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Big trouble may be brewing in little Moldova, which is starting to look like a staging area for the European Union to offset an emerging Russian victory in Ukraine. Whether such a plan, if attempted, would succeed is not clear. But Moldova is not the most stable country in the world with the nation split between pro-EU and pro-Russian elements. US troops are now in Moldova with Romanians, ostensibly for a military exercise called JCET 2024 (Joint Command Exchange Training). The exercise started on April 1 and will continue until April 19. According to a Moldovan Ministry of Defense statement,...

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that while you can’t equate Israel’s actions to Hamas launching the October 7 attack, “it’s difficult to say” how close Israel is to becoming indistinguishable from Hamas. Host Wolf Blitzer asked, “You heard Secretary Blinken earlier today, suggest — he warned that there’s a real risk the way Israel is waging its war in Gaza right now is making it indistinguishable from Hamas. How close is Israel to that point?”

The number of people seeking international protection in Ireland in the first three months of this year has risen by more than 2,000 compared to the same time last year. Figures from the Department of Justice show 5,163 people applied for international protection up to 28 March. This represents a rise of 2,170, or 72%, from the same period of time last year when 2,993 applications were made by 28 March 2023. More than one third of those who have applied for international protection so far this year are from Nigeria (1,668) while 416 are from Bangladesh, 400 from Pakistan,...

President Joe Biden demanded an “immediate ceasefire” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday between the two leaders, threatening a loss of U.S. support for the war if Israel does not comply. In a statement, the White House said: President Biden spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The two leaders discussed the situation in Gaza. President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm,...

It is a plan seen as a way to "Trump-proof" aid for Ukraine. The proposals would give the Western alliance a more direct role in coordinating the supply of arms, ammunition and equipment to Kyiv as it fights Russia's invasion, diplomats say. Speaking before the meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the proposal aims to send the message to Russia that it cannot win the war. “What is obvious is that we need new and more money for Ukraine. And we need it over many years. And the whole idea of now discussing a framework, commitments and an institutionalized...

Poland’s new government is moving to limit freedom of speech and actively penalize so-called hate speech, a move that has been associated with stifling dissent and limiting opposition to issues surrounding mass immigration, religion, and LGBT issues in other European countries. ... Deputy Minister Śmiszek announced this week legislative changes to introduce criminal responsibility for what his party considers hate speech against homosexuals. --- "The time has come to ban disgusting, homophobic, discriminatory statements in the public sphere,” declared Śmiszek, who is openly homosexual. Meanwhile, the European Parliament is calling on EU leaders to include incitement to hatred and hate...

Poland’s top climate official said the country is preparing to set a date for a complete phase-out of coal-fired power generation, just months after the nation elected a new government that has pledged to support environmental policies of the European Union (EU). ... Poland, which currently receives about 70% of its electricity from burning coal, and has long been Europe’s largest producer of the fuel, has been slowly increasing its use of solar and wind power. ... Urszula Zielinska, the country’s Secretary of State for Climate, during a meeting in Brussels, Belgium on Jan. 15, said, “Only with an end...

The UN's top court has ordered Israel to enable the unhindered flow of aid into Gaza in order to avert a famine. In a unanimous decision, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel had to act "without delay" to allow the "provision... of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance". This follows warnings that famine could hit Gaza within weeks. Israel has called allegations it is blocking aid "wholly unfounded". Giving its response to the court order, the Israeli foreign ministry said it was continuing "to promote new initiatives, and to expand existing ones" to allow a continuous flow...

France announces it will provide over 30 million euros to UNRWA while ensuring the agency fulfills its mission "in a spirit devoid of incitement to hatred and violence".

