An ‘estimated 40% of Hamas tunnels’ still remaining, Israeli expert tells TML

(Worthy Insights) – Israeli forces are continuing to find weapons depots to encounter Hamas terrorists and tunnels, in a testament to the continuance of Hamas’ presence in the territory.

“There is an estimated 40% of the tunnels still remaining, hundreds of kilometers of tunnels the Israeli intelligence was not aware of,” said Yoni Ben Menachem, an expert of Middle Eastern affairs from Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told The Media Line. “There are still very long tunnels that Israel has yet to have located, some of them with hostages inside. This requires a very big operation and a massive amount of explosives that Israel currently does not possess.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Major winter storm covers 13 states, breaking snowfall records as it moves east

(Worthy Insights) – A major winter storm that broke snowfall records in the Midwest is now hitting the mid-Atlantic, bringing with it a heavy mix of snow and ice and canceling more than 1,400 flights across the U.S.

The heaviest snow and ice is moving into the Appalachians and the East Coast’s Interstate 95 corridor on Monday, with states of emergency in effect in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.

A winter storm warning was issued for Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, where 8 to 12 inches of snow is possible. If D.C. gets more than 8.3 inches, it would be the biggest snowstorm for the city since 2016. [ Source (Read More…) ]

Israel Unveils 20-Qubit Quantum Computer in Major Technology Milestone

(Worthy Insights) – Israel announced the launch of its first domestically developed quantum computer on Monday, describing it as a crucial step toward advancing defense and civilian technology. The 20-qubit system was created through collaboration between Israel Aerospace Industries, the Israel Innovation Authority, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The institutions said in a joint statement that the project established a superconductor-based quantum computing infrastructure, along with tools for further development and integration. The system’s applications will be developed at Quantum QHIPU’s laboratory at the Hebrew University, which will focus on practical uses such as simulations, design, and collaborations with global research institutes and private companies.

Israel’s latest achievement follows earlier strides in quantum technology. In 2022, the Weizmann Institute of Science unveiled the country’s first quantum computer, a smaller 5-qubit model primarily used for academic research. The new system marks significant progress for Israel, which is positioning itself as a leader in emerging quantum technologies. [ Source: The Media Line (Read More…) ]

New Report Shreds the Hamas-Provided Casualty Numbers That Mainstream Media Won’t Question

(Worthy Insights) – A new report by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) reveals what has been obvious all along: The death toll provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza does not add up. Despite the Palestinian casualty figures being disputed by Israel, this hasn’t stopped most mainstream media from treating them with barely deserved credibility. The HJS report analyzed a collection of 1,378 articles published by leading English-language newspapers and media outlets, specifically The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, and the Australian ABC.

The findings are staggering:

  • 84% of the publications analyzed failed to make the critical distinction in total numbers between combatant deaths and civilian deaths.   
  • In 19% of the publications analyzed, the numbers of fatalities provided by Hamas-run institutions were used without citing any source, thereby suggesting those figures were undisputed.  
  • A mere 5% of outlets cited the casualty statistics provided by Israel; 98% cited figures by the Hamas-run MoH. The Israeli figures were questioned in half of the articles that cited them, whereas the Hamas figures were often taken at face value. 
  • Men were recorded in fatality lists as female when the same individual was reported as a male in the Palestinian Population Registry. Similarly, the ages of several fatalities have been found to be inaccurate – men in their twenties or thirties are reported as children and babies, skewing the reported number of women and children killed. 
  • There is a disproportionate number of young men of fighting age listed among the casualties. There is no differentiation between civilians and Hamas combatants. 
  • The figures reported by the Hamas-run MoH include those who died of natural causes.[ Source (Read More…) ]

Ancient temple dedicated to Zeus unearthed in Egypt

(Worthy Insights) – Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered the remains of an ancient temple built to honor Zeus-Kasios, a deity sporting the features of both Zeus and the weather-god Kasios, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Monday (April 25).

