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Israeli Troops Fire Shots On International Diplomats Visiting West Bank

International pressure on Israel and the Netanyahu government is already at a historic high, even from Western allies which have been sanctioning hardline Israeli settler groups and individuals, and a new international incident has unfolded Wednesday in the West Bank.

“Israeli soldiers mistakenly fired warning shots at diplomats representing the European Union, UK, France, China, Russia and other countries on Wednesday,” Bloomberg writes.

An international group of diplomats and activists were visiting the West Bank town of Jenin when they reportedly came under gunfire from Israel Defense Forces.

Videos show the diplomatic group fleeing and running to their vehicles in a chaotic scene. Some of the vehicles appeared marked with flags of their respective countries.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs the West Bank, issued a statement condemning Israel troops. The statement claimed the IDF “deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation.”

The IDF for its part, issued a statement alleging that while the diplomatic group was approved to be in the area, it departed from the ‘approved route’. The IDF did confirm that “warning shots” were fired. 

“IDF soldiers operating in the area fired warning shots to distance them away,” the IDF said in the statement. “The IDF regrets the inconvenience caused.” The army said an investigation into the incident will follow.

Bloomberg lists that diplomats from the following were on the ground at the time: the EU, Portugal, Morocco, Brazil, Austria, Japan, Canada, India, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Romania, France, the UK, Mexico, China, Egypt and Jordan.

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The Hostile Takeover of Gaza Relief

With over half a million people in Gaza on the brink of starvation and aid groups warning of an “imminent famine,” Israel has agreed to allow a token number of relief trucks into the besieged enclave. But what’s entering Gaza now isn’t humanitarian aid, it’s a Trojan horse.

A new, U.S.-backed private aid scheme staffed by former C.I.A. operatives, ex-Marines, and mercenaries tied to Israeli intelligence and Wall Street elites has been deployed in Gaza under the guise of relief. The project is led by a shady NGO registered in Switzerland just months ago, and human rights groups are calling it what it is: a hostile corporate takeover of the aid sector, designed to militarize relief, displace civilians and profit from Gaza’s agony.

At the heart of this scheme is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a nonprofit created in February and backed by Israeli authorities. Despite Gaza requiring a minimum of 500 aid trucks per day to meet basic survival needs, the Israeli military allowed just 1 percent of that to enter this week.

GHF, which now controls the operation, was launched by individuals with no background in humanitarian work — David Papazian, formerly with the Armenian National Interests Fund; Samuel Marcel Henderson; and David Kohler, CEO of Kohler Co. They are corporate executives, not aid workers.

According to a leaked internal proposal circulated in May, GHF plans to establish four “secure distribution sites” in Gaza capable of feeding just a fraction of the population (300,000 people), while giving the Israeli military and its contractors full operational oversight.

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St. Louis SUSPENDS emergency boss for failing to deploy tornado siren before twisters that killed FIVE

A city official has been suspended and residents are still reeling after a deadly tornado tore through St. Louis, killing five people and exposing critical failures in the city’s emergency response.

Ahead of the devastating Friday evening storm, the city’s Emergency Management Director, Sarah Russell, failed to activate tornado sirens, leaving residents unprepared and vulnerable.

The City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) director has since been placed on paid administrative leave, Mayor Cara Spencer announced on Tuesday, saying she wanted to ‘provide accountability’ after the life-saving alerts weren’t deployed.

In a statement, Spencer said CEMA failed to ‘alert the public to dangers.’

‘Commissioner Russell has served our city for years and is a person of goodwill, but I cannot move on from this without providing accountability and ensuring that our emergency management is in trusted hands,’ the mayor said.

Spencer said an internal investigation into the siren failure revealed ‘multiple’ issues, prompting her decision to seek an external investigation of CEMA.

She pointed to various details in the Tuesday release, including a malfunctioning button in the Fire Department to set off sirens.

