No EU country will arrest Netanyahu on ICC warrant – Belgian PM

The Israeli leader’s impunity is explained by realpolitik, according to Bart De Wever

No EU country would enforce the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has claimed.

During last week’s visit from the Israeli prime minister, Hungary announced its intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the treaty that grants authority to the ICC. The court, which depends on national jurisdictions to execute arrests, accuses Netanyahu of war crimes in the Gaza conflict.

De Wever, leader of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance and head of a five-party coalition, expressed understanding for Budapest’s defiance during an appearance on VRT’s Terzake program last week, admitting, “We would do that too, to be completely honest.”

“There is also realpolitik. I don’t believe there is any European country willing to arrest Netanyahu if he were on its soil,” he added.

The ICC has criticized Budapest, with spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah stating that “Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate” with the judicial body.

Members of Belgium’s ruling coalition distanced themselves from De Wever’s comments, asserting that he had not consulted with them. Meanwhile, opposition parties criticized the prime minister for stepping onto a “dangerous slippery slope,” in making a call that they believe should be reserved for the judiciary and siding with “dubious European leaders who shamelessly disregard international law.”

Last November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and now-former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for allegedly committing grave atrocities, including using starvation as a method of warfare, in response to a deadly 2023 raid by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Earlier this year, Warsaw offered Netanyahu safety guarantees should he attend the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp by the Red Army. The Israeli prime minister declined to make the trip.

Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz noted last week that he “cannot imagine” arresting Netanyahu should the latter visit his country. The French government has argued that the Israeli prime minister should have diplomatic immunity under the Rome Statute, an opinion that the ICC disputes.

https://www.rt.com/news/615344-netanyahu-arrest-warrant-belgium/

US Companies' Chapter 11 Bankruptcies Jump 20%: Report

More companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March than a year ago, indicating economic stress among U.S. businesses, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).

“Commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings increased 20 percent in March 2025, with filings climbing to 733 from the 611 filings registered in March 2024,” ABI said in an April 3 statement. Small business filings fell 1 percent year over year, while total commercial filings rose 10 percent.

The 20 percent jump in Chapter 11 filings “signals persistent economic pressure, mirrored by a 10 percent increase in total commercial filings,” said Michael Hunter, vice president of bankruptcy data provider Epiq AACER.

Individual filings jumped 13 percent last month. Hunter said credit card delinquencies are close to a 10-year high, with factors such as interest rates and debt burdens contributing to the problem.

Delinquency rates in the Federal Housing Administration mortgage portfolio have risen to 11 percent, “surpassing pre-pandemic levels,” he said.

“Adding to this, government job layoffs threaten to exacerbate financial instability for federal workers reliant on stable income to service debts.”

Last month, ABI executive director Amy Quackenboss said geopolitical tensions, elevated interest rates, tighter lending terms, and inflation were creating more challenges for both businesses and individuals who are financially distressed and looking to ease down rising debt burdens.

“Bankruptcy provides an established process for struggling households and businesses looking to access a financial fresh start,” she said.

One well-known company that filed for bankruptcy last month was OTB Holdings LLC, owner of the On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina chain of Tex-Mex restaurants.

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/us-companies-chapter-11-bankruptcies-jump-20-report

Bibi In Washington: 1st Foreign Leader To Negotiate Removal Of Trump's Tariffs In Person

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday for a visit to the White House, in a stay which is planned through Tuesday. The two leaders are meeting Monday afternoon.

He will be the first foreign leader to meet President Trump in-person in an effort to negotiate a deal to remove Trump's tariffs, which for Israel is a 17% rate, the result of a significant US bilateral trade deficit.

"Upon his arrival in Washington with his wife, Sara Netanyahu, the premier headed from the airport to Blair House in a convoy, where he met with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer," Israeli media wrote.

And Axios noted just ahead of the the trip that Israel tried to "avoid the tariffs Trump imposed on nearly every country in the world by announcing it would preemptively lift all tariffs on U.S. products. It didn't work."

This visit, which is Netanyahu's second to the White House since Trump took office (the first was in early February), was by all accounts rather hastily put together, and also high on the agenda will be the Gaza crisis. Currently there are still 59 hostages still in Hamas and Islamic Jihad captivity - with many feared deceased.

Israel has controversially expanded the war, and now has Rafah surrounded once again and has ordered an evacuation of the civilian population. Hundreds of thousands have fled the southern Gaza city, also as basic necessities of life for the Palestinian population are running out.

Netanyahu’s office has has further indicated that "Israel-Turkey relations, the Iranian threat and confronting the International Criminal Court" will be on the agenda.

Trump may emerge from the meeting declaring that Israel is an example of how his tariff policy is working - that foreign capitals will come scrambling to negotiate.

One interesting aspect to Netanyahu's travels is the impact the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant is having on his itinerary. He's still not able to visit most of the European continent, and last week's Hungary trip was the first, after Budapest declared it would not arrest him or cooperate with the ICC.

