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Kash Patel Says ‘If You Betray This Country We Will Find You’
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FBI arrests Iranian-US citizen in California mansion raid for alleged illegal export of U.S. technology to Iran. FBI Director issues warning.
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Federal authorities arrested a dual Iranian-U.S. citizen in Southern California after an FBI raid on a multimillion-dollar mansion tied to an alleged scheme to illegally export U.S. technology to Iran in violation of sanctions laws.
FBI Raid In Southern California
On Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel issued a stark warning on X, writing, “It’s simple if you BETRAY this country we will FIND you, and you will face JUSTICE!” following the arrest.
FBI Director reshared a message from Journalist Eric Daugherty, who reported that federal agents raided a $35 million estate in California and arrested Jamshid Ghomi, an Iranian dual citizen.
Daugherty said Ghomi is accused of “selling computer hardware to the Iranian government for use in its military and nuclear operations,” and is alleged to have made millions through concealed transactions.
A quoted federal prosecutor statement described Ghomi as someone who “is accused of aiding our declared enemies by selling US-origin computer networking parts to Iran and earning millions of dollars in violation of US sanction laws.”
House Limits Trump’s Iran War Powers
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 215-208 to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct military operations against Iran without congressional proval, in a bipartisan effort to assert war powers authority amid rising tensions.
The U.S. military struck an Iranian ground control station on Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz after reported missile attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain, while Central Command said incoming missiles were intercepted or failed to reach targets.
Officials also said a tanker bound for Iran was seized, marking the seventh such interception tied to blockade violations.
Last month, Trump said Iran was “very good negotiators” and suggested a nuclear-related deal was largely negotiated, while Vice President JD Vance said enrichment remained a key sticking point.
The proposed framework would extend a ceasefire, reopen Strait of Hormuz navigation and advance nuclear talks.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo Courtesy: /Maxim Elramsisy
Source: Benzinga
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Ben Affleck’s visit to Luna’s Mexican Grill in Swarthmore sends business soaring
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Cristina Luna Ramirez’s restaurant runs on family and the flavors of northern Mexico. Her current success comes after years of hard work, practice, and adtability.
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When Ben Affleck visited a Swarthmore restaurant in March, he was just looking for lunch. To Cristina Luna Ramirez, owner of Luna’s Mexican Grill on Park Avenue, it was so much more than that.
A picture of the actor sitting at a table eating a burrito quickly went viral, and that was all it took for Luna’s to more than make up for lost sales frozen by a harsh winter.
The restaurant had seen a little bump from a review by TikToker @Delco_jawnn the week before, but it was already starting to die down. Affleck’s March 27 visit made business blow up overnight. Ramirez called it a godsend.
I don’t think celebrities understand how much value they bring to a mom-and-pop shop like this, said Ramirez, 52.
» READ MORE: Ben Affleck stopped by this Swarthmore restaurant for lunch
The story Ramirez heard later from a staffer at Swarthmore College was that Affleck and his teenager, Fin, a prospective student, arrived on campus early that morning for a visit. The tour didn’t start until the afternoon, and the pair found themselves with time to kill and stomachs to fill. The staffer directed them to Luna’s.
Ramirez missed Affleck in her restaurant (by a minute and 37 seconds, according to her security cameras, she says) but caught up with the actor at Dunkin’ a few doors down and was able to chat with him and sn a selfie.
The next day, Luna’s was open two hours later than usual because they were so busy. Ramirez said customers were coming by hoping to get a glimpse of Affleck, thinking he might be shooting a movie in town.
It was next level, Ramirez said. I was making three to four times what I was making the week before.
Suddenly, she needed 120 to 175 pounds of steak per week instead of the usual 60 to 80, and 40 pounds of fish instead of 20. One case of tequila would last two to three weeks before Affleck’s visit. Now she needed two cases for a single week.
‘What did you just do?’
Luna’s success comes from more than a cameo by a famous actor. It took hard work, practice, and adtability.
Ramirez lived in Texas for most of her life. She spent 10 years as a teacher, another 10 years as a librarian, and she was on her way to becoming a principal when she decided she was done.
