Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Fifth Column
Day 4: Did 'Free Palestine' Terrorist Get Support from Goldman Sachs and China?
2025-05-25
See Day 3 here and here. See Day 2 here, Day 1 here.
[HotAir] The first rule in any investigation: Follow the money.

The New York Post did just that with the man who slaughtered two Israeli embassy employees outside a Jewish museum this week. Isabel Vincent traces the path that Elias Rodriguez has taken over the last several years on his way to becoming a cowardly terrorist assassin, taking particular note of his allegiance to the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), as well as International ANSWER and other radical-leftist alliances. And the funding for PSL runs through one man, who also has a particular affinity for the regime in Beijing:

The suspected terrorist charged with gunning down two Israeli embassy workers in Washington Wednesday is associated with radical socialist groups funded by the far-left Chinese sympathizer, millionaire Neville Singham and his activist wife Jodie Evans.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, who allegedly confessed to killing the couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum and chanted "free, free Paleostine!" was part of that network through his association with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a Communist political organization that has fielded presidential candidates since 2008. ...

Both the PSL and ANSWER Coalition are connected to People’s Forum — a Manhattan-based non-profit which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party — through funding from Singham, 71.

The funding -- $20 million -- also got filtered through Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund (GSPF). If it seems strange that a capitalist financial institution is funding radical socialists like ANSWER and the PSL, it is, but it's hardly the only bastion of free markets to buy the rope by which the forces of Evil want to lynch them. The Ford Foundation comes to mind, as does the Tides Foundation, founded on the RJ Reynolds tobacco fortune, among others. Arabella Advisors, a shadowy coalition of the world's wealthiest industrialists, also pours a tsunami of money into radical-left causes.

And in case you wonder, that's the same Jodie Evans that co-founded Code Pink
... a U.S. anti-war group. The group describes itself as a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. It was founded in 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and of the other usual antiwar suspects. Its website lists hysterical allegations of US war crimes, and states that thousands of civilians were killed in Fallujah in 2004. Maybe it was millions. Benjamin was a 2000 candidate for the U.S. Senate on the Green Party ticket. She lost...
 with Medea Benjamin to protest the Iraq War. Apparently Evans only cares about some violence, and has completely flipped on China after marrying Singham. That impression comes from another affiliation with the Singhams that Vincent points out to her readers:

Another group, the Bronx Antiwar Coalition is also connected to groups in Singham’s orbit. The Bronx group applauded the murders of the Israeli diplomats on X Thursday.

"What Elias Rodriguez did is the highest expression of anti-Zionism," a tweet from the group proclaimed.

So Rodriguez has connections to both PSL and ANSWER, and an endorsement from the Bronx Antiwar Coalition, all of which have ties to Singham and Evans. What about China? In a book written by Evans, Vincent reports that she and her husband fund something called the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. According to a May 2024 report from the Network Contagion Research Institute linked by Vincent, this entity as well as the People's Forum get support from the Chinese Communist Party as part of an effort to wreak political havoc in the US:

Evans is set to release a book in January 2025 titled "China is Not Our Enemy," which she co-authored with a researcher employed by the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and Dongsheng News.17 Both the Tricontinental Institute and Dongsheng News have ties to the CCP and have received funding from Singham, with the Tricontinental Institute also receiving partial funding from Code Pink.

Are Singham and Evans the only source of that funding? Not according to NCRI, which also suspects that the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund is operating as a dark-money clearinghouse for overseas funding:

Between 2017 and 2022, the People’s Forum received over $20 million in grants from the GSPF, with $12 million transferred in 2019 alone. As previous reporting has detailed, GSPF appears to function as a dark money clearinghouse, obscuring the identity of donors while facilitating the transfer of substantial sums to American non-profits.

In November 2023, a Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint was filed with the IRS
...the Internal Revenue Service; that office of the United States government that collects taxes and persecutes the regime's political enemies...
 against The People’s Forum, alleging that: "De Los Santos and the People’s Forum Inc. have been advocating in support of the U.S. designated foreign terror organization Hamas
..always the voice of sweet reason...
 in its war on Israel and Jews and also advocates for the overthrow of the United States."

How does Singham make his money? The NCRI report is equally interested in that question:

According to an investigation conducted by the New York Times

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
 (NYT), Singham’s "ties to the propaganda machine date back at least to 2019, when, corporate documents show, he started a consulting business with Chinese partners. Those partners are active in the propaganda apparatus." According to a report in Newlines Magazine, Singham is invested in at least two other major Chinese companies, underscoring the depth of his business interests in mainland China. In July 2023, Singham was photographed at a strategic communications workshop hosted by the CCP in Shanghai.14 As recent as November 2023, India’s Enforcement Directorate summoned Singham for questioning regarding his Delhi-based news portal NewsClick, which was raided in 2021 for suspected acceptance of illegal funds from China to promote CCP propaganda deemed a threat to India’s national security.

In 2023, even the New York Times found Singham's cash flow to be highly suspicious:

In fact, a New York Times investigation found, it is part of a lavishly funded influence campaign that defends China and pushes its propaganda. At the center is a charismatic American millionaire, Neville Roy Singham, who is known as a socialist benefactor of far-left causes.

What is less known, and is hidden amid a tangle of nonprofit groups and shell companies, is that Mr. Singham works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide.

From a think tank in Massachusetts to an event space in Manhattan, from a political party in South Africa to news organizations in India and Brazil, The Times tracked hundreds of millions of dollars to groups linked to Mr. Singham that mix progressive advocacy with Chinese government talking points.

At the time, the NYT didn't report any connection specifically to Hamas or Paleostinian propaganda, but this was less than five months before Hamas' atrocities on October 7, too. People's Forum makes an appearance, as does the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, although the NYT only refers to it as a charity:

Since 2017, about a quarter of Code Pink’s donations — more than $1.4 million — have come from two groups linked to Mr. Singham, nonprofit records show. The first was one of the UPS store nonprofits. The second was a charity that Goldman Sachs offers as a conduit for clients’ giving, and that Mr. Singham has used in the past.

Ms. Evans now stridently supports China. She casts it as a defender of the oppressed and a model for economic growth without slavery or war.

