"You won't help us investigate this." Senator Rand Paul grilled Secretary of State Antony Blinken Wednesday, accusing the State Department of engaging in a lack of transparency when it comes to providing documents related to the ongoing probe of the origins of COVID. Paul asked Blinken why documents related to funding of coronavirus research have not been provided to him despite repeated requests.

Event Disruptions due to flooding are ongoing across parts of Cordoba Province as of March 23. Heavy rainfall late March 21-early March 22 triggered flooding in western and southern parts of the province. Dozens of homes have been damaged in Calamuchita and Rio Cuarto departments, leading to the evacuation of several families. Affected areas include Alpa Corral, Canada de Sauce, Villa de Merlo, and Villa Quillinzo. Many roads and bridges in the affected areas have been made impassable due to floodwaters.

The Proud Boys sedition trial was suspended for a second time on Wednesday after the feds admitted in court that a witness intimately involved in the Proud Boys' defense team was secretly an FBI informant.

The individual is pushing gender change surgeries for children in Minnesota. USA Today has picked a trans-identified male as it's 'woman of the year' for a second time running, and this time it's someone who advocates for child sex changes. The media outlet has chosen Leigh Finke as its 'woman of the year' for Minnesota. Finke was the first transgender legislator to be appointed to the Minnesota House of Representatives in November.

On Thursday, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Limited Government held a hearing, "Free Speech: The Biden Administration's Chilling of Parents' Fundamental Rights." The accusation against the Biden Administration was not fabricated. As witnesses described in the hearing, on October 4, 2021, at the behest of the National School Boards Association, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI via a letter to meet with local and national law enforcement leaders to "discuss strategies" to handle the "increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members." The DOJ directed the FBI to use the same tools they use to fight domestic extremism to combat angry parents who took their complaints over forced masking, poor educational practices, critical race and gender theory to school boards.

The rate of myocarditis spiked 130% in the U.S. military in 2021, newly disclosed data show. The Epoch Times has the story. Diagnoses of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, jumped 130.5% in 2021 when compared to the average from the years 2016 to 2020, according to data from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED). The data were downloaded by a whistleblower and presented to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Myocarditis is a serious condition that can lead to death.

In a message to students, faculty, and staff, West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler said that drag performances denigrate women and declared that the school will not host a drag performance on campus. In an Instagram post earlier this month, the WTAMU "Spectrum" student organization advertised the drag event, noting, "Spectrum is working with F1RSTGEN and other orgs on campus to produce A Fool's Drag Race, coming soon!"

Heavy flooding in Port St Johns this afternoon has brought the town to a standstill. It started raining heavily around 14:00 today, 23 March and the rain is still pouring down. According to Public Relations Officer for Sajonisi Woods Forum, Andile Mzungule, who is situated in Port St Johns, the heavy floods have brought the entire town to a standstill. "Community members are not able to leave their current locations. We are just standing here. We do not know what to do because there is water all over the town," he said.

In Kings County, floodwater is now covering a large area of agricultural land in the Tulare Lake Basin. The water levels are something we haven't seen in nearly four decades. The winter of 1982-83 was the last time we saw water going into the Tulare Lake basin. That's because that water is diverted to the San Joaquin River. However, an increased flow in all waterways leading to the basin has caused Tulare Lake to begin to reemerge.

Dodge Ridge Mountain Resort, CA, just became the latest ski area to join the 700 Club after receiving another 30 of fresh snow in the last 72 hours. Five resorts have now exceeded 700; three in California and two in Utah. "WELCOME TO THE 700 INCH CLUB! After another 30 inches in the last 72 hours, we crossed that milestone. 700 inches (just over 58 feet) equals about 175 pairs of ski goggles, keep an eye on the forecast to see how many more we can add!" - Dodge Ridge social post

We received 8 reports about a fireball seen over MN, ND and SD on Thursday, March 23rd 2023 around 08:11 UT. For this event, we received 5 videos.

The recently-published IPCC synthesis report is a useful summary of the last five years of supra-national climate activism and hysteria undertaken under the control of the United Nations. The big takeaway from the 36-page summary for policymakers of the sixth assessment reports is that a large group of activists and state-funded scientists have signed up to the improbable notion that the climate should be stable, and any variation can somehow be controlled by humans. To support this suggestion, almost all the evidence provided is opinion, somehow given credence by being produced by computer models. Actual scientific facts are very thin on the ground. In addition, a stonking level of economic navety is on display. At one point, the environmental footprint of battery production and "growing concerns" about critical minerals is noted, but with what is described as medium confidence, "this can be addressed by material and supply diversification strategies and material efficiency...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) must not act as a "political referee," according to its president, Thomas Bach. The organization has faced a backlash for its plans to reinstate Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition ahead of the Paris Games in 2024. Speaking at the Ruhr Political Festival in Essen, Germany on Wednesday, Bach said that the IOC must stay out of political disputes to preserve its power as a unifying force on the international stage. "If politics decides who can take part in a competition, then sport and athletes become tools of politics," Bach stated. "It is then impossible for sport to transfer its uniting power."

