Category: Michael Novakhov – SharedNewsLinks℠

The widen war, in the Middle East, being provoked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, may very well decide who becomes America’s president next month. The current bombing of Lebanon, and the attacks on Iran, threaten to ignite the whole region into a catastrophic deadly war—that may lead to a second Donald Trump presidency.

Is this the October surprise strategy Netanyahu is employing—with President Joe Biden’s help—to kill Vice-President Kamala Harris’ chance of becoming the first female president?

That is clearly the outcome Netanyahu wants. But why is President Joe Biden helping the effort which may cause Harris the 2024 Presidential Election?

Ever since the “intelligence failure” on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals, Netanyahu has used that tragedy to benefit his political expediency. Facing criminal charges, in Israel, all-out war against Palestinians was a perfect distraction, like manna from heaven, for the embattled prime minister. The current war escalation into Lebanon is just a continuum of Netanyahu’s Machiavellian machinations to evade legal troubles in Israel.

The idea Netanyahu was working toward a peace-deal is pure fantasy. Also, many Israeli citizens reportedly want Trump to win too.

Since “birds of a feather flock together,” it is no surprise Netanyahu likes Trump. In fact, they are monstrous mirror images of one another. The irony here is while anyone who criticizes Israeli policy is smeared with the “anti-Semitic” charge, Netanyahu likes breaking bread with a racist like Trump. Then again, Netanyahu is a racist himself.

Given all this, it is hard to understand Biden’s thinking in dealing with Netanyahu—especially, since he is no longer running for reelection. Biden surely understands that Netanyahu does not want peace.

So, what is Biden’s game plan here? Why is he seemingly making Harris’ chances of becoming president more difficult? Why won’t he take a firm stance against Netanyahu?

For months now, it has been clear Muslim-Americans are understandably furious with the Biden Administration for doing nothing to stop the Gaza Genocide. For example, in the key battleground state of Michigan, we saw the emergence of the Uncommitted National Movement, which influenced many Muslim voters to seek other voting options during the 2024 Democratic presidential primaries.

To make matters worse, the Kamala Harris campaign’s decision not to have a single Palestinian voice at the Democratic National Convention wasn’t helpful. What message did this send to Palestinian-Americans, and to American Muslim voters generally, regarding the Democratic Party’s concerns for their humanity in the face of maniacal mass murder?

For all the good Biden has done, relative to other American presidents, the history books will now list him as an aider-and-abettor of Netanyahu’s genocidal crimes. From a political positioning point of view, Biden’s reticence to reign in Netanyahu was fathomable, though unethical, when he was still a reelection candidate—although his campaign was already losing support because of the arbitrary slaughter of innocent Gazans. But now that Kamala Harris is the candidate, Biden’s stance is puzzling.

This is why some are now surmising, shockingly, that Biden wants Harris to lose, because of the grievances he has with how he was forced out of the 2024 race. Before he was pressured to step aside, Biden was said to have doubted whether Harris could win the presidency. There have also been reports that Biden is complaining about being forgotten in the national conversation.

Meanwhile, over 41,000 thousand Palestinians have been bombed and blown to bits in Gaza. And over 2,000 Lebanese have been killed since Netanyahu perpetrated his latest acts of aggression.

If Biden continues to back Netanyahu’s war escalation in the Middle East, Kamala Harris will lose more Muslim, student, and anti-war votes. And the worse Netanyahu’s murderous impulses get before November 5 the more we are likely to see Trump again slithering into the White House.

A man accusing Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs of assaulting him when he was just 16 has shared a photograph of the pair together at one of the rapper’s famous White Parties.

In a court filing lodged on Monday, the man known only as John Doe accused Diddy of assaulting him at the 1998 party, while celebrities mingled nearby.

‘There existed something sinister – a dark underbelly of crime, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, bribery and prostitution,’ the court filing stated.

‘Combs is a menace to society, women and children.’ Diddy denies the allegations against him. 

The filing also posed a potential answer to the question of all the baby oil found in Diddy’s home after his arrest, noting there are ‘allegations of Combs dousing victims in lotions or similar body oils… laced with GBH, so that the drug would be absorbed through the victim’s skin and make it easier to assault him or her.’

