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By Chay Bowes, journalist and geopolitical analyst, MA in Strategic Studies, RT correspondent.

It’s been more than a year since one of the biggest pieces of energy infrastructure in Europe was destroyed in what can only be described as a terror attack. One would imagine that no stone would be left unturned to investigate a crime of such magnitude and attribute responsibility.

You would also think that the countries that stood to lose most from Nord Stream’s destruction would be at the forefront of these investigations. Well, welcome to the Europe of 2023 where, in a weird case of Stockholm syndrome, it seems neither the alleged perpetrator nor indeed one of the main victims wants any more “trouble” when it comes to Nord Stream. The consensus is to let sleeping dogs lie, and considering the evidence of US involvement in the attack, that’s entirely unsurprising.

On September 26, 2022, the world’s news feeds erupted with reports of the powerful explosions which tore the landmark Russian-German gas pipelines apart, dealing a devastating blow to Berlin's, and by extension the entire EU's, energy security. Within a couple of days, Western media had seemingly solved the mystery. Publications such as Politico eagerly proclaimed that “Everything is pointing to Russia,” embracing the utterly delusional anti-logic that would make it plausible that Russia would destroy a piece of its own energy infrastructure that had been bringing it steady income. This reality, widely accepted by objective, nonaligned observers, was however lost on a slew of NATO-, US-, and EU-aligned commentators and officials. A mere four days after the explosions, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told the BBC that it “seems” Russia was behind the destruction of its own multibillion-dollar investment.

When we roll the clock forward to today, it is now patently clear that Western media have been tasked with memory-holing the entire Nord Stream affair, with Germany, Sweden, and Denmark quietly conducting separate “investigations” which conveniently exclude Russian officials while also remaining strangely low-key in Western newsfeeds. These obviously declawed investigations continue as it is increasingly accepted in the West that Russia had nothing to do with the sabotage, it now being obvious that the US and/or a proxy partner were actually behind this terror attack on European soil. More than a year after these attacks, it’s apparent that the manner in which this reality has been suppressed is possibly more sinister than the attack itself.

An often-overlooked element of the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines is the devastating environmental impact that resulted from the explosions. Over 100,000 tons of methane gas was released into the atmosphere as four huge blasts tore through the two pipelines. A far less well known, or publicized, fact is that these pipelines were laid near an area where tons of toxic chemical weapons waste from the First World War had previously been dumped. The scale of the resulting short- and long-term impact on the seabed and atmosphere is difficult to establish, but both this and the single-biggest release of methane into the atmosphere in recent history seem to have gone generally unnoticed by the Green lobby in the EU and US. Anyone doubting the influence of this bunch should recall that on Joe Biden’s first day in office, he canceled a huge pipeline project, Keystone XL, jeopardizing thousands of construction jobs in what was seen as payback to environmentalists, whose cash and influence had been critical in his narrow electoral success.

The silence of the Green lobby on the catastrophic impact of the Nord Stream attack thus seems all the more unusual. Environmental activists across the US have rallied around calls to prevent the construction of pipelines in various regions, citing their negative environmental impact, but those same people seem remarkably quiet when it comes to the biggest pipeline-related environmental catastrophe in decades. The lack of any significant challenge regarding this act of eco-terrorism speaks volumes about the West’s selective approach to the Ukraine conflict. Green moral outrage is instantly shelved once Russia or China is the target and not the perpetrator.

The other elephant in the room is of course the fact that the US military represents the single-biggest source of carbon pollution on planet Earth. It's the largest consumer of energy in America itself and the world’s single-largest institutional consumer of petroleum. In this context it’s worth noting the endless stream of “celebrity” visitors to the court of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev, amongst them the 'Queen of Green' Greta Thunberg, who decried the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam and the environmental impacts of war, all the while posing for grinning pictures with Zelensky and his entourage.

Strangely, and maybe conveniently, the Nord Stream attack was absent from the agenda which widely condemned Russia as the architect of all of Ukraine’s past, current, and future environmental woes. Innumerable other Western “stars” have landed in Kiev to wring as much PR out of the conflict as possible, but not on one single occasion has any of these “eco warriors” dared to raise the impact of the Nord Stream attack and its aftermath. It seems that the destruction of the dam, which had no strategic benefit for the Russian military, much like the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, is yet another convenient way to demonize Moscow, a practice now routinely engaged in without any requirement to provide any objective or independent evidence.

Remarkably, when evidence emerged that Ukrainian forces had previously targeted the Kakhovka dam to “test” whether they could indeed strike it, this was widely ignored by Western media, and yet again, the immediate rush to blame Russia, as happened with Nord Stream, began with only a few outlets publishing slightly dissenting views.

So as the line of Hollywood stars and politicians making the pilgrimage to Kiev diminishes, along with Kiev’s chances of victory, some of the realities of the selective blindness regarding Nord Stream become all the more apparent. Zelensky’s regime in Kiev is obviously finding it more and more difficult to carry the narrative plausibly to tiring Western audiences, with manic allegations of Russian missile attacks in Poland and Konstantinovka all being embarrassingly shown to be false. Compounding the downward spiral of Ukrainian credibility is Polish Prime Minister Andrzej Duda’s recent pushback against Kiev’s demands. Add to this the recent debacle with the Ukrainian Nazi lauded in the Canadian parliament, which turned Ottawa’s show of support for Kiev into a PR disaster, and you get a distinct sense that the wheels are coming off for Zelensky and his regime. One thing is absolutely undeniable, that when this is all over, and the truth about Nord Stream and the suppressive media coverage surrounding it comes to the surface, we will probably need a dam to hold back the flood of reality that hits a Western population that gleefully consumed a grossly implausible narrative around this whole affair. Given the fact that the truth has an inconvenient tendency to emerge, it’s quite possible that one of the EU’s most energetic Russophobes, Josep Borrell, may end up regretting saying the words he never intended to turn into action at the time:

“Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response.”

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https://www.rt.com/russia/584074-russia-nord-stream-pipeline-attacks/

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Dengue fever will become endemic in parts of the US, Europe, and Africa over the next decade due to climate change and urbanization, World Health Organization Chief Scientist Jeremy Farrar told Reuters on Friday.

Farrar claimed that the disease would “take off” in these regions over the coming decade as the mosquitoes that spread it migrate to previously inhospitable areas of the southern US, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.

