Four or five gunmen burst into a large concert hall in Moscow today and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing at least 60 people and wounding more than 100. One of the attackers threw a firebomb, setting fire to the venue. On social media, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
In other news, a transgender-identifying male was discovered having sex with a female inmate at a Washington state women’s prison.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Caroline Glick, Conservative Tree House, Dean, DV, JW, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, 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.
Silicon Valley Blues: High Tech Job Cuts Soar to Highest Level Since Dot-Com Crash
The once-thriving tech industry is now grappling with a harsh reality as widespread layoffs continue to sweep through the sector, leaving tens of thousands of workers struggling to find new employment.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A Chinese American activist faced off against a white defense attorney in one of the tensest exchanges during a protest Friday outside the San Francisco Superior Court.
“Do you care about Asian people?” shouted Jade Tu, who is also the campaign manager for mayoral candidate Mark Farrell. Holding a megaphone to the face of Marc Zilversmit, a San Francisco criminal defense attorney, she continued, “How would you feel if you got stabbed multiple times? Get the f— out of here. This is our protest.”
Zilversmit yelled back. He’d shown up, he told the Chronicle earlier, to defend the independence of the judiciary.
About 60 mostly Asian American activists and community members, joined by District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, were outside the Hall of Justice to protest what they saw as an injustice — a San Francisco judge granting probation and mental health treatment to Daniel Cauich, who pled guilty in November to charges related to the 2021 nonfatal stabbing of Ahn “Peng” Taylor, a Chinese Vietnamese woman in her 90s.
A small counterprotest of about a half-dozen defense attorneys stood to the side, interrupting with chants of their own shaming Jenkins, making this yet another flashpoint in the politicized debate about how to best treat mentally ill defendants in violent crimes against Asian American residents, particularly older adults.
On June 16, 2021, then 94-year-old Taylor was walking along Post Street with the aid of a cane when Cauich approached her and stabbed her several times in the abdomen and arm. Taylor suffered two lacerations to her hip and torso and a stab wound that went through her wrist, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.
[…]
The District Attorney’s Office had offered a 12-year state prison sentence to Cauich, stating in court filings that he committed an unprovoked attack, suggesting “a quick willingness to do harm to vulnerable people within our community.”
Cauich, through his attorney, countered by offering a 10-year prison sentence that would be suspended while Cauich underwent supervised mental health treatment and probation.
On Nov. 17, 2023, over the objections of the District Attorney’s Office, the court accepted Cauich’s deal.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
America First Legal: Biden Administration Actively Supports Foreign Censorship Campaigners
Evidence uncovered by America First Legal reveals that the Biden Administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and State Department have been actively supporting a foreign-based organization in its efforts to censor Americans’ speech online.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Arizona State University Professor Sues School Over DEI Training: ‘Simply Racism’
A longtime professor at Arizona State University (ASU) sued the university on Tuesday over a mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) course for faculty, arguing it violates state law.
Owen Anderson, a professor of philosophy, religious studies and theology at ASU, is suing the school with the help of the conservative nonprofit the Goldwater Institute, claiming it is in violation of a two-year-old state law that forbids public agencies from requiring employees to engage in training that presents any form of “blame or judgment on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Candace Owens Out at Daily Wire
Conservative commentator Candace Owens is out at the Daily Wire, the company announced Friday.
In a social media post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing wrote “Daily Wire and Candace Owens have ended their relationship.”
Boreing did not provide any additional details on what led to the separation. The Hill has reached out to the Daily Wire for additional comment.
Owens confirmed the news, writing in a post of her own “the rumors are true— I am finally free.”
The announcement comes after weeks of chatter about the relationship between Owens, one of the most prominent commentators on the right, and the Daily Wire, a growing hub for conservative podcasts, streaming shows and other forms of new media.
Owens has sparked backlash for months with her commentary on the U.S. role in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and statements about Jewish people in politics and media more generally.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Company That Makes Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Cutting 7,500 Jobs
The company that makes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream announced Tuesday it is cutting 7,500 jobs across the globe in an effort to save money.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Asks “Is This Right-Wing?”
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news
X owner Elon Musk hit back at leftists complaining that he is right wing by outlining his “centrist” political views, highlighting how far the Overton window has shifted.
Responding to a post noting how crazy it is that the man developing rocket ships to take the human race to another planet is being attacked, Musk declared that he is in “a battle to the death with the anti-civilizational woke mind virus.”
He then laid out a few key political stances he believes in, asking how they can possibly be perceived as “right wing.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former FBI Agent Charged With Creating, Distributing Revenge Porn: Could be More Than 80 Victims
A now-former agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been arrested for allegedly secretly filming women engaging in sex acts at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with law enforcement estimating there could be more than 80 victims.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Rep. Greene Files Motion to Remove Johnson as Speaker After House Passed $1.2T Spending Bill
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is attempting to remove fellow Republican Speaker Mike Johnson after the GOP-led House on Friday morning passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill with more Democrat than GOP votes.
The bill was to avert a government shutdown before midnight, and the measure now heads to the Democrat-led Senate.
Greene, the conservative firebrand, filed what is know as a motion to vacate, which will set up a vote on whether Johnson, just several month on the job, should be removed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In the US, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is asking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration (CISA) to provide documents regarding its “partnering” with authorities in Pennsylvania to target speech related to elections.
And while CISA bills itself as “America’s cyber defense agency” — critics see it rather differently, as one involved in offensive activities against freedom of speech.
Now this “nerve center” has been informed that the Judiciary Committee’s oversight into the government’s collusion with companies has produced a subpoena and that Pennsylvania teaming up with DHS to combat “misinformation” is covered by it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Passes $1.2T Spending Bill to Avert Shutdown, Measure Heads to Senate Before Midnight Deadline
The GOP-led House on Friday morning passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown by midnight and the measure now heads to the Democrat-led Senate for consideration.
The 1,012 page so-called “minibus” passed in the House with more votes from Democrats than Republicans. The final vote was 286-134 with 185 Democrats and 101 Republicans voting in favor of the measure.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kevin O’Leary Warns NY Trump Fraud Case is ‘Concerning Financial Markets’ Around the World
“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary is blaming New York for “tainting the American brand” as former President Trump is at risk of losing properties following the ruling in his civil fraud case.
“What’s going on in New York, it has nothing to do with Trump. That case is over. What’s going on now is concerning financial markets all around the world,” O’Leary told Fox News host Jesse Watters Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Life Expectancy Rises for First Time in Two Years — But Child Deaths Are Spiking
Well, it’s a start.
Life expectancy in the United States began rising from COVID-era lows in 2022, jumping to 77.5 years old after a two-year dip, data published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed.
But, hold your applause — the newly-released stats remain among the worst number crunchers have seen in years, placing Americans even further behind their developed nation peers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A man who hurled racist remarks at staff and fellow passengers during a drunken racist tirade on an American Airlines flight in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday has been arrested.
Shail Patel, 29, was subsequently charged with two counts of battery and one count of disorderly intoxication, all misdemeanors.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has broken his silence amid reports that the Florida senator is being considered as President Donald Trump’s potential election running mate.
Responding to the reports, Rubio said it would be an “incredible honor” to serve with Trump.
However, Rubio said he has not heard from the Trump campaign.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mike Gallagher to Resign From Congress Next Month, Further Shrinking GOP House Majority
The Republicans’ House majority has just been dealt another blow as Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) announced Friday he will be resigning from Congress next month.
Gallagher’s shock resignation further shrinks the tight majority that Republicans have in the House of Representatives.
He will leave the GOP with just a one-seat majority.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Spending Bill Contains at Least $9 Million in Earmarks From Deceased Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Earmarks amounting to at least $9 million in the $1.2 trillion spending package pushed out at 2:30 am on Thursday morning are requested from deceased California Senator Dianne Feinstein. The observation may raise questions about the process by which the spending package was brought forward.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York Attorney General Takes Initial Step to Prepare to Seize Trump Assets
The New York attorney general’s office has filed judgments in Westchester County, the first indication that the state is preparing to try to seize Donald Trump’s golf course and private estate north of Manhattan, known as Seven Springs.
