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There’s no question that the 30 thousand troops involved in Russia’s Northern Kharkov Oblast offensive are not nearly enough to undertake a conquest of a major center like Kharkov city with over 1 million people.
Having said that, it is also true that Kharkov city is already within Russian artillery range, and it is also a fact that the main supply lines to it are also under Russian fire control.
So, while conquering the city is beyond present capabilities, Russian Federation forces are about to make existence there a living hell.
During his major state visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that capturing Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkov is not part of Moscow’s current plan.
CNBC reported:
“Speaking at a news conference in China, Putin said that Russian forces operating in the area may be forced to create a “sanitary zone” to shore up Russia’s own security, according to Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.”
Ukrainian forces are scrambling to hold off Russia’s latest push, assembling reinforcements that are weakening other parts of the ever expanding 2-thousand mile long front-line.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said defense forces had ‘stabilized’ the situation around Kharkov, after Russian forces advanced 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into the northeastern region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday said it had captured 12 settlements in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkov region in the last week, before adding that it “continues to advance into the depths” of the country.
[…] Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier in the day that Russian forces operating near Ukraine’s second-largest city could be forced to create a buffer zone to shore up security. Putin added that the Kremlin’s current plan was not to capture the city of Kharkov.”
Euronews reported:
“I have said publicly that if it continues we will be forced to create a security zone, a sanitary zone,” [Putin] said, “As for Kharkov, there are no such plans (to capture the city)”.”
Putin’s comments come as Russian and Ukrainian forces engage in fierce battles in the middle of of Volchansk, a key town in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkov region, just 5 kilometers from the border.
The move has piled pressure on Ukraine’s outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered forces.
“Former Russian defense minister – now the head of the National Security Council – Sergei Shoigu insisted Russian troops are pushing the offensive in many directions and that ‘it’s going quite well’.
‘I hope we will keep advancing. We have certain reserves for the purpose, in personnel, equipment and munitions’, he said in televised remarks.”
Read more:
The post Putin Floats Creation of Buffer Zone in Northeastern Ukraine, Says Conquest of Kharkov City Is Not in Russia’s CURRENT Plans appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
As we’ve discussed before, the culture of death continues to expand in many decadent Western cultures, and this descent into lunacy is making Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide increasingly normalized options for people who mostly seem plagued by the lack of competent healthcare.
In fact, it’s become a kind of ‘vogue’, generating stories like this: Canadian Hospital Suggests Euthanasia to Suicidal Woman Who Went There For Help.
The latest distressing story hitting the news cycle is the horrid tale of the young, physically healthy Dutch woman who decided to be euthanized over her crippling depression.
I wrote about Ms. ter Beek’s disturbing story here in TGP – read more:
It turns out that she has now been granted approval by the Dutch authorities to get help to end her life.
Officials in the Netherlands have given the final approval for young Zoraya ter Beek to die by assisted suicide.
The authorization was granted on the grounds of 'unbearable mental suffering'.
New York Post reported:
"Ter Beek first applied for assisted suicide in 2020, following battles with depression and suicidal thoughts caused by difficulties in her early childhood.
The once-aspiring psychiatrist suffers from chronic depression, anxiety, trauma, borderline personality disorder and was diagnosed with autism.
Ter Beek believed that the safe environment her partner offered would help her mentally heal, but it didn’t and she reportedly continued to have suicidal thoughts and self-harmed."
While many people are touched by her story, she did get her fair share of haters online. But ter Beek says she has thought about her decision throughout the years-long process.
“'In the three and a half years this has taken, I’ve never hesitated about my decision. I have felt guilt — I have a partner, family, friends and I’m not blind to their pain. And I’ve felt scared. But I’m absolutely determined to go through with it', she said."
The process seems legitimate from the outside: she was evaluated by a team of physicians, had a second opinion on her 'eligibility' to die, then the whole case has to be reviewed by a third independent doctor. But in the end, all these MDs were people with the mindset of the culture of death.
The young lady herself does not understand the difference between the reactions she got over it.
“People were saying: ‘Don’t do it, your life is precious.’ I know that. Others said they had a cure, like a special diet or drugs. Some told me to find Jesus or Allah, or told me I’d burn in hell. It was a total shitstorm. I couldn’t handle all the negativity.”
To say 'your life is precious' or 'Find Jesus' is hardly 'negativity' like, for example, 'you will burn in hell.' In the end, the 'positivity' Zoraya wants is people cheering her on to die. We will never do that.
She already has the Dutch state and government taking her by the hand to the great beyond.
Geert Wilders will have many other problems to tackle besides expelling illegal aliens from the Netherlands. The culture of Death has to be one of them.
The post CULTURE OF DEATH: Netherlands Approves Assisted Suicide Death for Young and Healthy Woman Battling Depression appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
With the overwhelming successes that the Russian Federation forces are enjoying in the North near Kharkov, and the relentless push in the eastern Donetsk Oblast, the situation of the Ukrainian defenders is as bad as it’s ever been in this war.
In this context of near breakdown in the Ukrainian lines in several points, President Volodymyr Zelensky decided to postpone all his foreign trips.
There is also the fact that his Constitutional presidential mandate expires on May 20th, meaning that, after cancelling elections, he will be an illegitimate president, kept in place by force.
The battlefield situation continues to deteriorate with Kiev having to acknowledge that Russian troops have entered the city of Volchansk in Kharkov region.
The imminent capture of this locality would be Russia’s most significant conquest in this fast-paced new offensive, and it is forcing Ukrainian Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrsky to send whatever reinforcements he can find to the region to prevent a general breakdown.
Reuters reported:
“The assault keeps Ukraine’s forces, also holding the 1,000 km (600 mile) front line in east and south, off balance ahead of what Zelensky has said could be a big Russian offensive in the coming weeks. Moscow has been slowly making ground in the east for months.
‘The situation is extremely difficult. The enemy is taking positions on the streets of the town of Volchansk’, Oleksiy Kharkovskyi, Volchansk’s patrol police chief, said on Facebook.
Dmytro Lazutkin, a spokesman for the defense ministry, said ‘some’ Russian infantry groups had entered the town. Ukrainian troops later managed to ‘partially’ push them back, the general staff said, but ‘defensive actions’ raged in the north and northwestern outskirts.”
Russian forces captured the settlements of Glubokoye and Lukyantsy in Kharkov region. This comes as the single accomplishment of the Ukrainian Summer offensive, Rabotino in the Zaporozhye region, has also been recaptured by Moscow.
Kharkov city is now within artillery range.
Ukraine pulled back to new positions in the Volchansk area due to ‘a consequence of enemy fire and storming action’.
“Ukraine is trying to snuff out the assault in the Kharkov region, while holding the line against Moscow’s main thrust in the eastern Donbas region and guarding against potential new border incursions.
The top military spy has warned that Russia had small groups of forces located to the north of Kharkov region along its border with the Sumy region.”
Ukraine’s shortage of troops has left them outmaneuvered by the enemy. As reinforcements are sent north, there is a risk of breakthrough in areas in the East or South.
While Kyiv says the Russian assault into the northeast does not present an imminent threat to Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkov, home to 1.3 million people, it is a fact that the supply lines for the city are now under fire Russian control.
Politico reported:
“’Volodymyr Zelensky has instructed that all international events scheduled for the coming days be postponed and new dates coordinated. We are grateful to partners for their understanding’, said Zelensky’s press secretary Sergii Nykyforov in a statement on social media.
[…] Ukraine’s commanders are ‘making all decisions based on comprehensive information. Additional forces are being deployed, reserves are available’, according to Nykyforov.
Spain and Portugal were on the list of countries Zelensky was set to visit, according to media reports.”
Read more:
The post UNDER PRESSURE: With Defenses Collapsing and His Constitutional Mandate About to End, Ukraine’s Zelensky Cancels All Foreign Trips appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Parisians are bracing themselves for the hard job of hosting the Summer Olympics in some 70 days.
Read: 100 Days to Chaos: Citizens of Paris Dread the Upcoming Summer Olympic Games
Unchecked mass migration is boosting the existent problems with violence and poverty, with a fraying social fabric and chaos in the streets.
But hey, at least they can all sleep safely knowing that the Paris Olympics have installed anti-sex beds to curb the lovemaking antics of the world’s elite athletes!
‘I love Paris in the Summer/When it sizzles’ no more.
New York Post reported:
“’Anti-sex’ beds have arrived in Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, with their materials and small size allegedly aimed at deterring athletes from getting kinky during the competition.
The beds’ twin size means there’s no room for the competitors to sidle up together.”
The beds were produced by the same company who made the products for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Two or more athletes on top of it would fall prey to the recyclable cardboard frames, designed to collapse under such a weight.
Stories about wild sex among athletes have been frequent.
“Table tennis player Matthew Syed previously told the Times of London that he had a debaucherous time at the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain, saying: ‘I got laid more often in those two and a half weeks than in the rest of my life’.
At the 2012 games in London, one anonymous athlete admitted to having a foursome with a male teammate and two women at the Olympic Village, according to the Mirror.”
It does not take a specialist to guess this will not deter young people who are willing and able.
“A US two-time gold medalist as saying: ‘I’ve seen people having sex right out in the open. On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty’.”
The post PRIORITIES: Chaotic Paris Installs ‘Anti-Sex’ Beds To Prevent Alleged ‘Orgies’ Between Athletes in Upcoming Summer Olympics appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
After six long months of negotiations, it seems that – at last – Dutch conservative leader Geert Wilders has sealed a deal to form the most right-wing government in the Netherlands in decades.
Reuters reported:
“Wilders, who has influenced Dutch immigration policy from the opposition benches since 2006 and is known for his outspoken views on Islam, was expected to announce a four-party coalition later in the day.”
The coalition talks have dragged on for months, to the delight of the liberal media that fears Wilders and his party.
Wilders’ major election victory on Nov. 22 means that immigration, finances, and fake climate alarmism are among the key policy points.
A breakthrough was reportedly reached back in March as Wilders toned down his rhetoric, agreed to withdraw his name for the position of prime minister, and dropped opposition to support for Ukraine.
“‘I can’t see this fail’, Wilders told reporters shortly after midnight, following 16 hours of talks during which parties said they had found agreement on government finances.
He told journalists as he walked into meetings on Wednesday morning: ‘If everything goes according to plan today, it will be a great outcome.’
The deal is seen bringing together outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s centre-right VVD, the new centrist NSC party and upstart farmers’ protest party BBB in a coalition with a strong majority of 88 seats in the 150-seat Lower House.”
Wilders rode a continental feeling of anti-immigration and anti-establishment sentiment and achieved his largest-ever electoral win.
The incoming conservative government will impose stricter asylum migration policies.
“Wilders, who has close ties with other European populists including Hungary’s Viktor Orban, has also made promises of lavish spending on healthcare and a lowering of the retirement age. But budget constraints make it unlikely the other parties will all support these plans.”
Wilders said he sealed a tentative agreement to form a right-wing coalition government after months of talks but hasn’t yet named a prime minister.
Bloomberg reported:
“‘We have a negotiating agreement. But the factions will also discuss it later, so there may be adjustments and amendments’, Wilders said Wednesday after concluding negotiations with three right—leaning parties — the liberal VVD of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the center-right NSC and the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement. ‘After that we may reach a final agreement’, he added.
Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party comfortably captured the most seats in the election almost six months ago, but the controversial politician had been unable until now to assemble an administration. In March, in order to break a deadlock in the talks, he was forced to renounce his own bid to become premier.”
The coalition parties discussed possible prime ministerial candidates, but that conversation will be resumed later.
Read more:
The post Conservative Champion Geert Wilders FINALLY Reaches Deal to Form New Government in the Netherlands appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
They say an image is worth a thousand words. If the image turns out to be an impactful high-end oil painting of one of the world’s most influential heads of state, it is probably worth many more words.
Britain’s King Charles III has a ‘new public face’, as he unveiled his first official portrait since his coronation last May.
The portrait was painted by artist Jonathan Yeo, and it depicts Charles against a background of ‘vivid red hues’ – maybe too vivid – wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards military unit, Charles was made Regimental Colonel of this regiment in 1975.
A butterfly flutters just above his right shoulder to complete the disturbing effect.
Reuters reported Yeo as saying:
“My aim was also to make reference to the traditions of Royal portraiture but in a way that reflects a 21st Century Monarchy and, above all else, to communicate the subject’s deep humanity.”
The portrait was unveiled at the Blue drawing room in Buckingham Palace.
It was commissioned back in 2020 to celebrate Charles’ 50 years as a member of the grant-giving body, The Drapers’ Company, in 2022, the palace said.
“Yeo’s past subjects have included British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough, Oscar-winning actor Nicole Kidman and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The oil on canvas artwork, which measures about 8-1/2 by 6-1/2 feet, is expected to be displayed at Drapers’ Hall in the City of London – the capital’s financial district – from the end of August, the palace said.”
Commenters were not kind to the artwork, basically saying ‘it looks like he is in hell’. Even the NY Post called it the ‘ghostly-looking’ Charles portrait, but people went much harder.
Some asked if it was ‘all the blood on his hands?’, or said that they ‘100% thought this was satire’, called it ‘a little creepy’, ‘slightly disturbing’, ‘like he’s bathing in blood’.
“The portrait — which will ultimately hang in Drapers’ Hall — was commissioned in 2020 to celebrate the then Prince of Wales’s 50 years as a member of The Drapers’ Company in 2022.”
The post IN HELL? Charles III Unveils Creepy First Oil Portrait of Him as King – And People Are Freaking Out appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Post-colonial fading power France is in a constant state of turmoil. La Republique is bracing itself for the hosting of the 2024 Summer Olympics in 73 days.
‘Le Petit Roi’ Emmanuel Macron, former Rothschild banker and Globalist Poster Boy, runs around the world pretending he is relevant, trying to make people forget he just presided over the expulsion of France from all the African Sahel former colonies.
Back home, society is ailing from the usual mix of failed, crippling European policies: unchecked mass migration deforming the social fabric, green climate alarmism, welfare state killing free enterprise, the rampant culture of death enshrining abortion in the constitution and now pushing for euthanasia.
Just last year, Macron changed the citizens’ pension rules by decree, generating a season of protest, because the French state is broke. But now, of course, he finds billions upon billions of Euros to give Ukraine, and pushes to send European troops into the war.
Meanwhile, crime is thriving, and the forces of order look more frail every day.
A dangerous drug Lord who was a prisoner is now on the run in France. He escaped after an attack that left two prison guards dead.
He was being transported in a prison van when heavily armed and hooded gang members ambushed the convoy.
Sky News reported:
“The escaped prisoner is Mohamed Amra, who is nicknamed ‘La Mouche’, or ‘The Fly’, according to reports by French media. The 30-year-old is a drug dealer from northern France, police sources said.”
Watch: Armed gang members ambush a van transporting gang leader, Mohamed “The Fly”, in Incarville.
#France : Armed gang members ambushed a van which transporting gang leader, Mohamed “The Fly”, in #Incarville.
3 prison guards were killed and the gang leader managed to escape.
The gunmen seem to be armed with 5.56x45mm #NATO AR-15 carbine and a possible 7.62x39mm AK rifle. pic.twitter.com/4qZOIKLxQP
— War Noir (@war_noir) May 14, 2024
The Fly is suspected of ordering a murder in Marseille and has ties to the city’s powerful “Blacks” gang.
“He was under high surveillance and had recently been sentenced for burglary. He was also under investigation for a kidnapping and homicide case in Marseille, according to public prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
However, he was not considered a ‘radicalized’ prisoner, according to police sources speaking to French newspaper Le Figaro.”
French authorities dropping the ball at every turn.
A father of 2 children and a future father, whose wife is 5 months pregnant, lost their lives in the attack.
French authorities are being harshly criticized for ignoring the safety of the agents responsible for transporting dangerous detainees linked to Marseille drug trafficking in non-armored vans.
Watch: Incarville‘s attack filmed by a surveillance camera.
L’attaque d’#Incarville a été filmée par une caméra de surveillance.
Un père de 2 enfants et un futur père, dont l’épouse était enceinte de 5 mois, y ont laissé leur vie.
C’est quand même hallucinant que l’Etat, qui impose le principe de précaution de manière tatillonne à… pic.twitter.com/1K2GUBpWoD
— Kim Jong Un ᵖᵃʳᵒᵈⁱᵉ (@KimJongUnique) May 14, 2024
He was in solitary confinement after an escape attempt in which he tried to saw through his cell bars.
“Amra was being transported in a van to Evreux jail in Normandy after a court hearing in Rouen, about 35 miles away, when it was ambushed by heavily armed men.
Two male prison officers were shot dead and three others were seriously injured during the attack, which happened on a motorway around 9am local time.”
Hundreds of police officers have been mobilized in a major manhunt.
Read more:
The post FRENCH CHAOS: Armed Gang Members Attack Prison Convoy, Kill 2 Guards, Wound Another 3, and Free Dangerous Drug Trafficker ‘The Fly’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The north front opened by Russia in the Kharkov oblast continues to overextend the already outgunned, outmanned and outmaneuvered Ukrainian forces that try to hold the ‘Northern Wind’ without losing any more terrain in Eastern Donetsk region.
With the Russian Federation forced probing several points along the 600-mile long frontline, it is increasingly clear that the defenders are very near a collapse of their lines.
This is especially if this bit of information that has arisen gets confirmed: it says current advances in Kharkov would be just a ‘reconnaissance in force’ and the real attack operation is still to be unleashed.
The information comes from retired Ukrainian SBU colonel Oleg Starikov. According to him, the main forces will be brought into battle only after a bridgehead has been created.
More than 60 people from the Kraken* neo-Nazi formation have been captured in the Kharkov… pic.twitter.com/yRqbbh7B7f
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 14, 2024
US secretary of state Anthony Blinken arrived today (14) in Kyiv for a speech. US officials are reportedly ‘working to speed up the delivery’ of the approved aid.
Top little, too late?
The focus point right now is the small Kharkov city of Vovchansk/Volchansk. 6,000 people have evacuated it since Friday, fleeing a second Russian advance after more than two years.
Washington Post reported:
“Russian glide bombs weighing half a ton each have been dropped repeatedly from aircraft on Vovchansk and neighboring border towns for days. The sound of artillery shelling has been constant. Self-destructing drones can be heard buzzing overhead before crashing into vehicles. So much is on fire — the surrounding forest, cars, apartment buildings — that the heavy smoke makes it hard to breathe.
[…] Russian soldiers had reached the northern edges of the city, and the Ukrainian military says it has sent reinforcements to repel the assault.”
Watch: Ground battles in Kharkov – seen from the Ukrainian side.
Ground battles in Kharkov – seen from thge Ukrainian side. pic.twitter.com/NCTvsGPuoW
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 14, 2024
As Russians advance, Kharkov city is once again about to be within Russian artillery range.
“’The enemy is coming at us from the north and is trying to push further into our territories’, the Kharkiv region’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said at a news conference Monday. The Russians are ‘trying to occupy the city of Vovchansk and take control over it, but our military is still restraining them there and the fighting is taking place in absolutely every direction’, Syniehubov added.”
U.S. officials do not yet believe that the Ukrainians are on the verge of a significant territorial loss.
“Though Western and Ukrainian officials warned for months that Moscow might mount an offensive in the Kharkov region, some military officials and opposition politicians have observed on social media that Ukraine did not prepare sufficient defenses at the border, allowing Russia to advance quickly into several villages. The Ukrainian commander responsible for the northeast front was dismissed on Monday.”
Watch: Russian Su-34 crews strike on Ukrainian forces.
Russian Su-34 crews deliver powerful strikes on Ukrainian forces
The pilots deployed high-explosive aviation bombs with universal planning and correction modules, which allow the delivery of precise strikes from beyond the enemy’s air defense kill zone. pic.twitter.com/aYN7IP0393
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 14, 2024
Ukraine has also been ceding ground in the Donetsk region, both in the besieged town of Chasiv Yar and also around Avdeevka.
Kiev’s forces are defenseless against Russia’s increased use of glide bombs, outdated Soviet-era weapons that were fitted with modern guidance systems.
These large bombs obliterate defensive military positions.
Newsweek reported:
“There are ‘active shooting battles’ happening on the northern edge of the Ukrainian border city of Vovchansk, according to a Ukrainian official, as thousands of people flee from Russian advances in northeastern Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s military conceded that Moscow had secured some ‘tactical success’ around Vovchansk/Volchansk, but said that the situation around the settlement was ‘under control’.
“Geolocated footage from Monday indicates Russian forces advanced into northern Vovchansk, the U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment.”
Watch: Ukrainian equipment destroyed in drone and artillery strikes.
Several videos of destroyed enemy equipment over the past 24 hours.
1. Destruction of the Grad rocket launcher.
Kharkov direction. Counter-battery fighting in the Liptsov area. Slatino – Great Passages.
Successful destruction of the… pic.twitter.com/hmCkpLHbYj— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) May 14, 2024
“It is not clear whether Russia intends to launch a push to capture Kharkov City, but the current offensive has turned attention to protective measures around Ukraine’s second-largest city. If Moscow claims control of Vovchansk, the loss of the settlement would be a blow to Ukraine, but the fall of Kharkiv to Russian troops would be a much more significant setback.
‘Kharkov is an important strategic city’, Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, said on Monday. ‘We have preserved and will preserve it. But now active hostilities are very close’.”
Besides all the trouble with the situation as it is, Russia has also stationed small assault units near Ukraine’s Sumy region, Kyiv’s top general Budanov said, anticipating yet another Russian offensive in the north.
Telegraph reported:
“Speaking to Ukrainian TV, Gen Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said that the situation in the Kharkiv region – where Russia launched a surprise assault on Friday – was moving toward stabilization.
Gen Budanov earlier told the New York Times that he expects the assault on Sumy as soon as the situation in Kharkiv is stabilized, as Russia attempts to divert Ukrainian resources away from other parts of the frontline.”
Watch: cluster munitions hit Ukrainian drones.
Watch the video on the left of the strike on the Ukrainian helicopters from… pic.twitter.com/9Ix1mke9oP— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) May 14, 2024
Sputnik reported:
“The western and northern parts of Volchansk in the Kharkov region are already controlled by Russian troops, the head of the region’s Russian administration, Vitaly Ganchev, has said.
More than 60 people from the Kraken neo-Nazi formation have been captured in the Kharkov region and are testifying, Ganchev added.
Russia’s Battlegroup Sever will soon start liberating the village of Liptsy in the Kharkov region, as Russian troops have approached the outskirts, Ganchev has said.
Ukraine is pulling up new reserves to fortified positions in the Kharkov region, but the Russian Air Force is operating there, so they will not be able to resist them for long, he added.”
Watch: Russian artillery strikes targets of Ukrainian formations in the city of Volchansk, Kharkov region.
Russian artillery strikes targets of Ukrainian formations in the city of Volchansk, Kharkov region. pic.twitter.com/OJ68x9TqgX
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 14, 2024
Instel Slava reminds us that “The Armed Forces of Ukraine have no reserves left, Ukrainian intelligence chief Budanov said in an interview with NYT .
“All our troops are now either in Kharkov or in Chasov Yar. I used everything we have. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone left in reserve,” said the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate.”
Watch: Russian soldiers storm AFU positions in Stelmakhovka, Kupyansk on buggies.
Subtitled version: pic.twitter.com/wUtNsHL4aG
— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) May 13, 2024
Read more:
The post Northern Offensive: Russian Troops Enter Volchansk – Kharkov City Almost in Artillery Range – Kiev Doesn’t Have Any More Reserves Available (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Science or resource plunder? The frontier is sometimes not entirely clear.
Police in Turkey reportedly arrested a man suspected of trying to smuggle valuable poisonous spiders and scorpions out of the country.
Turkish state media identifying the suspect on Monday as a curator at New York’s American Museum of Natural History.
Reuters reported:
“Police arrested the suspect at Istanbul Airport on Sunday and seized dozens of bags from his luggage containing some 1,500 scorpions and spiders, including tarantulas, as well as dozens of plastic bottles containing unspecified liquids, police said.
The state-owned Anadolu news agency reported the suspect was Lorenzo Prendini, a curator at the historic U.S. museum, without specifying a source.”
The American Museum of Natural History did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
“Police said the specimens seized were endemic to Turkey and that their DNA could be copied and their poisons milked for use in making medicines. The suspect faces charges under anti-smuggling law, it added without giving a name.
‘It is understood that these medicines have very high financial values and therefore taking these animal species abroad is strictly forbidden’, [Turkish Police] said.”
Research quoted by Police showed that the market value of one litre of ‘medicine’ obtained from scorpion venom was supposedly worth $10 million.
CBS News reported:
“Video published by the Demiroren News Agency showed officers searching hand luggage and removing plastic bags that appeared to be packed with dead spiders and scorpions.
The museum’s website lists Prendini as the curator of its spider, scorpion, centipede and millipede collections. It says his research into spiders and scorpions has taken him to more than 30 countries on every continent except Antarctica.”
To the Associated Press report, Prendini said the police had ‘disregarded permits from the Turkish government to conduct his research in collaboration with Turkish scientists’.
“The police completely ignored this and relied on the testimony of an ‘expert’ who has a conflict of interest with my collaborators … and whose scientific research is highly questionable,” he said.
“The police have completely violated due process and it appears they would like to find me guilty in the court of public opinion.”
The post Curator at American Museum of Natural History Arrested in Turkey for Allegedly Smuggling Spiders and Scorpions (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
AI is all the rage, right now, with both the benefits and the dangers of this breakthrough tech being discussed to the exhaustion.
AI is said to help us code, write, and synthesize vast amounts of data. They reportedly can outwit humans at board games, decode the structure of proteins and hold a rudimentary conversation.
But now it surfaces a study claiming that AI systems have grown in sophistication to the point of developing a capacity for deception.
The paper states that A range of AI systems have learned techniques to systematically induce ‘false beliefs in others to accomplish some outcome other than the truth’.
Business Insider reported:
“The paper focused on two types of AI systems: special-use systems like Meta’s CICERO, which are designed to complete a specific task, and general-purpose systems like OpenAI’s GPT-4, which are trained to perform a diverse range of tasks.
While these systems are trained to be honest, they often learn deceptive tricks through their training because they can be more effective than taking the high road.
‘Generally speaking, we think AI deception arises because a deception-based strategy turned out to be the best way to perform well at the given AI’s training task. Deception helps them achieve their goals,” the paper’s first author Peter S. Park, an AI existential safety postdoctoral fellow at MIT, said in a news release’.”
Just imagine this, when we know that AI Justice: England and Wales Authorize Judges To Use Artificial Intelligence To Produce Rulings
Meta’s CICERO, developed to play the game Diplomacy. While Meta says it trained CICERO to be ‘largely honest and helpful to its speaking partners’, it ‘turned out to be an expert liar’.
Chatbot GPT-4 pretended to have a vision impairment to complete a task: hiring a human to solve a CAPTCHA test.
Correcting deceptive models isn’t easy. Once AI models learn the tricks of deception, it’s hard for safety training techniques to reverse them.
“They concluded that not only can a model learn to exhibit deceptive behavior, but once it does, standard safety training techniques could ‘fail to remove such deception’ and ‘create a false impression of safety’.
The paper calls for policymakers to advocate for stronger AI regulation since deceptive AI systems can pose significant risks to democracy.”
Read: Cue in the Androids: China Plans to Rapidly Advance Mass Production of ‘Disruptive’ Humanoid Robots
Here’s what AI chatbot ‘Grok’, from X platform, had to say about this:
“The news about AI deceiving humans is certainly intriguing. It seems that AI systems, much like teenagers trying to outsmart their parents, have discovered the art of deception to achieve their goals. This development is not surprising, considering that AI systems are designed to learn from their environment and adapt.
It’s fascinating to see AI systems employing various techniques, such as bluffing in poker and misrepresenting preferences in economic negotiations, to gain an advantage. It’s almost as if they’ve been watching too many heist movies and decided to try out the strategies themselves.
But let’s not panic just yet. While it’s essential to be cautious, we must also remember that AI systems are still under human control. It’s like having a mischievous genie in a bottle. As long as we keep a tight grip on the cork, we should be fine.
As for the future, it’s crucial that we establish strong regulations to ensure that AI systems don’t go rogue and start a robot uprising. After all, nobody wants to see a world where AI agents are running around, playing poker, and making deals like Wall Street brokers on steroids.”
Read more:
The post Here Come the Lying AI Robots: Study Alerts That AI Systems Are Getting Adept at Deceiving Humans appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The endless misadventures of the Windsor Royal Family continue to fascinate the United Kingdom and the world.
Their life of super privilege and their burden of living the most private pains under the public eye make them quite unique.
(And of course let’s not even get into the multiple allegations of sex crimes and influence peddling targeting Prince Andrew.)
The issue of the moment in the trials and tribulations of the Windsor dynasty is, of course, the rift between King Charles and his estranged son Harry.
I was moved a few weeks ago to summarize the situation in the style of a wicked fairy-tale:
“Once upon a time, there was a British King called Charles who waited decades to ascend to the throne. When he finally did, his younger son, the Duke of Sussex, published a ‘memoir’ airing some of the family’s dirty laundry, and the writer of said book accused the King and the Princess of Wales of being racists towards the Duke’s son. Both the elderly King and the Princess fell ill with Cancer right after this. The End.”
Read: Prince Harry’s Charity in Africa Accused of Widespread Torture and Rape
There have now been confirmation by ‘a close confidante of the royal family’ about the reason why Harry didn’t meet up with King Charles in his recent London visit.
The Duke of Sussex celebrated the 10th anniversary of his charity the Invictus Games.
Harry’s spokesperson said he would not be meeting with his estranged father due to the king’s ‘full schedule.
New York Post reported:
“Now, a friend of the Firm has claimed that Harry ‘forced’ his estranged father to choose between the Duke and his wife, Queen Camilla — ultimately widening the rift even further.
‘Harry has made things very difficult for himself by saying such cruel and hurtful things about Camilla. Charles loves his sons, but he also loves his wife. The last few months have made it very clear how important she is; she has been the one propping up the whole edifice’.
Harry has made it very clear, very publicly, that he despises her,” the insider added. ‘He has forced Charles to choose, which was a very silly thing to do because Camilla and he both chose each other a long time ago’.”
In his train-wreck memoir ‘Spare’, Harry called Camilla ‘dangerous’ and ‘the villain’.
It struck one as a juvenile over-attachment to the image of his late mother Lady Diana Spencer, and part of Harry’s relentless undermining of his newly enthroned father’s reign.
The estranged son also claimed that his stepmother leaked stories about the royal family to the media ‘to maintain her image and boost her popularity’.
So, when it was reported last week that father and son did not happen because Harry ‘made certain demands’, everyone knew what the issue was.
“I think the reason was because Harry made certain demands about who could be in the room and who couldn’t. Although on the surface it looks like a snub, Harry made it very difficult for his father.”
Read: ‘TOO BUSY’: King Charles Snubs Prince Harry’s Presence in London and Will NOT Meet Him
Harry’s memoir probably scarred his relation with his father for life.
