Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation

Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump’s social media company Trump Media managed to go public last week only after it had been kept afloat in 2022 by emergency loans provided in part by a Russian-American businessman under scrutiny in a federal insider-trading and money-laundering investigation. The former US president stands to gain billions of dollars – his stake is currently valued at about $4bn – from the merger between Trump Media and Technology Group and the blank-check company Digital World Acquisition…

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Israel’s habit of targeting and killing humanitarian workers

Israel’s habit of targeting and killing humanitarian workers

  The Times of Israel reports: Speaking to Channel 12, a senior Israeli official echoed the fears that the incident could be a turning point in the war. Channel 12 reported that Israeli officials fear the WCK deaths and disruptions to aid deliveries will exacerbate famine concerns. Other aid agencies may also stop their operations, which would leave Israel forced to choose between taking over food distribution — effectively making it a military governor of Gaza — or ending the…

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Israel is now ‘a step away from international ostracism,’ says former president following attack on WCK

Israel is now ‘a step away from international ostracism,’ says former president following attack on WCK

The Daily Beast reports: On Tuesday, former Israeli president Reuven Rivlin told IDF Radio that Israel is now “a step away from international ostracism,” according to Haaretz. “We are losing the tremendous morality that all Israeli governments for generations have enjoyed, by the conduct and behavior of the IDF and by the behavior of the State of Israel in everything related to the wars we have waged for 76 years,” Rivlin said. According to the World Central Kitchen, its staff…

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Sen. Bernie Sanders to Netanyahu: ‘stop murdering innocent people’

Sen. Bernie Sanders to Netanyahu: ‘stop murdering innocent people’

  The Times of Israel reports: A virtual meeting on Monday between US and Israeli officials to discuss a potential IDF ground operation in Rafah was reportedly marked by tensions and accusations as Washington expressed deep skepticism over Israeli plans to operate in the southernmost Gaza city. The two-hour video call between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the American side and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi…

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The empty promise of a two-state solution has become an instrument for sustaining Palestinian subjugation

The empty promise of a two-state solution has become an instrument for sustaining Palestinian subjugation

Tareq Baconi writes: After 176 days, Israel’s assault on Gaza has not stopped and has expanded into what Human Rights Watch has declared to be a policy of starvation as a weapon of war. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the international community has reverted to a deeply familiar call for a two-state solution, under which Palestinians and Israelis can coexist in peace and security. President Biden even declared “the only real solution is a two-state solution” in…

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Syria says an Israeli air strike has destroyed Iran’s consulate building in Damascus

Syria says an Israeli air strike has destroyed Iran’s consulate building in Damascus

  Yahoo News reports: Israel is seeking to weaken the “line of control” from Tehran to its so-called proxy militias abroad by killing senior Iranian military figures, says an ex-MI6 chief. Sir John Sawers, the former head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, made the remark after suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, on Monday in a strike that Iran said killed seven of its military advisers, including three senior commanders. The attack marked a major escalation in…

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Why is Israel targeting Al Jazeera?

Why is Israel targeting Al Jazeera?

  The Committee to Protect Journalists urgently calls on the Israeli government not to close the Jerusalem-based bureau of Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera and allow the media to report freely on news events in Israel and Gaza during the current conflict. On Monday, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law allowing the government to halt the broadcasting of Al-Jazeera in Israel. The law grants the communications minister the power, with approval from the prime minister and the security cabinet, to order…

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The new science of death: ‘There’s something happening in the brain that makes no sense’

The new science of death: ‘There’s something happening in the brain that makes no sense’

Alex Blasdel writes: At the time [Jimo] Borjigin [a professor of neurology at the University of Michigan] began her research into Patient One, the scientific understanding of death had reached an impasse. Since the 1960s, advances in resuscitation had helped to revive thousands of people who might otherwise have died. About 10% or 20% of those people brought with them stories of near-death experiences in which they felt their souls or selves departing from their bodies. A handful of those…

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World Central Kitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland murdered by Israelis

World Central Kitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland murdered by Israelis

Chef José Andrés‘s World Central Kitchen: WCK teams mobilize across Gaza daily to distribute food to displaced Palestinians. Our 60+ kitchens in southern and central Gaza are cooking hundreds of thousands of meals each day like this mujadara, a comforting dish of rice, lentils, and caramelized onions. #ChefsForThePeople pic.twitter.com/zHF3oVlKCJ — World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) April 1, 2024 Heroic @WCKitchen staffers from Britain, Australia, Poland and Ireland who were targeted and killed by Israel while on @chefjoseandres’s mission to deliver food…

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First Muslim appellate nominee smeared by Islamophobic senators

First Muslim appellate nominee smeared by Islamophobic senators

Judd Legum writes: Republicans first attempted to sink the nomination of Adeel Mangi, who would be the first Muslim American to serve on a federal appellate court, on allegations that he was an anti-semitic terrorist sympathizer. During Mangi’s December 13, 2023 confirmation hearing, Republican Senators asked Mangi if he “celebrated 9/11” or “condemned the atrocities of Hamas terrorists.” The pretext for these attacks was Mangi’s role as an advisory board member for the Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights,…

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The Church of Trump: How he’s infusing Christianity into his movement

The Church of Trump: How he’s infusing Christianity into his movement

The New York Times reports: Long known for his improvised and volatile stage performances, former President Donald J. Trump now tends to finish his rallies on a solemn note. Soft, reflective music fills the venue as a hush falls over the crowd. Mr. Trump’s tone turns reverent and somber, prompting some supporters to bow their heads or close their eyes. Others raise open palms in the air or murmur as if in prayer. In this moment, Mr. Trump’s audience is…

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Trump allies plan to reinterpret civil rights laws so they protect white people with persecution complexes

Trump allies plan to reinterpret civil rights laws so they protect white people with persecution complexes

Rolling Stone reports: Allies of Donald Trump and powerful conservative organizations are preparing to launch an offensive against “anti-white racism” should the former president retake the White House in November. According to a report from Axios, those in Trump’s orbit are gearing up for a widespread re-interpretation of civil rights laws to combat what they perceive as reverse racism against white Americans. According to the report, this would include a mass gutting of government programs and diversity initiatives. “As President…

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The GOP’s extremism problem predates Trump and it will outlast him

The GOP’s extremism problem predates Trump and it will outlast him

David Lurie writes: There’s an old adage that politics has no tolerance for losers. But since 2016, the Republican Party has proven otherwise. Whatever the outcome of the 2024 election, Donald Trump will have realized one unprecedented achievement: Maintaining control over one of the nation’s two major political parties despite a remarkably consistent record of leading the GOP into loss after loss. The possibility that the nation’s democratic institutions could operate to send a candidate back to the White House…

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Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack

Iran alerted Russia to security threat before Moscow attack

Reuters reports: Iran tipped off Russia about the possibility of a major “terrorist operation” on its soil ahead of the concert hall massacre near Moscow last month, three sources familiar with the matter said. In the deadliest attack inside Russia in 20 years, gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers on March 22 at the Crocus City Hall, killing at least 144 people in violence claimed by the Islamic State militant group. The United States had also warned Russia…

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