News of the World

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Bed Bath & Beyond files for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy after last-ditch efforts fail

The company has warned since January that it may have to file for bankruptcy due to its shockingly poor sales during the 2022 holiday season. The home goods retail store's last-ditch efforts to raise cash to cover costs failed this weekend.

"Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. today announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey to implement an orderly wind down of its businesses while conducting a limited marketing process to solicit interest in one or more sales of some or all of its assets," the company wrote in a statement.

"The Company’s 360 Bed Bath & Beyond and 120 buybuy BABY stores and websites will remain open and continue serving customers as the Company begins its efforts to effectuate the closure of its retail locations," the statement continued.

Special Operations Forces Evacuate
U.S. Embassy Personnel From Sudan

The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan was evacuated Saturday by U.S. special operations forces (SOF) as nine days of ongoing fighting between two rival factions presented increasing danger to the people working there and their dependents.

No one was injured in the rescue and the aircraft involved, including three Night Stalker MH-47 Chinook helicopters, took no fire either entering or leaving Khartoum, LTG D.A. Sims, Director of Operations, Joint Staff J3, told reporters, including from The War Zone, during a late night press briefing Saturday. The evacuation was ordered by U.S. President Joe Biden.
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The widespread fighting has caused significant civilian deaths and injuries. There’s been substantial damage to essential infrastructure, including, importantly the civilian airport in the heart of the city.

Chinese 'rent-a-womb' industry using
American surrogates is a national security threat

Wealthy Chinese nationals hiring American women as surrogates to bear children as U.S. citizens represent a growing national security threat, a Heritage Foundation researcher said.

"We have no idea who these children are," Emma Waters, a Heritage research associate and visiting fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum, told Fox News. "So should they come back and get involved in research in academia or purchase contracts or even apply for jobs in sensitive areas, we don't have clear tracking to show that these U.S. citizens actually had a far more complicated background and path to the United States."

A growing number of Chinese citizens already past childbearing age are hiring American surrogates since the method of reproduction is illegal in China, according to Waters. While many of these Chinese individuals are well-intentioned in their pursuit of parenthood, the practice creates a long-term pathway for Beijing to further infiltrate U.S. industries undetected, she said.

"We know that the Chinese government has infiltrated our social media with TikTok, defense contracts, farmland, entertainment and Hollywood," she added. "It seems like a really obvious continuation of that is having U.S. citizens who are fully Chinese."

Several of America’s largest defense contractors were discovered maintaining ties with the Chinese government last year. Similarly, Beijing has heavily invested in Hollywood film agencies and has purchased hundreds of thousands of acres of U.S. farmland.

Public-Service Strike: Union Stepping up Picketing Efforts Starting Monday

Canada’s biggest federal public service union is preparing to ramp up its ongoing strike by moving picket lines to strategic locations such as ports on Monday, as both sides continued to accuse each other of poor communication.

In a Sunday interview with The Canadian Press, Public Service Alliance of Canada National President Chris Aylward said civil servants need to further affect the economy to push Ottawa for a solution.

“We’re trying to have picket lines across the country in some strategic locations where it’s going to impact the government, and we’re actually going to be escalating those actions … whether that’s ports across the country, or anything like that,” he said.
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Picket lines have so far largely been confined to government buildings, constituency offices and landmarks such as Parliament Hill.

Aylward said Ottawa presented a revised contract proposal on Saturday following a public tit-for-tat over a breakdown in communications, adding the union responded that same day.

As of 2 p.m. Sunday, the union said it had not heard back from the federal Treasury Board. Yet the office of Treasury Board President Mona Fortier, the Liberal minister overseeing the negotiations, said it had submitted a second offer Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and was waiting for a reply.

Israel arrests Jordanian lawmaker on arms-smuggling charges

Israeli authorities have arrested a Jordanian lawmaker on suspicion of smuggling weapons and gold into the occupied West Bank, Jordan's Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

The lawmaker has been identified as Imad Al-Adwan. Jordanian media reports Al-Adwan was arrested Saturday at the Allenby Bridge border crossing while trying to enter the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Sinan Majali said Jordanian officials were following the case "to find out the merits of the situation and address it as soon as possible."
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"The Jordanian parliament has long been a stage for the worst kind of anti-Israel vitriol. Now, it appears one of its members has shifted from speech to action," Joe Truzman, Research Analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in a statement.

"This would continue a major breach of both the word and the spirit of the almost three-decade peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. Amman should make amends, and publicly, fast."

Trump on Stopping School Shootings:
If Just 5 Percent of Teachers Armed,
‘You’re Not Going to Have a Problem Anymore’

“More than anything else it’s mental health and a lot of it is caused by drugs — the drugs are flowing in,” Trump told Breitbart News. “We had it down to about a 32-year-low at the border. I heard today they’re 10 times higher than just three years ago. Can you imagine that? But I think more than anything else it’s mental health, by far. And a lot of that mental health is caused by drugs.”

In his speech to the NRA gathering, Trump called for a tax credit to allow teachers who are qualified to get firearms so they can protect vulnerable students at schools nationwide. Trump told Breitbart News that if just 5 percent of the nation’s teachers — many of whom are military or law enforcement veterans familiar with firearms — then school shootings would end.

“So you have teachers that are military vets — and I’m talking about people that know how to handle firearms, because that’s a talent,” Trump said. “Police officers. But you have teachers that are very good with firearms. You don’t need many. I would say 5 percent — that would be a lot. You could never hire that many security guards. They have every bit as much talent in many cases — they’re champion shooters and everything else. If they qualify at a very high level, I would let them take arms in with them. They also have the added asset of loving the students. They love the students.

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Shares of Fox Plunge After Company Announces
Tucker Carlson Departure

Shares of Fox Corporation fell sharply after the company announced it was parting ways with popular conservative host Tucker Carlson.

Shares were down by as much as 5.1 percent after the news broke. They have since recovered some of that ground.

The company said Carlson’s last program at the network was broadcast on Friday night. “Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named,” Fox said.

Prior to the announcement, shares of Fox had climbed 0.3 percent Monday morning.

Don Lemon ‘Terminated by CNN’ After 17 Years

CNN host Don Lemon on Monday said he has been “terminated” by the network after 17 years.

“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly,” said the late-night evening news anchor turned morning show co-host, who recently received “formal training” in the aftermath of saying sexist comments on air.
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Following the news, the CNN Communications team’s Twitter account wrote, “CNN and Don have parted ways. Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
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Later a message was posted to CNN Communications team’s Twitter account saying that Lemon’s initial statement was “inaccurate,” claiming that he was “offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

US, EU sanction Iran over rights violations, censorship

This means a freeze on any assets they hold inside the EU and a ban on travel to the bloc. EU companies are also banned from making funds available to those under sanctions.

The US Treasury Department on Monday imposed sanctions on four senior Iranian law enforcement and military officials involved in crushing protests that erupted last year after an Iranian woman died in the custody of the morality police who enforce strict dress codes.

The department said in a statement it was also taking action against the new secretary of Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC), the authority responsible for Iran's cyberspace policy and blockage of popular websites.

"The Iranian people deserve freedom of expression without the threat of violent retaliation and censorship from those in power," Brian Nelson, the department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.

UK Condemned For Arresting
Critic of Emmanuel Macron Using Anti-Terror Law

European parliamentarians have condemned the UK for arresting a critic of Emmanuel Macron under anti-terror legislation.

Politicians sitting in the European Parliament have written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman about the arrest of French publisher Ernest Moret, denouncing the decision to incarcerate the Emmanuel Macron critic as “unjustifiable”.

Moret was detained by anti-terror police shortly after arriving in London, with officers in the country claiming it was in relation to the Frenchman allegedly attending anti-government protests that have recently taken place in France. Moret was subsequently arrested for refusing to give police his phone passcode.

The detention of the publisher has garnered widespread condemnation both in the UK and beyond, with elected officials from across Europe signing a letter to Suella Braverman denouncing the detention as an assault on free speech.
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It went on to allege that the arrest was ultimately undertaken on behalf of Macron’s government, with the politicians describing Moret’s detention as further evidence that France was drifting away from liberal democracy.

“This assault on the freedom of expression of a publisher is yet another manifestation of the slide towards repressive and authoritarian measures taken by the French government in the face of widespread popular discontent,” they wrote.

