One of Zohran Mamdani’s first decisions in office was to scrap rules preventing city institutions from boycotting Israeli firms
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has accused recently sworn-in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani of stoking antisemitism with his very first executive order.
Shortly after being sworn in on Thursday, Mamdani, a staunch democratic socialist and pro-Palestinian Muslim, revoked a broad swathe of his predecessor Eric Adams’ executive orders.
The annulments included an order preventing city institutions from divesting from Israel, and the political newcomer also officially rejected the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
“On his very first day as NYC Mayor, Mamdani shows his true face: He scraps the IHRA definition of antisemitism and lifts restrictions on boycotting Israel,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on X on Friday. “This isn’t leadership. It’s antisemitic gasoline on an open fire.”
Jewish groups also condemned the move in a joint statement.
However, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest US Muslim rights and advocacy group, welcomed the move. It argued that the “controversial and overly broad” IHRA definition of antisemitism has been used to censor criticism of the Israeli government.
It contended that Adams’ executive order against the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement “also unconstitutionally limited boycotts against only Israel.”
Mamdani has defended his decision, restating his commitment to protecting Jewish New Yorkers from hate crimes.
The new administration “will be relentless in its efforts to combat hate and division, and we will showcase that by fighting hate across the city,” he said in a press briefing on Friday.
Big and strong countries now use military force without a UN mandate, openly flouting international law, the Slovak PM has said
The US attack on Venezuela further proves that the post-World War II world order is breaking down, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday.
Just hours earlier, US forces conducted air strikes on the oil-rich South American country and captured its president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. Both have been brought back to the US and charged with drug trafficking conspiracy – allegations that Maduro has long denied, arguing that Washington was after regime change and Venezuelan resources.
President Donald Trump has said that with Maduro deposed, the US will “run” Venezuela and secure its oil industry.
“The US military action in Venezuela is further evidence of the breakdown of the world order created after World War II,” Fico said in a statement published on social media.
“International law does not apply, military force is used without a UN Security Council mandate, and everyone who is big and strong does whatever they want in promoting their own interests,” he said.
Fico added that as a leader of a small country, he rejects this sort of “subversion of international law,” as he rejected the US invasion of Iraq, “the non-recognition of Kosovo as a sovereign state,” the “use of Russian military force in Ukraine,” as well as the assessment of the situation in Gaza.
The Slovak prime minister said he wondered how the EU would formally react to the US attack, which he said “deserves condemnation.”
“Either it will condemn the use of US military force in Venezuela and be consistent with its stance on the war in Ukraine, or it will remain, as usual, hypocritically self-righteous.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged “restraint” in a post on X on Saturday, calling for adherence to the UN Charter.
Meanwhile, China and Russia have strongly condemned the US attacks.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called the strikes and Maduro’s capture an “unacceptable infringement on the sovereignty of an independent state,” and called on Washington to release the Venezuelan president.
US forces seized the South American nation’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, early on Saturday
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has held a phone call with Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and expressed solidarity with the people of the South American nation in the face of US aggression.
The conversation took place on Saturday, shortly after US President Donald Trump announced that following large-scale strikes on Venezuela, American special forces had captured and taken the nation’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, out of the country.
“Lavrov expressed firm solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of armed aggression,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that Moscow will continue to support Venezuela’s policy of defending the country’s sovereignty and national interests.
Both Lavrov and Rodriguez “expressed their support for preventing further escalation and for finding a way out of the situation through dialogue,” the ministry said. Both sides also voiced commitment to furthering the Russia-Venezuela strategic partnership agreement.
Under the Venezuelan Constitution, Rodriguez is next in line of succession if the president is no longer capable of fulfilling his duties. However, Trump has stressed that the US will be involved in deciding who rules in the oil-rich South American country.
“We can’t take a chance on letting somebody else run and just take over where [Maduro] left off,” he told Fox News in a phone interview on Saturday. “So we’re making that decision now.”
Washington has maintained that the Venezuelan president is illegitimate, and had offered a $50 million bounty for information leading to his arrest.
The US Department of Justice has now indicted Maduro, his wife and his son for allegedly illegally seizing Venezuela and its institutions “to transport thousands of tons of cocaine” into the US.
Moscow has urged Washington to release the captured president and his wife.
“We emphasize the need to create conditions for resolving any existing issues between the United States and Venezuela through dialogue,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Deepening cooperation across several sectors has brought the two countries closer as allies
Russia and Venezuela have strengthened cooperation in areas including energy, defense, and trade in recent years, as both countries have faced prolonged Western sanctions.
Caracas has become one of Moscow’s most vocal supporters over the Ukraine conflict, expanding diplomatic and economic ties while opposing measures imposed by the US and its allies. The Kremlin recently reaffirmed its backing for Venezuela amid renewed American pressure on the South American country.
