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"I was close to Chavez, but now he wants me dead." The million dollars from Chavez to Al Qaeda is just the tip of the iceberg in a long series of connections between worldwide terrorist organizations and the Venezuelan strongman, according to one of those who knows most about Chavez and the inside of his presidential palace: His former personal pilot. Major Juan Diaz Castillo is the man who flew the equivalent of Air Force One. In this interview with Venezuela's weekly news-magazine Zeta, he reveals formerly unpublished details of the operations that Chavez had him organize. By Maria Angelica...

Sen Chris Van Hollen says he was set up with a margarita by El Salvador president Nayib Bukele during his visit with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. "If you look at the [margarita] they put in front of Kilmar, it actually had a little less wet liquid than the one in front of me to try to make it look like you drank out of it." "Let me just be very clear. Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us."

“The Master and Margarita” filmmaker Michael Lockshin is locked in a legal battle over his blockbuster Russian-language adaptation of the celebrated Soviet novel, with the director accusing two producers of blocking his efforts to bring his movie to U.S. cinemas. The lawsuit, which was filed by sales agent Luminosity Pictures and shared with Variety, alleges that producers Svetlana Migunova-Dali and Grace Loh, who are planning their own English-language adaptation of the book, cannot prove legitimate ownership of the rights to the novel. The suit also contends that “The Master and Margarita” — which was first published in the 1960s —...

The movie came out on January 25, 2024. There had been very little of the usual promotion. Lockshin’s name was omitted from posters. His name was absent from all marketing materials, such as they were. In any event, the movie was a sensation. The public went to see it, quickly making it the top-grossing Russian movie of all time, in the over-18 category.Furious, the state and its propagandists got to work. As Lockshin says, “a whole campaign” was launched against him and the movie. Propagandists called him a “criminal” and a “terrorist,” and demanded that the movie be pulled from...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) mocked White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who has routinely criticized the Florida governor for prioritizing liberty in his state, on National Margarita Day after she infamously told frustrated Americans to “go to a kickboxing class, have a margarita” as a way to deal with political frustrations. “My advice to everyone out there who is frustrated, sad, angry, pissed off, feel those emotions, go to a kickboxing class, have a margarita, do whatever you need to do this weekend, and then wake up on Monday morning. We’ve got to keep fighting,” Psaki said during an...

NEW YORK, A New York mixologist said Friday the margarita is the top-selling cocktail in the United States so it's "cool" the drink has its own holiday. Kyle Ford, who works as brand ambassador for Cointreau -- a French manufacturer of triple sec, an ingredient in the classic margarita -- National Margarita Day was being celebrated Friday, the New York Daily News reported. "America loves margaritas. It's the number-one-selling cocktail in the country," Ford said of the beverage, which also includes tequila and lime juice. "There's a holiday for almost everything, so how cool is it that there's one for...

ANTIOCH – Kim Mayorga was confused when her 2-year-old started making funny faces and pushing away the apple juice he had ordered at Applebee's. The explanation came when she opened the lid of the sippy cup and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec. The restaurant staff accidentally gave Julian Mayorga a margarita Monday. He grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital. “I wasn't going to make a big deal about it,” the mother told the Contra Costa Times on Thursday, “but then he got sick.” The apple juice...

Premiere for Stalin satire bedevilled by setbacks and superstition From Jeremy Page in Moscow One of the finest novels of the Soviet era is at last adapted for Russian TV THE DEVIL is coming back to Moscow today — or at least to its television screens. Russia’s first television production of The Master and Margarita, the satirical novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, is due to begin tonight after 20 years of failed attempts to bring it to the screen. And the ten-part mini-series of arguably the greatest novel to emerge from the Soviet Union is already causing a sensation, especially in...

DALLAS -- The modified soft-serve ice cream machine that a Dallas restaurateur first used to mass-produce frozen margaritas has found its way to the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History recently acquired the 34-year-old machine, adding it to a collection of cultural markers. "I have a pretty fertile imagination. I have big dreams," said Mariano Martinez, owner of the Dallas restaurant Mariano Hacienda. "But this is beyond what I ever imagined." In 1971, Martinez was just trying to run a restaurant, not become an inventor. But with a desire to create something to set his eatery apart and...

The principle of Al-Takeyya The Arabic word, "Takeyya", means "to prevent," or guard against. The principle of Al Takeyya conveys the understanding that Muslims are permitted to lie as a preventive measure against anticipated harm to one's self or fellow Muslims. This principle gives Muslims the liberty to lie under circumstances that they perceive as life threatening. They can even deny the faith, if they do not mean it in their hearts. Al-Takeyya is based on the following Quranic verse: "Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will...

U.S. intelligence is still coming to grips with reports that Al Qaeda and other Muslim terrorist groups are setting up bases in Venezuela. CBN.com – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While America's attention has been focused on Iraq, it may have a growing terrorist threat in this hemisphere, and in a country you might never expect. On February 13 this year, at London's Gatwick Airport, a Muslim with suspected links to Al Qaeda was arrested after a grenade was found in his luggage. His ticket shows he flew in from Colombia. But it turns out he actually began his journey in Caracas....

PORLAMAR, Venezuela (Reuters) - Half a world away from Iraq , Arab merchants in Venezuela's Caribbean island of Margarita swap gossip and finger prayer beads as they serve customers in this traditionally bustling free port. Like Arab nations and communities around the globe, most of Margarita's well-established Muslim traders bitterly oppose the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq, seeing it as an unlawful and unjustified attack against their race and religion. But the Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians who have made this tropical resort and duty-free zone their home for decades are even more angry about what they see as another American affront,...

ORLANDO, Fla. - A Tampa man is suing Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant after the tip of a hypodermic needle allegedly lodged in the roof of his mouth as he ate a chicken sandwich.Ralph Walker said he's suffered recurring violent nightmares since the May 12, 2001 incident, resulting in the postponement of his marriage and emotional troubles for his 6-year-old son. He was visiting the restaurant at Universal Studios Orlando CityWalk with his fiancee and young son."Sometimes it's not real fun around here," said Walker, who works as a truck driver.The lawsuit, filed in Orange County, asks for damages in excess...