyers after the verdict was read.
“I’m relieved, and I’m looking forward to moving on with my life,” he later told reporters.
Dunn’s lawyers argued at trial that the sandwich-tossing incident was blown out of proportion by the feds and that it was a “harmless gesture” by Dunn, who was protesting President Trump’s surge of federal troops in the nation’s capital.
“It was a harmless gesture at the end of him exercising his right to speak out,” defense attorney Julia Gatto argued in opening statements. “He is overwhelmingly not guilty.”
The panelists heard Lairmoire testify he could feel the hoagie’s impact “through my ballistic vest.”
“It kind of exploded all over,” the agent told the jury. “You could smell the onions and the mustard.”
Lairmore also found onions strewn on his police radio, and his shirt was stained yellow from mustard, he claimed.
The incident became a joke with Lairmore and his co-workers, who gifted him a “felony footlong” patch and a plush sandwich, which the agent displayed “on top of my shelf in the office,” he told jurors.
Dunn, an international affairs specialist in the DOJ’s criminal division, was fired following the incident. He became a symbol of opposition to Trump’s use of federal agents to combat domestic crime.
So is the
judge allowing people to attack officers and patrollers with Subway sandwiches now? 
Quote:A federal judge criticized the Justice Department for allegedly being too quick to indict in high-profile cases on Wednesday.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick of the Eastern District of Virginia made the comments during a brief hearing regarding the case against former FBI Director James Comey.
"Right now, we are in a bit of a feeling of indict first, investigate later," Fitzpatrick said in the hearing, which lasted less than an hour.
Fitzpatrick questioned prosecutors about their handling of data acquired from a number of search warrants between 2019 and 2020, information which is now being used in Comey's case. The judge pressed prosecutors on whether they may have viewed information that may be protected by attorney-client privilege.
Fitzpatrick also noted the size of the trove of documents, saying Comey's defense team has been placed at a disadvantage with a limited time to view the set.
"The government has had this for five and a half years … this is an unfair burden the government is placing on the defense, but I don’t see another path forward," the judge said.
Comey's team has sought to have his case dismissed, arguing he is the victim of selective prosecution by President Donald Trump.
The DOJ denied in a 48-page filing that Trump’s September Truth Social post calling on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute prominent political adversaries, including Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James, had any influence on the decision to bring charges.
"These posts reflect the President’s view that the defendant has committed crimes that should be met with prosecution. They may even suggest that the President disfavors the defendant. But they are not direct evidence of a vindictive motive," prosecutors argued.
"The defendant spins a tale that requires leaps of logic and a big dose of cynicism, then he calls the President’s post a direct admission," they continued. "There is no direct admission of discriminatory purpose. To the contrary, the only direct admission from the President is that DOJ officials decided whether to prosecute, not him."
Quote:A federal grand jury has subpoenaed former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, among others as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, Fox News Digital has learned.
Sources told Fox News Digital Brennan; Strzok, the FBI’s former deputy assistant director of counterintelligence; and Page, a former FBI lawyer, were served with federal subpoenas on Friday.
Law enforcement sources told Fox News Digital that up to 30 subpoenas will be issued in the coming days relating to the investigation.
The grand jury is out of the Southern District of Florida.
U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones is supervising the probe.
Fox News Digital first reported in July that Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey were under investigation.
Comey has been charged with making false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
He has pleaded not guilty.
His trial is expected to begin in January.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz uncovered a series of anti-Trump text messages between Strzok and Page in 2018.
Both were assigned to work on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team in 2017.
Page served on Mueller’s team on a short detail, returning to the FBI’s Office of General Counsel in July 2017. Strzok, though, was removed from the team and was reassigned to the FBI’s Human Resources Division.
Prior to serving in the special counsel’s office, Strzok was a top agent in the bureau’s counterintelligence division.
Strzok is the FBI agent who, in July 2016, opened the FBI’s initial Russia investigation, which was nicknamed “Crossfire Hurricane” inside the bureau.
Page resigned from the bureau in May of 2018, and Strzok eventually was fired in August 2018.
Strzok was fired from the bureau in August 2018 after months of scrutiny regarding the anti-Trump text messages exchanged between himself and Page.
During congressional testimony in 2018, Strzok confirmed that he and Page were involved in an extramarital affair.
