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US Missiles Hit Two Nigerian Villages Far From Intended Target: Nigerian Government

Two villages in Nigeria that were hit by US missiles as part of the first US strikes in Nigeria launched on Christmas Day were not the intended target, according to a statement from the Nigerian government.

On Friday, Nigeria’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the strikes, which were launched by a US warship in the Gulf of Guinea, targeted “two major Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist enclaves” in the forests of the Tangaza district in Nigeria’s northwest Sokoto State, an area that’s not known as a hub for ISIS-affiliated militants, raising questions about why it was the US’s first target.

Idris also said that debris from US missiles landed in the village of Jabo in Sokoto, as well as Offa, a village in the central western Kwara state, hundreds of miles from Sokoto. Idris downplayed the damage to the villages, saying there were no civilian casualties, but residents of Offa say several homes were destroyed by the US missile, and some injuries were reported.

“At first, we were confused about what happened,” Benji Omale, a resident of Offa, told News Central TV, describing the loud sound he heard when a munition landed on the village. “So, we ran toward the area to find out. When we got there, we saw that several houses had been destroyed and many properties damaged.”

Omale added that the residents of the village are now “appealing to the government to take steps to address the destruction and provide some form of assistance.” Reports based on images of debris posted on social media suggest that at least three Tomahawk missiles fired by the US warship fell short of their target.

Tajudeen Alabi, a former special assistant to the Kwara State governor, told the BBC that some people were injured by the falling debris. “At least about five structures were destroyed in different locations. We saw some objects in a popular hotel, which we call Offa Central Hotel. It looked like a bomb,” he said.

In Jabo, residents described fear and confusion after US missile debris landed in a field, though there were no casualties in the village. “Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out,” Abubakar San, a resident of Jabo, told The Associated Press. “The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens. We have never experienced anything like this before.”

Residents of Jabo questioned President Trump’s claims that he launched the airstrikes to defend Nigeria’s Christians. “In Jabo, we see Christians as our brothers. We don’t have religious conflicts, so we weren’t expecting this,” Suleiman Kagara, a villager, told CNN.

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Israel’s ‘Game-Changing’ Iron Beam Laser System Enters Combat, Offering U.S. Blueprint for Future Missile Defense

Israel has begun field deployment of its “game-changing” Iron Beam laser air defense system, according to the country’s Defense Ministry, which confirmed the technology is now operating as part of the country’s layered missile defense network, with its combat performance expected to inform U.S. missile defense planning.

The announcement, made Sunday, follows months of phased rollouts and testing by Israel’s defense establishment and domestic industry partners. Defense officials said the system is already being positioned at multiple sites nationwide.

Senior defense officials have described the high-energy laser as a system that will “fundamentally change the rules of engagement” as Israel confronts sustained rocket and drone threats from Iran and its regional terror proxies.

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New York To Demand Warning Labels On Social Media Platforms

New York is requiring warning labels on social media platforms about addictive features in a bid to address a youth mental health crisis.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the bill into law on Dec. 26, targeting infinite scrolling, auto-play videos, and algorithmic feeds that encourage prolonged use.

The law, S4505/A5346, sponsored by Democrats state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic, requires social media platforms to display non-dismissible warnings when young users first encounter these features and at regular intervals during use.

As The Epoch Times’ Kimberley Hayek details below, the required warnings are based on consumer protections seen on products such as tobacco and alcohol, noting risks like increased anxiety, depression, and poor body image.

“Keeping New Yorkers safe has been my top priority since taking office, and that includes protecting our kids from the potential harms of social media features that encourage excessive use,” Hochul said in a statement.

“New Yorkers deserve transparency. With the amount of information that can be shared online, it is essential that we prioritize mental health and take the steps necessary to ensure that people are aware of any potential risks.”

Studies highlighted in the legislation suggest that teens spending more than three hours daily on social media face doubled risks of anxiety and depression symptoms. About half of adolescents report that platforms worsen their body image, and those with heavy usage are nearly twice as likely to describe their mental health as poor.

“New York families deserve honesty about how social media platforms impact mental health. By requiring warning labels based on the latest medical research, this law puts public health first and finally gives us the tools we need to make informed decisions,” Rozic said in a statement.

“I’m proud to sponsor this legislation alongside Senator Gounardes as part of our broader effort to create a safer digital environment for kids.”

In June 2024, Hochul signed the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act, also sponsored by Gounardes and Rozic, mandating parental consent for minors to access addictive algorithms while also banning unsolicited nighttime notifications.

The SAFE Act aims to address how platforms exploit vulnerabilities for engagement while profiting billions in ad revenue from minors. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who helped draft the bill, sought public input on it in 2024.

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FBI gives update on daycare accused of $4MILLION taxpayer fraud as Kash Patel says it’s the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and vows to ‘follow the money and protect children’

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed the bureau is cracking down on fraud in Minneapolis after a daycare was accused of stealing $4 million in taxpayer money.

In a lengthy X post on Sunday, Patel said the FBI has long been aware of the situation, vowed to ‘protect the children,’ and warned this is just ‘the tip of a very large iceberg.’