State lawyers entered the judgments with the clerk’s office in Westchester County on March 6, just one week after Judge Arthur Engoron made official his $464 million decision against Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization.
The decision against Trump and the difficulty the former president is having securing a bond while he appeals the verdict strikes directly at Trump’s image as a billionaire as he attempts to raise more cash for both his legal bills and third run for the White House.
Entering a judgment would be the first step a creditor would take to attempt to recover property. Additional steps, such as putting liens on assets or moving to foreclose on properties, or taking other actions in court would follow, if the asset is going to be seized.
The judgment is already entered in New York city where Trump’s properties including Trump Tower, his penthouse at Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, his hotel abutting Central Park, and numerous apartment buildings are located.
| — Hat tip: Conservative Tree House | [Return to headlines] |
New: Truth Social Parent Company to Go Public on Nasdaq as ‘DJT’
On Friday, shareholders of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) voted to make the parent company of Truth Social a publicly traded entity.
According to Fox News, the shareholders voted in favor of merging TMTG with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded shell company. TMTG stock could be publicly traded on the Nasdaq as “DJT” as early as next week.
2024 presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump holds 78.7 million shares in TMTG, with his stake in the company currently being valued between $3 billion and $4 billion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oklahoma Prosecutors Decline to File Charges in Nex Benedict’s Suicide
An Oklahoma prosecutor has announced that no criminal charges will be filed against anyone involved in the high school bathroom brawl with Oklahoma sophomore student Nex Benedict, who committed suicide the following day.
On Thursday, Steve Kunzweiler, the Tulsa County District Attorney, said in a statement that he concurred with Owasso police that the fight between Benedict and three other girls was an “instance of mutual combat.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Uses China-Owned Tutoring Company That Could Weaponize Military Data, GOP Lawmakers Say
Republican lawmakers are introducing legislation to prohibit the Department of Defense from using a Chinese-owned tutoring service for U.S. military members and their families.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are seeking to ban the use of Tutor.com because they say parent-company Primavera is subject to Chinese law requiring the organization to disclose confidential business and customer data to the Chinese Communist Party. The organization also has ties to ByteDance, which owns TikTok.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Philadelphia Police Department Lowers Fitness Standard to Boost Recruitment Numbers
The Philadelphia Police Department is taking drastic action in an effort to boost falling recruitment numbers.
The Pennsylvania city is faced with gaping vacancies in its police force and concerns about public safety.
In order to get more candidates in the door, the department is lowering its standard for physical fitness for new cops.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Portland Vagrants Construct ‘Tiny Homes’ on City Streets as Homeless Crisis Worsens
Portland’s homeless population has started constructing “tiny homes” on streets across the city made out of wood and plywood, which resemble livable homes.
This comes as the progressive city struggles to contain its homeless epidemic, which comes with open-air drug use and an increase in crime.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
PublicSquare to Build “Uncancelable” Payments
Pro-freedom Amazon competitor PublicSquare has hired Brian Billingsley in a leadership role to, as Billigsley put it in a post on X, “help build the payments infrastructure for the parallel economy” — also known as uncancelable payments.
Previously, Billigsley co-founded a payments stacks company Basis Theory, and was CEO of the US branch of Klarna — a Swedish firm in the “buy now, pay later” short-term financing business.
PublicSquare announced that he will now head the newly set up PSQ Payments Subsidiary. The marketplace, which describes itself as a choice of patriotic merchants and customers, aims to differentiate from Amazon with its focus on freedom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Squatters Took Control of Mansion Near Lebron James’ New Home: ‘Enjoy What You Voted for!”
A cunning group of squatters headed up by an aspiring actor manipulated a convoluted absentee ownership situation mixed with bizarre state laws regarding squatter rights to take over a mansion just a block away from LeBron James’ new home in an ultra-wealthy area of Los Angeles.
Beverly Grove Place, an affluent neighborhood situated adjacent to the more famous affluent neighborhood of Beverly Hills, is the soon-to-be-home of NBA superstar LeBron James. So, imagine the shock and concern when a group of squatters takes residence a mere block away from James’ future home.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Stephen Colbert Sent Legal Notice by Rose Hanbury Over Prince William Affair Jokes: Report
“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert was reportedly sent a legal notice by lawyers of Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, whom the CBS star recently joked about having an unsubstantiated affair with Prince William.
“The rumor appears to have entered into the mainstream media recently as a result of another joke made about it on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’“ Hanbury’s attorneys told In Touch Weekly on Thursday. “We have written on our client’s behalf to CBS and various other reputable media organisations to confirm that the allegation is false.”
Representatives for Paramount and Hanbury did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two fugitive squatters wanted for killing a New York mom whose body was found stuffed in a duffel bag inside a Manhattan apartment were busted in Pennsylvania on Friday, police sources said.
Halley Tejada, 19, and Kensly Alston, 18, were tracked down by US Marshals in York, west of Philadelphia, just before 11 a.m. and taken into custody, the sources said.
It came a little over a week after the body of 52-year-old Nadia Vitels was found hidden in a closet at a 19th-floor apartment on East 31st Street owned by her late mom.
Investigators believe the suspects had been squatting in the upscale apartment and beat Vitels to death when they came face to face with her there on March 12, police said.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Trans Teen Sentenced to 15-40 Years for Murder of 12-Year-Old ‘Best Friend’ in Bucks County, PA
A trans-identified male has pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of a 12-year-old girl in Pennsylvania, and will spend at least 15 years in prison.
Ash Cooper, who was initially charged as Joshua Cooper but began transitioning after the arrest, admitted to the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Morgan Connors in Cooper’s family’s Bensalem, Pennsylvania trailer in November of 2022, the Daily Mail reports.
In a press release, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said the judge sentenced Cooper to 15 to 40 years in state prison and a consecutive seven-year sentence of probation. Cooper, who is now 18, was also ordered to “follow all the rules and recommendations of adult probation and parole and undergo psychological and psychiatric evaluations.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former President Donald Trump’s former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller has said that the J6 Committee threatened him to “make his life hell” if he kept on claiming that Trump authorized the National Guard to secure the capital on January 6.
Miller spoke to the Daily Mail about the allegations and said when he would go on TV interviews to recount his experiences with Trump calling for the National Guard, the J6 panel would bring him in for hours at a time for additional testimony. Miller had only been on the job for two months when he was thrust into the situation. He said it was clear that Liz Cheney was running the show.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Leads Biden by 8 Points — The Largest Polling Margin Yet — in Michigan: Poll
Former President Donald Trump has opened up an 8 percentage-point lead over President Biden in the battleground state of Michigan, matching his largest margin in recent polling of the Mitten State.
The CNN/SSRS survey published Friday showed the 45th president, 77, leading the 46th president, 81, by 50% to 42% among registered voters.
The eight-point spread in favor of Trump matches a Detroit News poll of likely voters from early January that showed the former president leading Biden 47% to 39% among likely voters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump: “I Almost Have Five Hundred Million Dollars in Cash”
Former President Trump on Friday said on Truth Social that “through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million dollars in cash.”
The announcement comes as a Monday deadline fast approaches for him to come up with roughly $454 million to stay judgement in his civil fraud case while he appeals.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Truth Social Parent Company to Go Public
The parent company of Truth Social, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), is set go public on the stock market.
Shareholders made an affirmative decision on Friday to transform TMTG into a public-trading company.
TMTG is merging with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Digital World Acquisition Corp. As a result of this merger, TMTG will go live on Nasdaq under the stock label “DJT,” possibly as soon as the coming week.
