News of the World

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About Another Ship & Another Bridge

Massive container ship loses power near NYC’s Verrazzano Bridge days after Baltimore Key Bridge disaster

A massive container ship lost propulsion power in the waters around New York City and was brought to a rest near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge Friday night — less than two weeks after failure on another massive cargo vessel caused it to smash into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The US Coast Guard confirmed that its Vessel Traffic Service received a report that the 89,000-ton M/V APL Qingdao lost propulsion about 8:30 p.m. as it traversed the Kill Van Kull — the shipping lane between Staten Island and Bayonne, New Jersey.

An image shared on X by John Konrad, CEO of maritime-focused news outlet gCaptain, shows the 1,100-foot APL Qingdao floating uncomfortably close to the span that connects Brooklyn and Staten Island.

BREAKING: A NY tugboat captain has reported to @gCaptain “container ship APL QINGDAO lost power while transiting New York harbor. They had 3 escort tugs but 3 more were needed to bring her under control. They regained power & were brought to anchor near the verrazano bridge” pic.twitter.com/Z2IP04xmLs

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) April 7, 2024
In response to the power failure, three tugboats that were escorting the APL Qingdao guided the vessel until it regained propulsion a short time later.

The vessel was brought to a position just north of the bridge, where it anchored.

Shooting in Philadelphia

At least 3 people shot at Philadelphia event marking end of Ramadan
after rival gangs exchange gunfire: authorities

At least three people — including two juveniles– were shot when rival gangs opened fire during an Eid al-Fitr event in West Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Over 1,000 people – including families with children – are believed to have been at the outdoor event to celebrate Eid, an Islamic holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.
Around 30 gunshots erupted around 2:30 p.m. at the public celebration.

“There appear to be two factions within the park who [were] exchanging gunfire,” Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
One of the people shot was a juvenile who pulled out a gun at the event near the Philadelphia Masjid mosque and the Sister Clara Muhammad School.

Police shot the 15-year-old twice when he wouldn’t drop the weapon before rushing him to a hospital.

One of the victims was an innocent bystander, also a juvenile, celebrating at the event. Police said the youngster showed up at the hospital after the incident with a gunshot wound to the hand.

The other victim, 22, sustained a gunshot wound to his stomach during the gunfight, Bethel said, indicating that the individual may have been involved in the chaos.

Teamsters & a $127 Million Overpayment

Teamsters pension fund returns $127M to Treasury after overpaying almost 3,500 dead participants

The Teamsters pension fund returned $127 million in overpayments to the US Treasury this week — months after an internal investigation revealed the kitty had nearly 3,500 dead members.

Thomas Nyhan, the executive director of the Central States Pension Fund, which handles retirement benefits for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, announced the repayment on Monday as part of a civil settlement with the DOJ.

Records related to the snafu had been expected Tuesday in response to a congressional subpoena.
In December 2022, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation paid a total of $35.8 billion to the Teamsters’ pension plan as part of special financial assistance funds provided through President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

But PBGC’s Office of Inspector General in November revealed that roughly $127 million of those funds went out the door before Central States checked how many of its 360,000 participants were deceased — 3,479, as it turned out.

The disclosure led to probes by House and Senate Republicans into the erroneous payments, with House Education and Workforce Committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issuing a subpoena to PBGC last month.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O’Brien also said that Central States should “refund” any overpayments during a November 2023 congressional hearing, when pressed by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.).

Foxx gave the agency an April 9 deadline to hand over documents — only for the the Justice Department to announce that a settlement had been reached after PBGC and Central States cooperated with a joint investigation.

NYC: Ignore or not to ignore? That's the Question!

Speaker Adams tells NYC Council to ignore
City Hall’s ‘inefficient’ new meeting policy in latest spat between officials

Overruled again!

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams bluntly told lawmakers to ignore the Adams administration’s attempt to change how they communicate with city agencies — in the latest spate between the two branches of city government.

Speaker Adams, no relation to the mayor, informed the City Council Wednesday afternoon that City Hall provided “no official communication” on the new policy.

Even if they did, she added, the legislative body “will not be adhering to this excessively bureaucratic and inefficient process that only undermines the work of city government on behalf of New Yorkers.”

“I encourage your offices to go about your business on behalf of your constituents and New Yorkers, as usual,” the speaker said in an email to lawmakers. “If you or your staff have issues getting responses from agency staff, I recommend that you call the Commissioner and/or any other executive staff to address these issues.”

