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DARPA Drone? UFO? Or Deep Fake?  Tyler Durden Sat, 04/27/2024 - 07:35

Berlin police have arrested 75 people after clashing with demonstrators camped outside the Chancellery

Dozens of people were arrested in Berlin on Friday as German police moved to clear a pro-Palestinian protest camp set outside the Chancellery building two weeks ago.  

The activists residing in the camp, which consisted of 20 tents, have been demanding an end to German weapons shipments to Israel as the Jewish state continues its siege of Gaza. The protesters have also decried the criminalization of the Palestinian solidarity movement.  

German authorities have accused the demonstrators of incitement to hatred and using unconstitutional symbols and forbidden slogans. The protestors are also alleged to have breached restrictions such as those protecting green areas.  

“Protection of gatherings cannot be guaranteed at this point because public safety and order are significantly at risk,” police spokesperson Anja Dierschke was quoted as saying by the DW news outlet.  

On Friday, police moved to clear out the camp and could be seen clashing with dozens of activists. Footage showed officers detaining people, some of whom resisted and chanted “Viva, viva Palestina.”

According to police, some 150 officers were deployed to the Chancellery to tear down the tents. Seventy-five arrests were made of protesters and other supporters who allegedly violated the Freedom of Assembly Acts.  

The demonstrators, meanwhile, have insisted that the German authorities had no right to clear out the camp.  

“We’ve been peaceful but we’ve been harassed by the police every single day who have given us the most stupid restriction,” said one activist named Nassar.  

Read more Dozens arrested at pro-Palestine protests in US (VIDEO)

"They’ve forbidden us from using languages which aren’t German or English, they have criminalized our prayers, our songs, our workshops, and now their official reasoning is that we had a sofa which was damaging the grass ... In Germany, damaging the lawn is worse than committing genocide,” Nassar told DW.  

“Welcome to Germany, where killing 35,000 people is worse than harming a little bit of grass,” another protester commented, referring to the total death toll cited by Gaza health authorities amid Israel’s relentless retaliatory assault on the Palestinian enclave.  

Israel’s siege comes in response to the October 7 Hamas attack on the Jewish state, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage.

Berlin police have arrested 75 people after clashing with demonstrators camped outside the Chancellery

Dozens of people were arrested in Berlin on Friday as German police moved to clear a pro-Palestinian protest camp set outside the Chancellery building two weeks ago.  

The activists residing in the camp, which consisted of 20 tents, have been demanding an end to German weapons shipments to Israel as the Jewish state continues its siege of Gaza. The protesters have also decried the criminalization of the Palestinian solidarity movement.  

German authorities have accused the demonstrators of incitement to hatred and using unconstitutional symbols and forbidden slogans. The protestors are also alleged to have breached restrictions such as those protecting green areas.  

“Protection of gatherings cannot be guaranteed at this point because public safety and order are significantly at risk,” police spokesperson Anja Dierschke was quoted as saying by the DW news outlet.  

On Friday, police moved to clear out the camp and could be seen clashing with dozens of activists. Footage showed officers detaining people, some of whom resisted and chanted “Viva, viva Palestina.”

According to police, some 150 officers were deployed to the Chancellery to tear down the tents. Seventy-five arrests were made of protesters and other supporters who allegedly violated the Freedom of Assembly Acts.  

The demonstrators, meanwhile, have insisted that the German authorities had no right to clear out the camp.  

“We’ve been peaceful but we’ve been harassed by the police every single day who have given us the most stupid restriction,” said one activist named Nassar.  

Read more Dozens arrested at pro-Palestine protests in US (VIDEO)

"They’ve forbidden us from using languages which aren’t German or English, they have criminalized our prayers, our songs, our workshops, and now their official reasoning is that we had a sofa which was damaging the grass ... In Germany, damaging the lawn is worse than committing genocide,” Nassar told DW.  

“Welcome to Germany, where killing 35,000 people is worse than harming a little bit of grass,” another protester commented, referring to the total death toll cited by Gaza health authorities amid Israel’s relentless retaliatory assault on the Palestinian enclave.  

Israel’s siege comes in response to the October 7 Hamas attack on the Jewish state, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage.

Such delicate matters should be discussed behind closed doors, Radoslaw Sikorski says

Poland’s foreign minister has said President Andrzej Duda had no authority to speculate about Warsaw hosting part of the US nuclear arsenal on its soil.

