The Biden administration said Friday it has decided not to pursue a $10 million reward it had offered for the capture of a Syrian rebel leader whose forces led the ouster of President Bashar Assad earlier this month. The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaida, and the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first U.S. diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. HTS remains designated a foreign terrorist organization, and Leaf would not say if sanctions stemming from that designation would be eased. But, she told reporters that al-Sharaa had committed to renouncing terrorism and as a result the U.S. would no longer offer the reward.

The Guatemalan police carried out a massive raid of the Lev Tahor cult at the border between Guatemala and El Salvador on Friday, rescuing 160 children and teens and 40 women after testimonies of severe abuse at the cult’s compound. The raid, involving over 400 police officers, soldiers, and psychologists, took place following testimonies from four minors who escaped from the cult last month and provided shocking details to the police about serious offenses. A formal complaint was filed to the Guatemalan state prosecutor’s office, which decided to launch an operation to rescue the minors in the cult.

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal are advancing but remain weeks away from completion, according to an Arab diplomat who spoke with The Times of Israel on Thursday. “The trajectory is good, but there are still major issues to be negotiated, followed by difficult political decisions that both sides will need to make,” the diplomat said. While international mediators, including the U.S. and Qatar, push for a resolution, unnamed Israeli officials have expressed cautious optimism. According to Hebrew media reports, a deal could be reached by the end of December. An Israeli official involved in the negotiations told Walla news that talks in Qatar over recent days have been “productive,” though significant gaps persist.

The House rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s new plan Thursday to fund federal operations and suspend the debt ceiling a day before a government shutdown, as Democrats refused to accommodate his sudden demands and the quick fix cobbled together by Republican leaders. In a hastily convened evening vote punctuated by angry outbursts over the self-made crisis, the lawmakers failed to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for passage — but House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared determined to try again before Friday’s midnight deadline. “We’re going to do the right thing here,” Johnson said ahead of the vote. But he didn’t even get a majority, with the bill failing 174-235.

House Republicans have struck a deal on a backup plan for averting a government shutdown by the Friday deadline. The deal would extend current government funding levels for three months and also suspend the debt limit for two years, something President-elect Trump has demanded. Trump praised the deal in a social media post: “Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal for the American People. The newly agreed to American Relief Act of 2024 will keep the Government open, fund our Great Farmers and others, and provide relief for those severely impacted by the devastating hurricanes. A VERY important piece, VITAL to the America First Agenda, was added as well – The date of the very unnecessary Debt Ceiling will be pushed out two years, to January 30, 2027.

The New York City mayor’s former chief adviser, her son and two real estate investors were charged Thursday in a bribery conspiracy, charges that come as the mayor himself faces a separate corruption case and a series of criminal investigations roils City Hall. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Thursday that Ingrid Lewis-Martin, her son Glenn D. Martin II and real estate investors Raizada Vaid and Mayank Dwivedi were indicted in an alleged conspiracy involving bribes of more than $100,000 while Lewis-Martin served as Mayor Eric Adams’ chief adviser — a post she left only last weekend. Lewis-Martin and her son also are charged with money laundering.

Sunni Sheikh Hassan Mourab, who is considered a supporter of Hezbollah, acknowledged in an interview with Lebanese television that the terrorist organization is in a very difficult situation – in fact, “Israel has left nothing of Hezbollah.” Referring to the series of assassinations of senior Hezbollah figures, he said: “The organization has suffered severe blows at the high command levels, the lower levels, and in the infrastructure in southern Lebanon. What else is left that the enemy has not achieved? What else is left for them to do?” he wondered. “What is left for us? Tell me.” “Southern Lebanon has been completely destroyed. And at the end, Hezbollah was also forbidden from operating weapons inside Lebanon and outside it. Okay? So what is left of Hezbollah? Nothing.

A large piece of shrapnel from an interceptor missile launched by the IAF to down the ballistic missile fired by the Houthis overnight Wednesday landed in a school in Ramat Gan, causing it to collapse. Minutes after the alarms sounded, residents of the Ramat Efal neighborhood of Ramat Gan heard loud explosions. Shrapnel had fallen in the local elementary school, causing heavy damage, as well as heavy damage to nearby buildings and parked vehicles. The Home Front Command launched an investigation into the reasons for the collapse of the building. Although initial reports said that shrapnel from an interceptor missile fell in the school, it is also possible that the school sustained a direct hit from the ballistic missile or parts of it.

In a glittering display of media excellence—or perhaps something closer to self-parody—an illustrious panel of truth-tellers and bias-watchers at Newsbusters has crowned MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough as the reigning champion of absurdity in journalism. Yes, it’s official: Scarborough has won the Media Research Center’s (MRC) coveted Brian Stelter Award for Worst Quote of the Year award for 2024. And not for the first time—he’s now a two-time back-to-back winner in this highly competitive field of media melodrama. The selection process was grueling, as MRC’s finest minds—including President L. Brent Bozell, Vice President for Research Brent Baker, and a cadre of other deeply impartial observers—sifted through the crème de la crème of left-wing lunacy.

President Joe Biden’s approval rating has sunk to its lowest point since taking office, according to a Marquette University Law School poll released on Wednesday. The survey of 1,063 adults nationwide found that only 34% approve of Biden’s performance as president, while 66% disapprove, leaving him with a staggering net approval rating of -32. This marks the worst standing Biden has held in the poll since his inauguration. The sharp decline in approval appears to be influenced by Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, for crimes allegedly committed over more than a decade. The poll revealed that only 29% of respondents supported the pardon, while an overwhelming 71% disapproved.