In response to the letter, the UK Home Office thanked the MEPs for writing to them, adding that the document will be “processed and a response provided in due course”.

Chinese Ambassador Suggests
Ex-Soviet Baltic States Not Sovereign Nations

The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in separate announcements late Saturday deemed statements by Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to France, as unacceptable.

In a recent interview with the French news channel LCI...

“That depends … on how one perceives this problem,” the envoy told the broadcaster. “There’s the history. Crimea was at the beginning Russian, no? It was (Soviet leader Nikita) Khrushchev who gave Crimea to Ukraine in the era of the Soviet Union.”
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“With regards to international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries, they do not, they do not have the status – how to say it? – that’s effective in international law, because there is no international agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country,” he said.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis tweeted that “If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States don’t trust China to ‘broker peace in Ukraine,’ here’s a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries’ borders have no legal basis.”

His Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna, said Chinese ambassador’s comments were “false and a misinterpretation of history,” while Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics said that the statements were “completely unacceptable.”
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In a separate statement, France’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the ambassador’s comments about ex-Soviet states and said: “It’s for China to say whether these comments reflect its position, which we hope is not the case.”
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European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday criticized the Chinese ambassador’s “unacceptable remarks” on former Soviet republics’ sovereignty.

“The EU can only suppose these declarations do not represent China’s official policy,” he tweeted.

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Eighty-Year-Old Joe Biden Officially Announces Re-Election Bid

Eighty-year-old Democrat Joe Biden officially confirmed on Tuesday morning that he will be seeking a second term as President of the United States despite the vast majority of Americans believing that he should not run again.

Two weeks after leaking his intentions to run in the 2024 elections to Al Roker on the Today Show during an Easter Egg hunt at the White House, President Joe Biden has made it official, with a video posted to his social media accounts.

“Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours,” Biden wrote.

“That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job.”

At 80 years old, Biden is already the oldest president in American history and would be 86 by the end of a potential second term in the White House.

Finish what job!? 
Do they mean the total destruction of the United States of America? 
Becoming unreliable allies for Israel, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan? 

Marianne Williamson Joins RFK Jr. in Slamming DNC
for No Debates During Democrat Primary

“The DNC ‘plans no primary debates.’ As though there simply ARE no other candidates,” she tweeted early Monday morning, referring to reports that the DNC will not be scheduling any debates for the Democrat presidential primary despite two people already in the race looking to challenge President Joe Biden.

“No other ideas we should discuss about ways to win in 2024, or other ideas we should discuss about ways to repair the country,” she added.
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Williamson’s remarks came hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a nearly hour-long radio appearance on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday, where he criticized the DNC for not scheduling debates and moving voting in South Carolina ahead of New Hampshire on the calendar.
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“President Biden didn’t do well there [New Hampshire]; he came in fifth. So they took New Hampshire, and they kicked it out of first place. And now they’re gonna say — they’re saying that they’re going to completely remove the delegates from New Hampshire, and that we should be at this point in history,” he explained.

Video Allegedly Shows Illegal Chinese Police Station Chief
Mingling with Eric Adams, Schumer

A report published on Monday claimed that New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) appeared hobnobbing at a political event in a video alongside “Harry” Lu Jianwang, arrested last week on federal charges for allegedly running an illegal Chinese police station in New York City.

The video — according to Fox News, which published the story — was recorded on March 18 and allegedly shows Lu chatting with Adams and Schumer at a fundraiser for a nonprofit group called the Fukien American Association. Fox News claimed it was not the first time Lu was seen cultivating ties with New York City’s Democrat Party elites:

In April 2022, Lu also met New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng at a fundraising event, according to The Daily Caller, citing images the outlet found.

Records show that since 2006, Lu has contributed at least $32,625 to New York elected officials, including Adams and New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

A spokesman for Mayor Adams said he does not know Lu personally but confirmed that Adams was present at the Fukien American Association event, stating he was there to “show support for a local community” rather than to endorse the association itself.

According to the Daily Caller, Lu met with Adams “on a number of occasions” before the fundraiser, including “anniversary celebrations for America Changle Association,” the nonprofit organization that allegedly served as a front for the secret Chinese police station. The FBI raided the offices of the America Changle Association in January.

Lu also donated $4,000 to Adams’ mayoral campaign under a pseudonym, according to the Daily Caller.

Reps. Tom Tiffany, Lance Gooden Propose Bill
to Shutter Chinese NYC Consulate After Illegal Police Station Scandal

Congressmen Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and Lance Gooden (R-TX) will introduce legislation on Tuesday tasking leftist President Joe Biden with shutting down the Chinese Consulate General and Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, a move meant to counter transnational repression and espionage by Beijing.

The bill, as obtained by Breitbart News on Monday, is only two pages long and would require Biden to “take such actions as may be necessary to — (1) provide for the closure of the Consulate General … and the expulsion of all diplomatic personnel assigned to that mission by not later than 72 hours after the date of the enactment of this Act.” Similarly, the bill would require the executive to shut down the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York and cancel “the visas or other entry documentation of all personnel assigned to that Office who are citizens of the People’s Republic of China.”

The consulate serves as a diplomatic outpost for China. The Hong Kong office exists to provide certain trade privileges to the port city as a result of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, which — between 1997 and 2020 — allowed Hong Kong to govern itself as a free, capitalist society autonomous from Beijing.

Antony Blinken Claims Only ‘Some Dozen’ of Estimated
16,000 Americans in Sudan Want to Leave

Over the weekend, President Joe Biden evacuated under 100 personnel from the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, amid escalating violence between two rival groups.

The administration boasted about the success of the evacuation, which was conducted Saturday with the help of about 100 U.S. special operations forces, but acknowledged it left American citizens behind and would not be militarily evacuating them.

Under Secretary for Management Ambassador John Bass told reporters on Saturday evening, as reported by Breitbart News, “As a result of that uncertain security picture, as a result of the unavailability of the civilian airport, we don’t foresee coordinating a U.S. Government evacuation for our fellow citizens in Sudan at this time or in the coming days.” Bass was on the ground in Afghanistan at the time of that withdrawal, which also left thousands of Americans stranded.

Blinken on Monday claimed that the U.S. did not know how many Americans were on the ground in Sudan and that only “some dozen” have said they want to leave.
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He said he did know the number of Americans registered with the U.S. embassy but did not offer a figure.

“We’re in very active touch communication. And of those, I would say some dozen this have expressed an interest in leaving,” he said.

Alleged Pentagon Leaks Say ISIS Regrouping
in Afghanistan, Angering Taliban

Documents allegedly procured from a trove of Department of Defense leaks suggest the Islamic State’s Afghanistan operation, ISIS-Khorasan, has strengthened markedly under Taliban rule and is consistently plotting attacks around the world, the Washington Post claimed this weekend.

ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, has taken responsibility for multiple terrorist attacks in Afghanistan since leftist President Joe Biden abandoned the country to the Taliban, another jihadist terror outfit, in August 2021. Several of those attacks have targeted Chinese interests in the country, which have expanded as the Taliban seeks investment from the Communist Party, disregarding China’s ongoing genocide against Muslim people on the countries’ mutual border. Taliban officials enthusiastically reject all indications that the Islamic State is a threat to the stability of Afghanistan, however, and have repeatedly claimed that ISIS simply does not have a presence in the country.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the Washington Post’s reporting as based on a “fake document” in an extensive statement posted to Twitter on Sunday, declaring that ISIS “has been severely defeated and is in the process of being eliminated.”
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The Afghan documents, the left-wing newspaper reported, included warnings that ISIS-K has returned to “aspirational plotting” against America and Europe. The documents in question are allegedly assessments of the group by experts at the Defense Department.

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Debt Standoff: House Passes GOP’s Spending Cuts Package,
Sending Bill to Democrat-Led Senate

The legislation, called the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, passed 217 to 215 with no Democrat support. Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Tim Burchett (R-KY), and Ken Buck (R-CO) defected.

The passage is a victory for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who touts the bill as a negotiating tool that forces President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) into talks with him on spending cuts in exchange for a debt limit increase.
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The bill comes in response to the U.S. approaching its debt ceiling as early as this summer. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned of “economic catastrophe” if Congress and Biden do not move to suspend or increase the nation’s borrowing limit.

