"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." Northwoods is a ministry dedicated to refreshing Christians and challenging them to search for the truth in Christianity, politics, sociology, and science
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Typical Western antisemitic media makes it sound like Israel attacked a Syrian town without excuse. They neglect or downplay the attack on IDF soldiers that triggered the attack. They also neglect to mention who or what the real targets were.
Syrians perform funeral prayers for several victims killed in the Israeli strike on the town of Beit Jinn, Syria, Friday. The Damascus Countryside Health Directorate reported that 13 people were killed in the attack. These developments come amid escalating tensions near the Syrian Golan. Photo by Mohammed Al Rifai/EPA
Nov. 28 (UPI) --The Israeli Defense Forces launched an attack on Beit Jinn in southern Syria, which killed 13 residents, including two children, and seriously wounded some Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli military described the event as an "exchange of fire" in Beit Jinn, where three of its soldiers were seriously injured. It also said it arrested three people associated with Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanon-based militant group.
The Washington Post reported that, according to their families, there were two girls, ages 4 and 17, and a 10-year-old boy killed.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry called it a "criminal attack carried out by an Israeli occupation army patrol in Beit Jinn. The occupation forces' targeting of the town of Beit Jinn with brutal and deliberate shelling, following their failed incursion, constitutes a full-fledged war crime," Al Jazeera reported.
Syrian civil defense said they weren't able to enter the city to rescue the wounded because the IDF continues to target any movement.
Since the civil war in Syria overturned the Bashar al-Assad regime, the Israeli military seized a demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights and in Syria. It has also launched hundreds of air strikes across Syria, including in Damascus. Human Rights Watch has declared some operations war crimes.
Earlier this month, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with President Donald Trump in the White House, and Trump paused all sanctions against the country for six months. But so far, Al-Sharaa has refused to normalize relations with Israel.
Of course, such a thing would be suicidal when you only have very tentative control over the various Islamic factions in Syria.
French mayor sentenced to prison for blackmailing political rival with sex tape
Europe
A French court has sentenced the mayor of Saint-Étienne, Gaël Perdriau, to four years in prison for orchestrating a blackmail plot against a political rival using a secretly recorded sex tape. Perdriau was found guilty of blackmail, criminal conspiracy and misuse of public funds, and was barred from holding public office.
A French court on Monday sentenced a mayor to four years in jail for blackmailing a political rival with a secretly filmed sex tape involving a male sex worker.
Gaël Perdriau, who has been mayor of the eastern industrial city of Saint-Etienne since 2014, throughout the trial had denied ordering the recording of a video involving his former deputy, Gilles Artigues, a Roman Catholic who had spoken out against gay marriage.
But a court in the eastern city of Lyon found the 53-year-old guilty of blackmail, criminal conspiracy and diverting public funds, handing him four years behind bars – as well as another suspended – and a five-year ban from public office, effective immediately.
Perdriau was "entirely guilty", the presiding judge, Brigitte Vernay, said.
During the trial, prosecutors had argued that Perdriau commissioned the sex tape filmed in a hotel room in early 2015 to ensure Artigues' loyalty, warning he would release it if his deputy broke ranks.
"He was the one with his finger on the nuclear button," prosecutor Audrey Quey told the court, describing the mayor as the "decision-maker".
The court also handed prison sentences to three co-defendants, including the mayor's former chief of staff and another deputy, who admitted to setting up the trap.
After the ruling, Perdriau insisted he was innocent and vowed to appeal.
But Artigues in 2017 secretly recorded a conversation with Perdriau, in which the mayor can be heard telling him he has a "USB stick" full of compromising images and threatening to release them.
Artigues told the court the result was him being paralysed in city hall meetings.
"I was like a puppet," he said. "They put me there, and I smiled."
The former deputy – who testified that he had suffered suicidal thoughts – welcomed Monday's verdict.
"Today, I think I will be able to rebuild my life," he said, surrounded by family members.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Dhaka courtsentences ex-Bangladeshi PM, British lawmaker to prison
Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to prison on Monday. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 1 (UPI) -- A Dhaka court sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a British member of parliament and 14 others to prison on Monday, in a sprawling case revolving around influence peddling, corruption and the illegal allocation of land in the nation's capital.
Judge Rabiul Alam ruled Monday that Hasina had misused her powers as prime minister to influence officials to secure land allocations for her and her family, Dhaka Tribune reported. Alam also found Hasina's sister, Sheikh Rehana, and Rehana's daughter, British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, had obtained plots by illegally influencing the prime minister, according to the local outlet.
The court found that Siddiq had influenced the process from Britain via social media platforms.
Hasina received a five-year sentence, Rehana a seven-year sentence and Siddiq a two-year sentence and a $821 fine, local daily Prothom Alo reported. The 14 others accused in the case each received five years.
