Russian President Vladimir Putin announced tactical nuclear weapons drills in response to “belligerent statements” made by Western leaders threatening to put troops on the ground in Ukraine.
“During the exercises, a set of measures will be carried out to practice the issues of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” Russia’s defense ministry said Monday.
China is willing to launch an initiative with France, on the occasion of the Paris Olympic Games, for a worldwide truce during the Games, Chinese President Xi Jinping told reporters on Monday at a press conference with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
The US State Department on Monday plans to release an ambitious new cybersecurity strategy that seeks to curb Russia and China’s digital influence in the developing world and blunt those countries’ alleged efforts to interfere in elections.
With roughly half of the world’s population holding elections in 2024, their vulnerability to “cyber-enabled interference” is “particularly acute” and requires the US to continuously expose hackers and propagandists trying to undermine confidence in democracies, says the strategy, which CNN has reviewed.
“We have communicated and will continue to communicate to Russia and to China that we view interference in our democratic processes in the United States as absolutely unacceptable,” Nate Fick, the State Department’s top cyber diplomat, said in an interview. “Secretary [Antony] Blinken has said it, and I have said it.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun three-way talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Xi is on his first tour of Europe in five years. On Monday, he was welcomed by President Macron at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris before the discussions started around 11 a.m.
As the meeting started, Macron said the current global situation calls for dialogue between Europe and China more than ever.
Xi said China and the EU should sustain a solid partnership as the world’s two important powers. He said they should develop stable and healthy relations and constantly contribute to global peace and prosperity.
Displaced people including ISIS families at al-Hol camp, Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), 2019. Photo: AFP
United States announced Tuesday it had brought back two dozen Western citizens, half of them Americans, from a camp for Islamic State prisoners in Syria, its largest-ever repatriation as thousands languish.
In a complex operation involving US agencies, Kuwait and pro-US Kurdish fighters, the United States repatriated 11 US citizens, including five minors, as well as a nine-year-old non-US sibling of an American, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
The United States in the same operation facilitated the repatriation of six Canadian citizens, four Dutch citizens, and one Finnish citizen, among them eight children, he said.
“This is the largest single repatriation of US citizens from northeast Syria to date,” Blinken said in a statement.
The pro-Hamas encampment at George Washington University in DC has been in full, hideous swing for days. City officials refused to allow the police to help the school clear the encampment, despite an explicit request from GW to do so, citing bad ‘optics.’ Since then, the mob overran officers and barricades to expand their “encampment,” completely covered a Washington statue with Palestinian garb and other desecrations, booed and jeered when an American flag was unfurled overlooking their terrorism-supporting ‘protest,’ then projected a ‘Genocide Joe’ message over the flag. What patriotic frat boys on various campuses seem to instinctively understand is that these people aren’t just anti-Israel; they overwhelmingly hate America, too. That’s what drives so much of the dirtbag left. These people despise Western civilization, and they’re deeply radical at heart….
What might DC officials think of these “optics”? They generally coddle criminals, so it’s unclear if they’re offended by any of this. Meanwhile, scenes at MIT:
NEW: PRO-TERROR MIT PROTESTORS CHANT ‘DEATH TO ZIONISTS’ IN ARABIC
Two days ago, the @AP live-streamed antisemitic protests at the MIT pro-Hamas encampment.
In this clip, the Arabic chant says (twice) “Min el-maiyeh lel mayieh, almawt lilsahayina”.
They’re literally chanting for death, in English and Arabic, on US soil. I’ll leave you with thoughts from the leader of the University of Florida, who has handled this correctly from the start:
DC Metropolitan Police Department said that it would not help clear the Gaza camp set up by students and activists at George Washington University (GWU).
Metropolitan Police Department Chief of Police Pamela Smith said on Thursday, “I think here in the District of Columbia, we allow people the opportunity to have freedom of speech, and that’s what we’re seeing right now. There has been no violence, no violent behavior, no confrontations,” according to The Hill.
“If the behavior changes, then our procedures and our process might change.”
Former President Trump’s refusal to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election is putting GOP lawmakers in a tough spot, especially Senate GOP Whip John Thune (S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who are running to become next Senate GOP leader and have pledged to work closely with Trump.
Both senators, allies of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), opposed Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is in the mix to be Trump’s running mate, repeatedly refused to say Sunday he would accept the results of this year’s election.
Now, other Senate Republicans will face the same question, including Thune and Cornyn, who will have to balance their past positions on Trump’s baseless claims of widespread election fraud with their ambitions to replace McConnell.
