Texas National Guard troops to be recalled from Illinois soon, according to reports
Several media outlets, quoting anonymous federal officials, reported that hundreds of Texas troops could be coming home soon from the Chicago area after their activation was halted by a federal court.
Trump reveals Maduro ‘would like to talk’ as military options remain on the table for Venezuela
President Donald Trump said Sunday that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro wants talks with the U.S. as tensions mount between the nations, but stressed that he has not planned or authorized any land-based military strikes against the South American nation. Speaking with reporters before boarding Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Trump said a recent U.S. designation of a Venezuelan-linked cartel gives the government the authority to target Maduro’s assets or infrastructure. He added that while such actions are possible, no decision has been made. “It allows us to do that,” Trump said. “But we haven’t said we’re going to do that…we may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk.” TRUMP NEXT EYES ‘LAND’ IN DRUG WAR, WARNS CARTEL BOATS ARE ‘NOT FASTER THAN MISSILES’ The president said his administration is keeping Congress informed about ongoing efforts to disrupt drug trafficking through Venezuela and Mexico but emphasized that he does not need lawmakers’ approval to act. He said communication with Congress is meant to keep them aware, not to seek authorization. Trump added that he told Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials to meet with lawmakers and convey that the U.S. will not allow narcotics to flow through either country. “We like to keep Congress involved,” he said. “I mean, we’re stopping drug dealers and drugs from coming into our country.” TRUMP AGREES MADURO’S DAYS AS VENEZUELA’S PRESIDENT ARE NUMBERED IN ‘60 MINUTES’ INTERVIEW Trump warned members of Congress not to leak sensitive details about U.S. operations that could endanger military or intelligence personnel. Trump said he supports transparency but acknowledged that sharing classified information could put American lives at risk. “The only thing I don’t want them to do is leak information that’s very important and confidential,” he said. “And they put our military at risk or whoever is doing, you know, CIA, military, etc.” Trump said several countries are backing U.S. efforts to pressure Venezuela, describing the campaign as part of a broader fight against narcotics and illegal immigration. He accused the Maduro regime of releasing violent prisoners into the United States and said his administration is removing them. TRUMP SAYS VENEZUELA’S MADURO DOESN’T WANT TO ‘F*** AROUND’ WITH THE US “Yeah, we have great support because it’s all about drugs,” he said. “Well, in Venezuela’s case, it’s about drugs, and it’s also about thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people that they’ve released into our country.” He said the Biden administration bears responsibility for what he called a historic border crisis, pointing to the influx of migrants and criminals who entered under the previous administration. “Our country is doing so well,” Trump said. “But what the Biden administration did to our country should never be forgotten.” “The single worst thing they did is allow 20 or 25 million people to pour into our country,” he continued. “People from prisons, drug dealers, mental institutions, bad people, gang members – to allow that to happen to the United States, totally unchecked and unvetted,should never be forgotten.”
Marco Rubio says Nicolás Maduro’s Cartel de los Soles to be designated a terrorist organization
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Sunday that the Cartel de los Soles, a powerful criminal network tied to Venezuela’s top leadership, will be labeled as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The move appears to be an escalation in Washington’s stance toward the Venezuelan government and could lead to military action against the Maduro regime. In a statement, Rubio confirmed the U.S. will formally designate the cartel as an FTO later this month. The designation, which is to take effect Nov. 24, targets the criminal network allegedly led by Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and senior members of his regime. TRUMP’S STRIKE ON CARTEL VESSEL OFF VENEZUELA SENDS WARNING TO MADURO: ‘NO SANCTUARY’ According to the State Department, “Based in Venezuela, the Cartel de los Soles is headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime who have corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary.” “Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government,” the statement read. “The Cartel de los Soles, in coordination with other terrorist organizations including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, is responsible for terrorist violence across our hemisphere and for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.” RUBIO PROMISES MORE STRIKES ON VENEZUELAN CARTELS: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO SIT BACK ANYMORE’ The announced action is being taken under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the State Department to designate foreign entities engaged in terrorist activity. The designation will become official once it’s published in the Federal Register. The Cartel de los Soles had previously been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department under Executive Order 13224, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorism. TRUMP ADMIN TELLS CONGRESS IT DETERMINED US ENGAGED IN FORMAL ‘ARMED CONFLICT’ WITH ‘TERRORIST’ DRUG CARTELS In an accompanying post on X, Rubio said: .@StateDept intends to designate Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Headed by the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro, the group has corrupted the institutions of government in Venezuela and is responsible for terrorist violence conducted by and with other designated FTOs as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe. The statement came as President Trump reiterated that the U.S. was intent on stopping drug dealers and drugs filtering into the country. “We’re stopping drug dealers and drugs from coming into our country,” Trump told reporters Sunday night. WASHINGTON’S SHADOW WAR: HOW STRIKES ON CARTELS THREATEN TO COLLAPSE MADURO’S REGIME “And I actually told Marco and some of the people our secretary of state is doing a great job, by the way. I said, ‘Go to Congress and let them know we’re not letting drugs come through Mexico. We’re not letting them come through Venezuela,’” he added. Trump’s comments came just after he said that the government may be having discussions with Venezuela as well as confirming whether the new cartel designation would mean the U.S. government could now target Maduro’s assets or infrastructure. “It allows us to do that,” Trump confirmed while mentioning talks with the Venezuelan leader. “We may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk,’ he said before adding, “We’ll see what happens.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of State for comment.
