Iran declares Hormuz ‘completely open’ to all commercial vessels

Tehran has announced the complete reopening of the waterway for the entire duration of the ceasefire in Lebanon

Passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is now completely open, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi declared on Friday. He added that the waterway will remain open for the remainder of the ceasefire in Lebanon.

Araghchi’s announcement came shortly after a 10-day truce came into force between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, which has been one of the major obstacles to a peace deal between Iran and the US.

Writing on X, the Iranian minister stated that “in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire.”

He noted however, that the vessels would be allowed to move along the “coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran,” suggesting that the strait will remain under Tehran’s control.

US President Donald Trump has responded to Araghchi’s announcement on his Truth Social account, appearing to thank Tehran for fully reopening the “strait of Iran.”

The Strait of Hormuz has been shut down ever since the US and Israel launched an unprovoked attack on Iran in late February. The closure has driven up energy prices and rattled the global economy, disrupting one of the world’s most important trade arteries, which handles around 20% of global crude exports.

In the minutes following Araghchi’s announcement, oil prices plummeted by more than 10%, with Crude oil dropping to just over $83 per barrel and Brent coming in at around $88.

https://www.rt.com/news/638564-iran-opens-hormuz-strait/

DOJ Abruptly Removes Lead ‘Career’ Miami Prosecutor Slow-Walking Charges Against John Brennan in Spygate Case

The Justice Department on Friday removed a career federal prosecutor who was slow-walking charges against John Brennan.

Former CIA Director John Brennan is the “target” of the grand jury Russiagate probe in South Florida.

Last July, it was reported that former FBI Director James Comey and John Brennan were under FBI investigation over their involvement in Russiagate.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred Brennan and Comey for prosecution over the summer.

US Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones in the Southern District of Florida is in charge of the investigation.

On Friday, CNN reported that the DOJ abruptly removed the lead ‘career’ Miami prosecutor who was stonewalling and slow-walking charges against Brennan.

“The Justice Department has removed the career Miami federal prosecutor leading the investigation into John Brennan, after she resisted pressure to quickly bring charges against the former CIA director and prominent critic of President Donald Trump, according to people briefed on the matter,” CNN reported.

“Maria Medetis Long on Friday notified attorneys representing people involved in the case that she was no longer handling the investigation, the people familiar with the matter said. She has led the politically sensitive probe for months amid demands from Trump to prosecute Brennan and other critics,” the outlet reported.

CNN reported that career prosecutors in the South Florida office are pushing back and claiming there isn’t a strong enough case to bring charges against Brennan.

“The career prosecutors and investigators handling the case have for months pushed back against demands to quickly bring charges against Brennan, CNN reported, and have signaled to Justice Department officials they don’t believe the case is a strong one. Still, they have continued to work toward possibly bringing it in federal court in Washington, DC,” CNN reported.

Brennan was also separately referred for prosecution by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan.

Chairman Jordan referred Brennan to the DOJ for knowingly making false statements during a May 2023 interview with the House Judiciary Committee.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/breaking-doj-abruptly-removes-lead-career-miami-prosecutor/

House Votes To Extend Surveillance Powers Until April 30

The US House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) - which was notoriously abused so spy on the 2016 Trump campaign, and has been used for "backdoor searches" targeting Americans. Friday's vote - via unanimous consent after a longer five-year reauthorization pushed by Republicns failed to advance - extends Section 702 until April 30.

The short-term measure now moves to the Senate, which faces a looming deadline: the current authorization expires April 20. The vote comes despite a well-documented history of FISA abuses spanning both individualized Title I warrants and the bulk warrantless collection under Section 702, as detailed in multiple Department of Justice Inspector General reports, declassified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) opinions, and congressional oversight findings.

President Donald Trump had urged Republicans to support a clean extension, citing the law’s critical role in national security while personally recounting what he described as "the worst and most illegal abuse of FISA in our Nation’s History.” Trump referenced the FBI’s use of FISA during the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into his 2016 presidential campaign. At the same time, he stressed that the U.S. military "desperately needs” Section 702 to protect troops and diplomats, particularly amid ongoing operations against Iran’s nuclear program.

