President Donald Trump scored a major legal win on immigration at the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night. A federal judge agreed with the Trump administration that illegal aliens can be detained without bond while their immigration cases are being processed. “Tonight our [Justice Department] attorneys secured yet another crucial legal victory in support of [President] Trump’s immigration agenda,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted to X Friday night. “The Fifth Circuit just held illegal aliens can rightfully be detained without bond – a significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn,” Bondi said. “We will continue vindicating President Trump’s law and order agenda in courtrooms across the country,” the AG added. Tonight our @TheJusticeDept attorneys secured yet another crucial legal victory in support of @POTUS Trump’s immigration agenda. The Fifth Circuit just held illegal aliens can rightfully be detained without bond – a significant blow against activist judges who have been… — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) February 7, 2026 Eric Wessan, Iowa’s Solicitor General, called the win “enormous” for the Trump administration, noting that the Fifth Circuit was the first federal court to address Trump’s expedited removal efforts. “ENORMOUS Immigration win for President Trump,” he posted to X. “The Fifth Circuit, the first federal court to address President Trump’s expedited removal efforts, sides with the administration.” “Illegal aliens may be detained and removed!” he emphasized. Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, said the same in an X post. “Another big deal and seems obviously right – you can detain and hold illegal aliens rather than automatically releasing them on (insignificant) bond,” he said.

While Super Bowl LX will feature a sweeping display of U.S. airpower over Levi’s Stadium, Air Force officials confirmed Friday that F-22 Raptor fighters originally slated to participate were reassigned to operational missions as military demands intensified. The Raptors’ removal underscores the reality that the military aircraft showcased during major national events remain on active standby, even during the most-watched sporting event of the year. The flyover will now include Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers and F-15C Eagle fighters alongside Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35C Lightning II jets. But careful observers noticed something unusual on the commemorative flight suit patch released ahead of the event: a silhouette of the F-22 still appears. According to the Department of the Air Force, that inclusion reflects earlier planning, not a last-minute error. Katie Spencer, the Air Force’s Sports Outreach Program manager, said planners initially sought to showcase fifth-generation fighters from both the Air Force and Navy, pairing the F-22 with the Navy’s F-35C. That plan changed as real-world requirements intervened. “Operational tempo has increased,” Spencer said, explaining that the Raptors were reassigned to active missions before final approval of the flyover. While officials declined to provide specifics, the decision comes amid heightened U.S. military activity across multiple theaters. American aircraft have conducted recent strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, and F-22s played a critical role last year in Operation Midnight Hammer, the B-2 bomber-led campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities. The F-22 also participated in Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela, establishing U.S. dominance in the airspace over Caracas. Even without the Raptors, Sunday’s flyover is designed to project both scale and symbolism. The B-1 Lancer, a long-range bomber capable of delivering massive conventional firepower, will lead the formation, flanked by fighters representing multiple generations of U.S. air dominance. F-15C Eagles from California’s Fresno Air National Guard Base were added late in the planning process to complete the formation, filling the gap left by the F-22s. Planners said the choice reflects the broader theme of the event: marking the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary with a display that blends heritage, readiness, and modern capability. Officials also emphasized that Super Bowl flyovers do not require additional taxpayer funding. The flights are conducted as part of scheduled training, allowing aircrews to practice precise timing, coordination, and maintenance recovery under real-world conditions. “These flyovers serve as time-over-target training,” Spencer said, noting that the same proficiency displayed during major combat operations is built through exercises like Sunday’s formation flight. On the field, a joint color guard from the Military District of Washington, drawing members from every branch of the armed forces, will render ceremonial honors before kickoff. With Levi’s Stadium’s open-air design allowing for a larger-than-normal formation, officials said fans can expect a visceral experience, despite the omission of the fifth-generation fighter. “They’re going to hear something special,” Spencer said. “They’re going to feel it.” The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots face off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

'The text says what it says'

