A senior ISIS leader was killed in a U.S. precision airstrike in northwest Syria, CETCOM announced Wednesday.
Ali Husayn al-‘Ulaywi was killed in a June 19 strike as part of continued U.S. counterterrorism operations against ISIS remnants in the region, <a href="https://x.com/Osint613/status/2069764335350534454">according</a> to U.S. Central Command.
“The precision strike killed Ali Husayn al-‘Ulaywi and is part of ongoing U.S. efforts to disrupt and eliminate terrorists seeking to attack Americans abroad or the U.S. homeland,” CENTCOM said in a <a href="https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PUBLIC-RELEASES/Article/4525023/centcom-forces-kill-senior-isis-leader-in-syria/">statement</a>.
The strike comes as ISIS remains weakened, but still poses a security challenge in parts of Syria and Iraq. Security officials have warned that ISIS continues to operate through sleeper cells and insurgent networks capable of carrying out attacks and exploiting security gaps. In Syria, U.S. forces and local partners have continued targeting ISIS remnants through intelligence-driven operations, raids, and airstrikes.
ISIS lost the last territory of its self-declared caliphate in 2019, but the group has remained a concern for U.S. and regional forces as they work to prevent its resurgence in Syria and Iraq. The continued operations underscore that ISIS no longer holds the same territorial power it once did, but remains a target of U.S.-backed counterterrorism efforts.
In February, CENTCOM said U.S. forces completed a 23-day mission transferring more than 5,700 adult male ISIS fighters from detention facilities in Syria to Iraqi custody. The command said the mission was intended to help keep ISIS detainees secure and prevent a resurgence in Syria. Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-military-says-it-completed-syria-mission-transfer-isis-members-iraq-2026-02-13/">reported</a> at the time that U.S. officials viewed the transfer as strategically important as instability continued in northeast Syria.
CENTCOM said it continues to work with regional partners in counterterrorism operations across Syria and Iraq.
“CENTCOM and our partners remain committed to rooting out remaining remnants of ISIS to ensure its enduring defeat,” CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said. “We will continue to defend the U.S. homeland, our service members, and allies and partners across the region.”

Sectarian Clashes Between Druze And Tribes In Sweida, Syria

U.S. Strike Kills Senior ISIS Leader In Syria

U.S. Strike Kills Senior ISIS Leader In Syria, CENTCOM Says

Centcom

ISIS

Syria

An Al Jazeera cameraman mourned as a journalist killed by Israel was also a Hamas sniper operative, <a href="https://x.com/IDF/status/2068442916977275317">according to the Israel Defense Forces</a>.
Ahmed Washah was killed Saturday in central Gaza after an Israeli drone targeted a home in the Bureij refugee camp. Al Jazeera and multiple media outlets described him as a cameraman for Al Jazeera Mubasher, Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language live channel. Al Jazeera said two other people were also killed and others were wounded.
But the IDF says Washah was not simply a journalist and was targeted in the strike because he was “a terrorist in Hamas’ military wing who served as a sniper operative.” The IDF also said Washah had recently advanced sniper attack plans and worked alongside his brother, Mohammed Washah, whom the military described as a key terrorist in Hamas’ rocket and weapons production headquarters. Ahmed was <a href="https://honestreporting.com/ahmad-washah-hamas-terrorist-who-masqueraded-as-an-al-jazeera-journalist/">reportedly</a> killed alongside Siba’i Abu Hasna, a member of Hamas’ <a href="https://honestreporting.com/ahmad-washah-hamas-terrorist-who-masqueraded-as-an-al-jazeera-journalist/">Shadow Unit</a>, which is responsible for guarding hostages kidnapped into Gaza.
Ahmed was widely presented as an Al Jazeera cameraman killed by Israel. While leaving out his ties to Hamas, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/gaza/israeli-airstrike-kills-al-jazeera-cameraman-rcna350990">reported</a> that Ahmed was an Al Jazeera cameraman killed by Israel and noted that his brother Mohammed, an Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent, was killed in a separate Israeli strike in April. Al Jazeera, meanwhile, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/21/kind-principled-palestinian-journalists-remember-slain-gaza-journalist">said</a> Ahmed became the 12th network employee killed by Israel and said he had covered numerous stories for the outlet, including what Al Jazeera described as “several massacres” committed by Israel in Gaza.
The IDF <a href="https://x.com/IDF/status/2068442916977275317">posted</a> publicly that Ahmed “served as an Al Jazeera photojournalist” while simultaneously operating as a Hamas sniper. The IDF also described Mohammed as “a key terrorist in Hamas’ rocket and weapons production headquarters” and said he also operated “under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist” before he was killed in April.
After the IDF’s claims about Ahmed were challenged online, it <a href="https://x.com/IDF/status/2069422062117003612">posted</a> a photo of his apparent military ID and a video showing him firing a rifle into the air. 
That context has received less attention from the legacy media than the initial description of Ahmed as a journalist killed by Israel. A Google AI Overview shown for a simple search of “Al Jazeera journalist” described Ahmed as “an Al Jazeera cameraman who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza” and listed him among “recent notable and slain journalists from the region.” The summary does not mention the IDF’s claim that he was a Hamas sniper operative.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1122099 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/IMG_8248-907x576.jpeg" alt="" width="907" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/IMG_8248-907x576.jpeg 907w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/IMG_8248-300x190.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/IMG_8248-768x488.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/IMG_8248.jpeg 1093w" sizes=" (max-width: 907px) 100vw, 907px" /></div>
The same pattern appeared in headlines from major outlets. NBC headlined its article, “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/gaza/israeli-airstrike-kills-al-jazeera-cameraman-rcna350990">Al Jazeera cameraman killed in Gaza months after his journalist brother died in a separate strike</a>.” The Guardian’s headline read, “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/20/al-jazeera-cameraman-ahmed-wishah-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-gaza">Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Wishah killed in Israeli strike on Gaza</a>.”
An Associated Press report carried by <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israeli-army-confirms-journalist-killed-in-gaza-calls-him-hamas-terrorist-11665140/amp/1">NDTV</a> also identified Ahmed as an Al Jazeera cameraman killed in an Israeli strike. The report said the Israeli military asserted that Ahmed had been part of Hamas’ military wing and had posed a threat to troops in the area.
Al Jazeera has denied Israel’s claims about Ahmed, according to NBC News, and condemned his killing, calling it an attempt by Israel to silence and intimidate journalists. NBC also reported that a source close to Hamas told the Committee to Protect Journalists that Ahmed had no affiliation with the organization.
 Prominent anti-Israel figures, including New York City <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/23/us-news/al-jazeera-journalist-that-mamdani-mourned-was-allegedly-hamas-sniper-idf-claims/">Mayor Zohran Mamdani</a>, portrayed Ahmed as a journalist killed by Israel while criticizing the IDF. 
“More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since the so-called ceasefire,” Mamdani said Monday. “Even an Al Jazeera journalist, Ahmed Washah, was killed this past Saturday by an Israeli strike.” Mamdani did not mention the IDF’s claim that Washah was a Hamas operative.
The IDF’s claim does not erase reports that Ahmed worked for Al Jazeera. But those reports also do not erase the IDF’s claim that he served in Hamas’ military wing and had recently advanced sniper attack plans against Israeli troops.
Since the first reports described Ahmed as a journalist without including Israel&#8217;s claim that he was also a Hamas sniper, many readers were left with a narrow version of the story. Israel&#8217;s account presents a very different version of the strike than the one circulating online.

