Trump says US will stop $4 billion in funding to Israel at end of 2026
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would stop $4 billion in funding to Israel after the end of this year.
It was not immediately clear which funding Trump meant or how exactly the funding would be stopped at the end of the year, given that the memorandum of understanding that provides $3.8 billion in US military aid to Israel each year does not expire until 2028. Conversations have been under way on how Washington’s assistance to Israel would evolve beyond that date.
Theologian NT Wright: Belief that Israel is fulfillment of Bible prophecy is a ‘totally unbiblical idea’
During a Q&A portion of Monday’s event, the 77-year-old Wright criticized the rise in popularity of what he called a “totally unbiblical idea” that is widely held among American Evangelicals.
“There are several strands, particularly in America, which have contributed towards what I think is a totally unbiblical idea, namely that the present modern-day state of Israel is somehow a fulfillment of prophecy,” Wright said. “This is simply unwarranted and is the result of all sorts of odd strands of teaching, particularly, but not only, Dispensationalism in the 19th century.”
Russia says it struck Ukrainian electricity grid facilities in massive overnight attack
Russia launched a massive overnight strike on Ukrainian electricity facilities in the Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions which supply power to military factories and the Ukrainian army, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
It said in a statement that it had hit four power plants and two electricity substations as well as port infrastructure in Kiliia on the Danube river.
US carries out ‘defensive’ strikes on Iran’s Qeshm island in Strait of Hormuz
The US carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, an American official said late Monday on the eve of crucial midterm elections, which US President Donald Trump has signaled could mark the start of resumed war with Iran.
The strikes, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, appeared to be limited and were not a resumption of major combat operations, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Another official said the strikes were defensive measures against Iranians “using surface-to-air missiles against US assets.”
Syria Considers Joining Saudi Arabia’s Mecca Alliance
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday that his government is considering membership in the Mecca Alliance, the trilateral security partnership created by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan in August.
Shaibani said the Syrian junta has a “very special” relationship with Turkey, which could help pave the way to joining the alliance.
Turkey has been strongly supportive of the revolutionary government that took power in Damascus in December 2024 by overthrowing longtime dictator Bashar Assad, especially since the new Syrian government has been amenable to Turkey’s complaints about armed Syrian Kurdish militias.
Hamas calls for escalation of terror attacks in Judea and Samaria
Hamas is calling for an escalation of terrorist attacks targeting Israeli civilians and security forces in Judea and Samaria, according to a social media post shared last week by the Judea and Samaria Situation Room (JSR), a centralized source for real-time updates on developments in the region.
According to JSR, a poster circulated on the Arab Telegram channel “Fida’i Filastin,” which is associated with propaganda from Hamas and other terrorist organizations, calls for increased attacks throughout Judea and Samaria and elsewhere in Israel.
Lebanon’s Christians face mounting hostility as sectarian divisions deepen
Lebanon’s sectarian tensions have resurfaced following a series of incidents and claims that have reignited divisions between the country’s religious communities.
These include unsubstantiated allegations surrounding the murder of a Catholic priest, vandalism at a Maronite cemetery, and renewed circulation of claims about a 20,000-strong Christian force that could seek to disarm Hezbollah.
On Sunday, statues were smashed by unidentified assailants at the Saints Cemetery in the Harat al-Fouar area of the Zgharta District. MTV Lebanon reported that those responsible had been identified and arrested within 24 hours of the incident.
The attack follows several other incidents involving Christian religious sites in recent months. In August, L’Orient Today reported that unidentified individuals had broken into the historic Saint John Chrysostom Monastery in Koubba and vandalized its outdoor installations. In early May, the Saint Challita Shrine, located in a valley in North Lebanon’s Akkar district, was also vandalized.
Armenia rolls out identity infrastructure for biometric passports, ID cards
Armenia has begun issuing a new generation of biometric passports and electronic identity cards through HayPass, the private operator established by a consortium of IN Groupe and A.C.I. Technology.
The landmark project marks the start of a long-term public-private partnership (PPP) to “build the foundations for secure, modern and citizen-centric identity services in Armenia,” says IN Groupe Acting Chairman and CEO Yann Haguet.
AI powered glasses could eliminate talking at work but experts fear privacy concerns ‘you never have to type or speak again’
Launched last week by San Francisco tech firm Subvocal, these state-of-the-art tech specs use sensors to detect the tiny facial movements people make while articulating words.
“When you’re mouthing words, even if you’re really discreet with it, the muscles in your face and inside your mouth are moving right,” Aarush Yadav, who founded the company in February 2026 with Georgia Tech student Arnav Kumar, told the Post. “So what the glasses do is they emit radio waves similar to Bluetooth, similar frequency, but much lower power.”
As the radio waves interact with the facial muscles, their signals change in ways that the AI can decode into speech — they literally read our body language.
Using these optical interlocuters, wearers can convert their mimed words into text at a rate of 200 words per minute, allowing people to compose everything from emails to voice notes at the speed of speech sans making a sound. They can even allow you to communicate with fellow wearers across the room silently as well, as seen in a somewhat “Black Mirror”-esque video demo with nearly 12 million views on X.