The merger allows the infusion of approximately $300 million into Truth Social. The platform prides itself as a haven of free speech and provides a sanctuary away from censorship pervasive on other large technology platforms.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US House Funding Bill Passes After Anti-Censorship, Anti-CBDC Measures Are Removed
A $1.2 trillion spending bill just rushed through the House of Representatives in the US has enabled allocation of funding to what would have been prohibited recipients/policies.
This includes earmarking money in support of censorship efforts, a US CBDC (central bank digital currency), and vaccine mandates, among other things.
In a series of posts on X, Representative Andrew Clyde singled out examples from the 1,000+ page document, which was published early on Thursday giving members of the House less than 24 hours to decide on how to vote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
White Democrat Uses Racial Slur in Front of Black Biden Official
A white Democrat congressman has provoked a backlash after he used a racial slur while blasting Republicans during a congressional hearing.
Rep. David Trone (D-MD), who is currently running for the U.S. Senate, used the slur while speaking in front of Democrat President Joe Biden’s Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, who is black.
A video from the hearing shows Trone discussing tax policy in front of Young when he refers to “this Republican jigaboo.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Following a brutal attack on Moscow, Russia’s Crocus City Hall Music venue by gunmen dressed in camouflage attire, resulting in the deaths of at least 40 people, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US is still trying to get more information and said “our thoughts are with them.”
“We’ve all seen the reports and the video coming out of Moscow, this violent shooting at a — looks like a shopping mall. Can’t speak much to the the details of it. I mean, this was all just breaking before I came on out here so we’re trying to get more information but really would refer to Russian authorities to speak to it,” Kirby said in Friday’s White House press conference.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wisconsin Gov. Evers Vetoes GOP Voting, Election Audit Bills; Greenlights Political AI Crackdown
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday vetoed Republican proposals that would have allowed election observers to get closer to poll workers and required a new post-election audit, while signing into law a bill requiring that political TV ads using artificial intelligence come with a disclaimer.
Evers, a Democrat, also signed a bipartisan bill exempting purchases of precious metal, such as gold and silver, from the state sales tax. The exemption does not apply to jewelry and other personal property, including works of art and scrap metal. But it would exempt from the sales tax coins, bars, rounds or sheets containing at least 35% of gold, silver, copper, platinum, or palladium.
The AI bill also passed with bipartisan support. Backers said the disclaimer is needed for ads that use the rapidly evolving AI technology so viewers get help in determining the difference between fact and fiction.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wisconsin Democrat Convicted of Voter Fraud After Being Linked to 2020 Election Mail-in Ballot Scam
A top Wisconsin Democrat has just been convicted on multiple voter fraud charges related to a mail-in ballot scheme during the 2022 election cycle.
However, the same Democrat, Kimberly Zapata, the deputy director of the City of Milwaukee Election Commission, was previously linked to another mail-in ballot scam during the 2020 presidential election.
On Wednesday, Zapata was found guilty on all counts against her for illegally requesting military ballots during the 2020 midterms.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Shoots Alleged Kidnapper During Wine Country Getaway
In a modern tale of what may be online dating gone wrong, a Texas woman was traveling for a weekend getaway with a man she had recently met when she was forced to kill the man in an alleged case of self-defense. The incident occurred in the wine country of central Texas.
According to multiple news sources, on Friday, March 15, shortly after noon, Gillespie County 911 received a call from a panicked woman.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Charged After Knife-Wielding Attack Spree Was Recently Released From Jail
A 46-year-old man was arrested this week following a random attack rampage that culminated in a stabbing.
Vancouver Police Department chief constable Adam Palmer said at a press conference Thursday that the same individual had been recently released from jail and failed to report to his probation officer on Wednesday.
After the suspect, Kent Meades, failed to appear, police received multiple calls about random violent assaults in downtown Vancouver.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Official data laying bare the stark divide between local authorities reveals how the rate among women in parts of London has fallen by more than a third since 2001.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
European Conservatives Sign Charter of Values, Stressing Cultural Battle for Political Victory
“Rooted Rules, Stronger Future — The Legacy of Saint Benedict in the Values of European Conservatism” is the theme of a two-day conference organized by the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) in Subiaco, Italy.
Legislators reaffirmed their commitment to the core principles of the party’s activity by signing a so-called charter of values. Polish Law and Justice (PiS) party MEP Professor Zdzislaw Krasnodebski remarked that “tradition is not about worshipping the ashes but about preserving the fire. We must win the cultural battle to win the political battle.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Cities Backtrack on Low-Emission Zones
After attempting to impose low-emission zones in France’s main cities by banning the most polluting vehicles from entering them by 2025, city councils are now backtracking. One after the other, cities are postponing the date on which the plan is to be implemented. The reason: the perverse effects of the measure, which hits families of the most modest means the hardest and fuels public resentment against what is perceived as an unenforceable environmental injunction.
A law passed in 2021 provided for the introduction of Low Emission Zones to become mandatory in all urban areas with more than 150,000 inhabitants by 31 December 2024. These zones are to exclude vehicles deemed to be the most polluting, according to timetables and zoning that may vary from one city to another. The polluting nature of vehicles is indicated at the national level by the affixing of a ‘Crit’air’ sticker, depending on the vehicle’s age, type of engine, and energy used. The most efficient vehicles are given a Crit’air 1 or 2 sticker, and the most polluting, a 3, 4, or 5.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Globalist Press Portrays Loretta as an Extremist
In service of Germany’s increasingly anti-pluralistic state apparatus, the country’s mainstream press is striving to justify the state’s political intimidation of Loretta, a 16-year-old student who recently was removed from class and questioned by police for expressing support for Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and posting right-wing content online.
This week, in the wake of widespread indignation sparked by an interview with Loretta and her mother where the two discussed the incident at the 16-year-old’s high school in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Die Welt published an article with the police description of screenshots from social media that instigated the police operation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German 2023 Crime Data: More Crime, More Violence, More Foreign Perpetrators
Multiple German state interior ministers from establishment parties, who for years denied the link between mass migration and increased crime, have now acknowledged the connection.
The Union ministers’ acknowledgments came early this week as Germany’s 16 federal states, one by one, continue to release their police crime statistics (PKS) for 2023—figures that reveal a precipitous rise in the proportion of non-German suspects compared to past years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Birth Rates Plummet to 14-Year Low, AfD Party Calls for Pro-Family Policies
As with most of the rest of Europe, the birth rate in Germany is crashing, with new data showing it is falling to its lowest level since 2009, with just 1.36 children per woman being born
The newly-released figures from the Federal Institute for Population Development show that a sharp drop in just a few years. In 2021, the rate was still 1.57 children per woman. The German institute produced its report in conjunction with Stockholm University.
Such a sharp “decline in fertility” within such a short period of time is “unusual,” the authors of the study explained, with “phases of declining fertility rates” being much slower to manifest and over a longer timeframe.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party released a statement in response to the plummeting birth rate, putting forward a number of policies the party argues will help reverse Germany’s demographic decline.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Group of EU Nations Demand Ban on Russian Grains Imports
Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic countries are speaking out against Russian grain imports into the EU. Euractiv reports that the agriculture ministers of these countries have appealed to the European Commission to limit Russian imports because they say it gives Russia an unfair advantage.
According to the agriculture ministers, Russian products are putting pressure on the EU’s internal market and directly competing with products from EU farmers. They say there is a moral obligation to suspend any trade that aids Russia in the conflict against Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mixed Polish Confidence in NATO’s Protection Against Russian Aggression, Survey Reveals
A new poll raises questions about Polish faith in NATO’s promise of assistance should the country face a potential attack.
Conducted by the Pollster Research Institute for the Super Express tabloid, the survey reveals a nation divided in its confidence in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s protective umbrella against potential aggression from Russia.