Hamas

Al Jazeera ‘Cameraman’ Killed In Gaza Was Hamas Sniper Operating Under Press Cover, IDF Says

Al Jazeera

Gaza

Israel

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Media Bias

Zohran Mamdani

In a <a href="https://x.com/DrSamirGeagea/status/2069000722847338782">letter</a> addressed to Vice President JD Vance on Monday, the leader of the Lebanese Forces — the largest Christian party in Lebanon — asked that the United States support the Lebanese state in extending full authority over all of its territory, restrict weapons to legitimate institutions, and end Hezbollah’s military and security presence.
Samir Geagea’s letter came after <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/report-new-us-iran-lebanon-mechanism-to-include-iran-qatar-pakistan-exclude-israel-and-limit-israeli-response-to-threats-pm-idf-faces-no-restrictions/">reports</a> that a new Lebanon mechanism emerging from U.S.-Iran talks would include Iran, Qatar, and Pakistan, while excluding Israel and limiting Israeli responses to threats from Lebanon. The reported framework would allow Israel to respond only to “imminent threats,” rather than the broader “emerging threats” standard included in the 2024 mechanism, according to The Times of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back on the report, saying the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) faced “no restrictions” in Lebanon.
Geagea said the greatest contribution the United States could make at this stage would be to support the Lebanese state as the sole national authority and not as a matter to be negotiated with Iran. Geagea also asked for assurances that any negotiations over Lebanon go through the Lebanese state alone. That, Geagea argued, would be the most meaningful step for Lebanon’s Christians and all Lebanese citizens because it would open the door to a sovereign state capable of providing security, stability, and prosperity.
The Lebanese Christian leader said he reviewed Vance&#8217;s statement on Iran with “interest and appreciation.” He said the vice president&#8217;s remarks reflected “genuine friendship and profound concern” not only for Lebanese Christians, but for Lebanon as a whole.
Geagea framed Lebanon’s Christians as a stabilizing force in the country’s modern history, describing them as committed to openness, moderation, freedom, and cultural life in a region marked by instability. He argued that Lebanon’s pluralism, public freedoms, and open system have long made the country distinct in the Middle East.
But Geagea said the last four decades have been especially difficult for Lebanese Christians and other Lebanese citizens because of Hezbollah’s rise as a military and security organization. He accused Hezbollah of usurping national decision-making, weakening legitimate institutions, blocking the formation of an effective state, and dragging Lebanon into conflicts tied to Iranian agendas rather than Lebanese interests.
The impact, he wrote, has been economic decline, fewer job opportunities, and the emigration of many Lebanese, including a significant number of Christians seeking safety, stability, and a dignified life.
Geagea’s warning comes as the IDF has accused Hezbollah operatives of using Christian areas as cover. Earlier this month, the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-dozens-of-hezbollah-members-hiding-in-christian-neighborhood-in-tyre-warns-they-arent-safe-there/">IDF said</a> dozens of Hezbollah members were hiding inside a Christian neighborhood in the coastal city of Tyre, an area that had not been included in a previous evacuation warning.
Lt. Col. Ella Waweya, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokeswoman, said the military had issued an evacuation warning for parts of Tyre because of Hezbollah activity and alleged violations of the ceasefire agreement, but said that warning did not include the city’s Christian neighborhood.
According to Waweya, the IDF later identified activity by dozens of Hezbollah operatives inside that Christian neighborhood.
“This is not the first time we have exposed Hezbollah activity from within Christian areas, based on its belief that these areas provide it with a safer refuge,” Waweya said.
She called on residents to “demand the removal of the terror organization’s operatives from your areas,” and warned Hezbollah members that they were “not safe there.” If they continued operating from inside the area, she said, the IDF would issue evacuation instructions for the Christian neighborhood and take action against them.
The IDF’s allegation adds weight to the concern Geagea raised in his letter: that Hezbollah’s military presence has weakened the Lebanese state and exposed Lebanese civilians, including Christians, to instability and danger.
Geagea closed by thanking Vance again for his concern and said he hoped the United States would remain a key partner in helping Lebanon reclaim its role as a model of freedom, pluralism, and peace in the Middle East.