The euro area won't be able to recover massive terms-of-trade losses incurred by rising energy prices, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde explained, during a conference at Frankfurt's Goethe University on Wednesday. According to the head of the bloc's regulator, the cost of those losses must ultimately be shared between firms and workers. "And it is important that there is fair burden-sharing between them, with both accepting that they cannot fully recover the income that the euro area has paid to the rest of the world and the ensuing loss of output," Lagarde explained.

Hungary would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he entered the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday, adding that it would have no legal grounds. Hungary signed and ratified the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant on Friday accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. It said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility. When asked if Putin would be arrested if he came to Hungary, Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told a briefing that the Rome Statute had not been built into the Hungarian legal system.

Russia and China don't fit into the international system built under Western auspices after the Cold War. They are therefore in favor of replacing it. And it is easier to change it together. "We hope the world will become a better place, and we have reason to believe it will. At the same time, we are well aware that the future is bright, but the road there is winding." This statement by Xi Jinping, which echoes a similar argument made by Mao Zedong in the 1940s, is exactly ten years old. The recently elected President of China was paying his first official visit to Moscow, during which he gave a lecture at MGIMO University.

Emmanuel Macron felt the full force of French anger on Thursday as protesters gathered across the country to demonstrate their opposition to the pension age being raised from 62 to 64. Comment: As with the Yellow Vest protests which erupted following a fuel tax hike, it seems these protests are about plummeting living standards, but the pension reform was the spark. Unions claimed 3.5 million people turned out across the country, while the authorities suggested the figure was much lower, at just under 1.1 million. Comment: The authorities regularly downplay figures, despite all evidence to the contrary. In Paris, union leaders claimed that a record 800,000 people took part in a mostly peaceful march through the city - the police gave the figure as 119,000 - to demand that the government drop the fiercely contested change.

Scottish Baroness Annabel Goldie, a conservative deputy minister of defense in the government of the United Kingdom, has confirmed that the U.K. will be sending depleted uranium shells to the Ukrainian military for use against Russian forces. In response to a parliamentary crossbench question from Lord Hylton on March 20, Goldie stated: "Alongside our granting of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, we will be providing ammunition including armor-piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium. Such rounds are highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armored vehicles." Depleted uranium is highly toxic to humans, leading to cancers, birth defects and other horrific outcomes. According to the journal Scientific American: "Used as ammunition, it penetrates the thick steel encasing enemy tanks; used as armor, it protects troops against attack. And when it was used in the Gulf War and later during the Allied bombing of Yugoslavia and Kosovo, depleted uranium...

There's absolutely no doubt that our financial system is in flux right now. We're watching a storm approach, and it's about to envelop the entire nation in chaotic conditions. If you think things are crazy now, just hang on to your halo...it's about to get a whole lot worse. Remember how we talked about CBDCs a few weeks ago, and lots of people in the comments said never, no way, and heck no? Well, unfortunately, it's being rolled out and soon. Of course, they're not calling it CBDCs. Not yet. It's under another name, and it's not quite a federal digital currency. I'm sure this, too, will be called a conspiracy theory, but the Federal Reserve is launching FedNow, an instant digital payment system. This in itself is not a Central Bank Digital Currency, but it puts into place the framework needed to make the idea a reality. FedNew will be launched in July, according to a press release from the Federal Reserve.

Tropical Cyclone Freddy is a record-breaking storm that has astonished meteorologists with its longevity. As part of its final act, the cyclone unleashed destructive floods and landslides on the southern African countries of Malawi and Mozambique and the island nation of Madagascar off Africa's southeastern coast. After a record-breaking rampage, Freddy has caused 579 deaths in the three countries. Malawi was hit the hardest with at least 476 victims and nearly half a million people displaced. "In the face of crisis and chaos, it is children who are the most vulnerable," said Mohamed Malick Fall, UNICEF's regional director for East and Southern Africa. In Malawi more than 490,000 primary and secondary school-aged children are unable to attend school due to the damage caused by Cyclone Freddy, the nonprofit Save the Children says. The government has closed all schools in the affected southern districts, as classrooms and toilets are unsafe as the result of heavy rains, floods and...

