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Did Netanyahu just ask Trump for another war — and get it?

During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump said that he will allow Israel to attack Iran once again to strike its ballistic missiles.

But what exactly does that mean? Will the U.S. be involved in the actual strikes? Will it “limit” its involvement to shooting down Iran’s retaliatory missiles?

If the former, Trump is not just “allowing” Israel to strike; the U.S. will actually be at war with Iran. This would be a betrayal of his promise to his base to keep America out of wars (he has, of course, violated that already).

Moreover, unlike the nuclear program, which incorporates a small number of known facilities, the missile program is spread throughout the country in a large number of hidden facilities, many of them probably unknown to the U.S./Israel.

Thus, Trump will likely not be able to frame this as mere “military action” rather than war. Nor will he likely be able to negotiate with Tehran a limited Iranian response since the missiles are Iran’s last line of defense — the last leg of its deterrence.

Tehran has gone to great lengths to avoid a military confrontation with Washington, but just because it has shown restraint in the past does not mean that it can afford to do so in this scenario. Indeed, given that Iran will be totally exposed without its missiles, it will likely reckon that it has no choice but to strike directly at U.S. targets.

Even if Trump opts to “only” support Israel defensively in yet another Israeli choice of war — which is the position Biden took — it nevertheless incentivizes Israel to restart war, as the U.S. is lessening the cost for Israel to do so.

The cost to the United States is great even in this scenario. Washington depleted 25% of its THAAD interceptors in the course of 12 days this past summer — for Israel’s war of choice, in a region four American Presidents have declared no longer is vital to U.S. national security.

As I wrote last week, every time Trump caves to Netanyahu and agrees to another war, it only prompts Israel to come back to Trump after a few months with another war plan for Americans to give their blood and tax dollars to.

This will go on endlessly until Trump decides to end it.

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Pro-Israel Forces Intensify Effort To Control American Discourse

Across the American political spectrum, support for the State of Israel is steadily eroding. With the long-running, staggeringly expensive redistribution of American wealth and weapons to one of the world’s most prosperous countries under unprecedented threat, Israel’s advocates inside the United States are growing increasingly desperate to suppress the facts, opinions, questions and imagery that are causing this sea change.

Pro-Israel forces have long worked to limit and shape US discourse to Israel’s advantage. However, the intensity and novelty of what’s taking place in 2025 — from the government-coerced transfer of a social media platform to pro-Israel billionaires, to the jailing and attempted deportation of a student for writing an opinion piece, and more — deserves the attention of every American who values free expression, an enlightened electorate, and independence from foreign influence.

Many Americans know that Congress and President Biden teamed up in 2024 to force the Chinese company ByteDance to divest its US operation of the popular video-sharing app TikTok, yet few realize this unusual intervention was motivated in large part by a desire to serve the interests of Israel.

Though politicians pointed to the supposed Chinese menace lurking inside the app — while revealing their lack of sincerity by continuing to use it themselves — the catalyst for the extraordinary legislation’s passage was a sea of viral content illuminating Israel’s rampage in Gaza, casting Palestinians in empathetic light, and questioning the legitimacy of the political philosophy that is Zionism.

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Zelensky Claims Trump Is Considering US Boots On The Ground In Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has newly claimed that US President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of deploying American troops to Ukraine as negotiations toward peace with Moscow stall. This is presumably connected with promises of future ‘security guarantees’.

This is somewhat of a surprise, as the White House has made no indication of this in any statement whether public or based on anonymous officials. Throughout the nearly four-long war the question of Western ‘boots on the ground’ has been raised at various times. 

But the US – whether under Biden or Trump – has always denied that sending American troops into Ukraine is a solution. Instead, it’s well understood that this could escalate things between Washington and Russia toward full-scale war.

Zelensky made the remarks during a WhatsApp conversation with journalists, according to Reuters national security correspondent Idress Ali, who then revealed his words on social media.

But the outlet has still stressed that Zelensky understands that the final decision rests with Trump.

