The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."
At least 12 dead, including one alleged suspect, and 11 injured in mass shooting on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia
A mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday evening left at least 12 people dead and 29 people hospitalized, authorities say.
The
annual celebration, known as "Chanukah By The Sea," was scheduled to
kick off at 5 p.m. to celebrate the first day of the Jewish holiday by
lighting the first candle on the Menorah. Police say the attack
"targeted" the Jewish community and is being investigated as an act of
terrorism.
The New South Wales Police Force (NSWPF) said officers
responded to reports of shots fired at about 6:45 p.m. on Sunday. Police
say there were at least two gunmen involved in the attack, and they are
investigating the possibility of a third. Twelve people were killed in
the shooting, including one of the two suspected gunmen, police said.
The second alleged shooter is in critical condition.
At least 29
others were hospitalized after the shooting, including two police
officers, the agency confirmed. The shooting is the worst attack against
Jews since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.
An investigation is underway after a deadly attack on a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
Police added that they found evidence of multiple improvised explosive devices in a vehicle near the scene of the attack.
"We have our rescue bomb disposal unit there at the moment working on that," he said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog acknowledged the attack while speaking at an event in Jerusalem recognizing immigrants' extraordinary achievements on Sunday.
"At
these very moments, our sisters and brothers in Sydney, Australia, have
been attacked by vile terrorists in a very cruel attack on Jews who
went to light the first candle of Chanukah on Bondi Beach," Herzog said.
"Our hearts go out to them. The heart of the entire nation of Israel
misses a beat at this very moment, as we pray for the recovery of the
wounded, we pray for them and we pray for those who lost their lives."
A health worker moves a stretcher after a shooting incident at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 14, 2025.(Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
Herzog also called on the Australian government to "seek action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism which is plaguing Australian society."
From antisemitic graffiti to violent threats and deadly attacks, in the wake of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration shooting, the list of antisemitic incidents in Australia continues to grow.
A man reacts following a shooting incident at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025.(photo credit: AAP/MICK TSIKAS/VIA REUTERS)
Australia has experienced a string of antisemitic attacks on civilians, synagogues, buildings, and cars since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza in October 2023.
Here are some key events:
May 25, 2024: Australia’s largest Jewish school graffitied in Melbourne.
Oct 13: Antisemitic graffiti on a Jewish bakery in Sydney, with a note left for the owner reading "be careful."
Oct 17: Front door of Bondi brewery, Curly Lewis Brewing Company in Sydney, torched.
Oct 20: Neighbouring Bondi Kosher deli Lewis' Continental Kitchen set alight.
A
task force investigating antisemitic attacks charges a former biker
gang member in March over allegedly directing two men to torch Curly
Lewis Brewing Company and Lewis' Continental Kitchen in order to
distract police resources. He denied the charges and was released on
bail.
A
member of the public leaves the scene with her child, who is covered in
an emergency blanket, after a shooting at Bondi Beach on December 14,
2025 in Sydney, Australia. (credit: George Chan/Getty Images)Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
later says information from the national intelligence agency showed the
Iranian government was behind the arson attack on Lewis' Continental
Kitchen.
Nov 21: Cars torched, buildings vandalized in Sydney's east, an area with a large Jewish population.
Dec
6: Adass Israel Synagogue torched in Melbourne's south, treated by
police as a suspected terror attack. Victoria state counter-terrorism
taskforce in August 2025 charges two men over the attack. Days later,
Albanese announces the incident was also directed by the Iranian
government.
Dec 9: Federal Police Task Force on Antisemitism launched.
Dec 11: Cars torched, buildings vandalized in Sydney’s east.
Jan 7, 2025: Man charged after allegedly threatening worshipers near the Chabad North Shore synagogue in Sydney’s north.
Jan 10: Allawah Synagogue in Sydney's south graffitied with swastikas.
Jan
11: Graffiti and attempted arson of the Newtown Synagogue in Sydney’s
west. New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns calls the attack an
escalation in antisemitic crime. Cars and a house were vandalized with
antisemitic graffiti in Sydney’s west.
Jan 16: Federal antisemitism task force makes first arrest, charging a Sydney man over alleged death threats and vandalism.
Jan 17: Cars torched, building formerly owned by a Jewish community leader vandalized in Sydney’s east.
Jan 19: Minns announces laws to strengthen hate speech protections and ban protests outside places of worship.
Jan
21: Childcare center set alight and graffitied in Sydney’s east. Police
charge woman over December 11 attack. Albanese announces a national
cabinet meeting in response to the escalation of antisemitism.
Jan
29: New South Wales state police say they found a caravan, or trailer,
filled with explosives in Sydney's northwest. The authorities would
later say this was a fake plan by an organized crime network to attack a
Sydney synagogue, a move meant to divert police resources.
Feb
12: Two nurses in a Sydney hospital are suspended from work for
threatening to kill Jewish patients and refusing to treat them in a
video on TikTok, triggering an investigation by police, authorities
said.
