News of the World
USA
And when exactly did he start enforcing those borders? :sarcarsm:
MIDDLE EAST
EUROPE
AUSTRALIA
House Speaker Johnson
Quote:House Republicans’ dissatisfaction with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is rapidly growing as Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Jim Banks (R-IN) are sharing their frustrations about what Banks called “insanity” in Johnson’s foreign aid framework, which includes over three times as much money for Ukraine as it does for Israel while neglecting the U.S. Southern border.
Perry took to X Tuesday to share an image of the framework, showing the bills allocate $48.83 billion to Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel, $2.4 billion for “Red Sea Operations,” $2.58 billion for “INDOPACOM,” and $3.3 billion for a “Submarine Industrial Base.”
“Notice anything missing?” wrote Perry. Speaker Johnson “failed to incorporate any border security into any of the FOUR of the bills he’s going to ram down our throats this week.”
“On more than half a dozen occasions in the last six months, he promised the American People this wouldn’t happen,” Perry added.
Sharing Perry’s tweet, Banks called the package “Insanity,” emphasizing the plan would send three times as much money to Ukraine as it does Israel while simultaneously neglecting the U.S. Southern border.
Perry and Banks’ criticism of the four bills comes as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who filed a motion to vacate against Johnson ahead of Easter break, and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) signaled opposition to the multiple-impact reentry vehicles rule (MIRV) that Johnson seeks to merge the bills.
“Israel funding should not be held hostage by Ukraine funding. The American people deserve to know where their senators stand on each funding component,” Biggs wrote in a post on X
Quote:A defiant House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) declared Tuesday at a press conference he would not resign after being urged to do so by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who is now cosponsoring Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) motion to oust him from the speakership.
Johnson addressed reporters hours after Massie told the Republican conference he was sponsoring Greene’s motion to vacate and asked Johnson to resign, so as to avoid a conundrum similar to weeks of chaos that unfolded after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was booted from the position.
One reporter asked Johnson to respond to “Republicans who say this move should cost you your job, and if you don’t resign, they will try to oust you?”
By “move,” the reporter seemed to be referencing the multiple-impact reentry vehicles (MIRV) rule Johnson seeks to use to bundle separate foreign aid bills for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, which multiple Republicans, including Greene and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), object to.
“I am not resigning, and it is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs,” Johnson declared.
“It is not helpful to the cause. It is not helpful to the country. It does not help the House Republicans advance our agenda, which is in the best interest of the American people here: a secure border, sound governance. And it’s not helpful to the unity that we have in the body,” Johnson added.
Quote:Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday seemed to soften his support for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as conservatives have moved to remove him.
During a visit to Harlem, Trump was asked about efforts by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) to remove Johnson from office.
He simply responded, “We’ll see what happens.”
This is a different tune than when Trump spoke highly of the Speaker during a press conference last week at Mar-a-Lago.
“We’re getting along very well with the Speaker, and I get along very well with Marjorie. We have a Speaker, he was voted in, and it was a complicated process,” Trump said.
“I think he’s doing a very good job. He’s doing about as good as you’re going to do, and I’m sure that Marjorie understands that, and she’s a very good friend of mine, and I know she has a lot of respect for the Speaker,” Trump continued.
Trump’s comments follow as Greene spoke to Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle, saying that she is prepared to force Johnson out of his position as leader of the House.
The Georgia conservative cited Johnson’s backing of continued Ukraine aid, his spending plans, and reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as some of the many reasons to remove Johnson.
Free Green Cards?
Quote:Roughly 1,300 African migrants gathered outside New York City Hall on Tuesday over what some believed were promises of a green card or work visa if they appeared.
“Only 250 people were allowed inside for the 10 a.m. hearing, while the hundreds of others who flocked downtown were left outside in a park, where footage showed them chanting and cheering,” noted the New York Post.
The migrants were mostly from countries in West Africa and Guinea. Speaking to the NY Post, some say they were lured to city hall by an activist group promising they’d receive work visas or green cards if they appeared.
“They told me that they would help me to get a work permit and a green card if I came here today,” said 44-year-old Amadou Sara Bah, who migrated from Guinea in November.
