Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel, EU agree to boost Gaza aid: ‘More trucks, more crossings, and more routes’

2025-07-11

[IsraelTimes] Israel to open several aid corridors, including through Egypt and Jordan, allow bakeries and kitchens to reopen, ensure security for aid workers, repair vital infrastructure

Israel and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
have agreed upon "significant steps" to increase the flow of humanitarian aid

into 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 "in the coming days," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced Thursday.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed the agreement, saying the security cabinet decided last Sunday on measures "to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza," including "more trucks, more crossings, and more routes for the humanitarian efforts."

Speaking alongside Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephu, Sa’ar thanked his counterparts "for the fruitful dialogue that we are conducting — with you and the EU — on the humanitarian issue."

The discussions are "based on an understanding of human needs and of the threat that Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
and the Gaza Strip have posed to Israel over the past 20 years," added Sa’ar, saying, "this dialogue is important and it will continue."

The announcements by Sa’ar and Kallas confirmed an earlier report by Bloomberg, which said that a deal had been reached enabling the reopening of several aid corridors, including humanitarian routes through Egypt and Jordan, and several other crossing points in northern and southern Gaza.

"These measures are or will be implemented in the coming days, with the common understanding that aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population and that measures will continue to be taken to ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas," Kallas said.

According to the top European diplomat, the agreement will see a "substantial increase" in the daily entry of trucks supplying food and non-food items; the opening of several crossing points in northern and southern Gaza; the reopening of humanitarian routes through Egypt and Jordan; resumed operations of bakeries and public kitchens in Gaza; resumed fuel deliveries to humanitarian facilities "up to an operational level"; security for aid workers; and reparations on works for "vital infrastructure like the resumption of the power supply to the water desalination facility."

"The EU stands ready to coordinate with all relevant humanitarian stakeholders, United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
agencies and NGOs on the ground, to ensure swift implementation of those urgent steps," added Kallas, adding that the EU "calls again for an immediate ceasefire" and release of all hostages.

Since late May, Israel has handed authority over aid distribution in Gaza to the Israel- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in a stated effort to prevent aid supplies from reaching Hamas. The GHF’s operations have been strongly criticized by the international community for failing to address the humanitarian needs in Gaza.

It is unclear under which bodies the expanded aid measures will be operated.

The EU has been increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza amid Israel’s war against Hamas, which began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led bully boyz murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and took 251 hostages.

Israel has said that it respects international law and that operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas.

The EU is Israel’s biggest commercial partner, with 42.6 billion euros ($48.2 billion) traded in goods in 2024. Trade in services reached 25.6 billion euros in 2023.

More than 100 aid groups and other organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, last month urged Brussels to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement "at least in part."

Spain has also called for the agreement to be suspended, while Germany has come out against such a move.

Suspending the EU-Israel accord outright would require unanimity among member states — something diplomats have said from the outset was virtually impossible.

Halting diplomatic dialogue with Israel — a measure that was already rejected last year — also requires backing from all EU countries.

Trade measures could instead be adopted with a qualified majority, diplomats have said, cautioning, however, that agreeing on those might also prove tricky.

Link

Good Morning

2025-07-11

Friday 07/11/2025

Iranian media reports that Iran's Army Chief of Staff, General Abdulrahim Mousavi, has been assassinated

From our continuing series Women Who Bathe 23.

International-UN-NGOs UN brings fuel into Gaza for first time in 130 days: spokesman		Israel-Palestine-Jordan Permanent ceasefire hinges on demilitarising Gaza: Israel
Israel-Palestine-Jordan Five killed in bombing at Gaza school		India-Pakistan Govt rebuffs rumours of Zardari''s resignation, army chief eyeing presidency
India-Pakistan ANP leader among two killed in Bajaur firing		India-Pakistan ''Personal vendetta'': Jemima slams Shehbaz-led govt over threat to arrest Imran Khan''s sons

Keep them guessing

Link

Home Front: Politix

NYC hopeful Mamdani’s vow to arrest Netanyahu likely oversteps what US mayors can do

2025-07-11

[IsraelTimes] US federal law largely handcuffs local authorities when it comes to cooperating with the ICC. ‘It would be akin to a publicity stunt,’ says expert

If Zohran Mamdani

…Shiite, “Democratic Socialist of America”, red diaper nepo-baby, naturalized Indian-American who couldn’t get into Columbia because he falsely and stupidly claimed to be African-American on his freshman application despite his father being a tenured professor there…

has his way, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will find himself under arrest by New York City’s finest the next time he steps foot in the city.