Times of Israel pointed out that "The Wing of Zion state plane took a flight path that increased the journey from Budapest to Washington by some 400 kilometers in order to avoid flying over countries seen as likely to enforce the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court should the plane be forced to make an emergency landing."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bibi-washington-first-foreign-leader-negotiate-removal-trumps-tariffs-person

CA Fails Audit Of Federal Programs, 66% Of COVID Unemployment Benefits In Question

California did not materially comply with the requirements for seven of the 22 federal programs the state auditor examined, including “pervasive” noncompliance in its unemployment benefits program, which could put essential federal funding at risk.

“This report concludes that the State did not materially comply with certain requirements for seven of the 22 federal programs or clusters of programs (federal programs) MGO audited, including one program for which the noncompliance was pervasive,” wrote Deputy State Auditor Linus Li.

“Additionally, although MGO concluded that the State materially complied with requirements for the remaining federal programs it audited, the State continues to experience certain deficiencies in its accounting and administrative practices that affect its internal controls over compliance with federal requirements.”

The audit found that even in 2023 — years after the state made $55 billion in fraudulent COVID lockdown-era benefits payments — the state likely made “potentially ineligible payments” of nearly $200 million. The audit also found that of 138 pandemic unemployment assistance claimants that were tested, 91, or 66%, had verification issues.

“While Gavin Newsom chases the national spotlight, Californians are left with an administration that can’t accomplish the basic functions of government,” said California State Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher to The Center Square.

“The federal government is right to take a look at this spending and decide if it’s appropriate to keep throwing resources at an administration that treats it like Monopoly money.”

Last year, the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office said the state’s unemployment fund runs a structural deficit of $2 billion per year, beyond the $20 billion debt and $1 billion in annual interest payments to the federal government. Because the unemployment fund is paid for by payroll taxes on employers and their employees, the LAO said payroll taxes would need to rise from $42 per employee making $46,800 or more per year, to $889.20, or over 21 times higher than the existing base payroll tax.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ca-fails-audit-federal-programs-66-covid-unemployment-benefits-question

Convicted pedophile worked for UK charity helping Ukrainian kids – Telegraph

The “dangerous” volunteer was employed “with few, if any, background checks,” the paper has reported

A convicted pedophile was recruited by a charity helping children in Ukraine during the conflict with Russia due to shortcomings in the organization’s vetting process, The Telegraph has reported.

Siobhan’s Trust, since then renamed as HopeFull, hired the man in early 2023 to take part in its operation to distribute free pizzas to children and their families in the western part of the country “with few, if any, background checks,” the paper said in an article on Saturday.

A 52-year-old male who called himself Jack Morgan was paid £500 ($645) a month by the Scottish charity and made regular visits to orphanages, schools, and camps for those displaced by the fighting. Photographs posted by the charity on social media show him playing with young children, the report said.

According to the paper, suspicions about Morgan arose among his colleagues last summer after he began boasting about joining the Ukrainian Foreign Legion and claiming that he was raising money for military supplies on its behalf.

After searching online, they learned that Morgan was previously called Lee Callaghan, a resident of Newport, Wales who was jailed for two years for possessing category A child abuse images and was issued a ten-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2017. An SHPO bars a person from leaving the UK without notifying the police. At the time, the National Crime Agency described him as “a dangerous man, who wanted to abuse children,” the report read.

The Telegraph said Morgan changed his name to Callaghan following his release from prison and traveled to Ukraine where he was hired by Siobhan’s Trust.

Sources within the charity told the paper that “all hell broke loose” when Morgan’s true identity was exposed.

A spokesman for HopeFull confirmed that “this individual gained his position under an assumed identity and was then dismissed by the charity in February 2024, at which point the charity was unaware of the allegations against him.”

However, he insisted that “as part of the charity’s safety processes, no volunteer is left unsupervised with vulnerable children or adults, and we always operate in teams of at least four people.”

HopeFull previously acknowledged that it does not have the capacity to carry out proper disclosure and barring service criminal record checks on its potential volunteers, instead relying on internet searches.

https://www.rt.com/news/615324-ukraine-charity-pedophile-uk/

Fresh Evidence Emerges That Global Vegetation Growth Reaches New Highs Due to Increased CO2 Fertilisation

Global vegetation reached a new greening peak in 2020, continuing a long-term trend since 2000 according to new dramatic findings published by a team of scientists based in the United States. The work helps confirm other recent scientific work that points to massive global plant growth directly related to recent increases in natural and human-caused carbon dioxide. Plants have evolved to grow in an atmosphere much richer in CO2 than current near-denuded levels, and the recent growth and its myriad benefits for humankind should not be surprising. Needless to say, the news is absent from mainstream headlines since the ‘pollutant’ is temporarily being blamed for climate collapse in the interest of boosting the collectivist Net Zero fantasy.