Bah had applied for a work permit in March but became stressed over the five-month waiting period. He and his friends had been waiting on a bench near city hall for several hours.
“There are many people here and we don’t know how to get the help they told us would be here,” he told the NY Post. “I came here for a green card. I’m looking for help.”
Dial Lochitlio, a 19-year-old from Guinea, said that “elders in the community” told him to come to city hall in search of an asylum.
“They told us to be here at this time on this date and they would give us more information,” he said
Assitan Makadii of the organization African Communities Together said he went to city hall after learning migrants were lured there under false pretenses.
“They received some miscommunications, so we are here to provide clarification,” Makadii said.
Potential Juror Dismissed, Another One Allowed to Stay
Quote:As day two of former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial continued, attorneys for the former president had a potential juror dismissed after they found posts calling for Trump to be put in jail.
As New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, Trump’s attorneys, and prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office continued the process of questioning potential jurors about posts made to social media, and their private lives, Trump’s legal team had a juror dismissed over a post about Trump, calling to “lock him up.” Another social media post from the same juror reportedly said, “Get him out.”
The first seven jurors, who will sit on a 12-person bench, were selected.
The Associated Press (AP) writes:
Over two days, dozens of potential jurors have been excused after saying they could not be impartial or because they had other commitments. Trump’s lawyers challenged a handful of people over social media posts, and one person was dismissed over a 2017 post about Trump that said “Lock him up!”
Merchan reportedly acknowledged that the quote about locking Trump up was not good and he did not think he could let the potential juror “remain” in the trial, according to the Daily Mail.
Quote:New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan reportedly allowed a juror who celebrated former President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss on social media to remain in the jury pool.
Trump’s unprecedented trial began Monday morning with jury selection, the first day of a process that could span two weeks. The trial could last until June.
During Tuesday’s jury selection, Trump’s defense attorneys tried to prevent a potential juror from staying on the case because she celebrated Trump’s 2020 loss, Fox News reported.
“They wanted to have a peremptory challenge to excuse the juror because they thought that she said she could be impartial, but had social media posts that apparently had her celebrating Trump’s loss in 2020,” Trace Gallagher reported, “and so they challenged her. The judge said, ‘Nope, she can be impartial. She stays.'”
Six jurors were seated Tuesday with six more prospective jurors needed.
Thirty-four of the 96 potential jurors remain from the first pool in the juror selection process for Trump’s criminal trial, courtroom journalists reported Monday.
The remaining potential jurors progressed to the next stage on Tuesday of filling out a questionnaire, which asks what media they consume, where they live, and their political activities.
After the questionnaire, lawyers for both sides will scrutinize the potential candidates. The lawyers will likely investigate the jurors’ social media and ask more personal questions to screen for biases.
Biden Donor
Quote:The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal case, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, is a Biden donor, Trump lawyer Jesse Binnall said during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily.
Discussing the case involving Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged Trump with 34 felonies, accusing him of falsifying business records in relation to a “hush money” payment made to Stormy Daniels, Binnall reminded listeners that the entire case “is based on the word of Michael Cohen,” an “admitted perjurer.”
“That’s the kind of the best they have. That’s what they’re building their case around is someone who … has lied to courts and factually, this case is just absolutely baseless,” he said, reminding listeners that Judge Merchan is a Biden donor.
“Let’s remember that Judge Merchan is a Biden donor. Let’s remember that his family has a vested financial interest in this case, or … the fact that the case is ongoing. They’re going to try to drag this case out I think as long as possible in order to affect the presidential election,” Binnall said.
Indeed, Judge Merchan made three donations to Democrats in 2020, opening the door for an ethics investigation.
When asked how a judge can be a donor and how that can even be allowed, Binnall said it is not.
“There are very specific instances when judges are supposed to take themselves off cases,” he explained, noting that this is “most important” when there was either bias by the judge or the appearance of bias against a criminal defendant.
Barefaced Mayorkas
Quote:Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was grilled by Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) during a hearing over an alleged flyer that the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project claims asks migrants to vote for President Joe Biden in November.
