Summary

Trump TS claim: Tehran has informed Washington they are in a "state of collapse" and that the Iranians want the US to "open the Hormuz Strait" - as 'tank tops' loom.

Trump doesn't appear open to Iran's proposal which hinges on US naval blockade ending & nuclear issue being pushed to future negotiations (CNN). Tehran working on revised plan to be sent in 'few days'.

First crude-laden Japanese tanker from Saudi port exits Hormuz Strait successfully without Iranian interference.

Iranian analyst describes that Tehran believes it can outlast Trump & the standoff with US in Hormuz, citing "munitions, markets, and the midterms."

Israeli violence against Palestinians echoes Holocaust – ex-Mossad chief

Ongoing attacks in the West Bank pose an “existential threat” to the Jewish state, Tamir Pardo has said

Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank echoes attacks on Jews during the Holocaust and poses an “existential threat” to Israel, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo has said.

Israeli settlers live in communities built in the West Bank, a territory Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and which Palestinians seek as part of a future state. Successive Israeli governments have backed or tolerated the settlements for security, political, and religious reasons.

Pardo spoke to local media on Monday while touring Palestinian villages that have come under settler attacks in recent months.

”My mother was a Holocaust survivor, and what I saw reminded me of the events that happened against Jews in the last century,” Pardo said. “What I saw today made me feel ashamed to be Jewish.”

His comments come amid a surge in settler violence across the West Bank, with groups carrying out repeated raids on Palestinian communities, torching homes and vehicles, vandalizing property and assaulting residents, according to witnesses and human rights organizations. In the latest incident, two Palestinians, including a 14-year-old schoolboy, were killed last week after gunmen opened fire near a school.

Attacks occur on a near-daily basis and intensified during the US-Israeli war on Iran between February 28 and April 8, rights groups said. Yesh Din recorded 378 incidents over that period, in which eight Palestinians were killed and around 200 injured.

Pardo said the settlers behind the attacks, and the Israeli government’s failure to stop them, were creating the conditions for a future October 7-style assault from the West Bank, referring to the 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 taken hostage. Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the attack. More than 72,000 Palestinians were killed and over 172,000 injured in Israeli airstrikes and ground offensives, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The former Mossad chief warned that the violence unfolding in the West Bank could lead to a similar event, albeit in a different and potentially more severe form given the region’s complexity, adding that Israel was “sowing the seeds” for such an outcome.

https://www.rt.com/news/639222-israel-violence-palestinians-holocaust/

Kiev’s attacks on Russian refinery cutting global oil supply – Kremlin

The infrastructure in Tuapse, which has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian drones, was used for exports, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said

Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure on the Black Sea coast are worsening the global oil crunch caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Multiple Ukrainian drone strikes have hit Tuapse, a key densely-populated port in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, have targeted its refinery and adjacent marine terminal. Regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported fires at the site, including a major blaze at the refinery, prompting evacuations of nearby residents and emergency response measures.

The attacks led to high-risk air pollution, with residents advised to use respirators, as an oil spill destroyed miles of the beach in the resort town. Kondratyev also released a video of the town filled with smoke, with a clean-up operation ongoing on the beach.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Peskov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the situation. “The Kiev regime has once again struck oil storage facilities, where the oil was intended for export operations, that is, for fulfilling export contract obligations,” he said.

Peskov stressed that the Ukrainian drone raids “further increase the oil deficit on global markets, which are already experiencing significant difficulties because of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, and provoking further destabilization on global energy markets.”

The US-Israeli war on Iran led to a de-facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles roughly 20% of global oil consumption, sending benchmark Brent oil prices up well beyond $100 per barrel. To alleviate the pressure on oil markets, the Trump administration went so far as to issue a sanctions waiver on Russian oil already at sea.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the attacks on Tuapse caused civilian casualties and damage to homes, social infrastructure, and environment and criticized a lack of response from the EU and NATO.

“What are the European Union and NATO saying about this? They are silent,” she charged. “There is a serious environmental threat. The pollution is covering 10,000 sq. m. Where are these Western environmentalists?

https://www.rt.com/russia/639210-ukraine-attacks-refinery-global-oil-suply/

Anthony Fauci adviser indicted by DOJ on charges of concealing COVID records

The Department of Justice has indicted a former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci for allegedly concealing records from investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

David Morens, 78, has been charged with one count of conspiracy against the United States; two counts of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; and two counts of concealment, removal, or mutilation of records.