Biden and Schumer have been angling for a “clean” debt ceiling hike, meaning they want to raise it without the spending reductions House Republicans are aiming for.

Biden Energy Secretary Wants U.S. Military
to Adopt an All-Electric Vehicle Fleet in 7 Years

Biden Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm testified Wednesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee that she supported requiring the United States military to move to an all-electric non-vehicle fleet by 2030.

When asked by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) if she supported doing that, Granholm responded, “I do, and I think we can get there as well.”

She added, “And I do think that reducing our reliance on the volatility of globally-traded fossil fuels where we know that global events, such as the war in Ukraine, can jack up prices for people back home – it does not contribute to energy security.”

“I think energy security is achieved when we have homegrown, clean energy that is abundant, like you see in Iowa. We think we can be a leader globally in how we have become energy-independent,” she said.

Ernst has been a staunch critic of the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles, which she says require lithium and cobalt, which are often mined and processed with slave labor in China or child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last year, Ernst — a combat veteran and retired Iowa National Guard colonel — succeeded in including a provision in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act prohibiting electric vehicle component sourcing from any entity that uses child or slave labor.

 That's just another demential way to say they wanna lose wars from now on.

Eric Schmitt Grills Jennifer Granholm for Giving Millions
to Company ‘Primarily’ Operating in China

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) grilled President Joe Biden’s Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, for allowing her department to award a $200 million grant to a lithium battery company that “primarily” operates in China.
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“I want to ask you about Microvast, which is a lithium battery company that operates primarily out of the People’s Republic of China. Your agency granted $200 million worth of a grant to this company. You’re aware of this, correct,” Schmitt asked the secretary.
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He was referring to the Republican Arkansas delegation’s letter to Granholm in February, which also asked why a federal grant aimed at making America less reliant on China was being awarded to Microvast.

Granholm answered by claiming that there is a vetting process for all companies before they are handed the taxpayer-funded cash to “ensure that there are not, there’s no money flowing to countries of concern.” She later added, “We [the administration] don’t want to see the dollars going to any countries of concern we want them to be.”

Schmitt followed up by asking if it was Granholm’s “commitment that no dollars will go to any company, any energy company taking advantage of either tax credits or grants that are owned by China [or] by a Chinese company.” She said, “No state-owned enterprise will get funding from the bipartisan [infrastructure bill].”
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“I think we’re using this CFIUS vetting program to be able to identify exactly where their control is of a particular technology and country. We want to make sure … we are the beneficiaries of those acts and not others,” she claimed.

Now it's clear that the left simply want China to take control of the US military lithim supply, thus rendering them useless once for all.  Unless they pretend to enslave more kids in Congo.

Whistleblower: Federal Government Facilitating
‘Multi-Billion-Dollar Child Trafficking Operation’ at U.S. Border

A whistleblower who worked at President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services (HHS) says the federal government is facilitating a “multi-billion-dollar child trafficking operation” at the United States-Mexico border that delivers migrant children to traffickers, abusers, and others looking to exploit them.

On Wednesday, House Judiciary Subcommittee Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chair Tom McClintock (R-CA) held a hearing with experts and whistleblowers regarding the Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) program, overseen by the Biden administration, that releases migrant children to sponsors throughout American communities.

Tara Lee Rodas, who worked at HHS in 2021 before blowing the whistle on the UAC program, testified that the federal government is merely a “middleman” in a migrant child trafficking operation that has proven lucrative for the Mexican drug cartels and the sponsors the children end up living with inside the U.S.

“Today, children will work overnight shifts at slaughterhouses, factories, and restaurants to pay their debts to smugglers and traffickers,” Rodas testified.
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“Whether intentional or not, it can be argued that the U.S. government has become the middleman in a large-scale, multi-billion-dollar, child trafficking operation run by bad actors seeking to profit off the lives of children,” Rodas said.

And those kids are being sold like simple merchandise at the border as well.

Biden to Place U.S. Nuclear Submarines in South Korea
in Deal with Visiting President Yoon

President Joe Biden and visiting South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday signed an agreement that would increase U.S. support for South Korea’s security and give Seoul more input in responses to North Korean aggression.

In exchange, Yoon abandoned his proposal for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons.

A major element of the “Washington Declaration,” as the deal has been dubbed, is an agreement for U.S. nuclear submarines to resume docking in South Korea — a practice that was discontinued in the early 1980s. Soon afterward, the United States withdrew all of the nuclear weapons it had stationed in South Korea.

U.S. and South Korean officials said the resumption of submarine docking would be a “very clear demonstration of strength” to deter North Korean aggression. The U.S. also agreed to “better integrate” South Korean military assets into “the alliance’s effort to strengthen deterrence and manage concerns about nuclear non-proliferation in the region.”

The declaration signed by Biden and Yoon created a “nuclear consultative group” (NCG) intended to give Seoul “additional insight in how we think about planning for major contingencies in many respects,” according to a U.S. official.

Asa Hutchinson Pledges Devotion to Ukraine
in 2024 Presidential Campaign Announcement

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson ® pledged his support to Ukraine during the formal launch of his presidential campaign on Wednesday, where he also touted his claims of fighting the establishment and consistency as a conservative throughout his political career.

Hutchinson, who said during an early April interview on ABC’s This Week that he would run for president, first highlighted the role the city of Bentonville, Arkansas, has had in shaping who he is and his career– from his first law office to building the city’s first FM radio station to serving as Bentonville’s City Attorney and starting a family with his wife, Susan.

He announced his bid for U.S. Senate 30 years ago on the same steps — a time when Arkansas was a blue state and “and the Republican Party was pretty much non-existent.”

“I stepped up to take on runaway federal spending; to fight for a strong national defense; to support the life of unborn children; and to unleash the private sector of our economy,” his remarks, as prepared for delivery, read.

Hutchinson highlighted his record as a “conservative Republican,” particularly clinging to that ideology even when it was not popular to do so.

Cuba Cancels Communist May Day Parade Due to Gasoline Shortage

The head of the only legal workers’ union in Cuba announced on Tuesday that the communist regime had canceled its most prestigious annual event, the May Day parade in Havana, due to “limitations with securing fuel.”

Communists around the world typically mark May Day, or International Workers’ Day, on May 1, with parades, riots, and other acts of violence. Communism is a totalitarian ideology that has resulted in at least 110 million killings — not counting the 400 million victims of China’s “One-Child Policy” — in the last century. Communists have ruled Cuba since the 1959 coup by late dictator Fidel Castro and typically force the population to partake in May Day celebrations across the country every year.

The cancellation of the Havana May Day parade comes as an embarrassing blow to the communist regime, which had issued a call to arms to the general population as recently as this first day of April to participate in May Day activities. The Communist Party had also launched a campaign to attract “solidarity tourism” by international communists and boasted on Monday that 300 “comrades” had traveled to the country to observe May 1.

An earthly paradise with no gas is no paradise at all, I guess.

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Canada Faces ‘Rapidly Changing’ Threats
in Arctic Region From Russia and China, Says Defence Minister

Canada faces growing competition in the Arctic region from Russia and China and must do “whatever is necessary” to defend the region, Defence Minister Anita Anand told a Senate committee on April 24.

“Our analysis of the threat is going to proceed on the basis that we need to do whatever is necessary—in terms of capabilities and human resources, to undertake the defence of that region, both individually, through NORAD, and collectively with other Arctic countries,” Anand told the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs.

“Perhaps the most important point is that this is an ongoing analysis and an understanding that the threat environment is rapidly changing.”

Ananad said a growing number of Canada’s strategic competitors, including China and Russia, have “made it clear that the Arctic is key to their economic and security interests.” She said Russia has begun to bolster its “already significant military presence” in the region with additional nuclear-powered icebreakers and long-range precision-guided weapons, while China has begun to increase its activities in the region.

That warning was echoed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a trip to Canada’s Arctic in August 2022, where he warned Russia had opened hundreds of new and former Soviet-era Arctic military sites, while China declared itself a “near Arctic” state and has plans to build the world’s largest icebreaker.

China will work to mediate peace,
Xi tells Zelenksy in first call since war

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months.

Zelenskiy immediately signaled the importance of the chance to open closer relations with Russia's most powerful friend, naming a former cabinet minister as Ukraine's new ambassador to Beijing.

Describing the phone call as "long and meaningful," Zelenskiy tweeted: "I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine's ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations."