The sharp rebuke from the speaker comes just a day after it emerged the Adams admin was trying to force lawmakers to fill out a two-page form requesting meetings or events with city agency reps.

Council members raged about the process, which they argued would lead to delays in helping their constituents.

Some believed it would be used to punish lawmakers who didn’t back the mayor and his administration.

Mayor Adams & the Sex Assault Lawsuit

Adams’ high-profile new lawyer goes on offensive to quash sex assault suit before mayoral race

Mayor Eric Adams’ new high-profile lawyer is going on the offensive as part of an aggressive shift in strategy that aims to quash the sexual assault lawsuit against Hizzoner before it can possibly affect his reelection bid, The Post has learned.

Celebrity attorney Alex Spiro, a partner at the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan law firm, filed a flurry of papers in Manhattan Supreme court setting a May 21 date to grill accuser Lorna Beach-Mathura under oath and pushing for proof of her claims.

He also sought to have the case tossed outright, according to the court documents.

Insiders in Adams’ camp told The Post the legal moves are part of an attempt to clear Adams before his opponents can use the allegations against him during the 2025 mayoral primary.

“The Adams team will point out in its legal case that the accuser has had nearly six months to present evidence already, and any longer a wait will start interfering with New Yorkers’ ability to fairly make a decision in the upcoming mayoral primary,” one source said.

While the mayor has vigorously denied any wrongdoing — sharply saying again Tuesday: “Never happened, it’s not who I am” — the lingering accusations alone could weigh down his reelect campaign, political insiders said.

January 6

Some January 6 Defendants Being Released amid Appeal That Impacts Trump’s Case

Some January 6 defendants are being released from prison on federal judges’ orders pending an appeal in the United States Supreme Court centered on interpretations of obstructing an official proceeding as oral arguments approach.

The Washington Post reported on federal judges’ decisions to release a “handful” of defendants amid the appeal in the Fischer v. United States case. Some have already been released, and others are scheduled to be released soon.

“Judges said they were acting because the high-court review significantly raised the possibility the felony convictions might be overturned,” noted the Post’s Spencer S. Hsu.

The case potentially bears substantial implications for more than 100 January 6 defendants, whose lone felony charge is obstruction of an official proceeding, per the Post.

It also impacts former President Donald Trump’s federal case concerning his challenge of the 2020 election results. As Breitbart News Capitol Hill Correspondent Bradley Jaye reported in December, a key issue in the Fischer case is the judicial scope of obstruction of an official proceeding which was enacted following the Enron scandal:

The defendant, Joseph Fischer, was indicted on seven charges after January 6, but the charge in question is a count under a provision enacted after the Enron scandal for anyone who “corruptly … obstructs, influences and impedes any official proceeding,” known as 18 U.S.C. 1512.

Trump’s allies argue that the provision was clearly intended to cover the destruction of evidence related to white-collar crime and that the Supreme Court’s decision to examine this issue is bad news for U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith and the government’s broad interpretation of the statute.

Two of the four charges Trump faces in his case include Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding and Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding. The other charges are Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Conspiracy Against Rights.

Biden, Big Tech & Japan's Kishida

Biden hosting Clintons, Big Tech bigwigs at state dinner for Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida

President Biden will host Bill and Hillary Clinton along with Big Tech titans Wednesday night at the White House for a state dinner in honor of visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The Clintons, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Apple CEO Tim Cook will dine with Biden in the White House East Room — enjoying a menu that includes house-cured salmon, dry-aged rib-eye steak and salted caramel pistachio cake.

Paul Simon, 82, will provide the evening’s entertainment later in the nearby State Dining Room.

The “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” singer is reputed to be a favorite of first lady Jill Biden’s.

Others expected to attend the lavish celebration include actor Robert De Niro, figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, World Bank President Ajay Banga and United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain.

Unlike past state dinners, scandal-plagued first son Hunter Biden won’t be attending, though other members of the first family are on the list, including first daughter Ashley Biden and Hunter’s daughters Finnegan and Naomi, as well as Naomi’s husband Peter Neal.

Death to America Rally

Dearborn Muslim Mayor Mocked for ‘Damage Control’ Attempt After ‘Death to America’ Rally

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, the city’s first Muslim and Arab American mayor, is being mocked online over attempts to engage in “damage control” after the city’s residents were seen at a rally chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

On Sunday, a video of anti-Israel protesters in Dearborn, Michigan, closing out Ramadan by chanting, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” during an International Al-Quds Day rally, went viral on social media.