Vincent's reporting raises a lot of questions about the "globalize the intifada" movement in the US. Hamas may not be the only malefactor behind it, and it's time to start asking Goldman Sachs about their "charity" work -- as well as Singham and Evans about their cash flow, and whether they're redirecting Beijing's resources into violent mostly peaceful terrorism in the US.
PJ Media has more about Papa Rodriguez:
Eric Rodriguez is a member of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the most radical left unions in the U.S. He made a video for SEIU the same day he was honored by Rep. Garcia, in which he referred to himself as an Iraq War veteran and Veterans Affairs employee.

“I’ve been with the VA for three years, and the reason why I’m in Washington, D.C., is because I’m concerned about what Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE are doing to the VA system,” he said in the video.

Addressing the monumental problems at the VA is almost an exercise in futility. The agency that is supposed to care for our veterans is a bloated, inefficient mess.

The VA stated that the canceled contracts "were identified through a multi-level review" and "will not negatively affect Veteran care, benefits, or services," though this claim has been met with skepticism, reports NBC News.
Another PJ Media article has this to say about the murdered Israeli, Yaron Lischinsky:
Lischinsky was a Messianic Jew, that is, a Jewish person who believes in Jesus (or Yeshua, to use His Hebrew name.)

Messianic Judaism is a touchy subject in the larger Jewish community, but One for Israel has an excellent, extensive history that’s worth reading. My Jewish Learning drips with condescension when it characterizes Messianic Judaism as a movement that “has tried to straddle the line between Judaism and Christianity.” The headline of that explainer uses mock-quotes to ask, “Who Are Messianic ‘Jews’?”

In its profile of Lischinsky, the Jewish news site Forward explains:

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement made up of people who identify ethnically and culturally as Jewish and believe that Jesus — whom they call Yeshua — is the promised Messiah.

Most adherents consider themselves Jewish, a position rejected by the mainstream Jewish community but embraced by congregations like Melech Ha’Mlachim [where Lischinsky worshiped].

Forward adds that “most Messianic congregations in Israel are locally run and culturally Jewish, with Torah readings, Hebrew prayer and Jewish holiday observance.” Many, if not most, American Messianic synagogues do as well.

The controversy over Messianic Judaism isn’t lost on Forward:

Still, Lischinsky’s religious identity has stirred confusion in the wake of his death. Ronen Shoval, dean of the Argaman Institute in Jerusalem, where Lischinsky participated in a yearlong program, described him to The New York Times as “a devout Christian” who “tied his fate to the people of Israel.” Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, also referred to him as Christian in a tribute posted to social media.

But [Lischinsky’s friend David] Boskey pushed back on that framing. He said that Lischinsky, like others in their congregation, saw himself as a Jew who believed Jesus was the Messiah — and that this belief did not negate his Jewish identity.
Related:
Elias Rodriguez 05/24/2025 Father of accused killer of Israeli diplomats is closely acquainted with Illinois Democrat
Elias Rodriguez 05/24/2025 Day 3: Feds charge Capital Jewish Museum killer with murder
Elias Rodriguez 05/23/2025 A diplomatic storm: Self-inflicted PR damage complicates Israel's uphill battle

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran has several major nuclear program sites, now subject of negotiations with the US
2025-05-25
[AnNahar] 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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
has multiple major sites associated with its rapidly advancing nuclear program, now the subject of several rounds of negotiations with the United States.

The sites across the country, including one in the heart of Tehran, the capital, show the breadth and history of the program. One in particular, Iran's Natanz enrichment site, has been targeted several times in suspected sabotage attacks by Israel amid tensions between the two Mideast rivals.

Here's a look at some of those major Iranian sites and their importance in Tehran's program.

NATANZ ENRICHMENT FACILITY
Iran's nuclear facility at Natanz, located some 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, is the country's main enrichment site. Part of the facility on Iran's Central Plateau is underground to defend against potential Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s. It operates multiple cascades, or groups of centrifuges working together to more quickly enrich uranium. Iran also is burrowing into the Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, or "Pickaxe Mountain," which is just beyond Natanz's southern fencing. Natanz has been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Two separate sabotage attacks, attributed to Israel, also have struck the facility.

FORDO ENRICHMENT FACILITY
Iran's nuclear facility at Fordo is located some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tehran. It also hosts centrifuge cascades, but isn't as big a facility as Natanz. Buried under a mountain and protected by anti-aircraft batteries, Fordo appears designed to withstand airstrikes. Its construction began at least in 2007, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency'>ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency, although Iran only informed the U.N. nuclear watchdog about the facility in 2009 after the U.S. and allied Western intelligence agencies became aware of its existence.

BUSHEHR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Iran's only commercial nuclear power plant is in Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, some 750 kilometers (465 miles) south of Tehran. Construction on the plant began under Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the mid-1970s. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the plant was repeatedly targeted in the Iran-Iraq war. Russia later completed construction of the facility. Iran is building two other reactors like it at the site. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the 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...
' International Atomic Energy Agency'>ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency.

ARAK HEAVY WATER REACTOR
The Arak heavy water reactor is 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran. Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon. Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to relieve proliferation concerns.

ISFAHAN NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY CENTER
The facility in Isfahan, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) southeast of Tehran, employs thousands of nuclear scientists. It also is home to three Chinese research reactors and laboratories associated with the country's atomic program.

TEHRAN RESEARCH REACTOR
The Tehran Research Reactor is at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian body overseeing the country's atomic program. The U.S. actually provided Iran the reactor in 1967 as part of America's "Atoms for Peace" program during the Cold War. It initially required highly enriched uranium but was later retrofitted to use low-enriched uranium over proliferation concerns.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Syrian collective files complaint against Sharaa at International Criminal Court
2025-05-25
A waste of time, but at least it gets the information into the historical record.
[Rudaw] A French-Syrian group has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Syria’s interim president of being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, according to a media report.

The Franco-Alawite Collective, which is composed of Alawites, Druze, Kurds, Christians, and Sunnis, filed the complaint against interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, La Belle Franceinfo reported on Friday. They accuse him of orchestrating massacres in March and May that left between 1,700 and 2,000 people dead.

In March, violence erupted like lava from a volcano in Alawite-majority areas after gangs, many loyal to ousted president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
, launched attacks on forces allied with the government, prompting Damascus to respond with force. Around 1,500 people, mainly Alawite civilians, were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said most of the casualties were caused by government or government-affiliated forces. Amnesty International said the mass killings must be investigated as a "war crime."

In April and May, deadly festivities broke out between government forces and Druze fighters.

The collective claims the deaths qualify as genocide or crimes against humanity and say they have video evidence to support their accusations.

