News of the World
MIDDLE EAST WAR
Quote:ISLAMABAD — The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fired on at least two ships in the waters near Oman Saturday, shortly before Tehran declared the Strait of Hormuz was once again closed.
Two IRGC gunboats approached an Indian-flagged tanker about 20 nautical miles northeast of the Gulf country around 1 p.m. local time — and opened fire unprovoked, the tanker’s master reported, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization.
Soon after, another Indian-flagged container ship in the same area was hit by an “unknown projectile,” which reportedly caused damage to some of the containers.
The UKMTO said the incident is under investigation.
The attacks came as the US was weighing plans to board and seize Tehran-linked oil tankers worldwide in an effort to choke Iran’s economy, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Behind the scenes, US officials say the Pentagon is preparing to intercept and take control of commercial vessels tied to Iran — potentially far beyond the Middle East, the outlet reported.
The strategy is aimed at squeezing Tehran’s economy — with the hope it forces the Iranian regime to reopen the strait and bend in nuclear talks, according to the report.
But the acts of aggression on Saturday led numerous ships to back out of the strait, tracking data from Marine Traffic shows.
A third commercial ship also reported a “splash” 3 nautical miles east of Oman, though it did not sustain any damage, according to the UKMTO.
Quote:The burial site of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has yet to be determined as Iranian officials weigh safety concerns for such a massive funeral turnout, while one security expert claims the delay is due to Tehran being too chicken.
Khamenei, 86, was assassinated in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28 that launched the Iran war with the remains of the terror-supporting cleric still unburied, breaking with established tradition.
The last days-long state funeral for his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989 saw millions of Iranians flooding the streets of Tehran in mourning — but similar displays for Khamenei were largely absent during weeks of crippling airstrikes across Iran that took many of the regime’s top leaders.
Tehran is in no position to hold such an elaborate memorial service as the war sits in an uneasy truce, Behnam Taleblu from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Post.
“Simply put, the regime is too afraid and too weak to roll the dice,” he said.
The cocktail of reasons to avoid a ceremony include the risk of potential Israeli airstrikes, nationalist counter-rallies similar to the nationwide uprisings earlier this year, and the regime’s need to explain the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei’s son and the new supreme leader who has not been seen in public since his appointment.
“It speaks volumes that the turnout for the funeral of the regime’s founding father in 1989 was such a massive affair, and yet one generation later his successor is still not able to have a funeral well over a month after his passing,” Taleblu continued.
“The Islamic Republic likes to talk a big game about owning the streets, but a 50-day internet blackout tells you all you need to know. The regime fears the consequences of the truth getting out.”
Now, Iranian officials are considering the remote, northeastern city of Mashhad as a potential burial site, according to state media Fars, The Australian reported.
Mashhad — on the border of Turkmenistan and far removed from Israel — is Khamenei’s hometown and serves both practical and symbolic purposes.
Quote:Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces will continue holding territory inside Southern Lebanon as part of efforts to dismantle Hezbollah’s military capabilities, even as a ten-day ceasefire remains in effect.
“The IDF holds and will continue to hold all the areas it has cleared and captured,” Katz said in remarks released on Friday.
“The ground maneuver into Lebanon and the strikes against Hezbollah throughout the country achieved many gains, but the mission has not yet been completed.”
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ten-day truce on Thursday following calls between US President Donald Trump and the leaders of each country.
According to Katz, more than 1,700 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed during Israel’s military campaign—more than double the number slain during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
He said Israel has established a security zone extending roughly ten kilometers from the border, stretching from the Mediterranean coast to the Mount Hermon region, designed to prevent infiltration and direct anti-tank fire on northern communities.
“The security zone has been cleared of terrorists and weapons and will continue to be cleared of terror infrastructure,” Katz said, adding that areas between the security zone and the Litani River remain under Israeli fire control but have not yet been fully demilitarized.
Quote:ISLAMABAD — Major hotels are sold out for reservations this week and some transportation and other services have shut down in and near Pakistan’s capital city on Sunday, as the world waits in hope for a successful second round of peace talks between Iran and the US to take place.
Islamabad Police on Sunday announced that traffic routes had been altered in preparation for the arrival of unnamed official delegations — with the city shutting down all streets near where the last round of in-person peace talks took place last weekend.
