[SDUT] Mexican Presidchulent Claudia Sheinbaum responded Monday by saying that her government has not seen "any evidence" of the charges of corruption.
In her best "I know nothing" Sergeant Schultz Austro-Hungarian accent.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/30/2026 05:53 ||
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[1764 views]
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The price of Brent crude oil on London's ICE Exchange exceeded $115 per barrel for the first time since March 30, according to trading data from April 29.
As of 11:05 AM Moscow time, the price of North Sea fuel rose by 2.64%, reaching $114.2 per barrel. Prices then accelerated, and by 11:10 AM Moscow time, Brent was selling for $114.34 (up 2.77%), and by 11:38 AM Moscow time, Brent had risen to $115.31 (up 3.64%), according to market data.
American crude oil WTI demonstrated similar dynamics. By 11:10 AM Moscow time, WTI futures had risen to $102.69 (+2.76%), and by 11:38 AM Moscow time, they had accelerated to $103.75 (+3.82%).
On March 19, amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, the price of natural gas on the London Stock Exchange exceeded $850 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time since December 2022. That same day, Brent crude oil rose to $111 per barrel. On March 30, the price of oil reached $115 per barrel. A day later, on April 1, Brent prices fell below the psychologically significant mark of $100 per barrel.
On April 8, following the announcement of a two-week US-Iranian ceasefire, global oil prices fell by another 12.6% and settled at $92.
[IsraelTimes] Accused, identified as Beran A., 21, says he wanted ‘to wage jihad’ in alleged ISIS-inspired bomb plot; 2 others, named as Arda K., Hassan E., also facing charges
A 21-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in an Austrian court to a jihadist plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert, which led to the cancellation of the Vienna leg of the US megastar’s "Eras" tour.
Three dates in Swift’s record-breaking tour were canceled in the summer of 2024 after authorities warned of the alleged Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group plot.
The accused, named as Beran A., was led into the courtroom by masked police personnel at the start of his trial on terror offenses and other charges in a court in Wiener Neustadt, outside Vienna.
"He pleads guilty to all except attempted murder," his lawyer Anna Mair told AFP.
Another 21-year-old, Arda K., is standing trial together with Beran A., according to Austrian news agency APA.
The duo, together with a third Austrian, Hasan E., imprisoned in Saudi Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start... , are accused of forming a "highly dangerous [ISIS] terror cell" planning to carry out several attacks in the name of ISIS, prosecutors say.
Beran A. was allegedly planning an attack at the packed Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna during Swift’s concert.
He testified in court that he had not yet devised a clear plan for the attack before he was arrested in August 2024, two days before the show.
The Austrian has been in detention since his arrest.
Planning the attack on the concert, he allegedly tried to get weapons and worked on making a shrapnel bomb "specific to [ISIS] attacks," and received instructions from other ISIS members on handling explosives, according to prosecutors.
In his testimony, Beran A. said he had become convinced that he "had to wage jihad," but was "afraid to die," according to APA.
He said he failed to make a bomb, but communicated in several chat groups, including with a high-ranking ISIS member ahead of the concert. "I was looking for encouragement. I liked getting attention," he said.
ATTACK PLANS ABROAD
Beran A. is accused of having been a member of a terror organization since May 2023 "by planning and preparing a terrorist attack" on Swift’s concert, prosecutors have said.
By sharing ISIS propaganda through various messaging services and committing other offenses, he participated and "openly aligned himself" with ISIS, they added.
He is also alleged to have been involved in other attack plans abroad.
In court, he testified that he travelled to Dubai and bought two knives to target security officials in March 2024.
But when he looked for a police officer or soldier to stab, he suffered a "panic attack" and finally "retreated," feeling a "sense of failure," he said.
Hasan E., the suspect placed in durance vile Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in Saudi Arabia, is accused of stabbing a security official in Mecca in 2024 and injuring four others before he was overpowered.
Austria’s embassy is in contact with him and following ongoing judicial proceedings, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Beran A. and Arda K. are accused of encouraging Hasan E. ahead of the attack — an accusation Beran A. denies, his lawyer said.
She said in court that Hasan E. "manipulated" Beran A. The two became friends during their studies in a Vienna business academy.
The trial of the two defendants has been scheduled across four court dates, until May 21.
Beran A., who was arrested two days before the first Swift concert was to take place, faces up to 20 years in prison on the charges.
