Russian economist Chubais resigns as Putin’s aide

The controversial longtime official has left the country over the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported

Anatoly Chubais has resigned from his position as the special presidential aide for sustainable development and left Russia. The move by Russia’s economist and long-time official was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday. According to a Bloomberg report citing two sources familiar with the situation, the decision was made due to his opposition to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Forbes Russia said it contacted Chubais on the phone, but he dropped the call when asked about his whereabouts. The Kommersant business daily claimed the former official was spotted on Tuesday in Istanbul, Turkey.

The 66-year-old is a controversial figure in Russia due to his role in implementing radical economic reforms during the Boris Yeltsin presidency. They fast-tracked Russia’s transition to a market economy at the cost of plunging millions into poverty while a handful were elevated to the status of oligarchs – wealthy individuals wielding much political power.

Chubais remained part of the Russian government in various capacities virtually without interruption since 1991. He has a reputation as an avowed liberal and a strong proponent of integrating Russia with the West.

The attack against Ukraine launched in late February appears to have put an end to any chance of such integration, with Moscow stating that it will no longer consider the US and its allies trustworthy in any sense.

https://www.rt.com/russia/552555-chubais-resigns-leaves-russia/

Ukraine Blocks Trans Women Refugees: "They Are Men, Must Go Back & Fight"

The Ukrainian government is refusing to allow transgender women to leave the country along with the millions of women and children refugees who have been streaming into Poland and other European nations. Instead, Ukrainian border guards are turning them back and forcing them to return home to join the fight.

Their reasoning might sour some trans activists in the West: Ukraine's martial law requires all biological males between the ages of 18 and 60 to remain in the country and fight. And it makes no exceptions for trans women.

Even trans women who have been widely accepted by their communities as woman still carry passports identifying them as males, which is what border guards see when they try to cross the border. In most cases, trans women who have tried to flee have been turned back, according to the Italian newspaper La Corriere della Sera, Italy's largest-circulation newspaper.

The paper quoted a trans woman who shared her experience at the hands of the guards: "They are men…they must turn back and fight."

The story has been picked up by a handful of European newspapers, including the UK-based Guardian. Trans women who spoke with the two newspapers described "humiliating" searches by border guards, and other perceived depredations, before being denied further passage.

As strange hands searched her body and pulled back her hair to check if it was a wig, Judis looked at the faces of the Ukrainian border guards and felt fear and despair.

"Ukrainian border guards undress you and touch you everywhere," Judis says. "You can see on their faces they’re wondering ‘what are you?’ like you’re some kind of animal or something."

Judis is a transgender woman whose birth certificate defines her as female.

Legally, there is no reason why she should not be allowed to pass with the thousands of women who are crossing Ukrainian borders to safety every day.

Yet, on 12 March at about 4am, after a long and humiliating search, border guards determined she was a man and prevented her passage into Poland.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-blocks-trans-women-refugees-they-are-men-must-go-back-fight

Twitter Now Suspends Babylon Bee Editor Following 'Joke' About Satire Site Being Suspended

Also censors Tucker Carlson for posting screenshots of ‘hateful’ tweets

Twitter has doubled down on its suspension of the account belonging to the satirical website The Babylon Bee by suspending the personal account of its chief editor after he ‘joked’ about what it would take to lift the suspension.

The Babylon Bee’s editor-in-chief Kyle Mann is in ‘twitter jail’, locked out of his account for suggesting that Twitter might lift its original suspension “if we throw a few thousand Uighurs in a concentration camp.”

The comment was likely a reference to Twitter allowing Communist Chinese Party PR people and apologists to operate freely on the platform.

The tweet landed Mann a personal suspension for ‘hateful conduct’, as noted by Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon:

https://summit.news/2022/03/23/twitter-now-suspends-babylon-bee-editor-following-joke-about-satire-site-being-suspended/

Ruble rockets on gas currency switch

Russia unveils domestic payment mechanism for energy exports

The ruble has surged on Wednesday after the announcement that payments for gas exports to certain Western countries will be switched to Russia’s domestic currency.

The Russian currency immediately rose to a three-week high of 95 rubles against the dollar, before settling below 100. It also gained 3.5% against the EU’s currency, trading at 110.5 rubles per euro.

The ruble plunged to historic lows earlier this month as unprecedented Western sanctions hit the Russian economy, dropping to record lows of 132 rubles per dollar and 147 rubles per euro on March 7. In mid-February, the currency’s exchange rate was around 75 rubles per dollar and 85 rubles per euro.

Russia plans to abandon all “compromised” currencies in gas payment settlements, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. He added that illegitimate decisions by a number of Western countries to freeze Russia’s assets destroyed all confidence in their currencies. Therefore “unfriendly countries” will have to pay for Russian gas in rubles, Putin said.

