Russian missiles hit two regions in Ukraine today, killing seven people. Meanwhile, a governor in Russia said a Ukrainian drone strike killed three people in a village close to the border.
In other news, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three sons and four grandchildren of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, DV, Fjordman, JW, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
This Will Hurt: France Braces for Budget Cuts
After decades of spending beyond its means, France must in the coming weeks show how it will avoid a budget crunch that is putting its credit ratings at risk and could even lead to the downfall of President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
The timing could not be worse: cherished public services are being eyed for cuts just as Macron and his allies campaign for June’s European Parliament elections and as Paris gears up to host the Olympics — a possible target for angry street protests.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Inflation Accelerates, Dampening Rate Cut Hopes
US consumer inflation continued to accelerate last month, according to government data published Wednesday, reducing the chances of an early interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve in a tense election year.
The data raised the likelihood that the first Fed rate cut will come right before November’s presidential vote, which would thrust the independent US central bank into the middle of a fractious fight between President Joe Biden and his likely opponent, former president Donald Trump.
The annual consumer price index (CPI) came in at 3.5 percent in March, up 0.3 percentage points from February, the Labor Department said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A documentary film titled “Killing America,” which delves into contentious issues in the Bay Area including ethnic studies, honors classes, and anti-Semitism, particularly in the Sequoia Union High School District and Menlo-Atherton High (M-A), has been removed from YouTube and Vimeo. This action followed a legal challenge from the M-A Chronicle, the student newspaper at Menlo-Atherton High School.
The M-A Chronicle, asserting its rights over its own multimedia content filed a claim. In a statement, the M-A Chronicle Editorial Board claimed that Steele’s documentary “Killing America” incorporated some of their video footage and photographs of school board meetings, as well as their short-form videos. This statement, posted on the newspaper’s social media, led to the removal of Steele’s roughly 40-minute documentary from the major video-sharing platforms, as confirmed by Steele’s own social media posts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
3 Injured in Shooting at Eid Celebration in US’ Philadelphia: Cops
Philadelphia: A shooting between rival groups left three people wounded at a celebration marking the end of Ramadan, police in the US city of Philadelphia said.
Police gave no indication that the event itself, a party marking Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of the Muslim holy month, was targeted.
“We are very, very fortunate today that we did not have more individuals shot and anyone killed,” Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told reporters.
[…]
“Eid should always be a time of joy for our Muslim neighbors. And I grieve for every member of the Philadelphia Muslim community whose celebration was shattered by gun violence today,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
6 Shot, Including 2 Children, After Gunmen Open Fire in Washington DC Neighborhood
Two boys, ages 9 and 12, were among multiple people shot in a fatal attack outside a Washington D.C. apartment complex Wednesday night.
The shooters got out of a vehicle and opened fire from across the street, hitting six people total, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a press conference Wednesday evening.
Police said they believe two shooters were involved.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
60% of Americans Feel They Pay Too Much in Federal Taxes: AP-NORCS Poll
A recent poll conducted in January has found that most Americans believe they are paying too much in federal income taxes.
The survey, conducted by AP-NORCS and analyzed IRS data from 2021, found that a considerable majority, 60 percent of respondents, feel they pay “too much” in federal income taxes. Only 27 percent of Americans stated that their federal income taxes are fair.
Just 18 percent of respondents went on to correctly identify which group in the US pays the most in federal taxes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
7 More States Sue to Block ‘Most Generous Ever’ Student Loan Program
Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
President Joe Biden faces a fresh lawsuit from a seven-state coalition challenging his “most generous ever” federal student loan repayment plan, under which millions of borrowers would have a monthly bill of $0.
In their complaint, filed on April 8 at a federal court in Missouri, the states argued that what the Biden administration calls the SAVE plan is another unlawful attempt to force Americans who incurred no college debt to shoulder the bill for those who did.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Israel Agitators Derail Dinner at Home of UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky
Anti-Israel hecklers crashed a Tuesday dinner that U.C. Berkeley’s Jewish law school dean hosted for graduating students, days after activists circulated a blood libel cartoon targeting the dean and referencing the planned dinner.
Malak Afaneh, the head of Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine, stood in the midst of the backyard dinner hosted by law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky and his wife while roughly 60 law students were eating. Wearing a keffiyeh and hijab, she delivered an anti-Israel speech through a microphone, according to a Wednesday statement from Chemerinsky and an Instagram video from the Bay Area Palestinian Youth Movement that depicted the disruption.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Asst. Principal Charged With Child Abuse in Case of 6-Year-Old Shooter
Former Richneck Elementary School Assistant Principal Ebony Parker has been charged with eight counts of felony child abuse and disregard for life in connection to a 6-year-old who shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in 2023.
According to court documents, the charges against Parker were filed on March 11, and she is currently listed as a fugitive.
On Jan. 6, 2023, a first grader shot his teacher in the hand and chest in the middle of the school day in Newport News, Virginia.
Zwerner is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million over claims of negligence by school administrators, and Parker was named directly in the suit.
The lawsuit says that Zwerner and multiple other staff members at Richneck Elementary warned staff the day of the shooting about the child’s behavior, including Parker.
The lawsuit alleges Parker ignored several warnings that the student, who had violently attacked students at the school and tried to choke a teacher, had a weapon the day of the shooting.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s New State Department ‘Diversity’ Chief: America is a ‘Failed Historical Model’
Democrat President Joe Biden’s new State Department “diversity” chief has blasted the United States as a “failed historical model” and accused the American people of perpetuating “deeply rooted patriarchy and colonialism and racism and otherism.”
Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced last week the appointment of Zakiya Carr Johnson as the new chief “diversity and inclusion officer.”
Without wasting any time, Carr Johnson has already demanded the destruction of tradition “at every juncture” on the altar of antiracism.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is dragging its feet in prosecuting Nicholas Roske, the man accused of trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, leaving legal experts perplexed about the slow-moving pace of the case.
Roske was indicted for attempted murder of a Supreme Court justice nearly two years ago in June 2022, after allegedly traveling from his parent’s home in California to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., with the intent to kill Kavanaugh. Roske, a biological male who identified in some online posts as a transgender woman, was upset over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, according to court documents.
After arriving by taxi at Kavanaugh’s house, Roske called the police on himself and was eventually found with a suitcase full of guns, ammo, zip ties, and other tools to carry out the attack. However, the case—which one legal expert who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon called a “slam dunk” for federal prosecutors—has seen almost a dozen continuances since Roske last appeared in court in October 2022, and still no plea has been reached or trial date set.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Gives Press Conference, Calls on Reporters From Specific List, Reads Answers From a Script
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden delivered a press conference in front of the White House while welcoming the Prime Minister of Japan in which he read answers from a script after calling on a list of specific reporters.
The president has been lambasted for doing this in the past, and the Republican Party has used his scripted press conferences as leverage in the November presidential election, claiming that his cognitive health is deteriorating due to his alleged inability to answer questions on his own without assistance.
The script was reportedly captured in the reflection of his sunglasses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Ramping Up Jan 6 Arrests Ahead of November Elections, Report Reveals
Democrat President Joe Biden’s weaponized Department of Justice (DOJ) is ramping up politically motivated arrests related to the protests at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, according to a new report.
Nearly 1,400 people have been arrested for their roles in the so-called “insurrection.”
However, there is no sign of the DOJ slowing down as President Donald Trump embraces many of the Jan. 6 defendants as “hostages” of a tyrannical regime.