A Washington federal appeals court questioned the Justice Department’s claim that a five-year sentence for a Florida man who participated in the Capitol riot would be unchanged even if the lower court applied the wrong sentencing guideline.
The three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit considered arguments on Monday by Tristan Stevens that his convictions shouldn’t be classified as an “aggravated assault.” That classification triggered a longer prison sentence for assaulting an officer and other misconduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 invasion of the Capitol, which has resulted in multiple convictions, and despite receiving increasing scrutiny by the press, you might be wondering what is happening with the recruiting efforts of White supremacist, neo-Nazi, and MAGA-supporting militia groups? Unfortunately, you need look no further than Facebook to see that these groups are boldly using the platform to recruit in plain sight.
According to WIRED magazine’s Tess Owen, “After lying low for several years … militia extremists have been quietly reorganizing, ramping up recruitment and rhetoric on Facebook—with apparently little concern that Meta will enforce its ban against them, according to new research by the Tech Transparency Project, shared exclusively with WIRED.”
Individuals across the US with long-standing ties to militia groups are creating networks of Facebook pages, urging others to recruit ‘active patriots’ and attend meetups, and openly associating themselves with known militia-related sub-ideologies like that of the anti-government Three Percenter movement. They’re also advertising combat training and telling their followers to be ‘prepared’ for whatever lies ahead. These groups are trying to facilitate local organizing, state by state and county by county. Their goals are vague, but many of their posts convey a general sense of urgency about the need to prepare for ‘war’ or to ‘stand up’ against many supposed enemies, including drag queens, immigrants, pro-Palestine college students,
The church’s governing body marked a new era of LGBTQ inclusion by voting to lift the bans on LGBTQ clergy and on pastors performing same-sex unions. They also removed the language that said homosexuality was “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
Many, including Woodworth, felt the changes were monumental.
“This change in our church law is so huge because it means that folks can choose to show up as who they really are and still choose to serve God,” she said.
Anjie Woodworth, who attended the meeting known as the “General Conference,” said she watched as, with each vote, many of her colleagues and friends dissolved into tears.
“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancelation of classes and graduation – none of this is a peaceful protest,” Biden said. “Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law.”
Cancellation of inaugural crewed space mission comes as Boeing is under fire over safety record at its aviation arm.
Boeing has called off the inaugural crewed flight CST-100 Starliner space capsule after engineers detected an issue with a rocket valve.
The decision to call off the launch on Monday came two hours before the scheduled liftoff and about an hour after two NASA astronauts had strapped into the spacecraft.
The postponement, blamed on a problem with a valve in the Atlas V rocket, was announced during a live NASA webcast.
NORTH BRADDOCK, Pa. — An armed man gave no warning as he walked toward the front of Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in Pennsylvania on Sunday, raised a gun toward the pastor’s face and pulled the trigger.
What happened next may have been divine intervention, Pastor Glenn Germany said.
“I’m thankful to God that I’m still here, because he definitely pulled the trigger,” Germany told CNN affiliate WTAE.
The gunman “attempted to shoot, but the firearm failed to discharge,” Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement.
Retail workers face increasing threats from shoplifters brandishing “knives and guns,” a top Home Depot executive told a congressional panel looking to pass legislation amid the scourge of organized retail theft.
Scott Glenn, head of loss prevention for the 2,000-store chain, joined industry leaders and law enforcement officials in pleading for help during a hearing held by the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counter terrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence in Washington, DC, Tuesday.
Overall, 51% of Americans say the government should try to force the app’s sale.
Young adults and frequent users push back against the federal government forcing a sale of TikTok or banning the social media app in the United States, but older adults, infrequent users and nonusers are on board, resulting in a tilt toward support for action, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Overall, 51% in this ABC News/Ipsos poll say the U.S. government should try to force a sale of the popular app; 46% say it should not. And 53% support a ban on TikTok if it’s not sold to a non-Chinese company, with 44% opposed.
On Sunday, Kenyan authorities said that nine more people lost their lives in the last 24 hours due to the devastating floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains, bringing the death toll to 228.
The Ministry of Interior and National Administration, however, said the tropical Cyclone Hidaya in the Indian Ocean has lost its strength following its landfall at Mafia Island in Tanzania on Saturday.
The ministry said a ban on beach activities including fishing, swimming and non-essential transport within the country’s territorial waters remains in force until midnight on May 6 due to Cyclone Hidaya.