“We need to talk much more proactively about dengue,” he told Reuters. “We need to really prepare countries for how they will deal with the additional pressure that will come… in the future in many, many big cities.”

Dengue fever has long been endemic to much of Southeast Asia and Latin America. It typically causes 20,000 deaths annually, and Reuters noted that cases have risen eightfold since 2000, as climate change expands the habitat of dengue-carrying mosquitoes and growing cities provide the insects with ample opportunities to feed.

Bangladesh is currently experiencing its worst-ever outbreak of dengue, with more than 208,000 cases and 1,000 deaths recorded since January, according to the Bengali Directorate General of Health Service.

Europe saw more locally acquired dengue cases last year than the entire decade beforehand, while isolated cases were recorded in Florida and Texas.

Dengue is spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, a different breed from the Anopheles mosquitoes that carry malaria. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes bite during the day and night and can be found indoors and outdoors.

Those who contract dengue experience fever, muscle spasms, nausea, and – in extreme cases – joint pain so severe that the disease is nicknamed ‘bone-break fever.’ Most patients recover in less than two weeks, and fewer than 1% of cases are fatal. Two vaccines are available: The more widely approved Dengvaxia, which requires previous exposure to the disease, and Qdenga, approved last year in the UK, EU, and a handful of South American and Asian countries.

The WHO worries that a surge in dengue cases could overwhelm hospitals in poorer countries. “The clinical care is really intensive. It requires a high ratio of nurses to patients,” Farrar said, “I really worry when this becomes a big issue in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Global temperatures have trended upwards steadily since the 1970s, with the Earth’s surface currently 0.86 ° Celsius warmer than the 20th Century average, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The ten warmest years on historical record have all occurred since 2010.

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https://www.rt.com/news/584179-dengue-fever-europe-us/

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Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin is “thrilled” by the growing political divide in Washington over aid to Ukraine. She also alleged that the Russian leader “scores points” whenever Americans reference views shared by outlets such as RT.

In an interview with PBS’s Geoff Bennett released on Tuesday, the former secretary of state and principal architect of the Russiagate conspiracy theory was asked how she thinks Russia perceives the growing opposition among US lawmakers to funding for Kiev.

Clinton suggested that Putin was not only pleased with the rift among American politicians, but was also “fomenting” it in order to “undermine democracy” and “suborn political leaders.”

“When I see people parroting Russian talking points that first showed up on Russia Today [RT] or first showed up in a speech from a Russian official, that’s a big point scored for Putin,” Clinton said.

She went on to suggest that despite the “ideological” and “partisan” political divide, the US Congress must work through its issues and ultimately pass legislation that would ensure continued aid for Ukraine.

“This fight is our fight,” Clinton claimed, adding that she fails to understand how any Americans can “side” with Putin. “But we have seen it, and we have heard it, and we have to fight against it,” she declared.

The former secretary of state’s comments come after the US Congress approved a last-minute 45-day stopgap government funding bill on Saturday that omitted any financial support for Kiev. The vote followed demands from Republican senators for military aid for Ukraine to be dropped from the spending bill, threatening to initiate a government shutdown.

Last week, Clinton also claimed during a speech at the State Department that Putin was personally to blame for NATO’s continued eastward expansion, which she insisted was a consequence of Russian policies. “Too bad, Vladimir. You brought it on yourself,” she said.

Moscow responded by arguing that Clinton was well known “for her attempts to turn everything upside down and change concepts.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Western countries have repeatedly refused to discuss any of Russia’s proposals regarding security guarantees. At the same time, NATO has continued to launch “numerous waves” of expansion and has moved its military infrastructure right up to Russia’s borders.

“It is absolutely clear what the underlying reasons were for Russia’s special military operation,” Peskov said.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/584039-clinton-rt-ukraine-aid/

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Ottawa has to come to terms with its “historic sin” of excluding Jews while harboring Nazis in the aftermath of the World War II, Israeli Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism Michal Cotler-Wunsh told The Jerusalem Post (JP) this week.

A scandal erupted in Canada when parliament gave a standing ovation to Ukrainian Waffen SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka during a visit by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in late September.

Honoring the 98-year-old World War II Nazi collaborator has sparked international uproar and drawn condemnation from Russia, Poland and Jewish organizations. The incident led to the resignation of Canadian House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, who took sole responsibility for the Nazi veteran’s invitation.

Cotler-Wunsh, who started her job last month, argued that Rota’s resignation was not enough to remedy the situation. It was a “first step to acknowledging responsibility for this wrong,” she said. Now the envoy says Canada has to admit to a policy of not allowing enough Jews to cross its borders during and after the Holocaust while letting in Nazis after WWII.

“Nearly 2,000 documented Nazis… immigrated to the country following WWII and built lives, at the same time as the immigration policies towards Jewish victims was ‘none is too many’,” the Israeli official said.

Hunka’s being honored in parliament was “beyond embarrassing” at a time of “rising antisemitism,” Cotler-Wunsh stated, adding that such incidents demonstrate the need for “comprehensive education on antisemitism then and now, on the Holocaust and on the history of WWII.” The “very possibility” of such a scandal undermines Canada’s commitment to ensure tragedies like the Holocaust are never repeated, as well as its ability to “identify present threats,” she said.

Last week, Canada’s former justice minister, Irwin Cotler, called on the government to unseal documents related to suspected war criminals that fled to Canada after WWII. He particularly insisted that the results of a 1985 investigation into more than 800 such cases, known as the Deschenes Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals, should be made public.

“This was a failure here of indifference and inaction by successive Canadian governments, the result being that we became a sanctuary for Nazi war criminals, and no accountability would then ensue,” he told Canada’s CTV broadcaster over the weekend.

Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller also called on Ottawa to face up to its Nazi legacy, admitting that “there was a point in our history where it was easier to get in as a Nazi than it was as a Jewish person.”

Hunka was a volunteer in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a military unit made up mostly of Ukrainians that served Nazi Germany. It committed numerous atrocities against Jews and Poles. In the wake of the scandal, Russia said it might request his extradition for war crimes. Polish Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek has called on Warsaw to do the same.

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https://www.rt.com/news/583981-israel-canada-historic-sins-nazi/

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Former US President Donald Trump may have violated firearm laws if he purchased, as claimed, a handgun while he was the subject of a federal indictment during a recent campaign stop in South Carolina, prosecutors said in a court filing on Friday.