A Minnesota daycare with misspelled signs and no children inside reportedly received millions in taxpayer funds, sparking immediate outrage among lawmakers demanding answers. 

Allegations spread on social media this week after independent journalist Nick Shirley posted a video on X claiming state authorities allowed the ‘largest fraud in US history’ to go unchecked. 

Lisa Demuth, running for governor, is now pushing for stricter scrutiny to uncover fraud in the Democrat-led state. 

On Sunday, Patel announced that the FBI had already ‘surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota,’ even before the social media discussion took off running.

‘The FBI is aware of recent social media reports in Minnesota,’ Patel wrote, claiming that the bureau has moving to ‘dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.’

‘Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide,’ he added. 

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As support for Israel drops, the mainstream media is becoming even more Zionist

During a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, CNN’s Van Jones told the studio audience that young people protesting Israel’s genocide are actually falling for an Iranian-Qatari disinformation campaign.

Jones proceeded to do an impression of a young person’s social media feed. “Dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby, Diddy, dead Gaza baby, dead Gaza baby!,” he joked.

Jones’s callous attempt at humor was condemned across social media, and he quickly apologized for the comments, acknowledging that they were “insensitive and hurtful.”

However, as Howard University law professor Ziyad Motala notes in an Al Jazeera op-ed, Jones’s apology failed to engage with a dark reality at the root of his joke: the consistent dehumanization of Palestinians.

“A true apology would have confronted the deeper problem: the instinct, common in US media, to distrust evidence of Palestinian pain unless it is filtered through Western validation,” wrote Motala. “It is an impulse rooted in hierarchy, the same hierarchy that divides the grievable from the disposable, the innocent from the suspect.”

That hierarchy has been on full display in recent days, as the mainstream media has centered stories of released Israeli captives while largely ignoring stories of Palestinians.

In a Middle East Eye, Doha Institute professor Mohamad Elmasry identifies a number of such examples.

“Since Trump announced his plan two weeks ago, western coverage has focused heavily on Hamas’s requirement to release the remains of 28 dead Israeli captives,” points out Elmasry. “Much less attention has been devoted to Israel’s obligation, under Article 5 of the plan, to return the remains of 420 Palestinians it has long withheld.”

Such bias has been par for the course throughout the genocide. Media critic Adam Johnson recently noted that the Sunday cable news shows have not featured a single Palestinian guest since October 7.

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FBI agents spill Kash Patel’s ‘diva’ demands on the job including ‘ensuring he gets screen time for any big arrests’

FBI agents have lifted the lid on alleged diva-like behavior by Director Kash Patel as they accused him of using the agency as a personal branding platform.

Current and former agents told Axios that this included instructing staff to alert him to ‘noteworthy arrests’ so he could appear for media coverage. 

The security chief also demanded agents to keep interactions with him on such occasions to a minimum and insisted on wearing an FBI windbreaker instead of a suit, the outlet reports.

‘You’re the director of the FBI. Wear a f***ing suit,’ one recently retired agent fumed to Axios.

Patel rose to the FBI’s top job by vowing to dismantle entrenched Washington bureaucracy but has come under scrutiny for bungling responses to several security incidents.

Concerns about his leadership were recently detailed in a leaked dossier written by current and former agents and first obtained by the New York Post, which outlined what they called repeated management failures.

Among the incidents cited was Patel’s alleged meltdown following Charlie Kirk‘s killing in Utah. 

His staffers also complained to Axios about his social media etiquette after the assassination, citing a post where he hinted at an arrest in the probe before a suspect was actually in custody.

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Network Mapping Nick Shirley’s Bombshell Report Of ‘Empty’ Minnesota Daycares

A viral video that has topped 76 million views on X within 48 hours has significantly heightened public scrutiny of multiple Minneapolis daycare centers linked to Somali operators that received millions in state and federal funding despite showing minimal operational activity. The apparent mismatch between allocated taxpayer funds and observable services strengthens a recent report by Christopher F. Rufo, which alleges that Somali-linked fraud in the left-wing-controlled state may involve front companies potentially diverting taxpayer funds to at least one overseas terrorist network.

The Democratic Party and its PR machine across left-wing corporate media outlets, including CBS, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, 60 Minutes, The New York Times, and the Associated Press, have largely remained silent on citizen journalist Nick Shirley’s investigation.

We assess that as the dominant narrative of the widening Somali-linked fraud scandal in Minneapolis continues to go viral on X through “America First”-linked accounts, Democrats and their PR machine will move to advance a counter-narrative, given how optically damaging these revelations are ahead of the midterm cycle.

The days of Democrats defaulting to labeling opponents as “racists” or “fascists” appear to be over. They will likely need to develop new pejoratives to target those investigating allegations of welfare fraud on a scale larger than Somalia’s GDP.

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Italy Arrests Nine Islamic Charity Chiefs Suspected of Raising Millions for Hamas

Italian police have arrested seven people suspected of funneling millions of euros to Hamas while posing as fundraisers for Palestinian civilians in Gaza, authorities announced.

