Palestinian National Initiative party leader Dr. Mustafa Barghouti told RT on Friday:

"The US and its allies are backing genocidal action against civilians in Gaza. Israeli war crimes are an issue of double standards by Western governments."

Barghouti was commenting on a recent investigation by the New York Times that found the Israeli military leadership has significantly loosened its warfare rules to bomb Hamas in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian militant group.

The NYT report, which cited more than 100 soldiers and officials, said

"Israeli officers have been approved to endanger up to 20 civilians in Gaza in order to kill a low-level fighter, and often hit targets selected partly using AI tools. That order unleashed one of the deadliest bombardments of the 21st century."

Asked if he was shocked by the revelation, Barghouti responded he was actually surprised that it took "such a long time" to conclude what had been clear in the very first months of the war. "What Israel is doing is nothing but slaughter of the civilian population of Gaza."

The historic solution occurred after Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi played seven games that ended without a final victor.

Grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi were jointly awarded the World Blitz Championship 2024 title on Wednesday. The first-ever decision to share the top spot was made after seven games without an ultimate winner.

The unprecedented solution was proposed by Carlsen after three consecutive draws in sudden-death tiebreakers. Sudden death in chess involves fast-paced games with strict time controls to determine a winner in tied matches. The five-time reigning world champion from Norway dominated the start of the final, winning the first two games and putting pressure on Nepomniachtchi. However, the Russian grandmaster managed to make a strong comeback by winning the next two games to even the score at 2-2.

Video shared by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) via X shows Carlsen proposing the idea to which Nepomniachtchi agreed, with the opponents shaking hands. "History has been written today!" the world chess governing body said, declaring that it has two champions.

The Fontainebleau Miami Beach is suing a well-known rabbi, accusing him of defaming the iconic hotel on social media while demanding a sizable donation to his charity.

It stems from a video of celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach being confronted by a hotel guest in the lobby nearly two years ago. According to the hotel's complaint, afterward, the rabbi sought compensation to "calm the outrage that would follow a social media campaign amplifying the video recording," according to Law.com.

According to the complaint, the hotel refused his request and the video went viral on social media.

It's been more than a month since reported drone sightings began in the Morris County area. Here's where the investigation stands:

The buzz around reported drone sightings across the Garden State seems to have died down a little, more than a month after the first reports began.

As of Dec. 17, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it had received more than 5,000 tips since beginning their official inquiry on Nov. 26 — and that 100 of those tips generated a lead. The drone sightings have alarmed, perplexed, and amused residents in various measures, while elected officials and first responders have called for federal agencies to share more information and resources.

Reports in Ocean County have decreased sharply since early December, Sheriff Michael Mastronardy told the Asbury Park Press this week. The sheriff, who assembled a unit to track the identified drones, said his office is "just waiting for our federal partners to let us know what's going on."

The majority of likely American voters says the United States does not need any more foreign H-1B visa workers to fill white-collar jobs, a new poll finds.

A Rasmussen Reports survey reveals that 6-in-10 Americans say the U.S. "already has enough talented people to train and recruit" for white-collar jobs when asked whether Congress should increase the inflow of foreign workers, primarily those arriving through the H-1B visa program.

Meanwhile, just 26 percent of Americans say Congress should increase the number of foreign visa workers taking white-collar jobs.

The "no one is above the law" crowd prepares to fight investigations into their own starting with Liz Cheney. Will they invoke the same sort of immunity claims they stripped of their targets?

Few people worked harder over the past few years to put Donald Trump behind bars than Liz Cheney, the former (alleged) Republican congresswoman from Wyoming.

Seeking revenge for Trump's longtime criticism of her father's "weapons of mass destruction" lie, Cheney thought she could settle a family score by imprisoning Trump over the events of January 6. "No one is above the law!," Cheney, in her grating sanctimonious style, frequently insists.

Well, except for her.

From religious Jews scurrying out of New York City sewers on New Year's Day to UFO flaps over US military bases, Trump nearly being taken out by a real-life Manchurian Candidate (and then again by a recruiter of mercenaries for the CIA's wars), and now Syria being overrun by the latest iteration of Al Qaeda, none can dispute that 2024 has been a wild year.