“To be honest, this can only be confirmed by the President of the United States of America. These are US troops, and therefore it is America that makes such decisions. Of course, we are discussing this both with President Trump and with representatives of the Coalition [of the Willing],” Zelensky was quoted as saying.

And just like that, boots on the ground as a talking point is being echoed among EU leaders…

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Florida Marijuana Campaign Sues State Over Invalidation Of 71,000 Signatures With Turn-In Deadline Weeks Away

A Florida campaign seeking to put marijuana legalization on the state’s 2026 ballot has filed a new lawsuit against state officials, alleging that they improperly directed the invalidation of about 71,000 signatures as a turn-in deadline quickly approaches.

Smart & Safe Florida has been fighting several legal battles this cycle to ensure that its initiative is able to qualify for ballot placement.

The latest lawsuit, filed in the Leon County circuit court on Monday, claims Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) directed county election officials to invalidate about 42,000 signatures from so-called “inactive” voters and roughly 29,000 signatures collected by out-of-state petitioners.

This comes after another court upheld a previous decision to strike about 200,000 signatures that the state said were invalid because the petitions didn’t include the full text of the proposed initiative. The campaign contested the legal interpretation, but it declined to appeal the decision based on their confidence they’d collected enough signatures to make up the difference.

Now, with a February 1 deadline to submit 880,062 valid signatures just about a month away, Smart & Safe Florida is signaling that the additional invalidations could jeopardize their chances of making the ballot. Currently, the state has validated 675,307 signatures.

“Time is of the essence,” the new lawsuit says, according to The News Service of Florida. “The Florida secretary of state has issued two unlawful directives that, unless stopped, will invalidate the citizen initiative petitions signed by more than 70,000 registered voters.”

With respect to the “inactive” voters, the term refers to those who are registered but for whom mail is marked as undeliverable, resulting in their addresses being considered unconfirmed. This group can become unregistered if they don’t vote in two consecutive general elections.

“The absurd result of the secretary’s directive is that ‘inactive’ voters can vote for the proposed amendment but cannot have their petitions counted to place the proposed amendment on the ballot to vote for it,” the lawsuit says.

The out-of-state petitioner issue, meanwhile, is about the enforcement of a law passed earlier this year barring non-Florida residents from collecting signatures. Amid legal challenges, a federal court issued an injunction blocking its enforcement for about two months before that injunction was stayed by another judge.

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Saudi Arabia Bombs Yemeni Port, Claims Attack Targeted Weapons Bound for UAE-Backed Forces

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday bombed the southern Yemeni port city of Mukalla, claiming to target a weapons shipment bound for the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), which has taken territory from Saudi-backed forces in recent weeks. It’s unclear at this point if there were any casualties in the strikes.

Riyadh said it targeted an arms shipment after ships from the UAE arrived at the port. “The ships’ crew had disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels, and unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the Southern Transitional Council’s forces,” the Saudi military said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.

“Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat, and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that targeted weapons and military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla,” the statement added.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry denied the Saudi claims but said that it had shipped vehicles to its own forces in Yemen and that Riyadh was aware of the shipment. “The ministry confirms that the shipment concerned did not include any weapons, and that the vehicles unloaded were not intended for any Yemeni party, but were shipped for use by UAE forces operating in Yemen,” the ministry said.

The UAE’s Defense Ministry later announced that it was pulling troops out of Yemen. “The Ministry of Defense announces the termination of the remaining counterterrorism teams in Yemen,” the ministry said, according to The Cradle, adding that the move came “of its own volition, ensuring the safety of its personnel, and in coordination with relevant partners.”

The Saudi strikes demonstrate fractures among the Gulf powers and the anti-Houthi coalition in Yemen, which formed the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) back in 2022 when the Saudis gave up on their goal of re-installing former Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in Sanaa, which has been under Houthi control since 2014.

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Marijuana Users Are Being Unjustly Jailed For Allegedly Driving Under The Influence, Government-Funded Study Shows

Laws aimed at preventing marijuana-impaired driving in almost 20 states are causing innocent people who show no signs of impairment to be criminalized and imprisoned for allegedly operating vehicles while under the influence, a new government-funded study shows.

