Podcasts about Yemen

Got started this week with the breaking news of 3 Americans killed by ISIS in Syria, and then talked about the Yemen civil war getting worse. Also the Venezuelan oil tanker seized, Mexico VBIED kills 3 cops, France First Lady under fire for feminist slur, and a Colorado sheriff's deputy was caught pleasuring himself in his car outside a public gym. Music: Decapitated/"Spheres of Madness"

Send us your feedback — we're listeningPsalm 46:1 — Evening Prayer for Peace, Protection, Healing and God's Intervention Across Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen and Haiti  From London to Kyiv, from Khartoum to Sana'a, from Port-au-Prince to Nairobi — recorded live here in London, England — a global 6 P.M. prayer within the DailyPrayer.uk 24-Hour Devotional Cycle. Scripture (NIV) Psalm 46:1 — “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Isaiah 58:12 — “You will be called Repairer of Broken Walls…” As evening settles, global searches intensify for prayer over crisis-affected nations. Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen and Haiti carry today's strongest humanitarian and conflict-related momentum. Psalm 46:1 remains a worldwide anchor for protection, healing and intervention. Prayer  Father, tonight we lift Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen and Haiti before You. Bring peace where conflict dominates, healing where trauma runs deep and protection where danger surrounds families every day. Strengthen the vulnerable, shield communities and sustain those who have lost homes, loved ones and stability. Provide food, medicine and safety where resources are scarce. Guide leaders with wisdom, protect aid workers and bring breakthrough to regions overwhelmed by violence, fear and uncertainty. Let Your refuge and strength rise across these nations tonight. Bring restoration, healing and hope where suffering is great. Prayer Points prayer for nations, prayer for peace, prayer for protection, prayer for healing, prayer for restoration, prayer for justice, prayer for hope Life Application  Speak Psalm 46:1 today, declaring God's refuge and strength over every nation facing conflict, hunger or instability. Declaration I declare that God's peace, strength and healing rise across these nations tonight. Call to Action Share this prayer and visit DailyPrayer.uk for global devotional resources.24-Hour Arc ConnectorPrevious: 12 P.M. — Healing from GriefThis Episode: 6 P.M. — Healing for Nations in CrisisNext: 8 P.M. — Healing from Financial Pressurepsalm 46 prayer, global nations prayer, ukraine sudan yemen haiti prayer, healing for nations in crisis, reverend ben cooper, dailyprayer.uk, global prayer podcast, daily prayer podcastSupport the showFor more inspiring content, visit RBChristianRadio.net — your home for daily devotionals, global prayer, and biblical encouragement for every season of life. We invite you to connect with our dedicated prayer hub at DailyPrayer.uk — a place where believers from every nation unite in prayer around the clock. If you need prayer, or would like to leave a request, this is the place to come. Our mission is simple: to pray with you, to stand with you, and to keep the power of prayer at the centre of everyday life. Your support through DailyPrayer.uk helps us continue sharing the gospel and covering the nations in prayer. You can also discover our ministry services and life celebrations at LifeCelebrant.net — serving families with faith, dignity, and hope. If this devotional blesses you, please consider supporting our listener-funded mission by buying us a coffee through RBChristianRadio.net. Every prayer, every gift, and every share helps us keep broadcasting God's Word to the world.

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Listen to our Chinese Prestige miniseries! Danny and Derek will sadly not be doing a CBS News town hall event. This week in the news: the Thailand–Cambodia conflict resumes (1:47); the DRC–M23 conflict also resumes as M23 makes new advances (7:05); in Gaza, questions remain over the “second phase” of the ceasefire as a winter storm hits (10:38); separatists in Yemen gain control of the country's south (17:18); the RSF takes Sudan's largest oilfield (21:02); an attempted coup is foiled in Benin (23:31); Trump gives NATO a 2027 ultimatum on defense spending (26:05); Ukraine responds to the U.S. peace plan while Trump expresses frustration (29:46); controversy erupts in Honduras over election ballot-counting snafus (35:56); and in these great United States, Congress removes “right to repair” from the NDAA after contractors lobby against it (38:53). Don't forget to join out our Discord.

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.Listen to our Chinese Prestige miniseries!Danny and Derek will sadly not be doing a CBS News town hall event. This week in the news: the Thailand–Cambodia conflict resumes (1:47); the DRC–M23 conflict also resumes as M23 makes new advances (7:05); in Gaza, questions remain over the “second phase” of the ceasefire as a winter storm hits (10:38); separatists in Yemen gain control of the country's south (17:18); the RSF takes Sudan's largest oilfield (21:02); an attempted coup is foiled in Benin (23:31); Trump gives NATO a 2027 ultimatum on defense spending (26:05); Ukraine responds to the U.S. peace plan while Trump expresses frustration (29:46); controversy erupts in Honduras over election ballot-counting snafus (35:56); and in these great United States, Congress removes “right to repair” from the NDAA after contractors lobby against it (38:53).Don't forget to join our Discord.Our Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, Richard Pater speaks with Jonathan Paris, who outlines how Trump's personalised diplomacy has reshaped regional dynamics. They discuss Trump's relationships with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and the new Syrian leadership. Jonathan also explains the US and Israeli strategy towards Iran and reflects on Yemen, Hezbollah, and the rise of antisemitism across Europe and the United States. Jonathan Paris is a London-based Middle East analyst and former Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He also served as a consultant to the US government and was a Fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Monocle’s Gulf correspondent joins to discuss tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Plus: Trump gives Nvidia OK to sell chips to China, Christmas-party fashion tips and our look-back edition of ‘The Global Countdown’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us your feedback — we're listeningIsaiah 58:8 — Global Nations Healing Prayer for Restoration, Protection, Peace and God's Intervention Across Crisis-Affected Lands  From London to Kinshasa, from Yangon to Sana'a, from Juba to Nairobi — recorded live here in London, England — a global 6 P.M. prayer within the DailyPrayer.uk 24-Hour Devotional Cycle. Scripture (NIV) Isaiah 58:8 — “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear…”. Psalm 46:1 — “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” As evening approaches, global searches rise for prayer over nations facing crisis, famine, conflict and instability. Isaiah 58:8 remains one of the world's highest-searched scriptures for national healing, restoration and God's intervention in troubled lands. Prayer  Father, tonight we lift DR Congo, Myanmar, Yemen and South Sudan before You. Heal nations burdened by conflict, hunger, fear and deep uncertainty. Bring protection to families caught in danger, comfort to those grieving and strength to communities living without stability. Heal wounds of war, restore broken structures, supply food, medicine and safety where resources are scarce. Guide leaders with wisdom, protect the vulnerable and release peace over lands shaken by violence. Tonight, let Your healing break forth like the dawn. Bring restoration, mercy and breakthrough to these nations in desperate need of Your intervention. Prayer Points prayer for nations, prayer for healing, prayer for peace, prayer for restoration, prayer for protection, prayer for justice, prayer for hopeLife Application  Speak Isaiah 58:8 today, believing God for healing, restoration and peace across every nation experiencing crisis and deep suffering. Declaration I declare that God's healing and restoration rise across these nations tonight. Call to Action Share this prayer and visit DailyPrayer.uk for global devotional resources.24-Hour Arc ConnectorPrevious: 12 P.M. — Healing from Grief & Missing Loved OnesThis Episode: 6 P.M. — Healing for Nations in CrisisNext: 8 P.M. — Healing for Financial Stress & December Burdensisaiah 58:8 prayer, nations healing prayer, global crisis prayer, christian prayer for peace, reverend ben cooper, dailyprayer.uk, global prayer podcast, daily prayer podcastSupport the showFor more inspiring content, visit RBChristianRadio.net — your home for daily devotionals, global prayer, and biblical encouragement for every season of life. We invite you to connect with our dedicated prayer hub at DailyPrayer.uk — a place where believers from every nation unite in prayer around the clock. If you need prayer, or would like to leave a request, this is the place to come. Our mission is simple: to pray with you, to stand with you, and to keep the power of prayer at the centre of everyday life. Your support through DailyPrayer.uk helps us continue sharing the gospel and covering the nations in prayer. You can also discover our ministry services and life celebrations at LifeCelebrant.net — serving families with faith, dignity, and hope. If this devotional blesses you, please consider supporting our listener-funded mission by buying us a coffee through RBChristianRadio.net. Every prayer, every gift, and every share helps us keep broadcasting God's Word to the world.

Tommy and Ben explain how President Trump forfeited our advantage in the artificial intelligence race by allowing Nvidia to sell advanced AI chips to China, break down the new White House National Security Strategy document and debate whether it matters, and explain how fighting between Thailand and Cambodia and between the DRC and Rwanda has exposed Trump's “peacemaker” image as a sham. They also talk about the lack of progress on a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, the bizarre story of a fake coup in Guinea Bissau, an attempted coup in Benin, troubling reports from Yemen's civil war, and former British Prime Minister Liz Truss's hilariously bad podcast debut. Then Tommy speaks to Anika Wells, Australia's Minister for Communications and Sport, about the country's social media ban for kids under 16.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: A major military buildup is underway as Japan races to construct a “missile archipelago” designed to counter China's expanding power near Taiwan. South Korea scrambles fighter jets after Chinese and Russian warplanes enter its air-defense zone, underscoring tighter coordination between Beijing and Moscow. New reporting claims Israeli operatives conducted both open and covert surveillance on U.S. and partner officials at a joint base involved in Gaza planning. And in today's Back of the Brief — UAE-backed separatists tighten their grip on southern Yemen, threatening to split the already troubled country. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Tax Relief Advocates: End your tax nightmare today by visiting us online at https://TRA.com/podcast  Birch Gold: Text PDB to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold TriTails Premium Beef: Get 15% OFF the ‘I'll Be Home for Christmas' steak box. Order by Dec 14 at https://TriTailsBeef.com   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the future near-peer and peer fight, salvo competition will be the preeminent means by which one country will kinetically overwhelm the other in a fight. I discuss the way the West is in an existential hazard of being woefully under-prepared to meet the threat if Western forces go toe to toe with regional hegemons in the East or West. The US is NOT prepared for the war of leakers in which the inadequate missile defense systems and strategy now deployed will be overwhelmed if it enters a war of choice with China or Russia. It isn't simply the peer competitors but the smaller players like North Korea and Yemen are demonstrating that the US and its allies can't cash the checks they boast about. Once again, the US should stand down, reassess, re-calibrate and stop thinking defense is a four letter word. References: Winning The Salvo Competition: Rebalancing America's Air And Missile Defenses The Russian Reconnaissance Fire Complex Comes of Age Space Based Interceptor Sizing Methodology Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Books: Garrett Graff Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die Paul Ozorak Underground Structures of the Cold War: The World Below Daniel Ellsberg The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Nassim Taleb Incerto: Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile, Skin in the Game Mark Gunzinger & Bryan Clark Winning the Salvo Competition: Rebalancing America's Air and Missile Defense Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me

This session will examine key considerations for leaders, senders, and international travelers/workers in the areas of duty of care, risk assessment, contingency planning, security, and common pitfalls ("lessons learned") in international mission work.

Antonella Barina"Donne dell'altro mondo"Nove protagoniste di umanità ed eccezionale coraggioManni Editoriwww.mannieditori.it“Questo non vuol essere un libro di buoni sentimenti, ma un libro di avventure, che racconta le vicende emblematiche di pioniere spericolate: i prudenti non hanno mai battuto sentieri inviolati”.Vittoria vive in una capanna di fango e paglia sulle Ande e riscatta le bambine sfruttate come domestiche da ricchi peruviani. Ginevra fa la clown nei Paesi in guerra e negli orfanotrofi più sperduti della Terra. Chiara, infermiera, è stata in Liberia durante l'epidemia di ebola e nelle sale operatorie improvvisate nei camion a Mosul occupata dall'Isis. Natalina in Congo salva le ragazzine accusate di stregoneria e sottoposte a spietati riti d'esorcismo. Rita strappa le prostitute e i loro figli alla tratta degli schiavi nel Casertano. Adriana, ex bracciante agricola, soccorre le vittime di caporalato in Calabria. Federica in Angola e Afghanistan restituisce gli arti a chi è saltato su una mina, in Ciad e Yemen sovraintende a sconfinati campi profughi. Marisa e Gianna hanno creato una casa da fiaba per i bimbi malati di tumore che arrivano a Roma per le terapie con le loro famiglie.Sono donne che hanno vissuto vicende incredibili, rocambolesche eppur lontane dal clamore dei media, che dedicano la vita ai più sfortunati con entusiasmo e gioia.Donne che esaltano all'estremo le qualità tradizionalmente femminili di cura e accoglienza, ma anche paladine un po' folli. Protagoniste determinate a riscrivere il futuro.Antonella BarinaVive a Roma ed è giornalista dai primi anni Ottanta. Ha girato gran parte del mondo per realizzare reportage su temi culturali e sociali, prima per “l'Europeo”, poi come inviata del” Venerdì di Repubblica”, dove cura anche la rubrica settimanale “Noi e gli altri” dedicata all'universo della solidarietà.Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/il-posto-delle-parole--1487855/support.IL POSTO DELLE PAROLEascoltare fa pensarehttps://ilpostodelleparole.it/

Fragmentation in Yemen: The Southern Transitional Council Advances: Colleagues Bridget Tumi and Bill Roggio report that the civil war in Yemen is fracturing further as the Southern Transitional Council, which advocates for southern secession, advances into eastern governorates to secure territory and combat smuggling; this move has heightened tensions within the anti-Houthi coalition, as the STC is backed by the UAE while other government factions are supported by Saudi Arabia, weakening the collective effort against the Houthis who control thYEMEN800 e capital Sanaa and maintain ambitions to conquer the entire country. 1800 YEMEN