In an interview with Polsat News TV on Friday, Radoslaw Sikorski weighed in on Duda’s statement earlier this week, when he said placing US nukes in Poland “has been a topic of Polish-American talks for some time” and that he had “declared readiness” to host to the weapons. Under the current political setup in Poland, Duda has found himself in opposition to the government, which was formed by a parliamentary majority.

“Mr President has already been told, at the highest levels… not to talk about it, that there is no chance for it now. I don’t know why he said it,” Sikorski stated.

The foreign minister also stressed that Duda, as head of state, is obligated to implement foreign policy in a way articulated by the Council of Ministers, the top executive decision-making body. “We have not given any authorization or encouragement to talk about it publicly,” Sikorski noted.

Read more US nuclear weapons in Poland would be priority military target – Moscow

He went on to dismiss speculation that Poland would itself become a nuclear power by potentially joining NATO’s nuclear sharing program. “These are very complicated issues that we discuss at NATO nuclear planning meetings,” he said, stressing that those conversations “should not take place in public.”

The minister also noted that Russia has already responded to Duda’s comments. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if Poland were to host US nuclear weapons, the Russian military would “take all necessary countermeasures to ensure our security.” In similar remarks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the “relevant facilities” in Poland would “immediately be listed as legitimate targets in case of a direct military conflict with NATO.”

The US currently has nuclear weapons stationed in five fellow NATO states: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye. If Poland were to host US nuclear arms, it would put NATO’s nuclear arsenal at the doorstep of Russia’s westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad, and also Belarus, Moscow’s key ally.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has signaled that the US-led military bloc has no plans to send its atomic arsenal to Poland, while French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu has warned that the potential move would violate key Russia-NATO arms control agreements.

Such delicate matters should be discussed behind closed doors, Radoslaw Sikorski says

Poland’s foreign minister has said President Andrzej Duda had no authority to speculate about Warsaw hosting part of the US nuclear arsenal on its soil.

In an interview with Polsat News TV on Friday, Radoslaw Sikorski weighed in on Duda’s statement earlier this week, when he said placing US nukes in Poland “has been a topic of Polish-American talks for some time” and that he had “declared readiness” to host to the weapons. Under the current political setup in Poland, Duda has found himself in opposition to the government, which was formed by a parliamentary majority.

“Mr President has already been told, at the highest levels… not to talk about it, that there is no chance for it now. I don’t know why he said it,” Sikorski stated.

The foreign minister also stressed that Duda, as head of state, is obligated to implement foreign policy in a way articulated by the Council of Ministers, the top executive decision-making body. “We have not given any authorization or encouragement to talk about it publicly,” Sikorski noted.

Read more US nuclear weapons in Poland would be priority military target – Moscow

He went on to dismiss speculation that Poland would itself become a nuclear power by potentially joining NATO’s nuclear sharing program. “These are very complicated issues that we discuss at NATO nuclear planning meetings,” he said, stressing that those conversations “should not take place in public.”

The minister also noted that Russia has already responded to Duda’s comments. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if Poland were to host US nuclear weapons, the Russian military would “take all necessary countermeasures to ensure our security.” In similar remarks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the “relevant facilities” in Poland would “immediately be listed as legitimate targets in case of a direct military conflict with NATO.”

The US currently has nuclear weapons stationed in five fellow NATO states: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye. If Poland were to host US nuclear arms, it would put NATO’s nuclear arsenal at the doorstep of Russia’s westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad, and also Belarus, Moscow’s key ally.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has signaled that the US-led military bloc has no plans to send its atomic arsenal to Poland, while French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu has warned that the potential move would violate key Russia-NATO arms control agreements.

The Christian lawyer turned 60 on 20 April, but Chinese authorities have refused to provide any information about his fate. Repeated appeals from his wife, human rights NGOs, and UN agencies have been ignored. He is among the many victims of enforced disappearances by China's communist regime.

It’s not clear what a victory over Russia is supposed to look like, the entrepreneur has claimed

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has challenged the administration of US President Joe Biden to define what “victory” would look like in the Ukraine conflict, after a senior White House official claimed that Kiev can defeat Russia.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan backed Ukraine’s capabilities on MSNBC on Friday, as he hailed Biden’s drawdown of an additional $1 billion worth of weapons for Kiev’s war effort against Moscow.