Lawmakers and regulators aiming to reduce drug-impaired driving have long sought to apply a familiar strategy from alcohol enforcement: setting a numerical limit of THC in the bloodstream beyond which a driver is presumed to be impaired, commonly referred to as a “per se” amount.

But the new study suggests that approach may be badly misaligned with the science related to impairment from cannabis, the components and metabolites of which can remain in the body day or weeks after use—when impairment is no longer an issue.

“Many regular users of cannabis exceed zero tolerance and per se THC cutpoint concentrations days after their last use, risking legal consequences despite no evidence of impairment,” the study, which was published in the scientific journal Clinical Chemistry and partially funded by the National Institutes of Health and the State of California, found.

The findings echo earlier research showing weak or inconsistent links between THC blood levels and crash risk. Large epidemiological studies have found that while marijuana use may slightly increase collision risk, the effect is far smaller than that of alcohol use.

“One of the primary problems with using THC concentrations in per se legislation is that the pharmacokinetics of THC are much different from ethanol,” the researchers wrote.

The authors noted that alcohol generally cannot be detected 1 to 2 days after last ingestion, whereas THC can be measured up to 30 days after last use because of its lipophilic nature.

To generate the data, researchers studied 190 heavy consumers who were instructed to abstain for 48 hours. Following that several day period, the participants’ blood THC concentrations were measured both before and after cannabis consumption to establish baselines. They were also observed using a driving simulator.

“Current cannabis blood concentrations used to identify impaired drivers could land innocent people in jail,” the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine, which publishes the journal that the study appeared in, said in a press release.

“Cannabis blood limit laws lack scientific credibility and are not an accurate determinant of when drivers should face criminal charges or not.”

The authors of the study concluded that “more work needs to be done to address how to best identify drivers who are under the influence of cannabis and are unsafe to drive.”

“Despite evidence showing no correlation between the detection of THC in the blood and driving impairment, 6 states in the United States have per se laws using 2 or 5 ng/mL of THC as the cut-off point for driving under the influence of cannabis, while 12 have a zero-tolerance law,” the journal’s press release says.

The authors, affiliated with the University of California, San Diego and the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research cautioned that additional research is needed, saying “at present, the best protocol is a combination of observations in the field and toxicology testing.”

A separate study last year found “no support that marijuana legalization increased tolerant behaviors and attitudes toward driving after marijuana use.” Authored by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Ohio State University, the study used data from a national traffic safety survey.

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Mystery as couple die during vacation to paradise Caribbean island – with family saying their deaths were not murder or suicide

A Canadian couple was mysteriously found dead while vacationing in a Caribbean paradise island for the holidays, according to a devastated family member.

The bodies of Alain Noël, 56, and Christine Sauvé, 55, were discovered inside their rented vacation home in Villa Riva, Dominican Republic, on the night of December 25, Gilles Sauvé Jr., Christine’s brother, wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post. 

The husband and wife, who share two children together, traveled from their home in Gatineau, a city in Quebec, to the popular Caribbean hotspot. 

It is unclear when they arrived there and when they were due to return home, but according to Gilles, his sister and brother-in-law died in their sleep. 

‘It is with great sadness that I announce the deaths of my sister Christine Sauvé and my brother-in-law Alain Noël, occurred in their sleep, on the night of December 25th to 26th,’ he wrote in a Facebook post alongside a selfie of the pair. 

Their cause of death is unknown, but Gilles believes ‘there was absolutely no suicide or murder’, he told CTV News. 

‘They were a very respected family, very close-knit, a really good family. They were loved by everyone and were planning to retire in the Dominican Republic with their new house,’ Gilles added. 

He told the outlet his family has to wait 10 to 30 days to receive autopsy results and to have their bodies returned to Quebec. 

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14-year-old Texas girl disappears, becoming third missing Bexar County teen in just a week

A 14-year-old Texas girl vanished from her home on Monday — just days after missing teen Camila Mendoza Olmos disappeared near her home in the same city.