The Russian president instructed the Central Bank and the government to determine within a week the order of operations for the purchase of rubles on the domestic market by buyers of Russian gas. Putin added that Russia will continue to supply gas in accordance with the volumes and according to the pricing principles concluded in the contracts. Only the currency of payment will change.

https://www.rt.com/business/552554-ruble-rockets-gas-currency-switch/

https://www.rt.com/business/552554-ruble-rockets-gas-currency-switch/

Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Pedophile Island’ is set to hit the market for $125M

Jeffrey Epstein’s two private islands — commonly referred to as “Pedophile Island” due to allegations he sexually abused girls as young as age 11 there — is set to list for a whopping $125 million, The Post can confirm.

Located in the US Virgin Islands, and known as Great St. James and Little St. James, the islands have been fairly untouched since Epstein’s death in 2019, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported this listing.

Sources previously told The Post the island was expected to go for sale earlier this year.

According to Epstein’s estate lawyer, Daniel Weiner, proceeds from the sale are expected to go toward resolving any outstanding lawsuits, regular costs of the island’s operations — and other fees including taxes, creditors, and liens placed on the properties by US Virgin Islands Attorney General Denise George.

Weiner did not return a request for comment for this story.

Past victims have described in detail trying to swim off the shore in the shark-infested waters, almost drowning to escape the abuse they faced at the hands of Epstein and his associates.

Epstein purchased Little St. James, which spans over 70 acres, in 1998 for only $7.95 million at the time.

Over the years, Epstein built Little St. James, which he referred to as “Little St. Jeff’s,” to include a villa with a library, a Japanese bathhouse and a movie theater.

Initially the island had the main house, three guest cottages, a caretaker’s cottage, a private desalination system for potable water, a helipad and a dock.

By 2008, Epstein’s estate on Little St. James had about 70 staff.

In 2016, shortly before his arrest, he bought the larger Great St. James islands for $17.5 million. It spans nearly 90 acres.

In 2020, prosecutors claimed that the disgraced financier had brought underage girls to these secluded islands by yacht or his private plane.

Despite the already-hefty price tag, the two islands are estimated to be worth a combined $240 million today.

https://nypost.com/2022/03/23/jeffrey-epsteins-pedophile-island-set-to-hit-market-for-125m/

Media Research Center: NewsGuard Gives Perfect Ratings to Outlets that Spread False Claims About Biden Laptop

NewsGuard gives perfect 100/100 “credibility” ratings to news organizations that helped bury the Hunter Biden “laptop from hell” stories, one of the most consequential stories of the 2020 presidential cycle and beyond, according to a report by the Media Research Center.

The news-rating project, which aims to police the internet by telling users which news sources can be trusted and which ones cannot, continues to give its stamp of approval to news organizations that prioritize politics over newsworthiness.

Via the Media Research Center:

Left-wing news organizations Politico, The Washington Post, Axios and USA Today all maligned the Biden bombshell by the New York Post as possibly part of a 2020 “disinformation” campaign.

The story documented purported emails from Hunter Biden reportedly exposing the alleged corrupt dealings of him and his father in Ukraine. The New York Times finally authenticated the emails the liberal media tried to dismiss for months, but also tied the documents to an ongoing federal investigation.

Despite this, NewsGuard has the outlets rated with perfect 100/100 scores for “credibility.”

As Breitbart News previously reported, NewsGuard co-founder Steve Brill told CNBC in 2020 that he believed that the Biden laptop story was likely a “hoax perpetrated by the Russians.”

Brill has yet to publicly recant that opinion, which was spread throughout the media at the time, and contributed to the discrediting of a factually accurate story about one of the most powerful political families in the United States.

In comments to Breitbart News, NewsGuard general manager Matt Skibinski stressed that his organization does take the severity of factual errors into account when assessing news sites.

“Our criteria for all of our ratings are transparent, and our specific rationale for each site’s rating is explained in detail in our Nutrition Label for each site,” said Skibinski. “Ultimately, readers can view our detailed explanations and judge for themselves whether or not they agree.”

“We do weigh the severity of the false claim published in assessing whether a site repeatedly published false content — for example, we focus on clearly and significantly false claims, not minor factual errors like misspelling a name.”

“Our ratings are based on an overall review of the site’s practices, but we often cite specific examples of high profile controversies or reporting errors in our Nutrition Labels, even if such mistakes are relatively infrequent.”

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2022/03/23/media-research-center-newsguard-gives-perfect-ratings-to-outlets-that-spread-false-claims-about-biden-laptop/

Always Watching: Google’s Messages, Dialer Apps Send User Data to Internet Giant Without Consent

A recent research paper reveals that Google’s Messages and Dialer apps on Android smartphones have been sending user data back to the Masters of the Universe without notice or user consent.

The Register reports that the default Google Messages and Dialer apps for Android devices have been collecting and sending user data to the internet giant without notifying users or gaining their consent. Users have also not been given the opportunity to opt out of the data collection, possibly violating Europe’s data protection laws.

A research paper titled “What Data Do The Google Dialer and Messages Apps On Android Send to Google?” published by Trinity College Dublin computer science professor Douglas Leith states that Message and Dialer, used for sending text messages and making phone calls, have been sending user data to the Google Play Services Clearcut logger service and to the company’s Firebase analytics service.

