ATMEH, Syria (Reuters) -A pre-dawn U.S. military raid in northwestern Syria early on Wednesday targeted and killed a senior member of the Islamic State group, a U.S. official told Reuters. It was the second known raid in northern Syria by U.S. troops since former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December. The Islamist-led government that replaced him has pledged to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State and is part of an anti-ISIS alliance that includes the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group. The U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the raid killed a senior ISIS member who was seen as a candidate to be the leader of ISIS in Syria. No U.S. troops were killed or injured in the raid, the official added. A Syrian security source and Syria’s state-owned Al-Ikhbariya said the target was killed as he tried to escape. Another Syrian source said the target was an Iraqi national and was married to a French national. It was not immediately clear what happened to his wife. The Pentagon did not immediately have any public comment on the reports. End of Summer Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships The operation began at around 2 a.m. (1100 GMT), according to the Syrian security sources and neighbours in the town of Atmeh, in Idlib province. Helicopters and drones provided air cover, one Syrian security source and residents said. Local Syrian forces set up a cordon around the neighbourhood, but U.S. forces conducted the actual raid, the second security source said. Abdelqader al-Sheikh, a neighbour, said he was up late with his son and heard a noise in the yard next door. “I called out, ‘Who are you?’ and they started speaking to me in English, telling me to put my hands up,” Sheikh told Reuters. He said the armed forces stayed on the roofs of surrounding houses for the next two hours and that he could hear someone nearby speaking Arabic in an Iraqi accent. In July, the Pentagon said its forces had conducted a raid in Aleppo province resulting in the death of a senior Islamic State leader and his two adult Islamic State-affiliated sons. Idlib has been a hiding spot for senior Islamic State figures for years. U.S. forces killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the village of Barisha in Idlib province in 2019 and his successor, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, in Atmeh in 2022. (Reporting by Karam al-Masri in Atmeh, Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman and Idrees AliWriting by Maya GebeilyEditing by Frances Kerry, Rod Nickel)

WASHINGTON—Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard will announce Wednesday afternoon that she is refocusing the agency to aggressively execute its national security mission, shrinking the nearly 50% and saving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. Gabbard described the changes as “ODNI 2.0,” in a statement on Wednesday, calling the shift “the start of a new era focused on serving our country, fulfilling our core national security mission with excellence, always grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people.” ODNI will be reduced by almost 50% by the end of the fiscal year 2025, ultimately saving taxpayers over $700 million per year, senior DNI officials shared with The Daily Wire. This will be done by combining agency centers and reducing personnel. The ODNI workforce will receive an email on Wednesday afternoon informing them of the changes. Employees will also be informed if their position has been eliminated, alerting them that they will be separated from the ODNI by September 30. A message to the DNI workforce viewed by The Daily Wire states that the changes will reduce personnel by 30-40%. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) The announcement comes after a months-long review of ODNI to ascertain, in accord with President Donald Trump’s executive order, how ODNI could best fulfill it’s mission to integrate intelligence from and provide oversight over all intelligence community elements to make sure that it provides timely, accurate, and apolitical intelligence to Trump and to lawmakers. Senior ODNI officials who assisted in the months-long mission review briefed members of the press on Wednesday at ODNI’s headquarters in McClean, Virginia, a few hours before Gabbard made the official announcement. These officials stressed that the review was “incredibly thoughtful” and thorough, specifically taking into account the feedback from staff who Gabbard encouraged, during her first days in her role, to come to her with ideas on how to improve ODNI. “Tulsi has had a lot of direct contact from people around the building who are super excited,” explained one senior ODNI official. Gabbard briefed Trump on ODNI’s findings about two weeks ago, the officials shared. They declined to comment specifically on what Gabbard and Trump said in that private meeting, but stressed that all of the president’s priorities are reflected in ODNI 2.0 and that it was created in accordance with the president’s executive orders and green-lit by him. These officials dwelt on how “ODNI 2.0” seeks to institute culture changes in the agency by building and maintaining an elite workforce that is focused on fulfilling the agency’s national security mission ¸— “grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and accountable to the President of the United States and to the American people.” “Every position should add value, and every individual should feel like they are making a difference,” stressed another senior ODNI official. As a result of the review, a number of intelligence centers will be refocused or folded into themselves, including the Foreign Malign Influence Center, the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center, and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center. Additionally, ODNI will shut down the National Intelligence University and transfer its intelligence-related programs to the National Defense University, where the Defense Department and ODNI will work to transition current students to other institutions to allow them to properly complete their programs. “The decision has been made to transfer the National Intelligence University from ODNI to the Department of Defense’s National Defense University to the greatest extent possible,” reads a letter, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gabbard, sent to the National Intelligence University’s faculty and staff on Wednesday. The letter explains that “this effort aligns with President Trump’s focus on increasing efficiencies across the government and will enhance the quality of our education programs.” “Our people come first, and as faculty, staff, and students, your welfare and well being are of our highest concern during this transition period,” the letter notes. “You will be in good hands under the Defense Department’s National Defense University leadership.” WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 25: Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe (R), accompanied by FBI Director Kash Patel (L), and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard (C), speaks during a Senate Committee on Intelligence Hearing on March 25, 2025 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) Gabbard and ODNI are also leading coordination across the 18 intelligence community groups to “eliminate wasteful contracts and duplicative staff,” a declassified DNI fact sheet notes, and the proposed reductions amount to approximately $1.3 billion in annual recurring costs. Those reductions will be “fully realized by the end of FY 2025,” according to ODNI. The agency was created after the September 11, 2001 Islamist terrorist attacks revealed “systemic failures” throughout the Intelligence Community, Gabbard’s office said in a release. It was intended to integrate intelligence and provide the president and United States lawmakers with “timely, accurate, and apolitical” information — but Gabbard and her team believe it has failed to fulfill that mandate. “Over the last 20 years, ODNI has become bloated and inefficient, and the intelligence community is rife with abuse of power, unauthorized leaks of classified intelligence, and politicized weaponization of intelligence,” Gabbard explained in a Wednesday statement. “ODNI and the IC must make serious changes to fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the US Constitution by focusing on our core mission: find the truth and provide objective, unbiased, timely intelligence to the President and policy makers.” Gabbard argues that ending the weaponization of intelligence and holding bad actors accountable are “essential” to earning back the trust of the American people. “Under President Trump’s leadership, ODNI 2.0 is the start of a new era focused on serving our country, fulfilling our core national security mission with excellence, always grounded in the U.S. Constitution, and ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people.”