Of the 17 defendants, only one was in court on Monday.
The case was filed mid-January, with the government accusing the defendants in connection with the illegal acquisition of plots of land in the Purbachal New City project in Dhaka.
According to the government, Purbachal New Town is "the biggest planned township in the country" at 6,213 acres, and will have about 26,000 residential plots of various sizes as well as 62,000 apartments.
The government said developer RAJUK "intends to plan and develop the area as self-contained New Township with all modern facilities and opportunities" with the intention of reducing population density in the capital and the existing acute housing problem.
The Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the case mid-January, accusing Siddiq of having illegally used her position as a British member of parliament to secure plots of land for her mother, Rehana, sister, Azmina Siddiq and brother, Radwan Mujib.
Both Mujib and Azmina Siddiq have been charged in a separate case.
Hasina resigned as prime minister in August 2024, and fled to India amid growing public anger over quotas for government jobs and a brutal crackdown on protests by her government that led to the deaths of as many as 1,400 people.
Siddiq, the sitting British member of parliament for the north London district of Hampstead and Kilburn, has strongly denied the charges against her. She resigned as Economic Secretary to the Treasury in Prime Minister Keir Starmer's cabinet in January over the case, despite an ethics investigation finding no wrong doing.
However, the independent ethics adviser criticized her for not being more alive to the "potential reputational risks" to the government from her ties to Hasina and being named by the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission, initially in an investigation of infrastructure projects, and then over the land deal.
The Legault government has unveiled a sweeping new secularism bill that would eliminate prayer rooms in higher-education institutions, restrict religious symbols for some childcare workers and ban public group prayer –measures critics say needlessly target religious minorities.
Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge tabled what he called “secularism 2.0,” arguing Quebec has “gone too far” in accommodating religious practices in public institutions.
A student performs his afternoon prayer in a prayer room at Concordia University in Montreal, on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov.
He said prayer rooms at CEGEPs (post-secondary institutions in Quebec that serve as a bridge between high school and universities), used daily by hundreds of students, would be removed if the legislation passes.
“CEGEPs and universities are not temples or churches,” Roberge said.
Stephen Brown, president of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, questioned the premise of the changes. “The real question for me is what problem are we actually solving? Nobody said that this was an issue,” he said.
The bill also bans public group prayer. Roberge acknowledged the measure was prompted in part by pro-Palestinian protesters who held prayers outside Notre-Dame Basilica. “We think that when the state is neutral, Quebecers are free,” he said.
Under the proposed law, new hires in subsidized daycares would not be allowed to wear religious symbols, though existing staff would be protected under a grandfather clause.
Samy Khelefi washes as he performs wudu, a ritual cleansing prior to prayer for Muslims, before entering the prayer room organized by the Muslim Students’ Association, at Concordia University in Montreal, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Brown warned the change could worsen staffing shortages. “We need more people to be educators in the daycare system, and this is going to restrict the ability for people to get employment,” he said.
Under Bill 9, people receiving services from daycares or higher-education institutions would be required to keep their faces uncovered. Children would also be prohibited from covering their faces at daycare, though Roberge acknowledged he was unaware of any such case. “We want to prevent some mistakes before they’re done,” he said.
Private schools that focus primarily on religious teachings, such as several Jewish schools in Outremont, would lose public funding if they do not comply within three years.
“They have the time to understand what’s in the law and decide what’s better for them and the community,” Roberge said.
Rabbi Reuben Poupko said stakeholders are still trying to understand the implications. “We’re really early in this game,” he said.
The Liberal opposition criticized the government for embedding the notwithstanding clause in the bill, which would block many potential court challenges.
“People should have the right to seek redressment from the court if they think their rights are infringed,” said Liberal MNA André Morin.
The legislation includes fines for those who break the rules, though Roberge said he is confident Quebecers will comply.
Bill 9 will now undergo detailed study and parliamentary commission hearings in the coming months, with the government aiming to pass it by next spring.
Muslim students say the bill feels like another move targeting the community
Muslim students at Concordia say the closures feel punitive.
“It definitely feels like a personal attack against our community,” said Ines Rarrbo, a first-year engineering student.
Samy Khelifi, president of Concordia’s Muslim Student Association, warned the decision will only push students to pray in hallways and on streets.
“People won’t stop praying because there’s not a prayer space. What happens to those 5,000 people if they all go pray out on random corners?” he said.
Adviser Maryam Laoufi said the bill makes Muslim Quebecers feel increasingly like “second-class citizens.”
Bill 9 would also ban “collective religious practice” –including communal prayer –on public roads and in parks, except for short events authorized by municipalities.
Individuals could be fined up to $375 and groups up to $1,125.
Roberge insisted the rules are applied equally to all faiths, but acknowledged that incidents involving Muslims helped shape the legislation.