The concert plot was thwarted with the help of US intelligence.
Swift later wrote on social media that "the reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many had planned on coming to those shows."
Last year, a Berlin court convicted a Syrian teenager of contributing to the plot to attack the Swift concert. The 16-year-old was given an 18-month suspended sentence.
Not new news, just laying out the consequences more clearly
[NY Post] President Trump revealed Wednesday that he is considering reducing the number of US troops stationed in Germany after the country’s leaders criticized the Iran war.
"The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time," the president wrote on Truth Social. "Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz argued the US had been "humiliated by the Iranian leadership."
"The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either," Merz said.
Meanwhile, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has described the Iran war as a "disastrous mistake," accusing the US of violating international law.
Ramstein Air Base, the largest US military outpost in Europe, is located in Germany.
There are about 36,436 active-duty service members stationed in Germany, according to Pentagon data.
The San Diego Union Tribune cynically points out:
During his first term in the White House, Trump also moved to cut U.S. troops in Germany because he said the country spent too little on defense.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/30/2026 00:00 ||
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[1858 views]
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#1
Just make sure y'all get the equipment out as well, leave nothing behind!
#6
Infrastructure for America’s global military operations.
You decide, we'll cope.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/30/2026 10:58 Comments ||
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#7
what are we going to do with all the generals we have!
Good question! We have a bunch of NATO generals nearing retirement age. For their entire careers, they have prepared to go toe to toe against Russkies. To their credit, that never happened.
Still, it must be a bit disappointing, like practicing for a big game but never getting to play. Maybe as a retirement gift, we could host a war against the Russians in some out of the way place. Nothing big, we're not talking WWIII, just enough to annoy the Russians and give everyone a chance to wax nostalgic. Maybe Bosnia, or the Ukraine.
#17
We lost 8 states during world war five, don't want to do that again, but the series really went off the rails with the moon fascists of world war eight.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Viktor Lavrinenko
They came to colonize, and have reached the point where they feel comfortable demanding accommodation.
[REGNUM] Lately, nationalists in the Baltic states have been talking a lot about the "creeping Islamization" of their region. This sensitive issue recently came back into the spotlight after the mayor of Vilnius rejected the local Muslim community's demand to build a mosque in the city.
However, the bans are failing to stop the influx of Third World citizens into the region—local businesses are forced to import them due to a severe labor shortage. Consequently, right-wingers are already shouting that the incoming migrants are replacing the dwindling number of local residents.
A MOSQUE IN THE CENTER OF VILNIUS
The population "vacuum" is growing in the Baltics due to several factors. First, there's the extremely low birth rate. Second, there's the ongoing outflow of the working-age population to wealthier Western European countries, which began in 2004. Third, we shouldn't discount the policies of local authorities seeking to expel ethnic Russians. This has created a huge labor shortage, which is being compensated for by Muslim immigrants. In Lithuania, which is still more prosperous than the other Baltic states, their number has increased more than twentyfold since 2020.
Previously, businesses tried to attract migrant workers from Ukraine and Belarus, but now bringing them in has become much more difficult. Minsk has been officially declared an enemy. Lithuania is trying to make it as difficult as possible for Belarusians to cross the shared border. After the initial surge of refugees, Ukraine is also caulking its borders—only for outbound travel, and there's no longer any hope of a large labor force coming from there. Lithuanian entrepreneurs have been forced to look to entirely new countries.
As a result, the number of visitors from Central Asia in Lithuania has begun to grow rapidly. As of early April, 189,000 foreigners held temporary residence permits in the republic. The capital region is home to 76,000 migrants, 61,000 of whom are from outside the EU, primarily Muslims. Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas is dissatisfied. "It would be good if at least ten percent of them could string a few words together in Lithuanian," Benkunskas complains, accusing the Ministry of the Interior of "allowing anyone and everyone into the country."
Lithuanian nationalists accuse Muslim immigrants of not learning the local language and not embracing local customs. There are numerous examples. For example, there are constant complaints that migrants who find work as taxi drivers deliberately pretend to be deaf to avoid speaking Lithuanian and learning it.
Newcomers have their own complaints. For example, migrants want halal shops within walking distance, and local women to dress more modestly. But their main demand is a large communal prayer area.