“The defendant either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release or seeks to benefit from his supporters’ mistaken belief that he did so,” the court filing says. “It would be a separate federal crime, and thus a violation of the defendant’s conditions of release, for him to purchase a gun while this felony indictment is pending.”

Trump, the Republican frontrunner ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, was presented with a Glock pistol that had his likeness etched into it by the owner of a gun store in Summerville, South Carolina earlier this week.

The court filing adds that Trump said he had “got to buy one” and that a campaign staffer uploaded a video clip on social media saying, “President Trump purchases a [Glock] in South Carolina!” The staffer later deleted the social media post and clarified that the former US president did not buy or take possession of the firearm.

However, this version of events was questioned by federal prosecutors in the Friday court filing, who noted that the claim was “directly contradicted by the video showing the defendant possessing the pistol.”

The Trump campaign later released a statement, saying: “President Trump did not purchase or take possession of the firearm. He simply indicated that he wanted one.”

Prosecutors made the allegation as part of a court filing calling for a gag order to be imposed on Trump as part of a federal case in relation to charges that he obstructed the results of the 2020 US presidential election.

The former president, the court filing claims, could be tampering with the potential witnesses or the juror pool by making “disparaging and inflammatory attacks” about people involved in criminal investigations of Trump. He has previously referred to Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading investigations into Trump’s alleged role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and the Florida classified documents case, as a “deranged person.”

Trump’s attorneys have argued that imposing a gag order on a leading presidential candidate would be a violation of his “First Amendment freedoms.”

Should Trump be found to have acted unlawfully by seeking to possess a firearm, it would mirror, to some extent, the charges currently faced by Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, who was indicted this month for purchasing a firearm as a prohibited person.

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https://www.rt.com/news/583830-us-trump-firearm-illegal/

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Moscow may request the extradition of Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian veteran of the Waffen SS, Russia’s envoy to Ottawa, Oleg Stepanov, suggested on Wednesday.

“Russia is reviewing the Hunka story. May open a criminal case and subsequent extradition request,” the diplomat said in a statement.

The remarks come amid the fallout of Hunka’s appearance at Canada’s House of Commons, where he was touted as a Ukrainian “hero” who purportedly “fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.”

The veteran – who fought for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the 1st Galician Division, formed by Nazi Germany from mostly western Ukrainians during WWII and known to have committed atrocities against Jews and Poles – received a standing ovation at parliament, with PM Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in attendance.

The controversial honoring of the Nazi veteran triggered a major political meltdown in Canada and sparked anger in multiple other countries. Thus far, the scandal has led to the downfall of now-former House Speaker Anthony Rota, who resigned on Tuesday while expressing “profound regret” for his “error” to host Hunka at the legislature.

Canada’s PM apologized for the Hunka debacle on Wednesday, yet shifted the blame onto parliament’s now-former Speaker for inviting the Nazi veteran. The whole scene was “deeply embarrassing for parliament and Canada,” Trudeau stated, as he offered “parliament’s unreserved apologies for what happened on Friday.”

“The speaker was solely responsible for the invitation and recognition of this man, and has wholly accepted that responsibility and stepped down,” Trudeau stated.

Apart from Russia, Poland, which has been among the top backers of modern-day Ukraine in its fight against Moscow, has also urged a probe into potential war crimes committed by Hunka.

On Tuesday, Polish Minister of Education Przemyslaw Czarnek said he had “taken steps towards the possible extradition … in view of the scandalous events in the Canadian Parliament.” The minister also called upon Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance to “urgently examine the documents whether Yaroslav Hunka is wanted for crimes against the Polish nation and Poles of Jewish origin.”

The SS as a whole was declared a criminal organization by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg in 1946, while multiple senior members of the paramilitary group were tried and executed for their atrocities.

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https://www.rt.com/news/583671-russia-canada-nazi-extradition/

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The US Library of Congress, the largest library on earth, issued a public apology via Twitter (now rebranded as X) on Monday for using “incorrect pronouns” to describe a non-binary author hosting a book signing at the taxpayer-funded institution.

“We deeply apologize to Casey McQuiston for using incorrect pronouns for them in our last post,” the oldest federal cultural establishment in the US tweeted. The offending post was apparently deleted, as it did not appear in the library's Twitter feed on Tuesday.

The Library of Congress hosted a book signing for McQuiston, who self-identifies as queer as well as non-binary, on Tuesday to celebrate the Amazon Prime adaptation of the author’s book “Red, White, and Royal Blue” and formally added the novel to its LGBTQ+ collection. The book tells the story of a feud between a British prince and the son of the US president that blossoms into a homosexual romance.

Followers of the storied cultural institution on Twitter recoiled from its embrace of grammatical incorrectness in service to political correctness, describing the post as “embarrassing” for the US, for librarians, and for literacy in general.

Even professional anti-wokesters like Libs of TikTok appeared to be at a loss for words – the account merely called the library’s tweet “beyond parody” – while several others questioned whether the Library of Congress did not have more pressing matters to attend to.

Last September, the library’s decision to allow proudly obese pop star Lizzo to play a 200-year-old crystal flute that had belonged to founding father and fourth US president James Madison during her Washington DC concert similarly polarized onlookers. The singer, a classically-trained flautist, boasted in a tweet after the show that she was “THE FIRST & ONLY PERSON TO EVER PLAY THIS PRESIDENTIAL 200-YEAR OLD CRYSTAL FLUTE” alongside a video of her trilling on the instrument while twerking in a bedazzled gold leotard.

Despite its legendary status – it holds more than 175 million works in over 470 languages – the Library of Congress has recently come under pressure to follow the example of the Biden administration in emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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https://www.rt.com/news/581116-library-congress-apologizes-nonbinary-woman/

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The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has alleged that members of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s administration are personally engaged in, and are covering up, the illicit export of human organs.

In an article published on the Foreign Ministry's website, Maria Zakharova cited media reports suggesting that the organs of killed Ukrainian soldiers, such as hearts, kidneys and livers, have been appearing on some of the biggest marketplaces of the dark net, with prices starting at €5,000 ($5,500). One dealer allegedly claimed that it takes 48-60 hours to receive any desired organ in a medical box, with deliveries limited to EU countries.

Zakharova noted that organs were also being traded offline, citing reports from June that representatives of a health ministry in a NATO country had struck a deal with some “private businessmen” who were assisted by Ukraine’s Health Ministry and Presidential Office to deliver a refrigerated train car full of human organs and body parts.