The clip showed activists condemning both Israel and America in the harshest of terms, with activist Tarek Bazzi of the Hadi Institute saying chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” were only logical.

“Why are our protests on the International Day of Al-Quds, why are they so anti-America?” he asked. “Why don’t we just focus more on Israel and not talk so much about America? Gaza has shown the entire world why these protests are so anti-America, because it’s the United States government that provides the funds for all the atrocities that we just heard about.”

“Imam Khomeini, who declared the International Al-Quds Day, this is why he would say to pour all of your chants and all of your shouts upon the head of America,” he later added.

Bazzi then quoted black nationalist Malcolm X, who said the United States is “one of the rottenest countries that has ever existed on this Earth,” and called for the elimination of the entire American system, referring to President Joe Biden as “Genocide Joe.”

“It’s not just Genocide Joe that has to go,” Bazzi said. “It is the entire system that has to go. Any system that would allow such atrocities and such devilry to happen and would support it – such a system does not deserve to exist on God’s Earth.”

Regarding those who might say that Israel has a right to exist, Bazzi told the crowd to always respond with “Death to Israel,” referring to it as “the most logical chant shouted across the world today.”

Rand Paul & Mitch McConnell

Sen. Rand Paul Challenges Sen. McConnell to a Debate Regarding His ‘Ukraine First Policy’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) challenged his Republican colleague, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), to a debate regarding his “Ukraine first policy.”

In an opinion article in the Courier-Journal, Paul slammed McConnell for vowing to go after the “isolationist movement” in the Republican Party, specifically in terms of monetary support for Ukraine. While McConnell had announced in February that he plans to step down as Senate minority leader at the end of the current term, he has said that he has plans to remain in the U.S. Senate.

“Mitch McConnell has pledged to fight ‘GOP isolationism’ in the remainder of his career,” Paul wrote. “I doubt that his self-appointed quest will improve his support among Kentucky voters. In fact, McConnell has the lowest approval rating of any federally elected official ever!”

Paul went on to reference how a poll from Monmouth University conducted between November 3 and December 4, 2023, found that McConnell had a six percent approval rating and a 60 percent disapproval rating among Americans.

“Anytime he wants to debate his Ukraine first policy with me in Kentucky, bring it on,” Paul continued, adding that the people of Kentucky “know that McConnell is not fiscally conservative.”

During an interview on WHAS, McConnell admitted to host Terry Meiner that he was “particularly involved in actually fighting back against the isolationist movement” in the Republican Party.

While McConnell has supported sending continued monetary support to Ukraine as the war between Ukraine and Russia continues, Paul has been against financially supporting Ukraine.

Speaker Johnson on Mayorkas Impeachment

Speaker Johnson Moves Mayorkas Impeachment Trial to Tuesday

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-FL) is rescheduling the Senate’s impeachment trial for President Joe Biden’s pro-migration border security chief, Alejandro Mayorkas.

Johnson planned to initiate the Senate trial by delivering the articles of impeachment on Wednesday. But that timing would allow the Democrats to quickly dismiss the charges as they leave town on a recess scheduled to start that day and run until Monday.

Instead, Johnson will deliver the articles of impeachment on Monday, likely allowing more media coverage of the Democrats’ push to dismiss the impeachment process before it gets significant media coverage.

“I’m very grateful to Speaker Johnson for his willingness to delay this,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who is championing the Mayorkas impeachment in the Senate.

Multiple GOP Senators — including Lee, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) —  are trying to force media coverage of the legal charges, which show that Mayorkas has repeatedly broken the immigration laws set by Congress.

The Senate’s calendar is set by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is insisting that Mayorkas was improperly impeached over “policy differences.”

News reports say that Schumer wants a quick vote to table the articles of impeachment, and so ignore the judgment of the House of Representatives. “Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements,” Schumer said Tuesday.

“Schumer wants to prevent the House impeachment managers from presenting evidence of the disaster that has unfolded on the southern border because Mr. Mayorkas refuses to follow the law,” said Lee. “He wants to avoid news coverage of how bad the border crisis is.”

Schumer dismissed the Johnson delay, saying “We are sticking with our plan — we’re going to move this [process] as expeditiously as possible.”

Is a Biden vs Trump Debate Coming Anytime Soon?