“Due to the arrival of foreign delegations in Islamabad, Red Zone and Extended Red Zone will remain completely closed for all kinds of traffic,” it said in a post to X. “Citizens are advised to use alternate routes and cooperate with traffic police to ensure smooth flow and security.”
Neither the US or Iran — nor mediator Pakistan — have publicly confirmed that Washington and Tehran will again meet for further peace talks to end the seven-week-long war, but the signs of an impending gathering are stacking up.
All rooms at Islamabad’s luxury Movenpick, which hosted hundreds of local and international journalists during last weekend’s talks, had no rooms available in the coming days. And the city’s Serena Hotel — home to the US-Iran negotiations — is no longer taking reservations.
Additionally, current guests at the Serena and Marriott Hotel in Islamabad were asked to find alternative accommodations beginning Sunday night.
What’s more, the city of Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi announced on Sunday that they were shutting down some forms of transportation for the foreseeable future.
“Heavy transport and public transport in the city are being suspended until further orders,” Islamabad’s district administration announced in a post to X. “Citizens are earnestly requested to cooperate with the security agencies. Thank you.”
Quote:Iran has said it would not participate in a second round of peace talks in Pakistan with the US this week due to America’s demands and ongoing naval blockade in the Gulf.
“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” the IRNA state-run outlet said.
The statement comes just hours after President Trump told The Post that the peace talks were restarting this week in Pakistan.
While Trump told The Post that US negotiators, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, were heading to Islamabad on Monday, Pakistani mediators have not confirmed the meeting.
The Islamic republic’s refusal to attend the talks highlights the ongoing tension between Tehran and Washington as the cease-fire is set to expire this week.
President Trump had warned Tehran to accept his terms for a peace deal, give up its nuclear materials, and open up the Strait of Hormuz, with the commander in chief renewing his threats to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
Quote:WASHINGTON — The US seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after “blowing a hole” in its engine room when it tried to break past the Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump revealed Sunday.
The USS Spruance destroyer intercepted Iran’s Touska cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, taking custody of the ship after it refused warnings to stop, according to the president.
“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump boasted on Truth Social.
“Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel,” the president added. “The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!”
The seizure of the Iran-flagged vessel comes as Trump is pushing to lock down a peace deal with Iran before the two-week cease-fire wraps up on Tuesday.
Trump told The Post earlier in the day, Sunday, that his special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will head to Pakistan for the talks.
The White House confirmed that Vice President JD Vance will lead discussions.
But a top Iranian official has said that Tehran won’t partake in the talks, citing concerns that US demands are too tough.
Quote:LONDON — British police said they are investigating possible Iran links to a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in London, which the UK chief rabbi said showed a sustained campaign of violence against the Jewish community was gathering momentum.
After the latest attack, at Kenton United Synagogue in the Harrow area of the city shortly after midnight, the third such incident in a week, UK counter-terrorism police said they were heading up investigations into the incidents.
A pro-Iranian government group, which says it is also behind a spate of attacks across Europe on US, Israeli and Jewish targets, has said it was responsible.
“As the conflict in the Middle East continues to evolve, counter-terrorism policing and our partners remain alive to the threat of Iranian hostile activity in the UK,” Vicki Evans, Britain’s senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, told reporters.
“We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran. As you would expect, we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves.”
‘Sustained campaign of violence’
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the Kenton fire, which did not cause any significant damage, was the third “cowardly” attack on Jewish sites in the British capital in less than a week.
“A sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum,” Mirvis said on X. “Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society.”
Quote:Twisted Hamas terrorists are sexually exploiting women in Gaza, bribing slain members’ desperate widows and young moms with food in exchange for sex, according to residents in the Palestinian enclave.
Harrowing interviews from the Gaza Strip reveal the scope of the rampant sexual abuse by the Iran-backed terrorists as they target vulnerable women trying to feed their families.
“It’s being done by all their employees and members, as though it’s an organization set up for sexual harassment, psychological abuse and harassing young women,” a woman told Jusoor News.
Women said the Hamas members are specifically targeting people who reached out to them in desperation, such as widows, recent divorcees and young or single mothers, promising them even simple things such as rice and sugar in exchange for sex.
“A guy will say, ‘Come, we have a relief package for you.’ He represents an Islamic organization, a movement whose name I won’t mention, but it is a political organization,” a woman told the outlet.