Israel's military has admitted it made a 'mistake' by targeting civilians in an effort to shore up support for its 2021 campaign Israel's army illegally targeted the country's population with a social media psychological operation to convince citizens that its airstrikes were "taking a toll" on Gaza during the 2021 'Guardian of the Walls' military operation, a Haaretz investigation published on Wednesday has revealed. Several days into the 2021 military operation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson's Unit used dozens of fake Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts to post videos and images of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza using the hashtag #GazaRegrets. The unit even worked with popular Israeli influencers in order to conceal the military origin of the astroturfing campaign.

The visit of the CPC head to Moscow is perceived worldwide as symbolic. It is no coincidence that the leaders of China and Russia preceded this meeting with program articles. Putin described how he sees the relationship with China. Xi Jinping gave his assessment. In general, the positions of the two world leaders coincide: China and Russia are close strategic partners rejecting the hegemony of the modern West and consistently advocate a multipolar world. Both Xi Jinping and Putin give the whole picture of the world in their texts. It is already multipolar, with China, Russia and the collective West as the most established poles. At the same time, both leaders emphasize that neither China nor Russia seek to impose their own model on other peoples, recognizing the right of each civilization to develop according to its own logic, that is, to become a full-fledged pole with a sovereign system of values. The West adheres to the exact opposite attitude, and does not give up its hopes to...

The sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on March10 caused the most serious crisis of confidence in banks since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, which devastated the global economy and threatened to bring the financial system to its knees. The Californian bank had bet on interest rates, by investing in high quality bonds. The problem was that SVB (SIVB) - Get Free Report bought these bonds and mortgage-backed securities when interest rates were low and did not protect itself in the event that rates rose. The bank simply did not hedge its risk. When the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates from the second half of 2021, the bank's bonds began to lose value. This problem coincided with the fact that SVB's clients -- mostly startups and venture capital firms -- could no longer easily find cash to finance their operations and projects, as was the case during the pandemic, a period during which the federal government had printed money in large quantities.

The UK is showing "recklessness" with its plan to supply armor-piercing depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, Russia's Foreign Ministry says... The British government's plans to send depleted uranium shells to Kiev for use in the conflict with Moscow show that Western claims of caring about peace and the future of Ukraine are lies, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed. Speaking to Radio Sputnik on Wednesday she insisted that the statement by London is a sign of the "absolute recklessness, irresponsibility and impunity" of the US and Britain when it comes to international affairs. She stressed that munitions containing depleted uranium are not only more powerful and have greater penetrating ability, but they also contaminate the soil with radiation, delivering lasting damage to the environment and affecting many generations of people living in the area. Zakharova said: "Everything that we hear from those countries [the US and UK] about peace, the...

Veteran said his family was kicked off social media platforms after FBI labeled his organization a terror group... The founder of a veteran-led emergency prevention organization accused the FBI Tuesday of falsely labeling him a facilitator of domestic terror, adding that his family has also been targeted over their association with his group. Former U.S. Green Beret servicemember Mike Glover, who founded American Contingency to provide disaster relief and support, told Fox News that he feels betrayed by the country he spent nearly two decades protecting after a whistleblower complaint exposed by the Rep. Jim Jordan, the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee, confirmed that his organization was targeted by the FBI and falsely designated a facilitator of domestic terror.

The Chinese government has condemned the killing of nine Chinese nationals at a mining site in the Central African Republic (CAR), where a civil war is raging, and the president of China, Xi Jinping, called on Monday for the perpetrators to be "severely punished". Gunmen stormed a Chinese-operated gold mining site that had recently been launched in Central African Republic, killing nine Chinese nationals and wounding two others Sunday, authorities said. However, the rebel coalition initially blamed by some for the attack put out a statement later in the day. Without providing evidence, it accused Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group of being behind the violence. The attack early Sunday came just days after gunmen kidnapped three Chinese nationals in the country's west near the border with Cameroon, prompting President Faustin Archange Touadera to plan a trip to China in a bid to reassure investors.

Thirty-five people have been injured after a ship tipped over at an Edinburgh dockyard. A major incident was declared after the research vessel Petrel became dislodged from its holding on a dry dock. NHS Lothian said 23 people had been treated in hospital and 12 people at the scene of the incident at Imperial Dock, Leith. People have been asked not to attend A&E at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (ERI) unless it is an emergency. Pictures posted on social media showed the 3,000-tonne vessel, which is owned by the US Navy, leaning at a 45-degree angle. The US Consulate in Edinburgh said it was monitoring the situation and offering support to US citizens who were involved. "We thank the emergency services for their prompt response. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this incident," it added. The Scottish Ambulance Service said it was called at 08:30. Five ambulances, an air ambulance, three trauma teams, a special operations team, three paramedic response units and a patient...