Road To Damascus Littered With War Wreckage Following Fall Of Assad Regime

Leader Of Lebanon’s Largest Christian Party Begs Trump/Vance To Change Terms Of Iran Deal

JD Vance

Lebanon

Ukrainian resistance fighters are reportedly using fake romantic identities online to extract battlefield information from Russian soldiers, turning one of the oldest forms of human deception into a tool for modern drone warfare.
As detailed in a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/06/underground-intelligence-network-russia-ukraine/687578/">report</a> by The Atlantic, Ukrainian fighters have allegedly posed as lonely women online, slowly building relationships with Russian soldiers in hopes of getting them to reveal useful information about their units and locations. That information has led to Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian positions.  
One case described in the report involved a Ukrainian military-intelligence officer named Serhiy, who pretended to be a 35-year-old housewife trapped in a cold marriage. Over several months, “she” exchanged WhatsApp messages with a Chechen commander named Achmad, who was stationed somewhere in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine.
The messages were not immediately about war. They were ordinary and intimate. They talked about their days, their frustrations, and what they hoped life might look like when the fighting ended. Then, gradually, the fake housewife began asking about the front.
Achmad eventually sent a photo from inside the barracks, showing himself and another soldier smiling for the camera. Behind them, according to the report, was a map of the compound that showed the unit’s position.
The woman the commander thought he was speaking to did not exist. “She” was Serhiy, an officer working for Ukraine’s military-intelligence directorate. The coordinates revealed in the photo were later hit by a Ukrainian drone.
“Serhiy was great at flirting,” his commander told Harbaugh. “Guys in our team started asking him for dating advice.”
The episode depicts how Ukrainian fighters are reportedly using digital conversations to gather information Russian soldiers may not realize they are giving away. It also shows how a single photo can become useful intelligence when it reveals background details.
According to Harbaugh’s report, the Ukrainian agents involved in these efforts have little formal training. Their digital networks are also vulnerable to Russian interception. Still, they have reportedly relied on hard-copy tradecraft manuals, including a Soviet-era handbook describing CIA catfishing tactics in Africa during the Cold War.
“Your CIA was good at this,” one Ukrainian interviewed for the article told The Atlantic. “You bastards knew how to use sex.”
The reported tactic comes as Ukraine’s drone warfare capabilities have improved dramatically since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukrainian forces have been able to hit strategic targets hundreds of miles inside Russian territory, including oil refineries in Moscow earlier this month, according to the report.
For the Ukrainians interviewed by Harbaugh, the motivation was not abstract. They described murdered civilians and evidence of sexual assault they had witnessed during Russia’s invasion. One doctor said they had treated sexual assault victims ranging in age from 4 to 75, with injuries so severe that her facility had become a leader in new methods for gynecological reconstructive surgery.
The report points to the subtle role digital communication now plays in the war. For Ukrainian fighters, information can come not only from surveillance or military equipment, but from the small details Russian soldiers choose to share online.

