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People cross the street when they see my American Bully

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People cross the street when they see my American Bully

When I was 44 years old, I began to grow frustrated at not being able to find a loyal partner. I’d previously been in several failed relationships and marriages. I remembered that I was happiest when I was single with my first pit bull, Bane, who was a rescue dog.

But Bane didn’t stay with me for long. In 2020, I rented my home and moved in with my elderly parents, who hate dogs. They wanted me to remain single due to the financial losses I’d faced because of my failed marriages, so they agreed to let me get a family dog.

I really wanted a pit bull as I never had a better pet than Bane. I heard that the American XL Bully was similar to a pit bull as they are bred from the American Staffordshire and American pit bull terrier, as well as the bulldog. I read that some dog owners tried to breed the aggressive nature out of the pit bull to make a more family dog.

In December of 2021, I went to a breeder and they had one American XL Bully left. That’s when I met Ruben. The moment I saw him, I loved him and spoiled him as if he were my own son or daughter. I adopted Ruben when he was two months old, he was great with both of my children.

I made the mistake of being too affectionate with Ruben and not putting him in his own crate, so he is very attached to me. Now that he is fully grown, he has been such a blessing—I have been single for the last two years and am happy with having my children and Ruben around.

He loves my children, although he is too affectionate, my son does get angry that he gets licked too much! Ruben never leaves my side, and he is good with the neighbors and small dogs as well as all women and children.

Ruben gets along with most men but is wary of big dogs and some men. He does not bark much but is naturally protective but not aggressive at all. Ruben has never come close to biting any human or dog.

Some people cross the street when they see Ruben. One neighbor suggested that I be careful because “these dogs are dangerous” but I did not say anything. Over time, after getting to know Ruben, my neighbor really liked him and she now lets her son play with him.

I love Ruben as I love my children, I almost never leave him alone as he hates being alone. Ruben is a bit spoiled, as he was hand-fed till recently!

It is my firm opinion that there are no evil dog breeds, just evil people who teach dogs evil behavior. Dogs are as innocent as children are and will learn good and evil from their owners. It is wrong to punish dogs for human mistakes.

My son always wants to hold Ruben’s leash when we take him for a walk. He just turned six and argues he is a big boy now. I never let him, because Ruben pulls very hard; if he sees a rabbit or squirrel, he runs toward it and is hard to control for a child. I don’t think he would hurt another animal, but if he is not on a leash another animal might start a fight with him and I don’t know what would happen, so as a responsible owner, I keep him on a leash.

I am worried that American Bullies may be banned in Canada because of the attacks in the U.K., but personally, I don’t care what law they pass, no one will touch my dog. I will gladly give my life for my children and my dog, who I love as I love my children.

Pankaj Bedi, also known as Paul, is the owner of an American Bully called Ruben, who he adopted in 2021.

All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

Do you have a unique experience or personal story to share? Email the My Turn team at myturn@newsweek.com

Dog gets going away party after 1,129 days in shelter: "Everybody" cried

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Dog gets going away party after 1,129 days in shelter: "Everybody" cried

A shelter dog got his happy ending over the weekend after spending 1,129 days at a shelter waiting for his forever home.

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), 3.1 million dogs are surrendered to animal shelters in the United States each year, but only 2 million are adopted over the same period.

Kane, an American Pit Bull Terrier mix, spent more than three years at the Humane Society for Boone County in central Indiana before finding his forever home with one of the shelter’s volunteers. The shelter’s staff and volunteers were so thrilled with Kane’s happy ending that they even showered him with gifts at a going-away party.

Shelter volunteer Betsy Smith and her husband Jeremy McFadden adopted Kane and took him home on Friday.

Kane received a joyous send-off at the shelter Friday evening where volunteers gifted him new toys, dog-friendly doughnuts, gummies and cake. Some volunteers even held signs to honor his exit. The signs shared messages that included, “You can’t buy love, but you can adopt it,” “I’m going home!” and “It wasn’t my fault.”

Kane arrived at the shelter as a stray in 2020. A January post on Facebook advertising Kane as one of the shelter’s adoptable dogs shared that he knew basic obedience, enjoyed hikes and cuddling, and that he needed to be the only pet in the home.