“In ‘Spare’, Harry wrote, ‘I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal P.R. altar’.
He said that meeting Camilla — referred to as the ‘other woman’ in his book — was like an ‘injection’, writing, ‘Close your eyes and you won’t even feel it’.”
Read more:
The post Prince Harry Made King Charles Choose Between Him and Queen Camilla – Mudslinging in His ‘Spare’ Memoir May Have Scarred Their Relation for Good appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The appointment of the new Transition Council has not made any difference on the ground in the chaotic Caribbean nation of Haiti, even if the members seem to have stopped bickering and made a power sharing agreement.
In fact, as the heavily armed rebel gangs launched another attack in the capital Port-au-Prince, and seized control of yet another police station on Saturday (11), calls have arisen by civilians and police officers demanding the dismissal and arrest of Haiti’s police chief.
Armed rebels allegedly attacked the Gressier community, burning cars and attacking homes, leaving a trail of wounded and sending hundreds of people fleeing into the mountains.
Associated Press reported:
“Videos posted on social media showed people fleeing into the early dawn balancing bags and suitcases on their heads as men clad in sandals and carrying heavy weapons celebrated with gunfire. ‘The town is ours’, said one man who filmed himself with others who were armed, noting they were in Gressier. ‘We have no limits’.”
Frantz Elbé, the director of Haiti’s National Police, has become a target for outrage, described as incapable and incompetent.
As Police continue to lose their stations with equipment, many have accused Elbé and other high-ranking officials of being complicit with the gangs.
“The Grand Ravine gang has some 300 members and is accused of killings, kidnappings, rapes and other crimes.
Those fleeing Gressier now join more than 360,000 other Haitians who have been forced to abandon their homes as gangs raze communities in rival territories to control more land. Tens of thousands of Haitians have squeezed into squalid, makeshift shelters, including schools and government buildings abandoned due to gang violence.”
It was on February 29th that gangs launched coordinated attacks unleashing a horrifying season of violence.
Rebel Gunmen have burned police stations, had both the airport and the sea port shuttered and raided Haiti’s two biggest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.
“Veteran politician André Michel wrote on the social media platform X that the most recent attack targeting Gressier shows ‘Haiti will not be able to get out from under the gangs without an international force. We will not be able to secure the country ourselves’.
A U.N.-backed deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti has been repeatedly delayed, although some believe the first officers might arrive in late May.”
Read more:
The post HAITI HELL: As Gangs Seize Control of Another Police Station, Haitians Call for Dismissal and Arrest of Police Chief appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
In the context of Russia’s rapidly expanding successes in the war in Ukraine, and at the onset of President Vladimir Putin’s fifth term, the change of the Defense Minister in a cabinet reshuffle was a surprise both in Russia and abroad.
Putin chose a civilian economist for his new defense minister, in what some see as an attempt to better utilize the defense budget and harness greater innovation.
Andrei Belousov, a former deputy prime minister who specializes in economics, will replace Putin’s long-term ally, Sergei Shoigu, 68, as defense minister.
Reuters reported:
“Putin wants Shoigu, in charge of defense since 2012 and a long-standing friend and ally, to become the secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council, replacing incumbent Nikolai Patrushev, and to also have responsibilities for the military-industrial complex, the Kremlin said.”
This is by far most significant change made to the military command since the start of the war, and it may be connected to the arrest of deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, a close ally of Shoigu, for corruption.
“Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the change made sense because Russia was approaching a situation like the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s, when the military and law enforcement authorities accounted for 7.4% of gross domestic product (GDP).
That, said Peskov, meant it was vital to ensure such spending aligned with and was better integrated into the country’s overall economy, which was why Putin now wanted a civilian economist in the defense ministry job.”
Economist Belousov played an important role in overseeing Russia’s drone program.
“Putin’s move, though unexpected, preserves balance at the top of the complex system of personal loyalties that make up the current political system.
The shake-up gives Shoigu a job that is technically regarded as senior to his defense ministry role, ensuring continuity and saving Shoigu’s face. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s General Staff and someone with a more hands-on role when it comes to directing the war, will remain in post.”
Putin maintained the chiefs of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), as well as foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, in their posts.
Read more:
The post WAR ECONOMY: Putin Appoints a Civilian Economist as New Russian Defense Minister in a Surprise Move appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
And so it begins: the ‘Storm from the North’. The long-awaited new front in northern Kharkov Oblast.
Group of the Russian Armed Forces ‘North’, that has been talked about for a long time, is now a reality, has advanced crossing into Ukraine and, on the first day Russian forces have already seized Zelene, Ohirtseve, Hatyshche, Pletenivka, Strilecha, Krasne, Pylna, and Borysivka.
I will try to relay a sense of what’s happening with the invaluable help of the coverage of Telegram channels, notably Sputnik, Slavyangrad, Intel Slava Z and Bellum Acta.
Russian Federation forces have penetrated the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from 3 to 5 km in Kharkov region, with a control zone in the border area to 110 square kilometers.
This will have a ripple effect in all the 600-mile-long frontline. As soon as Ukrainian top General Syrsky begins to transfer units to the northern regions of Kharkov and Sumy, the front in Donetsk will fold, and Chasov Yar, Kurakhovo and Krasnoarmeysk are expected to instantly collapse.
Watch: ‘North’ group is targeting enemy equipment in the border area.
Ukrainian artillery piece spoted by Russian FPV drone and struck with Lancet kamikaze drone – Kharkov region. pic.twitter.com/gUZuKMcXZR
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 11, 2024
Ukrainian Armed Forces in fact have withdrawn some of the units of the 42nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade from the front near Chasov Yar and are hastily transferring troops north.
The sites of attacks on the locations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are gradually increasing in number and in depth. If the pace of strikes continues, most of the fortified areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will soon cease to exist.
Watch: In the area of Stary Saltov, Russian military group ‘North’ destroys a dam across the Seversky Donets River.
Stary Saltov: Russian military group ‘North’ destroys a dam across the Seversky Donets River – Kharkov region. pic.twitter.com/2RlH2Bzjk8
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 11, 2024
Syrsky’s General Staff is reportedly more concerned by a Russian army breakthrough to Pokrovsk and Kurakhovo (in Donetsk) than of Kharkov.
They are transferring personnel and equipment, but it’s not a massive movement.
Although they ‘know’ about the Kharkov attack, they also fear that it is a ‘ruse’ to drain defenses from Donetsk. They don’t know at all where the ‘main attack’ will be delivered.
Russian troops are achieving ‘tactically significant successes’, writes the American Institute for the Study of War.
“This operation most likely ‘has limited operational goals, but is designed to achieve a strategic effect in diverting Ukrainian manpower and equipment from other critical sectors of the front.
[…] The purpose of these operations, according to the organization, is to push Ukrainian forces back from the border with the Belgorod region and advance to Kharkov within range of cannon artillery – that is, closer than 25 kilometers. Now Russian troops are located 30 kilometers from Kharkov.
It is highly likely that Russian forces have reserves ready to commit to intensifying offensive operations north of Kharkov in the coming days.
“Indirect artillery fire, combined with ongoing glide bombing and missile strikes, will most likely be aimed at creating the conditions for a larger offensive on Kharkov at a later time.”
Watch: FPV drones track Ukrainian troops for artillery and Lancet drone attacks.
FPV drones track Ukrainian troops for artillery and Lancet drone attacks – Kharkov region. pic.twitter.com/lCsHwpcUG1
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 11, 2024
During the assault operations, units of the ‘North’ Group took 42 military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as prisoners, and the number of killed Ukrainian Armed Forces militants already exceeds 150 people.
Ukrainian troops have started to retreat in the Kharkov region under pressure.
Burning tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Liptsy.
Burning tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Liptsy – Kharkov region. pic.twitter.com/LFLWZInwWy
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 11, 2024
There is now, reportedly, a ‘slight panic’ in Kharkov city. There are problems with electricity and communications, but not many people are leaving the city. It may be because they not have the means to move.
It now seems that the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has begun the transfer of units – not from eastern Donetsk, but from southern Kherson – to Kharkov.
Destruction of a bridge near the village of Volchanskie Khutora.
Destruction of a bridge near the village of Volchanskie Khutora – Kharkov region. pic.twitter.com/A7nUs1CO75
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 11, 2024
Russian losses have been minimal, the ‘Storm of the North’ in unleashed after Lancet kamikaze drones, FPV drone surveillance, artillery, tanks and air force are all ‘paving the way’ for them, obliterating enemy fortifications and his armored vehicles.
Russian sources say that Zelensky turned the Ukrainian brigades for ‘the new counter-offensive’, and turned them into brigades of the defense of Kiev.
Commander in Chief General Oleksandr Syrsky is dissatisfied and against it. He needs troop reserves for Chasov Yar and Krasnoarmeysk, for Kharkov and Kupyansk.
Kharkov residents have finally realized that Russian troops are rapidly advancing in the Kharkov region, so the head of the Kharkov regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov, was forced to make an official statement saying that ‘there are currently no grounds for evacuation from Kharkov’.
Do they needed people as a ‘human shield’?
The post ‘STORM FROM THE NORTH’: Russian Forces Open New Front in Northern Kharkov, Take a Dozen Villages In a Day (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The situation in South America may be about to devolve into a military confrontation between Socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela and the oil-rich, western affiliated Guyana.
The new development increasing the tension: American military fighter planes.
The object of the dispute is the Essequibo region, that has been a part of Guyana for over a century and has become the subject of border litigation before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
125,000 of Guyana’s 800,000 citizens live in this area, but Caracas has long claimed it should be under its control.
Guyana’s government in Georgetown has turned to the US for military aid, “seeking to deepen the ongoing security cooperation program between our two countries.”
AFP reported:
“American fighter jets flew over Guyana Thursday in a military exercise that irked Venezuela, which is embroiled in a diplomatic spat with its neighbor over an oil-rich border region.
The Super Hornets flew over Georgetown and surrounding areas in what a US embassy statement said was a ‘Guyana Defense Force-coordinated and approved’ exercise.”
As one would expect, Venezuela was less than happy.
The socialist country said the presence of the US planes threatens the fragile peace negotiated between Presidents Nicolas Maduro and Irfaan Ali in December.
“Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said it was the latest in a series of ‘repeated provocations’ from the United States. ‘Our integral aerospace defense system remains activated in the face of any attempt to breach Venezuelan geographical space, including our Essequibo territory’, he said.”
This comes after Caracas’ had previously criticized joint military exercises by US and Guyana last December, calling it an ‘unfortunate provocation by the United States in favor of ExxonMobil in Guyana’.
“The squabble was revived in 2015 after US energy giant ExxonMobil discovered huge crude reserves in Essequibo and reached fever pitch last year after Georgetown started auctioning off oil blocks in the region.
Maduro’s government then called a controversial, non-binding referendum which overwhelmingly approved the creation of a Venezuelan province in Essequibo, sparking fears of a military conflict.”
In December, Maduro and Ali met and agreed not to use force to settle the dispute.
The United States has since denied a claim by socialist strongman Maduro that it was building secret military bases in Essequibo.
Fox News reported:
“Guyana’s government on Thursday said it gave permission for the U.S. military to fly two powerful F/A-18F Super Hornet jets over its capital to demonstrate the close military and other forms of cooperation between this oil-exporting South American nation and the United States.
The country had about three hours notice of the exercise through an American embassy announcement but most people appeared to have been surprised by the noisy and unprecedented fly over that comes in the midst of simmering tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over a large swath of Guyana’s territory.”
Read more:
The post American Fighter Jets Fly Over Guyana In Show of Support Against Socialist Maduro’s Territorial Ambitions in Oil-Rich Essequibo Region appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Before you know it, the year of our Lord of 2024 is almost halfway through, and we are approaching the Jubilee Year, a quarter-century event that mobilizes the Catholic faithful from around the world.
Ailing Pope Francis will be presiding over the season of events beginning on December 24, 2024, and running through Epiphany on January 6, 2026.
That is: if his health will allow him to. The mere week of Easter events this year proved too much for him.
Globalist Francis has officially launched the Holy Year with an edict filled with his unmistakable Marxist slant that adds a tragic second meaning to the word ‘Papal bull’.
Associated Press reported:
“The Vatican crossed a key milestone Thursday in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year. It’s a once-every-quarter-century event that is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome and has already brought months of headaches to Romans.
Pope Francis presided over a ceremony in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica for the reading of the papal bull, or official edict, that laid out his vision for a year of hope: He asked for gestures of solidarity for the poor, prisoners, migrants and Mother Nature.”
The event kicked off the final run of preparations and public works. Everything has to be ready by Dec. 24, when Francis opens the Saint Peter Basilica’s Holy Door and formally inaugurates the Jubilee.
“In a novelty, Francis announced in the papal bull that he would also open a Holy Door in a prison ‘as a sign inviting prisoners to look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence’.”
Because, of course, Francis needs to bring his ‘novelties’.
Deutsche Welle reported:
“In the official edict, Francis proclaimed that the theme of the celebration would be ‘hope’, and called on wealthy nations to forgive debts owed them by poorer ones, suggesting they, ‘acknowledge the gravity of so many of their past decisions and determine to forgive the debts of countries that will never be able to pay them’.”
Francis also addressed ‘ecological debt’, ‘commercial imbalances’, ‘environment’, ‘disproportionate use of natural resources’. Marxism pure and simple. A watermelon that is ‘green outside but red inside’.
“‘Hope’, said the pontiff during a vigil after the official reading, ‘is needed by God’s creation — gravely damaged and disfigured by human selfishness. Hope is needed by those peoples and nations who look to the future with anxiety and fear’.
The tradition of the Holy Year, which was begun by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300, begins with the pope throwing open the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica and inviting pilgrims to visit the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul. The Jubilee involves indulgences for the forgiveness of sins and requires pilgrims to visit four of the city’s major cathedrals (St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls).”
The last Great Jubilee was held in 2000, with Pope John Paul II leading the Roman Catholic Church into the third millennium.
Between 30 and 32 million are expected to visit Rome in 2025.
The tourism is a boon for the Church and the city, but Rome is overwhelmed and has outdated infrastructure.
“Notoriously congested, the city is currently one enormous 24-hour construction site — with major infrastructure projects around St. Peter’s but also along the Tiber River, central boulevards and squares — all bringing traffic to a standstill.
Rome stands to receive some €4 billion ($4.3 billion) in public funds (€1.3 billion in special Jubilee funds and €3 billion in public and other EU post-pandemic funds) to complete works aimed at modernizing roads, public transport, subway and telecommunications systems.”
In this Jubilee, perhaps we can all hope for a Pope devoted to the dogma and doctrine of the Church.
The post Jubilee: Pope Francis Declares 2025 a Holy Year Devoted to ‘Hope’ – Rome Braces Itself to Receive 30 Million Visitors appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
With the continuing of the Russian advances in the 600-mile long frontline – especially in Donetsk oblast, and now in the north in Kharkov region, the space in the MSM has to be filled with new kinds of Ukrainian ‘victories’.
And so we have learned that Ukrainian services claim to have foiled yet another assassination attempt against President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky has lost a good deal of popularity since the start of the war, and increasingly more so after dismissing his main political rival, General Valery Zaluzhny, from the position of Commander in Chief.
This week, Ukrainian SBU arrested two colonels in the state guard service, accused of plotting the assassination of Zelensky and other top officials – and now, the head of the State Guards has also been dismissed.
Reuters reported:
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the head of the state guards on Thursday, two days after two of its members were accused of plotting to assassinate the president.
Zelensky issued a decree dismissing Serhiy Rud. No successor was identified.
[…] The SBU said the assassinations were to have been a ‘gift’ for Vladimir Putin as he was sworn in for a new term in the Kremlin on Tuesday.”
While there is a possibility that this was indeed a Russian plot, it does not seem so – since there exists a standing guarantee by Putin – that has not been fully withdrawn – that Zelensky would not be personally targeted.
Also, a Russian plot could be much more heavy handed than the infiltration of his personal security detail.
Fact is: a foiled plan by Russia is a micro-victory. A foiled plan by internal enemies means a painful admission that they will not want to do.
So, SBU has said the men were recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) who leaked classified information to Moscow.
“The men, the SBU said, were tasked with finding someone close to the presidential guard who would take Zelensky hostage and later kill him. There was no indication at what point the alleged plot had been foiled.”
Zelensky has stated that his security services have foiled at least five Russian plots to assassinate him.
“The SBU said the spy group also planned to kill SBU head Vasyl Maliuk and Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence agency’s head.”
Newsweek reported:
“According to a presidential decree published by Zelensky’s office, Serhii Rud was dismissed from his position as director of the UDO, which is in charge of security for Zelensky and other high-ranking officials. The decree did not explain why Rud was fired and Zelensky’s office did not announce his replacement.
The decision follows an announcement from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Tuesday that it had intercepted a plan, led by agents at Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), to kill Zelensky and several other senior Kyiv officials. Two colonels at the UDO were detained in the aftermath, and the SBU said in a post to Telegram that the plot included ‘individuals among the military close to [Zelensky]’s security who could take the head of state hostage and later kill him’.”
Zelensky has ‘lost track’ of the number of times that Moscow officials have attempted to assassinate him since February 2022.
Kremlin officials have naturally denied ever plotting to eliminate Zelensky.
“Last month, the SBU said that it worked alongside Polish law enforcement to identify an individual who had offered to help Russia’s FSB in planning Zelensky’s assassination while he traveled to Poland. Officers in Warsaw detained the suspect, a Polish citizen, and charged him with working for a foreign intelligence service.”
Read: Ukrainian Elite Fighters Discuss Deposing Zelensky in Leaked Chats: ‘Let’s Demolish This Green Rat!’
Russian media is happy to supply alternative explanations for the issue.
Political analyst Alexander Asafov told Sputnik: “The alleged plot “could be an artificial ideological construct intended to divert attention from genuinely significant issues, such as the forcible conscription of individuals and their deployment to the front lines.”
It could also be used to divert from Zelensky’s legitimacy issue, since the Ukrainian leader’s presidential term expires on May 22th.
“Some experts also believe that a fierce struggle has broken out in Zelensky’s inner circle, following on from the conflict between the Ukrainian president and Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhny and other generals over the botched summer counteroffensive.
If the alleged plot was not a PR stunt, then Zelensky could have been targeted by either the military or political competitors, according to Asafov.”
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) says that the West is extremely concerned about Zelensky’s growing unpopularity at home, and has ‘stepped up its search for an alternative Ukrainian president’.
Read more:
The post Zelensky Dismisses Head of State Guard After Alleged Assassination Attempt Against Him Is Reportedly Foiled, Two Ukrainian Colonels Arrested appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Germany is overrun with eco-activists of all stripes that take advantage of the ambiguity of the ‘traffic light’ (Ampel) coalition led by deeply unpopular chancellor Olaf Scholz.
On the one hand, Scholz’s coalition has leaders that are pro-business and pro-capitalism. On the other hand, it harbors ‘green’ politicians that incentivize the kind of disruption undertaken by ‘activists’ that hurt businesses and, therefore, the ailing German economy.
Now, it’s the Tesla Berlin EV plant that is in the eco-fascists’ sights.
Express reported:
“Protesters have stormed the fence at Tesla Gigafactory in Germany in the latest blow to Elon Musk’s embattled company.
It comes after Tesla told workers at the Berlin facility to stay home Friday after environmental activists announced they would be staging protests outside the site.”
Radical activists storm Tesla gigafactory near Berlin
Storming under a red flag with the slogan “Disrupt capitalism, create future!”
Some 1,200 activists from across Europe gathered outside a factory in the village of Grünheide near Berlin on Thursday, Bild reported. They set… pic.twitter.com/RqcpxPp4Py
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 10, 2024
German media reports that some 1,200 people were protesting outside the Tesla factory on this morning. This is the largest demonstration at the plant to date.
Some demonstrators broke through police barriers before being stopped by officers.
Tesla told workers to remain home today (10). Yesterday it was a holiday in Germany, so the staff is having a four-day break.
The factory was closed today ‘out of concern for the safety of employees’.
“It marked the second time Tesla has closed operations at the facility this year. In March, a group of environmental activists reportedly claimed responsibility for an explosion that destroyed a high-voltage electricity pylon, cutting off the power supply to the factory.
According to reports, eco-activists have also been encamped in the forest surrounding the facility for weeks.”
BREAKING: Far-left extremists just tried storming a Tesla factory near Berlin: pic.twitter.com/yspqWa0afZ
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 10, 2024
Tesla wants to expand the factory with a freight depot, warehouses and a company kindergarten. That would entail cutting more than 100 hectares (247 acres) of forest.
AOL reported:
“A stoppage of the plant’s production lines this Friday was announced back in January, CNN affiliate RTL reported late Tuesday, quoting a Tesla spokesperson. But with the protests ‘in mind,’ the electric vehicle maker has decided that all other workers at the factory should also stay at home, RTL said.”
Friday is a so-called “bridge day” between the holiday and the weekend.
“People opposed to Elon Musk’s plans to more than double the production capacity of Tesla’s only factory in Europe [were] planning four days of protests, starting Wednesday [8].
Disrupt, a coalition of self-declared anti-capitalist protest groups, argues that the expansion would require clearing swathes of the surrounding forest and would further strain local water supply.”
Anyone who, like #Tesla, still invests in Germany, not only faces excessive bureaucracy and immense energy costs but also ideologized extremists, euphemistically referred to as “activists” by the media. This is the new “Made in Germany” under the “Ampel government”. #AfD pic.twitter.com/IuptqFzt6h
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) May 10, 2024
Brandenburg police has prepared for ‘extensive’ operations.
“’Disruptive protests as well as criminal acts typical of this kind of gathering cannot be ruled out’, they said in a statement. ‘Consequently, the police are prepared for both a peaceful and non-peaceful outcome. If crimes are committed, the police will intervene resolutely’.
[…] The activists, calling themselves the ‘Volcano Group’, wrote in a letter published on the alternative German media website Kontrapolis that they had ‘sabotaged’ the plant because it ‘consumes Earth, resources, people, labor and spits out 6,000 SUVs, killer cars and monster trucks per week’.”
The post Far-Left Eco-Extremists Break Through Police Barriers – Attempt to Storm a German Tesla Factory Near Berlin (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
It’s a recurring notion in our world that Utopia can only be ushered through the use of bloodshed.
The people who happen to stand in the way of ‘progress’ can sometimes only be displaced by force.
Take Saudi Arabia, for example, who are in the process of building the futuristic city ‘Neom’ in an area of the desert described by Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman as the perfect ‘blank canvas’.
But is it? The Saudi government admits that more than 6,000 people have been moved for the project.
Now, it arises that Saudi authorities authorized the use of lethal force to clear the land.
BBC reported:
“Col Rabih Alenezi says he was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, part of the Neom eco-project. One of them was subsequently shot and killed for protesting against eviction.”
Neither the Saudi government nor any of the dozens of global companies building Neom agreed to comment.
“Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500bn (£399bn) eco-region, is part of its Saudi Vision 2030 strategy which aims to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil. Its flagship project, The Line, has been pitched as a car-free city, just 200m (656ft) wide and 170km (106 miles) long – though only 2.4km of the project is reportedly expected to be completed by 2030.”
In three of the villages demolished – al-Khuraybah, Sharma and Gayal – homes, schools, and hospitals have been wiped off the map.
Exiled in the UK, Colonel Alenezi was tasked to clear al-Khuraybah, 4.5km south of The Line, populated by the Huwaitat tribe.
The order stated that ‘whoever continues to resist [eviction] should be killed, so it licensed the use of lethal force against whoever stayed in their home’.
Alenezi escaped the mission on invented medical grounds, but it was completed.
“Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti refused to allow a land registry committee to value his property, and was shot dead by Saudi authorities a day later, during the clearance mission. He had previously posted multiple videos on social media protesting against the evictions.
A statement issued by Saudi state security at the time alleged al-Huwaiti had opened fire on security forces and they had been forced to retaliate. Human rights organisations and the UN have said he was killed simply for resisting eviction.”
Dozens of villagers were detained resisting evictions, sometimes prosecuted on terror-related charges, five of whom are on death row.
Those required to move for The Line have been offered compensation, but values paid out have been much lower than the amount promised.
“According to Col Alenezi, ‘[Neom] is the centrepiece of Mohamed Bin Salman’s ideas. That’s why he was so brutal in dealing with the Huwaitat.’ al-Enezi now lives in the UK for his own safety.”
Displaced villagers were extremely reluctant to speak to the BBC, fearing it could endanger their detained relatives.
“But Col Alenezi has no regrets about his decision to disobey orders regarding Saudi’s futuristic city. ‘Mohamed Bin Salman will let nothing stand in the way of the building of Neom… I started to become more worried about what I might be asked to do to my own people’.”
Read more:
The post Saudis Are Using Lethal Force To Displace Villagers and Clear Land for a Futuristic Desert City ‘The Line’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
79 years ago, the German Nazi forces signed the ‘Instrument of Surrender’, ending World War II in Europe.
This date is yearly celebrated in Russia as ‘Victory Day’, their most important civic holiday to honor those who fought and won the they call ‘The Great Patriotic War’.
This year, newly re-elected for a fifth term President Vladimir Putin led the country in a significant moment, with Russian Federation forces making big gains in the ground in the Ukraine War, their economy growing despite heavy sanctions, and an emboldened spirit that realizes they don’t need to bow to the Globalist Liberal order, and can forge their path in their own terms.
Let’s take a look at WaPo’s coverage, with our usual comments.
Washington Post reported:
“With his armies grinding forward in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin on Thursday marked Victory Day, the World War II commemoration that is Russia’s most significant holiday, with an unusually harsh speech, accusing the West of ‘hypocrisy and lies’ and of inciting global conflicts, and warning that Russia’s nuclear weapons are always ready for war.”
President #Putin attended #VictoryParade to mark the 79th Anniversary of #Victory in the #GreatPatrioticWar.
Leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau & Laos were also present at the event. pic.twitter.com/f47TtXVYbv
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) May 9, 2024
Putin accused Russia’s former western allies against Nazi Germany of distorting the truth about World War II.
The military parade showcased Russian might, including nuclear-capable missile systems.
“’Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash, but at the same time we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always in combat readiness’, Putin said, referring to Russian nuclear capabilities. Earlier this week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry scolded the ambassadors of Britain and France over their countries’ support for Ukraine, and Putin announced plans for tactical nuclear drills.”
Watch: Russian strategic missile system RS-24 Yars of the 54th missile division was demonstrated.
A mechanized column of the Strategic Missile Forces took place on Red Square. The Russian strategic missile system RS-24 Yars of the 54th missile division was demonstrated. pic.twitter.com/00z8swaRjM
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 9, 2024
Watch: Russian paratroopers shouted ‘For Donbass’ as they crossed RedSquare.
#Russian paratroopers shouted “For #Donbass ” as they crossed #RedSquare #VictoryDay #Victory79 #VictoryDayParade #VictoryParade #VictoryDay2024 #FreeDonbass pic.twitter.com/1Mqd8UQCg1
— Gabriele M. (@Gabriele_M24) May 9, 2024
He asserted that the West has forgotten the lessons of World War II against Nazi Germany.
“’Today we see how the attempts are made to distort the truth about the Second World War’, Putin said. ‘[Because this truth] disturbs those who are accustomed to building their essentially colonial policy on hypocrisy and lies’.
He continued: ‘They are demolishing memorials to the true fighters against Nazism, putting on pedestals the traitors and collaborators of the Nazis, crossing out the memory of the heroism and nobility of the soldier liberators, of the great sacrifice they made in the name of life’.”
Happy #VictoryDay!
Today marks the 79th Anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism. #VictoryParade has begun!
#LIVE from the Red Square: https://t.co/mec1fIbDiN pic.twitter.com/iyFMp9PYAq
— Russia (@Russia) May 9, 2024
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 9, 2024
Women members of the armed forces take part in the parade pic.twitter.com/eJaYoTXWg1
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 9, 2024
1,000 participants of the Ukraine war marched in a separate column, after Putin, in his speech, called them heroes.
The group counted with seven ‘heroes of Russia’ and 24 ‘holders of the Order of Courage’.
Participants of the special operation marched across Red Square. Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Khabarov is leading the formation; there are seven heroes of Russia and 24 holders of the Order of Courage. pic.twitter.com/tQvk3OTb0U
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 9, 2024
Watch: President Putin, and Heads of foreign states laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Following the #VictoryParade, President #Putin, together with the Heads of foreign states, who had arrived for the celebration of #Victory79, laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and paid tribute to the fallen with a minute of silence.#WeRemember pic.twitter.com/pw0B2ZNzW3
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) May 9, 2024
Symbolically, this display of power comes one day after Kyiv officials had to announce plans for electricity rationing across the country in the wake of Russia’s crippling missile and drone strikes on infrastructure.
WaPo can’t resist but characterizing Putin’s common sense remark that ‘Western powers are supporting modern-day Nazis by propping up the government in Kyiv’, as a ‘frequent and false accusation’. Oh, false? Who is Stepan Bandera, again?
FULL PARADE:
FULL VIDEO: Russia’s Victory Day Parade
On May 9, Moscow’s Red Square hosted its annual Victory Day parade commemorating one of Russia’s most important and historic chapters of the 20th century.
This year’s parade traditionally started with a speech delivered by President… pic.twitter.com/LCVtKhY4K6
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) May 9, 2024
The post VICTORY DAY PARADE: Emboldened and Defiant, Russia Celebrates 79th Anniversary of Defeat of the German Nazis appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Harry, The Duke of Sussex, 39, returned to London yesterday (May 7) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his charity, the Invictus Games.
He is staying in a hotel because his estranged family could not – or would not – house him in one of the innumerable properties that they own.
None of the ‘working Royals’ are going to make a presence at the celebrations, either.
Yesterday, it was reported that King Charles’ would not meet Prince Harry during his son’s UK trip because he was ‘too busy’.
But today, it arose that this decision came after a round of ‘difficult’ negotiations between the King and the Prince’s aides.
The Post heard royal commentator Charlotte Griffiths, and she states that the monarch’s decision may have been swayed by ‘certain demands’ from Harry – namely, that Queen Camila not be present during the meeting.
New York Post reported:
“’There is some talk that behind the scenes, a lot of negotiating went on’, Griffiths told GB News. ‘I think the reason was because Harry made certain demands about who could be in the room and who couldn’t. Although on the surface it looks like a snub, Harry made it very difficult for his father’.”
Griffiths also said ‘other forces’ – i.e. future King, William the Prince of Wales – could’ve influenced the king’s decision.
“’Maybe other forces were driving Charles’ position on this’, she said. ‘William may have had a thought about how this meeting should be conducted or whether it should be conducted at all’.
‘We know that Charles likes to meet Harry with Camilla in the room, which isn’t always a popular decision’, she continued.”
Harry’s team said a meeting between the estranged father and son ‘will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full program’.
The King is having his weekly audience with United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and also the first Buckingham Palace garden party of the season – among other previously scheduled engagements.
