A week after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, Elon Musk said his political action committee would “play a significant role in primaries.” The following week, the billionaire responded to a report that he might fund challengers to GOP House members who don’t support Trump’s nominees. “How else? There is no other way,” Musk wrote on X, which he rebranded after purchasing Twitter and moving to boost conservative voices, including his own. And during his recent visit to Capitol Hill, Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy delivered a warning to Republicans who don’t go along with their plans to slash spending as part of Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency.

The Biden administration said Tuesday it will recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the U.S. would work with groups in Syria and regional partners to ensure that the transition from President Bashar Assad’s deposed government runs smoothly. He was not specific about which groups the U.S. would work with, but the State Department has not ruled out talks with the main Syrian rebel group despite its designation as a terrorist organization.

OpenAI has publicly released its new artificial intelligence video generator Sora but the company won’t let most users depict people as it monitors for patterns of misuse. Users of a premium version of OpenAI’s flagship product ChatGPT can now use Sora to instantly create AI-generated videos based on written commands. Among the highlighted examples are high-quality video clips of sumo-wrestling bears and a cat sipping coffee. But only a small set of invited testers can use Sora to make videos of humans as OpenAI works to “address concerns around misappropriation of likeness and deepfakes,” the company said in a blog post.

Seventy-seven Nobel laureates have signed a letter urging the Senate to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), citing his lack of relevant experience and controversial public health positions. The letter includes signatures from laureates in medicine, chemistry, physics, and economics. The laureates expressed deep concern over Kennedy’s qualifications and his track record of promoting anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories. “In addition to his lack of credentials or relevant experience in medicine, science, public health, or administration, Mr. Kennedy has been an opponent of many health-protecting and life-saving vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio,” the letter stated.

Federal authorities have charged a man with burning an American flag in the nation’s capital during protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July. Michael Snow Jr., 24, of Durham, North Carolina, is charged with destruction of federal property over the burning of the flag that was pulled down at Columbus Circle — in front of Union Station — by demonstrators calling for an end to the war in Gaza. Authorities say video shows Snow shouting a “I need a better lighter!” after initially failing to ignite the flag. Someone then handed him a bottle of lighter fluid, which he used to douse the flag before he and another person set it on fire, authorities say.

Federal prosecutors sidestepped some Justice Department rules when they seized the phone records of reporters as part of media leak investigations during the Trump administration, according to a new watchdog report being released as the aggressive practice of hunting for journalists’ sources could again be resurrected. The report Tuesday from the Justice Department inspector general’s office also found that some congressional staffers had their records obtained by prosecutors by sheer virtue of the fact that they had accessed classified information despite that being part of their job responsibilities.

Serbia’s president accused Tuesday foreign intelligence services of trying to unseat him in the wake of spreading protests in the Balkan state and that he wouldn’t flee the country like the ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad. President Aleksandar Vučić posted a video message on Instagram saying: “I will fight for Serbia and serve only my Serbian people and all other citizens of Serbia, I will never serve foreigners, those who seek to defeat, humiliate, and destroy Serbia,” he added. Opponents of the populist leader compared him to Assad who fled to Moscow following a stunning rebel advance, ending his family’s half-century of iron rule.

Wisconsin prosecutors filed 10 additional felony charges Tuesday against two attorneys and an aide to President-elect Donald Trump who advised Trump in 2020 as part of a plan to submit paperwork falsely claiming that the Republican had won the battleground state that year. Jim Troupis, who was Trump’s attorney in Wisconsin, Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who advised the campaign, and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020, all initially faced a single felony forgery charge in Wisconsin. Those charges were filed in June. But on Tuesday, two days before the three are scheduled for their initial court appearances, the Wisconsin Department of Justice filed 10 additional felony charges against each of them.

In a move that marks a major shift in New York City’s response to the migrant crisis, the controversial shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn will be shuttered in January. This decision comes as the number of asylum seekers in New York City has plummeted to its lowest level in over 17 months, according to City Hall officials. The Floyd Bennett Field shelter is one of 25 city-run emergency shelters across the city and upstate New York that will be closed or have already been shut down.

The coalition has been working toward formulating a Charedi recruitment law and intends to formulate an initial draft of a bill within a week, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported on Tuesday evening. In addition, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz clarified in discussions with Chareidi representatives that the law will not include criminal sanctions. Katz and Defense Ministry officials held numerous meetings with relevant parties regarding a recruitment bill in recent days. Katz met with Degel HaTorah MKs regarding the issue on Monday evening. On Sunday, former Shas Minister Ariel Attias met privately with the Defense Ministry’s legal advisor. Later in the week, Minister Katz met with Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara regarding the law. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)