Humane Society for Boone County Executive Director Susan Austin told Newsweek that Kane was the shelter’s longest resident.

“I couldn’t have handpicked a better couple to take him,” she said of Smith and McFadden.

Kane’s exit was bittersweet though, as many of the shelter’s staff and volunteers had helped care for him for years. “You could see the relief and sadness all at once,” Austin said. “There were tears from everybody.”

“We’re not quite ready to see another dog in that run yet,” Austin added, speaking through tears. “I came in early today, and it was really odd not seeing him in his run.”

Kane’s personality has changed since he left the shelter. His relief is obvious, Smith told Newsweek.

“Since he’s come home, already he has shown some changes,” Smith said, who worked with Kane for two years when she volunteered at the shelter. “You can feel his release of anxiety and stress. He’s started making a sound I’ve never heard him make before. He has happy grunts almost like a little piggie. It’s precious. He just seems to be living his best life.”

Earlier this month, Smith shared a Facebook update alerting her followers that it was Kane’s 1,117th day at the shelter. She then updated the post over the weekend to share the news that she and McFadden had decided to adopt Kane.

“On day 1,129 he is coming home to us, his family. A family that already loves him and accepts him exactly as he is, and will build their lives and home around his needs and hopefully his happiest dreams!” Smith wrote.

A GoFundMe page has since been established for Kane to help Smith and McFadden acquire all the necessary items to make the dog’s transition an easy one.

As of Monday afternoon, the GoFundMe had raised $3,000.

“I think we all knew that Betsy has been Kane’s person for some time now,” the GoFundMe post said. “Who better than to have his most trusted and loving human be the one to give him a ‘new leash on life.'”

Mystery as 150-year-old boat containing shoes found near bridge

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Mystery as 150-year-old boat containing shoes found near bridge

A mysterious shipwreck dating back 150 years, containing several artifacts including shoes, has been discovered near a bridge in Florida.

The near complete shipwreck was discovered near the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, buried under 8 to 10 feet of sediment, during construction works, the Florida Department of Transportation reported.

The 20-foot-long wreck was carefully extracted by archeologists, who discovered multiple artifacts onboard, including a left shoe made of leather. So far, it is believed to have come from the 1800s. But no other details are clear.

“We had no indication that the vessel was present,” Ian Pawn, archeologist at the Florida Department of Transportation, told Newsweek. “The vessel was buried under nearly 8-10 ft of sediment and later St. Augustine development, such as the eastward extension of the seawall, fill, and portions of the early 20th century trolley station. A large palm wood piling was even driven through the vessel (likely for tying off ships), indicating that the vessel was not known even in [the] later 19th century/early 20th century.”

Pawn said that, without identifying markings, it is difficult to know exactly where the ship came from.

“A great deal of research still has to be done, and we may never know these exact details,” he said.

Archeologists do know however, that it was likely a sailing boat. While the boat’s deck and hull was “mostly well preserved” no mast was found.

“The vessel is what is known as vernacular, which means it was likely built locally, with local materials, for domestic use. The artifacts, many located atop the buried vessel, helped confirm the initial dating of the vessel,” Pawn said. “Finds included leather shoes (including different shoes for left and right, a 19th century innovation), coins (one dated to 1869), coconut halves that were likely used as cups, and a portion of an oil-fired lantern.”

At the moment, archaeologists are working to “stabilize the vessel.” Pawn said that when an object is found “this well preserved” archeologists only have a short amount of time to extract it. This is because the drying of the wood will begin the decaying process.

“The boat was disassembled, plank by plank, and removed, with great care to keep each portion wet,” Pawn said. “The pieces will be observed in wet storage to stabilize as we determine future preservation effort. We will be working closely with archaeologists and the City of St. Augustine to find a permanent home for this unique find.”

Founded in 1565, St. Augustine prides itself on being “the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European and African-American origin in the United States.”

Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about this shipwreck? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.

