US Bombs Islamic State Targets in Nigeria after Group Targeted Christians

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US Bombs Islamic State Targets in Nigeria after Group Targeted Christians

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump said Thursday night that he’d launched a “powerful and deadly” U.S. strike against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the persecution of Christians.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” the president posted on his social media site.

His post did not include information about how the strike was carried out, nor what effects it had. But the U.S. Africa Command posted on X that it had “conducted a strike at the request of Nigerian authorities in Soboto State killing multiple ISIS terrorists.”

“Lethal strikes against ISIS demonstrate the strength of our military and our commitment to eliminating terrorist threats against Americans at home and abroad,” its post said.

The Defense Department did not immediately answer requests for comment.

In response to Trump’s previous criticisms, Nigeria’s government says that people of many faiths, not just Christians, have suffered attacks at the hands of extremists groups.

Still, last month, Trump said he’d ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria following the claims of Christian persecution. The State Department has also announced it would restrict visas for Nigerians and their family members involved in mass killings and violence against Christians in the West African country.

And the U.S. recently designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act.

“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” Trump wrote in his Christmas night post.

He said that U.S. defense officials had “executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing” and added that “our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper.”

Nigeria’s population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims. The country has long faced insecurity from various fronts including the Boko Haram extremist group, which seeks to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law and has also targeted Muslims it deems not Muslim enough.

But attacks in Nigeria often have varying motives. There are religiously motivated ones targeting both Christians and Muslims, clashes between farmers and herders over dwindling resources, communal rivalries, secessionist groups and ethnic clashes.

The U.S. security footprint has diminished in Africa, where military partnerships have either been scaled down or canceled. U.S. forces likely would have to be drawn from other parts of the world for any military intervention in Nigeria.

Trump has nonetheless kept up the pressure as Nigeria faced a series of attacks on schools and churches in violence that experts and residents say targets both Christians and Muslims.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted Thursday night on X: “The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end.”

Hegseth said that U.S. military forces are “always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas” and added, “More to come…Grateful for Nigerian government support & cooperation” before signing off, “Merry Christmas!”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

Trump Warns Against Infiltration by a ‘Bad Santa’

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Trump Warns Against Infiltration by a ‘Bad Santa’

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump marked Christmas Eve by quizzing children calling in about what presents they were excited about receiving, while promising to not let a “bad Santa” infiltrate the country and even suggesting that a stocking full of coal may not be so bad.

Vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the president and first lady Melania Trump participated in the tradition of talking to youngsters dialing into the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which playfully tracks Santa’s progress around the globe.

“We want to make sure that Santa is being good. Santa’s a very good person,” Trump said while speaking to kids ages 4 and 10 in Oklahoma. “We want to make sure that he’s not infiltrated, that we’re not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa.”

He didn’t elaborate.

Trump has often marked Christmases past with criticisms of his political enemies, including in 2024, when he posted, “Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics.” During his first term, Trump wrote online early on Dec. 24, 2017, targeting a top FBI official he believed was biased against him, as well as the news media.

Shortly after wrapping up Wednesday’s Christmas Eve calls, in fact, he returned to that theme, posting: “Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly.”

But Trump was in a jovial mood while talking with the kids. He even said at one point that he “could do this all day long” but likely would have to get back to more pressing matters like efforts to quell the fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine.

When an 8-year-old from North Carolina, asked if Santa would be mad if no one leaves cookies out for him, Trump said he didn’t think so, “But I think he’ll be very disappointed.”

“You know, Santa’s — he tends to be a little bit on the cherubic side. You know what cherubic means? A little on the heavy side,” Trump joked. “I think Santa would like some cookies.”

The president and first lady Melania Trump sat side-by-side and took about a dozen calls between them. At one point, while his wife was on the phone and Trump was waiting to be connected to another call, he noted how little attention she was paying to him: “She’s able to focus totally, without listening.”