Quote:The charred black box of the UPS cargo aircraft that crashed in Kentucky, killing 12, was recovered Thursday as new dashcam video surfaced showing the dramatic moment the plane slammed into the ground in an enormous streak of fire.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released photos of the burnt black box that was salvaged from the Louisville crash site.
The black box contains the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder, key information that investigators need to figure out what caused the fatal wreck.
The NTSB has said it will take several days before investigators can get information out of the scorched box.
The images were released the same day that a dashcam video of the disaster went viral.
The horrifying footage — taken by a driver’s dashboard camera just a few feet away — shows the exact moment UPS Flight 2976 strikes the ground at an industrial area just south of Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport.
The plane immediately exploded into a fireball, leaving a streak of flames behind it as it crashed through a UPS warehouse.
A pickup truck that was parked outside one of the facilities could be seen quickly backing away and fleeing as men from inside the building ran for their lives.
The jet was carrying about 50,000 gallons of jet fuel when it took off from the airport minutes before its engine fell out and it crashed, leaving a massive fire in its wake.
Satellite images show the extent of the 300-foot-long black trail of scorched debris caused by the deadly crash.
Along with the UPS facility, two nearby businesses — Kentucky Petroleum Recycling and Grade A Auto Parts — were also damaged by the wreckage.
Local and state officials confirmed that among the 12 dead was a child who was with a parent at the car parts business.
The NTSB is currently investigating what caused the fire, which broke out on the plane’s wing, and why the engine fell off.
Quote:The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can order US passports indicate the holders’ sex at birth and remove designations for transgender and nonbinary individuals.
In an unsigned order, the court stayed a pair of lower court rulings that prevented the administration from enforcing President Trump’s Day One executive order that “the policy of the United States [is] to recognize two sexes, male and female.”
“Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth,” read the order, “in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment.”
The court’s three liberal justices, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor, indicated that they would have kept the lower court orders in place, with Jackson accusing her colleagues of “senseless sidestepping of the obvious equitable outcome.”
“The Government seeks to enforce a questionably legal new policy immediately, but it offers no evidence that it will suffer any harm if it is temporarily enjoined from doing so, while the plaintiffs will be subject to imminent, concrete injury if the policy goes into effect,” Jackson argued.
“The Court nonetheless fails to spill any ink considering the plaintiffs, opting instead to intervene in the Government’s favor without equitable justification, and in a manner that permits harm to be inflicted on the most vulnerable party,” she added.
Prior to Trump’s order, the State Department permitted passport applicants to select “M,” “F” or “X” as sex markers, and the selection was not required to correspond with the applicant’s biological sex.
Between 1992 and 2021, passport applicants were required to submit proof of gender-reassignment surgery or treatment for gender transition in order to select a sex marker different from at their birth.
The Biden administration scrapped that policy in 2021 and allowed applicants to self-select their sex markers, a move undone by the State Department shortly after Trump inked his executive order recognizing only two unchangeable sexes.
A federal district court blocked the Trump administration from imposing the new passport rules in June, and a panel of three Biden-appointed jurists on the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the temporary injunction in September.
Quote:The US fired a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) early Wednesday, after President Trump called for restarting the nuclear weapons tests.
Air Force Global Strike Command launched the GT 254 nuclear-capable missile from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, with the test going off without a hitch.
The unarmed rocket landed near the Army’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands.
The test, which was scheduled months ago, has garnered attention after Trump ordered the military last week to begin testing America’s nuclear weapons for the first time in more than three decades.
The Minuteman III missile arsenal is one leg of America’s doomsday nuclear deterrent — meant to be launched only in response to a nuclear attack by an enemy nation.
The US also maintains nuclear weapons that can be launched from submarines and from bombers.
Quote:The US military was spotted testing a new stealth nuclear weapon on a Cold War bomber last week — just as the Air Force was preparing to test its Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
An Air Force B-52H Stratofortress was pictured flying over California’s Owens Valley Oct. 29, with the snapshot revealing rockets underneath its wing that appeared to match renderings of the AGM-181A Long-Range Standoff nuclear cruise-missile, The Aviationist reported.
While the exact missile on board the jet could not be independently verified, the B-52 is the key long-range, heavy bomber that makes up one leg of America’s nuclear triad — which can launch doomsday weapons from the land, sea and air.
