After Killing, ‘There Will Be No TikTok in Albania’
In response to bullying and violence that included the killing of a teenager last month, Albania announced Saturday that it is blocking the use of TikTok in the nation for a year. The ban suspension is part of a school safety plan to take effect early in the new year

Houthi missile hits south Tel Aviv, 16 lightly wounded as IDF investigates why interceptors failed
At least 30 Israelis were lightly wounded as the Houthi terrorists in Yemen launched another ballistic missile at Israel early on Saturday morning. Despite several attempts, the IDF failed to intercept the missile, which exploded in a playground in south Tel Aviv.

Motivation unclear: Saudi doctor who killed 5, wounded 200 in Germany Christmas market attack made anti-Islam & pro-Israel comments
Abdulmohsen is a Saudi national who fled to Germany in 2006 and recently worked as a doctor of psychiatry in a German hospital. Given the identity of the attacker and the scene of the attack, many initially suspected another Islamist terror attack. The incident nearly coincided with the anniversary of another terror attack at a German Christmas market on Dec. 19, 2016, when a Tunisian asylum seeker drove a truck into a Berlin market, killing 12 people.

Will Jordan be the next Syria? Understanding the Hashemite Kingdom’s resilience
Much like candy, revolution becomes more appealing when you see others having it. Since the Arab Spring swept through the Middle East in 2011, both internal and external forces have cast hungry eyes toward Jordan, wondering if the Hashemite Kingdom might follow Syria’s path to chaos. The fall of governments in Egypt and Tunisia, followed by the devastating civil war in Syria that led to the collapse of the Assad regime, has only whetted the appetite of some.

Iran recruiting minors to carry out attacks against Israeli targets in Europe
Several thwarted attacks against Israeli targets in Europe are signaling a disturbing trend; Iran is recruiting minors as terrorists-for-hire in Europe, Bloomberg reports. Incidents in Sweden, Belgium, and Norway involved teenagers with weapons preparing to attack Israeli-associated buildings.

Topography, security, and survival highlight Israel’s Syrian strategy
The Golan Heights’ mountainous terrain provides critical surveillance points overlooking Damascus, Beirut, and Jerusalem, and from a security perspective, this topographical advantage is invaluable.

US: We struck Houthi missile storage facility in Sana’a
The Yemeni channel Al-Masirah, affiliated with the Houthi rebel group, reported a strike in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen. “CENTCOM forces conducted the deliberate strikes to disrupt and degrade Houthi operations, such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden. “During the operation, CENTCOM forces also shot down multiple Houthi one way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) over the Red Sea. (Watch)

Iran protests US arrests of Iranian citizens
Iran summons Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents US interests in the country, to protest arrest of two Iranian nationals in connection with attack on US troops in Jordan. The arrests stem from charges filed on Monday by US prosecutors accusing the two men of illegally exporting sensitive technology to Iran. The technology was allegedly linked to a January drone attack in Jordan that killed three US service members.

The fall of Assad is just the beginning: The struggle for Syria has resumed
The country may have exited the Axis of Resistance, but this does not mean that it has automatically crossed to the opposing camp. In contrast to its image as a stable regime, a quick look at the history of Syria shows that before the rise to power of the Alawite Assad dynasty in 1970, it was the least stable country in the Middle East. From 1949 to 1970, it experienced no fewer than 17 military coups, most of which failed.

50-foot waves forecast to slam Hawaii’s northern beaches amid parade of Pacific storms
Forecast models now indicate a fetch of massive waves is spreading south and will reach the north-facing shores of Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and Maui over the weekend. Seas are expected to swell to 30-40 feet on Saturday, growing to 40-50 feet on Sunday.

Bushfire in Victoria triples in size in 24 hours to over 30,000 ha (74 130 acres), Australia
Victoria residents were urged to flee immediately on Saturday, December 21. 2024 as massive bushfire, spanning over 30,000 ha (74 132 acres), swept through the Grampians region. Officials are warning the fire could burn for weeks.

UK’s “Online Safety Act” Under Fire as Officials Push for New Powers to Police “Misinformation”
The UK government is moving towards making the much-criticized Online Safety Act (OSA) even more contentious, this time by trying to use it to outright enforce online censorship of “misinformation” – even though the law has no provision that explicitly imposes a legal duty of that kind on social platforms.

American men drop out of economy as immigrants claim jobs: Study 
Americans clamoring for more immigrants to fill out the workforce are ignoring a labor source already here — people, mostly men, who have given up on the economy, according to a new study by the Center for Immigration Studies.

Water quality report: 90% of Cape Cod’s tested coastal embayment’s are ‘unacceptable.’ 
“Cape Cod’s water quality remains a top environmental problem, with significant worries about the health of coastal embayment’s and freshwater ponds. At the same time, the region’s public drinking water supplies continue to perform well.”

Update: NJ Residents Near Drone Hot Spots Reporting Strange Tasting, Weird Smelling Water 
“First the sky over multiple New Jersey towns was a winky-blinky nightmare with mystery drones burrowing into the fears of residents. And now, multiple towns in central New Jersey are dealing with stinky water. Social media has connected the dots.”