"This complaint is in the name of the Syrian people," said Lina Peron, a member of the collective’s legal committee, La Belle Franceinfo reported.

The complaint was submitted to the ICC prosecutor’s office, which will decide whether to open a formal investigation.

Facing international criticism, Sharaa, who led the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
 (HTS) militia that spearheaded the offensive to topple dictator Bashir al-Assad, ordered an investigation into violence against minorities.

Sharaa’s interim government has faced repeated criticism for its treatment of minority groups, with many Syrians and foreign powers fearing it will impose strict religious rule, posing a threat to Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites. The violence heightened concerns over the future of these populations.
Link


-Great Cultural Revolution
Fury as controversial trans former health chief is given huge honor by all-women's college
2025-05-24
[MAIL] A liberal arts women's college has come under fire for awarding former President Biden's transgender health secretary with an honorary degree.

Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, announced it would be giving Admiral Rachel Levine an honorary degree.

On Sunday, Levine was formally given the award - causing a protest on campus over the fact she is transgender.

She was one of four honorees selected by the college to speak at their commencement ceremony.

Feminist group the Women's Declaration International had protested the decision last weekend prior to the ceremony.

In a post to its X account they said: 'Tomorrow, Smith College - a historically women's college - will award Richard "Rachel" Levine an honorary degree.

'Levine, who pretends to be a woman, will then speak at commencement. We’re on the ground in Northampton, MA to show our support for women.'
Related:
Smith College: 2013-09-11 Crossfire Review #1
Smith College: 2011-07-25 Walker’s Vindication
Smith College: 2009-11-25 Nation's oldest female Marine is laid to rest after passing away on Veteran's Day
Related:
Rachel Levine 01/15/2025 Trump's CIA director will take a 'wrecking ball' to transgender lectures and pride events at Langley
Rachel Levine 05/23/2024 Kamala Harris roasted for word salad speeches in late night skit: 'Speaking without thinking'
Rachel Levine 02/07/2024 Is Your Date Transgender? 10 Signs To Look For

Link


Fifth Column
Day 3: Feds charge Capital Jewish Museum killer with murder
2025-05-24
See Day 2 here, Day 1 here. See also here.
The US Justice Department said Elias Rodriguez, 31, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, as well as other charges, including the murder of foreign officials.

An affidavit filed by an FBI agent in support of the criminal complaint said that as police escorted Rodriguez from the building, he shouted, “Free Palestine.”

The document said police reviewed security footage showing Rodriguez walking past the victims outside the museum, then turning, pulling a firearm from his waistband, and shooting them in the back.

After the victims fell to the ground, he approached them and fired several more times, as Milgrim attempted to crawl away from him. Milgrim then sat up while Rodriguez reloaded, and he shot her again, the video shows, according to the affidavit.

Investigators recovered 21 empty shell cases and a 9mm handgun from the scene that matched a firearm Rodriguez purchased in Illinois in 2020. He flew from Chicago to Virginia with the firearm in his checked baggage, the affidavit said. He had declared the firearm for the flight.

Rodriguez later told detectives that he admired Aaron Bushnell, an anti-Israel activist who self-immolated outside the Israeli embassy last year in protest, calling Bushnell a “martyr.” Rodriguez, a 30-year-old from Chicago, also said he had bought a ticket to the event at the museum three hours before it started.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, and is being prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, said the attacker was inside the event before the attack.

“He milled around inside the event. We still don’t know exactly what he said, but he said enough that they removed him,” Leiter said at a press briefing at the scene of the attack. “He went outside, waited for embassy workers to come out, and shot them.”

Three others escaped the shooting unharmed, Leiter said.

At his first appearance in court on Thursday, the suspect waived his right to a detention hearing, and a preliminary hearing in the case was set for June 18.

Rodriguez said little during the proceeding except to answer, “I do” to questions from a federal magistrate judge about whether he understood his rights.

FBI agents were seen at his apartment in Chicago on Thursday, where law enforcement blocked off the street.

‘He never should have made it inside that building’: Security lapses in DC museum killings
[IsraelTimes] Head of local Jewish community relations council calls to ‘extend the perimeter around our institutions,’ notes finite resources limit extent to which possible targets can be hardened

On Wednesday night, three armed security officers stood guard as the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington held its annual meeting in the nation’s capital. On the agenda: discussions about the various ways antisemitic rhetoric can lead to violence.

Hours later, JCRC CEO Ron Halber said, he found out about the deadly shooting of two Israeli embassy staff at the Capital Jewish Museum. It was a nightmare come to life.

“It’s just godawful. There’s no other way to describe it. It was a horrific, antisemitic, anti-Israel, violent attack,” Halber told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Thursday. “For years I’ve said in Washington, we’re lucky we’ve never had anything” of this magnitude attacking the Jewish community. “That record came to an end last night.”

In the attack’s aftermath, Jewish community professionals including Halber are refocusing, again, on how to protect their institutions from threats. The shooting has also raised urgent questions: What went wrong? And what needs to change?

“Why they failed tonight we obviously have to figure out,” Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said in an interview with JTA hours after the shooting, regarding security.

He added later, “The risks have continued to rise as antisemitism has risen and as anti-Israel behavior in America has risen and our security teams have worked so hard to keep up with that. They obviously didn’t succeed tonight but we will not stop until we’ve ensured the security of our community.”

The timeline of the attack is relatively clear and, to security analysts, troubling: According to reports, the attacker shot his victims, the couple Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, on the street outside the museum as the event, organized by the American Jewish Committee, was winding down.

He then walked inside the museum, where an eyewitness said organizers offered him water and he remained for around 10 minutes until police arrived and he confessed to the shooting. Both elements of the incident — that the attacker was able to reach his victims outside the event and then proceed inside for an extended period of time — indicate missteps, according to security professionals.

“What concerned me as a seasoned law enforcement official is in all the work and the efforts that we put into training civilians, his behavior was almost literally screaming that there’s an issue here,” said Paul Goldenberg, the former head of the Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide. Goldenberg said that in a widely circulated video of the suspect entering the building, he appeared nervous and disheveled, with jerky movements.

Goldenberg says in the future, rank-and-file attendees need to be aware of those signs — and act on them by alerting someone.

“The second he walked in after the shooting there should have been a plan,” added Goldenberg, who is now the chief policy adviser and head of global policing at Rutgers University’s Miller Center on Policing. “If we know that he just shot individuals outside, whatever security was in place, he never should have made it inside that building.”