The ruins were unearthed at the Tell el-Farama archaeological site on the northwestern Sinai Peninsula. In Greco-Roman times (332 B.C. to A.D. 395), this area was known as the city and harbor of Pelusium, which sat on the far eastern mouth of the Nile River. Due to its strategic location, people used Pelusium for various functions, including as a fortress during the time of the Egyptian pharaohs; and artifacts dating to the Graeco-Roman, Byzantine, Christian and Islamic periods suggest it was in use in various ways then as well, according to a 2010 paper presented at a the Sinai International Conference for Geology and Development.

The archaeological team zeroed in on the temple after excavating around the remains of two pink granite columns lying on the ground’s surface, Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in the statement. These columns once formed the temple’s front gate, but collapsed in ancient times when a mighty earthquake rocked the city. [ Source (Read More…) ]

ABC agrees to give $15 million to Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle defamation lawsuit

(Worthy Insights) – ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.

According to settlement documents made public Saturday, ABC will also post a note on its website expressing regret over the claim in a March 10 segment on Stephanopoulos’ “This Week” program and pay $1 million in legal fees to Trump’s lawyer.

In a statement, ABC News said: “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Biden Commutes 1,500 Sentences in One Day, Shattering Record

(Worthy Insights) – President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals and pardoned another 39, breaking the record for the largest grant of clemency in a single day, the White House announced on Thursday.

The White House said those granted clemency “have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer.” Most of the individuals who were issued commutations—which leaves a guilty verdict intact but lessens some or all punishments—had been placed in home confinement during COVID-19 under the CARES Act. The 39 pardoned individuals were convicted of nonviolent crimes, including drug offenses.

“As the President has said, the United States is a nation of second chances,” the White House said in a statement. “The President recognizes how the clemency power can advance equal justice under law and remedy harms caused by practices of the past.” [ Source: Washington Free Beacon (Read More…) ]

Days After Trump’s Victory, Biden-Harris Admin Granted Iran $10 Billion in Sanctions Relief, Congressional Notice Shows

(Worthy Insights) – The Biden-Harris administration waived sanctions on Iran three days after the November election, providing Tehran access upward of $10 billion in once-frozen funds, according to a copy of the non-public order transmitted to Congress and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined on November 8 that “it is in the national security interest of the United States” to waive mandatory economic sanctions that bar Iraq from transferring upward of $10 billion to Iran in electricity import payments.

The Biden-Harris administration has renewed the waiver repeatedly over the objections of congressional Republicans, who warned that the cash helped fuel terrorism and Iran’s war against Israel. In one case, the administration signed off on the sanctions relief one month after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. [ Source (Read More…) ]

In a War Against China, the US Runs Out of Missiles in a Matter of Weeks, House Committee Finds

(Worthy Insights) – In a war with China, the United States would expend its stock of advanced missiles and bombs in less than a month—and run out of some critical weapons in a matter of days, according to a wargames simulation conducted by the House Select Committee on China.

America’s cache of long-range antiship missiles, critical to defending Taiwan in a sea battle in the case of a Chinese invasion, will run dry within three to seven days, according to the committee’s findings. Within a month, meanwhile, the United States would run out of long-range cruise missiles. Taiwan’s own supply of mid-range antiship missiles would also be expended within a week of battle.

The findings are raising alarm bells among lawmakers, who worry America’s defense industrial base is woefully unprepared to deliver the arms needed once China makes good on its repeated threats to invade Taiwan. With China’s military rapidly growing, U.S. supply lines remain strained amid conflicts in the Middle East and other geopolitical hotspots. [ Source (Read More…) ]

Feds Use Bank Loophole To Surveil Americans’ Financial Data Without Warrants, House Judiciary Says

(Worthy Insights) – Federal law enforcement exploited the Suspicious Activity Report system to access and surveil Americans’ private financial data without warrants or probable cause, according to a report from the House Judiciary Committee.

