A quick recap of the day and what to look forward to tomorrow {beacon} Evening Report Thursday, October 12 © The Hill/Greg Nash White House says Iran has not accessed $6B The Biden administration on Thursday sought to assuage concerns about $6 billion in previously unfrozen Iranian funds that the U.S. said would...
Hundreds of actors and Hollywood executives — including Michael Douglas, Amy Schumer, Gal Gadot, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jerry Seinfeld — are adding their signatures to an open letter condemning Hamas for “barbaric acts of terrorism” in Israel that they say “must be called out by everyone.” More than 700 people signed the letter released Thursday by...
More than 40 percent of LGBTQ young people in the U.S. who are Latino reported having seriously considered suicide over the past year, according to new research from The Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization. In a survey of 28,000 LGBTQ youths ages 13 to 24, 44 percent of LGBTQ young people...
Robert De Niro is issuing a dire warning against the country reelecting former President Trump, saying “democracy won’t survive the return of a wannabe dictator.” “I've spent a lot of time studying bad men,” the “Godfather” actor said in a statement read by former Trump administration official Miles Taylor on Wednesday at The New Republic’s “Stop...
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) on Thursday defended his questioning of Biden administration officials at a briefing this week on Israel after other lawmakers criticized him for what they called rude and obnoxious behavior. “I did not use any vulgarity or any profanity,” Van Orden said while leaving a GOP conference meeting Thursday, referring to...
The Israeli and U.S. response to the unprecedented weekend attack by Hamas that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead has been greatly complicated by the abduction of as many as 150 hostages by the militant group. Hostage-taking has long been a part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but never in terms of the numbers seen Saturday...
Former Vice President Mike Pence pushed back on former President Trump's labelling of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as "very smart," arguing instead that the group is "evil." "Hezbollah aren’t smart, they’re evil," Pence said Thursday in an interview with WGIR radio in New Hampshire. "This is no time for the former president, or any other...
Twenty years ago, Botswana was facing an existential threat: the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In a speech to the United National General Assembly in June 2001 as president of Botswana, one of us observed: “We are threatened with extinction. People are dying in chillingly high numbers. It is a crisis of the first magnitude.” At the time, Botswana was the most...
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on Thursday called on the full Senate to vote on a resolution to expel Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) from the chamber in the wake of new charges asserting the New Jersey senator has acted as a foreign agent on behalf of Egypt. “Senator Menendez should not be a U.S. Senator. He should have...
The European Union launched a probe Thursday into X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, over the handling of content about the war in Israel and Gaza. The move to investigate the platform owned by Elon Musk is the most significant action taken by the EU under its new Digital Services Act, which aims to...
Up to 20 members of a church group from New York City are stuck in Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, with some Dominican immigrants unable to get visas to board available flights. The International Missionary Commission Narrow Door Pentecostal Church group arrived at the airport early Tuesday morning, after its Jerusalem hotel reservation expired and amid...
Ricky Dority is one of nearly 3,400 people who have been exonerated across the country since 1989, mostly over murder convictions, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
The Justice Department is seeking eight years in prison for a Pennsylvania woman accused of directing Jan. 6 rioters into the Capitol building with a bullhorn. Federal prosecutors said in a sentencing memo Wednesday they are seeking eight years in prison for Rachel Marie Powell, 41, who was convicted on all charges brought against her in July. Obstruction of...
“Deeds of giving,” the Talmud says, “are the very foundations of the world." (Sukkah 49b). Charitable giving is not merely an act of philanthropy; it is an embodiment of our humanity and a catalyst for positive change. Charities address pressing societal issues that governments and private companies alone cannot solve, by enabling community-based organizations with...
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has banned all pro-Palestine protests in the country as fears of antisemitic violence rise in Europe amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. France has a Jewish community of almost 500,000, the largest in Europe, the BBC reports, while its Muslim community is also among the largest in Europe...
The United States has a critical role to play in responding to what has already happened and to shape what happens next.
The White House on Thursday accused House Republicans of making Social Security and Medicare cuts a "priority" amid discussions within the conference to elect a new speaker. “House Republicans may have spent the past week at each other’s throats. But cutting Social Security and Medicare continues to be one proposal that truly unites their conference,”...
The White House maintained on Thursday that Iran has not accessed any of the $6 billion in funds transferred to a Qatari account as part of a recent prisoner swap with Tehran amid multiple reports that the U.S. and Qatar are discussing blocking Iran from accessing the funds moving forward. John Kirby, a White House...
Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) said that someone had taken down his “I Stand With Israel” sign that was posted outside his office and that the Capitol Police will be investigating this incident. “Last night, someone came to my D.C. office and removed my Stand With Israel sign. Let me be clear, this is not just...
Washington, D.C., police arrested a man accused of carjacking and assault amid an argument over his dog and a ride-booked vehicle. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) arrested Dax Franco Willis, a Northeast D.C. native, on charges of unarmed carjacking and robbery, according to a news release from the MPD Thursday. Authorities said that the ride-booking...
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) says that lawmakers were told Egypt had warned Israel of a potential attack from Palestinian militant group Hamas before its deadly strike over the weekend. "We know that Egypt had warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen," McCaul said Wednesday following...
More than 7 million Americans have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine since it was approved one month ago, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) signed off on the Pfizer and Moderna shots Sept. 11, and distribution was allowed to begin after the Centers for Disease...
Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) called on the Senate to hold a vote to expel Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) after prosecutors unveiled a superseding indictment earlier Thursday alleging that he acted as a foreign agent of the Egyptian government in recent years. The New Jersey senator and his wife, Nadine, were accused Thursday of conspiring with Wael Hana, a...
The White House on Thursday said that at least 27 American citizens have died as a result of unfolding violence in Israel, marking an uptick in the number of fatalities from earlier in the day. National security spokesman John Kirby also said that the number of Americans unaccounted for is 14, which is a decrease...
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday talked with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the phone for the first time since a deadly war broke out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Mohammad Jamshidi, the deputy chief of staff for political affairs for Iran's Raisi, said the two leaders "agreed on the...