Diddy’s White Parties were once considered the most sought after invitation on the social scene, and were attended by a constant stream of A-list stars.

According to the new filing by Tony Buzbee, who says he is representing as many as 120 credible Diddy victims, it was also central to his alleged offending.

‘[He] would tell victims, ”this is what it takes to be famous, what are you willing to do to become a star?’

John Doe was 16 and living in New York City when he received a highly sought after invitation to the 1998 White Party in the Hamptons.

When he received the invitation, he felt like he finally had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the who’s who of the industry. He thought it could be his chance to break into the music industry,’ the court filing read.

‘As John Doe entered, he spotted countless celebrities and A-listers who form the music and entertainment industry. He recognized faces he had seen on TV and on the big screen.’

The young boy was making his way through the crowd and heading toward the restroom when he ‘unexpectedly bumped into Combs,’ the filing states.

‘Shocked, John Doe found himself face to face with Combs, a titan in the music industry, standing right in front of him at his own party.’

The picture shared in the court filing was allegedly taken at this moment, during this interaction.

The filing states: ‘Combs took an interest in John Doe and wanted to talk to him. They walked to a more private area near the portable restrooms brought in for the party.

‘There, John Doe told Combs he was a big fan of Combs and shared his dreams of becoming a star. Combs smiled, telling him he had potential and ‘the look.’ When John Doe admitted his voice was not great, Combs assured him that did not matter.

‘Combs abruptly told John Doe that he needed to drop his pants.’

John Doe was allegedly caught ‘completely off guard’ by the request, and asked Diddy to repeat himself.

‘Combs made himself clear. He instructed John Doe to drop his pants and expose his penis so that Combs could inspect it, explaining it was a rite of passage and the route to becoming a star, and also as a way to prove himself. 

‘Out of fear, anxiety and the imbalanced power dynamic between himself and Combs, John Doe then dropped his pants and exposed his penis as Combs previously instructed.’

The filing states: ‘Combs moved closer and grabbed John Doe’s penis and genitals with his hand. He firmly cupped and held onto John Doe’s genitals for an extended period of time. 

‘During this time, Combs moved his hand in such a fashion to manipulate John Doe’s genitals, squeezing and feeling them. Doe was only sixteen.’

Buzbee has repeatedly stated more high-profile people could soon be named in suits and vowed to pursue the cases against any offender ‘aggressively’.

Of the 120 people he is now representing, 25 claim they were minors at the time they were allegedly abused. 

In the filing, Buzbee said Diddy was able to target young, vulnerable people ‘through a criminal enterprise built on his success as a rapper, record producer and record executive.

‘Combs is one of the wealthiest musical artists in the world. 

‘As part of his pattern of abuse, Combs manipulated both men and women to participate in highly-orchestrated performances of sexual activity with both commercial sex workers and unsuspecting partygoers.

‘Combs has a profound contempt for women and a desire to dominate both minors and other men. 

‘His conduct shows a longstanding practice of denigrating, defeating and attempting to humiliate men, women and children.’

Combs attorney’s issued a statement to <a href=”http://DailyMail.com” rel=”nofollow”>DailyMail.com</a>.

‘The press conference and 1-800 number that preceded today’s barrage of filings were clear attempts to garner publicity,’ they said.

‘Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts, their legal defenses, and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted anyone—adult or minor, man or woman.’

He was charged with a host of sex trafficking and racketeering offenses following his September 16 arrest. 

Last week, a judge scheduled his trial for May 2025.  

America’s official creed turned 61 on July 30. On that date in 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 851, resolving that “In God we trust” shall henceforth be the motto of the United States, even though the phrase had already begun to appear on U.S. currency almost a hundred years earlier. The chances of such an innovation happening today are slim to nil.

Few things are more controversial in America today than the subject of God-talk in the public square. The courts have thus far rejected First Amendment petitions to expunge the loaded language from our wallets, but only by positing that the God of the Treasury is a secular impostor. In 1984, Justice William Brennan invoked “ceremonial deism”—a dictum first conceived by Yale Law School dean Eugene Rostow—to suggest that references to the Divine on legal tender or in the Pledge of Allegiance should be “protected from Establishment Clause scrutiny chiefly because they have lost through rote repetition any significant religious content.”