Xi told Zelenskiy that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported.

Belarus units complete training
on Russian tactical nuclear missile systems

Units from Belarus returned home from Russia on Saturday after training on how to use the Iskander tactical missile system to launch nuclear weapons, the Belarusian defense ministry said.

It made the announcement exactly four weeks after President Vladimir Putin said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine.

In early February, Belarus said its armed forces were in autonomous control of Iskander mobile guided missile systems that Russia had already provided.

But when the units were sent to Russia on April 4 for additional training, Minsk made clear their sessions would include study of "the maintenance and use of tactical nuclear warheads of the Iskander missile defense system."

Senior Iranian ayatollah Abbas-Ali Soleimani assassinated

Iranian ayatollah Abbas-Ali Soleimani, a member of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership of Iran, was assassinated at a bank on Wednesday morning in the northern city of Babolsar, according to Iranian media reports.

Soleimani was a former representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei's representatives are clerics who officiate on behalf of the supreme leader at a provincial level.

Soleimani's killer has been detained, the Fars news agency said. The governor of Mazandaran, Mahmoud Hosseinipour, stated that Soleimani was killed by a security guard at the bank, according to Iranian state media. Initial investigations have indicated that the attacker fired aimlessly and did not know that Soleimani was there, although the attacker's motive is still not clear, according to Hosseinipour.

The Assembly of Experts is a powerful clerical body that supervises, appoints and in theory can sack the supreme leader.

The southern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan and one of Iran's poorest, faced months of intensive anti-government protests sparked by the death in custody of a young Iranian woman in September.

Iran boosts the Russian invasion in Ukraine with 300,000 artillery shells

The Islamic Republic of Iran has boosted Russia’s war effort in Ukraine during the past six months by providing Moscow with more than 300,000 artillery shells, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The report is based on documents and unnamed officials who are reportedly familiar with the issue. Russian vessels have transported massive Iranian military aid across the Caspian Sea from Iran to Russian shores.

Russia has formally gained the status of being considered a leading global military power. However, the Russian military is lagging behind Western armies in several key technological areas, such as drone technologies and development.

Iran has emerged as a leading producer of drones and utilized them repeatedly to advance its aggressive expansionist policy across the Middle East. In February, the United States Defense Intelligence Agency published a seven-page report, confirming a comprehensive export of Iranian drones to the Russian war effort in Ukraine.

Russia has traditionally been the stronger power in the complex relationship between Moscow and Tehran. However, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Anna Borshchevskaya, argues that Russia is increasingly becoming dependent on Iranian military expertise in drone technologies and other areas.

Jordanian lawmaker must face trial
for weapon smuggling - Israel's Cohen

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen called on Monday for the prosecution of a Jordanian lawmaker held on suspicion of trying to smuggle weapons into the West Bank.
...
The Amman foreign ministry said al Adwan was suspected of trying to smuggle arms and gold. Israel Police said only that a "security investigation" was underway.

"This is a very grave incident...an attempt to smuggle not just commercial goods but weaponry as well," Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Ynet.

"The basic demand is for him to be put on trial and pay the price," he said. "Such an incident cannot be allowed to pass."

There have been calls in Jordan's parliament for al Adwan to be repatriated. Asked if Israel might make this conditional on a guarantee that he would face charges at home, Cohen said only that the two governments were discussing the matter.

[kyonides]

MS-13 Gang Member, Released from Prison,
Charged with Killing Uber Eats Driver in ‘Demonic’ Murder

 Warning! The crime scene description might make you wanna  puke.

An MS-13 Gang member, recently released from prison on parole, is now charged with murdering an Uber Eats driver in a case that police call “demonic” in Holiday, Florida.

Oscar Solis, a 30-year-old MS-13 Gang member, was arrested on April 24 for allegedly murdering and dismembering 59-year-old Randall Cooke, a husband and stepfather, on April 19, as he was delivering food to the gang member’s home in his final delivery for the night.

“This person, you always say the word ‘evil,’ but this is demonic. This individual, what he did was demonic,” Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said. “… this person killed him for no reason and took him away from his family.”

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Cooke was texting with his wife, Kathy, whom he married in 2020, on the night of his murder. Cooke had one final Uber Eats delivery to make, a job he got to support his wife and stepdaughters’ dreams of living oceanside.

Police said security camera footage shows Cooke making the delivery at Solis’s residence before the camera shuts off. From there, police believe Solis yanked Cooke inside the home, murdered him, dismembered his body, and then stuffed his remains in trash bags, which he later took out to garbage cans with another suspect.

Cooke’s blood and wedding ring were found inside Solis’s residence, and police discovered his remains in the trash bags a couple of days after the alleged murder.

Talk Show Hosting Legend Jerry Springer Dies at 79

Legendary TV talk show host Jerry Springer died peacefully at home on Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 79.

Jerry’s family confirmed to TMZ he died at his home in Chicago.

The presenter hosted “The Jerry Springer Show” for nearly three decades from 1991, becoming a byword for TV performance in the process – both at home in the U.S. and around the world.

In a statement, Jene Galvin, a friend of Springer’s and spokesman for the family, described him as “irreplaceable.”
...
After more than 4,000 episodes, the show ended in 2018.

Prior to his broadcasting career, which included roles as a political reporter and commentator, Springer was the mayor of Cincinnati and a political campaign adviser to Robert F Kennedy.

Turkey’s Erdogan Reemerges, Appearing Frail, After Mystery Illness

Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a video address on Thursday in which he spoke softly and appeared frail, his first live appearance since suddenly falling ill during a live television interview on Tuesday.
...
The president’s spokesmen insisted that Erdogan was suffering from what was initially described as a “cold” or “stomach flu.” By Thursday, Ankara had reached a consensus, describing Erdogan as suffering from a gastroenteritis infection – essentially a “stomach flu” – and claimed that he would be back on the campaign trail as soon as possible.

Turkey has scheduled presidential elections for May 14. Erdogan is facing a significant challenge from Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu; polling has consistently shown Kılıçdaroğlu as a competitive or leading candidate. Erdogan has prevented Turks from participating in free and fair elections in past contests, however, through the imprisonment of opposition candidates and suspected political dissidents.

Shortly before Erdogan fell ill, Turkish authorities announced a “counter-terror” operation that resulted in the arrests of 110 people, some of them public officials, accused of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Marxist terrorist group. Mass arrests of dissidents on spurious charges of “terrorism” have been a hallmark of Erdogan’s tenure.

The Kurdish population is critical to Kılıçdaroğlu’s victory in the election; polling indicates that, without sizeable Kurdish support, Kılıçdaroğlu’s coalition – which includes significant opposition to Kurdish political grounds – is not enough to overcome Erdogan’s grassroots Islamist support, assuming a free and fair election.

Argentina Shuns U.S. Dollar: Will Pay for China Imports in Yuan

Argentina struck a deal with Beijing on Wednesday to stop using U.S. dollars to pay for Chinese imports and embrace the yuan instead.

The measure, driven by Argentina’s leftist President Alberto Fernández, is designed to relieve the South American country’s dwindling dollar reserves, AP reports.

The deal further enhances China’s rise on the world stage and the diminished role of the U.S. on a host of fronts under President Joe Biden.

After reaching the agreement with various companies, Argentina will use the yuan for imports from China worth about U.S.$1.04 billion from next month, accelerating trade with China as Beijing seeks to gain a further foothold in South America.

In November last year Argentina expanded a currency swap with China by $5 billion in an effort to increase its yuan reserves.

That agreement allowed Argentina “to work on the possibility” of advancing the rate of imports with yuan-denominated import orders being authorised in 90 days rather than the standard 180 days.

People Need to ‘Accept’ Being Poorer
Amid Inflation, Says Central Banker

The public should just “accept that they’re worse off” than they were a year ago amid rampant inflation, an ivory tower Bank of England boss said this week.

Huw Pill, the chief economist for the UK’s central bank, said that people should not seek salary increases to cope with the soaring inflation, which the Bank of England predicted would be a “temporary” phenomenon in August of 2021, yet, inflation remains in double digits in Britain nearly two years later.

In a ‘let them eat cake’ moment, Pill, who reportedly earns a salary of £190,000 per year, said that rather than demanding pay increases commeserate with the rise in cost of living, the central banker said that people should just “accept that they’re worse off”  condeming the “reluctance” of families to come to grips with the impacts of inflation on their way of life.

