Biden Calls Netanyahu an ‘A**hole’ Multiple Times: Report
President Joe Biden has reportedly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “asshole” in at least three recent incidents as tensions between the two leaders mount, three people familiar with the president’s comments told NBC News.
As the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Middle East, Biden has reportedly been “venting his frustration” with aides and campaign officials over how Israel has carried out its offensive attacks in Gaza, five people directly familiar with the president’s comments told NBC News in a report Monday. The president has reportedly been pushing for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war but Netanyahu has been giving Biden “hell,” the people familiar with the comments told NBC News.
“He just feels like this is enough,” one of the people said of the views expressed by Biden to NBC News. “It has to stop.”
Biden reportedly aired some of his frustrations at a fundraiser in January after thanking donors for helping him stand up to antisemitism and back Israel, a supporter who was present at the event told NBC News.
“He did say Bibi started off great, but ‘he’s been a pain in my ass lately’ or ‘he’s been killing me lately’ — one of those things,” the person who was present for Biden’s comments told NBC News “He goes, ‘But he’s doing a disservice … of late.’”
A National Security Council spokesperson told NBC News that the two world leaders have a “respectful relationship.”
“The president has been clear where he disagrees with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this is a decades-long relationship that is respectful in public and in private,” the spokesperson told the outlet.
Biden and his administration have pledged their support for Israel since Hamas launched a terrorist attack on the country on Oct. 7. The president’s pro-Israel stance, however, has received push back from members of his campaign and those within his administration.
A coalition of State Department staffers signed on to a letter in November, demanding that the president call for a ceasefire in the conflict. Seventeen anonymous staffers on Biden’s reelection campaign petitioned to the president, reportedly arguing that Biden is complicit in genocide while urging the president to cut off unconditional military aid to Israel, according to an anonymous letter first obtained by Politico.
“It is not enough to merely be the alternative to Donald Trump. The campaign has to shift the feeling in the pits of voters’ stomachs, the same feeling that weighs on us every day as we fight for your reelection. The only way to do that is to call for a ceasefire,” the letter states.
As the concerns with Biden’s pro-Israel stance have grown within his camp, the president’s tone towards Israel has begun to slightly shift. Recently, the president said Israel’s “conduct of the response in the Gaza Strip” was “over the top” though the White House was quick to clarify that Biden was referring to the country’s military operations in Gaza, Axios reported. Biden also told Netanyahu in a phone call Sunday that Israel should refrain from launching a ground assault in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, “without a credible and executable plan.”
“[The president’s] position hasn’t changed. I don’t think his messaging has changed. We don’t think his messaging has [changed]. He doesn’t believe his messaging has changed,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during a Friday press briefing.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee is activating the Washington National Guard ahead of election day, according to KING 5, and neighboring state Oregon isn’t far behind.
The action by the governor follows two recent ballot box arsons in Portland and Vancouver, Washington, in late October, which destroyed hundreds of ballots. Officials are still seeking a suspect.
Governor Inslee announced that some National Guard members will assist local law enforcement and the State Patrol, with the exact number yet to be decided.
Homeland Security has warned of potential political violence and threats to election infrastructure ahead of the 2024 General Election. Guard members will be on standby from Monday through Thursday night.
“The southwest region of Washington state has already experienced specific instances of election-related unrest,” Inslee commented according to CNN.
“Based upon general and specific information and concerns regarding the potential for violence or other unlawful activity related to the 2024 general election, I want to ensure we are fully prepared to respond to any potential additional civil unrest,” he continued.
Oregon is taking similar measures, with its National Guard “standing ready”. In a statement, Gov. Tina Kotek said: “The governor’s office is closely monitoring and coordinating with local, state and federal agencies to ensure Oregon voters can safely cast their ballot.”
Meanwhile, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler noted there’s “no current information to suggest unrest” but acknowledged community tension. Oregon State Police, Portland law enforcement, and the Department of Emergency Management are coordinating efforts, with Portland increasing police staffing on Tuesday as a precaution.
In 2020, Oregon deployed the National Guard and a unified command for election security, and recently, states have increasingly activated the Guard for cybersecurity during elections, the report concluded.
Western security officials say they believe that two incendiary devices, shipped via DHL, were part of a covert Russian operation that ultimately aimed to start fires aboard cargo or passenger aircraft flying to the U.S. and Canada, as Moscow steps up a sabotage campaign against Washington and its allies.
The devices ignited at DHL logistics hubs in July, one in Leipzig, Germany, and another in Birmingham, England. The explosions set off a multinational race to find the culprits.
Now investigators and spy agencies in Europe have figured out how the devices—electric massagers implanted with a magnesium-based flammable substance—were made and concluded that they were part of a wider Russian plot, according to security officials and people familiar with the probe.
Security officials say the electric massagers, sent to the U.K. from Lithuania, appear to have been a test run to figure out how to get such incendiary devices aboard planes bound for North America.
Lithuanian police arrested a suspect who sent four incendiary devices, including two from a DHL shop in the capital Vilnius, a European law-enforcement official said. The suspect identified himself as Igor Prudnikov, but his real name is Alexander Suranovas, the official said. Investigators said they believe he was used as a proxy by Russian spy services.
Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office said authorities there have arrested four people in connection with the fires and charged them with participating in sabotage or terrorist operations on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency. Poland is working with other countries to find at least two more suspects.
“The group’s goal was also to test the transfer channel for such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada,” the prosecutor’s office said, without saying who was orchestrating the group’s efforts.
But the head of Poland’s foreign-intelligence agency, Pawel Szota, said Russian spies were to blame and such an attack, if carried out, would have represented a major escalation in Moscow’s campaign against the West. “I’m not sure the political leaders of Russia are aware of the consequences if one of these packages exploded, causing a mass casualty event,” Szota said.
Szota’s comments echo what other Western intelligence officials said, indicating that Russia, and specifically its military-intelligence agency, known as the GRU, was responsible.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked for comment by The Wall Street Journal, said: “We have never heard any official accusations” of Russian involvement, adding: “These are traditional unsubstantiated insinuations from the media.”
European authorities allege that Russia is behind an expanding campaign of sabotage, including arson in the U.K. and the Czech Republic, attacks on pipelines and data cables in the Baltic and tampering with water supplies in Sweden and Finland.
Earlier this year, the U.S. warned Germany that Russia planned to kill the chief executive of Rheinmetall, the German armaments giant that supplies Ukraine.
In the months after the fires at the DHL logistics hubs, the heads of both U.K. intelligence agencies called out Russia’s sabotage operations. In September, Richard Moore, the head of MI6, the U.K.’s foreign-intelligence service, said that the Russian spy agencies had “gone a bit feral in some of their behavior.”
A month later, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, the U.K.’s domestic spy agency, warned that Russia was orchestrating “arson, sabotage and more. Dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness.”
Downing commercial passenger or cargo planes would be a big step up and some Western intelligence agencies have questioned whether such a plot could be the result of Russian spies carrying out a plan without the full authorization of the Kremlin, according to people familiar with the matter.
A Central Intelligence Agency spokesperson in Washington didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The incendiary devices that ignited in July only narrowly missed being on aircraft used by DHL, the people said. German police who tested replicas of the incendiary devices said that once magnesium ignited it would be difficult to extinguish with the firefighting systems most planes have, people familiar with the German investigation said, and pilots would have been forced to make an emergency landing.
