John the Apostle recorded a promise that allows us to boldly confront the evils of worldliness: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5) In an interview Thursday with Mike Tirico of NBC Sports, light shone from the face of gold medal-winning U.S....

ISLAMABAD — A group of heavily armed militants launched coordinated attacks on two Pakistani military posts near the border with Afghanistan Friday, reportedly killing several security personnel and wounding many more. Multiple area security sources confirmed the predawn raid in the volatile border district of Khyber, telling VOA that it resulted in the death of at least five security personnel and injuries to at least a dozen more. Ensuing clashes with Pakistani security forces reportedly also killed several assailants. The military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, did not respond to VOA inquiries seeking details of the assault in time for publication. Militants tied to an outlawed entity known as the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media post. The group has stated publicly that its fighters are waging insurgent attacks in coordination with the globally designated terrorist organization Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Militancy-hit Khyber and surrounding border districts often encounter deadly attacks aimed at Pakistani security forces and their facilities. Pakistan complains that the TTP and leaders of other antistate groups have taken shelter in Afghanistan after fleeing counterinsurgency operations and orchestrated cross border attacks from sanctuaries there. The violence has intensified and killed hundreds of Pakistanis, mostly security forces, since the Taliban reclaimed control of Afghanistan three years ago. The de facto Taliban government denies the presence of foreign militants in the country, insisting that it does not allow anyone to threaten other countries, including Pakistan, from Afghan soil. The United Nations has backed Pakistani assertions, noting in its latest situation report that the TTP is “the largest terrorist group” in Afghanistan and receives growing support from the ruling Taliban to launch cross-border attacks. The report, released last month, estimates that up to 6,500 TTP militants, including Afghan fighters, are operating in Afghanistan and being trained as well as armed at al-Qaida-run camps there. U.N. officials have repeatedly warned about the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, identifying Islamic State Khorasan, or IS-K, an Afghan offshoot of Islamic State, as the most serious regional threat. The head of the U.N. counterterrorism office told a Security Council meeting on Thursday that IS-Khorasan has intensified its recruitment efforts in Afghanistan and that there is a risk of the group carrying out attacks abroad. “ISIL-K has improved its financial and logistical capabilities in the past six months, including by tapping into Afghan and Central Asian diasporas for support,” Vladimir Voronkov said, referring to the terror organization by an acronym. The Taliban have not commented on the latest U.N. assertions and previously rejected such assessments as propaganda against their government. The fundamentalist de facto Afghan rulers claim their security forces have eliminated IS-Khorasan bases in the country and degraded the group's ability to threaten national security and that of the region.

Struggling Joe Biden emerged from the basement Thursday when he welcomed athletes to the White House at a completely incoherent press conference. “He’s gon-need another finger… Or else yuh-got put the fifth wih-rih-ring on hisfth-umb… I mean, how you do that man?” asked Biden. “What do I do now?” BIDEN: "Alright, what am I doing now?"He is completely and totally cooked — and Kamala led the coverup. pic.twitter.com/IDdXHULxDz— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 8, 2024 SLURRING JOE RETURNS: “He’s gon-need another finger… Or else yuh-got put the fifth wih-rih-ring on hisfth-umb… I mean, how you do that man?” pic.twitter.com/uOlnqq3yAe— The First (@TheFirstonTV) August 8, 2024