For guardians of the U.S. Constitution, “Thou shalt preserve the separation between church and state” is the 11^th commandment. It ensures that no single religious tradition is given preference over all others, providing for all citizens to be treated equally before the law. America’s fidelity to this principle, however inspired, may have stunted its ability to fully fathom world events.

Here’s a news flash: God never left the Middle East. This isn’t to say that he’s deserted the United States, which—despite the growth of the “Nones”—remains in many ways a deeply religious land. But over in the Middle East, religion is intertwined profoundly with national identity. It’s not relegated to the realm of personal choice, a private matter seldom discussed in polite company, but a completely public affair. And turning the American model on its head, both synagogue and mosque are very much connected to the apparatus of state throughout the region.

The July 14 shooting on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where three Arab Israeli gunmen killed two Druze policemen, has ignited passions across the region. The site, which is under the control of Israel, is administered by the Islamic waqf (religious trust). The introduction of metal detectors to screen visitors for weapons—standard practice at venues around the world—was sufficient pretext for the Palestinian Authority to suspend security coordination with Israel.

The outbreak of nationalist violence at one of humanity’s most sacred shrines—home to both ancient Jewish temples and the present-day Haram al-Sharif mosque—has once again focused global attention on the tangible and explosive nexus between faith and politics. Nothing could better epitomize the volatility of mixing sanctity with earthly dominion.

In the Middle East, loyalty to country—a relative term where borders have proven fluid historically—continues to play second fiddle to deeper spiritual ties. We’re not talking about some perfunctory expression of tribal solidarity either. A 2012 Pew Research Center survey found that a staggering 97 percent of the world’s Muslims subscribe to the shahadah, according to which “there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.” (Pointedly, the poll excluded North America and Western Europe.) And 93 percent of them observe the daytime fast throughout the holy month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, in Israel, where 93 percent of Jews profess to taking pride in their Jewish identity, a plurality of them describe themselves as Jewish first and Israeli second. Notwithstanding a robust debate about whether “being Jewish” is foremost a religious or national attribute, the facts speak for themselves: at least 90 percent of Israeli Jews claimed that it was “important” or “very important” for them to circumcise their male infants, celebrate a bar mitzvah, and say the kaddish mourning prayer for their parents. Just over three quarters (76 percent) of them maintain the dietary laws of kashrut in their homes. These levels of ritual performance vastly outpace comparable figures for their co-religionists in the United States.

But personal observance is only half the story. In the United States, questions of devotion and praxis are confined largely to domestic affairs. Access to abortions, school prayer, and discrimination against the LGBT community are typical examples of this. To the God-fearing masses of the Middle East, where religion and state have a symbiotic relationship, they are also a core driver of foreign policy, impacting forcefully on the security and economics of the entire planet.

President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have been engaged in trying to broker a ceasefire in Syria. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson just recently returned from a failed round of shuttle diplomacy in the Persian Gulf, where he attempted to conciliate a Saudi-led consortium of four Arab states and their rival in Qatar; his two envoys have just arrived in the region to pick up where he left off. And the tenuous nuclear deal with Iran remains under administration review. At the heart of all these Middle Eastern conflicts lies a civilizational struggle for primacy between opposing versions of Islam.

In Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other quarters of the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran (note the official appellation) employs its assets and proxies to promote its vision: exporting the Islamic Revolution. Employing their own form of “replacement theology,” its leaders aim to expand the influence of their Shi‘a brand at the expense of Mecca-centered Sunni Islam. Geopolitically, through the deployment of Hizballah in Syria and Lebanon, and its de facto alliance with Moscow, Tehran supports this objective by maneuvering to keep Bashar Assad in power and preserve its beachhead on the Mediterranean. Riyadh and its Sunni allies are pushing back, not only against Iran, but also against its satellites; thus, their bitter resistance to Qatari sponsorship of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Al-Jazeera network, which threaten to undermine their regimes and ideology. This power struggle over which doctrinal interpretation will prevail will define the future of the Arab world. The demands it places on the resources and bandwidth of the United States and its Western allies are enormous.