Moscow oil refinery damaged again in UAV attack

Russian Troops Duped By Fake Online Romances That Led To Drone Strikes

Russian Troops Reportedly Duped By Fake Online Romances That Led To Drone Strikes

Ukraine-Russia War

Qatar’s massive footprint in American education is facing renewed scrutiny as watchdogs warn that the Gulf state has poured billions into U.S. universities while disclosure laws remain weak, incomplete, and unevenly enforced.
The question is no longer simply whether schools are reporting foreign gifts. Critics say the more serious issue is what the money is buying: branch campuses, endowed chairs, research centers, faculty pipelines, academic programming, and influence over how future American leaders are taught to think about Israel, terrorism, political Islam, and U.S. foreign policy.
A <a href="https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-900026">Jerusalem Post piece</a> by Dr. Charles Asher Small, founding director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, argued that Congress already has the evidence but has failed to act. He pointed to the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1048/all-info">DETERRENT Act</a>, which has passed the House twice with bipartisan support but stalled in the Senate.
The bill would lower the foreign gift reporting threshold from $250,000 to $50,000, require disclosure of gifts to individual faculty and staff, create a public database, and impose financial penalties for non-compliance.
Small compared the problem to China’s Confucius Institutes, citing a 2019 Senate investigation that found nearly 70% of U.S. schools receiving more than $250,000 from Chinese government-linked Confucius Institutes failed to properly report the money. He said ISGAP’s “Follow the Money” findings revealed billions in Middle Eastern funding, primarily from Qatar, to U.S. universities that had not been reported as required. A later Department of Education review identified more than $6.5 billion in previously unreported foreign funding at a small number of institutions.
The scale of Qatar’s influence reaches far beyond campuses. A June Foundation for Defense of Democracies report estimated that Qatar has directed at least $400 billion into the United States since 2000, or roughly $1.2 million per Qatari citizen. The report called that figure a conservative estimate and said Qatari government or White House estimates could exceed $1.2 trillion.
FDD said Qatar, a country of about 330,000 citizens, has surpassed China as the largest foreign funder of American higher education by approximately $2 billion. The report cited the Department of Education’s foreign funding dashboard showing Qatar has pumped $8.8 billion into U.S. higher education since 2001.
That money is drawing attention because Qatar is not just another foreign investor. FDD described Doha as a patron of Hamas, the Taliban, and the Muslim Brotherhood, and said the country’s state-owned Al Jazeera Media Network amplifies Islamist propaganda. A June report from JINSA’s Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy similarly noted that Hamas’s political bureau has operated from Doha under Qatari state protection since 2012.
Those concerns have become harder to dismiss since the anti-Israel protest wave that followed Hamas’s October 7 attack. Universities were criticized for failing to shut down radical encampments, enforce campus rules, or protect Jewish students as anti-Israel activism turned into campus occupations.
A January Middle East Forum report focused on Georgetown University, which established its Qatar campus in 2005 through a partnership with the Qatar Foundation and has extended the arrangement through 2035. According to the report, Georgetown received more than <a href="https://www.meforum.org/mef-reports/qatars-multidimensional-takeover-of-georgetown-university">$971 million</a> from Qatar over 20 years through 76 contracts.
The report said the funding supported not only Georgetown’s Doha campus, but also faculty, scholarships, research initiatives, and endowed chairs on the Washington, D.C., campus, including Qatari-funded chairs in Muslim Societies, the History of Islam, and Indian Politics.
JINSA’s June 2026 <a href="https://jinsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Qatar-Higher-Influence.pdf">report</a> reviewed nearly 900 pages of documents released by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, including framework agreements, governance charters, intellectual property provisions, confidentiality agreements, and a direct contract between Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Georgetown’s Bridge Initiative.
According to JINSA, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a June 13, 2024, contract with Georgetown providing a <a href="https://jinsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Qatar-Higher-Influence.pdf">$630,000 grant</a>, split into three annual installments of $210,000, to support Bridge Initiative research related to Islamophobia. The report said the agreement required conferences on the “Globalization of Islamophobia” and called for consultation with a parallel Qatar-supported initiative on sessions, themes, and speakers.
JINSA also raised concerns about Northwestern University in Qatar’s relationship with Al Jazeera. According to the report, a 2013 memorandum covered research cooperation, journalism programs, scholarships, training opportunities, employment pathways for Northwestern Qatar graduates into Al Jazeera, and training by Northwestern faculty for Al Jazeera leadership.
The money appears to have flowed into the same academic space where the post-October 7 crisis later erupted, including Middle East studies, Islamophobia research, Israel and Palestine programming, anti-colonial scholarship, and foreign policy training. These fields shape how students understand terrorism, Israel, America’s role in the world, and the language used to describe political violence.
<a href="https://isgap.org/follow-the-money/">ISGAP has also said</a> Students for Justice in Palestine and National Students for Justice in Palestine helped lead the post-October 7 explosion of campus antisemitism. The group said its prior research found <a href="https://isgap.org/follow-the-money/">SJP had a direct connection to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood</a> and links to organizations that support or previously supported violence and terror.
Other watchdogs have raised similar concerns about the protest network. <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/students-justice-palestine-sjp">The ADL says </a>National SJP and local SJP chapters justified or glorified the Hamas-led October 7 attack and later became central organizers of the 2024 campus encampments. <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2023/10/25/desantis-shuts-down-usf-uf-pro-palestinian-groups">Axios reported</a> that Florida officials moved to deactivate university SJP chapters after citing a National SJP toolkit that framed Hamas’s attack as part of “the resistance” and told Palestinian students in exile they were “PART of this movement.”
A Jerusalem Post analysis reported that U.S. student protests against Israel were “orchestrated by Qatar-funded groups” and described the demonstrations as organized and generously funded. ISGAP has separately argued that foreign money from Qatar has had a direct effect on increasing antisemitic and anti-democratic activity at American universities.

