National and international media news & headlines compiled by CLG

Iran attacks Israel: Tehran launches retaliatory strikes following deadly airstrike on its consulate in Syria earlier this month | 13 April 2024 | Iran has launched a wave of drones toward Israel, after American officials warned that hundreds of drones and missiles could rain down on the Jewish state over the weekend. Iran accused Israel of carrying out an airstrike on its consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier this month. The strike killed seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGS) Quds Force, including two high-ranking generals. Israel stuck to its usual policy of silence on extraterritorial assassinations, but is widely believed to have been behind the attack. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to deal Israel a “slap in the face” in response, and American officials warned on Friday that Tehran could be gearing up for a massive drone and missile strike on Israeli soil in the following 24 to 48 hours. The Iranian response appeared to begin at midday on Saturday when IRGC commandos seized an Israeli-linked container ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. repositions warships in expectation of Iranian attack – report –The U.S. is strongly concerned that an Iranian strike on Israel would lead to a regional war, which would, in turn, lead to a worsening of the overall situation in the Middle East. | 13 April 2024 | The U.S. repositioned several warships in the Middle East in expectation of an Iranian attack, according to a Friday Wall Street (WSJ) Journal report. U.S. CENTCOM Commander General Michael Erik Kurilla was in Israel on Friday to coordinate U.S. defense moves with the Israeli general staff. Iran has threatened Israel with retaliation after Israel struck an Iranian embassy complex that was being used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). On Friday, the WSJ reported that the U.S. repositioned two destroyers, one from inside the Middle East and another from outside the region. According to an unnamed official cited in the report, one of them is reportedly armed with an Aegis missile defense system.

U.S. moves more forces into the Middle East to prepare for ‘imminent’ Iranian strike on Israel – Pentagon sends aircraft carrier that can intercept missiles to the Red Sea in warning to Tehran | 12 April 2024 | The U.S. has moved more forces into the Middle East to prepare for what officials believe could be an “imminent” strike by Iran on Israel that could spark a full-scale war. The Pentagon is beefing up its presence in the region and the USS Dwight Eisenhower has been sent into the Red Sea in a warning to Tehran and to protect American personnel should the violence spill over, multiple reports suggest. U.S. officials fear that hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles could be used in a retaliation for an April 1 strike on a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed retribution in the wake of the Damascus attack, for which Tel-Aviv has yet to take responsibility. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to respond with force to any assault by Iran, leaving tensions in the Middle East on a knife-edge. Defense officials on Friday said they are moving “additional assets to the area,” hours after the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem locked down its staff.

Israel bars all educational activities, restricts gatherings, amid Iran attack threat | 13 April 2024 | IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari announces new restrictions on civilian gatherings amid threats of an Iranian attack on Israel. The Home Front Command guidelines prohibit educational activities nationwide and restrict gatherings to 1,000 people. In some areas, such as near the Gaza and Lebanon borders, stricter gathering restrictions already exist… The restrictions are valid through Monday at 11 p.m. Hagari says Israel’s air defenses “are on alert” and “dozens of planes are ready in the sky.”

Israel threatens to launch direct attack on Iran – further escalating conflict in the Middle East –Follows a suspected IDF strike that killed Iranian military generals in Syria | 10 April 2024 | Israel’s foreign minister today declared his nation’s armed forces would launch direct retaliatory strikes on Iran should the Islamic Republic carry out an attack against Israel – the latest step in escalating tensions in the Middle East. Writing in both his native Hebrew and Farsi, Israel Katz said on X: “If Iran attacks from its territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran.” The blunt and threatening remark came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei early this morning reiterated a promise to “punish” an “evil” Israel following a suspected IDF strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria that killed 12 people, including two top generals, on April 1. Tehran held Israel responsible for the strike and immediately vowed to exact retribution. Khamenei also criticised the West, particularly the U.S. and Britain, for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.  

First bodies exhumed from mass graves at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli siege | 9 April 2024 | Health workers in northern Gaza exhumed the first corpses from mass graves in and around Al-Shifa Hospital on Tuesday, after they said Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and left their bodies to decompose during their two-week siege of the complex. At least 381 bodies were recovered from the vicinity of the complex since Israeli forces withdrew on April 1, Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said on Tuesday, adding that the total figure did not include people buried within the grounds of the hospital. Many of the decomposed remnants they discovered had been buried or were found above ground, officials told CNN on Monday. Israeli tanks crushed others to death, leaving some of those killed completely disfigured and unable to be identified, Basal said.

Sending troops to Ukraine ‘worth considering’ – ex-UK defense minister –British forces should be kept away from the front line but provide support such as training, James Heappey has said | 12 April 2024 | The UK should consider sending troops to Ukraine, former Minister of State for the Armed Forces James Heappey said in an interview with Sky News published on Friday. The comments came in response to recent controversial remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron about potentially sending NATO troops to the conflict zone. “Some of the things that Macron has suggested recently, I think are things that really do deserve consideration,” Heappey said. He warned, however, that the idea should be carefully thought through, as direct participation in the fighting could have undesirable consequences.