A delay in arms supplies caused by partisan clashes in the US Congress has put Ukrainian forces into a “hole” from which they are yet to dig themselves out, Sullivan said. He claimed, however, that Kiev’s “strategic position is strong” and that US officials “believe ultimately Ukraine can win this war.”

“Ukraine has the will to win this war, and we have the will to support them in that effort,” Sullivan vowed.

Reacting in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk asked: “What does victory look like?”

What does victory look like?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2024

The billionaire has long been skeptical about the Biden administration’s Ukraine strategy, including its declared willingness to let Kiev dictate the goals of the conflict and the ways of achieving them.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has insisted that a “just peace” requires nothing short of full control of all the territory claimed by Kiev.

Read more US has no Patriots to spare for Ukraine – White House

The Ukrainian demands, as outlined in the so-called ‘Zelensky formula’, also include war reparations, tribunals for senior Russian officials, and long-term international support of Ukraine’s security and reconstruction. Switzerland is set to host a summit in mid-June, where Kiev and its Western backers will try to convince neutral nations to sign up for the Ukrainian plan.

Moscow, which has not been invited to the event, has rejected the Ukrainian formula as being detached from reality. It perceives the hostilities as a Washington-driven proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainians serve as ‘cannon fodder’. This week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu estimated Ukrainian military casualties as approaching 500,000 in the conflict.

Explaining their opposition to continued arms supplies to Ukraine, US Republican lawmakers have cited the lack of a clear game plan by Zelensky and Biden. Instead, they argue that the funds would be better spent on America’s own needs, particularly the security of the southern US border.

It’s not clear what a victory over Russia is supposed to look like, the entrepreneur has claimed

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has challenged the administration of US President Joe Biden to define what “victory” would look like in the Ukraine conflict, after a senior White House official claimed that Kiev can defeat Russia.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan backed Ukraine’s capabilities on MSNBC on Friday, as he hailed Biden’s drawdown of an additional $1 billion worth of weapons for Kiev’s war effort against Moscow.

A delay in arms supplies caused by partisan clashes in the US Congress has put Ukrainian forces into a “hole” from which they are yet to dig themselves out, Sullivan said. He claimed, however, that Kiev’s “strategic position is strong” and that US officials “believe ultimately Ukraine can win this war.”

“Ukraine has the will to win this war, and we have the will to support them in that effort,” Sullivan vowed.

Reacting in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk asked: “What does victory look like?”

What does victory look like?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2024

The billionaire has long been skeptical about the Biden administration’s Ukraine strategy, including its declared willingness to let Kiev dictate the goals of the conflict and the ways of achieving them.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has insisted that a “just peace” requires nothing short of full control of all the territory claimed by Kiev.

Read more US has no Patriots to spare for Ukraine – White House

The Ukrainian demands, as outlined in the so-called ‘Zelensky formula’, also include war reparations, tribunals for senior Russian officials, and long-term international support of Ukraine’s security and reconstruction. Switzerland is set to host a summit in mid-June, where Kiev and its Western backers will try to convince neutral nations to sign up for the Ukrainian plan.

Moscow, which has not been invited to the event, has rejected the Ukrainian formula as being detached from reality. It perceives the hostilities as a Washington-driven proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainians serve as ‘cannon fodder’. This week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu estimated Ukrainian military casualties as approaching 500,000 in the conflict.

Explaining their opposition to continued arms supplies to Ukraine, US Republican lawmakers have cited the lack of a clear game plan by Zelensky and Biden. Instead, they argue that the funds would be better spent on America’s own needs, particularly the security of the southern US border.

Kiev will receive munitions for the US-made air defense system, Madrid has announced

Spain will supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles, Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed on Friday, amid outside pressure to provide the weapons. 

Robles made the announcement during a virtual meeting of the so-called Ramstein Group, which comprises Ukraine’s Western backers. A statement from the Defense Ministry in Madrid added that an unspecified number of munitions for the US-made missile system will arrive in Ukraine within the next four days.

The Spanish defense chief did not mention anything about deliveries of actual Patriot batteries to Ukraine. Each system consists of a phased array radar, an engagement control station, computers, power generating equipment, and up to eight missile launchers.