On Tuesday, officials with the Oversight Project posted an alleged flyer from Resource Center Matamoros which they said was discovered by independent journalists in Mexico working with a website known as Muckraker.
The flyer asks migrants to “… vote for President Biden when you are in the United States. We need another four years of his term to stay open.” The flyer has not been verified by Breitbart News and does not appear on the Resource Center Matamoros website.
Bishop raised the issue with Mayorkas at a budget hearing on Tuesday, questioning DHS’s role in ensuring migrants are not voting in local, state, and federal elections after they are released into the nation’s interior.
“The Heritage Foundation Oversight Project has released this document that is allegedly a flyer distributed by a non-governmental organization in Mexico called the Resource Center Matamoros … which is said to read, in part, if translated, ‘Reminder to vote for President Biden when you are in the United States. We need another four years of his term to stay open,'” Bishop said during the hearing:
I understand that RCM has denied that this is authentic. There are competing reports about it. Let me ask you this, what actions is the Department of Homeland Security taking to ensure that, especially given the millions of illegal entries including the two million got-aways, noncitizens are being prevented from registering and voting unlawfully? [Emphasis added]
Mayorkas responded, saying “individuals who are not citizens of the United States cannot vote in federal elections” and suggested DHS does “not oversee the election enrollment process. What we do is enforce our borders.”
And when exactly did he start enforcing those borders? :sarcarsm:
White House & Iran
Quote:The White House on Monday denied reports Iran gave President Joe Biden advance warning of its massive weekend attack on Israel, and even obtained Biden’s tacit approval for a limited assault on a vital U.S. ally.
“Iran never gave us a message giving us the time or the targets. This whole narrative out there that Iran passed us a message about what they were going to do is ridiculous,” White House spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing on Monday.
Kirby was referring to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian’s claim on Sunday that Iran gave all of its neighboring countries, plus the United States, 72 hours’ notice that it would attack Israel.
Officials from Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq confirmed they were notified in advance by Iran, and Turkey said it passed its warning along to the United States, a fellow member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
A Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday that the Biden administration asked Turkey to pass a message back to Iran, implicitly approving Iran’s attack plan provided its actions were kept “within certain limits.”
“In response, Iran said the reaction would be a response to Israel’s attack on its embassy in Damascus and that it would not go beyond this,” the Turkish source said.
Unnamed administration officials immediately pushed back against Amirabdollahian’s statement, although they seem more reluctant to claim Turkey is lying about forwarding its warning to Washington.
“We received a message from the Iranians as this was ongoing, through the Swiss. This was basically suggesting that they were finished after this, but it was still an ongoing attack. So that was (their) message to us,” one Biden administration official claimed on Sunday.
Justified Attack!?
Quote:Nihad Awad, head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), reportedly justified Iran’s massive drone and missile attack on Israel over the weekend as a legitimate act of “self-defense” – a talking point provided by the Iranian regime that instantly became ubiquitous among pro-Palestinian activists.
Politico on Tuesday quoted Awad as one of several Muslim activists who said Iran’s massive but ineffectual attack was justified as “responding in self-defense” to a suspected Israeli airstrike on April 1 in Damascus that killed several high-ranking officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
A group tied to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei celebrated one of the slain IRGC officers, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, as a “martyr” who played a “strategic role” in the “planning and execution of Al-Aqsa Flood” – the name given by Palestinian terrorists and their supporters to the inhuman rape and murder spree Hamas perpetrated against Israeli civilians on October 7.
Awad threatened that President Joe Biden would “lose support of American Muslim and Arab communities,” according to Politico, if he did not take stances more opposed to Israel. Awad claimed that Biden also risked the loss of “a growing movement of Jewish Americans and others, including young people” as supporters without a stronger anti-Israel approach.
CAIR has been fairly influential in U.S. politics over the past two decades, even though it was declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-funding operation.
The group’s public statements have turned increasingly extreme since the Hamas atrocities of October 7, which Awad also excused as an act of “self-defense.”
Dershowitz on Iran
Quote:Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Sunday evening that it was time for “regime change” in Iran, due to the threat that the Iranian government posed to the Middle East and the world.