SHOW 12-8-2025 CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR 1895 KHYBER PASS THE SHOW BEGINS IN THE DOUBTS ABOUT THE FEDERAL RESERVE  BOARD OF GOVERNORS. FIRST HOUR 9-915 The DC Shooter, the Zero Units, and the Tragedy of the Afghan Withdrawal: Colleagues Husain Haqqani and Bill Roggio discuss recent violence in Washington, D.C. involving an Afghan immigrant that has drawn attention back to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021; the shooter, Ramanula Lakanal, was a member of the elite "Zero Units" of the Afghan National Army, a force that demanded priority evacuation for their families in exchange for providing security at the Kabul airport during the U.S. retreat, and while these units were stalwart allies against enemies like al-Qaeda and ISIS, they fought a "dirty war" and were accused of human rights violations, highlighting the broader failure of the withdrawal which occurred because political will faded across multiple administrations. 915-930 The Vetting Failure and the Lack of an Exit Strategy in Afghanistan: Colleagues Husain Haqqani and Bill Roggioexplain that the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan was exacerbated by the lack of a methodical exit strategy, unlike the British who organized their departure and evacuation lists well in advance; critics argue that the U.S. imported significant security risks by rushing the evacuation, bringing in over 100,000 Afghans without adequate vetting, and while there was a moral obligation to help those who served, experts suggest that wholesale importation of citizens from a war-torn country was not the only solution and that better vetting or resettlement in third countries should have been considered. 930-945 Martial Law in South Korea and the Shadow of the North: Colleagues Morse Tan and Gordon Chang discuss South Korea facing severe political turmoil following President Yoon's declaration of martial law, a move his supporters argue was a constitutional response to obstructionist anti-state forces; the opposition, led by figures previously sympathetic to North Korea, has been accused of attempting to paralyze the government, while accusations of "insurrection" against President Yoon are dismissed as nonsensical, with the political infighting fracturing the conservative party and leaving South Korea vulnerable to the North Korean regime in a way not seen since the Korean War. 945-1000 Japan Stands Up for Taiwan While Canada Demurs: Colleagues Charles Burton and Gordon Chang report that Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi recently declared that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be a "survival threatening situation" for Japan, authorizing the mobilization of self-defense forces; this statement has triggered a massive propaganda campaign from Beijing demanding a retraction, as a successful invasion of Taiwan would likely require violating Japanese sovereignty, while in contrast Canada remains reluctant to support Tokyo or criticize Beijing, hoping to secure trade benefits and diversify exports away from the U.S., leaving Japan isolated by its allies. SECOND HOUR 10-1015 The Survival of UNRWA and the Flow of Terror Finance: Colleagues Malcolm Hoenlein and Thaddeus McCotterreport that despite investigations revealing corruption and ties to terrorism, the UN has renewed the mandate for UNRWA for another three years; the organization's facilities have been used by Hamas and its schools have been implicated in radicalizing children, yet international efforts to replace it have stalled, while Hamas leadership refuses to disarm or accept international oversight, demanding a Palestinian state as a precondition for any change, with financial support for terror groups continuing to flow through networks in Europe and the Middle East. 1015-1030 Greece's "Achilles Shield" and Israel's Iron Beam Laser Defense: Colleagues Malcolm Hoenlein and Thaddeus McCotter report that Greece is undertaking a historic modernization of its armed forces, unveiling a new national defense strategy focused on long-range missiles and a modernized air defense system dubbed "Achilles Shield," allowing Greece to project power more flexibly in the Eastern Mediterranean and counter threats from Turkey; in Israel, a major defensive breakthrough is imminent with the deployment of the "Iron Beam," a laser defense system capable of intercepting threats at approximately $50 per shot, expected to rewrite the rules of air defense by effectively countering drone swarms and missiles. 1030-1045 Hezbollah's Quiet Regeneration Under Naim Qassem: Colleagues David Daoud and Bill Roggio report that since the ceasefire began, Hezbollah has received at least $2 billion from Iran and is actively rearming and regenerating its forces in Lebanon; the terror group is focusing on acquiring drone swarms and other asymmetrical weapons that are cheap to produce and difficult for Israel to counter, while Hezbollah's new leader Naim Qassem is leveraging his "bookish" and underestimated persona to lower the temperature and allow the group to rebuild without attracting the same level of scrutiny as his predecessor. 1045-1100 Fragmentation in Yemen: The Southern Transitional Council Advances: Colleagues Bridget Tumi and Bill Roggio report that the civil war in Yemen is fracturing further as the Southern Transitional Council, which advocates for southern secession, advances into eastern governorates to secure territory and combat smuggling; this move has heightened tensions within the anti-Houthi coalition, as the STC is backed by the UAE while other government factions are supported by Saudi Arabia, weakening the collective effort against the Houthis who control the capital Sanaa and maintain ambitions to conquer the entire country. THIRD HOUR 1100-1115 The Druze National Guard and Internal Strife in Southern Syria: Colleagues Ahmad Sharawi and Bill Roggio report that instability is growing in Syria's Druze-majority Suwayda province, where a newly formed "National Guard" militia has begun arresting and killing political opponents; the militia is spiritually guided by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who has consolidated power by sidelining other Druze leaders who were open to reconciliation with the Assad regime, with Turkey expressing support for the anti-Assad Druze factions against both the Syrian government and Kurdish forces, while recent violence suggests a hardening of anti-regime sentiment. 1115-1130 The "Variable Geometry" of the Muslim Brotherhood and Its Global Affiliates: Colleagues Edmund Fitton-Brown and Bill Roggio explain that the Muslim Brotherhood operates as a "mothership" for various Islamist movements, utilizing a strategy of "variable geometry" to adapt to local political environments while aiming for a global caliphate; Hamas functions as the Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood and despite being severely damaged by the war with Israel remains the dominant force in Gaza, with the Brotherhood finding state sponsorship primarily in Qatar, which provides funding and media support via Al Jazeera, and Turkey, where President Erdogan acts as a leader for the organization. 1130-1145 Ukraine Negotiations Hit a Cul-de-Sac Amidst Infiltration Tactics: Colleagues John Hardie and Bill Roggio report that peace talks regarding Ukraine are currently at a standstill, with the U.S. and Ukraine at odds over Russia's demands for territory in the Donbas versus Ukraine's need for meaningful security guarantees; while the U.S. has pressured Ukraine to concede territory, the security assurances offered are viewed skeptically by Kyiv, and Russia refuses to accept any Western military presence in Ukraine, while on the battlefield Russia employs infiltration tactics using small groups, sometimes single soldiers, to penetrate deep into Ukrainian positions. 1145-1200 The Trump Corollary: Reviving the Monroe Doctrine in Latin America: Colleague Ernesto Araújo discusses a new "Trump corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine reshaping U.S. policy in the Americas, signaling a more assertive stance against foreign influence and authoritarian regimes; this shift is evident in Venezuela, where President Maduro appears to be negotiating his exit in the face of U.S. pressure, while in Brazil the administration of Lula da Silva faces significant instability due to a massive banking scandal linking the government to money laundering and organized crime, with the new application of the Monroe Doctrine suggesting the U.S. will favor political figures aligned with its security strategy. FOURTH HOUR 12-1215 Devil's Advocates: Robert Stryk, Rudy Giuliani, and the Business of Influence: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel discusses how in the power vacuum created by Donald Trump's arrival in Washington, unconventional lobbyists like Robert Stryk rose to prominence by marketing access to the new administration; Stryk, described as an "anti-hero" with a checkered business past, hosted a lavish event at the Hay-Adams Hotel to legitimize the regime of Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo, successfully delivering Rudy Giuliani as Trump's personal attorney, signaling a new informal channel for foreign diplomacy and highlighting how foreign regimes utilized large sums of money and unconventional intermediaries to seek favor. 1215-1230 The Accidental Diplomat: Robert Stryk and the New Zealand Connection: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel explains that Robert Stryk's rise in the lobbying world was fueled by serendipity and bold bluffs, exemplified by a chance encounter with a New Zealand diplomat at a cafe; the diplomat revealed that New Zealand, having prepared for a Clinton victory, had no contacts within the incoming Trump team and could not arrange a congratulatory call between their Prime Minister and the President-elect, and Stryk, leveraging a connection to a former Trump campaign field director, provided a phone number that successfully connected the embassy to Trump's team, establishing his credibility and launching his career in high-stakes foreign lobbying. 1230-1245 Hunter Biden, Chinese Spies, and the Monetization of Political Connections: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel reports that following his father's departure from the vice presidency, Hunter Biden faced financial pressure and sought lucrative foreign clients, leading to risky entanglements; one venture involved a corrupt Romanian real estate magnate who hired Hunter along with former FBI Director Louis Freeh and Rudy Giuliani to resolve his legal troubles, with the proposed solution involving selling land including the site of the U.S. Embassy in Romania to a Chinese state-linked fund, and Hunter Biden was aware of the nature of his associates, referring to one as the "spy chief of China." 1245-100 AM FARA: From Fighting Nazi Propaganda to Modern Transparency: Colleague Kenneth P. Vogel explains that the Foreign Agents Registration Act was originally enacted in 1938 to counter Nazi propaganda in the United States before World War II; at the time, the Third Reich was paying well-connected American consultants to whitewash Hitler's image and keep the U.S. out of the war, operating without public knowledge, and Congress passed FARA to create transparency, requiring those paid by foreign principals to influence the U.S. government or media to register their activities, with the law remaining today the primary vehicle for accountability in foreign lobbying

Amy is joined by author Naima Brown to discuss her newest novel, Mother Tongue, exploring the consequences of change, finding our authentic selves, motherhood, right-wing radicalization, and the importance of fiction in our fight against patriarchy.Donate to Breaking Down PatriarchyNaima Brown holds degrees in Middle Eastern Studies, Anthropology and Religious Studies. Her essays have appeared in Vogue Australia, the Guardian Australia, and more. She wrote, along with Melissa Doyle, the non-fiction book How to Age Against the Machine. She has spent over a decade working in news, current affairs and documentary - save for her brief stint in reality TV, which inspired her first novel, The Shot. She was born and raised in Northern California before living and working in Yemen and Afghanistan, and now lives in New South Wales with her husband and her dog. Her second novel, Mother Tongue, was published in March 2025.

Have you ever wondered what life is like for believers in the Middle East?   In this special episode, you'll hear from Leila*, an Open Doors' contact who shares her eye-witness account of Christian persecution in the Middle East: heartbreaking stories of Syrian believers, Christian women fleeing household persecution in Iran, and defiant evangelism in the underground Church of Yemen. You do not want to miss this edition of The Whole Story!

Free episode crossover with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Van Jackson and Lyle Rubin are joined by returning guest Sam Carliner to take on Marines, Netflix's new 250th-anniversary docuseries, an unmistakable propaganda piece (it's literally featured on the official Marine Corps website) that nonetheless reveals more candor than the institution intended. Directed by Chelsea Yarnell, whose style veers into Riefenstahl-lite, the series moves through the familiar mythology: Marines as the “meanest, baddest motherfuckers,” war as manhood, China as the next “bloody” proving ground. But between the clichés, something truer keeps slipping out.The Marines themselves come across not as caricatures but as young people grasping for purpose. Some raised amid violence, poverty, absent fathers, and broken homes; others from supportive families, following beloved relatives into the Corps, seeking adventure, education benefits, or what they sincerely understand as patriotic duty. Some speak with chilling bravado about killing; others struggle openly with faith, family, and the sense that combat is the only place they'll ever feel whole. A sniper mourns the disbanding of scout-sniper platoons as if losing a piece of himself. A Huey pilot wonders how to make “non-emotional decisions” when his whole life has been shaped by emotion, and a mother tries to bless a choice she privately cannot support.And despite itself, the series also exposes the machinery surrounding them. Deployments that make no sense. A surreal shipboard announcement about Yemen, where Houthi attacks are called “unprovoked” with no mention of the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza driving them, all delivered in a breezy “Good morning, Team America” tone. Marines saddled with the weight of great-power delusions they never chose. The political culture is bankrupt, but the individuals inside it are often heartbreakingly earnest. That tension, between Yarnell's promo frame and the unfiltered vulnerability of the people she films, turns Marines into something worthwhile. Even in its worst moments, the series forces a deeper question: What happens when a society offering so little to its young men teaches them that violence is the only stable form of meaning?Subscribe to The Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.comFurther ReadingUSMC press release on the docuseriesSam's SubstackThe Rivalry Peril by Van and Michael BrenesPain is Weakness Leaving the Body by LyleGangsters of Capitalism by Jonathan M. KatzWar Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges

In this week's Purple Political Breakdown, host Radell Lewis breaks down the most consequential political news shaping Americawithout the partisan spin. This episode covers: Trump's Controversial Pardons From former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez (convicted of trafficking 400+ tons of cocaine) to Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar facing bribery charges, we examine why loyalty seems to trump justice. Pete Hegseth's Pentagon Scandal The Defense Secretary violated policy by sharing classified Yemen strike information on Signal with his wife and brother. Plus: allegations he ordered strikes to "kill everybody on board" suspected drug boats. Supreme Court Showdowns Birthright citizenship under attack, Texas gerrymandering approved despite racial discrimination findings, and major copyright cases with billions at stake. January 6 Pipe Bomb Arrest After nearly five years, the FBI arrests Brian Cole Jr., a Trump supporter who placed explosives near both DNC and RNC headquarters. Immigration Crackdowns & Welfare Fraud Federal enforcement expands while Trump uses fraud cases to target entire communities. RFK Jr. & Vaccine Misinformation FDA officials claim vaccines killed children while ignoring 2,000+ COVID deaths among kids. Tennessee Special Election Warning Why a 13-point GOP swing toward Democrats has Republican strategists panicking about 2026 midterms. Epstein Files Released House Democrats unveil 150+ never-before-seen photos and financial records from JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank. Plus: Good news including dark matter discovery, Uruguay's clean energy success, and Gen Z's financial responsibility. Keywords: Trump pardons, Pete Hegseth scandal, Pentagon classified leak, birthright citizenship Supreme Court, January 6 pipe bomb arrest, immigration enforcement 2025, RFK Jr vaccines, Texas gerrymandering, Tennessee special election, Epstein files release, tariffs vs taxes, MAGA accountability, GOP midterms 2026, political podcast, nonpartisan news analysis Purple Political Breakdown delivers political solutions without political bias. New episodes weekly. Follow & Subscribe | Rate 5 Stars | Join the CommunityStandard Resource Links & RecommendationsThe following organizations and platforms represent valuable resources for balanced political discourse and democratic participation: PODCAST NETWORKALIVE Podcast Network - Check out the ALIVE Network where you can catch a lot of great podcasts like my own, led by amazing Black voices. Link: https://alivepodcastnetwork.com/ CONVERSATION PLATFORMSHeadOn - A platform for contentious yet productive conversations. It's a place for hosted and unguided conversations where you can grow a following and enhance your conversations with AI features. Link: https://app.headon.ai/Living Room Conversations - Building bridges through meaningful dialogue across political divides. Link: https://livingroomconversations.org/ UNITY MOVEMENTSUs United - A movement for unity that challenges Americans to step out of their bubbles and connect across differences. Take the Unity Pledge, join monthly "30 For US" conversation calls, wear purple (the color of unity), and participate in National Unity Day every second Saturday in December. Their programs include the Sheriff Unity Network and Unity Seats at sports events, proving that shared values are stronger than our differences. Link: https://www.us-united.org/ BALANCED NEWS & INFORMATIONOtherWeb - An AI-based platform that filters news without paywalls, clickbait, or junk, helping you access diverse, unbiased content. Link: https://otherweb.com/ VOTING REFORM & DEMOCRACYEqual Vote Coalition & STAR Voting - Advocating for voting methods that ensure every vote counts equally, eliminating wasted votes and strategic voting. Link: https://www.equal.vote/starFuture is Now Coalition (FiNC) - A grassroots movement working to restore democracy through transparency, accountability, and innovative technology while empowering citizens and transforming American political discourse. Link: https://futureis.org/ POLITICAL ENGAGEMENTIndependent Center - Resources for independent political thinking and civic engagement. Link: https://www.independentcenter.org/ GET DAILY NEWSText 844-406-INFO (844-406-4636) with code "purple" to receive quick, unbiased, factual news delivered to your phone every morning via Informed (https://informed.now) ALL LINKShttps://linktr.ee/purplepoliticalbreakdownThe Purple Political Breakdown is committed to fostering productive political dialogue that transcends partisan divides. We believe in the power of conversation, balanced information, and democratic participation to build a stronger society. Our mission: "Political solutions without political bias."Subscribe, rate, and share if you believe in purple politics - where we find common ground in the middle! Also if you want to be apart of the community and the conversation make sure to Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/ptPAsZtHC9

