Hunter Biden’s legal team is launching an assertive public defense of the president’s son just weeks before federal judges in Delaware and California prepare to sentence him this month, and as his father faces a diminishing window to pardon him if he chooses to do so despite previously ruling it out.
In a 52-page paper titled “The political prosecutions of Hunter Biden” released Saturday, Hunter Biden’s lawyers criticize the foundation of the investigations into their client, arguing that he was prosecuted for crimes that an ordinary citizen would not have been. Hunter Biden is likely to face further unfair threats when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the lawyers contend.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had dinner Friday evening with Donald Trump at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
The sudden visit to Florida came days after Trump threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods, along with an additional 10 percent on Chinese merchandise. The president-elect has said the tariffs would be aimed at halting an “invasion” of drugs and migrants into the United States.

Britain, France and Germany have agreed to continue nuclear negotiations with Tehran following a meeting on Friday in Geneva and amid threats by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to reinstitute a “maximum pressure” campaign on the Islamic Republic once he assumes office in January.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and senior nuclear negotiator Majid Takht-Ravanchi met with top diplomats from the European nations, known collectively as the E3.
The talks came after the European countries joined the United States to have Iran censured by the U.N. atomic watchdog for its lack of cooperation.

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Kash Patel to lead the FBI, filling one of the last unfilled positions in his administration just two months before he takes office.
“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Trump stated on Truth Social.
“He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” Trump added.

Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) was the target of a bomb threat, the Jewish congressman stated on Friday.
“I was recently notified of a bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home,” Magaziner stated. “We are safe and there was no evidence of a bomb on the property.”
JNS sought comment from Magaziner’s office, which said that “the investigation is still ongoing.”

A heated and controversial discussion at the Oxford Union on Thursday, centered on whether Israel qualifies as an “apartheid state responsible for genocide,” descended into chaos, with heated exchanges between participants and attendees. Security was tight during the event, and protests took place outside the venue.
Following the debate, the union conducted a vote on the resolution: “This House Believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide.” The outcome saw 278 votes in favor and 59 against the proposition.
The Oxford Union, based in Oxford, England, is primarily composed of students from Oxford University, one of the world’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning.

Syrian Islamist rebels appear to have made stunning territorial advances against the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad on Friday, re-entering the city of Aleppo for the first time in eight years amid the apparent collapse of government defenses in the area.
Unconfirmed videos on social media suggest that rebel fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other groups captured parts of western Aleppo, which was Syria’s most populous city prior to the country’s ongoing civil war, which broke out in 2011.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) emerged as an al-Qaeda splinter faction, although it now rejects affiliation with the terror group. The United States designated HTS as a foreign terrorist organization in 2018.

Hamas released a video today showing U.S. citizen Edan Alexander, who is currently being held hostage in Gaza. In the video, Alexander urges President-elect Trump to step in and use his influence to negotiate for his release. This marks the first time footage of Alexander has surfaced since he was taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Alexander, in the video, states that he has been in captivity for over 420 days, suggesting the video was recorded recently, within the past 24 hours. Currently, 101 hostages remain in Hamas’s custody in Gaza, including seven Americans. An Israeli official has indicated that the release of the video is seen as a hopeful signal from Hamas.

On Friday, President Biden was seen with a book that characterizes Israel as a colonial power in opposition to Palestinian resistance, despite his ongoing support for the Jewish state. As reported by the New York Post, Biden was photographed leaving Nantucket Bookworks while holding a copy of “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017,” written by Rashid Khalidi, a professor emeritus at Columbia University.
Khalidi commented on the situation, saying, “I do not speak to the Post (or the Times for that matter), so this is not for publication, but my reaction is that this is four years too late,” in reference to Biden holding his book.

President-elect Donald Trump has revealed that businessman Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will be appointed as the US Ambassador to France. Trump expressed confidence in Kushner’s ability to “strongly serve US interests abroad.”
Born in 1954 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Charles Kushner comes from Jewish parents who immigrated from Poland after the Holocaust. He pursued a law degree at Hofstra University before joining his father’s real estate firm in the 1980s. In 1985, Kushner founded his own company, which quickly grew to become a major force in the real estate sector, with several high-profile developments.