According to the spokeswoman, organ trafficking in Ukraine has boomed since the authorities in Kiev passed a number of laws that “drastically simplified the work of transplant specialists in the country.”

Specifically, Zakharova pointed to last year’s Law No. 5610, which exempted transplantation from value-added tax, and the December 2021 Law No. 5831, which removed the need to notarise the written consent or authenticate the signature of a living donor to give up their organs.

In an explanatory note attached to the 2021 bill, Ukrainian lawmakers explained the simplification of the country’s organ transplant regulations by the need to increase the efficiency of the transplantation system, in order to save more lives. Additionally, Ukrainian law prohibits buying or selling human anatomical materials and bans the harvesting of organs from orphaned children, unidentified persons, or people who died in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Nevertheless, Zakharova claimed that according to experts, Ukrainian organ sellers are not able to specify the origin of biomaterial that they schedule for delivery. It’s apparently believed that many of these organs are supplied by black-market transplant specialists, who illegally remove them from the bodies of dead soldiers and burn the unclaimed remains.

Zakharova claimed that such suspicions are backed by the high death rate and the large number of missing Ukrainian soldiers, as well the shortage of specialists and reagents for studying corpses in Ukraine.

“This allows these criminals to cover their tracks and send human organs and body parts to the western regions of Ukraine, where they are prepared to be sent abroad for transplants,” she said.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/580958-russia-ukraine-organ-trafficking/

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Cluster Munitions Articles - Serious Stuff

https://www.rt.com/search?q=Cluster

It's a long list.

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"They couldn't have landed on the moon because it's fl@t and they would have slid right off."

Aaannnd... You're banned.

I've never been banned from anything in my entire life.

A very unsettling experience from people that we trust.

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Admittedly not rotf funny, but an obvious joke nonetheless. And if given just a little thought one might realize that it's actually a jab at the fl@t earthers that you wish to discourage from posting.

One check of my history would show that I have spent a great deal of time and effort trying to contribute useful information and articles that it would seem folks should be aware of, and that I've never posted anything unwelcome or hurtful.

Rude, inconsiderate behavior and hasty censormods leave a bad taste.

As for now, Great Awakening is currently "banned" by me and will not be deemed worthy of my time and effort.

Thank you for setting me free.

Goodbye, farewell and thank you to all the good ones.

Nightcereus

~{°¡°}~

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On Thursday, a senior software engineer at Google jumped to his death from the company’s New York City headquarters, New York Post reported.

The 31-year-old man, whose identity is being withheld due to pending family notification, jumped from the 14th floor of 111 Eighth Ave. at around 11:30 p.m., according to authorities.

The man was spotted by police after they responded to many 911 reports about an unconscious person near the 111 Eighth Ave building. He was then transported to Bellevue Hospital.

He was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The victim’s handprints were discovered at the edge of a 14th-floor open-air terrace, but investigators found no sign of a video recording or a suicide note.

This is the second incident in which a Google employee took his life this year.

New York Post reported, “The employee’s death comes months after Jacob Pratt, a 33-year-old Google employee who also worked at the Manhattan headquarters, was found dead of an apparent suicide.

“Pratt appeared to have hanged himself in an apartment at the corner of West 26th Street and 6th Avenue in Chelsea just before 6 p.m. Feb. 16.”

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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/senior-google-software-engineer-jumps-to-death-from-nyc-headquarters-second-employee-to-commit-suicide-this-year/

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The Virgin Islands is attempting to serve Google parent company Alphabet with a subpoena regarding its lawsuit accusing JPMorgan of enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s underage sex trafficking ring, a legal filing last week revealed.

Government investigators were unable to locate Google co-founder Larry Page and have asked Judge Jed Rakoff for permission to serve Alphabet instead, pointing out that the factual discovery period for the suit is nearing its end and arguing that Page is unlikely to be found before the end of the month.

The filing refers to investigators’ “good faith attempts” to locate Page, who is described as a “high-net worth individual who Epstein may have referred or attempted to refer to JPMorgan.” Despite “hiring an investigative firm to search public records databases,” the government could not serve the billionaire, with investigators reporting the addresses they found were not valid.

Page reportedly owns two of the Virgin Islands, called Hans Lollik and Little Hans Lollik – just two of the four private islands the software tycoon has purchased since cashing in on Google. Epstein’s own private island, Little Saint James, which the pedophile bought in 1998, was purchased on Wednesday by investment manager Stephen Deckoff for $60 million.

The Virgin Islands’ suit accuses JPMorgan of having “turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking over more than a decade because of Epstein’s own financial footprint and because of the deals and clients that Epstein brought and promised to bring to the bank” – presumably including Page. Sergey Brin, Page’s Google co-founder, was also issued a subpoena, as were Hyatt Hotels chairman Thomas Pritzker and media mogul Mort Zuckerman.

JPMorgan has denied knowledge of Epstein’s unsavory activities and has filed to have the lawsuit dismissed as “legally meritless” and a “masterclass in deflection.” The bank has blamed its former head of asset management, Jes Staley, for protecting his predator client even as numerous compliance and risk management employees complained about the liability he posed. JPMorgan sued Staley in March to recoup whatever losses the bank is adjudicated in the Virgin Islands suit, as well as a second lawsuit by a group of Epstein’s victims.

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https://www.rt.com/news/575945-virgin-islands-larry-page-alphabet/

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Ukrainian intelligence chief General Kirill Budanov has told Yahoo News that his organization, the GUR, will continue its campaign of terrorism against Russians “anywhere on the face of this world.” The Kremlin has vowed that such attacks will “not be left unanswered.”

Budanov – who heads the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense – was charged with terrorism offenses by a Moscow court last month, and Russian authorities have linked him with a string of sabotage and assassination operations, most recently a foiled plot to murder top Russian officials in Crimea.

In an interview with Yahoo News, held last month but published earlier this week, Budanov declared that what Russia calls “terrorism, we call liberation.” Asked whether the GUR was responsible for the murder of Russian journalist and political activist Darya Dugina in Moscow last year, he gave a cryptic answer.

“Don’t continue with that topic,” he said. “All I will comment on is that we’ve been killing Russians and we will keep killing Russians anywhere on the face of this world until the complete victory of Ukraine.”