While global events have been horrific to watch at times, they've also been riveting and at times even inspirational. We were as pessimistic as anyone about Trump's chances of surviving all the lawfare being thrown at him and the expected election rigging, much less an assassin's bullet on the eve of the Republican Convention. And yet, a miracle happened. Donald Trump is going to be US president again.

What he and his 'Team Trump Avengers' can possibly achieve against the all-powerful Washington 'blob' remains to be seen, but in the meantime we have enjoyed the howling, the liberal tears and the about-turns that Trump's victory has provoked. We must also take stock of the utter mess the deranged Biden regime has left behind: a war in eastern Europe that has cost Russia and Ukraine millions in lives and livelihoods; a genocide in Gaza and a Middle East that has never looked so volatile; the de-industrialization of Germany and thus potential economic collapse in Europe; and the global promotion of so-called 'trans ideology' to children, amounting to child abuse and, often, what is effectively child sacrifice.

The inclusion of the likes of Robert Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard and Elon Musk within Trump's 'unity government' bodes well for the re-introduction of proper science, proper intelligence and free speech in the USA (and thus the wider Western world), and offers the tantalizing possibility that good governance - that is, 'the rule of normal man' - has returned, but we strongly encourage people to temper any expectations they may have by remembering that the powerful political, bureaucratic and corporate forces 'the Avengers' are up against are deeply entrenched in all layers of society and have, as Senator Chuck Schumer warned Trump many years ago, "six ways from Sunday to get back at you." It may well be that their next 'move', or series of moves, will result in them 'overturning the chessboard' of society rather than see it reflect the will of the people.

Universities no longer produce educated people, and educated people are ceasing to exist. It is an interesting question, not to be discussed here, whether the disappearance of educated people is cause or result of the rise in barbarity that is engulfing the world.

Wherever one looks one sees degeneration. From Bach, Mozart, Beethoven to four-letter rap. Literature has ceased to be written as well as read. Art has become scribbles attesting to meaningless. Both the inclination and ability to read are declining. Fewer people can use their language. University students' essays are written by insentient AI. People no longer understand the metaphors and allusions used in language, because they have been denied literature.

Great literature explores the human condition and prepares people for an aware life. It protects against naïveté. It teaches the richness and usefulness of language, enhances communication skills, essential skills lost to today's technical training and "customer service" AI.

Communication today is nonverbal, shorthand text messages. The digital revolution, artificial intelligence, and transhumanism are eliminating human communication. Increasingly humans are forced by "customer service" to communicate with an unthinking programmed voice that cannot recognize any question, an answer for which it has not been programmed. Just think how difficult it is to deal with a service provider. What once was a matter of a three minute telephone call answered by the third ring, can now be a multi-hour and even multi-day enterprise. The lack of Internet security means that even if a human is reached, no decision or solution can be made. It has to go up a level as fewer and fewer employees are trusted to make a judgment.

The digital revolution has brought an explosion in crime and scams. Florida, for example, has so many that they don't want you to report another one.

Lawmakers are demanding transparency on $17 of million taxpayers' money spent on settling harassment claims and workplace disputes.

Republican Representatives Thomas Massie from Kentucky and Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene have urged the US Congress to disclose the names of lawmakers who have used taxpayer money to settle workplace disputes, including sexual harassment claims.

Since 1997, over $17 million has been paid out for such cases.

In a post on X on Thursday, Massie highlighted the issue:

"Congress has secretly paid out more than $17 million of your money to quietly settle charges of harassment (sexual and other forms) in Congressional offices."

The lawmaker insisted that the names of the representatives involved must be released.

One person is dead and several injured after an explosion at a poultry plant in Georgia, USA.

An explosion at Tyson Foods Plant in southwest Georgia overnight killed a woman sleeping in the cab of an 18-wheeler parked next to the facility. Several people were injured in the explosion. According to reports, a fire raged at the plant for 3 hours after the explosion.

The union representing 1,600 workers at the Tyson plant said a boiler exploded.

Tyson said in a statement, according to The AP:

"We extend our deepest condolences to their family and friends during this difficult time. Right now we are still gathering the facts, but ensuring the safety of our team members is our top priority, and we are conducting a full investigation into the cause of the fire."

AP reported:

A woman died and two other people were hospitalized with injuries after an overnight fire at a Tyson Foods plant in southwest Georgia, state officials said Friday.