White House Dossier's

Hostage release delayed as negotiators argue, but cease-fire extension close . . . The list of people Hamas plans to release on Monday includes almost exclusively children, separating some of them from their family members, which is holding up the exchange, Egyptian officials said. Hamas was expected to release the hostages at around 4 p.m. local time as part of the four-day truce deal, which ends in a few hours. As agreed in the deal, Israel wants Hamas to keep families together as it releases hostages Monday. Hamas is pushing back, saying it doesn't have all the members of the families in one place at the moment. Israel and Hamas are close to agreeing on a two-day extension to their truce deal, which ends in a few hours, said Diaa Rashwan, chairman of Egypt's State Information Service. Wall Street Journal

Hostage escaped for days but was recaptured . . . Freed hostage Ron Krivoi escaped the rubble of a destroyed Gaza building where he was kept and attempted to escape the Gaza Strip on his own for days, his aunt revealed to Kan Reshet B on Monday morning. Krivoi, a 25-year-old Russian-Israeli dual national, was released by Hamas on Sunday evening following the intervention of the Russian government, in addition to 13 other Israelis and three foreign hostages released on the third day of the ceasefire in Gaza. Jerusalem Post

Musk visits Israel . . . Elon Musk, who's been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants and was set to meet with top leaders. The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, a rural village that Hamas militants stormed on Oct. 7 in a deadly assault that launched the war. ABC News

Ten mistakes that led to the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas murderers . . .  The assault was the inevitable outcome of scores of military and political failures, which will be studied in depth after Israel Defense Forces has finally destroyed Hamas. The origins of this war lie in a series of political mistakes in the aftermath of Israel’s awe-inspiring victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. Sadly, the US ignored its appeasements and mistakes that led to World War II, and Israel failed to draw the lessons from its mistakes and appeasement of the Palestinians. Alas, there is now no non-military solution to the problem. By Kenneth Abramowitz. Save the West

Navy captures terrorists who seized Israeli tanker . . . A US Navy warship has captured armed men who seized an Israeli-linked tanker off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, US defence officials say. The assailants attempted to escape on a boat but were chased by the US warship. Two missiles were then fired towards the warship from rebel Houthi-controlled territory in the country. The Houthis have promised to target Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. BBC

NatureMade is the top pharmacist-recommended vitamin and supplment brand . . . Nature Made has been a pioneer in vitamins and supplements since 1971. Its commitment to your good health lies at the core of every product it makes—with high-quality ingredients backed by 50 years of research, science, and innovation. Nature Made is a partner on your health journey. Its goal is to make it easier for you to care for yourself daily. Get your daily vitamins and supplements delivered right to your door. Use the code NMSHOP25 and save 25% off your first order.

Biden apologizes to Muslims for questioning Hamas death toll reporting . . . President Biden reportedly issued an apology to several prominent Muslim-American leaders after openly questioning the accuracy of the death toll figures from Gaza. During a press conference on Oct. 25, President Biden openly questioned the number of causalities in Gaza, which are reported by the Hamas government. "I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed," Biden said. "I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s a price of waging war." Fox News

Talk about being right the first time . . . the Gaza health ministry that keeps tabs on the death toll is controlled by savage terrorists. Perhaps Biden now thinks they're willing to kill, but not to lie.

Trump may be headed toward knockout win in Iowa . . . With only 49 days to go, Donald J. Trump’s top rivals are running out of time to catch him as Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley thrash each other in the final sprint to the starting line. Far ahead in national polls, Mr. Trump is aiming for an emphatic victory on Jan. 15 in Iowa that could serve as an early knockout punch. He leads in public surveys in the state by a margin twice as large as the most competitive contest in the last 50 years. New York Times

House China panel to warn of China's 'secret weapon' . . . A bipartisan congressional committee is set to warn members of the U.S. Congress on Monday about threats posed to American politics and society by the "united front" system of China's ruling Communist Party. The United Front Work Department, which answers to the Communist Party's Central Committee, oversees the broad spectrum of the party's institutionalized influence operations and intelligence activities targeting groups inside and outside of China. Its task is to coordinate favorable narratives and organize events to promote them; identify and nullify challenges to the CCP's rules; and ultimately advance the party's ideological, political, economic and security interests globally. Newsweek