Dershowitz appeared on Breitbart News Sunday on SiriusXM Patriot 125, during a special broadcast from northern Israel, just hours after the Israeli military and its allies had intercepted a massive Iranian missile and drone attack.
“This will just be repeated over and over again, unless there’s regime change in Iran,” Dershowitz said, noting that Iran has exported war with impunity for decades. “And this is the perfect opportunity — legally, morally, politically, and diplomatically, for Israel and the United States to bring about regime change. And it should be done. And it will require, obviously, some degree of military action.”
He noted missed opportunities to depose Hitler in Nazi Germany.
Dershowitz had opposed regime change in Iraq during the Iraq War, and reiterated that stance on Sunday, saying that it had been “none of our business” how Saddam Hussain treated his own people.
But the Iranian regime was different, he said. “The big difference is Iran is exporting terrorism, and attacking the United States.”
He said that regime change in Iran would be applauded by the Iranian people, citing the Iranian crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, who has encouraged protests against the regime.
Regime change in Iran would benefit the entire region — and it would be legally justified, he said, after Iran’s attack on Israel last weekend. If it wanted to, he said, Israel could legally destroy the entire Iranian military in response.
Dershowitz, who has been critical of President Joe Biden’s policies in the Middle East, said he is considering voting Republican in 2024 for the first time in decades, as are many other pro-Israel voters in the Jewish community, many of whom had been reliable Democratic Party voters — until now.
SCOTUS on January 6
Quote:The U.S. Supreme Court sounded skeptical of the Biden Justice Department during oral arguments Tuesday regarding whether a man involved in events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, can be charged under a law that severely punishes obstructing an official proceeding.
The landmark case could upend around 350 cases in which defendants – around 100 of which have been convicted or pled guilty – were indicted on similar charges under the same provision.
The decision will almost certainly have major implications for the Biden Administration’s prosecution of Donald Trump, resulting in the most serious charges against him being thrown out of court.
The government indicted defendant Joseph Fischer after January 6 under 18 U.S.C. § 1512©(2), a provision enacted after the Enron scandal for one who “corruptly … obstructs, influences and impedes any official proceeding,” indicting him on six other charges as well. Fischer’s attorneys argue the charge in question inappropriately relies on that provision, which was clearly intended to cover concealing or destroying evidence related to white-collar crime.
That statute carries a potential 20 years in federal prison.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued Tuesday that Fischer and others engaged in “a deliberate attempt to stop the joint session of Congress from certifying the results of the election” and “obstructed Congress’ work in that official proceeding.”
Jeffrey Green, an attorney for Fischer, said the charge was inappropriate. “Attempting to stop a vote count or something like that is a very different act than actually changing a document or altering a document,” he said.
But conservative Justices questioned if the government went too far with the charge, expressing concerns over interpretation of the terms “obstruct” and “impede” and that the statute could be used to prosecute those engaging in sit-ins and other demonstrations.
“We need to find out what are the outer reaches of this statute under your interpretation,” Justice Samuel Alito questioned.
Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned, “Would a sit-in that disrupts a trial or access to a federal courthouse qualify? Would a heckler in today’s audience qualify, or at the State of the Union address? Would pulling a fire alarm before a vote, qualify for 20 years in federal prison?”
MIDDLE EAST
Turkey on Israel
Quote:Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Monday it was “vital” to “immediately restrain Israel” in response to Iran’s unprecedented missile assault on the Israeli homeland on April 13.
Erdogan’s office published a readout of the conversation on Monday in which the Islamist leader reportedly “stressed that the Islamic world should increase its efforts in unity to stop Israel’s brutal attacks and hold Israel to account for its crimes against humanity.”
The “brutal attacks” referenced are Israel’s ongoing self-defense efforts in Gaza against the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas, which executed a brutal massacre killing 1,200 people, abducting 250 others, and executing widespread acts of torture, gang rape, infanticide, and desecration of corpses on October 7, 2023.
The readout did not indicate that Erdogan condemned Iran’s attack or called for “restraint” for the world’s most prominent state sponsor of terrorism. Erdogan has repeatedly defended Hamas in the aftermath of October 7.