In fact, Biden’s DOJ is now reportedly ramping up these efforts as the critical November elections draw near.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Establishment TV Networks Pressure Biden, 81, to Debate Trump
Establishment television networks prepared a public letter on Tuesday to pressure President Joe Biden, 81, to debate former President Donald Trump.
Biden remains noncommittal about debating Trump. In contrast, Trump is happy to confront Biden on his record, pledging in March to debate Biden anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.
Nearly three-fourths of voters believe if Biden skips the presidential debates, it shows “weakness,” a Fox News poll found.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Faith Groups Blast Biden’s Plan to Control Their Employment Decisions
Several faith groups are pushing back against a new plan from Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration that seeks to dictate who they can and can’t employ.
Biden’s State Department is proposing a new “nondiscrimination” demand that could affect the employment decisions of Christian ministries.
The new proposal would ban discrimination against beneficiaries of programs that are sometimes given grants by the government “on specified bases.”
State Department bureaucrats also want to demand that those organizations hire employees on a nondiscriminatory basis.
However, faith groups argue that the proposal violates the U.S. Constitution, the religious clauses of the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and more.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Federal Judge Rejects Biden Admin’s Plea to Drop Legal Case for Release of Russia Probe Documents
A federal judge has rejected pleas from Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration to drop a legal case seeking to release documents related to the Russia Hoax probe.
The lawsuit was brought by Just the News against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) concerning the release of FBI investigation records.
However, in a significant legal development, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon has refused to dismiss the case, despite demands from the Biden admin.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Conservatives Tank FISA Bill in Blow to Speaker Johnson
By Joseph Lord of The Epoch Times
House conservatives on April 10 tanked a procedural vote to advance a surveillance power reauthorization bill in protest against its lack of warrant requirements. The development is another blow to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) who already faces an ouster threat from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
In a 193-226 vote, lawmakers voted not to advance Rep. Laurel Lee’s (R-Fla.) “Reforming Intelligence and Securing America” Act, which would extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA’s) controversial Section 702 for a period of five years. The warrantless surveillance power is due to lapse on April 19.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Jim Jordan Demands Big Tech CEOs and Feds Hand Over Censorship Collusion Documents
Advocating for transparency in the interactions between Big Tech and the government, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has taken further action. On Tuesday, he issued letters to the FBI, Department of Justice, and CEOs of key Big Tech firms, including Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. These letters were not just mere inquiries; they were demands for documents that could shed light on the Biden administration’s communication with social media companies.
We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Donald Trump has arrived in Atlanta, Georgia ahead of a private fundraiser in the area planned for later today.
The former president was greeted by a crowd of adoring fans who took photos and clamored to greet him as he made his way from the plane to the awaiting vehicle.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sources familiar with the situation revealed to NBC News that during a private retreat last weekend, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expressed his intention to assist in fundraising for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to donors and supporters.
“He did say it in front of a group of people at the Hard Rock,” an advisor to DeSantis told NBC.
This occurred at a gathering on Saturday at the Hard Rock Casino and Resort near Miami.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Feb. 3, 2023, derailment caused fires that burned for days and emitted chemicals, such as hydrogen chloride and phosgene, into the air and ground.
Residents were ordered to leave the area by Republican Governor Mike DeWine, and a year later the long-term effects of the pollution remain unknown.
[…]
According to a company news release published on Tuesday morning, Norfolk Southern will pay those affected by the disaster as part of a settlement that is a repose to a class-action lawsuit.
“Norfolk Southern Corporation announced Tuesday that it has reached a $600 million agreement in principle to resolve a consolidated class action lawsuit relating to the East Palestine derailment,” the company said.
Norfolk Southern added, “If approved by the court, the agreement will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment.”
The company claimed in its news release that offering to settle was an effort to “to make it right for the people of East Palestine and the surrounding communities.”
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Philadelphia End of Ramadan Event Shooting: Police Say 3 Injured, 5 Arrested
Three people were shot Wednesday, including a teenage boy wounded by police, and five were arrested when a hail of gunfire erupted near the end of a packed end of Ramadan event in Philadelphia, authorities said.
Shots rang out around 2:30 p.m. in the area of North 46th Street and Wyalusing Avenue at Clara Muhammad Square where about 1,000 people were gathered, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told reporters at the scene.
Officers were writing tickets at a nearby gas station when they heard 30 shots fired, Bethel said.
The officers saw two groups shooting at each other. One officer approached a 15-year-old boy, who was armed and opened fire, police said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Plagiarism Scandal Hits the Fed
Another week, another plagiarism scandal in the ivory towers.
This time, journalists Chris Rufo and the Daily Wire‘s Luke Rosiak found that Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook appears to have plagiarized her academic work in violation of her former university’s policy.
Cook, who taught economics at Harvard and Michigan State before serving on the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisers, went on to be appointed to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 2022. At the time, her academic record was so thin — and focused on race activism vs. ‘rigorous, quantitative econ,’ that she had trouble getting confirmed by the Senate (her nomination required VP Kamala Harris to cast a tie-breaking vote).
According to Rufo, “in a series of academic papers spanning more than a decade, Cook appears to have copied language from other scholars without proper quotation and duplicated her own work and that of coauthors in multiple academic journals, without proper attribution.” (Click into the below thread on X for more examples).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sen. Rand Paul told DailyMail.com he will continue his probe into the origins of COVID-19 by investigating Dr. Anthony Fauci’s secret ‘off the books’ trips to the CIA.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Loses 18 Brand Partnerships Amid Sexual Assault Allegations
Authored by Jessamyn Dodd via The Epoch Times
Amidst a whirlwind of controversy swirling around Sean “Diddy” Combs, the mogul behind the Empower Global project, at least 18 brands have severed ties with his e-commerce platform. Empower Global, which champions black-owned businesses, has faced a significant setback with the departure of notable partners, including Tsuri, Nuudii System, No One Clothiers, Fulaba, and House of Takura., according to a report by Rolling Stone.
Annette Njau, the force behind House of Takura, cited Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit against Sean Combs as the pivotal moment that guided their decision. Ms. Njau emphasized their stance, stating, “We take the allegations against Mr. Combs very seriously and find such behavior abhorrent and intolerable. We believe in victims’ rights, and support victims in speaking their truth, even against the most powerful of people.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Some January 6 Defendants Being Released Amid Appeal That Impacts Trump’s Case
Some January 6 defendants are being released from prison on federal judges’ orders pending an appeal in the United States Supreme Court centered on interpretations of obstructing an official proceeding as oral arguments approach.
The Washington Post reported on federal judges’ decisions to release a “handful” of defendants amid the appeal in the Fischer v. United States case. Some have already been released, and others are scheduled to be released soon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Suspect Arrested for Torching Bernie Sanders’ Office
A man has been arrested for attempting to burn down Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) Vermont office while staffers were working inside, according to Burlington police.
Shant Soghomonian, 35, was arrested for setting fire to the door of the office and charged with several felonies.
Soghomonian was arrested at a La Quinta Inn in Burlington early Sunday morning after he was recognized from surveillance photos.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The More Powerful the Teachers Union, the Less the Children Learned
The Biden administration is on a hunt for systemic racism. Thus far it’s found systemic racism everywhere from the highway system to the military, but the one place it hasn’t looked is among the ranks of the teachers unions who provide much of its cash and its election foot soldiers.
But new data reported by the New York Times shows that the pandemic school closures demanded by teachers unions were the single greatest act of systemic racism in 50 years.
