The Daily Populous

The Israeli government has not confirmed the specific claim that Hamas attackers cut off the heads of babies during their shock attack on Saturday, an Israeli official told CNN, contradicting a previous public statement by the Prime Minister’s office.

They instead likened Hamas’ brutality to that of ISIS, the Sunni terror group that beheaded captives and burned prisoners alive.

Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images An Israeli soldier walks by a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 11. »

House Republicans were on the verge of open revolt Wednesday after the ideologically fractious conference failed to coalesce around a speaker nominee, leaving the chamber rudderless and leaderless for an eighth day.

Neither issue produced enough urgency for Republicans to quickly elect a speaker as many had hoped, again highlighting the conference’s deep divisions.

The stalemate led Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.) to recess the House to avoid the embarrassment of a failed speaker vote. »

The CIA now officially describes the 1953 coup it backed in Iran that overthrew its prime minister and cemented the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as undemocratic.

FILE - A Communist newspaper kiosk burned by pro-shah demonstrators after the coup d’etat which ousted Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, in Tehran, Iran on Aug. 19, 1953.

Seven decades later, the 1953 coup remains as hotly debated as ever by Iran, its theocratic government, historians and others. »

Not the seizing of territory, but plain murder?

There is something new here that is important to understand.

Since I can’t interview the Hamas leadership, I’m drawing on my experience in the region, and here’s how I see it. »