The paper states: “The data sent by Google Messages includes a hash of the message text, allowing linking of sender and receiver in a message exchange. The data sent by Google Dialer includes the call time and duration, again allowing linking of the two handsets engaged in a phone call. Phone numbers are also sent to Google.”

Messages and Dialer are installed on over one billion Android devices including devices offered by AT&T and T-Mobile on Android phones in the US. In other countries, handsets made by Huawei, Samsung, and Xiaomi also preload their devices with the apps.

Both of the pre-installed apps fail to provide app-specific privacy policies that explain what data gets collected, and when a request is made through Google Takeout for the account data linked to the apps used for testing, Google did not provide any of the telemetry data observed by researchers.

Google Messages takes message content and generates a SHA256 hash which is created by an algorithm that maps the readable content and transforms it into an alphanumeric digest. A portion of the has is then transmitted to Google’s Clearcut logger and Firebase Analytics. In theory, some believe that shorter messages may be able to be recovered by reverse-engineering the hash sent to Google.

Professor Leith told The Register: “I’m told by colleagues that yes, in principle this is likely to be possible. The hash includes a hourly timestamp, so it would involve generating hashes for all combinations of timestamps and target messages and comparing these against the observed hash for a match – feasible I think for short messages given modern computing power.”

https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/21/google_messages_gdpr/

Thought Police: Germany Conducts Mass Raids over Online ‘Insults’ Against Politicians

Federal police in Germany have conducted mass raids across 13 states on Tuesday over online ‘insults’ levied against politicians.

A large number of apartments and houses were raided in Germany on Tuesday as Federal police in the country look to prosecute those who made allegedly hateful remarks against elected officials online.

In total, federal authorities have said that they have checked over 600 statements for so-called “criminal content”, with 100 people being “searched and questioned” across 13 different German states.

According to a report by Der Spiegel, a significant number of raids have also been conducted, with the houses and apartments of those suspected of posting illegal online messages being searched by law enforcement for incriminating evidence.

A press release by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office claimed that Tuesday’s so-called “joint day of action” was sparked by posts targeting politicians around the 2021 Federal elections, with elected officials in Germany having special legal privileges making it illegal for their constituents to level certain insults against them.

“The basis for these investigations is Section 188 of the Criminal Code (StGB), which was revised in spring 2021 and makes insults, slander and defamation of people in political life particularly punishable,” the Federal Criminal Police Office statement reads.

“Public officials and elected representatives are given special criminal protection under [Section]188 StGB , regardless of the political level, against hate postings,” it continues.

The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, also commented on the hardline enforcement of Germany’s speech laws, threatening those in the country who would dare insult politicians that they will meet the same fate.

“With the day of action, we are making it clear: Anyone who posts hate messages must expect the police to be at the door afterwards,” Münch said, also noting that his force has been “pursuing criminal content on the Internet even more intensively since February of this year”.

Another official, Hessian Attorney General Torsten Kunze, also commented on the German speech crackdown, claiming that it was somehow a necessary measure to protect democracy, though the official did not cite any evidence for this claim.

“This day of action illustrates the extent to which public officials and elected representatives are insulted, slandered and threatened on the Internet,” he said. “In order to prevent the withdrawal of those affected from reaching a level that endangers democracy, we are prosecuting these crimes consistently and in close cooperation with the public prosecutors of the other federal states.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/03/23/thought-police-germany-conducts-mass-raids-over-online-insults-against-politicians/

PHOTOS: Overflow Detention Centers in Texas Pack Migrants Shoulder-to-Shoulder

A source within the Department of Homeland Security warns that nearly every federally-operated migrant detention facility faces overcrowding issues. More than 14,000 are currently detained, yet less than 5,000 are fully processed into DHS accounting systems.

The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, explains that more than 6,600 migrants were apprehended on Monday alone. The figure does not include what the source calls “ghost aliens,” which are unprocessed migrants kept in outdoor settings.

The source says the situation is untenable but believes there will be no relief for the agents — most of whom are removed from routine field patrols. They explained that it is common to see one agent guarding a soft-sided cell with more than 400 migrants – an unacceptable ratio in any conventional state or federal prison.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/2022/03/23/exclusive-photos-overflow-detention-centers-in-texas-pack-migrants-shoulder-to-shoulder/

Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos pushing for a new lab-grown meat industry that harvests the blood of unborn cow fetuses

Some of the world’s wealthiest investors are putting their money into a new, lab-grown meat industry. This lab-grown meat is made from animal stem cells that are cultured and replicated in vitro. The cultured meat product is being touted as a solution to “climate change” because it reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from ranches, small farms and factory farms.

Investors and advertisers are calling this cultured protein a “clean meat product” because no animals are killed to produce it. However, this meat is not entirely “slaughter-free.” In fact, the animal cells are mass produced using fetal bovine serum (the blood of unborn cow fetuses).