The ex-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) official faces up to 51 years in federal prison if convicted of all charges.

The indictment, unsealed Monday in Maryland federal court, also notes two unnamed co-conspirators who “concealed, removed, destroyed and caused the concealment, and removal of federal records to evade FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] and FRA [Federal Records Act].”

Information in the indictment indicates the co-conspirators are Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of Manhattan-based non-profit EcoHealth Alliance, and Dr. Gerald Keusch, an associate director of Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory Institute and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grantee.

Morens, who served as a senior advisor to Fauci from 2006 to 2022, made his initial appearance in court Monday, and a judge granted him conditional release pending trial so long as he surrenders his US passport by Wednesday.

He must also “avoid all contact” with the co-conspirators.

“There are things I can’t say except Tony is aware and I have learned that there are ongoing efforts within NIH to steer this through with minimal damage to you, Peter, and colleagues, and to NIH and NIAID,” Morens wrote to Daszak and Keusch in an April 26, 2020, email from a private account.

The indictment also claims that Daszak provided “illegal gratuities” — two bottles of “The Prisoner Red Napa Valley Wine” — to Morens’ home in Maryland in June 2020.

“This is the first of what I hope will be a continued series of expressions [sic] of gratitude for your advice, support, and behind-the-scenes shenanigans in my battle against your boss’s boss, his boss, and the ultimate boss on the hill,” Daszak wrote in a message accompanying the June 25 gift.

“Now I am actually going to have to do something to deserve it. Let me think,” Morens responded in a Gmail message the same day, before suggesting he could publish “scientific commentary” that “outlines the importance” of EcoHealth’s work.

https://nypost.com/2026/04/28/us-news/anthony-fauci-adviser-indicted-by-department-of-justice/

Uganda arrests 200 foreigners in massive migration crackdown

Raids in Adjumani and Kampala have targeted alleged cybercrime and human trafficking with suspects from over a dozen countries

At least 231 illegal immigrants have been arrested in two separate intelligence-led crackdowns targeting irregular migration, the Ugandan Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Tuesday.

On Monday, in Adjumani District, officers of Uganda’s National Citizenship and Immigration Control (NCIC) detained 62 Nigerian nationals who were allegedly engaged in unauthorized activities, including the operation of a church, without work permits.

A larger raid took place overnight between April 27-28 in the Bukoto-Ntinda area of Kampala, where 169 foreign nationals, including 36 women, were caught in a single apartment complex.

According to authorities, the building functioned as a closed compound with internal facilities such as a restaurant, designed to limit movement. Inside the premises, officers reportedly seized computers and other equipment suspected of being used for online scams, illegal betting, and cyber-related fraud.

Those arrested in the operations included citizens of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, and Malaysia. A number of detainees had no form of identification.

Some individuals have claimed that they were trafficked into Uganda under false promises of employment, while others are suspected of direct involvement in cybercrime.

“All 231 individuals arrested across these two operations are currently undergoing rigorous screening and processing,” officials said, adding that “cases involving suspected cyber crime or trafficking will be handed over to law enforcement agencies for further investigation.”

Human trafficking remains a persistent issue across parts of Africa, with authorities in several countries reporting regular cross-border cases. In March, Kenyan police rescued 70 foreign nationals during a raid in Nairobi linked to a suspected trafficking operation, including 66 Ethiopians and 4 Eritreans found locked inside a house in the Ruai area. One Kenyan was arrested in relation to the case.

https://www.rt.com/africa/639213-uganda-arrests-foreigners-migration-crackdown/

Israel ‘weaponizing’ water in Gaza – medical charity

Shortages have triggered a disease surge in the enclave, Doctors Without Borders says in report

Israel has used access to water as a weapon and a form of “collective punishment” against Palestinians in Gaza, according to a report by international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Israel has rejected the claims as baseless.

The organization said in a report released Tuesday that Israel has “engineered” water scarcity in the strip, creating “conditions incompatible with human dignity and survival.” Access to water, sanitation and hygiene has been “severely undermined” since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in October 2023, it stated.

The report highlights a sharp rise in water-shortage-related diseases, including diarrhea, skin infections, lice, and infected wounds. Additionally, the lack of clean water and sanitation is also worsening malnutrition and severely affecting mental health.

Gaza has no natural freshwater sources, relying instead on groundwater and seawater, both of which require treatment. Much of the infrastructure, including desalination plants, boreholes, pipelines, and sewage systems, has been rendered inoperable or inaccessible, according to MSF.