During the pandemic, members of the corrupt teachers union machine demanded school closures to “save lives”. Unwilling to do their jobs, they instead marched around brandishing coffins at political protests while warning that if they had to go and teach, everyone would die.
Education was replaced with the Orwellian misnomer of “remote learning” which parents, students and honest teachers admitted was not actually teaching any of the students anything.
And the newest data backs that up, showing that “in districts where students spent most of the 2020-21 school year learning remotely, they fell more than half a grade behind in math.”
The numbers were even worse for the poorer students who fell behind three fifths of a grade.
The decline in math scores was the worst in 50 years making it a historic setback and while all students suffered during the pandemic, the learning experiences in districts where schools shut were far worse for poorer students, often minorities, than for wealthy or middle class students.
And while the DEI complex and the media have spent years talking about disproportionate impact, it was the Left which was responsible for the worst disproportionate impact in 50 years.
And therefore for the “systemic racism” that they had selfishly brought into being.
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Visits Atlanta Chick-fil-A, Buys Customers Chicken and Shakes
Former President Donald Trump, while out on the campaign trail, stopped by an Atlanta Chick-fil-A restaurant on Wednesday, where he chatted with staff and treated customers inside the store to chicken and milkshakes.
In one video, Trump is seen surrounded by a group of suit-wearing individuals.
The former president flattered crew members and customers while having his picture taken with them and asking if everyone was having a good time.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US ‘Considering’ Dropping Prosecution of Assange, Biden Says
Wednesday saw a rare and unexpected positive development in the Julian Assange extradition case. President Joe Biden has affirmed the US is “considering” dropping its prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder.
Currently, Assange is awaiting a final ruling from the UK high court over his possible extradition to the US, coming at the end of a lengthy appeals process. But the following exchange with President Biden and reporters just happened:
When asked about the request by reporters at the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said “we’re considering it” — comments described as “encouraging” by Mr Assange’s lawyer.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New: Alex Jones BLASTS Justin Trudeau for Getting Triggered Over His Endorsement of Pierre Poilievre
On Tuesday evening, Infowars host Alex Jones criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his comments regarding Jones’ endorsement of Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre.
“Speaking of misinformation and disinformation, any responsible leader that receives an endorsement and support from proven conspiracy theorist and liar, Alex Jones, would have immediately denounced that. But that’s not what the leader of the opposition did. He did absolutely nothing because those kinds of endorsements fit within his political strategy,” Trudeau said during a question period in the House of Commons.
Jones wrote in response, “I love it! The man child who says he admires ‘China’s basic dictatorship’ is attacking me!”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ryszard Henryk Czarnecki holds a degree in history from the University of Wroclaw and an honorary doctorate from the University of Yerevan. The author of six books, he has served as Poland’s minister of European affairs, minister without portfolio, and deputy minister of culture and arts. Since 2004, he has been a Member of the European Parliament; and, since 2008, he has been a member of Law and Justice in the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. He is vice president of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, and of the interparliamentary forum including the national parliaments of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria’s Long-Term Contract for Supply of Russian Natural Gas is a Headache for Brussels
Austria’s long-term energy contract with Russian majority state-owned provider Gazprom is causing friction within Brussels as Eurocrats continue to push for energy independence from Russia.
In 2018, prior to the conflict in Ukraine, Austrian oil and gas company OMV extended its contract to supply Russian gas until 2040. However, under the agreement, it is obliged to pay for the deliveries whether they are delivered or not.
This has put both Vienna and the European Commission in a difficult position after Brussels set a target for all EU member states to be completely off Russian gas by 2027.
According to France Info, many EU countries remain heavily dependent on Russian gas, and the EU’s three-year deadline seems entirely unrealistic for some countries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brussels Turnabout: Food Security Suddenly Becomes Top Priority
After years of cutting European farmers off at the knees with burdensome and sometimes downright ridiculous regulations, the EU is surprisingly about to announce “food security” as one of its priorities for the next five years, according to a leaked document.
The internal document, seen by Euractiv, calls for EU leaders to “ensure our food security through a vibrant agriculture sector”—the same agriculture sector that’s been hampered by Eurocrats to the point where farmers have been protesting in almost every European country in the past few months.
The new policy would be part of the EU’s Strategic Agenda, a program outlining Europe’s priorities for 2024-2029 and serving as a roadmap for all EU institutions. It is scheduled to be adopted by all 27 member states during the European Council meeting on June 27-28th.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Police Looking for Witnesses of ISIS Beheadings in Syria
Police in the Netherlands are looking for witnesses to help connect at least a dozen beheadings in Syria a decade ago to a suspected terrorist arrested in Zuid-Holland. The suspect, nicknamed Abu Khaled al Amni, applied for asylum in the Netherlands in 2019.
The police arrested the then 37-year-old man in Arkel in January 2023. He is still in custody. When he was arrested, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) accused of being a high-ranking member of both Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra. He was believed to be in a top position in the security services of both terrorist organizations at various points, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) announced.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Party Pushes Back Against Gaming Companies Shutting Down Games People Have Paid for
Not even most of those people lucky enough to have grown up along with the gaming industry (and associated software and hardware breakthroughs) often wonder, what happens to video game classics when they get — “put out to pasture?”
More importantly, how does that happen, why, who decides — and can anything be done to keep these “orphaned” (i.e., no longer actively developed, supported, and eventually, sold) pieces of software still around?
The Pirate Party, which is miraculously enough represented in the European Parliament (EP) from several member countries, is asking exactly that question.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Farage-Founded Reform UK Surges to Record Level of Support as Sunak’s Tories Flounder
The Nigel Farage-founded populist Reform UK party has continued its rise in the polls, climbing to a record level of support as Rishi Sunak’s Tories continue to haemorrhage support over post-Brexit failures.
A survey conducted by Redfield and Wilton Strategies found that the insurgent Reform party has support from 15 per cent of the British public, representing an increase of one point over the previous week and marking its highest-ever polling result from the firm.
Meanwhile, the supposed ‘Conservative’ Party of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak slipped to its lowest level recorded by Redfield and Wilton, sliding to 21 percentage points in the polls, meaning that Reform is now just six points behind Tories, The Telegraph reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Violent Crime Climbs to Historic Highs
Under Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who during her tenure has encouraged mass illegal migration, undermined the meaning of citizenship, and persecuted civil servants opposing her agenda, Germany in 2023 saw violent crime soar to historic highs and the proportion of foreign criminal suspects rise sharply.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office’s (BKA) annual crime statistics report, presented by Interior Minister Faeser (SPD) on Tuesday, provoked strong reactions across the country after it revealed that violent crime climbed to its highest level since 2009 and the number of foreign suspects of violent crimes increased by 14.4% compared to 2022, Junge Freiheit reported.
As has been witnessed in years past, foreigners, meaning any non-German citizen, accounted for a vastly disproportionate percentage of all criminal suspects, at 41.1%, up from 37.4% in 2022, and 33.8% the year before. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of victims, 75%, were German citizens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine, which no longer holds elections, is ahead of Hungary in terms of democracy, according to a major German media group index that references 10 experts, nine of whom are directly funded by billionaire oligarch George Soros and his Open Society Foundations.