The mother cows and their newborns must be slaughtered to collect the secret ingredient needed to mass produce lab grown meat. Due to its unique ratio of hormones, fetal bovine serum is currently the most efficient way to culture the animal cells. This is the same fetal bovine serum that has been used to mass produce cells for vaccine manufacture since the 1950s.

Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Hollywood A-listers clamoring to control food supply

Lock-down-loving elites like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are clamoring to control the food supply and dictate the type of meat people are allowed to eat. Gates is buying up farmland across the United States and pushing for genetically engineered crops, geo-engineering of the weather and climate and digital surveillance and vaccine compliance systems. Now, Gates and Bezos are trying to prop up an entire industry of “cultured meat.” This industry is being funded under the guise of “sustainability,” “social responsibility” and as a solution to combat global warming and overpopulation. Instead of investing in small farms and promoting biodiversity and permaculture, world elites are trying to establish a centralized form of meat production and distribution – mass producing fake meats that are artificially replicated in a lab.

Hollywood A-listers such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey, Jr. and Ashton Kutcher are getting on the bandwagon and investing in this “cultured meat.” Kutcher said these methods support the “industrial-scale production of cultured meat, a key for a more sustainable and clean meat production.” He is investing in an Israeli cultured meat startup named MeaTech. Billionaire investor, Richard Branson, is investing in Memphis Meats, a company that produces meat from animal stem cells. Branson said: “I think that in the future clean and plant-based meat will become the norm, and in 30 years it is unlikely animals will need to be killed for food anymore.”

Will humans be able to assimilate nutrients from this fake meat product?

https://www.cracknewz.com/2022/03/bill-gates-jeff-bezos-pushing-for-new.html

Did the (corrupt?) FBI just deliver a midterm “miracle” to Dems by hiding crime rates? Looks that way.

WASHINGTON, DC- Never underestimate the FBI’s ability to try to swing elections.

We saw that in 2016 when FBI assets launched the investigation into the Trump campaign called “Crossfire Hurricane,” which turned into nothing more than an elaborate hoax to initially derail Trump’s presidential campaign, and then dog the first three years of his administration.

Then there is the preliminary shot at undermining any plans Trump might have to run in 2024, with the FBI employing a number of embedded assets at the US Capitol on January 6 to help trump up (no pun intended) the so-called “greatest insurrection in world history!!!”

House Democrats and a couple of RINOs are of course trying to pin that on the former president in order to derail any inclinations he may have about 2024.

Now, with soaring crime rates dogging Democrats going into the 2022 mid-term elections, they can once again apparently count on the FBI to give them some assistance. And for those of us who have worked in law enforcement, this one is a doozy.

According to Steven Hayward writing in PowerLine Blog, the FBI has apparently come upon a magical solution to the crime problem that is haunting Democrats, a problem which they themselves created.

This was done in part by dismissing violent riots committed primarily by their base back in 2020, and secondly by taking George Soros blood money to elect district attorneys across the land who have turned our courtrooms into revolving doors of violent scumbags out on the streets before the ink is dry on their arrest reports.

Face it, the Democrats are going to need a miracle to keep their majorities in Congress this coming November. But as Hans Gruber said in Die Hard, if you’re looking for a miracle, you can always count on the FBI.

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/did-the-corrupt-fbi-just-deliver-a-midterm-miracle-to-dems-by-hiding-crime-rates-looks-that-way/

Health Department Leader Who Oversaw Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution Suddenly Dies At 36

wfpl.org/louisville-covid-19-response-leader-dr-sarahbeth-hartlage-dies/

Pfizer Offers Millions in Bribes To Buy the Silence of Outspoken Doctors

Dr. Paul Alexander: " Pfizer offered me $1 million, $50,000 month wage to stop writing and hammering them and Bourla. I said NO"

When the intimidation and ”cancelling” do not work, they are offering Millions in bribes.

In a recent substack post Dr. Paul Alexander, an outspoken critic of mRNA death jabs tells the story of Pfizer offering him a Million dollars plus 50K monthly wage to stop exposing Pfizer’s “safe and effective” poison and calling out Pfazers CEO Albert Bourla:

“ Yes, this happened. That I would not call out Bourla again.

… These vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna et al are criminal, for because they were non-sterilizing, and they knew it like how Pfizer knew there were 1,223 deaths that they and FDA hid from the public (see recent tranche of released documents, and 1290 special adverse effects etc., all hidden and they hoped for 55 or 75 years) it would have only driven infectious variants and more likely more virulent, more lethal ones.”

https://lionessofjudah.substack.com/p/pfizer-offers-millions-in-bribes?s=w

Aussie Independent Journalist Gives It To A Current Affair

New Hampshire bill allows pharmacists to dispense ivermectin WITHOUT the need for a prescription

New Hampshire could permit pharmacists in the state to dispense ivermectin without the need for a doctor’s prescription. The move allows ivermectin, widely discredited by the medical establishment, to be used by patients infected with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

A new bill by the New Hampshire House of Representatives seeks to make this possible. The Republican-sponsored House Bill (HB) 1022, which aims to make ivermectin available over the counter (OTC), passed last March 16 in a 183-159 vote. Following its passing in the lower chamber, HB 1022 was sent to the New Hampshire Senate for review.