Ramirez decided to move to the Philly area to be closer to her daughter, Amanda Paez, and grandchildren. She immediately fell in love with this little corner of Southeastern Pennsylvania and took a year off from working to figure out her next move.
The only time I’m not bored is when I’m cooking, Ramirez said. Although she was hesitant to take the le to open a restaurant, she was already getting rave reviews. Ramirez had been cooking for Paez and her friends, who praised her talents.
One day I just drove up with a food truck hitched to my pickup truck, she said. My daughter was like, ‘What did you just do?’
She started selling tacos in ril 2024 in front of the Sharon Hill Grocery Outlet, which her daughter owned at the time. By summer, she was getting booked for festivals.
People were calling me at all hours of the day, Ramirez said. After her mother had a stroke, she flew home for two weeks, and the calls didn’t stop. Everyone wanted to know where the taco lady was. She retired the food truck and knew it was time to find a brick-and-mortar location.
It just so hpened Village Vine owner John Hearn was selling his Swarthmore restaurant to fund IVF treatment for his wife, as well as find a job a little less demanding for a soon-to-be father. Ramirez tried to meet his asking price, but it was too steep.
When she called me the first time when the deal fell through, you could tell that she was just absolutely devastated that it wasn’t going to hpen, Hearn said. It just stuck with me.
After a few months, Hearn had gotten another offer, but he reached out to Ramirez. He said he believed her restaurant was the best fit for the space.
You have to be there 24-7 and put your passion and soul into it, Hearn said. I really believed that she could do well there and I knew she was going to put the time and effort into it that it needed.
Hearn cut the sale price by $40,000, Ramirez said. He even helped her meet her new neighbors. In a video posted to social media announcing Village Vine’s closure, Hearn also invited Ramirez to introduce herself and her restaurant.
Swarthmore is such a local community that that stuff matters, Hearn said.
Luna’s officially opened on March 17, 2025. Ramirez calls it the best decision of her life.
Luna’s is built on family
Ramirez has never been to culinary school — she just loves cooking. She says her mother, Consuelo Gilliland, taught her how to cook with the flavors of northern Mexico, but she still gives some credit to her father, Catarino José Luna.
I have my father’s patience in the kitchen and my mother’s ingenuity, she said. The way I put my cuisine together is inspired by my parents.
Her mother was the oldest of 10 children and learned to cook for her siblings at a young age. When Ramirez’s aunts come in, they taste her mother’s influence in the food.
Ramirez is still working to perfect longtime family favorites. In recent weeks she finally recreated her mother’s pasta, made with tomato sauce, garlic, onion, and a ton of cheese, after trying different combinations over the years.
While she credits her mother with her recipes, her father had plenty of cooking experience in the U.S. Army. It wasn’t until after he died that Ramirez found out he was a chef while enlisted.
On Father’s Day, she’ll serve her own spin on a meal known as SOS (the unabbreviated name can’t be repeated in polite company) in honor of Luna’s military service.
Ramirez and her sisters all kept Luna in their names when they got married, and the restaurant is named in their honor. She also has help from the next generation: Her son, Matthew, works at Luna’s, too.
Giving thanks
Just as she’s honored her family in the name of her restaurant and the food she serves, Ramirez has paid tribute to her famous, unintentional benefactor. A small picture of Affleck hangs on the wall above the table where he sat.
Ramirez is grateful to the actor, as well as for her staff for all the hard work they’ve done since business took off.
I would love to say thank you to him, Ramirez said. Affleck could not be reached for comment.
After they met at Dunkin’, Ramirez had one parting request for Affleck.
I didn’t want to say, ‘Hey, bring me Matt Damon and George Clooney and Brad Pitt,’ you know, because they’re all best friends, Ramirez said. But I was like, ‘Give me some more business.’
That business was already on its way.
