Senator Asks IRS to Investigate Nonprofit Group for Alleged Ties to Hamas
In a letter to IRS Commissioner Billy Long, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked the IRS to look into the nonprofit status of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and investigate whether it has ties to the Hamas terrorist group and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Netanyahu says Israel to control not govern Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel plans to take full control of Gaza but does not intend to govern it, as he convened his security cabinet to discuss updated plans 22 months into the war. The cabinet meeting comes as Netanyahu faces mounting pressure at home and abroad for a truce deal to pull Gaza's more than two million people back from the brink of famine and to spare hostages held by Palestinian militants. With tensions rising, Netanyahu took to the airwaves telling US network Fox News the government intends to seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, where the military has been fighting Hamas since the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack. Asked if Israel will take control of "all of Gaza", Netanyahu said: "We intend to." He was expected to seek the cabinet's approval for an expanded offensive, which could see ground troops operate in densely populated areas where hostages are believed to be held, Israeli media reported. Netanyahu told Fox News "we don't want to keep" the Gaza Strip, which Israel occupied in 1967 but withdrew troops and settlers in 2005. "We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it," Netanyahu said. "We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. That's not possible with Hamas." The reported plans to expand the war have sparked growing concern in Israel about what it means for the remaining hostages. As the cabinet meeting kicked off, hundreds rallied near the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, calling for a deal to free the hostages. "The only way to bring the hostages home is to halt the war and end the suffering of the hostages and all those living through this terrible conflict," said protester Sharon Kangasa-Cohen. - 'More destruction' - Hamas in a statement said that "Netanyahu's plans to escalate the aggression confirm beyond any doubt his desire to get rid of the captives and sacrifice them in pursuit of his personal interests and extremist ideological agenda." Earlier Thursday, relatives of hostages set sail from the port of Ashkelon seeking to approach the Gaza Strip where their loved ones have endured 22 months of captivity. Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas's 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead. Ahead of Thursday's meeting, rumours have been rife in the Israeli press about disagreements between the cabinet and Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir, who is said to oppose plans to fully reoccupy Gaza. On Wednesday, Defence Minister Israel Katz had weighed in on social media saying the military must ultimately respect any policies adopted by the government. In a statement released by the military Thursday, Zamir underscored his independence, vowing to "continue to express our position without fear". "We are dealing with matters of life and death... and we do so while looking directly into the eyes of our soldiers and citizens," Zamir said. In Gaza, meanwhile, fears grew over what an expansion of Israeli operations would entail. "Ground operations mean more destruction and death," said Ahmad Salem, 45. - 'Unrealistic costs' - International concern has been growing over the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, where a UN-backed assessment warned that famine was unfolding. The World Health Organization said at least 99 people have died from malnutrition in the Gaza Strip this year, with the figure likely an underestimate. Displaced Gazan Mahmoud Wafi said that the prices of available food remained high and erratic. "We hope that food will be made available again in normal quantities and at reasonable prices, because we can no longer afford these extremely high and unrealistic costs," the 38-year-old told AFP. In late July, Israel partially eased restrictions on aid entering Gaza, but the United Nations says the amount allowed into the territory remains insufficient. Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGO Network in the Gaza Strip, told AFP that lengthy inspection procedures at entry points meant few trucks could come in. "What is currently entering the Gaza Strip are very limited numbers of trucks -- between 70 to 80 per day -- carrying only specific types of goods," he said. The United Nations estimates that Gaza needs at least 600 trucks of aid per day to meet its residents' basic needs. Amid the shortages, bloodshed continued with Gaza's civil defence agency saying Israeli attacks across the territory on Thursday killed at least 35 people. Israel's offensive has killed at least 61,258 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. The 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. bur-ds/ami
Boston Globe
22 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump is honoring Purple Heart recipients, including 3 who sent him medals after attempt on his life