In a January 2022 legislative hearing, GOP State Rep. Jim Kofalt noted ivermectin’s good safety profile and the fact that it is available as an OTC drug in 79 countries. Meanwhile, GOP State Rep. Leah Cushman pointed out that making ivermectin easier to obtain through pharmacies is “safer than having to go to the farm store.”

“We still have patients who don’t know how to find the doctors who will write prescriptions for ivermectin,” said Cushman, who is also a nurse.

On the other hand, Democratic Rep. Gary Woods voiced out his disagreement with the proposal. “I don’t think the [New Hampshire] legislature should be practicing medicine, which is basically what this is,” said the retired doctor and former president of the New Hampshire Medical Society.

An article about HB 1022 by the Portsmouth Herald proceeded to paint ivermectin in a negative light. “During the pandemic, vaccine skeptics and anti-vaccine activists have latched onto ivermectin – though it has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19, nor is there evidence to support that it can treat the virus,” wrote Josh Rogers of New Hampshire Public Radio.

He added: “Supporters of [HB 1022] said granting broad access to ivermectin, which is available OTC in some countries and also used in veterinary medicine, will allow individuals to make medical choices denied to them by the medical establishment.”

New Hampshire’s move follows Nebraska guidance on ivermectin

HB 1022 followed a legal opinion issued by Nebraska Attorney General (AG) Doug Peterson in October 2021. The Cornhusker State’s top attorney remarked then that he will not punish doctors who prescribe ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as off-label medicines to treat COVID-19.

In a legal opinion published Oct. 14, 2021, Peterson said: “The available data does not justify filing disciplinary actions against physicians simply because they prescribe ivermectin or HCQ to prevent or treat COVID-19. Allowing physicians to consider these early treatments will free them to evaluate additional tools that could save lives, keep patients out of the hospital and provide relief for our already-strained health care system.”

The top attorney’s opinion came as a response to Dannette Smith, the chief executive officer of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. She asked whether it was “deemed unlawful, or otherwise subject to discipline” for doctors to prescribe off-label medications such as ivermectin and HCQ for COVID-19, to which Peterson answered in the negative.

Despite this, the Nebraska AG pointed out that health care providers may still be subjected to disciplinary action if they “neglect to obtain informed consent, deceive their patients, prescribe excessively high doses, fail to check for contraindications or engage in other misconduct.”

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Louis Safranek welcomed Peterson’s guidance. The physician has helped countless COVID-19 patients toward recovery with the use of ivermectin. “I’m happy to have the AG’s backing in my attempts to use the drug for the benefit of my COVID-19 patients,” he said.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based doctor added: “I haven’t focused on the legality of it. I focused on the possible benefits that [ivermectin] might have for my patients, many of whom are quite ill with COVID-19. I’ve been comfortable using it for patients. I think it’s helped, and I’ve had basically no reports of any side effects with it.”

https://www.cracknewz.com/2022/03/new-hampshire-bill-allows-pharmacists.html

Clearview AI Fined for Illegally Monitoring and Processing Biometric Data of Italian Citizens

On 9 March 2022, the Italian Data Protection Authority (DPA) fined the US-based company Clearview AI EUR 20 million after finding that the company monitored and processed biometric data of individuals on Italian territory without a legal basis.

The company reportedly owns a database including over 10 billion facial images which are scraped from public web sources such as websites, social media, online videos. It offers a sophisticated search service that creates profiles on the basis of the biometric data extracted from the image.

The fine is the highest expected according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and it was motivated by a complaint sent by the Hermes Centre in May 2021 in a joint action with EDRi members Privacy International, noyb, and Homo Digitalis—in addition to complaints sent by some individuals and to a series of investigations launched in the wake of the 2020 revelations of Clearview AI business practices.

In addition to the fine, the Italian DPA ordered the company to delete personal and biometric data relating to individuals from Italy, to stop any further processing of data belonging to Italian people, and to designate a representative in the EU. Pictures were analysed by the facial recognition algorithm created by Clearview AI to build up a gigantic database of biometric data and access to the same database was sold to law enforcement agencies. The company also extracts any associated metadata from the image: title of the image or webpage, geolocation, date of birth, source link, nationality, gender.

According to the Italian DPA, biometric and personal data were processed unlawfully without an appropriate legal basis, the company failed to adequately inform people of how their images were collected and analysed, and processed people’s data for purposes other than those for which they had been made available online. In fact, a line of argument of Clearview AI was to equate themself to Google Search for faces. However, the DPA stated that, by selling access to a database and a proprietary face matching algorithm intended for certain categories of customers, “Clearview has specific characteristics that differentiate it from a common search engine that does not process or enrich images on the web […] creates a database of image snapshots that are stored as present at the time of collection and not updated.”

In addition, the DPA highlights that “the company’s legitimate interest in free economic initiative cannot but be subordinate to the rights and freedoms of the persons concerned.”