Asked by an 8-year-old girl in Kansas what she’d like Santa to bring, the answer came back, “Uh, not coal.”

“You mean clean, beautiful coal?” Trump replied, evoking a favored campaign slogan he’s long used when promising to revive domestic coal production.

“I had to do that, I’m sorry,” the president added, laughing and even causing the first lady, who was on a separate call, to turn toward him and grin.

“Coal is clean and beautiful. Please remember that, at all costs,” Trump said. “But you don’t want clean, beautiful coal, right?”

“No,” the caller responded, saying she’d prefer a Barbie doll, clothes and candy.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

US Moves Special Operations Aircraft to the Caribbean as It Escalates Against Venezuela

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US Moves Special Operations Aircraft to the Caribbean as It Escalates Against Venezuela

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) The US has moved a number of special operations aircraft and multiple cargo planes carrying troops to the Caribbean this week, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, as the Trump administration continues to escalate against Venezuela.

The report, citing US officials and flight-tracking data, said at least 10 CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft assigned to special operations forces flew into the region Monday night from Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. C-17 cargo planes from Fort Stewart in Georgia and Fort Campbell, which is located on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, also arrived in Puerto Rico.

The latest deployments come as the US has begun enforcing a blockade on Venezuela that so far has involved the seizure of two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, a major escalation in the US’s effort to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

A US Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft approaches the flight deck of Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima during flight operations while underway in the Caribbean Sea, December 3, 2025 (US Navy photo)

“He can do whatever he wants, it’s alright, whatever he wants to do,” President Trump said on Monday, referring to Maduro. “If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough.”

Also on Monday, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that Maduro needs to be “gone,” one of the most explicit statements from a Trump administration official about the desire for regime change. “We’re not just interdicting these ships, but we’re also sending a message around the world that the illegal activity that Maduro’s participating in cannot stand, he needs to be gone,” she said.

Noem announced the second tanker seizure over the weekend, involving the capture of a ship carrying Venezuelan oil owned by a Chinese company. The US tanker seizures have been strongly condemned by China as a severe violation of international law.

Trump officials have tried to frame the tanker seizures as some sort of law enforcement operation, but the US has no legal right to capture ships in international waters regardless of whether the vessels are under US sanctions. Trump has said the US plans to “keep” the oil and the tankers, which amounts to outright theft.

Enforcing a naval blockade against a country is traditionally considered an act of war, which would require authorization by Congress under the US Constitution. Last week, the House voted on a War Powers Resolution meant to block Trump from launching a war with Venezuela without congressional authorization, but it failed in a vote of 211-213.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

 

Trump Says Ukraine Talks ‘Going Okay’

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Trump Says Ukraine Talks ‘Going Okay’

(Kyle Anzalone, Libertarian Institute) President Donald Trump said talks to end the Ukraine war were going “okay” after US officials met with Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

“The talks on Ukraine-Russia are going along. We are talking, the talks are going okay,” the President said on Monday. “I’ll do whatever I have to do. Everyone’s tired of that war.”

As a candidate, Trump made ending the war in Ukraine one of his top issues. However, he has been unable to get Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Putin to come to an agreement on several major issues.

Vice President JD Vance expressed pessimism that the US will be able to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He explained that one significant difference between the Russian and Ukrainian positions is the future of the Donbas.

“I think the Russians really want territorial control of the Donetsk,” he said. “The Ukrainians understandably see that as a major security problem, even as they privately acknowledge that eventually, they’ll probably lose Donetsk — but eventually could be 12 months from now, it could be longer than that.”

The Kremlin said “no breakthrough” was made during the three-day talks in Miami.

Kiev has attempted to put a positive spin on the talks. “We remain in constant contact with the United States and look forward to further collaboration,” President Zelensky said in his nightly statement on Tuesday. “We sense that America wants to reach a final agreement, and from our side, there is full cooperation.”

This article originally appeared at The Libertarian Institute.