An aircraft far from land and over an ocean would have been at risk of going down, the people said.
Germany-based DHL uses cargo and passenger airplanes to transport packages. A spokeswoman for the company said the incendiary devices that ignited in July were carried in cargo planes and said the company was cooperating with authorities.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration declined to comment on the alleged plot. The agency said it has worked with U.S. and foreign air carriers to put additional safety measures in place on air-cargo shipments as part of continuing efforts to improve security.
Poland hasn’t named the four people arrested in connection with the incendiary devices, nor has it disclosed their nationalities.
The U.K. is investigating the device that caught fire in Birmingham and is working with other law enforcement authorities in Europe, a spokesperson for the country’s counterterrorism police said. No arrests have been made.
The head of Germany’s internal security agency, Thomas Haldenwang, told the country’s legislators that no one was harmed because a flight was delayed, describing it as a “lucky coincidence.” An airplane could have gone down in flames, he said.
NBC aired a message from former President Donald Trump one day after Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on Saturday Night Live (SNL).
Trump spoke for about one minute during the message, which was prerecorded and broadcast during a NASCAR race on Nov. 3. It was aired again during an NFL game.
Trump, after greeting fans of sports, noted that the presidential election is slated for Nov. 5.
“We’re two days away from the most important election in the history of our country. We’ve got to save our country, and it needs saving. It’s in very bad shape,” Trump said.
“We’re going to end up in a depression based on what’s been happening,” he added later.
“We have to straighten out our country, we have to close our borders, we have to lower our taxes, we have to get rid of inflation. I’ll fix it.”
Harris appeared live during Saturday’s SNL. She participated in a skit that portrayed her speaking to another version of herself ahead of the election.
“It is nice to see you, Kamala, and I’m just here to remind you, you got this. You can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors,“ Harris told Maya Rudolph, who was playing the vice president and had said she wished she could talk to someone ”who’s been in my shoes; a black, South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area.”
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brandon Carr wrote in a Nov.3 post on social media platform X that the Democratic presidential nominee’s appearance may have violated an FCC rule against licensed broadcasters using public airwaves to influence an election in favor of a candidate unless the other candidate is offered equal time by the same broadcasters.
The rule in question “generally means providing comparable time and placement to opposing candidates,” according to an FCC fact sheet.
The regulator gives an example of a qualified candidate appearing on a station. In that scenario, the station “will be required to entertain requests for Equal Opportunities by opposing legally qualified candidates for the same office,” the FCC states. “However, the station is not required to seek out opposing legally qualified candidates and offer them Equal Opportunities.”
The FCC grants licenses to some broadcasters. The agency can revoke licenses, although its chairwoman said in October that revocation would not happen “for political reasons.”
Over the weekend, NBC lodged a notice with the FCC that said Harris appeared on its network for one minute and 30 seconds. The broadcaster said the appearance came “without charge.”
Officers did not perform mouth-to-mouth on Jordan Neely, who still had a pulse, following the incident last year on the New York City subway car concerning former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny.
Penny restrained Neely, a troubled man with a lengthy criminal record and a history of mental health issues, after Neely allegedly threatened passengers. The 25-year-old has since been controversially charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s death and is facing up to 19 years behind bars if convicted on both counts.
It was revealed in court that Neely was still alive when officers arrived on the scene and that he was administered Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses. Moreover, jurors learned that, as a safety precaution, officers did not give Neely mouth-to-mouth because Neely looked dirty and disease-ridden.
“He was an apparent drug user and he was very dirty,” NYPD Sgt. Carl Johnson testified, according to the New York Post. “I didn’t want my officers to put their lips on his mouth. They could get hepatitis or AIDS … chest compressions would be enough to get him awake.”
Pressed by Penny’s attorney Thomas Kenniff about why only chest compressions were administered, Johnson reportedly said he “didn’t have a mask to wear to protect himself from potentially being infected by any ‘number of diseases,’” a Daily Mail report said.
“There’s a certain line where you have to protect your officer,” Johnson told the court. “Look at 9/11. I wouldn’t want one of my officers getting sick from this.”
If Neely did wake up, the sergeant explained, “he would have been vomiting.”
“I didn’t want my officers to do that,” Johnson said. “He was filthy. He looked like a homeless individual. You have to protect your officer. I wouldn’t want my officer to get sick if the person throws up.”
Notably, a synthetic cannabinoid called K2 was found in Neely’s system, according to a toxicology report ordered by the prosecution.
Kenniff, Penny’s attorney, spoke to The Daily Wire last month and said this would likely be disclosed by the state.
“I don’t think it would be a smart tactical move for the prosecution to try to hide it,” Kenniff said. “So I think it’s coming out one way or another. I think it’s gonna come out through the government’s case, but certainly, that is going to be part of what the defense will point to [as one of] many other factors to describe the [circumstances].”
“It’s very important that the jury be aware of that drug in Mr. Neely’s system, and the effects of that drug, because it affects behaviors, particularly when Mr. Neely was likely in a psychotic episode to begin with, which he has a history of,” the attorney added. “It’s going to affect how threatening Neely appeared.”
Use of K2, sometimes referred to a “spice,” has been linked to psychosis.
Local election officials in Arizona confirmed the nearly 2,900 voters who were previously flagged as needing proof of citizenship to vote in Tuesday’s election will ultimately be able to cast their ballots.
The last-minute decisions by officials in Maricopa and Pinal counties will allow 2,900 people to participate in the election despite not having provided valid proof of citizenship. Both counties said the affected voters were invalidated in error, blaming the Motor Vehicle Division’s automated system that was programmed to flag people who were part of a larger group of 218,000 driver’s license holders who lacked proof of citizenship.
“After further consideration, the decision was made to fully restore those voters from the not registered status, only if they were previously an existing, registered voter,” Maricopa County Recorder’s Office spokeswoman Taylor Kinnerup told the Washington Examiner on Monday. “This means any Maricopa County voter impacted by the previously discovered MVD data oversight has since been restored back to their original status of either full or fed-only ballot for this upcoming election.”
Maricopa County is Arizona’s most populous county and will likely be decisive in determining whether the state chooses former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.
The state’s third-largest county, Pinal County, had nearly 900 voters flagged incorrectly. Both counties have reversed the requirement, allowing affected voters to participate in the election without providing additional proof of citizenship.
Maricopa County officials said the roughly 2,000 affected voters had attempted to update their voter registration just before an Oct. 7 deadline. The county flagged these registrations because of recent changes in how it processed voter registration forms in response to two separate court decisions.
Arizona’s laws are unique in that proof of citizenship is only required to vote in state and local elections. Federal law only requires applicants to attest to their citizenship in order to vote. Without providing proof of citizenship, Arizona residents are placed on a “federal-only” voter list and are restricted from voting in federal elections, such as presidential and congressional races.
A Supreme Court ruling on Aug. 22 affirmed the state’s law that requires rejecting state registration forms without proof of citizenship while upholding the ability for residents who’ve yet to update their citizenship records to participate in voting if they registered using a federal form.
Additionally, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 20 that around 218,000 voters with discrepancies in the MVD database wouldn’t need to provide citizenship proof until after the November election.
Any early ballots previously placed on hold or voided have been restored and will be counted, ensuring these voters’ participation in a closely contested state.