Establishment TV Networks Pressure Biden, 81, to Debate Trump

Establishment television networks prepared a public letter on Tuesday to pressure President Joe Biden, 81, to debate former President Donald Trump.

Biden remains noncommittal about debating Trump. In contrast, Trump is happy to confront Biden on his record, pledging in March to debate Biden anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.

Nearly three-fourths of voters believe if Biden skips the presidential debates, it shows “weakness,” a Fox News poll found.

“Biden won’t get away with the basement routine this time,” Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told the New York Times on Tuesday.

In an “unusual” open letter endorsed by ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News, the networks urged Biden to debate Trump, citing the need to reduce polarization, according to a draft version obtained by the Times.

“General election debates have a rich tradition in our American democracy, having played a vital role in every presidential election of the past 50 years dating to 1976,” it reads. “In each of those elections, tens of millions have tuned in to watch the candidates debating side by side, in a competition of ideas, for the votes of American citizens.”

“If there is one thing Americans can agree on, during this polarized time, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the letter continued. “There is simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of the nation.”

The Commission on Presidential Debates already announced potential dates, venues, and requirements for the confrontation.

Biden on Univision

Biden: I’ll Consider Further Unilateral Action on Guns,
Can’t Believe Trump Said ‘No One’s Going to Touch Your Guns’

During an interview with Univision that took place last Wednesday and aired on Tuesday, President Joe Biden stated that he would consider taking further executive action on guns and criticized 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because Trump “famously told the NRA that, don’t worry, no one’s going to touch your guns” if Trump won.

Interviewer Enrique Acevedo asked, “[G]un violence remains the number one cause of death for children in America. Latinos have made it a top priority across the country, especially in places like El Paso and Uvalde in Texas. Your administration called on Congress to pass common-sense gun laws, but that’s unlikely to happen in the next few months. If you’re re-elected, would you consider taking further executive action on this issue?”

Biden responded, “Absolutely. Look, I, along with Dianne Feinstein, passed the first limitation on assault weapons and the number of bullets that could be in a rifle. The idea anybody needs 100 rounds in a rifle, in an AR-15, I was out in Uvalde. I met with every one of those families. I spent four hours with them. I looked at the pain in their faces. I saw what they felt. I could feel it. And the idea that — and his phrase [in] another context where there was a mass shooting, I think it was in El Paso, he said — they said, what to do about it, and he said, just get over it, you’ve got to get over it, the idea we don’t have background checks for anybody purchasing a weapon, the idea that we’re going to be in a position where he says that — he famously told the NRA that, don’t worry, no one’s going to touch your guns if I — from the very beginning, I used to teach the Second Amendment in law school, from the very beginning, there were limitations. You couldn’t own a cannon. You couldn’t — you could own a rifle or a gun, but there were certain things you couldn’t do. They weren’t weapons of war. And so, look, we passed the first major gun legislation in over 30 years when we passed the law that we recently passed that outlaws weapons that are made that you can’t trace and so on and so forth. And — but it’s not enough. I think we have to do more, and I am absolutely committed. And I’ve asked the Congress, and if I get a Congress and get re-elected, we’re going to do it again. We’re going to make sure we eliminate these weapons.”

Biden Fails to Mention ‘Hostages’ Once During Univision Interview on Israel

President Joe Biden failed to mention the Israeli hostages once during his interview with Univision, which aired on Tuesday, and during which he demanded that Israel adopt a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza of six to eight weeks.

As Breitbart News reported, Biden called for a unilateral ceasefire in the interview, signaling a major policy shift and siding with Hamas terrorists, even as Israeli negotiators try to leverage military pressure into a hostage deal in Cairo.

The Times of Israel reported that the Biden administration tried to clarify Biden’s statement, saying that he meant a ceasefire in the context of a hostage deal. But the transcript leaves no doubt.

Biden never mentioned the hostages (original emphasis):

EA: Now that we’re talking about world leaders. In the past few days, we’ve seen increasing protests in Israel calling for the removal of Prime Minister Netanyahu and international condemnation after the death of World Central Kitchen aid workers during an Israeli airstrike. Do you think at this point, Prime Minister Netanyahu is more concerned about his political survival than he is in the national interest of his people?

JB: Well, I will tell you, I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach. I think it’s outrageous that those four, three vehicles were hit by drones and taken out on a highway where it wasn’t like it was along the shore, it wasn’t like there was a convoy moving there, etc… So I what I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks total access to all food and medicine going into the country. I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in. They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now.