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South Africa: Surge in BRUTAL ATTACKS targeting white farmers – Afrikaner campaign group

ATTACKS against South Africa’s white farmers are on the rise with some victims being tortured with electric drills, blowtorches and bleach, according to a new report.

Research by Afriforum, a group which champions the rights of the country’s Afrikaner minority, said assaults on the farms shot up 25 percent last year. And it warned the attacks against landowners were becoming increasingly brutal. Afriforum spokesman Ernst Roets said there was a “racial element” to the violence with research showing only white farming families suffered such levels of savagery.

He said there were more than eight attacks on rural properties every week, 433 incidents in 2018, up from 342 the previous year and the highest recorded by the group.

The number of murders last year was down to 54 from 72 in 2017, its lowest since 2011, suggesting some of the farmers were fighting back.

Mr Roets said: “More victims are shooting back, more are being trained and more are defending themselves.

“They are not allowing themselves to be victims. The farmers aren’t waiting to get murdered, but rather prepared for that contact to happen.”

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Oregon police responded 17 times to home occupied by Tren de Aragua gang members charged with torture, kidnapping, attempted murder: charging documents

An Oregon home that housed illegal immigrants accused of kidnapping, torturing, and attempting to kill a Washington state woman in January has prompted at least 17 police responses within the past year over a number of alarming incidents reported at the property, according to dozens of police reports exclusively obtained by The Post Millennial.

Police records show that neighbors have called 911 to report concerning activity that would “generally increase after nightfall,” including sounds of screaming, vans full of people being dropped off at the property, an alarming presence of young girls at the residence, drug use, and more.

The home, located at 5431 Bonita Road in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is where authorities said two of the three suspects with alleged ties to the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang (TdA) had been living when they allegedly plotted to kidnap a 58-year-old woman from outside of her apartment complex on January 21 in Burien, Washington, near Seattle, according to charging documents. The victim was abducted, tortured, shot, and left for dead in a mountain pass, but miraculously survived the attempted killing.

The charging documents, filed in the King County Superior Court, identified the two suspects residing at the Lake Oswego home as Kevin Daniel Sanabria-Ojeda, 24, of Venezuela, who was taken into custody by the FBI on January 30, and an unnamed co-accomplice, who remains at large. The home is considered so dangerous that Lake Oswego Police require a three-car minimum response when responding to calls at the address, according to police records.

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Trump confronts South African President Ramaphosa in Oval Office over ‘white genocide’ in South Africa

President Donald Trump hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office on Wednesday, during which Trump confronted the South African leader about the violent persecution being faced by white residents of the country. This comes as the US has accepted Afrikaner refugees.

While fielding questions from reporters, one asked Trump, “What does it take from you for you to be convinced that there’s no white genocide in South Africa?” 

Ramaphosa replied, “Well, I can answer that for the president… It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, some of whom are his good friends, like those who are here when we have talks between us.”

“I’m not going to be repeating what I’ve been saying. I would say, if there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you these three gentlemen would not be here, including my minister of agriculture. He would not be with me,” Ramaphosa continued.”

Trump interjected, “we have thousands of stories talking about it. We have documentaries, we have news stories.” Trump then directed for the lights to be turned down in the room, and for Ramaphosa to direct his attention to video that was played behind him.

Included in the video clips played were officials saying that “killing is part of a revolution,” that they can take land without permission and without compensation, and chants of “kill the Boer.”

Additional footage played, with Trump explaining that these were burial sites of “over 1,000 white farmers” in South Africa. “It’s a terrible sight. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Have they told you where that is, Mr. President?” Ramaphosa asked. “I’d like to know where that is, because this I’ve never seen.”

Trump also flipped through a large stack of printed articles, saying, “these are articles over the last few days, death of people, death, death, death, horrible death, death.” He noted articles about white South Africans fleeing their home country due to violence, a white South African couple that was violently attacked, and burial sites all over the country. 

“When you look at the videos, I mean, how does it get worse? And these are people that are officials, and they’re saying that, ‘kill the white farmer and take their land.’ And I have other friends in South Africa, people that left, one in particular that says you can’t go there. He said they will want to take your land. They take your land and they kill you,” Trump said. 