” ‘If you come with me and do so and so, I’ll give you so and so,’ ” Hamas members allegedly tell their victims.
And the women, who have no life experience, end up getting exploited.”
A man who claimed to be with Hamas recalled how the wife of a friend reached out directly to his commander for help before she was taken advantaged of.
“His behavior is disgraceful,” the government employee told Jusoor. “We investigated the matter and found her in a tent in the Gharabli area where a bunch of Qassam members were taking advantage of her.
“We informed the leadership, but they told us we had to keep silent about it,” he said.
Quote:They’re going to need a bigger boat!
Greta Thunberg’s freedom flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona Sunday for another anti-Israel voyage to Gaza, has been rocked by scandal after one of its woke leaders was accused of “sexual misconduct” with at least three volunteers.
“A senior leader within the flotilla — a member of the steering committee, the highest governing body of the organization — engaged in sexual relations with multiple activists while on the boat heading to Gaza. Not one person. Not two. Three different individuals,” claimed Palestinian group Heart of Falastin in a social media post earlier this week.
“To do it on the boat, while heading to a nation undergoing genocide, with volunteers who are under your authority . . . is a clear violation of ethics and power.”
One Brazilian group named the alleged horndog as activist Thiago Avila, in an X post unearthed by media watchdog Honest Reporting and shared with The Post.
“On a ship carrying humanitarian aid, a Brazilian shows up with his d–k swinging and the only thing he manages to do is f–k and get arrested,” Anti Esquerda Esquerda Club, a group that describes itself as criticizing the left from the left, wrote on X Tuesday, pointing the finger at Avila — and referring to the Israeli Navy intercepting the flotilla and taking activists into custody.
Avila, 39, sailed to Gaza in June aboard the 12-person Madleen, where he was pictured in many chummy poses with fellow activist Thunberg — arms around each other’s shoulders and looking gleefully at one another — before they were eventually detained by Israeli forces and deported.
He joined the larger 500-activist Global Sumud Flotilla convoy in September, during which infighting among senior leadership led Thunberg to step down from the steering committee and off the main boat. The activist was then seen dragging her suitcase along a Tunisian dock to transfer to a different ship.
That tumultuous trip also saw her vessel’s radio hacked to pump songs from the Swedish pop group ABBA on full blast in a clear troll at Thunberg.
At the time, Thunberg’s decision to step down stemmed from frustration that leadership was spending too much time bickering about “internal affairs” and was not focusing enough on Gaza, according to Italian newspaper Il Manifesto, which had a correspondent on board.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:A Russian drone breached Romania's airspace during an overnight bombardment targeting Ukraine, the NATO nation's defense ministry has said.
Russian drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets took place overnight Thursday, the ministry said. It added that Romanian air defenses monitored two air targets in the border area in Romania's Tulcea county.
"One of the targets entered the airspace of our country, the radar contact with it being lost 16 km southeast of Chilia Veche over an uninhabited area," the ministry said, according to a translation.
Newsweek has contacted the Romanian and Russian defense ministries for comment.
The air alert started at just after midnight Friday and ended at 2.48 a.m. A team has been sent to the area to investigate.
“We strongly condemn the actions of the Russian Federation that endanger regional security, constituting a serious violation of the norms of international law,” the defense ministry statement added.
During the war in neighboring Ukraine, Romania has repeatedly scrambled its fighter jets in response to drone and missile threats posed by Russia, testing NATO's collective defense agreement, Article 5.
Tulcea is across the border from the Ukrainian port of Izmail which has been a focus for Russian drone attacks. On Wednesday, Romania’s Defense Ministry said that two of its F-16 aircraft were scrambled after Russian drones had attacked civilian and infrastructure targets in the county.
The drones were detected near Valcove around 2:30 a.m. local time. While they did not enter Romanian airspace, the aircraft were scrambled from the 86th Air Base in Fetesti, and air defense systems were switched to firing positions.
The previous day, Romanian fighter jets had been scrambled when emergency alerts were triggered for northern parts of Tulcea.
In 2025, Romania's lawmakers passed a law to allow the shooting down of drones that breach its airspace. In March, Ukraine and Romania announced they would work together to produce drones together in Romania in an EU-funded project worth 200 million euros.