Aviation photographer Ian Recchio was in the Owens Valley on Oct. 29 when he caught a glimpse of the B-52H soaring at low altitudes, prompting him to snap a pic, he told the aviation outlet.
A zoom-in on the weapons aboard the jet resembled renderings published earlier this year of the new Long-Range Standoff rockets, the Air Force’s next-gen stealth nuclear cruise missiles, according to The Aviationist.
The missile — which is still being tested — is poised to replace the older AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missile and update America’s nuclear arsenal in the face of Russia and China’s growing atomic stockpile.
The sighting came just a week before the US fired its latest Minuteman doomsday missile early Wednesday, testing the second leg of America’s doomsday atomic deterrent — meant to be launched only in response to a nuclear attack by an enemy nation.
Along with the jets and intercontinental missiles, the US also maintains Trident nuclear missiles that can be launched from Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines.
The testing of America’s nuclear triad has garnered new importance after President Trump ordered the US to restart its atomic weapons testing last week.
The order came following Moscow’s latest testing of its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, which Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed as “invincible” and capable of hitting any target on the planet.
Quote:WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is expected to unveil sweeping changes to how the Pentagon purchases weapons on Friday, allowing the military to more rapidly acquire technology amid growing global threats.
Hegseth plans to address industry leaders, military commanders and officials at the National War College, where he will detail the transformation of the Defense Acquisition System in accordance with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in April, according to a draft memorandum seen by Reuters.
The reforms target what Pentagon officials call “unacceptably slow” procurement, which they blame on fragmented accountability and misaligned incentives that have hampered the military’s ability to field new technology quickly.
Legacy defense contractors like Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), and RTX (RTX.N), are expected to attend alongside newer defense entrants like Palantir Technologies (PLTR.O), Ursa Major Technologies, maritime drone maker Saronic and electronic warfare company Epirus.
The restructuring creates Portfolio Acquisition Executives who will have direct authority over major weapons programs to eliminate bureaucracy.
The acquisition chain will run directly from program managers to these portfolio executives to military service branch acquisition leaders, with no intermediate approval layers.
The reforms require at least two qualified sources for critical program content through initial production.
This is the latest in a series of reforms.
Earlier in the year, the Pentagon changed how it purchased software.
Commercial products will become the default acquisition approach, streamlining the solicitation process, the memo says.
The changes also call for time-indexed contract incentives that reward early delivery and penalize delays proportionally.
Quote:Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced another deadly US strike on a boat he said was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.
The attack Thursday killed three people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 69 people in at least 17 strikes.
Hegseth posted a 20-second video of the strike on social media and wrote, “As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their … poisoning of the American people stops.”
He claimed the vessel was “operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization.”
President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations.
The administration has not provided evidence or more details.
Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed a small group of congressional leaders Wednesday on the growing military campaign, providing one of the first high-level glimpses into the legal rationale and strategy behind the strikes.
Republicans emerged either staying silent or expressing confidence in the campaign.
Democrats said Congress needs more information on how the strikes are conducted and the legal justification for actions that critics say violate international and US law by killing alleged drug smugglers on the high seas.
On Thursday, Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Trump’s high-stakes campaign against President Nicolás Maduro.
Quote:WASHINGTON — A group of GOP senators is unveiling new legislation to automatically deport and permanently ban the entry of illegal immigrants who are caught defrauding welfare or other public benefits programs.
The Deporting Fraudsters Act, unveiled by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), would also clarify in federal law that any illegal immigrant convicted of defrauding the US government broadly is inadmissible and deportable.
“Americans who meet eligibility requirements should be the only ones to receive taxpayer-funded benefits,” Cruz said in a statement to The Post.
“Under the Biden administration’s border policies, abuse of these programs by illegal aliens increased. This bill will stem that abuse, and I urge my colleagues to pass this bill without delay.”
The measure modifies the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure the automatic deportation and inadmissibility of illegal immigrants caught defrauding and mooching off Uncle Sam.
Inadmissibility means that illegal immigrants would be blocked from obtaining visas and returning to the United States after being deported.
At the moment, the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn’t include welfare fraud as a deportable or inadmissible offense, but instead mentions “moral turpitude,” which the senators feel is too vague and has led to inconsistent penalties.