Spanish newspaper El Pais earlier reported that Madrid will supply Patriot missiles to Ukraine due to immense pressure from the EU and NATO. According to the outlet, Spain operates only three Patriot batteries and keeps a “war reserve” of about 50 missiles for them.

Read more Spain buckling to EU pressure on Patriots for Ukraine – El Pais

During an address to the Ramstein Group, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky insisted that Kiev needs “at least seven” Patriot batteries from its Western backers to be able to repel Russian missile attacks.

In late March, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at least five Patriots operated by Ukraine had been destroyed by Moscow’s forces since the start of the year. Spain is among six European nations – including Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Greece – that have Patriot systems in service.

While Berlin has promised to supply another Patriot system to Ukraine, taking its donated tally to three, Poland and Greece insisted earlier this week that they have no air defense systems to spare.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated on Friday that Washington is also unable to provide Kiev with more air defense systems. “The US Patriot systems right now are being deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, to protect US troops,” Sullivan told MSNBC.

READ MORE: US has no Patriots to spare for Ukraine – White House

Russia has warned that deliveries of foreign weapons systems to Kiev will not prevent Moscow from achieving its military goals, but will merely prolong the fighting and could increase the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. According to officials in Moscow, the provision of arms, the sharing of intelligence, and the training of Ukrainian troops means that Western nations have already become de-facto parties to the conflict.

Today's headlines: Qatar and Bangladesh sign a memorandum on migrant workers. Myanmar's military retakes a village on the Mon-Karen border. Taiwan denounces Chinese military activities after Blinken's departure. Syrian woman gets seven life sentences over the Istanbul attack of November 2022. Russia has lost its dominant position as India's main arms supplier.

The system was found to give drivers a false sense of security, according to the US Transportation Department

Car maker Tesla’s Autopilot has been linked to hundreds of crashes and over a dozen deaths in the latest report by US auto-safety regulators, published on Thursday.

The US Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot, an advanced driver-assist feature that Elon Musk insists will eventually lead to fully autonomous cars, had identified at least 14 fatal crashes in which the feature was involved.

During its three-year investigation, which started in 2021, the agency has examined nearly 1,000 reported crashes that occurred between 2018 and August 2023. It found that the misuse of the Autopilot system had caused at least 14 accidents which led to fatalities and “many more involving serious injuries.”

NHTSA’s Office of Defective Investigations (ODI) found evidence that Tesla’s “weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities,” which resulted in a “critical safety gap.”

Of the 956 crashes examined, officials revealed Autopilot-related trends in about half of them.

Of the remaining 467, ODI identified 211 crashes in which “the frontal plane of the Tesla struck a vehicle or obstacle in its path.” These accidents, which were often the most severe, had resulted in 14 deaths and 49 injuries. Over a hundred of the incidents also involved in roadway departures where Autosteer, a component of Autopilot, was “inadvertently disengaged by the driver’s inputs,” the report said.

Read more Tesla signs deal with Indian conglomerate – media

The investigators concluded that drivers using Autopilot, or the system’s more advanced Full Self-Driving feature, “were not sufficiently engaged in the driving task.” Tesla’s technology “did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task,” the NHTSA said.

The investigation also found that the electric carmaker’s claims did not match up with reality.

The NHTSA raised concerns that Tesla’s Autopilot name “may lead drivers to believe that the automation has greater capabilities than it does and invite drivers to overly trust the automation.”

US safety authorities said on Friday that they have opened another investigation into Tesla’s largest-ever recall in December, covering over 2 million US vehicles, or essentially all of its vehicles on US roads.

The recall was ordered by the NHTSA over Tesla’s software update, which is designed to limit the use of its Autopilot feature. The company plans to unveil its robotaxi on August 8.

Looking over the last lines of T.S. Eliot’s fabled Four Quartets, the great masterwork on which his reputation rests, one sees in the final movement of the poem a striking reminder of that which we do well never to forget. It is the knowledge that, in this life certainly, We shall not cease from exploration, And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the…

Source

Washington has seen “evidence of attempts” to influence the US ballot coming from Beijing, the secretary of state has said

There is evidence that China has attempted to manipulate US elections, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Friday, as he wrapped up his three-day visit to the Asian nation.