The results were produced by the German Bertelsmann Foundation’s democracy index, which was published in the print edition of the media group’s Frankfurter Allurement Zeitung,
Despite Hungary having a functioning and vibrant democracy that includes actual elections, the index claims that the country is less democratic than Ukraine, which is under martial law, has banned opposition parties, and has no elections.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GL-PvdA: A Quarter of a Percent of the Dutch Economy Should Go to Ukraine Every Year
Jesse Klaver from the GroenLinks-PvdA demands that the Netherlands provide a quarter of one percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) for military aid to Ukraine every year. According to the left-wing MP, the country only stands a chance against Russia if all allies make this a regular part of their economic budgets.
The plan was inspired by a study by the Estonian Ministry of Defense. According to this report, if all countries supporting Ukraine were to spend the stated percentage on military support together, they would amount to 120 billion euros.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Islamic State Suspects Held in Germany for Enslaving Yazidi Children
Two suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group have been arrested in Germany accused of enslaving and sexually abusing a pair of Yazidi girls in Syria and Iraq, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The Iraqi suspects, identified only as Twana H. S. and Asia R. A., are accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
They were arrested on Tuesday in Regensburg and the Roth district, both in the southern state of Bavaria.
The pair was married under Islamic law and were members of IS in Iraq and Syria from 2015 to 2017. During this time, they held two Yazidi girls, aged five and 12, as slaves, according to prosecutors.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Left and Right Agree as EP Election Guidelines Receive Rare Cross-Party Support
In a rare display of unity, all 10 of the European Union’s bloc-wide political parties endorsed a European Commission-backed code of conduct for the 2024 European Parliament elections in June.
Jointly drafted by the EC and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the voluntary code aims to serve as a “comprehensive checklist” to help political parties, citizens and media organisations to “monitor ethical behaviour” throughout the election campaign.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meloni Kicks Off High-Stakes Campaign to Rewrite Italy’s Constitution
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has officially launched her controversial campaign to change Italy’s Constitution.
Rewiring Rome’s political framework to feature a directly-elected prime minister with fixed five-year terms would be “the mother of all reforms”, Meloni told Rai 1‘s primetime evening TV show Porta a Porta on April 4.
For Meloni, the change would bring an end to a revolving door at the Palazzo Chigi, the prime ministerial HQ, which since 1946 has seen 68 governments — on average a new one every 13 months.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Several Cops Investigated for Anti-Institutional Extremism
The police are currently investigating multiple cops for anti-institutional extremism, a spokesperson confirmed to NU.nl. The employees believe the conspiracy theory that the world is ruled by a secret “evil elite.”
The spokesperson could not say how many cops were under investigation. “This is because the concepts that fall under anti-institutional extremism are quite broad,” they told the newspaper. “And because there may be several courses of action that give rise to an exploratory or disciplinary investigation.”
Police officers, like all Dutch, have freedom of expression. But they also have to take an oath of office, in which they promise neutrality when they start working for the police. “Everyone in the Netherlands is free to think what they want. Police officers also have their own views, but in their work, they must be neutral.” The oath promises loyalty to the Dutch King, constitution, and laws. “Behavior or expressions that conflict with this are not compatible with working for the police, even if you say or do it in your private time.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: No Indications That FVD Foundation Received Money From Russia in 2016: Report
There are no indications that the Forum voor Democratie foundation received donations from Russia or other foreign countries around the Ukraine referendum, De Groene Amsterdammer and Investico reported. Investigative journalists from the two media tracked down the 2016 figures for the foundation that started Thierry Baudet’s far-right political party in a lawsuit from 2017.
The financial statements of the FvD and the foundation behind it have been a hot topic of discussion in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, parliamentarians of GroenLinks-PvdA and D66 repeatedly asked Baudet to publish the annual figures during a parliamentary debate. The issue became so heated that, after the debate, Baudet threatened to punch GroenLinks-PvdA parliamentarian Jesse Klaver.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Members of the Rotterdam City Council Concerned Over Anti-Semitic Attacks in the City
Several parties in the Rotterdam City Council have expressed their concern about what they called an increasing amount of threats and intimidation targeting Jews in the city. They wrote this in a letter to the mayor and aldermen governing the city.
The reason for the letter was an incident last week in which a boy wearing a yarmulke was spat at and insulted after leaving a synagogue. The incident happened when he was on his way to the supermarket.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands Likely to Get New Cabinet by Mid-May, Coalition Negotiators Say
The two people leading negotiations between four political parties to form a coalition government in the Netherlands said they are confident that a Cabinet will be formed before their mid-May deadline. The discussion moderators, Richard van Zwol and Elbert Dijkgraaf, said on Monday that the talks are progressing between the PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB.
“We are taking the road up to the top,” Dijkgraaf said after speaking with three of the four parties. “And we are quietly cycling on.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Fertility Doctor Kaarbat Used Own Sperm and Fathered 105 Children, More Than Assumed
Fertility doctor Jan Karbaat, who died at age 89 in 2017, used his own sperm to father at least 49 children with clients who used the fertility clinic he worked at. After five years, it has now become clear that Karbaat has fathered up to 105 children. This figure was confirmed by the Donorkind Foundation, which campaigns for the interests of donor children. For the oldest Karbaat child, Annerie Meul from Eindhoven, it now means that they are now “105 half-brothers and half-sisters”, she told Omroep Brabant.
The head of a former sperm bank secretly inseminated dozens of women with his own sperm. Karbaat donated his sperm mainly in Brabant and outside the Dutch border. “He exchanged sperm with all hospitals in Brabant where this type of treatment was done. Karbaat also had many customers from Brabant in its clinics,” said Ties van der Meer of the Donorkind Foundation told the newspaper.
In 2019, a group of children filed a civil lawsuit in order to gain clarity about the man who fathered them. In February, the court in Rotterdam ruled that Karbaat’s DNA could be used for testing.
Karbaat’s daughter Annerie is shocked by the addition to the family, as she had not expected so many half-siblings. With 56 additional half-siblings, the “little club” of siblings from five years ago has grown immensely. As a result, she no longer feels like having siblings.
She says that Karbaat had a massive impact on the gene pool in the Netherlands.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
OLD age pensioners should be given a choice of euthanasia if they decide they’ve grown “tired of life”, claims a Belgian insurance boss.
Luc Van Gorp, 57, has called for the elderly to be given the final say on their lives in hopes it can end the stigma around assisted suicide and even save the taxpayer a lot of money.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
According to official results, the Law and Justice (PiS) party won the local elections in Poland to the regional councils, outpolling Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) 34.27 percent to 30.49 percent.
In the Lublin region, PiS secured 47 percent of the vote and has an overall majority on the council, but its regional leader and former education minister, Przemyslaw Czarnek, has revealed that he is willing to coalesce not only with the right-wing Confederation party, but also the PSL, Donald Tusk’s coalition partners at the central level.
Czarnek claims that he has been talking to both PSL and Confederation about coalitions at the regional and county levels. He also insists that he has been invited by PSL politicians from the central level to discuss the potential for future coalitions.
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The discovery of four men’s bodies in an old building on Grzybowska Street, in central Warsaw’s Wola district, has led to a murder investigation. The bodies were found in varying states of decay, buried in the yard or within the building, which often serves as shelter to the homeless.
Seven people were arrested, and six of them were charged. Those arrested included three women and four men — Poles and Ukrainians aged between 30 and 50.
“Andrij S., a 34-year-old Ukrainian citizen, was charged with committing four murders, while the other individuals were charged with failing to report the crime of murder,” announced prosecutor Szymon Banna from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw.