The central banker argued that if people continue to ask for pay hikes, it will have a ripple impact of increasing prices across the board.

“If the cost of what you’re buying has gone up compared to what you’re selling, you’re going to be worse off,” Pill said in comments reported by The Times.

“So, somehow in the UK, someone needs to accept that they’re worse off and stop trying to maintain their real spending power by bidding up prices whether through higher wages or passing energy costs on to customers.

 In few words, he's telling Britons that it sucks being you.

Trudeau Says Canada ‘Very Serious’ About Nuclear Power,
Potentially Crippling Oil Industry

Far-left Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week his government is “very serious” about reviving nuclear power, specifically because it might cripple Canada’s oil and natural gas industry.

“Even though in the short term there is a need for support of more fossil fuels into the global economy, what the world is looking at is not just getting off Russian oil and gas, it’s reducing our dependency on oil and gas overall and decarbonizing our energy mix as much as possible,” Trudeau said at a panel discussion in Ottawa with Canadian college students and visiting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Trudeau said nuclear energy would probably be indispensable for “decarbonization,” a point the climate change movement is normally loathe to concede because environmental activists viscerally hate nuclear power. It was also a provocative point to raise on stage with Steinmeier since Germany shut down its last three nuclear reactors in April.

“As we look at what the baseload energy requirements are gonna be needed by Canada over the coming decades, especially as we continue to draw in global giants like Volkswagen who choose Canada partially because we have a clean energy mix to offer to power, we’re gonna need a lot more energy. We’re gonna have to be doing much more nuclear,” said Trudeau.

What makes no sense is that Trudeau wastes his time speaking to the German president instead of the chancellor Scholz who is the guy in power. No modern German would support another president or Führer ever again.

[kyonides]

A Sad Departure

Based on a report published on the official RM forums, the user known as ct_bolt who loved making JavaScript plugins for MV & MZ might have passed away due to being involved in a sudden accident. How and when this has happened remains unknown and the RM forums did not want to bother ct_bolt's family as to ask them all about the tragic event. Even so, it is highly likely that the user did leave this world for they have found several similarities between the information posted on that board and the one found in places like LinkedIn.

I do recall the time we even competed to provide a working plugin for a forumer's request. I even told him that one of his replies to another help request could have been updated. I guess that specific plugin might have been one of the last plugins he managed to update in his lifetime...

RIP ct_bolt

Joe Biden Caught Using Cheat Sheet with Reporter’s Question Written on It

President Joe Biden brought a cheat sheet with him to a Wednesday press conference that showed he had advance knowledge of a journalist’s question.

The cheat sheet showed a photo of Los Angeles Times reporter Courtney Subramanian, a guide on how to pronounce her name, and her question for the president.

“How are YOU squaring YOUR domestic priorities — like reshoring semiconductors manufacturing — with alliance-based foreign policy?” The question read.

Biden’s use of the cheat sheet came during a joint press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, while the two leaders discussed nuclear threats from North Korea.

Another cheat sheet showed “the names of other Biden administration officials to relay the order remarks would be delivered at the press conference,” the New York Post reported.

“Does this mean that he pre-clears each question?” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) asked.

“I’m so glad the American media establishment is so evenhanded in how it interacts with Republicans and Democrats. So much fairness,” Lee sarcastically added.

Judiciary GOP Subpoenas Trio of Officials
over Alleged Censorship of COVID, Elections Info

House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) subpoenaed Friday the top officials at three government agencies for documents related to allegations that the federal government “coerced and colluded with” companies to censor free speech.

Jordan directed the subpoenas, reviewed by Breitbart News, to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly, and the Global Engagement Center’s (GEC) James Rubin.

The officials work within the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and State, respectively.

Three cover letters attached to the subpoenas all had similar language pointing to the Twitter Files and media reports as evidence that the federal government has “pressured and colluded with Big Tech and other intermediaries to censor certain viewpoints on social and other media in ways that undermine First Amendment principles.”

China: South Korean President ‘Likely’ Caused
‘Nuclear Crisis’ with Biden Summit

The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Communist Party’s media arms ardently condemned conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday for coming to an agreement that would see the return of American nuclear submarines to the Korean peninsula, warning he had “likely” caused a “nuclear crisis.”

Yoon spent this week in Washington, DC, for extensive meetings with his left-wing American counterpart President Joe Biden and several other engagements, including a prestigious state dinner and an address to a special joint session of Congress. Yoon, who has been in office for almost one year, has experienced significant friction with the Biden White House on the issue of North Korea, on which Biden appears to have no coherent policy. The Biden administration’s apathy towards North Korea has not gone unnoticed in South Korea, where calls for a nuclear weapons arsenal separate from America’s have grown.

“The fact that the nuclear-armed North is not a priority for the Biden administration makes the Koreans nervous,” South Korean lawmaker Lee Jae-jung explained on Tuesday.

Polling shows that most South Koreans support their country developing a nuclear weapons program, given that it remains embroiled in a 70-year-old war with its nuclear neighbor to the north, communist North Korea. 

Biden Says He is Rooting for Flyers to Win Stanley Cup…
the Flyers Didn’t Even Make the Playoffs

Joe Biden announced that he is rooting for the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Stanley Cup this year. But there’s one little problem. The Flyers didn’t even make it to the playoffs.

The Flyers were so bad this year they finished second to last in the Metropolitan Division with a dismal 31-38-13 record.

Despite that, when asked if he watched the NHL playoffs and if there is a team he’s rooting for to win, Biden said, “I did,” and then said he’s rooting for the Flyers.

Of course, it is well known that Joe and first lady “Doctor” Jill Biden are both huge Philly fans. Still, one has to wonder just how much of a fan Joe can be if he didn’t even know his “favorite” team had already been eliminated from the playoffs weeks ago.

This is only the latest example of the Bidens and their dubious Philly fandom. Last week, former MLB star Lenny Dykstra joked that the team ends up with the L any time a Biden shows up for a Philly team.

After the 76ers won their recent first-round games against the Nets, Dykstra warned the team not to allow Jill Biden to show up at any future games, or they’ll lose.

Internal Revenue Service Hiring Armed Agents for All 50 States

An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) job posting shows the tax collection agency is hiring armed agents to work in states across the country.

The IRS website is emblazoned with the words, “We’re Hiring Special Agents Now!”

Among the major duties of IRS special agents is to “be willing and able to participate in arrests, execution of search warrants, and other dangerous assignments.”

Another duty is to “carry a firearm.”

The website say a special agent “must be prepared to protect him/herself or others from physical attacks at any time and without warning and use firearms in life-threatening situations; must be willing to use force up to and including the use of deadly force.”

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) notes that the IRS has “360 vacancies” for agents, and those vacancies are spread across all 50 states.

President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress used the Inflation Reduction Act to send $80 billion to the IRS, and ATR points out the IRS is “on pace to hire 87,000 IRS employees over the next decade.”

Three Soldiers Killed in Collision
Between Apache Attack Helicopters in Alaska

Three soldiers were killed and one injured when who U.S. Army Apache Attack Helicopters collided while on exercise in Alaska.

Two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters collided with each other near Healy, Alaska while returning from a training flight on Thursday, killing three and injuring one, a statement by the Eleventh Airborne Division said. The aircraft were from the 1st Attack Battalion of the 25th Regiment working out of Fort Wainwright.

No identification of the dead has yet been made, pending notification of next-of-kin.
...
The Army said an investigation would be launched into the crash.

The 1970s-era AH-64 Apache is, with decades of improvements and redevelopment behind it, the United States’ primary attack helicopter and is also in service with over a dozen NATO and other world allies including the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, Israel, India, and Greece.

California to Require ‘Zero Emissions’
Passenger Trains After 2030, Freight After 2035

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has enacted new regulations that will require “zero emissions” trains to be introduced after 2030, focusing on a sector often seen as a “green” alternative to cars and trucks.

Under the new regulations, zero-emissions models will be required for all switch, industrial and passenger locomotives built after 2030 and for all freight line locomotives built after 2035. Any non-zero emissions locomotive that is 23 years old or more will not be allowed to operate in the state past 2030.

