Op-Ed: Arab summit fails to give Biden what he wants

U.S. President Joe Biden left Jeddah, Saudi Arabia aboard Air Force 1 on Saturday, ending his first Middle East visit since taking office after four days in the region without major announcements.

The lukewarm reception and lack of enthusiasm were evident when the governor of the Mecca Region, Khalid Al-Faisal, was sent to the airport to receive Biden upon his arrival in the city of Jeddah, in striking contrast to the extravagant reception that was given to then-President Donald Trump when he visited Riyadh in 2017.

The way Biden greeted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with a fist bump rather than a handshake, and the serious expressions they maintained as they barely moved their lips, left no doubt about how they felt toward each other. Source: Ynet News

Uvalde report finds ‘systemic failures and egregious poor decision-making’ by police

The Texas House report into the Uvalde elementary school shooting in May that killed 21 people, including 19 children, said the massacre was unable to be stopped due to “systemic failures and egregious poor decision-making.”

The report obtained by the Texas Tribune attempts to piece together what happened during the 77 minutes after the alleged gunman, 18-year-old Uvalde High School dropout Salvador Ramos, entered Robb Elementary School until the point he was killed by a Border Patrol agent.

While 376 law-enforcement officers responded to the shooting, the report does not place blame solely on Uvalde school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo, as other reports have done. Instead, the Texas House committee focuses mostly on problems with communication during the incident and preparation beforehand. Source: Just the News

Cincinnati federal judge temporarily stops Air Force globally from discharging religious vaccine refusers

A federal judge in Cincinnati has certified a national class action lawsuit against the entire U.S. Air Force worldwide and issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Biden administration from enforcing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on any servicemembers who requested religious exemptions.

In this local case that has now gone global, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew McFarland’s order Thursday stops the Air Force from discharging or disciplining servicemembers for 14 days.

This impacts 80 to 100 plaintiffs stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, who filed the lawsuit against top military leaders back in February, and now 9,000 to 10,000 service members nationally, according to the attorney for the local plaintiffs, Chris Wiest of northern Kentucky. Source: Fox19 Ohio

Dr. Fauci States Vaccines Don’t Protect “Overly Well” Against COVID Infection

“One of the things that’s clear from the data is that, even though vaccines, because of the high degree of transmissibility of this virus, don’t protect overly well, as it were, against infection, they protect quite well against severe disease leading to hospitalization and death,” Dr. Fauci said in an interview on Fox News.

Sen. Hawley Accused of being “transphobic” for suggesting only women can get pregnant

A Berkeley law professor accused Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) of being “transphobic” when she was questioned Tuesday during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on the overturning of Roe v. Wade, after the GOP senator criticized her for referring that “people” can become pregnant as being affected by abortion rather than women.

Biden demands laws forcing gun owners to lock up guns or be punished

President Joe Biden delivered a 20-minute gun speech at the White House on Monday in which he called on Congress to pass “safe storage” gun laws holding gun owners personally liable for locking up their guns, in addition to bans on “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines.

While speaking to commemorate the passage of the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act” he signed into law last month, Biden said, “We should have safe storage laws requiring personal liability for not locking up your gun.”

“If you own a weapon, you have the responsibility to secure it and keep it under lock and key,” Biden said. “Responsible gun owners agree: No one else should have access to it, so lock it up.”  Source: American Military News

Church of England refuses to define the word ‘woman’

The Church of England refused to offer up a definition of a woman, arguing that recent developments required “additional care” when attempting to define the word.

“There is no official definition, which reflects the fact that until fairly recently definitions of this kind were thought to be self-evident, as reflected in the marriage liturgy,” Senior Bishop Rt Rev Robert Innes said when asked to define the word, according to reporting from GB News.

Innes’ remarks came in response to a question posed by lay member Adam Kendry during the General Synod, who asked: “What is the Church of England’s definition of a woman?” Source: Fox News

Study: Natural immunity to COVID gives 97% protection against severe reinfection for many months

Researchers say in a newly released study that prior infection with COVID-19 offers long-lasting and comprehensive immunity against severe and fatal cases of the virus.

The study, published online at medRxiv and not yet subject to peer review, was conducted by a team of researchers largely based out of Qatar. The scientists in the preprint stated “the future of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic hinges on virus evolution and duration of immune protection of natural infection against reinfection.”

They also said that while immunity derived from “natural infection” offers a relatively quickly-waning protection against re-infection, the durability of natural immunity against severe reinfections was robust and long-lasting.   Source: Just the News

Leaked phone call reveals fiery exchange between Putin, Macron days before Ukraine war

Just four days before Moscow’s forces attacked Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron had a furious argument over the phone, with the Russian strongman claiming that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky was lying to the French president, according to a bombshell leak.

Details of the confidential exchange between the two world leaders on Feb. 20 were revealed in a new documentary about Macron’s handling of the ongoing conflict, titled “A President, Europe and War,” which premiered last week on channel France 2.

As Russia was in the process of massing its forces in preparation for the full-scale invasion in late February, Macron called his Russian counterpart to offer his views on the escalating situation and discuss “useful actions” to defuse it. Source: NY Post