NATO is launching a new investment fund worth €1 billion, which is expected to be officially activated at NATO’s annual summit in July. The fund aims to militarize the civil sector by using the knowledge and skills of manufacturers, scientific institutions, and start-ups to develop technology with military and defence applications.

The fund, described by NATO as the “world’s first multi-sovereign venture capital fund”, will invest €1 billion into developing dual-use (civilian and military) emerging and disruptive technologies over a 15-year time frame. However, it demonstrates that NATO wants to permanently employ the European economy to the Russian border so they can collectively focus on the Ukrainian crisis.

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.

A decade later, Xi returned to Russia this week at the start of his third term at the helm, and you could say he was right on the money then. The past few years have been full of twists and turns, and the world is about to take perhaps one of its sharpest in more than half a century. Meantime, the rhetoric of the Chinese leadership has changed little.

As Florida continues to crack down on schools teaching things that fall under the category of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the staff that held positions are getting the axe.

The latest is a DEI official from the State College of Florida, a public college.

According to the Conservative Daily News, “State College of Florida (SCF) terminated Dr. Brenda Pinkney, current DEI director, and tenured faculty member because it will not renew the position in June, Pinkney told the Herald-Tribune on Thursday. The decision was reportedly made earlier this week. Pinkney speculates that it was made in response to legislative efforts to crack down on DEI’s presence on Sunshine State college campuses.”

The President of Kenya today announced to all citizens they should get rid of any U.S. Dollars they may be holding because they will become worth less within weeks.

William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto, Ph.D, CGH; is a Kenyan politician who is serving as the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022.

Prior to becoming president, he served as the first deputy president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022.

A myriad of others made similar claims on social media. But there was just one problem with the photo of the hoodie-clad senator that caused so many to ruminate over a body double scenario. That photo is a year old and was taken before some of his most recent medical setbacks, it was not taken on Friday when he was released from the hospital.

A tweet by Fetterman's wife from May of last year shows the senator and his wife in the same clothing as they are wearing in the disputed photo.

So, clearly, the photo being bandied about social media this weekend is not a new photo of Fetterman.

But it can't surprise anyone that such a conspiracy theory was so very easy to believe. For much of the last two months, Fetterman's senate office has been far from transparent on the man's real health status. The lack of updates caused the state's Republican Party to call for some sort of proof of life to show that Fetterman might remain able to carry out his duties.

The United States' commitment to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion appears to have rattled the stability of the domestic stockpile of missiles and munitions.

The Biden administration has promised — as part of $33 billion sent in military aid for the besieged country so far — a US Patriot air-defense system will be sent to Ukraine, along with over 200,000 rounds of artillery, rockets, and tank rounds.

In fulfilling those promises, The New York Times reported the US has sent Ukraine so many stockpiled Stinger missiles that it would take 13 years of production at recent capacity levels to replace them. The Times added that Raytheon, the company that helps make Javeline missile systems, said it would take five years at last year's production rates to replace the number of missiles sent to Ukraine in the last ten months.

The Fresno Bee put out a story this Friday that went after McCarthy for taking shots at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his ongoing investigation into President Trump’s alleged scheme to pay off Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about their alleged affair before the 2016 election.

Raw Story reports that the editorial board of the Fresno Bee went after McCarthy for allegedly jumping the gun when it comes to slinging accusations at Bragg. The paper’s editors are not pleased that McCarthy has been doing everything in his power to ensure he is trying to tear down Bragg before all of the facts are out related to the grand jury investigating McCarthy.

 The arrest of actor Jonathan Majors has upended the Army’s newly launched advertising campaign that was aimed at reviving the service’s struggling recruiting numbers.

Majors, who authorities said was arrested Saturday in New York on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, was the narrator of two ads at the heart of a broader media campaign that kicked off at the start of the NCAA's March Madness college basketball tournament.

Army leaders were hopeful that the popularity of the star of the recently released “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania,” would help them reach the youth audience.

Official figures sneakily published by the UK Government, reveal that the triple+ vaccinated population accounted for 92% of Covid-19 deaths throughout the entirety of 2022, and 9 in every 10 Covid-19 deaths in England over the past two years.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that Kari Lake, who lost the race to become governor and filed a lawsuit alleging election fraud, will be allowed to expose the Signature Verification security system on mail-in ballots, which she says is corrupt. Kari Lake said that Adrian Fontes, the current Secretary of State of Arizona who was the Maricopa County Recorder during the contested 2020 election, is a Mexican drug cartel attorney and a fraud. Lake may face criminal charges over allegations that she shared voter signatures on social media.

Caroline Wren, who ran Kari Lake’s campaign for Arizona governor, said that three whistleblowers involved in the Signature Verification department in Maricopa County said that tens of thousands of signatures, perhaps as many as 130,000 were rejected, but someone counted the rejected ballots anyway.

Newly leaked footage from January 6th shows undercover DC Metropolitan Police officers pushing protesters to move towards the US Capitol and helping them climb the scaffolding outside the Capitol building. 