The FBI “manipulated” the SAR filing process by pressuring banks to file reports on individuals the FBI deems “suspicious,” making financial institutions “de facto arms of law enforcement,” the interim report released Friday said. SARs do not require any legal process, granting officials “virtually unchecked access” to “confidential and highly sensitive information.”

The Republican-led oversight committee accused the FBI of circumventing the Bank Secrecy Act, which specifies that it is a bank’s responsibility to file a SAR when it identifies a “suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Bible Sales Explode, Beat Average Book Sales Growth by Whopping 2,100 Percent

(Worthy Insights) – New sales of the “Good Book,” the Bible, grew 21 times more than new book sales overall this year.

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Bible sales are up 22% in the U.S. through the end of October, compared with the same period last year, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. By contrast, total U.S. print book sales were up less than 1% in that period.”

If we compare those numbers to each other, the Bible outpaced the average of those sales by 21 times, or a staggering 2,100 percent. [ Source: Western Journal (Read More…) ]

Satanic Temple Offering Religious Class to Ohio Elementary Children

(Worthy Insights) – Not to be outdone by Christians, a group of self-described “non-theistic satanists” are offering elementary-age students at a public school in Ohio the chance to participate in a class hosted by The Satanic Temple.

The program, named “Hellion Academy of Independent Learning,” or “HAIL” for short, will be offered to children at Edgewood Elementary School in the Marysville School District, WSYX-TV reported.

Edgewood is not the first school to offer the class as part of its release time religious instruction program. An elementary school in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, is offering the HAIL program, too. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

‘This Could Redraw the Map of the Middle East’: How Assad’s Struggles in Syria Reflect a Weakened Iran

(Worthy Insights) – With Hezbollah decimated, Iran significantly weakened, and Russia preoccupied with its war on Ukraine, Syrian opposition forces enjoyed ripe conditions for the surprise offensive they launched last week. Those forces are closer than ever to deposing dictator Bashar al-Assad, experts told the Washington Free Beacon, emphasizing the Iranian regime’s ever-loosening grip on the Middle East.

The reignited Syrian war, which has dragged on for 13 years, will pose fresh challenges for the incoming Trump administration as it grapples with a Middle East already inflamed by a year of war between Israel and Iran-backed forces across the region. It is this very conflict, regional analysts and former U.S. national security officials say, that set the stage for Syria’s armed rebel forces to reclaim Aleppo, a key stronghold, and set their sites on the capital city, Damascus.

The key player in the coming battle for control of Syria is Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is backing anti-Assad forces and likely played a role in initiating their stunning offensive. These forces are primarily composed of Islamist militias controlled by Hayʼat Tahrir ash-Sham, a U.S.-designated terror group. On the other side is Assad, a brutal dictator who relies on support from Iran and Russia. [ Source (Read More…) ]

Attacks in Aleppo ‘ostensibly good news for Israel,’ JISS senior research fellow says

(Worthy Insights) – The Islamist attack on Aleppo is “ostensibly good news for Israel,” Daniel Rakov, a senior research fellow for the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said in a Saturday post to X/Twitter.

Rakov is known in the JISS for being an expert on Russian policy in the Middle East and is also a reserve lieutenant-colonel in the IDF. In his post on X, he said that “the fall of northern Syria to the rebels damages the infrastructure of the Iranians and Hezbollah there and will make it difficult for them to work to restore Hezbollah.”

Syrian President Bashar “Assad will be more defensive, and as he fights for the survival of his regime, ostensibly helping Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon are of secondary interest,” Rakov said, implying that Israeli freedom of action in Syria will likely expand. [ Source (Read More…) ]

Sanhedrin Announces Ruling: All Jews Worldwide Must Come Home to Israel Immediately

(Worthy Insights) – The nascent Sanhedrin in Jerusalem has made an official ruling, calling on Jews outside of Israel to come home.