Protest Against Anti Semitism and NSJP Conference At UCLA

Qatar’s Billions Raise New Questions About Foreign Influence On Campus

Education

Qatar

Vice President JD Vance indicated that the United States was prepared to build a whole new relationship with Iran — if the nation&#8217;s new leadership was truly ready to give up its nuclear dream.
Vance made the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/21/us-news/vance-says-us-willing-to-fundamentally-transform-iran-relationship/">remarks in Switzerland, where the first round of talks with Iran began under a 60-day memorandum</a> of understanding meant to lay the groundwork for a broader peace deal.
“What the president has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran, and to extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability,” Vance said, according to the New York Post.
“If they are willing to give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country,” he added. “That is certainly our goal.”
The vice president’s remarks framed the talks as a possible turning point in U.S.-Iran relations, but also made clear that any improvement would depend on Iran’s willingness to change course.
“The opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the ending of the Iranian nuclear program, all of these things have already been accomplished,” Vance said. “The question before us now is, how much more can we accomplish together?”
“Can we turn over a new leaf? Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently? Or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference,” he added.
Vance’s public offer came as President Donald Trump struck a much harder tone toward Tehran, warning Iran to stop its proxies in Lebanon from escalating the conflict.
“Iran must <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116788337995785578">immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES</a> in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
 “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
Vance’s remarks came as Trump separately warned Iran over Hezbollah, placing the diplomatic talks alongside the administration’s public threats of further action if Tehran’s proxies continue causing trouble in Lebanon.
The Switzerland talks had been delayed because of clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, according to the New York Post. The MOU laid out a template for peace between the United States and Iran while giving both sides 60 days to work toward a more detailed agreement.
Trump has also warned Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that remains central to the talks and to global energy security.
“<a href="https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2068720063419445738">You close it, and you won’t have a country</a>,” Trump said, according to Fox. “You won’t even make it back to your f*cing country.”
The president also criticized Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian after he said Iran would not give up its right to enrichment and that the United States would be “forced to accept it.”
“He better watch his mouth. He better shape up, or we’ll take over the rest of the country,” Trump said, according to the Post.
The talks are moving forward as Vance conveys a possible shift in U.S.-Iran relations, while Trump continues to warn Tehran over Hezbollah and the Strait of Hormuz.

Vice President JD Vance Speaks In North Carolina

Vance Hints At New Start For Iran As Trump Warns Tehran Over Hezbollah

Global Politics

Iran

Herbert Leon Kimble, 60, was arrested in the Philippines after failing to appear for his sentencing hearing in August 2024, according to federal officials. His capture marks the second arrest from the FBI’s new “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list in just over two weeks.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Kimble had been on the run since 2024 after orchestrating a $1.2 billion scheme from 2014 to 2019.
“In just over two weeks, this is the second Most Wanted Fraudster arrested on the FBI’s list led by Vice President Vance and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud,” Patel posted on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
In just over two weeks, this is the second Most Wanted Fraudster arrested on the FBI’s list led by Vice President Vance and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
Herbert Leon Kimbel was apprehended in the Philippines and is now back in the United States, on the run… <a href="https://t.co/9ju6cnEfFX">pic.twitter.com/9ju6cnEfFX</a>
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2068051952525520968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/most-wanted-fraudsters/herbert-leon-kimble">Kimble</a> had <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/most-wanted-fraudsters/herbert-leon-kimble/download.pdf">pleaded guilty</a> in 2019 to multiple federal offenses, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, health care fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, making false claims, and offering kickbacks and bribes.
Prosecutors said Kimble <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/fbi-captures-12b-medicare-fraud-fugitive-philippines-second-arrest-wanted-fraudsters-list">operated</a> a health care fraud scheme that generated more than $1.2 billion in Medicare charges and affected thousands of beneficiaries, many of them elderly. Authorities said the operation used call centers to steer patients toward medically unnecessary orthopedic braces.
The case puts a face on the kinds of large-scale fraud federal officials say they are trying to root out. Authorities say elderly beneficiaries were pushed toward unnecessary medical equipment, taxpayers were left with more than a billion dollars in charges, and Kimble fled before he could be sentenced.
Patel said the FBI remains committed to carrying out President Donald Trump’s directive to crack down on fraud and protect taxpayer dollars.
Kimble’s arrest comes after federal officials announced the apprehension of <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/most-wanted-fraudsters/said-abdullahi-ereg/download.pdf">Said Abdullahi Ereg</a>, 47, who was wanted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Ereg was the first person on the list to be taken into custody.
Vice President JD Vance said Kimble’s capture was tied directly to the creation of the Most Wanted Fraudsters list.
“Our message is simple,” Vance <a href="https://x.com/JDVance/status/2068059922294542472">wrote</a> on X. “If you defraud the American people, we will find you and we will bring you to justice.”
“Kimble preyed on the elderly for years, costing taxpayers over a billion dollars,” Vance continued. “The FBI catching Kimble is a direct result of the task force’s partnership with the FBI to create the Most Wanted Fraudsters list.”
Vance said authorities had been unable to capture Kimble for months, but that the Philippine government helped locate him after the Justice Department published its list.
The arrest comes months after the Justice Department announced the creation of a National Fraud Enforcement Division to support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vance. The task force was launched to investigate and recover fraudulent spending in programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Kimble fled to the Philippines rather than face accountability in the United States.
“Fleeing the United States does not mean you can flee justice,” Blanche <a href="https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/2068069402109423726">wrote</a> on X.
“Instead of facing accountability for his $1.2 billion Medicare fraud crimes in the United States, Kimble fled to the Philippines hoping to escape justice,” Blanche continued. “That plan failed.”
Blanche said the FBI has now apprehended two fraudsters from its recently unveiled list in just two weeks, adding that there are “more to come.”