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are also expected to be there, along with Chris LaCivita, Trump's former campaign co-manager and a Marine veteran who is also a Purple Heart recipient. Advertisement After a shooter's bullet pierced the upper part of Trump's right ear in Butler just days before the 2024 Republican National Convention, the then-Republican presidential candidate was gifted medals from some Purple Heart recipients. The medals were presented to him at campaign events during the race's closing months. According to the White House, some of those Purple Heart recipients were brought to Trump's campaign stops so that he could return their medals to them. National Purple Heart Day is marked annually on Aug. 7. The Purple Heart, the oldest military award still in use and is awarded to service members who are killed or wounded while engaging in enemy action or resulting from acts of terrorism. According to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, more than 1.8 million medals have been presented since the award's inception in 1782. Advertisement
Miami Herald
22 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
‘Criminals in power': Members of Congress react to news of Cuban military's secret hoard
Cuban American Republican members of Congress from Miami said they will work to freeze Cuban government assets abroad and put more pressure on foreign governments helping the regime in Havana, after a Miami Herald investigation revealed that the Cuban military has hoarded billions of dollars sitting in unknown bank accounts. The Herald obtained secret accounting documents from GAESA, the conglomerate run by Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces, showing that it had $18 billion in current assets in March last year, of which $14.5 billion were deposited in unidentified bank accounts and GAESA's financial institutions. The Herald's reporting raises questions about the government's narrative blaming the U.S. embargo as the exclusive cause of the country's severe economic crisis and the Cuban military's role in the ongoing humanitarian crisis. GAESA runs businesses in several sectors, including tourism, banking, trade and retail, and can tap into many of the island's revenue streams in foreign currency. The military conglomerate and several of its companies are under U.S. sanctions--meaning their assets in the U.S., if any, are frozen--but even so, it has managed to generate billions in revenue, the documents show. GAESA's financial statements obtained by the Herald show the conglomerate made $2.1 billion in net profits during the first quarter of 2024 and $7.2 billion during the first eight months of 2023, all while the island's electrical grid collapsed repeatedly and the government asked the United Nations for humanitarian aid to provide milk to young children. Reacting to the revelations, Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, said he would work with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Cuban American, to 'hold the regime and its accomplices accountable.' 'The regime in Cuba is not only murderous and cruel, but profoundly corrupt,' Giménez told the Herald. 'The dictatorship is quick to blame U.S. policy for its woes, but it has billions of dollars tucked away in banks while the Cuban people suffer. These funds were stolen from the Cuban people, and we will use all the diplomatic and legal tools available to freeze the regime's assets and shame complicit foreign governments who profit off the continued oppression of the Cuban nation.' To implement a recent presidential memorandum, U.S. agencies are expected to issue regulations that would allow imposing secondary sanctions on foreign companies engaging in transactions with Cuban military-owned entities. U.S. Rep Mario Díaz-Balart said a bill he introduced last month to fund the State Department and other foreign operations for fiscal year 2026 would deny U.S. aid to governments or entities engaging financially with military-run entities in Cuba. 'While the regime in Havana blames the embargo, secret records show the Cuban military is swimming in cash,' Díaz-Balart said on a publication on X. 'My Appropriations bill makes sure not a dime from the U.S. taxpayer supports them and blocks aid to anyone bankrolling or doing business with the regime's oppressive security forces — full stop.' U.S Rep. María Elvira Salazar took issue with the Cuban government's denunciations of the U.S. embargo, which Cuban officials say denies the government the resources to buy foo and medicines and maintain the power grid. 'Cuba's real blockade is the Cuban dictatorship,' she said in an X publication commenting on the Herald story. 'While the regime blames the U.S. for blackouts, hunger, and medicine shortages, it's sitting on billions through its military empire, GAESA. That money isn't used to feed the people or fix the grid, it's used to suppress them.' 'The Castro mafia doesn't need help, they need to be eradicated from power and held accountable,' she added. 'Cubans' suffering is not caused by the embargo. It's caused by the criminals in power.' While that sort of rhetoric coming from Miami politicians usually prompts a reaction on government-controlled media in Havana, the Cuban government has been conspicuously silent. The Cuban government has also not responded to the information reported by the Herald about GAESA's finances. GAESA's finances are treated as military secrets, are not shared with other ministries or government agencies and are outside the purview of the government's comptroller, who is not authorized to audit them. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not reply to a request for comment for the story, nor the country's government comptroller, and the accounts of senior diplomats who actively comment on U.S-Cuba relations or revelations published in U.S. media have been muted on the subject. On Tuesday, when the Herald published the investigation, Cuba's leader Miguel Díaz-Canel tweeted about sports, the birthday of a renowned Cuban choir director and the war in Gaza.