"With the ongoing successful Military activities against the Terrorist Iranian Regime, it is more important than ever that we remain vigilant, PROTECT our Homeland, Troops, and Diplomats stationed abroad,” Trump said. He added that generals he consulted called the authority "VITAL,” especially in the current geopolitical climate.

Heaven forbid he demand reforms and more oversight.

Section 702 permits the government to collect communications of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States without a warrant. However, it inevitably captures "incidental” communications involving American citizens, who can then be searched in the database through so-called "backdoor” queries - often without a warrant or probable cause. Critics on both sides of the aisle have long warned that the program effectively enables warrantless domestic surveillance.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/house-votes-extend-surveillance-powers-until-april-30

Trump anti-Semitism envoy warns EU officials of World Cup bans – media

Israel has been increasingly using accusations of anti-Jewish bigotry against its critics

The US could impose travel restrictions on European officials attending the FIFA World Cup this summer over concerns of rising anti-Semitism, Euractiv has reported.

The idea was raised by Yehuda Kaploun, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi serving as special envoy for combating anti-Semitism under President Donald Trump, the outlet said on Friday.

Kaploun spoke this week at an event organized by the European Jewish Association in Brussels, stating that his office is “holding countries accountable for ministers who are saying things, and they are not being allowed into the country.”

An EU official cited by Euractiv claimed that Kaploun privately linked aniti-Semitism allegations to access for the 2026 World Cup. Asked for clarification, the US official said the administration “can take any step that the secretary of state and the president deem necessary,” while declining to discuss “any nitty gritties.”

https://www.rt.com/news/638567-fifa-cup-travel-ban/

The Neo-Nazi Enforcer Who Helped Build Peter Thiel’s Online Influence Empire

New Epstein-linked revelations show how neo-Nazi operative Andrew Auernheimer became a crucial link between Peter Thiel and the online far-right subcultures waging ‘memetic warfare’ against their enemies

General Michael Flynn, Trump’s former National Security advisor, boasted to the Young America Foundation soon after Trump’s first election victory in 2016, that the President’s campaign had been a quasi-military “insurgency” run by “digital soldiers”.

That same year the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence’s official journal StratCom, published a paper entitled ‘It’s Time to Embrace Memetic Warfare’.

Its author was Jeff Giesea, an investor and political operative, who had run companies on behalf of pro-Trump billionaire Peter Thiel, co-founder of defence surveillance giant Palantir and business partner of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

At the time Giesea defined memetic warfare, a term he coined, as “a subset of information operations or psychological warfare tailored to social media”.

To illustrate its applications, he drew on the expertise of a co-contributor he described as “an annoying gadfly or guerrilla warrior, depending on one’s perspective”: far-right activist and disinformation operator Charles C. Johnson.

The paper proposed methods by which to undermine ISIS: “systematically lure and entrap” recruiters; subvert its messaging via “fake ‘sockpuppet’ accounts” – online personas manufactured to simulate grassroots support or opposition – and “expose and harass people” within its funding network, “including their family members”.

To the editors of the NATO journal, these may have appeared as novel strategic prescriptions. In fact, they had already appeared – in a different context entirely.

In 2011, hackers breached the servers of HBGary Federal, a private US intelligence contractor, and leaked internal documents revealing a proposed operation – developed with involvement from Thiel’s data company Palantir – to deploy near-identical tactics against trade unions, journalists and left-wing activists on American soil.

This reporter was among those who covered the breach at the time, and who first drew public attention to Palantir’s role in it — the beginning of more than a decade tracking the network this piece describes.

The proposal included fabricating fake online personas, planting false information, and running coordinated harassment campaigns to discredit targets. Palantir suspended the employees involved and issued an apology, but the documents had already established that this tactical repertoire existed, was operational, and ran through Thiel’s own firm.

Those tactics had been developed and deployed over years by a loose network of far-right organisations – funded, in part, by figures directly connected to Thiel.

More

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/deep-state/the-neo-nazi-enforcer-who-helped-build-peter-thiels-online-influence-empire

INGERSOLL: Tom Steyer’s New Platform Is Simple. Let’s Start A Civil War

Liberal billionaire, apocalyptic climate extremist, and generally insane person Tom Steyer pitched a civil war earlier this week. It was draped in officialese, but that’s what it was, a pitch for open conflict with Washington.