The regulations also require train operators to open a spending account by July 2024 that they must deposit into every year to purchase or lease cleaner diesel trains and buy zero-emissions infrastructure. Operators that generate more pollutants are required to deposit more into the spending account, and the amount required to be deposited would also increase every year.

It is unclear how the new regulations on trains would affect interstate commerce, which is regulated by Congress under the U.S. Constitution, since many trains in California also travel through other states.

This article came to my attention via some furry  Wulfo that quickly show us how their no emissions train project is crap, useless and  overly expensive. It's even behind its schedule but politicians always come back to ask Californians to let them waste even more money  on a failed project. Contractors have tried to do their best, according to their own claims, only to find that the related authority is neglecting its own duties; thus causing lots of delays and sometimes even layoffs. Don't even make me mention the energy crisis the Golden State is going through right now...

[kyonides]

US Begins First Mass Evacuation Effort of Citizens From Sudan

The U.S. State Department confirmed that it’s launching the first mass evacuation of its citizens from Sudan amid fighting between rival factions that started earlier this month.

A U.S. government-backed convoy carrying U.S. citizens arrived at Port Sudan on April 29, the State Department said in a statement over the weekend. Port Sudan, which sits near the Red Sea, is located hundreds of miles away from Khartoum, Sudan’s capital.
...
“We encourage U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan but chose not to participate in this convoy to contact the Department of State using the crisis intake form on our website.”

The evacuation was triggered after “intensive negotiations by the United States with the support of our regional and international partners,” the State Department said, noting that Americans shouldn’t travel to the war-torn country.

Texas Shooting Suspect
Who Gunned Down 5 Neighbors Is Still on the Run

A male gunman is still at large after allegedly shooting and killing five people, including a child, in Texas late last week in an incident that started with a noise complaint, according to officials.

The suspect, 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, was allegedly asked to stop firing a rifle in his yard because a baby was trying to sleep, according to the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect then allegedly opened fire, killing five people, including an 8-year-old, during the early morning hours of April 29 in Cleveland, Texas.

In an update posted on social media that night, the sheriff’s office stated, “An extensive manhunt for Oropeza has not yielded his location.”
...
“While en route, the communications center received multiple 911 calls of an active shooter incident at the dispatch location,” Capers said. “Multiple deputies arrived at the residence and located multiple victims deceased in a residence and several others in critical condition from multiple gunshot wounds.”

He described Oropeza as a Mexican male, and he said the victims were from Honduras. It’s not clear whether the suspect was in the country illegally.

California Approves Rule Banning Diesel Trucks by 2036

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved new regulations and voted to ban the sale of diesel big rig trucks by 2036 and require all trucks to be zero-emissions by 2042, the company announced Friday.

The Advanced Clean Fleets rule is added to a list of California’s zero-emissions regulations in an effort to become more environmentally friendly and decrease the state’s high pollution.

California is the first state to require new commercial trucks, including garbage trucks, delivery trucks, and other medium and heavy-duty vehicles, to be electric.

It'll be a disaster as it happened in New York City this past winter.

2 Killed, 4 Wounded in Mississippi Shooting; Man Arrested

Police have charged a 19-year-old man with killing two teenagers and wounding four others in an early Sunday shooting at a house party on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Cameron Everest Brand of Pass Christian is charged with murder and aggravated assault, jail records show. Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz said in a news release that police identified Brand as the sole shooter through witness and victim statements.

An 18-year-old and a 16-year-old died in a New Orleans hospital, Schwartz said.
...
Brand was arrested at his home in neighboring Pass Christian and taken to jail, Schwartz said. Bay St. Louis Municipal Court Judge Stephen Maggio denied Brand bail, and he was being held in the Hancock County jail. It is unclear if Brand has a lawyer to speak for him.

Students had gathered for a party at the home on a sparsely populated road after Bay High School’s prom. Local news outlets reported that trails of blood could be seen on the pavement Sunday outside the home, while cars were peppered with bullet holes. The home is less than a mile from Bay High.

CCP Infiltrating Solomon Islands, Preparing Pacific Expansion

An ousted Solomon Islands politician is speaking out against China’s communist regime, which he claims has infiltrated his own government and is seeking to do the same elsewhere.
...
“People need to be aware of the way that the CCP is dealing with development in our country,” [former Malaita Province Premier Daniel] Suidani said at an April 28 talk at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

“They do not share our values at all.”

Suidani was ousted as premier after a vote of no confidence by the provincial Legislature in February.

He maintains that multiple members of the Solomon Islands national government who promoted his ouster have been receiving bribes from the CCP, and he has condemned the government’s decision to sign a security pact with the regime last year that will allow China to deploy its military in the Solomon Islands to protect its own people and companies from anything it deems to be a threat.

The national government also moved in 2019 to revoke its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in favor of the CCP, which Suidani also opposed.

China Expands Anti-Espionage Law
Targeting Foreign Companies and Dissidents

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) passed its newly revised anti-espionage law, which will come into effect on July 1 this year.

The revision has expanded the definition of espionage, making it broader and vaguer. Human rights observers believe that it is an escalation in the repression of the Chinese people and will be used to further target foreign individuals and companies in China.

The regime’s rubber-stamp legislature published the revised law on its website on April 26. It was the first modification from its November 2014 release.
...
the scope of subjects of stealing secrets is expanded to “other documents, data, materials, and items related to national security and interests.”

The newly revised anti-espionage law also classifies selling out to espionage organizations and their agents as espionage, as well as “conducting cyberattacks against state organs, secret-related units, or key information infrastructure” as espionage.

The new revision also includes “establishing a management system for key anti-espionage and security units.”
...
Nikkei, a Japanese media company, reported that China’s restriction of the transmission of any information related to national security under the updated anti-espionage law had sparked concerns that the CCP is stepping up its targeting of foreign individuals and companies. The expanded law would lead to arbitrary law enforcement, such as detaining individuals without concrete evidence.

An executive at Japan’s Astellas Pharmaceuticals’ Beijing office was arrested last month over alleged espionage. The incident has shaken the Japanese business community, with some companies already reassessing risks and halting business travel to China.

What some people might ignore about the CCP is that this law will allow the Chinese government to get even more access to proprietary data than ever before just to make sure those companies aren't spying on them.

Biden Courts Mega-Donors at Luxury Washington Hotel

President Joe Biden is taking part in an April 28 Democratic National Committee (DNC) reception at the luxury Salamander D.C. Hotel in Washington.

It’s part of a multi-day meeting with 150 top Democratic donors
..
The Biden 2020 war chest included more than $93 million from Bloomberg LP and more than $63 million from Future Forward USA.

According to OpenSecrets, top 2020 donors to that organization included Facebook billionaire Dustin Moskovitz. More than $45 million also came from Asana, the project management software company Moskovitz founded after leaving Facebook.
...
Future Forward USA also received millions from accused FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. Significant sums came through both direct donations from Bankman-Fried and through his cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research.

China Detains Taiwan-Based Publisher
Who Released Books Critical of CCP

A Taiwan-based book publisher was detained while visiting Shanghai, Chinese officials confirmed Wednesday. Taiwanese officials said the move displays the communist regime’s intimidation against the self-ruled island.

Li Yanhe, known by his pen name, Fu Cha, was born in China but has lived in Taiwan since 2009. He has served as the editor-in-chief of Gusa Publishing, a company that has released books critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Li traveled to Shanghai to visit relatives in March, but his friend later lost contact with him. Concerns about Li’s safety and whereabouts grew after news emerged in the past week that the Chinese police had secretly detained Li.

Chinese officials confirmed Li’s detention on Wednesday. Li is under investigation “on suspicion of engaging in activities endangering national security,” Zhu Fenglian, a Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson, told reporters at a briefing.

[kyonides]

Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch Spoke with Zelensky
Weeks Before Tucker Carlson Was Fired

Fox Corporation Chair and News Corp Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch held a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just weeks before Tucker Carlson was fired, where they discussed the Ukraine War and the anniversary of the deaths of Fox News journalists in Ukraine last March, according to a report Monday.

Semafor reported that the call was similar to one Zelensky had with his son, Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Corporation Lachlan Murdoch on March 15, which Zelensky had disclosed during a national broadcast.

The conversations came just weeks before they fired Carlson, who was the network’s most outspoken critic of the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars that have gone to support Ukraine.