July
4: Twenty worshipers at a Sabbath dinner at the East Melbourne
Synagogue flee a fire that police describe as arson. A man is arrested
and charged with various offenses, as the authorities investigate
whether the incident was linked to a disturbance the same night at an
Israeli restaurant in the city.
Dec
14: At least 12 people were killed and a dozen wounded after two gunmen
opened fire on the first night of Hanukkah at Sydney's Bondi Beach.
Akram's driver's license was found at the scene, and showed him to be 24 years old (DOB 12 August 2001).
An
aerial view of emergency personnel working at the scene of a shooting
incident at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025, in this
screen grab from a video. (credit: NINE NETWORK/SEVEN
NETWORK/AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION/Handout via REUTERS)
'Nothing on his social media profile indicating his beliefs'
According to his Facebook page, viewed by the Post, Akram studied at Central Queensland University in Sydney and Hamdard University in Islamabad.
He also studied at Al Murad Institute, where he was described as a model student.
The prospect of Turkey, together with other Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, being equipped with the F-35 stealth aircraft has prompted grave concerns in Israel that the jets -- which have also been deployed to great effect by the Israel Air Force -- could be used against the Jewish state in a future conflict once Trump's term in office has ended.
US President Donald Trump may
believe that selling F-35 stealth warplanes to Turkey will help the
country forge closer ties with the US at the expense of Russia. The
reality, though, is that by providing such sophisticated fighter jets to
a country that supports Hamas terrorists -- and whose president
recently said that "Israel will have no choice but to kneel in front of
Turkey" -- Trump is merely stoking the flames of a future war aimed at
destroying Israel.
[Trump] is under the impression that Turkey played a key role in
helping to persuade Hamas to agree to Washington's 20-point peace plan
for ending the war in Gaza, and possibly his hope that Turkey might join
his Abraham Accords.
Ambassador [Tom] Barrack, however, has been called out for
"misrepresent[ing] President Erdogan's hostile and war-threatening
statements against Israel."
The prospect of Turkey, together with other Arab countries such
as Saudi Arabia, being equipped with the F-35 stealth aircraft has
prompted grave concerns in Israel that the jets -- which have also been
deployed to great effect by the Israel Air Force -- could be used
against the Jewish state in a future conflict once Trump's term in
office has ended.
The Israelis are particularly concerned about Turkey receiving the warplanes so long as Erdogan remains in power.
Israeli security officials are warning that Turkey is quietly
working on a plan to encircle Israel, extending its influence in
countries such as Syria, in anticipation of a future conflict.
Acquiring F-35 stealth fighters would significantly increase its
war-fighting capabilities in the event of Ankara becoming involved in
direct hostilities with Israel after Trump leaves office.
There are also reports that Turkey and Qatar, which is also one
of Hamas's staunchest supporters, are now attempting to thwart attempts
to force the terrorist organisation to surrender its weapons -- one of
the key requirements stipulated by Trump's peace plan.
The United Arab Emirates, which has strong ties with the Trump
administration, has expressed "concern" over Turkey's and Qatar's
disruptive policies in Gaza in support of Hamas. The UAE recently
decided not to participate in the proposed International Stabilization
Force for the Gaza Strip.
In such circumstances, it would be extreme folly for the Trump
administration to press ahead with its plan to sell F-35 stealth fighter
jets to Turkey, a country that actively supports Hamas terrorists. To
do so would place Israel in the very real danger of becoming involved in
yet another war with a country that is supposed to be a U.S. ally.
US President Donald Trump may believe that selling F-35
stealth warplanes to Turkey will help the country forge closer ties with
the US at the expense of Russia. The reality, though, is that by
providing such sophisticated fighter jets to a country that supports
Hamas terrorists, Trump is merely stoking the flames of a future war
aimed at destroying Israel. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
recently said "It is time for Israel to turn to dust," and "Israel will
have no choice but to kneel in front of Turkey. This is the only way for
it to live. Otherwise, in the second quarter of the 21st
century, there will be no Israel." Pictured: Erdogan speaks at a
campaign rally on March 29, 2024 in Istanbul. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty
Images)
US President Donald Trump may believe that selling F-35 stealth
warplanes to Turkey will help the country forge closer ties with the US
at the expense of Russia. The reality, though, is that by providing such
sophisticated fighter jets to a country that supports Hamas terrorists
-- and whose president recently said
that "Israel will have no choice but to kneel in front of Turkey" --
Trump is merely stoking the flames of a future war aimed at destroying
Israel.
Trump's problematic relationship with Ankara dates back to his first
term in the White House, when he removed Turkey from participation in
the multinational F-35 programme after it purchased Russia's supposed
state-of-the-art S-400 air-defence system, which was designed with the express purpose of shooting down F-35 warplanes.