ICE Agents Shoot at Van that Tried Running Them Over

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ICE Agents Shoot at Van that Tried Running Them Over

(Headline USA) Federal immigration agents shot at a vehicle that allegedly tried running them over on Wednesday morning during an enforcement and removal action, striking one person and injuring another, officials said.

A spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County Police Department said neither person had life-threatening injuries, and both were taken to the hospital.

Anne Arundel police responded to a report of a shooting involving federal agents at about 10:50 a.m. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were the only officials involved in the shooting, police said.

Preliminarily, police said the agents approached a white van, but the vehicle attempted to run them over. The agents fired at the van, which accelerated until coming to a stop in a wooded area, police said.

When asked for comment, Department of Homeland Security officials said both civilians involved in the altercation with ICE are in the U.S. illegally. They did not indicate whether either of the men had been arrested.

“Continued efforts to encourage illegal aliens and violent agitators to actively resist ICE will only lead to more violent incidents,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Anne Arundel police said they will investigate the shooting, while the FBI investigates the alleged assault on the agents and ICE conducts an internal investigation.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

WATCH: Report: Americans are Still Paying Off Credit Debt from Last Christmas

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WATCH: Report: Americans are Still Paying Off Credit Debt from Last Christmas

(, The Center Square) If your last-minute Christmas shopping requires a credit card, you are not alone.

According to a new WalletHub report, many Americans are still paying off credit card debt from last Christmas.

“What we found is that through the end of the third quarter 2025, we’re sitting at a credit card debt of $1.33 trillion,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo said. “And you’re looking at an average debt credit card debt per household of $11,019.”

Lupo says Americans are by nature a spending people. Not that that outlooks helps most people get ahead.

“Anyone that’s using government spending as an example on how to manage their own finances is foolish in the first place,” he continued. “And of course, people have that mentality. There are people out there saying, ‘Well, the government’s not responsible for their finances. Why should I be?'”

Lupo said part of the reason people are still digging themselves out of credit card debt is record inflation and wages not keeping up.

“They normally wouldn’t put on credit cards everyday expenses like gas, like groceries in some cases, also utilities,” he explained. “So, what happens is you carry that balance over to the next month and it’s accruing interest at an average interest rate of about 22 or 23%. Now that’s assuming that you have good credit. So, if you have less than good credit, there’s a chance that you’re paying on an interest rate much higher than that.”

Lupo said their recent surveys suggest Americans are spending less on average this year for holiday gifts than last year.

He recommends consolidating debt or transferring debt to lower interest credit cards if possible.

“Assuming that you have good credit in the first place, that’s an option,” Lupo said. “That’s the problem for a lot of people that get themselves in this situation and their credits shot and they don’t have those options of doing a balance transfer. And if you do qualify for debt consolidation loans or even balance transfer cards, you’re not going to get the best interest rates. So, it’s important that you have a good enough credit score when you apply.”

Holiday Horror: 65-Year-Old Lady Stabbed in Bookstore

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Holiday Horror: 65-Year-Old Lady Stabbed in Bookstore

(José Niño, Headline USA) A peaceful evening of browsing turned deadly when 65-year-old Rita B. Loncharich was fatally stabbed by a complete stranger while reading a magazine inside a Palm Beach Gardens bookstore just days before Christmas.

According to a WPTV report,  the horrifying incident unfolded around 7:53 p.m. on Monday, at the Barnes & Noble located at 11380 Legacy Avenue within the Legacy Place shopping center. Palm Beach Gardens Police Department officers rushed to the scene following reports of a stabbing and discovered Loncharich inside the store with a knife still lodged in her back, per CBS 12 News.

Despite immediate lifesaving measures by responding officers and emergency transport to a local hospital by Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue, Loncharich died during surgery that evening. In her final moments after the attack, she managed to call her husband on her cellphone to tell him she had been stabbed, authorities reported.