Ukraine’s top peace negotiator resigns after anti-corruption raid on home
By Illia Novikov And Isobel Koshiw The Associated Press
Posted November 28, 2025 11:28 am
Updated November 28, 2025 10:12 pm
5 min read
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Friday the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, who was also the country’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S, after Yermak’s residence was searched by anti-corruption investigators.
The unprecedented search at the heart of Ukraine’s government was a blow for the Ukrainian leader that risked disrupting his negotiating strategy at a time when Kyiv is under intense U.S. pressure to sign a peace deal nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Yermak has long been a trusted confidant of Zelenskyy, who has resisted persistent pressure to replace him.
2:03
Zelenskyy’s top aide resigns after anti-corruption searches
In a nod to the controversy over Yermak’s long stay at his side, Zelenskyy said Russia was waiting for Ukraine to make missteps and upset the delicate and tense peace negotiations.
“We don’t have a right to retreat or argue between ourselves. If we lose unity, we risk losing everything — ourselves, Ukraine, our future,” Zelenskyy said. “We must unite, we must hold on. We have no other choice. We won’t have another Ukraine.”
“To preserve our internal strength, there must be no reasons to be distracted at anything else except for defense of Ukraine,” he added. “I don’t want anybody to be questioning Ukraine, and that’s why we have today’s decisions.”
In his nightly address, Zelenskyy announced that he was “resetting” the presidential office. He said Yermak had submitted his resignation and that he would begin consultations Saturday to appoint a new chief of staff.
Yermak’s name did not appear on a list of officials that Zelenskyy said would make up the Ukrainian delegation for the next round of negotiations with the United States.
1:55
Trump sending envoys to Moscow, Kyiv to discuss peace deal
The delegation will now be jointly lead by Andrii Hnatov, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces; Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister; and Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s security council, Zelenskyy said. He said negotiations would happen “soon.”
Two national agencies fighting corruption in Ukraine said their search targeted Yermak. Oleksii Tkachuk, a spokesperson for Yermak, said the anti-graft agencies had not served Yermak a notice of suspicion, meaning he was not a suspect in an investigation. Yermak was not told what the searches related to, Tkachuk said.
Yermak confirmed the search of his apartment inside the presidential compound in downtown Kyiv, where checkpoints limit public access. Media reports said Yermak’s office was also searched, but investigators declined to comment on that.
It was not clear where Zelenskyy or Yermak were at the time of the morning raid.
“The investigators are facing no obstacles,” Yermak wrote on the messaging app Telegram. He said he was cooperating fully with them and that his lawyers were present.
In an interview Thursday with The Atlantic, Yermak said that as long as Zelensky is president, “no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory.”
Ukraine, he said, is prepared to discuss only the question of what land each side controls, as indicated by the location of the front lines.
“All we can realistically talk about right now is really to define the line of contact,” Yermak said.
Energy sector scandal
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are leading a major investigation into a $100 million energy sector scandal involving top Ukrainian officials that has dominated domestic headlines in recent weeks.
It was not clear if the searches were connected to the case, and a spokesperson for the NABU, Anton Tatarnikov, declined to comment, citing legal restrictions on revealing details on an ongoing probe.
The head of Ukraine’s parliamentary anti-corruption committee, Anastasiia Radina, said on social media that Yermak’s resignation was “better late than never.”
Mykyta Porturaev, a lawmaker with Zelenskyy’s party who last week called for Yermak’s resignation and for a cross-party government to be established, said the anti-corruption raid deepened Ukraine’s political crisis.
Yermak “definitely had political responsibility,” Porturaev told The Associated Press. “Of course he had to go.”
1:55
Ukrainian ministers quit over major corruption scandal
A spokesperson for the European Commission, Guillaume Mercier, told Ukrainian news outlet Radio Svoboda on Friday that they were following developments closely and that the searches showed that Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies were working. He said fighting corruption was central to the country’s European Union accession.
Investigators suspect that Tymur Mindich, a one-time business partner of Zelenskyy, was the plot’s mastermind. Mindich has fled the country, with any criminal proceedings against him likely to be carried out in absentia. Two top government ministers have resigned in the scandal.
Two of Yermak’s former deputies — Oleh Tatarov and Rostyslav Shurma — left the government in 2024 after watchdogs investigated them for financial wrongdoing. A third deputy, Andrii Smyrnov, was investigated for bribes and other wrongdoing but still works for Yermak.
Political turmoil for Zelenskyy
The scandal has heaped more problems on Zelenskyy as he seeks continued Western support for Ukraine’s war effort and tries to ensure continued foreign funding. The European Union, which Ukraine wants to join, has told Zelenskyy he must crack down on graft.
Zelenskyy faced an unprecedented rebellion from his own lawmakers earlier this month after investigators published details of their energy sector investigation.