According to the survey, 54 percent of respondents believe that NATO would shield Poland in such a scenario, underscoring a majority’s trust in the alliance. However, a significant portion of the population, 30 percent, expressed skepticism regarding NATO’s readiness to aid Poland, while 16 percent remained undecided on the matter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Portuguese PM Refuses to Work With Surging Populists
Portugal’s President Rebelo de Sousa has named Luis Montenegro, head of the center-right Democratic Alliance (AD), as the country’s new prime minister. Montenegro is the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the largest party in the Democratic Alliance.
The AD won a parliamentary election on March 10th by the tiniest of margins, thereby failing to achieve a working majority.
Following the count of votes from abroad, the Democratic Alliance now has a final tally of 80 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Tusk’s Coalition Partners’ Poll Ratings Plummet
The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party is on top with almost 30 percent over the vote, according to the latest United Surveys poll for portal Wirtualna Polska, while Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) has the support of just over 28 percent of those surveyed. Most polls show these two parties as being neck and neck, so this is no surprise.
The shock in this poll is the fact that the right-wing Confederation party has taken third place with 8.5 percent of the vote, and Tusk’s coalition partner, the Third Way alliance comprising Szymon Holownia’s Poland 2050 and PSL, is fourth with just under 8 percent of the vote, only beating the Left party by 0.1 percent. The Third Way noted a decline of as much as 5.6 percentage points compared to a survey from a week ago.
Seven percent of the sample wanted to vote for non-party or other party slates, and 11 percent were undecided as to who they would support. The projected turnout was just over 53 percent, down from the record high of nearly 75 percent of the parliamentary elections, but in line with turnout for local elections in the past.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Foreign Minister Criticizes Germans Over Withholding Taurus Missile From Ukraine
Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski is urging German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to reconsider his stance on supplying long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, arguing it could significantly bolster the country’s defense against Russia.
Sikorski said he believes that such weaponry would substantially strengthen the Ukrainian state, highlighting a potential “significant impact on Ukraine’s ability to defend itself” during a conversation with DPA. He notes that Ukraine has already used cruise missiles from other countries to force the Russians to move their logistic bases, such as ammunition depots, far behind the front line. Sikorski suggests that the addition of German missiles would compel a further Russian retreat.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Progressive Liberals Don’t Care for European People, Says Hungary PM Orban
European liberals are not and never have been concerned about the fate of the European people, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed.
Speaking at the award ceremony in Brussels for the Janos Hunyadi Prize, established by Hungary to highlight contributions to European freedom, independence, and the fostering of cooperation among nations, the Hungarian leader accused liberal elites of only being “interested in their own ideals, while their politics are about wanting to put them into practice.”
This year’s recipient of the award was Polish philosopher and politician Ryszard Antoni Legutko, who has also been a member of the European Parliament since 2009.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The term “idiot,” originating from ancient Greece, referred to individuals focused solely on private life, showing no interest in politics or public matters, and thus considered ignorant.
In modern democratic countries, the presence of “idiots” — those indifferent to public life and politics yet occasionally exercising their civic rights in elections — poses a unique challenge. This phenomenon has sparked debates about the wisdom of letting uninformed individuals influence future decisions through voting.
A notable instance of attempting to tackle this issue occurred in Bulgaria in 2016, where electoral law amendments introduced a rule disenfranchising citizens who fail to vote in two consecutive elections of the same type. These individuals are removed from voter rolls but can regain their voting rights by applying for re-enlistment, a measure aimed at encouraging civic engagement and, implicitly, weeding out the uninterested or uninformed.
However, this solution doesn’t address the core issue of uninformed voters participating in elections. A proposal by Jan Kubalcik, leader of the Czech Conservative Party, suggests an innovative approach: requiring citizens to pass a basic knowledge test before voting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tensions Rise in Poland: President Duda Accuses PM Tusk of Bringing Legal Chaos to the Country
In his letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, President Andrzej Duda warns that the ongoing chaos within law enforcement agencies undermines the interests of Poland and its citizens, potentially paralyzing the justice system. He urges the prime minister and the minister of justice to refrain from further attempts to make unlawful changes to the prosecution service.
Duda’s letter highlights a constitutional dispute initiated earlier this year, resulting in the suspension of all proceedings involving the appointment of the national prosecutor. He insists that any actions taken thereafter are illegitimate.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
STEPHEN POLLARD: Nike doesn’t do pride in one’s country; it does sales. It wants an England shirt without that potentially divisive symbol. So, being Nike, it has simply removed it.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The national elections loom in the UK and the governing Conservatives continue to sink to new historic lows while the Nigel Farage-founded Reform Party creep ever upwards, heading for parity with the historic party of government.
British pollster YouGov — founded by former Conservative cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi — has published figures for Westminster General Election voting intentions, finding that while the commanding position of the left-wing Labour party itself remains basically unchanged, their lead continues to open as the governing Conservative Party proceeds with its nose-dive.
The pollster found compared to their previous polling last week, the Conservatives had dropped another point to 19 per cent, the joint-lowest result for the party ever. Last time YouGov recorded such a poor result for the party, the Tories responded by deposing their elected leader, replacing her with an appointed one instead — Rishi Sunak — believing this would save the party.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Princess of Wales is staying strong.
UK body language expert Judi James told Page Six that the “obviously” frail Middleton, who announced on Friday that she has been diagnosed with cancer, radiated “an ongoing strength.”
On Friday, the Princess of Wales appeared in a heartbreaking video to announce that she has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: London Train Station Takes Down Islamic Message After Public Outrage
An Islamic message from Mohammed has been taken down from a display at London King’s Cross railway station after backlash from the public.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Photo: Driver Taunts Speed Camera With ‘No Photographs Please’ Sign
A driver near Bridgnorth, England, who held up a sign while passing a speed camera got into some trouble for the stunt.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Plot to Overturn Sadiq Khan’s Hated ULEZ Expansion Blocked by Labour MPs in Commons
A bid by a Tory MP to scrap Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion across London has been blocked in the House of Commons.
Gareth Johnson, Conservative MP for Dartford, tabled the Bill to give the Government the power to reverse the expansion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Armand Tafa, 40 and Migen Emilova, 36, murdered Stefan Moraru (pictured), 44, in suburban north London on 20 March 2023 after arranging to pick up drugs from him.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Unlikely Alliance: Hungary, Poland, and France Unite Against Ukrainian Grain Imports
An unlikely alliance is forming in the European Union over Ukrainian grain. While Brussels has worked to facilitate trade with Ukraine, which is currently fighting a defensive war against Russia, several member states do not agree that Ukrainian agricultural products should enter the EU market without customs duties. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says this is the most important issue at the current EU summit, and he has found partners to address it.
Some member state leaders disagree with Wednesday morning’s agreement between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on Ukrainian agricultural products, mainly cereals, which would extend duty-free imports of Ukrainian agricultural products for one year, according to Hungarian news outlet Index.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
WEF Pushes Depopulation, Demands Fewer ‘Souls on the Planet’
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is pushing a disturbing new slogan for its anti-human depopulation agenda, arguing that we need fewer “souls on the planet” to fight “climate change.”
An unelected globalist who serves as one of WEF’s so-called “agenda contributors” unveiled the new depopulation catchphrase while complaining that those who disagree are standing in the way of “saving the planet.”
Klaus Schwab’s Switzerland-based elitist organization is arguing that eliminating human beings will make it possible to achieve the WEF’s “Net Zero” targets.
WEF agents now demand that a major “decarbonization” plan be implemented to “reduce the number of feet” on Earth.
Sadhguru, a WEF agenda contributor, announced the plans during a meeting with world leaders and global elites.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Will a Right-Wing Wave Sweep Europe? Brussels Panel Ponders Populism in 2024
The many variables surrounding the rise of European populism and how it may affect the balance of power within EU institutions were discussed at length on Wednesday, March 20th, at a well-attended panel discussion hosted by The European Conservative in Brussels as experts and political insiders debated whether the bloc was finally veering rightwards.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Worse Than Varadkar? Ireland’s Likely Next PM
The race to succeed Leo Varadkar as Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) looks to be over before it even began as Education Minister Simon Harris rallied substantial support to succeed his former boss as head of the ruling centrist Fine Gael party.