On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris met with the family members of Israeli hostages.

MIDDLE EAST

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Supernova Survivors

Survivors of Supernova Massacre Gather for Trance, Therapy in Tel Aviv

Survivors of the October 7 terror attack at the Supernova music festival gathered Wednesday evening at a lakefront for trance music, group therapy, and an opportunity to reconnect with one another.

As 4,000 people — dancers, bartenders, and security personnel — watched the sunrise from the Re’im forest on that fateful Saturday, Hamas terrorists few across the Gaza border on paragliders or blew holes in the fence and entered on pickup trucks.

“We thought the paragliders were part of the festival,” said Raz Malka, one of the organizers of the Tel Aviv gathering. “The year before, we had a trance party for the Jewish holiday of Purim, and a bunch of Israeli paragliders flew past the party, so we thought it was familiar.”

The scenes of horror and devastation that followed were broadcast around the world. Terrorists mowed down anyone they saw, even firing into bathroom stalls. Desperate people fled to bomb shelters along the nearby road — only to be followed by terrorists, who flung grenades and fired machine guns inside.

There were 403 people murdered at the festival — a third of the 1200 Israelis who were killed by Hamas that day. Dozens were kidnapped from the festival and taken to Gaza; many of those are still being held hostage in Gaza.

Many survived by hiding in ravines, or in nearby fields. Some were rescued by drivers who braved gunfire and roadblocks to pull people out — then returned again for more. The stories of heroism and sacrifice abound.

And for the survivors, the trauma has continued — the daily ups and downs, the depression, the elation. “It’s like an addiction,” Malka says. “You become addicted to the adrenaline of survival.”

To help each other through the experience, the survivors have been holding gatherings — daily through September, and weekly ever since.

At this event, the first outdoor event of the year, there was a DJ spinning trance tunes, and people lounging on the beach by the lake.

I know what I'm about to say now has little chance to ever occur, but I suspect that Iranian proxies could attack them. Why? Simply put, they're an easy target for Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the likes. Of course, nobody can assure us that Tel Aviv will be as defenseless as the Negev desert was. I hope it's not, yet, Iran threatened both Israel and the US to attack them in the future. US is not supposed to interfere in their vengeance against Israel, as it's regarded as the consequence of Israel's attack against the annex of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.

Abductee Sold to Hamas

Former Hostage: I Was Abducted By Palestinian Civilians, Sold to Hamas

A former Israeli hostage who was freed during a truce in November says that she was abducted from her home in Israel on October 7 by Palestinian civilians, not Hamas members, who then sold her in Gaza to Hamas terrorists.

Breitbart News visited the scene of the attack in November, and spoke to survivors of Nir Oz who also said that Palestinian civilians had joined in the attack and the looting once Hamas had breached the kibbutz boundary.

The Jewish News Syndicate reports:

Nili Margalit, 42, on a tour of Europe to raise awareness of the 133 Israeli hostages still in captivity, told France’s Le Point magazine on Monday that it was Palestinian Arab civilians, not Hamas, who abducted her from her home in Nir Oz on Oct. 7.

“They negotiated with Hamas to sell me. When they were paid, I was taken straight into a tunnel,” she said.

…

“There are no innocent citizens there. They are families controlled by Hamas. There are children who from the moment they are born are taught that Israel is Palestine and just to hate Jews,” she said.

Other hostages have reported similar experiences of being sold, or being worked as slaves in Gaza, with little to eat.

The Bibas family, including one-year-old baby Kfir, are rumored to have been sold within Gaza, and their whereabouts are unknown — other than the father, Yarden Bibas, who is in the custody of Hamas terrorists.

The upcoming Passover holiday (April 22-30) celebrates the freedom of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt.

Israel Foreign Minister

Israeli FM: We Will Attack Iran Directly If Iran Attacks from There

Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that if Iran attacks Israel from its own territory, then Israel will attack Iran directly, rather than striking at Iran’s terrorist proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis or Iraqi militias).

Katz posted messages to X, or Twitter, both in Hebrew and in Farsi, and tagging Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has been threatening to retaliate for an Israeli airstrike on Iranian generals at that country’s consulate April 1 in Damascus, Syria. Iran has been attacking Israel indirectly for months — not just through Hamas’s terror attack on October 7, but also through rocket, missile, and drone attacks on Israel’s southern and northern borders. Iran has largely escaped any direct exposure to the war, however, using its proxies to strike from a safe distance.