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Lebanese Americans Open Their Wallets and Hearts as War Rages Back Home
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CANTON, Mich. () — Every week, Mirvet Makki sets aside earnings from her catering business to help people in Lebanon displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
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CANTON, Mich. () — Every week, Mirvet Makki sets aside earnings from her catering business to help people in Lebanon displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
Makki, 47, who cooks Lebanese dishes like couscous stews and traditional kibbeh balls in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn Heights, immigrated to Michigan in 1990. But her heart never left her childhood village of Bint Jbeil, now one of the hardest-hit areas in southern Lebanon.
Nearly every Lebanese American has felt the impact of the latest round of fighting, which has displaced more than 1 million people — roughly one in every six Lebanese — and killed more than 3,500 people. It’s Israel’s deepest invasion into Lebanon in more than a quarter-century.
I was thinking, ‘What can I do for other people?’ Makki said. So I used my business.
Even with the rising cost of living in the U.S., she said, the money I can spare personally, I’ve been sending it to family.
In areas like metro Detroit, where Arabic signs adorn restaurants, coffee houses and bakeries on bustling suburban avenues, a sense of grief has blanketed the war-weary community as they watch the crisis unfold thousands of miles away.
Like Makki, many grple with guilt and hopelessness. It’s not easy to help loved ones who are unwilling or unable to leave their country and face a worsening economic crisis.
Honestly it’s hard. Like, what do you say? Makki said. They’re going to ask me what I’m doing. Let’s say I’m at work. They lost their jobs. Let’s say I tell them I’m home. They lost their homes.
The global diaspora has shed Lebanon
Lebanese immigration to the U.S. dates to the late 1800s. Roughly 625,000 Lebanese Americans live here now, according to census data, though some estimates put the number closer to 1.4 million.
Opinions about the Lebanese government, Hezbollah and Israel vary among the diaspora as they do in Lebanon, where views are heavily influenced by religious affiliation. The population there is about equally split between Sunni Muslim, Shiite Muslim and Christian denominations, along with a smaller Druze community.
Despite their differences, the global diaspora remains deeply connected to their home country, in part through billions of dollars sent back each year.
There is really no Lebanese homeland without the Lebanese diaspora, Edward Curtis, director of Arabic Studies at Indiana University, said.
A population who relies on each other
Lebanese Americans often rally around common causes, like during the 2024 U.S. presidential election for the uncommitted movement protesting U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza, or to condemn the Michigan synagogue attack carried out by a Lebanese man in March.
When they see suffering in Lebanon, people’s immediate reaction … is for the community to come together, raise funds, raise money, and try to help everybody as much as they can, Akram Khater, director of Lebanese Diaspora Studies at North Carolina State University, said.
Most rely on one another, rather than looking to Washington for help.
Curtis said many Lebanese Americans have grown disillusioned with U.S. politics, instead seeking to celebrate Lebanese life when other peoples are threatening its death.
Maya Attoui, whose parents still live in Beirut, is organizing a metro Detroit fundraiser to support Lebanon and raise awareness about the conflict. She said she doesn’t have enough money to spare to support her numerous relatives, but hopes an event with activities and speakers will generate far more funds.
We don’t feel like talking, we don’t feel like cooking in our houses, Attoui said. We’re just 24/7 on the phone or on the news. Our heart is really melting and breaking because of whatever we see.
A financial lifeline
Although people send remittances to countries all over the world, Lebanon is particularly dependent on its vast diaspora. The country’s economy has been shredded in recent years, to the point where the U.S. dollar is gradually becoming the de facto currency.
Makki visited Lebanon in February and saw how much prices had risen. Where $200 used to cover a car rental and a hotel room, this time it barely paid for a dinner out.
Some people crowdsource funds online. There are established relief organizations, but most prefer to send money directly to loved ones.
Makki doesn’t want to send more than $10,000 in total, to avoid pearing suspicious. After that, she laughed, Maybe take it there myself?
Nadia Bryant, 37, of Troy, Michigan, has been sending money to her half sisters in Lebanon, who are in temporary housing after their village of Ayta ash-Shab was invaded by Israeli forces.
Rather than spending the money on themselves, Bryant said, her sisters used it to help orphaned children.