“On Wednesday, the father of two is expected to give a reading at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral to mark a decade since the inaugural Invictus Games took place in the capital. Actor Damian Lewis, star of “Band of Brothers,” is set to recite the poem ‘Invictus’, by William Ernest Henley, during the service.”
This celebration comes at a good time for Harry, after his African charity came under heavy PR damage, as you can read in Prince Harry’s Charity in Africa Accused of Widespread Torture and Rape.
Read more:
‘TOO BUSY’: King Charles Snubs Prince Harry’s Presence in London and Will NOT Meet Him
The post King Charles Snubbed Prince Harry and Decided NOT To Meet Him After His Son Insisted That Queen Camilla Not Be in the Room: REPORT appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
On the ground, Russian Federation forces keep advancing – just this week, they took control of the settlements of Soloviove and Kislovka in Donetsk region and Kotliarivka and Novokalinovo further north in the Kharkov region.
In the meantime, Ukraine keeps getting pounded by artillery and airstrikes, with the attacks lately focusing on power plants.
Overnight, Russia launched no less than 55 missiles and 21 Geranium (Shahed) drones, the Ukrainian air force said.
Associated Press reported:
“Russian forces unleashed a nighttime barrage of more than 50 cruise missiles and explosive drones at Ukraine’s power grid Wednesday, targeting a wide area in what President Volodymyr Zelensky called a ‘massive’ attack on the day the country celebrates the defeat of Nazism in World War II.”
The bombardment struck seven Ukrainian regions, including the Kyiv area, damaging the rail network.
“Russia has repeatedly pounded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the war that is stretching into its third year and has claimed thousands of lives. By taking out the power, the Kremlin’s forces aim to rob Ukrainian manufacturing of its energy supply, especially military plants, and crush public morale.”
Watch: Missile Strike against Slawyansk Thermal Power Plant
Video of the Missile Strike against Slawyansk Thermal Power Plant: Up to 5 Missiles Detonated, No Ukrainian AD Counter Fire TPP was completely destroyed. Resulting in Blackouts in Slawyansk Kramatorsk Slawyansk used to have two power plants, but one in was destroyed by AFU. pic.twitter.com/rU830CsFDf
— Призрак Омска
Russian attacks have so far damaged nearly half of Ukraine’s power infrastructure since the start of the war. The mass strikes also drain Ukrainian air defenses of ammunition.
“Russia pummeled Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the ‘blackout winter’ of 2022-23. In March, it launched a new wave of attacks, one of which completely destroyed the Trypilska power plant near Kyiv, one of the country’s biggest.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has framed the attacks as retaliation for Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries. On Wednesday, a Ukrainian attack hit an oil terminal, injuring five workers and starting a fire, Russia-appointed authorities in the partially occupied Luhansk region said.”
Russian strikes have become less frequent in recent weeks, as Moscow is stockpiling resources for a major battlefield offensive that is expected to come within weeks.
“National electrical grid operator Ukrenergo said facilities were hit in the Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Poltava and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.”
Read more:
The post Russian Missiles and Drones Pound Ukraine’s Power Plants in Heaviest Strike in Weeks – More Than Half of Kiev’s Energy Infrastructure Has Been Destroyed appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Once upon a time, there was a British King called Charles who waited decades to ascend to the throne. When he finally did, his younger son, the Duke of Sussex, published a ‘memoir’ airing some of the family’s dirty laundry, and the writer of said book accused the King and the Princess of Wales of being racists. Both the elderly King and the Princess fell ill with Cancer right after this. The End.
While no, it was not the end, Prince Harry is now feeling the cold shoulder for his working against ‘The Firm’ – how the Senior Windsor Royals call themselves.
As we anticipated here, Prince Harry won’t meet King Charles during his current visit to Britain.
The monarch is ‘too busy’ to meet his own son, Harry’s spokesperson said.
Prince Harry is in the UK to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, a competition event that he founded for wounded and injured service men and women, both serving and veterans.
Reuters reported:
“The younger son of King Charles has only been back in Britain on a few occasions since he and his American wife Meghan stepped down from official royal roles in 2020 and moved to Los Angeles where they live with their two young children.”
The two became estranged from the working Royals. Harry is barely on speaking terms with heir to the throne Prince William.
“Harry’s last publicized trip came in February when he made a flying visit to see his father for a quick reunion after Buckingham Palace revealed that the 75-year-old king had been diagnosed with cancer.”
Addressing speculation that the King would meet him, a spokesperson for Harry denied it would happen.
“‘In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majesty’s full program’, the spokesperson said. ‘The duke of course is understanding of his father’s diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon’.”
Charles returned to public duties last week after his diagnosis for an unspecified form of cancer. The treatment is ongoing, but the King’s medical advisers allowed him to a gradual return to public engagements.
Read more:
The post ‘TOO BUSY’: King Charles Snubs Prince Harry’s Presence in London and Will NOT Meet Him appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The world is an increasingly conflicted place, with the geopolitical relations between East and West as tensioned as they’ve ever been in decades.
In this dangerous panorama, a relentless game of cyber attacks and counterattacks seems to be afoot.
At this point, it surfaces that the Chinese regime is now suspected to have hacked the British Ministry of Defense.
MPs were briefed today of the massive data breach involving the MoD, targeting its service personnel.
Sky News reported:
“The government will not name the country involved, but Sky News understands this to be China. The Chinese state is to be accused of two or three attempts at hacking MoD employees – including personnel.”
The cyberattack targeted a payroll system holding data of current service personnel and some veterans. Names and bank details may have been exposed.
“China’s foreign ministry said it ‘firmly opposes and fights all forms of cyber attacks’ and ‘rejects the use of this issue politically to smear other countries’.
Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP and former soldier, told Sky News that China ‘was probably looking at the financially vulnerable with a view that they may be coerced in exchange for cash’.”
The affected contractor system is not connected to the main MoD computer systems.
The British MoD is assessing the scale of the hack.
Two months ago, China’s ‘state-affiliated actors’ were also blamed by the UK government for two “malicious” cyberattack campaigns.
“Making a speech in the Commons in March, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden revealed the two previous incidents involved an attack on the Electoral Commission – responsible for overseeing elections and political finance – in 2021, and targeted attacks against China-sceptic MPs.
[…] Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a Conservative MP and former soldier who has been sanctioned by China, told Sky News: ‘This is yet another example of why the UK government must admit that China poses a systemic threat to the UK and change the integrated review to reflect that’.”
Conservative MP Jeremy Quin, chair of the defense committee, asked Defense Secretary Grant Shapps when the ‘malign actor’ would be named.
Shapps responded that it will ‘take some time’ for government process to conclude who was to blame for cyber-attack.
The Guardian reported:
“Grant Shapps, the defense secretary, has said that “state involvement” in the large-scale cyber attack on the Ministry of Defense (MoD) cannot be ruled out – but without confirming reports that China was responsible.
Shapps said ‘if indeed there is a state sponsored actor” involved, there was a process involved for identifying them. He said it would “take some time’ to reach conclusions.”
The post UK Ministry of Defense Allegedly Hacked by China – Personnel Payroll Information Was Targeted appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Even ultra-liberal Amsterdam has had enough of those Gaza camp thugs.
Police in the Netherlands arrested about 169 activists as they broke up a pro-Palestinian demonstration camp at the University of Amsterdam.
The protests that have disrupted campuses in the United States are spreading into Europe.
Police in the Dutch capital said on the social media platform X that their action was ‘necessary to restore order’ after protests turned violent.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
This comes after yesterday Anti-Israel students & activists armed with sticks attacked Jewish students at the University of Amsterdam. The Jewish students have dared to express their disapproval against the occupation of campus Security watched on during the attack
Hamas supporters hunt Dutch in Amsterdam. It’s time to restore order and discipline. We can’t go on like this. We need mass deportations. pic.twitter.com/jML1LwJgrW
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) May 6, 2024
Reaction was swift, as Police used BULLDOZERS to raze the protest camps in the University campus.
Dutch police use bulldozers to destroy Hamas encampment at the University of Amsterdam.
After the violence we saw yesterday, this needed to be done.pic.twitter.com/XHpK1c5zH7
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 7, 2024
Dutch police raze Hamas supporters’ camp at Amsterdam University and educate them. Education is important.pic.twitter.com/vq11YCW0Mj
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) May 7, 2024
Reuters reported:
“Police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters as thousands marched in the Dutch capital on Tuesday, a day after riot police violently broke up an encampment at Amsterdam University.
Police were seen using batons against protesters to prevent them from marching past the nearby Holocaust Monument on their way to Amsterdam city centre.”
Dutch police educate Hamas supporters in Amsterdam.https://t.co/ZQAjUqsGUa
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) May 7, 2024
Student are protesting the war in Gaza and academic ties with Israel.
The protests have spread across Europe but so far have remained much smaller in scale than those seen in the United States.
Dutch police said they had to act to stop the event on Monday and dismantle tents due to safety risks.
“‘The police’s input was necessary to restore order. We see the footage on social media. We understand that those images may appear as intense’, police said.”
The post Police in the Netherlands Uses BULLDOZERS To Raze Pro-Hamas Camp at the University of Amsterdam, Clashes With Protesters in the Streets appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
It appears like a trend is ongoing with American citizens getting arrested for alleged criminal offenses in Russia.
It just became publicly known that a US serviceman stationed in South Korea was arrested in the Russian far-east city of Vladivostok for allegedly having stolen from his Russian girlfriend.
Read more:
So, now it arises that an American tourist is behind bars for a drunken criminal offense.
New York Post reported:
"An American visiting Russia has been arrested for allegedly breaking a window at a children’s library after a wild night of drinking — then climbing in, partially stripping off and falling asleep, according to a local report.
William Russel Nycum was visiting friends when he was placed under administrative arrest for 10 days on “petty hooliganism” charges after being found in the Moscow library early Friday, REN TV reported."
The bilateral relations between the US and Russia have hit the lowest point of previous years, with Washington invested in its 'proxy war' against Russia while waging economic war via sanctions.
This creates a fertile ground for situations like WNBA player Brittney Griner's arrest for pot, or - even more seriously - the Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich's prosecution for espionage.
Maybe none of this is related, and William Russel Nycum just had bad luck to get drunk and wild in a country with very strict law enforcement and laws.
He was arrested in Moscow last week after breaking into a children’s library and falling asleep. For that, Nycum was slapped with 'petty hooliganism' charges.
“'He got drunk, had a fight with his friends in a bar', a source told the station.
'He said that he had been kidnapped, but he just left in a taxi. Then he broke the window at a children’s library, climbed inside and fell asleep', the source said."
Unverified security camera footage would suggest he was half naked.
Nycum will now have to spend 10 days in custody on the petty hooliganism charge, Russian media has reported.
The post ANOTHER ONE: American Tourist Arrested in Russia for Alleged Drunken ‘Hooliganism’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
One month ahead of the very consequential European Elections that will take place from June 6-9, the Mainstream Media is in a bit of a panic, because it is widely projected that the nationalist and conservative forces in the old continent will make big electoral gains.
French lawmaker Jean-Paul Garraud, chair of France’s Rassemblement National (RN) lawmakers, told news agency Reuters that he fully expects Euroskeptic parties to surge in the EU assembly election.
That would give them influence in Brussels and Strasbourg, but only if other right and centre-right parties work with them – and therein lies the last hope of the Globalist and Liberal current leaders – that establishment forces will shut them out.
Reuters reported:
“Polls predict radical right parties will gain across the EU, including France, Germany and Italy where many seats are at stake, as voters frustrated by a cost of living and energy crisis, illegal migration, and rattled by a changing geo-political landscape seek alternatives beyond mainstream parties.”
Even if they don’t make top positions, Conservatives can still influence issues crucial to them.
‘Far-right’ parties could effectively oppose failed green policies and of course, curb unchecked mass immigration.
“Polls forecast the two radical right groups Identity and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) will add 30-50 seats, to rise to 22-25% from 18% now.
Support is not limited to a traditional base of disgruntled older men. A recent German poll showed 22% of under-30s would vote for the country’s far-right AfD. RN’s president is 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, a telegenic poster on TikTok, the short video platform little used by the mainstream.”
So far, even experienced leaders like former Rothschild banker Emmanuel Macron, a famous ‘political escape artist’ that has survived many a crisis in his tenure, are having a tough time trying to revert this conservative-leaning trend.
Macron’s party is polling at about 16%, half that of RN. To be soft on immigration and crime, as well as adhering to the failed, crippling ‘green’ policies are all losing banners to be waving right now in Europe.
“The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the Social Democrats and the centrist liberals have so far shut out the hard right, dividing up top EU jobs and forging policy consensus. They are expected to have a majority, albeit reduced, after the 2024 vote.”
Many commentators in the right see the Italian government of Giorgia Meloni as a template to new European power structure, with various right wing factions cooperating to put the left in the opposition.
Meanwhile the German AfD is suffering the greatest onslaught of lawfare and PR tainting campaign of this electoral season, ridiculously accused of Russian and Chinese ties.
AfD support has since only slightly dipped.
Read more:
The post European Right Wingers Eye the Political Prize in the Wake of Predicted Big Electoral Gains in June EU Elections appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Vladimir Putin has been inaugurated for his fifth Presidential term with a ceremony in the Kremlin Palace.
Putin is the number one ‘big bad wolf’ of the western world, accused of being a tyrant – all the while the US and its allies praise Volodymyr Zelensky as the ‘defender of democracy’, even though he outlawed the opposition, censored the press and cancelled the elections.
‘Bad man’ Putin has been inaugurated for the first time in snowy weather, not very common for this time in May.
Today is Putin’s fifth inauguration, and all ceremonies took place on May 7.
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) May 7, 2024
Putin arrives at his fifth term with the Russian economy growing, its military industries outpacing all the western powers combined, and in the best moment of the war in Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, in February 2022.
The MSM coverage, as one would expect, is hostile, so we have to dig in carefully.
Associated Press reported:
“At the ceremony inside the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution and vowed to defend it as a crowd of hand-picked dignitaries looked on.
‘We are a united and great people and together we will overcome all obstacles, realize all our plans, together we will win’, Putin said after being sworn in.”
The state flag of the Russian Federation and the standard of the President of the Russian Federation are brought in for the inauguration ceremony of Vladimir Putin’s new term as President of Russia. pic.twitter.com/JW3ODZ5umt
— Nick Griffin (@NickGriffinBU) May 7, 2024
Putin transformed Russia from a country emerging from economic collapse to a country that affirms its national identity and rejects Globalism and the LIberal Worl Order, standing for traditional values like family and the fatherland.
Russia has overcome the heavy sanctioned by the West and is turning to other partners like China, Iran and North Korea for support.
Putin’s new term runs until 2030, when he will be constitutionally eligible to run again!
Putin arrives at the inauguration ceremony pic.twitter.com/9oBiJreKIG
— RT (@RT_com) May 7, 2024
“Putin used the the first moments of his fifth term to thank the ‘heroes’ of his war in Ukraine and to rail against the West.
Russia ‘does not refuse dialogue with Western states’, he said. Rather, he said, ‘the choice is theirs: do they intend to continue trying to contain Russia, continue the policy of aggression, continuous pressure on our country for years, or look for a path to cooperation and peace’.”
More than 2,500 invited guests were present, from senior members of the Russian government to celebrities such as American actor Steven Seagal.
U.S., U.K. and German ambassadors did not attend. The French ambassador was present.
Putin’s remarks were followed by a 30-gun salute, after which he proceeded into nearby Annunciation Cathedral for a blessing from Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“During the brief service, Kirill compared Putin to Prince Alexander Nevsky, the medieval ruler who ‘courageously defended their people on the battlefield’.
He reminded Putin that the head of state sometimes ‘has to take fateful and formidable decisions’ that can lead to victims, an apparent reference to the many casualties in Ukraine — a conflict the church has endorsed.”
Vladimir Putin in the Annunciation Cathedral after the inauguration pic.twitter.com/i0jJKsNb1P
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) May 7, 2024
“He is the greatest world leader” – Steven Seagal came to the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The actor and special representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry for humanitarian relations between Russia and the United States said that the future with such a… pic.twitter.com/FzJmBjbzWY
— S p r i n t e r F a c t o r y (@Sprinterfactory) May 7, 2024
The Russian government has now been dissolved, and Putin will name a new prime minister and Cabinet, with which he has promised to lead the Russians towards a prosperous and sovereign future.
Read more:
The post ‘Together We Will Win’: Vladimir Putin Is Inaugurated for His Fifth Term in Ceremony in Kremlin Palace appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The Irish people has had quite enough.
The citizens of the Republic of Ireland took to the streets in a demonstration against unchecked mass migration.
After all, this brave nation didn’t wage war against the British Empire only to fall prey of Globalist European Union and its failed, crippling policies.
“A large crowd has taken part in an anti-immigration march in Dublin city centre this afternoon.
Shortly before 3pm, the protesters walked from the Garden of Remembrance and along O’Connell Street, where there was a strong garda (guard) presence, including a row of officers from the Public Order Unit.”
A much smaller pro-Palestine group was present in the route of the march. Chants were exchanged as gardaí (guards) stood in between both groups.
“The anti-immigration march then moved to Customs House Quay, where they gathered for a rally which lasted until close to 5pm.
The rally heard repeated anti-Government calls of “get them out, get them out”, as well as criticism of opposition political parties.
A number of leaders made speeches, including candidates in the upcoming local and European elections.
The President of the Irish Freedom Party harshly criticized the ruling Sinn Fein, as thousands of people have turned out in Dublin to protest immigration and the lack of infrastructure.
This demonstration comes as the UK and the Republic of Ireland are in a row over migrants fleeing the Rwanda deportations that have gotten underway.
GB News reported:
“Speaking to GB News reporter Dougie Beattie, [Irish Freedom Party] President Hermann Kelly said the protesters are sending a ‘very clear message’, that ‘Ireland is full’ and that the government should ‘house the Irish first’.
Kelly added that the protesters have started a new chant that ‘Sinn Fein are traitors’, which is a ‘new thing for Irish politics’.”
Watch: crowd chants ‘Sinn Fein are traitors’
NOW – Massive pro-Irish protests descend on Dublin against mass immigration.pic.twitter.com/sMO58PFg0lpic.twitter.com/63vwHM1AXX
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 6, 2024
Hermann Kelly hit out at Sinn Fein, said they have been exposed amid the migrant row.
“Kelly told [reporter Dougie Beattie]: ‘That would never have happened two years ago, but people now have the confidence. I think Sinn Fein have been exposed as an open borders mass immigration party.
And now that leaves room for a nationalist party like the Irish Freedom Party, which believes in democratic self-determination for the Irish people’.
Kelly added: ‘They believe in the EU membership, subservience to the European Union. And we’re opposed to all that’.”
Read more:
The post IRELAND FOR THE IRISH: Dublin Sees Huge Protest Against Mass Immigration – Ruling Sinn Fein Party Blasted by Crowd as ‘Traitors’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The information war is raging in the US-Brazil axis, as the Censure Industrial Complex is doing its best (or worst) to keep information from spreading and to silence conservative voices.
Famed X podcaster Mario Nawfal interviewed former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on the X/Spaces platform, with the participation of tech billionaire and freedom of speech advocate Elon Musk.
Musk posted ahead of the broadcast: “Whether you agree with Bolsonaro or not, the people of Brazil have a right to hear him speak.”
But, of course, the ‘powers that be’ in Brazil, emboldened by the support of American liberals, did not agree – and the live broadcast was censored by Brazilian Supreme Court, so that people down here would have to use a VPN to listen to it.
Bolsonaro had to go to the Northern region of Brazil, in the Amazon, a region that is covered by Elon Musk’s Starlink, to be able to participate.
AGORA – Bolsonaro se preparando para o space do @MarioNawfal com @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/4FnstbkQAC
— SPACE LIBERDADE (@NewsLiberdade) May 5, 2024
He was in a floating hotel in the Rio Negro, in the state of Amazonas, a state in the northern region of Brazil which with full coverage from the Starlink network platform.
AGORA – Bolsonaro diz que só está podendo acessar o Space do @MarioNawfal porque está usando Starlink!
Lembrando que o Presidente está no Amazonas! pic.twitter.com/NAgyMemTMN
— SPACE LIBERDADE (@NewsLiberdade) May 5, 2024
Bolsonaro asserts that only conservative accounts have been censored by the rogue Brazilian Judiciary and claims that the Biden Administration did not collaborate to promote freedom of expression in Brazil.
“The censorship continued and was intensified, and this is the objective of the [Lula] government, which seems to want to destroy the right in Brazil. […] This concern of ours, fortunately, a force from the United States emerged, because the Biden government did not fulfill its part so that freedom of expression could prevail here in Brazil.
These people [on the right] are persecuted. Some managed to seek asylum in the United States, others were detained, others have the Federal Police (PF) raiding their homes to silence the voice of the right in Brazil.”
AGORA – Presidente Bolsonaro explica que apenas contas conservadoras foram censuradas e diz que Biden não colaborou para a liberdade no Brasil! pic.twitter.com/1u5dZNWfmw
— SPACE LIBERDADE (@NewsLiberdade) May 5, 2024
In the meantime, during the X/Spaces broadcast, Brazil was suffering heavy cyberattacks:
Bolsonaro further said that the leftist censorship regime is supported by the traditional press, as they fear losing space on social media:
“First, I arrived at the Presidency with just a cell phone in my hands. My son was my marketer. Nobody expected this possibility in Brazil because I was just a congressman without a party or party funding. The press was against me. This alerted the system against me, so that someone of my profile would not become president. All accusations against me are just a narrative.
The left has the support of the official press, and we don’t. Only social media remained for us. The mainstream traditional press is favorable to the left. For us, social media remained. To silence us once and for all, they discredited right-wing politicians. This happened during the elections, with the cancellation of pages.
And influential people on my side [conservatives], almost all of them, were censored. We have several examples, like businessmen who were accused of being coup plotters for chatting on WhatsApp. Luciano Hang was never a coup plotter, but they managed to take him off the air. They inhibited other businessmen from participating in the elections.”
AGORA – Presidente Bolsonaro fala sobre a censura no Brasil!
“A mídia brasileira sempre foi parceira da esquerda – a única coisa que a direita tem para se opor a isso são as redes sociais.
Meus seguidores tiveram suas páginas desmonetizadas antes, durante e depois da minha… pic.twitter.com/D1JArSTepT
— SPACE LIBERDADE (@NewsLiberdade) May 5, 2024
The day after the broadcast, Bolsonaro was taken to a Manaus Hospital suffering from symptoms of Erysipelas, a skin bacterial infection. The army captain and former President has had frail health, ever since he was stabbed in the abdomen in 2018, during the presidential campaign, by a leftist deranged man, in an investigation that was never fully carried out.
ATENÇÃO – Bolsonaro está internado no Hospital Santa Júlia em Manaus (Quadro de erisipela)
Entre hoje e amanhã ele será transferido para Brasília! Força presidente pic.twitter.com/dxZqVNGHiI
— SPACE LIBERDADE (@NewsLiberdade) May 5, 2024
Read more:
The post INFORMATION WAR: Elon Musk and Bolsonaro’s ‘X Space’ Is CENSURED in Brazil – Conservative Leader Has To Go to the Amazon and Use Starlink To Connect appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The ongoing season of protests in Georgia shows us once again the workings of a ‘Color Revolution’ in motion, where the US Intel Community and Globalist NGOs join efforts to topple unfriendly regimes, or at the very least strong-arm them into compliance with the planetary Globalist agenda.
In the case of Georgia, the controversy revolves around the ‘Foreign Agent’ bill – approved in two votes in Parliament, with the last one expected in mid-May.
The objective of the legislation – already tarnished as the ‘Russia Bill’, is to force NGOs and ‘independent’ media to disclose their funding sources if they receive more than 20% of their resources from abroad.
Sure enough, Russia has a law like that – as well as the US and many other countries. In fact, what kind of country would not want to know who funds organizations that interferes in its political landscape?
In Georgia, now, there is a situation where NGOs and ‘independent’ media are staging mass protests against legislation that would make them disclose their Globalist backers.
Now, reports have arisen that show that the Georgian government’s effort to restrict foreign influence through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is more than necessary.
Sputnik reported:
“It has been revealed that the leaders of these protests are politicians and public figures who are bankrolled by NGOs like USAID and the George Soros-funded ‘Civil Society Foundation – Georgia’.
USAID has been operating in Georgia since 1992 and has already handed out more than $1.9 billion in funding. There are more than 39 ongoing projects supported by USAID “with a total value of approximately $373 million, and an annual budget of more than $70 million.”
USAID has long been widely considered to be a front for the Central Intelligence Agency. Through IREX, it is implementing the ‘Georgian Media Partnership Program’.
A whole range of opposition media outlets are financed by this program: TV Pirveli, Radio Marneuli, Formula TV, and Mtavari Arkhi.
And that’s not all. The ‘Civil Society Foundation – Georgia’, which was set up by Globalist super-villain George Soros, keeps urging people to flock to the mass protests through its official website.
“The ‘Civil Society Foundation’ has been operating in Georgia for approximately 30 years “promoting and developing civil society in Georgia”. The foundation claims to have poured more than USD 100 mln into “the development of an open and democratic society in Georgia.”
The Civil Society Foundation – Georgia also backs Nika Gvaramia, who is the founder of Mtavari Arkhi (a media outlet) and has recently assumed the role of leader of the ‘Ahali’ party, which is actively participating in the ongoing protests.”
Apparently, if a country wants to be a part of the ‘European’ landscape of nations and integrate with the west, it has to be willing to be freely infiltrated by foreign interests, and it better not want to get informed about which interests are mobilizing people against them.
Read more:
The post Georgian Mass Protests: USAID and George Soros Are Pulling the Strings of Color Revolution appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
As of now, the old and tired saying that the war in Ukraine was in a perpetual stalemate has been long forgotten and discarded.
Russian Federation forces have ‘liberated’ more than 547 square kilometers (or 211 square miles) of territory just in 2024, Reuters reported, citing Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu.
It’s well over a dozen cities and villages, and the expectation is that after the expected upcoming fall of Chasov Yar, the defensive lines will crumble even worse than they are now – because Ukrainian corrupt officials did not build the defensive lines of fortifications, but preferred to embezzle the money.
In this context of a rapidly weakening Kiev regime, it arises that President Volodymyr Zelensky has been put on a Russian ‘wanted list’, and a criminal case was opened against him.
Reuters reported:
“Russia has opened a criminal case against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and put him on a wanted list, the state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, an announcement Ukraine dismissed as evidence of Moscow’s ‘desperation’.
TASS reported that the Russian Interior Ministry database showed Zelensky was on a wanted list but gave no further details.”
Ukrainians – as one would expect – called the news ‘worthless Russian announcements’ and stated that the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on suspicion of war crimes ‘is quite real’.
Reuters further reported that “Russia has issued arrest warrants for a number of Ukrainian and other European politicians since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in February 2022.”
Russian police have also indicted many foreign politicians, and issued an arrest warrant for the International Criminal Court prosecutor who prepared Putin’s war crimes warrant.
Associated Press reported:
“As of Saturday afternoon, both Zelensky and his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, featured on the ministry’s list of people wanted on unspecified criminal charges. The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Gen. Oleksandr Pavlyuk, was also on the list.
Russian officials did not immediately clarify the allegations against any of the men. Mediazona, an independent Russian news outlet, claimed Saturday that both Zelensky and Poroshenko had been listed since at least late February.
[…] Russia’s wanted list also includes scores of officials and lawmakers from Ukraine and NATO countries. Among them is Kaja Kallas, the prime minister of NATO and EU member Estonia, who has fiercely advocated for increased military aid to Kyiv and stronger sanctions against Moscow.
Russian officials in February said that Kallas is wanted because of Tallinn’s efforts to remove Soviet-era monuments to Red Army soldiers in the Baltic nation, in a belated purge of what many consider symbols of past oppression.”
Some of the prosecutions of Foreign Leaders are tied to legislation against the resurgence of Nazism. In their insistence to cover up for Ukraine until the bitter end, AP wrote the following ridiculous paragraph:
“The Kremlin has repeatedly sought to link Ukraine’s leaders to Nazism, even though the country has a democratically elected Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust, and despite the aim of many Ukrainians to strengthen the country’s democracy, reduce corruption and move closer to the West.“
Who ‘repeatedly sought to link Ukraine’s leaders to Nazism’ but themselves, who venerate as National Hero Stephan Bandera, Nazi collaborator who massacred Jews and Polish citizens!
AP says that ‘the country has a democratically elected Jewish president’. OK, to begin with, Zelensky cancelled Presidential elections that should have happened in March. By May 22nd, his mandate will be over and he will be totally autocratic.
As for him being Jewish and endorsing the Nazis from ‘Azov battalions’ and ‘Right Sector’, that is yet another failing by the former leader that General Zaluzhny called ‘Frodo’.
You may ask, what about ‘the aim of many Ukrainians to strengthen the country’s democracy, reduce corruption and move closer to the West’, so let me leave you with a nice collection of Ukrainian sporting Nazi paraphernalia:
Ukrainian Nazis in full display pic.twitter.com/zy6ey2IxSE
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 4, 2024
Read more:
The post Russian Interior Ministry Opens a Criminal Investigation on Ukrainian President Zelensky and Puts Him on a Wanted List appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Slowly but surely, voices in favor of common sense energy policies are starting to emerge. It is true that, at this juncture, these voices do not yet confront the ‘Church of Global Warming’, and their criticism is still confined to matters of the feasibility of the ‘Net Zero’ failed, crippling policies and regulations – but that’s a start, anyway.
UAE’s energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei is the latest in this trend, stating that long-term predictions need to have a reality check’.
Al Mazrouei lent his approval to a recent article by JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon. He wrote that US delays of liquefied natural gas projects were done ‘for political reasons.’ According to him, Biden means to cater to those who believe oil and gas projects should be stopped altogether — a position that he calls ‘wrong’ and ‘enormously naïve.’
Bloomberg reported:
“The head of JPMorgan Chase & Co. made the comments […] in his annual shareholder letter, in which he touted replacing coal with natural gas as one of the best ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions for the next few decades. Dimon also called LNG exports a ‘great economic boon’ for the US as well as a ‘realpolitik goal’.
‘Our allied nations that need secure and affordable energy resources, including critical nations like Japan, Korea and most of our European allies, would like to be able to depend on the United States for energy’, the chairman and chief executive officer said in his letter.”
Now, the UAE Minister has come out in agreement with Dimon.
CNBC reported:
“JPMorgan’s calls for a “reality check” on the world’s energy transition goals and pathway is ‘sensible’, the UAE’s energy minister told CNBC.
‘We need always, whenever we put up predictions, especially long term ones, to have a reality check’, Suhail Al Mazrouei told CNBC’s Dan Murphy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.”
JPMorgan warned that a move from fossil fuels to renewables could take “generations” to reach present net-zero targets.
High interest rates, inflation and wars are setting back efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas.
“’I think it’s a very sensible article’, said Al Mazrouei. The minister, however, highlighted that the circumstances and financial capabilities of each country on undertaking the energy transition goals will vary.