“Illegal aliens who falsify documents, steal identities, and cheat the system to gain public benefits meant for American citizens, including SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] or Medicaid, should unquestionably be deported,” Cornyn said.
The Trump administration has been cracking down on ways in which illegal immigrants fraudulently obtain official federal or state documents, such as commercial driver’s licenses (CDL).
Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have been accusing Democrats of fighting to give healthcare benefits to individuals who haven’t been given legal status in the US as part of their government shutdown demands.
While federal law bars illegal immigrants from getting federal healthcare benefits, Democrats have demanded that Republicans reverse Medicaid reforms passed earlier this year to block funding for the roughly 1.4 million migrants deemed “lawfully present” in the US but lack court-enforceable legal status.
Quote:Several people who fell ill after a suspicious package containing white powder was delivered to a US military base have been cleared by medics, officials said.
The sickened were taken to the base’s Malcolm Grove Medical Center after an individual opened the package at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Thursday, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN.
They were all “evaluated and treated by JBA medical personnel, determined to be in stable condition, and released yesterday,” officials said in an update Friday.
“As a precaution, the building and connecting building were evacuated, and a cordon was established around the area,” the statement added.
“Joint Base Andrews first responders were dispatched to the scene, determined there were no immediate threats, and normal operations have resumed.”
An initial field test from the hazmat team did not detect anything hazardous, but the investigation remains ongoing.
Joint Base Andrews is famously known as the home base for Air Force One, the aircraft used to transport the president of the United States.
Travelers brace for chaos after more than 800 flights canceled across US as FAA’s order takes effect
Quote:More than 800 flights had already been canceled across the United States first thing Friday as the Federal Aviation Administration’s unprecedented order to cut flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports was set to take effect.
Travelers were bracing for travel chaos at major airports across dozens of states – including all three New York City-area hubs – after the feds ordered airlines to slash 10% of their flights starting from Friday as the government shutdown rages on.
Airlines were already scrambling to adjust schedules and began scrapping flights in anticipation – as scores of travelers waited nervously to see if their planes would be canned or plagued by lengthy delays.
Over 815 flights had been called off nationwide and more than 550 were delayed as of 7 a.m. on Friday, according to FlightAware.
Delta Air Lines revealed it would be axing roughly 170 flights Friday, while American Airlines planned to cut 220 a day through Monday.
Southwest Airlines was set to scratch about 120 flights on Friday.
All three major New York hubs — John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International airports – are set to feel the effects.
Travelers at Newark were already hit with over three-hour flight delays late Thursday just hours before the order took effect.
“I’m devastated,” Grace Logeman, 40, said as her Frontier flight out of Newark to Atlanta was delayed several hours – ensuring missed a connecting flight to the Dominican Republic for her sister’s birthday.
“As far as the ongoing shutdown… it’s hurting me. I’m the one sitting here now.”
Other major high-traffic airports that’ll be impacted under the order include Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Washington, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:Ukraine has rolled out a video game-style rewards system for its drone pilots, giving them new weapons and upgrades for every successful kill against Russian invaders, according to a new report.
The “Army of Drones Bonus System” has skyrocketed in popularity among Ukraine’s UAV pilots as about 400 units are now taking part in the competition on who can take out the most Russian soldiers, Ukrainian officials told The Guardian.
More than 18,000 Russian fighters were killed in September by Ukrainian drone pilots participating in the program.
“It’s become truly popular among units,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told the outlet.
“All the defense forces know about this and there’s competition for the points, for getting these drones, electronic warfare systems and other things to help them in warfighting,” he added.
“The more infantry you kill, the more drones you get to kill more infantry. This is becoming kind of a self-reinforcing cycle.”
Under the system, which debuted last year, soldiers are awarded points for every Russian soldier they take out with a killer drone.
Originally, for every one Russian soldier slain the Ukrainian pilots were awarded six points, which they could then use on the Brave1 online weapons store to purchase high-tech drones.
The store, promoted by the Ukrainian government, also features a leaderboard with the names of the top pilots, with the recent aces touted as the 414th Infantry Brigade’s “Birds of the Magyar.”
Along with the leaderboard, Kyiv has also doubled the amount of points for each kill. The program now also rewards soldiers for killing an enemy drone operator with 25 points.
Ukrainian drone pilots also earn a whopping 120 points if they manage to capture a Russian soldier alive using the advanced UAVs.