For the first time in decades, it's hard to ignore the threat of nuclear war. But as long as you're far from the blast, you're safe, right? Wrong. In this sobering talk, atmospheric scientist Brian Toon explains how even a small nuclear war could destroy all life on earth -- and what we can do to prevent it. A professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Brian Toon investigates the causes of the ozone hole, how volcanic eruptions alter the climate, how ancient Mars had flowing rivers, and the environmental impacts of nuclear war. He contributed to the U.N.’s Nobel Peace Prize for climate change and holds numerous scientific awards, including two NASA medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement.

The Florence museum housing Michelangelo's Renaissance masterpiece the David invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign.

Florence Mayor Dario Nardella also tweeted an invitation for the principal to visit so he can personally honour her. Confusing art with pornography is "ridiculous," Nardella said.

The incredulous Italian response highlights how the U.S. culture wars are often perceived in Europe, where despite a rise in right-wing sentiment and governance, the Renaissance and its masterpieces, even its naked ones, are generally free of controversy.

Social media applications are a constant topic of controversy.

While some tout that its great children can connect, there are also downsides. Recently, social media apps and big tech platforms have come under fire for hate speech, misinformation, spying on Americans, and the harmful effects social media can have on teens. Now, one state is paving the way to reign them in and limit the harm they are doing.

Utah is the first state to require a parent’s permission for children to use social media. One bill Governor Cox signed prohibits kids from using the apps between 10:30 PM and 6:30 AM. Another requires age verification. The legislation is set to go into effect by March 2024.

President Trump’s rally in Waco, Texas was nothing short of amazing.

Trump covered variety of topics such as immigration, DeSantis, the Biden admin, Ukraine, Russia, China, and the deep state.

Midway through his speech, Trump revealed to the crowd why the deep state is coming after him harder.

Trump told the sea of supporters “It’s no coincidence that the Deep State is coming after me even harder since I pledged to swiftly end the war in Ukraine.”

French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic adviser has told China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, that Paris is willing to work with Beijing to find a “peaceful solution” to the war in Ukraine.

“France is ready to make joint efforts with China to facilitate the cessation of hostilities and seek a peaceful solution,” Emmanuel Bonne told Wang, according to a Chinese readout of a phone call that took place on Thursday.

The readout said Bonne “expressed appreciation for China’s positive role in promoting peace talks.” The French position is radically different than the Biden administration’s as the White House came out against the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow.

A federal prosecutor admitted in court papers that three D.C. Metropolitan Police Department undercover officers acted as provocateurs at the northwest steps of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The admission came in a March 24 filing before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras that seeks to keep video footage shot by the officers under court seal.

Prosecutors accused the case defendant—William Pope of Topeka, Kansas—of an “illegitimate” attempt to unmask the video as part of his alleged strategy to try the case in the news media. Pope filed a motion to remove the court seal on Feb. 21.

“The defendant is not entitled to ‘undesignate’ these videos to share them with unlimited third parties,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Moran. “His desire to try his case in the media rather than in a court of law is illegitimate, and the government has met its burden to show the necessity of the protective order.”

Videos long hidden under court seal have become a major topic, especially with prosecutors disclosing in a number of high-profile Jan. 6 cases the involvement of multiple FBI informants.

Today, America owes foreign investors of its national debt $7.3 trillion.

These are in the form of Treasury securities, some of the most liquid assets worldwide. Central banks use them for foreign exchange reserves and private investors flock to them during flights to safety thanks to their perceived low default risk.

Beyond these reasons, foreign investors may buy Treasuries as a store of value. They are often used as collateral during certain international trade transactions, or countries can use them to help manage exchange rate policy. For example, countries may buy Treasuries to protect their currency’s exchange rate from speculation.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday that President Biden is committed to staying in Syria following a series of attacks on US bases and US airstrikes in the country.

“Here’s what’s not going to change … the mission and ISIS is not going to change. We have under 1,000 troops in Syria that are going after that network, which is, while greatly diminished, still viable and still critical. So we’re going to stay at that task,” Kirby said on CBS News’s Face the Nation.

When asked if President Biden was committed to keeping US troops in Syria, Kirby replied, “That’s right. Absolutely.”

While Kirby says the US mission in Syria is about fighting ISIS, the presence is part of the US effort against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government opposes the occupation of the eastern portion of Syria, which allows the US to control most of Syria’s oil resources. On top of the occupation, the US maintains crippling economic sanctions on Syria.

Following the dismissal of Yoav Gallant from the position of defense minister by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thousands of people poured into the streets in droves all throughout Israel to protest Gallant's ouster, with some protesters lighting fires across Ayalon Highway, one of Tel Aviv's main thoroughfares.

Germany’s Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach, who once claimed that COVID-19 vaccination is free of side effects, admitted last week that he was wrong, saying adverse reactions occur at a rate of one in 10,000 doses and can cause “severe disabilities.”

On Aug. 14, 2021, Lauterbach said on Twitter that the vaccines had “no side effects,” further questioning why some Germans refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

During an interview on ZDF’s “Heute Journal” on March 12, Lauterbach was asked by anchor Christian Sievers about the claim he made in the summer of 2021, confronting the health minister with his previous tweet that stated the shots are virtually free of side effects.