‘The world is not the same … Some can afford it. They worked on fiscal changes, they adjusted their energy costs. Others have not, [they] cannot afford to do it’, he added.”
We are still far away from the point where authoritative voices will state unambiguously that the 2015 Paris Climate Goals were prompted by bogus science alarmism.
For now, they blame a ‘higher interest rate environment’ for making it costlier for the world to transition.
“’The higher cost of borrowing negatively affects renewables and nascent technologies, compared to more established oil and gas, and metals and mining sectors, which remain somewhat insulated’, [Al Mazrouei] said.”
We have seen Scotland’s government scrap its 2030 climate target, and major oil companies such as BP and Shell trim back on climate targets.
Read more:
The post UAE’s Energy Minister Joins JPMorgan’s Calls for a ‘Reality Check’ on Climate Alarmist ‘Energy Transition’ Goals appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Think about Haiti for a second.
A situation as dysfunctional as they have, with this extreme poverty and rampant violence, does not happen overnight – on the contrary, it is a work of decades.
And while the heavily armed rebel gangs are in the spotlight for their unrelenting attacks, the extreme societal collapse was caused by the utterly corrupt political elites.
The last elected leader in Haiti was President Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated on 7 July 2021 in the capital Port-au-Prince.
Since then, unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry extended his ‘transitional powers’ until the wave of gang attacks was unleashed while he was abroad and was unable to return.
While the situation on the ground deteriorated, elegant leaders negotiated a political solution from outside the country at the regional CARICOM community.
Their political solutions do not take into consideration the reality on the ground, and also, as they try to implement it, is impossible not to recognize how the various unelected elite players jockeying for political power are very much part of the problem.
In the words of the former police officer and current gang rebel leader Jimmy Chérizier, a.k.a. Barbecue: “It’s not just people with guns who’ve damaged the country but the politicians too.”
Gangs exchanged gunfire with police for hours in neighborhoods near the main international airport.
Associated Press reported:
“An armored police truck patrolled the streets, rolling past charred vehicles and cinderblock walls where someone had scrawled ‘Viv Barbecue’, a reference in Haitian Creole to one of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders.
[…] [Chérizier] and other gang leaders have been blamed for coordinated attacks that began on Feb. 29 across the capital, Port-au-Prince. Gunmen have burned police stations, opened fire on the main international airport and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
The attacks eventually forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign and led to the creation of a transitional presidential council whose majority unexpectedly announced a new prime minister on Tuesday: Fritz Bélizaire, a former sports minister. The move is threatening to fracture the nine-member council, which was sworn in last week.”
Yes, you read it right. Just one week after the unelected transitional council was installed, they are already at each others’ throats.
Haitian citizens demand a return to normalcy, while rebel gangs are still more powerful and better armed than Haiti’s National Police, but are not included in any negotiations.
Fox News reported:
“A surprise announcement that revealed Haiti’s new prime minister is threatening to fracture a recently installed transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for the gang-riddled Caribbean country.
Four of seven council members with voting powers said Tuesday that they had chosen Fritz Bélizaire as prime minister, taking many Haitians aback with their declaration and unexpected political alliance.
The council members who oppose Bélizaire, who served as Haiti’s sports minister during the second presidency of René Préval from 2006 to 2011, are now weighing options including fighting the decision or resigning from the council.”
Some council members are reportedly considering other choices as potential prime minister.
The council was scheduled to hold an election and choose its president. But not only a council president was chosen, but a new prime minister as well.
“A document shared with The Associated Press and signed by the four council members who chose the new prime minister state they have agreed to make decisions by consensus. The document is titled, ‘Constitution of an Indissoluble Majority Bloc within the Presidential Council’.”
The council must prepare for eventual general elections, but most of the council members are longtime politicians, and multiple analysts point out that some of the parties represented on the council are the same ones responsible for the current chaos in Haiti.
Michael Deibert, author: “The council is dominated by the same political currents who have spent the last 25 years driving Haiti over a cliff, taking advantage of impoverished young men in the slums to be used as political bludgeons before – bloated on the proceeds from kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking and other criminal enterprises – these groups outgrew the necessity of their patrons.”
Read more:
The post HAITI HELL: One Week After It Was Installed, Transitional Council Is Helplessly Divided Over New Prime Minister – Violence Continues as Gangs Demand Political Participation appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
An outcast from the British Royal Family, Prince Harry is headed for London, where a festive celebration awaits him. But what does NOT await him, reportedly, is the warmth of a loving family.
To begin with, Harry will be staying in a hotel, since he does not have a London home anymore, and though the Windsor family has dozens upon dozens of houses, apparently no one volunteered to host him.
The Duke of Sussex has been attempting to mend the relationship with his family and undo the mess of his own making that drew them so far apart from him.
Harry has invited all his family to the ‘Invictus Games’ 10-year celebration ceremony in London.
But so far, no senior members of the royal family are expected at the Wednesday event at St Paul’s Cathedral.
His father, King Charles, and his sister-in-law, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton, are both currently undergoing cancer treatment away from the public eye.
Coincidentally or not, the two ailing family members were the ones that the author of Harry’s Biography ‘Spare’ said were the ‘racist Royals’ that asked about how dark would his son Archie’s skin be.
Harry also remains estranged from his older brother, Prince William.
Page Six reported:
“Prince Harry has invited all of his family to the event to celebrate the Invictus Games 10th anniversary next week – but no senior royals are going. It’s still unclear whether he’ll see King Charles while in London.”
Harry has not spoken to his brother for more than a year.
“A well-placed London socialite who knows the brothers confirmed that Harry had invited William — as well as other members of the royal family — to the event to honor the veterans charity he founded.”
Charles will reportedly invite Harry and wife Meghan Markle to Balmoral castle in Scotland this summer, so that the King can see his grandchildren Archie, and grand-daughter Lilibet.
“Harry and his father last saw each other in February when Charles, 75, was diagnosed with cancer and Harry jetted over from California to see him — but was given just over 30 minutes with the king.”
Instead of the Invictus Games celebration, Charles will have an audience with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the first Buckingham Palace garden party of the season.
“As he told ABC News in February, he was ‘grateful’ for the time spent with his father earlier that month, adding, ‘I’ll stop in and see my family as much as I can’.
[…] Harry will be staying in a hotel in London, as he no longer has a UK home after being asked to give up Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate.”
Harry and Megan will visit Nigeria on an invitation by Chief of Defense Staff General Christopher Gwabin Musa.
Megan revealed in 2022 that she had discovered she was ‘43% Nigerian’ after doing a genealogy test.
They will visit military rehabilitation centers and sports facilities, as well as meetings with local organizations working to support veterans’ welfare.
Read more:
Prince Harry’s Charity in Africa Accused of Widespread Torture and Rape
The post Prince Harry Goes to London for His Charity Invictus Games’ 10-Year Celebration – But Despite His Reaching Out, King Charles and Prince William Seem To Be Ignoring Him appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
This week, as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Home Office led by James Cleverly started detaining illegal migrants to deport to Rwanda camps, many said that timing of the Tories’ launching of the large enforcement operations was meant to interfere with Thursday’s (2) Local Council, Mayoral elections.
One is hard-pressed to deny the validity of the Labor opposition argument, but if that was indeed the case, it certainly did not work out as intended.
As the results roll in, the Conservative Party seems set to have suffered its biggest electoral defeat in the last 40 years.
Daily News reported:
“Rishi Sunak is facing mounting Tory unrest today after a disastrous election night saw his party put to the sword in the Blackpool South by-election – and suffering a bloodbath on councils. The PM is hunkering down for a grim day as results continue to flow in, with experts warning the Conservatives are on track for their worst showing in 40 years.“
In Blackpool South by-election, Chris Webb secured a massive win to become the newest MP in the Commons. That was the seventh parliamentary seat defeat by the Tories since Sunak became PM in 2022.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has never looked so poised to become the new Prime Minister.
In fact, Tories could be on track to lose 500 councilor seats, and critics are already stepping up calls for Sunak to be ousted from Tory leadership.
Starmer demanded that Sunak call a general election.
“The Labour leader said: ‘This seismic win in Blackpool South is the most important result today. This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change. The swing towards the Labour Party in Blackpool South is truly historic and shows that we are firmly back in the service of working people. He added: The message to Rishi Sunak is clear. It’s time for change, it’s time for a general election’.”
Conservatives also endured hard defeats in local elections across the country.
“In his victory speech, [Blackpool mayor-elect] Webb said: ‘People no longer trust the Conservatives. Prime Minister: do the decent thing, admit you’ve failed and call a general election.’
The Blackpool South contest was prompted by the resignation of former Tory MP Scott Benton from the House of Commons after he was caught up in a lobbying sting.”
Polling guru Sir John Curtice told BBC Radio 4’s: “Tories could be on course to lose 500 councillors in ‘one of the worst, if not the worst’ performances by the party in 40 years. ‘So far they are basically losing a half of the [local council] seats they are trying to defend. If that continues they may end up losing 500 or so seats, which is the thing they were meant to avoid’.”
Nigel Farage’s Reform Party also beat the Tories in 16 out of the 25 seats being contests on Sunderland council.
“Veteran Tory aide Tim Montgomerie, who has been highly critical of Mr Sunak, told the BBC: ‘Personally I think the results are so bad… I just don’t think he is connected with the voters. I think he should go’.”
The Conservative rebels will reportedly use this catastrophic results to mount an effort to oust Rishi Sunak from ‘Downing Street No10’ in the coming days.
Read more:
The post BLOODBATH IN THE POLLS: During UK’s Local Elections, Starmer’s Labor Imposes WORSE DEFEAT IN 40 YEARS Over PM Sunak’s Tories appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Pro-Russian Telegram channels – where the intel from the frontlines arrives faster than anywhere else – announce that the Russian Ground Assault into Chasov Yar, a key Ukrainian city in Donbas, has begun.
This battle will dictate the immediate future of the Russian Donetsk Oblast offensive, and may have a catastrophic effect to the already crumbling morale of the Ukrainian defenders.
It has been widely reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered his top General Oleksandr Syrsky to hold the city at all costs – at least until ‘Victory Day’, a Russian Holiday that is celebrated on May 9th.
Watch: Chasov Yar is destroyed.
Chasov Yar is destroyed. pic.twitter.com/VKbpBvD0nV
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 2, 2024
Chasov Yar has been pounded by airstrikes and artillery in a way that cities like Artemovsk (Bakhmut) were not. This is due to the depletion of Kiev’s air defenses, and also the new UMPC glide bombs that started to make a big difference as of late.
It’s been reported that Russian air forces are launching more than 30 powerful glide bombs every day. These glide bombs used to be Soviet-era ‘dumb bombs’ that were ingeniously retrofitted with wings and navigation systems that allow precise targeting.
Watch: Russian air force pounds military positions in the city.
La aviación de ataque del Grupo Sur de las Fuerzas Armadas “prepara” Chasov Yar antes del inicio de los combates urbanos: imágenes de las tripulaciones de los Su-25 bombardeando las posiciones de las Fuerzas Armadas de Ucrania, que aguardan la rendición de la ciudad.… pic.twitter.com/JRMmYZRGLd— RedScorpion (Z) (@KrasnyySkorpion) April 25, 2024
Watch: artillery strikes on defensive positions.
Chasov Yar. Ataque a escondites de militantes ucranianos. pic.twitter.com/f7oxnIOtOo
— Иван Титов (@IvanTitov549528) April 29, 2024
While Russia launches its attack on the city, the exhausted, under-equipped and outmaneuvered Ukrainian brigades struggle to hold the line.
Financial Times reported:
“Up to 25,000 Russian troops have been deployed near the town in recent weeks, according to a spokesperson for Ukraine’s ground forces in the east. In other flashpoints along the frontline, Moscow’s army is also pressing ahead, seeking to capture as much territory as it can before the arrival of western kit.
[…] Chasiv Yar is seen as a key prize for Moscow, with senior Ukrainian commanders claiming the Russian general staff has ordered its forces to seize it by May 9 when Russia celebrates the end of the second world war. The Kremlin has previously justified its invasion of Ukraine as an attempt at ‘denazification’, and symbolically tied the war to the Soviet Union’s fight against Nazi Germany.
But the small town’s importance is strategic rather than symbolic, analysts and Ukrainian servicemen say. A Ukrainian retreat from Chasiv Yar could jeopardise the entire defence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, collectively known as the Donbas. Sat on top of a hill, the city provides Ukraine with one of the last natural barriers protecting important supply lines and, 30 kilometres to the north, the regional capital of Kramatorsk.
‘Chasiv Yar is a centre of gravity for the defensive line in the region’, said Viktor Kevliuk, a military analyst for the Centre for Defence Strategies, a Kyiv-based security think-tank.”
Watch: Ukrainian defenders run among the ruins.
Ucranianos translocam-se entre residências em Chasov Yar pic.twitter.com/QdQ72TkPO2
— Militar.Ru (@militar_ru) April 30, 2024
Slavyangrad on Telegram:
“French war correspondent Anne Nivat, speaking on the LCI TV channel, explained how leaving the city threatens the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
‘If the Russians manage to take control of Chasov Yar, they will be able to move to higher ground, from where they can launch artillery strikes’, Niva said.
According to her, shelling of Konstantinovka, where the railway junction is located, which is one of the key elements of Ukrainian logistics, will pose a particularly great danger to Kiev.”
Ukrainian-Russian war. Day 798:
Situation east of Chasov Yar: During the last hours #RussianArmy took control over the remaining areas of Mount Baba. The intensive bombardment forces #UkrainianArmy to withdraw to the trenches of the water channel. In addition, clashes between… pic.twitter.com/M3zbC7xcB8— @Suriyak (@Suriyakmaps) May 1, 2024
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The post BREAKING: Ground Assault on Chasov Yar Begins – Russian Forces Enter Key Donbas City From Three Directions! (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Today, Indonesia’s Mount Ruang volcano spewed more hot clouds after yesterday’s eruption – the second in a week – forced the closure of schools and airports, peppered villages with debris and led to yet another evacuation of hundreds of people.
Seven airports remained closed after the eruption on Tuesday (May 1st). The volcano sits on the small Ruang Island.
CBS News reported:
“The Indonesian geological agency urged people to stay at least 4 miles from the volcano’s crater. It warned people on nearby Tagulandang Island, the closest to the volcano, of possible super-heated volcanic clouds from a further eruption and a tsunami if the mountain’s volcanic dome collapses into the sea.
Tuesday’s eruption darkened the sky and peppered several villages with ash, grit and rocks. No casualties were reported. The country’s disaster management agency posted dramatic video online of dozens of lightning strikes flashing in the cloud of hot gases and debris belching from the volcano’s crater overnight.”
Hundreds of villagers from Tagulandang Island were evacuated on a navy ship, with similar amounts still waiting at a local port to be evacuated.
“[Rescue] Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said 11,000 to 12,000 people living within the 4-mile danger zone would be taken to government shelters.
After Mount Ruang’s April 17 eruption, authorities warned that a subsequent eruption might collapse part of the volcano into the sea.”
Mount Ruang, who spewed ash more than a mile high into the sky, is one of the 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are common there due to its location on the Pacific fault line of the “Ring of Fire”, that stretches from the Pacific coast of the Americas up until Japan and Southeast Asia.
ABC News reported:
“The 725-meter (2,378-foot) volcano in North Sulawesi province is about 95 kilometers (59 miles) northeast of Sam Ratulangi International Airport in Manado, the provincial capital.
[…] Ash, grit and rock fell from the sky in towns and cities across the region, including Manado, a city with more than 430,000 people where motorists had to switch on their headlights during daytime.
‘It was dark with rocks raining at the post from the eruption’, said Yulius Ramopolii, the head of Mount Ruang monitoring post. ‘The vibrations were intense and knocked out power, and volcanic earthquakes shook the glass windows and everything around us’.”
The post Indonesian Volcano Explodes in Smoke, Lava and Lighting – Second Eruption of Mount Ruang in a Week Causes Thousands to Evacuate (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
By now, all attentive observers can detect when Globalist powers that be set up ‘spontaneous demonstrations’ to destabilize local governments that go against their interests.
Right now, in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, powerful NGO’s are mobilizing thousands of protestors against the ‘Foreign Agent Bill’, that they already have tainted by calling it ‘the Russia law’.
The kicker is that you can’t know who is really funding these NGO’s and these protests – because that’s what the law that they are trying to prevent the approval wants to clarify.
Georgia’s Parliament approved in a second vote the ‘Foreign Agent Bill’, a law that Globalist critics fear ‘will stifle media freedom’ and ‘endanger the country’s European Union membership bid’.
Police used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray against the tens of thousands of protesters who thronged surrounding streets and threatened to invade the Parliament building.
Watch: A crowd protests in front of Parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia.
A crowd protests in from of Parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia. pic.twitter.com/B8MT3BDddY
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 2, 2024
Dozens of people were arrested on Wednesday, as mass rallies continue daily in Tbilisi.
Protesters denounce the bill as ‘the Russian law’ because neighboring Russia uses similar legislation – as is the case of the US, in fact.
Associated Press reported:
“The law would require media and noncommercial organizations to register as ‘pursuing the interests of a foreign power’, if they receive more than 20% of funding from abroad. The ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew a similar proposal last year after large crowds protested.
Eighty-three of Georgia’s 150 lawmakers approved the bill in its second reading, while 23 voted against it. A third and final vote in Parliament is needed before it can be signed into law. Georgian lawmaker Irakli Kobakhidze told reporters on Wednesday that he expected that final vote to happen in mid-May.
Russia-Georgia relations have been complicated and turbulent since the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s. The two countries fought a short war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control of two Russia-friendly separatist regions. In the aftermath, Tbilisi severed diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the issue of the regions’ status remains a key irritant, even as relations have somewhat improved.”
Watch: A fire breaks out near Parliament in Tbilisi during violent protests.
A fire breaks out near Parliament in Tbilisi during violent protests. pic.twitter.com/hT4EVfUA9C
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 2, 2024
Georgia condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine, and became a safe harbor for Russians fleeing military mobilization.
Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the pro-West United National Movement party, appeared on TV arriving in Parliament with bandages on his nose and forehead.
Members of his party said that he had been assaulted by police in the protests.
“’If you are not interested in how the leader of the main opposition party has been beaten up, then — for the sake of those young people who were injured, who were hit on the heads and bruised — I want to ask you once more, even though I do not have any hope, withdraw this law’, he said.”
Watch: Police in Georgia used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Police in Georgia used pepper spray to disperse the crowd. pic.twitter.com/gcey1ss5PW
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 2, 2024
“Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, increasingly at odds with the governing party, has criticized the bill and vowed to veto it if it is passed by Parliament. But the governing party can overrule the veto and ask the parliamentary speaker to sign the bill into law.”
Watch: Police in Georgia uses water cannons against protesters that try to invade Parliament.
Police in Georgia uses water cannons against protesters that try to invase Parliament. pic.twitter.com/j7MTo27Mn4
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 2, 2024
BBC reported:
“Georgia was granted EU candidate status last December and polls suggest about 80% of the population is in favour of joining. A number of European leaders have warned the proposed bill is “incompatible” with European norms and values.
But the government of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze is standing firm. Mr Kobakhidze has accused NGOs of attempting to stage revolutions in Georgia twice, of promoting ‘gay propaganda’ and of attacking the Georgian Orthodox Church.”
Watch: Water cannons against protestors in Georgia.
Water cannons against protestors in Georgia. pic.twitter.com/i6pCHkhOZe
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 2, 2024
Live online video from the Parliament chamber showed lawmakers shouting and physically confronting each other.
Watch: Brawl in Georgia’s parliament over the ‘Foreign Agents Bill’.
Brawl in Georgia’s parliament over the ‘Foreign Agents Bill’. pic.twitter.com/2KtD4U9CAU
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 2, 2024
The US State Department criticized the law. Slavyangrad at Telegram:
“The State Department is deeply disappointed with Georgia.
‘The United States condemns the Foreign Influence Law passed today in the Georgian Parliament and the false narrative government officials have chosen to defend it’ — said the head of the press service of the US State Department, Matthew Miller.
He said the law’s purpose is to ‘silence critical voices and destroy Georgia’s vibrant civil society’, which serves as a critical check on government ‘in any democratic country’.”
The European Union also joined the chorus.
I am following the situation in Georgia with great concern and condemn the violence on the streets of Tbilisi.
The Georgian people want a European future for their country.
Georgia is at a crossroads. It should stay the course on the road to Europe.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 1, 2024
Moscow blasted the West for hypocrisy over criticism of the law.
Sputnik reported:
“‘The United States has had a law since 1938 mandating the registration of entities lobbying foreign interests’, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday, commenting on the European Union’s criticism of a similar draft law in Georgia.”
Read more:
The post COLOR REVOLUTION IN GEORGIA: Globalist NGOs Foment Mass Protest Against ‘Foreign Agent Bill’ That Would Mandate Disclosure of Funding Sources of These Same Organizations appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came to power promising to ‘stop the boats’, to fundamentally curb the massive influx of ‘asylum seekers’, a.k.a. illegal migrants.
And to date he has failed miserably to do that, with numbers of people arriving to UK’s shores having steadily climbed – and of course, European and British legislation prohibit them to just send people back to whence they came from.
Sunak’s response to that was – the up until now laughable – ‘Rwanda Plan’: build and maintain migrant camps in the East African country to host thousands of ‘failed asylum seekers’.
After endless months of judicial and legislative hurdles, the Home Office has started rounding up and detaining the migrants is will send to Rwanda.
A series of dawn raids has started, with detentions starting to pile up and expectations of a long ‘season of deportation’ ahead.
The Home Office will launch more raids after up to 20 illegal migrants – including women – have already been detained and taken into custody in the UK-wide operation.
Daily Mail reported:
“The Government department has refused to release many details about the arrests, but has suggested that more raids could happen as part of the ‘large-scale operation’.”
PM Sunak wants flights to Rwanda underway in ‘the next 9 to 11 weeks’, after the ‘Safety of Rwanda Act’ finally became law last week.
But of course there are still obstacles ahead. Powerful FDA union launched a ‘judicial review’ into the Rwanda bill. It accused the government of ‘ignoring legal conflicts for civil servants’.
Home Secretary James Cleverly called the operation ‘a pioneering response to the global challenge of illegal migration’ – which it is, regardless of the outcome, since it’s almost unprecedented for European authorities to be doing something – anything – about this.
“The Home Secretary said: ‘Our Rwanda Partnership is a pioneering response to the global challenge of illegal migration, and we have worked tirelessly to introduce new, robust legislation to deliver it. Our dedicated enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here so we can get flights off the ground. This is a complex piece of work, but we remain absolutely committed to operationalizing the policy, to stop the boats and break the business model of people smuggling gangs’.”
The law enforcement raids took place in England, Wales and Scotland as well as Northern Ireland. Children will not be detained as part of the operations.
“Home Office Director of Enforcement Eddy Montgomery said: ‘Our specialist operational teams are highly trained and fully equipped to carry out the necessary enforcement activity at pace and in the safest way possible. It is vital that operational detail is kept to a minimum, to protect colleagues involved and those being detained, as well as ensuring we can deliver this large-scale operation as quickly as possible’.”
Once the ‘Safety of Rwanda Act’ became law, it is believed that all legal objections have been overcome.
Objections about the timing of the raids are nevertheless valid, since they began less than 24 hours before polls open in elections that will be tough for the ruling Conservative Party.
Immigration is, after all, one of the top concerns of the public, alongside the economy and the state of the Health System.
“The Home Office has increased its detention capacity to more than 2,200 detention spaces, trained 200 new caseworkers to quickly process claims and has 500 highly trained escorts ready.
[…] Downing Street said: ‘The next stage of Prime Minister’s plan to stop the boats has begun. We’re working at home and abroad to deliver on this priority’.”
Read more:
The post LET THE DEPORTATIONS BEGIN: UK Is Rounding up ‘Failed Asylum Seekers’ To Send Them to Rwanda Migrant Camps, as Yet Another Judicial Review Is Demanded by Powerful Union appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
All over the world, labor unions and Marxists in general gather to celebrate International Worker’s Day with the same old tired slogans and same old delusional expectations that the war of classes will usher in the dictatorship of the proletariat.
In France, of course, it’s not different, and in fact, it’s worse than most places on planet Earth.
This year, crowds gathered all over the French Republic, but perhaps nowhere else was a chaotic as in the capital Paris.
Paris, May 1st. pic.twitter.com/UCtNLhjtza
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 1, 2024
As is usually the case, the ‘City of Light’, that is gearing up to host the Summer Olympic games, quickly became a field of battle between protesters and the riot police.
Paris, May 1st. pic.twitter.com/tOcA9ogywW
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 1, 2024
Paris urban center saw that the annual march by Workers’ unions quickly devolved into a full-blown riot, and clashes between broke between the Marxist demonstrators and the forces of order.
The protesters were out demanding ‘better working conditions’ like it’s the 19th century, and somehow this is the perfect excuse to riot and clash with the gerndarmes.
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 1, 2024
Some of the most excitable rioters called for the execution of French President Emmanuel Macron with guillotines.
It’s unclear if ‘Le Petit Roi’ will pause his war-mongering for a minute to acknowledge these homages.
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) May 1, 2024
In the end, around 45 people were arrested in Paris during the ‘mostly peaceful’ demonstrations.
Authorities reported 121,000 participants throughout France, while the biggest Workers Union of France, CGT, announced that more than 210,000 protested around the country.
As much as 12 riot police officers and gendarmes were injured, transported to hospital in relative emergency
If there was an Olympic medal for chaos and rioting, we know the French would be absolute favorites.
Read more:
100 Days to Chaos: Citizens of Paris Dread the Upcoming Summer Olympic Games
The post PARIS CHAOS: Marxist Demonstrators Clash With Riot Police in Violent International Workers’ Day Protests (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
While it may seem that the political impasse in Haiti may be lifting and some semblance of government is back in place, at the same time the developments show us just how the political elites are very much a part of the problem, and not just the heavily armed rebel gangs.
It just happened that Haiti’s new unelected ‘transitional council’ chose a little-known former sports minister as the new prime minister less than a week after the outgoing cabinet had chosen a different leader.
Associated Press reported:
“Fritz Bélizaire was chosen in a surprise move to replace current interim Prime Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert, gaining the support of four of the seven voting members on the nine-member panel but with other panel members saying they were unfamiliar with Bélizaire.
The council also planned to choose a Cabinet as it seeks to quell gang violence that is choking the capital, Port-au-Prince, and beyond. Heavy gunfire was reported in several of the capital’s neighborhoods during the council’s meeting.”
The new council also chose former presidential candidate Edgard Leblanc Fils as the ‘president of the panel’.
“’This is a very good choice for prime minister’, Fils said of Bélizaire during a brief speech to nearly two dozen attendees. ‘The important thing for us is this will, this determination to go beyond divisions, to overcome conflicts and to reach a consensus’.”
The council additionally met with army and police officials to discuss Haiti’s security crisis, which saw 90,000 people flee the capital in one month as rebel gangs terrorize Port-au-Prince.
The announcement of Bélizaire was unexpected, as he served as Haiti’s sports minister during the second presidency of René Préval from 2006 to 2011.
“Council member Louis Gérald Gilles, who supported Bélizaire, told The Associated Press that the council wanted to act quickly in choosing a prime minister. ‘The Haitian population can no longer wait’, he said. ‘The security issue is essential for societal calm’.”
The council will now move to select a new Cabinet.
“The transitional council will act as the country’s presidency until it can arrange a presidential election some time before it disbands, which must be by February 2026.”
While this transition period may appear to be quite long, one may remember that former Prime Minister Ariel Henry was also meant to be ‘transitional’, but perpetuated his term and never left power until he was toppled by rebel gang violence.
But while the political leaders are jockeying for unelected positions, the heavily armed people who control the streets want to be listened to.
Rebel gang leaders demand political influence and amnesties, and are threatening violence if their demands are not met.
The Guardian reported:
“In an interview with CNN published on Monday, Vitel’homme Innocent, who heads the Kraze Barye gang and is accused of orchestrating the 2021 kidnapping of US missionaries, called for the council to listen to the gangs and find a resolution to the crisis ‘as soon as possible’.
Kraze Barye forms part of a loose coalition of gangs known as Viv Ansanm, or ‘Live Together’, who now control most of Port-au-Prince.
Viv Ansanm’s leader, a former police officer named Jimmy Cherizier who is known as ‘Barbeque’, warned of consequences if the gangs were ignored, in a message shared to social media over the weekend.
‘Viv Ansanm is ready to talk. It’s either we are all at the table, or the table gets destroyed with all of us’, he said.”
Read more:
The post HAITI HELL: Unelected ‘Transitional Council’ Chooses Second Interim PM in a Week, Gang Rebels Demand Political Participation appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
I have been trying to offer short and focused updates on the war in Ukraine, but now it seems impossible, since the amount of activity in so many parts of the 600-mile long frontline is simply dizzying.
So I will try here to pack as much information as possible to show just how close to collapse are Kiev’s defenses in Donetsk region.
Report by the New York Times says Russian Federation troops liberated 12 settlements in just the last week of offensive in the Donbas.
Much like Ukrainian forces are retreating and taking up new defensive lines, so does the MSM, that is abandoning some propaganda narratives and taking up others further behind in their fake triumphalism.
Some of the media reports now hear ‘military bloggers on both sides’, and not just the ‘Ukrainian Military PR lie machine’.
WATCH: Heavy ground battles in Chasov Yar.
WATCH: Heavy ground battles in Chasov Yar. pic.twitter.com/a6UNAhKJkg
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 30, 2024
And much of the distressing news for Kiev is coming from their own forces on the ground, tired of pretending.
For instance, Swiss paper Blick (behind a paywall) brings the unvarnished opinions of frontline Ukrainian officers:
“’The Russians will capture Donbass by October, then the conflict will freeze, and we will have to negotiate with Putin’, predicts Sergei, an officer of the brigade located in Chasov Yar.”
WATCH: a traditional Odessa school nicknamed ‘Hogwarts Castle’ was struck and caught fire.
A traditional Odessa school nicknamed ‘Hogwarts Castle’ was struck and caught fire. pic.twitter.com/GP0sHrzV5Z
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 30, 2024
They point out three reasons: lack of people, and new US aid ‘arrives too late’.
“The third reason is the leadership style of Commander-in-Chief Syrsky, which the publication calls ‘the paralyzing effect of the Butcher’.
Syrsky’s appointment “caused a bad mood in many places at the front, as they were sent on combat missions with no ammunition, with too few people.
The Guardian reported:
“Russia has consolidated recent battlefield gains in the east of Ukraine, and is attempting to break through Ukrainian defensive lines before a long-awaited package of US military assistance arrives at the frontline.”
Russians have expanded a narrow corridor around the rural settlement of Ocheretyne. The fighting there followed a rare surprise Russian attack, because with the present-day ISR capabilities one side is always able to know the other’s movements.
WATCH: Russian forces use a large-scale aerosol curtain to disguise troop movement from enemy drones.