“President Erdoğan stated that it is of vital importance to immediately restrain Israel and act with common sense in order to prevent the tension from spreading across the region,” the readout noted.
Erdogan’s comments followed a direct attack by the Iranian military on Israel on Saturday featuring the launch of over 300 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. While unprecedented in scale, the attack was a high-profile failure. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel blocked 99 percent of the threats, including all UAVs and cruise missiles. Only one casualty, an Arab Bedouin girl injured by shrapnel, was documented.
Iranian authorities claimed the attack was a response to an airstrike on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) terrorist organization. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike.
Iran Promises to Attack Israel Again
Quote:Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi threatened a “fierce, widespread, and painful” attack on Israel or any other perceived enemy of Iran’s in remarks on Monday, disregarding widespread international calls for “restraint” in the Middle East.
Top Iranian officials echoed Raisi’s belligerence. A top Foreign Ministry official bellowed on Tuesday that Iran would respond “in seconds” to any attack by Israel, while a top Iranian Army general warned of a “stormy and unified” attack on Iran’s neighbor.
The threats are part of an extended victory lap the Iranian terrorist regime has been taking since Saturday, when Tehran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel featuring over 300 missiles and drones. The attack was a spectacular failure. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the country intercepted “99 percent” of the strikes, stopping all of the drones and cruise missiles. Only a small number of ballistic missiles crossed into Israel, the IDF said, causing minimal damage. Israel documented one casualty: an Arab Bedouin girl injured by shrapnel.
Iranian leaders nonetheless called the attack a “success” and made the dubious claim that Tehran had launched “hypersonic missiles” at Israel, hitting “a large intelligence base.” Iran has not provided evidence that its missiles hit any intelligence base or other target and Israel has denied the claim.
Iran struck Israel directly, rather than using its stable of international proxy terrorist organizations, in response to an airstrike against an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1 that eliminated seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and official wing of the Iranian military. The most prominent target of the airstrike was IRGC Quds Force commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who a regime-affiliated organization claimed this week was involved in the “planning and execution” of the October 7 Hamas siege of Israel. Israel has not formally claimed the Damascus strike at press time.
The United Nations and much of the world has weighed in on the exchanges between Iran and Israel, demanding “restraint” and urging deescalation. Iranian allies such as communist China have called for “calm and restraint” alongside free states.
Iranian leaders appeared to entirely disregard those calls in comments on Monday and Tuesday. Raisi, speaking to Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in a telephone call on Tuesday, urged the Muslim world to unite against Israel’s self-defense operations against Hamas, an Iranian proxy, following the massacre on October 7. He also warned that Iran would not hesitate to attack Israel again.
“The smallest action against Iran’s interests will definitely be met with a fierce, widespread and painful response against all its perpetrators,” Raisi said, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.
Iranian Proxies Applaud Like Seals
Quote:Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) praised Iran on Sunday for attacking Israel, describing the massive but largely ineffectual wave of drones and missiles as “brave,” “legal,” and “natural.”
Iran’s state-controlled PressTV on Sunday described the two terrorist organizations as “resistance groups” and insisted the Iranian attack inflicted major damage on Israeli military targets, contrary to all reports from Israel. PressTV used Iran’s preferred nomenclature of “Operation True Promise” for the Saturday night assault.
Hezbollah likewise pretended the attack “precisely achieved its specified military targets despite the participation of the United States, its international allies and regional tools in repelling the sudden attack.”
“Regional tools” might have been a smear at Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Jordan, which reportedly helped to repel Iran’s attack.
Israel and its allies were able to intercept almost all of Iran’s drones and missiles on Saturday night. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) hailed this combined response as a “significant strategic achievement.” As of Monday morning, the only known casualty of the assault was a young Bedouin Muslim girl who was severely injured by shrapnel from an intercepted Iranian drone.
“The political and strategic objectives of this significant development will gradually become apparent over time and will lay the groundwork for a new phase regarding the entire Palestinian cause and the historical struggle with this enemy on the path to the inevitable victory for our Arab and Islamic nation and the resisting and oppressed Palestinian people,” Hezbollah insisted.
Hezbollah defended Iran’s attack as “brave,” “wise,” and “natural and legal.”