The historic summit this week between the Russian and Chinese leaders provoked paroxysms of angst in the Western media. President Vladimir Putin's hosting of China's Xi Jinping in Moscow was presented as the "world's two most prominent autocrats" purportedly establishing a hostile "anti-West axis". The American and European media - slavishly echoing the talking points of their imperialist regimes - were in hyper-bogeyman mode. The meeting of Putin and Xi was distorted in every way to appear as something illegitimately threatening and sinister to the Western "rules-based global order" (euphemism for Western capitalist privileges and predation.) Bogeyman mode also entails collective amnesia. The summit coincided with the 20th anniversary of the U.S. and British launching their war on Iraq - arguably the biggest crime of the 21st century so far. Yet this vile anniversary has hardly stirred any Western media condemnation or shame, never mind legal accountability. The wanton cynicism...

The amazing investigative reporter Julie Kelly of American Greatness, who has done more to expose the corruption behind the January 6th convictions and treatment of January 6th prisoners than almost anyone, has just dropped a massive bombshell that should shake every American to their core. According to Kelly, the DOJ has embedded an FBI agent in the defense team of the non-violent Jan. 6th prisoner, former US Marine Zachary Rehl. Rehl has been imprisoned since January 6 real crime is that he's a member of the "Proud Boys." In her first of a series of four tweets, Kelly reported that a new motion has just been filed by the defense in the Proud Boys trial accusing the DOJ of using an FBI informant to spy on and infiltrate the defense team of Zachary Rehl.

What made him sick? Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven's death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him. They weren't able to crack the case of the German composer's deafness or severe stomach ailments. But they did find a genetic risk for liver disease, plus a liver-damaging hepatitis B infection in the last months of his life. These factors, along with his chronic drinking, were probably enough to cause the liver failure that is widely believed to have killed him, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology.

An 18-year-old British man has been swept to his death in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps. Search teams are currently looking for a second person who remains buried in the snow after the incident on Tuesday (22 March) in the resort area of Meiringen. Police in Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland area received a report shortly before 4.25pm on Tuesday that an avalanche had occurred which left two skiers buried under the snow. Officers say according to initial investigations, the two skiers were part of a larger ski tour group. They suggested that the avalanche was triggered when the two went down the Gstelliwang slope on the Wellhorn mountain, which has a height of more than 2,100m.

A tornado ripped through parts of Montebello Wednesday morning, damaging multiple buildings.

On Tuesday, a tornado struck a mobile home park in Carpinteria, damaging more than two dozen homes. No serious injuries were reported. MORE: https://abc7.com/landspout-montebello...

In a horrific incident in Bhestan area of Surat, a 5-year-old boy was bitten to death by about 10 stray dogs on Wednesday. The child was attacked when he went to attend nature's call nature nearby while his parents, who are construction workers, were away. According to sources, the boy's father Ratul Pandor and his mother live and work at a concrete mixing plant near Bhestan Fire Station. On Wednesday evening, when Pandor and his wife were working at the site, their son went to attend nature's call. Right then, a pack of dogs pounced on him and bit him several times around his stomach and head. The attack by dogs was so brutal and vicious that the boy's body was torn apart.

We received 14 reports about a fireball seen over AZ and Sonora on Thursday, March 23rd 2023 around 04:55 UT. For this event, we received one video.

We received 22 reports about a fireball seen over AZ, Sonora and TX on Thursday, March 23rd 2023 around 04:55 UT. For this event, we received 3 videos.

On Monday, attorneys gave their opening arguments in the trial of internet meme maker Douglass Mackey, also known as Rickey Vaughn, with his lawyer Andrew Frisch telling a federal jury that Mackey wasn't looking to trick voters when he posted Hillary Clinton memes in 2016 telling supporters to "vote from home" via text messaging. Frisch said that Mackey was merely attempting to go viral, according to the New York Daily News, stating that Mackey was "sh*t-posting," or "stuff-posting" as he told the jury. "It means what it says he was posting stuff," Frisch said. "A lot of it was online trash-talking. Juvenile, sure, and some of it was vulgar."

In 2022, Newsweek ran a glowing story about an American man who claimed to be a volunteer fighting with the Ukrainian Army. James Vasquez claimed in March 2022. that he'd "taken out 7 Russian tanks." Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger advocated for Vasquez, urging Twitter to verify his account, and posed in pictures with him. Only the story of Vasquez joining the Ukrainian Army turned out to be fake. "Kinzinger's favorite Ukraine hero just deleted his account after it came out he is a fraud," Jack Posobiec said.