Andrij S. is believed to have committed the murders over an extended period, hiding the victims’ bodies in a building frequented by the homeless. The motives behind these actions remain unclear, though they may involve disputes within the homeless communities of Poles and Ukrainians.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: No Central and Eastern Europeans Appointed to Top EU Positions in 2023
For all its ‘democratic’ and ‘non-discriminatory’ pretenses, the EU is finding it fiendishly difficult to make good on these core values when selecting the personnel to fill its high-ranking positions.
A new report by the Geographical Representation in EU Leadership Observatory conclusively determines that, in 2023, Central and Eastern European citizens have been slighted, while their Northern and Western European counterparts have been given a leg up.
For its report, the research group relied on data covering “73 EU entities, 90 positions, and 539 office-holders from 1952 to the end of 2023.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rural Growth or Urban Sprawl? How Some Spanish Villages Are Gaining Population
In an area of Spain famed—or rather, infamous—for its demographic decline, the small town of Sariegos seems to be beating the odds of the España Vaciada, or Emptied Spain.
The weight of Spain’s population shifted from rural to urban areas in the 1960s and villages, and even many small towns have, with few exceptions, steeply declined since.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Russia Must Not Prevail,’ EU Tells the World
The EU will ramp up its rhetoric against Moscow when finance ministers travel to Washington for international meetings next week, according to draft statements seen by POLITICO.
“Russia must not prevail” in Ukraine, a nine-page document prepared for the the International Monetary Fund and G20 gatherings says. “Given the urgency of the situation, the EU is determined to continue providing Ukraine and its people all the necessary political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed.”
“The EU invites allies and partners across the world to join in this endeavour,” the draft, dated April 9, says.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Six European Countries Sign Deal to Protect North Sea Systems From Russian Sabotage
Six European countries with North Sea coastlines signed an agreement to work together to protect the marine region’s rapidly expanding underwater infrastructure from Russian sabotage.
Under the deal agreed on April 9, Denmark, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands will review security arrangements and share information about their growing networks of telecommunications, electricity cables and gas pipelines as well as any threats they may face from sabotage.
Several officials involved in the agreement said their minds were focused by the as-yet unsolved September 2022 explosions that seriously damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines carrying Russian natural gas to Western Europe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Suspected IS Terrorist Arrested in Italy After Flying From Eindhoven to Rome
Police in Italy arrested an individual suspected of being actively involved in terrorist organization ISIS shortly after he managed to fly from Eindhoven Airport to Rome Fiumicino Airport on Monday morning. The suspect, identified only by the initials S.I., was born in 1992 and holds citizenship from Tajikistan.
He was stopped by police moments after walking off the aircraft. He was taken into custody on an international arrest warrant that alleged he had joined Islamic State after flying to Syria in 2014.
Italian police quoted the warrant, stating, “He appears to be an active member of the terrorist organization called Isis.” Authorities in Italy did not say why he was able to slip past security in Eindhoven unnoticed, but he has assumed multiple identities in the past. “The fugitive had numerous aliases, with different nationalities and dates of birth, in particular from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine,” police in Rome said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Strange Downfall of Voice of Europe
Over the Easter break, the news broke that the Voice of Europe (VoE) publication was shut down, the bank accounts of its owners, Viktor Medvedchuk and Artem Marchevsky, were frozen, and the two men were hit with sanctions.
The story was major news and made headlines across Europe and will continue to have political implications well into the future, including relating to the upcoming EU parliament elections. Therefore, it is worth examining the claims being made about VoE.
For starters, Voice of Europe has been described as a media “influence” network working on behalf of Russia. For instance, the typical article featured the following text: “The Czech Republic announced on Wednesday that it had busted a Moscow-financed network that spread Russian propaganda and wielded influence across Europe, including in the European Parliament.”
This claim alone shows how the media puffs up a threat to scaremonger, because in the end, Voice of Europe had no real influence, despite the media claims echoed across Europe. For anyone who actually kept an eye on Voice of Europe, it was clear it was shadowbanned on Facebook and X. In other words, the website garnered nearly no hits whatsoever.
There is not a single media report that delves into Voice of Europe’s hits or views because this would have diminished the impact of the story. Western intelligence services taking out a website that only had 88,000 hits in all of January, according to SimilarWeb, does not sound very sexy. After all, many news sites get more hits a single day than VoE garnered in an entire month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tories Lead Renewed Calls for Britain to Leave European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is taking over decisions on the climate that ought to be made at home, Britain’s energy secretary has warned.
Claire Coutinho is said to be “leading” a backlash among Conservative MPs against Britain’s membership of the convention under which the ECHR rules. This is in response to the court ruling this week that ‘weak’ climate policies violate fundamental human rights.
Coutinho said that “elected politicians”—who, in the case of the UK Conservatives, are just as committed to net zero as these Strasbourg judges—”are best placed to make those decisions,” not the ECHR.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Considers Smart Phone Ban for Under-16s as Fears of Harmful Effects Grow
A leak claims the British government is considering legislating to ban the sale of smartphones to under-16s has split the right between conservatives and libertarians, torn between trying to manage the increasingly apparent damage caused by new technology or stepping back and letting the market decide.
“As conservatives know, not all change is progress”, says a prominent Tory MP of the damage being done to a generation of young people by unfettered access to social media as claims emerge the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is working on a ban on selling smartphones to children under the age of 16. The government, for its part, offered a “non-denial” to the reported leak, saying only they would not comment on speculation, but that “Our commitment to making the UK the safest place to be a child online is unwavering”.
Influential Westminster insider blog Guido Fawkes, which originally splashed the news of the apparently in-the-works phone ban, derides the idea as “Orwellian… illiberal” and doomed to failure.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pro-Palestine youth protesters have sprayed red paint over the Ministry of Defence just days after they targeted Labour HQ.
The groups Youth Demand and Palestine Action jointly carried out the action today demanding that both the Conservative and Labour parties commit to imposing a two-way arms embargo on Israel.
In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, several demonstrators can be seen spraying the red paint over the walls of the building before displaying a banner reading ‘Youth demand an end to genocide’.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Official Data: 16 Times More Deaths Among Vaxxed Population
Official government data has highlighted the shocking disparity of deaths among people vaccinated with Covid mRNA shots when compared to the unvaxxed population.
The UK government’s official data for deaths in England shows that almost 16.4 times as many vaccinated people have died compared to those who have never received a Covid injection.
The figures were published by the UK government’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the agency’s “Deaths by Vaccination Status” data set.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Sunak’s Lack of Leadership Prompts Hapless ‘Security Risk’ MP to “Sack Himself”
After the Conservative then-MP William Wragg last week admitted to having handed over the personal phone numbers of colleagues—including ministers—to a man he had never met in real life on a gay dating app, Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt described him as “courageous.”
Wragg provided the details of his self-inflicted ‘ordeal’ after providing “intimate” images of himself to his mystery online contact. The MP told The Times he was “scared” that the man “had compromising things on me.”
Rishi Sunak decided not to sack Wragg as Tory MP, with one Treasury minister suggesting it was good enough that he had “recognised the seriousness and apologised.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Government ‘Deeply Aligned’ With EU on Big Tech Crackdown, Says Vestager
The administration of US President Joe Biden is “deeply aligned” with the European Union when it comes to cracking down on Big Tech, said European Commission Vice-President for the digital age Margrethe Vestager.
Addressing the Institute for Advanced Study — an independent research organisation at Princeton University — on April 9, Vestager praised the Democrat Government, comparing its work to recent EU legislative clampdowns.