Club uses video of Israeli soldiers being beaten for Palestine fundraiser

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Club uses video of Israeli soldiers being beaten for Palestine fundraiser

A New York City club is facing backlash for a video to promote a Palestinian fundraiser that contained footage of Hamas attacking Israel.

The End in Brooklyn shared the video on its social media accounts to publicize the Sunday night event it called “Intifada Fundraver.” The clip showed footage from the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including of Hamas fighters using bulldozers to tear down security fencing and protesters pulling Israeli soldiers from tanks and beating them.

Newsweek could not independently verify the contents of the footage, but outlets such as The Jewish Chronicle have said the soldiers in the video were beaten to death.

During the October 7 assault, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest ever airstrikes on Gaza. As of Monday, more than 4,000 people had died in the conflict, with at least 1,400 people killed in Israel and approximately 2,670 people killed in Gaza, the Associated Press reported.

The End’s online promotion for its “Intifada Fundraver,” which has since been deleted, said proceeds from the event would be donated to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and the Medical Aid for Palestine.

However, the use of the Hamas footage has been sharply criticized by the Anti-Defamation League of New York/New Jersey as well as by Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat.

“A NYC club known as The End is holding an ‘Intifada Fundraver,’ glorifying the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” Torres wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. “In promoting the event, The End NYC Instagram account features a video of Hamas terrorists bulldozing the Gaza Strip border wall before carrying out the bloodiest terrorist attack in the history of Israel.”

Torres added: “There is a deep rot of antisemitism in American culture that cannot be ignored and must be confronted at every turn. No more turning a blind eye.”

Newsweek reached out to The End via the club’s Instagram account for comment.

Meanwhile, The End posted a brief statement on its Instagram account that said “it’s sad to see the nature of this event be twisted by politicians and social media. This is a peaceful fundraiser for the Palestinian children’s relief fund & medical aid for Palestine.

“We are not here to promote violence of any kind. Be respectful, be smart, free Palestine.”

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine also condemned The End’s promotional video on Sunday as “straight up glorification of a massacre” in a message posted on X, which elicited a response from Julia Salazar, a New York state senator in Brooklyn and Queens.

“+ This is in our district, and I personally would love it if people would stop inciting fascists to come out to my district and counter-protest some party at a club that was promoted with very stupid and insensitive messaging,” Salazar wrote.

Girls abducted from Burger King are in "extreme danger"

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Girls abducted from Burger King are in "extreme danger"

Two little girls kidnapped from a Burger King on Sunday lunchtime are feared to be in “extreme danger,” as police searching for the children have named the suspected abductor.

An Amber Alert was issued after 4-year-old Kylann Harper and 11-year-old Kylie Horne were taken from the fast food restaurant at 7301 Veterans Parkway in Columbus, Georgia, shortly after 11:50 a.m. Authorities say the children are believed to be in the custody of Mikaela Harrell, 49. They did not reveal whether the woman was known to the children; Newsweek has reached out to Columbus Police Department by email seeking further information and comment.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), there were 359,094 reports of missing children last year—although it should be noted that some of those numbers are repeat entries for children who ran away multiple times. Whereas hundreds of thousands of children and juveniles are reported missing each year, analysis by Reuters suggests that the vast majority (more than 95 percent) are runaways who are found relatively quickly. Abduction by a non-custodial parent or a relative accounts for most of the remaining cases, and just 0.1 percent are reported as being abducted by a stranger.

Harrell is said to have driven the children away in a 2011 blue/gray Honda CRV SUV with a Georgia tag of TGS7835. She was thought to be heading towards Ocilla, Georgia.

Detectives later issued new information, saying the trio are now thought to be traveling in a 2004 Gold Lexus with a Georgia tag of SBZ8631. Officers published photos of Harrell, the girls, and the vehicles involved in the suspected abduction on social media in a bid to help them find the children.

The NCMEC issued Amber Alert posters for both girls, saying they are “believed to be in extreme danger.”

Local news channel Fox 5 Atlanta reported that another woman—who the outlet named as the girls’ mother Kaila Spires—was also considered a suspect in the case. Spires’s photograph was included in the NCMEC missing persons’ posters for the children, although no mention was made of her role in their disappearance. The connection between Spires and Harrell remains unclear, and police made no mention of Spires in their social media alerts as they appealed for the public’s help to find the children. Newsweek is seeking further clarification from police.