Rumours are still swirling in Dublin following Varadkar’s sudden exit from Irish politics this week citing a mixture of personal and political reasons. The departing globalist leader oversaw the Republic’s legalisation of abortion as well as a disastrous migration regime during his two tenures as prime minister.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
30-Year-Old Soccer Star Suffers Sudden Heart Attack Mid-Game
In shocking scenes, a soccer star has collapsed suddenly on the field after suffering a heart attack mid-game.
The player was 30-year-old Ahmed Refaat, an Egyptian soccer star and former international team-mate of Mohamed Salah.
Refaat suffered a massive heart attack during a match with Al Ittihad Alexandria Club.
The player’s unexpected collapse led to a dire medical emergency.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Itamar K. tells the story of Itamar Koler, a young violinist who grew up in Jerusalem and who has decided to become a film director. After a stay in the U.S., he returns to his homeland and settles in Ramat Gan. There, he devotes all of his energy to finding a producer for his first film, for which he wrote the script: it is the story of an Israeli opera singer, Shaul Melamed,, a charismatic personality unlike many Israeli intellectuals. Shaul believed that the state of Israel had a right—and duty—to defend itself in the face of constant Palestinian attacks. But it is precisely this politically incorrect view that repels those who might finance the work. In search of a financier, Itamar rediscovers the contradictions and fragility of the Israeli cultural environment, which is dominated by characters of dubious professionalism, and hilarious artists willing to do anything, all with their own, very personal visions of the fate of the Promised Land. Itamar K. is a sharp and ironic criticism of the contradictory cultural world, written by Iddo Netanyahu, a most incredible author.
In an interview with The European Conservative, Netanyahu discusses, among other things, the war against Israel, the cultural dominance of the Left, the deception around the peace process, and controversial judicial reforms. His satire, Itamar K., targets the left-liberal Israeli cultural scene. The German translation was published last September. From March 20 to 26, he will be on a reading tour in Germany, where he will present his novel and talk about the current situation in Israel.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Caroline Glick: The Triumph of the Blood Libel
According to Canada’s La Presse, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a vampire, and he is poised to suck the life out of the Palestinians in Rafah, Hamas’s final outpost in southern Gaza. The publication that was once a paper of record in Canada ran a political cartoon on March 20 portraying Netanyahu as a vampire, with a huge hooked nose, pointy ears and claws for fingers, dressed in Dracula’s overcoat while standing on the deck of a pirate ship.
The caption, written in blood-dripping red letters, read: “Nosfenyahou: En Route Vers Rafah.” Nosferatu, the Romanian word for vampire, was the title of a proto-Nazi German silent horror film from 1922 chock-full of anti-Semitic poison. The film, which became something of a cult flick, featured a vampire with a long Jewish nose. He arrived at an idyllic German town with a box full of plague-carrying rats that he released on the innocent villagers as he plotted to suck his realtor’s blood.
La Presse’s cartoon didn’t leave any room for imagination. It wasn’t making a political or military argument against Israel’s planned ground operation in Rafah. Its goal wasn’t to persuade anyone of anything.
The Netanyahu-the-vampire cartoon asserted simply that Netanyahu is a Jewish bloodsucker and, more broadly, the Jewish state—and Jews worldwide—must be vigorously opposed by all right-thinking people who don’t want Jewish vampires to kill them.
As the paper no doubt anticipated, the cartoon provoked an outcry from Canadian Jews and some politicians. And after a few hours, the newspaper took it off its website and apologized. Anyone who thinks that means that the good guys won misses the point of the move. The Jewish outcry and pile-on by politicians and media coverage proved the point. Jews are evil and control everything, even what a private paper can publish. Like Nosferatu in its day, the cartoon will become a piece of folklore, additional proof that the Jews are the enemy of humanity.
In other words, the cartoon was a blood libel.
We’re seeing lots and lots of it these days. And so, it is worth recalling what a blood libel is…
| — Hat tip: Caroline Glick | [Return to headlines] |
Israel’s Netanyahu Rebuffs US Plea to Halt Rafah Offensive. Tensions Rise Ahead of Washington Talks
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday once again left the Middle East empty-handed as Israel’s prime minister rejected American appeals to call off a promised ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is overflowing with displaced civilians.
The tough message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sets the stage for potentially difficult talks next week in Washington between top U.S. officials and a high-level Israeli delegation. Netanyahu said Israel is ready to “do it alone” in Rafah if necessary. Despite their differences, the Biden administration has continued to provide crucial military aid and diplomatic support, even as Israel’s war against Hamas has killed more than 32,000 people in Gaza and led to a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Israel says Rafah is the last remaining stronghold of Hamas and says the militant group’s forces there must be defeated for Israel to meet its war objectives. Israel vowed to destroy Hamas following the group’s Oct. 7 attack, which killed some 1,200 people, took 250 others hostage and triggered the fierce Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Israel’s Eilat Port Laying Off Half Its Staff, Seeing ‘Zero’ Ships Thanks to Houthis
Managers of the port of Eilat, Israel, reportedly announced plans to lay off half of their staff in response to the impact of Houthi attacks.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Russia and China Veto US Resolution Calling for Immediate Cease-Fire in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and China on Friday vetoed a U.S.-sponsored United Nations resolution supporting “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, calling the measure ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks.
The vote in the Security Council became another showdown involving world powers that are locked in tense disputes elsewhere, with the United States taking criticism for not being tough enough against its ally Israel, whose ongoing military offensive has created a dire humanitarian crisis for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Russia & China Strike Shipping Deal With Houthis to Ensure Safe Vessel Transits, Report Says
According to Bloomberg’s sources, Russia and China have sealed a deal with Iran-backed Houthis to allow their commercial vessels to transit the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden without fear of drone and or missile attacks.
One of the sources said China and Russia reached a deal with diplomats in Oman with Mohammed Abdel Salam, one of the Houthis’ top political leaders. They said the safe passage of vessels is in exchange for the Houthis’ political support at the United Nations Security Council.
Bloomberg noted, “It’s not entirely clear how that support would be manifested, but it could include blocking more resolutions against the group.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
At Least 40 Killed, More Than 100 Wounded in ‘Terrorist Attack’ on Russia’s Crocus City Hall
At least 40 people were killed and over 100 others were injured in a shooting and explosion at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall — one of the biggest shopping and entertainment complexes in Russia — on Friday evening, according to the Russian Foreign Security Service.
Russia’s foreign ministry called the shooting and explosion a “terrorist attack.”
More than 70 ambulance teams were sent to the sight of the attack, according to Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said. Two firefighting helicopters are also on the scene trying to put out the fire which spread over a large area, Vorobyov said.
Of those injured, at least 21 people were hospitalized, Vorobyov said on Telegram.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Claims of Putin Staging False Flag in Moscow Terror Attack Flood Internet
Within hours of Friday’s deadly terrorist shooting at a Moscow concert hall and shopping mall, hundreds of social media users and anti-Russia media pundits went online to claim Putin had planned the assault as a false flag.
Many people cited the 1999 apartment bombings in Russia as a historical example of a Russian false flag, alleging he had the buildings destroyed to blame on Chechnya.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moscow Attack: Gunmen Kill Dozens at Crocus City Hall in Moscow
Gunmen have attacked a concert hall on the fringes of Moscow, killing at least 40 people and wounding 100 more, Russian security services say.
At least four attackers clad in camouflage gear took part in the attack, in the north-west suburb of Krasnogorsk, BBC-verified video shows.
Crocus City Hall was about to host a rock concert when the gunmen burst into the foyer and then the theatre itself.