President Donald Trump has made new moves in recent days to crack down on immigration into the U.S.    After Trump vowed to pause immigration from “developing nations countries,” the U.S. has frozen all immigration applications for foreigners from 19 counties, and is reviewing applications that were approved during the four years of the Biden administration. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed on Fox News Thursday that the list will be expanded to “over 30” nations, but did not specify.     For now, the list includes: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.     The president has specifically criticized the Somalia immigrant population in the U.S. after news broke that a fraud scheme among Minnesota's Somali population costs taxpayers over $1 billion.     Additionally, Trump has paused all visas for Afghan nationals after a man from Afghanistan who has been living in the U.S. since the fall of Kabul in 2021 shot two National Guard Members near the White House the day before Thanksgiving, killing U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom.     On this week's edition of “Problematic Women,” we discuss President Donald Trump's heightened immigration crackdown, and why assimilation has to be a key part of immigration policy.     Plus, what is going on with the narco-terrorist boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific? We break it down. And Sabrina Carpenter is mad at the White House for using her music in an immigration enforcement video. All this and more on this week's show!   Subscribe to The Tony Kinnett Cast:    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tony-kinnett-cast/id1714879044   Don't forget our other shows: Virginia Allen's Problematic Women: https://www.dailysignal.com/problematic-women  Bradley Devlin's The Signal Sitdown: https://www.dailysignal.com/the-signal-sitdown  Follow The Daily Signal:  X: https://x.com/DailySignal  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedailysignal/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDailySignalNews/  Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@DailySignal  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DailySignal  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/TheDailySignal    Thanks for making The Daily Signal Podcast your trusted source for the day's top news. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shattered Lands by Sam Dalrymple A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait – were bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known officially as the ‘Indian Empire', or more simply as the Raj. It was the British Empire's crown jewel, a vast dominion stretching from the Red Sea to the jungles of Southeast Asia, home to a quarter of the world's population and encompassing the largest Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian communities on the planet. Its people used the Indian rupee, were issued passports stamped ‘Indian Empire', and were guarded by armies garrisoned in forts from the Bab el-Mandeb to the Himalayas And then, in the space of just fifty years, the Indian Empire shattered. Five partitions tore it apart, carving out new nations, redrawing maps, and leaving behind a legacy of war, exile and division. Shattered Lands, for the first time, presents the whole story of how the Indian Empire was unmade. How a single, sprawling dominion became twelve modern nations. How maps were redrawn in boardrooms and on battlefields, by politicians in London and revolutionaries in Delhi, by kings in remote palaces and soldiers in trenches. Its legacies include civil war in Burma and ongoing insurgencies in Kashmir, Baluchistan and Northeast India, and the Rohingya genocide. It is a history of ambition and betrayal, of forgotten wars and unlikely alliances, of borders carved with ink and fire. And, above all, it is the story of how the map of modern Asia was made. The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage They would always choose the Crown over their family. It was the pact they made for the honour of wearing it. Lexi Villiers is a 29-year-old Englishwoman doing her medical residency in Hobart, working too hard, worried about her bank balance, and living with friends. It's an ordinary, happy kind of life, and getting even better, because as the dawn is breaking on New Year's Day, Lexi is about to kiss the man she loves for the very first time. But by midnight, everything will change. Because Lexi is in fact not an ordinary young woman. She is Princess Alexandrina, third in line to the British throne—albeit estranged from the rest of her family and living in voluntary exile on the other side of the world. But following a terrible accident which has claimed the life of her father and her twin brother, Lexi—the black sheep of her family and, until this moment, always destined to be the spare—is now the heir apparent, first in line to the throne once her grandmother, the elderly Queen, dies. Called back to do her duty, she arrives in London to a Palace riven with power plays and media leaks, all the while guarding painful secrets of her own, not knowing who she can trust. Palace waters are treacherous, rumours are rife, and selling each other's secrets is a family tradition. And with the Crown just within her grasp, Lexi must choose what bonds she will keep ... and what she is willing to leave behind. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger Picture Canada is sinking fast, 1 in 4 Canadians work for the government. UK study is turning out to be true, SNAP receipts don’t want to work. Trump voids Biden’s green new scam.  Job numbers are portraying what is really going on, the deportations of illegals is opening up jobs. Trump is building the narrative to get rid of the Fed. The [DS] knows that Trump and team are coming after them, there is no escape. The FBI arrested the J6 pipe bomber, they have known this entire time. Kash and team are building respect showing American they will arrest the true criminals. The criminal syndicate has poisoned America, Trump is in the process of curing it with the people. Economy https://twitter.com/WallStreetMav/status/1996577094294266268?s=20  who vote for every dollar they can squeeze out of the people who actually built Canada. (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1996350793721717150?s=20 Watch: Trump Signing Car Industry EO, Which Seeks to End ‘Burdensome’ Green Energy Regulations  In an event in the Oval Office, President Trump, along with representatives of car manufacturers and dealerships, announced a new executive order rescinding Biden CAFE tailpipe emissions standards, which raised costs on the companies and the cost of car prices for consumers. CAFE stands for “Corporate Average Fuel Economy.” An easy definition, via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is a regulation: …[on] how far our vehicles must travel on a gallon of fuel. NHTSA sets CAFE standards for passenger cars and for light trucks (collectively, light-duty vehicles), and separately sets fuel consumption standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and engines. NHTSA also regulates the fuel-economy window stickers on new vehicles. Ending these regulations is part of complying with Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order and the [Transportation] Secretary's “Fixing the CAFE Program” Memorandum, according to the department’s homepage. On Wednesday, the president rattled off the investments in the United States that the auto companies have made since Trump 47 began in January. In one case, he cracked up the room by joking that they could do better than the billions of dollars they are promising: Trump added that it’s part of getting rid of more of the “Green New Scam,” too. https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1996322694099345577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1996322694099345577%7Ctwgr%5E31d2137f89d95733dae2dffe91ce3f002937e448%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Fbeccalower%2F2025%2F12%2F03%2Fwatch-trump-signing-car-industry-eo-ending-burdensome-biden-regulations-n2196786 https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1996325044260085885?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1996325044260085885%7Ctwgr%5E31d2137f89d95733dae2dffe91ce3f002937e448%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Fbeccalower%2F2025%2F12%2F03%2Fwatch-trump-signing-car-industry-eo-ending-burdensome-biden-regulations-n2196786 Source: redstate.com https://twitter.com/WallStreetMav/status/1996587083012378947?s=20 https://twitter.com/profstonge/status/1996583802559136057?s=20 https://twitter.com/unusual_whales/status/1996582009460732232?s=20   to a seasonally adjusted 191,000, the lowest level since September 2022, with expectations of 220,000. https://twitter.com/WallStreetMav/status/1996431168883900552?s=20   fourth consecutive month-over-month decline. Apartment rents are down 1.1% from November 2024 and have fallen 5.2% from their 2022 peak. https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1996413457164566966?s=20 https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1996635885232693482?s=20   will provide TRILLIONS of dollars to kids if invested until age 20+. https://twitter.com/MJTruthUltra/status/1996602968750047572?s=20   ELIMINATE the INCOME TAX with tariffs, just like President William McKinley did in 1897 — and President Trump is following in his exact footsteps. The Dingley Tariff Act of 1897, which was the centerpiece of President William McKinley’s domestic economic policy. He believed in protectionism (using high tariffs to protect American industries and workers from foreign competition). Just like President Trump. Between 1897–1901 the United States had just become the wealthiest and highest-output economy on EARTH, surpassing the United Kingdom as the world's #1 manufacturing nation and #1 economy in total GDP By 1900 U.S. industrial production was roughly equal to that of Britain, Germany, and France COMBINED. Taxation without representation is unconstitutional and ILLEGAL. We, The People are now finally coming to grips with the illusions that have been installed around us our entire lives. Who is the FED? What is the FED? How did the FED come to fruition? What is the Titanic? Who was on the Titanic? What year? Those illusions are now dissolving. The “Golden Age of America” truly is among us. There is a plan to restore our country. Gods plan is playing out right now. Political/Rights https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1995921829316149445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1995921829316149445%7Ctwgr%5Ede940a2e201b3b2cbe0a9536949880a88f90b3b2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fillegal-immigrant-rapist-who-walks-free-sweetheart-plea%2F https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1996301518543159560?s=20  California will let him roam free even though he's been arrested for FELONY hit-and-run. Hector Balderas-Aheelor has been previously deported FOUR times and committed a felony when he illegally entered for a fifth time. This violent criminal must be deported ASAP. Assistant U.S. Attorney Blasts Los Angeles County After It Votes to Ban ICE Agents from Wearing Masks Los Angeles County's far-left Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to advance an unprecedented ordinance that would ban law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from wearing masks while working in unincorporated areas of the county. The proposal passed 4-0, with only Supervisor Kathryn Barger abstaining. A final vote is scheduled for next week, and the ordinance would take effect in January 2026, according to the LA Times. Legal experts say federal immigration agents would not be required to follow a county mask ban. The county's top lawyer, Dawyn Harrison, has said she suspects the federal government will likely argue that the county law violates the Constitution, which states that federal law takes precedence over conflicting local statutes.  https://twitter.com/USAttyEssayli/status/1996040656733814854?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1996040656733814854%7Ctwgr%5E71ecedc2cdf5f5bfec40c6e10a4a461e8ffa25fd%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fassistant-u-s-attorney-blasts-los-angeles-county%2F   by the media and local politicians. We will not expose our brave men and women to personal attacks by allowing agitators to dox them and their families through facial recognition tools. Source: thegatewaypundit.com WA Democrat Rep Wants New Law to Tie ICE’s Hands, Force Americans to Pay Illegal Aliens’ Legal Bills  https://twitter.com/RepJayapal/status/1996294756876325063?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1996294756876325063%7Ctwgr%5E44a6de522e274487c6684ae078f8a1aa15daf059%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Fkatie-jerkovich%2F2025%2F12%2F03%2Fwashington-rep-wants-to-make-americans-pay-for-illegal-aliens-defense-n2196788 https://twitter.com/RedWave_Press/status/1996317691536138470?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1996317691536138470%7Ctwgr%5E44a6de522e274487c6684ae078f8a1aa15daf059%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Fkatie-jerkovich%2F2025%2F12%2F03%2Fwashington-rep-wants-to-make-americans-pay-for-illegal-aliens-defense-n2196788   dignity, justice, oversight, and accountability to the detention system by repealing mandatory detention, prohibiting the detention of families and children in family detention, phasing out the use of private detention facilities and jails, and requiring DHS to establish civil detention standards.” “The bill creates a presumption of release and imposes a higher burden of proof to detain primary caregivers and vulnerable populations. The bill also mandates the DHS Inspector General to conduct unannounced inspections and requires DHS to admit Members of Congress to detention facilities for unannounced inspections.” What a joke! Source: redstate.com https://twitter.com/bx_on_x/status/1996037478914892112?s=20   “Moist Nigerian”, 26, of Albuquerque, New Mexico Rumaldo Valdez aka “Duck”, 22, of Honolulu, Hawaii David Brilhante aka “CS:GO”, 28, of San Diego, California Camden Rodriguez aka “oHare”, 22, of Longmont, Colorado DOGE https://twitter.com/TheSCIF/status/1996302141309296710?s=20  to the Trump administration. They were taken to court and ordered by a judge to hand over the files and they still refused. They encrypted all the USAID files and internal communications because it would expose the paper trail, the players, and everything happening today. Every single NGO, shell company, and person, including government workers, involved in the active color revolution that’s taking place right now on U.S. soil and the Trump administration and U.S. taxpayers are paying for all of it. To this day the files and internal communications are still encrypted. Tons of other evidence was shredded and destroyed. Geopolitical https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1996534889282408841?s=20 https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1996347018621354148?s=20   key figure in the Cartel de los Soles, tells President Trump that Venezuela has weaponized cocaine, exported criminal gangs like Tren de Aragua into the U.S., and allowed FARC, ELN, Hezbollah and Cuban intelligence to operate freely. He alleges decades of espionage inside U.S. installations, Russian tapping proposals, and Smartmatic election manipulation tools exported abroad. Carvajal says the Biden–Harris border collapse allowed Venezuelan operatives to enter the U.S. and asserts Trump's hard-line policies were not only correct, but necessary for American national security. https://twitter.com/TheSCIF/status/1996472423751774516?s=20   This is nothing new to anyone paying attention. Now, it’s just verified by an inside source. Do you really believe everything happening in and around Venezuela is just about drug trafficking and a countries resources like oil? Remember, there are layers to everything. If we do not solidify and fix our elections, there is no point in anything we do because we will lose anyway. Now you understand there is more to this than meets the eye. “My name is Hugo Carvajal Barrios. For many years, I was a high-ranking member of the Venezuelan regime… …Smartmatic was born as an electoral tool of the Venezuelan regime…I know this because I placed the head of IT of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in his position, and he reported directly to me. The Smartmatic system can be altered-this is a fact. This technology was later exported abroad, including to the United States. Regime operatives maintain relationships with election officials and voting-machine companies inside your country…” Please read the documents below in full. https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1996243190051967395?s=20 War/Peace https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1996331133437677821?s=20  March 2025 sharing of Yemen strike information over Signal violated departmental rules but was not illegal due to his declassification authority. Sources now say Sen. Mark Kelly disclosed classified elements of that IG report to the Wall Street Journal while Democratic officials were publicly criticizing Hegseth. The reported leak raises questions about the treatment of sensitive oversight documents and the boundary between political messaging and classified material. https://twitter.com/SeanParnellUSA/status/1996361901870313541?s=20 https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/1996368824397094925?s=20 https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1996455529644790133?s=20   declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force,” in regard to potential hostilities – without congressional approval – against Venezuela. https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1996537466086461599?s=20   Barack Obama built. The “war on narco-terrorists” that Secretary Hegseth is bragging about is being run on a legal foundation poured years before Trump ever touched the Oval Office desk. Obama normalized the presidential kill list. He campaigned in 2008 promising rule of law, transparency, and restraint. He delivered a tenfold increase in drone strikes; a White House “Terror Tuesday” meeting where officials literally flipped through PowerPoint slides picking who lived or died; and a legal doctrine allowing the president to kill U.S. citizens without trial, notice, or judicial review. That doctrine – once unthinkable – is now standard operating procedure. Obama's Director of National Intelligence openly admitted in 2010 that the administration was targeting Americans based on vague criteria like whether a citizen was “involved” in a group “trying to attack us.” That’s not evidence… that’s vibes. When civil-liberties groups sued to force the government to explain the legal basis, Obama declared the entire matter a state secret. Meaning: the president could now kill you, and no court was allowed to ask why. The judiciary rubber-stamped it. Both parties embraced it. And the public largely applauded it. Then came the Awlaki killings. Obama ordered the drone assassination of: •⁠ ⁠Anwar al-Awlaki, an American cleric •⁠ ⁠Samir Khan, an American citizen standing next to him •⁠ ⁠Awlaki's 16-year-old son, killed two weeks later at a café The White House smeared the kid as a “21-year-old terrorist.” The next week a birth certificate proved he was a Colorado teenager with zero ties to extremism. The administration shrugged. Obama famously told aides: “Turns out I'm really good at killing people.” And Washington – media, political class, and voters – rewarded him. Fast-forward to 2025. Trump isn't inventing anything new in Venezuela. He's using the exact precedents Obama left behind: Unreviewable executive kill authority, expanded definitions of “enemy combatant,” secret memos. No congressional oversight, no geographic limits, zero court supervision. Obama created the kill switch. Trump just slammed it. If you cheered the drone program when your guy was doing it, you already endorsed what’s happening now. If you let the government redefine due process as “whatever we decide in secret,” you already consented to the next president weaponizing that power. And if you normalize extrajudicial force abroad, eventually it comes home. Obama built the architecture. Trump moved in. And Venezuela is learning what happens when a precedent meets a president with fewer brakes  EU corruption scandal could take down von der Leyen – Politico A corruption probe into former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has thrown European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's position into jeopardy, with opponents preparing to turn the affair into a fresh push to remove her, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing officials in the bloc. Mogherini, who served as the EU's top diplomat from 2014 to 2019 and is now rector of the College of Europe, was detained on Tuesday. She was formally accused by the European Public Prosecutor's Office of procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest, and breaches of professional secrecy over an EU-funded diplomatic academy program. In the wake of the scandal, von der Leyen “is facing the starkest challenge to the EU's accountability in a generation,” with her rivals renewing calls for a new no-confidence vote, Politico reported. source:rt.com NATO Members Commit More Than $1 Billion to Purchase U.S. Weapons for Ukraine NATO officials from Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland pledged hundreds of millions more in U.S.-made weapons under the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) scheme, Ukrainian media reported. Amid Russian gains on the battlefield, they insist Ukraine must be armed “to keep the fight going.” The alliance offered these commitments while being accused of attempting to sabotage peace talks. Canada, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, and the U.K. all announced new contributions, pushing the total put toward U.S.-made weapons bound for Ukraine toward $5 billion this year alone. These newly allocated funds come at a time when many European governments, increasingly unpopular at home, are cutting domestic programs and warning of budget shortfalls. Source: thegatewaypundit.com Leaked Transcript of EU Conference Call with Zelenskyy Highlights Fear of Trump Securing Peace for Ukraine Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Paris talking to Emmanuel Macron last weekend while Rubio, Witkoff and Kushner were meeting with Ukraine officials in Florida.  This telephone call is reported to have taken place the following day, on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and European Council President António Costa held a conference call. A transcript of the call was leaked to Spiegel, a German news outlet. According to the narrative the assembled group of EU leaders were discussing how the Trump administration was going to betray Ukraine in order to get a peace deal with Russia. The gist of the narrative sounds accurate, though some of the EU leaders are denying the specifics of the wording used. The EU is very worried President Trump may formulate a peace agreement then present the final terms to Ukraine without the EU being involved in the construct of the details. The EU is opposed to any peaceful end to the conflict, because the EU and NATO have positioned their collective economies to only benefit if the military spending continues; they are backstopping their spending with the confiscated Russian assets.   Source: theconservativetreehouse.com   Medical/False Flags https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1996567491334803864?s=20 [DS] Agenda https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/1996550058809188740?s=20   “Ilhan and this group, they spent a lot of money” “So, the people that work for Ilhan (0mar) are actually counting the ballots, counting the vote?” “They (Ilhan Omar’s campaign staffers) become a manager, in the precinct too.” Somalians who don't speak English are also told out how to vote “They walk with you to the booth and then they vote. Oh, vote this guy, vote this guy, vote this guy. Vote – even if you speak English.” They are on camera in this video paying people $200-$800 per vote and telling them how to fill out the ballots https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1996613642113183985?s=20 https://twitter.com/amuse/status/1996600165377945957?s=20  Investigators and policy researchers are pointing to overlapping relationships between Rep. Ilhan Omar and individuals later charged or convicted in Minnesota's billion-dollar pandemic-meal fraud. Omar's 2018 victory party was held at Safari Restaurant, co-owned by Salim Ahmed Said, now found guilty of pocketing more than $12 million in fraudulent reimbursements after reportedly serving “phantom” meals. A member of Omar's campaign staff has also been convicted in the same broader scheme. Critics note Omar publicly praised the program that later enabled the fraud, and that she maintained ties with several of the participants. Prosecutors say Minnesota's COVID-era meal programs operated with almost no verification, allowing widespread abuse through Feeding Our Future and affiliated entities. Democrat Senator Mark Warner Accused of Calling for a MILITARY COUP Against President Trump After Saying the Military Should “Save Us from This President” (VIDEO) Sen. Mark Warner appears on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” as he delivers the controversial remarks suggesting the U.S. military may need to “save us from this President.” Democrat Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is now facing accusations of openly hinting at a military coup after suggesting on national television that the U.S. armed forces may need to “save us from this President.” https://twitter.com/gentrywgevers/status/1996413726979928245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1996413726979928245%7Ctwgr%5Ee826188d2a4172a057b36af16e52c8fb9ad3e1a2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fdemocrat-senator-mark-warner-accused-calling-military-coup%2F Source: thegatewaypundit.com President Trump's Plan https://twitter.com/Rightanglenews/status/1996576953248211046?s=20 BREAKING: January 6 Pipe Bomb Suspect Identified  The January 6 Pipe Bomb suspect has been identified. The FBI arrested a man named Brian Cole in connection with the January 6 pipe bombs on Thursday morning. “Brian Cole is the person the FBI has in custody and whom they believe left the pipe bombs in DC on 1/5/2021, according to two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter,” NBC News reported. Brian Cole will appear in court on Thursday. Source: thegatewaypundit.com https://twitter.com/TonySeruga/status/1996628056853958759?s=20   Falls Church, Northern Virginia, because he gave the suspect a ride. Home Depot credit card transactions and CCTV video evidence also link the suspect to the purchase of many of the materials used to make the ‘pipe bombs’. The Big Question Why did Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of Washington Field Office, instruct the Special Agents given a target sheet (“watch and pattern of life”) on the person of interest to stand down? D’Antuono was also in charge of the Gretchen Whitmer fednapping case. D’Antuono retired when faced with having to face questioning from lawmakers. https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1996655400721023040?s=20  that finally nailed the suspect. Today is result of that outstanding work. We didn't need new evidence – just new leaders, and a new President @realDonaldTrump willing to let good cops be cops. I'm extremely grateful to @FBIDDBongino, our @FBIWFOleadership team,@AGPamBondi,@USAttyPirroand every partner who helped deliver this win. This is a focused, rebuilt@FBIdelivering results for the American people. I have suspected for years that this bomber was known and could have been arrested. But EVERYTHING is planned and timed. What I'm anticipating, are the connections to democrats and their operatives. I suspect there is a lot of “Panic in DC” right now. And why was the suspect arrested now? Is it table setting for what's to come? Are the Jan 6 conspirators shitting their pants? Tick Tock https://twitter.com/TheStormRedux/status/1996390425163395417?s=20 https://twitter.com/listen_2learn/status/1996339831161663688?s=20    lightweight Governor, who has allowed his State to go to hell (Tren de Aragua, anyone?), should be ashamed of himself. FREE TINA! https://twitter.com/TheStormRedux/status/1996332166947729622?s=20  things happening right now that they don't like. One of the things is the autopen… Just about everything he signed was not signed by him… People sitting around the beautiful resolute desk knew exactly what it was – and those people are guilty, in my opinion, of a major crime.” Now we just need to see action taken to hold people accountable. I have faith that it's coming   MAGA Pillow Baron Mike Lindell Files Paperwork To Run For minnesota Governor MyPillow Founder and CEO Mike Lindell filed paperwork to run for Minnesota governor in 2026, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the Mike Lindell for Governor committee was registered with the state's Campaign Finance Board, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Lindell, a close ally to President Donald Trump, told the outlet in an interview that his gubernatorial bid “isn't 100% yet,” but vowed to announce his final decision during a news conference on Dec. 11.     Source: dailycaller.com https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1996634099235090449?s=20   JOE GRUTERS: “Ballot stubs must match, and incomplete ballots cannot be counted.” @ChairmanGruters  Election Integrity Push: DOJ on track to compel voter roll cleanups in over half of U.S. states “The sloppiness of the elections in blue states is no accident. It is on purpose. It is a feature, not a bug,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet J. Dhillon told the Just the News, No Noise television show on Wednesday night. “And the goal is to cram as many people on there and make voters who are not particularly engaged, make it easy for someone else to help them fill out their ballot and return it for them when they didn’t care enough to do it themselves,” she added. “What we can do at the federal government level is ensure that our federal election laws are observed, and that includes each state’s requirement to keep clean voter rolls,” she added. “That is a fundamental basic.” Dhillon spoke one day after her division filed lawsuits against six Democrat-run states — Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Washington state and Vermont — seeking to compel them to turn over to the DOJ their voter rolls to be inspected for abnormalities, outdated names or noncompliant names. She also struck a deal last week with North Carolina to force it to review and fix over 100,000 voters’ names on rolls in that battleground state that were added without complying with state law. Dhillon said her office is now on track to force through litigation, settlement or voluntary efforts at least 26 states to clean up voter rolls. “We’re now in litigation with 14 states. So the six yesterday included Maryland, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Washington State and Vermont. That adds to eight we already had going,” she said. Source:  justthenews.com 3724 Dec 18, 2019 10:52:52 PM EST Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: 6d572c No. 7555466  It must be done right It must be done according to the rule of law. It must carry weight. It must be proven in the court of law. There can be no mistakes. Good things sometimes take time. Attempts to slow/block the inevitable [Justice] will fail. [D]s election interference 2016. >Clinton/Hussein illegal FISA [D]s election interference 2018. >Mueller [D]s election interference 2020. >Impeachment Projection. These people are sick. We, the People, are the CURE. Q 556 Jan 19, 2018 12:39:17 AM EST Q !UW.yye1fxo ID: 239b20 No. 89777  Jan 19, 2018 12:37:26 AM EST Anonymous ID: 4bb19b No. 89736  >>89725 THANK YOU Q FROM CANADA TOO IM SURE THIS WILL EXPOSE OUR CORRUPTION AS WELL! >>89736 The ‘CURE‘ will spread WW. Have FAITH, Patriot. Q (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more content. Don't forget to download our Chinese Prestige miniseries, currently on sale for $5. Annual subscribers get the series free!  Despite sitting on a large surplus of Labubus, Danny and Derek work hard to bring you the news. This week: in Russia-Ukraine, new US diplomacy goes nowhere (1:08), Ukraine is now attacking Russian commercial ships (5:55), and the EU moves to phase out Russian natural gas (8:35); in the DRC-Rwanda conflict, Trump hosts a peace deal signing as fighting resumes with M23 in the eastern DRC (11:17); new fighting erupts in southern Yemen (14:19); Lebanon and Israel hold ceasefire talks as the IDF resumes strikes (17:08); in Gaza, new clashes leave a gang leader dead (19:45), the ceasefire implementation sees minimal progress (23:48), and Israel reopens the the Rafah checkpoint (26:24); Sudan's RSF claims a new advance in the Kordofan region (28:40); a bizarre coup unfolds in Guinea-Bissau (30:40); Trump moves closer to military action against Venezuela (36:55); Honduras heads toward a contentious election (40:17); the US pauses entry from 19 countries after the DC National Guard shooting (43:46); and a double-tap strike on a boat in the Caribbean raises new legal questions (45:43). Join the Discord (subscribers get access to all channels).

