News of the World

[kyonides]

Russia 'sorry to see Canada support Ukrainian Neo-Nazis' after new sanctions

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday released a statement on Twitter expressing disappointment in Canada's recent round of sanctions, as well as Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly's voicing a desire for a regime change.

"We're able to see how much we're isolating the Russian regime right now — because we need to do so economically, politically and diplomatically — and what are the impacts also on society and how much we're seeing potential regime change in Russia," said Joly, according to Friday report from the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
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"Canadian FM @melaniejoly declared regime change in Russia foreign policy goal of Canada...officially," wrote the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter. "Sorry to see the ruling liberal clique having subdued Canada with decadent anti-family, pro-drug & support for Ukrainian Neo-Nazis agenda."

Islamic State claims responsibility for east Congo attack that killed 19

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an east Congo village attack that killed 19 people on Sunday, according to the group's Amaq news agency.

Officials said on Sunday that suspected Islamist militants killed at least 19 people and burned a medical facility in a raid on Kirindera village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ohio Files Lawsuit Against Norfolk Southern Over Toxic Train Derailment

Citing his concern that Norfolk Southern Railway’s accident rate has increased 80 percent over the past 10 years, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that his office has filed a 58-count civil lawsuit in federal court over the company’s Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine.

Norfolk Southern violated numerous state and federal laws, caused the release of “over 1 million gallons of hazardous chemicals” and created “hidden dangers” for the health of residents and Ohio’s natural resources, Yost said during an online press conference on March 14.

“Ohio shouldn’t have to bear the tremendous financial burden of Norfolk Southern’s glaring negligence,” Yost said. “The fallout from this highly preventable incident may continue for years to come, and there’s still so much we don’t know about the long-term effects on our air, water, and soil.

“This was an epic disaster,” Yost added. “The cleanup is going to be expensive, and it is going to take some significant dollars to put the people of East Palestine back as close as possible in the position they were on Feb. 3.”
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Vinyl chloride is a chemical used to make PVC pipes and other products.

The National Cancer Institute notes that vinyl chloride has been linked to cancers of the brain, lungs, blood, lymphatic system, and liver.
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On March 13, DeWine’s office reported that around 6 million gallons of toxic water and 3,000 tons of contaminated soil have been removed from the derailment area.

National Sheriffs’ Association Urges Congress
to Take Action Against Mexican Drug Cartels

American sheriffs are calling for Congress to take action against Mexican drug cartels behind the ongoing fentanyl crisis—including providing additional manpower and tools for law enforcement—in the aftermath of the deaths of two Americans in an attack by gang members.

The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) said it supports recent attempts in Congress to undercut and dismantle drug cartels, which have caused havoc at the border and are responsible for the smuggling of illegal immigrants and narcotics such as fentanyl into the United States, and is pushing for more action.
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“New initiatives in Congress are calling on the U.S. Government to use more determined tools to degrade, undermine and eliminate the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico.

“NSA applauds these efforts and asks Congress to use its broad legislative authorities to build a comprehensive system of manpower and other tools to prevent illicit drugs from being produced, smuggled, and sold on American streets.”
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The proposed bill would include the following cartels in the FTO designation: Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Gulf Cartel, Los Zetas, Northeast Cartel, Juarez Cartel, Tijuana Cartel, Beltran-Leyva Cartel, La Familia Michoacana.

Graham noted that law enforcement could bring Chinese chemical companies with known ties to the cartels into court in the United States to stand trial.

Special Prosecutor Recuses Herself From Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ Case

Andrea Reeb recused herself as special prosecutor in the “Rust” case against actor Alec Baldwin over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a New Mexico movie set.
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Reeb’s statement also addressed concerns about her dual roles as a legislator and prosecutor, stating that she would not allow questions about her serving as a legislator and prosecutor “to cloud the real issue at hand.”

Reeb was elected last year to the New Mexico House of Representatives as a Republican. She assumed office on Jan. 1, months after the First Judicial District put her in charge of Baldwin’s case.
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In February, Baldwin’s lawyers argued in a motion that Reeb should be disqualified because, under New Mexico’s constitution, one cannot serve as a lawmaker and a prosecuting attorney at the same time.
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The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office first dismissed the motion as a distraction tactic.
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The decision to drop that charge came after Baldwin’s legal team argued in a Feb. 10 motion that Reeb committed “a basic legal error” by charging Baldwin under a version of the firearm-enhancement statute that “did not exist on the date of the accident.” The current version of the law went into effect in May 2022.
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Alec Baldwin was charged on Jan. 31 [2022]. Hutchins was fatally shot on Oct. 21, 2021, during the rehearsal of a gunfight scene.

And here's a long read, guys.

ATF Gains Financial Information on Potential Gun Buyers for Warrantless Tracking

The federal government has been using Americans’ income and gun purchases to conduct warrantless tracking and deny Second Amendment rights. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) gave salary estimates to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as the reason to have people’s firearms purchases monitored.

Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America (GOA), told The Epoch Times that the ATF’s activities “monitoring innocent people” is a serious problem. “Congress needs to rein in this rogue agency by either exercising oversight over it or abolishing the unconstitutional agency altogether,” said Pratt.

These revelations come from new documents, viewed by The Epoch Times which it received from its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The latest production from the FOIA has hundreds of pages—many redacted—showing ATF agents requesting warrantless surveillance by the FBI for lawful reasons such as low salaries, past firearm purchases, and sending “bizarre” messages.
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According to the documents, a man in Arizona was put into the NICS’s daily monitoring because he has a “reported income” of only $2,839. The ATF agent wrote, “In my experience, someone with this amount of income would not be able to afford 20 firearms.”

An Asian man in Texas was put on the manual background check because the ATF said he has “no work history” which “could possibly indicate” that he is “straw purchasing.”

A special agent in Kansas emailed ATF’s liaison at the NICS to flag two purchasers for “potential trafficking.” The agent wrote: “My targets are purchasing an abundance of firearms without a license or known financial means to obtain the product.”

The FBI’s NICS expert instructed the agent in Kansas on what to include to ensure approval for tracking the suspects. “I would suggest covering the lack of income versus expenditures and also if there is substantial make/model duplication,” wrote the FBI. The ATF agent emailed back with the incomes for each man, acquired by the Kansas Department of Labor.
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“The poor usually live in areas with the most crime and thus have a strong need to arm themselves heavily,” Pratt said. “So targeting the indigent is simply another avenue for gun grabbers to implement a backdoor gun ban.”
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Longnecker referred The Epoch Times to the National Tracing Center website for information about “several overt programs such as multiple sales and demand letters that can be helpful in identifying illegal firearms trafficking.”
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Licensed firearms dealers must report to ATF the sale of two or more handguns to the same purchaser within five consecutive business days. However, there is no federal law limiting the number of guns a person can buy.

“Some agent just decided that is enough Second Amendment for you this year,” Robert Olson, the attorney who filed the FOIA lawsuit for the GOA, told The Epoch Times.
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The ATF has an online guide that explains: “If you only make occasional sales of firearms from your personal collection, you do not need to be licensed.” It also says you “will need a license if you repetitively buy and sell firearms with the principal motive of making a profit.”
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Documents show a Hispanic woman in Texas was put into the NICS because an agent got an “iTip provided by an anonymous person” who related that she had “purchased 10 firearms in the last two weeks.”

The agent wrote that the investigation was incomplete because it did not have the background check forms from the dealer (“4473s”) nor video footage from the store.
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Moreover, there are no documents showing the monitoring periods ended. As we previously reported, the FBI told the ATF that it will renew the NICS flags of 30 to 120 days and limitless times if requested.