WH surveillance program allows cops to track trillions of phone records . . . A little-known surveillance program tracks more than a trillion domestic phone records within the United States each year, according to a letter sent by US senator Ron Wyden to the Department of Justice challenging the program’s legality. According to the letter, a surveillance program now known as Data Analytical Services has for more than a decade allowed federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to mine the details of Americans’ calls, analyzing the phone records of countless people who are not suspected of any crime, including victims. Wired

Border Patrol forced to call in reinfircements . . . Border Patrol called in reinforcements to help as agents grow increasingly overwhelmed by migrants in an area of southern Arizona, according to an internal Sunday message to agency officials obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Border Patrol agents from the Douglas, Arizona, station are being called up to help agents at the Tucson migrant processing center, which temporarily holds migrants who illegally cross the border. Border Patrol has roughly 4,600 illegal migrants in custody as of Sunday evening in all of the Tucson sector compared to nearly 20,000 nationwide. Daily Caller

Russian resources give it the advantage over Ukraine . . . As Russia’s war against Ukraine approaches its third year, Moscow holds the advantage on the military, political and economic fronts. Russia has far more men to replenish its battered army than the Ukrainians, who are running short of well-trained infantry. President Vladimir Putin is militarizing the Russian economy, using strong oil revenues to pay for rising weapons production. Wall Street Journal

UAE planned to use enviro summit to strike oil deals . . . The United Arab Emirates planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals, the BBC has learned. Leaked briefing documents reveal plans to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations. The UN body responsible for the COP28 summit told the BBC hosts were expected to act without bias or self-interest. BBC

Finally someone doing something useful an at COP summit!

Conor McGregor rips Irish PM, press for Israel stance . . . UFC fighter Conor McGregor tore into the prime minister of Ireland over his reaction to the Sunday release of an Irish-Israeli hostage taken captive by Hamas. McGregor aired his frustrations at Prime Minister Leo Vardkar, calling him a “disgrace.” Vardkar had used the words “lost” and “found,” apparently from the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son, to describe the abduction of Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli child taken captive Oct. 7 by Hamas terrorists. McGregor accused the prime minister and other Irish politicians of minimizing Hamas’ atrocities against Israel. Daily Caller

Money

Wall Street gearing up for rate cuts . . . Twenty months after the Federal Reserve began a historic campaign against inflation, investors now believe there is a much greater chance that the central bank will cut rates in just four months than raise them again in the foreseeable future. Interest-rate futures indicated last week a roughly 60% chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter-of-a-percentage point by its May 2024 policy meeting, up from 29% at the end of October, according to CME Group data. The same data have pointed to four cuts by the end of the year. WSJ

Biden hands out billions for EVs, but sales stall . . . Auto dealers are struggling to sell backlogs of electric vehicles pushed onto their lots by manufacturers that have been forced to ramp up production by President Biden’s quest to end the use of fossil fuels. Along the way, the government and utilities have shifted the costs to taxpayers through billions of dollars in subsidies. A study calculates that taxpayers are on the hook for a staggering $50,000 for every electric vehicle sale, or $22 billion annually. That excludes a recently extended $7,500 tax credit for certain electric vehicle purchases. Washington Times

America chooses to keep golf carts on the golf course.

Culture

Elite colleges refuse to expel antisemitic students . . . At elite institutions like MIT, nearly a quarter of all students hail from another country. Keeping these students on campus is that one reason college administrators have opted not to punish students making anti-Semitic comments, even as Jewish students say they feel unsafe. The Washington Free Beacon could not find a single incident of a student suspended over a protest, even in cases where police made arrests. Washington Free Beacon

Vermont man arrested in shooting of three Palestinians . . . A man has been arrested in the shooting of three 20-year-old Palestinian-American students in Vermont, police said. Jason J. Eaton, 48, was identified by police as a suspect in the attack near the University of Vermont on Saturday. Two of the victims were wearing black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves at the time of the attack. There was no further information to suggest a motive, but investigators suspect it may have been a hate-motivated crime. Newsweek

North Koreans are going bald . . . Kim Jong Un's North Korea has suffered a strange uptick in the number of people suffering from thinning hair or outright going bald, South Korean experts have reported. The experts spoke with Radio Free Asia, discussing how the phenomenon appears to derive from a number of sources, including infections that caused hair loss as an after-effect and the use of soap and laundry detergent that contain "harsh" chemical ingredients. Fox Business

If this continues, things could get hairy for Kim Jong Un.

Sorry about that one . . .