At the moment Clearview has 30 days to communicate to the Italian DPA what measures they are adopting and up to 60 days to either pay the fine or appeal to a court.

This decision is an other step in the right direction to ban all sorts of biometric surveillance practices that, as higlighted by EDRi-led campaign Reclaim Your Face, have a huge impact on fundamental human rights.

https://truthunmuted.org/clearview-ai-fined-for-illegally-monitoring-and-processing-biometric-data-of-italian-citizens/

South Africa: probe launched into SA citizens fighting in Israel Defence Forces

A probe was launched in Cape Town this morning to look into South African citizens enlisting in the Israel Defence Forces. The South African Zionist Terrorism Corridor Probe is a "comprehensive criminal docket" based upon "sustainable and irrefutable evidence" which has been submitted to the South African Police Services and the National Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Cape Town and the Media Review Network are the main group sponsors of the initiative. The complaint, they explain, is a request for a criminal investigation by the authorities based on the suspects' alleged violation of South African laws including the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act and the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act.

"South Africa must meet its international obligations in terms of universal jurisdiction, international law/international human rights law and through its ratification of the Rome Statute and domestic laws which harmonise with our responsibilities in holding to account perpetrators of the most egregious crimes committed with impunity," explained the complainants in the submission to the South African authorities.

The state of Israel, they point out, is widely recognised as a settler colonial state practising the crime of apartheid. This has been confirmed by major human rights organisations B'Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

"Apartheid," said International Human Rights Attorney Ziyaad Ebrahim Patel, who is advising the complainants, "constitutes a crime against humanity." South Africans, he reminded journalists this morning, know all about apartheid and the need to end it wherever it may exist.

The complainants not only focus on the breach of South African laws by local citizens enlisting in the IDF, but also their complicity in breaches of international law and crimes against humanity, as well as war crimes. "At least 13 South African nationals and/or citizens have, by their own admission, incriminated themselves in having served in the Israel Defence Forces prior to and/or during the wars perpetrated by the IDF in Gaza 2008/9, the 2010 attack on the Freedom Flotilla taking humanitarian aid to Gaza, and Israel's 2012, 2014 and 2021 military offensives against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

Such "mercenaries and lone soldiers" recruited by the IDF, the complainants add, are part of the broader organised Israeli military structure perpetrating wide scale "state terrorism" against the Palestinian people.

The complaint and submission to the South African authorities lists the thirteen people accused of breaking the law by serving in the IDF, as well as four pro-Israel organisations in South Africa, and another individual accused of aiding and abetting them.

"The IDF recruits around the world and gets away with it," added Patel. "This impunity must end."

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220323-south-africa-probe-launched-into-sa-citizens-fighting-in-israel-defence-forces/

Putin orders to supply gas to unfriendly countries for rubles only

Russia will continue supplying gas to other countries in accordance with volumes and prices stipulated in earlier concluded contracts, the head of state stressed

Russia will refuse to accept payment for natural gas supplies in ‘compromised’ currencies, including the dollar and the euro, and will move to payments in rubles, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at the meeting with the Cabinet.

"I made the decision to implement within the shortest possible time the package of measures to transfer payments - we will start with that - for our natural gas supplied to the so-called ‘unfriendly’ states to Russian rubles," the President said.

Russia will continue supplying gas to other countries in accordance with volumes and prices stipulated in earlier concluded contracts, Putin noted.

"I would like to stress separately that Russia will definitely continue supplying natural gas in accordance with volumes and prices, pricing principles set in earlier concluded contracts," the head of state added.

Foreign consumers should have an opportunity to make required transactions after conversion of gas settlements with unfriendly countries to rubles, the Russian leader said.

"I ask the government to give an appropriate directive to Gazprom on making changes to effective contracts. At the same time, all foreign consumers must be provided with the opportunity to perform required transactions," Putin said.

https://tass.com/economy/1426397

US determines Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said the Biden administration has determined Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.

"Our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources. As with any alleged crime, a court of law with jurisdiction over the crime is ultimately responsible for determining criminal guilt in specific cases," Blinken said in a statement.

"The U.S. government will continue to track reports of war crimes and will share information we gather with allies, partners, and international institutions and organizations, as appropriate. We are committed to pursuing accountability using every tool available, including criminal prosecutions," Blinken added.

The formal assessment comes a week after President Biden said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, something Blinken echoed based on reports on the ground of attacks on civilians.

In Wednesday's announcement, Blinken pointed to "numerous credible reports of indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians, as well as other atrocities."

"Russia’s forces have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers, and ambulances, leaving thousands of innocent civilians killed or wounded," Blinken said. "Many of the sites Russia’s forces have hit have been clearly identifiable as in-use by civilians."

News reports in recent days have detailed strikes on a maternity hospital in the city of Mariupol, as well as a theater where civilians were sheltering. Officials have determined that more than 2,400 civilians have been killed in Mariupol alone as of Tuesday, Blinken said, and the United Nations has confirmed more than 2,500 other civilian casualties outside of Mariupol.