The Speaker’s Lobby: Happy New Year as shutdown showdown draws to a close
The Senate did not drag out final passage of the interim spending bill to end the government shutdown. Oh, you may think that happened. Especially after the Senate broke a filibuster on the bill just before 11 p.m. ET Sunday night. So why didn’t the Senate just go immediately to final passage? After all, the plan had to go to the House. Flight delays were piling up. Federal workers were at the end of their rope, going without paychecks. SNAP benefits were in limbo. So why not just step it up? Well, it’s more complicated than that. And believe it or not, the Senate kind of did step it up. At least from the Senate’s perspective. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: PAUL STANDS FIRM AGAINST SPENDING BILL AS SHUTDOWN CLOCK TICKS There were several Senate factions not ready to vote right away to end the shutdown last Sunday. It was clear the Senate would eventually pass the bill to fund the government. That’s to say nothing of the worsening impacts of the shutdown on a nearly hourly basis. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Republican who broke with his party and voted no on the test vote to break a filibuster on the deal to re-open the government. Paul voted nay because he wanted a change in the bill regarding hemp. The measure prevents “unregulated sales” of “intoxicating hemp-based” products at gas stations and small retailers. It preserves the sale of non-intoxicating CBD in other hemp-related products. So, if the Senate got 60 votes Sunday night to break the filibuster and only needs 51 to pass the bill, why was the Senate stymied by Paul or even others? Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told reporters there was a senator asking for a vote on an amendment that would hold members’ pay in escrow during future government shutdowns. This would be in addition to Paul, asking for a vote on an amendment related to hemp policy. Paul’s request was previously known. But this additional ask underscores the precarious balance of any unanimous consent agreement in the Senate. Once one senator gets something, others are likely to ask for something for themselves. Paul told reporters that he believed leadership was happy to give him his vote. But Paul said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., blocked that for a short period. Meanwhile, Mullin said Democrats went “radio silent” on whether they were willing to yield back debate time to speed up consideration of the bill. Any one senator could drag this process out for days, so their cooperation would be crucial in bringing the shutdown to a quick end. It’s about speed. Buckle down for this next part. It gets complicated. SENATE DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS REACH DEAL TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT The vote on Sunday night was on breaking a filibuster to proceed to the original House-passed spending measure from September. That needed 60 yeas. Therefore, the Senate had just broken a filibuster to begin work on the bill. That’s all. By rule, the Senate can run out 30 hours of debate after breaking the filibuster, unless Paul relents. That would have gotten us to a minor procedural vote to actually get on the bill by dawn last Tuesday morning. That is, unless there was an agreement with Paul – or for that matter – other Democratic senators to expedite things. But wait. There’s more. The intention of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., – and this was done with a wink and a nod to secure an agreement on Sunday – was for him to file what’s called a “substitute” amendment. A substitute simply removes the House’s old bill text and replaces it with the new spending package. But because this is a substitute amendment, Thune must then “file cloture” to break a filibuster on that. By rule, Thune could not do that until this past Tuesday. Cloture petitions require an intervening day before ripening. So that means the Senate could not vote to break a filibuster on the substitute (e.g. the new bill) until last Thursday. Again, that needs 60 yeas. And if there was no deal, the Senate could bleed out another clock before voting yes or no on the substitute. Presumably, that would have been on Friday. But we’re not done yet. TRUMP ENDS SHUTDOWN, FACES BACKLASH AND MAKES SURPRISE EPSTEIN MOVE