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office sent guidance in October to county recorders informing them that even though the system was flagging these voters, they should still continue to allow the voters to vote a full ballot until after November.
Following reassessment, county officials restored the affected voters’ registrations, ensuring their eligibility for Tuesday’s election.
Other counties, including Pima, Yavapai, and Coconino, reported no similar errors.
News
Who Will Replace Mitch McConnell? Senate GOP Faces Biggest Leadership Shake-Up in Nearly 20 Years
Senate Republicans are bracing for the biggest leadership shake-up in nearly 20 years after the Nov. 5 elections no matter which party controls the upper chamber.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) preplanned departure from his post as the longest-serving Senate party leader sparked jockeying within the conference for coveted seats at the leadership table, positions that will undoubtedly raise lawmakers’ national profiles.
“I am no longer the young man sitting in the back, hoping colleagues would remember my name,” McConnell, 82, said earlier this year in announcing his scheduled exit as leader. “It is time for the next generation of leadership.”
Senate Republicans will choose McConnell’s successor, as well as other positions within the conference, via secret ballots the week after the Nov. 5 elections when Congress returns for the first time since late September. Committee assignments and chairs will be decided at a later date.
Senate Democrats, who face far fewer changes to their leadership rungs but will undergo their own game of musical chairs at the committee level, are expected to hold their elections in early December.
Only those serving in the next Congress and senators-elect are allowed to vote; retiring senators will not participate.
Here’s how Senate leadership posts and committee chairs for both parties could transform.
GOP Leader
Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rick Scott (R-FL) are gunning for the top spot. Scott will capture a sizeable chunk of the most conservative wing of the conference but is the underdog to longtime members Thune and Cornyn.
Republican operatives and staffers give Thune a slight advantage but say the race is still extremely close between him and Cornyn. Both have served extensive stints in leadership and been fundraising juggernauts for candidates this cycle.
Cornyn has raised $26 million for GOP senators and Senate nominees this cycle and north of a whopping $400 million since 2002. Thune, who’s been crisscrossing the country and has headlined some 200 events for candidates and the party, has raised $31 million this cycle for the GOP.
GOP Whip
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Republican Conference, is running unopposed for the No. 2 spot to replace Thune as whip.
GOP Conference Chair
Barrasso’s No. 3 spot is being sought by No. 4 GOP Policy Chairwoman Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). Ernst is favored to win.
GOP Policy Chair
Fifth-ranked Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is also looking to move up a rung by ascending to Ernst’s spot as GOP conference chair. Capito is running unopposed.
NRSC Chair
Current National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) confirmed he had no plans to emerge as a dark horse candidate for GOP leader. He also isn’t vying for another cycle as head of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.
That leaves Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former presidential candidate who was on Trump’s VP short list, likely to be unopposed for NRSC chair. Scott’s White House run elevated his national profile, which he’s used to campaign and fundraise for Trump and GOP Senate candidates across the country.
“The senator is grateful for the encouragement he has received from colleagues to run for chair of the NRSC,” Scott adviser Nathan Brand told the Washington Examiner. “He is working tirelessly to send Donald Trump back to the White House and take the U.S. Senate, then looks toward to growing the Republican majority in 2026.”
First-term Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Katie Britt (R-AL) expressed initial interest in the job but did not ultimately pursue it.
Committees
Majority control will determine whether the top Democrat and Republican on each panel are chair or ranking member.
With Barrasso’s ascent to the No. 2 whip spot, conference rules require him to relinquish his role as the top Republican on Energy and Natural Resources. Sen. James Risch (R-ID) is next in seniority but is expected to keep his top GOP spot on Foreign Relations, likely making Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) the top Republican on Energy.
Senate Republicans vote by secret ballot for their top-ranking member and do not have to abide by seniority but typically do so anyway.
“I don’t expect [Republican] senators to buck the trend,” a senior Senate GOP staffer said.
Senate Republicans also have a six-year term limit for its chairs in the majority and the same cap for ranking members in the minority.
That’s why Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), should the GOP retake the majority, plan to swap their top posts on the Judiciary and Budget Committees, respectively. Graham would become Budget chairman and Grassley would take over Judiciary.
Grassley, already the chamber’s oldest senator at 91, would also become third in line to the presidency as Senate President Pro Tempore. The oldest member of the majority party is traditionally selected for the role.
“Should Republicans take back the Senate majority, Senator Grassley looks forward to serving as President Pro Tempore and continuing to deliver on his conservative record as chairman of the Judiciary Committee,” said Grassley Communications Director Clare Slattery.
Senate Democrats
Senate Democrats’ leadership team is largely staying put, resulting in fewer shake-ups among its ranks. But the same cannot be said at the committee level.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will remain his party’s leader. His No. 2, Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), will keep his role and his spot as the top Democrat on Judiciary, Durbin’s office confirmed.
Policy and Communications Chair
Third-ranking Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) is retiring from Congress after nearly three decades. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), both former presidential candidates, are top contenders to replace her as the Democratic Caucus’s policy and communications chair.
DSCC Chair
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), another past presidential contender, is vying unopposed to become chairwoman of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Gillibrand recently hit the trail to campaign for battleground colleagues Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Bob Casey (D-PA), both facing “toss-up” reelections.
“Senator Gillibrand has offered to serve as chair of the DSCC for the 2026 cycle, but is currently focused on her reelection campaign and on helping Leader Schumer and [DSCC Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI)] hold the Senate,” Gillibrand spokesman Evan Lukaske said. “She has also spent her time building an unprecedented coordinated campaign in New York that will help flip competitive congressional seats and take back the House.”
Committees
With several chairmen up for reelection in vulnerable races or retiring from Congress, Senate Democrats could see a massive shift in their committee assignments next Congress.
Stabenow is chairwoman of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Klobuchar would be next in line to be the top Democrat, but she already chairs the Rules Committee. Neither party allows members to chair two committees simultaneously. That means the spot would likely go to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO).
Also heading for the exit doors of Capitol Hill are Foreign Relations Chairman Ben Cardin (D-MD), Environment and Public Works Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE), and Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Joe Manchin (I-WV), who caucuses with Democrats.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is line to be the top Democrat on Foreign Relations. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) or Jeff Merkley (D-OR) could take over Environment, although Whitehouse would have to give up his Budget gavel. And next in line for Energy who doesn’t already chair another panel is Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT) and Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) face nail-biter reelections in red states. Their ousters by Republican challengers would add an extra layer of musical chairs for Democrats in the committee rooms.
News
Boxer Imane Khelif Has XY Chromosomes, Testicles, and Micropenis: French-Algerian Medical Report
A shocking new development has emerged in the case of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif after a French journalist reportedly gained access to a damning medical report revealing Khelif has “testicles.” The news comes months after Khelif seized a gold medal in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics.
The report was drafted in June of 2023 via a collaboration between the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital in Paris, France, and the Mohamed Lamine Debaghine hospital in Algiers, Algeria. Drafted by expert endocrinologists Soumaya Fedala and Jacques Young, the report reveals that Khelif is impacted by 5-alpha reductase deficiency, a disorder of sexual development that is only found in biological males.
The genetic abnormality influences the normal development of a child’s sexual organs. At birth, male babies impacted by 5-alpha are often incorrectly assigned female due to the presence of deformed genitalia that sometimes takes on the appearance of a “blind vaginal pouch.”