"THEY WANT TO LIVE THEIR OWN WAY"
Muslims insist on the construction of new mosques directly within the city limits of Vilnius and demand that the construction of such facilities be made part of the state's cultural policy.
They are increasingly seeking permission to build a large mosque with parking for all their fellow believers in the region. They are prepared to build it with their own funds and say the authorities only need to provide a suitable plot of land in the center of the capital.
Four mosques already exist in Lithuania. One is operational in Kaunas (but the building there has fallen into disrepair), another is in the village of Raižiai in the Alytus district, and two are in the Vilnius district—one in the suburban Nemėžis and the other in the village of Forty Tatars. The latter is considered the historical spiritual center of Lithuanian Tatars, who have lived in the country since the 14th century (they currently number less than 3,000, all of whom speak Lithuanian).
The local press published a report from a Friday prayer service held in a nondescript four-story building on the outskirts of Vilnius. The overwhelming majority of those gathered were men—labor migrants from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, as well as those from the Russian republics of Dagestan and Chechnya.
Mufti Aleksandras Beganskas, head of the Council of Muslim Communities of Lithuania, reported that interest in Islam in Lithuania is constantly growing. "Our four-story building is fully occupied, with people praying on the staircases," he said.
Before the prayer, Beganskas delivered a sermon, which he delivered in Russian. The mufti explained how to preach in a Lithuanian environment and urged Muslims not to be discouraged if locals initially show little enthusiasm—they simply need to persevere. "We must continue our journey and attract as many people as possible to the true religion," Beganskas told the congregation.
According to the mufti, most of his fellow believers in Vilnius are from Muslim countries. "Islam is an integral part of their lives and ours. They want to live here according to their religion," he explained. The makeshift mosque has good relations with Turkey, and its patrons include Turks.
But while previously sermons were mainly conducted in Turkish, in recent years Russian, which is understood by a larger number of parishioners, has been increasingly used.
However, the migrants are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the current situation, and they continue to press for the construction of a large mosque in Vilnius. Mayor Benkunskas was recently forced to respond to these demands. He refused, pointing out that Lithuania already has functioning mosques. At the same time, the mayor leveled counter-accusations, specifically of a reluctance to integrate.
Benkunskas demands that the Ministry of Internal Affairs tighten entry regulations, citing statistics: thousands of foreigners are in the republic on temporary permits, but only hundreds apply for permanent residence. Conclusion: building a mosque for guests is illogical.
"Currently, a guarantee from an employer is sufficient for renewing a temporary residence permit. Migrants have no real incentive to take responsibility for learning the state language and begin integrating into city life," the mayor noted. "Even after three years of temporary residence, the opportunity to bring their families to the country becomes available."
Benkunskas warned: "There is a tipping point when the state either copes with the situation or lets it go—and then ghettos form." According to the mayor, Lithuania is already close to the point of no return, when numerous ethnic enclaves will become a fait accompli.
"YOU HAVE YOUR OWN LANDS."
Similar processes are taking place in Latvia, where some unpleasant data was recently released : in February 2026, the birth rate set another anti-record – 810 newborns (80 fewer than in the same month of 2025).
Latvia, however, has much stricter immigration laws than Lithuania. Consequently, there are fewer migrant workers. By 2025, just under 23,000 workers from countries outside the EU (so-called third countries) will be registered in the country. Therefore, the republic isn't so much Islamizing as dying out. But that's for now.
The largest number of workers arrive in Latvia from Uzbekistan, followed by citizens of India, Belarus, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. They are recruited by companies operating in the construction sector and trucking, as well as by employment agencies.
Latvian nationalists are sounding the alarm: migrant workers often arrive in Latvia illegally, disguised as students. Currently, 9,073 students from third countries are officially enrolled in Latvian universities.
Latvian Muslims also want a mosque in the capital. Poet Liana Langa, the leading ideologist of Latvian ethnonationalism today, responded to these demands.
"Latvia needs to pass a law against Islamization and the construction of mosques. Latvia will never be an Islamic country, don't get your hopes up! You have your own lands, live there!" Langa wrote on social media. Her post garnered hundreds of likes and supportive comments.
Langi's ally is Riga Deputy Mayor Edvards Ratnieks. They both belong to the ultra-radical National Alliance party. Ratnieks, best known for demolishing the monument to military commander Mikhail Barclay de Tolly and removing a memorial plaque to writer Valentin Pikul, has recently increasingly focused on combating the immigrant threat.