Police also issued international arrest warrants for two additional suspects believed to be operating outside Italy.

According to local law enforcement, the investigation centers on three associations that publicly claimed to support Palestinian civilians but allegedly functioned as a front for financing Hamas.

The nine suspects are accused of transferring approximately seven million euros ($8 million) to “associations based in Gaza, the Palestinian territories, or Israel, owned, controlled, or linked to Hamas.”

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FBI Intercepts Reveal Hillary Clinton’s Shady Discussions on Campaign Donations with Convicted Foreign Felon

Newly released FBI documents show that the bureau intercepted communications involving Hillary Clinton discussing donations with Indian hotel magnate Sant Singh Chatwal, a convicted felon.

The revelations, detailed in documents provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee and published on December 15, expose concerns over foreign bribery, pay-to-play schemes, and the potential misuse of the Clinton Foundation as a personal and campaign slush fund during Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.

The documents stem from the FBI’s “Cracked Foundation” investigation, which began probing the Clinton Foundation’s activities as early as 2010.

At that time, The Daily Caller found the FBI recorded Chatwal discussing illegal straw donations to Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Chatwal, a longtime Clinton family friend, Clinton Foundation trustee, and key fundraiser, pled guilty in 2014 to laundering those donations through straw contributors and forfeited $1 million as part of a deal with the Department of Justice.

In a chilling quote captured by an FBI informant, Chatwal admitted, “That’s the only way to buy them, get into the system,” referring to his efforts to influence politicians through illicit contributions.

By the spring of 2016, as Hillary Clinton was on the verge of securing the Democratic presidential nomination, FBI field officers in New York, led by Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez, urged headquarters in Washington, D.C., to interrogate Clinton about these foreign donations.

The agents prepared a series of pointed questions that highlighted red flags uncovered in the investigation, including evidence that the FBI had been “intercepting individuals associated with the Clinton Foundation.”

One of the most damning pieces of evidence was a recorded conversation between Clinton and Chatwal, where they discussed settling her lingering 2008 campaign debt.

According to the documents, Clinton reportedly told Chatwal he could no longer donate directly to her campaign but should instead funnel money to the Clinton Foundation.

Agents wanted to ask Clinton directly, “Based on information derived from a recorded conversation, you (HC) and Mr. Chatwal had a conversation regarding settling debt. You indicated to Mr. Chatwal that he could no longer donate to your campaign but he should instead donate to the Clinton Foundation. Were donations made to the Clinton Foundation used for personal use and/or to settle campaign debt?”

This exchange raises serious questions about whether the Clinton Foundation, ostensibly a global charity, was being exploited as a backdoor mechanism to pay off political debts or fund personal expenses, circumventing campaign finance laws.

State Department documents, first revealed through WikiLeaks in 2011, confirmed Chatwal’s role in helping settle Clinton’s 2008 campaign debt, further fueling suspicions of impropriety.

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Wyoming conservation group sues federal agency to obtain data on eagles killed by wind farms

AWyoming conservation group filed a federal lawsuit this month against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, arguing that the agency is illegally withholding records on bald and golden eagle deaths at three wind projects in southern Wyoming. 

Mike Lockhart, a biologist who worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service for over 30 years, told Just the News that the data the federal government is withholding could help assess the true impacts of wind energy in Wyoming on eagle mortality.

“We have no real idea of how many birds are being killed. There’s birds that I suspect are being killed that just disappear in the presence of the wind turbines. And I think the numbers are enormous compared to what we know right now,” Lockhart said. 

Blocked as “Privileged and confidential”

Earlier this year, the Albany County Conservancy, based in Laramie, Wyo., filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking records on the reported eagle deaths and injuries within two miles of Seven Mile Hill I/II, Ekola Flats, and Dunlap wind projects in southern Wyoming. 

The Interior Department responded by releasing 910 pages, while another 256 pages were redacted. The agency withheld the records under Exemption 4, which blocks the revelation of “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that is] privileged or confidential.” 

The group filed an administrative appeal in May challenging the exemption and demanding the department release all the data it has related to the request. The ACC received no response to their appeal, and so they filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

File

ACC Complaint.pdf

Wind energy developers have been targeting the area of southeast Wyoming, which has some of the richest wind resources in the U.S. According to the ACC’s lawsuit, there will be 28 utility-scale wind farms operating across Wyoming by this summer, and some projects have over 500 turbines. 

“It’s not proprietary. It’s dead eagles,” conservationist says 

Anne Brande, executive director of the ACC, told Just the News that the ecological risks of so many projects make transparency in federal oversight all the more imperative. 

The law allows a certain number of eagles to be lost via a permitting system called the “eagle take.” Wind farm owners collect records on bird mortality as part of the eagle take permits the developers are required to have in order to disturb, injure and kill eagles.  This data is public information submitted to federal agencies as part of their permitting, Brande said, and there’s nothing in those records that could be legally withheld under Exemption 4. 

“It’s not proprietary. It’s dead eagles,” she said. 

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