Kylie is described as a white girl with straight, shoulder-length, brown hair and brown eyes. She is 4′9″ and weighs 75 pounds. She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, gray sweatpants and white Croc shoes.

Kylann is described as a white girl with red hair and green eyes. She is 3′4″ and weighs 35 pounds. She was last seen wearing a long sleeve shirt and pants, although no further description of her outfit was available.

Harrell is described as a white woman, who has straight, brown hair and brown eyes. She is 5′7″ and weighs 158 pounds.

Anyone with information about Harrell or the girls’ whereabouts should contact the Columbus Police Department on 706-987-0994.

Russia has lost "3,000" personnel during costly Avdiivka advance: Ukraine

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Russia has lost "3,000" personnel during costly Avdiivka advance: Ukraine

The attempted Russian offensive on the fortified eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka appears to have been a costly failure for Moscow, with the Ukrainian military claiming to have killed thousands of Moscow’s troops and destroyed hundreds of pieces of military equipment in several days of intense fighting.

The spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern force grouping—known as the Tavriisk Group—said this weekend that Russian offensive activity around the strategic Donetsk city had eased after last week’s failed encirclement effort there.

“We’ve destroyed a lot of their equipment, so now the enemy continues to push forward with infantry,” Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun said. “These can also be termed ‘meat grinder assaults.'”

Shtupun said defending Ukrainian forces have destroyed more than 300 pieces of Russian military equipment and killed around 3,000 enemy soldiers in the Avdiivka area since Moscow’s forces began pushing a new assault effort there on October 9. Kyiv said its troops have repelled more than 15 Russian attacks in the area in the past week.

Newsweek has not been able to verify these figures.

Colonel Dmytro Lysyuk—the commander of Ukraine’s 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade—said he sees little hope for the Russian operation. “The Russians should have realized this a long time ago,” Lysyuk said, as quoted by The Guardian. “They have not managed to achieve even tactical success.”

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Sunday that Moscow’s troops are continuing operations “aimed at encircling Avdiivka,” but that the assault force has “yet to make further gains amid a likely decreasing tempo of Russian operations in the area.”

“Both Ukrainian military observers and Russian sources stated that Russian forces did not achieve their desired immediate breakthrough, and Russian forces faced initial high losses and a likely slower than anticipated rate of advance,” the ISW bulletin read.

The attack on Avdiivka came as a Russian effort to seize back battlefield momentum after four months of defense against Kyiv’s counteroffensive operation in the southeast of the country. Though the initial drive seems to have failed, the ISW suggested that Russian troops will look to exploit the relatively meager gains won around the flanks of the city.

“Russian forces will likely continue offensive operations at this decreased tempo in the near term, however, and will remain a threat to Ukrainian forces in the area, despite being unlikely to achieve a decisive breakthrough or encircle Avdiivka at this time,” it said.

“Any decrease in the tempo of Russian offensive operations may be the result of a temporary adjustment to the tactical situation, and Russian forces may intensify their attempts to encircle Avdiivka in the coming days.”

Still, the ISW suggested there is little hope of imminent Russian success. “Russian forces are unlikely to make significant breakthroughs or cut off Ukrainian forces in the settlement in the near term, and potential advances at scale would likely require a significant and protracted commitment of personnel and materiel,” the think tank said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, appears to be downplaying the significance of the operation. In a Sunday television interview, the president said his troops were engaged in an “active defense” in the Avdiivka area, as well as in the eastern Kupiansk region—where Russian forces have been on the offensive for months—and in Zaporizhzhia oblast where Ukraine’s counteroffensive is now focused.

Putin leads China-friendly coalition at Xi’s geopolitical club in Beijing

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Putin leads China-friendly coalition at Xi’s geopolitical club in Beijing

Beijing is set to host Russian President Vladimir Putin to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes leaders from “China-friendly” countries.

Putin has taken the lead in praising BRI in an interview with Chinese state media.