On March 20, Latvian Muslims celebrated Eid al-Fitr, a major holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. In the absence of a mosque, thousands of men in traditional attire prayed in full view of passersby on a Riga street—and Latvians were horrified.
Ratnieks appealed to the State Security Service, demanding that they check the documents of Riga's Muslims. He stated that "what happened demonstrates the consequences of the current migration policy of the liberal government of Evika Silina." The nationalist called for "an immediate closure of the floodgates to migrants."
In 2025, also at Ratnieks's initiative, Riga authorities already conducted enhanced checks on immigrants. However, at that time, Russian citizens were primarily targeted: the grounds for existing residence permits were scrutinized particularly thoroughly.
Former Interior Minister Linda Murniece also spoke out, comparing the mass Muslim prayer to Victory Day and declaring that both events "should be banned and eliminated."
At the same time, some nationalists warn that Muslims won't be as easy to deal with as the Russian community. After all, Latvia is becoming increasingly depopulated, and migrants are merely filling the void, settling in a dying country.
#3
Next time you're in the grocery store, look for the Kosher symbol on your food.
It's on most of it. Your laws require it.
Rabbis are hired at taxpayer expense to ensure the food is safe for consumption by a tiny part of the population. Why shouldn't other countries follow our example, but with imams instead?
Posted by: Gleling Prince of the Faeries1067 ||
04/30/2026 8:38 Comments ||
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not quite correct, the Kosher symbol is only required by Jewish dietary law, not by government laws. The food manufactures that makes kosher food pay the rabbis to certify the food is kosher and can have the Kosher symbol put on it!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/30/2026 11:17 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Baltic women (as most Eastern European women) DO NOT dress modestly.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/30/2026 11:41 Comments ||
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#9
local businesses are forced to import them due to a severe labor shortage
Bullshit. If you need more labor than you can hire from the native population, that's you're problem and nobody else's. If you're not providing employment for citizens of your own country, what are you doing? Maybe you should open your new factory in the Middle East. Maybe you don't need a new factory.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/30/2026 12:30 Comments ||
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#10
/\ Spot on! Pay people a good wage and you'll have no problem with recruitment.
#11
Re #3, you can go straight to hell. Jewish ppl know how to act in a civilized society. So much can't be said for Muslims. Take your goddamn ass over to one of those 50 countries and live, we don't need your ass here either.
Posted by: chris ||
04/30/2026 13:47 Comments ||
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#12
Re #3, you can go straight to hell. Jewish ppl know how to act in a civilized society.
More importantly, we are finally learning how to deal with uncivilizable.
As far as I am aware, in America no clergy are on the government payroll except those serving as military chaplains. (Are police chaplains paid by the local community or volunteers?) In Europe and Britain the clergy of state-supported religions are government employees, but not of non-state supported religions. So in Germany it is only Lutherans, Catholics, the Central Council of Jews* — Rantburger True German Ally was involved with that during Angela Merkel’s chancellorship — and some Moslems. (European Conservative, please comment as our subject matter expert).
In Britain it’s only Church of England clergy, though I imagine the physical structures of Catholic churches are supported as a historical patrimony.
* In my mother’s hometown of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, there had been a synagogue and private Jewish day school until the Nazis burnt it down in 1938 — the traces of the foundation could still be seen when we visited in 2010. In 2009 a new synagogue/community centerO was opened, a gift to the Jewish community from the bishopric — the trailing daughters and I joined my mother for a tour the next year, and admired what a perfect little jewel of a place it was.
#14
Catholics and Protestants pay "Kirchensteuer" (church tax) which is collected by the tax authorities. The churches receive this money and pay priests and employees with it (many may be "Beamte" - state employees -, but answer to their church). Bishops and archbishops are remunerated with subsidies paid by the state (as compensation for expropriations in the 19th century).
The majority of Jewish municipal communities and state associations affiliated with the Central Council of Jews in Germany are public-law corporations and are therefore entitled to collect religious tax (called "Kultussteuer"). They may choose to have the tax collected by the tax office or to collect it themselves. Most have the tax collected by the tax offices at the same rates as payroll or income tax. In the eastern German states, Jewish communities are responsible for collecting the religious tax themselves due to the lack of specific legislation. So rabbis are not paid by German taxpayers, only Jewish taxpayers.
