(Worthy Insights) – Qatar has decided to end its role as mediator between Israel and Hamas amid long-stalled negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, a diplomat familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Saturday.

The diplomat, who is not American, also confirmed Friday’s revelation by the US that Doha told Hamas officials late last month to leave the country, but appeared to deny that the decision was taken in connection with a request from the Biden administration.

Later on Saturday, Qatar officially confirmed its decision to halt mediation efforts, but framed the decision as reversible, if the parties demonstrate willingness to re-engage. The foreign ministry made a point of claiming that “media reports” on the topic — and specifically those on Qatar’s decision to close the Hamas office in Doha — are “inaccurate.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – More internal government communications will soon be revealed in a high-profile censorship case that already hit the U.S. Supreme Court, thanks to a Friday court ruling in Missouri v. Biden. The historic free speech case uncovered that federal officials, all the way up to President Joe Biden, pressured social media companies to remove specific posts and discussion terms, systemically slanting society in favor of Democrats by controlling public discussions.

After the Supreme Court ruled in June that the plaintiffs didn’t meet the higher legal standard for a preliminary injunction against government officials, as the case moved forward, the case went back to a Louisiana district court, where it originated. The judge in that case, Terry Doughty, on Friday allowed the plaintiffs to obtain more public records, which they say will help establish that federal officials specifically targeted their speech on social media monopolies such as Facebook, Google, and X.

“Because we find that Plaintiffs have demonstrated the necessity of jurisdictional discovery, and because their proposed discovery does not appear to be a jurisdictional fishing expedition—Plaintiffs shall have the opportunity to conduct such discovery,” Doughty wrote in his Nov. 8 ruling. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Taiwan has received its first batch of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the United States, Taipei’s defense ministry said Wednesday, as the island races to boost its defenses against a potential Chinese attack.

Washington has long been Taipei’s most important ally and biggest arms supplier — angering Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory.

In the past five decades, the United States has sold Taiwan billions of dollars worth of military equipment and ammunition, including F-16 fighter jets and warships. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – US President-elect Donald Trump ruled out on Saturday re-appointing two senior figures from his first administration, ex-secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.

Writing on his Truth Social social network, Trump said he “will not be inviting” either figure to join his administration as speculation swirls about the identity of his new team.

Pompeo had outlined a hawkish plan for Ukraine in July involving more weapons transfers and tough action against Russia’s energy sector which analysts noted on Saturday was at odds with Trump’s campaign statements. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – An overwhelming majority of the German parliament’s lower house voted on Thursday in favor of a resolution that calls for excluding boycotters of Israel from public funding and acknowledges the link between Muslim immigration and antisemitism.

The motion received the support of all the parties of Germany’s left-leaning ruling coalition, which has 415 out of 733 seats in the Bundestag. The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which helped co-author the resolution, added its 196 seats. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) also supported the resolution with its 76 seats, meaning it had the support of 93% of the Bundestag.

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The Left party, which has 28 seats, abstained during the vote, and the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, which has 10 seats, was the only political party that voted against the resolution, according to the Tagesschau news site. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have unveiled a series of videos purportedly showing the interrogation and torture of Palestinian civilians by Hamas.

This revelation comes amid ongoing tensions in Gaza, where 101 hostages remain unaccounted for, more than 400 days after a significant escalation of violence.

The footage, which spans thousands of hours, was reportedly obtained from surveillance cameras installed between 2018 and 2020. It was discovered during a recent IDF raid on a Hamas facility located in the Jabaliya refugee camp. The videos depict disturbing scenes of detainees restrained with chains, their heads covered, and one clip showing a man in visible distress. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – A federal judge has overturned Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, leaning on recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that strictly interpret the Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms.

U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn’s said his Friday decision applied universally, not just to the lawsuit’s plaintiffs.

The Protect Illinois Communities Act, signed into law in January 2023 by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, took effect Jan. 1. It bans AR-15 rifles and similar guns, large-capacity magazines and an assortment of attachments largely in response to the 2022 Independence Day shooting at a parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – The Defense Ministry signed a $5.2 billion agreement with Boeing on Wednesday to purchase 25 advanced F-15IA fighter jets, funded through U.S. military aid.