Neither the AJC nor the museum immediately responded to JTA queries about who was responsible for security on Wednesday night. But by Thursday afternoon, five of the leading Jewish groups that focus on security put out a series of security recommendations for future events.

The recommendations focus principally on expanding the security perimeter of events; withholding the details of events and vetting attendees; and coordinating with law enforcement or hiring security guards.

The AJC had done at least some of that: The invitation said the location would be “shared upon registration.”

“The Jewish community is already among the most hardened targets in the country,” Oren Segal, who oversees the ADL’s Center on Extremism, told JTA prior to the recommendations being publicized. “Bulletproof glass and metal detectors is the norm. And the question is, how broad does the perimeter need to be for the Jews to feel secure?”

Leading up to the event, the museum was broadly conscious of threats. The day before the shooting, it had announced a new security grant from the local DC government — one that Halber said the JCRC had helped arrange — in connection to a new exhibit on LGBTQ Jews.

The $30,000 grant was meant to help the museum cover the costs of security guards both at the front desk and roaming around the museum “to make sure that everybody is safe and that we are prepared in the event of an emergency,” executive director Beatrice Gurwitz told local news at the time. She added that the grant “also helps our staff prepare.”

Washington shooting suspect was anti-Israel activist, railed against Seattle’s ‘whitening’
[IsraelTimes] Elias Rodriguez, 31, had ‘Tikkun Olam means FREE PALESTINE’ sign in home window, was linked to Party for Socialism and Liberation; apparent manifesto called to ‘bring the war home’
Long. Key associations mentioned:
  • Signs in window: “Proud Union Home,” “Justice for Wadea”

  • Jewish Voice for Peace (founded by Hamas BDS activist Hatem Bazian, while its social media managers live in Lebanon and a large chunk of its funding comes from the Soros Open Society Foundations)

  • Party for Socialism and Liberation - Chicago

  • ANSWER Chicago (formerly known as International A.N.S.W.E.R.)
Yesterday we learnt that Mr. Rodriguez‘s father, Eric Rodriguez, was an activist for veteran’s and federal workers’ rights, for which he was honoured by Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), who brought him to see President Trump’s joint speech to Congress in March. This report adds that he had served in the Army National Guard, which sent him to Iraq.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
After 5th round of nuclear talks, Iran says discussions with US ‘complicated’
2025-05-24
[IsraelTimes] Oman’s FM says ‘some but not conclusive progress’ made in negotiations

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Tehran’s discussions with the United States over its nuclear program were "complicated," as the fifth round of talks concluded in Rome.

"The negotiations are too complicated to be resolved in two or three meetings," said Araghchi, who leads the Iranian negotiating team in the talks mediated by Oman.

Araghchi said there was potential for progress in nuclear negotiations after Oman made several proposals.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said "some but not conclusive progress" was made. "We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days to allow us to proceed toward the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honorable agreement."

The talks, which began in April, are the highest-level contact between the foes since the United States quit a landmark 2015 nuclear accord during President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
’s first term.

Since returning to office, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, backing talks but warning of military action if diplomacy fails.

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 Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
wants a new deal that would ease the sanctions, which have battered its economy.

The fourth round of talks, in the Omani capital Muscat, ended with a public spat over enrichment. Witkoff said Washington "could not authorize even one percent" enrichment — a position Tehran called a red line, citing its rights under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Ahead of Friday’s talks, Araghchi said "fundamental differences" remained with the United States, while adding that Tehran was open to its nuclear sites undergoing more inspections.

"We will not have an agreement at all" if the United States wants to prevent Iran from enriching uranium, he said.

The talks came ahead of a June meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency'>ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the October expiry of the 2015 accord.

The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aimed to allay Western suspicions that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition that Tehran has denied, while enriching uranium to levels that have no civilian application.

In return for curbs on its nuclear program, Iran had received relief from international sanctions. But the accord was torpedoed in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions. Iran responded by ramping up its nuclear activities.

It is now enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the deal’s 3.67 percent cap but below, though close to, the 90 percent level needed for a nuclear warhead.

Analysts in Tehran said Iran was unlikely to back down.

"It’s quite simple; if the US expects Iran to halt nuclear enrichment, then there can’t be a deal," said Mohammad Marandi, a political scientist who was once an adviser on the nuclear issue.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran says the country’s nuclear industry employs 17,000 people, similar to other countries where uranium is enriched for civilian use.

"The Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, Brazil and Japan enrich without possessing nuclear weapons," its front man Behrouz Kamalvandi said.

Iran’s enmity with Israel, whose main backer is the United States, has been a constant backdrop to the talks.

In a letter to the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
, Araghchi wrote: "We believe that in the event of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the US government will also be involved and bear legal responsibility."

The warning came after CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
, citing unnamed US officials, reported Israel was making preparations to carry out such a strike.

The White House said Trump had a "productive discussion" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday about Iran and the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington.

Friday’s talks took place before an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna in June, during which Iran’s nuclear activities will be reviewed.

The 2015 deal provides for the possibility of UN sanctions being reimposed through a mechanism called "snapback" if Iran fails to fulfil its commitments.

The agreement’s three European parties — Britannia, La Belle France and Germany — have warned they will trigger the mechanism if the continent’s security is threatened.

Araghchi said such a move would have "consequences — not only the end of Europe’s role in the agreement, but also an escalation of tensions that could become irreversible."

Mosssd
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
 chief David Barnea and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met US negotiator Steve Witkoff in Rome on Friday on the talks’ sidelines.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon if the nation is threatened.

"Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so," a new report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency said.

"These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one week."

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
 it likely still would take Iran months to make a working bomb, experts say.

Asked about the negotiations, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said "we believe that we are going to succeed" in the talks and in Washington’s push for no enrichment.

"The Iranians are at that table, so they also understand what our position is, and they continue to go," Bruce said Thursday.

One idea floated so far that might allow Iran to stop enrichment within the country but maintain a supply of uranium could be a consortium in the Mideast backed by regional countries and the US.