Israel has placed its forces on high alert, and recently called up air defense reservists and canceled leave for combat soldiers.

Israel could conceivably use an Iranian attack as a reason to launch an attack on the Iranian nuclear program, which Israel considers an existential threat. Israel has said it is capable of such an attack without help from the U.S.

Hamas Leader's Sons Killed

IDF Kills 3 Sons of Hamas Political Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed three of the sons of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday in an airstrike in Gaza.

In a statement, the IDF said:

Earlier today (Wednesday), directed by IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF aircraft struck three Hamas military operatives that conducted terrorist activity in the central Gaza Strip.

The three operatives that were struck are Amir Haniyeh, a cell commander in the Hamas military wing, Mohammad Haniyeh, a military operative in the Hamas terrorist organization, and Hazem Haniyeh, also a military operative in the Hamas terror organization.

The IDF confirms that the three operatives are the sons of Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of Hamas’s political bureau.

Haniyeh has a net worth of $4 billion after profiting off smuggling in Gaza and various investments. He, like other Hamas leaders, lives far from Gaza, in luxurious exile in Doha, Qatar, and jets between Qata, Turkey, Iran, Russia, and other locations where he is assured safe haven.

It is unknown whether the airstrike will affect ongoing negotiations in Cairo, Egypt, over the potential release of Israeli hostages.

Iran Criticizes the Western World

Iran’s Ayatollah Condemns ‘Evil Nature of Western Civilizations’ to Mark End of Ramadan

The “supreme leader” of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ranted against the “evil nature” of the West in a speech on Wednesday and declared Israel “must be punished and will be punished” for an airstrike that eliminated one of Tehran’s most influential terrorist operatives.

Khamenei spoke at a religious event marking Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that formally closes the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The “supreme leader” accused “Western governments” of supporting Israel in “kill[ing] children in their mothers’ arms and patients in hospital,” decrying America and Britain specifically for being allegedly “arrogant and cruel.”

Khamenei notably omitted in his rantings against Israel the events that prompted the current self-defense operations by Jerusalem: the October 7 terrorist invasion of Israel by Iranian proxy terrorist organization Hamas, in which terrorists slaughtered entire families in their homes, brutally massacred children as young as infants, and engaged in widespread acts of gang rape and other torture.

The October 7 attacks resulted in an estimated 1,200 deaths and the abduction of about 250 people, about 130 of which remain in jihadist captivity.

The lack of condemnation for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) actions to neutralize Hamas in its stronghold of Gaza “exposed the evil nature of Western civilizations,” Khamenei declared, according to Iran’s state-run PressTV propaganda outlet.

“During the last six months in Gaza, the Western governments, themselves, put on display this evil nature before the eyes of the world,” he proclaimed. “They killed children in their mothers’ arms and patients in hospitals. Their strength does not match that of the resistance fighters, so they claim the lives of old men, families, children and women, and killed more than thirty thousand innocent people.”

The “thirty thousand innocent people” claim is an unverified statistic from Hamas’s propaganda office.

“They should have prevented the crimes of the regime in this disaster. But the Western governments did not fulfill their duty. Some spoke in support of the people [in Gaza], but in practice they not only failed to prevent but also contributed to [the war],” the “supreme leader” railed, “especially the arrogant and cruel governments of the US and UK.”

Khemenei also dedicated much of his commentary on an airstrike targeting an Iranian diplomatic outpost in Damascus that eliminated several senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and formal wing of the Iranian armed forces. The strike, conducted on April 1, killed the top commander of the IRGC Quds Force, its foreign terror arm, in Syria, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and deputy Mohammad Haj Rahimi, among others. Reports following the strike suggested that Zahedi was meeting with members of an Iranian proxy terrorist organization, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, at the time of the strike. Israel has not formally taken responsibility for the action but is widely believed to have conducted it.

Khamenei declared the strike a “mistake” and promised revenge.

EUROPE

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Germany: Alleged ISIS Members Arrested

Alleged Islamic State Members Arrested in Germany, Accused of Keeping Child Sex Slaves

Two Iraqis accused of being members of the Islamic State group and keeping two young Yazidi girls as slaves as well as sexually and physically abusing them have been arrested in Germany, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The man and the woman, identified only as Twana H.S. and Asia R.A. in line with German privacy rules, were arrested in Bavaria on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said in a statement. They are accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, along with membership in a terrorist organization.