No less consequential is Muslim hostility toward the Jewish state of Israel, whose security repeated U.S. administrations have pledged to uphold. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran—a nation once friendly with Israel—has called for the destruction of Israel, allegedly based on “well-established Islamic principles.” Saudi textbooks have branded Jews as “apes” and “swine,” and Qatar’s largest mosque hosted a sermon calling for Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque to be saved from “the claws of the Jews;” they’ve had no kind words for Christians either. Israel has found common cause with a number of Sunni Muslim states in opposing Iranian expansionism, but contagious racial sentiments continue to incite fundamentalist violence against Western targets.

Israel, meanwhile, is awash in religious discord of another sort. Recent government decisions concerning prayer arrangements at the Western Wall and religious conversion standards have sparked divisions between Judaism’s different denominations. The fallout has unleashed talk within the U.S. Jewish community of possible repercussions that could affect Israel’s standing abroad. If steadfast friends of Israel in the United States were ever to withhold their support, it could potentially trigger changes in congressional voting patterns on issues such as foreign aid.

The devil, if you’ll allow me to mix metaphors, is in the heavenly details. Belief is not simply a quaint feature of the human condition but a complex operating system that holds the key to understanding the Middle East. If diplomats and other professionals involved in international affairs are to be effective, they need to get up to speed. Cross-cultural literacy, the bread-and-butter of navigating relationships, implies more than just a bemused, superficial understanding of religious customs; it’s about engaging in reflective dialogue, not just knowing whose hand you’re allowed to shake and when. Never before has it been so important that practitioners develop a nuanced appreciation of religious canons and motivations. In too many cases, these are the powers behind the true game of thrones.

Six new accusers of Sean “Diddy” Combs have filed lawsuits against the music mogul, alleging rape, sexual abuse and sexual assault.

Two Jane Does and four John Does filed civil lawsuits against Combs, 54, in New York on Monday, marking the first accusers of 120 alleged victims with claims against Combs, which Texas-based lawyer Tony Buzbee announced earlier this month.

The cases include alleged incidents from 1995 through 2021, including the alleged sexual assault of a minor and multiple allegations of rape. Several of the assaults are alleged to have occurred at the infamous parties that Combs became known for throughout his three decades in the music industry.

The lawsuits name Combs’ various businesses as defendants. One of the men, who accuses Combs of sexually assaulting him in a Macy’s in 2008, lists the department store as a defendant, and one of the women, who says Combs raped her in a hotel, lists Marriott as a defendant. USA TODAY has reached out to Macy’s, Marriott and Combs’ reps for comment.

If you mute Diddy songs,what about his hits with Mary J. Blige, Mariah, JLo and more?

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Buzbee revealed in an Oct. 1 press conference that he is representing the 120 accusers, with allegations of “violent sexual assault or rape,” “facilitated sex with a controlled substance,” “dissemination of video recordings” and “sexual abuse of minors” against the embattled businessman, among other offenses.

“We will expose the enablers who enabled this conduct behind closed doors,” Buzbee said at the time. “We will pursue this matter no matter who the evidence implicates.”

Buzbee added: “It’s a long list already, but because of the nature of this case, we are going to make damn sure that we’re right before we do that. But the names that we’re going to name … are names that will shock you.”

Combs has denied all allegations brought against him. An attorney for Combs previously said in a statement, “No matter how many lawsuits are filed it won’t change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone. We live in a world where anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason and without any proof. Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to find the truth and Mr. Combs is confident he will prevail against these and other baseless claims in court.”

This new wave of legal action follows Combs’ September arrest and subsequent arraignment for sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges; he is set to face a criminal trial May 5. The rapper, who has maintained his innocence amid an avalanche of civil lawsuits filed over the past year alleging decades of sexual and physical abuse, remains in custody at the Special Housing Unit at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs allegedly raped woman at NY hotel

One Jane Doe accuses Combs of raping her in a Manhattan Marriott hotel room in 2004 when she was 19 years old.