Syria is on track to experience a genocide if security protections are not put in place for endangered religious minorities, according to one expert on global religious freedom. If the “right” steps are taken, there could be “a long-term, stable, I hope, open to democratic [government in] Syria that will take place. We get it wrong now, you will have a genocide within three or four years,” warns Sam Brownback, who formerly served as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom in the first Trump administration. To prevent genocide, “local security has to be provided by and for minority groups so that they can protect themselves,” Brownback said while speaking at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C. this week. Multiple minority groups, including Alawites, Christians, Kurds, and Druze, are currently facing various levels of persecution in Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime at the end of 2024. Reports of kidnappings, church bombings, and torture of minority groups continue to emerge from the country. Alawite Persecution Dr. Morhaf Ibrahim, who is Alawite and serves as president of the Alawites Association of the United States, grew up in Syria but moved to the United States in 2005 at the age of 25. Ibrahim, a cardiologist who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, still has family and friends in Syria. About a week ago, Ibrahim received news that one of his Alawite friends, who is also a doctor, was kidnapped in Syria and his body was found two days later. Dr. Morhaf Ibrahim. (Courtesy of Ibrahim) “Kidnapping and killing continues to be an issue” in Syria, Ibrahim told The Daily Signal. The Alawites are a branch of Shia Islam and enjoyed favor with the Assad regime due to the ruling family being members of the Alawite sect. However, Syria is a predominantly Sunni Muslim nation. Shia and Sunni are the two main branches of Islam and hold different views on the Prophet Muhammad’s successor, which has created tension between the two groups since the 7th century. Shia Vs. Sunni in Syria Hafez al-Assad seized power in Syria in 1970, and his son Bashar al-Assad, nicknamed “The Butcher,” succeeded his father in 2000. Syria entered a civil war beginning in 2011 after the Assad regime responded to anti-regime protests with brutal force. During the civil war, over 200,000 civilians were killed under Bashar al-Assad’s rule. More than 15,000 died of torture at the hands of the regime, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, a nonprofit that has tracked deaths in Syria since 2011. With the Assad family’s connection to Shia Islam, Syrian Sunni Muslims faced repression and persecution under the regime.  Following Assad’s fall, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is Sunni, became president of Syria in 2025. Now, as the Washington Institute reports, there are concerns that those viewed as the former oppressors in Syria have become the oppressed. Future of Syria During the Assad regime, many Alawites worked for the state, Ibrahim says. After Sharaa took over leadership of Syria, many Alawites were “let go” from their government positions, Ibrahim explains, adding, “Alawites are actually excluded in certain areas, and they cannot really leave because they’re afraid [for] their lives.” Through his advocacy work, Ibrahim is calling for all citizens of Syria to have “equal citizenship,” and, like Brownback, he says each minority group should control its own security. “The security officers in the … Alawite-controlled area, or the Alawite-majority areas, should be from the Alawite sect,” Ibrahim told The Daily Signal, adding the same principle should extend to education. President Donald Trump hosted Sharaa at the White House in November and expressed his desire to see Syria prosper, pledging to do “everything we can to make Syria successful.” Sharaa is a former al-Qaeda commander, a history Trump acknowledged. “We’ve all had rough pasts,” the president said during the meeting in November. Ibrahim says Trump’s engagement with Syria gives him hope that things can change and minorities will be protected. “With the U.S. engagement with the Syrian regime, and trying to force the Syrian regime to … accept treating all minorities as equal citizens, there’s hope,” Ibrahim says, adding, “but if we continue to have the same path that’s going on right now, I don’t see there is actually improvement in … creating a peaceful state.” The post Syria on Path to Genocide, Former Trump Official Warns appeared first on The Daily Signal.

As the Winter Olympics kicked off in Italy on Friday, MS NOW’s The 11th Hour host Stephanie Ruhle thought it would be an appropriate time to assemble a panel and examine the United States’ relationship with Europe. In a classic example of clueless news shows informing clueless protestors, progressive comedian John Fugelsang called ICE a “fascist goon squad” and declared it was obvious that Italians don’t want them there helping with security because some of them are old enough to remember the Mussolini era. Ruhle was not discussing ICE’s role at the Olympics when she was responding to the idea that Europe can just move on from the U.S., “Like we can be like, oh, ‘they'll have hot girl summer.’ Europe doesn't have a super strong economy. Like, Europe—a lot of European countries do have a huge amount of right-wing influence. So. Trump dumping them isn't like, oh, we can just let this roll. It's very difficult.   Despite the fact that ICE has done security at previous Olympics, progressive comedian John Fugelsang tells MS NOW, "a lot of Italians aren't really fans of having fascist goon squads around. So, grandma and grandpa remember. ICE at the Olympics, I mean—" pic.twitter.com/EClLsCEyD1 — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) February 7, 2026   That’s when Fugelsang chimed in to add, “They'll be rebuilding, and it'll be painful. But again, looking at the Olympics, a lot of Italians aren't really fans of having fascist goon squads around. So, grandma and grandpa remember. ICE at the Olympics, I mean—“ The real reason why some Italians are protesting ICE is because they have no idea what they are talking about. They are unaware that ICE does more than domestic immigration enforcement and has been present at previous Olympics without incident, and sensationalist headlines about its presence in Italy do not convey the fact that security is still run by locals. ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations arm assists the State Department in providing additional security for U.S. diplomatic facilities, but networks like MS NOW reinforce protestors’ incorrect assumptions by inviting people like Fugelsang to throw around labels like “fascist goon squads.” It takes a special kind of crazy person to make Prof. Christina Greer seem like the relative voice of reason, but between Fugelsang’s false impression of ICE’s job and other doom mongering about the end of the close U.S.-Europe relationship, Greer pleaded, “It might be some rough times, sure, but also, God willing, and the creek don't rise. 2028, there could be a new American boy that comes in town. Or girl. We'll see. But I think that—let's, you know, not take ourselves too seriously. Europe is older than us. They'll figure it out.” Clueless journalists (or comedians) lead to clueless citizens. That’s true in the United States and in Italy. The case of ICE at the Olympics is just another example. Here is a transcript for the February 6 show: MS NOW The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle 2/6/2026 11:46 PM ET STEPHANIE RUHLE: Like we can be like, oh, “they'll have hot girl summer.” Europe doesn't have a super strong economy. Like, Europe—a lot of European countries do have a huge amount of right-wing influence. So. Trump dumping them isn't like, oh, we can just let this roll. It's very difficult. JOHN FUGELSANG: They'll be rebuilding, and it'll be painful. But again, looking at the Olympics, a lot of Italians aren't really fans of having fascist goon squads around. So, grandma and grandpa remember. ICE at the Olympics, I mean— CHRISTINA GREER: And—but here's the thing. It might be some rough times, sure, but also, God willing, and the creek don't rise. 2028, there could be a new American boy that comes in town. Or girl. We'll see. But I think that—let's, you know, not take ourselves too seriously. Europe is older than us. They'll figure it out.

Another Video of the Opening Ceremony Officially Sinks Dems' 'JD Vance Got Massively Booed' Narrative

On Second Thought, the GOP is Still Likely to Hold the Senate in 2026

Hilarious: Dissension in the Anti-ICE Contingent Over Whistles and White Liberal Responders