Michael Cohen claimed he was not reimbursed by Donald Trump or his organization for hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels in a 2018 letter to federal authorities, contradicting his recent grand jury testimony, The bombshell document, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, could throw a wrench in the works of prosecutors pursuing criminal charges against Trump over the payments. Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and the star witness in the case over which Trump reportedly faces imminent arrest, claims that Trump got him to pay $130,000 to Daniels to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with the real estate mogul, just days before the 2016 presidential election.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg will receive an honorary doctorate degree in theology from the University of Helsinki in Finland on June 9, the school announced in a press release. Thirty "distinguished individuals" from around the world will be awarded the university's "highest recognition," according to a March 20 press release. The Faculty of Philosophy, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of Law will all give out honorary doctorates. Thunberg is the only individual listed as an "activist" who is receiving a degree, the announcement shows. Thunberg, 20, gained popularity in 2018 when she refused to attend class until the Swedish general elections took place due to her concerns about climate change. She made international headlines again when she spoke at the United Nations in 2019, accusing politicians of stealing her childhood. Most recently, Thunberg came under scrutiny for deleting a years-old Tweet citing a claim that humans...

The race to gaslight black Americans is beginning to feel like an Olympic sport. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors "voiced enthusiastic support" after hearing 111 recommendations from the African American Reparations Advisory Committee. The proposal includes giving every eligible black resident $5 million and the elimination of their personal debt and tax burdens.

In Moscow this week, the Chinese and Russian leaders revealed their joint commitment to redesign the global order, an undertaking that has 'not been seen in 100 years.' What has just taken place in Moscow is nothing less than a new Yalta, which, incidentally, is in Crimea. But unlike the momentous meeting of US President Franklin Roosevelt, Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in USSR-run Crimea in 1945, this is the first time in arguably five centuries that no political leader from the west is setting the global agenda. It's Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin that are now running the multilateral, multipolar show. Western exceptionalists may deploy their crybaby routines as much as they want: nothing will change the spectacular optics, and the underlying substance of this developing world order, especially for the Global South. What Xi and Putin are setting out to do was explained in detail before their summit, in...

With any credible evidence of alleged Russian mass kidnappings of children from former Ukraine sorely lacking, in order to justify this propaganda narrative, as well as give at least some ostensible "credence" to the recent ICC indictment against Russian President Vladimir Putin, the mainstream propaganda machine is mobilizing all of its forces. Supposed "horror stories" of the "ordeal" these kids and their parents "have to go through" are aiming to cause an emotional reaction and present Russia and its leadership as "monstrous" as they could possibly be. One such "horror story" was published by The Guardian on March 19, just two days after the Hague-based "court" issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights. According to The Guardian, Yevhen Mezhevyi, a 40-year-old Ukrainian citizen now living in Riga (Latvia), claims his children were "abducted and forcibly transferred" to Russia last year. Mezhevyi's...

We Westmen have become accustomed to thinking our condition synonymous with wealth. Sure, we might have trouble paying the bills, we might not have as much stuff as our neighbours, we might go on Instagram and see lifestyles of unthinkable luxury, but we're not living in the filthy slum hives of the third world. Our streets are not full of refuse and excrement. Famine does not stalk through our thoughts. We're the fortunate sons of history. We're rich. Or so we tell ourselves. Consider the supermarkets. At a glance, their shelves groan with abundance. Aisle after aisle packed with a dizzying variety of ultrapalatable foods, ringed with a perimeter of cheeses, breads, meats, vegetables, and fruits obtained out of season from distant lands with friendly climates. Yet, peer behind the curtain, and it's a mirage. The processed foods stocking the aisles are almost entirely built from derivatives of corn and soybean oil, laced with generous quantities of artificial flavouring,...

Ukraine's Western backers - and the US in particular - are doing their best to prevent Kiev from entering into any negotiations with Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. The official made the remarks on the sidelines of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Moscow on Tuesday. Peskov was asked to comment on recent statements by senior Western officials, who said any peace initiative for Ukraine, should it arise from the Russia-China talks, would be "unacceptable." US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, for example, claimed any ceasefire in the current situation would only "ratify Russia's conquest to date" rather than contribute to peace.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has bristled over his government being accused by the US State Department of human rights abuses, and dismissed his country's neighbors to the north as "liars." Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday in Oaxaca, Mexico, Lopez Obrador responded angrily to Monday's State Department report on human rights. US President Joe Biden's administration claimed there were credible reports of unlawful killings by Mexican authorities, as well as forced disappearances, torture and otherwise inhumane treatment of civilians. The US also chided Mexico for corruption, rampant crime and low rates of offenses being prosecuted. Asked by a reporter about the accusations, Lopez Obrador said, "It's not true. They're liars." He added, "It's not worth getting angry about."