In recent months, though, Trump appears to have revised his previous
decision, not least because he is under the impression that Turkey
played a key role in helping to persuade Hamas to agree to Washington's
20-point peace plan for ending the war in Gaza, and possibly his hope
that Turkey might join his Abraham Accords.
Trump was gushing in his praise
for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's role in securing the
ceasefire. "President Erdogan was fantastic. He really helped a lot,
because he's very respected," Trump declared after Hamas finally agreed
to sign up to the ceasefire.
Since then, Erdogan has worked hard to capitalise
on his good standing in Washington, seeking to promote himself as a
close ally of the US who can use his strong ties with Hamas to the Trump
administration's benefit.
Apart from being a staunch supporter of Hamas's terrorist leadership,
Erdogan is also on the record as stating that a future war between
Turkey and Israel is a distinct possibility.
In early December, Turkey's leadership hosted a conference, "Pledge to Jerusalem," attended by "a number of Arab and Islamic organizations." According to Quds Press:
"The conference will... further issue a scholarly fatwa
establishing the religious duty to defend Jerusalem, resist
normalization, and oppose alignment [between Israel and the Arab and
Islamic countries]."
Only a few weeks earlier, Erdogan, his senior officials and state-controlled media were talking about attacking Israel. On September 29, 2025, Erdogan stated:
"It is time for Israel to turn to dust... A region that
could fit in the palm of your hand could turn to dust in three days...
Chase them out of your cities. The time has come for hundreds of
thousands of people to accumulate on the borders of Israel and enter the
cities in waves."
"No one can save it [Israel] now.... It must be
disciplined with war... War and power should make Israel kneel...
However 'extreme' it looks, a Turkey-Israel war will absolutely
happen... Israel will have no choice but to kneel in front of Turkey.
This is the only way for it to live. Otherwise, in the second quarter of
the 21st century, there will be no Israel."
A similar conference, hosted by Turkey in August, recommended:
"A total rejection of any call to disarm the resistance
and a firm emphasis on the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to
wage resistance of every kind -- including armed resistance – against
the Zionist occupation and [a call to] mobilize the Islamic nation to
wage jihad for the sake of Allah, in all its forms."
"This statement is the beginning of the end of the Zionist occupation project..."
Erdogan's blatant power-play, nevertheless, has clearly made a strong
impression on Trump, who is now reported to be giving serious
consideration to relaxing the ban he imposed during his first term in
the White House on Ankara's participation in the F-35 programme.
US officials have given strong indications that Trump is prepared to
sell F-35s to Turkey in return for Ankara getting rid of its
Russian-made S-400 air-defence missile systems.
Turkey's willingness to ditch the S-400 will have increased following the dismal performance
of Russian air-defence systems during the recent military conflict
between Israel and Iran, when Israeli warplanes easily destroyed Iran's
Russian-made air-defence systems, enabling them to attack Iranian
targets at will.
Tom Barrack, US Ambassador to Turkey and a close aide to Trump,
stated earlier this month that he believed Turkey was closer to removing
the Russian S-400 system that has created tensions with NATO allies and
has become a hurdle to Turkey's quest to obtain the American
fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, according to Bloomberg.
In response to a question about whether Turkey is going to dump the
S-400, asked at a conference in Abu Dhabi on December 5, Barrack said,
"My belief is that those issues will be resolved in the next upcoming
four to six months."
Barrack, however, has been called out for "misrepresent[ing] President Erdogan's hostile and war-threatening statements against Israel."
The prospect of Turkey, together with other Arab countries such as
Saudi Arabia, being equipped with the F-35 stealth aircraft has prompted
grave concerns in Israel that the jets -- which have also been deployed
to great effect by the Israel Air Force -- could be used against the
Jewish state in a future conflict once Trump's term in office has ended.
The Israelis are particularly concerned about Turkey receiving the warplanes so long as Erdogan remains in power.
Israeli security officials are warning
that Turkey is quietly working on a plan to encircle Israel, extending
its influence in countries such as Syria, in anticipation of a future
conflict.
Acquiring F-35 stealth fighters would significantly increase its
war-fighting capabilities in the event of Ankara becoming involved in
direct hostilities with Israel after Trump leaves office.
At the height of the Gaza war, Erdogan, who led condemnations of Israel's military operations against Hamas, raised
the possibility of Turkish forces invading Israel, while more recently
he has warned of "serious consequences" if Israel continues its attacks
against Hamas terrorists.
Erdogan's strong backing for Hamas is the main reason that Turkey is not being seriously considered
as a participant in Trump's plan to create an International
Stabilization Force in Gaza when the next phase of the ceasefire takes
hold.
There are also reports that Turkey and Qatar, which is also one of Hamas's staunchest supporters, are now attempting to thwart
attempts to force the terrorist organisation to surrender its weapons
-- one of the key requirements stipulated by Trump's peace plan.