She cited a joint statement by the EU and US as showing how close both powers had become regarding tech regulation before encouraging the US to take further action to reel in social media excess.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wider War in Europe ‘No Longer a Fantasy’, Warns EU’s Top Diplomat
Europe must prepare for potential war, as a full-scale conflict on the continent beyond Ukraine is “no longer a fantasy”, the EU’s chief diplomat has warned.
“Russia threatens Europe,” both through its ongoing war in Ukraine and hybrid attacks on EU member states, Josep Borrell said on Tuesday in a speech in Brussels.
“War is certainly looming around us,” said Borrell. “A high-intensity, conventional war in Europe is no longer a fantasy.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Wilders Will Still Speak at Controversial CPAC Hungary Despite Ban on Many Journalists
When PVV leader Geert Wilders gives a speech at the far-right CPAC Hungary conference in Budapest this month, he will do so without the presence of journalists from the top national news broadcasters in the Netherlands and Belgium. Dutch national public broadcaster NOS is among news outlets in the Netherlands that have been banned from attending, and Belgian media organization VRT NWS also said they were not allowed to send journalists to the event.
Many international journalists have been denied entry to the event, scheduled for April 25-26. A message sent to the journalists in question read, “As organizers, we must abide by one of the conference’s ironclad rules: CPAC is a NO WOKE ZONE.” Journalists have been removed from the event in the past.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wilders Wants to “Erode” the EU’s Power From Within, But Won’t Press for Nexit
Far-right political party PVV is still concerned about the influence the European Union has on its Member States, but party leader Geert Wilders confirmed on Monday that the PVV will not push for the Netherlands to withdraw from the 27-country bloc. Instead, he and his party want to work to dismantle or slim-down the EU with a larger faction in European Parliament.
“All our partners and sister parties in the European Union have also chosen to try as forcefully as possible to erode the power of the European Union from within,” Wilders said to reporters on Monday. He also acknowledged a key detail that pollsters have noted for years: that the Dutch public simply does not support leaving the European Union in a so-called Nexit.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wood Burning Stoves — Have They Been Banned in Scotland?
A row has broken out over the use of wood burning stoves in Scotland.
New regulations came into force at the beginning of the month that broadly ban burning stoves from new-build homes.
The new rules have no impact on properties that already have the appliances.
The Scottish government says heating homes contributes to about a fifth of Scotland’s carbon emissions, and that needs to be tackled.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia Agrees to Buy France’s Rafale Fighter Aircraft
Serbia plans to purchase French Rafale fighter jets after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he had a very good conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron during his Paris visit.
The conversation, which lasted for more than three hours, led to a concrete agreement on the purchase of the combat aircraft, with contracts to be signed in the next two months.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hamas Leader’s Sons & Grandchildren Killed in Single Israeli Airstrike
The leader of Hamas has had much of his family wiped out in a new Israeli airstrike. Hamas has confirmed that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, received word that three of his sons and grandchildren were killed in an Israeli assault Wednesday.
International reports say a drone strike targeted a car that his three sons, Hazem, Amir and Mohammed, were driving in. There were traveling with other family members in the car through a refugee camp northwest of Gaza City.
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Israeli Airstrike in Gaza Kills 3 Sons and 4 Grandchildren of Hamas’ Top Leader
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli aircraft killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate cease-fire negotiations with the group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed.
Ismail Haniyeh ‘s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.”
The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated cease-fire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far apart on key issues.
The slayings also come as Israel is under intensifying pressure — increasingly from its top ally, the U.S. — to change tack in the war, especially when it comes to humanitarian aid for desperate people in Gaza.
Haniyeh said Hamas would not cave to the pressure leveled by the strike on his family.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Israel to Buy 40,000 Tents Ahead of Rafah Operation
The Israeli government is reportedly buying 40,000 tents for use by Palestinian civilians ahead of a possible attack on Hamas in Rafah.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The US has reaffirmed its support for Israel in light of intelligence that suggests an attack from Iran is imminent.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
US Could Launch Joint Retaliatory Strikes With Israel if it is Attacked by Iran: Official
Update(1550ET): Upping the ante, a US official has told Al Jazeera that the Pentagon could intervene militarily if there is an Iranian attack launched against Israel.
According to a translation from Al Jazeera Arabic, the US source said, “We do not rule out launching joint retaliatory strikes with Israel if it is attacked by Iran or its agents.”
There was no further elaboration, or an indicator whether a US joint response with Israel would include offensive strikes against Iran, or if this would just be defensive, for example — anti air measures. However, Axios has the following details which appears to confirm the Al Jazeera reporting:
The senior U.S. military commander in charge of the Middle East is expected to go to Israel Thursday to coordinate around a possible attack on Israel by Iran and its proxies, two Israeli officials said…The commander of the U.S. military central command (CENTCOM) Gen. Erik Kurilla is expected to meet senior Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) officials and Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Yesterday, Israeli officials threatened that Iranian nuclear sites could be targeted, in one of the biggest strike threats to date. The region is on edge awaiting an ‘imminent’ response by Iran following the April 1st deadly attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus. US intelligence has said it believes a revenge attack from Tehran is coming soon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Missiles Kill 7 in Ukraine as Deadly Drone Strike Hits Russia
Missiles hit two regions in Ukraine on Wednesday killing seven people, local authorities said, while a governor in Russia said a drone strike killed three people in a village close to the border.
In Ukraine’s Odesa region, Russian missiles “fired in the evening” killed four people, including a girl of 10, and injured seven more, said Governor Oleg Kiper on the Telegram messaging app.
He added that one of the injured had lost both legs and was in critical condition.
A few hours earlier, two women and a child were killed in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, the interior ministry said.
Kharkiv region’s governor Oleg Synegubov posted photos to Telegram of rescuers clearing up rubble and black smoke billowing from buildings.
The strike hit the village of Lyptsi, some 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Russian border, authorities said.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Swiss-Hosted Ukraine Peace Summit to Include 100 Countries, But Not Russia
The much anticipated Switzerland-hosted international Ukraine peace conference is finally coming together, the Swiss government announced Wednesday; however, it will not include Russian representation.
“Switzerland’s government said Wednesday it will host a high-level international conference in June to help chart a path toward peace in Ukraine after more than two years of war, in hopes that Russia might join in the peace process one day,” The Associated Press reports of the announcement.
The conference is set for June 15-16 at the lakeside Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne. The Swiss are expected to invite the participation of more than 100 countries, in accord with a plan proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, which has been worked on for months.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Even Japan Under the Threat of Islamic Aggression!
Rising Muslim population in Japan, land of rising sun worried about increasing Islamic grave sites as those are ‘polluting environments’. Why must Indian Hindus be concerned about it?
Japan under Islamic AggressionUpendra Bharti | HENB | New Delhi | April 10, 2024:: Japan has always been known as a Muslim minority country. However, the number of Muslim communities in this country has increased significantly recently. Statistics show that the Muslim population in this country has more than doubled in the last 10 years. Along with this, the number of mosques has also increased by leaps and bounds including the rise of Islamic grave sites in good numbers.
According to sources, Islam in Japan has grown at the fastest pace among East Asian countries. In the year 2010, the Muslim population in the whole country was 1 lakh 10 thousand. In 2019, that number increased to 230,000 as of now. Japan’s Muslim population has increased over the past decade as a significant number of people converted to Islam. Statistics show that 50,000 Japanese have converted to Islam in the last 10 years.