Despite Budanov’s boasting, Washington apparently has the GUR on a short leash. Recently leaked Pentagon documents suggested that when Budanov ordered his subordinates to “get ready for mass strikes” on Russian cities in February, American spies, who had been monitoring his communications, intervened to call off the operation.

Since Budanov spoke to Yahoo, two explosives-laden drones were downed over the Kremlin and a car bomb seriously injured Russian reporter and activist Zakhar Prilepin. A suspect in the bombing attack on Prilepin admitted to Russian law enforcement that he had been hired by an unspecified Ukrainian intelligence service, while Moscow has said that the US bears ultimate responsibility for both incidents.

“We know full well that decisions to carry out such terrorist actions are made not in Kiev, but in Washington,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the attack on President Vladimir Putin’s office. “Such crimes will not be left unanswered,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that the “Kiev regime” will face “a stern and inevitable punishment.”

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https://www.rt.com/russia/575934-ukraine-intelligence-killing-russians/

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The US has established a Foreign Malign Influence Center to address foreign threats to elections as well as the “public opinion” within the country, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines revealed in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday.

Operating under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FMIC has access to “all intelligence possessed or created pertaining to foreign malign information, including election security.” Its director, Jeffrey Wichman, was formerly chief of analysis for the CIA’s Counterintelligence Mission Center.

For the agency’s purposes, ‘foreign’ means originating in Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, or “any other foreign country that the Director of the Center” deems appropriate, while ‘foreign malign influence’ is defined as “any hostile effort undertaken by, or at the direction of, or on behalf of or with the substantial support of,” one of the named countries in order to influence, covertly or overtly, US government or state policy or the “public opinion within the United States.”

While the FMIC was apparently founded in September at the behest of recent legislation, Thursday’s hearing was the first public mention of its existence. Its establishment was controversial, as some senators and intelligence officers questioned the need for another agency with the same remit as the Global Engagement Center, the State Department subsidiary tasked with disseminating American propaganda to fight the foreign variety.

Haines addressed some of those concerns in Thursday’s hearing, insisting the FMIC was working to “support the Global Engagement Center and others throughout the US government in helping them to understand what are the plans and intentions of the key actors in this space: China, Russia, Iran, etc.”

Countering ‘foreign disinformation’ has become something of an obsession for government bureaucrats since the 2016 election of Donald Trump, with half a dozen agencies springing up since then. In addition to the GEC, launched in 2017, the Pentagon quietly launched an Influence and Perception Management Office last year, joining the Department of Homeland Security’s Foreign Influence and Interference Branch, Countering Foreign Influence Task Force, and the ill-fated Disinformation Governance Board, as well as the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force.

However, Pentagon contractor RAND Corporation recently acknowledged Russia’s role is probably overstated. The think tank warned in a study conducted last year that blaming Moscow for all information Washington doesn’t like is likely to backfire, urging the Defense Department to reduce “overattribution of disinformation on social media to Russia.”

“Pointing the finger at Russia in every instance of activity on social media resembling Russian interference distorts the understanding of the threat,” the report stated.

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https://www.rt.com/news/575936-us-foreign-disinformation-intelligence-redundant/

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The former head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, has expressed doubt that the US Apollo 11 mission really landed on the Moon in 1969, saying he has yet to see conclusive proof.

In a post on his Telegram channel on Sunday, Rogozin said he began his personal quest for the truth “about ten years ago” when he was still working in the Russian government, and that he grew skeptical about whether the Americans had actually set foot on the Moon when he compared how exhausted Soviet cosmonauts looked upon returning from their flights, and how seemingly unaffected the Apollo 11 crew was by contrast.

Rogozin said he sent requests for evidence to Roscosmos at the time. All he received in response was a book featuring Soviet Cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov’s account of how he talked to the American astronauts and how they told him they had been on the Moon.

The former official wrote that he continued with his efforts when he was appointed head of Roscosmos in 2018. However, according to Rogozin, no evidence was presented to him. Instead, several unnamed academics angrily criticized him for undermining the “sacred cooperation with NASA,” he claimed.

The former Roscosmos chief also said he had “received an angry phone call from a top-ranking official” who supposedly accused him of complicating international relations.

Rogozin concluded by saying he still cannot believe that the US was able to pull off the feat, but is now unable to, despite the incredible progress in technology since the late 1960s.

What he claims to have found out, however, was that Washington has “its people in [the Russian] establishment.”

Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to the Moon, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin going down in history as the first humans to walk on the lunar surface.

The flight was preceded by the unmanned Soviet Luna 2 program, which blazed the trail for Moon exploration.

Last April, President Vladimir Putin pledged to resume Russia’s lunar program.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/575937-roscosmos-rogozin-us-moon-landing-proof/

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Carrying a Soviet flag or sporting any other symbol deemed offensive by the authorities could cost Estonians dearly on Victory Day, the local police have warned. Any gatherings that could be interpreted as “supportive of aggression,” which Tallinn says Russia is waging against Ukraine, are also outlawed.

Speaking to the media outlet Postimees on Thursday, Elena Miroshnichenko, a lieutenant colonel of the Police and Border Protection Department in the Pyhja prefecture, said that while people are allowed to lay flowers at graves and WWII memorials on May 9, they should not have on them “any symbols and shouldn’t listen to aggressive music on their cellphones.”

The official reminded the public that any rallies featuring Russian or Soviet flags, or those of Russia’s Donbass republics, are strictly prohibited. Also off limits are any flags or placards emblazoned with the Latin letters Z and V, which have come to symbolize Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine.

Miroshnichenko stressed that the police are not going to “engage in any dialogue with anyone” found in breach of the rules. Violators can expect to be fined to the tune of up to €1,200 euros ($1,345) or even face prison time.

She also revealed that Estonian security forces are closely monitoring activity on social media ahead of Victory Day.

The official advised Estonians to “think what you are sending” before sharing any congratulations.

“The most important [thing] is that there [should be] no aggressive symbols in these messages which support the war,” Miroshnichenko clarified.

Late last month, authorities in another former Soviet republic, Moldova, warned the public against displaying St. George’s ribbons, which have become a symbol of May 9 celebrations in Russia over the past two decades.

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean emphasized that individuals running afoul of the ban will face fines.

The country’s parliament outlawed the ribbon along with the letters ‘Z’ and ‘V’ last year as promoting “Russian aggression.”

Earlier last month, Moldova’s Constitutional Court issued a ruling that some opposition politicians construed as a lifting of the ban. The judges, however, were quick to clarify that this was not the case.