Mamdani, the Democratic party nominee and presumed frontrunner in the city’s mayoral race, has repeatedly said he would arrest the Israeli premier should Netanyahu visit while he is running city hall, citing an International Criminal Court warrant on war crimes charges.

"As mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu. This is a city that — our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also," Mamdani said in a December interview with the Zeteo outlet.

But as with some of Mamdani’s other campaign promises, the candidate may be overreaching on what powers he will have as mayor — even one running the largest city in the United States.

"The short answer is that this would almost certainly not happen," said Prof. David Bosco of Indiana University, Bloomington, a scholar of international law who wrote a 2014 book about the ICC.

The Hague-based court, formed in 2002 to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and charges of genocide, issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant last year on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in a bombshell accusation against Israel’s leadership.

More than 120 countries are members of the court, curtailing travel for Netanyahu and Gallant to countries that have promised not to honor the warrants or are not signatories to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, such as Israel or the US, where Netanyahu visited this week.

The court does not have the power to enforce arrests itself and relies on member states to carry out arrests so defendants can stand trial in the Hague.

Mamdani has acknowledged that the US is not a party to the ICC, without explaining how he would still carry out an arrest.

Addressing the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction in the US during a panel at a synagogue last month, Mamdani said, "I believe our city should be in compliance with international law."

Rebecca Hamilton, a professor of international law at American University and a former lawyer with the ICC, said that, in theory, countries that are not party to the court could still carry out arrests based on ICC warrants.

"The court can ask any non-state party for help with an arrest warrant, and that state can decide whether or not to do so," Hamilton said. "It is just that only states that have joined the Rome Statute are under a legal obligation to execute an ICC warrant."

It is up to individual countries to decide if local officials have the authority to execute an international warrant, Hamilton added.
)
US federal law prohibits municipal governments from cooperating with the court, though. The American Service-Members’ Protection Act, passed in 2002, bars local authorities from cooperating with the court or providing the ICC support.

"No agency or entity of any State or local government, including any court, may cooperate with the International Criminal Court," the law says.

A separate federal law prohibits imprisonment, intimidation, harassment, threats and obstruction against foreign officials, including heads of state. Imprisonment of a foreign official can result in a fine and up to three years in prison.

The Trump administration is also no fan of the ICC and sanctioned the court in February to penalize it for the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.

Netanyahu is a frequent visitor to New York City, traveling there nearly every September to attend the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in Manhattan. Even though Netanyahu will be in the city, matters like international warrants remain the purview of the federal government.

"Diplomatic immunity and the conduct of foreign relations are federal matters and the federal government is given wide discretion by the courts to manage foreign policy and international legal relations," Bosco said, adding that the Trump administration and Congress have both opposed the ICC warrants.

Even if Mamdani wanted to put Netanyahu in cuffs for jaywalking, US law and international custom grant diplomatic immunity to members of foreign diplomatic missions, including visiting dignitaries, preventing them from being arrested or prosecuted for ordinary crimes like traffic violations.

Exceptions are only made in extreme cases, such as threats to public safety or ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful felonies, under the aegis of the US State Department, which views its authority to expel foreign diplomats as "an extreme diplomatic tool," only used in very rare circumstances.

"Even if New York authorities were somehow to attempt an arrest, it would be akin to a publicity stunt that would be immediately opposed and reversed," with backing from federal courts, Bosco said.

A New York City mayor does not have the executive power to make arrests, but does rely on the NYPD.

If Mamdani ordered Netanyahu arrested, the order would go to the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for legal matters, said Mitch Silber, the former NYPD director of intelligence analysis and the head of the Community Security Initiative, a Jewish community security group.

The deputy commissioner would review the order’s legality and advise the police commissioner on whether the arrest could be carried out. If the arrest was not deemed legal, the NYPD wouldn’t take action, said Silber, who added that he is not familiar with the relevant federal laws and could not weigh in on the ICC’s jurisdiction in New York.

"The NYPD can’t take illegal acts, even if the mayor wants them to," Silber said. "If it’s an act that they’re prohibited from doing by federal law, then they’re not going to do it because it’s going to get overturned immediately."