Sources also say, the Japanese government has increased facilities to attract foreign workers and students to the country. Exploring these facilities, many foreign students of Islamic faith who come to study in Japan study at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. Apart from this, they work part-time in different hotels. Some also work on fishing boats. Others are associated with the shipbuilding industry. Side by side, the foreign workers of Muslim community come to Japan and take the opportunity to get citizenship in the country of Rising Sun.
Along with the number of Muslims, the number of mosques in Japan has also increased. There are more than 110 mosques. In 2001, it was reported that there were only 24 mosques in Japan. With the increase in the number of Muslims, the number of halal food shops has also increased.
Although the number of Muslim communities increased, the number of cemeteries did not increase. As a result, Japanese Muslims still have to spend their days worrying about their graveyards and that is also a great concern of the majority Non-Muslim citizens of Japan worrying about increasing Muslim graveyards. According to data, 99 percent of Non-Muslim people in Japan are cremated in fire as per Shinto-Buddhist tradition . However, such cremation is prohibited in Islam.
In Japan, more than 99% of the dead are cremated. There are not many cemeteries where a body can be buried. While the law does not prohibit interment, plans to create a cemetery for interring the dead can face massive obstacles — most notably opposition from the local community.
In some areas, ordinances ban burials on public hygiene grounds, according to an official at the Health Ministry.
There are several Muslim cemeteries in Japan, mainly in the northern island of Hokkaido and eastern prefectures including Shizuoka and Yamanashi. But there are none in the Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions of western Japan.
So, Beppu Muslim Association (BMA) has taken initiative to solve this problem. The BMA has been raising money for the cemetery for almost a decade. But after deciding the place for the grave, the local people opposed it. They claim that if there is a cemetery, they cannot drink the water there.
To deal with the problem, a Muslim organization in Oita has purchased some 8,000 sq. meters of land in the mountains beside the town of Hiji in order to create a cemetery with space for about 100 Muslim graves.
But the plan has hit a snag. While the religious body was in preliminary talks about the construction of the cemetery with the town’s government, a group of about 100 local residents submitted a petition against the project to the municipal government and assembly. But, a report in The Mainichi confirmed a Conditional agreement reached with locals on the 1st Islamic cemetery in southwest Japan as made on May 9, 2023.
It was noted that an agricultural irrigation pond and a source of drinking water lie near the planned site and claimed that the cemetery would pose a risk to the reputation of the nearby environment and could be polluted by water from the Islamic graveyards.
Although the consent of local residents is not required for building a graveyard, the municipal government has yet to approve the plan.
But, this is not a temporary problem of Japan as Islam is trying to rise in the land of the Rising Sun contradicting its traditional Buddhist and Shinto culture and faith.
Increasing number of Muslim population in Japan along with its Mosques, Madrasas (Islamic seminaries) and Muslim graveyards, opening Halal food marts etc. will finally clash with the majority of people who believe in Shinto and Buddhist faith. It is an alarming situation in Japan, if not controlled in time.
The majority Hindus in India must be concerned about the Islamic situation in Japan and must take lessons from it in order to check the same problems prevalent in the country where the Muslim population is the third largest in the world just after Indonesia and Pakistan.
Unbelievably, Muslims in Japan where they are still a microscopic entity, aspire to capture the Country of Rising Sun. Then what is the plan of Muslims to capture India under the flag of Islam. Indian Hindus must be thoughtful over the issue of Islamic aggression in India and worldwide. Increasing population, expanding graveyards, making Tombs on it by Muslims , making new Mosques and Madrasas, demanding Halal and Sharia are various forms of Islamic aggression. It’s not the singularised problem in Japan. The rest of non-Muslim world is also affected by such Islamic aggression. The majority of people in Japan, India and other non-Muslim countries must be concerned about it.
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
Australia’s long-suffering renters cannot get any relief.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Taking to X on Wednesday with a copy of the ad, the colourful businessman said it will be running this week in The Australian, Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Emergency services were called to a home on Oxford Street in Kingscliff, on the NSW North Coast, just after 8pm on Tuesday night.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Yet another Australian construction company has collapsed with dozens of projects left unfinished in the latest home builder forced to pull the plug.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Top Australian News Anchor Drops Dead at 44 After Mysterious ‘Medical Episode’
Popular Australian news anchor Nathan Templeton has tragically died suddenly after suffering a mysterious “medical episode” while walking his dog.
The Channel Seven news reporter was just 44 years old when he dropped dead on Monday evening.
The body of the 44-year-old father-of-two was found on a walking track near the Barwon River in Geelong on Monday evening.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Gives Coffee Exporter Uganda €40 Million to Help it Comply With Forest Policy
The EU has given Uganda a 40 million euro grant to help Africa’s largest coffee exporter comply with a new EU policy that bars imports of commodities whose production resulted from forest destruction, the Ugandan presidency said.
The grant was announced by Virginijus Sinkevicius, EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries , as he paid a visit to President Yoweri Museveni, according to a statement sent by the president’s office late on Tuesday.
Uganda’s forest cover plummeted from 24 per cent of the country’s total area in 1990 to 9 per cent in 2015 due to the rampant cutting of trees to feed soaring demand for cropland and wood fuel but aggressive reforestation has since reversed some of the losses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is looking to spend a further $70 million to help the 38,000 migrants who have made their way to the city since 2022.
Mayor Johnson briefed city council members on plans to push through the funds to keep the city’s response to helping migrants afloat.
Sources familiar with the briefings have told the Chicago Tribune that the mayor’s team hopes to allocate $70 million from city surpluses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EC Backs Frontex Chief Who Says ‘Nothing Can Stop Migration’ Into EU
The European Commission has voiced its support for the chief of European Union border force Frontex after he said it was impossible to stop migration.
Speaking to the German media, the agency’s Executive Director Hans Leijtens said: “Nothing” can stop mass migration into Europe, “no wall, no fence, no sea, no river”.
That provoked outrage among some EU politicians, with the European People’s Party MEP Milan Zver writing to the EC to ask whether it still believed Leijtens was suitable for the job.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
European Parliament Adopts Migration Pact Amid Backlash
The European Parliament narrowly approved the EU’s highly controversial and hotly debated Migration and Asylum Pact on Wednesday, April 10th. The pact, which aims to enhance the EU’s response to the ongoing mass-migration crisis, was approved by only a thin majority of lawmakers, signalling the deep political fault lines surrounding the matter.
Conservative and right-wing parties warned that the agreement would infringe on nation states’ sovereignty and would be yet another letter of invitation to migrants wanting to reach the continent. Given that migration is a hot-button issue in the upcoming election, with populist parties surging across the bloc, the only perceivable silver lining is that force-feeding European citizens this piece of legislation—particularly the Orwellian-sounding ‘mandatory solidarity mechanism’—could have the potential to increase the odds for a more conservative, Eurosceptic parliament come June.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The European Parliament has approved the controversial EU Asylum and Migration Pact, which will see countries forced to accept their fair share of new arrivals into the bloc or pay a fine for every migrant they reject.
The new asylum and migration package was passed largely with votes from lawmakers affiliated with the European People’s Party, the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and Renew Europe, with MEPs being urged to swallow their criticisms of the scheme and vote for the compromise legislation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Teen Detained for Demanding That Foreign Rapists be Deported
A feminist teen was arrested in France on Tuesday after being reported to police by a Green Party mayor for demanding that foreign rapists be deported from the country.