They’re such righteous people, Bryant said. They are not even trying to take the money and get themselves a better house or anything. They’re like, ‘Oh, we have shelter, but this person needs a mattress.’
Over Whatsp, her sister sent her a photo of a steaming teot over a fire amid the strewn debris of what had been their home. The ction read: Best cup of tea since 9 october 2023.
I don’t even ask, ‘How are you?’ That feels so stupid to me, Bryant said. I ask, you know, ‘What does today look like,’ or ‘Where are you today?’
Attoui, the fundraiser organizer, has tried to convince her family to move to the U.S. multiple times since she came in 2006. They don’t want to leave. Regardless, the U.S. stopped processing immigrant visas to Lebanese nationals in late January.
I have all my aunts and my cousins over there, she said. So like, how many people can you bring here?
Source: U.S. News & World Report
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Netanyahu Faces Plunging Support in North Israel as Voters Demand Tougher Lebanon Stance
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US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.
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By Emily Rose
KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel, June 4 () – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces plunging support in the electorally vital north where Hezbollah rocket fire has been heaviest, a new poll has shown, putting pressure on him to take a more hawkish stance as elections loom.
Wednesday night’s ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon – whether it holds or not – may not be what northern voters have in mind.
The May poll by Agam Labs at Israel’s Hebrew University, shared exclusively with , showed residents in the north abandoning Netanyahu’s Likud more quickly than voters elsewhere and faulting him more harshly over the war in Lebanon.
With Iran demanding an end to Israel’s military campaign as part of any peace deal it agrees with the United States, the poll shows how Netanyahu is increasingly caught between domestic electoral considerations and the diplomatic efforts of his allies in Washington.
NORTHERN VOTERS WANT END TO HEZBOLLAH THREAT
The general election due by October could tip Netanyahu’s governing coalition from power, risking his long record as Israel’s arch political survivor.
While his government is widely seen as the most right-wing in Israeli history, many northern voters want a tougher military stance, unfettered by U.S. pressure to end the conflicts in the Middle East.
For residents of the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, where some half of voters backed Likud in the last election, ending the threat from Hezbollah and its near-daily rocket and drone attacks is the biggest issue.
When sirens start to wail, they have only seconds to seek shelter and voters there told they want the war against Hezbollah pursued until the group is dismantled.
“All night there are loud explosions,” said Kiryat Shmona resident Moshe Yifrah, 45, adding that he does not believe a ceasefire with Hezbollah would protect his family. “Who would we make it with? Murderers who want to kill us?” he said.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel after the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, and Israel waged an intense armed campaign in Lebanon, killing most of the group’s leaders and forcing it to accept a ceasefire.
However, Hezbollah fired again after Israel and the United States launched a war on Iran on February 28, prompting Israel to renew its assault and seize swathes of south Lebanon.
More than 50 civilians have been killed by Hezbollah fire in north Israel since October 2023, according to Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies.
In Lebanon, more than 7,500 people have been killed by Israeli military action since October 2023, statements by Lebanese officials that do not distinguish between civilians and combatants show.
Many northern voters, like Yifrah, want Israel to intensify its campaign, which continued despite an ril truce, but believe Netanyahu is buckling to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to agree a ceasefire.
“I’m not ashamed to say that I voted for this government, but it turns out that the one managing it is President Trump,” said Yifrah.
Trump, who wants a deal with Iran, said on Monday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to de-escalate hours after Netanyahu ordered new strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Netanyahu’s electoral rivals almost immediately accused him of compromising on national security – adding to his political difficulties months before the election is due.
“Everywhere Hezbollah is deployed it must be struck and the hands of the IDF should not be tied,” said former military chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot, a prime ministerial hopeful, in a speech on Monday.
Then on Wednesday evening, a new truce agreement was struck requiring Hezbollah to leave south Lebanon.
Netanyahu said soon afterwards that despite the ceasefire military operations would continue for now.
ELECTION RIVALS TARGET NORTH
The Agam Labs poll showed only 23% of voters in the north saying they would back Likud in the next election, down from the 35% it gained in the last election in 2022. Support for the wider right-wing bloc that makes up Netanyahu’s coalition has fallen yet further in the north, the poll showed.