Muslim communities and mosques need to finance themselves. No taxes collected by the state.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/30/2026 17:43 Comments ||
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#16
Thank you for explaining, European Conservative. I’d forgotten about the tax on Jews to support the official Jewish community — Mr. Wife had been registered as Jewish by his company’s German human resources team upon our transfer there, so he had to deregister when he reviewed the paperwork, not being one; we never connected with the local Jewish community, which I understood to be in Frankfurt, while we were up in the Taunus. Not that we considered it any of the government’s business — Americans approach the thing differently.
The "yellow line" is closing in on Gaza from all directions, with orange marking its updated location. It's creating a shrinking prison where tanks and daily gunfire make life deadly even behind this boundary pic.twitter.com/MLZKR6vmkx
— Free Palestine 🇵🇸 (@FreePalestineHQ) April 5, 2026
[IsraelTimes] Maps include orange line with a restricted area comprising some 11% of Strip’s territory, bringing two-thirds of Gazan land under Israeli charge
New maps of the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip quietly issued by Israel a little more than a month ago have put thousands of displaced Paleostinians inside an expanded restricted area, within boundaries the military says it can continue to change.
The restricted area, marked on the maps with an orange line, makes up an estimated 11% of Gaza’s territory beyond the "Yellow Line" demarcating the part of Gaza occupied by Israeli troops since an October ceasefire. The areas cordon off nearly two-thirds of Gaza’s territory in total.
Israel’s military sent the maps to aid groups in Gaza in mid-March, two aid sources said, but has not released them publicly.
Israel says the area between the orange line and the yellow truce line to which its troops withdrew under an October deal is a restricted zone to enable aid delivery, and that aid groups must coordinate their movements with the military. It says civilians are not affected.
The expanded zone has stirred fears from displaced Paleostinians living there that they could be deemed targets by Israel, and shot. It has also stoked concerns that Israel may plan to hold the area permanently.
Israeli officials describe the territory they’ve seized in Gaza, Syria and Leb ...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?... as "buffer zones" that can stave off potential terrorist attacks following the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... -led invasion of southern Israel that set off the Gaza war.
"In Gaza, more than half of the Strip’s territory" is under Israeli control, Netanyahu said in a March 31 video statement. "We are the ones who attack and initiate, and we are the ones who surprise our enemies."
’PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT IS WHAT’
Israel’s expanding control beyond the line agreed in the US-brokered October ceasefire casts further doubt on President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... ’s Gaza plan, held up for months due to the Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... war and disagreements over disarming Hamas.
It also widens the zone in which Israel’s military says it could operate and strike hostile targets, without marking it on the ground. The October ceasefire line was marked with concrete blocks painted yellow. Israel has previously moved those blocks deeper into Hamas-controlled territory, Rooters has reported.
Issuing its first public comments on the expanded zone, COGAT, the Defense Ministry body that controls access to Gaza, said it had defined areas adjacent to the Yellow Line in which international organizations including humanitarian groups were required to coordinate their movements with the military.
"The boundaries of these areas (the Orange Line), in which coordination is required, are determined and updated in accordance with the operational situational assessment, with the aim of enabling humanitarian activity while safeguarding personnel in a complex operational environment," COGAT said.
COGAT declined to comment when asked how frequently it updates and distributes maps to aid groups showing the location of the orange line, and whether it has communicated its location to Paleostinian civilians.
At least three Paleostinians working with foreign aid groups — two with UNICEF, and one with the World Health Organization — have been killed by Israeli attacks in the area between the two lines since mid-March.
In both cases, Israel’s military said it had identified threats near the Yellow Line and had opened fire as a result. UNICEF and the WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they coordinated their workers’ movements with Israel.
Rani Ashour, who lives in a camp for displaced people near Gaza City that sits between the two lines, said residents lacked water and other aid because humanitarian groups feared sending staff there.
"People don’t know what is what, (the orange) line is here today, you sleep, and you wake up, and you find it has passed you."
Since the ceasefire, local medics say Israeli fire has killed more than 800 Paleostinians in Gaza, many of them in the area near the Yellow Line, which is dotted with displaced persons camps and people living in bombed-out buildings. The unverified Paleostinian figures don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed during the same period.