Boeing Whistleblower: Plane Incidents, Crashes Are ‘Inside Job’ by Global Elite to Usher in Agenda 2030 By The People’s Voice | 11 April 2024 | “The commercial airline industry has been hijacked by the globalist elites, who are determined to bring the industry to its knees, as part of the Agenda 2030 plan for humanity… According to [Boeing whistle-blower John] Barnett, DEI and the celebration of mediocrity has been weaponized by the global elites to wage war on America and the Western world, and the first casualty will be the airline industry. Unfortunately, we won’t be hearing any more from John Barnett. Despite informing the world he was not suicidal before he began testifying against Boeing, he was found dead of an apparent “self-inflicted” gunshot wound, just after the depositions began.” (Video)

Bird flu spreads to 3 more Michigan commercial dairy farms | 12 April 2024 | The highly pathogenic avian flu has infected more Michigan dairy farms only three weeks after it first spread to cattle. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced Friday, April 12 the bird flu was detected in three commercial farms in Ionia, Isabella and Ottawa counties. This brings the total number of infected Michigan dairy herds to four after the flu was confirmed at a Montcalm County farm in late March. An egg farm in Ionia County was also struck by the virus two weeks ago – impacting 4 million birds, federal data show.

U.S. renews controversial spying program –Section 702 of the FISA act was reauthorized despite fierce resistance from former President Donald Trump | 12 April 2024 | The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to renew a surveillance act that allows the government to spy on American citizens without a warrant. Pro-Trump Republicans blocked an earlier version of the act, but were persuaded to lift their veto by House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House voted 273-147 on Friday to fund Section 702 of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Drafted in 2008, Section 702 legalized a formerly clandestine program, granting U.S. intelligence agencies the power to monitor internet and phone communications from abroad made through American networks like Google. Ostensibly designed to target foreigners, the program also “indirectly” collects data from millions of American citizens, which can then be accessed without a court warrant.

86 House Republicans Vote for Warrantless Surveillance of Americans | 12 April 2024 | Eighty-six House Republicans on Friday voted against an amendment to require a warrant for surveillance of Americans’ communications. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) proposed an amendment to the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 is a law that is meant to target foreign adversaries, but often surveils Americans’ private communications without a warrant. The amendment tied at 212-212 in the House; a tie in the House means that the measure fails. Although Biggs’s amendment did receive support from a majority of Republicans, 86 House Republicans failed to support the proposal.

FBI director warns of ‘elevated’ public, national safety; pushes for increased funding | 11 April 2024 | FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday will warn of an “elevated threat” to U.S. public safety and national security while advocating for an increased budget. “Looking back over my career in law enforcement, I’d be hard-pressed to think of a time where so many threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at once,” Wray will say to the House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Thursday afternoon. “But that is the case as I sit here today. This is not a point when we can let up.” Wray will argue at the hearing that the federal agency needs fiscal support to “tackle these threats” to keep American citizens safe. Wray will say that the FBI’s “immediate concern” is that individuals will draw inspiration from the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East and carry out terrorist attacks in the U.S.

Elon Musk says Brazil X employees have been threatened with arrest, promises ‘data dump’ on Supreme Court judge once they’re safe | 9 April 2024 | Brazilian employees of X have been told that they need to be in a safe place and then Elon Musk will “do a full data dump” on the situation in Brazil. He posted that the X employees have been told that “they will be arrested” in the country. The events follow Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes taking steps to shut down popular accounts on the social media giant in the country and starting an inquiry into Musk for “obstruction of Justice” and “incitement to crime.” This is the latest escalation in the conflict between de Moraes and Musk as the government of the country has attempted to block popular X accounts. X has also been threatened with a 20,000 fine per profile if the platform does not block the accounts in the country.

Brazilian Supreme Court justice opens inquiry into Elon Musk for obstruction of justice and incitement to crime, moves to remove X from telecom network | 11 April 2024 | It appears Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has taken the first steps toward shutting down the X social media platform across the country and has begun an inquiry into X and its owner Elon Musk for “obstruction of Justice” and “incitement to crime.” This comes after a conflict between de Moraes and X owner Elon Musk. X has also been prohibited from reactivating accounts that had been suspended and ordering a fine of 20,000 per profile if X does not submit to their order. Andreza Matais, writing for Noticias UOL, said that representatives of de Moraes’s office reached out to the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to find out how to go about removing X from Brazil.