To officially affix the “war crimes” label to a country’s actions involves a vigorous, often decades-long legal process. International investigators are already looking into Russia’s conduct during its invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. assessment is likely to further ratchet up pressure to isolate Moscow from the international community and could further galvanize support for Ukraine.

Officials have warned the attacks on Ukraine could worsen, with Biden, Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and others raising the possibility of Russia deploying chemical weapons.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/599419-us-determines-russia-has-committed-war-crimes-in-ukraine

‘Killed in a fire’: Zelensky gives new details about his family’s Holocaust history

Ukrainian president tells CNN Nazis killed his great-grandparents by burning down their village; does not refer to them as Jewish, in line with Soviet narratives about the war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s great-grandparents died when the Nazis burned their village, he said in an interview on CNN Monday.

Speaking through a translator with Fareed Zakaria, Zelensky said, as he has many times before, that his grandfather and his grandfather’s brothers all enlisted in the Soviet Red Army, and only his grandfather survived.

He also offered details about what happened to his grandfather’s parents that have not previously been reported in English.

“His father and his mother were killed in a terrible fire. The Nazis set ablaze the entire village where they lived and where my grandfather was born,” he said.

Zelensky did not name the village, but massacres by fire were part of the Nazi army’s playbook in Ukrainian territory and elsewhere.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/killed-in-a-fire-zelensky-gives-new-details-about-his-familys-holocaust-history/

Israel blocked sale of Pegasus spyware to Ukraine, Estonia - NYT

Israel refused to sell Pegasus to Ukraine and Estonia so as not to cause harm to Israeli-Ukrainian relations.

Israel rejected purchase request for NSO's Pegasus spyware from Ukraine and Estonia out of concern for Israeli-Russian relations, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Ukraine and Estonia both requested to buy the spyware in order to gain access to Russian phones because of tensions with Russia in the past years.

The Defense Ministry sold the spyware to many foreign governments so they could be used for domestic repression, but it decided to reject the requests made from Ukraine and Estonia.

Ukraine has been trying to buy Pegasus for years since the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, but Israel put a sales embargo on the spyware to Ukraine, according to the report.

In the case of Estonia, according to the Times report, Estonia was in the process of purchasing Pegasus, but a senior Russian defense official contacted Israeli officials and told them that Estonia had used the spyware on his phone. Israel then blocked Estonia from using the system.

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-702110

Biden Donor Awarded White House Post, Millions in Fed Contracts

One of President Joe Biden's top donors and "closest friends" has scored millions of dollars in federal contracts and a prestigious job in the White House, according to a Washington Free Beacon review of government records.

Biden in September of last year placed close confidant Joe Kiani, the founder and CEO of the medical technology company Masimo Corporation, on the influential President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Kiani's company, which manufactures various medical devices, has received almost $3 million in federal government contracts since Biden took office in 2021. Its contracts include funding from the Department of Defense and Department of Health and Human Services.

The council, according to its website, "advises the president on matters involving science, technology, education, and innovation policy" and "provides the president with scientific and technical information that is needed to inform public policy."

The new post and contracts were awarded just a few years after Kiani emerged as one of Biden's biggest benefactors. In 2017, the Masimo Foundation donated at least $1 million to the Biden Foundation, on top of up to $500,000 from Kiani and his wife, according to donations that were disclosed by the foundation. During the 2020 campaign, Kiani bundled more than $1 million for Biden and hosted in-person and virtual fundraisers for him. Kiani also gave $750,000 to the pro-Biden super PAC Unite the Country, and his foundation gave another $1 million for Biden's inaugural committee.

The Biden-Kiani relationship dates back years, and the president has not attempted to shield the friendship. At a 2018 conference sponsored by an organization Kiani funds, Biden referred to the businessman as "one of my closest friends." In 2015, then-vice president Biden delivered the keynote address at Kiani's Patient Safety, Science, and Technology Summit.

Kiani's post has raised the eyebrows of one member of the House Oversight Committee, who told the Free Beacon he plans to look into the potential "cronyism."

"Cronyism in any form is wrong," said Rep. Ralph Norman (R., S.C.), who serves on the House Oversight Committee. "For someone who has spent almost 40 years in Washington, you'd think President Biden of all people would know that.

"Yet here we are, another campaign donor receiving a post in the administration, this time on the prestigious President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. It's important to get to the bottom of this, and I'm happy to help lead that charge."

The post and lucrative contracts to Kiani's company after his massive donations to the president further undermine claims from the Biden administration that it has the highest ethical standards of any White House in history.

Both the Obama and Trump administrations awarded Masimo with contracts totaling in the millions, according to government spending disclosures. Masimo, however, is currently on track to surpass the amount of contracts under previous administrations.

Neither the White House nor Masimo responded to a request for comment.

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-donor-awarded-white-house-job-fed-contracts/

Defense Giants Quietly Making Billions on Ukraine War

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been widely condemned for its unjustified aggression. There are legitimate fears of a revived Russian empire and even a new world war. Less discussed is the almost half-trillion dollar defense industry supplying the weapons to both sides, and the substantial profits it will make as a result.