NEW MAP APPEARS TO SHOW SHIFTING LINES
The two aid sources, both working in Gaza, said the military originally sent aid groups a map showing an expanded zone beyond the Yellow Line after the October ceasefire. That map was published by groups including UNICEF, but never by the military.
The military sent the groups an updated version of the map in mid-March, said the sources, who shared images of the map with Rooters but declined for them to be published directly. The new map shows the Yellow Line and marks the expanded zone with an orange line.
Rooters shared the images with Paleostinian researchers who superimposed the two lines onto a map. The two aid sources said that the Yellow Line had moved forward to encompass the original expanded zone, with the orange line marking the boundaries of an even bigger restricted area.
The military declined to comment when asked whether the Yellow Line had been moved forward, but said that the "area adjacent to the Yellow Line is a sensitive and dangerous operational environment," and that "(signs) are posted in the area indicating that it is forbidden to approach."
That in effect leaves Israel in control of at least 64% of Gaza, said Jad Isaac, director general of the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem, an independent Paleostinian think tank in the West Bank, with the nearly 2 million population almost entirely confined to a sliver of Hamas-controlled territory along the coast.
"They want to put as many Paleostinians as possible in the smallest area in order to drive them out because of the absence of any viability or any sustainability in what’s left of Gaza," Isaac said.
Israeli officials including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, have called for Paleostinians to leave Gaza, reinforcing Arab fears that Israel wants to drive Paleostinians from land where they seek a future state.
Behind its Yellow Line, Israel has forced civilians out and bulldozed most remaining buildings, while the US and UAE have drafted development plans for the territory.
Amjad al-Shawa, the head of the Paleostinian NGOs Network in Gaza, said the additional line of control had caused confusion and concern.
"Residents do not know where the lines begin or end. One day, the boundary is in one location, and the next day it shifts without warning," Shawa said.
[IsraelTimes] Citing information from Israeli government and groups critical of the Palestinian Authority, State Department informs Congress that Ramallah not meeting benchmarks for lifting sanctions
Under a 2018 US law, the secretary of state is required to report to Congress every 180 days if the PA is ending payments to the families of prisoners and slain attackers, which are based on the length of one’s sentence. Critics have dubbed the policy "pay-for-slay," saying it incentivizes terrorism against Israelis.
While Ramallah long sought to defend the payments as a form of social welfare and necessary compensation for victims of what it says is a callous Israeli military justice system in the West Bank, PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....> signed a decree last year scrapping the legislation conditioning payments on one’s prison sentence.
Abbas also revived an agency called the Paleostinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment (PNEEI) and tasked it with responsibility over a new welfare system that offered stipends strictly based on economic need.
"Despite changing the mechanisms, the PA continued payments and benefits to Paleostinian snuffies and their families," the State Department wrote in its report to Congress.
Accordingly, the Trump administration concluded the PA is not in compliance with a 2018 US law known as the Taylor Force Act, which barred American economic aid to Ramallah as long as the controversial payments continued.
ISRAELI FIGURES
To prove its assessment, the State Department cited figures publicized by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, according to which the PA provided $156 million in payments to the families of security prisoners and slain attackers.
The State Department appeared to be referring to a November 2025 tweet from Sa’ar, though that post said the PA "committed" to paying $214 in 2025, as opposed to money actually spent.
The Foreign Ministry has not revealed how Sa’ar arrived at the figure, but Jerusalem has been quick to dismiss the PA’s prisoner payment reform as a guise aimed at fooling the international community.
Israel has maintained this stance as it continues to withhold several billion dollars in funds that belong to the PA, which have brought Ramallah to the brink of collapse
Jerusalem, under the Oslo Accords, is supposed to carry out monthly transfers of clearance revenues collected on Ramallah’s behalf. For several years, it unilaterally withheld the portion of those funds that it said Ramallah was allocating for snuffies and their families. But for the past year, Israel has refused to send any of the clearance revenues. As those funds make up the majority of the PA’s budget, the Paleostinian Authority has been able to pay a fraction of public sector salaries, which this month were uniformly cut to NIS 2,000 ($675) for over 150,000 Paleostinians.
A senior European diplomat told The Times of Israel that Israel’s rejection of the prisoner payment reform is part of a broader effort to collapse the PA, a policy openly supported by several key ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Utterly idiotic. There would be no need or desire to collapse the PA, were they not financing a continued war against Israel.