Quote:Several of Russia's high-profile influencers have spoken out against the country's top officials, a rare stream of criticism that still sought to steer clear of directly condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Victoria Bonya, a Russian beauty influencer now living in Monaco, posted a lengthy video on Monday which she captioned as an "appeal" to Putin "from all concerned Russians."
She said issues in the country were going unaddressed, like flooding in southeastern Russia, environmental pollution and limited access to the internet on top of clampdowns on social media.
“The people are afraid of you, artists are afraid, governors are afraid," Bonya said, comparing Russia's population to a "coiled spring."
"One day, that coiled spring will shoot out," she said.
Russian authorities have tightened controls on messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Telegram, while forcing Russian users of platforms like Instagram to log in via virtual private networks (VPNs).
But some human rights experts have said many Russian residents do not know how to access VPNs, while the authorities have pushed state-run alternatives more susceptible to surveillance.
Information crackdowns have come hand-in-hand with worsening economic conditions and failed peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, now well into its fifth year.
The war has put increasing pressure on Russia's economy, the focus on pumping out military equipment eating away at government spending in other areas closer to home for Russia's residents.
More than 1.3 million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in early 2022, according to Ukraine's military.
“War fatigue is really starting to set in," Andrei Kolesnikov, a Russian political scientist, told The Guardian. "It is beginning to click in people’s minds that everything that is happening is a consequence of the war."
Quote:Bulgaria's pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev has swept to victory in the country's eighth parliamentary election in five years, with an exit poll showing his center-left Progressive Bulgaria coalition capturing 39.2 percent of the vote.
The result gives Radev a commanding lead over the outgoing center-right GERB party of veteran leader Boyko Borissov, which is projected to receive just 15.1 percent, but the margin may not be enough to govern alone — setting up yet another potentially fractious coalition process in a country that has struggled with political deadlock for years.
The vote came just one week after Hungarian voters ousted Viktor Orbán, another European leader seen as friendly to Moscow, marking a potential shift in Russian influence across the continent.
Why It Matters
Radev's victory could bring to power a leader who has consistently opposed funneling military support to Ukraine despite Bulgaria's membership in both the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Unlike most other NATO and EU leaders, Radev has favored reopening talks with Russia as a path out of the conflict and has said he will "develop practical relations with Russia based on mutual respect and equal treatment." Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly clashed with Radev over military backing, including a tense 2023 meeting where cameras were asked to leave the room.
The result comes one week after Orbán — who maintained close ties with both the Kremlin and President Donald Trump, and repeatedly blocked financial support for Kyiv — was unseated by center-right challenger Péter Magyar. That outcome was widely seen as a blow to Russian interests in Europe. Radev's win complicates that narrative, potentially replacing one pro-Russian European voice with another.
Quote:Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s war machine is losing an astounding $100 million a day as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes on the country’s oil infrastructure — dealing a staggering financial blow to the Kremlin.
A series of recent attacks on key transport routes have slashed Moscow’s oil shipments by roughly 880,000 barrels a day, Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Saturday.
“Step by step, the enemy’s oil and logistics system is losing its ability to ensure uninterrupted exports,” Commander Robert Brovdi said through Telegram.
“The result of this work is already tangible at the front — the enemy has fewer resources and more opportunities for our units,” Commander Robert Brovdi said through Telegram.
Russia exports an estimated 6.6 million barrels of oil a day — so the dent made represents roughly 13% of its exports.
Ukrainian drone strikes targeted Russian oil refineries overnight into Saturday, hitting four important sites.
Fire raged at the Novokuybyshevsk and Syzran oil refineries in the Samara region, as well as at an oil terminal in Leningrad and the Tikhoretsk oil pumping station in Krasnodar Krai, Ukraine’s Armed Forces said.
Ukrainian drones also hit oil storage sites in the occupied Mariupol region.
Quote:At least six people were killed and more than a dozen hurt in a mass shooting in Kyiv, with Ukrainian authorities killing the suspect – who had barricaded himself inside a supermarket.
Bullets flew in the Ukrainian capital’s Holosiivskyi district, a central urban area, where four civilians were slain on the street, with one more killed inside the market where the suspect, identified as a 58-year-old Russian native, took hostages with an automatic weapon. The sixth victim was injured inside the market and died later at a hospital.