The Week in Censorship: Judging by reports restrictions on free speech is about to get worse, globally
The United Nations and World Health Organization are tightening the noose on free speech.  While the UN uses treaties, WHO is deploying a “social listening” technique in Pacific island nations.

Germany: Car drives into Christmas market, at least 11 dead
Car drives into group of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg. Reports of at least 11 dead and as many as 80 injured. The driver, a man of Saudi origin, arrested.
The driver of the vehicle has been arrested, according to the dpa news agency. The German newspaper Bild reported that police have cordoned off the area in search of explosives. Germany has been on high alert for possible Islamist attacks

Satanists’ holiday display at Minnesota Capitol sparks outrage
A Satanic holiday display at the Minnesota State Capitol has some sounding the alarm but Gov. Tim Walz says he can’t take it down as it is protected by the First Amendment. Minnesota Satanists applied through the Department of Administration, which manages the capitol grounds, to set it up near the first floor rotunda from Dec. 13 through 27,

Signs of life received from several hostages
The signs of life were received by the families of several hostages, whose identities were not disclosed to protect their privacy. However, the report noted that there are families who have not received any signs of life from their loved ones for many months.

PM Netanyahu: ‘I’m not going to agree to end the war before we remove Hamas’
“We’re not going to leave them in power in Gaza, 30 miles from Tel Aviv. It’s not going to happen,” he said amid calls by many to accept a ceasefire-hostage release deal in the Palestinian enclave.

Documents captured from Hamas reveal Iran’s complex weapons smuggling network
The documents revealed details on the collapse of a Hamas smuggling network in Jordan and how the terror organization and the Islamic Republic attempted to transfer weapons to the West Bank in an effort to ignite another front against Israel. The publication and research are based on numerous documents seized by the IDF in Gaza and analyzed by the Shin Bet and IDF Intelligence Directorate.

Israeli minister in letter to Pope Francis: ‘Jesus lived and died as a Jew
Following several instances in recent months where Pope Francis appeared to endorse Palestinian narratives, Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, issued a strongly worded protest letter to the Pope. Chikli began his letter: “H.H. Pope Francis, Shalom. It is a well-known fact that Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, as described in Chapter 2 of the Gospel according to Matthew: …“Two weeks ago, you took part in a display that echoes the Palestinian narrative, portraying Jesus as a Palestinian Arab … turning to the second event that prompted him to write the letter.

US kills ISIS leader Abu Yusif in precision strike in Syria
The area where the strike happened was previously controlled by the Assad regime and Russia, according to CENTCOM. Another unnamed ISIS operative was also eliminated in the strike.

CAIR Sues US State Department Over ‘Failing To Evacuate American Citizens’ From Gaza
The Council for America-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group that purports to advocate for Muslim Americans, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department for “failing to evacuate American citizens, American legal residents, and the family members of Americans trapped under Israeli bombardment in Gaza.” “Each plaintiff in the lawsuit is eligible to be evacuated but has been summarily ignored by the State Department and other Biden administration officials,”

US dropping terrorism bounty on Syrian leader after first diplomatic visit since 2012
Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, told reporters that she had informed Abu Mohammad al-Julani, leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that led Assad’s overthrow, that the United States would not pursue a $10 million terrorism bounty on him for his role as the head of a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group. Julani, whose real name is Ahmad al-Sharaa, told Leaf that he “committed” to not allowing terrorist groups to pose a threat within Syria or externally to the United States and its regional partners.

Can AI suffer cognitive decline? New Israeli study suggests surprising limits
The research, published in the medical journal BMJ, raises questions about the ability of AI to replace human doctors in tasks requiring complex integration and empathy. “We scored the chatbots just as we would a patient,” The AI models struggled particularly in visual-spatial tasks, such as drawing a clock set to 11:10 or connecting sequences of numbers and letters. These models had notable difficulty with the visual components,”

New Syrian leaders say they want to contribute to ‘regional peace’
DAMASCUS: Syria wants to contribute to “regional peace,” the country’s new authorities said late Friday, after a meeting between leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa and a US diplomatic delegation. “The Syrian side indicated that the Syrian people stand at an equal distance from all countries and parties in the region and that Syria rejects any polarization,” the statement said.

Blinken: Hamas realizes ‘cavalry not coming,’ should agree to a ceasefire and ‘do it now’
what’s changed is this: Hamas knows that the cavalry is not coming to the rescue,” Blinken continued. “For months and months, It hoped it would get a wider war with Hezbollah, with Iran, with Iranian-aligned groups, coming in and creating more problems from Israel on more fronts and helping Hamas endure.” “We now know that that is not happening, they know it’s not happening,

Trump says the government is keeping people ‘in suspense’ about drones over NJ and the Philly suburbs
Saying the federal government and the military know the origin of the drones that are confounding residents from New Jersey, New York, and the Philadelphia suburbs, President-elect Donald Trump asserted on Monday that U.S. leaders won’t comment because “for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.” “I think they’re better off saying what it is,” he said, adding that he’s canceling a planned trip to his club in New Jersey because the drones are “very close to Bedminster.”

