Prosecutors are seeking more than seven years in prison for disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos after he pleaded guilty to federal fraud and identity theft charges. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York argued in a court filing Friday that a significant sentence was warranted because the New York Republican’s “unparalleled crimes” had “made a mockery” of the country’s election system. “From his creation of a wholly fictitious biography to his callous theft of money from elderly and impaired donors, Santos’s unrestrained greed and voracious appetite for fame enabled him to exploit the very system by which we select our representatives,” the office wrote.

Hamas announced on Friday that it will not relocate Israeli hostages currently held in parts of Gaza where the IDF has issued evacuation warnings, placing the blame on Israel should anything happen to the captives.
The Israel Defense Forces recently ordered evacuations from several areas, including Rafah, Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, and northern parts of the Strip. These directives came approximately two and a half weeks after fighting resumed due to the collapse of a ceasefire and hostage deal.

John Gutierrez had been thinking about buying a new laptop for the past year. The Austin, Texas, resident needed a computer with faster processing and increased storage for his photography work and had his sights set on a product from a Taiwanese brand. Then President Donald Trump announced expansive new import tariffs Wednesday, including a 32% tax on imports from Taiwan. That same day, Gutierrez ordered the laptop, with a base price of $2,400, from a retailer in New York specializing in photo and video gear. “I thought I’d bite the bullet, buy it now, and then that way I’ll have the latest technology on my laptop and don’t have to worry about the tariffs,” he said. Gutierrez was among the U.S. consumers rushing to buy big-ticket items before the tariffs take effect.

Former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor is expected to face tough questioning from House Republicans over his alleged role in concealing President Joe Biden’s cognitive issues, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) told The New York Post.
“Dr. Kevin O’Connor will absolutely, positively be implicated in the cover-up of this. He is a massive, massive part,” said Jackson, a medical doctor who previously worked in the White House Medical Unit under three presidents and now chairs the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is scheduled to head to Washington, D.C., on Monday for a meeting with President Donald Trump, according to a report from Axios.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump said the two leaders would “speak about Israel, and we’ll speak about what’s going on.”
“That’s another thing we’d like to get solved,” he added, without elaborating on the specifics of Netanyahu’s visit.
According to Axios, the agenda for the meeting includes discussions on several major issues: the 17% tariffs recently placed on Israeli goods by the U.S., ongoing tensions surrounding the Iran nuclear situation, and the conflict in Gaza.
{Matzav.com}

WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews)-On Friday, the

After a U.S. Air Force C-5M “Super Galaxy” landed at Nevatim Airbase in Southern Israel today, Al Arabiya reports that the U.S. has delivered two MIM-104 “Patriot” missile batteries and an additional THAAD system to Israel.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, will terminate its fact-checking initiative on Monday.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris: “There were many things we knew would happen… I’m not here to say I told you so.”

In a moment that caught Kamala Harris and her team completely by surprise, Donald Trump—known for his combative political style—responded with unexpected grace when Harris phoned to concede the 2024 presidential race. He commended her on running a “great” campaign and called her a “tough cookie,” according to revelations in a new book.
On the call, which took place the day after the election, Harris reportedly said, “I’m calling to concede. It was a fair election. The peaceful transfer of power is important. It’s important to the country,” as detailed in Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History by author Chris Whipple.


Massive crowds poured into Washington, DC, today as part of a wave of “Hands Off!” demonstrations held nationwide. The protests were aimed at opposing spending reductions implemented by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and President Trump’s newly introduced “Liberation Day” tariffs. One fiery speaker urged demonstrators to strike fear into the hearts of both men.
Gathering near the Washington Monument, thousands of attendees held homemade signs—many with explicit language—criticizing Republicans, while similar protests took place in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

The Canadian Parliament was forced into lockdown today after a man barricaded himself inside one of the buildings, triggering a tense security response and prompting authorities to tell people to “hide.”
Police in Ottawa, along with the Parliamentary Protective Services, responded swiftly to an incident at the East Block on Wellington Street — home to senators’ offices and their staff — shortly before 3 p.m., according to a post on X from Ottawa Police. The building was evacuated soon after.
As of this evening, the area remained under a shelter-in-place directive, with officers carrying heavy weaponry stationed throughout the grounds and surrounding streets.

Russia launched a deadly missile assault on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih late today, killing at least 19 people, including nine children. It was one of the most devastating strikes on the city since the war began.
The missile attack obliterated part of a residential district in Kryvyi Rih, injuring at least 72 more people, among them a 3-month-old infant, according to Ukrainian officials.
“There were dead children lying there, crying parents — it was horrible,” a 47-year-old woman named Yulia told Reuters.
Zelensky paid tribute to the youngest victims in an emotional post on Saturday.

Extensive damage reported in Yemen following US airstrikes on Houthi terror hubs

Iran’s rial currency traded Saturday at a record low against the U.S. dollar as the country returned to work after a long holiday, costing over 1 million rials for a single greenback as tensions between Tehran and Washington likely will push it even lower. The exchange rate had plunged to over 1 million rials during the Persian New Year, Nowruz, as currency shops closed and only informal trading took place on the streets, creating additional pressure on the market. But as traders resumed work Saturday, the rate fell even further to 1,043,000 to the dollar, signaling the new low appeared here to stay.

Protesters gathered in front of the US embassy in Mauritania to protest the strikes on Gaza

Tosay, the Hamas terrorist organization released the first footage indicating that hostages Maxim Herkin and Bar Kupershtein, abducted during the October 7 attack, are still alive and in captivity.
Out of sensitivity to the families, the video—or any part of it—will only be released publicly with their explicit consent.
Currently, 59 individuals remain imprisoned in Gaza, with 24 believed to be alive. Since the conclusion of the second negotiated exchange, indications of life have emerged regarding 19 of them.
The Herkin family identified Maxim’s voice in the brief video clip issued by Hamas. Maxim is a Russian citizen, and in the past, Russia has made efforts to secure his freedom.

Azerbaijan’s intelligence agency disclosed today that it had prevented an assassination attempt targeting the country’s chief rabbi, Rabbi Shneur Segal.
Authorities reported that Agil Aslanov, a known drug dealer, was recruited by the Iranian Quds Force to carry out the mission. Aslanov allegedly met with a commander from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps last autumn, who gave him “precise instructions” on how to execute the killing.
Azerbaijani officials stated that Aslanov had accepted a $200,000 payment offer in return for carrying out the murder of Rabbi Segal.
The plot was reportedly stopped in January by Azerbaijani security personnel, who also prevented an attack that had been planned on an educational center within the country.

Eight decades after the liberation of Auschwitz from Nazi control, Jewish visitors now have access to kosher food at the site. Just a short distance from the former concentration camp, travelers will for the first time be able to purchase ready-to-eat kosher meals at the Auschwitz Jewish Center. This center, now functioning as a museum, is also home to the only synagogue that still stands in Oświęcim, the town the Nazis once renamed Auschwitz.

Another round of torrential rain and flash flooding came Saturday for parts of the South and Midwest already heavily waterlogged by days of severe storms that also spawned deadly tornadoes. Forecasters warned that rivers in some places would continue to rise for days. Day after day of heavy rains have pounded the central U.S., rapidly swelling waterways and prompting a series of flash flood emergencies in from Texas to Ohio. The National Weather Service said dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach what the agency calls “major flood stage,” with extensive flooding of structures, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure possible. At least 16 weather-related deaths have been reported since the start of the storms, including 10 in Tennessee.

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