Israeli Forces Raise Flag Over Syrian Town In Latest Raid: ‘Provocative Act’

Israeli military vehicles rolled into the town of Hadr in Syria’s Quneitra Governorate days ago and raised the Israeli flag over the town’s entrance. Locals say they also closed all but one road leading into or out of the town, and established a checkpoint on that road as well.

Though Israel routinely raids Quneitra’s towns and villages of late, raising the Israeli government’s flag over a town is more provocative than what usually happens in these incidents, and like most of Israel’s military forays on Syrian soil, they’ve yet to issue a statement to even attempt to explain the purpose of the operation.

Hadr is a relatively small town of about 5,000 people along the frontier between Quneitra Governorate and the UNDOF demilitarized zone, a zone which has subsequently been occupied militarily by Israel. Some suburbs of Hadr extend into the demilitarized zone.

Israel also launched operations against multiple other villages in Quneitra earlier this week, including Saida al-Golan and Saida al-Hanout. They captured two young men who were herding sheep to the west of the village.

The troops also captured two village elders in Saida al-Golan, though the elders were ultimately released without incident. The fate of the shepherds remains uncertain, and again the IDF has not commented.

As for the flag-raising incident, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which the mainstream media had long relied on as its main anti-Assad source throughout the prior war, detailed the following of the “provocative act”:

Al-Quneitra province: Israeli forces raised the Israeli flag at the entrance of Hadr Town in northern Al-Quneitra countryside [on Wednesday], raising local questions regarding the escalation in the area.

According to sources, these forces closed secondary roads leading to the town from the side of Al-Qanaif checkpoints, and only kept the main road leading to the town open.

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BEYOND PARODY: No Kings Protesters Yell ‘Abolish the Police’ as They’re Being Escorted and Protected by Police

No Kings protesters marching in Washington, DC today could be heard yelling ‘abolish the police’ as they were being escorted and protected by police.

You could not make this up. No one would believe it.

The other interesting thing about this is that elected Democrats across the country have admitted that the ‘abolish the police’ movement was a huge political mistake. Apparently, their supporters didn’t get the memo, because they’re still saying it.

The Daily Caller reports:

Several “No Kings” protesters chanted anti-police slogans Saturday while uniformed officers could be seen ushering their march through the streets of Washington, video footage by the Daily Caller News Foundation shows.

Thousands of demonstrators flocked to the nation’s capital as part of the nationwide No Kings Day protests Saturday against President Donald Trump and his administration, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). During one portion of the Washington demonstrations, protesters chanted multiple times in favor of defunding or even abolishing the police — despite officers at the same time visibly protecting them.

“I said take it to the streets, abolish the police,” a male protester leading a chant yelled as multiple on-duty law enforcement officers walked with them, video by DCNF investigative reporter Hudson Crozier shows.

“Cops spent hours accompanying the protest and holding off traffic for about a mile, giving them the entire Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge along the way,” Crozier wrote in the post, referring to to the arch bridge crossing the Anacostia River in Washington’s southeast quadrant.

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IRGC targets US-linked aluminum industries in coordinated missile-drone strike

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced targeting two industries connected to US military and aerospace sectors in a combined missile and drone operation.

In a statement on Saturday, the Corps said the strikes were carried out jointly by its Aerospace Force and Navy in response to “the malicious actions of the US-Zionist enemy targeting the industrial infrastructure of our beloved country from the Persian Gulf’s littoral states.”

The two targeted facilities were identified as the Emirates Aluminum (EMAL) plant and the Aluminum Bahrain (ALBA) plant.

The statement highlighted their strategic significance, noting that EMAL houses the world’s longest aluminum production line with a capacity of 1.3 million tons, while ALBA operates with American investment and shareholding. The latter, it added, “plays a significant role in supplying the military-industrial production of the US terrorist army.”

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Woman visiting ER for back pain shocked after doctor suggests EUTHANASIA: ‘Last thing on my mind’

A Canadian woman who went to the emergency room with back pain said she was left shocked when a doctor immediately floated the suggestion of euthanasia. 

Miriam Lancaster, 84, was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital last April with a fractured sacrum, a break at the base of the spine relatively frequent in elderly people.

Lancaster said she was stunned by the doctors’ immediate suggestion upon examination.

‘I was approached by a young lady doctor whose very first words out of her mouth is we would like to offer you [euthanasia],’ Lancaster said in a video posted on X.

The retired piano teacher said she just wanted to find out why she was in pain and had never considered a medically-assisted death.

‘That was the last thing on my mind,’ Lancaster added. ‘I did not want to die.’

She said that she had been most upset by the ‘timing’ of the request.

‘A patient is already upset and disoriented and wishing they weren’t there,’ she told the National Post. ‘To give them a decision, a life-terminating decision, when they are in this condition, that’s what I object to.’

Lancaster added that she was not thinking about ‘cashing my chips,’ which her daughter agreed with.