Much of the building was engulfed by fire and part of the roof collapsed.
Children are said to be among the casualties and the Russian foreign ministry has condemned a “terrorist attack”.
According to an unverified statement online, militant group Islamic State said it was behind the attack.
US officials told CBS, the BBC’s partner service in the US, that it had obtained intelligence that showed IS had wanted to attack Russia.
Russia’s National Guard said it had special units working at the scene to hunt down the attackers. Top Russian officials also headed to Krasnogorsk.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Russia is Not Strong’ — Germany’s Scholz Warns Russia it Will Continue to Support Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz issued a warning to Moscow, saying that Germany will continue to stand up to Vladimir Putin. The Berlin leader told MPs in a statement that Germany “will not accept the peace dictated by Putin at the expense of Ukraine.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the lower house of parliament on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, that Russian President Vladimir Putin was mistaken if he thought Germany would stop supporting Ukraine. Scholz’s speech in the Bundestag preceded an EU summit in Brussels to focus on support for Ukraine, the situation in Gaza, and EU enlargement.
Scholz said Germany was determined to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s ambitions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Plans Huge Troop Surge Into Ukraine While Ukraine Struggles With Manpower and Weapons
The Russo-Ukrainian war may have reached an important turning point, as Russia is increasing its manpower in the country while Ukrainians are running out of weapons and troops, Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet reports.
Russia has consistently reported that its troops are steadily pushing back Ukrainian forces, while Moscow will reinforce its troops with two new armies and 30 new formations by the end of the year.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, withdrew some of its forces in the east and south during one period of the war, but has since been making slow but steady progress, especially after last year’s Ukrainian counteroffensive failed to produce significant results. Russia controls barely a fifth of Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to press on after Moscow seized the town of Avdiivka last month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russian Pupils Take History Quiz Based on Putin’s Tucker Carlson Interview
LONDON (Reuters) — Pupils across Russia have taken part in a history quiz this month that involved watching extracts of President Vladimir Putin’s interview with U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson, according to posts by numerous schools on social media.
Putin began the two-hour interview in February by lecturing Carlson for about half an hour on the history of Russia from the year 862, arguing that Ukraine had no tradition of independent statehood — a notion rejected by Kyiv as false and self-serving.
In posts on Russian social media platform VK, schools described the quiz as an “intellectual game” that helped children understand “the stages of development of the Russian state”, and said it was both entertaining and instructive.
In some cases, it appeared that children as young as six or seven had taken part. A school in Rostov, southern Russia, said pupils in classes one through 11 had watched parts of the interview and then answered questions appropriate to their age.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Says 40 Dead, 145 Injured in Concert Hall Raid, Islamic State Group Claims Responsibility
MOSCOW — Several assailants burst into a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing at least 40 people, injuring more than 100 and setting fire to the venue in a brazen attack just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media, which couldn’t be independently verified. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to the attackers after the raid, which Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described as a “huge tragedy” and state authorities were investigating as terrorism.
The attack, which left the concert hall in flames with a collapsing roof, was the deadliest in Russia in years and came as the country’s war in Ukraine dragged into a third year.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
India: Revered Shankaracharya Mutt in Gujarat Attacked by Fanatic Muslim With STSJ Message
Seer suspects that the act was connected to an ongoing dispute between the Mutt and a minority community that had built a dargah on the adjoining land, which the Swami claims belongs to the Mutt. At around 5:30 AM, an individual threw what looked like some inflammable liquid all over the premises of the Shankaracharya mutt in an attempt to set it ablaze. Before fleeing the scene, the culprit left a handwritten message of Sar Tan Se Juda (STSJ).
Tejal Shah | HENB | Vadodara | March 22. 2024:: Out of a dispute embroiled over the encroachment of Hindu lands by a section of Muslim people, a member of the fanatic community tried to set fire the Mutt properties owned by Dwaraka Sarada Peeth monasteries
.Dwaraka Sarada Peeth in the West of India is one of the most revered monasteries of Hindus among four such monasteries established by Adi Shankarachary along with other three at Govardhan Puri in the Esat, Jyotirmutt Badarikashram in the North and Shringeri in the South.
Muslims are getting more violent in this Ramadan, when thirr scripture says, ‘Ramadan is a prohibitory month for violence’. Earlier, they brutally attacked a Hindu Restaurant owner in Bangladesh and killed two minors slitting their throats in India’s Budaun.
According to Indian Express, “A portion of the Shankaracharya Mutt, run by the Dwarka Shardapeeth in Gujarat’s Bharuch, was partially damaged after an unidentified man clad in black hoodie jacket and sporting a facemask and white cap tried to set ablaze the building early on Friday while the seer was performing the rituals, the police said.
“Gujarat Police that have set up seven special teams to probe the incident are yet to arrest the accused. “The footage shows that the man ran out of the inflammable liquid that he was throwing around and so the fire was restricted to one part of the Mutt but the intention was clear. We are taking this matter seriously. There has been a dispute going on between the Mutt and a nearby dargah over the land where the dargah stands,” Bharuch Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda told The Indian Express”.
The Bharuch district police rushed to the spot, including Chavda, and cordoned off the part of the temple premises which the accused had set on fire…
| — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari | [Return to headlines] |
China Says Collapsing Real Estate Giant Evergrande Overstated Revenue by $78 Billion
China’s securities regulating agency announced on Monday that it had banned the founder of real estate giant Evergrande.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
An Arizona rancher charged with murder in the death of a Mexican national found shot to death on his border property is scheduled to face trial on Thursday after several delays.
The case of the State of Arizona v. George Alan Kelly is scheduled to begin jury selection at 8:30 a.m. local time on Thursday in Santa Cruz Superior Court, according to court records. The parties most recently had a pre-trial conference on Monday, in which they went over jury instructions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The paperwork reveals Attorney General Mark Dreyfus personally approved publicly-funded lawyers could take the case to the High Court to free a child rapist from indefinite detention.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Dismisses Challenge to DC Law on Non-Citizen Voting
A federal judge has dismissed a legal challenge to a Washington, D.C., law permitting noncitizens to vote in local elections.
The measure further applies to illegal immigrants and the staff of foreign embassies, according to Fox News. Non-citizens must merely reside in the District for at least 30 days and be otherwise qualified to vote to be eligible.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Thursday dismissed the challenge from the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), asserting that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the measure.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Arrested Following North Carolina Barricade Incident on Terror Watch List, Illegal Migrant
An illegal migrant, who was taken into custody following a barricade shooting incident in North Carolina, was allegedly found to be on a terrorist watch list and had been living in the area for six months.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 32-year-old Awet Hagos is a citizen of Eritrea, a small country on the coast of Northeast Africa.
Immigration officers said that Hagos entered the U.S. illegally after residing in Haiti and had been living in North Carolina for the last six months.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Massachusetts city has sued its only hotel for shutting to the public and overloading its rooms with 450 migrants in a $10 million-a-year taxpayer-funded deal with the state.
The Republican-led city of Taunton seeks $115,000 from the 155-room Clarion Hotel for housing more migrant families than it can safely hold.
The hotel last year reportedly struck a nine-year deal with the Democrat-run state to become an emergency shelter for migrants, who are pouring across the southern border.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Secret Report: Trudeau’s High-Migration Canada Slides Toward Poverty and Chaos
A government report in Canada forecasted a deep civic breakdown in the once-stable society that now suffers from unprecedented levels of elite-imposed migration.
The secret and heavily redacted report was prepared by the country’s version of the FBI — the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The partial copy was extracted from the agency by an academic lawyer and was published in Canada’s National Post newspaper.
The report is titled “Whole-of-Government Five-Year Trends for Canada,” and features many progressive-approved concerns about claimed global warming in cold-weather Canada.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
There Are 28,000 Active Warrants for Failed Refugee Claimants in Canada
There are 28,145 active warrants out for failed refugee claimants in Canada, new figures from the Canada Border Services Agency reveal.