Hamas continues to refuse to disarm in accordance with the agreement, insisting that any decisions about the terrorist group's weapons should be resolved through "internal Palestinian dialogue."
At the same time, Israeli security officials and a senior Arab intelligence official told the New York Times
last week that Hamas has moved quickly to reassert control in Gaza
since Israeli forces withdrew from parts of the territory in October
under the ceasefire agreement and has succeeded in rebuilding much of
its operational strength.
Making sure Hamas fulfils its obligation to disarm under the terms of
Trump's peace deal is likely to be a key priority when Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with the US president in Florida at
the end of the month.
Meanwhile, in early December, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency exposed
what they describe as a secret Hamas money-exchange network operating
in central Turkey "under Iran's direction," according to documents and
statements released last week.
According to the intelligence released by the IDF and ISA, exiled
Gazans based in Turkey have used the country's financial infrastructure
to move large sums of money for Hamas, with transfers totalling hundreds
of millions of dollars.
"As the [December] conference was underway, Israeli authorities revealed documents
that show that Hamas is operating a system of Gazan moneychangers who
live in Turkey and exploit the country's financial infrastructure to
secretly finance terrorism. The network, according to the Israeli
authorities, works in full cooperation with the Iranian regime and has transferred millions of dollars directly to Hamas and its senior leaders."
The United Arab Emirates, which has strong ties with the Trump administration, has expressed "concern"
over Turkey's and Qatar's disruptive policies in Gaza in support of
Hamas. The UAE recently decided not to participate in the proposed
International Stabilization Force for the Gaza Strip.
In general, the UAE views Qatar and Turkey as "Hamas enablers." A source familiar with the UAE's stance toldThe Jerusalem Post:
"These states will make it possible for the terrorist organization to
continue existing.... There are interested parties affiliated with the
Muslim Brotherhood who are currently embedding themselves in key
positions in the Gaza reconstruction plan."
In such circumstances, it would be extreme folly for the Trump
administration to press ahead with its plan to sell F-35 stealth fighter
jets to Turkey, a country that actively supports Hamas terrorists. To
do so would place Israel in the very real danger of becoming involved in
yet another war with a country that is supposed to be a U.S. ally.
Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
Israel’s antisemitism watchdog warns protests outside the Concertgebouw over IDF cantor Shai Abramson could draw hundreds of demonstrators.
Musicians perform at the Royal Concert Hall in Amsterdam in 2008. Photo by Andreas Praefcke via Wikimedia Commons.
Spectators at a Chanukah concert in
Amsterdam on Sunday will attend under a “high risk level” from
anti-Israel protesters who plan to rally around the venue, Israel’s
National Center for Combating Antisemitism warned on Saturday.
The warning by
the center, which operates under the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and
Combating Antisemitism, is about plans by anti-Israel and far-left
groups to demonstrate outside the Royal Concert Hall, or Concertgebouw.
The Palestinian Community in the
Netherlands group and the Global Movement to Gaza said they would
protest because of the participation in the concert of Shai Abramson, a
cantor who also serves in the Israel Defense Forces. The Concertgebouw
had canceled the concert for this reason but rescheduled it last month following legal action and protests.
“The planned protests are assessed as
carrying a high risk level,” the National Center for Combating
Antisemitism said in an assessment. “Current levels of online engagement
indicate an expected turnout of several hundred demonstrators.” The
protests will be held with a police permit.
On Saturday, the building in central
Amsterdam was briefly evacuated due to a foul odor that caused some
visitors to feel nauseated, the RTL broadcaster reported. The cause of the stink was not immediately clear, a Concertgebouw spokesperson told RTL.
Time and time again, experts tell Fox News Digital, fears of being called 'racist' killed enthusiasm for uncovering Minneapolis fraud
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - In the aftermath of the massive Feeding Our Future scandal and broader allegations of systemic fraud in Minnesota’s
social programs, a troubling theme has emerged: accusations of racism
repeatedly used to deflect scrutiny, intimidate investigators and stall
accountability.
Rumors and reports of fraud in Minneapolis,
primarily within the city’s exploding Somali community, have been
circulating for at least a decade, but criticism of the fraud has been
largely dismissed by elected Democrats as "racist" or being underpinned
by animosity toward foreigners. News stories focused on Somali
fraudsters in recent years were shot down as "racist."
"The
whole story kind of died under these accusations that people were being
racist," Bill Glahn, policy fellow with Center of the American
Experiment, told Fox News Digital. "Oh, maybe somebody stole a little
bit here, a little bit there, but there's nothing systemic going on."
Former
assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Teirab, who helped lead federal
prosecutions in the Feeding Our Future case, described to Fox News
Digital how individuals implicated in fraud leaned on racial accusations
as a shield. According to Teirab, suspects explicitly invoked race
during a secretly recorded meeting with Attorney General Keith Ellison,
asserting that investigators were targeting them "only because of race."