“We are the beis din (rabbinic court) of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), and we have poskened (officially ruled) that all Jews around the world have an obligation and chiyuv (religious requirement) right now to do whatever is in your power, to come to Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel), and that is the mitzvah of Torah (Biblical requirement). And that is the mitzvah of today, especially because of what’s happening around the world and the dangers that all the Jews are in around the world. It’s necessary now more than ever to come to Eretz Yisrael, and we as a beis din have poskened that all the Jews have to come as soon as they can back to eretz Yisrael.”

The Sanhedrin’s ruling was intended for Jews worldwide, so it was recorded in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, French, and Spanish.

UN adviser fired over refusal to label Gaza war as genocide, WSJ argues

(Worthy Insights) – An op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal editorial board titled “The UN’s anti-Israel ‘genocide’ purge” claims the United Nations’ decision not to renew Alice Wairimu Nderitu’s contract as Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide stems directly from her refusal to characterize Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide.

“The United Nations long ago lost credibility as a moral arbiter, but its assault on Israel is hitting a new low,” the op-ed began.

The editorial board quotes her UN biography, which describes her as a “recognized voice in the field of peacebuilding and violence prevention.” She has served since 2020 and is being dismissed “because she has stood firm in her belief that Israel’s war with Hamas isn’t genocide.” They note that her position has put her at odds with “the anti-Israel cabal at the UN.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Anti-Israel Groups Plan Coordinated Protests in ‘Global Escalation’ Over Thanksgiving Holiday

(Worthy Insights) – A coalition of radical anti-Israel groups is planning a “global escalation” in dozens of cities across the United States throughout the Thanksgiving holiday season.

The “Global Escalation” coalition describes itself as “a collective effort from people who share the understanding that we must urgently step up our actions to stop this genocide.” It directs activists to protest in their area and provides resources on how to organize and improve their security strategies. Some of the cities listed include New York, Chicago, Sacramento, Denver, and Charleston.

“We reject a world where genocide and war crimes go unpunished. In 3 days, for 3 days, withdraw from participating in the global economy to reject this new ‘normal,’” the coalition posted Sunday on Instagram. “Disrupt any and all entities that allow or enable genocide. Disrupt the finances fuelling or profiting from genocide.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Elon Musk, Ramaswamy signal intention to defund Planned Parenthood

(Worthy Insights) – The leaders of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency have indicated that funding for the nation’s largest abortion provider may be on the chopping block as they seek to make drastic reductions to government spending.

Billionaire Elon Musk and former 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy discussed their plans as Trump put them in charge of the new department in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal published Wednesday.

Stressing that they intend to serve as “outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees,” Musk and Ramaswamy highlighted their plans to assist “the Trump transition team to identify and hire a lean team of small-government crusaders, including some of the sharpest technical and legal minds in America.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Justin Trudeau Vows to Arrest Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu if He Sets Foot on Canadian Soil

(Worthy Insights) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot on Canadian soil.

Earlier in the day, the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, saying in a news release regarding the war in Gaza, “[T]here are reasonable grounds to believe that each has committed the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as a direct perpetrator, acting jointly with others.

“The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that they are each responsible for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilians as a superior.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Will Israel apply martial law in Gaza?

(Worthy Insights) – Israel appears to be on its way to realizing the idea of ​​a military administration in the Gaza Strip. In view of actions on the ground, it seems that Israel has increased its activity toward implementation of the move. Netanyahu’s senior coalition members, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have already expressed their opinion on the matter countless times, but now things seem to be getting a push on the ground. Ynet has learned that, in the last few days, the security establishment is beginning to actively work with external companies that will handle all humanitarian aid issues in the Gaza Strip, under Israeli supervision.

This is the realization on the ground of plans that previously were only on paper. In addition, the IDF has deepened its seizure of territory in the Gaza Strip, expanding the axes it holds and establishing military outposts seemingly in order to seize a wide area and apply military administration in practice in the Gaza Strip. In recent days, lively discussions have been held on the issue between the various parties, including new Defense Minister Israel Katz, senior members of the defense establishment and other senior ministers, in order to promote the policy. [ Source (Read More…) ]