Antonio R. Moore, 40, now faces first-degree premeditated murder charges in connection with the slaying. ABC News reported that the suspect fled the scene immediately after the stabbing but was quickly tracked down by police officers who found him hiding in nearby woods approximately 1,500 feet from the bookstore. Multiple eyewitnesses and surveillance footage from inside the store aided in his identification and capture.

According to the arrest affidavit, Moore confessed to investigators that he had been sitting inside the Barnes & Noble charging his cellphone when he approached Loncharich and stabbed her in the back with a pocket knife. He acknowledged having no prior interaction with his victim and stated there was no motive whatsoever for the attack.

Per ABC News, Moore told police he experienced an “internal buildup” that triggered a “fight or flight response,” and that Loncharich was simply the closest person to him at that moment, investigators revealed. The suspect also recalled hearing his victim say “He stabbed me” and noted she appeared to be in shock from the assault.

According to the arrest report, Moore had arrived in Palm Beach Gardens approximately one week before the incident, traveling by bus from Georgia, and was experiencing homelessness. Per CBS12 News, Loncharich’s husband later told reporters that police informed him the alleged attacker was a mentally ill homeless person who had been living in the woods.

CBS12 reported that Moore was booked into Palm Beach County Jail at approximately 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday and is being held without bond. During his first court appearance on Wednesday before Judge Donald Tafel, the judge characterized the case as “tragic.”

Legacy Place shopping center released a statement expressing sadness over the “tragic death of a customer following an incident on property.” According to CBS 12, Barnes & Noble declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

FBI: Lyft Driver Terrorized by Escaped Georgia Inmates Before She Was Rescued in Florida

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FBI: Lyft Driver Terrorized by Escaped Georgia Inmates Before She Was Rescued in Florida

(Headline USA) Three inmates who escaped from a jail east of Atlanta, including a murder suspect, commandeered a terrified Lyft driver’s car to reach south Florida before she was rescued and they were captured, according to details revealed in court records.

The driver told FBI agents that the men used a fake name to order the ride, put a rope around her neck from behind her, dragged her into the backseat and threatened to kill her, according to a court affidavit filed late Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press.

The inmates were able to “compromise” a portion of a cell inside the DeKalb County Jail to make their escape, said DeKalb County Chief Deputy Temetris Atkins. He didn’t provide more specifics because jailers don’t want other inmates to know the facility’s weaknesses.

“We repaired the area that was compromised, and we’re looking at other areas that are similar to that to fortify them to make sure that they are not compromised in the same manner,” Atkins said at a Tuesday news conference.

DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox described the jail as an “aging facility that’s deteriorating right before our eyes.” The jail is in Decatur, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.

The escape was discovered early Monday during a routine security check, authorities said. After jailers realized the three were gone, investigators listened to recordings of conversations they’d had on recorded phone lines. They learned that one of the inmates had contacted people on the outside who helped them evade capture after the escape, U.S. Marshal Thomas Brown said.

The inmates were picked up by an unnamed man and taken to one of their girlfriends’ homes, Brown said. Then, a Lyft ride was ordered using a fake, female name.

Officers tracked the car as it traveled to south Florida with the aid of license plate readers, devices that can alert law enforcement to the locations of wanted vehicles. When they caught up with the car and tried to stop it, one of the inmates jumped out and ran but was arrested along with a second inmate, according to a court affidavit.

Investigators also learned that the men used the Lyft driver’s credit card for a short-term rental of a home in Miramar, Florida, where officers apprehended the third inmate and rescued the driver, court records state.

The driver told investigators that she was held in the car for six to 10 hours as they tried to gain access to her phone and online banking records. After trying to escape once, she endured “increased threats of being shot, raped, and tortured,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.

“As you can imagine, the Lyft driver is very traumatized by this,” Brown said.

All three inmates were charged with kidnapping as well as the escape, according to criminal complaints.