Although Yermak was not accused of any wrongdoing, several senior lawmakers in Zelenskyy’s party said Yermak should take responsibility for the debacle in order to restore public trust. Some said that if Zelenskyy didn’t fire him, the party could split, threatening the president’s parliamentary majority. But Zelenskyy defied them.
Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians to unite and “stop the political games” in light of the U.S. pressure to reach a settlement with Russia.
Yermak met Zelenskyy over 15 years ago when he was a lawyer venturing into the TV production business and Zelenskyy was a famous Ukrainian comedian and actor.
He oversaw foreign affairs as part of Zelenskyy’s first presidential team and was promoted to chief of staff in February 2020.
Yermak has accompanied Zelenskyy on every trip abroad since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and the president’s trust in him has made Yermak’s power appear almost untouchable.
Domestically, officials describe Yermak as Zelenskyy’s gatekeeper, and he is widely believed to have chosen all top government appointees, including prime ministers and ministers.
The possibility of corruption in the Liberal Party, whether the provincial Liberals or the Federal party, is not the least bit surprising.
Anti-corruption police looking into allegations against Quebec Liberals
Quebec’s anti-corruption police say they are looking into the internal crisis shaking the province’s Liberals, as their political rivals feast over a steady stream of embarrassing news that is threatening to tarnish the party’s image and is putting pressure on its leader.
Mathieu Galarneau, a spokesperson for the anti-corruption unit known as UPAC, said investigators are working to validate allegations of wrongdoing before deciding whether to open an official investigation.
“Following the analysis of this information, we will be able to decide whether or not to proceed further,” Galarneau said, confirming the police force’s involvement, first reported by Journal de Montreal on Wednesday.
The Quebec Liberals have been in crisis since Marwah Rizqy, the party’s former leader in the legislature, fired her chief of staff without consulting party leader Pablo Rodriguez. In response, Rodriguez then removed Rizqy from her position last week and suspended her from caucus, citing a breach of trust.
Adding to the controversy was a story published last week in the Journal de Montréal revealing alleged text messages from unidentified parties suggesting some members who supported Rodriguez during the leadership race received cash rewards. Rodriguez says he welcomes the involvement of the anti-corruption unit and that he has mandated the party to investigate the allegations.
“I sincerely hope that UPAC will shed light on this matter and, if necessary, file the appropriate charges. I would like to remind you that I have requested an independent investigation to get to the bottom of this. And I am committed to making the report public,” Rodriguez wrote on social media Wednesday night.
Last week, Rodriguez announced his party would be sending a legal letter to the Montreal tabloid in an effort to learn the names of the people involved and the phone numbers associated with the text messages. Rodriguez said he also wanted the Journal to explain how it verified the “authenticity and veracity” of the messages.
Another layer was added Wednesday when La Presse reported that Fayçal El-Khoury, the member of Parliament for Laval—Les Îles, had a discussion with Rizqy on Nov. 14 that caught the attention of Élections Québec because of a possible link to Rodriguez’s leadership bid. Rodriguez won the leadership race in June.
When contacted by The Canadian Press, Elections Québec did not confirm whether they were investigating. Rodriguez said he didn’t know if the elections agency was looking into the matter.
On Wednesday, the Liberal leader confirmed that El-Khoury had solicited donations for his leadership campaign. “He had a solicitation certificate, which is public information. That means he was collecting money like many others,” Rodriguez said.
Rizqy has largely remained silent on the affair. On Sunday, ahead of Rodriguez’s appearance on a popular Quebec talk show “Tout le monde en parle,” she wrote on Facebook that she could not comment publicly because the dismissal of her chief of staff, Geneviève Hinse, was a human resources matter. Rizqy also acknowledged the situation had put her “political family in a delicate position.”
Rizqy has said she won’t seek re-election in 2026 and will focus on her young family.
For his part, upon leaving the federal Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday, El-Khoury did not respond to reporters’ questions about his involvement in Rodriguez’s leadership race. The federal MP said he would make a statement later, without offering specifics.
The other political parties at the national assembly seized on the series of controversies this week, with Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette calling it a repeat of previous scandals that had dogged the party.
“What we are seeing, once again, with the Quebec Liberal Party, is that it is the same old Liberal party that has not changed. The same illegal practices, the same ethically questionable practices,” Jolin-Barrette said Wednesday.
The government of former premier Jean Charest — in office from 2003-2012 — was badly tarnished by a scandal involving corruption in the construction sector and the illegal financing of political parties. Although no member of the Liberals was charged with a crime, a public inquiry — known as the Charbonneau commission — revealed widespread corruption in the construction industry, often involving organized crime, and the close ties with municipal and provincial politicians.
On Thursday morning, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also weighed in. “It’s no surprise that UPAC repeatedly finds itself investigating the Quebec Liberal Party, and it’s not just Pablo Rodriguez; it’s an entire organization.”