This disordered development typically becomes apparent by puberty, when 5-alpha adolescents begin to experience signs of masculinization such as muscle growth, hair growth, and an absence of breast tissue development or menstruation. Without access to a proper clinical examination, males with 5-alpha may incorrectly believe they are female into adulthood.
At the end of October, French journalist Djaffar Ait Aoudia obtained a copy of a thorough physical examination that was conducted on Khelif in order to verify the presence of a disorder of sexual development.
According to Aoudia, the clinical report reveals that an MRI determined that Khelif had no uterus, but instead had internal testicles and a “micropenis” resembling an enlarged clitoris. A chromosomal test further confirmed that Khelif has an XY karyotype, while a hormone test found that Khelif had a testosterone level typical of males. Aoudia also noted that doctors suggested Khelif’s parents may have been blood relatives.
The report concludes by recommending Khelif be referred for “surgical correction and hormone therapy,” to help him physically align with his self-perceived gender identity, and adds that psychological support would be required because the results had caused a “very significant neuropsychiatric impact.”
This report coincides with an earlier admission by Khelif’s coach, Georges Cazorla, that the Algerian boxer had been subjected to an assessment at the Kremlin-Bicêtre Hospital after being disqualified from women’s boxing by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in March of 2023.
In an interview from August, Cazorla tepidly conceded that the endocrinologists had determined there was a “problem with [Khelif’s] chromosomes” at the time. Despite this fact, Cazorla insisted that Khelif should still be allowed to compete against females.
Cazorla also stated that Khelif was placed on testosterone suppressants following the 2023 medical assessment. However, the International Olympic Committee has not submitted athletes to chromosomal testing since 1999 and, at the Paris Olympics, the only requirement to participate in women’s boxing was to have a female sex marker on legal documents.
Further confirmation of the boxers’ karyotype was given by Alan Abrahamson, an associate professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, who is a specialist in Olympic sports and member of the International Olympic Committee’s press committee. In an August statement, Abrahamson said that he had personally viewed the results of the hotly-contested chromosomal tests ordered by the IBA in 2022 and 2023 which “concluded the boxer’s DNA was that of a male consisting of XY chromosomes.”
The news of Khelif’s leaked medical report comes after he won gold at the Paris Olympics in the women’s 66kg category.
In collaboration with the Independent Council on Women’s Sport (ICONS), Reduxx was the first outlet to break the news of Khelif’s participation in women’s boxing at Paris, raising alarm bells due to his previous disqualification from women’s boxing by the IBA. The news sparked a firestorm of controversy, with the IBA coming out in opposition to the IOC’s decision to allow biological males to box against women in Paris.
During a press conference in August, the IBA repeatedly confirmed that Khelif had failed multiple chromosomal tests, but was unable to release barred from releasing the results of those tests by the Algerian Olympic Committee.
Yesterday, the International Boxing Association held a press conference addressing the concerns surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting.
has created a supercut of relevant sections.
TIMESTAMPS:
: – Both boxers had the… pic.twitter.com/LnB1Tczk3f
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) August 6, 2024
Speaking to Reduxx on this latest revelation, ICONS co-founder Marshi Smith slammed the IOC and the Algerian Olympic Committee for allowing Khelif to continue his journey to Paris gold despite being fully aware he was genetically male.
“The IOC and the Algerian Olympic Committee are complicit in endorsing male violence against women under the guise of public entertainment on the world’s largest sports stage,” Smith said. “They stood by as women were subjected to physical assault for spectacle, stripped of safety, fairness, and their lifetime achievements. All those involved must face swift and serious consequences.”
Smith adds that she believes Khelif should be stripped of his gold medal, but doubts any action will be taken to rectify the injustice.
“We urge leaders in sports and governments worldwide to condemn the IOC and demand a public commitment to ensuring fair and safe sports for women from this day forward. This must never be allowed to happen again.”
The New York Times admitted in a news analysis over the weekend that “woke” ideology that peaked in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in 2020 has largely dissipated this election cycle as Democrats shun calls to defund the police and decriminalize border crossings.
Jeremy Peters, a national reporter for the newspaper, wrote a story titled “In Shift from 2020, Identity Politics Loses Its Grip on the Country.”
Peters noted in the analysis that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, “is boasting about protecting her home with a Glock, proclaiming her patriotism and campaigning with Republicans like Liz Cheney.”
During this election, Harris has also been “reminding voters of the drug dealers she put in prison” when she was a prosecutor in California.
Harris has also displayed a “change in tone” on gender identity issues.
Unlike in 2019, when she introduced herself during a CNN town hall by noting that her pronouns were “she, her and hers,” today she “changes the topic when asked” if she would have taxpayers foot the bill for sex change operations for detained migrants and prisoners, according to Peters.
The Times reporter noted that large companies were rolling back their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies amid a harsh backlash online from conservatives.
The article also recounted how top universities have stopped requiring job applicants to sign “diversity statements” — personal documents attesting to their commitment to diversity.
Even terms like “Latinx” are no longer required as references to Latinos. Peters cited polling from 2020 and this year which showed that less than 5% of Latinos had used the gender-neutral term.
That’s a far cry from the situation four years ago, when polls showed that large majorities of Americans — including those who described themselves as Democrats and liberals — said they did not always speak freely about their beliefs for fear of being shouted down by progressives, according to the Times.
“What seems to have shifted…is that people are now acknowledging that certain identity-focused progressive solutions to injustice were never broadly popular,” Peters wrote, citing academic scholars and political strategists.
Peters noted that Democratic Party candidates running for the nomination in 2020 were arguing about defunding the police, decriminalizing border crossings by undocumented migrants and doing away with private health insurance.
Since then, progressive candidates who have been outspoken advocates of those positions have not fared well in races, such as Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), both of whom lost their primaries to more centrist candidates.
“The question for those in the progressive wing of the party is whether they continue to pursue some of their more polarizing ideas about identity,” Peters wrote.
Republicans are taking aim at Democratic strongholds in Georgia that opened locations this weekend for voters to return their absentee ballots in person.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a new lawsuit Sunday after a state judge one day prior rejected allegations that deep-blue Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, was violating Georgia’s election law over its extension.
Republicans cite a provision that mandates drop boxes close when in-person early voting, known as advance voting in Georgia, concludes, which it did Friday.
The new case challenges both Fulton and six other Democratic-leaning counties that have similarly continued to accept hand-delivered absentee ballots through the weekend.
It was filed in federal court and claims the practice violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and its delegation of elections authority to state legislatures.
“The county’s actions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by granting special privileges to voters of those counties in violation of state law, thus arbitrarily and disparately affecting against voters and candidates in other counties,” the lawsuit states.
The areas being sued include Fulton County and swaths of the Atlanta area that make up much of Democrats’ base in the key swing state: Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Clayton counties. The other two are Chatham County, which includes the city of Savannah, and Athens-Clarke County.
President Biden won all seven counties in 2020 as he flipped Georgia blue in the presidential race for the first time in nearly three decades. This cycle, the Decision Desk HQ/The Hill election forecast estimates Trump has a 65 percent chance of winning the key battleground.
The announcements to allow people to return absentee ballots in person this weekend and Monday quickly came under fire from the GOP.
Republicans sued Fulton County late Friday night, leading to a hastily scheduled online hearing the following morning.