In response to an order paper commission submitted by Conservative MP Brad Redekopp, the border service shed light on the volume of failed asylum seekers still in the country.
“A CBSA officer may issue a warrant for the arrest and detention of a foreign national if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the individual is inadmissible under the IRPA and either poses a danger to the public or is unlikely to appear for an immigration process, such as a removal from Canada,” wrote the CBSA in its response.
The CBSA said there are 8,839 asylum claimants pending an eligibility decision as well as 18,684 whose claims have been denied and have an “enforceable removal order.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Channel Migrants Ignore PM’s Warnings and Cross in Record Numbers
Conservative British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insists that his plan to deter illegal migration is “on track.” But the illegal migrants themselves—and, more importantly, those who are paid vast sums to traffick them—clearly aren’t listening.
As border debates raged on in Parliament on Wednesday, more migrants crossed the Channel to Britain than on any other day so far this year. The 514 total topped the previous high of 401 recorded earlier this month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
African Cardinal: Blessings for Same-Sex Couples ‘Western Imperialism’
The Vatican’s decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples was seen as the imposition of Western practices on Africa, a form of “cultural colonization,” a leading African Cardinal has stated. |
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s HHS to Spend Over $100 Million on ‘Training for Diversity’ in New Spending Bill
Part of the $1.2 trillion spending package that was released around 2:30 am on Thursday is a little over $100 million to fund DEI trainings for the Department of Health and Human Services.
As part of the addendum for the DHHS, a section designated as “Training for Diversity” that is made up of funding for Centers of Excellence, the Health Careers Opportunity Program, Faculty Loan Repayment, and Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students amounts to over $100 million.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DEI Math-Ed Prof Who Helped Get Algebra Banned in ‘Frisco is Accused of Faulty Research
Stanford math-ed prof Jo Boaler’s DEI racket may finally be coming to an end: On Wednesday, a 100-page complaint was filed against her, citing 52 instances of misrepresentation in her research citations.
Boaler, who hauls in a stunning $5,000 an hour for Zoom consultations, was a key figure in getting eighth-grade algebra banned from San Francisco’s public schools in 2014.
She’s an ideological propagandist rather than a research scholar, with her Stanford webpage declaring in its first sentence her focus on “how equity is promoted in mathematics classroom; her “research” gave diversity, equity and inclusion hucksters on the city school board the “research-based,” “research-informed” cover they needed to push the ban through.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A former North Carolina high school volleyball player who was seriously injured by a transgender opponent slammed Democrat lawmakers on Thursday after they claimed that trans-identified biological male athletes pose no harm to women while competing in women’s sports.
Payton McNabb, who suffers from long-term physical and mental injuries after a transgender athlete spiked a ball into her face during a volleyball tournament in 2022, refuted Democrat Rep. Pramilia Jayapal’s bold claim where she falsely stated that “not a single” transgender person poses harm to female athletes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Picture the cities of the future. Do you imagine glittering skyscrapers, bullet trains whizzing past green parklands, flying taxis and limitless clean energy? I’m afraid you may be disappointed.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A portion of about $146,000 of the $1.2 trillion spending package is going to Apicha Community Health Center in New York. The health center provides letters for sex change surgeries and the program to do so was developed by an activist whose funeral desecrated a New York cathedral where attendees celebrated whoredom and offered prayers for sex changes.
The earmark, requested by New York Senator Kristen Gilibrand, will offer $146,000 to the Apicha Community Health Center.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ireland: Euthanasia Becomes Next Target for the Liberal Agenda
The defeat of two referenda to remove the word woman from the constitution and alter the legal definition of what constitutes a family under Irish law appears not to have blunted progressives in Ireland. On Thursday, March 21st, the legalisation of euthanasia passed a crucial milestone in the Irish Parliament (Oireachtas).
Initiated by Trotskyist MP (TD) Gino Kenny in 2020, and finding tacit support among the Republic’s ruling centrist parties, the parliament’s “Committee on Assisted Dying” rubber-stamped plans to introduce both euthanasia and assisted dying for the terminally ill.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leak: Diversity and Inclusion Policies Run Rampant at the Financial Times
A whistleblower has revealed the disturbing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies of the Financial Times this week, including manipulating coverage of transgender issues and minimising the use of such words as mother and father. Revelations of this “cult-like preaching” will damage the reputation of one of the most trusted sources in financial journalism.
The exposé emerged from the work of social commentator James Esses, who obtained a copy of the paper’s internal diversity policies which instruct staff to partake in so-called privilege walks, where participants are asked to “take steps forwards or backwards depending on perceived privilege status.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘LGBT Movement’ Added to Russia’s Terrorist List
by RT
Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) on Friday expanded its list of persons and organizations involved in extremist activities or terrorism to include the LGBT movement. The updated list could be found on the agency’s website.
According to the law, banks are required to freeze the funds of persons included in this list and suspend services to them.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NIH Prioritizes Schools With Diversity Statements in Doling Out Grants
Via Campus Reform
The National Institutes of Health’s ‘Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation’ initiative favors medical researchers who affirm their support for DEI.
Some schools funded by FIRST penalize potential new hires for expressing commitments to ‘treat everyone the same,’ writes NAS senior fellow John Sailer.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has made diversity a key consideration in giving grants to medical researchers at schools across the nation, encouraging many to craft statements “describing their commitment to promoting diversity and inclusive excellence” in order to qualify for funding.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Popular French Priest Faces Legal Action for Saying Homosexuality is a Sin
The French government is taking legal action against a Catholic priest for describing homosexuality as a sin. While this latest attack on traditional Catholic moral teaching has little chance of success, it does demonstrate the growing animosity towards and incomprehension of the catechism of the Catholic Church by a society that has made the promotion of homosexuality one of its main battlegrounds.
Abbé Matthieu Raffray, a priest who celebrates the traditional Latin Mass and who is well known to French Catholics on social media, posted a short video on temptations on his Instagram account as part of his Lenten teachings, in which he explains that homosexuality is a “weakness”: “We all have weaknesses: the greedy, the hot-tempered, the homosexual,” he explained to his audience. He considered homosexuality to be one of “all the sins, all the vices that can exist in humanity.” Aurore Bergé, the French minister responsible for combating discrimination, described his comments as “unacceptable.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Report: Planet Fitness Value Takes $400 Million Nosedive Following Trans Bathroom Controversy
Planet Fitness lost $400 million drop in market value after canceling the gym membership of a person who photographed a trans person in the women’s locker room.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Trans-Identifying Male in Women’s Prison Reportedly Discovered Having Sex With Female Inmate
A transgender-identifying male was discovered having sex with a female inmate at a Washington state women’s prison earlier this month, according to an incident report of the event.
A corrections officer at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) discovered 35-year-old Bryan Kim, who murdered his parents and now goes by Amber FayeFox Kim, having sex with 25-year-old Sincer-A Marie Nerton on March 14 during a routine check at the medium security unit (MSU), National Review reported. The incident resulted in an infraction, but a hearing is expected to follow.
According to the report, “This is against MSU rules and policy. WAC-504-Engaging in a sex act with another person within the facility that is not otherwise included in these rules, except in an approved extended family visit.”
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UK: Museum Claims Dinosaurs Have “LGBTQ History” and Birds Are “Queer”
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news
A museum in Britain has claimed that some birds are “queer” and that the history of animal queerness has been “hidden from the public”.
The Hastings Museum and Art Gallery is running an LGBTQ history exhibition funded by Arts Council England which claims that some birds are “queer” because they “change their sex from female to male.”
The Telegraph notes that the claims about birds such as pheasants are completely unfounded and have no scientific basis.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
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IS claims responsibility for terrorist attack in Moscow –
at least 40 dead
Published 2024-03-22 in Samnytt
On Friday night, camouflaged men opened fire inside a concert hall in Moscow. At least 40 people were murdered and over 100 were injured. At the same time, the building was in flames.