‘To be offered [euthanasia] right off the bat for a non-life-threatening condition? It was a matter of pain management,’ she said. ‘Just because someone is 84 does not mean they’re ready to go on the scrap heap of life.’

She called the hospital’s treatment of her mother an ‘insult to seniors.’

Euthanasia is legal in Canada for those who are 18 and over, able to make decisions for themselves and have a ‘grievous and irremediable medical condition.’

That does not mean a fatal or terminal condition, but rather ‘an advanced state of decline that cannot be reversed’ or ‘unbearable physical or mental suffering.’

There have been 76,475 medically assisted deaths in the country since euthanasia was legalized in 2016, per the Canadian government.

Weaver said religious motives prevented her from accepting euthanasia, which is also known as medical aid in dying (MAID).

‘My mother and I are practicing Catholics,’ she said. ‘We would never accept MAID under any circumstances.’

Lancaster’s daughter claimed that other treatment options were only suggested after euthanasia was firmly rejected.

‘The doctor said, “Well, you could get rehab, but it will be a long road, and it will be very difficult,”‘ Weaver said.

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Israel Targeted Churches, Mosques, and Markets during the Genocide.

Gaza City is home to landmarks such as the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the Great Mosque and Gaza’s al-Zawiya and gold markets.

These landmarks testify to Gaza’s archaeological history, religious significance and commercial heritage.

But throughout its genocide in the Gaza Strip, Israel has wreaked havoc on these places.

The Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius is located in Gaza City’s al-Zaytoon neighborhood, with roughly 20 Christian homes standing around it.

The church is believed to be the third-oldest in the world.

But its heritage and status as a place of worship didn’t deter Israel from bombing the church on 19 October 2023, targeting the church’s annex building and killing 17 Palestinian Christians who were sheltering there.

“It was the greatest catastrophe of our lives,” Fuad Ayyad, a Christian working at the church, told The Electronic Intifada.

“I can still see the faces and bodies of the martyrs I collected with my own hands, the children I buried myself,” Ayyad, 44, said. “It was the first time in our history that a church – a house of worship – was directly targeted.”

The Christian community sought refuge in Gaza’s churches during the genocide.

More than 400 sought refuge in Saint Porphyrius, while a few hundred meters away, the Latin convent, which comprises the Catholic Holy Family Church, sheltered around 500 others.

On 16 December 2023, an Israeli sniper fatally shot two Christian women while they were sheltering at the Holy Family Church.

On 18 July 2025, an Israeli artillery shell struck the Holy Family Church, killing three Christians.

Churches weren’t safe havens only for Christians.

The Saint Porphyrius Church, Ayyad said, was also housing Palestinian Muslims.

But “the Israeli army makes no distinction between a Christian or a Muslim,” Ayyad said.

The 19 October 2023 bombing, he said, killed another Muslim man who was sheltering at the church.

“The church lost its majesty, but it still carries the memory of coexistence and love,” Ayyad said, referring to the 2014 Gaza war when the church sheltered Palestinian Muslims during Ramadan, Muslims’ holy month, where they broke their fasts and worshiped god.

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Hegseth Slashes ‘Faith Codes’ in Move to Make Chaplains the Spiritual Backbone of the US Military

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says his latest reforms will allow the Chaplain Corps to fulfill its mission of being the spiritual backbone of America’s military.

The number of faith codes used in the service has been winnowed down to 31, according to a War Department news release.

In 2017, the Pentagon issued a list of 221 groups that qualify as a religious group. The list included Wiccans and atheists, according to Stars and Stripes.

“The previous system had ballooned to well over 200 faith codes,” Hegseth said Tuesday.

“It was impractical and unusable, and many codes were never used at all,” Hegseth said, adding that most of the 82 percent of service members who identify as being religious used six of the codes.

The reduction “brings the codes in line with its original purpose, giving chaplains clear, usable information so they can minister to service members in a way that aligns with that service member’s faith background and religious practice,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth added that the chaplains will display their religious insignia on their uniforms instead of their ranks.

“A chaplain is first and foremost a chaplain, and an officer second. This change is a visual representation of that fact,” he said.

“While they will retain rank as an officer to those they serve, their rank will not be visible.”

Hegseth said his Chaplain Corps reforms are not over.

“These two reforms are big progress, but we’re not even close to being done. These are the first steps toward restoring the esteemed position of chaplain as moral anchors of our fighting force,” Hegseth said.

“Theirs is a high and sacred calling, but they can only be successful if they are given the freedom to boldly guide and care for their flock.”

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Chicago moves toward reparations with bus tours and town halls as $150M deficit looms

Chicago took its first step after establishing a reparations task force two years ago.

Now, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to hold a public engagement forum called Repair Chicago to “gather lived experiences of harm of Black Chicagoans” in an effort to provide reparations for Black residents.

“Your experience is evidence, and we’ve placed it at the center of our work,” Johnson said. “By engaging directly with residents, we are grounding this work in the voices and lived realities of the people it is meant to serve.”

