International
Bomb That Killed Top Hamas Leader In Iran Was Planted Months In Advance By Assassins, Officials Say
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By JAKE SMITH
The bomb that killed top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was planted in his guesthouse in Iran two months in advance, according to several reports.
Haniyeh was assassinated after attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday. Initially thought to be an airstrike, Haniyeh was actually killed in an explosion set off by a bomb that had been planted by assassins two months earlier in a Tehran guesthouse where he had been residing, according to five Middle Eastern officials who spoke to The New York Times.
The bomb was detonated remotely once Haniyeh reached his room in the guesthouse, according to the Times. Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Axios that Mossad, Israel’s top intelligence agency, planted and detonated the bomb.
Israel has not taken credit for Haniyeh’s assassination, nor has the U.S. publicly identified who it believes was behind the operation. Israel has taken responsibility for some of its military actions in the past — such as the strike against a high-level Hezbollah operative in Lebanon on Monday — but Mossad’s operations have often been shrouded in mystery and met with silence from the Israeli government.
It is unclear how the assassins were able to plant the bomb to begin with, according to the Times. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran’s military, was tasked with running and providing security for the guesthouse, which is located in an upper-class neighborhood of Tehran.
The assassins managed to bypass IRGC security and plant the bomb in a hidden location, according to the Times. That IRGC officials failed to catch the assassin or detect the bomb in the months that it was hidden represents a massive security and intelligence failure, as well as a stain on the IRGC’s reputation, two Iranian officials told the Times.
When the bomb exploded around 2 a.m. local time, the guesthouse shook and partially collapsed, according to the Times. Officials and medical personnel scrambled to Haniyeh’s room to find that he had died immediately, as did his bodyguard, who was also in the room at the time.
Haniyeh’s death is a major blow to Hamas, given his high-level status as the terrorist organization’s political leader. Iran and Hamas declared Israel was responsible immediately following the news of Haniyeh’s death and have vowed revenge; Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reportedly gave the order to strike directly inside of Israel out of retaliation, although the scale or timing of such a strike is unknown, according to the Times.
Business
Feds pull the plug on small business grants to Minnesota after massive fraud reports
The Small Business Administration is moving to freeze grant money flowing into Minnesota after explosive allegations of large-scale fraud tied to state oversight failures, with SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler signaling an immediate crackdown following recent independent reporting.
In a series of comments shared publicly by conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Loeffler said the agency is “cutting off and clawing back” SBA grants to the state while investigators dig deeper into what she described as a rapidly expanding fraud network.
Johnson wrote that Loeffler told him she was “disgusted and sickened” after reviewing footage from YouTuber Nick Shirley, whose on-the-ground reporting in Minnesota highlighted what he said were sham daycare and learning centers collecting millions in public funds despite showing little or no sign of legitimate operations.
According to Johnson, Loeffler blamed the situation on Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, accusing his administration of refusing to enforce basic rules governing small businesses and allowing fraud to flourish unchecked.
Johnson said Loeffler told him SBA investigators were able to identify roughly half a billion dollars in suspected fraud within days of focusing on Minnesota, calling the operation an “industrial-scale crime ring” that ripped off American taxpayers.
“Pending further review, SBA is freezing all grant funding to the state in order to stop the rampant waste of taxpayer dollars and uncover the full depth of fraud,” Loeffler said, according to Johnson’s account, adding that the total scope of the scheme remains unknown and could reach into the billions.
The controversy gained national traction after Shirley posted video of himself visiting multiple facilities, including a South Minneapolis site known as the Quality Learning Center, which he reported was approved for federal aid for up to 99 children but appeared inactive during normal business hours.
The center’s sign, Shirley noted, even misspelled the word “learning” as “learing.”
In the footage, a woman inside the building is heard shouting “Don’t open up,” falsely claiming Shirley and his colleague were Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
After the video circulated, Rep. Tom Emmer, a Republican, publicly demanded answers from Walz, questioning how such facilities were approved for millions in taxpayer funding.
Shirley’s reporting followed earlier investigations, including a November report by City Journal alleging that members of Minnesota’s Somali community had sent millions of dollars in stolen taxpayer funds overseas, with some of that money reportedly ending up in the hands of Al-Shabaab, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
While Walz’s administration has insisted it takes fraud seriously, the SBA’s decision to halt grant funding marks one of the most aggressive federal responses yet, underscoring how rapidly a local scandal has escalated into a national reckoning over oversight, enforcement, and accountability in Minnesota.
Digital ID
The Global Push for Government Mandated Digital IDs And Why You Should Worry
From StosselTV
Countries all over the world are imposing digital IDs. They tie your identity to everything you do. Spain’s Prime Minister wants “An end to anonymity online!”
Tech privacy expert Naomi Brockwell @NaomiBrockwellTV warns that’s dangerous. “Privacy is not about hiding,” she tells Stossel TV producer Kristin Tokarev. “It’s about an individual’s right to decide for themselves who gets access to their data. A Digital ID… will strip individuals of that choice.”
The new government mandated digital IDs aren’t just a digital version of your driver’s license or passport. “It connects everything,” Brockwell explains. “Your financial decisions, to your social media posts, your likes, the things that you’re watching, places that you’re going… Everything you say will be tied back to who you are.”
And once everything runs through a single government ID, access to services becomes something you need permission for. That’s already a reality in China where citizens are tracked, scored, and punished for “bad” behavior.
Brockwell warns the western world is “skyrocketing in that direction.” She says Americans need to push back now.
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