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images; Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Teirab
called this tactic both deliberate and cynical. In one trial, a juror
was even approached with a $120,000 cash bribe, allegedly accompanied by
messaging intended to frame the investigation as racially motivated.
The goal wasn’t just to escape prosecution, it was to taint the system
itself by threatening anyone pursuing the truth with the specter of
racial bias.
"It provided cover," Teirab told Fox News Digital.
"Fraudsters knew the issue of race and racism was something they could
use as a cudgel… It’s disrespectful to use those terms when they’re not
appropriate, especially in a case where fraud clearly happened."
Minnesota Republican
State Sen. Mark Koran echoed Teirab’s concerns, emphasizing that
investigators followed the evidence, not demographics. Fraud
prosecutions disproportionately affected one community simply because
that’s where significant fraud was uncovered, not because investigators
targeted anyone based on race.
"The average Minnesotan, average
legislator, doesn't care who's committing the fraud," Koran said. "All
right, the evidence will lead you either to or from the perpetrator. And
so, if the evidence leads to the perpetrator, we need to prosecute all
of them."
Koran noted that public officials and agencies pursuing
fraud were routinely branded racist for doing so. Some perpetrators were
so "emboldened," he said, that they sued the state to force the
continuation of payments, even after red flags signaled massive
irregularities.
The scale, Koran argued, dwarfs what many
Minnesotans understand. While federal authorities may ultimately
prosecute around $2 billion in fraud, he suggested that the true annual
losses across state programs could reach much higher when factoring in
both blatant fraud and poor service delivery.
Meanwhile, many
families participated in related schemes by receiving kickbacks from
fraudulent autism service providers, further complicating enforcement.
Investigators simply lack the resources to chase every case, creating an
environment where fraud becomes a low-risk, high-reward enterprise.
Rep. Ilhan Omar speaks in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, during a news conference.(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
"For
the average hardworking legal U.S. citizen doing everything right,"
Koran said, "it’s a disgusting disservice… knowing there’s such blatant
disregard for the value of that dollar."
Koran suggested that the
racism claims so emboldened supporters of the status quo that it
contributed to Feeding Our Future suing the state of Minnesota, accusing
state officials of racism for investigating the alleged fraud.
Glahn
told Fox News Digital that state agencies were "cowering in fear" over
being called racist and local politicians were acutely aware that the
"racist label" is a "career kiss of death."
A legislative
auditor’s report found Minnesota Department of Education officials felt
they had to handle the nonprofit "carefully" because of these racism
allegations and the risk of negative media coverage, and that this
influenced which regulatory actions MDE did or did not take, CBS News reported.
Political
commentator and Townhall columnist Dustin Grage highlighted another
factor enabling the fraud: media hesitation. Conservative reporters, he
said, described to him hitting internal roadblocks when pitching stories
about the Feeding Our Future scandal because editors feared being
accused of racism.
"In newsrooms, they’re told, ‘We can’t run that
because we’re going to be accused of being racist,’" Grage explained.
That fear, combined with political pressure, allowed the scandal to grow
largely unchecked until federal indictments forced it into the
spotlight.
Minnesota
Gov. Tim Walz sits for an interview with Star Tribune journalists in
his office at the state Capitol in St. Paul on Dec. 12, 2024.(Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Grage
pointed to an early pivotal moment: Minnesota’s Department of Education
detected signs of fraud and briefly halted payments. Immediately,
Minneapolis political figures Omar Fateh and Jamal Osman pushed back,
claiming the stop was racially motivated. They even took the state to
court, though their case was eventually thrown out.
Yet the damage
was done. Payments resumed, and crucially, Gov. Tim Walz declined to
use his subpoena power to obtain Feeding Our Future's bank records,
despite having the authority to do so. That inaction, Grage noted,
further delayed the exposure of the fraud.
The sun shines on the Minnesota state Capitol.(Steve Karnowski/Associated Press)
Glahn
told Fox News Digital that in addition to fear of the "racist" label,
politicians in Minnesota understand that it is difficult to win
elections without the support of the Somali community.
"The Somali
community is very concentrated in Minnesota and very concentrated in
Ilhan Omar's congressional district, and a few other pockets where the
Somali vote swings elections, and at the state level, they're big enough
that we've had some super close elections at the state level, and the
Somali vote is very monolithic, votes Democrat," Glahn explained. "They
provided the difference in statewide elections, and then in local
elections, where it's all Democrats, they're providing the difference in
the primary. So if you're running in a primary against other Democrats,
if you don't have the Somali vote on your side, you're not making it to
the general election."
The result of the fear to fully
investigate the fraud was predictable: fraudsters exploited that
hesitation, taxpayers lost billions and the vulnerable communities the
programs were meant to serve suffered most.