The first event took place Tuesday, and two more events are scheduled through April.

Johnson’s office announced the Repair Chicago effort would involve “bus tours, panel discussions, town halls and hearings,” helping the task force members gather input for the administration’s reparations study. 

“The community engagement process will gather input from Chicagoans across the city to better understand Black Chicagoans’ experiences across generations and how systemic racism has shaped their lives, opportunities and well-being,” Johnson said.

The move comes two years after Johnson named his chief equity officer, Carla Kupe, to lead the reparations task force with $500,000 in funding

In 2024, Johnson signed an executive order establishing a reparations task force of 40 members that addresses “historical harms committed against Black Chicagoans and their ancestors through the form of reparations.”

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Exiled Iranian crown prince says at CPAC he intends to ‘make Iran great again’

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, called on the American people to take a moment and reflect on what a free Iran would look like.

“No more nuclear threats. No more terrorism. No more hostage taking. No more closing of the Strait of Hormuz. No more blackmailing fo the global community. Imagine an Iran that instead of exporting terrorism, is promoting freedom,” he said at the conference.

“Stability to its neighbors. National security and economic opportunity for the United States and the free world,” he added.

“Can you imagine Iranians going from ‘Death to America’ to ‘God Bless America’?” he also said. “I can because I’ve seen the true soul of my people.”

The crowd began chanting, “USA.”

He said he can imagine an Iran that “exports engineers, instead of extremists” and “startups instead of suicide bombers.”

He said the Middle East will change when Iran is free.

“President Trump is making America great again. I intend to make Iran great again,” he said.

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Tim Walz Vows to ‘Never Leave the Side’ of Somali Minnesotans

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) vowed that his administration would “never leave the side” of Somalians in Minnesota, adding that their “great-grandchildren” would still be there even when President Donald Trump is gone.

Walz made the comments during a “No Kings” protest on Saturday in Minneapolis, according to Mediaite. During his speech, Walz expressed that the Somali community in the state was “seen, heard, valued, and loved.”

“I will add a special, a special thank you, and a special acknowledgement that we will never leave the side of our Somali Minnesotans,” Walz told the crowd. “Here’s our pledge to you, our Somali Minnesotans: your great-grandchildren will still be here when that orange clown is in the dustbin of history.”

Walz’s comments come as there have been multiple reports that people in the Somali community in the state have committed fraud with schemes in which they have “bilked American taxpayers out of tens of billions of dollars,” Breitbart News’s John Nolte noted:

Walz has been under intense pressure as multiple Somali fraud scandals have blossomed throughout a state that has been run exclusively by Democrats for decades, with Walz at the top of the political caste system as governor for seven years.

According to court records and alternative media reports, Somali fraudsters have bilked American taxpayers out of tens of billions of dollars through various scams that include pretty much everything subsidized by federal taxpayers: food programs, healthcare centers, daycare centers, and those now infamous “learing” centers…

Citizen journalist Nick Shirley released a video in December in which he was seen visiting several daycare centers in the state that were reported to be receiving millions of dollars in federal aid. While visiting the various daycare centers, there appeared to be no signs of children.

President Trump has promised “to cut off funds to the Somali-related fraud and corruption” in states such as California and Illinois, as well as Minnesota. Trump has also claimed that Somali immigrants in the state have stolen “$19 billion at least.”

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Kindergarten Teachers Fired for Filming Themselves Celebrating Iran’s Assassination Threat Against Trump Brag That They Have Been Hired at Taxpayer-Funded Pittsburgh Charter School 

Two kindergarten teachers who were terminated from Propel Charter Schools in Pittsburgh after they recorded themselves in a classroom celebrating Iranian state media threats to assassinate President Donald Trump have reportedly been hired at the nearby Urban Pathways Charter School.

The teachers, Kate Patterson and Devin Hays, made national headlines earlier this month after they posted a video showing their excited reaction to a news report about Iran’s threats against Trump.

In the clip, the pair crossed their fingers with huge smiles on their faces while showing the headline: “IRAN ISSUES ASSASSINATION THREAT AGAINST TRUMP: RPT,” while sitting in what appeared to be their Propel classroom.

Propel Schools initially placed Patterson and Hays on paid administrative leave for an internal investigation.

The district later confirmed that both women were “no longer employed,” citing the inappropriate nature of the social media posts and the video made on school property.

“We want to be clear that Propel Schools rejects any suggestion of harm or violence toward anyone,” the school said in a statement obtained by WTAE Pittsburgh. “Such sentiments are incompatible with our values and with the responsibility entrusted to educators who serve children and families.”

The statement continued, “Our focus remains on the safety and well-being of our scholars and on upholding the professionalism and trust our community expects.”

Now, just weeks later, the same two teachers have landed new jobs at Urban Pathways Charter School, a taxpayer-funded charter serving students in Pittsburgh.

A video posted by one of the teachers shows the duo excitedly announcing their new jobs at the school, bragging in the caption, “all I do is win.”

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