Extensive energy cooperation
As major oil exporters, Russia and Venezuela coordinate closely on global energy issues, including within OPEC+. Energy cooperation has expanded in recent years through joint ventures and long-term agreements.
Last year, Caracas approved a 15-year extension of oil projects between state firm PDVSA and Russia’s Roszarubezhneft, keeping operations at the Boqueron and Perija fields running through 2041. A strategic partnership treaty signed in May 2025 further commits the two sides to cooperation in oil and gas exploration, boosting output at existing fields and expanding crude trading.
Venezuelan officials have also said Caracas plans to pursue new projects with Russia’s Gazprom. The deepening ties reflect shared efforts to stabilize energy markets while countering Western sanctions.
Long-standing defense and military-technical ties
Russia has long been a key defense partner for Venezuela, supplying a broad range of military hardware and technical support. Venezuelan forces operate Russian-made Su-30MK2 fighter jets, Mi-17, Mi-35 and Mi-26 helicopters, as well as T-72 tanks and other armoured vehicles delivered under earlier agreements. Caracas has also acquired air defense systems, including medium- and long-range platforms.
Cooperation extends beyond arms deliveries to maintenance and service facilities for Russian equipment, as well as defense-industrial projects. This includes plans to locally assemble Kalashnikov small arms, such as AK-103 assault rifles and ammunition, at facilities in Venezuela.
Growing trade and economic cooperation
Economic ties between Russia and Venezuela have grown steadily in recent years, with bilateral trade reaching about $200 million in 2024, up roughly 54% from 2018 despite sanctions and financial constraints. Moscow has said it aims to double turnover to around $400 million by 2030 and rank Venezuela among its top trading partners in Latin America.
Venezuelan shipments to Russia have risen sharply, with imports of cocoa, coffee, and seafood tripling in 2025. Russia, in turn, supplies fertilizers, wheat, vegetable oils, medicines, and other industrial and consumer goods, while dozens of Russian companies have expressed interest in expanding deliveries.
Financial links have also widened. Since August 2023, Venezuela has gradually adopted Russia’s Mir payment system, while the joint bank Evrofinance Mosnarbank has set up correspondent accounts with major state lenders, allowing companies to settle trade in national currencies.
Cooperation also spans education, culture, and parliamentary exchanges, supported by visa-free travel and academic programs. Cultural ties include joint festivals, film weeks, and ballet and classical music tours, while a growing number of Venezuelan students are studying at Russian universities on state-funded scholarships.
Challenges
Venezuela’s debt to Russia, largely stemming from earlier arms purchases, has been handled through restructuring deals that eased repayment and supported broader bilateral relations.
Security concerns in 2025 also caused short-term disruptions to tourism and air travel, briefly affecting logistics and exchanges, though officials on both sides have played down the impact as temporary.
The Ukrainian leader wanted to exploit the memory of the genocide to advance his goals, Dani Dayan has said
The chairman of the Jerusalem-based Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center has said it was the right decision to reject a request from Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to deliver a speech at the institution.
Kiev’s ambassador to Israel approached the center soon after the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022, asking if Zelensky would be allowed to address members of the national legislature and other officials at the site during an event which would be broadcast internationally. The request was turned down.
According to the chairman of the center, Dani Dayan, he expected Zelensky to draw parallels between the Holocaust and the Ukraine conflict – something that he found unacceptable. “I immediately understood what he was getting at,” Dayan told the German newspaper NOZ in an interview published on Saturday. “Not every war crime is genocide, and not every genocide is a Holocaust.”
Dayan also admitted that he would likely have had to intervene and “interrupt” Zelensky during the event to prevent the Ukrainian leader from distorting history.
“In Ukraine, there were not only victims of the Holocaust. Ukrainians were also [Nazi] accomplices, and, in some cases, primary perpetrators,” Dayan told NOZ, adding that canceling the event was the “right” thing to do.
Russia has long accused Kiev of promoting neo-Nazism and glorifying Nazi collaborators, including the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which waged a mass killing campaign between 1943 and 1945 against Poles and Jews, in which more than 100,000 people perished.
Moscow has repeatedly warned of a Nazi revival in Ukraine and cited “denazification” as one of the main goals of its military operation against Kiev.
Zelensky tried nonetheless to portray Ukraine as the victim of a Holocaust-like genocide when he addressed Israeli legislators and officials via a video conference in March 2022. His choice of words sparked a wave of indignation among the politicians. Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich branded it an “infuriating and ridiculous comparison.”
Israel’s communications minister at the time, Yoaz Hendel, called it “outrageous” and then MP Yuval Steinitz stated that Zelensky’s words were close to “Holocaust denial” and amounted to a “complete distortion of history.”