Two teenage activists associated with the feminist identitarian Collectif Némésis group attended a carnival in the eastern French city of Besançon on Sunday and held up placards that read, “Free us from immigration” and “deport foreign rapists.”
The campaign group highlighted the fact that 46 women could have been spared from rape by illegal migrants if the authorities had enforced their orders to leave French territory last year (OQTFs), including one incident that occurred in Besançon last August.
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Poland’s New Interior Minister Has Finally Woken Up to the Migrant Crisis on the Belarusian Border
“No one has any doubts that the migration route through Belarus to Poland is an artificial path created by the Belarusian services.”
There would be nothing special about this statement if not for who made this obvious remark: Marcin Kierwinski, a Civic Platform (PO) politician, the minister of internal affairs in Poland’s left-liberal coalition government.
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Poland Won’t Accept Migrant Relocation Mechanism, PM Says
WARSAW, April 10 (Reuters) — Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday Poland will not accept a European Union immigrant relocation mechanism despite the European Parliament’s approval of legislation meant to curb migration into the continent.
European lawmakers voted earlier on Wednesday on a revamp of the bloc’s migration system to cut the length of time for security and asylum procedures, and increase returns of migrants to reduce unwanted immigration from the Middle East and Africa, a high priority on the EU’s agenda.
“We will find ways so that even if the migration pact comes into force in roughly unchanged form, we will protect Poland against the relocation mechanism,” Tusk told reporters.
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Quebec Premier Threatens Trudeau With Immigration “Referendum”
Quebec Premier Francois Legault threatened to hold a “referendum” if the federal government did not take steps to reduce the number of temporary immigrants entering the province.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Legault told reporters that while it wasn’t likely to happen in the short term, a referendum could be an option if the influx of temporary immigrants coming into Quebec wasn’t dealt with.
“Do we hold a referendum on this eventually? Do we do it more broadly, on other subjects? It will depend on the results of the discussions,” Legault said at the legislature.
Legault had called for his province to attain full powers over who would be allowed to immigrate to the province last month, however, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected the premier’s demands.
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British Health Service to Review All Transgender Treatment
The treatment of children unsure about their gender “is an area of remarkably weak evidence” which sees studies “exaggerated or misrepresented” to support political viewpoints, a highly-anticipated review has claimed.
Paediatrician Dr. Hillary Cass’ report may contain information that campaigners say we all already knew, such as that children who say they are transgender may actually have mental health issues. But it has prompted National Health Service (NHS) bosses to review all the transgender treatment it provides.
Cass noted that “whatever your views on gender identity, there is no denying there are increasing numbers of children and young people seeking support from the NHS for gender-related distress.” She also stressed that “extreme caution” must be taken before ‘transitioning’ anyone under the age of 25.
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ESPN Reporter Claims Men Don’t Have an Advantage in Women’s Sports
ESPN reporter Katie Barnes has argued that male athletes do not have an advantage while competing in women’s sports.
Barnes, a woman who claims to be “non-binary,” argues that male athletes are equal to females if they “identify” as transgender.
She alleges that there isn’t enough scientific evidence to support arguments that “transgender women” would have an advantage over real women in sports.
Barnes made the claims during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead” with Jake Tapper.
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Germany Recognizes 71-Year-Old, Trans, Muslim, Male as Having Been ‘Born a Woman’
A 72-year-old trans-identifying biological male from Germany has been allowed to change the sex on their birth certificate to female, with the government agency that handles such documents recognizing them as having been “born a woman.”
Manuela Donner, a former school teacher with seven children who also identifies as a liberal Muslim feminist, began transitioning after retirement and only started practicing Islam last year.
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Who are the medics at the heart of the scandal that sparked the need for the landmark Cass report in the first place? And who are the doctors still privately providing questionable treatments?
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news
The furore over Scotland’s draconian new hate crime law rumbles on, as First Minister Humza Yousaf has now stated that the only people who reported his infamous ‘anti-white’ speech as a potential hate crime are “far right.”
In an interview with the BBC, Yousaf took issue with the ‘hatred’ description of his 2020 speech wherein he complained that every political position in Scotland was held by a white person.
As we previously highlighted, Yousaf’s speech in front of the Scottish Parliament on the 11th of June 2020 was reported to police by those opposed to the new legislation.
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Social Media Fact Checkers Claim Their Work Isn’t Censorship. Here’s Why it is.
There’s good news, and bad: first, the fact that “fact-checkers” masquerading as unbiased and accurate moderators of content — while actually unreliable and bias-prone tools of censorship — are now recognized widely enough as just that, to trigger a reaction from some prominent actors.
But then — these “fact-checkers” are reacting in order to double down on their role as something positive, and justified.
Related: How “Activists” Hijacked Facebook’s Fact Checking Program
Because there are no facts to support this attitude, one of the key “fact-checkers” is hiding behind an opinion piece. But the claim is there: “Fact-checking is not censorship,” a post on Poynter wants you to believe.
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WEF Demands Governments Censor ‘Negativity’
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is calling on global governments to crack down on citizens expressing “negativity” online.
The WEF claims that members of the public must be censored if they express “negativity” because the unelected globalist organization is apparently concerned that such behavior could make people “unhappy.”
The Switzerland-based elitist group alleges that “negative” information online can “lower happiness” levels in people who see it.
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A queer-identified Jewish teacher in BC, Canada, who claims that her pedagogy is “about intersectional empowerment for all,” went to mainstream media for support after receiving criticism over her highly politicized classroom. Annie Ohana claimed she received “hundreds” of “horrific” homophobic, Islamophobic, and antisemitic messages online — and that she, her colleagues, and her students are “in danger” as a result of the criticism.
Ohana, who teaches at LA Matheson Secondary in Surrey, BC, caught the attention of former teacher Chanel Pfahl last month. Ohana is a law and social justice teacher, and head of her school’s “Indigenous department.” Pfahl describes in her X (formerly Twitter) bio that she “exposes wokism in Canadian schools.” She posted several photos of Ohana’s classroom, which is plastered with various pride and social justice flags or posters, including a “Don’t like looting? You will hate the British Museum” poster. There are also several flags that denote various sexual orientations or gender identities. A photo of Ohana shows her dressed in rainbow-adorned clothing with an “equality for everyone” shirt.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Controversy has surrounded the Flying Bats team since they won a tournament with five trans players — and now the story has taken another twist.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Food Security in Europe. If they hadn’t woken up they would all have been forced to buy Ukrainian or Russian food as the only food producers left in Europe. Ukrainian food is GMO and full of chemicals. Many smart people would have opted for Russian food which is GMO free. GMO is banned in Russia so it is the most natural and healthy in Europe. I bet WEF/Davos would have been eating Russian. Such hypocrites.
Nothing can stop mass migration?
Have you tried a wall of bayonets and a hail of bullets?
I bet that would stop mass migration very quickly.
According to
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/paul-says-has-smoking-gun-tying-fed-agencies-fauci-research-plan-create-covid
Ron Paul has evidence against Fauci.
Suicide in 3.2.1…
I am sorry, but how braindead are people who make such statements?
Do they believe that this will stop the other side from killing them?
Wrong!
This gives them a 100% reason to kill them.
If you have such evidence you publish it and only then do you announce it.
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We already know Q is a controlled opposition,
So here’s some Facts about Trump they will never tell you!
https://rumble.com/v1jx2mz-we-already-know-q-is-run-by-the-cia-so-heres-some-facts-about-trump-they-wi.html