The new points system has been attributed to the sudden surge of participants. Membership in the program is up more than 400% from August.
Fedorov credited the program for new innovations in the war, with point systems being rolled out for infantry fighters and reconnaissance teams.
Quote:A massive oil refinery responsible for 30% of Russia’s gas consumption was ignited during an assault by dozens of Ukrainian drones, Kyiv said.
The Lukoil oil refinery in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod Oblast was lit up during an overnight barrage Tuesday that saw more than 50 drones bombard the area, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Video circulating on war channels in Telegram shows the energy facility on fire, marking a blow to one of Moscow’s largest oil refineries, which have become a regular target to undermine Russia’s ability to wage war.
The massive Lukoil refinery accounts for about 30% of Russia’s petrol consumption, with the plant processing about 17 million tons of crude oil a year.
Ukrainian intelligence claimed the facility was providing petroleum products to fuel the Russian military.
While Russian officials have yet to make a statement on the attack, regional Gov. Gleb Nikitin said that at least 20 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over Kstovo on Tuesday, the town where the oil refinery is located.
The Kremlin’s oil fields have been a regular target for Kyiv in the past year, with dozens of refineries and key pipelines coming under attack from Ukrainian drones every month.
Ukraine’s Security Service estimates that it has made close to 160 successful strikes against oil facilities across Russia so far in 2025 — with the goal of crippling the Kremlin’s defense budget and causing pain for Russian consumers who have been able to ignore most of the war.
Security Service chief Vasyl Maliuk claimed last week that oil extraction and refining “make up around 90% of Russia’s defense budget,” according to the Kyiv Independent.
Along with the attack on the Lukoil refinery, Ukraine reported that the assault also left “considerable damage” at a petrochemical plant in Bashkortostan, located in central Russia.
Explosions were reported at the Sterlitamak chemical plant on Tuesday, with Mayor Emil Shaimardanov claiming that the blasts destroyed a water purification facility.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that the petrochemical plant produces the components for aviation kerosene, which is used for Russia’s aerial units.
Quote:Russia slaughtered two elderly civilians and their small dog who were evacuating their homes under a white flag on Monday in the latest “human safari” drone attack in eastern Ukraine.
The pair were walking down a country road in Kruglyakivka — a village in Kharkiv Oblast south of Kupiansk, where Moscow has recently advanced, according to the DC-based Institute for the Study of War, when they were targeted in back-to-back drone attacks, according to video released by Ukraine.
Forced from their homes after nearly four years of war, the two civilians carried with them a white flag indicating that they were not combatants – meaning that killing them could be considered a war crime.
In the video, an explosive drone lies in wait as the civilians make their way out of the area with a small black and white dog leading the way.
Suddenly, the drone – piloted by Russians with a video feed of the civilian targets – pops out of its hiding spot in the long grass along the roadside, flying directly into the first person and the dog.
The drone then explodes in a massive blast, launching the flag out of the victim’s hands and into a nearby field. As the thick, black smoke clears, the dog violently twitches next to its slain owner, bleeding out in the road.
Witnessing the horror, the second person – an elderly man – appears to understand what is coming for him next.
He stops in his tracks and makes the sign of the cross – a Catholic prayer gesture. Moments later, a second drone zooms into view and explodes, leaving the old man dead at the side of the road.
“Russian troops have once again shown their true face of terror and inhuman cruelty by conducting a ‘false flag operation,’” according to the communications department of the 77th Separate Airmobile Dnipro Brigade, 7th Corps of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Russia sought to blame Ukraine for the slaughter.
“The enemy filmed this attack themselves with the aim of further spreading the footage in propaganda materials and falsely accusing the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This fact indicates a systematic practice of disinformation and an attempt to shift the blame for war crimes onto our side,” the statement continued.
Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump said Friday that he may still meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest while hosting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House.
“There’s always a chance — very good chance,” Trump told reporters of a possible Putin summit, after scrapping the planned meetup last month over fears that there wouldn’t be progress toward ending Putin’s nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine.
Moments later, Trump said, “I’d like to keep it in Hungary, Budapest — that meeting, it turned out I didn’t want to do that meeting because I didn’t think anything was going to be happening of significance. But if we have it, I’d like to do it in Budapest, yeah.”