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more content.Don't forget to download our Chinese Prestige miniseries, currently on sale for $5. Annual subscribers get the series free! Despite sitting on a large surplus of Labubus, Danny and Derek work hard to bring you the news. This week: in Russia-Ukraine, new US diplomacy goes nowhere (1:08), Ukraine is now attacking Russian commercial ships (5:55), and the EU moves to phase out Russian natural gas (8:35); in the DRC-Rwanda conflict, Trump hosts a peace deal signing as fighting resumes with M23 in the eastern DRC (11:17); new fighting erupts in southern Yemen (14:19); Lebanon and Israel hold ceasefire talks as the IDF resumes strikes (17:08); in Gaza, new clashes leave a gang leader dead (19:45), the ceasefire implementation sees minimal progress (23:48), and Israel reopens the the Rafah checkpoint (26:24); Sudan's RSF claims a new advance in the Kordofan region (28:40); a bizarre coup unfolds in Guinea-Bissau (30:40); Trump moves closer to military action against Venezuela (36:55); Honduras heads toward a contentious election (40:17); the US pauses entry from 19 countries after the DC National Guard shooting (43:46); and a double-tap strike on a boat in the Caribbean raises new legal questions (45:43).Join the Discord (subscribers get access to all channels).Our Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jawhar Aftabachi was enslaved as a child by the Ottomans in the Black Sea region in the early sixteenth century. He was then sold to the Ottoman admiral Selman Reis, who took him with his fleet to Egypt and Yemen during his wars with the Portuguese; carried, after the admiral's death, by the admiral's nephew Mustafa Bayram to Gujarat on the western coast of India; and finally, when the Mughal army invaded Gujarat in 1534, taken into imperial service along with thousands of Eurasian and Abyssinian slaves. Here he rose to the position of water-carrier for the Mughal Emperor Humayun and chronicled this experience in a remarkable , Persian text called Tazkirah-i Vaqi`at or “memoir of events”. In Slavery in the Early Mughal World: The Life and Thoughts of Jawhar Aftabachi (1520s–1580s) (Oxford UP, 2025), Ali Anooshahr uses Jawhar's life and memoirs as a unique window into slavery, selfhood, and the rise of the early modern Indian Ocean world. Bringing a micro-historical study to a "subaltern Mughal author" offers the opportunity to reassess the history of slavery in South Asia from an original perspective and to reframe the connected history of the early modern world. Jawhar's life shows in vivid detail the eruption of the Mediterranean and Black Sea cultural regions into the Indian Ocean world, shedding light onto the collapse of older bonds of interdependency in the face of impersonal structures of new centralized states, and bearing witness to the process of individualization of people which was experienced not as a triumphalist "rise of the self" but as alienation. Ali Anooshahr is a historian of Mughal India as well as the "Persianate World" during the early modern era. He received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998, and his M.A. (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) from UCLA. He is a Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. His books include The Ghazi Sultans and the Frontiers of Islam: A Comparative Study of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods (Routledge, 2009), Turkestan and the Rise of Eurasian Empires: A Study of Politics and Invented Traditions (Oxford, 2018), and (edited with Ebba Koch) The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan: Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature (The Marg Foundation, March 2019). His research has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Hellman Foundations, among others. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Jawhar Aftabachi was enslaved as a child by the Ottomans in the Black Sea region in the early sixteenth century. He was then sold to the Ottoman admiral Selman Reis, who took him with his fleet to Egypt and Yemen during his wars with the Portuguese; carried, after the admiral's death, by the admiral's nephew Mustafa Bayram to Gujarat on the western coast of India; and finally, when the Mughal army invaded Gujarat in 1534, taken into imperial service along with thousands of Eurasian and Abyssinian slaves. Here he rose to the position of water-carrier for the Mughal Emperor Humayun and chronicled this experience in a remarkable , Persian text called Tazkirah-i Vaqi`at or “memoir of events”. In Slavery in the Early Mughal World: The Life and Thoughts of Jawhar Aftabachi (1520s–1580s) (Oxford UP, 2025), Ali Anooshahr uses Jawhar's life and memoirs as a unique window into slavery, selfhood, and the rise of the early modern Indian Ocean world. Bringing a micro-historical study to a "subaltern Mughal author" offers the opportunity to reassess the history of slavery in South Asia from an original perspective and to reframe the connected history of the early modern world. Jawhar's life shows in vivid detail the eruption of the Mediterranean and Black Sea cultural regions into the Indian Ocean world, shedding light onto the collapse of older bonds of interdependency in the face of impersonal structures of new centralized states, and bearing witness to the process of individualization of people which was experienced not as a triumphalist "rise of the self" but as alienation. Ali Anooshahr is a historian of Mughal India as well as the "Persianate World" during the early modern era. He received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998, and his M.A. (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) from UCLA. He is a Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. His books include The Ghazi Sultans and the Frontiers of Islam: A Comparative Study of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods (Routledge, 2009), Turkestan and the Rise of Eurasian Empires: A Study of Politics and Invented Traditions (Oxford, 2018), and (edited with Ebba Koch) The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan: Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature (The Marg Foundation, March 2019). His research has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Hellman Foundations, among others. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Jawhar Aftabachi was enslaved as a child by the Ottomans in the Black Sea region in the early sixteenth century. He was then sold to the Ottoman admiral Selman Reis, who took him with his fleet to Egypt and Yemen during his wars with the Portuguese; carried, after the admiral's death, by the admiral's nephew Mustafa Bayram to Gujarat on the western coast of India; and finally, when the Mughal army invaded Gujarat in 1534, taken into imperial service along with thousands of Eurasian and Abyssinian slaves. Here he rose to the position of water-carrier for the Mughal Emperor Humayun and chronicled this experience in a remarkable , Persian text called Tazkirah-i Vaqi`at or “memoir of events”. In Slavery in the Early Mughal World: The Life and Thoughts of Jawhar Aftabachi (1520s–1580s) (Oxford UP, 2025), Ali Anooshahr uses Jawhar's life and memoirs as a unique window into slavery, selfhood, and the rise of the early modern Indian Ocean world. Bringing a micro-historical study to a "subaltern Mughal author" offers the opportunity to reassess the history of slavery in South Asia from an original perspective and to reframe the connected history of the early modern world. Jawhar's life shows in vivid detail the eruption of the Mediterranean and Black Sea cultural regions into the Indian Ocean world, shedding light onto the collapse of older bonds of interdependency in the face of impersonal structures of new centralized states, and bearing witness to the process of individualization of people which was experienced not as a triumphalist "rise of the self" but as alienation. Ali Anooshahr is a historian of Mughal India as well as the "Persianate World" during the early modern era. He received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998, and his M.A. (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) from UCLA. He is a Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. His books include The Ghazi Sultans and the Frontiers of Islam: A Comparative Study of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods (Routledge, 2009), Turkestan and the Rise of Eurasian Empires: A Study of Politics and Invented Traditions (Oxford, 2018), and (edited with Ebba Koch) The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan: Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature (The Marg Foundation, March 2019). His research has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Hellman Foundations, among others. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Jawhar Aftabachi was enslaved as a child by the Ottomans in the Black Sea region in the early sixteenth century. He was then sold to the Ottoman admiral Selman Reis, who took him with his fleet to Egypt and Yemen during his wars with the Portuguese; carried, after the admiral's death, by the admiral's nephew Mustafa Bayram to Gujarat on the western coast of India; and finally, when the Mughal army invaded Gujarat in 1534, taken into imperial service along with thousands of Eurasian and Abyssinian slaves. Here he rose to the position of water-carrier for the Mughal Emperor Humayun and chronicled this experience in a remarkable , Persian text called Tazkirah-i Vaqi`at or “memoir of events”. In Slavery in the Early Mughal World: The Life and Thoughts of Jawhar Aftabachi (1520s–1580s) (Oxford UP, 2025), Ali Anooshahr uses Jawhar's life and memoirs as a unique window into slavery, selfhood, and the rise of the early modern Indian Ocean world. Bringing a micro-historical study to a "subaltern Mughal author" offers the opportunity to reassess the history of slavery in South Asia from an original perspective and to reframe the connected history of the early modern world. Jawhar's life shows in vivid detail the eruption of the Mediterranean and Black Sea cultural regions into the Indian Ocean world, shedding light onto the collapse of older bonds of interdependency in the face of impersonal structures of new centralized states, and bearing witness to the process of individualization of people which was experienced not as a triumphalist "rise of the self" but as alienation. Ali Anooshahr is a historian of Mughal India as well as the "Persianate World" during the early modern era. He received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998, and his M.A. (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) from UCLA. He is a Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. His books include The Ghazi Sultans and the Frontiers of Islam: A Comparative Study of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods (Routledge, 2009), Turkestan and the Rise of Eurasian Empires: A Study of Politics and Invented Traditions (Oxford, 2018), and (edited with Ebba Koch) The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan: Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature (The Marg Foundation, March 2019). His research has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Hellman Foundations, among others. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-studies