AMID CHAOTIC WEEK If the Senate would have adopted the new text on Friday, then Thune would have had to file cloture again on the underlying bill, wait a day (Saturday) and then have a vote to break a filibuster on that (again needing 60) on Sunday. This scenario meant that the Senate would finally pass the newly revamped spending bill on Monday. And it would mean that the House would not have tackled the bill until this coming Tuesday or Wednesday. So that really would have stretched out the government shutdown. That said, this was probably never going to happen. That’s just doing things by the book. But it’s also why it was in the interest of Thune to get a deal with Paul to accelerate things. Otherwise, Paul or the Democrats who oppose the bill could have slowed things down and extended the shutdown. But consider for a moment that if the left really wanted Democrats to stand and fight, there’s a group of core Democrats who are upset that their party relented. But then again, they had an opportunity to stretch out the shutdown and opted not to do so. There was also a smattering of Democrats who were more than happy to have others vote to open the government – even though they wanted to do so but weren’t willing to vote yes. They relied on the yes votes – or courage – of their colleagues. And Paul was upset at the hemp provision. “It’s really contemptuous,” said Paul of the hemp issue. “I’m not looking to hold things up. I’m looking to try to get things done.” Paul said his “goal is to condense the time.” He
US forces kill 3 narco-terrorists in Eastern Pacific lethal strike operation targeting drug networks
U.S. forces carried out a lethal strike Saturday on a narcotics vessel operated by a designated terrorist organization in the Eastern Pacific, killing three suspected narco-terrorists in international waters, according to U.S. Southern Command. The strike brings the total number of suspected narco-terrorists killed to 82, with three survivors, in an ongoing U.S. campaign targeting drug-smuggling vessels tied to designated terrorist groups. In a post on X, U.S. Southern Command said intelligence confirmed the vessel hit in Thursday’s strike was smuggling narcotics along a known trafficking route. The command described the strike as a “lethal kinetic operation” conducted in international waters as part of a broader effort to disrupt transnational criminal networks. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced the official launch of Operation Southern Spear, a new mission targeting narco-terror networks across Latin America. US MILITARY KILLS 2 SUSPECTED NARCO-TERRORISTS IN 16TH EASTERN PACIFIC STRIKE, HEGSETH SAYS Hegseth said on X that U.S. Southern Command and Joint Task Force Southern Spear will lead the mission to defend the homeland and dismantle narco-terrorist networks across the Western Hemisphere. “This mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people,” Hegseth said. The U.S. carried out its 20th strike on suspected drug-trafficking boats last week, killing four alleged narco-terrorists, according to a Pentagon official. WATCH: COAST GUARD SEIZES COCAINE, SUSPECTED NARCO-TERRORISTS IN PACIFIC VIPER RAID Since early September, strikes across the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean have destroyed dozens of vessels, many tied to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang and Colombia’s Ejército de Liberación Nacional. The campaign began Sept. 2 with a strike that killed 11 alleged members of Tren de Aragua and continued through October and November with a series of targeted operations that eliminated dozens more across known trafficking routes. CHINA MOVES INTO VENEZUELA AS MADURO REGIME GETS BEIJING LIFELINE AMID US TENSIONS U.S. forces have hit submersibles, fishing boats, and high-speed vessels, including one ELN-affiliated craft that drew criticism from Colombia’s president after three men were killed. Several strikes took place near Venezuela’s coast, while others occurred in the Eastern Pacific, where most recent operations have been concentrated. The Navy previously announced it would lead Operation Southern Spear under the U.S. 4th Fleet and Southern Command, employing “long-dwell robotic surface vessels, small robotic interceptor boats, and vertical takeoff and landing robotic air vessels.” Fox News Digital’s Mitch Picasso contributed to this report.