He posted this five-point plan April 14.

To save you the reading, his first three points boil down to this: Create new laws and new investigations by which we can arrest ICE agents, arrest their leaders, and arrest civilian leadership.

The fourth point is even more insane: Fund and create a legal structure by which we can bring deported people back to California.

And the fifth is utterly insidious: Devise a “know your rights” propaganda campaign that will almost certainly encourage regular citizens into more (violent) confrontations with ICE, thereby inciting the conditions by which points 1-3 can be enacted.

It’s truly devious and the scary part is, now that Swalwell got sniped by his own people, it looks significantly more likely to occur.

(Republican Steve Hilton still leads Steyer in the polls, but Steyer is surging.)

For now, the other candidates in the race are hesitant to endorse this (bonkers) plan of Steyer’s. If we were to play this scenario out – Steyer gets elected and rapidly manages to install this playbook – it almost certainly ends with varying levels of bloodshed.

First, citizens start taking Steyer’s advice, as outlined in his fraudulent “know your rights” campaign. As we already know, these campaigns exist to some extent already and have caused countless (violent) idiots and screeching Karens to do things like follow, impede and make bizarre demands of ICE agents in the field.

Steyer wants more Alex Prettis and Renée Goods. Once he gets a few of those, he’ll go for the first three parts and start arresting ICE agents.

Now, we’ve seen this boast before, but mostly from goofy city prosecutors (who routinely forget to prosecute actual violent criminals). A governor is a different story though.

So Steyer starts arresting ICE agents and DHS officials. What happens next?

Simple: He does what Washington did. Faced with the whiskey rebellion in western Pennsylvania, in which tax collectors were getting bludgeoned and their homes burned down, George mobilized 13,000 national guard troops.

He marched them in and the rebellion disintegrated.

This scenario is somewhat different, however.

So Trump attempts to mobilize the national guard. Probably in California first, but also in surrounding states.

https://dailycaller.com/2026/04/17/tom-steyer-platform-five-points-plan-civil-war-ice-resistance-renee-good-pretti/

https://www.antiwar.com/

Shot in the head and chest: Investigating the killings of children in Gaza

https://youtu.be/orR7H8GnhCY

These 100 former US lawmakers have become foreign lobbyists

Many of them use their access to Washington to work for authoritarian states that want to influence our foreign policy

The top destinations include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Libya, Qatar, Russia, and China. Eighty-five percent of the members of Congress who have registered as foreign agents have worked for governments rated “not free” or “partially free” by Freedom House. Of the top ten foreign patrons, only South Korea and Taiwan are rated as free.

Craig Holman, Government Affairs Lobbyist at Public Citizen, explained that authoritarian governments invest more in lobbying because they have a “greater tendency to be at odds with the interests of the United States.”

The chart below traces notable clients of the most prolific lawmakers-turned-lobbyists. Many of these former members of Congress sat on committees that oversee national security, including retired Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Ed Royce (R-Calif.), who both chaired the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/revolving-door-congress/

The American people have been SOLD OUT for EPSTEIN!

https://twitter.com/i/status/2044849787623686405

New Probe Into Weiner Laptop After Investigators Who Viewed Secret ‘Frazzle Drip’ Files Died

The notorious laptop of disgraced former Democrat lawmaker Anthony Weiner is to be reexamined, following explosive revelations tied to the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is moving to reopen the investigation into Weiner’s laptop.

Boebert is declaring that new revelations tied to the Jeffrey Epstein files demand immediate action.

The congressman is preparing to gain access to the laptop after disturbing code words emerged in the Epstein files that appear to relate to information in emails and secret documents on the Weiner laptop.

The push is reigniting one of the most controversial unresolved scandals in modern American politics and raising fresh questions about what federal authorities have failed to disclose.

Boebert Pushes for New Warrant

Speaking with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Boebert made it clear she is not backing down.

“I think these Epstein files give us new information to look into the Anthony Weiner laptop,” she said.

Boebert revealed she was previously denied access by the Department of Justice due to the lack of a warrant—but now says that could soon change.