According to the Moldovan media, more than 300 people were fined for wearing the ribbon last year.

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https://www.rt.com/news/575916-eu-nation-police-fine-victory-day/

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Covid-19 will never be eliminated or eradicated, as it can jump from humans to animals and back, World Health Organization emergency director Dr. Mike Ryan told reporters on Saturday.

Speaking a day after WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus officially downgraded the status of the disease from a global health emergency to a “global health threat,” Ryan stressed that public health authorities still need to be “vigilant.”

Asked whether the virus itself would ever be eliminated, Ryan replied “no, I don’t believe so.”

“What we see here is a virus that's evolved quickly,” he elaborated. “It can move from humans to animals and from animals to humans, so it can hide in different spaces…not just in humans. It’s very hard to think about an eradication or elimination.”

Ryan added that vaccines and therapeutic drugs can eliminate “the public health threat associated with the virus,” but that wiping out the virus itself would be “very unlikely, if not impossible.”

The WHO has largely stuck to this line throughout the pandemic, even as vaccine proponents claimed that the jabs would stop the transmission of Covid-19, which turned out not to be true. “In the current situation it is unlikely we can eradicate this virus,” Ryan told a briefing in May 2020, four months after the WHO first declared the virus a public health emergency.

Ryan said on Saturday that he expects infections to continue to spike every winter in the northern hemisphere, much like the flu or any other seasonal illness. However, he did not rule out the possibility that new variants of the virus may crop up during the summer “and cause a lot of transmission.”

While most countries have dropped their pandemic control measures since early last year, the US still has a public health emergency in effect, which is not due to expire until next week. More than 1.1 million people died having Covid-19 in the US, more than in any other country, according to WHO statistics.

Globally, more than 765 million cases of Covid-19 have been recorded, and almost 7 million people have died while infected, the WHO claims. As of the end of April, a total of 13 billion vaccine doses have been administered.

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https://www.rt.com/news/575900-covid-never-eradicated-who/

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Ukrainian forces have shelled the city of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod Region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Saturday.

Gladkov said at least one person was injured, adding that residents were alerted via SMS and urged to seek shelter. Shebekino is located around 20km (12 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Local media reported that the city was hit by more than ten projectiles as air raid sirens rang out. A school was reportedly struck. A photo shared on social media appears to show that the roof was damaged.

No one was hurt in the school as it is closed on Saturday and students attend remotely, reports said.

Russia’s border regions have been shelled and attacked by drones since Moscow launched its military operation in the neighboring state in February 2022.

Gladkov said Ukrainian forces targeted two villages on Friday, hitting farms and power lines. According to the governor, 30 people were killed in Ukrainian attacks on the region and more than 120 were wounded as of late April.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/575881-shebekino-school-shelled-report/

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By Wayne Allyn Root

Our nation is in grave danger. If you thought the invasion of Ukraine was bad, wait until May 11th, when the full-scale invasion of America begins.

As many as one million foreigners have amassed on our Southern Border, ready to invade the moment Title 42 ends on May 11th. Tens of millions more will soon follow.

Our nation is under attack. Our nation is under invasion. Our nation and economy are in danger of collapse. Your family is in grave danger. America will never recover.

How did this happen? Why is there a virtual media blackout?

If Russia or China were massing at our Southern border with one million troops ready to attack on May 11th, wouldn’t you be scared to death? Wouldn’t you expect the media to report on it?

Well, we are being attacked by an army of a million foreigner invaders- made up of illegal aliens, criminals released from prisons all over the world, drug traffickers, terrorists and even thousands of Chinese military age males.

Is anyone asking why Chinese military age males are here? How did military age males get out of compulsory military service in China? How did they get here? Who paid for this long expensive journey? Why would China pay for them to mass at our border? Are these spies? Is this a stealth Chinese invasion of America?

May 11th is just days away. Yet no one seems too concerned. The media is covering it up like it’s a rigged election, or proof of corruption on Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Here is the story of how and why Biden scammed the nation, the GOP and the Supreme Court.

Title 42 was implemented by President Trump as part of the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for Covid 19 under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS). Title 42 gave border patrol agents the right to expel migrants trying to enter this country illegally. They had to go back to their home country, or wait in Mexico.

This kept America safe. This kept you and your family safe. This kept our country from being overrun.

But Biden wanted to lift Title 42 and wave the entire world in.

The only thing standing in his way was the Supreme Court. They accepted the case. Republicans control the Supreme Court 6-3. They would have undoubtedly upheld the legality of Title 42. Biden’s plans to open the borders and wave the whole world in would have been halted.

This is where the scam comes in.

Biden is a typical socialist/Marxist/communist tyrant. Biden believes he has the right to control every aspect of our lives.

He wants to silence all dissent. He sends FBI SWAT teams to arrest peaceful January 6th protestors. His Attorney General wanted to arrest parents at PTA meetings. He wants to arrest his political opponents (like President Trump). He wants to expand the Supreme Court from 9 to 13 justices so he can violate the Constitution anytime he wants. He tried to force vaccinate the entire US population. And trust me, he is dying to force lockdown all of us for either another pandemic, or a climate change lockdown.

So, think about this question. Why would a tyrant who craves total control willingly give up his tyrannical emergency powers?

That’s the scam.

Tyrants never give up their emergency powers. But this time Biden did. Because by letting the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency expire on May 11th, it automatically ended Title 42. Which automatically killed the case in front of the Supreme Court. Which automatically allowed the invasion of America on May 11th.

And no one said a word about the scam Biden pulled. Not the GOP Congress. Not the RNC. Not the Supreme Court. Not one law enforcement official in America. Not the media. Total silence.

D- Day is here. On Thursday May 11th America officially becomes a third world craphole. On that day, Biden will wave the whole world in. That day will start the process of making America foreign to Americans. You will never recognize this country again. And this enormous bill for tens of millions of foreign invaders will fall on you- the American taxpayer.

All because we let a communist tyrant rig and steal the 2020 election, then proceed to methodically destroy the economy with the worst inflation in history, and open the borders with a world class scam.

Why would anyone do this? Is anyone mentioning who benefits most from this insane decision? The Mexican Drug Cartels. Isn’t it clear that the same Biden Crime Family that took bribes from Ukraine and China has sold the country out to bloodthirsty drug traffickers?