There are also multiple countries offering low-enriched uranium that can be used for peaceful purposes by countries.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
 Iran’s Foreign Ministry has maintained that enrichment must continue within the country’s borders, and a similar fuel-swap proposal failed to gain traction in negotiations in 2010.
Related:
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Israel said readying to quickly strike Iranian nuclear sites if US-Iran talks collapse
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Israel, Turkey said to agree to prevent clashes in Syria, establish hotline
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Columbia U president backs international students amid protests at commencement

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
UN says it has ‘collected and dispatched’ 90 truckloads of aid into Gaza
2025-05-22
[IsraelTimes] Announcement that distribution of humanitarian goods has started comes after UN officials accused Israel of preventing collection of supplies; rockets fired from Gaza land in Strip

The United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
 on Wednesday confirmed that it collected and began distributing around 90 truckloads of aid into 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...
, marking the first aid distribution in the besieged coastal territory since early March, after UN officials claimed they were unable to pick up supplies at the border with Israel.

Three days after Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations on Wednesday "collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza," Stephane Dujarric, front man for UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
, said in a statement.

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) earlier announced that 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. COGAT said the aid delivery came "following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon."

The trucks contained flour, baby food and medical equipment, according to COGAT.

The aid underwent an inspection first by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

COGAT did not address the UN allegations that the IDF had prevented the collection of aid on the Gaza side of the border.

Nahid Shahaiber, a major transport company owner, said 75 trucks of flour and over a dozen more carrying nutritional supplements and sugar were inside the southern area of Rafah and witnesses said trucks carrying flour had been seen in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Also Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said three rockets were launched from northern Gaza, setting off sirens in the border communities of Zikim and Netiv Haasara.

All three projectiles fell short in Gaza, the army added.

No injuries were caused in the attack, after which the IDF’s Arabic-language front man issued evacuation orders for residents in parts of northern Gaza.

Over the weekend, the IDF launched a major new offensive dubbed "Gideon’s Chariots" launched over the weekend, which Israel says seeks to destroy Hamas
..always the voice of sweet reason...
 and seize and retain the whole territory, while relocating Paleostinians across the enclave.

On Tuesday, IDF chief Eyal Zamir threatened to ramp up the campaign even further if Hamas did not agree to Israel’s demands that it release the hostages and give up power.

"It will face intense firepower," he said. "We will expand the ground maneuver, conquer additional territory, clear and destroy the terror infrastructure until it is defeated."

Israel is seeking to pressure Hamas into freeing 58 hostages remaining in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be alive, and demands that the group relinquish power before ending the war.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled a high-level negotiating team from Doha, where talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal appeared to be stuck.

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel allows UN to bring 93 aid trucks into Gaza as international pressure mounts
2025-05-21
[IsraelTimes] UN says aid distributed through ‘existing systems’ though new US-Israeli mechanism set to begin in coming weeks; UN official claims 14,000 babies on verge of death in ’48 hours’

The United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
 received permission from Israel for 93 more aid trucks to enter 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 on Tuesday, a spokesperson for its humanitarian office and Israeli authorities said, as international pressure mounted on the government to take immediate steps to alleviate the effects of an 11-week blockade that ended Monday.

Israel had blocked all aid from entering Gaza since March 2, arguing that sufficient humanitarian assistance had entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire and that Hamas
..always the voice of sweet reason...
 was stealing aid, with the blockade necessary to pressure the terror group to release the dozens of hostages it is holding. In recent weeks, however, some officials in the IDF have begun warning the politicianship that the enclave was on the brink of starvation.

Five trucks of humanitarian aid, including baby food, entered the Gaza Strip Monday via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, Israel said, marking the first such delivery since the blockade began.

"We have requested and received approval for more trucks to enter today, many more than were approved yesterday," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office told a Geneva press briefing on Tuesday.

Later Tuesday, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced that 93 UN trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza.

COGAT said the aid delivery came "following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon."

The trucks included "flour for bakeries, food for babies, medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs," COGAT said. The aid underwent an inspection first by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cleared nine aid trucks on Monday to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, although just five of those actually entered the territory.

"The next step is to collect them, and then they will be distributed through the existing system, the one that has proven itself," said Laerke.

The "existing system" for aid distribution that Laerke referred to is based on several international organizations, including the UN World Food Programme and the World Central Kitchen, which have taken on the task of distribution for much of the 19-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza.

This system is in contrast to a new US- and Israel-backed mechanism, known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is set to begin operating later this month.

Through the GHF, aid will only be distributed from a small number of sites in southern Gaza that are secured by American contractors.

Aid organizations currently operating in Gaza have come out strongly against the GHF plan, arguing that it violates humanitarian principles, forces mass displacement of Paleostinians who aren’t currently living near the humanitarian zone, ignores vulnerable populations, and doesn’t adequately address the humanitarian crisis.

Members of the American company that will distribute aid in the Gaza Strip were photographed during media briefings in Israel armed and wearing bullet-proof vests.

According to a Tuesday report by the Ynet news outlet, the American GHF contractors, which it referred to as "elite combat veterans," have arrived in Israel and are undergoing training for their expected deployment in the Strip.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir slammed the large-scale resumption of aid trucks to the Strip on Tuesday, complaining that the aid is entering Gaza "while our hostages continue to be dragged through the tunnels" and that "there is no way to guarantee [that the supplies] will not end up in the hands of Hamas murderers."

"This is a serious mistake, which is delaying our victory. I call once again on the prime minister to explain to our friends in the White House the implications of this ’aid,’ which only prolongs the war and delays our victory and the return of all our hostages," he said.

Ben Gvir also condemned the decision to allow even five aid trucks to enter Gaza on Monday, asserting that "the prime minister is making a grave mistake with this move, which doesn’t even have a majority."

"We must crush Hamas and not simultaneously give it oxygen," Ben Gvir said in a statement, as other hawkish politicians and groups joined in pillorying the step.

HIGH COURT DEMANDS GOVERNMENT RESPOND TO AID PETITION
Also on Tuesday, the High Court of Justice told the government to respond by May 27 to a petition demanding the immediate facilitation of large supplies of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
 group Gisha and others argued in a petition filed this week that the blockade of Gaza since March 2 constitutes a violation of the government’s obligations under Israeli and international law to enable the provision of humanitarian supplies to Gaza’s civilian population.

In response to the petition, Justice Yosef Elron asked the government to update it within a week whether "a change in factual circumstances justifies rejecting the petition."

In the petition filed on Sunday, the human rights groups asserted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is the worst it has been since the beginning of the war, and pointed to a sharp increase in the cases of child malnutrition as recorded by humanitarian organizations working in Gaza between March and April.