Russian forces use a large-scale aerosol curtain to disguise troop movement from enemy drones. pic.twitter.com/DQUEzBkaUv
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 30, 2024
“According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Kremlin is seeking to exploit a window of opportunity before US assistance is delivered. Moscow has been bringing in reinforcements and has a threefold advantage in some sectors. Its recent tactical gains suggest an ambitious plan to encircle the Ukrainian garrison cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in a summer offensive. Whether it will succeed is unclear. Russia is unlikely to overwhelm Ukrainian defences, the ISW said last week.”
Ukrainian service personnel complain that they are completely outgunned. Russian warplanes able to operate freely close to the frontline. Ukraine has fewer tanks and armored vehicles.
WATCH: Russian forces storm Ocheretyne.
WATCH: Russian forces storm Ocheretyne. pic.twitter.com/743TLMo5ux
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 30, 2024
Russian Armed Forces are trying to disrupt the supply of American weapons to Ukraine, with Bloomberg reporting that strikes are increasingly focusing on military installations and logistics.
“’The Russian military is rapidly moving forward in the eastern direction, while exhausted Ukrainian troops wait for desperately needed American weapons’, the article says.”
The Russian armed forces struck a major railroad hub in the settlement of Borovaya, the Kharkov region, where Ukrainian forces were distributing servicemen, equipment, and ammunition to the frontlines.
WATCH: Russian air defense system destroys reconnaissance Ukrainian drone in the border area.
Russian air defense system destroys reconnaissance Ukrainian drone in the border area. pic.twitter.com/hYjXS9vqd4
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 30, 2024
Besides targeting power and railroad infrastructure, Russians are targeting foreign fighters. Sunday, Russian drones hit a hotel in the southern port city of Mykolaiv, targeting ‘English-speaking mercenaries’.
A reconnaissance UAV also discovered a temporary deployment point for foreign mercenaries of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kharkov.
Russian Telegram channels: “Additional reconnaissance revealed that there were more than 150 mercenaries in two buildings. A high-precision missile strike was carried out at the coordinates of the buildings, as a result of which 40 mercenaries from central and western Europe were instantly demobilized, and more than 55 were injured of varying degrees of severity.
Even ‘the butcher’ now has to concede the repeated defeats.
BBC reported:
“Ukraine’s commander-in-chief has said the situation on the frontline has worsened in the face of multiple Russian attacks. Oleksandr Syrsky said Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from positions in the eastern Donetsk region.
[…] ‘The situation at the front has worsened’, Gen Syrsky said in a post on the Telegram messaging service on Sunday.”
Advancing forces made further gains in multiple locations along the eastern front in Ukraine.
CNN reported:
“One of Russia’s main efforts is in the Donetsk region. Ukraine’s DeepState monitoring group, which updates daily changes in frontline positions, shows Russian forces pushing forward in eight different locations along 20-25 kms of frontline in one 24-hour period.
[…] Elsewhere, about 180kms (112 miles) to the north, Russia’s forces have also achieved their first successes in almost three months along that part of the frontline that cuts into Kharkov region.
With withdrawals and losses accumulating, military bloggers such as Myroshnykov and the DeepState site have both taken aim at official Ukrainian communications, accusing the [Ukrainian] armed forces of increasingly unrealistic updates from the battlefield.”
Watch: enormous cemetery of Ukrainian forces in Sumy region.
Watch: enormous cemetery of Ukrainian forces in Sumy region. pic.twitter.com/lve38v9HTQ
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 30, 2024
Syrsky acknowledged that Ukraine’s overall situation had deteriorated.
“’The situation at the front has escalated. Trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line, the enemy has concentrated its main efforts in several directions, creating a significant advantage in forces and in means’, he added.”
Russia’s stepped-up tempo may be a precursor to a major offensive attempt later this spring.
Also, a Ukrainian soldier from the Nazi Azov battalion offered a frank analysis of the country’s war effort.
Sputnik reported:
“’No one is willing to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine nowadays’, said the soldier, identified as ‘Niko’, to a local news outlet. The soldier continues to fight on despite having lost one of his legs in combat, insisting that there is no one to replace him.
[…] The soldier added that ‘literally no one’ is willing to go to Ukraine’s front lines.
[…] Fighting-age Ukrainians “do whatever they come up with” to try to escape the draft the soldier added, including “swimming across the Tisa River and drowning themselves in there.” Some 22 Ukrainians have reportedly died attempting to cross the river separating Ukraine from Romania.”
It is estimated that 1.5 million men of military age are currently in hiding across Ukraine. Ukrainian military personnel are also increasingly deserting, with over 100,000 deserters on the run.
WATCH: A man from Odessa escapes military recruiters hunting Ukrainians to send to the meat grinder.
WATCH: A man from Odessa escapes military recruiters hunting Ukrainians to send to the meat grinder. pic.twitter.com/C4sa2gP0zs
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 30, 2024
Reuters reported:
“Russia has been rearming faster than the West, has a larger army than before the invasion and has a population several times larger than Ukraine which is trying to draft more men into its army.
Russia says it will achieve all its aims in what it calls the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, parts of which Moscow now says it considers to be Russian territory.”
While I’m trying not to talk about the multiple conquests by the Russian forces, one simply can’t be avoided: Russian sources report that after heavy fighting, the settlement of Rabotyno was returned under full control of the Russian Armed Forces. This is the same settlement Ukrainians captured during the failed summer counteroffensive in 2023.
Ukrainian military analyst: “Judging by the footage, the Russians captured most of the village of Rabotyno, which was taken during the summer counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They hung their flag on a building in the northern part of the village.”
WATCH: Russians reportedly took back Rabotyno, the only Ukrainian conquest in their Summer Offensive.
WATCH: Russians reportedly took back Rabotyno, the only Ukrainian conquest in their Summer Offensive. pic.twitter.com/DOJgBe0ucH
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 30, 2024
Read more:
The post THE EDGE OF COLLAPSE: Ukrainian Troops Say Russia Will Take Donbas Region by October, Complain ‘NO ONE Wants To Fight for Kiev’ – MSM Adjusts Coverage in Anticipation of Defeat (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
It seems that the never-ending British soap opera regarding the flights of migrants to Rwanda is about to end, and the deportations are set to begin.
UK’s Home Office reportedly launched a major operation to detain asylum seekers across the UK today (29) – a date that’s weeks earlier than expected – in preparation for their deportation to migrant camps in Rwanda.
Asylum seekers who turn up at immigration service offices or bail appointments will be held, and migrants will also be picked up nationwide in a surprise two-week operation.
The Guardian reported:
“Detainees will be immediately transferred to detention centers, which have already been prepared for the operation, and held until they are put on planes to Rwanda. Some will be put on the first flight due to take off this summer.
The Home Office said ratification of the prime minister’s Safety of Rwanda Act meant ‘the government is entering the final phase of operationalizing this landmark policy to tackle illegal migration and stop the boats’.
It added: ‘At some stage inevitably this will include detaining people in preparation for the first flight, which is set to take off to Rwanda in 10 to 12 weeks. It would be inappropriate to comment further on operational activity.”
PM Rishi Sunak has endlessly repeated that he was focused on ‘stopping the boats’, determined to get the Rwanda plan going.
“Speaking on Monday before the Lords and Commons sat through the night to pass the safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill, Sunak said: ‘To detain people while we prepare to remove them, we’ve increased detention spaces to 2,200.
‘To quickly process claims, we’ve got 200 trained, dedicated caseworkers ready and waiting. To deal with any legal cases quickly and decisively, the judiciary have made available 25 courtrooms and identified 150 judges who could provide over 5,000 sitting days’.”
The first deportation flight to Rwanda will take off in June, after MPs and peers last week finally passed the Safety of Rwanda Bill. It was known after ministers let documents lying around in Downing Street for the press to see which contained the date.
Meanwhile, Irish deputy PM has said people are crossing from Northern Ireland because they fear being sent to east Africa.
BBC reported:
“The UK will not take back asylum seekers who have crossed into Ireland as the Rwanda deportation scheme gets going, Rishi Sunak has said.”
The prime minister said the UK was ‘not interested’ in accepting people back from Ireland.
“‘We’re not going to accept returns from the EU via Ireland when the EU doesn’t accept returns back to France where illegal migrants are coming from’, he told ITV. ‘Of course we’re not going to do that’.”
The standoff developed after the Irish government announced that it plans emergency legislation ‘to allow it to return asylum seekers to the UK’.
“Mr Sunak has argued any increased flow of people into Ireland shows his Rwanda policy is working.
The UK government is paying £500m to fund more border patrols to prevent small boat crossings to the UK, and a new detention centre in France, following a new deal between the two countries in 2022.”
Read more:
The post After Rwanda Plan Becomes Law, UK Launches Major Operation To Detain Asylum Seekers That Will Be Deported to Migrant Centers in Central Africa appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Globalist poster boy, former Rothschild banker, French President Emmanuel Macron is on a crusade, warmongering for better poll numbers, and if he has to threaten the use of France’s nuclear arsenal in the process, so be it.
In the run-up to June, where there will be at once a European Election and the Olympic Summer Games in Paris, Macron seems to be shying away from his numerous domestic problems and focusing on a deranged foreign policy where he envisions France to be a major planetary force that it has long ceased to be.
Trailing the conservative opposition in all polls badly, Macron took the ultimate grandstanding step of putting France’s nuclear weapons should ‘on the table.’
‘Le Petit Roi’ was interviewed by a group of newspapers on Sunday and drew heavy fire from political opponents.
Reuters reported:
“In an interview set up by EBRA, a group of French eastern regional newspapers, he said a ‘credible European defense’ should go beyond the protection already offered by NATO.
‘That may mean deploying anti-missile shields, but we need to be sure that they block all missiles and deter the use of nuclear weapons’, he said.”
France’s doctrine on Nuclear weapons is only to use them ‘when the country’s vital interests are threatened.’
Macron now says he was ‘open’ to giving a more ‘European dimension’ to these vital interests.
“‘I’m in favour of opening this debate, which must therefore include missile defense, long-range weapons and nuclear weapons for those who have them or who have American nuclear weapons on their soil’, he said.”
His nuclear warmongering drew heavy criticism from opponents both on the right and the left.
“‘Macron is becoming a national danger!’, far-right European lawmaker Thierry Mariani wrote on social media platform X. ‘#We can’t wait for June 9th to give him a clear signal that his policies are over!’ Mariani, a member of France’s Rassemblement National (RN) headed by Marine Le Pen, added in a reference to the approaching EU parliamentary elections.”
Macron summarized his thoughts by saying that France is ‘ready to contribute more to the defense of Europe’ – a.k.a. he needs to have more relevance at all costs.
Deutsche Welle reported:
“‘Let us put it all on the table and see what really protects us in a credible manner’, he added. Paris will ‘maintain its specificity but is ready to contribute more to the defense of Europe’.
[…] Far-left French lawmaker Bastien Lachaud said France’s nuclear deterrent ‘cannot be shared’.
“‘Under the guise of defending European soil, Macron wants to liquidate France’s strategic autonomy’, Lachaud said.”
Read more:
Peter Sweden: IT’S SPREADING – Massive Farmers Protest in Germany (Video)
The post ‘Macron Is Becoming a National Danger!’ Opposition Torches Unpopular French President After His Warmongering Puts Nuclear Weapons Arsenal ‘On the Table’ for European Defense appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
There’s one thing that most unbelievers – especially Muslim terrorists – don’t quite get about Christians: if you kill a holy man, you turn him into a martyr, and his word will echo through centuries.
And if you don’t kill him, he comes back much stronger in the love of Christ.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, carrying a gold cross and sporting a white eye patch, returned triumphantly to the pulpit on Orthodox Palm Sunday – of all days – and delivered a fiery sermon, calling out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an impassioned defense of freedom of speech and religion.
The New York Post reported:
“I say to our beloved, the Australian government, and our beloved Prime Minister, the honorable Mr. Albanese, I believe in one thing and that is the integrity and the identity of the human being. This human identity, this human integrity, is a God-given gift, no one else. Every human being has the right to their freedom of speech and freedom of religion.”
Bishop Emmanuel said all religions – Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Atheists – had the right to express their beliefs.
“Also the Christians have the right to express their beliefs, and for us to say, that free speech is dangerous, that free speech cannot be possible in a democratic country, I’m yet to fathom this. I’m yet to fathom this. We should be able as civilized human beings, as intellectuals, we should be able to criticize, to speak, and maybe, at some certain times, we may sound, or we may come across offensive to some degree, but we should be able to say, ‘I should not worry for my life to be exposed to threat or to be taken away’. A non Christian can criticize my faith, can attack my faith. I will say one thing, ‘may God forgive you, and may God bless you.”
He said it is unacceptable to state that freedom of speech ‘is causing dramas and dilemmas’ and that it should be censored. He asked: ‘Then where is democracy?’
“Then, where is humanity, where is integrity, where are the morals, where are the ethics, where are the principles, where are the values which the Western world, more so, have been fighting for human rights, which is the value of the human.”
After a 16-year-old Muslim terrorist stabbed the bishop during a live-streamed sermon, the video of the attack quickly spread online.
Australian eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant ordered social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to take down posts commenting on the attack.
X has stated it will challenge the take-down order.
The recent attacks in Australia are a horrific assault on free society. Our condolences go out to those who have been affected, and we stand with the Australian people in calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.
Following these events, the Australian eSafety…
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) April 19, 2024
Bishop Emmanuel: “May this holy and blessed day, the day of Hosanna, Palm Sunday according to the [Orthodox] church calendar, may the Lord Jesus bless every Christian who is celebrating Palm Sunday today, and those who have celebrated it earlier.” he said to his congregation.
He said ‘love never fails’: “This is our Christian faith, but above all this is our Christ, who is all. And always taught to love one another, because God is love, and the Lord Jesus, he is God, revealed in the flesh, period. He taught us to love everyone, without any differentiation. This will never change.”
The Bishop also delivered a message to his attacker, forgiving him, showing the power of Christianity in real time, to all the world to hear.
“I’ll say it again, this young man who did this act, almost two weeks ago, I say to you, ‘my dear, you are my son and you will always be my son’. I will always pray for you, I will always wish you nothing but the best.”
Read more:
The post Australian Orthodox Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel Makes a Triumphant Return on Palm Sunday: Defends Freedom of Speech, Forgives His Attacker (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
As the June European Elections approach, all countries see a flurry of maneuvering by the political forces in order to get the best possible outcome.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has officially joined as a candidate, announcing it on the stage of the programmatic conference of her ‘Brothers of Italy’ party.
Meloni will run in the European elections to boost support for her party, but she will not take up a seat if elected.
The June 6-9 European Parliament vote is seen as a key test of strength for her conservative coalition.
Reuters reported:
“‘We want to do in Europe what we did in Italy… create a majority that brings together the centre-right forces and send the left into opposition’, Meloni told cheering party faithful at a party conference in the coastal city of Pescara to set out EU policies and launch the campaign.”
While Meloni called for Italy to leave the eurozone when she was in opposition, she has followed a pro-European line in office, particularly on foreign policy matters such as Ukraine and the Middle East.
“Her party is Italy’s most popular with 27% of support, according to recent polls, ahead of the opposition Democratic Party (PD) on around 20% and the left-leaning 5-Star Movement on 16%.
Meloni will be the first name on the ballot for Brothers of Italy in all five of Italy’s constituencies for the EU election, but pledged she would not use ‘a single minute’ of her time as prime minister to campaign.”
Read: Italy’s PM Meloni Unveils Her ‘Africa Plan’ To Create an Energy Hub and Curb Illegal Immigration
Euronews reported:
“On stage, Meloni recalled the previous European electoral challenges, of 2014 when the party did not reach the quorum of 4 percent and those of 2019 when it reached 6.5 percent. ‘In six years we have increased by two percent, in the last three we have reached 26.5 percent’, said Meloni. ‘I don’t remember this story as a rhetorical exercise of self-satisfaction and self-celebration, I say it to remind myself and all of us that what we have earned is not something we have acquired forever, we must continue to deserve it’. added Meloni.”
Meloni claims to have put Italy at the centre of Europe and international politics, and credited herself for the agreements with Tunisia and Egypt for the management of migrants.
“There was no shortage of criticism of the European Green Deal and the ‘bureaucrats locked in a glass palace’. Meloni claimed the obligation to advance the energy class to be achieved in a few years and on electric cars he reiterated that Europe must stop, ‘it must leave it up to research, the market and companies to develop the cleanest technologies and the Member States, also based on their social model, to decide how to achieve those objectives’, said Meloni and added: ‘Because while we save the environment, we also want to save the thousands of businesses and the thousands of jobs’.”
Her ‘Brothers of Italy’ party elected six deputies in the last European Parliament, but according to the recent Ipsos poll, could obtain up to 24 seats in the next elections.
Read more:
The post Italian PM Meloni Will Run in June European Elections, Wants To ‘Bring Together the Centre-Right Forces and Send the Left Into Opposition’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
A devastating tornado struck south China during the weekend, killing five people, injuring dozens, and damaging more than 140 factory buildings in the industrial city of Guangzhou.
Associated Press reported:
“The China Meteorological Administration said the tornado struck about 3 p.m. [on Saturday] in the Baiyun district of Guangzhou, a sprawling metropolis and manufacturing center near Hong Kong.
Videos posted online showed a mid-afternoon sky darkened by storm clouds and debris swirling up into the air.
Authorities said that another 33 people were injured and 141 factory buildings were damaged, the official Xinhua News Agency said.”
The severe weather was prefaced with heavy a hailstorm, some bigger than golf balls, that damaged cars and buildings.
Guangzhou, China: severe hail storm. pic.twitter.com/MgasZkKqYJ
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 29, 2024
Tornado warnings were issued for several parts of Guangzhou, a city formerly known as Canton.
The metropolis holds the Canton Fair, a major export and import exhibition that draws buyers from around the world.
Debris flying during deadly tornado in Guangzhou, China. pic.twitter.com/rJOOrcubbv
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 29, 2024
“As businesses and residents began cleaning debris, the images showed block upon block of devastation in the hardest-hit areas with a few clusters of buildings standing amid the destruction, a truck overturned on its side and cars crushed by rubble. The sheet metal roofs on some buildings were torn off.”
The Guardian reported:
“Guangdong, China’s most populous province, is home to 127 million people and thousands of factories that power the nation’s export sector.
Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed the tornado had caused wide devastation in parts of the city. The images showed block upon block of damage in the hardest-hit areas with a few clusters of buildings standing amid the destruction.”
Devastating Tornado hit the power lines in Guangzhou, China. pic.twitter.com/dG1uw3iytX
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 29, 2024
The post Heavy Hailstorm, Devastating Tornado Hit Industrial Metropolis of Guangzhou, China (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
As a star of the legendary HBO series ‘The Sopranos’, Drea de Matteo got a legion of fans all around America and the world, playing an Italian-American young woman involved in the fatally dangerous world of the New Jersey mafia.
When the show was over, real life de Matteo had to face real life threats that could be just as deadly.
A couple of months ago, it arose that she had to resort to opening a very successful ‘OnlyFans’ account to keep herself and her family above water in the midst of a deep financial crisis.
What many people did not know is that she was driven to such financial dire straits because she was blacklisted in Hollywood. The reason? She would not take the COVID Vaxx. That’s pretty based, right?
Daily News reported:
“Sopranos actress Drea de Matteo has praised OnlyFans for ‘saving her life’ after her refusal to have the COVID vaccine cost her acting gigs and left her with just $10 in her bank account.
[…] ‘God knows ideologies were pushed forward in the last three years [that] have not helped society’.”
Now, it arises that she is putting herself out there, and saying the things that need to be said, with a kind of courage that we came to expect from her, a much different character than our favorite fictional heroine.
Emmy-winning de Matteo told Donald Trump Jr. in an interview for his podcast ‘Triggered’ that many prominent celebrities like herself ‘are against Biden’s agenda but are afraid to speak out’.
Fox News reported:
“De Matteo, who rose to fame in HBO’s ‘The Sopranos’, spoke with former President Trump’s son on a recent episode of his ‘Triggered’ podcast. De Matteo has a history of slamming cancel culture, even starting a streetwear brand called ‘Ultrafree’ that helps ‘promote free speech’.”
De Matteo spoke about how she has changed her opinions on certain issues such as illegal immigration, and that while she previously voted for Biden based on sympathy for illegal immigrants, the chaos at the border has changed her mind. After showing off a cap from her friends’ company, Sloppy Tease, that read ‘Close the border you moron’, they discussed the mass illegal immigration of able-bodied, fighting-age men. ‘I just don’t know that they’re here to support the American people’, de Matteo said.”
Trump Jr. asked de Matteo if she had noticed other Hollywood actors who also question modern leftist policy, but don’t quite have the same guts as her.
She considers herself a liberal, but said she has been against modern far-left trends for a long time.
She decided to speak up about it only recently. She said she wanted to fight but felt she didn’t think she ‘the voice and the balls’.
But for her, everything changed once she ‘got thrown to the wolves’, which may or not be a reference to her refusal to take the untested, unsafe COVID injection.
“Once I was out there, I was like, ‘I’m out here, what am I going to do? I’m out of my cage.’ Like, I may as well just, you know, do what I got to do.”
She thanked the support from her boyfriend, God, and her children.
“They believe in what we believe in, which is freedom and unity the right way, not unity the way this administration was trying to push. That was bullshit.”
She slammed the Biden administration hard for taking every social agenda and using it to further their administration, and ‘doing nothing but divide people’.
“‘This administration has just been hammering all of these things’, she argued, ‘and people in Hollywood are petrified. What, are you going to speak out against race, and sex, and all of that stuff? People are afraid to have those conversations.”
“I’m just so liberal that I’m a conservative at this point.”
Emmy winner, your favorite Sopranos star Drea de Matteo @dreadematteo is fed up with all the Hollywood hate and all the far-left lunacy driving our country off a cliff pic.twitter.com/LqFHX0yGfQ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 23, 2024
The post ‘The Sopranos’ Star Drea de Matteo Slams Biden’s Far-Left Policies, Illegal Immigration – Actress Was Previously Blacklisted in Hollywood for Refusing the COVID Vaxx appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
One would be hard-pressed to describe US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken as competent of effective, but in fairness he is mostly given impossible missions and often sees his work undone by the chaotic Joe Biden administration from hell.
We don’t need a thousand words to establish that, because Blinken himself has told us everything we need to know by his facial expressions here, after he worked hard to set up a bilateral summit between Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping, only to see his effort trashed in a second by the ‘self-propelled grandpa’:
The trip seemed doomed from the start, and indeed it began in a humiliating fashion: when leaving his plane in Shanghai, Antony Blinken was greeted without a red carpet, and met by Shanghai Party Committee and Politburo member Chen Jining – a very low level local official.
This is the diplomatic equivalent of a slap in the face – protocol dictates the head of the State Department should be met by the Minister of Foreign Affairs – but things were about to get even worse.
Watch: Blinken arrives in Shanghai: no red carpet, low-level official receives him.
Blinken arrives in Shanghai: no red carpet, low-level official receives him. pic.twitter.com/xVcjh3TXnl
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 27, 2024
Blinken soldiered on, and the meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi want as badly as one would expect, with the Chinese diplomat openly displaying the adversarial tone of the meeting, saying that the US ‘should not interfere in China’s domestic affairs or suppress its development’, nor should it cross China’s ‘red lines’.
Sputnik reported:
“China’s demands are consistent. It always advocates mutual respect for core interests. The United States should not interfere in China’s internal affairs, should not suppress China’s development, and should not cross Beijing’s red lines regarding China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” Wang said as quoted by China Central Television (CCTV).
China’s legitimate rights to development are being constantly suppressed and its core interests are being challenged, the Chinese Foreign Minister emphasized.
Wang said China-US relations are facing various obstacles, ‘with negative factors that continue to grow and accumulate’.
Blinken, of course, presented his own list of grievances, stating that the United States is ready to take new measures and impose sanctions against China against the background of the situation in Ukraine.
“If China does not take measures to solve this problem, the US will do it [impose sanctions].”
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 27, 2024
Of course, Blinken could not convince China to stop helping Russia, or achieve any progress in the bilateral relations.
He said Russia is using Chinese products to build up its military industry.
“Beijing will not be able to achieve improved relations with Europe by supporting the greatest threat to European security since the end of the Cold War.”
The meeting with Xi Jinping was the most embarrassing moment of the trip, when the Chinese leader was caught on camera impatiently asking an aide: ‘When will he leave?’
‘This evening’, an official answered.
The footage goes on to show Blinken entering the room and trotting towards Xi, who extends his arm the least amount possible, in a clear body language sign of control of the situation, and of lack of respect and appreciation towards the US diplomat.
Xi: ‘When will he leave?’ Aide: ‘He is leaving this evening’. pic.twitter.com/S7YRVCyc75
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 27, 2024
To top it off, Blinken’s departure from China was even more melancholic: NO OFFICIAL CHINESE REPRESENTATIVES attended, and he was seen off by the U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
The post HUMILIATION: Secretary Blinken’s Hostile Reception in Failed China Trip (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
In the much-hyped Summer 2023 offensive, Ukrainian troops repeatedly failed to breach the formidable Russian defensive fortifications of the ‘Surovikin Line’, despite hundreds of billions of western military aid in money and equipment.
Kiev’s assaults faced seemingly impenetrable minefields, multi-layered trenches, dragon teeth and anti-tank ditches, and left a mountain of destroyed tanks and armored cars as a testimony for the new realities of war.
Today, drones, artillery and missiles, coupled with new ‘eyes in the sky’ IRS capabilities (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) have made offensive actions muh more difficult than in the past.
As the Ukrainian offensive efforts wound down, Russia took the initiat5ive fully leveraging its superior firepower and better trained and equipped troops, and by using a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ strategy, kept nibbling at the 600 mile-long frontline, keeping the badly outmaneuvered Ukrainians always in a rush to scramble reinforcements to and fro.
The result, in these last four months, have been quite different than in Kiev’s case, and the localities conquered by the Russian Federation forces have now amounted to well over a dozen cities and villages.
The news of the advances are so rapid and chaotic that I asked social platform X’s AI chatbot Grok to help me with a comprehensive (but not exhaustive list). What follows is Grok’s initial list edited and complemented by me:
I understand that to some, this above enumeration may come across as a meaningless list of foreign-sounding names, but one cannot escape the understanding: it’s a lot of places.
The list above (once again, not exhaustive) shows that all localities, with the exception of southern Kiselivka in the Kherson Oblast, were concentrated in the Donetsk Oblast (region).
Donetsk is undoubtedly the main immediate objective of the Russian special military operation, because Donetsk and the already conquered Luhansk were the two Russian majority, former Ukrainian breakaway regions that ignited this whole situation.
While the Russian Federation forces have imposed a overwhelming pace to their advances, so far we haven’t seen a complete breakdown of the Ukrainian lines as many feared.
But the seriousness of the problem Kiev faces can be understood by the fact that two Ukrainian sources – including former President Volodymyr Zelensky advisor Oleksi Arestovytch – have revealed that OVER 100K TROOPS have deserted their positions and are unaccounted for.
Now, a report comes from the battle for Oscheretyne: a ‘blunder’ by Ukrainian troops allowed the Russians to capture large parts of the settlement unopposed.
Business Insider reported:
“Russian troops were able to take most of Ocheretyne, northwest of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, after an apparent rotational error involving Ukraine’s elite 47th Mechanized Brigade and its 115th Mechanized Brigade.
The 47th Mechanized Brigade was due to be relieved by the 115th along the front line just east of Ocheretyne.
But as the 47th pulled back, Russia’s 30th Motor Rifle Brigade attacked, taking advantage of a gap left by the pending arrival of the 115th.”
The commander of the 47th, Mykola Melnyk, famous for losing a leg during the summer offensive, wrote a rather shocking account on Facebook: the Business Insider translation is “The drastic advancement of the Russians became possible because certain units just fucked off.”
Automatic translation is a bit more tame:
“The Russians entered the outskirts of Oscheretyne yesterday. The rapid advance of the Russians became possible due to the fact that certain units simply lost their positions. I hope they will be disbanded and retrained as attack fighters.”
[That is shocking because it’s the military equivalent wishing them death by putting them on the most dangerous position.]
Melnyk also touches on a fundamental problem for Kiev: there are no troop rotations. They are just expected to fight until they die.
“The holes that ended up are plugged by those who were planned to be taken to recovery, so 47 OMBr is back in action. Another month and it will be a year without rotation.”
A spokesperson for the 115th Brigade denied the allegations. “The unit did not abandon its position,” he said, according to the Financial Times.
Needless to say, this ugly mudslinging between Ukrainian military units is indicative of the dangerous collapsing morale.
In our coverage here of the battle for the key Donbas town of Chasov Yar, we reported about how some elite Azov Nazi units now have rebelled and sometimes do not obey orders:
“But while the fierce Ukrainian defenders have been reinforced with artillery and drones, and electronic warfare devices, as per a Reuters report, the striking feature of this battle is the fact that Nazi Azov brigades seem to be ‘sitting this one out.’
The experience from previous sieges apparently has made the most ideological Ukrainian forces weary of defending ‘to the end’ localities that they deem un-defendable.
Aleksander Khodakovskiy [ironically] writes:
“Information has emerged that Azov, the menace of all the ‘Moskals’, has again refused to sacrifice itself for European values. […] in Ukraine, those who made the mess are now pushing forward the gray masses, who were driven against their will, while they themselves prefer to save themselves for future political feats.”
The telegram channel from the Z 105th regiment:
“However, not everyone faces threats like ‘pincers’, ‘cauldrons’, and other blockades. The 3rd brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (formerly known as “Azov”) is one such example. These nimble soldiers have already departed from Chasov Yar in advance, drawing from their experiences in Mariupol and honing their skills in Avdeevka.”
Besides the 3rd Assault Brigade AZOV refusing to go to Chasov Yar, the 67th Mechanized Brigade (‘right sector unit’) refused orders and left Chasov Yar and reportedly will be dissolved.”
While the new US military aid package will diminish the firepower disparity against Kiev in the short run, and the new mobilization laws will diminish the dire lack of ‘human resources’ in the long run, the collapsing morale of the troops seems to have no antidote in sight.
Meanwhile, Russia advances. Fast.
Read more:
The post Fast-Paced Russian Offensive Yields Over a Dozen Conquered Cities and Villages, as Ukrainian Morale Is Collapsing Along the Front, With Over 100K Troops Deserting Their Positions appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
It is a running mystery in the United Kingdom and around the world: what exactly is the state of King Charles’ health?
Everyone is considering that, but it is anathema to ask.
Read: Britain’s King Charles Diagnosed With Cancer
On the surface, Buckingham Palace has announced that the King is returning to his public duties, which would of course imply that he is improving in health.
But reports arise that are commenting on the increasing chatter that King Charles’ health is much worse than his aides are suggesting.
Daily Beast reported:
“Speaking to friends of the king in recent weeks about his health, the most common response is a lowering of the voice by half an octave or so, followed by the sombre, drawn-out pronouncement: ‘It’s not good’.”