The drop in support for Likud is around three times greater in the north, home to around a fifth of the electorate, than elsewhere in Israel and around 70% of the voters surveyed there said they disproved of the handling of the war in Lebanon – more than elsewhere in Israel.
“We see a dramatic shift,” said Nimrod Nir of Agam Labs.
“It’s almost a mirror image of what we saw regarding the past elections, with two thirds intending to vote for the anti-Netanyahu bloc,” he added.
The chairperson of Kiryat Shmona’s Likud branch did not respond to a request for comment on the party’s reduced support in polls or agree to an interview.
Nestled amid lush green mountains, Kiryat Shmona had been a prosperous centre of tourism and farming but residents now describe it as a ghost town with many residents having left.
Shops were shuttered and a playground was empty during a visit this week.
Netanyahu’s main rivals are trying a hawkish message in the north, with Eizenkot visiting more than 15 times in recent weeks. Netanyahu has stayed away.
“He should come visit,” said Yisrael Cohen, 40, who previously backed Likud but will not in the next election. “The government needs to see us.”
Source: U.S. News & World Report
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Victor Ortiz Wants Bare Knuckle Fights With Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford
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Former boxing champ Victor Ortiz is making his Bare Knuckle Boxing debut next month … and he tells TMZ Sports it would be a dream come true to handle business and then face off with massive names like Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez next!!
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Former boxing champ Victor Ortiz is making his Bare Knuckle Boxing debut next month … and he tells TMZ Sports it would be a dream come true to handle business and then face off with massive names like Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez next!!
We ran into the 39-year-old fighter at the Humble Warrior Gym in Beverly Hills on Wednesday … and he explained why he decided to join forces with BKB ahead of his July 18 bout with Dominic Salcido.
Ortiz said after prayer, a three-week fast, and looking over the offer, God told him it was the move … and here he is, gearing up for a big night at the Novo in DTLA.
Don’t call it a comeback, though — Ortiz explained he never left combat sports, but feels like boxing has changed dramatically recently … and all people care about is making millions while protecting undefeated records.
When we asked Ortiz — who fought superstars like Floyd Mayweather, Marcos Maidana and Andre Berto in the ring — if there was anyone from that world he’d like to bring over to BKB … he said, respectfully, Canelo and Bud!!
Ortiz revealed why he’d love to get bloody with those two … while also opening up on a great sparring session with Oscar De La Hoya recently — but no chance at a real fight there, ’cause he said that would be like Jake Paul and Mike Tyson all over again.
Source: TMZ
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Dalai Lama, 90, to Seek Knee Treatment in New Delhi
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US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.
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NEW DELHI, June 4 () – The Dalai Lama will receive medical treatment on his left knee in New Delhi this month, his office said on Thursday, as the 90-year-old deals with a series of health issues.
The spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhists is due to travel to the Indian cital on Friday from his home-in-exile in the Himalayan town of Dharamshala. His followers, concerned about his health in recent years, typically hold elaborate prayers ahead of any planned medical procedures.
“He will undergo medical treatment on his left knee, the Dalai Lama’s office said on X, adding that he was expected to travel to India’s Ladakh region by the end of June for an extended stay.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner had surgery on the same knee in New York in 2024, though he told months later it was “nothing serious”, despite walking gingerly with the help of aides. He now uses a golf cart for longer distances within his compound.
The 14th Dalai Lama said last year he hoped to live beyond 130 years, extending his earlier prediction, and has reassured followers that he will be reincarnated after his death.
The longest-serving head of Tibetan Buddhism has lived in Dharamshala since fleeing Tibet in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
China, which seeks to consolidate its control over Tibet, regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist and says it must prove his successor, citing a centuries-old ritual. The Dalai Lama has urged his followers to reject anyone chosen by Beijing.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
Source: U.S. News & World Report
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Victor Ortiz Wants Bare Knuckle Fights With Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford
Description Former boxing champ Victor Ortiz is making his Bare Knuckle Boxing debut next month … and he tells TMZ...
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