Jawhar Aftabachi was enslaved as a child by the Ottomans in the Black Sea region in the early sixteenth century. He was then sold to the Ottoman admiral Selman Reis, who took him with his fleet to Egypt and Yemen during his wars with the Portuguese; carried, after the admiral's death, by the admiral's nephew Mustafa Bayram to Gujarat on the western coast of India; and finally, when the Mughal army invaded Gujarat in 1534, taken into imperial service along with thousands of Eurasian and Abyssinian slaves. Here he rose to the position of water-carrier for the Mughal Emperor Humayun and chronicled this experience in a remarkable , Persian text called Tazkirah-i Vaqi`at or “memoir of events”. In Slavery in the Early Mughal World: The Life and Thoughts of Jawhar Aftabachi (1520s–1580s) (Oxford UP, 2025), Ali Anooshahr uses Jawhar's life and memoirs as a unique window into slavery, selfhood, and the rise of the early modern Indian Ocean world. Bringing a micro-historical study to a "subaltern Mughal author" offers the opportunity to reassess the history of slavery in South Asia from an original perspective and to reframe the connected history of the early modern world. Jawhar's life shows in vivid detail the eruption of the Mediterranean and Black Sea cultural regions into the Indian Ocean world, shedding light onto the collapse of older bonds of interdependency in the face of impersonal structures of new centralized states, and bearing witness to the process of individualization of people which was experienced not as a triumphalist "rise of the self" but as alienation. Ali Anooshahr is a historian of Mughal India as well as the "Persianate World" during the early modern era. He received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998, and his M.A. (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) from UCLA. He is a Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. His books include The Ghazi Sultans and the Frontiers of Islam: A Comparative Study of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods (Routledge, 2009), Turkestan and the Rise of Eurasian Empires: A Study of Politics and Invented Traditions (Oxford, 2018), and (edited with Ebba Koch) The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan: Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature (The Marg Foundation, March 2019). His research has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Hellman Foundations, among others. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

Jawhar Aftabachi was enslaved as a child by the Ottomans in the Black Sea region in the early sixteenth century. He was then sold to the Ottoman admiral Selman Reis, who took him with his fleet to Egypt and Yemen during his wars with the Portuguese; carried, after the admiral's death, by the admiral's nephew Mustafa Bayram to Gujarat on the western coast of India; and finally, when the Mughal army invaded Gujarat in 1534, taken into imperial service along with thousands of Eurasian and Abyssinian slaves. Here he rose to the position of water-carrier for the Mughal Emperor Humayun and chronicled this experience in a remarkable , Persian text called Tazkirah-i Vaqi`at or “memoir of events”. In Slavery in the Early Mughal World: The Life and Thoughts of Jawhar Aftabachi (1520s–1580s) (Oxford UP, 2025), Ali Anooshahr uses Jawhar's life and memoirs as a unique window into slavery, selfhood, and the rise of the early modern Indian Ocean world. Bringing a micro-historical study to a "subaltern Mughal author" offers the opportunity to reassess the history of slavery in South Asia from an original perspective and to reframe the connected history of the early modern world. Jawhar's life shows in vivid detail the eruption of the Mediterranean and Black Sea cultural regions into the Indian Ocean world, shedding light onto the collapse of older bonds of interdependency in the face of impersonal structures of new centralized states, and bearing witness to the process of individualization of people which was experienced not as a triumphalist "rise of the self" but as alienation. Ali Anooshahr is a historian of Mughal India as well as the "Persianate World" during the early modern era. He received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998, and his M.A. (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) from UCLA. He is a Professor of History at the University of California, Davis. His books include The Ghazi Sultans and the Frontiers of Islam: A Comparative Study of the Late Medieval and Early Modern Periods (Routledge, 2009), Turkestan and the Rise of Eurasian Empires: A Study of Politics and Invented Traditions (Oxford, 2018), and (edited with Ebba Koch) The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan: Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature (The Marg Foundation, March 2019). His research has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Hellman Foundations, among others. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information, which could have endangered American troops and mission objectives, when he used Signal in March of this year to share highly-sensitive attack plans targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to four sources familiar with the contents of a classified Inspector General report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donate (no account necessary) | Subscribe (account required) Join Bryan Dean Wright, former CIA Operations Officer, as he dives into today's top stories shaping America and the world. In this episode of The Wright Report, Bryan covers the Pentagon's new Inspector General findings on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's use of the Signal app, Eric Swalwell's push for voting by phone, new revelations about how the Afghan terrorist in Washington was radicalized, a Senate bill that would end dual citizenship, and promising research on depression and mental health. Pentagon IG Clears Hegseth of Wrongdoing: The Inspector General found that senior Trump officials violated protocol by discussing Yemen strike operations on the Signal app, but that Hegseth had legal authority to declassify what he shared. The report warns that using personal devices creates risk, although no adversary appears to have intercepted the information. Bryan describes the episode as sloppy tradecraft that prompted the administration to tighten internal communications procedures. Swalwell Pushes Voting by Phone: California Democrat Eric Swalwell is proposing phone-based voting, insisting it can be secure. Bryan counters with his CIA experience, explaining that any phone-based voting system would be a prime target for foreign intelligence services. He argues that electronic voting in any form creates undetectable vulnerabilities that nations like China and Russia would exploit. How the Afghan Terrorist Was Radicalized: New reporting shows that Rahmanullah Lakanwal told his wife he was meeting with members of the Tablighi Jamaat, a Deobandi revivalist movement with a long history of extremism. The group has terror cells in parts of the United States, and Lakanwal previously assisted the CIA in killing their members overseas. Bryan explains why investigators are now trying to determine whether cells in Phoenix, San Diego, Chicago, Indianapolis, or on the East Coast are connected to the attack. Senator Proposes Ending Dual Citizenship: Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno introduced a bill requiring Americans to hold only United States citizenship. He argues that dual allegiance creates legal and security conflicts and says becoming an American should be an all-or-nothing commitment. Bryan encourages listeners who support the idea to contact their senators and weigh in. Mental Health Research Offers Hope: Studies show that taking a weeklong break from social media reduces depression and insomnia. British researchers also found that nitrous oxide treatments can rapidly improve severe depression when other therapies fail, and exercise and time in nature remain highly effective for anxiety and mood disorders.   "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32     Keywords: Pentagon IG report, Signal app, Pete Hegseth declassification authority, Eric Swalwell voting by phone, NSA hacking risks electronic voting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal Tablighi Jamaat radicalization, dual citizenship, Exclusive Citizenship Act, depression research nitrous oxide, social media break mental health

00:00:00 – Tech issues, opening banter, and intro to the American Sasquatch film 00:04:45 – December declared Bigfoot Month; setup for deep-dive Bigfoot discussion 00:09:16 – Alex Jones Clips of the Week and commentary detours 00:14:14 – Transition back into monsters and paranormal talk 00:17:59 – Breaking down the American Sasquatch documentary's approach to portals and Bigfoot lore 00:22:15 – Multidimensional Bigfoot theories; Native American accounts and early history 00:33:38 – Bigfoot DNA claims, contamination arguments, and Nephilim lineage speculation 00:38:04 – Portals, Skinwalker Ranch entities, dire wolves, humanoids, and congressional Bigfoot believer 00:43:01 – English witness story: beam of light, red mist, and small red-eyed creatures 00:48:00 – UK teen Bigfoot documentary "My Life With Bigfoot" and autism-overcoming narrative 00:52:31 – Twilight vampires tangent and celebrity-fleeing-Trump discussion 00:57:24 – Ellen/Portia UK move and gossip segment 00:58:56 – Alice in Chains pressured by PETA to rename themselves "Betty in Chains" to promote elephant rescue 01:03:53 – Circus ethics debate; ranting about animal-free circuses and PETA's tactics 01:06:41 – Pete Hegseth controversy: SignalGate, Yemen strike allegations, media pressure campaign 01:14:26 – Follow-up criticism of Hegseth: drinking, misconduct allegations, Senate confirmation issues 01:18:15 – Predictions on political fallout and Trump's response to Hegseth pressure 01:23:17 – Shift to Cratchit's segment: sociology graphs, paranormal belief rates, AI jailbreaks via poetry 01:32:42 – Malaysia Airlines MH370 search updates and portal speculation 01:37:34 – Word-of-the-Year roundup: rage-bait, aura-farming, parasocial terms 01:46:24 – Japanese KFC Christmas traditions and Colonel Sanders lore detour 01:51:19 – News block: raccoon gets drunk in a liquor store 01:56:21 – Raccoon follow-up stories, dead-raccoon McDonald's incident, and closing banter toward sign-off   Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Website: http://obdmpod.com ► Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/obdmpod ► Full Videos at Odysee: https://odysee.com/@obdm:0 ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/obdmpod ► Instagram: obdmpod ► Email: ourbigdumbmouth at gmail ► RSS: http://ourbigdumbmouth.libsyn.com/rss ► iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-big-dumb-mouth/id261189509?mt=2  