The report said, “Senior Ukrainian officials had made their objections to Carlson’s coverage known to Fox executives, but Zelenskyy did not raise it on the calls with the Murdochs, according to one person familiar with the details of the calls.”

Carlson has previously called Zelensky a “dictator,” according to the report.

The Washington Post reported that the elder Murdoch “was disturbed by Carlson’s stance on Ukraine.” A graphic on Carlson’s show had referred to Zelensky as a “Ukrainian pimp,” the paper said.

Well, if Zelensky doesn't respect his people's right to free speech, he gotta be a dictator, right?

GOP House Permits IRS Agent to Discuss Hunter Biden Probe,
Protecting Whistleblower from Reprisal

The House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) has permitted an IRS agent to inform Congress about alleged political interference by the Justice Department in the Hunter Biden tax probe.

The Ways and Means Committee has authorized two lawyers for the IRS whistleblower to collect information about what their client witnessed at the IRS regarding Hunter’s tax probe.

Specifically, the IRS agent claims two Biden administration political appointees within the DOJ are working to block charges against Hunter for tax violations despite recommendations. In addition, the IRS agent believes Attorney General Merrick Garland refused to name a special counsel in the probe to provide a degree of separation between the probe and President Joe Biden.
...
Hunter has been under investigation by the DOJ for tax fraud, money laundering, and violation of lobbying laws as far back as May 2019.

The IRS agent’s claims appeared to have caused Hunter’s lawyers to meet with the U.S. prosecutor David Weiss and one Justice Department official last week. It is unknown what was discussed in the meeting. Hunter’s lawyers refused to speak with CNN upon leaving the DOJ.
Federal prosecutors, led by Weiss, reportedly considered charging Hunter over a year ago for three tax crimes and one gun crime.

Judge Orders Hunter Biden to Answer Questions
About Financials, Sit for Interview Under Oath

Hunter Biden was ordered to answer questions about his financials and sit for an interview under oath in a child support case against his daughter’s mother, an Arkansas County judge ruled Monday.
...
The judge also ordered Hunter to sit for an interview in mid-June under oath. In addition, a trial is scheduled for July to determine if Hunter’s child support payments will be adjusted, as he requested in 2022.

According to CNN, Hunter is paying $20,000 per month, a calculation based on his income.

The legal dilemma could produce information about how much Hunter Biden earned from his interest in BHR Partners, a Chinese state-backed investment fund founded just days after Hunter and President Joe Biden visited China in 2013. Hunter held a ten percent stake in BHR Partners through an entity called Skaneateles LLC.

Hunter Biden allegedly gave up his interest, estimated to be worth between $420,000 and $20 million, after pressure increased to divest from BHR Partners resulting from a conflict of interest when Joe Biden became president.

Documents obtained Friday by Breitbart News revealed Skaneateles LLC is controlled by Kevin Morris, Hunter’s top attorney, who also paid Hunter’s IRS debts.

It is unclear how Morris gained control of the entity.

Longtime Maryland Democrat Sen. Ben Cardin
Will Not Seek Reelection in 2024

“It’s time,” Cardin told the Baltimore Sun in an interview before his official announcement. “I always knew this election cycle would be the one I would be thinking about not running again, so it’s not something that hit me by surprise.”

“I enjoy life. There are other things I can do,” he added while alluding to the possibility of being a professor or a teacher after he retires from the Senate.

The 79-year-old Democrat senator, who turns 80 in October, will serve the rest of his term which ends January 2o25. He and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) are the state’s longest-serving elected officials after starting their careers in politics in 1967.

San Francisco Whole Foods Made 568 Emergency Calls Before Closing

Over 13 months, the recently shuttered Whole Foods in Democrat-run San Francisco made 568 emergency calls, reports the far-left New York Times.
...
Last month, Breitbart News reported on the closing of this Whole Foods store only a year or so after it opened. We knew then that the Democrat-run city’s ongoing collapse was the cause. San Francisco’s elected Democrats have allowed violent crime, property crime, drug addiction, and vagrancy to destroy the City by the Bay. Also chasing away retailers is the Democrat party’s decision to all but legalize shoplifting. If that’s not bad enough, on top of the massive shoplifting losses, an overall sense of lawlessness attracts the worst kind of people.
...
This Whole Foods, a “giant flagship store,” was, according to the Times, “supposed to cater to tech workers and other professionals, part of a long-term redevelopment plan downtown.” Then the reality of life in a Democrat-run city hit the store, and the location “fell victim to a grinding decline in the city’s center that began with the pandemic and could continue for years as companies vacate offices because of remote work.”

Those San Francisco merchants trying to hold out told the Times they worry “about a domino effect of commercial failures if office workers are permanently absent for about half of the week, while people using drugs, going through mental crises or living on the street remain more visible than ever.”

Sudan Crisis: Chaos as Thousands Flee to Port, Evacuations Suspended

The BBC reported “chaos” at Port Sudan, even hours after midnight on Sunday, as thousands of foreigners and Sudanese frantically tried to get out of the country before vicious warfare between rival junta factions resumed in earnest.
...
About 3,000 Yemeni students have been living at the port for weeks, hoping for a spot on Saudi Arabian ships that have agreed to rescue a modest number of them.

The Saudis are nervous about taking on large numbers of Yemenis because they have been fighting against the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents who overthrew Yemen’s internationally-recognized government in 2014.
...
Sudanese citizens are also having great difficulty escaping from the country, as each of the warring junta factions — the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the brutal RSF militia led by his former coup partner, Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo — is supported by competing foreign powers.
...
Sudanese doctors reported at least 74 casualties over the weekend. One Sudanese doctor told foreign media that RSF fighters are abducting medical personnel and forcing them to care for injured militia fighters.

The United Nations on Monday expected over 800,000 people to flee the country and warned of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster as food, medicine, fuel, and power were cut off from much of the population.
...
After two weeks of intense criticism and desperate pleas from family members, the Biden administration finally arranged an evacuation for American private citizens on Saturday, ferrying about 300 people by bus to Port Sudan under heavy air cover by drones. No U.S. officials were on the ground for the evacuation operation.

‘Old Man with No Future’: Kim Jong-un’s Sister
Mocks Biden’s ‘Senility’ in Nuclear Rant

Kim Yo-jong’s statement, published through the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), was meant as a response to conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to the United States last week. Yoon and Biden, whose policies have often been at odds since the conservative president took office in 2022, published a landmark agreement branded the “Washington Declaration,” which resulted in Biden agreeing to send a nuclear submarine to South Korea in exchange for Yoon abandoning his public stance of potentially developing a South Korean nuclear weapons program.
...
In a KCNA commentary on Saturday, Kim finally responded to the Washington Declaration and Yoon’s warm reception in the United States by predicting that Biden will not be able to finish his first presidential term. The promises in the Declaration, she asserted, “provides us [North Korea] with an environment in which we are compelled to take more decisive action in order to deal with the new security environment.”
...
“Look, a nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies or partisans — partners — is unacceptable and will result in the end of whatever regime, were it to take such an action,” Biden said on Wednesday.

“Another thing that we cannot let pass nor overlook is the fact that the chief executive of the enemy state officially and personally used the word ‘the end of regime’ under the eyes of the world,” Kim Yo-jong noted. “Would we simply regard it as the man’s senility?”

...she continued, concluding that Pyongyang would only develop its nuclear weapons in “proportion” to the alleged threats from Seoul and Washington.

May Day protests: Labor rights demonstrations across Europe

With May 1 marking International Workers' Day, many feeling the effects of rising inflation took to the streets of European countries to make their voices heard.

In Germany

Hundreds of May Day rallies organized by labor unions and leftist groups have taken place across Germany.

German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) said 288,000 people took part in the 398 events.

The head of Germany's industrial union IG Metall, Jörg Hofmann, strongly defended the rights of trade unions to strike.
...
There have been numerous strikes this year by public service workers and transport staff over pay and working conditions.

The nationwide industrial action impacted health care, air, road and rail transport, postal and municipal cleaning services, among other sectors.

In France

Hundreds of thousands of people massed in cities around France to vent their anger against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform.

Protests took a violent turn as the day progressed, with protesters and security forces clashing.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters that at least 108 police were wounded, with 291 detained across the country.

Protesters threw projectiles at police and broke windows of business buildings, including banks and estate agents in Paris, the French AFP news agency reported. Security forces used tear gas and water cannons in return.