FBI Director Patel And Eastern District U.S. Attorney Nocella Holds News Conference On Major Illegal Sports Gambling Schemes

FBI Captures Fugitive Mastermind Behind $1.2 Billion Medicare Scam

One Of FBI’s ‘Most Wanted Fraudsters’ Caught Overseas After Alleged $1.2 Billion Medicare Scheme

kash patel

Medicare

Medicare Fraud

Most Wanted

Rosie O&#8217;Donnell will be featured as a guest host for Jimmy Kimmel&#8217;s show as the late-night host steps away for a few months.
“I asked one of our commander-in-chief’s all-time favorites, Rosie O’Donnell, to be here to keep the hits coming,” Kimmel said, <a href="https://pagesix.com/2026/06/20/entertainment/jimmy-kimmel-taps-longtime-trump-nemesis-rosie-odonnell-to-replace-him-as-he-steps-back-from-late-night-show/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter">according</a> to Page Six.
O’Donnell’s selection carries a political edge because of her long-running feud with President Donald Trump. The former “View” co-host <a href="https://people.com/rosie-o-donnell-opens-up-about-child-clay-12-coming-out-nonbinary-11745558">left the United States</a> after Trump won a second term, moving to Ireland with her youngest child, Clay, who claims to be nonbinary.
In March, O’Donnell said she was officially living in Ireland and described the move as the safest and best decision for her family.
“I was never someone who thought I would move to another country,” O’Donnell said in a TikTok video. “You know, I’m happy. Clay is happy. I miss my other kids. I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home and I’m trying to find a home here in this beautiful country and when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that’s when we will consider coming back.”
Her feud with Trump escalated in July 2025, when the president said he was considering taking away her U.S. citizenship.
“Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time, according to Page Six. “She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA.”
O’Donnell responded in an Instagram post by saying Trump had “always hated” that she saw him as “a criminal con man sexual abusing liar out to harm our nation to serve himself.”
O’Donnell has since returned to the U.S. for visits, including a quiet two-week trip to see family and a recent appearance on “Watch What Happens Live,” which films in New York City.
Now, she is set to return to late-night as one of Kimmel’s guest hosts.
Kimmel announced Thursday that he will take the next two months off from his late-night show, joking that he is doing so “this time voluntarily,” per Page Six. The remark appeared to reference the brief period ABC pulled his show over <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abc-pulls-jimmy-kimmels-late-night-show-indefinitely-after-charlie-kirk-comments">comments</a> he made pertaining to Charlie Kirk’s death in September.
The show will continue with a rotation of guest hosts, including Tiffany Haddish, Colman Domingo, Ike Barinholtz, Anthony Anderson, Jelly Roll and Rosie O’Donnell.

ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” – Season 14

Jimmy Kimmel’s Guest Host Lineup Includes A Name Trump Knows Well

Kimmel’s Guest Host Lineup Includes A Name Trump Knows Well

Donald Trump

Jimmy Kimmel

Rosie O'Donnell

Former President Joe Biden appeared to linger on stage, uncertain of what he should do next, at the opening ceremony of former President Barack Obama&#8217;s new library and center in Chicago.
As the dedication ceremony wrapped up on Thursday in Chicago, Biden was seen drifting back toward the stage while former President Barack Obama and former first lady Jill Biden exited. <a href="https://player.mux.com/UDfG01RRXLMkgsPk3f7qJOx7RBVsuZLM4?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=e0daecf5-4b40-4a18-ad94-160000ffd6fa&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-06-19%20What%20Was%20Going%20Through%20Biden%27s%20Mind%20Here%3F&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2F599c7c87-5c60-444b-8435-bacad259c070.png&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000">Video</a> showed Biden lowering his sunglasses, looking into the crowd and asking, “Where’s my granddaughter?” A person familiar with the situation told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/watch-would-second-term-president-biden-left-searching-family-stage-obama-center-opening">Fox News</a> that Biden was looking for his granddaughter, who was seated in the audience.
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<iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/UDfG01RRXLMkgsPk3f7qJOx7RBVsuZLM4?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=e0daecf5-4b40-4a18-ad94-160000ffd6fa&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-06-19%20What%20Was%20Going%20Through%20Biden's%20Mind%20Here%3F&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2F991fc6c8-4317-41a6-9a3b-8bbe02ae745f.png&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Credit: Barack Obama via YouTube
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But after Biden’s disastrous final year in office, his frequent verbal stumbles and apparent confusion can no longer be viewed in isolation. The increasing number and frequency of such stumbles — both cognitive and physical — caused many to question over whether he was even capable of serving another term.
While the Obama Center incident alone was not unique, it reflected the kind of public episode that had dogged Biden throughout the final stretch of his presidency and later became central to the debate over his eventually-abandoned re-election campaign.
Those concerns, in spite of the administrations claims to the contrary, were not based only on viral videos or partisan commentary. A 2024 Daily Wire analysis of official White House transcript corrections found that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-speaking-errors-doubled-in-last-year-analysis-of-official-transcript-corrections-finds">Biden’s speaking errors doubled</a> in the 12 months leading up to his June 27 debate against Donald Trump. The analysis reviewed nearly 400 official “speeches and remarks” transcripts, where White House staff and stenographers crossed out incorrect words or inserted corrected language in brackets.
According to the analysis, the White House corrected 33 Biden errors in June 2023, a rate of 3.2 errors per 10,000 words. By May 2024, staff made 51 corrections, producing a rate of 7.2 errors per 10,000 words after Biden spoke roughly 70,000 words that month. The outlet noted that Biden spoke only about half his usual number of words in official remarks in June before the debate brought new scrutiny to his public performance.
The corrections included misstated numbers, names, dates, and factual references. Biden mixed up billions and millions, debt and deficit, and even basic dates. In one widely circulated example after the debate, Biden attempted to reassure supporters that he would remain in the race and defeat Trump, saying, “I will beat him again in 2020.”
A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ramblin-man-bidens-tendency-to-ramble-is-twice-as-bad-as-when-he-was-vp-analysis-finds">second Daily Wire analysis</a> found that Biden’s tendency to stop mid-sentence, restart, correct himself, or drift into tangents appeared twice as frequently as it had when he was vice president. That analysis reviewed thousands of official transcripts across 11 years and found that Biden’s fragmented speaking patterns increased sharply between the end of his vice presidency in 2017 and the beginning of his presidency in 2021, then only became more pronounced during his term.
Concerns about his mental acuity became more difficult to separate from Biden’s public image after his June 2024 debate against Trump, which intensified scrutiny of both his age and public performance. Less than a month later, Biden ended his re-election campaign.
The Chicago video was a brief episode at the end of a public ceremony. But it follows the same pattern that made Biden’s public appearances a political liability during the 2024 campaign, as his verbal missteps and moments of confusion became harder to ignore.

Joe Biden Campaigns In Western Pennsylvania One Day Before Election

WATCH: Joe Biden Gets Lost Onstage At Obama Library Opening

Barack Obama

Joe Biden

Politics

A retro tech brand known for defining the personal computer era is betting that some consumers are ready for a phone that does less, not more.
Commodore, a once dominant 1980s computer brand, is making a comeback with a flip phone designed for users who want fewer distractions from the device in their pocket.
Earlier this week, the company introduced the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/18/tech/nostalgic-80s-brand-revives-flip-phone-to-beat-tech-addiction/">Commodore Callback 8020</a>, a clamshell-style phone that blocks social media apps, web browsers, email and other digital distractions while preserving basic tools such as calls, texts, maps, music, and ride-sharing apps, according to The New York Post and CNET.
The device is being marketed as a “<a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/commodores-new-flip-phone-focuses-on-digital-detox-blocks-social-media-apps/">digital detox</a>” phone rather than a traditional dumb phone. Users can still access practical apps, including WhatsApp, Spotify, Uber, and maps, but the phone blocks platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, Snapchat, Discord, and Roblox.
The Callback reportedly runs on Sailfish OS, a Linux-based operating system, and supports selected Android apps through Commodore’s app store. It also includes physical buttons, a removable battery, FM radio, a headphone jack and a 48-megapixel Sony camera.
The phone’s most notable feature is not what it adds, but what it deliberately leaves out. Commodore says social media apps and browsers are blocked at the system level, making the device harder to convert back into the kind of smartphone many users are trying to escape.
That distinction gives the Callback a more pointed pitch than nostalgia alone. The phone is not simply trying to revive the look of an older device or appeal to consumers who remember the pre-smartphone era. It is selling limits at a time when many users are increasingly aware of how much of their day is absorbed by screens, notifications, and algorithm-driven feeds.
The product also sits between two extremes. It is not a bare-bones flip phone that leaves users with only calls and texts, but it is also not a full smartphone with unlimited access to the apps most associated with compulsive use. Its appeal depends on whether consumers believe a phone can remain useful while being intentionally restrictive.
That is the core bet behind Commodore’s comeback. The company appears to be targeting people who do not want to disappear from modern life entirely, but also do not want every quiet moment filled by social media. The Callback keeps tools for transportation, communication, and navigation while cutting off the apps most likely to turn a quick check into an extended scroll.
The phone is expected to start at $499, with higher-end editions reportedly priced around $640. Pre-orders are expected to open June 30.
The price may be one of the biggest tests for the device. Many consumers are used to paying hundreds of dollars for smartphones that promise more features, better cameras and broader app access. Commodore is asking whether some people will pay a similar price for fewer distractions and a more controlled digital experience.
The launch comes as interest grows in devices that reduce screen time without cutting users off from modern conveniences entirely. The Callback is aimed at people who still need basic connectivity but want a phone that makes constant scrolling less accessible by design.
The timing may also speak to a broader health-conscious turn in American culture, as screen time, mental health, and digital addiction have become part of the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/iowa-maha-bill-screen-time-advisory-warning.html">Make America Healthy Again movement</a>. Commodore’s Callback debuts with a simple answer to the problem: a phone that makes endless scrolling harder by design.