The suspects were married and were members of IS in Iraq and Syria between October 2015 and December 2017, prosecutors said. They allegedly kept a five-year-old Yazidi girl as a slave starting in late 2015 and a 12-year-old from October 2017.

Prosecutors allege that the man raped both girls repeatedly and that the woman prepared the room and put make-up on one of the girls.

The couple also exerted “harsh physical violence” on the girls, who were prevented from practising their own religion and coerced into household work and childcare, prosecutors said. The man on one occasion allegedly hit the older girl with a broomstick, the woman is accused of scalding the younger girl’s hand with hot water and both children were repeatedly forced to stand on one leg for half an hour as punishment.

Before they left Syria in November 2017, the suspects handed the girls over to other members of IS, prosecutors added.

“All of this served the organization´s objective to destroy the Yazidi religion,” their statement said.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann welcomed the arrests. “The promise of the principle of universal jurisdiction is clear: impunity for the genocide against the Yazidis must be fought worldwide,” he said.

Last month, a German federal court rejected an appeal by a German convert to Islam against her 14-year sentence for allowing a 5-year-old Yazidi girl she and her husband enslaved when they were IS members in Iraq to die of thirst in the sun.

Her former husband, an Iraqi citizen, was convicted in November 2021 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Germany, Immigration & Crime

Migrants Make Up Nearly Six in Ten Violent Crime Suspects in Germany

Nearly six in ten suspects in violent crime cases in Germany were committed by foreign migrants, according to federal police crime statistics released this week, sparking debate over the country’s open-door immigration system.

Non-German foreigners make up a disproportionate number of suspected criminals and nearly 60 per cent of violent crime suspects, despite making up just 14.6 per cent of the population, statistics released by the Federal Criminal Police Office on Tuesday revealed.

According to the data, foreigners without a German passport represented 111,517 suspects alleged of violent crimes out of the total 190,605 suspects for the country as a whole, or 58.5 per cent, broadcaster NTV reports.

The figures also showed that while the number of suspected German violent offenders rose by 2.2 per cent over the previous year, the number of non-German suspected violent offenders increased by 14.5 per cent, contributing to an overall rise of 8.6 per cent in violent crime reports over the previous year and the highest level since 2007.

Reports of theft also saw an increase of 10.7 per cent over the previous year, with non-Germans accounting for 187,000 out of the total 424,000 suspected thieves.

Excluding immigration crimes, the number of non-Germans suspected of any crime rose by 17.8 per cent in 2023 to 923,269 suspects, representing nearly half of the 2.25 million total suspected criminals last year.

The German broadcaster said that sociologists and criminologists within the country noted that there can be “distorted images from the simple division into German and non-German criminals.”

Arguments have also been put forward as to the possible explanations for the apparent higher criminality among foreigners within the country, such as the fact that most immigrants in the country are young men — despite many claiming to be refugees — and young men are the most likely to commit crimes of any group.

The broadcaster also posited that foreigners often experienced violence in their home countries before fleeing to Germany which may therefore “lower the threshold for using violence”.

EU Parliament Passes Migration Reform

European Parliament Narrowly Passes Controversial Migration Reforms over Objections from Left and Right

The European Parliament narrowly passed a controversial set of immigration reforms on Wednesday afternoon as centrist globalist parties prevailed over objections from both the left and the right.

After briefly being interrupted by leftist protesters claiming the New Pact on Migration and Asylum would “kill” and overriding growing objections over the Brussels power grab from the populist right, the European Parliament approved the contentious measures by an average of 300 votes in favour to 270 against during a series of votes on Wednesday afternoon in Strasbourg, Euronews reports.

The reforms, which have been in the works since the eruption of the European Migrant Crisis now nearly a decade ago, come amid increasing illegal immigration, with 380,000 migrants illegally entering the bloc last year, the highest figure since 2016.

Hailing the passage of the New Pact, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: “History made. We have delivered a robust legislative framework on how to deal with migration and asylum in the EU… It has been more than ten years in the making. But we kept our word. A balance between solidarity and responsibility. This is the European way.”

The main thrust of the legislation, which is expected to come into full force within two years, will be to create a system of “mandatory solidarity” in which all 27 member states, regardless of their size or nationally approved policies, take in illegal migrants who enter into the bloc.

The measure, intended to alleviate the pressure on Southern European nations, notably Italy, Greece, and Spain, who receive the main brunt of illegal migration coordinated by people-smuggling gangs — often facilitated in part by left-wing ‘rescue’ NGOs — operating on both sides of the Mediterranean.