“In my opinion, this is the key difference between the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Xi Jinping and certain projects promoted by other countries with colonialist overtones,” Putin told state broadcaster China Media Group’s Leaders Talk program.

BRI is China’s $1 trillion infrastructure funding program which provides loans to countries for building roads, railways and other types of infrastructure. BRI is considered an alternative to U.S.-led financial institutions such as World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Representatives from 130 countries and 30 international organizations are set to participate in the forum starting Tuesday. Some countries are sending junior ministers or diplomats instead of their heads of state.

Meanwhile, Beijing isn’t leaving any stone unturned to tell the story of BRI as it turns 10. Xi wants to turn the signature infrastructure project into an exclusive geopolitical club.

For Xi, the BRI projects are not merely roads and bridges leading somewhere but a projection of Chinese power in aspirational Beijing-centered world order.

“Standing at a new historical starting point, the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative faces important opportunities and an increasingly complex international environment,” the Chinese Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said.

“By unswervingly advancing the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and striving to build a road to peace, prosperity, openness, green, innovation, and civilization, we will surely be able to contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, the government’s messaging celebrates the initiative and signals Beijing’s new geopolitical heft in the world.

The hashtag “Belt and Road Initiative decade” was the number one trend on Monday, with more than 360 million views. The BRI was given special coverage across Chinese social media platforms and search engines in a push to create a positive environment before the summit.

But the initiative faces geopolitical headwinds. Beijing is trying to rebrand the BRI into a “smaller and greener” initiative as scrutiny about its lending practices has grown in its 10 years.

One Chinese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Bloomberg that BRI almost died, mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic and China’s economic problems. But it has suffered other significant setbacks despite the growing global reach of its projects from across Latin America to Asia, so Beijing hopes the anniversary summit will breathe fresh life into the initiative.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was supposed to be the crowning achievement of the BRI, but after investing $65 billion, Islamabad’s economic woes have only grown.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggested in September that Rome may leave the BRI in the coming months. However, the decision has yet to be made.

Another tragic story is that of Sri Lanka. According to experts, the island nation took unsustainable debt levels from Beijing, which may have led to the country going bankrupt and seeing a government collapse. Sri Lanka owes about 52 percent of its external debt to Beijing, a portion of which will be covered under a debt restructuring deal.

The U.S. will watch Beijing’s moves as Xi tries to set the triumphalist tone for the BRI’s future.

“As the BRI marks its tenth anniversary, the legacy it leaves is a cautionary tale of lofty rhetoric and unwelcome results,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “China’s BRI casts long shadows of debt and dependency. When the bill comes due, China leaves developing countries dangling in a sea of debt, with their sovereignty in doubt.”

Xi and Putin skipped the G20 Summit in New Delhi last month. Xi’s decision has been widely seen as Beijing’s slow shift away from global institutions led by the U.S. while forging its alternative international forums.

The forum will take place in the shadow of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as Beijing has sought to push for a two-state solution.

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., by email for comment.

Judge Chutkan clips Donald Trump’s wings

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Judge Chutkan clips Donald Trump’s wings

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has clipped former President Donald Trump‘s wings as she imposed a partial gag order on Monday, barring Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and court staff involved in his federal election interference case, but one expert told Newsweek it’s all about balance.

Chutkan announced at the end of Monday’s hearing that she would impose a “narrowly tailored” gag order against Trump in the federal election interference case at the request of prosecutors, who cited the former president’s threatening comments about the key players in the courtroom as reason to restrict his speech on the case.

This comes after Trump was recently hit with another gag order in Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial, a separate case in which the former president took to Truth Social to claim that a New York law clerk in Judge Arthur Engoron‘s court is romantically involved with Senator Chuck Schumer.

As part of the partial gag order, Chutkan said she would not impose restrictions on Trump’s statements about Washington, D.C., and its residence, nor on statements criticizing the government or the Justice Department—but is barring Trump from making or posting any statements publicly targeting special counsel Jack Smith, his staff, as well as court staff and personnel.

However, if the former president does not comply Chutkan said she would consider “sanctions” if she observes any violations.