Judge Kevin Farmer ruled in favor of the county, which was backed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The state law provision at issue did not concern hand delivery of absentee ballots, he said.
“That refers to drop boxes. There are no drop boxes here. Drop boxes are off the table,” Farmer said.
Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, said 305 absentee ballots were ultimately returned this weekend during the extension, which will continue Monday.
Republicans have also criticized some of the counties for initially not letting the party’s poll watchers observe the continued ballot returns. RNC Chair Michael Whatley on Saturday wrote on the social platform X that observers were ultimately allowed inside.
Alex Kaufman, a Georgia attorney who represents the party, criticized Fulton County officials for announcing the extension just hours before it began.
“We have poll watchers that we would have had to have gone out. This clearly changes the time and conduct of the election at the last moment,” Kaufman said at Saturday’s court hearing.
The dispute over the extension is part of a broader legal battle playing out in key swing states over mail ballots.
The DNC and other groups convinced a Georgia judge to extend the return deadline until Nov. 8, three days after Election Day, for 3,240 absentee voters whose mail ballots weren’t delivered in Cobb County.
In Pennsylvania, the DNC similarly persuaded a state judge to extend additional options for Erie County voters that experienced mail ballot issues due to a vendor problem. The judge found that 365 voters received duplicate ballots and up to 17,000 others may not have received theirs.
And in Bucks County, a populous area located north of Philadelphia, the Trump campaign won its lawsuit to extend on-demand mail balloting after voters reported long lines and being turned away early on the final day.
News
17-Year-Old Who ‘Killed Two’ on Halloween Refuses to Show Up to Court — Sends His Mother Instead
The teenage boy accused of shooting two people dead on Halloween has refused to show up to court – but his mom took his place instead.
Jaylen Dwayne Edgar, 17, who allegedly killed two men and injured eight other people in downtown Orlando, failed to show up to court Saturday morning.
Instead, his mother made an emotional appearance on his behalf according to Fox 35 Orlando. She spoke only to confirm his identity. It’s not known why he did not show.
‘Could you speak into the microphone?’ the judge asked, ‘just take a moment, collect yourself.’
The suspect is expected to be charged as an adult due to the severity of the crimes he is accused of. The judge said he will remain in juvenile custody.
Edgar has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Teenage soccer star Timothy Schmidt Jr. was identified as one of two people killed in the Friday shooting.
The 19-year-old University of Central Florida freshman was enjoying a night out with some friends outside ‘The Block’ – a seven-venue entertainment district in downtown Orlando – when Edgar allegedly opened fire.
Schmidt and another man, identified as 25-year-old Tyrek Hill, were eventually pronounced dead at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Timothy’s heartbroken father, Timothy Schmidt Sr., opened up on the pain of losing his ‘one of a kind’ son in an interview with The New York Post on Saturday.
‘One month before I dropped him off for his summer session at UCF he was the best man in my wedding and gave the best speech ever,’ Schmidt Sr said.
‘He brought everyone to tears. He was my mini me and my best friend. We had such a special bond.’
After the shooting, people in Halloween costumes stood in the incident area as emergency personnel attended to casualties lying in the street.
Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said at a press conference that the alleged gunman, Jaylen Dwayne Edgar, had been identified and taken into custody.
‘He was just out with his friends having fun,’ Schmidt Sr. said about his late son.
A woman, 26, is said to have been hospitalized after she was trampled on during the chaos after Edgar allegedly pulled out a handgun and opened fire.
The suspect then ran and appeared a block away amid the mad scramble of the crowd at Orange Avenue and Washington Street, where he is understood to have pulled the trigger once again.
Edgar has been hit with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and six attempted murder charges.
Police have released footage of the moment he allegedly opened fire on the crowd in downtown Orlando, as well as cops tackling him to the ground and arresting him.
Schmidt Jr. was playing for USL League Two team Weston FC before his tragic death on Friday night. He was also in his first year at the University of Central Florida.
‘He was an extraordinary person, loving son, caring friend, talented soccer player, astounding teammate, kind soul, hardworking student and individual with an extremely warm heart and a witty sense of humor,’ said student Jacob Egozi, who created a GoFundMe to raise money to support Timothy’s father.
At the time of writing the fundraising page, which has a $40,000 target, has brought in just over $30,000.
Country sensation Oliver Anthony has decided to leave the music industry.
In a lengthy YouTube video this week, the 32-year-old, whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford and who rose to fame a year ago with his hit song “Rich Men North of Richmond,” sat in a wooded area with his two dogs opining on life and his career.
“I’ve decided that moving forward, I don’t need a Nashville management company. I don’t even need to exist within the space of music. So, I’m looking at switching my whole business over to a traveling ministry,” Anthony revealed after discussing how he believes “our system is broken.”
He added that he wants to “kind of keep things in the family business,” noting that his great-grandfather had been a traveling minister.
“I have this vision for this thing that I’m calling the Real Revival Project, and it’s basically going to start as a grassroots music festival, but hopefully it grows into something that can literally change our landscape and our culture and the way we live,” he said in the video posted Tuesday.
Anthony said he’s doing his first “thrown together” show on Saturday, but he wants to create something that exists “parallel to Nashville that circumvents the monopolies of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and it goes into towns that haven’t had music in them in a long time.”
Anthony said he wants to stimulate the economies in these small towns, showcasing their culture while using local musicians and vendors, “so, you’re not having to drive to Pittsburgh to some concrete amphitheater to see a show.”
Earlier in the video, Anthony revealed he’s made enough money with his music success that “I never have to work another day in my life. I have everything that I wanted.”
But he said he’s feeling “this calling” to “this voice from God that keeps putting this vision in my head of a way to make a real impact in this world, to make a real change, to help light a fire that no one really can extinguish in my lifetime or after.”
Reflecting on his political views, Anthony said, “I’m a conservative because I believe in the First and Second Amendment,” but he said he doesn’t know if he’s a Republican.
“I’m just somebody who thinks the whole way we live is a–backward and so stupid, and it serves nobody but the people at the top of the hierarchy that we no longer really need to serve,” he explained.
Spending the last year in the music industry “has opened my eyes to how much control and how much visibility there is on the top down,” he added.
“Like, the analytics that I can pull on just my fan base is terrifying. It’s information that I feel the FBI shouldn’t even have, much less me.”
Anthony said he knows he’s not doing anything revolutionary: “I just want to help bridge the gap between millions of people who all believe in the greater vision of us all just getting back to living a normal life.”
Anthony, who lives with his wife and three children in Virginia, had a meteoric rise last year after “Rich Men North of Richmond” went viral online, propelling him to stardom. The song criticizes Washington, D.C., politicians who want “control.”
Before making the video, Anthony said he was “in the process of getting out of the music industry. It’s a big joke,” while responding to a fan on Instagram, according to Rolling Stone.
A California man ended up in the hospital after a dispute with his neighbor over his Donald Trump flag.
John Muder from Orange County said his neighbor recently had their Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz outdoor sign stolen.
Muder thinks the neighbor assumed he was the one who took it because of his pro-Trump display.
He told FOX 11: ‘He was thinking it was me because I have my Trump sign, which is the furthest from the truth.’
The next thing Muder knew, the Trump banner hanging above his Ladera Ranch home’s garage was missing.
With an inkling this may have been an act of misdirected retaliation, he checked the garbage pale of the Harris-supporting neighbor and discovered his flag stuffed inside.