“If there is anything linking the Anthony Weiner laptop to the Epstein files, I will use that to get another search warrant, but I’m getting my hands on this laptop and looking to see what was in it.”

‘Life Insurance’ Folder Back in Focus

Boebert zeroed in on a long-discussed secret file allegedly stored on the laptop.

“I absolutely want to know what was on there, what was the secret folder that was titled ‘Life Insurance’ that had frazzle dot rip?” she said.

“Where people get the ‘frazzle drip’ story from,” the congresswoman added.

“I want to see this video.”

She added:

“If it’s totally fake, if it’s not there, I’ll come out and say it.

“I want to see what people are talking about…

“These things don’t just originate out of nowhere.”

Claims About Investigators Raise Stakes

Boebert also pointed to alarming reports surrounding individuals who had previously examined the laptop.

She noted that several investigators who viewed the files had since died.

“It’s been said that FBI agents who went and viewed this laptop, many of them are not alive anymore,” she said.

“Apparently, it’s been said that many have committed suicide, that it was so disturbing.”

https://rumble.com/embed/v76ehty/?pub=4

https://slaynews.com/news/new-probe-weiner-laptop-investigators-viewed-secret-frazzle-drip-files-died/

Politicians are Defying the People Still in The Pocket of Israel

https://youtu.be/olIRfMvJdbE

Ben Shapiro, who is always lecturing people about "moral clarity," is now doing gambling ads on his show.

He doesn't disclose this is an ad during this segment, but in the video description he lists Kalshi as a "sponsor" and includes his own affiliate link to sign up and gamble.

https://x.com/i/status/2045123334518473164

Former Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Nasdaq-Listed Company Charged With Operating a Continuing Financial Crimes Enterprise in Multi-Year Scheme to Defraud Investors and Lenders

Defendants Falsely Inflated iLearningEngines’ Revenue by Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Through Sham Contracts with Entities They Controlled with Other iLearning Employees, Friends and Family Members

Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, a ten-count indictment was unsealed charging Puthugramam “Harish” Chidambaran, the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of iLearningEngines, Inc. (iLearning), and Sayyed Farhan Ali “Farhan” Naqvi, iLearning’s former Chief Financial Officer, with running a continuing financial crimes enterprise, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud. The charges arise from the defendants’ years-long scheme to defraud retail and institutional investors in iLearning, a technology company that claimed to provide artificial intelligence (AI)-driven business automation solutions, and to obtain financing for iLearning through materially false and misleading statements about the company’s financial performance. Chidambaran was arrested this morning in Potomac, Maryland, and will appear this afternoon in federal court in the District of Maryland. Naqvi was arrested this morning in San Jose, California, and will appear this afternoon in federal court in the Northern District of California. Both defendants will appear in federal court in the Eastern District of New York at a later date.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and James Barnacle, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) announced the charges.

“As alleged, the defendants exploited investor excitement over the AI boom and presented a rosy financial outlook to investors and lenders that was built on lies. While the defendants pitched iLearning as a way to revolutionize training and education through AI, the truly artificial part of the defendants’ story was iLearning’s customers and revenues,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “Our Office is committed to protecting investors and holding accountable corporate executives who undermine the integrity of our financial markets for personal gain.”

As alleged in the indictment, iLearning was a Bethesda, Maryland-based technology company founded in 2010 by Chidambaran. iLearning marketed itself as “an out-of-the-box AI platform that empowers customers to ‘productize’ their institutional knowledge and generate and infuse insights in the flow-of-work to drive mission critical business outcomes.” iLearning claimed to earn revenue primarily by selling licenses for its platforms to customers, and the company reported rapidly growing revenues that reached $421 million in 2023.