This is the worst corruption in the history of America. Biden and Democrats have sold out the country. This is dereliction of duty, failure to execute the laws of the United States, failure to protect American citizens from foreign invasion, violation of oath of office, bribery and extortion, mixed with treason.

All hell breaks loose in a few days. And what are we doing about it? As far as I can tell, nothing.

The scenes we are all about to witness will shock and horrify the nation. You won’t believe your eyes. You’re about to see mass chaos and anarchy on American soil.

Do you remember what “The Fall of Saigon” looked like? We’re all about to experience it.

Wayne Allyn Root is known as “the Conservative Warrior.” Watch Wayne’s TV shows- “America’s Top Ten Countdown” on Real America’s Voice TV Network on Saturdays at Noon ET…and Wayne’s daily TV show on Lindell TV 2 at 7 pm ET at FrankSpeech.com. He is also host of the nationally-syndicated “Wayne Allyn Root: Raw & Unfiltered” on USA Audio Network, daily at 6 pm ET. Wayne’s latest book is out now, “The Great Patriot BUY-cott Book.”

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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/wayne-root-title-42-ends-in-days-get-ready-to-witness-the-fall-of-saigon/

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After the recent drone incident at the Kremlin, which Moscow has called a US-backed attempt by Ukraine to assassinate President Vladimir Putin, the US and Russia are on the verge of a shooting war with each other, a senior Russian diplomat has said.

“We are working on preventing a fall of our relations with the US into the abyss of an open armed conflict,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in a TV interview on Friday. “We are already on the verge of this abyss.”

Ryabkov described officials in Washington as “opponents” and “enemies” of Russia due to what he called Russophobic policies which are being pursued in spite of the risks.

“The anger and hatred towards Russia with which Washington acts in a situation in which it frankly should think of its own safety, is inexplicable,” he said.

At the moment, “no real diplomacy” regarding the Ukraine conflict is possible between the two nations, because the US “has bet on further escalation,” according to Ryabkov.

The US has long been a direct participant in the conflict and has long been waging an open hybrid war against my nation.

The deputy foreign minister said Washington tends to dismiss the statements of Russian officials, citing remarks made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding Russia’s claim that Ukraine was behind the drone attack on the Kremlin.

“I would take anything coming out of the Kremlin with a very large shaker of salt,” Blinken told the Washington Post.

“We leave it to Ukraine to decide how it is going to defend itself,” he added. Kiev denies having any involvement in the attack on the Kremlin.

The US government is treating “any signals coming from Moscow as an element of a disinformation campaign,” Ryabkov said. Meanwhile, Russia is “literally ready to use any means at its disposal” to deter threats to its security and the safety of its leadership, he added.

He also reiterated the Russian claims that Washington shares responsibility with Kiev for the incident, which the US denies. Their statements of non-involvement are “not convincing anyone,” and are reminiscent of “how they attempted to pretty much blame us for the bombing of the Nord Stream,” Ryabkov said.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/575836-ryabkov-us-russian-war/

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A fistfight broke out at a summit of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in Türkiye’s capital Ankara on Thursday, where members of the Ukrainian delegation attempted to disrupt a meeting involving Russia. Olga Timofeyeva, acting head of the Russian delegation, told RT that guests had been “shocked” by the actions of their Ukrainian colleagues.

While Timofeyeva was delivering a speech, several Ukrainian guests came up behind her, unfurling a large Ukrainian flag and what appeared to be a banner belonging to a Ukrainian military unit.

The group then scuffled with officials who attempted to escort them away. The session resumed after the flags had been removed.

The Ukrainians behaved “aggressively” and chanted anti-Russian slogans, Timofeyeva, chair of the Parliamentary Civic Society Committee, told RT shortly after the session. She added that members of other delegations had been “shocked by their attitude.”

“They are using any platform to slander us, while we are using any platform to actually state our position,” the Russian official said.

When Timofeyeva was giving a live interview to TV channel Rossiya-1 later in the day, Ukrainian MP Aleksandr Marikovsky stood near her holding a Ukrainian flag. A member of the Russian delegation grabbed the flag from Marikovsky’s hands, but as the man was leaving, Marikovsky ran after him and punched him. The brief fight was broken up by Turkish officials.

Irina Kasimova, spokeswoman for the Russian Embassy in Türkiye, said that Valery Stavitsky, the secretary of the Russian delegation, had been hospitalized after the attack.

Turkish parliamentary speaker Mustafa Sentop urged all sides to respect decorum.

“Everybody can voice their views and opinions... But if we are to start holding demonstrations then these meetings will… turn into street movements,” he said, as quoted by the Daily Sabah.

David Arakhamia, head of President Vladimir Zelensky’s Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian parliament, thanked Marikovsky for “defending the honor of the Ukrainian flag and his dignified stance.”

In December, Russia suspended the payment of fees to PABSEC and accused Ukraine of hijacking the platform for “anti-Russian demonstrations.” Timofeyeva told RT on Thursday that Moscow was being forced to reconsider its participation in the group’s events because “we are not seeing productive, constructive discussions.”

“We understand that the platform has become very politicized,” the Russian MP said. “From being focused on the economy it was turned into a place of [political] ping-pong and mutual accusations,” Timofeyeva added. At the same time, she stressed that it was “impossible” to expel Russia from the forum because it was one of its founders.

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https://www.rt.com/russia/575837-russian-ukrainian-fight-summit/

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A man opened fire on multiple locations near the Serbian town of Mladenovac, 50km (30 miles) south of the capital, Belgrade, late on Thursday. Officials have confirmed that at least eight people were killed and 13 wounded in the incidents. The suspect, identified by the media as Uros B., 21, was arrested after an eight-hour manhunt.

According to reports, the rampage began with an argument in a school yard, after which Uros B. went home and returned with an automatic rifle. It was reported that he shot from a moving vehicle and then fled. Reports also indicate that he opened fire in three separate locations.

Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic has called the shootings an act of terrorism. Scores of police and counterterrorism units were dispatched to the area.

On Friday morning, local media reported that the shooter was caught in a village near the city of Kragujevac around 50km north of where the gun rampage began.

Earlier this week, a seventh-grade student opened fire at a school in Belgrade, killing eight children and a security guard. One teacher and six students were injured in the shooting. The teenager was detained. According to police, he used his father’s gun.

After the attack, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called for an unprecedented crackdown on guns and violent media content. He put forward a plan that includes a two-year moratorium on new weapon licenses that would affect all weapons except those used for hunting. Vucic also demanded an audit of all existing firearms permits.