Herridge, Attkisson ask Congress help stop big government from making journalists disclose sources | 11 April 2024 | Two of the country’s top investigative reporters on Thursday urge Congress to pass to pass legislation to protect journalists from federal government efforts compelling them to disclosure their sources. “Forcing reporters to disclose sources would have a crippling effect on investigative journalism,” Catherine Herridge, an award-winning journalist who has worked at Fox News and CBS News, told members of the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. The hearing, titled “Fighting for a Free Press: Protecting Journalists and their Sources,” was convened to address the federal government’s infringement on the First Amendment freedom of the press guarantees and proposed laws to address the issue. Herridge, along with investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, who also worked for CBS, and Mary Cavallaro of the SAG-AFTRA union, which represents broadcasters and journalists, are asking Congress to pass the PRESS Act.

Rand Paul vows to probe Dr Anthony Fauci’s ‘secret trips’ to the CIA before COVID and says he’s ‘salivating’ at a possible Trump presidency to hold agencies accountable for pandemic ‘cover-up’ –Sen. Paul claimed Fauci frequently made ‘off the books’ visits to the spy agency | 10 April 2024 | Sen. Rand Paul told DailyMail he will continue his probe into the origins of COVID-19 by investigating Dr. Anthony Fauci’s secret ‘off the books’ trips to the CIA. The Republican from Kentucky – who is also a doctor – has been investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic for years. In an exclusive interview with DailyMail, Paul disclosed that Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was friendly with the CIA – which is notably one of the few federal agencies that still has not clearly established COVID-19 origins. “The CIA officially still says [COVID-19 is] probably from animals,” Paul said. “We also have stories, rumors and innuendo that Fauci was a frequent visitor off the books to the CIA.” He pointed to how the CIA disagrees with findings from the Department of Energy and FBI that have said the the pandemic likely originated from a leak at a Wuhan, China, lab. And that though an initial CIA assessment found the lab leak theory was likely, senior officials in the agency overruled their findings.  

NC Court Rules Federal PREP Act Protects Forced Vaccination Without Parental Consent | 8 April 2024 | A North Carolina Court of Appeals found that a clinic, where personnel gave a 14-year-old boy a COVID-19 shot without his consent or parental consent, was protected by the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act). The court concluded that the Guilford Board of Education, which hosted the clinic, was also covered by the PREP Act. Despite calling the act of forcing a child to get a COVID-19 shot against his will and without his parent’s consent, “egregious,” the court unanimously concluded that the PREP Act preempted state law and protected the defendants from being held liable for battery, violation of Tanner’s mother’s constitutional liberty and parental rights, and violation of Tanner’s bodily autonomy and plaintiffs’ federal constitutional rights.

DOJ’s Dangerous ‘Red Flag’ Distribution Center By Larry Keane | 3 April 2024 | The Department of Justice (DOJ) is embarking on a dangerous journey to distribute the destruction of rights by creating a “one-stop-shop” for states to deny Due Process rights to citizens. The DOJ created the National Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Resource Center to provide “training and technical assistance” to law enforcement, judges, lawyers, clinicians, victim service advocates, activist organizations and behavioral health professionals so they can work to implement laws that allow for firearm seizures. The one thing that this center won’t be training anyone on is how to adequately protect the Due Process rights of the accused. That’s because in every state where these laws exist, they lack adequate Due Process provisions written into them.

Message from AirBnB: Expect governments to restrict travel after June 6, 2024 –Claiming “foreseeable weather events…leading to government travel restriction or large-scale utility outage” By Sasha Latypova | 10 April 2024 | This is a quick post to report on an interesting email I received on April 6 from AirBnB: We’re updating our Extenuating Circumstances Policy and changing its name to make it easier to understand. The revised Major Disruptive Events Policy will apply to all trips and Experiences taking place on or after June 6, 2024, regardless of when they were booked. Foreseeable weather events at the reservation’s location are explicitly eligible for coverage if they result in another covered event, such as a government travel restriction or large-scale utility outage. The policy will only apply to events in the place where the reservation is located. Events that impact a guest’s ability to travel to the reservation are no longer covered.

French first lady Brigitte Macron sues ‘conspiracy theorists’ who claim she was born a man | 13 April 2024 | France’s elegant first lady, Brigitte Macron, is about to take the extraordinary step of going to trial in a Paris court to fight a [so-called] conspiracy theory – amplified last month by American conservative commentator Candace Owens – that she was born a man. Brigitte, 70, has long been the subject of fascination because of her marriage to the much younger Emmanuel Macron, 46. The two met in northern France when he was a 15-year-old student and she was his drama teacher, and wed in 2007. But now claims, made by two female French Internet influencers, that she was actually born Jean-Michel Trogneux and became a trans woman in the 1980s have electrified France.  Macron’s libel trial is set for June, where she will face off against the right-wing accuser and freelance journalist Natacha Rey, who [claims] that powerful members of the French establishment are hiding Brigitte’s true identity.