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted three executives of election voting machine and service provider Smartmatic, a former Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Philippines, and Smartmatic’s President Roger Pinate on bribery charges. Money Laundering and Bribery According to the indictment, between 2015 and 2018, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a Venezuelan citizen […] The post Smartmatic Voting Machine Company Has a Bribery Problem appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Vice President Kamala Harris finally stopped to answer a few questions from reporters before she left Detroit on Thursday and hinted at a possible long-form interview “before the end of the month.” Harris has been blasted by Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, for avoiding taking questions from reporters or holding a press conference since she became the Democratic presidential nominee. The vice president spent less than two minutes answering reporters’ questions on Thursday and said that she is pushing her team to get a major interview scheduled before September, which is still three weeks away. “Madame vice president, there’s been a lot of questions about when you’re going to sit down for your first interview since being the nominee …” a reporter stated. “I’ve talked to my team; I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month,” Harris replied. Harris also addressed Trump’s announcement that he has agreed to three debates against Harris on three different networks in September. The vice president only agreed to the September 10 debate on ABC. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI “I’m glad that he’s finally agreed to a debate on September 10th. I’m looking forward to it and hope he shows up,” she said. “Are you open to more debates?” a reporter asked. “I’m happy to have that conversation about an additional debate for after September 10th,” she responded. During an hour-long news conference on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said he and his team “have spoken to the heads of the networks” and set up debates on Fox News on September 4, ABC on September 10, and NBC on September 25 contingent on Harris accepting the terms. “They may or may not agree. I don’t know,” Trump said of the Harris campaign. “She hasn’t done an interview. She can’t do an interview. She’s barely competent. She can’t do an interview, but I look forward to the debates because we have to set the record straight.” WATCH BEN SHAPIRO’S ‘SCAMALA: KAMALA HARRIS UNMASKED’ ON DAILYWIRE+ A Harris campaign official said the vice president would not agree to the September 4 debate on Fox News, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang reported. Wang added that the campaign official told her that “future debates are contingent on Trump showing up to @ABC debate on Sept 10th.” Trump also blasted Harris for avoiding the media during his press conference, saying, “She’s not doing any news conference. Do you know why she’s not doing [it]? Because she can’t do a news conference. She doesn’t know how to do a news conference. She’s not smart enough to do a news conference.”

A viral video has surfaced showing Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz falsely claiming that he served in a war, despite never having seen combat during his military career. The video, which has reignited accusations of "stolen valor," shows Walz stating, "We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war"​. Walz, who served 24 years in the Army National Guard, retired in 2005. Although he was part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), his service was conducted in Italy, not in combat zones like Afghanistan or Iraq. The Minnesota National Guard confirmed that while Walz's unit was involved in OEF, his role was limited to training units in artillery​. Here’s Walz committing ACTUAL stolen valor and saying he went to war. Would be a shame if it went viral pic.twitter.com/wFN72y6Nas — ~ ?????? ~ (@RogueLou18) August 7, 2024 This isn't the first time Walz's military record has been called into question. During his 2006 congressional campaign, he described himself as a "veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom," a term typically associated with service in Afghanistan. This claim has led to misunderstandings among his constituents, some of whom believed he served in combat​. The controversy intensified following Walz's selection as Kamala Harris's running mate in the 2024 presidential election. Critics, including GOP vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance, accused Walz of abandoning his unit before their deployment to Iraq. Vance stated, "You abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq," during a campaign event​. Tim Walz On MSNBC Says That There Is No First Amendment Protection For Misinformation Or Hate Speach Your Thoughts: Do our First Amendment rights cover speech the government doesn't like? A clip has resurfaced from an interview on MSNBC. Walz: "There’s no guarantee to… pic.twitter.com/VOSYFnOws5 — Cash Loren (@CashLorenShow) August 7, 2024 Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Behrends, who served with Walz, emphasized that Walz's comments could easily be interpreted as implying combat experience. "To most people, that would mean that he was actually in combat, carrying a weapon in a combat zone," Behrends said on Fox News​. Walz has previously admitted that he never saw combat, stating in a 2018 interview that he "got far more out of the military" than the military got out of him. Despite this, his campaign's portrayal of his military service has continued to cause confusion and controversy. The Harris campaign defended Walz, noting his deployment to Italy in support of OEF. However, critics argue that serving in Italy is not equivalent to being in a combat zone, a distinction they believe is critical​. As the 2024 election heats up, Walz's military service remains a focal point of debate, highlighting the broader issue of how military credentials are represented in political campaigns. The post Viral Video Shows Tim Walz Falsely Claiming He Served ‘In War’ appeared first on The Conservative Brief.