The Serbian president also called for media content that “emphasizes violence” to be restricted, specifically “scenes of brutal violence that can harm minors.” The plan also outlines an idea to ban access to the darknet, the ‘hidden’ internet that requires a special browser to access, as children can go there to “learn how to commit murder, buy drugs, and so on.”

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https://www.rt.com/news/575814-another-mass-shooting-serbia/

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Russian news reported on Wednesday that Ukraine attempted to hit the Kremlin overnight with a drone strike in an assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin.

Video was released by Russian news following the attack.

Putin was reportedly not hurt in the attempted bombing.

The Kremlin on Friday lashed out at the United States for attempting to refute their involvement in the attack.

This comes months after the US was blamed for the Nord Stream 2 sabotage.

Provda.ru reported:

“We are well aware that they make decisions on such attacks in Washington, not in Kyiv. It is often Washington, but not Kyiv that determines targets. It is not every time when Kyiv is given the right to choose means. Washington should clearly understand that we know all this,” Peskov said.

Putin’s condition after attacks - Speaking about Putin’s condition, Peskov said that the Russian President never loses his temper in extreme situations.

In an unusual situation, Putin acts calmly and collectedly, the spokesman explained.

“Therefore, nothing new has happened in this regard,” Peskov said.

During a conversation with reporters, Peskov said that the Russian authorities would investigate into the drone attacks on the presidential residence. He did not name the terms of the investigation indicating that it was a prerogative of the Investigative Committee.

Two copper sheets of Kremlin Palace dome damaged The dome of the Senate Palace of the Kremlin has had two copper sheets scorched as a result of the attacks, Dmitry Peskov also said, RIA Novosti reports.

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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/russian-spokesperson-dmitry-peskov-accuses-us-of-backing-ukraines-drone-attack-on-kremlin/

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On Monday, the popular kids’ toy Lego announced that it would remove gender stereotypes from its toys, forcing a ‘woke‘ ideology on young children.

The Lego Dreamzzz line, produced by the toy giant, will debut with several new models, including a Pegasus horse, a bunny with blue and pink stripes named Bunchu, and a “nightmare shark ship.”

The new ‘gender inclusive’ characters will also be featured in a new television show premiering on May 15.

“We have always been focused on ensuring that LEGO play was for all children, but within the recent years we have focused more on putting systematic processes into place to ensure LEGO products and marketing be as inclusive as possible,” said Julia Goldin, Chief Product and Marketing Officer Lego Group, in a statement to USA TODAY.

“We don’t use gender segmentation and we test all products with boys and girls, just as you can only [shop for Lego] products by passion point and not gender.”

A global survey commissioned by the Lego Group in October 2021 found that attitudes regarding children’s activities and future goals continue to be unequal and constrained by gender biases, prompting the company to announce the production of gender-neutral toys.

USA Today reported:

The research, commissioned by the Lego Group and carried out by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, found attitudes toward children’s activities and future goals continue to be unequal and confined to gender biases.

In a survey of almost 7,000 parents and children, aged 6-14, worldwide, the majority of children reported feeling confident in engaging in a wide range of activities — including those that have been historically gendered.

But girls expressed this stronger than boys. For example, 82% of girls agreed that girls can play football and boys can practice ballet, compared to 71% of boys. And 42% of girls said they worry about being made fun of for playing with a toy typically associated for the other gender, compared to 71% of boys — a fear often shared by parents.

“Girls are more likely to consider a wider range of jobs versus boys,” Madeline Di Nonno, president and CEO of the Geena Davis Institute, told USA TODAY. “The girls are ready, we just have to get out of the way.”

According to LEGO’s website, its “long-term ambition is a completely gender-balanced organization at all levels by 2032.”

“At the LEGO Group, we believe children are our role models. We look to them for inspiration every day and want to help them break down gender stereotypes and create opportunities for everyone.”

“We measure and report on the progress on the share of women globally and set annual targets for share of women at Director level and above, i.e women in executive positions.”

It also states, “Diversity is the visible and invisible dimensions that make each of us unique. We want our organization to reflect the diversity of the world we operate in and seek to inspire. Currently we focus on gender, ethnicity, LGBTQIA+ communities and people with disabilities."

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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/lego-goes-woke-as-it-launches-new-gender-neutral-toys-in-a-bid-to-break-stereotypes/

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All of Kiev’s decisions are ultimately dictated by Washington, including which targets to hit and by what means, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed on Thursday. His comments came after two Ukrainian drones unsuccessfully attempted to strike the Kremlin in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

“Such decisions – the definition of goals, the definition of means, and so on – all this is dictated to Kiev from Washington, and we are well aware of this,” Peskov told reporters.

The spokesman for President Vladimir Putin dismissed attempts by US and Ukrainian officials to “disown” Wednesday’s attack as “laughable,” insisting that “we know full well that decisions to carry out such terrorist actions are made not in Kiev, but in Washington.”

Peskov asserted that it is important that the US “clearly understands” that Russia is aware of its involvement in Ukraine and “how dangerous such direct involvement is.”

The spokesman said that Kiev’s attempted drone strike on the Kremlin is being thoroughly investigated, but did not provide estimates on when any conclusions would be officially announced.

Peskov reiterated that Moscow reserves the right to respond to the attack with “a variety of steps.” Although declining to specify what those measures might be, the Kremlin official insisted they would be carefully considered and “in line with Russia’s interests.”

Putin’s office reported on Wednesday that two Ukrainian UAVs had been disabled by air defenses while trying to strike the president’s Kremlin residence in Moscow in the early hours of the morning. Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time of the incident and no one was hurt, the statement added.

Russia described the failed drone strike as “a pre-planned terrorist act” and an attempt on Putin’s life perpetrated by Kiev.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has denied his country’s involvement in the attack, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Washington could not “in any way validate” Russia’s claims.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby responded to Peskov’s comments by insisting that Washington was in no way involved in the incident. “We don’t do that and we had nothing to do with it,” he told MSNBC.

The Kremlin has vowed that Moscow will retaliate to the raid “anywhere and anytime it deems necessary,” while senior Russian lawmaker Vyacheslav Volodin has called for the use of “weapons capable of stopping and destroying the Kiev terrorist regime.”

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https://www.rt.com/russia/575777-peskov-washington-kremlin-attack/

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