‘I was on the sidewalk,’ Muder told the outlet. ‘I knew he had a Ring camera thing, so I said, “Hey, can you stay off my property?” I left. It was probably no more than 10 or 15 minutes later he came over to my house screaming and yelling.’
Surveillance footage captured the heated argument between the two men.
That is when the Trump-supporter said the situation took a violent turn.
He claimed his neighbor assaulted him inside of his garage and left him there ‘to die.’
Muder explained: ‘He knocked me out. I have a major brain bruise in the back of my head. I got kicked in the face, I believe.
‘There was mass blood. He left me there basically on my own to survive.’
Muder said he suffered from ‘bleeding of the brain’ and has been in the hospital for three days with a concussion.
‘He could be dead right now and this man didn’t care about it,’ his wife, Lourdes Barrueto, said to FOX 11. ‘All because we have a Trump flag.’
Muder told the outlet: ‘I just can’t believe the violence this guy alluded to. For what? A flag? Are you kidding me?
‘If you’re willing to hurt someone over a political view, you need some serious help.’
Police confirmed with FOX 11 that they did arrest someone from a Ladera Ranch home for a fight. He was taken into custody for assault and battery charges.
The neighbor is allegedly out of jail on bond.
This has been one of many politically-driven feuds arising just before Election Day.
For instance, Algoma, Wisconsin is the most ‘politically divided in America’ and is being torn apart by locals warring over politics.
The partition in ‘friendly’ Algoma is so deep it even runs between husbands and wives.
The city of 3,200 people has always been tightly contested, but this election things are heating up even further.
Residents have been drawn into screaming matches in the street and even say they fear being ‘shot’ for declaring their political allegiances too outwardly.
Meanwhile, the intersection between the homes of two politically opposed neighbors has become so overrun with competing campaign signs it has been dubbed ‘crazy corner’.
Dennis Paul, a Republican and Abbey Bridges, a Democrat, recently got into an online spat which spilled over into the real world when Paul, 65, began hurling insults at Bridges, 40 as she walked her dog, the New York Times reported.
Bridges ended up calling the police after she claims Paul made threats against her, which he denied.
She has resorted to keeping her shades drawn to avoid any further confrontations.
‘He called me a whole bunch of things that really didn’t make sense,’ she told the outlet. ‘Now, I am avoiding him like the plague.’
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed tentative support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to order the removal of fluoride from water supplies during a potential second Trump term, saying that it “sounds OK to me.”
“Well, I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but it sounds OK to me,” Trump told NBC News. “You know, it’s possible.”
Trump has said Kennedy would “have a big role in health care” if the former president wins reelection, and that Kennedy wants to address vaccines specifically.
NBC News asked Trump whether banning certain vaccines would be an option.
“Well, I’m going to talk to (Kennedy) and talk to other people, and I’ll make a decision, but he’s a very talented guy and has strong views,” Trump said.
Kennedy, who Trump has suggested would oversee a health portfolio in a potential future administration, wrote in a social media post Saturday that Trump’s administration would “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” which he claimed was tied to numerous medical conditions. The former independent presidential candidate called the element an “industrial waste” – and while fluoride can be a by product of some industry, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is also found naturally in the environment in water and rocks.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,” Kennedy wrote.
When asked about Kennedy’s comments, Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez told CNN, “While President Trump has received a variety of policy ideas, he is focused on Tuesday’s election.”
State and local governments control most of the water supplies in municipalities across the country. The CDC recommends community water fluoridation as a cost-effective way to improve residents’ oral health.
Exposure to fluoride above the public health recommended amount over many years can result in skeletal fluorosis, a condition that causes weaker bones and joint pain.
A federal review published in August by the National Institutes of Health’s toxicology program concluded that higher levels of fluoride is linked to lowered IQ in children. The program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
News
Rogan Stumps Fetterman: Someone Is Moving Illegal Immigrants to Swing States, and Dems Want Them to Vote
Podcast host Joe Rogan asked Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman about the argument made by Republicans that Democrats are encouraging illegal immigrants to move to swing states in order to change the demographic and political makeup of those states:
SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN: Democrats are saying, “Hey, though we need a secure border, we, you know, it’s a significant issue.” And if I thought there was any kinds of issues and I’ve been very vigilant throughout, I’ve been actively involved in those kinds of things and I’ve never witnessed those kinds of a thing.
JOE ROGAN: What do you mean by issues? Like, what kind of issues are you talking about? You’re talking about people letting people in, in order to get votes?
FETTERMAN: Well, it’s not, there’s not that level kinds, I don’t think there’s that level of kinds of organization.
JOE ROGAN: But there is that’s moving these people to swing states. There is a significant number of these people who are illegal immigrants who have made their way to swing states. And then there’s been calls for amnesty, there’s been calls for allowing these people to have a pathway to citizenship and allow them to vote. The fear that a lot of people have is that this is a coordinated effort to take these people that you’re allowing to come into the country, then you’re providing them with all sorts of services like food stamps and housing and setting them up and then providing a pathway to amnesty. And then you would have voters that would be significantly voting towards the Democrats because they’re the people that enabled them to come into the country in the first place, first place and provided them with those services.
This is a big fear that people have and that you’re rigging this system and that this will turn all these states into essentially locked blue like California is.
FETTERMAN: Well, I, I, you know, it’s what — immigration is always gonna be a tough issue in our nation. You know, I, I had as a professor in grad school, Alan Simpson, Alan Simpson and he was, he was a United States senator, he was Wyoming, and he was, he was, he was actually a pro-choice Republican. I mean, how rare that would be — well, it doesn’t exist now and he said you are never going to have any meaningful immigration kinds of legislation. He’s like, because both side — that’s useful for them and it’s going to be back and forth, back and forth. And he said that 25 years ago–
JOE ROGAN: Useful, meaning the debate having it always a political talking point for one side or the other.
FETTERMAN: It’s, it’s useful. And he, he, he said, I, there were never going to be, and he said that in 1999 and I was, I, I voted for, for the border deal and that, and that went down and, and that’s, I mean, he said that 25 years ago. And that was absolutely true.
Now that, that, that they had an opportunity to do a comprehensive border, bipartisan and that went down because Trump, he, he declared that, that, that’s, that’s a bad deal after it was negotiated with, with the other side.
JOE ROGAN: But didn’t that deal also involve amnesty? And didn’t that deal also involve a significant number of illegal aliens being allowed into the country every year? I think it was 2 million people. So it was still the same sort of situation and their fear is exactly what I talked about that these people will be moved to swing states and that, that will be used to essentially rig those states and turn them blue forever.
FETTERMAN: Well, I, I, I’m not, I’m not really sure if that’s, that’s what, what, what, what, what’s, what’s in play. I, I think it’s really like, it’s important that we have to have an honest conversation.
JOE ROGAN: Doesn’t that seem logical though if you have a significant number of people that are being moved into swing states that have come across the border illegally and then you’ve provided them with all these services, you provided them with food stamps, EBT, you’ve provided them with housing. You could, if you gave those people amnesty and allow those people to vote and it was very organized. You’re talking about 75,000 votes over a few counties that switched everything over to the Republicans.
You could see how you import 10 million people over the course of four years illegally and then move a significant number of them to swing states and then provide them with all these services, and then give them a path to citizenship, you could essentially rig those states undeniably.