“He took hostages and, tragically, killed one of them. He shot dead four more people right on the street, and one more woman passed away in a hospital due to sustained injuries,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X.
The Mayor of Kyiv revealed the shooter was killed by cops during the supermarket-standoff.
“The shooter in Kyiv was liquidated during the arrest,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app Saturday.
“Special forces of the…national police stormed the store where the attacker was. He took people hostage and shot at a policeman during his detention. Before that, negotiators tried to contact him,” the statement concluded.
The weapon was registered and purchased legally, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Ukrainian officials.
Fourteen victims were being treated at area hospitals, with that number expected to rise, according to Zelenskyy.
Quote:Moscow is criminalizing the American dream — blacklisting more than a dozen elite US universities and making it illegal for Russians to so much as contact them.
In a sweeping crackdown, Russia’s General Prosecutor’s office has branded 19 top American schools as “undesirable” and turned what used to be a dream — studying abroad — into a legal nightmare, according to the Moscow Times.
The latest target of the Russian Undesirable Organizations law, which was signed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in May 2015, is Stanford University, which was added to the Kremlin hate list on April 7. The school joins Tufts University and earlier additions like UC Berkeley, George Washington University, and Yale University.
The hostility stems from Russian officials who claim the universities — once symbols of prestige where Russian students routinely came and went on exchange programs — are part of a broader campaign to limit foreign influence in its academic and civic space.
Critics argue this legal framework is being used to deter engagement with global academia and isolate Russian scholars from international networks, according to MSN.
“Yale University was recognized as an undesirable organization at my request,” lawmaker Andrei Lugovoy said on the Russian state television show Evening With Vladimir Solovyov. “Nothing like this has happened before. And we believe it is the right thing to do.”
The prosecutor’s office paid special attention to Yale’s School of Global Affairs, which the Russians claim conducts “training opposition leaders of foreign countries.”
USA
Quote:Five people were wounded in a mass shooting near the University of Iowa campus after a large brawl that broke out early Sunday, police confirmed — as they shared a photo of five “persons of interest” in the carnage.
“One victim is in critical condition and the other four victims are in stable condition,” Iowa City Public Safety said in a Facebook post Sunday afternoon.
The posting includes a picture of five young men, and cops are asking for the public’s help in finding and identifying them.
“Anyone with information on the people pictured here are asked to contact Detective Cade Burma at cburma@iowa-city.org or 319-356-5275.”
Police were responding to a fight at the Pedestrian Mall in Iowa City around 1:45 a.m. involving as many as 100 people when gunshots rang out.
Dramatic video of the melee shared on social media showed dozens of people crowded around a group of men throwing haymakers at each other.
The brawl took place in a popular bar area that is just one block from some parts of the Big Ten campus.
Quote:Eight children including a baby were killed in a mass shooting in Louisiana on Sunday morning when a crazed gunman opened fire at three different homes.
The murdered victims ranged in age from 1 to 14, and at least some of them were “descendants” of the gunman, who was eventually killed by officers, Shreveport Police Department spokesman Christopher Bordelon said at a briefing.
Seven of the slain kids were found dead in one house — while the eighth appeared to have futilely tried to escape off the roof on the back of the house, Bordelon said.
Two women also were shot in the head during the killer’s rampage, with one suffering life-threatening injuries. One of the women is believed to have been in a relationship with the suspect, according to Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith.
“We have three crime scenes just here in Shreveport. One of them is incredibly gruesome in nature,” Bordelon said.
“I know that some of the suspect’s children resided there. I’m not sure if at one point in time he lived there.”
There were audible gasps as Bordelon revealed the ages of the deceased.
The crime scenes in Shreveport were described as “extensive” and spanned two homes on the same street and a third on a nearby street.
After the shootings, the gunman carjacked a vehicle and tried to escape by fleeing to neighboring Bossier City, where he had a connection to a home, but was killed by pursuing cops, according to authorities.
Quote:One person was killed and three others including a young teen wounded in a wild New Jersey shootout that left victims sprawled in the street near a 13-year-old girl’s weekend birthday party.
The violence started around 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Paterson — as party-goers were about to sing, “Happy Birthday” in the birthday girl’s back yard, witnesses said.
Kids screamed and hit the deck as the automatic gunfire broke out near the intersection of East 29th Street and 10th Avenue, leaving people splayed in the street, according to ABC.