The accuser says she initially met Combs at a photoshoot, where the rapper invited her and her friend to his hotel for an exclusive party. At the hotel, Jane Doe says a man “grabbed” her and her friend and brought them to a bedroom, telling them, “You know what you are here for.”

In the bedroom, the door to which was locked, Combs allegedly became “aggressive” with the two women and “eventually began forcibly touch them without consent,” the lawsuit says. He then allegedly ordered the accuser’s friend to perform oral sex on him “or else he would have them both killed.”

Combs also forced Jane Doe to take her clothes off under the threat of violence and “fondled, molested, and ultimately raped Ms. Doe, all while she was begging him to stop,” the suit alleges.

Diddy, multiple men raped unnamed man at 2021 party, lawsuit says

One man claims he was drugged and assaulted by Combs and multiple other unnamed men at a 2021 party.

The John Doe’s lawsuit says he “became disoriented” after consuming an alcoholic drink at the party in New York, and while in a state of confusion and trying to leave, he heard a male voice saying “hold on” and promising to help him. The accuser then remembers being in a bedroom, unable to move or speak.

“Multiple men began to sexually assault him through sodomy and other forced acts,” the lawsuit says. “He distinctly recalls seeing Combs above him, naked, at one point during the assault,” and he “was sodomized by at least three men.”

Sean John, Ecko feud was backdrop of sexual assault, unnamed man alleges

In another lawsuit, a man claims he was sexually assaulted by Diddy in a Macy’s store in New York in 2008.

The man says he worked as an advisor for the clothing line Ecko Clothing, a competitor of Combs’ Sean John clothing line. He alleges he was in the stockroom at a Macy’s in Manhattan in 2008 when Combs and three bodyguards entered.

After turning a corner in the stockroom, the John Doe “was hit hard around the base of the neck, possibly with a pistol,” the lawsuit says, which forced him “to his hands and knees” where “he saw that each of the bodyguards had guns in their waistbands. (John Doe) heard multiple voices call out things like ‘I’ll kill you.'”

Combs then allegedly approached the man while he was on his hands and knees and “proceeded to forcefully, and brutally, orally rape” him for at least two minutes while making derogatory comments.

“After he was finished, Combs threw (John Doe’s) head aside and said words to the effect of ‘shut up or I’ll kill you,'” the lawsuit says.

Security guard claims drugging, sexual assault at Diddy party

Yet another John Doe alleges Combs sexually assaulted him at a party in 2006.

The man says he was working for a security firm at the time and accepted a job at a Combs “white party” in East Hampton. He says he “began to feel extremely ill” at the party after consuming two alcoholic drinks that were provided to him by Combs.

As the man was disoriented, he claims Combs “forcibly pushed” him into an open van, held him down and sexually assaulted him.

Biggie Smalls music video party was site of alleged rape, lawsuit claims

In another lawsuit, a woman says she attended a promotional party in New York in 1995 for the Biggie Smalls music video “One More Chance,” where Combs approached her and asked to speak with her. When they were alone in a bathroom, he “unexpectedly began kissing” her, she says.

When she tried to pull away, the woman alleges Combs “violently struck her, slamming her head against the wall and causing her to fall to the floor.” He then allegedly hit her again, lifted her dress and raped her. After the assault, Combs allegedly threatened the woman by warning, “You better not tell anyone about this, or you will disappear.”

Unnamed male minor claims he was assaulted at Diddy White Party

Another accuser says he was 16 years old when he was sexually assaulted by Combs at a Hamptons “white party” in 1998.

At the party, the man alleges Combs instructed him to “drop his pants and expose his penis so that Combs could inspect it,” claiming this is a “rite of passage and the route to becoming a star.” Combs then allegedly grabbed the man’s genitals.

“As a result of Combs’ sexual assault onto John Doe while he was a minor, John Doe experienced damages including pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment and emotional torment,” the lawsuit says. “The interaction continues to humiliate and cause shame on John Doe.”

This story has been updated to include additional information.

Contributing: Anika Reed, Jay Stahl and Edward Segarra