“Mr. Trump may still vigorously seek public support as a presidential candidate, debate policies and people related to that candidacy, criticize the current administration and assert his belief that this prosecution is politically motivated,” Judge Chutkan said. “But those critical First Amendment freedoms do not allow him to launch a pre-trial smear campaign against participating government staff, their families and foreseeable witnesses.”

While gag orders are not uncommon in trial cases, Trump’s ongoing campaign and status as the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election has led the former president to allege the gag order to be politically motivated.

Trump has been known to take to his Truth Social account to often discredit allegations and accusations against him while simultaneously calling out and accusing others of being against him.

However, law professor and political scientist Anthony Michael Kreis told Newsweek the imposed gag order is there to protect individuals involved in the case, while also balancing Trump’s freedom of speech.

“The order is tailored to protect the administration of justice by shielding individuals involved in the case from Trump’s attacks while still permitting Trump to criticize the prosecution in broad terms. Judge Chutkan’s strong but limited order tries to balance the interests of the judicial process’ integrity against Trump’s free speech interests, which is a prudent measure given Trump’s penchant for going after people involved in the cases against him,” Kreis said in a statement emailed to Newsweek.

In response to the gap order, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene took to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize the order saying, “DC Courts have now become the Ministry of Truth.”

While Palm Beach County State Attorney, Dave Aronberg told Newsweek the order is fair, but that the question is whether it will be enforced.

“Judge Chutkan’s order is fair. It balances Trump’s First Amendment rights as a candidate for President with his obligations as a criminal defendant not to intimidate witnesses or imperil the prosecutors and court personnel. The big question is whether it will be enforced if and when the former President violates it. All the gag orders in the world mean nothing if they aren’t enforced,” Aronberg said in a statement emailed to Newsweek.

Chutkan has scheduled Trump’s trial to begin on March 4 and emphasized that the date would not change.

Newsweek has reached out to other legal analysts for additional comment.

Israel "cares more" about Palestinians than Hamas does—Israeli diplomat

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Israel "cares more" about Palestinians than Hamas does—Israeli diplomat

An Israeli diplomat sought to draw a clear distinction between Palestinian civilians and the militant group Hamas on Monday as her country prepares for a large-scale ground offensive that observers fear could heap further misery upon millions who cannot leave the besieged Gaza Strip.

“I want to assure you that Israel cares more about the Palestinian population than Hamas ever did,” Maya Yaron, Israel’s envoy to Taipei, said in an interview with Taiwanese broadcaster Sanlih, in which she said the Islamist group was using Gazans as a “human shield.”

Israel does not deliberately target civilians and gives prior notice before airstrikes on Hamas targets, Yaron said.

“The Israeli citizens that were murdered on Saturday morning got zero notice. Zero,” she said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of war in Israel after a surprise attack in the early hours of October 7, led by pro-Palestinian Hamas militants, became the deadliest in the country’s history. Subsequent Israeli airstrikes into Gaza have brought the death toll on both sides to more than 3,000, according to the Associated Press.

Amid the fighting, international aid groups and countries including the United States remain concerned about the welfare of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, who have been left with little, if any, food, electricity and medicine after Israel cut off critical supplies.

Israel has called up 360,000 army reservists who are now undergoing “intensive training for this war,” Yaron said.

“Hamas is the target,” she said, not Palestinian civilians.

“The reason why we’re referring to this not as another round of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is because we have a very direct distinction between Palestinian civilians, the Palestinian Authority who governs the West Bank, and the Palestinian Hamas terrorist organization who rules Gaza since 2007,” said Yaron.

“This is a terrorist organization that has on its charter the declaration to annihilate the state of Israel, and to fight all Jews around the world,” she said.

Yaron has been head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei—a de facto embassy in the absence of official diplomatic ties with Taiwan—for just over two months.

She has found more sympathy from the Taiwanese public than has her counterpart in the Chinese capital Beijing, where an Israeli embassy worker was wounded in a recent knife attack, the motives for which remain unclear.

The Taiwanese government offered its full backing to Israel, quickly condemning Hamas for what Taipei called “terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.”