Kazakh authorities have impounded the property of the main operator of Baikonur spaceport due to an ongoing debt dispute. Given the tense geopolitical situation in Eurasia, there has been heightened attention to any potential rifts between Russia and Kazakhstan. On March 7, Kazakh media reported that the Bailiff Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan had impounded the property of TsENKI (Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure), a subsidiary of Russian state-owned Roscosmos, and issued a travel ban on the company's head in Kazakhstan. TsENKI reportedly owes a debt of 13.5 billion tenge (2 billion rubles or about $29 million) to the Joint Kazakh-Russian Enterprise Baiterek JSC. The Arbitration Court at the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) had ruled in Baiterek's favor last year and decided on enforcement actions back in November 2022. TsENKI was informed in late January but apparently did not pay its debt, thus the impounding and block on...

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has made a surprise trip to Ukraine to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - a day after Chinese leader Xi Jinping met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Kishida arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon local time, and also traveled to Bucha, the town just north of the Ukrainian capital that has become synonymous with Russian atrocities and alleged war crimes. Comment: If there was a Russian massacre at Bucha, why did the UK block an investigation into what happened there? Meanwhile: UN investigators say no evidence of genocide within Ukraine - yet Emine Dzheppa, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said the country "is happy to welcome" the Japanese premier.

A huge explosion at a chemical manufacturing plant in Texas was caught on video Wednesday afternoon, sparking a blaze that sent black smoke into the sky before being extinguished. The incident happened in Pasadena, outside of Houston, at a plant operated by the chemical multinational INEOS, KHOU reported. A video appearing to show the explosion and its aftermath from multiple angles was shared on social media.

Can our entanglement with online life be redeemed? My grandmother carried a book with her for as long as I can remember: The Lives of the Saints. She was deeply religious, a devout Catholic, and would often read to me from the book in the evenings. The story of Saint Barbara, patron of miners, was the one she treasured most. It helped her make her peace with the perils my grandfather faced working in one of Romania's most dangerous coal mines. The powerful example of Barbara's equanimity and martyrdom got her through three major mine collapses, including one in which my grandfather was trapped under the rubble for over a week, had his back broken, and was thought dead until he was miraculously pulled out from next to a ventilation shaft. He had to go back into the mines a few months later. Throughout it all and until the day she died, the figure of Saint Barbara was a comfort and guide to my grandmother. Though veneration of the saints seems like a world away from most of our...

Just a year ago, the US was in the ascendant when it came to Middle East politics, working to isolate Iran by helping to normalize relationships between Israel and the Mideast Gulf states. The reality just changed literally overnight after China successfully brokered a reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran which, if consummated, will radically transform regional and global geopolitics. When Wang Yi, China's most senior diplomat, stepped out in front of the cameras in Beijing, China, on Mar. 10, accompanied by Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, and Saudi National Security Adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban, the world changed forever. On the surface, the deal that China mediated with Iran and Saudi Arabia agreeing to resume formal diplomatic ties and affirming their respect for "the noninterference in internal affairs of states" was a remarkable enough diplomatic accomplishment. In practical terms, this simply reset the clock...

The Ukraine conflict could descend into a fight "to the last European," a top Russian lawmaker has warned... The British decision to supply depleted uranium munitions to Kiev is part of a dangerous trend that makes the Ukraine conflict a threat to the whole of Europe, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has warned. "The war to the last Ukrainian could become a war to the last European," the politician said in a social media post. Numerous Russian officials have claimed that Kiev's Western backers are prepared to sacrifice every Ukrainian for their geopolitical interests. Volodin argued that Kiev's acquisition of depleted uranium munitions, which can contaminate the battlefield and cause health risks for generations to come, could become a stepping stone to even more dangerous weapons. "The next step could be the use of a dirty bomb by the Kiev regime or the deployment of a tactical nuclear weapon." President Vladimir Putin expressed concern about the British decision...

Goldman Sachs is expecting a pause this week from the U.S. Federal Reserve after a year-long rate increase campaign as Wall Street banks scale back their hawkish expectations in the aftermath of the ongoing global banking turmoil. Bets of a 50 basis points rate hike at the start of the month following evidence of sticky inflation in a tight labor market and hawkish rhetoric from Fed Chair Jerome Powell have been dramatically altered by the collapse of two mid-sized U.S. banks and troubles at Credit Suisse. A Swiss-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by peer UBS has helped calm some contagion fears but broader ramifications of the deal are yet to be seen. Across the Atlantic, U.S. regulators and the Fed set up lending programs and brokered deals to support regional banks. A Swiss-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by peer UBS has helped calm some contagion fears but broader ramifications of the deal are yet to be seen. Across the Atlantic, U.S. regulators and the Fed set up lending...