A lawyer with the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Fort Lauderdale appointed to represent one of the men, 24-year-old Stevenson Charles, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday evening, nor did a Miami attorney representing a second, Naod Yohannes, 25. There was no lawyer listed in court records for the third, Yusuf Minor, 31.

Charles was being held before the escape on charges including murder and armed robbery. The other two faced charges including armed robbery and arson.

The sheriff’s office had warned that the men might be armed and were considered dangerous after their escape.

Before they were captured, federal authorities had issued particularly strong warnings advising the citizens to be wary of Charles, who has had several run-ins with law officers in Georgia and Florida. He had been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of kidnapping and bank robbery, a federal agent wrote in a Monday affidavit regarding the recent jail escape.

After being sentenced, the agent wrote, Charles was turned over to DeKalb County authorities on Dec. 5 to face the murder charge, details of which were not immediately available.

In one of multiple cases involving Charles in South Florida, he is accused of meeting a man through the Grindr online dating application and then pulling a gun on him when they met in person at a Miami residence in 2022. Charles then drove the man to various Miami area banks, withdrawing money from the victim’s accounts, court records show.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Trump Administration Moves to Overhaul How H-1B Visas are Granted, Ending Lottery System

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Trump Administration Moves to Overhaul How H-1B Visas are Granted, Ending Lottery System

(Headline USA) The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday it was replacing its longstanding lottery system for H-1B work visas with a new approach that prioritizes skilled, higher-paid foreign workers.

The change follows a series of actions by the Trump administration aimed at reshaping a visa program that critics say has become a pipeline for overseas workers willing to work for lower pay, but supporters say drives innovation.

“The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a $100,000 annual H-1B visa fee on highly skilled workers, which is being challenged in court. The president also rolled out a $1 million “gold card” visa as a pathway to U.S. citizenship for wealthy individuals.

A press release announcing the new rule says it is “in line with other key changes the administration has made, such as the Presidential Proclamation that requires employers to pay an additional $100,000 per visa as a condition of eligibility.”

Historically, H-1B visas have been awarded through a lottery system. This year, Amazon was by far the top recipient, with more than 10,000 visas approved, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft, Apple and Google. California has the highest concentration of H-1B workers.

The new system will “implement a weighted selection process that will increase the probability that H-1B visas are allocated to higher-skilled and higher-paid” foreign workers, according to Tuesday’s press release. It will go into effect Feb. 27, 2026, and will apply to the upcoming H-1B cap registration season.

Supporters of the H-1B program say it is an important pathway to hiring healthcare workers and educators. They say it drives innovation and economic growth in the U.S. and allows employers to fill jobs in specialized fields.

Critics argue that the visas often go to entry-level positions rather than senior roles requiring specialized skills. While the program is intended to prevent wage suppression or the displacement of U.S. workers, critics say companies can pay lower wages by classifying jobs at the lowest skill levels, even when the workers hired have more experience.

The number of new visas issued annually is capped at 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 for people with a master’s degree or higher.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Former Nebraska US Sen. Ben Sasse Reveals Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis

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Former Nebraska US Sen. Ben Sasse Reveals Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis

(Headline USA) Former Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, announced Tuesday he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Sasse, 53, made the announcement on social media, saying he learned of the disease last week and is “now marching to the beat of a faster drummer.”

“This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase,” Sasse wrote. “Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”

Sasse was first elected to the Senate in 2014. He comfortably won reelection in 2020 after fending off a pro-Trump primary challenger.

Sasse was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict the former president of “ incitement of insurrection ” after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He resigned from the Senate in 2023 to serve as the 13th president of the University of Florida after a contentious approval process. He left that post the following year after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Sasse, who has degrees from Harvard, St. John’s College and Yale, worked as an assistant secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. He served as president of Midland University, a small Christian university in eastern Nebraska, before he ran for the Senate.

Sasse and his wife have three children.

“I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more,” Sasse wrote. “Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

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