The latest work on the ‘gas of life’ notes that the greening is linked to continuous growth in boreal and temperate vegetation. The scientists also suggest that the increase has been complemented by a tropical vegetation boost due to higher rainfall. Higher growth in northern regions would also have been helped by slightly warmer temperatures which have marginally increased growing seasons. The climate might be collapsing for ill-informed readers of the Guardian and listeners of the BBC, but nature continues to find ways to thrive. The scientists note that there is a “robust resilience and adaptation” of global vegetation in the face of a changing environment. Using a number of remote sensing devises, the year 2020 is pinpointed as an “historic landmark” since it registered as the greenest year in modern satellite records from 2001 to 2020.

This is not the first time that an acceleration in global greening over the last two decades has been observed. Last year a group of Chinese scientists found that about 55% of global land mass had shown an “accelerated rate” of vegetation growth. The Chinese team that included the Eco-Climatologist Professor Tiexi Chen stated that “global greening is an indisputable fact”. Climate change drought is a favourite fear mongering scare with activists but it was found that any water scarcity trend only slowed global greening, “but was far from triggering browning”.

https://dailysceptic.org/2025/04/07/fresh-evidence-emerges-that-global-vegetation-growth-reaches-new-highs-due-to-increased-co2-fertilisation/

Vanguard emails clients asking them to “resist the urge to deviate from [their] financial plan” as markets fall sharply.

Vanguard is asking clients not to take money out of the market.

How’s that for a sentiment check?

https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1908942096540590336

Palestinians Hold Funeral for 14-Year-Old American Citizen Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank

Two other boys, including another American citzen, were shot and wounded by the Israeli military

On Monday, Palestinians in the West Bank village of Turmus Ayya held a funeral for Omar Mohammad Rabee, a 14-year-old American citizen who was killed by Israeli fire a day earlier.

Lafi Shalabi, the mayor of Turmus Ayya, said Rabee was shot alongside two other boys, including Ayoub Jabara, a 15-year-old who also has American citizenship and is in intensive care. The third boy, 15-year-old Abdulrahman Shihada, was also hospitalized.

According to The Washington Post, Shalabi said the boys were shot by Israeli troops while picking green almonds near a highway.

The Israeli military hasn’t confirmed that it killed an American citizen but claimed it fired on three “terrorists” in the area who were throwing rocks at cars and killed one. Earlier this year, Israeli media reported that the IDF expanded its “open-fire orders” in the West Bank, leading to an uptick in the killing of children in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“Amer was shot by Israeli military officers along with two other 15-year-olds from the village,” the center said. “The ambulance was not allowed to pass the checkpoint for 30 minutes, a denial in medical treatment that ultimately resulted in Amer’s death. Amer’s death was entirely preventable and horrifically unjust. He was a child, a 14-year-old boy, with an entire life ahead of him.”

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/04/07/palestinians-hold-funeral-for-14-year-old-american-citizen-killed-by-israeli-forces-in-west-bank/

White House Says Hamas ‘Entirely Responsible’ for Israeli Execution of Palestinian Medics

The US is still backing Israel over the executions even after a video showed the IDF was lying about the incident

The IDF initially claimed its forces opened fire on vehicles that were advancing “suspiciously” and had no headlights or flashing emergency lights. But a video recorded by one of the executed paramedic’s phone showed the ambulances they were driving had emergency lights on when the IDF opened fire.

“Forgive me, mother. This is the path I chose. To help people,” said Palestinian medic Refaat Radwan moments before he was killed.

The Israeli soldiers tried to cover up the crime by burying the 15 medics and their ambulances in a shallow grave. The IDF has since changed its story, acknowledging the lights were flashing and that they opened fire on unarmed men but claiming six of them were linked to Hamas while offering no evidence.

Despite the clear evidence of a war crime, the US is still backing the IDF’s conduct. “Hamas uses ambulances and more broadly human shields for terrorism,” White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told Reuters. “President Trump understands the impossible situation this tactic creates for Israel and holds Hamas entirely responsible.”

Before the video came out, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce was asked about the executions and also said that Hamas was to blame. “Every single thing that is happening in Gaza is happening because of Hamas. Every single dynamic,” she said.

On Monday, Hamas responded to Hughes’s statement and denied that it uses ambulances for military purposes. Hamas wrote on Telegram that the statement represents “a horrific example of unethical solidarity with the Nazis of our time, in their brutal war against innocent civilians and humanitarian organizations.”

“Hughes’ accusations against Hamas for using ambulances are nothing but lies, lacking any evidence. The US administration, along with the war criminal Netanyahu’s government, is spreading these falsehoods to justify their horrific and documented crime against paramedics and rescue workers,” Hamas added.

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/04/07/white-house-says-hamas-entirely-responsible-for-israeli-execution-of-palestinian-medics/

Christians in Israel face rise in hate crimes

Christians in Israel face an escalation of attacks by religious extremists. Churches have been vandalised and the top official of the Catholic Church in the town where Jesus is believed to have lived has been threatened. Some Church officials blame Israeli schools and politicians for supporting discrimination against the religious minority group. Al Jazeera's Nick Schifrin reports from Nazareth.

https://youtu.be/rkbwUyycop8