LIVE: Nigeria vs DR Congo – CAF World Cup qualifiers playoff final
blinking-dotLive MatchLive Match, Follow the build-up, analysis, and live text commentary of the CAF playoffs final for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Published On 16 Nov 202516 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Skateboarding helps Gaza children with trauma amid ruins, adds rare joy
A mobile skatepark moving between displacement camps in Gaza is providing rare mental health support to children trapped in one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, where trauma and grief are rife. Amid the wreckage of Gaza City, where collapsed buildings and twisted concrete dominate the landscape, a group of young Palestinians has transformed the destruction into an unlikely playground. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Since the fragile ceasefire began on October 10, skateboard coaches have been running sessions that offer traumatised children brief moments of freedom and normalcy. “We used to have skateparks in the Gaza Strip; this was our dream here in Gaza,” said Rajab al-Reifi, one of the coaches working with the children. “But unfortunately, after we finally achieved that dream and built skateparks, the war came and destroyed everything.” The skateboarding initiative operates against a backdrop of continuing Israeli violence despite the ceasefire. Israeli forces have killed at least 260 Palestinians and wounded 632 others since the truce began on October 10, with attacks occurring on 25 of the past 31 days. Skateboarding helps Gaza children with trauma amid the ruins, adding some joy to their daily lives [Screengrab/Al Jazeera] Making do with what’s left The sessions face severe challenges. With equipment shortages across Gaza, every skateboard wheel and piece of wood has become precious. Al-Reifi often repairs damaged boards between sessions, knowing replacements are nearly impossible to obtain. One of the few flat courtyards to survive Israel’s bombardment provides a training ground for beginners, while more adventurous skaters have turned piles of rubble and collapsed walls into makeshift ramps and obstacles. Advertisement Rimas Dalloul, another dedicated coach, works to keep the children engaged despite the dire conditions. “We don’t have enough skateboards for everyone, and there is no protective gear,” she explained. “Their clothes are all they have to help cushion them when they fall. They get injured sometimes, but they always come back. The desire to play is stronger than the pain.” Seven-year-old Palestinian Marah Salem has enjoyed skateboarding in Gaza [Screengrab/Al Jazeera] ‘I used to run from bombardment to skate’ Among the young skaters is seven-year-old Marah Salem, who has been practicing for seven months. “I come here to have fun. I don’t want to skip any sessions; I want to be consistent,” she said. “Even during the war, I used to skateboard. I used to run away from the bombardment to skate on the streets.” Her determination reflects a broader resilience among Gaza’s children, who have endured nearly two years of Israeli military assault. The skateboarding sessions offer children a form of recreation and a temporary escape, but also a means to process trauma and a communal activity. The mental health needs of Gaza’s children remain staggering. Humanitarian organisations had already identified more than one million Palestinian children in need of mental health services before the latest conflict intensified. The scale of the conflict means no child has been shielded from its psychological impact, with mass displacement, family separations, and widespread casualties affecting the entire young population. At least 17,000 children are now unaccompanied or separated from their parents, while child protection cases surged by 48 percent in September alone, the International Rescue Committee reports. For the young skaters, the sessions offer something that war has tried to take away, the simple freedom of childhood play. Their schools have been decimated, their homes destroyed, and more than 658,000 school-age children have lost access to education for nearly two years. Yet in the ruins of their neighbourhoods, these children are finding ways to move forward. They are simply kids on skateboards, laughing, falling, getting back up, and pushing forward – both literally and metaphorically – through the rubble of their shattered world. Adblock test (Why?)
What’s the shadowy organisation taking Gaza Palestinians to South Africa?