Bill Gates says the world must prepare for the next pandemic as it would respond to any other emergency. Gates wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Sunday: "We need a fire department for pandemics. The world hasn't done as much to get ready for the next pandemic as I'd hoped. But it's not too late to stop history from repeating itself." Albeit concerned, Gates says he's optimistic about the World Health Organization's announcement of a Global Health Emergency Corps that could "spring into action at a moment's notice when danger emerges." He sees the success of this team as constantly practicing drills for different potential emerging pathogens, being able to implement widespread global testing, preventative sewage testing, and seamless coordination with governments across the world. Research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America suggests the chance of a pandemic similar to the impact of COVID-19 is 38% in someone's...

The issuance of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court (ICC) could lead to nuclear war, as well as creating other implications globally, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned. The warrant has only sowed further division in the world, potentially jeopardizing diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has been raging for over a year already, the PM believes. "This ICC warrant to arrest Putin will complicate efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, especially before [Chinese] President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow during which he is expected to mediate for peace. "Will Putin agree to be arrested without confrontation? If the ICC tries to arrest him, would the Russian authorities be willing to allow this to happen easily?" The warrant also poses a threat to international efforts in other spheres, namely tackling "global issues such as climate...

Florida gov says he will not be involved in 'manufactured circus' surrounding potential Trump charges... Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Monday as a "Soros-funded prosecutor" who is "pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office" as he reportedly considers indicting former President Donald Trump on charges related to alleged hush-money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. When asked about the potential indictment of the former president, DeSantis said: "I've seen rumors swirl, I have not seen any facts yet, and so I don't know what's going to happen. But I do know this. The Manhattan district attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor, and so he, like other Soros-funded prosecutors, they weaponize their office to impose a political agenda on society at the expense of the rule of law and public safety." The potential charges against Trump stem from the $130,000 hush-money payment that then-Trump lawyer Michael...

Some of the world's leading makers of flu vaccines say they could make hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans within months if a new strain of avian influenza ever jumps across the species divide. One current outbreak of avian flu known as H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has killed a record number of birds and infected mammals. Human cases, however, remain very rare, and global health officials have said the risk of transmission between humans is still low. Executives at three vaccine manufacturers GSK, Moderna and CSL Seqirus, owned by CSL said they are already developing or about to test sample human vaccines that better match the circulating subtype, as a precautionary measure against a future pandemic. Others, like Sanofi, said they "stand ready" to begin production if needed, with existing H5N1 vaccine strains in stock. There has also been a push among companies to develop a bird flu vaccine for poultry, a market potentially far larger than that for humans.

Manhattan judge allows central accusations that banks benefited from ties to sex trafficker to proceed A US judge has ruled that a pair of lawsuits accusing two major banks of knowingly benefiting from ties to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein can proceed, though in a narrower form than had been initially filed. The four-page ruling by Manhattan district judge Jed Rakoff granted motions by JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank to dismiss some counts against them, but permitted the central claims brought by Epstein accusers and the US Virgin Islands to proceed. The lawsuit against JPMorgan, filed by a woman on behalf of other Epstein victims claims the bank "knowingly benefited from participating in a sex trafficking venture" led by Epstein, a client from 1998 through 2013, and had "negligently failed to exercise reasonable care to prevent physical harm". The judge also permitted similar claims against Deutsche Bank which had accepted Epstein as a client in 2013 even after 40 underage girls made...

The newly approved bill is "inconsistent" with promises to ease tensions with the Palestinians, a senior State Department official has said The US government has voiced major concerns after Israeli lawmakers passed a bill allowing for the construction of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning that the measure would facilitate the theft of Palestinian land. The State Department's principal deputy spokesman, Vedant Patel, said Washington is "extremely troubled" by the law, which rescinds parts of a 2005 bill that ordered Israeli settlers to vacate Gaza and some areas of the West Bank. "The US strongly urges Israel to refrain from allowing the return of settlers to the area covered by the legislation," he told reporters on Tuesday, noting that "At least one of the [former] outposts in this area... was built on private Palestinian land, which is illegal under Israeli law."

Thousands of people have evacuated their homes after flooding and landslides in several northern states of Brazil. At least 6 people have lost their lives in the state of Maranho and 3 in the state of Cear. Maranho Authorities in the state of Maranho report that multiple municipalities in the state have declared a state of emergency in response to the recent heavy rainfall. Around 800 households have been displaced. Federal and state governments are distributing relief supplies including mattresses and food, mostly in Pedreiras and Santa Luzia. One of the hardest hit areas is the municipality of Santa Luzia, where 2 people died in a landslide. Firefighters and the Tactical Air Center (CTA) participated in an operation to provide assistance to the population. In Aailndia, a vehicle was swept away by the flood and three people died. Dam failures caused flooding in the municipalities of Barra do Corda and Santo Antnio dos Lopes.