The deal includes an option for 25 additional jets in the future. According to the ministry, jet deliveries will begin in 2031, with 4–6 planes arriving annually.

The authorization was signed by Defense Ministry Director-General Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir during a visit to the U.S. last month, following negotiations led by Israel’s procurement delegation and the Israeli Air Force. [ Source: Ynet News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – As fighting continues in Gaza with no ceasefire deal in sight, many wonder about the future of the region.

After studying similar situations over the past 100 years, one group of Israeli lawyers has a plan they believe is critical for Israel’s security.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is insisting Hamas be destroyed by the end of the war. Others believe the priority is a peace deal, and that Gaza can be dealt with later. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Justice Department officials have been evaluating how to wind down the two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office to comply with long-standing department policy that a sitting president can’t be prosecuted, two people familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

The latest discussions stand in contrast with the pre-election legal posture of special counsel Jack Smith, who in recent weeks took significant steps in the election interference case against Trump without regard to the electoral calendar.

But the sources say DOJ officials have come to grips with the fact that no trial is possible anytime soon in either the Jan. 6 case or the classified documents matter — both of which are mired in legal issues that would likely prompt an appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, even if Trump had lost the election. [ Source: NBC News (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – In the early hours of Wednesday morning, legacy news networks were already sliding toward 2016 levels of melting down about the increasingly definite prospect of a presidential victory by Donald J. Trump. For them, Harris’ stinging defeat is personal — because it’s just as much a defeat for them as it is for her.

The corporate media industrial complex has spent Donald Trump’s entire political career trying to destroy him. Hand-in-hand with triple-letter government agencies and Democrats, they ran a hoax painting Trump as a Russian stooge based on ridiculous rumors commissioned by his opponent’s campaign in 2016. They continued to spread the lie for the duration of his presidency, awarding each other Pulitzers for it. And they’ve only ramped up their efforts since then.

The problem they’re reckoning with tonight is this: those efforts didn’t work. They’re no longer able to control Americans by controlling their information intake, because their credibility is farther deep-sixed than the Clinton family’s enemies list. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Ten states across the country voted on ballot measures Tuesday as pro-choice forces sought to overturn pro-life protections and permanently enshrine abortion rights in state constitutions – in some cases allowing abortions to be performed up until birth.

In the end, some of the most closely watched abortion amendments passed in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri, and Montana, but were voted down in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, told CBN News the Florida measure would have allowed abortions through the third trimester. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – The official response from Xi Jinping’s communist China to President-elect Trump’s victory was formulaic.

“Our policy towards the U.S. is consistent,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “We will continue to view and handle China-U.S. relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation.”

National Taiwan University Department of Philosophy professor Yuan Juzheng returned to Taiwan from a trip to China Monday, where, he noted, nearly everyone he met with wanted to talk about the U.S. election. He told Fox News Digital a Trump win is a “worst-case scenario” for Beijing. China experts, as well as Chinese citizens online, believe the next four years under President-elect Trump will almost certainly worsen already strained ties. [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Faith leaders are saying Wednesday that they pray President-elect Donald Trump “will look to God every day for His guidance and wisdom” following his victory over Kamala Harris.

In his victory speech early this morning, Trump, referencing the two assassination attempts against him in Pennsylvania and Florida, said “many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason.

“And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness. And now we are going to fulfill that mission together,” Trump continued. “We’re going to fulfill that mission. The task before us will not be easy, but I will bring every ounce of energy, spirit, and fighting that I have in my soul to the job that you’ve entrusted to me.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

(Worthy Insights) – Abortion amendments that were a major focus of Democratic campaigns this cycle saw mixed results Tuesday with one of the prime targets, Florida, narrowly rejecting a ballot measure that would have overturned the state’s six week abortion ban.

The Florida result, the first of election night, fell short of the required 60% threshold in the increasingly Republican state, dooming the initiative and handing another victory to Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and the pro-life movement.

The rejection of the amendment followed GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s 13-point victory, improving on his statewide performance in 2020. [ Source (Read More…) ]