//The Wire//2300Z December 3, 2025////ROUTINE////BLUF: MOLOTOV ATTACK TARGETS ICE FACILITY IN LOS ANGELES. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RETURNS TO JOB AS POLICE OFFICER IN CHICAGO, DESPITE AWAITING TRIAL FOR IMMIGRATION FRAUD. CRACKDOWN ON THOUGHT AND SPEECH CRIMES CONTINUES TO SPREAD IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-United Kingdom: The crackdown on speech continues, with several developments taking place this week. A man was arrested a few days ago for the "possession of extreme music", which allegedly violates terrorism laws. Separately, a woman was arrested for using a slur in a private text-message exchange to describe the man who attacked her, and a another case came to light involving a man who was arrested after posting vacation pictures online, which featured him visiting a shooting range in the United States.-HomeFront-Washington D.C. - This morning the Department of Homeland Security formally halted all immigration and naturalization from 19x nations labeled as High-Risk Countries. The list of these nations is as follows: Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.Analyst Comment: The halt of immigration from these nations is not new by any means, this was announced back in June as part of Presidential Proclamation 10949, but this policy is just being implemented now.West Virginia: Winter weather conditions resulted in a technical rescue taking place on Route 35 near Sixteen Mile Road in Mason County. Mason Bridge was closed for over 5 hours while the high-angle rescue was being conducted. The driver was uninjured and refused medical treatment at the scene. The cause of the accident is not known.Minnesota: Locals have reported ICE operations beginning in Minneapolis, as a few illegals from Somalia have been arrested over the past few days.Analyst Comment: This may or may not be the beginning of a larger campaign; ICE agents have been conducting low-level operations in Minneapolis for months now, so it's not clear as to if the arrests that have been made recently are part of that routine effort, or part of a much larger campaign. Either way, resistance throughout the city is significant as Somalis form a more cohesive effort to halt the enforcement of immigration law.Maryland: This afternoon a shooting was reported at the food court inside MGM National Harbor casino in Prince George County. One person was killed and another wounded during the attack. Local authorities state that the shooting was targeted, and that the shooter sought out the victim personally. No further details on the shooter or the motive have been released. The food court at the casino remains closed while the murder investigation continues, but the rest of the casino is open as usual.California: On Monday an arson attack was carried out in Los Angeles, which took the form of an assailant using multiple Molotov devices to attack the Los Angeles Federal Building (LAFB). Per the notice provided by DHS officials yesterday, the man approached the facility and threw two Molotovs at the security guards outside the facility, before being detained. Neither device functioned as designed, and the suspect was arrested at the scene. Yesterday the DOJ identified the suspect as Jose Francisco Jovel, a resident of Koreatown.Analyst Comment: As arson attacks remain fairly constant nationwide during times of heightened unrest, the use of fire as a weapon is becoming more of a concern for the prepared citizen. Molotovs are a common sight in Los Angeles at this point, however this man attempted to use his devices to immolate two security officers posted at the entrance to the facility.Nebraska: A series of shootings were reported in Omaha this morning. The f

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is taking heat from all sides. A growing number of members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, are vowing to provide special oversight after his the "Kill Them All" order took out two people dangling from the wreckage of a boat off the coast of Venezuela. Whether the boat was being used by fishermen or to run drugs is at question, as is whether the men posed a clear and present danger to the United States. If allegations of war crimes in that case weren't enough, the result of Pentagon's Signalgate review conclude that Hegseth violated military regulations when he used the unsecure chat platform to discuss details of US strikes in Yemen. What are the legal ramifications, if any? We'll ask former federal prosecutor David Katz to weigh in.

Sources tell CBS News a new Pentagon inspector general's report found Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could have endangered American service members when he shared details of an active bombing mission in Yemen in March in a Signal group chat with other top officials and also mistakenly included a journalist. CBS News' Charlie D'Agata reports. President Trump pardoned Rep. Henry Cuellar before his trial even began. Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, and his wife will no longer face bribery and fraud charges. Scott MacFarlane reports. Former physician Salvador Plasencia will serve a 30-month sentence for his role in Matthew Perry's death. He pleaded guilty to supplying ketamine to Perry and his assistant in the weeks before the actor's October 2023 death. Some of Perry's family members spoke in court on Wednesday, with his sister telling Plasencia, "instead of protecting, you exploited." In the "CBS Mornings" series "Never Too Late," a 78-year-old woman finds a new purpose and passion for percussion. Now she's sharing the joy and health benefits of drum circles with fellow seniors. Experts say roughly six in 10 cats in the U.S. are carrying too much weight. A new clinical trial, "MEOW-1," could change that, testing to see if GLP-1 weight loss drugs can be used on pets. CBS News' Ash-har Quraishi reports. Lucy Liu talks about starring in and producing the movie "Rosemead," why she says the story resonates universally and reflecting on personal experiences for the film. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Incense is having a real moment and in this episode we're exploring why and also talking through some of our favourite incense scents.Why is incense so popular again? Incense has moved from temples and churches into living rooms,studios and perfume wardrobes; it's become a chic, modern ritual asmuch as a smell.Trend reports link the boom to the hunger for spiritual and holisticpractices – incense is an easy way to pause, “set an intention” andcreate a little ceremony around everyday life.Incense vs frankincense “Incense” is the whole blend you burn – it might be on a stick, cone, coilor rope – and can contain resins, woods, herbs, spices and florals. “Frankincense” (also called olibanum) is one particular resin, tappedfrom Boswellia sacra trees in Oman, Yemen and parts of the Horn ofAfrica. Etymology you can play with: “frankincense” comes from Old French“franc encens” – high quality or “pure” incense – while “incense” itselfgoes back to Latin for “to burn.” When a perfume lists “incense” as a note, it may mean a full accord ofresins (frankincense, myrrh, opoponax, labdanum, elemi, woods,flowers) or a composition that highlights frankincense alone.What incense actually smells like Frankincense: resinous yet airy; earthy, piney, slightly smoky with asurprising citrus brightness. Myrrh: darker, spicier, slightly medicinal and very “churchy”, oftenassociated with ritual and antiquity. Opoponax: honeyed, vanillic, balsamic and comforting – it softens theharsher edges of smoke. Labdanum: rich, ambery, leathery and almost animalic; gives incenseperfumes that plush, warm body. Elemi: sharp, lemony, peppery resin that brings sparkle and lift to thesmoke. Woods (sandalwood, cedar etc.): add dryness, creaminess orpencilshaving smokiness and form the backbone of many incenseheavyfragrances.Quotes from perfumers: Francis Kurkdjian on why he loves Japanese incense at home: partlypracticality, because “it fills the room in five minutes, whereas candlestake ages.” Yasmin Sewell on the moodshift: “Where a candle may take twentyminutes to resonate in your space, when you light incense there is animmediate scent that fills the room.” Sewell again on why incense made more sense than candles for herbrand's next step: “I felt that incense really connected with our values,since it's been used in spiritual rituals for so long,” and “what I reallylove about incense is that it shifts the mood instantly.” Lyn Harris on her daily ritual: “It sets a spiritual tone to my day,” andincense is “an ethereal veil that lingers in the air.” She burns it in themorning to set her mood, sometimes midday to reinvigorate her senses,and even before bed so “there is a sensual haze passing over mynostrils before I sleep.” Chris Rusak on the psychology of burning it: incense is “a great vehiclefor empowerment or catharsis via controlled destruction” and “incenseuse is intentional. It requires fire or directed heat for full expression,which we must effect, contain, and control, in order to destroy it but notourselves.” How it's harvested: frankincense resin oozes from cuts in theBoswellia sacra tree and dries into golden “tears”, sometimes called“frankincense tears” or “olibanum tears”. The jinn love story: a girl from the jinn falls in love with a human boy –forbidden, of course. As punishment she's turned into a tree; her griefbecomes crystal tears that people burn on coal for healing smoke with abitter taste that mourns lost love. Ecology: frankincense forests in northern Ethiopia are under threat asthey're...

Pentagon watchdog finds Defense Secretary endangered military personnel when he used Signal messaging app to convey information about an strike in Yemen. President Trump continues verbal attack on Somali community in Minnesota. Trump rolls back Biden-era fuel economy standards. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

United States correspondent Todd Zwillich spoke to Lisa Owen about a number of new photos from sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's island that has been released to the public, as well as a Pentagon review into group chat messages related to US strikes on Yemen which were leaked earlier this year.

On today's podcast:1) Kevin Hassett may not have the ability to deliver the rapid pace of interest rate cuts President Trump would like, even if he is approved as the next Federal Reserve Chair, said Gregory Peters, co-chief investment officer at PGIM Fixed Income. Peters made the remarks amid rising talk that Hassett, the White House National Economic Council Director, may ease monetary policy aggressively to please Trump if he is picked to run the Fed. But the PGIM fund manager suggested that — since Fed rate decisions are ultimately decided by committee — Hassett won’t have the power to deliver on his own. Peters’ remarks were in response to a Financial Times report that bond investors, including those on the borrowing advisory committee, have voiced concerns to the US Treasury about Hassett’s potential appointment as the Fed chief.2) President Trump’s aides and allies are discussing the possibility of making Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent the top White House economic adviser — in addition to his current job — should the president pick Kevin Hassett as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, according to people familiar with the matter. Tapping Bessent to lead the White House’s National Economic Council would allow him to consolidate oversight of Trump’s economic policies if Hassett — the current NEC director — becomes the next leader of the US central bank, an announcement Trump has hinted at in recent days. If Bessent is also named to the NEC, he would become the chief arbiter of the administration’s economic portfolio spanning the purview of both the Treasury Department and White House. It would also give Bessent a West Wing office, granting him even more physical proximity to the president.3) The Pentagon watchdog concluded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked endangering American troops and the US mission against Houthi rebels in Yemen when he shared attack plans on the Signal messaging app, a person familiar with the matter said. The acting Pentagon inspector general’s classified report, delivered to a Senate committee yesterday, said Hegseth violated government policies by using his personal phone and Signal to transmit the information, which was marked “Secret.” The person describing the contents of the report asked not to be identified discussing private information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Pentagon watchdog report has found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. service members at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to discuss a military strike in Yemen earlier this year. His use of Signal came to light when a journalist was accidentally added to a chat that gave sensitive, real-time updates about a strike against Houthi militants. Nick Schifrin reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports on a Pentagon watchdog report saying Defense chief Pete Hegseth's use of Signal to convey sensitive material about strikes in Yemen put American troops in harm's way.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SOUTHERN YEMEN?HEADLINE 1: Saudi Arabia is providing the Palestinian Authority with a $90 million grant.HEADLINE 2: Three Israeli soldiers were wounded in two separate attacks yesterday.HEADLINE 3: The IDF raided the offices in Ramallah and Hebron of an organization called the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.---FDD Senior Research Analyst Natalie Ecanow, filling in for Jonathan Schanzer, provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Southern Transition Council Special Representative Amr Al-Bidh.Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief---Featured FDD Pieces: "Trump is right to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood" - Edmund Fitton-Brown, The Spectator"Japan Has Changed How the World Must Think About Taiwan" - Craig Singleton, The New York Times"Africa 2025: Things Fall Apart" - Clifford D. May, Foreign Podicy

A Pentagon watchdog report has found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. service members at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to discuss a military strike in Yemen earlier this year. His use of Signal came to light when a journalist was accidentally added to a chat that gave sensitive, real-time updates about a strike against Houthi militants. Nick Schifrin reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Pro-Iran Militias Dominate Iraqi Elections; Iran Losing Control of Houthis — John Batchelor, Thaddeus Martin, Malcolm Hoenlein — Batchelor reports that pro-Iran militias and their political front organizations consolidated unprecedented power in Iraq's recent election, generating concern among American officials regarding Iranian regional influence expansion. Martin documents a counterintuitive development: Iran appears to be losing operational control over the Houthis in Yemen, its most strategically critical proxy force in the region. Hoenlein concludes with positive news regarding the Bene Manasseh, descendants of the ancient lost Israelite tribe, returning to Israel and establishing community and cultural presence.

A @Christadelphians Video: **YouTube Video Summary / Description**Description: These two excellent prophecy talks test from Scripture whether the view that the Arabs invade and overcome Israel before Armageddon and Christ's second coming is correct, but show that this is not the case. On the contrary it is after Christ comes, that those Arab nations which favour the land and people of Israel now, will become subject to Christ in the Kingdom of God and their transformation to the worship of Yahweh the God of Israel will occur in the post-Armageddon era through the domination of Israel and the saints of God. In this thought-provoking and expositional Bible study, we continue our deep dive into the controversial "Inner and Outer Ring" prophecy theory. Is a specific Arab coalition truly destined to invade Israel in the latter days? Through an insightful, Scripture-based analysis, we demonstrate why this popular idea contradicts the Bible's own prophetic blueprint.Join us as we rightly divide the Word of Truth, tracing the definitive role of key Arab nations—including Libya, Sudan (Ethiopia), Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, and Gaza—before, during, and after the Armageddon campaign. This outstanding presentation reveals the true, post-Armageddon fate of the Arab world and its remarkable transformation in the coming Kingdom of God.