It also pointed out that in the state’s response to a 2024 petition by Gisha on the same issue — which was ultimately dismissed by the court — the government did not deny it had an obligation to provide for the humanitarian needs of Gaza’s civilian population and the court affirmed this obligation in its decision, despite ruling against the motion.

Gisha asserted in its petition that the government’s decision to prohibit the entry of all aid into Gaza violated the orders of the International Court of Justice in the genocide case brought by South Africa.

The organization also pointed out that the Israeli ad hoc judge on the ICJ panel, Aharon Barak, voted in favor of that specific order, despite voting against most of the other court orders against Israel.

"The government’s decision [to block aid] is using a protected civilian population to exert pressure on Hamas and therefore amounts to prohibited collective punishment and even using starvation as a tool of war," alleged Gisha in its petition.

’14,000 BABIES COULD DIE IN NEXT 48 HOURS’ IF NO AID
A top UN official said Tuesday that some 14,000 babies in Gaza could die in the next 48 hours if aid does not reach them in time.

"I want to save as many as these 14,000 babies as we can in the next 48 hours," Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told BBC Radio.

He said that "we need to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid."

When the program’s host, Anna Foster, said that 14,000 is "an extraordinary figure," Fletcher replied that it is an "utterly chilling" figure.

Asked how the UN arrived at these figures, Fletcher did not specify how the figure was calculated or what it was based on.

"We have strong teams on the ground, and of course many of them have been killed," he said.

He went on, "We still have lots of people on the ground — they’re at the medical centers, they’re at the schools... trying to assess needs."

"But this is what we do, we keep going. It will be frustrating, we will be impeded and run huge risks. But I don’t see a better idea than getting that baby food in," he said.

There was no immediate comment on his claims from the Israeli government or military.

The war in Gaza began with the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, in which Lions of Islam killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251, who were taken as hostages to Gaza. Since then, more than 53,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. That toll includes hundreds of Gazooks killed in strikes since Israel initiated a fresh intensive operation on Friday.

The toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January, and another 1,600 Lions of Islam inside the country during the October 7 onslaught.

Related: UAE says Israel has agreed to allow it to send aid that will feed 15K Gazans
Update from the Jerusalem Post, courtesy of Skidmark at 1:30 p.m. ET: UN retracts aid chief Tom Fletcher’s claim that 14,000 Gazan babies will die in 48 hours without aid: The UN later cited a report that said there could be 14,100 cases of malnutrition in children in Gaza between April 2025 and March 2026, a timeframe of one year not two days.
Link


Africa Horn
Al-Shabaab this morning rained down rockets on Mogadishu Airport
2025-05-21
[X]
…This is fifth such attack since start of 2025.

Garowe Online reports:
At least five mortar rounds were fired near Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu early Tuesday morning, local sources said, raising concerns over the security of one of the capital’s most heavily guarded zones.

Residents living in neighborhoods surrounding the airport reported hearing loud explosions consistent with mortar fire. The exact impact sites remain unclear, and no official casualty figures have been released.

"The blasts were very loud and could be heard from various parts of the city," said one resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.

The airport complex borders the Halane area, which hosts United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
 offices and several foreign embassies, making it a high-value target for bully boy groups operating in Somalia.

No group has grabbed credit for the attack, and Somali federal authorities have yet to issue a formal statement.

Mogadishu has witnessed intermittent attacks by gangs opposed to the Somali government, including al-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
, which frequently targets security installations and international facilities.

Aden Adde International Airport is a key revenue source for the Somali government and is managed by the Ottoman Turkish company Favori LLC.

The attack comes amid ongoing efforts to improve security in the capital, where incidents like these continue to pose a challenge to stabilization and reconstruction efforts.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Six years of Zelensky. 'Servant of the People' is heading to the final of 'Game of Thrones'
2025-05-21
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Denis Davydov

[REGNUM] On the sixth anniversary of Zelensky's presidency, which he vowed in 2019 to serve only one term to "change the system for the future" and then hand Ukraine "into the hands of a new generation of politicians," the country's leading publications are writing about all sorts of things.

About the results of the elections in Romania, about the 17th package of EU sanctions, about how Trump was "charmed by the dictator" in a telephone conversation. But not about the fact that the government has outlasted all conceivable terms, and not about the promises it made.

The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology even made a modest gift by re-rolling the results of 74% trust in Zelensky this week, which were dragged into all the news. With the obvious goal of showing that the 73% of votes received in the presidential elections have not disappeared.

But this time, sociology was done with a bonus: in a telephone survey of 1,010 people, again done “on their own initiative,” respondents were asked to decide which politicians they trusted, which they didn’t, and which they didn’t even know.

It turned out that, in addition to the first person, half of the "Ukrainians" (as the media correctly calls them) trust only the head of the largest volunteer fund, Serhiy Prytula, also a former comedian and TV presenter. All the rest are below 50%, including the famous boxer and mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko, whom, as it turns out, not everyone knows.

According to KIIS, 34% of respondents do not know the “traitor” of the ruling party, Dmytro Razumkov, former speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and head of this very party, and it turns out that 43% of respondents of Kiev sociologists are not familiar with the head of the banned party “Nashi”, Yevgeny Murayev, who gathers a multi-million audience on YouTube.

"And no one from the media wants to ask why Valeriy Zaluzhny has somehow "strangely" started to disappear from the ratings ? Accordingly: if Zaluzhny had been in the poll, then it would have been possible to draw 74%?" - the fugitive ex-MP Igor Mosiychuk, who has repainted himself as a people's oppositionist, is surprised.

But this question is also posed incorrectly.

Six years ago, the young and handsome Zelensky spoke bluntly from the podium during his inauguration: “I want to assure you right away that I am running for one term, to change the system for the sake of the future.” He then planned to hand this system over to a new generation of politicians.

But, as follows from the KIIS table, no new generation has emerged: the main political opponent is ignored, four are “experienced, systemic, pompous politicians” against whom people voted six years ago; one is closely affiliated with the government, two are professional opportunists, and two more fled to avoid being killed.

"I have often been asked: what are you ready to do for the sake of a ceasefire? A strange question. And what are you ready to do for the sake of the lives of your loved ones? I can assure you that I am ready to do anything to ensure that our heroes do not die anymore. And I am certainly not afraid to make difficult decisions, I am ready to lose my popularity, my ratings, and if necessary, I am ready to lose my positions without hesitation so that peace can come. Without losing our territories," Zelensky said in his inauguration speech.

