Top FBI and Secret Service officials will face questions from senators on Tuesday about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a combined hearing in front of the Senate’s Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.  Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate will speak to lawmakers about the security failures that led to Trump nearly being assassinated during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month. The two are expected to be questioned about how 20-year-old Thomas Mathew Crooks was able to access a rooftop within 150 yards of Trump and fire several shots at the former president.  Abbate is also expected to give lawmakers an update on the FBI investigation into the attack, which injured Trump, two rally attendees, and killed 50-year-old Corey Comperatore.  Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who heads up the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Monday that the hearing would focus on the security lapses surrounding the incident.  “Despite the implementation of a security plan to secure the rally site on July 13, the shooter involved was able to fly a drone outside of the security perimeter for 11 minutes,” Durbin said. “His suspicious activity was reported twice, and he was spotted on the roof of a building prior to taking his first shot — yet his violent plan continued unimpeded, and he was able to fire eight shots before a Secret Service countersniper killed him.” Text messages obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and shared with the New York Times show that Crooks was flagged by law enforcement as suspicious more than 90 minutes before he started shooting. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), who is on the Homeland Security committee, told The Daily Wire that security lapses occurred because Secret Service agents didn’t work closely with local law enforcement.  “Time and time again, we see three letter agencies and their bureaucratic processes and political biases fail our communities,” he told The Daily Wire. “This is a top-down systemic failure and culture that’s plaguing these agencies and must be addressed.”  “The U.S. Secret Service team blew off Butler County local law enforcement, the officers who know this community the best- why is that?” he asked. “Would things be different today if communication and respect between local and D.C. officials was stronger?” Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have launched investigations into the attack. On Monday, the House named a task force to spearhead an inquiry. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned last week after she was grilled by House lawmakers over the security failures surrounding the rally. 

The Biden-Harris administration is seeking to severely limit Israel’s retaliatory response toward Hezbollah after the Iranian-backed Islamic terrorist group killed 12 children on Saturday in northern Israel. The children were killed after Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets on Majdal Shams, a small village in the Golan Heights, striking a soccer field and wounding an additional 40 people. Israel has already authorized a retaliatory strike against Hezbollah for the attack. After the shocking attack, the Biden-Harris administration has sought to retrain Israel because its response could spark an all-out war with Hezbollah, which operates out of southern Lebanon. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration does not “want to see the conflict escalate. We don’t want to see it spread.” His remarks come after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Sunday that he wants to see Israel “de-escalate.” The Biden-Harris administration does not want war to erupt between Israel and Hezbollah because the risk that the U.S. gets drawn into the war is high. The administration has already lost a lot of support from Democrat voters over how it has responded to Israel’s war against Hamas. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said immediately after the attack that it “crossed all red lines, and the response will be in accordance.” “We are approaching the moment of an all-out war against Hezbollah and Lebanon,” he said. Hezbollah is illegally occupying a large section of southern Lebanon along the country’s border with Israel, violating U.N. Resolution 1701. In a separate statement, Katz called Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah “a child murderer acting on behalf of Iran to spread terror in the region.” He said that it was time to put an end to Hezbollah before “it’s too late.” Hezbollah has fired thousands of missiles, rockets, and suicide drones into Israel following Hamas’ October 7 attack. For the most part, the projectiles have not overwhelmed Israel’s air defenses, and Israel has responded with strikes against key Hezbollah commanders. However, the attack on Saturday was the deadliest attack that Israel has faced since October 7, thus increasing the scale of the response that Israel is likely to launch. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have also been displaced from their homes in northern Israel for over nine months due to the threat posed by Hezbollah.

The disaster was triggered by heavy monsoon rains

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An image shared on Facebook claims to show U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer kneeling before King Charles III. Verdict: Misleading The claim is misleading. The image, which originally appeared on the stock images website PA Images, shows Starmer being knighted by then-Prince Charles in 2014. Fact Check: Starmer’s office recently said it “will not intervene” […]

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