Democrats had criticized the choice of venue for Trump’s second summit with Putin, following an August meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, pointing out that Ukraine agreed in the same city in 1994 to give up its post-Soviet nuclear weapons in exchange for Russia agreeing to respect the country’s borders.
“Victor, he understands Putin and knows him very well… Victor feels we’re going to get that war ended in the not too distant future,” Trump said of the Hungarian leader, who is one of the least pro-Ukraine leaders of the NATO nations.
“The only pro-peace government is the United States government and small Hungary in Europe,” Orban said.
“All the other governments prefer to continue the war, because many of them think that Ukraine can win on the frontline, which is a misunderstanding of the situation.”
Later, Orban said it would be a “miracle” for Ukraine to prevail.
Orban said he expected to “negotiate” with Trump to gain an exemption from US sanctions on Russian oil and natural gas companies— and afterwards said he gained one.
The Hungarian leader said, however, that he would seek “big investments” to expand a Croatian oil pipeline to negate the need for Russian fuel.
Quote:President Trump’s claims that Russia and China are secretly testing nuclear weapons are correct, according to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton.
“@realDonaldTrump is right,” Ratcliffe wrote on X Monday, sharing intelligence assessments dating back to the president’s first term, suggesting Russia and China were not adhering to a moratorium on the testing of nuclear explosives.
Cotton (R-Ark.), in a subsequent X post, provided a bit more detail about what specifically the US adversaries have been testing after conferring with the spy chief.
“After consultations with Director Ratcliffe and his team, they have confirmed to me that the CIA assesses that both Russia and China have conducted super-critical nuclear weapons tests in excess of the U.S. zero-yield standard,” the senator wrote.
“These tests are not historic and are part of their nuclear modernization programs,” he added.
Trump announced last week that he had ordered the Pentagon to “immediately” begin testing nuclear weapons for the first time in more than three decades to counter the growing arsenals and alleged testing programs of Russia and China.
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last Wednesday. “That process will begin immediately.”
Trump elaborated in an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday.
“The testing is because Russia announced that they were doing a test. If you notice, North Korea is testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We’re the only country that doesn’t test, and I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test,” the president said.
When CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell pushed back, Trump asserted: “Russia is testing nuclear weapons, and China is testing them too, you just don’t know about it.”
The US has not tested a nuclear explosive since 1992, observing a voluntary moratorium on the practice.
The last US nuclear test was an underground detonation that took place at the US military’s Nevada Test Site.
Trump has not specified what type of testing – above or underground – the military might carry out or how soon it could take place.
Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday his country will draw up plans to conduct nuclear tests after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would do the same last week.
The Kremlin leader said he has asked relevant departments to "submit coordinated proposals regarding the possible commencement of work to prepare for nuclear weapons testing."
"Russia has always strictly adhered and continues to adhere to its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), and we have no plans to deviate from these commitments," Putin said at a meeting of the Russian national security council.
The treaty was signed but never ratified by the U.S.
If the U.S. or other signatories of the treaty begin nuclear testing, "Russia would also have to take appropriate and proportionate responsive measures," Putin added.
In the past week, Trump has both announced the U.S. will reignite nuclear testing and suggested he is working on a deal to denuclearize with Russia and China.
"We redid our nuclear — we're the number one nuclear power, which I hate to admit, because it's so horrible," Trump said during a speech at the American Business Forum in Miami.
"Russia's second. China's a distant third, but they'll catch us within four or five years," he added. "We're maybe working on a plan to denuclearize, the three of us. We'll see if that works."
Last week, Trump announced on Truth Social, "because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately."
The War Department handles the testing of nuclear-capable weapons, while the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would be responsible for testing explosives.
Some 1400 workers, 80% of the NNSA, are currently on furlough due to the government shutdown.
The U.S. regularly tests nuclear-capable vehicles, missiles and rockets, but the U.S. has not conducted an explosive nuclear test since 1992. Russia’s last known test was in 1990.
Russia last week did claim to test two delivery vehicles: an undersea torpedo known as Poseidon and a nuclear-powered cruise missile.
The U.S. conducted a nuclear-capable weapon test on Wednesday, launching the intercontinental ballistic missile Minuteman III into the air from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It landed 4,200 miles away at a U.S. test site in the Marshall Islands.