The union representing Portland's transit workers is calling out the far-left Multnomah County District Attorney for not prosecuting offenders after assaults on drivers. ATU 757, the union for TriMet's drivers, said there are hundreds of assaults or attempted assaults against their employees every year, including 170 in 2022. The union's Vice President Fred Casey told KATU, "I am not aware of any of those going to prosecution on an assault charge. As far as I know, the DA's office has either dropped the charges or settled on a plea deal with a misdemeanor of 'interfering with public transportation.'" He noted that he does not see the same lax prosecution happening in nearby counties. "There's a stark difference when something happens on a bus out in Washington County or Clackamas County. And the response is quite different than here in Multnomah County."

An Egyptian-German research team has uncovered yet another series of colorful ceiling paintings at the Temple of Esna in Upper Egypt. The researchers reported that the Egyptian restoration team, led by Ahmed Emam, succeeded in completely restoring and re-coloring a representation of the heavens. The images, executed in relief, include a complete depiction of the signs of the zodiac. Other reliefs show the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, as well as a number of stars and constellations used in ancient times to measure time. The overall project is in the hands of Hisham El-Leithy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and Professor Christian Leitz of the University of Tbingen. "Representations of the zodiac are very rare in Egyptian temples," Leitz says, adding "The zodiac itself is part of Babylonian astronomy and does not appear in Egypt until Ptolemaic times." Researchers think the system of zodiac signs and their related constellations was introduced to Egypt by...

They can sink ALL of the U.S. aircraft carriers, all at once. When it comes to all matters military, I have been following a handful of analysts among whom Croatian Admiral Davorin Domazet (retired) emerged as perhaps my favorite. He has deep and detailed command of technical matters (like Andreiy Martyanov he insists that you can't prevail in modern warfare without deep knowledge of of advanced mathematics and probability). More importantly, he has perhaps the clearest understanding of the broad historical context of today's clash between Russia and the western powers. Unfortunately, Admiral Domazet does not give many interviews and none in English, but I thought that his last one was important enough to share more broadly in this article. If you happen to speak Croatian/Serbian languages, you can find the interview, published on 17 March 2023 at this link. It runs over 2 hours.

An earthquake measuring 6.5 magnitude struck Jujuy, Argentina on Wednesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said. The quake struck at a depth of 200 km (124.27 miles), EMSC said. Source: Reuters

Bezalel Smotrich has alleged that the notion of separate people is "an invention that is less than 100 years old" There's no such thing as Palestinian history or culture, and the Palestinians are not a legitimate ethnic group, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has claimed. The hardline politician, who is tasked with the administration of the occupied West Bank, made the inflammatory remarks on Sunday during a visit to France. Smotrich was speaking at a memorial event commemorating Jacques Kupfer, a prominent Zionist and activist with the right-wing Likud Party, who died back in 2021. The minister delivered his speech while standing at a lectern draped with a flag depicting a variation of the so-called 'Greater Israel' map that appears to include the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza and Jordan, footage of the event, which was widely shared online, shows.

An magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan on Tuesday evening, killing at least one person in neighbouring Pakistan and causing strong shaking across the north in both countries. The tremor was very deep, 194 km, and its epicentre was in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the remote northern Afghan province of Badakhshan. A 13-year old girl died when a wall in her home collapsed on her, and 34 people were injured in the northern Pakistani district of Swat, police officer Shafiullah Gandapur told Reuters. Disaster authorities in Afghanistan said they did not have any immediate reports of casualties.

More than 135,000 California homes and businesses were without power Wednesday morning after another atmospheric river walloped the storm-fatigued state with heavy rain and hurricane-force winds. The storm's ferocious winds downed trees and damaged power lines across California, where at some point Tuesday most of the state's population - more than 35 million people - were under some kind of weather alert, including a brief tornado warning in Ventura County. Utility company Pacific Gas and Electric said the storm system "exceeded all expectations," damaging electric infrastructure and knocking out power to thousands. The company said its crews are working as quickly as possible to assess equipment damaged by the storm, but spokesperson Carina Corral warned that flooding, fallen trees and other obstacles can slow down restoration efforts.

NASA has captured an incredible moment of a massive solar tornado, 14 times bigger than that of earth, swirling over the sun's surface. As per the Daily Mail, the whirlwind was 74,500 miles high and swirled at a speed of 310,000 miles per hour. Astrographer Apollo Lasky was the one who was able to spot the incredible sighting. Lasky made use of images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory of NASA in order to come up with a video of it. Lasky mentioned that the whirlwind had been twisting over the solar North Pole for around three days. Lasky notes how he was never able to see anything like this solar tornado in all his years of observing the sun.