Ukraine claimed the attack was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to escalate the war. But later in the evening, IS claimed responsibility for the terrorist act.
It is said to be at least five men who entered the ground floor of the concert hall and opened fire with automatic weapons on visitors, Russian media reports.
Furthermore, there are reports that the men have thrown some type of grenade into the building. Several videos from outside also show that the roof of the building is in flames.
Yesterday’s information about the Ingush was a fake. Today it is absolutely certain that they were Tajiks.
By the way, Sayfulloev, who carried out the terrorist attack in Manhattan, was a Tajik from Uzbekistan. There are a lot of them living there.
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Moscow
As usual, self-glorifying Fritjof has something to say, but has also put together a mustsee video about the carnage in Moscow.
https://swebbtube.se/w/75ejErYDUGHk26x56UJN4M
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This is no reply to the News Feed – this is a standalone contribution
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USA starts to resemble Putin’s Russia
23/3-2024
If you become a threat to the party’s monopoly of power
you will be crushed.
By Lars Hedegaard / snaphanen.dk
During the 1960s and until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the so-called convergence theory became popular among economists and political scientists both in the West and to some extent also in the Soviet Union. The idea was that the two systems – capitalism and communism – were converging, so that one could perhaps hope for a more peaceful and harmonious world instead of the Cold War that threatened to lead to nuclear Harmagedon.
As you know, this did not happen. The Cold War ended because the Soviet system collapsed.
But now it may be time to revive the old convergence theory. Not because the Soviet Union’s successor, Russia, is approaching the US system, but because the US is starting to look like Russia.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who has fined Donald Trump up to half a billion dollars for an unprecedented fictional offence in New York, issued an order yesterday that effectively puts him in control of Trump’s companies.
In other countries such a measure is called nationalisation without compensation, i.e. confiscation.
Mr Trump will – for now – own at least parts of his business empire, but an “Independent Director of Compliance” appointed by the Democratic judge must monitor all financial transactions and company records for at least three years. The Trump organisation is ordered to provide Judge Engoron’s watchdog with monthly bank statements and notify her well in advance of major financial transactions.
For use by Judge Arthur Engoron, quarterly financial reports must be prepared.
With this, the secrecy of the aff￤r has been abolished, and the Trump organisation has effectively been taken over by agents of the New York Democratic Party. And ultimately for Joe Biden’s supporters. You would have to be a very big idiot not to realise that all lawsuits against Trump are ordered and coordinated from the White House.
New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, didn’t hide her intentions before she was elected either. As she proudly declared, her goal was to crush Trump by finding something to hang him on. And you can now rest assured that James and her friend, Arthur Engoron, will find something in the Trump Organization’s reports that they can use fr to totally frstra Trump and preferably put him in prison fr for the rest of his life – which has been the Democratic Party’s dream all along.
The system that the Democratic Party – hereafter called the PARTY – is putting in place is indistinguishable from the situation in Putin’s Russia. Like the United States, Russia calls itself capitalist and democratic, but in both places it is a special kind of capitalism and democracy: people are allowed to run businesses, but within the political framework set by the party. If you become a threat to the party’s monopoly of power, you will be crushed.
Many Russian oligarchs have experienced this before falling out of a window or going to jail.
the US, the party is already in the process of labelling anyone who opposes the Biden regime a right-wing extremist, a racist, a misogynist – or whatever it is fashionable to call people you don’t like. Trump is a new Hitler, say the regime’s spokesmen, and everyone knows that Hitler should have been eliminated long before he came to power.
Under the one-party rule to which the Democratic Party aspires, politics is not about politics in the old-fashioned sense. The actions of those in power have nothing to do with the interests of the people or the future of the country, but are dictated solely by the interests of those in power. You will do anything to keep your critics down.
When those in power inflate themselves with their talk of “climate”, human rights or their love of newfangled sexual variations, it’s not about the climate, rights or sex, but a show they put on to hook gullible citizens with stories up their sleeves.
The politicians would hardly have been successful with this amateur theatre without the help of the media, which in the US as here are always ready to lie to please their masters.
***
shttps://www.snaphanen.dk/2024/03/23/usa-begynder-at-ligne-putins-rusland/#more-201453
(from Danish by LN)
this isis thing is the biggest lie and makes no sense at all. i am not sure what is the purpose of spreading it. if the whole thing is real, there are only 2 options:
1) it was the US/western allies by the use of the mossad, CIA, or whatever other agency, that paid some tagiki or other muslim independency or secessionist group, to commit the terrorist attack.
2) it was russua themeselves who paid for it, to prepare the population for the martial law and increase belligerant activities.
RT News – March 23 2024
https://swebbtube.se/w/3mCDRYfn9bGwJ3HA7eFo5N
they knew it. the cia/mossad/mi6 did know it, but the degree of their involvment is not proved
It had nothing to do with Mossad or the CIA. Russia did not pay for it.
It was Muslim terrorists.
You have a seriously problem with the truth. IT WAS MUSLIMS TERRORISTS.
if the reports are true, the yagikis said they did it just for money… who and why paid for the attack. it seems the russians are just pointing their finger against the ukranians, but ukranians do not even exist by them selves without the money. this muslim thing explanation on the media is only usefull to bibi.
For the love of Pete, it was islamic jihadists, wake up and quit using drugs, it’s bad for you.
it does not make a lot of sense to me. maybe after ending the prigojin career and dismantling the wagner group the cremlin want to seize also kadyrov .?
The Wagner group is still up and running and the new man in charge won’t cross Putin like his boss did.
Well, the “ISIS dit it” story barely lasted 12 hours. The globalist Deep Staters really need to up their game.
If it’s true that Trump’s considering Rubio it would be conclusive proof that Trump has learned nothing. Rubio is a cipher. Ramaswamy, otoh, is an intellectual Roman candle. But not up to Trump’s standards?
We’ll wait and see but the mere rumor of Rubio’s consideration is disheartening.
Remember, such rumors are usually the result of leaks by the staff of the person involved, in an attempt to raise their profile and create a buzz around their possible selection for the position. I remember there were a lot of those in the past during the first Trump campaign and his presidency. Most of them turned out to be utterly bogus.
Trump would have to be an complete fool to consider Rubio. Trump has a lot of flaws, but being a fool doesn’t appear to be one of them.
“Trump would have to be an complete fool to consider Rubio. Trump has a lot of flaws, but being a fool doesn’t appear to be one of them.”
You mean the Trump who hired Amarosa….twice? Ugh..
If he really were smart and wanted to upset the apple cart—in a “uniting” way—he’d nab either RFK Jr or Gabbard. Either, in my book, would wipe the [debate] floor against any of the others in Trump’s talked-about VP slot. But I could be wrong..
Tulsi Gabbard, definitely.
“Tulsi Gabbard, definitely.”
From my vantage point, I think there’re as many Trump-haters among the general electorate as there’re JFK apostles amongst the baby-boomers (and the ‘boomers vote!); and the latter would LOVE nothing more than to see another [sane] Kennedy back in the White House. I reckon many (most?) would happily pull the lever for “orange Hitler” if it left the door open for a RFK Jr presidency in ’28. But I could be wrong.
Trump tried to rehabilitate that liar Amarosa. She is an evil woman that every one hates her for good reason. She’s a con artist. She lied on The Apprentice. She tried to sue Michael Duncan Smith’s estate for his money. She now claims to be a Christian and is married to a black preacher.
Omarosa is a deadbeat when it comes down to the wire.
Trump is a good man who is kind and compassionate and tries to elevate people to their highest ability.
Trump should not and never will chose the globalist from the Kennedy Crime Family. He will not choose Gabbard either.
Trump will do the right thing and he will chose the right person as his VP.
“Trump will do the right thing and he will chose the right person as his VP.”
Such as?