As the state continues
to grapple with accountability and reform, one lesson stands out
starkly. According to those who spoke to Fox News Digital, combating
fraud requires courage, not only to follow the evidence wherever it
leads, but to withstand the inevitable attempts to distort legitimate
scrutiny into something it is not.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
While Europe freezes under net-zero dogma, Norway drills, profits, and keeps the lights on—funding EV virtue with oil and gas while the EU chooses ideology over arithmetic.
While the rest of Europe shivers under the self-imposed austerity of
net zero mandates, Norway in the frozen north is keeping the lights on
and the bank vaults full as it avoids the “green” ideological quicksand
that has defined the continent’s energy policy.
Despite pressures to decarbonize, Norway has increased efforts to
exploit oil and natural gas reserves. The crown jewel of this fossil
fuel renaissance is the Johan Castberg field. Located in the Barents
Sea, 100 kilometers north of the 20-year-old Snøhvit natural gas field,
Johan Castberg is expected to be a beast of a producer—450 million–650
million barrels over 30 years, with a peak daily capacity of 220,000
barrels.
And the investments don’t stop there. The Norwegian
government—ignoring the wailing of the United Nations—has initiated
plans for its 26th round of oil and gas licensing. Targeted will be
“frontier areas”—little-explored regions that can reward high risk with
massive returns. While the U.K. suffocates its North Sea industry with
windfall taxes and regulatory hostility, Norway is effectively saying,
“If you won’t drill, we will.”
Companies operating on the Norwegian continental shelf plan to pour
about $25 billion into oil and natural gas projects in 2026. Almost $2
billion higher than a previous estimate because of rising development
costs, the commitment signals determination to keep production climbing.
Since autumn 2024, the price of ongoing development has swelled by
17%, which is consistent with a rising trajectory that had Norway
overtake Russia in 2022 as Europe’s principal supplier of natural gas.
Despite the country’s embrace of fossil fuels, “greens” enthusiasts
often point to Norwegians’ widespread adoption of electric vehicles as a
model for other countries. However, as is often the case, the pretense
of a “green” utopia is promoted through a deception.
The gleaming EVs filling the streets of Oslo are subsidized by the government’s oil revenue.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund—known as the Government Pension
Fund Global—is the largest of its kind in the world. As of November, its
assets were valued at over $2 trillion. On paper, that is $340,000 for
every Norwegian.
It is a delicious irony that the climate activists’ favorite “model”
nation is funded by the very substance they despise. Every time
Norwegians plug in an EV, they are effectively accepting a handout from
drillers at Johan Castberg. The “green” lifestyle is a luxury purchased
with petrodollars.
Norway is not without its problems. The country’s substantial
electricity exports to the EU become toxic, as the continent uses Norway
as a crutch to compensate for the failure of its own wind and solar
investments.
Norwegian households, accustomed to decades of low energy prices from
abundant hydropower, have been adversely affected by flexible pricing
contracts that link their electricity costs to the high prices of
European markets. Oslo—along with Stockholm and Helsinki—is tiring of
mainland Europe treating the Nordic grid as a dumping ground for the
costs of the EU’s star-crossed love affair with so-called renewable
energy.
Nonetheless, Norway is better off than European Union countries. Not
being a member of the EU, Norway has been able to maintain energy
sovereignty and stay out of the net zero suicide pact gripping EU
capitals.
Being free of the European Union’s authoritarian energy directives
has turned into the greatest blessing Norway never asked for. While the
EU suffers through “managed decline” in the name of climate salvation,
Norway stands apart—enjoying relative wealth and secure energy supplies
while watching the spectacle of a continent that chose ideology over
arithmetic.
Europe built its “green” cathedral on the shifting sands of a cult.
Norway built its future on rocks that happen to float in black gold.
***
Vijay Jayaraj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition,
Fairfax, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the
University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management
from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor’s in
engineering from Anna University, India.
Ohio attorney Mehek Cooke said, 'What we're seeing in Minneapolis is just a snippet of what's happening in Ohio'
FIRST ON FOX: On the heels of Minnesota’s still-unfolding massive social services fraud scandal,
a whistleblower is exposing a similar scheme occurring among the Ohio
Somali community, which she says dates back over a decade and totals
millions in stolen taxpayer dollars.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Mehek Cooke, an Ohio attorney and conservative commentator, said that "Minnesota was just the tip of the spear."
She
said that providers within the Ohio Somali community have confided to
her that they have been pressured to join in a "massive" Medicaid fraud
scheme that involves doctors "rubber stamping" home healthcare payouts
to the family members of elderly individuals for fake medical
conditions.
She explained that scammers in the community have
been exploiting a loophole in Ohio’s Medicaid program that allows
individuals to receive Medicaid payments, totaling as much as $91,000
per year per individual, for care they are supposedly providing to a
family member. Doctors who approve these payments in turn receive
kickbacks themselves, according to Cooke.