In Italy

Italy's right-wing government used May Day to approve measures aimed, it said, to boost employment and pay rates by cutting aid to the poor. The move came amid opposition anger over welfare cuts and loosening rules on short-term employment contracts lasting between 12 and 24 months.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni rolled back anti-poverty subsidies introduced four years ago.

Meloni said "citizens' income" benefits would be replaced by a more limited "inclusion cheque" for qualifying households.
...
In the northern city of Turin, anti-government protesters marched with a puppet of Meloni holding up her arm in a fascist salute.

In Spain

More than 70 marches were organized by the country's unions, which warned of "social conflict" if salaries did not rise in line with inflation.

A government scheme to reduce the work week to four days was praised.

The Illustrious College of Lawyers of Madrid pushed for changes to historic laws requiring them to be on call 365 days of the year.

[kyonides]

ARRESTED: East Texas Deported Migrant
Charged with Five Murders in Custody

The previously deported Mexican national accused in the brutal murder of five Honduran migrants in Cleveland, Texas, is now in custody, according to San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers. A multi-agency task force took the fugitive into custody on Tuesday night near Cut & Shoot, Texas.

Sheriff Capers told Breitbart Texas that a team of U.S. Marshal Deputies, Texas Department of Public Safety CID agents, and Border Patrol’s elite BORTAC agents found Francisco Oropesa near Cut & Shoot early Tuesday evening. The arrest brought to an end, the four-day manhunt for the four-time deported Mexican national.
...
Oropesa reportedly fled on foot after shooting and killing five Honduran neighbors late Friday night. Capers said search dogs tracked the man after finding a cell phone and some clothing but the dogs lost the track when the man entered the water. From that point, a massive manhunt began and the reward for his capture rose to $80,000.

The sheriff said they received leads from Maryland to Wyoming. However, a local tip brought the law enforcement team to Oropesa less than 20 miles from where the shooting took place.

While driving from Cut & Shoot to his jail with the suspect in his vehicle, Sheriff Capers said he wasn’t going to believe it was his suspect until he looked at the man’s tattoo and looked into his eyes.

Capers said he took off the arresting agent’s cuffs and “rolled up his sleeves and placed him in my cuffs.”

The case will now fall into the hands of San Jacinto County District Attorney Todd Dillon.

Hollywood Writers Go on Strike
Late Night Comedy Shows Including Jimmy Kimmel Hit Hardest

Hollywood writers walked off the job late Monday after the major studios failed to reach a new contract with the Writers Guild of America, throwing numerous TV shows and streaming series into jeopardy.

Among the hardest hit will be the late-night comedy shows, including those hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, who rely on teams of writers to think up their nightly monologues in which they frequently rail against conservatives and all things Trump.

The Writers Guild of America authorized the strike Monday night after negotiations with the studios and networks failed to produce an agreement. It will mark the first time Hollywood writers have walked off the job since the 2007-2008 strike, which lasted three months and brought the industry to a virtual standstill.

Hollywood writers, who could start picketing studios as early as Tuesday, are demanding more generous compensation as the streaming revolution continues to takeover the industry. The guild has argued that the shorter seasons favored by streaming services — with most shows having ten or fewer episodes per season — have been detrimental to writers, who must find work on multiple shows to make ends meet.

Streaming has also decreased the residuals writers get paid for their work on TV shows, since reruns and syndication are no longer as prevalent as they once were.

White House Caves: Joe Biden Asks
Kevin McCarthy to Negotiate Debt Limit

President Joe Biden on Monday finally requested that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) negotiate the debt limit during a meeting to be held on May 9 to avoid default, a move that contradicted the White House’s previous official position.

While traveling in Israel, McCarthy received a call from Biden to schedule a meeting to negotiate raising the debt limit after days of stonewalling tactics, Punchbowl News reported.

“We are not negotiating on this,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. “We’ve been very clear on this.”

On Wednesday, McCarthy and House Republicans passed a bill to raise the debt limit. Reports indicated the Biden administration was taken by surprise when McCarthy successfully passed the bill. McCarthy’s unpredicted victory apparently left the Biden administration flat-footed.

 Nope, they're not negotiating anything. They're desperatelly pleading McCarthy to do them a favor.

Biden’s Interior Chief Unaware China Controls Minerals
to Make Batteries for Electric Cars

During a Senate hearing this week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) questioned Haaland about the Biden administration’s strict regulations that seek to boost electric vehicles over gas-powered vehicles.

The issue with the regulations, though, is that the materials needed to make electric vehicle batteries are controlled by China, as Breitbart News has extensively reported. Haaland, when asked by Hawley if she was knowledgeable of China’s controlling the supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, said she was unaware.

HAWLEY: On the subject of these sweeping mandates related to electric vehicles that the Biden administration has imposed, including for our military, the metals needed to make the lithium ion batteries in those vehicles are of course lithium, nickel, graphite, and cobalt. Now, can you tell me what nation is the largest producer of refined lithium in the world?

HAALAND: No I can’t.
...
HAWLEY: It’s China. Do you know what nation is the largest exporter of natural graphite to the United States, globally?

HAALAND: No, Senator.

HAWLEY: It’s China. So in all of these instances, your decision to trade our energy security in favor of a radical climate change agenda is making us more and more dependent on China and at the same time, you are denying blocking mining, blocking permits for mining in this country that would allow us to develop nickel and copper and cobalt. Why? Why block the development of these resources in our nation in favor of making us dependent on China?

Last month, reports circulated that the Biden administration’s tax credits for electric vehicles made in the United States, Mexico, or Canada are “running into a problem” as China’s grip on the critical mineral supply chain grows stronger.

Specifically, China dominates a number of raw materials needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles such as graphite, lithium, and cobalt. By 2025, for instance, China is set to control about a third of all of the world’s lithium.

 What a knowledgeable interior chief she is indeed.

Venezuelan Migrant Describes Cartel Attack
on Border Encampment in Mexico

The migrant confirmed reports that members of the feared Gulf Cartel attacked the encampment last week. The migrant says the cartel members were angered by the Venezuelan migrants helping to ferry others across the Rio Grande using inflatable mattresses as makeshift rafts.
...
Danny says he shot to send to family members in Venezuela, he shows the tents erected in the encampment located on the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Danny describes, in Spanish, the primitive structures made of plastic materials. The materials, he explained were gathered in and around the Mexican border city. Neatly organized eating and cooking utensils and supplies are shown as well as a large grill the migrants used to prepare food.

Danny shows the aftermath of the cartel attack on the camp. He says the attack was carried out as retaliation for some migrants ferrying other migrants across the Rio Grande without compensating the drug and migrant smuggling cartel. Danny denied that people charged migrants money to ferry them across the river, although other reports indicate otherwise.

Danny describes the items taken from camp by the cartel, including the tents and provisions they had accumulated during their stay. Danny told Breitbart the cartel members entered the camp in the middle of the night on April 21 and began burning the tents and pursuing the fleeing migrants. Most of the migrants managed to escape into the darkness.

I won't include any more details just in case this description is too strong for your taste.

South Korean Union Official Dies
After Setting Himself on Fire for May Day

A South Korean labor union official died in a Seoul hospital on Tuesday after setting himself on fire during a May Day protest. The official was evidently in distress over a pretrial hearing over extortion charges.

South Korean labor unions used the communist holiday of “International Workers’ Day” to press demands for higher wages, better benefits, and shorter working hours. The most militant of labor organizations, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), vowed to hold a general strike in July if its demands were not met.
...
Union demonstrators were generally hostile to conservative President Yoon Suk-Yeol, accusing him of union-busting and policies opposed to the labor establishment.
...
The 50-year-old man who burned himself to death, identified by the surname “Yang” in South Korean media reports, was an officer in the Gangwon provincial chapter of the Korean Construction Workers’ Union (KCWU), which is affiliated with the KCTU.

Yang was the subject of a racketeering investigation launched in February. He allegedly participated in forcing construction companies to hire union members and pay exorbitant union expenses. Prosecutors reportedly intended to charge him with extorting almost $60,000 from construction companies over the past year.

Prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant for Yang last Wednesday. He was due to appear at Chuncheon District Court on Monday afternoon along with two other union leaders for “pre-arrest questioning.”