Host Kylie Atwood asked the senior diplomat about a pledge not to interfere in American democratic processes which Chinese President Xi Jinping gave to his US counterpart Joe Biden during their meeting in San Francisco last November. Recent reports have suggested that Beijing has failed to honor this promise, she claimed.

Blinken refused to discuss any specifics. In general, Washington would consider any election interference “unacceptable,” he stressed, and that is what he reiterated during talks with top Chinese officials this week.

“We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere. And we want to make sure that’s cut off as quickly as possible,” the secretary of state added.

Read more Blinken threatens China over Russia ties (VIDEO)

Atwood’s conclusion from Blinken’s remarks was that China is “not heeding” US warnings.

A threat assessment issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in February stated that Beijing “aims to sow doubts about US leadership, undermine democracy, and extend Beijing’s influence” through information operations and possible election meddling.

“Even if Beijing sets limits on these activities, individuals not under its direct supervision may attempt election influence activities they perceive are in line with Beijing’s goals,” the document stated.

Claims that Chinese accounts online are trying to influence politics in the US came recently from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a London-based think tank, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington DC-based lobbying organization.

Both reports focused on ‘Spamouflage’, a purported Chinese online influence operation. FDD claimed its research demonstrates “that social media takedowns are necessary, but not sufficient, to combat foreign malign influence operations.”

READ MORE: US sets clock ticking for TikTok

Earlier this week, Biden signed into law a bill which gives the owner of TikTok nine months to divest or face a ban in the US market. Proponents claim that ByteDance, which owns the popular social media outlet, is beholden to the Chinese government.

Polls indicate that TikTok is a major news source for younger American voters, while older citizens prefer more traditional outlets, such as cable television and newspapers. Its management intends to challenge the law on First Amendment grounds.

Accusations of torture and executions against Israeli troops are “fake news,” an IDF spokesman told the outlet

Israel will not investigate the mass graves found at Gaza hospitals, as it has already dealt with the matter and found no wrongdoing by its troops, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has told Politico.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that Washington wanted to see the circumstances surrounding the hundreds of deaths “thoroughly and transparently investigated.” 

Officials in Gaza have said a total of 392 bodies, including those of women and children, and others bearing signs of torture and executions, have so far been found at makeshift burial sites at two hospitals that had been raided by the Israeli military.

IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told Politico on Friday that reports of Israeli troops having anything to do with the mass burials were “fake news.”

When asked whether that meant that Israel would not investigate the matter, he replied: “Investigate what?”

Read more UN human rights chief ‘horrified’ by reports of mass graves at Gaza hospitals

“We gave answers. We don’t bury people in mass graves. Not something we do,” the spokesman insisted, without specifying to whom those answers were given.

An unnamed US official told Politico that “the Israelis have told us privately what they’ve said publicly, that they totally reject the allegations.” However, the source stressed that the authorities in Washington “aren’t in a position to validate that, and would like a thorough and transparent investigation into the reports.”

Israel earlier said its forces had to fight inside the Nasser and Al-Shifa hospitals because Hamas militants used them as their bases – a claim that both the Palestinian armed group and medics have denied. According to the IDF, its troops killed around 200 militants at Al-Shifa, without harming civilians.

Sullivan’s call for a probe into the mass graves came on the same day that US President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package, which included $26.4 billion in military assistance for Israel.

READ MORE: US won’t sanction IDF despite ‘gross human rights violations’ – media

The death toll from Israel’s airstrikes and ground offensive in Gaza over the past six months has reached 34,356, with 77,368 others wounded, according to the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry. The campaign was launched in response to an incursion into Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.

The attempt by the mainstream economics profession to create economic literacy has turned into a movement to promote economic illiteracy.

In this week's episode, Mark examines the Chocolate Crisis of 2024.

Conservatives and utilitarian classical liberals support freedom of contract because they deem it "useful" to society. However, Murray Rothbard believed that contractual freedom should be based upon the natural right of self-ownership.

A week after Kyrgyzstan, Georgia passed a law on the financing of political organizations from abroad. Small demonstrations took place for three days in front of the Parliament, culminating in a rally of more than 10,000 people. The protesters referred to the bill as the "Putin Law" because they said it was based on a law in force in Russia. The government responded by distributing copies of its U.S. equivalent, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which is in force... since 1938. (...)

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