Netanyahu would also need to be extradited to the Hague to stand trial, which would require the involvement of federal authorities, like the Department of Justice or the US Marshals, Silber said.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on Mamdani’s vow to arrest Netanyahu.

Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

While countries are technically obligated by the Rome Statute, the ICC has no enforceable way to compel states not to simply ignore its arrest warrants. In April, Hungary chose not to arrest Netanyahu when he visited, despite Hungary being a member of the court at the time. Hungary later withdrew from the ICC.

During his visit to Washington, DC, this week, Netanyahu said he still plans to visit New York and that he was "not concerned" about Mamdani’s pledge to arrest him if elected.

"There’s enough craziness in the world, but I guess it never ends," Netanyahu said. "It’s silly in many ways because it’s just not serious."

"I’ll get him out," US President Donald Trump
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
said as Netanyahu was speaking.

Trump has been vocally opposed to Mamdani, calling him a "Communist lunatic" and threatening to arrest Mamdani if he opposes federal immigration enforcement in New York City.

Mamdani, a harsh critic of Israel who has identified as anti-Zionist, is the heavy favorite to win November’s general election for mayor. He swept to victory in the Democratic primary last month with a campaign centered on addressing affordability in the city, promising to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund cheaper housing and groceries while making buses and kindergartens free.

Critics say he lacks the authority to see many of his ideas to fruition on his own without the support of the New York State legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul.

A poll released last month found that Mamdani’s pledge to arrest Netanyahu was not popular with New Yorkers. According to the survey, 45% of New Yorkers oppose acting on the ICC warrant, while 36% support it. The remainder were undecided or did not have an opinion.

On the other hand, local or federal authorities in New York could potentially take action against the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, though sanctions currently prevent him from entering the country.

Khan allegedly sexually abused one of his subordinates repeatedly, including in a Manhattan hotel in 2023, according to a May report in the Wall Street Journal. Khan canceled an investigative trip to Israel and 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...
and rushed out the warrants shortly after the allegations surfaced, the report said.

The report suggested Khan issued the warrants to build support for himself with anti-Israel ICC member states, and forestall his accuser, who strongly supported the warrants.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office did not respond to requests for comment on whether Khan was being investigated. Khan has denied the accusations.

Link

Afghanistan

Taliban reduces poppy cultivation in Afghanistan by 14 times

2025-07-10

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin.
[ColonelCassad] The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that after the Taliban came to power, the area of poppy crops in Afghanistan decreased by 14 times.

Periodically they halt production to empty overflowing warehouses. Sometimes they stop to placate outside governments, others to punish locals by stopping their income…
This is essentially a repeat of the situation in the last year before the US aggression against Afghanistan. In 1999-2000, the Taliban negotiated international recognition and, against this background, sharply reduced the area under poppy crops. Heroin production in Afghanistan was then steadily falling.

But in 2001, aggression and occupation of Afghanistan followed. The area under poppy crops and heroin production began to grow rapidly, setting new records.

As soon as the Taliban returned to power, the situation of 2000-2001 began to repeat itself. On the question of who actually supported the growth of drug production in Afghanistan.

Russia, China and Iran had previously made it clear to the Taliban that the key to international recognition lay, among other things, in the issue of reducing drug production in Afghanistan. The Taliban are keeping their promises in this matter.

And this means that fewer drugs will flow to Central Asia, from Central Asia to Russia and from there to Europe.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

US sanctions UN rights expert for Palestinian territories

2025-07-10

[GEO.TV] US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
on Wednesday announced Washington was sanctioning the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur for the Paleostinian Territories Francesca Albanese.

"Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt (International Criminal Court) action against US and Israeli officials, companies, and executives," posted Rubio on social media, labeling the UN expert's strident criticism of the United States as "political and economic warfare."

Link

Government Corruption

USAID Quietly Sent Thousands Of Viruses To Chinese Military-Linked Biolab

2025-07-09

[Daily Caller] The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shipped thousands of viral samples to a lab in Wuhan over the course of a 10-year program even though it had no formal agreement with the lab in place, according to previously unreported documents.

The documents show that USAID funded the exportation of 11,000 samples from Yunnan Province, where some of the closest relatives of the COVID-19 virus circulate, to Wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic, with no apparent plan for ensuring the samples were not misdirected to bioweapons and remained accessible to the U.S. government.

A $210 million USAID public health program called PREDICT, steered by the University of California-Davis, collected viral samples in countries throughout the globe but lacked long-term storage when funding dried up, according to rudimentary plans in 2019.