A new long-term plan reportedly envisions a “dramatic expansion” of all IDF military activity, including weapons in outer space
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been ordered to prepare for a possible simultaneous war against Iran, Lebanon, and the West Bank, according to Israeli Channel 12. One scenario reportedly includes an “explosive operation” against Tehran, which is currently facing widespread Israeli-backed cost-of-living protests.
The preparations are part of a four-year long-term plan led by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, the broadcaster revealed on Wednesday. On top of war readiness, they also reportedly include plans to develop capabilities to attack both satellites and ground targets from space.
Officials in West Jerusalem expect Iran to attack Israel to “prevent the dissolution” of the Iranian government under the pressure of the protests, Channel 12 said.
Israel has held off on officially commenting on the mass unrest shaking Iran, concerned about a potential military response, Channel 12 claimed. However, Israel’s Mossad spy agency has openly backed the protests on social media, and claimed that it has agents embedded in the demonstrations.
The demonstrations began in late December, prompted by hyperinflation and an enduring economic crisis in the sanctioned Islamic Republic.
The unrest, the worst in recent years, rapidly spread to multiple cities and reportedly led to deadly clashes with the Iranian authorities, with some protesters demanding the reinstatement of the monarchy, ousted by the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to militarily intervene. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go” if Iran kills “peaceful protesters,” he said on Truth Social on Friday.
Just days before, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Florida, Trump threatened to back new airstrikes on Iran if it ramps up its ballistic missile program.
Last June, Trump ordered the US military to join coordinated military strikes with Israel against Iranian nuclear sites during an open conflict between Tehran and West Jerusalem. He claimed the attack preempted the development of a nuclear weapon by the Islamic Republic – allegations Iran denied, condemning the attack as unprovoked.
The Minnesota childcare fraud went unreported in legacy outlets for days because it was too ‘racist’ a story
How is it possible that a young man with a video camera has done more to expose exorbitant fraud and corruption in one American state than all the giant billion-dollar legacy media combined?
For days after a 42-minute viral video by independent journalist Nick Shirley exposed widespread fraud in Minnesota, where empty childcare centers and healthcare offices reportedly received millions in taxpayer money, the mainstream media remained silent on the issue. That’s very strange, given that it may be the largest fraud scandal in US history.
Shirley, posing as a father looking to enroll his child in Somali-owned daycare facilities at various locations, including one with the misspelled name “Quality Learing Center,” was shocked at what he would find, or rather did not find. Instead of encountering rooms of playing children and welcoming staff, he was greeted with slammed doors and hostile threats by the few people he found on the premises. At the multiple sites visited, he failed to spot a single child. Thus, in just one day, Shirley blew the lid on a massive childcare and healthcare fraud case. Yet his shocking findings have done nothing to make the establishment sit up and take notice.
The fact that the mainstream media went missing in action with this story seems impossible, considering that the total amount of fraud we are talking about – reportedly about $9 billion – is comparable to the entire Somali GDP, which is about $12bn (Somalis living in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area make up the largest Somali diaspora in the United States).
What happens is very simple: members of Minnesota’s Somali community open childcare and healthcare facilities and then apply for grants from the US government, vastly enriching a handful of corrupt individuals at the expense of the American taxpayer. In fact, some of the funds are reportedly sent overseas, where they have been allegedly used to fund Somalian terrorist organizations, like Al-Shabaab.
The investigation prompted conservative lawmakers and other high-profile figures to demand answers from Minnesota authorities and Democratic Governor Tim Walz personally.
“Four million dollars of hard-earned tax dollars going to an education center that can’t even spell learning correctly. Care to explain this one, Tim Walz?” Tom Emmer, a Minnesota US congressman, wrote on X on Saturday.
Elon Musk commented with a single word: “Prosecute.”
Meanwhile, Walz blamed “white supremacy” for the targeting of Somali-linked childcare centers, which serve as front companies.
Considering the explosive nature of this story, a person would be forgiven for thinking that the mainstream media might want to jump on it. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. There was nothing but crickets from the top media outlets across the board. Of course, many journalists were aware of the fraud that was happening, but were strongly discouraged from reporting on it.
“In newsrooms, they’re told, ‘We can’t run that because we’re going to be accused of being racist,’” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage told Fox News Digital. In other words, news outlets across the country are effectively enabling fraud and corruption by not blowing the whistle on outrageous taxpayer waste that is occurring within the local Somali community and elsewhere.
This should come as no surprise as Minnesota, like approximately half of states in the country, heavily leans liberal. Minnesotans have voted for Democratic presidential candidates ever since 1976, more times consecutively for one of the two main parties than any other state outside of the South. Liberal (read: woke) sentiments across the country ratcheted up significantly following the May 25, 2020, murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
Since then, the ability to report on ‘racist’ stories where a Black man or woman is the culprit has been severely curtailed. This approach to news reporting allows criminals to operate without any interference from meddling journalists.