Don’t worry, Coldplay fans, the jumbotron tradition will live on, despite the major scandal that unfolded earlier this summer. Unless you’ve sworn off social media, you know about the cheating scandal that Coldplay accidentally unveiled on July 16th, 2025. During a concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the cameras turned to the crowd so lead singer Chris Martin could say “hi” to some fans. That day, the cameras stopped on former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, who was snuggling with his head of HR, Kristin Cabot. Once the couple saw themselves on the big screen, they immediately turned away and hid. At the time, Chris didn’t know what was happening. So he made a joke that “either they’re having an affair or they’re just really shy.” A media storm followed and revealed that both employees were married to other people. Chris Martin Gives A Hilarious Warning About Coldplay’s Jumbotron While the incident caused some bad press, mostly for the couple, Chris Martin doesn’t want people to think he’s doing away with the jumbotron. It was, and still is, one of his favorite features of his concerts. “This is not, never will be, and never was a kiss cam,” he told the audience of a show in Kingston upon Hull, England, on August 19th. “We put one couple, and it’s branded as a kiss cam for the rest of your life. This is called a Jumbotron.” “We’ve done this for a long, long time,” he continued. “We pick people out to say hello. Sometimes they turn out to be an internationally, massive scandal, sure. But most of the time, we’re just trying to say hello to some f–king people, that’s all. Now, all of this bulls–t.” According to E!, Coldplay debuted its jumbotron during a concert in Singapore last January. “Life throws you lemons, and you’ve got to make lemonade. So, we are going to keep doing it because we are going to meet some of you. If you’re not prepared to be on international news,” he joked, “please duck.” This story’s featured image is by Andrew Benge/Getty Images. The post Chris Martin Assures Fans That Coldplay’s Jumbotron Will Live On appeared first on InspireMore.

Stunning figures reported

'Federally-created environment'

'How are their voices going to be represented?'

'Endangering people's lives'

'A significant and unfunded financial burden'

'D.C. has a terrible crime problem'

'regain our momentum'