The Government is going to intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, will update the Cabinet that he has directed officials to prepare a Declaration of Intervention. If approved by the Government, this will be filed at the court in The Hague for the case against Israel under the 1948 Genocide Convention. It is not clear yet what points of law Ireland will reply upon for its intervention. …

Focus Ireland is hoping to help thousands of homeless people to register to vote ahead of the local and European elections in June. Focus Ireland’s director of advocacy, Mike Allen, said that there are around 9,500 homeless adults in Ireland and many of them would not be registered to vote. The charity is now hoping to change that as voting registration was simplified after the Electoral Reform Act was passed in 2022. More than 50,000 Irish people have spent at least one night of their lives homeless, according to figures published by Focus Ireland. …

Chief Executive of the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association has described an increase in thefts last year — driven mainly by robberies from shops — as “frightening”. Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Vincent Jennings said it is not just just the thefts that are concerning, but the associated incidents — such as assaults, assaults causing harm, drunkenness, misogynistic and hateful comments being made to staff and public order offenses. Annual crime figures released by the Central Statistics Office show there was a significant increase in theft offenses last year. Almost half of the more than 74,000 thefts and related...

LONDON (AP) – Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party on Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar who announced his surprise resignation last week. The 37-year-old Harris, who is the government’s further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland’s previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach.

The French government is raising its terror alert warning to its highest level following the shootings on Moscow, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Sunday after a meeting with senior security and defence officials with President Emmanuel Macron. Attal said in a post on X that the decision, which comes months before Paris hosts the Olympic Games, was taken "in light of the Islamic State's claiming responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country". ...

Ireland, Spain, Malta and Slovenia standing ready to recognize the Palestine state has given Palestinians “hope,” its ambassador has said. Earlier, in a joint-statement, the four countries’ prime ministers said they were ready to recognize the Palestine state when the “circumstances are right”. The Palestinian ambassador to Ireland, Dr. Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, welcomed the statement, describing it as “promising news”. She said it might only be a few EU countries, but that Ireland is “leading” the way and she expressed thanks for “all the Irish efforts”. …

One of the nation's major oil companies says it will close 1,000 gas stations. Shell made the announcement in its 2024 Energy Transition Strategy report, saying the measure is “in response to customer needs” and aimed at reallocating those resources towards EV charging stations. Shell said it will close 500 stations in 2024 and the other 500 in 2025. “We believe growth in oil demand is set to slow in the second half of this decade and could start falling in the 2030s because of increasing vehicle efficiency and growth in electric vehicles," the company stated in the report. "Today...

In 2017, Varadkar became the first gay prime minister of the once-staunchly Catholic country and the youngest person to hold the office. He returned to the premiership in 2022 under a rotation arrangement struck between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, the two largest parties in a three-party coalition with the smaller Green Party. Varadkar's government has overseen a sharp economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic but has struggled to tackle a decade-long housing crisis and more recently the pressure on services from record numbers of asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees. He also suffered an embarrassing referendum defeat this month when...

German police took a 16-year-old schoolgirl out of her class after she was denounced by her headteacher for expressing political sympathies with right-wing party AfD in a harmless Smurf video. The incident has caused a national scandal in Germany. Now Loretta and her mother, Annett B., speak out publicly for the first time in a interview with conservative weekly Junge Freiheit. The girl feels humiliated; her mother fears for political freedom and civil rights in Germany.

Five months into the Gaza crisis, the results of the updated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) assessment released today indicate the unfolding of the worst possible forecast for Gaza. Gaza is already facing famine, with 100% of people estimated to be acutely food insecure, according to the IPC. In Gaza's Northern Governorates, 70% of the population are facing imminent famine. In the centre and southern governorates, 50% of people face catastrophic food insecurity conditions. The situation is projected to deteriorate fast in the next weeks and months and famine is likely to also affect the South. This is unprecedented....

Breaking News: The open borders, lockdown addicted, mandatory JAB pushing, WEF Govt of tiny Rishi Sunak are introducing new legal definitions of terrorism. Critics of the WEF, UN, EU, NATO and the WHO Treaty can expect a knock at the door. Here are the new diktats from WEF Sunak and Co. Under the new definition, which comes into force on Thursday, extremism is “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to: 1. negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or