Five years after the signing of the Abraham Accords, the Middle East looks very different—defined by both extraordinary cooperation and unprecedented challenges. In this episode, we unpack how Israel's defensive war on seven fronts affected regional partnerships, why Abraham Accords nations have stood by the Jewish state, and what expanded normalization could look like as countries like Saudi Arabia and others weigh making such monumental decisions.   We also explore the growing importance of humanitarian coordination, people-to-people diplomacy, and the critical role AJC is playing in supporting deeper regional collaboration. From shifting narratives to new economic and security opportunities, we chart what the next five years could mean for peace, stability, and integration across the region. *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC. This episode is up-to-date as of November 25, 2025. Read the transcript: Building What's Next | Architects of Peace - Episode 6 | AJC Resources: AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace - Tune in weekly for new episodes. The Abraham Accords, Explained AJC.org/CNME - Find more from AJC's Center for a New Middle East Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus  People of the Pod Follow Architects of Peace on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace You can reach us at: podcasts@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Transcript: ANNE DREAZEN: One thing that I have learned from my many years at the Department of Defense is that military instruments of power are not sufficient to really build longlasting peace and stability.  The importance of trade, of economic development, of people-to-people ties, is so essential to what we think of as an enduring or a lasting peace. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: In September 2020, the world saw what had been years–decades–in the making. Landmark peace agreements dubbed the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and two Arabian Gulf States, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain.  Later, in December, they were joined by the Kingdom of Morocco. Five years later, AJC is pulling back the curtain to meet key individuals who built the trust that led to these breakthroughs and build bonds that would last. Introducing: the Architects of Peace. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: It has been five years since Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain signed the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House. In those five years, Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a massive refugee crisis. The U.S. elected one president then re-elected his predecessor who had ushered in the Abraham Accords in the first place.  And amid news that Saudi Arabia might be next to join the Accords, the Hamas terror group breached the border between Israel and Gaza, murdered more than 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 more. Israel suddenly found itself fighting an existential war against Iran and its terror proxies on multiple fronts – Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Iran itself. At the same time, Israel also fought a worldwide war of public opinion – as Hamas elevated the death toll in Gaza by using Palestinian civilians as human shields and activists waged a war of disinformation on social media that turned international public perception against the Jewish state. Through it all, the Abraham Accords held. ALI RASHID AL NUAIMI: There are those who work hard to undermine what we are doing. And this is where many question: 'How come the UAE is still part of the Abraham Accords?'  MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi is a leading parliamentarian and educator in the United Arab Emirates. He has served as the Chancellor of the United Arab Emirates University and the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge. He currently serves as the Chairman of the International Steering Board of Hedayah, The International Center of Excellence for Countering Extremism and Violent Extremism. The center is based in Abu Dhabi.  He was one of the first to go on Israeli and Arab media to talk to the general public about the Abraham Accords and was known for correcting news anchors and other interview subjects, that the UAE had not simply agreed to live in peace with the Jewish state. It had agreed to actively engage with the Israeli people. ALI RASHID AL NUAIMI: We saw the importance of engaging with both sides. We saw the importance of talking to the Israeli general public. We saw the importance of dialogue with the government in Israel, the Knesset, the NGO, the academician, businessman. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: That engagement started almost immediately with flights back and forth, musical collaborations, culinary exchanges, academic partnerships, business arrangements–much of which came to a halt on October 7, 2023. But that simply meant the nature of the engagement changed. Since the start of the Israel-Hamas War, the UAE has provided extensive humanitarian aid to Gaza, delivering more than 100,000 tons of food, medical supplies, tents, and clothing, by land, air and sea—about 46% of the total assistance that entered Gaza. It established six desalination plants with a combined capacity of two million gallons per day.  And, in addition to operating field and floating hospitals that treated 73,000 patients, the UAE also provided five ambulances, facilitated a polio vaccination campaign, and evacuated 2,785 patients for treatment in the UAE. From Dr. Al-Nuami's point of view, the Abraham Accords made all of that humanitarian aid possible. ALI RASHID AL NUAIMI: This is why we were able to have these hospitals in Gaza, we were able to do these water solutions for the Palestinians, and we did so many things because there is a trust between us and the Israelis. That they allowed us to go and save the Palestinian people in Gaza.  So there were so many challenges, but because we have the right leadership, who have the courage to make the right decision, who believe in the Abraham Accords principles, the vision, and who's working hard to transform the region. Where every everyone will enjoy security, stability, and prosperity without, you know, excluding anyone. Why the UAE didn't pull out of the Abraham Accords? My answer is this. It's not with the government, our engagement. The government will be there for two, three, four years, and they will change.  Our Abraham Accords is with Israel as a nation, with the people, who will stay. Who are, we believe their root is here, and there is a history and there is a future that we have to share together. And this is where we have to work on what I call people to people diplomacy. This is sustainable peace. This is where you really build the bridges of trust, respect, partnership, and a shared responsibility about the whole region. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: On October 9, two years and two days after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the White House announced a ceasefire would take effect, the first step in a 20-point peace plan proposed for the region. Four days later, President Donald Trump joined the presidents of Egypt and Turkey, and the Emir of Qatar to announce a multilateral agreement to work toward a comprehensive and durable peace in Gaza. Since then, all but the remains of three hostages have been returned home, including Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose remains had been held since 2014, ending the longest hostage ordeal in Israel's history. Finally, the prospect of peace and progress seems to be re-emerging. But what is next for the Abraham Accords? Will they continue to hold and once again offer the possibilities that were promised on the White House Lawn in September 2020? Will they expand? And which countries will be next to sign on to the historic pact, setting aside decades of rejection to finally formalize full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state? The opportunities seem endless, just as they did in September 2020 when the Abraham Accords expanded the scope of what was suddenly possible in government, trade, and so much more.  ANNE DREAZEN: The Abraham Accords really opened up lots of opportunities for us in the Department of Defense to really expand cooperation between Israel and its partners in the security sphere.  MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN:  Anne Dreazen spent the last 18 years as a civil servant in the U.S. Department of Defense. For most of that time, she worked on Middle East national security and defense policy, focusing on Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. And most recently serving as the principal director for Middle East policy, the senior civil service job overseeing the entire Middle East office. She was working at the Pentagon when the Abraham Accords were signed under the first Trump administration and immediately saw a shift in the region. ANNE DREAZEN: So, one thing that we saw at the very end of the first Trump administration, and it was made possible in part because of the success of the Abraham Accords, was the decision to move Israel from U.S. European Command into U.S. Central Command. And for many decades, it had been thought that that wouldn't be feasible because you wouldn't have any Middle East countries in CENTCOM that would really be willing to engage with Israel, even in very discreet minimal channels.  But after the Abraham Accords, I think that led us policymakers and military leaders to sort of rethink that proposition, and it became very clear that, it would be better to increase cooperation between Israel and the other Gulf partners, because in many cases, they have similar security interests, specifically concerns about Iran and Iranian proxies and Iranian malign activity throughout the region. And so I think the Abraham Accords was one item that sort of laid the groundwork and really enabled and encouraged us to think creatively about ways through which we could, in the security and defense sphere, improve cooperation between Israel and other partners in the region. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: But sustaining peace in the region is more than a matter of maintaining security. Making sure young people can fulfill their dreams, make a contribution, build relationships and friendships across borders, and transcend religion and ideologies – even those in the security sphere know those are the necessary ingredients for peace and prosperity across the region.  Despite the efforts of Hamas and other Iran-backed terror proxies to derail the Abraham Accords, the U.S., Arab, and Israeli leaders had continued to pursue plans for an Israeli-Saudi peace agreement and to explore a new security architecture to fight common threats. This spirit of optimism and determination led AJC to launch the Center for a New Middle East in June 2024. In October, Anne joined AJC to lead that initiative. ANNE DREAZEN: One thing that I have learned from my many years at the Department of Defense is that military instruments of power are not sufficient to really build long lasting peace and stability. The importance of trade, of economic development, of people-to-people ties is so essential to what we think of as an enduring or a lasting peace.  And so at AJC, we're actually focused on those aspects of trying to advance normalization. Really trying to put more meat on the bones, in the case of where we already have agreements in place. So for example, with Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, the UAE and Morocco, trying to really build out what more can be done in terms of building economic ties, building people-to-people ties, and advancing those agreements. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: Of course, that work had already begun prior to Anne's arrival. Just two years after the Abraham Accords, Retired Ambassador to Oman Marc Sievers became director of AJC Abu Dhabi: The Sidney Lerner Center for Arab-Jewish Understanding, the first and only Jewish agency office in an Arab and Islamic country.  After more than 30 years as a U.S. diplomat serving across the Middle East and North Africa, Marc has witnessed a number of false starts between Arab nations and Israel. While the Abraham Accords introduced an unprecedented approach, they didn't suddenly stabilize the region.  Marc's four years in Abu Dhabi have been fraught. In January 2022, Houthis in north Yemen launched a drone and missile attack on Abu Dhabi, killing three civilians and injuring six others. In 2023, the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, Israel's retaliation, and Israel's war on seven fronts dimmed Emiratis' public perception of Jews. As recently as this past August, the U.S. Mission to the UAE issued a dire warning to Israeli diplomats and Jewish institutions in Abu Dhabi – a threat that was taken seriously given the kidnapping and murder of a Chabad rabbi in 2024.  But just as the UAE stood by its commitment to Israel, Marc and AJC stood by their commitment to the UAE and Arab neighbors, working to advance Arab-Jewish and Muslim-Jewish dialogue; combat regional antisemitism and extremism; and invigorate Jewish life across the region. From Marc's vantage point, the Abraham Accords revolutionized the concept of normalization, inspiring a level of loyalty he's never before seen.  It's worth noting the precursor to the Abraham Accords: the Peace to Prosperity Summit. For decades, diplomats had frowned on the idea of an economic peace preceding a two-state solution.  MARC SIEVERS: That idea's been out there for a long time. …It was just never embraced by those who thought, you know, first you have a two-state solution. You have a Palestinian state, and then other things will follow. This approach is kind of the opposite. You create an environment in which people feel they have an incentive, they have something to gain from cooperation, and that then can lead to a different political environment. I happen to think that's quite an interesting approach, because the other approach was tried for years and years, and it didn't succeed. Rather than a confrontational approach, this is a constructive approach that everyone benefits from. The Prosperity to Peace Conference was a very important step in that direction. It was harshly criticized by a lot of people, but I think it actually was a very kind of visionary approach to changing how things are done. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: The conference Marc is referring to took place in June 2019 –  a two-day workshop in Bahrain's capital city of Manama, where the Trump administration began rolling out the economic portion of its peace plan, titled "Peace to Prosperity."  The workshop's host Bahrain, as well as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates participated, to varying degrees.  The plan called for large scale investment, mostly by other countries in the Gulf and Europe, to advance the Palestinian economy, to integrate the Palestinian and Israelis' economies and establish a small but functional Palestinian state.  Angered by Trump's recognition of Jerusalem, Palestinian leadership rejected the plan before ever seeing its details. But as former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman pointed out in an earlier episode of this series, that was expected. The plan enabled Israel to demonstrate that it was open to cooperation. It enabled the Trump administration to illustrate the opportunities missed if countries in the region continued to let Palestinian leadership call the shots. It was economic diplomacy at its finest. And it worked.  MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN:  Benjamin Rogers, AJC's Director for Middle East and North Africa Initiatives, who also serves as Deputy Director of the Center for a New Middle East, said the Center has focused heavily on expanding private sector engagement. Israelis and Arab entrepreneurs have quietly traveled to the U.S. as part of the Center's budding business collectives.  BENJAMIN ROGERS: So people who are focused on med tech, people who are focused on agri tech, people who are focused on tourism. And what we do is we say, 'Hey, we want to talk about the Middle East. No, we do not want to talk about violence. No, we don't want to talk about death and destruction. Not because these issues are not important, but because we're here today to talk about innovation, and we're here to talk about the next generation, and what can we do?' And when you say, like, food security for example, how can Israelis and Arabs work together in a way that helps provide more food for the entire world? That's powerful. How can the Israelis and Arabs working together with the United States help combat cancer, help find solutions to new diseases?  If you really want to get at the essence of the Abraham Accords – the ability to do better and work together, to your average person on the street, that's meaningful. And so one of the initiatives is, hey, let's bring together these innovators, these business leaders, private sector, and let's showcase to Arabs, Israelis, non-Jewish community, what the Middle East can be about. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: People-to-people connections. That's what AJC has done for decades, traveling to the region since 1950 to build bridges and relationships. But providing a platform to help facilitate business ventures? That's a new strategy, which is why AJC partnered with Blue Laurel Advisors. The firm has offices in Tel Aviv, Dubai, and Washington, D.C.. It specializes in helping companies navigate the geopolitics of doing business in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Israel.  At AJC Global Forum in April, founder and Managing Director Tally Zingher told an audience that the Abraham Accords, which effectively lifted the UAE's ban on business with Israel, brought already existing deals above the radar. TALLY ZINGHER: We've been wowed by what the Center for a New Middle East has been able to do and put forth in the very short time that it's been incubated and Blue Laurel Advisors are really delighted to be part of this project and we're really aligned with its mission and its vision. It's quite simple in the region because the region is really driven by national agendas. I think it's no surprise that the appendix to the Abraham Accords was a direct parallel to the Abu Dhabi national vision. It's the key areas of growth in UAE and Saudi Arabia that are now really well aligned with Israeli strength.  We're talking about the diversification efforts of the UAE and of Saudi Arabia. At Blue Laurel, we're quite focused on Saudi Arabia because of the real growth story underway there created by the diversification efforts. But they're focused on water, energy, renewable energy, healthy cyber security, tourism. Ten years ago when you were doing this work, 15 years ago there wasn't as much complementarity between Israel and the start-up innovation ecosystem and what was going on. The region is really ready and ripe to have Israeli innovation be a part of its growth trajectory. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: Benjy said there's another advantage to building bridges in the business world – continuity. BENJAMIN ROGERS:Out of the three sectors that we're focused on – diplomatic, business, and civil society – business relations are the most resistant to political conflict. There's this element of self interest in it, which I'm not saying is a bad thing, but when you tie the relationship to your own worth and your own value, you're much more likely to go through kind of the ebbs and flows of the political.  Whereas, if you're a civil society, you're really at the mercy of populations. And if the timing is not right, it's not impossible to work together, but it's so much more difficult. Business is even more resistant than political engagement, because if political engagement is bad, the business relationship can still be good, because there's an element of self interest, and that element of we have to work together for the betterment of each other. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: The economic diplomacy complements AJC's partnership with civil society groups, other non-profits that work to bring people together to experience and embody each other's realities in the Middle East. The Center also has continued AJC's trademark traditional diplomacy to expand the circle of peace. Though Marc prefers to call it the circle of productivity.  MARC SIEVERS: I think it achieved new relations for Israel that were perhaps different from what had happened with Egypt and Jordan, where we have long standing peace agreements, but very little contact between people, and very little engagement other than through very specific official channels. The Abraham Accords were different because there was a people-to-people element. The UAE in particular was flooded with Israeli tourists almost immediately after the Accords were signed, Bahrain less so, but there have been some. And not as many going the other way, but still, the human contacts were very much there.  I think it was also building on this idea that economic engagement, joint partnerships, investment, build a kind of circle of productive relations that gradually hopefully expand and include broader parts of the region or the world that have been either in conflict with Israel or have refused to recognize Israel as a sovereign Jewish state. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: It being all of those things explains why the potential for expansion is all over the map. So where will the Abraham Accords likely go next? The Trump administration recently announced the addition of Kazakhstan. But as the Central Asian country already had diplomatic relations with Israel, the move was more of an endorsement of the Accords rather than an expansion. In November 2025, all eyes were on the White House when Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman paid a visit. In addition to the customary Oval Office meeting, President Trump also hosted the Saudi royal at a black-tie dinner. ANNE DREAZEN: Right now, everyone is really talking about and thinking, of course, about Saudi Arabia, and certainly I think there's a lot of promise now with the ceasefire having been achieved. That sort of lays a better groundwork to be able to think about whether we can, whether the United States can play an important role in bringing Saudi Arabia and Israel to the table to move forward on normalization. Certainly from the Saudis have have made they've cautioned that one of their prerequisites is a viable path toward Palestinian statehood. And we've known that, that's in President Trump's 20-point plan. So I think it remains to be seen whether or not Israel and Saudi Arabia can come to a mutually agreed upon way of addressing that key concern for Saudi Arabia. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: But there are also countries who only a year ago never would have considered a relationship with Israel. With Hezbollah diminished and a moderate and forward-leaning Lebanese government in place, quiet conversations are taking place that could lead to a significant diplomatic achievement, even if not as ambitious as the Abraham Accords. The same in Syria, where Ahmed al-Sharaa is sending positive signals that he would at least be willing to consider security arrangements. ANNE DREAZEN: Even if you don't have a Syrian Embassy opening up in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv,  even if you don't have an Israeli embassy opening up in Damascus, there could be other arrangements made, short of a full diplomatic peace accord that would lay the groundwork for some understandings on security, on borders. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: Marc said it remains to be seen whether Oman, his final diplomatic post, will join the Accords. Two years before the signing of the Accords, while serving as ambassador, there was a glimmer of hope. Well, more than a glimmer really. MARC SIEVERS: In Oman, the late Sultan Qaboos, a good, almost two years before the Abraham Accords, invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to visit him in his royal palace in Muscat. Netanyahu came with his wife, Sarah, but also with a lot of the top senior leadership. Certainly his military secretary, the head of the Mossad, a few other people. As soon as Netanyahu landed in Israel, the Omanis put it all over the media, and there were some wonderful videos of the Sultan giving Netanyahu a tour of the palace and a choir of children who came and sang, and some other things that the Sultan liked to do when he had important guests.  And it was quite an interesting moment, and that was two years before. And that was not initiated by the United States. Unlike the Abraham Accords process, that was an Omani initiative, but again, other than the meeting itself, nothing really came of it. The Omanis took a lot of pride in what they had done, and then they backed away. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: Instead, Marc points to the country with the largest Muslim population in the world: Indonesia – especially following recent remarks to the United Nations General Assembly by Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto. PRABOWO SUBIANTO: We must have an independent Palestine, but we must also recognize, we must also respect, and we must also guarantee the safety and security of Israel. Only then can we have real peace. Real peace and no longer hate and no longer suspicion. The only solution is the two-state solution. The descendants of Abraham must live in reconciliation, peace, and harmony. Arabs, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, all religions. We must live as one human family. Indonesia is committed to being part of making this vision a reality. MARC SIEVERS: We've heard that, you know, Indonesia needs some time to consider this, which makes a lot of sense. It's not something to be done lightly, and yet that would be a huge achievement. Obviously, Indonesia has never been a party to the conflict directly, but they also have never had relations with Israel, and they are the most populous Muslim country. Should that happen, it's a different kind of development than Saudi Arabia, but in some ways, it kind of internationalizes or broadens beyond the Middle East, the circle of peace. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: But in addition to adding signatories, Anne said AJC's Center for a New Middle East will work to strengthen the current relationships with countries that stayed committed during Israel's war against Hamas, despite public apprehensions. Anne recently traveled to Bahrain and the UAE with AJC's Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson, who has long led AJC's Middle East outreach. There, Anne discovered a significant slowdown in the momentum she witnessed when the Accords debuted. ANNE DREAZEN: I saw a real hesitancy during my travels in the region for politicians to publicly acknowledge and to publicly celebrate the Abraham Accords. They were much more likely to talk about peaceful coexistence and tolerance in what they characterize as a non-political way, meaning not tied to any sort of diplomatic agreements. So I saw that as a big impediment.  I do think that among the leadership of a lot of these countries, though, there is a sense that they have to be more pragmatic than ever before in trying to establish, in time to sustain the ceasefire, and establish a more enduring stability in the region. So there's a bit of a disconnect, I think, between where a lot of the publics lie on this issue.  But a lot of the political leaders recognize the importance of maintaining ties with Israel, and want to lay the groundwork for greater stability. We are very interested now in doing what we can as CNME, as the Center for New Middle East, to help rebuild those connections and help reinvigorate those relationships. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: This is especially the case in Bahrain, which has not seen the same economic dividends as the UAE. ANNE DREAZEN: Bahrain is a much smaller country than the UAE, and their key industries – they have less of a developed startup tech ecosystem than the UAE. And frankly, many of Bahrain's sectors don't overlap as neatly with some of Israel's emerging tech sectors, as is the case with the UAE. So, for example, Bahrain is very heavy on steel and aluminum manufacturing, on logistics. Manufacturing is a big part of the sector.  Israeli tech doesn't really, in general, provide that many jobs in that type of sector. Tourism is another area where Bahrain is trying to develop as a top priority. This obviously was really challenged during the Abraham Accords, especially when direct flights stopped over Gulf air. So tourism was not a natural one, especially after October 7.  Bahrain has really prioritized training their youth workforce to be able to take on jobs in IT and financial services, and this is one area we want to look into more and see what can be done. Bahrain is really prioritizing trying to build relationships in areas that can provide jobs to some of their youth. It is not as wealthy a country as the UAE, but it has a very educated young workforce. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: Again, fulfilling dreams, giving youth an opportunity to contribute. That's the necessary narrative to make the Abraham Accords a success.  ALI RASHID AL NUAIMI: It's very important to focus on the youth, and how to create a narrative that will gain the heart and the mind of all youth in the region, the Israeli, the Palestinian, the Arabs, the Muslims. And this is where it is very important to counter hate that comes from both sides. Unfortunately, we still see some hate narratives that come from those far-right extremists who serve the extremists on the Arab side, taking advantage of what they are saying, what they are doing. From the beginning, I convey this message to many Israelis: please don't put the Palestinian people in one basket with Hamas, because if you do so, you will be saving Hamas. Hamas will take advantage of that.  This is where it's very important to show the Palestinian people that we care about them. You know, we see them as human beings. We want a better future for them. We want to end their suffering. We want them to fulfill their dream within the region, that where everybody will feel safe, will feel respected, and that we all will live as neighbors, caring about each other's security and peace.  We have to engage, have a dialogue, show others that we care about them, you see, and try to empower all those who believe in peace who believe that Israeli and Palestinian have to live together in peace and harmony. And it will take time, yes, but we don't have other options. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: But Dr. Al Nuaimi emphasizes that it can't be just a dialogue. It must be a conversation that includes the American voice. The UAE has been clear with the Israeli public on two occasions that attempts by Israel to unilaterally annex the West Bank would be a red line for the relationship between their two countries. But even as the five-year anniversary of the Abraham Accords approached, a milestone that should've been a reminder of the countries' mutual commitments, it took U.S. intervention for Israel to heed that warning. Anne Dreazen agrees that the U.S. plays an important role. She said Israel must continue to defend itself against threats. But in order to create a safe space for Israel in the long term, the U.S., the American Jewish community in particular, can help bridge connections and overcome cultural differences. That will keep the Accords moving in the right direction. ALI RASHID AL NUAIMI: I believe many Arab and Muslim leaders are eager to join it, but you know, they have to do their internal calculation within their people. We have to help them, not only us, but the Israelis. They are looking for a way, a path, to have them as neighbors, and to have a solution that the Palestinian will fulfill their dreams, but the Israeli also will be secure. I think having such a narrative that will take us to the next level by bringing other Arab countries and Muslim country to join the Abraham Accords. MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN: Thank you for listening. Atara Lakritz is our producer. T.K. Broderick is our sound engineer. Special thanks to Jason Isaacson, Sean Savage, and the entire AJC team for making this series possible.  You can subscribe to Architects of Peace on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can learn more at AJC.org/ArchitectsofPeace. The views and opinions of our guests don't necessarily reflect the positions of AJC. You can reach us at podcasts@ajc.org. If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to spread the word, and hop onto Apple Podcasts or Spotify to rate us and write a review to help more listeners find us. Music Credits: Middle East : ID: 279780040; Composer: Eric Sutherland Inspired Middle East: ID: 241884108; Composer: iCENTURY Mystical Middle East: ID: 212471911; Composer: Vicher