Anti-Israel Protests Funded By No Other Than Iran
Quote:Iranian opposition activist Vahid Beheshti on Monday exposed a confidential letter written by a high-ranking officer in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, that revealed Iran has been secretly supporting anti-Israel rallies around the world.
“The IRGC is very clearly organizing and promoting these actions aimed at destroying our modern society, all the while our politicians continue to appease them, placing our values, stability and public order under great jeopardy,” Beheshti said on Monday:
When I have said from day one that the October 7th brutal massacre by Hamas received its order from Tehran, this is what I mean. When I have said from day one that the IRGC are behind the weekly protests in all major cities around the world under the pretext of supporting the Palestinians, this is exactly what I mean.
To support his allegations, Beheshti published an alleged leaked confidential letter from IRGC Intelligence Security Organization (IRGC-IO) commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Kazemi.
Kazemi is one of four senior Iranian officials that the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned in April 2023 for wrongfully detaining U.S. nationals in Iran. According to the Treasury Department, Kazemi also oversaw “the regime’s brutal crackdown against protests across the country in response to the killing of Mahsa Amini.”
In the alleged confidential letter, Kazemi discussed working with pro-Palestinian protest movements worldwide to politically isolate Israel. His correspondent was Col. Mohammad Sajedifar, a “cultural and psychological operations” officer of the IRGC.
Kazemi reportedly wrote:
Given the recent developments in the issue of Palestine and the psychological impact of the Al-Aqsa Storm operation on Palestinian communities in European and American countries, it was determined to implement significant support measures for April 15 and other rallies with the aim to achieve political isolation.
“Al-Aqsa Storm” is the name Hamas gave to its barbaric rape and murder spree against Israeli civilians on October 7.
“April 15” refers to a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on Monday that illegally blocked roads, bridges, and airports in the United States and other countries. The organizers described their stunt as an “economic blockade to free Palestine.”
“In each city, we will identify and blockade major choke points in the economy, focusing on points of production and circulation with the aim of causing the most economic impact,” said the organizers, a group called A15 Action.
Saudi Official on the Conflict
Quote:Israel’s public broadcasting corporation, known colloquially as “Kan,” interviewed an unnamed Saudi royal official on Sunday who said Iran “engineered the war in Gaza to destroy the progress in relations” between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
“Iran’s behavior is irresponsible. We all know that Iran is a country that sponsors terrorism, and it should have been stopped a long time ago,” the Saudi official said.
Several other sources have made the same allegation, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who said two weeks after the October 7 atrocities that Hamas “moved on Israel” because “the Saudis wanted to recognize Israel.” Others have suggested Hamas also wanted to wreck Israel’s improving relations with other major Muslim countries, such as Indonesia.
Hamas’s bloody gambit seemed to work, at least temporarily, as Saudi Arabia froze relations with Israel on October 13 after Israel’s response to the atrocities commenced. Saudi sources said they would press for Israel to make more concessions to Palestinian statehood when and if normalization talks resumed, another indication that Hamas’s alleged terrorism strategy was successful.
The Saudi official who spoke to Kan on Sunday did not deny reports that Saudi Arabia assisted with intercepting the drones and missiles launched by Iran against Israel on Saturday night.
“Every suspicious object that enters Saudi airspace is intercepted. It is a sovereign matter,” he said.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claimed on Monday that “half a dozen other countries” joined the United States and Israel to mount a highly effective defense against the Iranian attack.
Jordan’s cabinet stated on Sunday that Jordanian forces intercepted several objects that entered its airspace, with some of the interceptions occurring close to the Iraqi-Syrian border. Eyewitnesses reported seeing multiple interceptions within 40 miles of Jordan’s capital, Amman.
According to the WSJ’s sources, Saudi Arabia and its close ally, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), shared intelligence with the United States and Israel on Thursday about the impending Iranian attack.
EUROPE
Kiev on the Iranian Attack
Quote:Israel shooting down “99 per cent” of the missiles and drones sent by Iran over the weekend shows what it possible when a nation has the full support of its allies, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said as Kyiv pleads for Israel-like air defence from its Western supporters.