The kids reportedly first thought the gunshots were fireworks until they heard sirens, and bystanders were in a state of panic as first responders rendered aid to those in the line of fire.
“Just hearing it — iit was scary to witness, to hear,” the unidentified birthay girl told the outlet. “Especially on my birthday. Like, a time I’m trying to play with my friends, get together.”
She said a friend at the party witnessed the shooting first-hand.
“He was going to the bodega. He went running back, but he had seen two people come out of a car and then shoot, but it was like an automatic gun,” she said.
No details were given on the dead person or the wounded victims, except for authorities noting one of those hurt is a young teen.
Quote:Hundreds of animal rights activists who tried to gain entry Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired tear gas and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles southwest of the capital city of Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, in a video statement, said between 300 and 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers.
He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.
Some protesters did get through the fence, but they were unable to get into the facility where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours into the operation after no dogs had been successfully seized.
Quote:Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson linked the restaurant industry to “slavery” Wednesday as he defended his push to eliminate the tipped wage, doubling down after surviving a City Council effort to block the policy.
Johnson’s remarks came after the Chicago City Council failed to override his veto of a measure that would have halted the city’s phaseout of the subminimum wage for tipped workers — a policy set to raise base pay to the full minimum wage by 2028 that is opposed by restaurant owners who warn it could drive up prices and cut jobs.
He called on Chicagoans to “challenge city council not to do stuff like take wages away from Black and Brown people,” saying that most workers in the service industry who rely on tips are minorities.
“You just watched the entire city council, in transparency, try to take wages away from the very people who are part of an industry that has its ties to slavery is hiding from that,” Johnson said. “I am boldly declaring that we need reparations in this city, and that’s why I’m funding it.”
City aldermen voted last month to end the wage increase for tipped workers, but Johnson vetoed it.
Restaurant owners and associations have pushed back on the city’s phaseout of the subminimum wage, saying it will shrink their already tight profit margins.
Chicago’s City Council failed to meet the 34-vote requirement to overturn the phaseout.
Johnson’s comments came in response to a question from a person who claimed that Johnson’s Reparations Task Force was not in compliance with Illinois state law, which mandates that all public bodies hold public meetings.
Quote:A converted hotel next to a Chinatown playground is still housing violent sex offenders a full 10 months after The Post blew the whistle — and now a second Manhattan shelter is doing the same thing.
At least two registered sex offenders exposed in a July 5 report — including a level 3 offender, the highest risk — are still calling the former Hotel MB building at 61 Chrystie St. home near the Hester Street Playground, while a third only left because he was sent back to prison time and is now on parole.
Now another Big Apple neighborhood is facing the same fears for local parents, with a half dozen sex offenders holed up at a shelter at 197 Bowery, around the corner from the Rivington Street Playground.
“Our society has become deaf to things that matters,” a 40-year-old mom who lives near the playground with her disabled 4-year-old daughter. “It’s like putting fresh, raw, bleeding meat in front of a shark.
“When I see a child alone in the park when I’m leaving, I tell them to leave because I’d cry if I see it in the news that something happened and I did nothing,” said the woman, who identified herself as EJ.
The Post found at least five level 2 offenders registered at the Bowery building, including Marco Cepeda, who was convicted of sodomizing an 11-year-old boy, and Devereaux Davis, who was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl.
Quote:WASHINGTON — The son of right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson has left Vice President JD Vance’s press team to set up his own political consulting firm amid escalating tensions between his father and President Trump.
Buckley Carlson, a 20-something who had served as Vance’s deputy press secretary since the start of the second Trump administration, is joining a group of several White House alumni departing for the private sector.
While such moves can be typical in presidential administrations, Buckley’s departure comes against the backdrop of a growing rift between Trump, 79, and Tucker, 56, once an avid backer.
Trump wrote in a screed against Tucker earlier this month, “Flailing Fools like Tucker Carlson, who couldn’t even finish College, he was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he’s never been the same — Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist!”
Trump jabbed at Tucker again on Truth Social on Friday, linking to a story about CNN data guru Harry Enten suggesting the president was winning the feud in the public eye and writing, “Tucker is a Low IQ person – Always easy to beat, and highly overrated.”