Now, for peace to come, he is not ready for anything at all. Perhaps this is his most amazing transformation - when living people have turned into statistics, into expendable material, into dust on which the former actor walks in blood-stained boots.

Although in May 2019 he claimed that “each of us is a president.” And that his mission is “to do everything, Ukrainians, so that you don’t cry.”

But he went against his promises quite deliberately, disrupting the Minsk Agreements, disrupting the Istanbul talks, disrupting any chances for peace talks now. Under Zelensky, Ukraine has not become, as planned, a country of other opportunities, "where everyone is equal before the law, where there are fair and transparent rules of the game, the same for everyone."

What it has become is best described by news from pretrial detention centers and prisons, where Ukrainian citizens, imprisoned on charges of treason, separatism, collaborationism, etc., are offered for exchange. “ These are businessmen, underage “photographers of arrivals and military facilities,” car arsonists, ideological pro-Russians, and those who were simply set up,” says a source for the publication “Strana.”

And sources of the Regnum news agency add that a price is added to such proposals: if you want to leave, you have to pay. Only this formula is applicable to all categories of citizens who want to live and work: the entire system of power from top to bottom is permeated with unprecedented levels of corruption associated with exemption from mobilization.

From the “land of other opportunities” they flee through inaccessible mountainous terrain, risking their lives, because other routes are already blocked and carefully guarded by an entire army fighting against their own fellow citizens.

"Of course, besides the war, there are many other troubles that make Ukrainians unhappy. These are shocking tariffs, humiliating salaries and pensions, painful prices, non-existent jobs. This is medicine, the improvement of which is spoken about most by those who have never been in a regular hospital with a child. These are mythical Ukrainian roads that are built and repaired only in someone's wild imagination," - this is another quote from the inauguration speech, which then got all TV viewers to the very giblets with its piercing honesty and folk style.

After the presidential term and another year, Ukrainians can see that tariffs have become even more shocking, while salaries remain just as humiliating.

Over the last year alone, the average increase in utility costs has been 20%, and over the 10 years since Maidan, electricity tariffs for the population alone have increased by 700%. At the same time, the average salary in relation to the dollar exchange rate has remained at $380.

Almost 42% of citizens surveyed by the analytical platform Vox Ukraine can only afford food and some household services. About a quarter of Ukrainian individual entrepreneurs are talking about closing in the near future. However, by the end of last year, 17 thousand new millionaires appeared in the country — those who, one way or another, make money from war and evasion of it.

Apparently, they are the “new generation of politicians” to whom Zelensky is ready to hand over power. As well as those who openly call for “killing the Russians,” while “defending Ukraine” by committing linguocide against the Russian language and destroying memorial plaques. Zelensky, who remains a Russian speaker outside of cameras and microphones, no longer cares about the rights of those like him.

Today, he is a classic character in the Game of Thrones series, the finale of which coincided with the inauguration in 2019 and six years later intertwined with the storyline of the Servant of the People series. There was a very clear message that any fighter against a bad system eventually turns into a dragon himself and burns people for the sake of a crazy idea. And according to the laws of the genre, the same ending always awaits madmen - although they are sure that their power is eternal.

And it is unlikely to be any different now, since along with the external war, Zelensky is already clearly getting an internal one.

The “elite”, tired of his manic and hysterical manner of single-handedly managing all processes, formed over the years in the USAID and Soros Foundation system, is already actively promoting the thesis that Zelensky is incapable of managing processes in the face of a long war of attrition. That he is weak and corrupt, and that his “diplomatic line” in negotiations with Russia has failed miserably.

In addition, he has obviously become unwelcome to the US, and Putin is not going to negotiate with someone who has personally insulted him. That is, Zelensky is the main obstacle to the formation of more favorable conditions for a possible peace.

It should be replaced by a "strong hand" or a "government of national unity", the idea of ​​which is actively promoted by former President Petro Poroshenko, who considers himself a much more skilled diplomat. Politicians broadcasting from the outside are also actively talking about a coalition transitional government.

So far, the propaganda machine, disconnected from financial support by a strong-willed decision of the new administration in Washington, has not gone anywhere. Fighting corruption, exposing the "criminal government", promoting a single narrative - this is what they have been learning for years. And showing how the one who promised "not to trade the country for the sake of preserving power" is trading the country can be done without much trouble.

And for this machine to start spinning, grinding “74%” to zero, all that is missing is some kind of precedent, after which all of Zelensky’s plans for a reboot and maintaining power will dissolve, as the Ukrainian national anthem states, “like dew in the sun.”

Link


Africa Horn
Faces Behind Widespread Fraud and Human Trafficking Network Exposed in Somalia
2025-05-20
[ShabelleMedia] An extensive criminal network involving Somali nationals has been uncovered following detailed investigations by government authorities. The inquiry has revealed years of involvement in fraudulent schemes and human trafficking operations spanning Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
and North America.

Authorities have identified Mohammed Osman Haji Ali, Hamdi Abdulkadir Osman and Mohamud Hassan Ali as the central figures behind the operation. The trio reportedly operated under various false identities, at times presenting themselves as government officials, civil society representatives, think tank researchers or labour experts. Their objective, according to officials, was to infiltrate government institutions and defraud international organizations, including the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
Senior officials within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
 due to the sensitivity of ongoing investigations, confirmed that both Mohammed Osman and Hamdi Abdulkadir recently returned to Somalia from Canada and Sweden, respectively. They submitted to the Ministry what appeared to be a proposal for a labour project, allegedly linked to Ottoman Turkish trade unions and the Ottoman Turkish Ministry of Labour, seeking to solicit millions of US dollars from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
The proposal was initially submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but was later referred to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for follow-up due to its relevance to labour issues. However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
 officials at the Labour Ministry swiftly identified the proposal as fraudulent, exposing it as an attempt to exploit ministerial structures to access foreign funding under false pretences.

Following the collapse of the scheme, Mohammed Osman reportedly shifted his focus to human trafficking. According to official sources, he re-engaged Mohamud Hassan Ali, who had previously served as Director of the Minister’s Office under Minister Abdiwali Ibrahim Sheikh Mudey at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Mohamud reminded Osman of their earlier operations in which individuals had been trafficked to Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
 using forged documents, official stamps and falsified ministerial signatures.