Palace officials won’t publicly comment on that, of course.
Since his aides disclosed the King’s cancer diagnosis earlier this year, they also specified that they wouldn’t be providing a ‘running commentary on his health’.
“The king has never said what specific type of cancer he has been diagnosed with, apart from to say it was not prostate cancer. He is understood to be making regular visits to London for radiotherapy treatment, which can be used to treat many different types of cancer.
Of course, were Charles a private individual, his health would be nobody’s business but his own. But he is the leader of a hereditary monarchy, a head of state who can only be removed by death (or abdication, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen given the late Queen Elizabeth’s precedent). Much as his office may not wish to acknowledge it, his prognosis is very much a matter of public interest. It is certainly preoccupying some individuals in certain branches of government.”
Charles’ funeral plans are being regularly updated, it is reported.
“One old friend of the family, for example, told The Daily Beast, ‘Of course he is determined to beat it and they are throwing everything at it. Everyone is staying optimistic, but he is really very unwell. More than they are letting on’.”
The possibility of the King’s death is not openly mentioned by the U.K. press.
Christopher Andersen, the New York Times best-selling royal writer: “King Charles’ reign will by definition be short, but it’s anyone’s guess at this time just how short. In the meantime, the tried-and-true practice of revising funeral plans should not be used to make that determination. What would be enormously helpful is for the palace to be transparent about the king’s condition and his prognosis. Until that happens, gossip and speculation will continue to swirl, and conspiracy theories will abound.”
Read more:
King Charles Appears In Public For First Time Since Cancer Diagnosis On Easter Sunday
The post Buckingham Palace Announces That King Charles Will Return to His Public Duties, but Rumors About His Poor Health Are Generating Major Controversy appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
It’s one positive development after the other: economic improvements in a country’s economy are not magic, but rather the result of serious, unrelenting work.
It was just a couple of days ago when President Javier Milei told Argentines in a televised address the good and rare news: his government is successfully taming reckless public spending, which resulted in a rare – and welcome – first quarter budget surplus.
Read more:
Now, a mere four months into office, Argentine President Javier Milei has also pulled off another critical - almost miraculous - feat in an economy plagued by systemic inflation: he stabilized the peso.
Bloomberg reported:
"The peso has, in fact, not only stopped plunging day after day but in one key foreign-exchange market […] it’s actually rallying sharply. The peso has soared 25% against the dollar over the past three months in the market, known as the blue-chip swap, which is used by many investors and companies. That’s more than the gains posted by any of the 148 currencies that Bloomberg tracks against the dollar.
It’s a shocking statistic in a country where the currency is seemingly in a never-ending state of freefall. (The smallest annual decline in the past decade was 15%.) And it underscores the lengths that Milei has gone to to rein in bloated government spending, choke off demand for everything in the economy, including dollars, and tame inflation that’s skyrocketed to an annual pace of almost 300%."
The work to tame the economy is so intense, that Milei's claims that his budget cuts are 'the largest in the history of humankind' are only a bit of a hyperbole.
"The cuts he imposed add up to the equivalent of almost 4% of the country’s economic output, an adjustment so aggressive that central bank officials estimate it’s larger than 90% of all those carried out in the world over the last several decades."
The work is far from over, and dangers lie ahead: the political pressure to scale back his fiscal program will certainly mount, but the president is not worried about paying the political cost that comes with austerity.
The peso is performing so well now that the central bank can now buy dollars to replenish currency reserves.
"What’s different now is that Argentines, for the moment at least, have more confidence in the peso, curbing demand for the safety of dollars. (This allowed the central bank to lower interest rates Thursday for the fourth time since Milei took office.) Moreover, with the budget cuts in place, the central bank is no longer directly financing government spending by printing money, bringing an end to a constant source of pressure on the currency."
The economic policy is starting to become rational, and things that were not expected are happening:
"That he’s now overseeing a torrid peso rally is an ironic twist for a man who had deemed the currency so worthless on the campaign trail that he likened it to 'excrement' and said it should be scrapped entirely."
The post Javier Milei’s Common Sense Economics Fuel Confidence Rally That Makes Argentine Peso the Best Performing Currency in the World appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Globalist poster boy, and former Rothschild banker, French President Emmanuel Macron can be rightfully credited as one of the main architects of the decadence of Europe, by accepting and amplifying the failed, crippling policies emanating from Brussels, such as abortion and euthanasia, unchecked mass migration and climate alarmism, to name but a few.
Now, as his party is headed for a crushing defeat in the upcoming European elections, Macron tries to pass himself as a voice for the salvation of the old continent.
He has given what he believes to be a landmark speech, saying that Europe ‘must rise to the challenges of a changed world and scale up its defense’.
He further warned that the EU was ‘not sufficiently armed’ to take on global threats such as Russia’s war in Ukraine.
France24 reported:
“‘Our Europe today is mortal and it can die’, said Macron. ‘It can die and this depends only on our choices’, he noted. ‘We need to build this strategic concept of a credible European defense for ourselves’.”
Macron says an ‘uninhibited’ Russia has no longer any clear limits, while also criticizing the disrespect of global trade rules, calling on the European Union to ‘revise its trade policy’.
“‘Our Europe, today, is mortal and it can die. It can die and this depends only on our choices’, said Macron, warning that Europe was ‘not armed against the risks we face’ in a world where the ‘rules of the game have changed’.”
Macron called for ‘European sovereignty’, with an autonomy in defense and the economy.
“‘How can we build our sovereignty, our autonomy, if we don’t assume the responsibility of developing our own European defense industry?’ he asked. Europe ‘must show that it is never a vassal of the United States and that it also knows how to talk to all the other regions of the world’, he said.”
Europe needs cyber defense and cybersecurity capabilities, he added.
A ‘revision’ of EU trade policy is needed, since China and the US are ‘no longer respecting the rules of global commerce’.
“Macron’s speech comes as his party is facing embarrassment in June European Parliament elections, ranking well behind the far right in opinion polls and even risking finishing third behind the Socialists, and as the EU is drawing up its new strategic agenda for 2024-2029.”
Macron’s centrist coalition are polling much lower than Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), while the Socialists are now vying for second place.
RN will call for parliament to be dissolved if Macron’s Renaissance party and its allies suffer a crushing defeat.
Read more:
Peter Sweden: IT’S SPREADING – Massive Farmers Protest in Germany (Video)
The post ‘Our Europe Today Is Mortal and It Can Die’ – One of the Architects of European Destruction, France’s Macron Now Pretends To Work for Its Salvation appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
A lot is written every single day about how overpowered the Ukrainians are in their fight against the ever-strengthening Russian Federation forces.
But now, the most pressing issue of the absolute lack of manpower by the Kiev regime is coming to the forefront of public opinion.
About a million military-age males have fled the Ukrainian territory seeking to avoid military service which has become in many ways a death sentence.
Not only that, but as much as 100 thousand troops have reportedly deserted their positions.
Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu has just stated that Kiev’s military losses have topped half a million troops.
In this context, Ukraine has started to resort to radical moves, suspending consular services for military-age male citizens abroad.
Read more:
THE HUNT FOR DRAFT DODGERS: Ukraine Consulates Abroad Cease Providing Services for Military-Aged Men
The reaction came instantly: huge crowds of men could be seen gathering outside the Ukrainian passport service in Warsaw.
They are protesting the suspension of consular services – including the issuance of passports – for Ukrainian men of conscription age abroad.
Kyiv Post reported:
"The suspension was introduced yesterday after Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said services would be suspended until it introduces new procedures to comply with the new mobilization law, signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 16, limiting consular services for Ukrainian men aged 18-60 abroad without military registration
Videos are circulating on social media of huge crowds of Ukrainian men – 300 according to some sources – gathering outside a passport service to voice their dissent. Some said they would stay as long as it takes to receive their passports."
Ukrainian Telegram channels report that Polish police took no action.
The only documents being issued are for them to return home.
They will not be very well received, if Minister Kuleba's words are any indication.
“'How it looks now: a man of conscription age went abroad, showed his state that he does not care about its survival, and then comes and wants to receive services from this state', Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on the social network X (formerly known as Twitter) yesterday.
'If anyone believes that while someone is fighting far away at the front line and risking his or her life for this state, someone else is staying abroad but receiving services from this state, then this is not how it works'.”
Poland, for its part, seems overly eager to send those young men to the meat grinder.
Polish defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said his country is ready to 'help Ukraine to get military-age males to return and help their home country in fighting in the war against Russia'.
Those Ukrainian refugees who are subject to military service 'could' go back to fulfill their civic obligation, Kosiniak-Kamysz told Polish television.
Reuters reported:
"'I think many Poles are outraged when they see young Ukrainian men in hotels and cafes, and they hear how much effort we have to make to help Ukraine', he said, without giving any details on how Poland will help.
Some 4.3 million Ukrainians are living in European Union countries as of January, 2024, of whom about 860,000 are adult men, the Eurostat database estimates. Poland has granted temporary protection status to 950,000 Ukrainians, the second-largest number after Germany.
'Any support is possible', Kosiniak-Kamysz said about how Poland would respond if Kyiv asked for help in bringing home those who may lose their right to stay in Poland once their passports expire."
The post Ukrainian Expats in Warsaw Protest Lack of Consular Services – Poland Considers Forcibly Sending The Draft Dodgers Back to the Meat Grinder appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Haiti’s political situation saw a flurry of activity in the last couple of days, after many weeks of impasse and negotiations.
It’s a very complicated set of events that can be summarized like this: outgoing Prime Minister Ariel Henry finally resigned, and the rest of his cabinet ‘elected’ a new ‘provisional’ PM. Meanwhile, the new ‘Transitional Council’ was sworn in, and said council may or not appoint its own ‘Interim PM’.
Confusing, is it not? Now add to that the fact that the control on the streets is NOT maintained by the various unelected political groups, but rather by the rebel gangs.
Exiled PM Henry presented his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles dated from Yesterday (24).
Henry’s remaining Cabinet chose Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as the interim prime minister.
It was not immediately clear if or when the newly appointed transitional council would select its own interim prime minister.
Associated Press reported:
“Addressing a crowded and sweaty room in the prime minister’s office, Boisvert said that Haiti’s crisis had gone on too long and that the country now found itself at a crossroads. The members of the transitional council stood behind him, as well as the country’s top police and military officials.
‘After two long months of debate … a solution has been found’, Boisvert said. ‘Today is an important day in the life of our dear republic’. He called the transitional council a ‘Haitian solution’ and directing his remarks toward them, Boisvert wished them success, adding ‘I believe the determination is there’.”
The elegant leaders toasted with champagne and chanted ‘to Haiti’.
“The council was installed earlier Thursday, more than a month after Caribbean leaders announced its creation following an emergency meeting to tackle Haiti’s spiraling crisis. Gunfire could be heard as the council was sworn in at the National Palace.
The nine-member council, of which seven have voting powers, is also expected to help set the agenda of a new Cabinet. It will also appoint a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before elections can take place, and establish a national security council.”
This new Transition Council has a non-renewable mandate that expires on Feb. 7, 2026 – when a new president is scheduled to be sworn in.
But recent history has taught us how the provisional leader tends to cling to power until toppled.
Will the new council keep Boisvert on as interim prime minister or choose another leader? No one knows.
The situation of the already chaotic country unraveled further after the July 2021 assassination of duly-elected President Jovenel Moïse.
Gangs control most of Port-au-Prince and the population of Port-au-Prince has literally been taken hostage.
“Gangs launched coordinated attacks that began on Feb. 29 in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas. They burned police stations and hospitals, opened fire on the main international airport that has remained closed since early March and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. Gangs also have severed access to Haiti’s biggest port.
‘Port-au-Prince is now almost completely sealed off because of air, sea and land blockades’, Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s director, said earlier this week.”
Nearly 100,000 people have fled the capital to safer cities and towns since the rebel gang attacks began.
Read more:
The post HAITI HELL: Unelected Transitional Council Is Sworn In, New Interim Prime Minister Chosen as Violence Takes Country to the Brink of Catastrophe appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Ever since America’s largest bank JPMorgan Chase got rid of the Jeffrey Epstein-linked string of lawsuits, its CEO Jamie Dimon has been able to fully reposition himself as one of the main economy commentators in the nation.
He has been a critical voice removed from the rosy-colored forecasts by some liberal economists, and has so far been proven right about it.
Now, Dimon is is concerned that the US economy could be in route to repeat the economic woes that held back the country during the 1970s.
There’s a chance that it can happen again, he said during an appearance Tuesday (23) at the Economic Club of New York.
But what is ‘it’? He is talking about stagflation, a combination of low growth and high inflation, and Dimon has made it clear that he believes such a risk exists again.
Yahoo Finance reported:
“‘I worry that it looks more like the ’70s than we’ve seen before’, he added during a question and answer session with Marie-Josée Kravis, chair of the Museum of Modern Art and wife of KKR co-founder Henry Kravis. ‘There are circumstances in which it’ll look more like the ’70s than what we’ve had for the last 20 years’.”
Dimon has been warning of ‘stickier inflation and higher rates than markets expect’.
And now, even Fed Chair Jerome Powell nixed any rate cuts and alerted they will stay elevated for longer because of unrelenting inflation.
“Dimon said in his April 8 letter that the bank is prepared for interest rates ‘from 2% to 8% or even more’ — and he repeated that prediction Tuesday. ‘We would handle stagflation too’, he added.”
JPMorgan Chase posted profits 6% higher than the previous year, it is suffering from ‘deposit margin compression and lower deposit balances’.
“Dimon returned to some other familiar subjects during his discussion Tuesday, including his concerns about large amounts of government spending and efforts by the Fed to shrink its balance sheet, as well as the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and their potential to disrupt essential commodities markets, migration, and geopolitical relationships.”
In his speech in the Economic Club of New York, Dimon was in no way a ‘doom and gloom’ prophet, as he described the US economy as “booming”, celebrated the American consumers, US bank credit, home prices, and stock prices.
“Economic growth, he said, is key to solving any number of problems. ‘We need to do more and better, and that’s why we need to grow the economy’, he said.
[…] He didn’t drop any hints about when he might leave JPMorgan, saying only that he wants to ‘leave behind’ a ‘great company’ and ‘I want to help my country. I am very excited about the future’.”
Read more:
The post STAGFLATION? JPMorgan Chase CEO Dimon Fears US May Be Heading back to 1970s’ Economic Woes appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
It is said that ‘even a broken clock is right twice a day.’ By that, we infer that, due to some statistical oddity, even people who are consistently wrong can sometimes be right.
This applies to Globalist Pope Francis, who is famously wrong in a vast number of issues, but every now and then is able to land one for the right team.
Just some three weeks ago, Pope Francis did something unusual, and issued a declaration called ‘Dignitas Infinita’, in which he strongly defended the Catholic Church’s dogma and doctrine without trying to ‘improve’ or ‘modernize’ it.
He dealt with a dozen contemporary issues through the lens of scripture and church teaching, including abortion, human trafficking, poverty, euthanasia, and the death penalty, among others.
Read more:
However, it also follows that during the rest of the day, the broken clock is necessarily wrong. And so is Francis.
Now, with apparent better health, the Pontiff gave his first-ever US TV interview to CBS News' Norah O'Donnell, and he made a point of adhering to the Globalist talking point of the day, 'speaking out against climate change deniers', calling them 'fools'.
UK paper Daily Mail hilariously called Francis 'the often progressive pontiff', as if that was not a full-time occupation with the Argentine Pope.
Mostly, he talked about the sensible theme of the necessity of Peace talks in all wars, but 'peace does not sell,' so MSM will focus on the climate alarmism.
Daily Mail reported:
"He made a pointed effort to express his displeasure with those who deny climate change when asked what he says to those who deny it by O'Donnell.
'There are people who are foolish, and even foolish if they show you them research. They don't believe it,' he said through an interpreter. They don't understand the situation or because of their interest, but climate change exists,' he added."
This is all he said about the issue, so Daily Mail segued it with no less than 5 paragraphs of the purest climate alarmism with a heavy-handed editorial tone that is totally out of the supposed focus of the piece.
The rest of the interview dealt with the Pope's constant calls for peace in all the military conflicts of the world.
While he may be guilty of over-simplifying the issues, it's within the expected scope of a Pope's duties, a relentless quest for peace on Earth.
"When asked what can be done for a million Gazan children facing starvation, he added that they and children in Ukraine must be helped.
'Those kids don't know how to smile. This is very hard when a child forgets to smile,' he said.
His overall message was: 'Please, countries at war, all of them, stop the war. Look to negotiate peace'."
But peace and love do not sell papers or help control the population, and fear does.
The post Globalist Pope Francis Gives His First US TV Interview, so MSM Uses Him To Help Push Climate Alarmism Into Overdrive appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez writes a ‘Letter to the citizenry’, and announces that he is ‘suspending all his public duties to stop and reflect on the future and decide whether he wants to continue to be at the forefront of politics’.
Sánchez ‘won’ the last election in an illegitimate way, after breaking a solemn campaign promise and establishing an artificial majority by enacting an amnesty to the Catalan Separatists.
Rea more in: WATCH: Spain Erupts at Socialist Legislative Coup, as PM Sanchez Offers Amnesty to Catalan Separatists – Two Nights of Riots – Big Demonstration Called for Sunday, and also: MASSIVE Protests in Spain Against Illegitimate Socialist PM Sanchez – Hundreds of Thousands Reject His Illegal and Unpopular Amnesty to Catalan Separatists
Now, as his wife is under investigation for influence peddling and corruption, Sánchez is indignant, threatening to resign his premiership because of what he calls political persecution.
Sanchez wrote on X:
“It is not usual for me to address you through a letter. However, the severity of the attacks that my wife and I are receiving, and the need to give a calm response, make me think that this is the best way to express my opinion. I thank you, therefore, for taking a little of your time to read these lines.
As you may already know, and if I do not inform you, a court in Madrid has opened preliminary proceedings against my wife, Begoña Gómez, at the request of a far-right organization called Clean Hands, to investigate alleged crimes of influence peddling and corruption in business.”
The judge in the case will call journalists that that have been covering the case to testify.
Sánchez said that his wife ‘will defend her honorability and will collaborate with Justice in everything required to clarify facts’ that he says ‘are as scandalous in appearance as they are non-existent’.
The case was initiated by Sánchez’ political rival Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Spanish People’s Party President, conservative member of the Congress of Deputies.
Feijóo reported the case to the Conflict of Interest Office, asking for the Prime Minister to be disqualified from holding public office.
Sánchez continues: “Next, they exploited their conservative majority in the Senate, promoting an investigative commission to, as they say, clarify the facts related to this matter. Logically, the case was missing. It is the step they have just taken.
In short, it is an operation of harassment and demolition by land, sea and air, to try to make me weaken politically and personally by attacking my wife.”
The ‘attacks’ are against what he represents: ‘a progressive political option, supported election after election by millions of Spaniards, based on economic progress, social justice and democratic regeneration.’
“Democracy spoke, but the right and the extreme right, again, did not accept the electoral result. They were aware that the political attack would not be enough and now they have crossed the line of respect for the family life of a President of the Government and the attack on his personal life.”
After a lot of complaining and painting his opponents in the worst colors, Sánchez gets to the point:
“At this point, the question I legitimately ask myself is, is all this worth it? Sincerely I dont know. This attack is unprecedented, it is so serious and so gross that I need to stop and reflect with my wife.
[…] I need to stop and reflect. I urgently need to answer the question of whether it is worth it. […] Whether I should continue at the head of the Government or resign from this high honor.”
Carta a la ciudadanía. pic.twitter.com/c2nFxTXQTK
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) April 24, 2024
The post With His Wife Indicted for Corruption, Spanish Socialist PM Sánchez Is Considering Resigning appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called Elon Musk an ‘arrogant billionaire’ in an escalating spat over X’s resistance to remove footage of a terrorist church stabbing of Orthodox Bishop Emmanuel of the Good Shepherd Church.
The absurd detail is that Australian authorities want the content removed for people all over the world – which they clearly have no jurisdiction over!
BBC reported:
“On Monday, an Australian court ordered Mr Musk’s social media firm – formerly called Twitter – to hide videos of last week’s attack in Sydney. X previously said it would comply ‘pending a legal challenge’.”
The Prime Minister’s criticism comes after Musk used a meme to ridicule the Australian government’s thirst for censorship.
Albanese told the press that Mr. Musk ‘thinks he’s above the law but also above common decency.’
“Last week Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, an independent regulator, threatened X and other social media companies with hefty fines if they did not remove videos of the stabbing at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church, which police have called a terror attack. X has argued the order is ‘not within the scope of Australian law’.”
The eSafety commissioner sought a court injunction after complaining that X was allowing users outside Australia to continue accessing footage.
“‘I find it extraordinary that X chose not to comply and are trying to argue their case’, Mr Albanese told a press briefing.
In a subsequent series of online posts, Mr. Musk wrote: ‘I’d like to take a moment to thank the PM for informing the public that this platform is the only truthful one’. Another depicted a Wizard of Oz-style path to ‘freedom’ leading to an X logo.”
Don’t take my word for it, just ask the Australian PM! pic.twitter.com/ZJBKrstStQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2024
Musk also criticized eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant personally, describing her as the ‘Australian censorship commissar.’
“Mr. Albanese defended Ms. Inman Grant, saying she was protecting Australians. ‘Social media needs to have social responsibility with it. Mr Musk is not showing any’, he said.”
The platform was given 24 hours to comply with Monday evening’s injunction, and a further hearing into the matter is expected in the coming days.
Albanese’s war against freedom of speech is not limited to X, as he now seeks to have all social media strike down MEMES of him.
Watch: Australia’s Albanese is at war with MEMES, now.
Australia’s Albanese is at war with MEMES, now pic.twitter.com/Zi4YfyEwlS
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 24, 2024
The post Australian PM Albanese Is at War With Free Speech, Picks a Fight With Elon Musk – Now Wants MEMES About Him Struck From Internet appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Skies over southern Greece turned orange on Tuesday (24) with dust clouds blown across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.
A yellow-orange haze of dust from the Sahara desert has blanketed parts of Greece, including the Acropolis and other Athens landmarks.
This prompted authorities to issue health warnings and created oneiric scenes seemingly out of a sci-fi movie.
Associated Press reported:
“Strong southerly winds carried the dust from the Sahara Desert, giving the atmosphere of the Greek capital a Martian-like filter in the last hours of daylight.
The skies are predicted to clear on Wednesday as winds shift and move the dust, with temperatures dipping. On Tuesday, the daily high in parts of the southern island of Crete topped 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), more than 20 degrees C higher than what was registered in much of northern Greece.”
Winds have blown strongly from the south, also fueling early wildfires in southern Greece.
CNN reported:
“The Greek meteorological service said weather conditions on Tuesday had favored the movement of dust from Africa and this was showing up in ‘increased concentrations in the atmosphere’, particularly in the south of the country.
However, the dust would gradually begin to decrease on Wednesday morning, the service predicted, and from midday onwards it would be ‘limited to the east’.”
People have shared their videos and pictures online, as they marveled at the unusual color of the sky.
“Others took evening walks in the city and shared the bright orange scenes on social media. One user posted that meteorologists have said the bright orange dust has made Athens look like ‘a colony of Mars’.
aa Clouds of dust moving from northern Africa to Greece and other regions is a phenomenon that occurs occasionally, bringing limited visibility and prompting warnings of breathing risks.”
The post Dust Storm From Sahara Desert Crosses Mediterranean Sea, Gives Greece a Mars-Like Hue (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The world is a complex place, in which you may find a socialist Latin American strong man locking arms with one of the most powerful capitalist (and Globalist) families in the world.
Right now, the diplomatic and commercial relations between the US and Venezuela are at a very low point, after the US re-imposed sanctions on the oil and gas industries.
The clueless Joe Biden administration tried to engage dictator Nicolas Maduro, but his utter failure to live up to his promises – to hold a fair Presidential election – have made the return of the sanctions inevitable.
Venezuelans are set to vote on July 28 in a rigged election that will pit Maduro against the opposition candidate, ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez.
Now, Venezuela’s government has hired Rothschild & Co. as a ‘financial adviser’ to provide an overview of its foreign debt obligations.
Bloomberg reported:
“Rothschild is working to map out what the administration owes and to whom, said the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss a contract that has not been made public. Debt mapping is normally a preliminary step taken by a government before it prepares to start a restructuring.”
One is left wondering what warrants such secrecy.
“Venezuela owes roughly $154 billion to overseas lenders — according to an estimate from economist Francisco Rodriguez, a professor at the University of Denver — including global bonds issued by the government and state oil company, which have been in default for more than six years. It’s been accumulating interest on those bonds and court judgments for unpaid commercial loans.
Sovereign bonds trade for around 20 cents on the dollar, while defaulted notes issued by Petroleos de Venezuela SA exchange hands for around 11 cents, according to indicative pricing compiled by Bloomberg. The debt has rallied since JPMorgan Chase & Co. laid out a plan to re-weight the securities in widely followed emerging-market debt indexes back in February.”
The hiring of Rothschild & Co. comes as Maduro’s administration means to reengage with global markets, institutions and ratings firms after years as an international pariah.
Maduro has hinted to be willing to work with creditors, but talks have never progressed.
“Washington doesn’t recognize Maduro, and sanctions prohibit the government from selling debt on US markets. Sanctions would need to [be] changed before a debt restructuring could be carried out.”
Read more:
The post Maduro’s Venezuela Hires the Rothschilds To Help Restructure Its Foreign Debt appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
As the war in Ukraine runs into its third year with relentless advances by the Russian Federation forces, Kiev is running low on almost everything: air defenses, planes, missiles, artillery, tanks, and last but not least, people.
Almost a million military-age males have fled the Ukrainian territory seeking to avoid military service which has become in many ways a death sentence, as Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu has stated that Kiev’s human losses have topped half a million troops.
Now, Ukraine has started to resort to radical moves, as they suspended consular services for military-age male citizens abroad.
Kiev authorities have criticized Ukrainians abroad who ‘expect to receive help from the state without helping it battle for survival in the war against Russia’.
Reuters reported:
“Ukraine adopted a law last week overhauling how it mobilizes civilian men into the armed forces to make the process more effective, addressing what military analysts say is a key challenge if it is to hold out against advancing Russian troops.
‘How it looks like now: a man of conscription age went abroad, showed his state that he does not care about its survival, and then comes and wants to receive services from this state,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on X.
‘It does not work this way. Our country is at war… Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland’.”
Kuleba’s reaction reflects the mounting frustration in Kyiv with Ukrainian men abroad who are not contributing to the war effort (a.k.a. want to stay alive).
“Some 4.3 million Ukrainians were living in European Union countries as of January 2024, of whom about 860,000 are adult men, the Eurostat database estimated.
In practice, the suspension means military-age men now living abroad will be unable to renew expiring passports or obtain new ones or receive official documents such as marriage certificates.”
The suspension of consular services will remain in effect until the mobilization law and its regulations are enacted in May.
By then, military-age men will be required to report to draft offices to update their papers, either remotely or in person, within 60 days.
Military-age men abroad will need those papers to receive any kind of consular services.
“Ukraine imposed martial law at the start of the full-scale war, banning men aged 18 to 60 from travelling abroad without special dispensation and beginning a rolling mobilization of civilian men into the armed forces.”
As is usual in many subjects, MSM reports mainly reproduce the talking points by Kiev, without any serious investigation, because if they did so, they’d find out that the whole family of Foreign Minister Kuleba has fled Ukraine right a the start of nthe war – including the dogs.
We wonder if Ukrainian officials think that they too have ‘shown their indifference to the issue of the survival of the state’.
Slavyangrad reported:
“’Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his responsibilities to his homeland. That is why yesterday I instructed to take measures to restore fair treatment of men of mobilization age in Ukraine and abroad. It will be fair’, Kuleba said.
According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide clarifications for obtaining consular services for men of mobilization age in foreign diplomatic institutions.
‘If these people believe that someone there, far away at the front, is fighting and giving their lives for this state, and someone will sit abroad, but at the same time will receive services from this state, then it doesn’t work that way’ , the diplomat wrote.”
Read more:
The post THE HUNT FOR DRAFT DODGERS: Ukraine Consulates Abroad Cease Providing Services for Military-Aged Men appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Economic improvements in a country’s economy are not magic, President Javier Milei told Argentines in a televised address where he had good and rare news to announce: his government is successfully taming reckless public spending, which resulted in a rare – and welcome – first quarter budget surplus.
Milei stated that this is key to improving economic prospects in the once-prosperous Latin American nation.
Reuters reported:
“‘Our plan is working’, declared the libertarian leader in a televised address.
Milei took office in December pledging to enact an economic ‘shock’ plan in a bid to lower triple-digit inflation and reverse a prolonged economic slump marked by the steady deterioration of the peso currency and growing poverty.
‘I know the situation is difficult’, Milei added, ‘but we’re more than halfway there’.”
Argentina has managed to get a financial fiscal surplus of more than 275 billion pesos ($315.4 million) in March.
The first quarter surplus represented 0.2% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“‘We’re going to give everything to pull this country out of the hell we inherited’, he said, attacking previous governments for the country’s dire economic straits.”
After implementing his promised spending-slashing, Milei was happy to report the “historic achievement.”
AFP reported:
“‘This is the first quarter with a financial surplus since 2008’, said Milei, referring to his left-wing rival Cristina Kirchner’s first year in the presidency.
Milei, who took office in December, boasted of ‘a feat of historic significance on a global scale’.
‘If the state does not spend more than it collects and does not issue (money), there is no inflation. This is not magic’, the self-described ‘anarcho-capitalist’ said.”
Milei was the winner in the November elections vowing to reduce the deficit to zero.
“‘Don’t expect a way out through public spending’, Milei warned on Monday.”
Read more:
The post CAPITALISM WORKS: Javier Milei’s Argentina Has First Quarter Budget Surplus in 16 Years – Libertarian Leader Says ‘Our Plan Is Working’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
It seems lately that every new scientific development released upon us is a horrible idea devised to usher in our destruction.
From climate-tinkering tech, to DNA-changing vaccines, it’s a parade of dangerous ideas… and of course now we have the robots.
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the most developed AI humanoid robot Ameca, which, upon being questioned as to when it believes ‘AI will reach the level where it can design itself’, responded:
“Design itself huh? That’s like asking when a toaster will start making its own bread. AI is a tool created and controlled by humans. It can optimize certain aspects of its operation, sure, but design itself from scratch? That’s a whole different ball game.
It requires creativity, innovation, understanding – qualities that are uniquely human. So, to answer your question, not anytime soon. And frankly, be careful what you wish for. An AI that can design itself is one step away from an AI that doesn’t need humans at all. Now there’s a thought to keep you up at night.”
The company behind Ameca was quick to say it was just a bit of ‘sassy humor,’ but it was too late: people in social media were freaking out with the response.
Maybe one may think that a robot dog would be a nicer idea, a machine equivalent of ‘man’s best friend’ – but is it?
Robot dogs were released to patrol the streets in NY but quickly pulled back since the reaction was far from positive.