Tucker has publicly railed against the Trump administration for months, all while largely refraining from mentioning the president by name.
Instead, he blamed the president’s allies such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his grievances, including the war in Iran. Tucker privately lobbied Trump against going to war.
Trump for his part had occasionally swiped at Tucker, calling him “kooky,” among other insults, after the latter dinged the Operation Midnight Hammer attacks on Iran.
Quote:A California judge has ruled Sable Offshore Corp. — the company Donald Trump is using to give the state an oil lifeline — did not have the authority to restart its operations.
Judge Donna Geck of the Santa Barbara Superior Court said a state injunction on the gas giant is still in place, blocking its operations from restarting and handing a win to environmental groups and California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“A California court just confirmed what we have said all along: Trump and his Big Oil donors are not above the law,” Newsom said in a statement.
Back in March, Trump signed an executive order to resume oil drilling operations off the Southern California coast, citing national energy security concerns.
The order invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, stemming from concerns of limited oil supply from the US war with Iran.
In response to the order, Sable Offshore resumed operations near Santa Barbara at its Santa Ynez offshore oil platform and pipeline.
The pipeline was shuttered in 2015 after a spill released thousands of barrels of crude into the Pacific Ocean.
The Santa Ynez pipeline restart “marks a 15% increase in California’s in-state oil production, which will replace almost 1.5 million barrels of foreign crude oil each month,” according to the Department of Energy.
Environmentalists and anti-Trump Democrats furiously claimed that Trump’s order was “illegal” and that any restart needed approval by state regulators. They sought the temporary injunction, granted in February.
Sable Offshore argued that Trump’s order under the Defense Production Act bypassed the court injunction. Geck in Friday’s ruling disagreed.
“Every day that oil’s flowing through these pipelines means that Sable is in violation of the court’s preliminary injunction order,” Talia Nimmer, staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Santa Barbara Independent.
Quote:Rep. Nancy Mace is calling for a reckoning in the halls of Congress following the resignation of Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell.
She accused the political establishment of shielding predators to protect their own power and introduced a resolution to stop it.
Mace joined “Saturday in America” to discuss the resolution she put forward for the House Ethics Committee to release its records on sexual harassment by lawmakers.
“I think there should be an avalanche of resignations,” Mace said, adding, “I want every single predator that’s in Congress now to be forced to resign. I don’t care how long it takes. If we can do it fast, let’s do it now, regardless of party.”
Mace’s renewed action comes after Swalwell resigned from Congress and ended his California gubernatorial bid earlier this month following multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
At least five women have accused him of misconduct, including Lonna Drewes, who alleges he drugged and raped her in a hotel room in 2018.
Since the allegations surfaced, some journalists and political operatives have said Swalwell’s behavior was widely known on Capitol Hill.
Mace said she wants to end the culture of silence on both sides of the political aisle.
“Both parties decided that they would vote against revealing the sexual harassment records of their own party,” Mace said of a previous vote that failed on the issue.
Quote:A United Airlines Flight heading to LaGuardia was hastily diverted to Pittsburgh after pilots feared there was a “potential bomb” on board.
United Flight 2092 was heading to The Empire State from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport early Saturday when the pilots heard a beeping noise and decided to divert the flight, according to audio of the flight crew’s conversation posted to liveatc.com.
“We are going to have to start treating this as a potential bomb… we are going to need to go and start a diversion and get things settled. It’s a beeping noise, sequential, one beep per second,” a crew member said.
The plane landed at Pittsburgh International Airport at 11:45 a.m., WCVB reported.
The Boeing 737‘s 159 passengers and 6 crew members exited the plane safely via slides and no injuries were reported, a United representative told The Post in a statement.
A firetruck and ambulance greeted the airplane as emergency officials helped the passengers and crew exit, and were seen leaving after everyone was successfully escorted.
The Pittsburgh FBI bomb technicians and Special Agents, local police and the Allegheny County bomb squad were on scene investigating, WCVB reported.
The Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad told the outlet its Explosive Ordinance Disposal team and bomb sniifing dogs conducted a sweep which had “negative results” for bombs.
“Our EOD team and K9s conducted a sweep of the aircraft, passengers and luggage with negative results,” the department told the outlet.
Quote:Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons submitted his resignation letter to Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin Thursday, writing that he will stay on through May 31 to assist the transition process, Fox News has confirmed.
