(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…) ]