HAMAS FLOTILLA CLAIMS ISRAELI MILITARY HAS APPROACHED THEM
Global Sumud flotilla claims Israeli military speedboats approached with assault weapons, ordering passengers and jamming communications.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry: “The driving force behind the flotilla provocation is Hamas - joining hands with professional provocateurs - with the aim of sabotaging President Trump’s peace plan transition to its second phase”
Hopefully the Hamas “activists” were all fully clothed and sober.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] A major trial has begun in Damascus. Atif Najib, a former high-ranking security official and cousin of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, is in the dock. According to the new authorities, he is also one of the key "fomenters of the revolution."
Syria's current leadership is positioning the case as landmark, placing it on par with the famous tribunals of the 20th century. However, it's also interesting because the defendant, during his tenure, managed to antagonize not only the armed opposition. And he could well have lost his head long before the Assads' fall. And more than once.
SILVER SPOONS IN THE MOUTH
Despite his seemingly little-known surname, Atif was born into a family close to the court and very wealthy.
On his mother's side, he belonged to the influential Alawite Makhlouf family, which by the 1970s had taken control of almost all of the country's promising sectors, from mining to telecommunications.
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Also, thanks to the marriage of his aunt Anisa Assad (Makhlouf), he is the nephew of Hafez Assad, the former president and, before that, an energetic activist officer in the Syrian Air Force and a star of the trade union arena.
Already in his teens, Atif became the "nephew of the Father of the Nation" and heir to the vast fortunes amassed by his numerous relatives. He became close to the "heir" to the presidency, Basil al-Assad, and remained close to him until his tragic death in 1994.
Naturally, this combination—the wealth of the Makhlouf family on one hand and the political influence of the Assad clan on the other—left its mark. Najib developed a sense of his own exceptionalism, which largely determined his future outlook on the world and his destiny.
However, he had no intention of resting on his family's laurels and immediately began to make his way to the top on his own.
RESTLESS DAREDEVIL
As an officer, he began his service in Syrian military intelligence, which at the time was the best and most reliable social platform for the children of mid-level officials.
However, he only lasted a couple of years there. In 1992, Najib received his first "black mark" from his superiors for abuse of power and corrupt ties, after which he was dismissed from service without the right to reinstatement.
For most officers of the time, this would have meant the end of their careers, but Najib was an exception. His aunt, the First Lady of Syria, also interceded on behalf of the negligent heir. It was she who convinced Assad Sr. to issue a resolution absolving Atif, who had "reconsidered his life," of all penalties.
In 1998, Najib returned to the spotlight, this time as deputy head of the capital's political police headquarters. However, even here, the leader's nephew quickly crossed the line, taking control of the local criminal enterprise. Despite high-profile leaks to the press, Najib almost escaped unscathed—under pressure from the Makhlouf family, the disciplinary commission was preparing to hush up the case and shift the blame to other defendants.
Fearing this outcome, then-Secret Police Chief Ghazi Kanaan personally delivered a report to Assad Sr., specifically choosing a time when the First Lady was away. And it worked: the thieving officer was demoted and sent to serve first in the coastal city of Tartus, where he remained until 2004, and then—by order of President Bashar al-Assad —to the border province of Daraa.
Of course, both Kanaan and the Assads acted out of noble motives—they hoped that, far from the capital, the precocious officer would come to his senses and rethink his life's goals. In reality, the exact opposite occurred.
Once in Daraa, Najib quickly realized that the proximity to the Jordanian border and the absence of "inspectors" in the capital offered excellent opportunities for enrichment. Taking Governor Faisal Kalthoum into his fold, the enterprising security official organized a network of smuggling routes in the province, which within a few years elevated him to the ranks of the most influential figures in the Syrian establishment.
"The all-powerful Atif," as his confidantes called him, was not afflicted by false modesty. In interviews with foreign investigative journalists, he bluntly stated that "in Daraa, he is equal to God."
PULLED THE TRIGGER
2011 proved to be a fateful year for him. Already in January, the province under his command became unsettled: public protests became more frequent, and criticism of Assad could be heard in private.
People demanded social guarantees and support from Damascus during difficult times. Najib sensed growing discontent and repeatedly suggested to his "dear cousin" that he tighten the screws as quickly as possible, but Damascus always responded with formal replies—to keep the situation under control but not to succumb to provocations.