“The Tropical Cyclone Hidaya storm is over and forecasted to have weakened; however, heavy rainfall is still expected offshore along the coast region with strong winds and large waves already experienced in Kwale County,” the ministry said.
A Rhode Island court ordered the release of an illegal alien who was charged with child molestation and domestic assault, ignoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainer request, according to a recent press release by Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston Field Office.
A 22-year-old Guatemalan was apprehended by Border Patrol in November 2018 after he attempted to illegally enter the country in Nogales, Arizona. The unnamed man was served with a notice to appear and released into the interior of the country.
Providence Police Department issued an arrest warrant for the individual on November 21, 2022, on child molestation and sexual assault charges, the ICE’s ERO Boston Field Office reported. He was later apprehended on February 28, 2024, for the outstanding warrant as well as domestic assault charges.
As much as this trial is about salacious headlines and tabloid drama, it’s also about accounting.
McConney explained how Cohen’s $130,000 wire to Daniels’ attorney in October 2016 led to a series of 12 monthly payments to Cohen of $35,000, for a total of $420,000.
McConney recounted a conversation with former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg in January 2017, around the time that Trump assumed the presidency.
McConney said Weisselberg walked in with a notepad and said he needed to discuss payments to be made to Cohen.
“He kind of threw the pad at me and said, ‘Take this down,'” McConney said, adding that he was also given a copy of a Cohen bank statement showing his $130,000 wire to Daniels’ lawyer. Jurors were shown McConney’s notes from that day, which appeared beneath “Trump” letterhead.
A 10-month-old girl who police say was abducted at a Clovis, New Mexico, park Friday, has been found alive, according to KOAT-TV.
Police say Eleia Maria Torres was abducted Friday at the park where her mother, Samantha Cisneros, and another woman, Taryn Allen, were found shot to death near a minivan. Eleia’s 5-year-old sister was seriously wounded but is recovering, police said.
Police discovered the infant was missing after responding to a call shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday about two women found dead at the park near Clovis, a city in eastern New Mexico that is about 100 miles southwest of Amarillo, Texas, according to ABC News.
Pro-Hamas protests are still ongoing and some students are learning that “standing up for something you believe in” has a cost, as their entitled reality is crumbling around them. Today’s show breaks it down.
While some colleges are allowing brats to continue blocking Jewish students from class, and have even canceled graduation ceremonies because administrators are that pathetic, other university officials are holding these students accountable.
Polls suggest the Middle East is not top on the minds of a large number of young Americans.
The Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, which has been surveying young voters for more than two decades, found in a poll this year that among 16 topics of importance to voters under 30, the Israel-Gaza war was in next-to-last place…
Israeli governments over the years have invested much effort in what they call their hasbara, or global PR — pushing the Israeli narrative worldwide.
And it was largely successful. This may be the first episode in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict where the Palestinian cause has driven U.S. discourse.
There are many reasons. The sheer scale of Israel’s assault on Gaza, with massive destruction that wiped out entire families, went beyond previous Israeli offensives and quickly overshadowed the Oct. 7 attacks. It is difficult to put positive spin on tens of thousands of dead.
The evolution of social media into an omnipresent visual force has shown the suffering of Gazans to the world relentlessly.
A new generation of Palestinian activists appears far better organized than their predecessors. The Palestinian PR machine was relatively ineffective in the past.
Today Palestinian activists operate busy WhatsApp chats and can flood the zone on par with Israeli hasbara.
“Social media allows people to see lots and lots of material that affirms what they believe,” Porter said. “The accumulative effect is powerful over time.”
It is frighteningly clear – and not only with respect to Palestine – that liberal democracies have failed to produce governments that represent either the views or the interests of the general population. They give control to people who are generally from a small elite, and who – even if this was not their initial impulse – are driven by a lust for power. It is over 100 years since Mark Twain wrote “We have the best government that money can buy”, but it is still true that those with money have a grossly disproportionate influence on who gets elected and on what they focus on afterwards. This is especially true in America, where presidential candidates can spend over $100 million on their campaign, but it also applies in other liberal democracies. Meanwhile, most people are persuaded that their democratic role is limited to ticking a box every four or five years in order to put into power what is often seen as the least bad option.
As has been repeatedly demonstrated, significant reforms have only happened when elected politicians have come under major pressure from below. The anti-war movement that we have seen growing on American campuses could prove to be the beginning of such pressure, in a repeat of the movement that helped end the war in Vietnam. That historical precedent is no doubt in the minds of both the government and the protestors.