In April 2024, iLearning became a publicly traded company. In connection with its going-public transaction, iLearning also obtained $40 million in loan proceeds from the New York City branch of a financial institution. Shortly thereafter, iLearning obtained an additional $20 million in loan proceeds from another New York City branch of a financial institution. Following its going-public transaction, iLearning’s shares began trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “AILE,” and the company quickly achieved a market capitalization of approximately $1.5 billion.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/former-chief-executive-officer-and-chief-financial-officer-nasdaq-listed-company

Leader of Clan Del Golfo, The Colombian Drug Cartel and Terrorist Organization, Charged in Superseding Indictment With Expanded Criminal Conduct and Terrorism Offenses

Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, also known as “Chiquito Malo,” Leads Clan del Golfo, One of the Largest Distributors of Cocaine in the World, and a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization

A fifth superseding indictment was filed yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn against Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, also known as “Chiquito” and “Chiquito Malo,” which added new charges of narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and providing or attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Avila Villadiego was previously charged in multiple superseding indictments with operating a continuing criminal enterprise, international cocaine trafficking, and using firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes, as well as other drug-related crimes, through his continuing leadership of the Clan del Golfo (CDG), one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. The fifth superseding indictment extends the end-dates of the continuing criminal enterprise and multiple conspiracies from October 2021 to April 2026. Avila Villadiego remains at large.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Frank A. Tarentino, III, Associate Chief of Operations, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Northeast Region (DEA); and Michael Alfonso, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI), announced the charges.

“As alleged, Avila Villadiego presides over a vast narcotics empire that floods the United States with cocaine and serves as a financial lifeline for a designated foreign terrorist organization. This prosecution is about more than just seizing drugs; it is about destroying terrorist organizations while simultaneously stopping the flow of deadly drugs and associated violence into the United States,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “For the Clan del Golfo, narcotics trafficking and terrorism are two sides of the same coin of instability. This fifth superseding indictment demonstrates that we will continue to pursue Avila Villadiego until he is brought to justice before the American legal system.”

Mr. Nocella expressed his appreciation to the New York offices of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He also acknowledged the significant assistance provided by the Bogota offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Homeland Security Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as the Justice Department’s National Security Division, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Judicial Attaché Office in Bogotá, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office, and Colombian law enforcement authorities.

“Avila Villadiego allegedly runs a designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for trafficking thousands of kilograms of illicit narcotics into the United States. The FBI and our law enforcement partners on the NY Homeland Security Task Force are determined to defend the nation by stomping out these terrorist groups and holding accountable their leaders, regardless of where they’re hiding,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/leader-clan-del-golfo-colombian-drug-cartel-and-terrorist-organization-charged

Former Cherokee County deputy sheriff sentenced for sexual exploitation of minors

ROME, Ga. – Former Cherokee County Deputy Sheriff Stephen Michael Bunte has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for enticement of a minor and receipt of child sexual abuse material.

“Law enforcement officers take an oath to serve and protect, and Bunte ignored that oath by sexually exploiting children and preying on vulnerable victims overseas,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Predatory conduct will not be tolerated, and those who commit these crimes will be prosecuted and excised from the community.”

“Law enforcement officers are sworn to protect the most vulnerable among us, and the public trusts them to uphold that responsibility,” said Steven N. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama. “Stephen Bunte failed to honor his oath and betrayed that trust by exploiting children instead of protecting them. His actions are reprehensible, and HSI is committed to ensuring that anyone who violates their oath and preys on the innocent is held fully accountable—regardless of their position or title.”

“Working alongside Homeland Security Investigations to keep children in our community and communities around the world safe is always a priority,” said Calhoun Police Department Assistant Chief, Lt. Col. Ken Carson. “It gives detectives with the Calhoun Police Department great satisfaction to assist with this case and have a successful outcome for the child victims involved.”

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: In August 2023, HSI agents conducting an expansive investigation into international child sex trafficking networks in the Philippines identified a child trafficker who offered access to sexually explicit webcam livestreams involving multiple children under the age of 12. The investigation revealed that the target offered customers hands-on access to the children, including the trafficker’s own children.

In March 2024, agents discovered communication between the trafficker and Stephen Michael Bunte. At the time, Bunte lived in Calhoun, Georgia, and was employed as a deputy sheriff for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. Between May 2023 and March 2024, Bunte and the target exchanged over 14,000 messages and 15 phone calls. During these conversations, Bunte received at least 35 images of child sexual abuse material involving three minor victims aged 6, 10, and 14.