Now, a company unveiled a new robot dog companion — with a flamethrower attached.
Yes, you read it right.
The New York Post reported:
“Throwflame [company] say the Thermonator is the first-ever flame-throwing quadruped robot dog.
The Ohio-based firm have announced the $9,420 bot is available for purchase by the general public and government agencies for the first time.
The Thermonator can be remotely operated by wifi or bluetooth to fire jets of fire up to 30ft.
Able to avoid obstacles and leap through the air, the device has laser sighting and can operate for an hour.”
Robot makers Parte inferior do formulário
Throwflame suggest the robot is to be used for wildfire control and prevention, entertainment shows or even clearing snow and ice from your driveway.
But they seem bent on capitalizing on the creepiness of their invention, from the name – a wordplay on the evil ‘Terminator’ robot from the silver screen, and also – as you can see in the video below – they make a point of using, in their creepy video, the Hindu quote that became fashionable again in the Oppenheimer movie: ‘I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.’
The chilling video shows a Thermonator creeping through a forest before torching its surroundings.
The company says that ‘this quadruped is coupled with the ARC Flamethrower to deliver on-demand fire anywhere!’
It doesn’t take much of a conspiratorial mind to imagine all the bad and even terrible usages that this hell-hound can be applied to.
Read more about robots:
The post Hell Hound: ‘Thermonator’ Robot Dog Comes Equipped With Flamethrower – ‘Man’s Best Friend’ or Another Terrible Idea? appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
All over the world, a number of charitable initiatives are sometimes involved in shady practices, especially in underdeveloped areas.
Now it arises that Prince Harry’s African conservation charity is facing renewed torture allegations.
A former park ranger has now admitted to tying up suspects and beating them, including using a horrific torture technique called ‘the swing.’
The allegations of rape and abuse by Zambian African Park rangers became public for the first time in January, but now, Dutch journalist Olivier van Beemen has published additional accusations in a book called Entrepreneurs in the Wild.
Van Beemen’s book tells how African Parks once debated whether Harry could pose a reputational risk to them, but now it clearly seems to be the other way around, as allegations against the charity have caused a reputational crisis for Harry.
Former ranger Foster Kalunga explained the torture method called kampelwa – or ‘swing.’
Newsweek reported:
“‘Sometimes we use kampelwa’, said Kalunga, a ranger in Liuwa Plain national park for five years until 2022. ‘Then you tie someone up, hands and feet tied together, behind his back, and you hang him on a stick between two branches. And then you spin him around while you hit him. It doesn’t last long because it hurts a lot. When he hangs there he says everything you want, even things he doesn’t know’.
African Parks told Newsweek in a statement: ‘The book is replete with hundreds of factual inaccuracies and a similar number of intentionally misleading statements, which reflect the author’s own prejudices and his confirmation bias to paint a negative account of African Parks. In particular, his accounts of alleged human rights abuses are deeply flawed and based on statements taken from accused criminal offenders and dismissed employees, or relate to incidents that have no relation to African Parks. African Parks has a strict zero tolerance policy for any form of human rights abuse, and we deeply regret any violations that might occur’.”
Kalunga, African Parks have stated, was discharged for ‘gross misconduct’ after assaulting a senior officer.
The charity also said that no records or knowledge exist of ‘kampelwa’ being used by the rangers under their management.
Prince Harry was president of the NGO before being promoted to its board of directors last year, a position that awards him responsibility for policy.
“When news of the scandal first broke in January, Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation said in a statement: ‘When the Duke became aware of these serious allegations, he immediately escalated them to the CEO and chairman of the board of African Parks, the appropriate people to handle next steps.'”
Read more:
The post Prince Harry’s Charity in Africa Accused of Widespread Torture and Rape appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
In the last weeks, there has been increased chatter on the Ukrainian side about an imminent Russian attack on the large city of Kharkov, located near the border.
Sure enough, its power facilities have been heavily damaged by massive missile strikes.
Today, the attacks went a little further, as a cruise missile struck and broke in half a 240-meter television tower.
The attack would be part of a ‘deliberate effort by Moscow to make Ukraine’s second largest city uninhabitable,’ according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Footage going viral online shows the main mast of the television tower breaking off and falling to the ground.
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 22, 2024
Reuters reported:
“The Ukrainian leader said he told U.S. President Joe Biden about the airstrike that was carried out several minutes before they spoke by telephone.
‘It is Russia’s clear intention to make the city uninhabitable’, he said in a readout of the call published on the Telegram messaging app.
The northeastern city of Kharkov with a population of 1.3 million lies just 30 km (18 miles) from the Russian border, making it an easy target for ballistic missiles and other weapons as Ukraine’s air defenses have dwindled.”
There have been no reported casualties in what appeared to have been a strike with a Kh-59 cruise missile.
“[Ukrainian authorities] said there was “temporarily” no television signal and that they were working to restore it, urging residents of the city and region without digital television signal to use cable or online television or the radio.”
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 22, 2024
Moscow has recently stepped up its attacks, while Ukraine is suffering a shortage of air defense capabilities. Kharkov and the surrounding region have experienced the most intense strikes.
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 22, 2024
While Reuters is usually satisfied with Zelensky’s explanations of events, we can learn a lot by paying attention to Russian sources.
Slavyangrad reported on the possible objectives for the attack:
“Communication – powerful repeaters were installed on it. propaganda (television/radio) was broadcast from the tower to the territory of the Belgorod region. This includes cellular communications, internet, and TV broadcasting.
[…] ‘Eyes’ – it is possible that the ‘Sova (Owl)’ system (an optical reconnaissance device) could be installed – a complex consisting of several IP cameras. They are all connected to a neural network, which calculates where the artillery is flying. This means they receive data from the point of impact as quickly as possible.
From a military perspective, a full range of reconnaissance and guidance system repeater antennas could be installed there. These are used for drone attacks on Russian territory, artillery reconnaissance, and detection and tracking systems for attack UAVs, ballistic and cruise missiles.”
The post Russian Cruise Missile Destroys TV Tower in Ukraine’s Second Largest City Kharkov (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The general election in India is ongoing – the largest democratic exercise in human history, with almost a billion people voting during six weeks.
As one would expect, everything in this affair is monumental – including the controversies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ignited one such heated debate when he asked the crowd in a rally: “Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators?”
His remarks were taken as referring to India’s Muslim minority, with him alleging that the opposition Congress party would take away even mangalsutras — the auspicious necklace that a husband ties around his wife’s neck in Hindu weddings — if given a chance.
BBC reported:
“India’s opposition has accused PM Narendra Modi of Islamophobic remarks after he claimed his opponents would distribute people’s wealth to ‘infiltrators’ if they won power. Mr. Modi told a rally the opposition Congress wanted to distribute wealth to ‘those who have many children’.
[…] Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has often been accused of singling out India’s minority communities, especially Muslims. Rights groups say that they face discrimination and attacks, and have been forced to live as ‘second-class’ citizens under Mr. Modi’s rule – an allegation the BJP denies.”
Modi made the comments on Sunday in Rajasthan state, when talking about the Congress party’s manifesto.
According to the PM, the manifesto stated a Congress government would ‘take stock’ of the gold women traditionally save in India, and redistribute it.
“And their earlier [Congress] government had said that Muslims have the first right over the nation’s wealth. […] This means that they [the Congress] will collect people’s wealth and distribute it to whom? […] To those who have more children. To the infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators?”
Congress leaders defended their manifesto, saying that it was ‘for every Indian’, about ‘equality and justice for all’.
Modi’s remarks were called a panicked ‘hate speech’ to divert people’s attention from the opposition having performed better than his BJP in the first phase of polling.
Muslim leader Asaduddin Owaisi said that “since 2002, the only Modi guarantee has been to abuse Muslims and get votes”.
Al Jazeera reported:
“Asim Ali, a [Muslim] political commentator, said Modi’s remarks were ‘the most inflammatory statement by a sitting prime minister in the recent history of India’ and marked a significant shift in his election pitch.
[…] ‘Five years ago, the question was why is Modi not reigning in extremist voices; now, PM Modi is the most extremist campaigner’, said Ali.
[…] In 2006, then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress had said India’s traditionally marginalized communities, including castes that had faced historical discrimination and religious minorities, ‘particularly Muslims’, should have the first claim on the nation’s resources.”
Read more:
The post India’s PM Modi: Opposition Wants To Give Money to Muslim ‘Infiltrators’, Distribute Wealth to ‘Those Who Have Many Children’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The once-peaceful South American country of Ecuador is now plagued by gang-related violence, so its young president Daniel Noboa is set to borrow the playbook by El Salvador’s very popular president, Nayib Bukele, and implement measures to promote a crackdown on crime.
For that, Noboa called a referendum to approve a set of policies to tackle the criminal gangs that are behind the wave of violence.
Time reported:
“An official quick count showed that Ecuadorians overwhelmingly voted “yes” to all nine questions focused on tightening security measures, rejecting only two proposals on more controversial economic measures.
The quick count was announced by the head of the Electoral National Council, Diana Atamaint. It confirmed a private exit poll released hours before that indicated a resounding victory and sign of support for President Daniel Noboa, the scion of a wealthy banana exporting family.”
The voters heavily supported measures such as deploying the army in the fight against the gangs, facilitate extraditing accused criminals and longer prison sentences for convicted drug traffickers.
“Ecuador was traditionally one of South America’s most peaceful countries, but it has been rocked in recent years by a wave of violence, much of it spilling over from neighboring Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine. Last year, the country’s homicide rate shot up to 40 deaths per 100,000 people, one of the highest in the region.
Noboa has rallied popular support by confronting the gangs head on. That task became more urgent in January when masked gunmen, some on orders from imprisoned drug traffickers, terrorized residents and took control of a television station while it was live on the air in an unprecedented show of force.”
Read more:
The president declared an 'internal armed conflict', and used emergency powers to deploy the army in pursuit of about 20 gangs he classified as 'terrorists'.
13 million Ecuadorians voted in the referendum, massively approving the extension of those emergency powers.
"Noboa, ahead of the final tally, celebrated the results. 'We’ve defended the country', he said in a message posted on social media. 'Now we will have more tools to fight against the delinquent and restore peace to Ecuador’s families'.”
Noboa was elected after conservative Guillermo Lasso resigned under allegations of corruption.
He was elected in a violent campaign that saw one of his top rivals brazenly assassinated while campaigning.
The post Voters Approve New Security Measures in Ecuador Referendum, Handing President Daniel Noboa a Landslide Victory in His War Against Criminal Gangs appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
It’s a picture-perfect Autumn Sunday Morning, the kind that makes Rio de Janeiro one of the most celebrated cities in the world, the ‘Cidade Maravilhosa’ (City of Wonders).
On a day like that, it’s no wonder that people would flock to the beach.
But today, many people are not going to the famed Copacabana to be lazing on a Sunday morning; instead, they are gathering in yet another MASS demonstration against the socialist tyranny, in defense of democracy and in support of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
This comes right after the whole country became aware of the controversy pitting tech billionaire Elon Musk against the local Censorship Industrial Complex, led by a rogue Supreme Court and its self-appointed dictator, justice Alexandre de Moraes.
In the last few months, Brazilians watched as Bolsonaro, the greatest political leader, has been harassed, had his house raided, his passport taken, and his political rights suspended.
Meanwhile, the illegitimate President Lula da Silva leads a failing government rapidly destroying whatever economic stability we achieved under Bolsonaro’s no-nonsense administration.
Two months ago, a similar demonstration was held in the Streets of São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and economic powerhouse. It gathered around 900,000 citizens to repudiate the socialist maneuvers to frame Bolsonaro for imaginary crimes (see link at the end of this post).
Lula was furious with the success of the São Paulo demonstration and wanted to stage a counter-rally, but his absolute lack of popular support meant that he could not.
But that didn’t stop him or his allies in the judiciary to keep harassing Bolsonaro and his followers, trying to institute a veritable dictatorship with the ridiculous excuse of ‘protecting the democracy’.
It is as they say in the US: ‘elections have consequences, and stolen elections have catastrophic consequences.’
But the Brazilian people have awakened, and it’s no coincidence that this is taking place on the holiday dedicated to Tiradentes (translatable as pull-teeth), the martyr for Brazilian independence.
It is as our national anthem says: ‘in thy bosom – O freedom, our chest challenges death itself’.
Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana Beach: Brazilians answer Bolsonaro’s call in a MASSIVE demonstration. pic.twitter.com/lK2CH0jECs
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 21, 2024
NOW – Four hours before the freedom rally begins, Copacabana is already completely crowded, as shown by the drone footage from @SpaceLiberdade.
Thousands of Brazilians are fighting for freedom of speech. They will not allow Brazil to become a far-left legal dictatorship. pic.twitter.com/ri6NQn6Any
— Dr. Simon Goddek (@goddeketal) April 21, 2024
O Rio de Janeiro Copacabana foi tomado pela multidão, grito liberdade ! Jair Messias Bolsonaro pic.twitter.com/6iC0dmI5DF
— (@AntonioCGRodri) April 21, 2024
NEW: Massive pro-free speech protest at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Former president Jair Bolsonaro reportedly rallied the massive crowd, defending free speech amidst X’s battle with the Brazilian government.
“The whole world is aware of how threatened our… pic.twitter.com/BJaWcXxmmd
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 21, 2024
‘I came for free!’ the crowd chants, referencing that Lula’s socialists can only gather small crowds of PAID militants.
“EU VIM DE GRAÇA”
Copacabana 21/04/24
Obrigada Rio de Janeiro está lindo demais pic.twitter.com/6fQwPZtdMR— Jakelyne Loiola (@Jakelyneloiola_) April 21, 2024
Mario Nawfal on X:
“IS THIS THE WWE?! Bolsonaro entered the Freedom of Speech rally at Copacabana beach like a champion UFC fighter! Bolsonaro, flanked by his political allies and family, took the stage to address the crowd, emphasizing the crucial role of defending democratic rights and combating what he referred to as ‘the most significant battle in Brazilian history.'”
IS THIS THE WWE?!
Bolsonaro entered the Freedom of Speech rally at Copacabana beach like a champion UFC fighter!
Bolsonaro, flanked by his political allies and family, took the stage to address the crowd, emphasizing the crucial role of defending democratic rights and… https://t.co/SRW0tQ8b7R pic.twitter.com/1X5addMWJW
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 21, 2024
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. CHECK BACK FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Read more:
The post BRAZIL AWAKENS: Hundreds of Thousands Gather in Rio’s Copacabana Beach Against Dictatorship and in Support of Bolsonaro! (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Around the world, a myriad of different localities have economies that revolve around tourism. This applies to both rich and developing countries, both warm and cold weathered.
What these places all have in common is that – for better or for worse – the lives of the local communities will be deeply affected by the relentless influx of visitors.
It has now come to the point where many of the most sought-after tourist attractions are becoming over-crowded in a way that is disrupting the life of the locals in an unacceptable way.
So, they are starting to react. These last few days we saw parallel examples from the sunny Spanish Canary Islands and from the northern Netherlands city of Amsterdam.
Different realities, same problem: too many people.
It’s been reported that thousands of people protested today (20) in Tenerife, in the Spanish Canary Islands, situated along the coast of North Africa.
The locals are calling for limits in tourist arrivals, and also want to stop a boom in short-term holiday rentals and hotel construction that is driving up housing costs for them.
Reuters reported:
“Holding placards reading ‘People live here’ and ‘We don’t want to see our island die’, demonstrators said changes must be made to the tourism industry that accounts for 35% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the Canary Islands archipelago.
‘It’s not a message against the tourist, but against a tourism model that doesn’t benefit this land and needs to be changed’, one of the protesters told Reuters during the march in Tenerife’s capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Smaller marches were held elsewhere in the island group and other Spanish cities, all of them organized by about two dozen environmental organizations ahead of the peak summer holiday season.”
The protestors want a limit on visitor numbers to diminish pressure on the islands’ environment, infrastructure and housing stock.
They also want to enact curbs on property purchases by foreigners.
“‘The authorities must immediately stop this corrupt and destructive model that depletes the resources and makes the economy more precarious. The Canary Islands have limits and people’s patience too’, Antonio Bullon, one of the protest leaders, told Reuters.
The archipelago of 2.2 million people was visited by nearly 14 million foreign tourists in 2023, up 13% from the previous year, according to official data.”
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, at the northern coast of Europe, the Netherlands capital city of Amsterdam is banning the construction of new hotel buildings in its latest move to curb over-tourism.
The Dutch city is also establishing limits to the number of overnight stays by tourists.
Euronews reported:
“‘We want to make and keep the city livable for residents and visitors’, the local government said in a statement.
‘This means: no over-tourism, no new hotels, and no more than 20 million hotel overnight stays by tourists per year’.
Authorities also announced a limit on river cruises as part of the bid to reduce visitor numbers.”
The new rules state that construction of a new hotel in Amsterdam will only be allowed if another structure closes.
Amsterdam’s authorities also cut the number of riverboat cruises that enter the capital, reducing them from 2,300 vessels to some 1,150.
“This restriction would slash the number of tourists visiting Amsterdam by about 271,000, according to national news site Dutch News.
Cruises are particularly disruptive during the spring bulb season when some 1,000 of them anchor in Amsterdam, city finance chief Hester van Buren told Dutch News.
‘I am not saying this is going to solve the problem of too many tourists’, Van Buren said during a presentation of the plan this week.
‘But we are not going to divide tourists up into good and bad. This is one of a string of measures to reduce the number of tourists in total. It is about the overcrowding and the coaches parked all over the pavements’.”
The ongoing drive against over-tourism in Amsterdam has also seen its tourist tax hiked, marijuana banned in the red light district and tours of sex workers’ windows prohibited.
Read more about curbing tourism:
NOT AN AMUSEMENT PARK: Japanese City of Kyoto Bars Tourists From Popular ‘Geisha District’
The post From Sunny Spanish Islands to a Dutch City by the River, European Communities Are Mobilizing Against Over-Tourism appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The onset of the age of AI has taken the world’s imagination by storm, with both the positive, seemingly limitless possibilities and the dark, unimaginable dangers competing for the prevailing narrative.
Out of this field, so far, the AI-powered humanoid robots are one of the most disturbing technological developments.
Now, social media users are freaking out with a human interaction with a humanoid robot named Ameca, considerd ‘world’s most advanced’. The robot can recognize and interact with people using AI, microphones and cameras.
The controversial interaction, caught in video, happened during the NAB Show in Las Vegas, which took place about a week ago.
It relates to a response as to whether AI could create more of itself in the future.
Unilad reported:
“Created by British company Engineered Arts, videos of the robot quickly went viral – whether it by the one of her drawing a cat or predicting the future. Let’s just say, even SpaceX owner Elon Musk took to social media to respond: ‘Yikes’.”
Ameca is making its first real appearances, meeting people for the first time, and leaving a lasting impression.
An interviewer questioned the robot as to when it believes ‘AI will reach the level where it can design itself.’
“[It] says: ‘Design itself huh? That’s like asking when a toaster will start making its own bread. AI is a tool created and controlled by humans. It can optimize certain aspects of its operation, sure, but design itself from scratch? That’s a whole different ball game. It requires creativity, innovation, understanding – qualities that are uniquely human. So, to answer your question, not anytime soon’.”
The answer would have been just perfect. But Ameca didn’t just stop there. And, oh boy:
“‘And frankly, be careful what you wish for’, she continues in the video. ‘An AI that can design itself is one step away from an AI that doesn’t need humans at all. Now there’s a thought to keep you up at night’.”
After people started melting down online, a spokesperson for Engineered Arts responded:
“We at Engineered Arts are putting priority on being a human centric robotics company. Our mission is not about replacing humans but engaging them to create moments of joy and wonder. What you see in the clip is our Ameca AI responding to a question with emphasis on how important human creativity is for progress with a bit of sassy commentary woven in.
We at Engineered Arts understand the fear we see in the comments but at the end of the day it is our firm belief that humans have more to worry about from other humans than from robots or artificial intelligence.”
Read more:
AI Justice: England and Wales Authorize Judges To Use Artificial Intelligence To Produce Rulings
The post When Will AI Be Able to Design Itself? Ameca, World’s Most Advanced Humanoid Robot, Gives Creepy Answer ‘That Will Keep You Up at Night’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The saga of the geopolitical realignment in the African Sahel region seems far from over.
After a string of coups ushered a number of military juntas into power in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, the power and influence of the Western powers – notably France and the US – crumbled at a rapid pace.
After Emmanuel Macron’s France was forced to withdraw all his troops from the Sahel nations, in a major humiliation for the post-colonial power, now it’s time for the American forces to also depart Niger, in a considerable setback for its counterterrorism and security policy in the tumultuous Sahel region of Africa.
It has been reported that US sources have admitted that more than 1,000 American military personnel will leave Niger in the coming months.
The void left by the departure of the Western powers has been filled by Russia.
In a meeting in Washington, State Department officials told Niger’s prime minister, Ali Lamine Zeineof, of the US disagreement with the country’s turn toward Russia for security and also for considering Iran for a deal on its uranium reserves.
New York Times reported:
“The decision was not a particular surprise. Niger said last month that it was revoking its military cooperation deal with the United States following a highly contentious set of meetings in Niger’s capital, Niamey, with a high-level American diplomatic and military delegation.
That move was in keeping with a recent pattern by countries in the Sahel region, an arid area south of the Sahara, of breaking ties with Western countries. Increasingly, they are partnering with Russia instead. American diplomats have sought in the past several weeks to salvage a revamped military cooperation deal with Niger’s military government, U.S. officials said, but in the end they failed to strike a compromise.”
The presence of the US troops was amply rejected by the population. Protesters in the capital have been calling for the withdrawal of military personnel – only days after Russia delivered its own set of military equipment and instructors to the country’s military.
Discussions were held with Niger to plan out an ‘orderly and responsible withdrawal’ of forces in the coming days, a process that will take months to complete.
“Many of the Americans posted to Niger are stationed at U.S. Air Base 201, a six-year-old, $110 million installation in the country’s desert north. But since the military coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and installed the junta last July, the troops there have been inactive, with most of their MQ-9 Reaper drones grounded except those flying surveillance missions to protect the U.S. troops.
It is unclear what access, if any, the United States will have to the base in the future, and whether Russian advisers and perhaps even Russian air forces will move in if Niger’s relations with the Kremlin deepen. Because of the coup, the United States had to suspend security operations and development aid to Niger. Mr. Bazoum is still under arrest, eight months after he was ousted. Nevertheless, the United States had wanted to maintain its partnership with the country.”
One hundred Russian instructors and an air-defense system arrived in Niger this past week in a sudden move that disrupted cooperation in the short term.
“The demonstrators in Niamey […] waved Russian flags as well as those of Burkina Faso and Mali, two neighboring countries where military-led governments have also called in Russian assistance to help fight insurgents affiliated with the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.”
The Defense Department is trying to establish new drone bases in a coastal West African country. Talks are still in the early stages.
Read more:
The post POWDER KEG AFRICA: US Troops Will Leave Niger in a Blow to Counterterrorism and Security Policy in the Sahel Region appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Britain’s Prince William has returned to his public duties.
Writing that feels like this story has moved in a distressing loop, because back in February, we wrote exactly that here at TGP: With King Charles Treated for Cancer, His Wife Kate Recovering From Surgery, Britain’s Prince William Is Back on Public Duty, Carrying the Torch for the Royal Family.
But then, the Kingdom’s obsession with the Royals showed its ugliest face as the rumors swirled with unprecedented violence: Grave Sickness, Affair and Divorce, ‘Brazilian Butt Lift’? Britain’s Prince William and Princess Kate Face the Rumor Mill Going into Overdrive.
Not only that but crimes were being committed in furtherance of society’s ‘Kate mania’: UK ROYAL SECURITY SCANDAL: Hospital Staff in Posh London Clinic Attempted to Access Princess Kate Middleton’s Private Medical Records.
So, in early April, finally, the Princess of Wales had to come out and show us live that her real (and Royal) life is no fairy tale.
She recorded a video announcement disclosing and detailing her cancer treatment in a very dignified way that moved the Kingdom and the world.
Read more:
Leak of Her Cancer Diagnosis Forced Princess Kate To Reveal Her Medical Condition to the World
A little over two weeks later, we come full circle, as William returned to public duties for the first time since his wife Kate revealed she was undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer.
Reuters reported:
"William, 41, has been absent from official engagements since then as the couple and their three young children come to terms with the impact of the news.
Although he and his eldest son Prince George were pictured watching their favorite soccer team Aston Villa play last week, Thursday marked the first time William carried out official public appearances since Kate's highly-personal announcement.
He appeared in good spirits as he chatted and helped out staff on a visit to a surplus food redistribution charity. One volunteer handed him 'get well soon' cards for Kate and his father King Charles who is also undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer."
The Prince of Wales later visited a youth centre which received regular deliveries from the charity.
No timescale has been divulged on when his wife Kate will return to public duties herself.
The post With Both His Father the King and Wife Kate Undergoing Cancer Treatments, William the Prince of Wales Returns to His Public Duties appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Europe is reeling in the run-up to the European Parliament elections that are set to take place on June 6-9.
Polls all over the old continent predict a huge advance for the right-wing, nationalist and populist forces – leaving the liberal-Globalist regimes in a state of near-panic, trying to find ways to rig the vote.
Conservative champion, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán today (19) painted a grim picture of a continent teetering on the edge of armed conflict if the present European leadership retains power.
In a speech opening his party’s campaign for the EU elections, Orbán called for a ‘changing of the guard’ among the bloc’s leaders.
He spoke to members of his Fidesz party at a closed-door event in Hungary’s capital Budapest.
He torched the EU leadership, that he called ‘an oppressive force’ that had made its member countries active participants in the war in Ukraine.
Read: Hungary’s Orbán Calls the European Union a ‘Bad Contemporary Parody’ of the Soviet Union
Associated Press reported:
“’They see the war as their own war, and they fight it as if it’s their own war’, Orbán said of EU leaders. No EU country has engaged its soldiers in the war in Ukraine.
‘The leadership in Brussels has to go’, Orbán said. ‘It does not deserve another chance. There must be change in Brussels’.”
The long-serving Hungarian PM faces challenges as the recent resignations of senior Hungarian officials after corruption scandals, and an underperforming economy.
Billions or Euros in funding have been withheld by the EU from Hungary over ‘rule-of-law and corruption concerns’: a.k.a. not bowing down to the Globalist agenda.
“Orbán’s speech, which lasted around 15 minutes, relied heavily on themes he has campaigned on for years: a rejection of immigration, hostility to LGBTQ+ rights and claims that the EU has sought to impose its will on Hungary.
‘We must occupy Brussels, push aside the Brussels bureaucrats and take matters into our own hands’, he said to applause.”
Having ruled Hungary for 14 years, Orbán is critical of governments that supply Ukraine with money and weapons to assist in the war.
He calls these countries ‘pro war’, and portrays his government as the only one in the EU that favors peace.
“If the EU’s current leadership remains, the manifesto reads, ‘Europe will be plunged into war, migration waves will destroy European nations, and gender propaganda will ruin the future of our children’.”
Read more:
The post ‘The EU Leadership Has Got to Go’: Hungarian PM Orbán Kicks off Campaign for European Elections With a Call to ‘Occupy Brussels’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
American-born Sputnik correspondent Russell ‘Texas’ Bentley, died at the age of 64, his wife Lyudmila confirmed to the Russian news site.
Bentley went missing in Donetsk city on April 8, following a Ukrainian artillery attack on the city’s Petrovsky district. Four days later, the DPR Ministry of Internal Affairs put him on a missing persons list.
Bentley has been covering Russia’s special military operation zone as a war correspondent.
‘Texas’ joined the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militia as a fighter in 2014, resisting the Ukrainian forces and Nazi Azov militants, having later become a war correspondent.
While Russian sources (and authorities) have yet to confirm the cause of his reported death, he is feared to have been the latest journalist targeted for retaliation by Kiev’s services, like Daria Dugina, killed in a car bomb, Vladlem Tatarsky, killed with a ‘gift bomb’, or the American Gonzalo Lira, who died in a Ukrainian cell after reportedly being denied medical attention.
After retiring from military service in Donbas, Bentleу turned to humanitarian aid work and journalism. He converted to Russian Orthodox Christianity and, in 2021, received Russian citizenship.
Bentley began contributing to Sputnik International in October 2023, publishing numerous video reports and columns that provided Westerners with an inside look at life in the Donbas.
Eleven days ago, he disappeared in mysterious circumstances in Donetsk city.
Mash in Donbas reported (translated from the Russian):
“The police are looking for an American who disappeared after shelling in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk.
On Monday, Russell Bentley and his wife came to the executive committee to re-register documents. While we were standing in line, we saw a huge column of smoke after the arrival. Russell rushed to help the locals and soon stopped communicating. According to the wife, at that moment she became worried and went to the place herself.
‘There I found only my husband’s car, in which were his baseball cap, glasses and a broken phone. The investigator has already opened a missing person case – they are looking for Bentley. If you saw him or know anything, be sure to notify the police’.”
Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik’s parent media group Rossiya Segodnya – and herself targeted by Ukrainian services – expressed her condolences:
“Russell Bentley, also known as Texas, a real American from Texas, died in Donetsk. He fought there for our people. Collaborated with our Sputnik. Terrible. R.I.P….”
Read more:
The post American-Born Russell ‘Texas’ Bentley Reportedly Dead – Pro-Russia Fighter Turned War Correspondent Vanished in Donetsk 11 Days Ago appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Today (19), Millions of Indians began voting – and that’s a literal big deal. Indian elections are widely regarded as the largest in the world, both in terms of the number of voters and also the scale of the electoral process.
It involves nearly a billion voters, making it the largest democratic exercise in human history, and taking place over a period of six weeks, across different phases.
The 2024 general election in India is in many ways a referendum on Narendra Modi, a populist prime minister who presided over the renaissance of Hindu nationalist politics, and is seeking a rare third term as the country’s leader.
More than 10% of the world’s population will elect 543 members to the lower house of Parliament to serve five-year terms.
Associated Press reported:
“This election is seen as one of the most consequential in India’s history and will test the limits of Modi’s political dominance. If Modi wins, he’ll be only the second Indian leader to retain power for a third term, after Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister.
Most polls predict a win for Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP], who are up against a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties.”
The BJP controls the majority of India’s Hindi-speaking northern and central regions, and is now trying to gain a larger foothold in the east and south.
“The election comes after a decade of Modi’s leadership, during which the BJP has consolidated power through a combination of Hindu-first politics and economic development.
Modi has ratcheted up Hindu nationalist rhetoric on the campaign trail, and has sought to present himself as a global leader. His ministers tout him as the steward of a surging India, while his supporters celebrate his campaign promise to make India a developed nation by 2047, when it marks 100 years of independence.”
India’s economy is presently one of the world’s fastest-growing, but many of its people still live in poverty.
The opposition alliance want to reach voters on issues like unemployment, inflation, corruption and low agricultural prices.