CNN Reveals “Troubling” Poll: American Trust In Vaccines Is Plummeting
American trust in medical institutions and vaccine technology has been plunging the past several years, and though the media treats this as a “troubling” and dangerous development for our society the shift might represent a positive change. This problem of corruption was never more clear than it was during the covid pandemic. Since that event, the US population has been losing faith in the ability of the government to scrutinize pharmaceutical products and protect people from potentially disastrous experimental medications and vaccines. When the love affair between government and Big Pharma was put on blatant display, the American people rightly began to question everything.

Judge Rejects Federal Government Request, Allows Derek Chauvin To Examine George Floyd’s Heart
“The Court is not persuaded by the Government’s arguments, which provide no compelling reason that the Court should change its previous determination,” U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson said in a two-page order filed on Dec. 19. The order granting Chauvin’s motion to examine Floyd’s heart tissue will stand, he said.

Et Tu Jagmeet? Trudeau Game Over Looms As Key Ally Vows To Topple Him
The undercurrents of discontent have been bubbling for months, but the situation came to a head when Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s stalwart Finance Minister, abruptly vacated her post amid a cloud of controversy. Sources close to the matter cite irreconcilable differences over policy directions and leadership style, with Freeland’s departure exposing cracks in the Liberal foundation.

Trump Effect? China’s 1Y Yield Crashes Below 1% For First Time Since GFC
As we head into the end of the year, impatient investors are left waiting for a real plan to underwrite consumption (as yields melt inexorably lower), and capital flight accelerates (spurred by concerns about yuan weakness). China suffered a record fund exit last month under the category of securities investment, according to official data released this week.

Slow-Slip-earthquake in progress near Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
A slow-slip earthquake (SSE) event has been occurring near New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay, along the Hikurangi Subduction Zone since early December.

Bible removed From Texas school district due to state law banning ‘sexually explicit’ content 
Canyon Independent School District Superintendent Darryl Flusche announced in an email ‘earlier this week that under House Bill 900, which was passed by the Texas Legislature in 2023 protecting schools from sexually explicit or vulgar content, the Holy Bible is unsuitable due to “sexually explicit material.”

Blue States Bring Back Mask Mandates Ahead of ‘Quad-demic’ 
Multiple blue states are reinstating mask mandates ahead of a surge of four viruses that some are calling a “quad-demic” — flu, COVID, RSV, and Norovirus.

Chinese spy pleads guilty to running secret police base in Manhattan on behalf of CCP
A New York man pleaded guilty to running a police station for the Chinese government in Manhattan. This comes about a year after it was revealed that the country’s government was seeking to suppress dissidents from the country who came to America.

A Bird- Flu State of Emergency
…Bird brain ideas originate from humans directly. Authorities expect people to believe that the first human case of bird flu was contacted from a cow through a bird. And, that since April 2024, there have been an alleged 61 human cases of H5 bird flu reported in the United States, says the CDC.

60 To 80 Injured After Car “Attack” On German Christmas Market, Saudi Driver Arrested 
Government spokesman Matthias Schuppe told German media outlet WELT that the car-ramming incident at a Christmas market in Magdeburg “was an attack.” City spokesman Michael Reif stated that initial reports suggested it was an “attack on the Christmas market.”

The Extremely Improbable, Exceedingly Unlikely, Exceptionally Amazing Birth Of Christ/
When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we are celebrating one of the most improbable miracles in all of human history.  You see, the truth is that not just anyone could have showed up and claimed to be the Messiah.  According to the Scriptures, the Messiah had to come from a very specific bloodline, the Messiah had to be born at a very specific place, and the Messiah had to be born at a very specific time.  It was exceedingly unlikely that anyone would ever be able to fulfill all of those prophecies, but Jesus did.  The prophecies about the first coming of Christ that we find in the Bible are powerful evidence for the reality of the Christian faith, and yet these prophecies are rarely taught in our churches today.

Egyptian Muslim Terrorist Plots to Slaughter Jews in New York: America’s Immigration and National Security Failure
An 18-year-old Egyptian national with ISIS and Al Qaeda sympathies was allowed to live, study, and plot a meticulously planned mass-casualty terrorist attack in America — a glaring indictment of the U.S. immigration system, government inaction, and the media’s refusal to confront the global Islamic threat.

In Houston, Texas: Terror-Tied ISNA Attacks Jesus and Christians with Billboard Campaign During Christmas 
By exploiting Christmas to distort Jesus, ICNA’s billboards are not outreach but a calculated assault on Christianity, weaponizing deception to erode faith and advance Islam’s uncompromising agenda of domination.

Bank of Canada Governor is on secretive BIS board of directors; why should this matter to Canadians?
The Basel Committee’s bi-monthly meetings are secret, with minutes, speeches and documents remaining strictly confidential, and even Canadian elected officials cannot access this information.  Additionally, the Bank for International Settlements has immunity from prosecution and its officials enjoy immunity even after leaving their positions.