Close-up of a woman’s finger using a mobile phone

Retro Brand Revives Flip Phone To Take On Smartphone Addiction. But It’s Not Cheap.

cell phones

Technology

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday that the federal government unconstitutionally applied a gun restriction law to a Texas man who regularly used marijuana, narrowing the reach of the same <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-unanimously-limits-use-gun-law-used-prosecute-hunter-biden">federal statute</a> that was used in the prosecution of Hunter Biden.
In <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1234_g2bh.pdf">United States v. Hemani</a>, the Court held that prosecutors violated the Second Amendment when they charged Ali Hemani under a federal law prohibiting firearm possession by unlawful users of controlled substances.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, emphasized that the ruling was limited and did not eliminate the government’s ability to disarm dangerous individuals, addicts, or people actively under the influence.
“We do not address efforts to ban addicts, or those presently intoxicated, from possessing a firearm,” Gorsuch wrote.
Hunter Biden was convicted in June 2024 before his father, President Joe Biden, pardoned him. &#8220;Those prosecuted under the law can face up to 15 years in prison and a permanent ban on owning firearms,&#8221; per <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-backs-marijuana-users-challenge-restriction-gun-ownershi-rcna266931">NBC News</a>.
The case centered on Hemani, a 27-year-old man who admitted to smoking marijuana approximately every other day. FBI agents later found a handgun in his home that he said he kept for self-defense.
Prosecutors argued that historical restrictions on so-called “habitual drunkards” justified modern restrictions on firearm ownership by illegal drug users. The Court disagreed.
“The government’s analogy fails under every measure it asks us to consider,” Gorsuch wrote. “The historical laws on which it relies targeted different kinds of people, did so for different reasons, and operated in different ways.”
According to the Court, historical laws focused on people whose substance abuse rendered them incapable of managing their lives. The modern federal statute broadly covers regular drug users regardless of whether they pose a threat or not.
Gorsuch also warned that the government’s interpretation could surpass marijuana users.
Under the government’s theory, he wrote, the law could apply to “a college student who routinely uses a friend’s Adderall to cram for exams” or “a husband who regularly takes his wife’s prescription Ambien to sleep.”
The Court noted that prosecutors never alleged Hemani was addicted to marijuana, used a firearm while intoxicated, threatened anyone, or posed a danger to himself or others.
The ruling drew praise from Second Amendment advocates.
<a href="https://judicialnetwork.com/">Judicial Crisis Network</a> President Carrie Severino <a href="https://x.com/JCNSeverino/status/2067611106579718494">called the decision</a> a significant affirmation of constitutional protections.
“Can habitual drug users be disarmed? The Supreme Court, looking to history and tradition *unanimously* says no in United States v. Hemani,” Severino wrote on X. “This case inspired strange bedfellows like pro-drug organizations allying with gun rights groups — and so perhaps it’s not surprising that it’s also a case where Justices Thomas and Jackson can agree.”
Severino also noted that the Court’s decision relied heavily on the historical tradition framework that has become central to recent Second Amendment cases.
The ruling carries additional significance because the same federal statute, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF13195">18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3)</a>, played a central role in the prosecution of Hunter Biden, who was convicted in 2024 of illegally possessing a firearm while using illegal drugs.
However, the Court stressed that Thursday’s decision was narrowly focused on Hemani’s circumstances and did not invalidate the statute altogether.
In a separate opinion, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, agreed with the outcome and argued that the government simply failed to demonstrate that Hemani resembled the severely impaired individuals historically subject to firearm restrictions.
The justices repeatedly emphasized that the ruling does not prevent the government from restricting firearm possession by dangerous individuals, addicts, felons, or people shown to pose a genuine threat.
Still, the unanimous ruling marks another major Second Amendment decision from a Court that continues to require the government to justify firearm restrictions through the nation’s historical tradition of gun regulation.

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Leona Salinas