Today Justin sits down with Sam Farran. Sam moved to United States from his birth place in Lebanon and joined the US Marine Corps in 1978. He was later trained as an interrogator and worked on orders with the Defense Intelligence Agency and as an at attache officer. After retiring from the Marine Corps, he worked as a civilian contractor all over the Middle East and in particular in Yemen. In 2015, Sam was captured by Houthis Fighters in Sanaa shortly after they took over the capital city. He was held for nearly six months before finally being released to return home. Sam is here discuss his work all over the Middle East and his months of captivity by the Houthis in Yemen in 2015, which he wrote about in his book.Connect with Sam:Facebook: Sam FarranLinkedIn: Sam FarranCheck out his book, The Tightening Dark, here.https://a.co/d/cAlX6ilConnect with Spycraft 101:Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: shop.spycraft101.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.KruschikiThe best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

From April 13, 2023: A few weeks ago, China made headlines for brokering a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to thaw diplomatic relations after seven years of cutting ties and even more years of tense relations. Since then, we've already begun to see some downstream effects of this deal, with significant movement on the war in Yemen and the reopening of Iran's embassy in Saudi Arabia.This is a story with two major strands—one about the potential effects of a successful normalization between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and another about how China, and not the U.S., seems to have made it happen. To understand what all of this might mean for the region, Lawfare Associate Editor Hyemin Han talked to Lawfare Senior Editor Scott Anderson and CNAS Middle East Security Program Director Jonathan Lord about the contours of the deal, China's involvement in the process, and what to look out for as this deal ripens.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Note from James:Are UFOs real or not? For 80 years there have been credible whistleblowers saying the government recovered craft—and even bodies. That's why I wanted Kent Heckenlively on, the author of Catastrophic Disclosure: The Deep State, Aliens, and the Truth. I'm not here to decide for you. I want to hear the best evidence, ask the obvious questions, and have you help me figure out if we actually got closer to the truth. Let's find out together. Episode Description:n this episode, James sits down with Kent Heckenlively—attorney, journalist, and coauthor of Catastrophic Disclosure: The Deep State, Aliens, and the Truth—to stress-test the most serious UFO claims on the table right now. Kent argues that humanity is on the brink of a “catastrophic disclosure” moment where long-hidden crash retrieval programs, nonhuman technology, and even bodies will be forced into the open. James plays the role he knows best: friendly skeptic who wants receipts, definitions, and clear thinking.Together they walk through recent congressional hearings, whistleblower testimony, the Yemen orb video, and those strange Peruvian mummies that look either like a bad hoax… or like something we truly don't understand. They talk about how many people would have to keep secrets for decades, why the best deceptions are mostly true, and how scientific projects like Colossal Biosciences' “de-extincted” dire wolves show both the promise and the hype of cutting-edge genetics. The result isn't a verdict on whether aliens are visiting us. It's a framework. James and Kent map out a way to think about uncertainty, spin, and incentives—whether you're trying to decide what you believe about UFOs, pandemics, financial crises, or any other story where the truth lives behind NDAs, classified briefings, and very human motives.What You'll Learn:James's 85/15 rule for extraordinary claims—stay open without getting swept up. What makes the pilot/whistleblower testimony compelling—and what still doesn't add up.How definitions and bureaucracy shape the narrative (e.g., how agencies say “not alien” without proving “explained”). A quick due-diligence checklist for wild stories (videos, “mummies,” pressers): provenance, incentives, cross-discipline sanity checks. Why institutional spin and media incentives matter—and how to discount them without becoming cynical. Timestamped Chapters:[00:00] Cold Open — “If big institutions lie once, what else are they hiding?” [02:00] Kent's stance: 85% “probably real,” 15% “maybe psyop—or brain glitches” [03:00] A Note from James — from skeptic to curious agnostic [04:16] Campfire confessions: trusted friends and the triangle in the Texas sky [06:29] From CIA exposes to UFOs: why this book took two years [07:00] 2023 hearings and “catastrophic disclosure” (vs. “controlled disclosure”) [10:06] Who is David Grusch? Why his language puzzles lawyers and persuades believers [12:32] Congress vs. intel: Burchett, Luna, oversight, and stonewalls [13:50] 25 investigations and a “mushroom cloud” excuse—when reports insult your intelligence [16:06] Firsthand witnesses: Dylan Borland and triangle craft near a NASA hangar [19:15] The hair-split: “real programs, correct personnel—just not alien” [23:30] Definition games: why “not alien” can still leave you with anomalies [25:06] Peru's three-fingered “mummies”: scans, DNA claims, and what science would need next [30:43] Where the bodies are (allegedly) stored; who's gotten access [33:42] Genetics sanity check: bananas, chimps, and why 70% similarity is strange here [34:05] Secrets and scale: could thousands keep quiet for 80 years? Greer's 700 accounts [39:55] Before Sputnik: “vanishing stars” and odd plates in old sky surveys [42:53] NDAs, treason clauses, and why real whistleblowers are scared [44:25] James's middle path: optimistic skeptic, not a cynic [48:28] The “Yemen orb” footage: multiple sensors, a Hellfire, and unanswered physics [50:30] Contact across a tech gap: Aztecs, galleons, and cell phones in 1025 AD [52:22] Nukes, Trinity, and why someone might be watching our arsenals [53:29] Quantum wormholes or “witches' spells”? The story vs. the proof [55:27] Living with real unknowns and resisting team-sports thinking [55:59] Lightning round: the 100,000-year alien road-trip question Additional Resources:Guest & BookCatastrophic Disclosure: The Deep State, Aliens, and the Truth — Amazon listing. AmazonKent Heckenlively author page (Amazon). AmazonHearings, Pilots & WhistleblowersCmdr. David Fravor's written statement to House Oversight (Tic-Tac). House Oversight CommitteeRyan Graves — testimony & org. Congress.govHouse UAP proceedings (hearing materials hub). Congress.govNew Footage ReferencedCBS News recap of Rep. Eric Burlison presenting the “Yemen orb” video. CBS NewsProjects & People MentionedDr. Steven Greer — Disclosure Project site. Dr. Steven GreerVASCO Project (Vanishing & Appearing Sources). Vasco ProjectColossal Biosciences — Dire-wolf project (and scientific explainer). ColossalSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. At a grand White House dinner, an investment summit at the Kennedy Center and a sit-down in the Oval Office, the leaders appeared to be in lockstep.It was a stark contrast to 2018, when the U.S. intelligence community concluded that Mohammed had approved the killing and dismemberment of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Lawmakers condemned the crown prince and withdrew support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. Today, Elahe Izadi speaks to White House correspondent Michael Birnbaum about how the crown prince was welcomed back into the fold — and why the U.S. refuses to cut ties with Saudi Arabia. Today's show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy with help from Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Annah Aschbrenner.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.