Consider the extreme case of Iryna Zarutska, the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was stabbed to death in August on the subway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since her killer, Decarlos Brown, was identified as a man of African descent, the story was buried by the ‘progressive’ mainstream media, which deemed it as “too local” to be considered newsworthy. Had the killer been a White man, however, attacking a Black woman, the news would have grabbed national headlines across the media landscape.
This is what happens when woke politics are allowed to infiltrate and poison a country’s once-trusted institutions, like the media. There emerges an atmosphere of fear with regards to hurting the ‘feelings’ of those in the minority, who, incidentally, are equally harmed by the lack of media attention when it comes to reporting on criminal activities (consider Black-on-Black crime, for example). Ultimately, this hesitancy to report on instances of crime due to the racial background of the perpetrators only serves to make the US a more violent and inhospitable place. After all, people need information on the everyday threats they face to stay protected and vigilant.
The type of thinking that says we must not speak about the wrongdoings of certain groups simply because of their skin color and ethnicity is a dead-end strategy. Being accused of ‘racism’ no longer cuts it. At a time of rampant multiculturalism, journalists must feel free to report on crime more openly and candidly, not less.
The country’s president is facing several charges related to narcotics trafficking and weapons on US soil
US military strikes on Venezuela were meant to provide cover for the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, who is expected to face trial on criminal charges on American soil, US Senator Mike Lee has said, citing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The comments followed overnight explosions and reports of warplanes buzzing the capital city of Caracas. Later in the day, US President Donald Trump announced that American special forces had carried out a military operation and that Maduro, along with his wife, had been taken into custody and flown out of the country. Venezuelan authorities condemned the strikes as “grave military aggression.”
In a post on Saturday, Lee said that he had talked with Rubio on the phone, stating that “he informed me that Nicolas Maduro has been arrested by US personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”
“The kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” the Republican senator added, noting that Rubio “anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in US custody.”
Meanwhile, Rubio himself republished his July 27 post in which he said that Maduro “is not the president of Venezuela” and that his government is not legitimate, while claiming that the Venezuelan leader is in charge of a major drug cartel.
Maduro has long denied such allegations, claiming the US was using them as a pretext for military aggression and in order to topple his government.
US Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that Maduro and his wife had been indicted in New York and charged with “narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices against the United States.”
The strikes and capture represent the first US intervention in South America of its kind since the 1989 invasion of Panama. The US has long accused Maduro’s government of involvement in international drug trafficking, which the country’s leadership vehemently denies.
The charges include narcotics trafficking and weapons possession, Pam Bondi has said
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been indicted in New York on several charges related to drug trafficking and weapons possession, US Attorney General Pam Bondi has said.
On Saturday, the US military conducted strikes on Venezuela. President Donald Trump later announced that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been captured and flown out of the country. Caracas has denounced the strikes as “grave military aggression.”
In a statement on X, Bondi said Maduro and his spouse had been indicted in the Southern District of New York and charged with “narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices against the United States.”
Maduro and his wife have yet to deliver their pleas.
The US has long accused Maduro of links with drug cartels and helping to flood America with narcotics while refusing to recognize him as a legitimate leader and putting a $50 million bounty on information leading to his arrest and conviction. The Venezuelan president has vehemently denied the accusations, arguing that Washington has been using them as a pretext for military aggression and in order to topple his government.
Russia has condemned the US strikes as an act of “armed aggression” and warned against further escalation. Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas recalled that Brussels “has repeatedly stated that Mr. Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition” while urging all parties to exercise restraint.
The US president has claimed that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has been captured and flown out of the country
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has condemned what it called a US act of “armed aggression” against Venezuela on Saturday, calling for restraint and warning against further escalation. US President Donald Trump has confirmed strikes took place, claiming that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been captured and flown out of the country
Venezuelan officials earlier said the country had been directly attacked by the US after explosions were heard in the capital, Caracas, on Saturday. Foreign Minister Yvan Gil accused Washington of trying to gain control of the Latin American nation’s natural resources.
Moscow reaffirmed its solidarity with the Venezuelan people and supported calls for an urgent UN Security Council meeting. The foreign ministry stressed that Latin America should remain a zone of peace and that Venezuela must be free to determine its own future without external interference.
Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, described the latest strikes on Venezuela as a US military operation aimed at changing an “undesirable” regime, accusing Washington of seeking to impose its will on the country.
Venezuela declared a state of emergency shortly after explosions. The government has said the attacks also took place in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.
The strikes come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas. Trump has repeatedly accused Venezuela’s government of facilitating large-scale drug trafficking and has authorized expanded US military operations targeting suspected smuggling routes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
Maduro has rejected the allegations, accusing the US of aggression and of using anti-drug operations as a pretext to topple his government. He has warned that any direct military action on his country would be met with resistance.