On Thursday morning, a chartered plane carrying 153 Palestinians from war-torn Gaza – many without the required travel documents – landed at an airport near Johannesburg, leaving South African officials “blindsided”. After nearly 12 hours of scrambling, the group was allowed to disembark into the care of a local charity organisation. More details have emerged about the scheme run by “Al-Majd Europe”, through which activists argue Israel is advancing its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza. The Palestinian passengers were charged a hefty sum of money by the organisation, which says on its website that it coordinates “evacuations from conflict zones”. Here is everything we know about the group’s transit so far and who’s behind Al-Majd Europe. What happened in South Africa? The plane full of people sat on a runway for nearly 12 hours while South African authorities tried to figure out why they did not have exit stamps or slips from when they left Gaza, according to officials from South Africa’s border agency. They were also not sure when asked by immigration where they would stay or how long they planned to be in South Africa. The government allowed them to leave the plane after charity organisation Gift of the Givers offered to accommodate them. Officials said 23 Palestinians flew to other countries, without adding any more details. “These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday. Advertisement He added that “it does seem like they were being flushed out” of Gaza. South Africa’s intelligence services are investigating the incident. What is the company that flew them to South Africa? Behind the flight is Al-Majd Europe, which is accused of acting in coordination with Israeli authorities. Loay Abu Saif, who fled Gaza with his wife and children to Johannesburg, told Al Jazeera on Friday that he had heard about it through a social media advertisement. The Al-Majd Europe website says it was founded in 2010 in Germany, and the homepage has a pop-up warning about individuals pretending to be its agents, sharing phone numbers of “legitimate representatives”. But the site itself has no address or phone number, providing just a location in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem. However, Al Jazeera was not able to find an office there. The website domain, almajdeurope.org, was only registered in February this year, while several links on the site lead nowhere. The email listed, [email protected], bounces back an automated message saying it does not exist. Namecheap, which registered the domain, has been cited in several cybersecurity reports on online fraud because of its low-cost, easy sign-up process. Al Jazeera learned that many people were told to pay via bank transfers to personal, not organisational, accounts. Does Al-Majd Europe do what it says it does? Among the links that work is a page with four “Impact Stories”. One post about “Mona”, a 29-year-old from Aleppo, Syria, is dated March 22, 2023, even though the website was only registered 10 months later. The narrative, written in “Mona’s” voice, expresses gratitude to Al-Majd for moving her and her mother “to a safe place” when they felt threatened in Lebanon, where they fled to in 2013. The photo, however, shows Abeer Khayat, who was 33 when photographed by journalist Madeline Edwards in December 2024 in Tripoli, Lebanon, for Middle East Eye. The online form reads: “For Gaza residents currently inside the Gaza Strip only! “Do you aspire to travel and start a new life? We are here to help you!” Left: Al-Majd’s story about ‘Mona’, who it claimed to have removed from Tripoli, Lebanon, in 2023; Right: The photo is of Abeer Khayat, photographed in Tripoli for the Middle East Eye in 2024 How did people end up on that flight? The Palestinian families, with a pregnant woman among them, boarded the plane not knowing their final destination, having paid Al-Majd $1,400 to $2,000 each – the price for children the same as adults. Advertisement Saif, who was on the plane, said he hadn’t known when they would leave Gaza until a day before, when he was told passengers could only take a small bag, a mobile phone, and some cash. They were taken by bus from southern Gaza’s Rafah to the Karem Abu Salem crossing (known as Kerem Shalom in Israel), where they were checked, then transferred to Israel’s Ramon Airport, without Israeli authorities stamping their travel documents. Another person interviewed by Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity said: “The … applicant must [have a young] family. [Then] the names are sent for security screening. Once that’s completed, and if the family is approved, they’re asked to pay,” he said. “There had been prior coordination with the Israeli army for the buses to enter Rafah,” he said. “The process was only routine.” The group left from Ramon in a Romanian aircraft and transited through Nairobi, Kenya, before landing in Johannesburg. Have there been similar flights before? A man who was on board the plane told Al Jazeera there had been a similar flight to Indonesia in June. Al-Majd’s website also claims to have facilitated a trip for “a group of doctors working in hospitals in the Gaza Strip” who it flew to Indonesia “for further studies and advanced medical training”. However, this post is dated April 28, 2024. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the authenticity of this post and a photograph of the group in it. Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman, who alleged that Al-Majd was one of “Israel’s front organisations”, told AP that this was the second plane to arrive in South Africa. Another plane arrived with more than 170 Palestinians on board on October 28, but that flight was not announced by authorities. What did Palestine say? The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa said in a statement that the flight was arranged by “an unregistered and misleading organization that exploited the tragic humanitarian conditions of our people in Gaza, deceived families, collected
After Bihar election victory, NDA finalises power-sharing deal: Which party gets what?
CM Nitish Kumar is set to return for a tenth term, the report said citing sources familiar with the talks on power sharing. But the Bharatiya Janata Party will likely get a greater representation in the state cabinet, the report said after a key meeting chaired by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Tej Pratap Yadav reacts to sister Rohini Acharya’s allegations: ‘People of Bihar will…’
Rohini Acharya left for Singapore on Saturday after accusing her family of harassment and physical abuse. “This fight is not about any party-it is about the honor of a family, the dignity of a daughter, and the self-respect of Bihar,” Tej Pratap said in his post.