Authorities confirmed that the renewed trafficking scheme was orchestrated by both Mohammed Osman and Mohamud Hassan. The operation involved collecting between $15,000 and $19,000 per person to be smuggled into Europe during 2025. To facilitate the plan, Hamdi Abdulkadir was tasked with pressuring the government, particularly the Ministry of Labour, to endorse the individuals they intended to present as part of a national delegation to Switzerland. Hamdi’s familial connection to a senior government official was repeatedly exploited to influence official decisions and lend legitimacy to the operation. However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
 the Labour Ministry rejected the request outright, refusing to approve the inclusion of individuals falsely presented as "labour representatives" intended for human trafficking.

A senior government official stated:

"Hamdi Abdulkadir Osman does not work with our government. Yes, she has a relative in the office, but that does not give her the authority to interfere with how government business is conducted. Her actions constitute criminal misrepresentation. She is putting the integrity of public institutions at risk by seeking to legitimise human trafficking."

Investigators discovered that this was not the first time the trio had been involved in smuggling operations. In 2016, Mohamud Hassan Ali was interrogated by Swiss authorities on suspicion of human trafficking but was not detained after smuggling three individuals into Switzerland. These individuals later absconded to the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, taking advantage of free movement within the Schengen Area. Fearing arrest, Mohamud fled and applied for asylum elsewhere in Europe. In 2018, facing a similar risk of apprehension, Mohammed Osman travelled to the United States, crossed into Canada and claimed asylum in Winnipeg, believing that applying for asylum in Europe would increase the likelihood of arrest.

Despite their asylum applications, both Mohamud and Mohammed reportedly continued their operations remotely through proxies. In 2019, Mohammed Osman used Ahmed Hassan Omar to facilitate the trafficking of Abdilkadir Awil Mohamud into Switzerland, reportedly for a payment of $20,000. Somali authorities, upon discovering the scheme, informed Swiss immigration officials. This led to the denial of a visa for Abdilkadir. Following the failed attempt
...Curses! Foiled again!...
, Ahmed Hassan Omar travelled alone to Switzerland, absconded and later applied for asylum in La Belle France. He was eventually deported after fingerprint records in the Schengen database revealed his links to smuggling networks and his asylum application was rejected.

According to witnesses interviewed, the group’s local associate in Mogadishu, Abdisalam Yarow, had been handpicked by Mohammed Osman, while he remains in Canada. He was later exposed and discredited, rendering him irrelevant to the operation. Mohammed Osman then severed ties with Tarow and relied solely on Hamdi Abdulkadir as the new public face of the operation. Hamdi subsequently approached Swedish trade unions and the International Labour Organization (ILO), claiming to be a trade union representative. Her attempts were quickly flagged as dubious and her communications were blocked.

Similarly, Mohammed Osman attempted to contact the Canadian Labour Congress from Winnipeg. Officials there dismissed his approach after identifying him as an impostor posing as a Somali trade unionist. Both the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and ITUC-Africa, along with the ILO, confirmed that Mohammed Osman, Ahmed Hassan Omar and Abdisalam Yarow had been placed on a no-contact list following verification of falsified claims, impersonation and forged credentials.

Reliable sources confirmed that Swiss authorities, already familiar with the criminal activities of Mohammed Osman and Mohamud Hassan, have been alerted once again. Reports indicate that Mohammed, Mohamud and Hamdi had planned to use foreign passports and fraudulent documentation to smuggle individuals through Swiss borders in late May or early June 2025.

According to officials, during an earlier phase of their operations between 2014 and 2016, Mohammed Osman and Mohamud Hassan exploited Mohamud’s position within the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs under Minister Abdiwali Ibrahim Sheikh Mudey to produce official-looking documents that enabled individuals to enter Europe. In one documented case, a forged invitation letter and ministry seal were used to secure entry for individuals who later absconded in Europe.

Recent attempts to revive these activities have failed due to enhanced scrutiny and stronger coordination between Somali ministries and international institutions. The group’s fraudulent association with the so-called Somali Congress of Trade Unions, a fabricated entity created to gain international legitimacy, was also exposed. An individual who had previously worked with Mohammed Osman confirmed that the entity was entirely fictitious. International organizations, including the ILO and ITUC, have since blacklisted the names and email addresses of those involved.

Sources within the Somali government insisted that they are committed to combating human trafficking. Government ministries have been formally alerted and instructed to remain vigilant against criminal actors attempting to exploit national institutions and international partnerships.

Investigations into Mohammed Osman Haji Ali, Hamdi Abdulkadir Osman and Mohamud Hassan Ali are ongoing. Shabelle Media Network has reviewed documentation confirming that their names have been forwarded to Swiss criminal investigation authorities for appropriate legal action in relation to impersonation, fraud and trafficking offences.

In the past three months alone, Somalia’s Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA) has arrested 21 individuals involved in human trafficking to the United Kingdom and European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
 territories. Several suspects are now being pursued through international channels, with extradition requests underway to bring those hiding in Europe to justice.
Link


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Court rejects 1 million ruble claim of Crocus terrorist attack victim
2025-05-20
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] In Moscow, a court refused to collect 1 million rubles from the MSM Group company (the organizer of concerts, including the Piknik group, in Crocus City Hall) in favor of the victim of the terrorist attack. This is reported by TASS.

“The Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow has decided to deny the claims of A. N. Zagoskin,” the agency quotes the judge as saying.

The plaintiff had previously stated that he had been poisoned by carbon monoxide during the terrorist attack and suffered severe psychological stress. He was not officially recognized as a victim in the criminal case, but he did provide the court with medical documents confirming that an ambulance had been called after the terrorist attack.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, MSM Group refused to compensate the victim who claimed damage to his health. In addition, the company Crocus International was brought into the case as a third party.

On March 22, 2024, terrorists broke into Crocus City Hall, opened fire on visitors and employees of the concert hall and started a fire. As a result of the terrorist attack, 146 people died, six of them children. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened several criminal cases, including under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist attack"). 12 people were arrested. Currently, 19 defendants are already in custody.
Related:
Crocus City Hall: 2025-04-26 45 people arrested for involvement in the Crocus terrorist attack — Shoigu
Crocus City Hall: 2025-04-23 No More Terrorists: Why Russia Needs Afghanistan and the Taliban
Crocus City Hall: 2025-04-01 Russian Prosecutor General's Office has requested a suspension of the ban on Taliban activities
Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More