To enforce the system of “solidarity”, Brussels will hand out fines of up to 20,000 euros against member states for every illegal migrant they refuse to take in. This policy has been described by conservative nations such as Hungary as a direct assault on their national sovereignty, given the great pains taken by Budapest to prevent illegal migration at its own borders.

Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán previously claimed the move represented a desire from Brussels to “force the migrant compact down our throat” before the European Parliament in June, during which anti-mass migration nationalist-populist parties are expected to make big gains, which could have prevented the New Pact from being passed.

Orbán, who is seeking to lead the charge in reshaping the EU to having a more limited role in the internal affairs of member states, said that Brussels should instead focus its efforts on border enforcement and prevention, rather than on distributing illegals throughout the bloc.

Scottish Leader's Brother Arrested

Leftist Scottish Leader Humza Yousaf’s Brother-in-Law Charged with Abduction and Extortion

The brother-in-law of leftist Scottish leader Humza Yousaf has been arrested and charged with abduction and extortion in relation to a case in which a man died after plunging out of the window of a Dundee flat in January.

Ramsay El-Nakla, the brother of the First Minister Humza Yousaf’s wife Nadia, is expected to appear at the Dundee Sheriff Court on Tuesday after being charged in the case of the death of of Ryan Munro, who died after falling out of a Dundee apartment building window on January 10th, ultimately passing away in a hospital a week later.

According to the Scottish Daily Express, the 36-year-old El-Nakla has been charged with extortion and abduction in connection to Munro’s death.

It is the fourth arrest to come out of the investigation, with Jennifer Souter appearing before the Dundee Sheriff Court last week after being charged with culpable homicide.

Meanwhile, tow others, Stephen Stewart and Victoria McGowan, have also been charged with abduction and extortion in connection to Munro’s death.

In a statement, Police Scotland said: “A 36-year-old man has been arrested and charged with abduction and extortion following an incident where a man fell from a block of flats on Morgan Street, Dundee on Wednesday, 10 January. He died a week later in hospital.

“Three others were previously arrested and charged following the same incident. The 36-year-old man is due to appear in Dundee Sheriff Court today, Tuesday, 9 April, 2024. A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”

Following Munro’s death, his brother Mark told The Courier: “We are still so incredibly numb after everything that has taken place in recent days. Ryan was a great guy, a great father and he was my best friend. We can’t speak highly enough of the staff at Ninewells Hospital for their incredible support during this time – it’s actually been humbling.

UK & Honour-Based Crimes

‘Honour-Based’ Crimes Soar by More Than 60 Per Cent over Two Years in England

The number of so-called “honour-based” crimes, associated with some Islamic cultures, has risen by over 60 per cent in England over the past two years, according to an analysis of police data.

A report from the left-wing Guardian newspaper, based on figures from 26 of the 39 constabularies in England, found that in 2022 there were 2,594 instances of “honour-based” crimes, including assaults, death threats, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and rapes.

This is compared to 1,599 cases recorded in 2020, an increase of 62.2 per cent in just two years. The increase in the number of so-called honour crimes is even more stark when compared to 2016, with a rise of 193 per cent seen over the six-year period.

The Guardian pointed to more victims coming forward and enhanced police tactics for the rise, although the paper noted that “other factors are also believed to be at work”.

The report highlighted claims that the rise may have been a result of geopolitical trends, with Family Law Company director Imran Khodabocus telling the paper: “In cases like this, you can’t minimise the impact of global political and social issues. In my experience, some people are becoming more rigid in their thinking and this is creating more instances where they feel they must defend their, or their families’, honour.”

Khodabocus added that the rise in the figures rang true with his experience in dealing with the issue of honour-based crimes, which he said are “not just rising, but getting more severe”.

The specialist honour-based abuse solicitor went on to highlight the delays in family courts as perpetuating the issue, saying that many of his cases “are taking at least nine to 12 months to be resolved, leaving families and particularly children in a vulnerable position.”

In a tacit admission of the role that mass migration is having on the number of honour crimes, Khodabocus said that one of the cause of the delays in the system was a result of a lack of court language interpreters.

During the same time highlighted by the Guardian report on the rise of honour crimes, Britain saw one of its most significant periods of mass migration in the history of the country, with net migration hitting a record high in 2022 at an estimated 745,000 and a further 672,000 in net migration in 2023.