FETTERMAN: Immigration is changing our nation. I mean, I haven’t spent a lot of time in Texas but it’s very clear that, that immigration has, has remade Texas and I think it’s generally, it’s, it’s for, for a good thing.
Watch the full interview:
Tehran’s security forces arrested an Iranian woman for stripping off her clothes in protest after she was allegedly assaulted for improperly wearing her hijab, in violation of Tehran’s strict modesty laws, according to international media reports and footage from Saturday.
Watch:
A female Iranian student removed her clothing, reportedly in protest after being assaulted by the security forces of Tehran’s Islamic Azad University for not wearing a proper hijab, a viral video shows. An arrest order was swiftly issued for her, according to Iran International… pic.twitter.com/H3nLa98rew
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) November 2, 2024
The young woman was assaulted by security forces at Tehran’s Islamic Azad University, according to Iran International.
A university official later confirmed her arrest.
A female Iranian student was arrested on Saturday for removing her clothing in protest, after reportedly being assaulted by security forces at Tehran’s Islamic Azad University over improper hijab.https://t.co/H79NE07I3h https://t.co/Okw2abBVzM pic.twitter.com/MNQztb5bbv
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) November 2, 2024
“Following an indecent act by a student at the Science and Research Branch of the university, campus security intervened and handed the individual over to law enforcement authorities,” Amir Mahjoub, Director General of Public Relations at Islamic Azad University, wrote on X/Twitter. “The motives and underlying reasons for the student’s actions are currently under investigation.”
Mahjob later stated on X that “at the police station,…it was found that she was under severe mental pressure and had a mental disorder”.
Iran International, citing an Iranian student group, reported that the student had been harassed by security forces for not wearing her hijab.
The security forces reportedly tore her clothes, and the interaction left the student bloodied. Student groups shared mixed reports as to how she was wounded, with some claiming that the forces smashed her head into a nearby car or pillar.
Messages of support
Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist, author, and women’s rights activist who the IRGC attempted to assassinate, commented on X, “In Iran, a student harassed by her university’s morality police over her ‘improper’ hijab didn’t back down. She turned her body into a protest, stripping to her underwear and marching through campus—defying a regime that constantly controls women’s bodies. Her act is a powerful reminder of Iranian women’s fight for freedom. Yes we use our bodies like weapons to fight back a regime that kills women for showing their hair.
“This happened at Tehran’s Science and Research University She has since been arrested by the authorities.
“Be her voice.”
In Iran, a student harassed by her university’s morality police over her “improper” hijab didn’t back down. She turned her body into a protest, stripping to her underwear and marching through campus—defying a regime that constantly controls women’s bodies. Her act is a powerful… pic.twitter.com/76ekxSK7bI
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) November 2, 2024
Amnesty International’s Iran division wrote, “Iran’s authorities must immediately & unconditionally release the university student who was violently arrested on 2 Nov after she removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials at Tehran’s Islamic Azad University.
Pending her release, authorities must protect her from torture & other ill-treatment & ensure access to family & lawyer. Allegations of beatings & sexual violence against her during arrest need independent & impartial investigations. Those responsible must held to account. 2/2
— Amnesty Iran (@AmnestyIran) November 2, 2024
“Pending her release, authorities must protect her from torture & other ill-treatment & ensure access to family & lawyer. Allegations of beatings & sexual violence against her during arrest need independent & impartial investigations. Those responsible must held to account.”
The IDF’s Farsi account published, “We are witnessing one of the most powerful revolutions in history.
A revolution in which women are no longer willing to sit silently in the face of the violation of their dignity and their basic rights by a handful of brainwashed…and libertines of the system.”
ما شاهد یکی از قدرتمندترین انقلاب های تاریخ هستیم،
«#انقلاب_زن»
انقلابی که در آن زنان دیگر حاضر نیستند در برابر پایمال شدن حیثیت خود و تضییع حقوق اولیه خود، توسط یک مشت مغز دوخته و #عرزشی_سلیطه و مفت خور های نظام ساکت بنشینند.#دختر_علوم_تحقیقات pic.twitter.com/ON9Ugu91sB— ارتش دفاعی اسرائیل | IDF Farsi (@IDFFarsi) November 3, 2024
Iran’s violence against women
Tehran’s strict clothing laws have drawn wide condemnation, especially as some of those who are accused of breaking them die in police custody – as was the case of Mahsa Amini.
Amini, a young Iranian-Kurdish woman whose death in police custody triggered worldwide protests in 2022, was a resident of a small town who never challenged the country’s clerical rulers or its Islamic dress code, sources close to the family said.
Amini, from the northwestern Kurdish city of Saqez, died three days after she was arrested in hospital after falling into a coma. It sparked the first big show of opposition on Iran’s streets since authorities crushed fuel price protests in 2019 in which 1,500 people were killed.
Authorities denied beating Amini and insisted in a statement that the cause of death was sudden heart failure, possibly from preexisting conditions. However, the family has denied the 22-year-old had any previous health issues.
In August, 31-year-old Arezou Badri was shot and paralyzed after she attempted to speed away from police as they attempted to seize her car for driving with her hair exposed.
Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia have endured being pelted with mud and objects by anguished locals as they tried to calm tensions in the aftermath of the deadly floods in Valencia.
The monarchs had mud and objects like drink cans thrown at them by angry survivors of the floods that killed more than 200 people as they walked through the muddy streets in Paiporta, one of the hardest-hit towns on the outskirts of Valencia.
Queen Letizia could be seen with mud speckled over her face, while one of the bodyguards escorting the royals in Paiporta had seemingly been hit by an object as he had a cut on his forehead, which caused blood to run down his face.
The crowd shouted ‘murderers’ and other insults at the royals and government officials like Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during the visit on Sunday.
Police had to step in, with some officers on horseback to keep back the crowd of several dozens. Bodyguards opened umbrellas to protect the royal visitors and officials as protesters hurled mud at them.
After being forced to seek protection, the king and queen remained calm and made several efforts to speak to individual residents, while local officials – who the angry crowd had reportedly directed their wrath at – fled.
The king and queen spent an hour trying to calm tempers before leaving themselves, while Sanchez and the head of the Valencia region, Carlos Mazon, quickly left, not before the rear window of the premier’s vehicle was broken.
‘I understand the social anger and of course, I’m here to receive it. This is my political and moral obligation,’ Mazon later said in a post on X, while calling the king’s conduct ‘exemplary’.
Isabel Diaz Ayuso, president of the community government in Madrid, echoed the praise for the King and added that Queen Letizia embodied ‘the sentiment of Spain’.
The extraordinary scenes underscored the depth of the anger in the country over the response to the nation’s worst such disaster in decades, with the death toll rising over 200 and hopes for finding survivors ebbing five days on.
Almost all the deaths have been in the Valencia region, where thousands of security and emergency services frantically cleared debris and mud in the search for bodies.
Describing ‘the worst natural disaster in the recent history of our country,’ Sanchez said it was the second deadliest flood in Europe this century.
Indignation at the management of Spain’s worst natural disaster in living memory started after the initial shock wore off.
The floods had already started filling Paiporta with crushing waves when regional officials issued an alert to mobile phones that sounded two hours too late.
And more anger has been fuelled by the inability of officials to respond quickly in the aftermath.