Quote:Russia has capacity for a limited attack against NATO territory at any time but a decision to act would depend on the Western allies’ posture, a top German military official warned.
“If you look at Russia’s current capabilities and combat power, Russia could kick off a small-scale attack against NATO territory as early as tomorrow,” Lieutenant General Alexander Sollfrank told Reuters in an interview.
“Small, quick, regionally limited, nothing big – Russia is too tied down in Ukraine for that.”
Sollfrank, who heads Germany’s joint operations command and oversees defense planning, also echoed NATO warnings that Russia could potentially mount a large-scale assault on the 32-member alliance as early as 2029 if its armament efforts persist.
President Vladimir Putin denies aggressive intentions, saying Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine was defense against NATO’s own expansionist ambitions against Russia.
Speaking at his headquarters, a sprawling barracks in the north of Berlin, Sollfrank said that despite setbacks in Ukraine, Russia’s air force retains substantial combat strength, and its nuclear and missile forces remain unaffected.
And while the Black Sea Fleet has suffered significant losses, other Russian fleets have not been reduced, he said.
“The ground forces are suffering losses, but Russia says it aims to boost its total troop numbers to 1.5 million soldiers.
“And Russia has enough main battle tanks to make a limited attack conceivable as early as tomorrow,” Sollfrank added, without saying such an attack was currently being planned.
Sollfrank has led the joint operations command since its establishment in 2024, a move that reflected a major shift away from expeditionary missions such as in Afghanistan or Mali back towards the defense of NATO territory.
Before taking over his current job, Sollfrank ran NATO’s logistics command JSEC in the southern German town of Ulm.
EUROPE
Quote:It was a shining family secret for more than 100 years.
Descendants of Austria’s royal family have revealed that a missing treasure, a large diamond dating back to the House of Medici whose mysterious whereabouts inspired several movies and books, has actually been kept safe in secret since 1918.
The Habsburg kin kept mum about the historic Florentine Diamond for decades, but broke their vow of silence to divulge that the jewel was always hidden inside their vault in Canada, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen, 64, grandson of fleeing Emperor Charles I, said that as his family’s dynasty came to an end at the conclusion of World War I, his grandfather fled the nation with the royal jewels secretly in tow.
Among the treasures was the 137-carat Florentine Diamond, a pear-shaped jewel that was originally owned by the Medici family, the rulers of Florence.
It had long been speculated that the diamond had been stolen, recut and lost forever, with several films and novels born from the mystery since the jewel vanished in 1918.
Habsburg-Lothringen, however, revealed that the family hid the diamond from the public eye, per Charles’ wife, Empress Zita, who carried it to Canada in a cardboard suitcase and only revealed its location to her sons, Robert and Rodolphe.
The two brothers were instructed not to disclose the diamond’s location for 100 years, instructions that they passed on to their own sons before they passed away, the Habsburgs told the Times.
“The less people know about it, the bigger the security,” Habsburg-Lothringen said. “Over the years, I am sure all of us has been asked at one time or another [about the diamond].”
“For me, I was not even aware of the existence of the diamond until recently, so it was easy to answer those questions honestly,” he added.
It was Robert and Rodolphe’s sons who informed Habsburg-Lothringen about the diamond’s location, with the family choosing to break their silence now that 100 years have passed.
ASIA
Quote:Kazakhstan is expected to join the Abraham Accords, officials confirmed to Fox News on Thursday.
The Abraham Accords, first signed in 2020, currently include three countries that have formalized normalization agreements with Israel: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
Sudan signed a U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords declaration in January 2021 but efforts to formalize diplomatic relations with Israel have since been derailed by internal political unrest.
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier that he would return to Washington, D.C., on Thursday night to announce the addition of another country to the accords. Witkoff shared the update during his remarks at the America Business Forum in Miami.
"This is going to show that the Abraham Accords is a club that many countries want to be a member of and it will be a step for turning the page on the war in Gaza and moving forward toward more peace and cooperation in the region," a U.S. official told Axios.
The outlet also reported that Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is expected to make the announcement during a meeting with President Donald Trump.
Trump had recently signaled that more nations may soon be joining the Abraham Accords, with Syria and Saudi Arabia at the forefront of efforts to expand the historic Israel-Arab normalization pact.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to meet with Trump at the White House next week, followed by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman on Nov. 18.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
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My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