Sofia Gabriela Peters-Cobos, 14, hasn’t been seen since Monday evening when she left her home on Landon Ridge and Potranco Road in San Antonio around 7 p.m., the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said.

She is the third Bexar County teen reported missing within a week.

On Christmas Eve, Olmos, 19, disappeared while taking an early morning walk. She was last seen close to her San Antonio home around 7 a.m.

A day later, on Christmas Day, the sheriff’s office also asked the public for help locating 17-year-old Angelique Johnson, who was last seen on Potranco Road.

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Hardworking boy, 17, died mysteriously while working at Nebraska hog farm owned by governor and run by his daughter… then officials frustrated his mom’s efforts to find out why

A teenager in Nebraska died under mysterious circumstances while working at a hog farm founded by the state’s governor and run by his daughter, with officials accused of neglecting a thorough investigation for his grieving mother.

Zach Panther, 17, was found dead six weeks after starting a job at Beaver Valley Pork farms in St. Edward, Nebraska – a tiny town with about 700 residents roughly two hours west of Omaha – last April 1.

The teen had been sealing cracks in a barn with chemical-laden spray foam before his supervisor found him on the floor, according to The New York Times.

Panther’s death was not seen by any other farm employees, and there were no signs of foul play.

Beaver Valley Pork is one of the hog operations linked to Pillen Family Farms, a family business that has owned or operated more than 100 farms across Nebraska.

The company was founded by state governor Jim Pillen in 1993. His daughter Sarah has been the co-chief executive of the business since January 2020, per her public LinkedIn profile.

Investigations by government agencies couldn’t determine how the 17-year-old died and were allegedly slowed down by mistakes and poor information sharing.

‘My son is dead,’ Justy Riggs-Panther, Zach’s mom, told the outlet. ‘There ought to be answers.’

After her son’s death, the sheriff and deputies from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office only allegedly examined the room where he died, and not much else.

The Nebraska farm allegedly blocked timely testing from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), while a recommended blood test for spray foam chemicals was also disrupted when the lab accidentally destroyed the usable sample.

Sarah Pillen, the co-CEO of Pillen Family Farms, said the company had ‘fully cooperated’ with the investigation into Zach’s death.

She told OSHA of Zach’s death when it happened, which was marked down in the call log by an agency employee with notes including ‘had been foaming’, ‘insulation’, ‘head injury’ and ‘poss[ible] medical episode.’

‘While we share the frustration that some of the issues which led to his passing remain unanswered, we understand those investigations have been closed, and there have been no safety violations attributable to the workplace,’ she told The New York Times.

However, Sarah Pillen was accused of refusing entry to an OSHA industrial hygienist who came to inspect the farm.

‘We simply requested that OSHA follow our established biosecurity protocols,’ she said.

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Heiress sparks new turn in Somali fraud scandal by speculating link to MURDER of Minnesota Democrat lawmaker

A Minnesota state senator has slammed actress and socialite Sara Foster after she linked the murder of Democrat lawmaker Melissa Hortman to the erupting Somali fraud probe. 

Hortman and her husband Mark were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home by suspect Vance Luther Boelter earlier this year.

Boelter allegedly planned to target 45 liberal lawmakers and abortion providers, according to police.

But Foster, the 44-year-old daughter of Canadian record producer David Foster, took to X on Saturday to suggest Hortman’s death is linked to investigations into alleged fraud in the Somali community in Minnesota.

Scrutiny over the state’s spending intensified this week after a viral video emerged showing an apparently empty daycare in Hennepin County which has allegedly received $4 million in taxpayers’ money. 

‘So are we just planning on pretending like her murder isn’t connected to the multi billion fraud scandal just uncovered? Mmmmkay,’ Foster wrote.

Foster wrote the comment alongside a video showing Hortman weeping after she had cast the lone Democratic vote in favor of repealing eligibility for undocumented adults to access MinnesotaCare just days before she was killed. 

Foster’s remarks were panned by Republican State Senator Julia Coleman, who shut down the ‘conspiracy theory’, stating ‘the fraud had nothing to do with the assassinations’.

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