USAID has been shuttered and employees transferred to DoS. Problem solved.... OH WAIT !

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Rape as weapon of war: Released report lays groundwork for prosecuting Oct 7. sexual violence

2025-07-09

[IsraelTimes] Dinah Project findings confirm Hamas systematically weaponized sexual assault as part of a broader campaign to terrorize, humiliate and dehumanize Israelis

A new report providing the first legal framework to prosecute Hamas terrorists for the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war during the October 7, 2023, massacre was presented Tuesday to First Lady Michal Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

The report by the Dinah Project confirms that Hamas systematically used rape and sexual violence during the massacre as part of a broader campaign of terror, collective humiliation, and dehumanization of Israeli society.

Titled, “A Quest for Justice: October 7 and Beyond,” it is the first report to offer a legal roadmap based on international law for identifying and pursuing justice for the use of sexual violence as a weapon of warfare, which constitutes a crime against humanity.

Tuesday’s gathering of primarily women included former hostage Ilana Gritzewsky, 31, who has publicly spoken out about being sexually assaulted by her captors in Gaza.

Gritzewsky recounted her abduction on October 7 from her home on Kibbutz Nir Oz, where she lived with her partner, Matan Zangauker, who was also kidnapped and remains in captivity.

Details at the link.

The report consolidated data on sexual violence on October 7 and grouped it methodologically based on testimony from first-hand survivors, eyewitnesses, first responders, workers at the Shura military base, which served as a morgue, healthcare workers, and therapists, as well as captured photos and video footage.

The authors acknowledged that it is not the first report to collate data on the use of sexual violence on October 7. Such research has already been conducted by others, including by the Office of the Under Secretary General of the UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, in March 2024.

Based on existing doctrine in international and Israeli law, the authors call for the promotion of a key legal principle: the imposition of collective criminal responsibility on all participants in the attack — even if they did not personally commit rape — on the grounds that they knew, should have known, or took part in enabling sexual violence during the attack.

“Our goal is to demonstrate how perpetrators and commanders can be prosecuted even without direct testimony against each individual,” said Halperin-Kaddari.

The next steps they intend to pursue include calling on the Israeli government and judiciary to apply the doctrine of collective responsibility in order to prosecute terrorists for sexual crimes as crimes against humanity and urging the UN Secretary General to add Hamas to the blacklist of organizations that use sexual violence as a weapon of war, in accordance with past Security Council resolutions.

The authors of the report then want to establish a legal process and framework that can be used internationally for prosecuting sexual crimes in war before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and UN human rights bodies.

Finally, they are seeking to use their research to develop a new legal protocol for addressing sexual violence in armed conflict, including rules for evidence collection, the use of indirect evidence, and recognition of the community-wide harm caused by such acts.

Several speakers referred to the feeling of “betrayal” they felt from the world, especially from other women, who they expected to show empathy and solidarity. The widespread denial of the sexual crimes committed against Israeli women and men on and since October 7 was one of the other motivations for producing the report.

Link

Good Morning

2025-07-09

South Carolina GOP leaders tell Gov Gavin
Newsom to 'sell Crazy California somewhere else'

Wednesday 07/09/2025

Gunmen Hijack 33 Tons of Gold, Silver Concentrate in Truck on Mexican Highway

Ziegfeld Girl with bubble.

Africa North Algeria and Mauritania have signed a defense agreement		International-UN-NGOs International Criminal Court (ICC) seeks arrest of two Taliban leaders over alleged persecution of women
Israel-Palestine-Jordan Israel Attacks in Gaza Kill 78 More Palestinians		Syria-Lebanon-Iran UN says almost 500,000 Afghans have left Iran in just a month
Israel-Palestine-Jordan Al-Qassam Brigades announce operation in Beit Hanoun		Home Front: WoT Ten charged in connection with shooting at ICE facility in Texas, wounding an officer

Energy-sucking AI data centers
can look here for power instead

Link

International-UN-NGOs

UN blasted for funding committee 'created to destroy the Jewish state,' despite budget crisis

2025-07-10

[FoxNews] United Nations ‘doesn’t have a spending limit’ for spread of antisemitism,' critic warns

Critics slammed the United Nations for rewarding a controversial anti-Israel Commission of Inquiry with four new positions worth up to three-quarters of a million dollars, even as the world body undergoes a severe cash crisis.