Most of the clean-up of the layers and layers of mud and debris that has invaded countless homes has been carried out by residents and thousands of volunteers.
‘We have lost everything!’ someone shouted.
Felipe insisted on trying to speak with people as he continued his visit. He spoke to several people, patting two young men on their backs and sharing a quick embrace, with mud stains on his black raincoat.
According to a journalist for Spanish broadcaster RTVE, one woman wept and told the king she did not have food and nappies, while another person said: ‘Don’t abandon us.’
After more than half an hour of tension, the monarch and the rest of the delegation got into official cars and left with a mounted police escort.
Sanchez later said while he empathised with the ‘anguish and suffering’ of the victims, he condemned ‘all forms of violence’.
The government had accepted the Valencia region leader’s request for 5,000 more troops and informed Sanchez of a further deployment of 5,000 police and civil guards, the premier said.
Spain was carrying out its largest deployment of military and security force personnel in peacetime, he added.
Restoring order and distributing aid to destroyed towns and villages – some of which have been cut off from food, water and power since Tuesday’s torrent – is a priority.
Authorities have come under fire over the warning systems before the floods, and some stricken residents have complained the response to the disaster is too slow.
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) November 3, 2024
Former President Donald Trump is leading Vice President Kamala Harris in every swing state by narrow but expanding margins, according to a new poll.
The survey of likely American voters from AtlasIntel has revealed that the Republican nominee is favored to win in North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania as the 2024 Presidential Election heads into its final days.
Four of the states are polling outside the margin of error.
In Arizona, Trump holds his widest margin — with a 52.3% to 45.8% lead over Harris.
In Nevada, AtlasIntel projects the former president has a 51.2% to 46% edge over the current veep.
In North Carolina — where both candidates campaigned Saturday —Trump holds a 50.5% to 47.1% lead.
In Georgia, the Republican is leading 50.1% to 47.6% over the Democrat.
Several of the swing states are within the poll’s two point margin of error.
In Michigan, 49.7% for Trump and 48.2% for Harris.
In Pennsylvania, 49.6% for Trump and 47.8% for Harris.
And the closest contest is Wisconsin — 49.7% for Trump and 48.6% for Harris.
Trump leads overall 49% to Harris’ 47.2%, according to the poll.
AtlasIntel boasts in its poll that it was the most accurate in the 2020 election cycle — accurately predicting every swing state within the margin of error.
More than 75 million Americans have already cast their ballots as of the Sunday before Election Day.
That’s over 48% of the total number who voted in 2020 (154.6 million), indicating that early and mail-in voting has become increasingly popular methods to vote and become a new normal in American politics.
In the 2022 midterms, nearly half of voters chose to do so early, far surpassing pre-pandemic numbers.
In Georgia, more than 4 million have already voted — marking nearly 80% of the state’s total 2020 turnout, according to the University of Florida Election Lab’s early vote tracker.
North Carolina’s early voting turnout reflects a similar margin — more than 4.4 million have cast their ballots, accounting for 80% of the 2020 count in the battleground state.
Around 100 million people voted early, either in person or via mail, in 2020.
While former President Trump railed against mail-in voting for years, he and the GOP have since encouraged their supporters to vote early (while still challenging certain mail-in voting provisions in courtrooms across the country).
Of those who have cast their vote so far in states that report party registration data, Democrats hold a slight lead — 37.9% to 36.2% — per UF’s count.
Swing States
The final New York Times/Siena College before the election offered no clear front-runner in the 2024 presidential contest; the poll had six out of seven battleground states as toss-ups.
Polls at this point in the election usually show favorability to one candidate or another, but this year is different. The recent results are similar to the many others previously reported on this election cycle, which have shown tight battlegrounds since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race, with most results within the margin of error.
In the poll, released two days out from Election Day, Former President Donald Trump obtained a sizable four-point lead in Arizona and a one-point lead in Michigan. Harris had leads of one point in Georgia and three points in Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. They were tied in Pennsylvania.
Harris saw gains among two of her core constituencies, black and Hispanic voters. Among black voters, she saw a total share of 84%-11%, from 80%-14% last round. Among Hispanic voters, she led 56%-35%, compared to 55%-41% from the last round.
Trump saw gains among non-college-educated white voters.
One result from the poll showed a disconnect from others this season — the state that consistently has given the worst results for Democrats, Nevada, showed Harris with one of her biggest leads yet in this recent poll.
However, pollster Nate Cohn cautioned that this poll could be repeating history by underestimating Trump.
“Across these final polls, white Democrats were 16 percent likelier to respond than white Republicans. That’s a larger disparity than our earlier polls this year, and it’s not much better than our final polls in 2020 — even with the pandemic over,” he wrote. “It raises the possibility that the polls could underestimate Mr. Trump yet again.”
The poll spoke with 7,879 likely voters across the battleground states, including 1,025 in Arizona, 1,004 in Georgia, 998 in Michigan, 1,010 in Nevada, 1,010 in North Carolina, 1,527 in Pennsylvania, and 1,305 in Wisconsin from Oct. 24 to Nov. 2. The margin of error was 3.5% in each state poll.
With all the uncertainty from polls, voters are looking elsewhere for signs of who is likely to pull ahead. Some have turned their attention to betting odds, while others are reading into the stock market’s performance.
The senior Republican commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission blasted Vice President Kamala Harris’ “Saturday Night Live” debut as a “clear and blatant effort” to evade the Equal Time rule.
Brendan Carr stressed that the FCC’s “equal time” requirements mandate opposing candidates to get the same air time, and alleged that NBC “structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements” by timing it so close to Election Day.
“This is a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC’s Equal Time rule. The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct — a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election,” Carr wrote on X.
“Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns.”
Harris, 60, made a surprise appearance on SNL and came face-to-face with her impersonator Maya Rudolph in the show’s cold open where she urged sought to encourage voters to back her on Nov. 5 and poked fun at her boisterous laugh.
“I’m gonna vote for us,” Rudolph quipped.
Kamala Harris talks to Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/AJuW7aO7VM
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 3, 2024
“Any chance you’re registered in Pennsylvania?” Harris joked in response.
The segment lasted just under three minutes. NBC is licensed by the FCC for broadcast television, which gives them access to a limited spectrum and means that they are subject to more stringent rules.
Given the Equal Time rule, SNL’s executive producer Lorne Michaels indicated in an interview published earlier this month that he wouldn’t bring on either former President Donald Trump or Harris to the program.
“You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions,” Michaels told The Hollywood Reporter. “You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated.”
Carr is one of four FCC commissioners who serve under Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Technically there are two Democrats and two Republican FCC commissioners but Rosenworcel is a Democrat.
Back in the 2016 election cycle, the FCC explained that it would enforce the Equal Time rule against SNL over Trump’s appearance on the comedy program. Other presidential candidates took advantage of that opportunity at the time.
This was also the case when Hillary Clinton appeared on SNL as well.
Federal law does not require networks to give candidates the exact same type of appearance, but it does require “comparable time and placement.”
“Kamala Harris has nothing substantive to offer the American people, so that’s why she’s living out her warped fantasy cosplaying with her elitist friends on Saturday Night Leftists as her campaign spirals down the drain into obscurity,” spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“For the last four years, Kamala’s destructive policies have led to untold misery and hurt for all Americans. She broke it, and President Trump will fix it.”
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