There were chaotic scenes in Israel on Sunday night after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his Defence Minister just a day after he had called for an end to the PM's controversial judicial overhaul. 

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv and blocked a main highway in front of the Ministry of Defence following the announcement, before water cannons were deployed in Jerusalem against crowds.

The dismissal signalled that Netanyahu will move ahead this week with his judicial plan, which has sparked mass protests, angered military and business leaders and raised concerns among Israel's allies. 

There are an estimated 6000 antiquity sites in the West Bank. “Practically in every village or town there are archeological remains of varying scale from a watering hole to a multilayered mound,” according to Emek Shaveh, an Israeli NGO that works “to defend cultural heritage rights and to protect ancient sites as public assets that belong to members of all communities, faiths and peoples.”

In its March newsletter, Emek Shaveh describes how changes in Israel’s 37th government threaten these sites as authorities in charge of safeguarding Israel’s heritage are consolidated under far-right settler extremists.

“In a climate of heightened political emergency and a constant fear of violent conflagration,” Emek Shaveh writes, “one can be forgiven for overlooking heritage related developments. However, in this area too, we are watching with concern.”

The atmosphere on the roads leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque during the first Friday of Ramadan, one of the holiest days for Muslims, was in stark contrast to previous days.

Israeli forces blocked roads towards the holy site in East Jerusalem, where over 100,000 Muslim worshippers - friends and families - came to pray. 

Drones and helicopters circled in the sky above the Dome of the Rock. 

In the narrow streets and markets of the Old City, leading towards Al-Aqsa, Israeli forces equipped with teargas canisters were seen stopping young men from entering.

More than half of Palestinians expect a new intifada to erupt as a result of Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, a new survey has revealed.

According to a survey carried out by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 61 percent of Palestinians expect a new uprising, while 68 percent support the formation of armed groups, such as the Nablus-based Lions' Den, who do not take orders from the Palestinian Authority.

While 52 percent said they were worried that the formation of such groups could lead to armed clashes with the PA security services, 52 percent also said that "the Palestinian people's interest lies in the collapse or dissolution of the PA".

Armenia and Turkiye are set to permanently reopen their land border by this year’s tourist season for the first time in three decades, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced on Friday, 24 March.

The border will initially be opened only for citizens of third countries and diplomatic officials. There is already direct air traffic between the two countries.

After the devastating earthquake at the start of last month, Turkiye opened the border with Armenia in order to allow in Armenian humanitarian aid shipments and relief workers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for an “immediate” end to the war in Ukraine during a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

Erdoğan “highlighted the importance Türkiye attaches to the immediate cessation of the Russia-Ukraine conflicts through negotiations” and “thanked President Putin for his positive stance regarding the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” according to a statement from Turkey’s Directorate of Communications.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, allows Ukrainian grain exports to safely travel through the Black Sea. 

The Israeli protest movement against planned judicial reforms is entering its 12th week, with little sign of slowing down. The Netanyahu government has passed its initial plans, and the protest movement is redoubling its efforts with growing support from Jewish communities in the United States. In many ways, this is an extraordinary moment for Israel and Jewish communities’ connection to it around the world. 

Still, in the midst of the struggle against the current government, we must remember that the root of the problem lies with the colonialist regime as a whole rather than bemoan a democracy that has never existed here. As the Jewish supremacist militias grow stronger, as the dispossession and oppression of the Palestinians grow deeper, we keep staring directly at the roots of racism and violence and insisting on a vision of a shared society that respects the rights of all the country’s inhabitants and the refugees who seek to return. 

Two cosmonauts and an astronaut who were supposed to leave the International Space Station this month will be brought back to Earth in late September, doubling their time aboard the orbiting laboratory to more than a year, Russia's space agency announced Friday.

The return of Russians Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, and NASA's Frank Rubio was delayed after the Soyuz capsule they planned to ride in developed a coolant leak while docked to the space station.

An empty Soyuz was sent to the station in late February to serve as a rescue capsule. The three-person replacement crew that was originally scheduled to be aboard that capsule is now set to head for the space station on Sept. 15, the Roscosmos space agency said.

Why aren’t there more? It’s a question I’ve often asked myself. Many of the people whistle-blowers work with know the same things and actually regard the information in the same way — that it’s wrong — but they keep their mouths shut. As Snowden said to me and others, “Everybody I dealt with said that what we were doing was wrong. It’s unconstitutional. We’re getting information here about Americans that we shouldn’t be collecting.” The same thing was true for many of my colleagues in government who opposed the war. Of course, people are worried about the consequences.

Before my case and the Obama administration’s prosecutions of whistle-blowers, they needn’t have been worried about going to jail. But apart from that, they fear losing their jobs, their careers, risking the clearances on which their jobs depend. People who have these clearances have often invested a lifetime in demonstrating that they can be entrusted to keep secrets. That trust becomes a part of your identity, which it is difficult to sacrifice, so that one loses track of a sense of higher responsibility — as a citizen, as a human being.