"When it comes to spending money for the spread of antisemitism, the U.N. doesn't have a spending limit," Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, told Fox News Digital.

On June 4, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem (COI), led by South African Navi Pillay, announced four new job openings for senior-level positions in Geneva. These include two P-2 level associate interpreters, one higher-level P-3 level human rights officer, and a still more senior P-4 level human rights officer.

Combined, their salaries will range from $530,000 to $704,000, based on salary scales released by the U.N. and its location-based salary multiplier (set at .814 for Swiss employees), published in a document supplied to Fox News Digital by a diplomatic source.

These salaries do not include other senior-level U.N. employee benefits, including dependent costs, housing allowances or relocation fees.

Bayefsky asked why the U.N.’s "belt-tightening exercise … applies to all kinds of urgent matters but exempts the COI, which has simultaneously gone on a spending-spree."

"The COI was created to destroy the Jewish state and is now conducting itself accordingly." She said its latest report, issued in June, is "totally unhinged" and "claims Israelis are like Nazis engaged in ‘extermination’ of the Palestinians, refers to those ‘extremist Jews,’ denies biblical history, [and] fuels antisemitism by claiming Jews defile Muslim holy sites."

Pillay and the COI have come under fire previously for anti-Israel sentiment. In January 2022, 42 Republicans and Democrats in Congress signed an open letter calling for the U.S. to defund the COI. The Representatives expressed concern that "Chairwoman Navi Pillay, while serving as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014, repeatedly and unjustly accused Israel of committing war crimes." They stated that while she condemned Israel, Pillay "reportedly said nothing at all about egregious human rights abuses in dozens of other countries which, unlike Israel, received the worst, ‘Not Free’ rating from the respected Freedom House."

In October 2023, a representative from the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Geneva said before the Third Committee of the U.N. that the U.S. "remains deeply concerned about the scope and nature of the open-ended Commission of Inquiry established in May 2021. The COI demonstrates a particular bias against Israel in subjecting it to a unique mechanism that does not exist for any other U.N. Member State."

In October 2024, a report from the COI excluded information about Hamas’ use of Kamal Adwan Hospital for operations, failed to recount the maltreatment Israeli hostages received at Gazan hospitals, and could "not verify" that tunnels found below Al-Shifa hospital "were used for military purposes." Bayefsky said the report trafficked in blood libels.

In March, Pillay’s commission claimed that rape and sexual violence are part of the Israel Defense Force’s "standard operating procedures towards Palestinians." Pillay also said that the IDF’s sexual violence creates "a system of oppression that undermines [Palestinians’] right to self-determination." In response, Bayefsky said "Pillay and her COI are notorious for turning reality upside down. October 7 was marked by grotesque Palestinian use of sexual violence and rape as a weapon of war. In response, the COI diminished those atrocities and instead concocted the reverse."

In March 2024, Congress passed a budget bill that eliminated funding for the COI while simultaneously banning funds for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to the Jerusalem Post.

The U.N. Human Rights Council is already experiencing the impact of the organization’s liquidity crisis.

In a June 16 letter penned by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the Human Rights Council outlines more than a dozen reports, as well as studies, regional workshops, and panels mandated by the Council, which could not be completed due to inadequate resourcing.

In response to a request for comment about how the COI has received additional personnel while the Human Rights Council deals with scarcity, spokesperson Pascal Sim told Fox News Digital that the Human Rights Council’s "views are only expressed in the resolutions and decisions that its 47 Member States adopt at the end of each of its sessions."

However, Bayefsky said, "For decades, the U.N. has engaged in phony cost-saving measures while their actual expenditures have ballooned," she said, noting that the U.S. "has always been satisfied by moving around the deck chairs on the Titanic."

Bayefsky said that "it's our government's job to put an end to this devious calculus by immediately withholding the entire U.N. budget until such time as the dangerous lesions are removed. It's our job to deny visas to the COI members planning to come to the United States in the next couple of months.

"Contrary to popular belief, it is not required by the U.S.-U.N. host agreement to allow international travelers into the U.S. to fan the flames of antisemitism, and vandalize our fundamental values and the Constitution from the middle of New York City," Bayefsky said. "We need a new boat, not new deck chairs."

A budget proposal from the Trump administration leaked in April announced the intention to eliminate all expenditures to the U.N. and international organizations.