According to a source, Lyons said in his letter he wants to spend more time with his family, including his sons, who are "reaching a pivotal point in their lives," and that it's been a privilege to serve under President Donald Trump.
"Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists and gang members from American communities," Mullin said in a statement.
"He jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer."
Lyons has overseen roughly 584,000 ICE deportations since President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term last year.
He has served with ICE for 20 years and was previously in special forces in the U.S. Air Force.
"We wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector. His last day is May 31, 2026," Mullin concluded.
In a statement to Fox News, Trump border czar Tom Homan praised Lyons' selflessness in serving as director.
"Todd has served selflessly as a highly respected and effective acting Director of U.S. ICE," Homan said. "Under his leadership, ICE achieved a record number of removals in the first year of this Administration, despite unprecedented challenges, delivering on the President’s promise to deport illegal aliens who have no right to be in the U.S., especially those that are public safety risks or pose a threat to our national security.
"I commend him for a distinguished law enforcement career and the countless contributions he has made to protect our country and advance its interests."
For some unknown reason Fox News forgot to mention a very important fact about Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. Yet, you can watch a videoclip on Facebook.
Quote:U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons submitted a letter of resignation to the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday. The announcement followed his testimony before the House Appropriation Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security regarding the ICE budget, where he announced the bust of Chinese illegal aliens allegedly involved in the largest gift card fraud scheme in history.
In a letter revealed by the New York Times, Lyons cited family issues as his reason for resigning. He said leading the agency he served for 20 years a “tremendous honor.”
“My sons are both reaching a pivotal point in their lives, and my wife and I wish to spend as much time as possible with them,” Lyons wrote in his resignation letter. “This was not an easy decision, but I believe it is the right one for me and my family at this time.”
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin responded to the resignation, calling Lyons a “great leader of ICE and a key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities.”
Trump administration border czar Tom Homan called Lyons a selfless servant who achieved a “record number of removals in the first year of the administration,” according to a post on X by Fox News’ Bill Melugin.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller added, “Todd is a phenomenal patriot and dedicated leader who has been at the center of President Trump’s historic efforts to secure our homeland and reverse the Democrats’ sinister border invasion.”
His resignation came hours after his testimony before the House Appropriation Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security, where he disclosed that his ICE Homeland Security Investigations team broke the largest gift card fraud case in history. He said the scheme was carried out by transnational gangs within the Chinese Communist Party who entered the U.S. illegally under the Biden administration. He said the money was sent back to military units in China, according to a post on the White House Rapid Response 47 team’s social media account.
Breitbart News reported extensively on the success of ICE in rounding up the worst of the worst criminal aliens during Lyons’ tenure as director. Lyons led the arrest and removal of violent criminal illegal aliens, the U.S. efforts to combat Mexican and Venezuelan drug cartels and criminal gangs, and the fight against sanctuary city policies that make the country less safe.
Lyons will continue to serve as director of ICE through the end of May.
MIDDLE EAST / EUROPE
Quote:An international fugitive was arrested in Dubai this week following a years-long manhunt.
Daniel Kinahan, the alleged leader of one of Ireland’s biggest criminal gangs, the Kinahan cartel, was arrested on organized crime charges on Wednesday in a covert operation involving Irish and United Arab Emirates authorities.
The 48-year-old alleged crime boss is expected to face charges in Ireland related to a gangland feud between the Kinahan cartel and the Hutch gang that has left 18 people dead since 2015.
Dubai police didn’t name Kinahan, saying they had “arrested an Irish fugitive for his alleged role in an organized criminal group involved in international crimes in his home country.”
He was identified by Irish media outlets on Friday.
Ireland’s national police force, the Garda Síochána, said an Irish man in his 40s was arrested under a warrant from the Irish courts.
“An Garda Síochána has been steadfast in our determination that we would pursue those allegedly involved in serious Organized Criminal activity, wherever they go,” the police said in a statement, according to The Irish Star.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
![[Image: SP1-Scripter.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Scripter.png)
![[Image: SP1-Writer.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Writer.png)
![[Image: SP1-Poet.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Poet.png)
![[Image: SP1-PixelArtist.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-PixelArtist.png)
![[Image: SP1-Reporter.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/GmxWbHyL/SP1-Reporter.png)
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