Amid the collapse of the public system, MSF has become the largest non-governmental water producer in Gaza, pumping and desalinating groundwater through mobile units and distributing it by truck to affected areas. The report noted that multiple MSF trucks have been attacked by Israeli forces.

The minimum humanitarian threshold is about 15 liters of water per person per day, including 6 liters for drinking and 9 liters for domestic use. In Gaza, people are receiving this bare survival level at best, according to UNICEF, with many unable to access even the minimum amount of safe drinking water.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) rejected the report in a series of posts on X on Tuesday, calling the claims “baseless” and “factually incorrect.” They said that Israel is facilitating, not restricting, water access, citing the operation of four supply lines, infrastructure repairs, and the provision of fuel and electricity for water systems. They accused MSF of biased reporting and operational shortcomings.

Despite a ceasefire agreed last October, Israeli strikes and gunfire continue across Gaza, with over 700 Palestinians killed since the truce began, according to the UN. The overall death toll since October 2023 has exceeded 72,000, according to Gaza’s health authorities.

https://www.rt.com/news/639225-israel-gaza-water-weapon-msf/

Anti-ICE Group Received Millions From Taxpayers In A Year — Here’s What We Got In Return

A pro-illegal immigrant group received more than $8.7 million from taxpayers in the year that it helped spark destructive protests, but despite outcry and probes from Washington, it faces no consequences.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) reported the government grants in its latest tax filing covering July 2024 through June 2025, the month that Los Angeles, California, was set ablaze by anti-deportation rioters. The chaos kicked off in June 2025 after CHIRLA created an anti-ICE network that led to a union leader’s arrest and encouraged supporters to arrive at a federal building for a rally that turned violent, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported. CHIRLA defended the mob as rioting against deportations spread across central California for days and caused damages somewhere between $32 million and $1 billion, according to local and federal agencies.

House and Senate lawmakers responded by announcing investigations into CHIRLA that have produced no findings or legislative reforms as leftists use the tax-exempt nonprofit system to fund radical causes. The House Judiciary Committee and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri sent CHIRLA letters in June demanding records of its finances and internal communications.

There have been no reports of CHIRLA handing over the information, and lawmakers have announced no further action. The House Judiciary Committee did not threaten a subpoena if CHIRLA ignored its requests, while Hawley threatened “potential referral for criminal investigation.” The IRS and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli did not respond to the requests for comment about a probe they announced last year into the anti-ICE riots, while the FBI’s Los Angeles office declined to comment.

CHIRLA’s $8,726,683 from taxpayers in fiscal year 2024 made up 35% of its total revenue, according to its records. CHIRLA has received more than $80.6 million in government grants since former President Joe Biden took office and opened the U.S. border to historic illegal immigration, tax filings show.

The nonprofit became a fixture in the U.S. immigration system after the Obama administration’s Board of Immigration Appeals tapped the group to provide immigration services in 2011. CHIRLA “filed thousands of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) initial and renewal applications” and gave thousands of migrants services such as “adjustment of status, U-Visa, deportation defense” and fighting for “Temporary Protected Status” from deportation since 2012, the group wrote. CHIRLA and other organizations sued the Trump administration in March for halting Biden-era federal grants for citizen naturalization programs, but district and appeals judges have upheld the move, court records show.

The House Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to CHIRLA in June demanding information on its immigration-related activities, another move that appears to have brought no results.

CHIRLA did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment. “We will not be intimidated for standing with immigrant communities and documenting the inhumane manner that our community is being targeted with the assault by the raids, the unconstitutional and illegal arrests, detentions, and the assault on our First Amendment rights,” CHIRLA told the press in response to Hawley’s letter.

Hawley’s office, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee did not respond on the record to the DCNF’s requests for comment. “The [Judiciary] Committee conducts to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse and stop taxpayer funding of violent anti-government activity and liberal pet projects,” a source familiar with the Judiciary Committee probe told the DCNF.

Demonstrators gathered at the Los Angeles federal building on June 6 to protest the arrest of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) leader David Huerta on charges of obstructing an immigration raid earlier that day. CHIRLA’s initially peaceful rally took a turn — protesters threw items at police, blocked a street and vandalized property in what cops declared an unlawful assembly, local media reported.

Fellow anti-ICE group Hispanic Federation complained in a June 9 press release that “members of our partners at CHIRLA” and another group were “detained and injured” while demonstrating.

https://dailycaller.com/2026/04/28/chirla-anti-ice-los-angeles-riots/

United Arab Emirates Ditches OPEC

The United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday that it will depart from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on May 1, 2026.