Iran launched a massive barrage of over 300 missiles and drones against Israel on Sunday, very nearly all of which were shot down by Israel’s indigenous air-defence systems, along with support from allies including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Jordan. Ukraine has been quick to point out the similarities in its own position — noting even the Iranian-designed Shahed drones launched at Israel are the same type Russia launches at its cities daily — and call for additional support.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who has been fully engaged in whistle-stop tours around Western capitals drumming up military support since the war began, was speaking alongside his Norwegian counterpart on Monday morning and compared missile attacks on Ukraine to this new strike on Israel. Even if the Western allies don’t want to open fire on Russian missiles themselves — as the U.S. and UK had on Sunday in support of Israel — Kuleba said Ukraine would gladly do the job for them, if only more missile systems would be handed over.
He said: “… the joint efforts of Israel and its allies, which, by the way, are also our allies, were very successful. We see that when allies act together and remain really coordinated, not a single missile hits the target in Israel. Not one missile! And all we ask of our partners is, even if you cannot act the way you act in Israel, give us what is needed, and we will do the rest ourselves.”
In contrast to Israel’s near totally successful defence against the large wave of attacks on Sunday, Russian missiles and drones in far smaller numbers frequently land hits in Ukraine. Last week one of the nation’s largest power stations was totally destroyed, leading to the possibility of blackouts.
Pushing the point Ukraine still deserves greater support even as attention is grabbed by events in the Middle East, Ukrainian state media asserted Russia’s freequrent assaults on Ukraine using Iranian technology was a learning exercise, teaching Tehran how to assault Israel. It was said: “During the Russian attacks against Ukraine, the Iranians are training how to attack Israel. Russia and Iran cooperate closely, in particular, they use similar samples of Shahed drones… Israel’s experience shows that due to a sufficient number of modern weapons, in particular fighter aircraft, it is possible to effectively repel massive attacks. This is an additional argument why it is necessary to provide Ukraine with additional air defence systems and F-16 aircraft.”
German Parliament Speaker in Trouble
Quote:The Vice-President of Germany’s parliament has faced calls to step down after she said Israel “provoked” Iran’s enormous missile attack on Sunday.
Aydan Özoğuz, a Turkish-heritage left-wing politician of Germany’s SPD (Social Democrat) party, who now serves as the nation’s Bundestag Vice-President (parliament deputy speaker) faced a barrage of criticism from politicians and Jewish groups after she wrote Israel had provoked the Iranian missile and drone strike. Critics have called for political “consequences” for the comments and its subsequent retraction and non-apology, for her to resign, with some even sardonically noting Özoğuz’s previously publicised familial links to Islamic extremism.
Writing on Sunday as the barrage of projectiles headed towards Israel from Iran, a massive strike which Israel would subsequently report had been “99 per cent” shot down, Özoğuz wrote, “Why did this situation have to be provoked? Bombing of Iran embassy further endangers the Middle East”.
Apparently noticing the outburst was generating controversy online, Özoğuz then deleted the post but stopped short of acknowledging her assertion that Israel brought the strike upon itself was at fault. Instead, she said, her tweet was causing arguments online: “That’s why I deleted my post. The war is bad enough.”
Several political and civil society figures jumped upon the messages, saying they made a mockery of Özoğuz’s senior — and constitutionally impartial — position as vice-president of the nation’s parliament. Professor Stefan Liebig, a professor at the Free University of Berlin, said Özoğuz was using an “old anti-Semitic trope” that Jewish people bring punishment upon themselves through their own actions.
This statement is “unworthy of a representative of a constitutional body” and if Özoğuz had “an ounce of decency” she would resign, the professor said.
Volker Beck, a high-profile former politician who was a top parliamentarian for the left-wing Green Party, a leader of the German lesbian and gay association, and who is now leader of the German–Israeli Society, was biting in his sarcasm when he wrote: “Israel was attacked by Iran tonight. And you said Israel was provoking? Did your brothers hack your account?”.