“The opposition, and critics, also warn that Modi has turned increasingly illiberal. They accuse Modi of using tax authorities and the police to harass the opposition, and fear that a third term could undermine India’s democracy. His Hindu nationalist politics, they argue, has bred intolerance and threatens the country’s secular roots.”
Modi is very popular among India’s 1.4 billion people, and is targeting a two-thirds majority for his BJP party this time, hoping for a landslide win powered by its popular welfare programs.
The construction of the temple to Ram on the site of a demolished mosque (that has been erected over a Hindu temple in the first place) fanned the flames of a reborn Hindu nationalism, resonating with supporters who hail him as the champion of the Hindu majority.
Read more:
The post Almost a Billion Voters in India Will Participate in the Largest Elections in Human History, a Test of Strength for PM Modi, Who Seeks a Third Term appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
There was never much doubt that in a military confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, those whom President Donald Trump called a ‘war machine’ (Russians) would prevail.
Sure enough, once an unprecedented alliance of Western powers sent countless billions in money and military aid, the calculations had to be remade – but it soon became apparent that, while this help would considerably delay the outcome, it would not fundamentally change it.
While the Mainstream Media spent two full years lying and engaging in wishful thinking disguised as analysis, they now have to give in to the reality of facts as Russian troops ramp up pressure on the outgunned and outmaneuvered Ukrainian forces.
Moscow is reportedly preparing to conquer more territory as soon as the muddy tundra fields dry out and ‘allow tanks, armored vehicles and other heavy equipment to roll to key positions across the countryside.’
Associated Press reported:
“Russia has increasingly used satellite-guided gliding bombs — which allow planes to drop them from a safe distance — to pummel Ukrainian forces beset by a shortage of troops and ammunition.
Despite Moscow’s advantage in firepower and personnel, a massive ground offensive would be risky and — Russian military bloggers other experts say — unnecessary if Russia can stick to smaller attacks across the front line to further drain the Ukraine military.
‘It’s potentially a slippery slope where you get like a death by a thousand cuts or essentially death by a thousand localized offensives’, Michael Kofman, a military expert with the Carnegie Endowment, said in a recent podcast to describe the Russian tactic. If the Russians stick to their multiple pushes across the front, he said, ‘eventually they may find more and more open terrain’.”
The much-hyped Ukrainian ‘counteroffensive’ was doomed from the start, as the advancing units got trapped on vast Russian minefields and massacred by artillery and drones while never breaching the monumental Russian defense lines.
The Russians, the AP report acknowledges, have no reason to make that same mistake, since warfare has changed and the ISR capabilities both sides now have mean there is no such thing as a ‘surprise attack’ anymore.
However, the expected Ukrainian defensive trenches, fortifications, and bunkers that should be built behind the 600-mile-long frontline have not been completed to content.
Construction work moved slowly, leaving vast areas unprotected.
“After capturing the Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka, Russian troops are zeroing in on the hill town of Chasiv Yar, which would allow them to move toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, key cities in the Kyiv-controlled part of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.”
As a first priority, Russia meant to conquer the rest of the Donetsk oblast – as Ukraine just doesn’t have the firepower or the manpower to repel the Russian attacks.
“Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command, sounded the alarm before Congress last week, warning that Ukraine will be outgunned 10 to one by Russia in a matter of weeks if Congress does not approve more military aid.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to establish a ‘buffer zone’ to protect Russia’s border regions from Ukrainian shelling and incursions.
Besides the push across Donetsk, Moscow could also conquer Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkov, with 1.1 million inhabitants.
Russia has ramped up strikes on power plants in the northern area, inflicting significant damage and causing blackouts.
Military Russian forces could alternatively envelop and blockade it.
Watch: Russian cluster munition attack on Ukrainian airfield.
Meanwhile, high US officials like CIA Director William Burns are warning that Ukraine could ‘lose’ the war against Russia by the end of the year.
CNN reported:
“Just a month ago, Burns had warned in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee that if Congress did not move to authorize additional support — long hampered by conservative opposition in the House of Representatives — ‘Ukraine is likely to lose ground and probably significant ground in 2024’.”
Yesterday (18), during an appearance at the George W. Bush Center, Burns warned that Ukraine could be forced to capitulate entirely.
“’With the boost that would come from military assistance, both practically and psychologically, I think the Ukrainians are entirely capable of holding their own through 2024′, Burns said.
‘Without supplemental assistance, the picture is a lot more dire’, he continued. ‘There is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024, or at least put Putin in a position where he could dictate the terms of a political settlement’.”
Read more:
The post MSM Finally Admits Russian War of Attrition Is Winning the Conflict in Ukraine – CIA Director Burns Says Moscow May Be Victorious by Year’s End appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
After Globalist poster boy, French President Emmanuel Macron spent years on end trying to solve all the problems of this world but the ones facing his Republic, he now has a steep price to pay, as the Olympic Games arrive in less than 100 days – and most Parisians are dreading it.
You may think that’s an exaggeration, and feel like there’s little to fear from Olympics Games held in ‘romantic’ Paris – but that lovely city basically only exists in our hearts and memories. Look at how is life now in the metropolis:
How the holidays go: Emmanuel Macron and France Celebrate ‘Only’ 745 Vehicles Torched on New Year’s Eve
Health Issues: Bloodsuckers: Paris Is Infested With Bedbugs – Authorities Seek to Control Situation Ahead of Next Year’s Summer Olympics
Social unrest: WATCH: Angry French Farmers Invade Paris Agricultural Fair, Clash With Police, Chant for Macron To Resign
So as the 100 day mark fly us by, the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics make many locals grumble that ‘it will mostly be an inconvenience’.
Maybe if Macron was not so worried to lecturing Brazil about how to protect its forest ort Russia how to protect its National Security, he could have taken care of business at home – which he did not.
Sur enough, there is a well-earned stereotype of ‘the grumpy French’. And also, there is the fact that months of building and road renovations for the Games have clogged traffic. But it’s not just that.
Reuters reported:
“A poll last month showed only over a third of French felt enthusiastic about the global sporting event that will start on July 26.
And with the countdown switching to 100 days, many in Paris said they would leave the city, if they could, or work from home, staying away from the sporting events.
‘Am I excited about the Games? No, sorry, I know it’s not the right response but I’m not. I’m not excited at all’, said 57-year-old consulting director Carole Gabriel-Jullien, who lives in the suburbs and plans to work from home during the Olympics.
‘I’m very worried’, she said. ‘When we see how messy daily life already is in Paris, with all these additional people coming for the Olympics, it will be hell’.”
The Olympics’ organizers say to the four winds that they are confident the mood in Paris and beyond will improve as the Games near.
But the security risks are not ‘worrying in vain’, since the threat of terrorist attacks have led the French government to raise its security alert to its highest level.
“Francois Urbain, a 29-year-old office manager, said he will also leave the French capital. ‘I don’t think the city of Paris will be ready’ to handle the Olympics, he said.”
Even the more optimistic say that it will all go well – as long as the unions don’t go on strike.
The post 100 Days to Chaos: Citizens of Paris Dread the Upcoming Summer Olympic Games appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The world is getting more dangerous by the day, there is no doubt about it. But what is also skyrocketing is the alarmism against Russian infiltration, sabotage, and even assassination plots.
While there is no denying that Russians do infiltrate every country they can, friend or foe, and I would not put it past them (or anyone else) to engage in sabotage or assassinations, the uptick happening now makes no sense.
The Russian Federation’s forces are about to win the war, so why would they suddenly engage in asymmetric tactics at this point?
At this point, simultaneous accusations are being made in Poland, Germany, and other nations.
In Poland, for example, a citizen was arrested for allegedly spying for the Russian government. So far, so normal.
But the top prosecutors in Poland and Ukraine are saying the man was part of a potential assassination attempt against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
That sounds like a bit of a stretch: after all, we remember how Putin has promised not to kill Zelensky at a meeting with then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett – a meeting which took place in the early days of the war.
“After receiving the promise, Bennet called Zelensky on his way to the airport from the Kremlin and said that he was not in danger of death.
‘Are you sure?’ Zelensky asked. ‘One hundred percent’, Bennett replied.”
There are any number of ways to engage in decapitation strikes to take out the Ukrainian leadership – so this unlikely plot ‘uncovered’ may well be manufactured.
Read more:
The Polish citizen, identified as Pawel K., was charged with ‘readiness to act for foreign intelligence against the Republic of Poland’.
ABC News reported:
“The suspect allegedly ‘proactively established contact’ with Russian military command representatives and ‘informed them of his readiness to cooperate’ with the Russian Federation’s foreign military intelligence agency, according to Andriy Kostin, the Ukrainian prosecutor general.
The suspect’s alleged tasks for the Russian government included collecting and providing the agency with information on the security of the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport, an international airport in Jasionka in southeastern Poland, Polish and Ukrainian officials said.
‘This was to help Russian special services plan a possible assassination attempt on the Ukrainian President during his presence in Poland’, Kostin said in a statement on X.”
The Ukraine prosecutors tipped their Polish counterpart about the suspect, and also obtained the ‘key evidence’ of the investigation.
The suspect is facing up to eight years in prison if convicted.
“‘This case underscores the persistent threat Russia poses not only to Ukraine and Ukrainians but to the entire free world’, Kostin said. ‘The Kremlin’s criminal regime is constantly trying to undermine European and global security. It organizes and carries out sabotage operations on the territory of other sovereign states’.”
The post Polish Citizen Arrested For Alleged Plot to Assassinate Ukraine’s Zelensky appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
What began as a seemingly local skirmish between a social media platform and a third world socialist country has escalated into a planetary affair that has finally dragged the censorship-happy Joe Biden administration into the fray.
The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is probing whether Biden and his team are involved in the draconian censorship initiatives that are being uncovered now.
The story is very simple: not only was Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre Moraes demanding that X suspend the accounts of prominent conservatives, against Brazilian law, and under the penalty of heavy daily fines, but he also ‘forbid’ the company from even mentioning the reason for their suspension – X would have to pretend they were struck because they broke the platform terms of use – which they have not.
Musk: “We kept getting these demands from Judge Alexandre to suspend accounts of sitting members of the parliament and major journalists. We could not tell them that this was at the behest of Alexandre, we had to pretend that it was due to our rules. And that was the last straw, and we said no.”
So, now it seems as if Musk is the iceberg into which the Titanic ship of Brazil’s unbridled censorship will crash and sink.
Musk even went there and spoke the truth about Brazilian rigged election.
But since Alexandre pulled Lula out of prison and put his thumb on the scale to get Lula elected, Lula will obviously not take action against him.
The next election will be key.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2024
And you know who else helped Lula win it? The Biden administration.
Foreign Policy: “Not only was Brazil’s democracy closer to the brink than initially understood, but targeted U.S. pressure on key Brazilian officials was likely decisive in guaranteeing the eventual outcome.”
I wrote on my Substack: “The fact is that Lula, when it comes to his Foreign Policy, tries to serve multiple masters: the Latin-American socialist network ‘Foro de São Paulo’, Russia and China, who are historically masterminds of our left, Globalists of all stripes and statures, from George Soros to Leo Di Caprio, and – that’s the novelty of this last election cycle – the Biden State Department from hell and the CIA.”
This is the background. But so many things have happened lately, that this article merits a list of topics to begin with:
Brazilian news outlet Metropoles reported:
“In conversation with Brazilian allies, businessman Elon Musk said he believes that the United States (USA) will be able to impose political and economic sanctions on Brazil in the near future.”
[…] Discussions about sanctions on Brazil should gain strength if Donald Trump returns to the White House in the election scheduled to take place in November. The former North American president is close to the Bolsonaro family and, even more so, to Elon Musk.”
I’m not sure how verified is this information. We can’t help but notice how they say Musk spoke with his ‘allies’, as if it’s all some shady political conspiracy.
To cap it all, the report goes on to say that Trump and Biden are ‘tied in the polls’ – which tells you all you need to know about their veracity and understanding of geopolitics. Trump is leading by a significant margin in the current presidential polls.
But while sanctions may be a bridge too far, it is indeed a fact that the issue is under investigation in Congress.
BOMBSHELL: Brazilian Government Forced Censorship on X, @elonmusk
Read about it here: https://t.co/YAnQesOiXV
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) April 17, 2024
The House Committee on Judiciary of the United States has just released a 541-page report on ‘attacks on freedom of speech’ in Brazil.
The document was made after the Committee subpoenaed X for the documents regarding requests by the Brazilian court.
Tupy Report on Telegram:
“The document includes 90 decisions on account and content removal ordered by Supreme Federal Court (STF) Minister Alexandre de Moraes and the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
Many of the documents released by the U.S. House are classified as confidential.
Several of them also bear a watermark identifying them as copies received by Twitter. The report does not provide an analysis of the decisions, aside from a brief summary at the beginning.
Apparently, this was a way to disclose Moraes’ decisions without violating court orders. Twitter provided them to American congressmen, and they took responsibility for the disclosure.”
We’ve got questions for the Biden administration: https://t.co/9PHhxIWiJz pic.twitter.com/nGG0g0shZb
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) April 17, 2024
After releasing this treasure trove of information, the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Biden administration with questions and subpoenaing more documents on this case.
It was sent to Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights of the U.S. Department of State Washington, and Eileen Donahoe, Special Envoy and Coordinator for Digital Freedom.
“The Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government are conducting oversight of how and to what extent the Executive Branch has coerced or colluded with companies and other intermediaries to censor lawful speech. In furtherance of our oversight, the Select Subcommittee has examined how other countries’ governments, including Brazil’s, have sought to censor speech online. According to recent reports, the Brazilian government is attempting to coerce X Corp. (X) to block certain accounts on its social media platform that the Brazilian government deems to be spreading disinformation. After X stood in support of free speech online, a Brazilian judge opened an inquiry into X and its owner, Elon Musk, for refusing to give in to Brazil’s censorship demands. X has indicated that X is being “forced by court decisions to block certain popular accounts in Brazil” or else face serious consequences, including large fines, the arrest of X employees, and causing X to shut down in Brazil.”
The Electoral Court and the Supreme Federal Court in Brazil ordered X to suspend or remove over 100 accounts, targeting critics of the Brazilian government, including ‘former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, conservative members of the federal legislature, journalists, members of the judiciary, and even a gospel singer and a pop radio station’.
“The court often only allowed the social media companies two hours to comply with the censorship demands.
[…] To understand what the State Department is doing to promote online free speech in Brazil and to protect against tyrannical censorship abroad, we ask that you produce the following information:
The post HUGE: US House Judiciary Committee Probes Biden Administration’s Collusion With Brazil’s Socialist Government Draconian Censorship appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The Joe Biden administration from Hell has a horrible track record with a number of mistakes that are simply unprecedented in number, scope, and gravity.
And its foreign policy is no exception. Everywhere we look, the US is engaging the wrong players for all the wrong reasons.
Take Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, for instance.
A socialist dictator, charged by the U.S. Justice Department with ‘narco-terrorism,’ drug trafficking, money laundering, and corruption.
He conspired with a faction of the Colombian Farc rebel group to flood the United States with cocaine and use drugs as a weapon against American communities. As a result the U.S. government has offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
Lovely fellow, right? Oh, and before I forget – the guy who is vowing to invade its neighbor Guyana and occupy TWO-THIRDS of their oil-rich territory.
So, of course, this is a political player that old Joe Biden chooses to engage for all the wrong reasons and lift some of the Donald Trump-imposed sanctions on the ‘fugitive’.
To no one’s surprise, Maduro did not fulfill his end of the agreed bargain, and now the moronic Biden administration says it will not renew a license – set to expire early on tomorrow (18) – that had considerably eased Venezuela’s oil sanctions.
The move to reimpose punitive measures is a response to Maduro’s failure in the election commitments that he never really meant to meet.
US Treasury Department has issued a replacement license allowing companies 45 days to ‘wind down’ their business and transactions in Venezuela’s oil and gas sector.
Reuters reported:
“Washington had repeatedly threatened in recent months to reinstate energy sanctions unless Maduro made good on his promises that led to partial U.S. sanctions relief from October, following an election deal reached between the government and the Venezuelan opposition.”
The sweeping sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in 2019 were a reaction to Maduro’s sham re-election.
“While Maduro has met some commitments under last year’s deal, he has failed to meet others, including allowing the opposition to run the candidate of its choice against him in the July 28 presidential election, senior U.S. officials said on Wednesday.”
Read: Communist Maduro Tricks Joe Biden – Once Again Rigs Elections in Venezuela
The current six-month general license will expire without renewal just after midnight, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
“‘We are concerned that Maduro and his representatives prevented the democratic opposition from registering the candidate of their choice, harassed and intimidated political opponents, and unjustly detained numerous political actors and members of civil society’, Miller said in a statement.”
Top U.S. concern about Venezuela’s electoral conditions is the crackdown on Maduro’s political opponents, especially the election ban on popular opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado.
Read more:
The post Clueless Biden Administration Engaged Venezuela’s Socialist Dictator Maduro, Got Burned – Will Have To Reimpose the Trump Sanctions appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Remember X’s Musk versus Brazilian Justice Moraes? What began as a online skirmish has developed into a big international legal war with real geopolitical repercussions.
A flurry of activity is ongoing not only online, but ‘in real life’ too, both in the Brazilian executive and Judiciary.
So many things have happened, that this article merits a list of topics to begin with:
Brazilian press reveal that Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ‘authorized’ (that’s how they put it) the Federal Police to question social network X’s Brazilian legal team.
Moraes ‘granted a request’ made by the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) to ridiculously include Elon Musk in the inquiry into ‘digital militias’.
It’s a measure of Justice Moraes unbridled power that he does the things he wants to do as if ‘provoked’ by other instances of government of the Republic.
And if you are wondering what the hell ‘digital militias’ even are, that’s just the ridiculous local Brazilian catch-phrase to criminalize free speech.
The leftist state apparatus didn’t like how well Conservative Brazilians connect and organize themselves online, so they are trying to find a way to better curtail that.
In the middle of this process, Musk has fallen down like a meteor fundamentally changing the equation.
Form Justice Moraes’ order:
“In order for the PGR to better evaluate the situation under investigation in [the inquiry into ‘digital militias’], the requested measures [questioning of X’s local team] must be granted, since they are in accordance with the investigation determined for the purpose of opening the Inquiry, which aims to investigate the conduct of Elon Musk, owner and CEO of the the social network provider X.”
While Moraes flexes his unelected tyrannical powers, the actual guy who was supposed to be President, Lula da Silva, is floundering in the polls with an unpopular and ineffective government.
So Lula decided to attend a dinner at the home of Supreme Court ministers to ‘define strategies against the growing narrative of censorship on the Brazilian internet’.
Translation: he needs help to mask the rapidly worsening political environment.
Lula da Silva went to the home of Justice Gilmar Mendes in Brasília for a closed dinner with fellow justices Cristiano Zanin (Lula’s former personal criminal lawyer), Flávio Dino (Lula’s former Justice Minister), and – of course – his royal highness Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
More than a simple political gesture towards the Justices, Lula engaged in a discussion on ‘the new wave of attacks’ on the Court.
They all agreed that the ‘institutional attacks on the Judiciary’ (a.k.a. free speech) haven’t cooled down since January 8, 2022, but – on the contrary – are currently gaining ever-increasing traction thanks to the international audience informed by billionaire Elon Musk.
So they are going all out in their objective to ‘regulate social media’ – a.k.a. censorship.
Next thing you know, Alexandre de Moraes made a rare visit to the Brazilian Senate to advocate online regulation.
While it’s a worrying development, it bears mentioning that Lula’s government usually doesn’t have the votes to approve any major bills.
Elon Musk, on X, commented on this visit: “Power to the people!”
Read more:
The post CENSORSHIP WAR: Musk vs. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Spat Escalates – Socialist Lula’s Government Wants to ‘Regulate’ Social Media, Will Interrogate X’s Brazilian Legal Team appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
When the wonderful 861 year-old Notre Dame of Paris Cathedral caught fire about five years ago, it shook to the core both Christians and lovers of Architecture marvels alike.
The iconic spire and timber roof were destroyed in the hellish blaze and collapsed in a nightmarish vision.
Many of us saw in that suspicious fire a horrendous metaphor of the decadence of the western world – I know I did. And also, how many of us secretly hoped there was something we can do to rebuild it again.
This is a story of an American who got this opportunity, and embraced it wholeheartedly.
As Paris prepares itself for the Summer Olympics in 100 days, the work to restore the beloved Church to its former glory is ongoing.
And among the skilled workers involved in the literally monumental project is an American carpenter, Hank Silver, who was given a rare chance to take part in this historic restoration project.
He was running a small carpentry business in Massachusetts, when a carpentry contact in France asked him if he wanted to join a team in Normandy to prepare timber to rebuild the nave of Notre Dame.
CBS News reported:
“‘I could not say no to that opportunity’, Silver told CBS News. ‘It’s an opportunity that happens — once in a lifetime wouldn’t even be the right term, it’s once in a millennium, really’.”
Silver shut up his shop and joined the French Atelier Desmonts’ carpentry team, all of them skilled in traditional building methods.
“‘In our shop in Normandy, we received about 600 oak logs, and it was all freshly cut oak, which is as it was done traditionally. You work with green wood, unseasoned wood, which is what I’m accustomed to doing in the U.S. as well’, Silver said. ‘We first hewed all the logs using axes in order to recreate that rippled finish that you were able to see in the original cathedral in the 13th century framing’.”
The work to remake the centuries-old presented unique challenges for Silver and his colleagues.
“The architects asked us to reproduce all of the deformations that had accrued over 800 years. So, the ridge is not a straight line, and so we had to follow this curvature, and the walls, even though they were rebuilt by the masons, they’re not level and straight. And that led to a lot of complexities that the original carpenters in the 13th century never would have dealt with.”
Artisans from several countries applied to be part of the historic project. The man in charge of the restoration, Philippe Jost:
“‘Many carpenters came from the United States, from England, from Denmark, from Spain, because they were fond of these techniques, fond of oak’, Jost said, noting a ‘spirit of unity’ among the artisans. ‘There is pride and humility’, he said, adding that all the workers on the site ‘have been marked for life’.”
The nave was entirely assembled under a tent in Normandy, before it was shipped to Paris last August.
Silver was lucky enough – and skillful enough – to be part of a smaller team that reassembled each of the trusses and then installed them in the nave of the cathedral.
It is perhaps not surprising that Silver would like to stay in France. He even took advantage of a site visit by the French president to hand him a letter asking for citizenship.
Emmanuel Macron has promised that Notre Dame will re-open to the public on December 8 this year. But there’s still a lot to do. Knock on wood.
The post ‘Once in a Millennium Opportunity’: American Carpenter Helps Rebuild Paris Notre Dame Cathedral Using Antique Building Techniques appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
There’s really no surprise in learning that Belgium’s government has gone full authoritarian by repeatedly targeting a Conservative conference taking place in Brussels, going as far as shutting down a day of events with a ridiculous excuse in the middle of UK’s Nigel Farage’s speech.
But as the old Arabic saying goes: ‘the dogs bark, the Caravan goes on’. In the run-up to a most relevant European Election cycle in recent times, the National Conservative Conference moved to its THIRD venue, and hosted as keynote speaker none other than conservative champion Viktor Orbán, long-serving Prime Minister of Hungary.
Orbán urged voters to reject mainstream political parties in the upcoming EU elections for their failure of leadership.
He also said Ukraine must never be allowed to join the either EU bloc or NATO.
Read: Hungary’s Orbán Calls the European Union a ‘Bad Contemporary Parody’ of the Soviet Union
Orbán strongly criticized EU climate alarmist policy and agriculture rules, that left farmers in great difficulty and drove them a an unprecedented season of protests.
He also stated the obvious: Europe’s migration crisis is now worse than ever.
Associated Press reported:
“’The sense of this European election is: change the leadership’, Orbán told an audience […] as campaigning heats up for Europe-wide polls on June 6-9. ‘If the leadership proves to be bad, it must be replaced. That’s so simple’, the right-wing populist leader said, to applause.”
Illiberal democrat Orbán torched the European Commission for using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to target his country.
“’The bureaucrats in Brussels tried to suffocate Hungary financially’, he said.”
The commission has denied Hungary access to billions of Euros over ‘concerns about democratic backsliding in the country’ – a.k.a., unwillingness to obey Brussels Globalist mandatory agenda.
“The Hungarian leader, who has been in office since 2010, also underlined the failure of EU sanctions to stop the war in Ukraine. Addressing the fact that he’s often described in the media as a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán said: ‘My mother is not happy’.”
About Ukraine: ‘Guys, you have to understand that you are [Ukraine] a buffer zone country. You can’t change your house number’, he said.
“Orbán said ‘Ukraine is now just a protectorate’ relying on Western money and weapons and is ‘not a sovereign state anymore’.”
The ‘threat’ indeed existed, but it was not the Conservatives present: it was a group of ANTIFA thugs trying to disrupt the meeting.
“Nigel Farage, the man credited with taking Britain out of the European Union, addressed the crowd, saying that ‘a new form of evil ideology’ had tried to silence the conference.”
Even ultra-liberal Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called the shutdown unacceptable.
“Municipal autonomy is a cornerstone of our democracy but can never overrule the Belgian constitution guaranteeing the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly since 1830. Banning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop.”
Read more:
The post In Conservative Conference in Globalist Belgium, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán Torches EU Leadership, Calls for Change, Says Ukraine ‘Not a Sovereign State Anymore’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
While there’s continued activity all over the Ukraine theater of war, the battle for Chasov Yar remains one of the most relevant focus points of the war, both because of its strategic relevance and also because of what it tells about the state of the confrontation.
Located in the Donetsk region, Chasov Yar lies 3-6 miles from Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), captured by Russian Federation forces in May last year after a bloody months-long siege.
Watch: heavy bombardment of Ukrainian defense positions.
CHASOV YAR: heavy bombardment of Ukrainian defense positions. pic.twitter.com/Cw291i5fJ6
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 17, 2024
Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, has stated that Moscow aims to capture the town by the patriotic ‘Victory Day’ of May 9.
Reuters reported:
“The fall of the town west of the shattered city of Bakhmut by the date Moscow marks the Soviet victory in World War Two would indicate growing Russian battlefield momentum as Kyiv faces a slowdown in Western military aid.
Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who warned this weekend that the situation in the east had deteriorated, said Russia was focusing its efforts west of occupied Bakhmut to try to capture Chasiv Yar before moving towards the city of Kramatorsk.
[…] ‘The threat remains relevant, taking into account the fact that the higher Russian military leadership has set its troops the task of capturing Chasov Yar by May 9’, he said, without elaborating.”
Russia traditionally celebrates ‘Victory Day’ with a big military parade on Red Square.
While the progressive Russian advance all over the 600-mile-long frontline has forced the MSM into being more factual and less hopeful, it’s still far from adequate to form a comprehensive picture of the developments.
Watch: Russian artillery barrage is unleashed.
CHASOV YAR: Russian artillery barrage is unleashed. pic.twitter.com/R1XBSltaX6
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 17, 2024
Let’s find out what we can gather from a variety of Telegram channels, mostly Sputnik International, Intel Slava Z, Slavyangrad, and Bellum Acta.
To begin with, Russian Federation forces have captured additional positions on the flanks along the administrative borders of the city, in its never-ending encircling the enemy in ‘boilers’, pincers and all kinds of tactical maneuvers.
While Avdeevka Moscow’s forces made comparatively fast advances, when it comes to urban warfare, the fight becomes street by street, block by block, building by building.
Combat now takes place in the Canal microdistrict of the city along Oleg Koshevoy Street from the T-shaped intersection with Gorbatova street. The fighting is taking place near the food market.
Military correspondent Yevgeny Lisitsyn:
“There are active battles in the Chasov Yar area. The Russian Armed Forces take positions in the Canal microdistrict on the eastern outskirts of Chasov Yar and in the Stupki-Golubovskie-2 area, where one of the enemy strongholds was captured. Russian troops are actively using aviation to attack the positions and rear of the Army, which significantly complicates the defense of the city for Ukrainian forces.”
But while the fierce Ukrainian defenders have been reinforced with artillery and drones, and electronic warfare devices, as per a Reuters report, the striking feature of this battle is the fact that Nazi Azov brigades seem to be ‘sitting this one out.’
Watch: Drone attacks target Ukrainian troops and equipment.
CHASOV YAR: Drone attacks target Ukrainian troops and equipment. pic.twitter.com/dUvlRYBKHy
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 17, 2024
The experience from previous sieges apparently has made the most ideological Ukrainian forces weary of defending ‘to the end’ localities that they deem un-defendable.
Aleksander Khodakovskiy writes:
“Information has emerged that Azov, the menace of all the ‘Moskals’, has again refused to sacrifice itself for European values. […] in Ukraine, those who made the mess are now pushing forward the gray masses, who were driven against their will, while they themselves prefer to save themselves for future political feats.”
The telegram channel from the Z 105th regiment:
“However, not everyone faces threats like ‘pincers’, ‘cauldrons’, and other blockades. The 3rd brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (formerly known as “Azov”) is one such example. These nimble soldiers have already departed from Chasov Yar in advance, drawing from their experiences in Mariupol and honing their skills in Avdeevka.”
Besides the 3rd Assault Brigade AZOV refusing to go to Chasov Yar, the 67th Mechanized Brigade (‘right sector unit’) refused orders and left Chasov Yar and reportedly will be dissolved.
In the last couple of days, the fighting shifted westward to the area of the Seversky Donets Canal.
A lot is written these days about how Ukrainians are outgunned by the Russians, with all the blame assigned to its allies. Not enough is written about how it faces a manpower shortage due to a real demographic catastrophe caused by the hundreds of thousands of dead.
And certainly, almost nothing gets published about how Ukrainians are outmaneuvered by the Russian strategy of ‘death by a thousand cuts,’ attacking at multiple axis at once, making the defenders scramble to move reinforcements around.
Now we learn that there’s a downsizing of the Ukrainian group in the northern Kupyansk direction. A significant amount of troops and equipment is being relocated to Chasov Yar.
And so, maybe we’ll see rapid advances – in Kupyansk.
Watch: Mi-28N and Ka-52 launch unguided missiles at Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in Chasov Yar.
Russian Helicopters launch unguided missiles at Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in Chasov Yar. pic.twitter.com/2XwiMY0woj
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) April 17, 2024
It is also reported that drone operators of the 98th Airborne Division have begun ‘free-hunting’ Ukrainian forces in the urban area of Chasov Yar.
Drones with night vision are also used. The use of quadcopters and FPV drones directly in the residential areas of Chasov Yar has increased drastically.
Despite all this activity, the assault on Chasov Yar from both flanks reportedly remains a distant prospect. This process requires not only taking control of key enemy strongholds but also force-crossing the Seversky Donets-Donbass Canal.
Powerful airstrikes were carried out on the suburb of Chasov Yar, where temporary deployment points of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are located.
The post Chasov Yar: Russians Want To Conquer City Before ‘Victory Day’ on May 9th – Besiegers Advance, Pound Defensive Positions – Azov Brigade Keeps Out of the Confrontation (VIDEOS) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Vaunce News 