In response to questions about whether a decision about U.N. funding has been finalized, a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital that "President Trump is ensuring taxpayer dollars are used wisely. Any announcements regarding funding to international organizations will come from the President or the administration."

The U.S., through its taxpayers, is the single-largest contributor to the U.N. In 2022, the U.N. reports that $18.1 billion, or 26.8%, of its $67.5 billion in expenditures came from the U.S.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

International Criminal Court (ICC) seeks arrest of two Taliban leaders over alleged persecution of women

2025-07-09

[X]

BREAKING: International Criminal Court (ICC) seeks arrest of two Taliban leaders over alleged persecution of women https://t.co/gEi62vkpMa pic.twitter.com/MC5p4H5hEj
— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) July 8, 2025

Link

Government Corruption

Fired State Dept bureaucrats reportedly using their regime change skills to sabotage Trump

2025-07-09

[FOXNEWS] Current and former USAID and State Department officials are using their expertise in undermining authoritarian regimes abroad against President Donald Trump

...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
and his agenda at home, according to a new report Monday.

The Trump administration is still in the process of terminating thousands of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) workers by September as the agency restructures to fall in line with the president's "America First" policy.
John Brennan must be in the throws of an apoplectic fit.
NOTUS news hound Jose Pagliery reported, however, that "Some of the democracy-building experts President Donald Trump fired this year from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department are now reapplying the skills and knowledge they built up over decades to undermine Trump’s power."

One anonymous current federal official warned to NOTUS, "Take it from those of us who worked in authoritarian countries: We’ve become one." He added, "They were so quick to disband AID, the group that supposedly instigates color revolutions. But they’ve done a very foolish thing. You just released a bunch of well-trained individuals into your population. If you kept our offices going and had us play solitaire in the office, it might have been safer to keep your regime."

Link

Home Front: Politix

Schumer warns of bitter funding fight over GOP cuts plan

2025-07-09

[FOXNEWS]

'Bait and switch': Top Democrat warns of 'grave implications' as Senate Republicans consider Trump-backed $9.4B rescissions package

Senate Republicans are set to consider a multibillion-dollar package of cuts from the White House, but the top Senate Democrat warned that doing so could have consequences for a later government funding showdown.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned on Tuesday that the Senate GOP’s plan to move forward with a $9.4 billion rescissions package would have "grave implications" on Congress, particularly the forthcoming government funding fight in September.

"Republicans’ passage of this purely partisan proposal would be an affront to the bipartisan appropriations process," Schumer wrote in a letter to fellow Senate Democrats.

"That’s why a number of Senate Republicans know it is absurd for them to expect Democrats to act as business as usual and engage in a bipartisan appropriations process to fund the government, while they concurrently plot to pass a purely partisan rescissions bill to defund those same programs negotiated on a bipartisan basis behind the scenes," he continued.

The rescissions package, proposed by the Impoundment Control Act, allows the White House to request that Congress roll back congressionally appropriated funding. Such proposed cuts must be approved by both chambers within 45 days.

This package in particular, which narrowly squeaked through the House by a two-vote margin last month, would claw back $8.3 billion in funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and over $1 billion in cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the government-backed funding arm for NPR and PBS.

The package, informed heavily by the cuts proposed by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, formerly helmed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, would only need to pass a simple majority in the upper chamber to pass.

Pass the cuts first. What happens later is a later problem — that’s how the Democrats do things.

Musk and DOGE made USAID a primary target of their hunt for waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government, dismantling much of the long-standing organization ahead of the rescission request.

The impending deadline to fund the government in September will either require the passage of a dozen appropriations bills – something Congress has not done in years – or the need to work with Democrats to crest the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

I vote for the former. Do what it takes to get as much to the president for signature — making each piece real rather than a pious hope — as possible as quickly as possible

And the rescissions package is not wildly popular among Republicans.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said during a hearing on the package late last month that she was concerned about proposed cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the CPB, and warned that cuts to the AIDS and HIV prevention program would be "extraordinarily ill-advised and shortsighted."

Schumer is no stranger to trying to leverage government funding fights to his advantage. Earlier this year, he withheld support for the House GOP-authored government funding extension before ultimately agreeing to the deal

That same scenario could play out once more come September.

"This is beyond a bait-and-switch – it is a bait-and-poison-to-kill," Schumer said. "Senate Republicans must reject this partisan path and instead work with Democrats on a bipartisan appropriations process."

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