In an official statement delivered via the Emirates News Agency, the UAE noted that its “long-term strategic and economic vision” had diverged from OPEC’s. The move comes as global oil benchmark Brent crude rose to over $110 per barrel after markets opened.

Joining OPEC in 1967 as the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the UAE served as OPEC’s third-largest producer in its nearly 60-year tenure with the group.

“While near-term volatility, including disruptions in the Arabian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, continues to affect supply dynamics, underlying trends point to sustained growth in global energy demand over the medium to long term,” UAE officials stated in the press release announcing their departure from OPEC. “The decision reflects a policy-driven evolution in the UAE’s approach, enhancing flexibility to respond to market dynamics while continuing to contribute to stability in a measured and responsible manner.”

President Donald Trump has criticized the oil cartel since his first term, accusing them of market manipulation detrimental to U.S. interests.

“OPEC and OPEC nations, are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world, and I don’t like it. Nobody should like it,” Trump said in a 2018 speech at the United Nations. “We defend many of these nations for nothing, and then they take advantage of us by giving us high oil prices. Not good.”

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has long sought to increase its production, but disagreements with Saudi Arabia prevented this expansion. The UAE maintains OPEC’s second-largest spare production capacity following Saudi Arabia. Spare production capacity is the maximum volume that can be activated within 30 days and maintained for at least 90.

“We reaffirm our appreciation for the efforts of both OPEC and the OPEC+ alliance and wish them success,” the UAE continued. “During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all.”

https://dailycaller.com/2026/04/28/united-arab-emirates-oil-petroleum-exporting-countries/

Apple Adds Age Verification to Digital ID in Wallet, Moves Beyond TSA Airport Checkpoints

Apple's age verification rollout arrives without fanfare for a reason.

Apple just turned on the next phase of its Digital ID rollout and the framing in the company’s support documentation is almost casual. The passport-derived credential in Apple Wallet can now be used to confirm a user is over 18 when creating an Apple Account, updating iOS, adjusting safety settings, or downloading apps rated 18+. No press release accompanied the change, by the way.

The understated rollout undersells what is actually happening. Apple, like Google, Meta, Discord, and every other consumer-facing platform of significant size, is racing to operationalize digital identity infrastructure to meet a wave of age-verification mandates landing across the US, UK, EU, and Australia.

The companies did not invent this demand; lawmakers did, but the response is arriving faster than the laws themselves, and the architecture being built right now will outlast any specific statute that prompted it.

The UK’s Online Safety Act is already forcing platforms to verify ages with documented credentials.

Discord attempted its own age-verification rollout earlier this year, paused after backlash, and has continued reworking the system. State laws in the US are moving in the same direction with Texas, Louisiana, Utah, and a growing list of others passing mandates that target app stores, social platforms, and adult content sites.

Federal proposals keep recycling similar models. The European Union is preparing its own age-verification framework. Australia has already legislated a social media ban for under-16s.

The platforms doing the verifying have a choice. They can build the credential infrastructure themselves, license it from third-party vendors who upload your passport to their servers, or hand the job to the operating system that already lives on your phone. Apple’s Digital ID, and Google’s parallel work on digital credentials in Android, are bids to be the third option. They are also bids to be the default option, because once an OS-level identity wallet exists, regulators tend to treat it as the natural place to plug in.

What Apple actually launched, and when

Digital ID went live last November as Apple’s workaround for the slow march of state-issued mobile driver’s licenses. Twelve states and Puerto Rico currently support adding a real driver’s license to Wallet, which left most US iPhone owners without a digital credential. So Apple built one.

At launch, acceptance was limited to TSA checkpoints in over 250 US airports.

Apple was explicit at the time that this was a starting point. Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said, “With the launch of Digital ID, we’re excited to expand the ways users can store and present their identity — all with the security and privacy built into iPhone and Apple Watch.”

The same announcement promised that “in the future, users will be able to present their Digital ID at additional select businesses and organizations for identity and age verification in person, in apps, and online.” The first organization to accept Digital ID for age verification is now Apple itself.

The mechanics appear in a support page titled “If you’re asked to confirm that you’re an adult.”

Apple lists the acceptable proofs and rules out the obvious ones. Passports, debit cards, and gift cards do not work. A footnote states, “A Digital ID in Apple Wallet created using a U.S. passport can be used to confirm that you’re an adult.”

https://reclaimthenet.org/apple-digital-id-age-verification-rollout