Taiwan’s military leadership, which has for decades been planning for a possible invasion by neighboring China, established a task force last week to study the unfolding Israel-Hamas war for applicable lessons.

Chiu Kuo-cheng, Taiwan’s defense minister, said the island had already learned the importance of intelligence work in crisis prevention.

In a separate interview with the local station Formosa Television, which also aired on Monday, Yaron said the situation across the Taiwan Strait was different from that in the Middle East, but underscored the importance of self-defense, according to the channel’s reporting.

“This is our only country. If we don’t have [it], then we have nowhere else to go. This is for us to fight,” she said.

On Sunday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the Middle East was “on the verge of the abyss.” He called on Hamas to release hostages “without conditions,” and for Israel to ensure the “rapid and unimpeded access” of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

Also on Sunday, in an interview on CBS‘ 60 Minutes, President Joe Biden described the potential eradication of Hamas as “a necessary requirement,” but said it would be “a big mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza.

“I’m confident that Israel is going to act under…the rules of war. There’s a standard that democratic institutions and countries go by,” Biden said.

Earlier, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog, told CNN that his country had “no desire to occupy or reoccupy Gaza.”

Mike Lindell representing himself in court could spectacularly backfire

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Mike Lindell representing himself in court could spectacularly backfire

Mike Lindell’s decision to represent himself in a multimillion-dollar defamation suit is a big mistake and could cost him dearly, a prominent trial lawyer has said.

The Trump supporter and businessman, who is struggling financially amid a sea of legal troubles, is set to defend himself in the lawsuit taken by the companies that supplied the voting machines for the 2020 presidential election.

Lindell claimed they had rigged the election for President Biden, a conspiracy theory repeatedly rejected in court and by independent experts.

His long-term lawyers, Parker Daniels Kibort, withdrew from the defamation cases brought by Dominion Voting Systems, its competitor Smartmatic, and Eric Coomer, a former Dominion employee whom Lindell publicly accused of rigging the election. Parker Daniels said it was owed millions of dollars by the businessman, as reported by The New York Times.

Neama Rahmani, president of the West Coast Trial Lawyers law firm, said that Lindell is making a major error in representing himself.

“Lindell is making a mistake. He’s not a lawyer and has never tried a case. Dominion’s attorneys are going to run circles around him.

“Adding the fact that he has no filter and isn’t careful about what he says, which got him here in the first place, he’s likely to turn off the judge and jury. This all has the makings of a large judgement against Lindell,” he said.

Lindell recently told Newsweek that he hasn’t been able to pay his legal team for the past couple of months.

“These lawyers were courageous,” Lindell said. “They took on a case where every other lawyer in this country is afraid to take on any case against the electronic voting machines and the evil that’s out there. This was a great group of attorneys… and they need to get paid; and if there’s no money to pay them, they can’t keep going,” he said.

Newsweek has emailed MyPillow for comment.

Lindell does not have a good track record of keeping his cool when dealing with opposing lawyers in the defamation case.

He repeatedly and angrily lashing out at lawyers for former Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer in multiple depositions this year, once over an attorney’s suggestion that Lindell fielded “lumpy pillow calls” and on another occasion he called one of the lawyers an “a**hole.”

Lawyers for Coomer filed a motion last month asking a judge to sanction Lindell and force him to be deposed in court after three depositions in the case quickly went off the rails.

In the first deposition, on March 8, Lindell exploded in rage and hurled insults toward Cain after he suggested that MyPillow had received “lumpy pillow calls.”

“No, they’re not lumpy pillows, that’s not what they call on,” Lindell said. “When you say lumpy pillows, now you’re an a***hole, you got that? You’re an a**hole is what you are!”

Lindell’s lawyer briefly attempted to intervene but was cut off by his client saying, “No, he’s an a**hole, he’s an ambulance-chasing a**hole!”

“That’s what you are,” Lindell continued, addressing Cain. “Lumpy pillows, kiss my a**! Put that in your book … Nobody calls because of a lumpy pillow.”

“Obviously you don’t have a My Pillow, too,” he added. “You don’t, do you?”

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