Ohio
attorney Mehek Cooke is blowing the whistle on what she is calling
rampant fraud and abuse in the Ohio Medicaid program on the heels of the
massive fraud scheme in Minnesota.(Photo courtesy of Mehek Cooke)
"They're
just rubberstamping a lot of these. And then that same individual, a
week later, that's supposed to be bedridden, is all over social media,
whether they're out dancing at a party or something like that. So, the
symptoms aren't really adding up at the end of the day."
Cooke
noted that she believes that "the problem today is not the community;
it's actually the criminals within the Somalian community that have
exploited Ohio's Medicaid program because we have a system right now
that's one of the easiest in the Midwest to game."
"Say I want to
take care of my elderly aging parents at some point. I can become a home
health provider, and this is where the Somali community has been really
clever. They've been able to find loopholes in Ohio law to provide for
care for family members, even when they don't need it," Cooke explained.
She
said that the providers who came to her divulged this information at
great personal risk, telling her that if they were exposed, they would
be "stoned to death."
"We have entrusted states to look at the funding and to allocate it to build programs, to build rules and regulations.
But unfortunately, in states like Ohio, it is being infiltrated and
broken down because you don't actually have independent assessments with
not only doctors but somebody at the Department of Medicaid coming in.
There's not random visits that are happening all the time," she said.
"So, a lot of times what's happening is an individual is coached to lie
to a doctor."
Cooke said that, according to providers within the
community, 99% of the time, individuals receiving the home healthcare
Medicaid benefit have been coached and do not actually qualify for the
benefit.
"What we're seeing in Minneapolis is just a snippet of what's happening in Ohio," she said.
Columbus, Ohio, skyline at night.(Matt Kazmierski via Getty Images)
"I
know that everybody wants to make this a Somali issue or a race issue.
It's not. Our waiver system in Ohio was built with compassion. It was
built to really help individuals that are struggling and in need, but
it's being looted today," Cooke went on.
"I
think every state, in addition to Ohio, should be asking for audits of
their Medicaid system and their programs," she said, adding, "At the end
of the day, Ohio taxpayers are hurting, the American people are
hurting, and we don't have enough tax dollars."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
House is not planning on advancing anything before its Christmas recess, with all of leadership’s focus
(The Center Square) -
Despite only having until the end
of January to pass the remaining nine annual government funding bills,
Congress has so far made minimal progress.
The U.S. House is not planning on advancing anything before its
Christmas recess, with all of leadership’s focus currently on a
healthcare policy plan.
The Senate, meanwhile, is currently stuck on a proposed five-bill
minibus due to a couple of recalcitrant Republicans fighting over
earmarks within some of the appropriations bills.
Congress has only seven weeks to find a solution before the
government runs out of money, and it can take two to three weeks to pass
appropriations bills through both chambers even after the text is
agreed to.
The minibus, which hasn’t been publicly released yet, purportedly has $5 billion in earmarks.
The package includes fiscal year 2026 funding for federal agencies
that handle Transportation and Housing and Urban Development; Defense;
Labor and Health and Human Services; Commerce, and Justice, Science; and
Interior.
Most federal government agencies are still running off of
appropriations levels from fiscal year 2024. Congress never passed a
real budget in fiscal year 2025, instead punting forward the shutdown
deadline via three consecutive Continuing Resolutions.
The government then shut down Oct. 1, when Democrats refused to vote
for a fourth CR due to Republicans’ refusal to extend the expiring
enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
After a record long 43-day shutdown, enough Democrats voted to reopen the government by passing a CR. Congress also passed a three-bill minibus that same day, which knocked out three of the twelve fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills.
It authorized full-year funds for Military Construction and Veterans
Affairs; the Food and Drug Administration, Agriculture and Rural
Development; and the Legislative Branch. Agencies covered under the
remaining nine bills – including those in the five-bill minibus
currently under consideration – are covered by the CR.
This means that if Congress does not pass those bills in some form by
Feb. 1, the end date of the CR, they risk a partial government
shutdown.
Aristotle gave virtue its theory; Trump gives it blunt instruction—common sense, hard work, and perseverance—an unscholarly ethics that nonetheless meets the moment.
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
is full of good advice and wise observations. So is the upbeat summary
of Donald Trump’s practical ethics, presented in his video “Eleven Life-Changing Lessons.”
Did you snicker when you saw the names “Aristotle” and “Donald Trump”
juxtaposed? Of course you did. Aristotle is one of the greatest
philosophers in history, and his Ethics, along with his Politics, may lay claim to being among the greatest repositories of practical wisdom in the Western tradition.
And Donald Trump? Well, he is a conspicuously successful businessman,
a devoted father, and a celebrated media personality. He is also, in
case you hadn’t noticed, President of the United States of America for
the second time.
Trump’s life lessons, based on his commencement address at the University of Alabama
last May, lack the systematic working out of definitions that Aristotle
lavished upon the subject. (Trump’s first lesson: You’re never too
young to do something great; lesson two: You have to love what you do.
Aristotle’s directives are not so blunt.)