As widely discussed when Aydan Özoğuz first gained prominence in German politics and became the government’s integration minister, she was born to Turkish ‘guest worker’ migrants who came to Europe in the 1970s — reportedly from a middle-class Turkish family who had lived in an “elite” Istanbul neighbourhood — but rather than drifting into German politics like herself, Özoğuz’s German-born brothers had gravitated to Shia Islamic extremism.
AUSTRALIA
Sydney Stabbing at the Mall
Quote:Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have identified the assailant who stabbed six people to death at a busy Sydney shopping center on Saturday afternoon before he was shot dead.
Australia-born Joel Cauchi, 40, was responsible for the attack at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction, in the city’s eastern suburbs, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Cooke told reporters at a media conference on Sunday Cauchi suffered from yet unspecified mental health issues and police investigators weren’t treating the attack as terrorism-related.
“We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved,” Cooke said.
“There is still, to this point… no information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence that we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation – ideology or otherwise,” he added.
The attack at the shopping center, one of the country’s busiest and which was a hub of activity on a particularly warm fall afternoon, began around 3:10 p.m. and police were swiftly called, as Breitbart News reported.
Stabbing at the Church
Quote:Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have declared Monday’s stabbing at a Sydney church a religiously motivated “terrorist act” while declining to publicly state the faith of the alleged attacker.
The definition means counter-terrorism investigators – a joint team comprising NSW and federal police as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) – now have extraordinary powers under NSW laws to investigate the attack, the BBC reports.
They can also conduct searches to prevent any further suspected attacks.
As Breitbart News reported, a 16-year-old boy was arrested after a bishop, a priest and churchgoers were attacked during mass at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church in the west of the city.
At least four people suffered “non-life-threatening” injuries, police say. The attacker was also hurt.
The incident was captured on a church livestream and quickly triggered unrest in the suburb of Wakeley as locals rushed to support those under attack.
ABC News reports the boy was charged with a range of offences, including possessing a knife, in November last year after an incident at a Sydney train station.
The boy was found in possession of a flick knife and charged with being armed with a weapon with intent to commit and indictable offence, stalking and/or intimidation and recklessly destroy or damage property.
He was on bail until his last court appearance in January, where his case was “proven” but dismissed with a good behaviour bond.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel sustained lacerations to his head during the attack.
The 53-year-old underwent surgery and a 39-year-old man also sustained cuts and a shoulder injury while attempting to intervene, NSW Police say.
Palestinians Protest on the Streets
Quote:The government of Australia lost its showdown with terrorist sympathizers on Sunday, as thousands ignored government orders to join unauthorized pro-Palestinian rallies across the country, including a huge gathering in Sydney that officials specifically urged citizens to avoid.
The government of New South Wales (NSW) had a very awkward week as it struggled to explain why Hamas sympathizers were allowed to stage an ugly rally at the Sydney Opera House last Monday night, replete with cries to “Gas the Jews!”
The only person arrested at this hateful spectacle was a Jewish man who showed up to express support for Israel, even though the “Gas the Jews” rally was held without proper permits and featured illegal use of incendiary devices. The man was told his presence could be a threat to public order, even though the opera house was lit with the colors of Israel in sympathy for the victims of Hamas.
NSW premier Chris Minns eventually apologized to the Jewish community and urged Jews to “feel that they can have full access to this city, that they can enjoy its life, that they can be part of its culture, that they can commemorate together during solemn occasions.”
Minns scoffed at the notion that Hamas sympathizers would “commandeer Sydney’s streets” with future demonstrations, while police officials promised that permission for another “Free Palestine” rally on Sunday would be denied.
The rally went off anyway, with an estimated 2,000 attendees flooding the streets of Sydney to wave Palestinian flags, only a week after Hamas butchered thousands of Israeli civilians and took dozens of hostages, including women and children.
“We saw earlier this week the premier of New South Wales said don’t come to this protest. Well, there are thousands of people here,” demonstration organizer Farhad Ali said.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
![[Image: SP1-Scripter.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Scripter.png)
![[Image: SP1-Writer.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Writer.png)
![[Image: SP1-Poet.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Poet.png)
![[Image: SP1-PixelArtist.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-PixelArtist.png)
![[Image: SP1-Reporter.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/GmxWbHyL/SP1-Reporter.png)
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