The conflict has already seen massive growth in defense spending. The EU announced it would buy and deliver 450 million euros of arms to Ukraine, while the US has pledged US$350 million in military aid in addition to the over 90 tons of military supplies and $650 million in the past year alone.

Put together, this has seen the US and NATO sending 17,000 anti-tank weapons and 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, for instance. An international coalition of nations is also willingly arming the Ukrainian resistance, including the UK, Australia, Turkey and Canada.

This is a major boon for the world’s largest defence contractors. To give just a couple of examples, Raytheon makes the Stinger missiles, and jointly with Lockheed Martin makes the Javelin anti-tank missiles being supplied by the likes of the US and Estonia.

Both US groups, Lockheed and Raytheon shares are up by around 16% and 3% respectively since the invasion, against a 1% drop in the S&P 500, as you can see in the chart below.

BAE Systems, the largest player in the UK and Europe, is up 26%. Of the world’s top five contractors by revenue, only Boeing has dropped, due to its exposure to airlines among other reasons.

Opportunity knocks

Ahead of the conflict, top western arms companies were briefing investors about a likely boost to their profits. Gregory J Hayes, the chief executive of US defense giant Raytheon, stated on a January 25 earnings call:

We just have to look to last week where we saw the drone attack in the UAE … And of course, the tensions in eastern Europe, the tensions in the South China Sea, all of those things are putting pressure on some of the defence spending over there. So I fully expect we’re going to see some benefit from it.

Even at that time, the global defense industry had been forecast to rise 7% in 2022. The biggest risk to investors, as explained by Richard Aboulafia, managing director of US defense consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, is that “the whole thing is revealed to be a Russian house of cards and the threat dissipates.”

With no signs of that happening, defense companies are benefiting in several ways. As well as directly selling arms to the warring sides and supplying other countries that are donating arms to Ukraine, they are going to see extra demand from nations such as Germany and Denmark who have said they will raise their defense spending.

The overall industry is global in scope. The US is easily the world leader, with 37% of all arms sales from 2016-20. Next comes Russia with 20%, followed by France (8%), Germany (6%) and China (5%).

https://southfront.org/defense-giants-quietly-making-billions-on-ukraine-war/

Spanish Police Arrest 48 in Document Forgery Case

Spanish police arrested dozens of people suspected of having taken part in a document forging scheme that enabled immigrants to obtain residence permits through family reunification.

Of the 48 detained, 15 are suspected of belonging to an organized crime group while 33 are believed to have been customers, a press release from the Spanish National Police said.

The forged documents - payrolls, registration and housing reports - are part of the government’s requirements to obtain residence permits with the purpose of family reunification.

The gang operated out of two cities approximately five hours apart. In Zaragoza, the alleged criminal group processed and forged documents and in Murcia, they recruited potential customers. The average cost per document processed was around 4,000 euros (US$4,413).

Officers seized during the operation multiple forged documents, two government stamps, four sets of computer equipment, three tablets, 13 cell phones, one printer, numerous storage devices, and two vehicles.

The criminal group is believed to have netted 200,000 euros ($221,000) in profits from their operations.

The charges for the arrested suspects include belonging to a criminal organization, false documentation, favoring irregular immigration, and four individuals were charged with electric power fraud.

The criminal organization was also involved in electricity fraud. According to authorities, they violated several electrical fluid systems in Zaragoza by impersonating an electrical company staff to access meter rooms and manipulate the electrical systems for nearly three weeks at a time.

Officers also seized wiring, ammeters, security seals, and electric company employee cards.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/16107-spanish-police-arrest-48-in-document-forgery-case

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/16107-spanish-police-arrest-48-in-document-forgery-case

Wisconsin Speaker Robin Vos Reportedly Considering Abandoning Subpoenas Against Corrupt Mayors in State

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he may abandon subpoenas he’s issued to officials who won’t comply with the legal orders.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he may abandon subpoenas he’s issued since last fall to officials. Orchidpass reports:

“Assembly Speak Robin Vos said Tuesday he may abandon subpoenas he’s issued since the last fall to election officials, mayors and others as part of a partisan review of the 2020 election, ” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. “In a radio interview, the Rochester Republicans said withdrawing the legislative subpoenas could help lead to some officials eventually being prosecuted for crimes. He offered no hint of what crimes they could be charged with and didn’t mention three district attorneys have recently declined to prosecute members of the state Elections Commission.”

The probe is being conducted by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.

Vos explained that state law grants immunity to those under subpoena from the legislature.

“I am seriously considering pulling back the subpoenas because it makes no sense to give people immunity now that we see there is so much that has been found that a Republican attorney general could later prosecute,” Vos said, even though the state currently has a Democratic Party attorney general.

This comes after former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman reported on numerous election issues, enough to recommend decertifying the election.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/wisconsin-speaker-robin-vos-reportedly-considering-abandoning-subpoenas-corrupt-mayors-state/