But deep down, there is a good deal of commonality between the two.
Aristotle says that happiness consists in the active exercise of the
faculties in accordance with virtue. Trump employs a different
vocabulary. But when he urges us to “think big” (his second lesson) and
“work hard” (number three), he is traipsing about the same territory.
At the center of Aristotle’s ethics is the concept of “phronesis,”
practical wisdom. Trump employs the more familiar term “common sense,”
the master concept of his second inaugural address, something I discussed in a recent talk.
“We will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution
of common sense,” Trump said in his address. “It’s all about common
sense.”
Who gets to define what is common about common sense? Who gets to say
wherein lies the sense of that consensus? I am going to bring in
another philosopher now. At the beginning of his Discourse on Method (1637), René Descartes said that common sense (bon sens)
was “the most widely distributed thing in the world.” Is it? Much as I
admire Descartes, I have to note that he was imperfectly acquainted with
the realities of 21st-century America. If he were with us today, I am
sure he would amend his opinion.
After all, is it common sense to pretend that men can be women? Or to
pretend that you do not know what a woman is? During her confirmation
hearings, a sitting member of the Supreme Court professed to be baffled by that question.
Is it common sense to open the borders of your country and then to
spend truckloads of taxpayer dollars to feed, house, and nurture the
millions of illegal migrants who have poured in? Is it common sense to
sacrifice competence on the altar of so-called diversity? To allow
politicians to bankrupt the country by incontinent overspending? That’s
the start of a list one could easily enlarge.
In the cultural realm, is it common sense to celebrate art that is
indistinguishable from pornography or some other form of
psychopathology? Is it common sense to rewrite history in an effort to
soothe the wounded feelings of people who crave victimhood? Is it common
sense to transform higher education from an institution dedicated to
the preservation and transmission of the highest values of our
civilization into a wrecking ball aimed at destroying that civilization?
Like most important concepts—think of love, justice, knowledge, or
the good—common sense is not easy to define. But we know it when we see
it. And more to the point, we instantly sense its absence when it is
supplanted.
I am keenly aware that to talk about Donald Trump and philosophy in
the same breath seems like a tasteless joke to the sages who claim to
have their fingers on the ethical pulse of the times. Trump and
Aristotle. Trump and Descartes. I must be kidding. The great sages at The Daily Beast, for example, greeted Trump’s short video with that gleeful, incontinent derision that is the specialité de la maison of the woke nomenklatura. “White House Releases Bonkers List of Trump’s 11 ‘Life-Changing Lessons,’” they chortled in the headline to one story.
They were particularly contemptuous of Trump’s fourth lesson: “Work
hard.” How could Trump say that, demanded these arbiters elegantiarum,
when he is so often off on the links banging golf balls?
Well, here’s a question: has any president in our lifetime worked
harder than Donald Trump? The man is indefatigable. He is always
working, even when he is choosing between a mashie and a niblick. He
sleeps about four hours a day and is otherwise busy trying to make
America great again. What do the snails at The Daily Beast do all day?
In some ways, Trump’s eleven lessons are of a piece with the
practical wisdom of such popular writers as Norman Vincent Peale, he of
the great bestseller The Power of Positive Thinking.
Indeed, Trump’s ninth lesson, “Think of yourself as a winner,” is
basically a restatement of Peale’s teaching. If you went to university,
you naturally harbor nothing but contempt for such advice. You are far
too sophisticated for such nostrums.
But when you stop sniggering, ask yourself this: Is it good advice?
And how about Trump’s follow-up? “Too many of our young people have been
taught to think of themselves as victims. In America, we reject the
idea that anyone is born a victim. Heroes are the ones who take charge
of their own destiny, despite the odds.”
I think there is more wisdom in those observations than a year’s supply of The Daily Beast, The New York Times, The Atlantic, or the gender-sensitive ethics colloquia sponsored by Ivy and Ivy-adjacent colleges.
Trump’s final bit of advice is familiar. “Never, ever give up.” Had
he listened to the ambient static of our culture, Trump would have given
up long ago. Eighteen months ago, he was finished: under indictment in
four states, fined half a billion dollars, and criminally convicted.
Any ordinary man would have crumpled. But Trump persevered, and he
triumphed.
So there is plenty of reason to agree with Trump that the last
lesson, never give up, is the most important lesson. I agree that it is
important. But for my money, the most acute life lesson is number ten:
“Be an original; have the confidence to be a little different. God only
created one of you; don’t try to be someone else.”
What do you think? Trump’s Eleven Life Lessons are not the Nicomachean Ethics. But they are plenty wise. They are a useful appendage to that great work. Added benefit: they are a lot shorter.
Photo: WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 08: U.S.
President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion with
farmers in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 08, 2025 in
Washington, DC. President Trump is expected to announce a $12 billion
farm aid package, which includes one-time payments to those affected by
the administration’s trade policies. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