On April 16, 2026, Stephen Michael Bunte, 42, of Calhoun, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray, II, to 15 years in federal prison followed by 15 years on supervised release. Bunte was also ordered to register as a sex offender. On November 4, 2025, Bunte pleaded guilty to one count of enticement of a minor and one count of receipt of child sexual abuse material.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/former-cherokee-county-deputy-sheriff-sentenced-sexual-exploitation-minors

>>24510365

They are US and Israel funded and armed!

From Dunks To Drones: The NBA Has an Israel Problem

Many of the National Basketball Association’s biggest stars are quietly allying themselves with the State of Israel, making official visits to the country, meeting IDF troops, and investing in its national security industry. Meanwhile, individuals criticizing Israel and supporting Palestinian liberation have been condemned, threatened, and marginalized.

This has caused widespread consternation and push back from the league’s largely progressive fan base. The NBA, in other words, has an Israel problem.

Drone King

The NBA playoffs start this weekend, with Kevin Durant’s Rockets’ facing LeBron James’ Lakers. Yet both stars have questionable ties to Israel. Durant, for example, is an investor in Skydio, a CIA-funded drone manufacturer that sells surveillance and weaponry exclusively to governments.

Within hours of the October 7, 2023, attack, the company was sending its drones to Israel, where they play an important part in the hi-tech genocide in Gaza. The buzz of Skydio X10 and X10D drones is a near constant sound over Gaza. The drones can be equipped with speakers, spotlights, cameras, or offensive weaponry such as grenades. Israel has used similar drones to play sounds of screaming women and crying babies to lure people to a scene, only to be targeted for assassination.

The U.S. government paid for at least 1000 Skydio drones to be sent to Ukraine to be used in its battle against Russia. Another major funder of the company is In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s investments department.

Durant – known for spending a great deal of his time online – is well aware of his investment, and what these drones are being used for, having directly responded to people bringing the issue up. But he has fastidiously refused to address the criticisms. As one NBA fan wrote, “Kevin Durant is on his phone for 23 hours a day to ratio people with 15 followers on Twitter, but bring up his ties with Israel, and now he’s nowhere to be found.”

LeBron Loves Israel

Durant’s opponent this weekend, LeBron James, presents himself as an activist athlete. An outspoken supporter of racial justice movements, he has used his platform to support liberal causes, such as voter registration and to oppose police killings. Idolizing Muhammad Ali, he also very publicly allowed himself to be photographed at a press conference reading the autobiography of Malcolm X (although he was barely able to answer even basic questions about its content).

Surprisingly, then, the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player has expressed his strong support for Israel, and stayed silent on its assault on its neighbors. In the wake of October 7, James was one of many celebrities to rush out statements of solidarity with Israel and condemnation of Hamas.

“The devastation in Israel is tragic and unacceptable. The murder and violence against innocent people by Hamas is terrorism,” he wrote, sending his “deepest condolences to Israel and the Jewish community,” while suggesting Hamas were a “hate” movement.

In the two-and-a-half years of slaughter that has followed it, however, the word “Palestine” has not passed LeBron’s lips, as the star has stayed silent in the face of the unfolding human rights catastrophe. In fact, this February, he went further, seemingly endorsing Israel and its actions, and expressing a desire to visit the country that has bombed seven neighboring countries in the past 12 months.

“I hope I inspire people over there [Israel] to be better in life. Hopefully someday I can make it over there. I’ve heard nothing but great things,” he said.

https://vtforeignpolicy.com/2026/04/from-dunks-to-drones-the-nba-has-an-israel-problem/

I think the Muslims are trying to buy Congress

>>24510479

Cover up 2 engaged

US singer D4vd arrested over death of girl whose body was found in his car

Singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, has been arrested on suspicion of killing a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in his car.

Celeste Rivas Hernandez's decomposed body was discovered wrapped in a bag in the boot of a Tesla last year.

The car, which appeared to have been abandoned, was registered to the 20-year-old singer from Houston, Texas.

Burke is currently being held without bail, Los Angeles police said in a brief statement.

Police said investigators would present a case to the District Attorney's Office for consideration of charges on Monday.

The alt-pop singer was already under investigation by an LA County grand jury looking into Hernandez's death.

https://www.9news.com.au/world/singer-d4vd-arrested-over-death-of-girl-found-in-his-car/3d7e1978-f7ee-4b1e-ab06-70e104db6810