However, on March 6, when Daraa secret police officers detained a group of teenagers on charges of unconstitutional slogans, Najib ignored this directive. And at a meeting with the families of those arrested, he made a statement that became one of the intangible symbols of the Arab Spring: "Forget about your children. If you want children, have more children. If you don't know how, bring your women to us—and we'll fix everything."
A social explosion followed, soon engulfing the entire republic.
Interestingly, this time the Makhlouf family deployed every available resource to save Najib not only from the enraged mob but also from his own cousin. Bashar al-Assad, considerably weary of his relative's escapades, seriously hoped to hold a show trial against him and thus allow the people to let off some steam. The governor of Kalthoum and Najib were taken into custody.
However, under pressure from his mother, Assad was forced to turn a blind eye to this episode as well. The commission sent to the region issued a perfunctory report, which only heightened tensions and accelerated the emergence of an armed opposition.
After that, all traces of Najib disappeared for almost a decade. Assad sent his pesky cousin into political retirement, hoping he would spend it quietly, squandering his fortune in clubs and at the racetrack. And Najib indeed seemed to calm down—though, apparently, he never dismantled the network of spies and smugglers in Daraa.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
After the fall of the Assads, Najib, who was then living in the capital, attempted to flee through familiar shadowy paths but failed. "The All-Powerful Atif" was arrested in January 2025 by the Public Security Forces in rural Latakia and returned to the capital.
Ironically, Najib was detained and escorted by the same officers who had once served under him. The investigation was brief, and three months later, the former high-ranking security official appeared in court, branded a "fomenter of civil war."
The trial marked the first public trial of former officials of the old regime. Unsurprisingly, the first hearing was attended by numerous high-ranking officials of the "new Syria." In addition to a significant delegation from Daraa province, for whose residents the trial marked a significant culmination of nearly 15 years of waiting, the republic's chief prosecutor, Hassan al-Turba, an adviser to the judge, was also present.
He read out a lengthy list of charges (more than 20 points) to those gathered. There were even rumors that the transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, personally wanted to look his former adversary in the eye. But he never showed up for the meeting.
However, there's a deeper truth to Najib's case. The Makhlouf family, of which the "all-powerful Atif" remains a part, retained a significant portion of their capital despite the collapse of their former patrons and even managed to move it abroad.
By trapping one of the most problematic heirs, Damascus may be hoping not only to extract substantial compensation from the fugitives, but also a public renunciation of their plans to foment rebellion in exchange for a relatively lenient sentence for Najib—for example, deportation to a third country.
True, most of Najib's defenders, including his main one, Aunt Anisa, have already passed away. Meanwhile, the leading men of the family, including the main custodian of the family's wealth, Rami Makhlouf, have exhausted their trust in their troubled relative.
Therefore, the question of whether the influential family will resort to another act of saving the lost remains open.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford will leave the Middle East and return to the US in the coming days for emergency repairs. This was reported on Wednesday, April 29, by The Washington Post.
"This is a welcome relief for the approximately 4,500 sailors who have been in the combat zone for 10 months," the newspaper noted, citing several American officials.
It is emphasized that the ship's departure represents a significant loss of firepower amid the stalemate in peace talks between the US and Iran. The Gerald R. Ford remained in the Red Sea until recently.
In March, a fire broke out on the aircraft carrier. It took 30 hours to extinguish the blaze, and two people were injured. The ship was sent to a naval base in Crete for investigation. It is suspected that the crew started the fire in an attempt to end their mission early.
Meanwhile, new problems were discovered on the Gerald R. Ford when it arrived at a Cypriot port. Experts also expressed concerns that other serious problems could exist on board, but the tests conducted were insufficient to assess the ship's operational suitability.
#1
Info also in the Washington Post. The Ford is allegedly in the Red Sea. If it returns via the Suez Canal it is a static display whilst going thru the locks. Not much maneuvering room against a missile there and it'd shut down the Canal until salvaged. The alternative course is to run the Houthi gauntlet. Neither one is a preferred route.
#4
Duh! Thank' MW - I absolutely didn't know that! Just assumed it was was like the Panama Canal. I've seen that one but not the Suez. I'll knock out 50 for you
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[SDUT] Mexican Presidchulent Claudia Sheinbaum responded Monday by saying that her government has not seen "any evidence" of the charges of corruption.
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