In response, Ramaphosa said that the speeches seen in the clips “is not government policy,” and that in South Africa’s multi-party democracy, people are allowed to “express themselves” and political parties can “adhere to various policies.” 

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Minnesota Signs First-Of-Its-Kind Agreement Allowing Indian Tribe To Sell Legal Marijuana Outside Reservation

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) has signed a landmark agreement with the White Earth Nation that will allow the tribe to operate up to eight retail marijuana stores across the state. Already the tribe is preparing to open storefronts in Moorhead and St. Cloud.

Walz signed the new compact on Tuesday, making White Earth Nation—also known as the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe—the first tribal entity in the state to reach an agreement with the state on selling legal cannabis outside of tribal land.

Notably, Minnesota’s 2023 cannabis legalization law allows tribes within the state to open marijuana businesses before state licensing of businesses begins. Following the law’s enactment, a number of tribal governments, including White Earth Nation, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, made early moves to enter the market.

Minnesota officials said the next compact with another tribe could be signed within a few weeks.

The new agreement with White Earth will allow the storefronts to be located off tribal land but still be regulated by tribal authorities. It also requires at least some distance between the storefronts, with the tribe limited to no more than one retail location per city and three per county.

Under the compact, White Earth will also be able to open marijuana cultivation and manufacturing facilities off of tribal land and engage in wholesale transactions, transportation and delivery of cannabis.

The interim director of the Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), Eric Taubel, described the state’s new deal with White Earth Nation to local reporters as a “nation-leading approach to cannabis compacting.”

“We’ll be the first state where not only are tribes operating cannabis businesses off tribal land, but they’re also doing so under tribal regulatory authority,” he told The Minnesota Star-Tribune, adding that Minnesota cannabis regulators will still be permitted to conduct an annual facility inspection and can take further steps if they believe stores are selling risky products.

Taubel also said that while the White Earth compact allows up to eight dispensary locations, he doubts that any of the 11 recognized tribal nations in Minnesota will actually open that many.

“Candidly, I don’t suspect any tribe will get past about three to four stores for the next two years just because of the actual cost in setting up these stores,” Taubel said.

Zach Wilson, CEO of Waabigwan Mashkiki—White Earth Nation’s cannabis business—told the Star-Tribune that the first off-reservation store could open as soon as this weekend.

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Federal Judge Blocks Voter-Approved Oregon Law Requiring Marijuana Businesses To Have Labor Peace Agreements With Workers

A federal judge has struck down a voter-approved Oregon law that required licensed marijuana businesses enter into labor peace agreements with workers and mandated that employers remain neutral in discussions around unionization.

About three months after two marijuana businesses—Bubble’s Hash and Ascend Dispensary—filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon challenging the implementation of Measure 119, Judge Michael Simon on Tuesday ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, agreeing that the law unconstitutionally restricts free speech and violates the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Under the now defunct law, a marijuana businesses that was unable to provide proof of a labor peace agreement could have been subject a denial or revocation of their license.

The lawsuit named Gov. Tina Kotek (D), Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) and Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s (OLCC) Dennis Doherty and Craig Prins as defendants.

In the order on Tuesday, the judge walked through various components of the legal arguments from both sides and ultimately agreed that the Oregon law is preempted by the NLRA, which is meant to provide protections for workers who want to unionize—but specifically preserves the right for “uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate in labor disputes.”

By mandating neutrality from employers in labor discussions, that constitutes a violation of the NLRA, the judge ruled.

“Measure 119 does not distinguish between permissible employer speech and threatening or coercive speech,” Simon said. “Measure 119 is not limited to restricting only threatening, coercive, false, or misleading speech, but instead prohibits all speech by employers that is not ‘neutral’ toward unionization.”

On the question of whether the law violates First Amendment protections under the U.S. Constitution, the cannabis companies argued that “Measure 119 is a content-based restriction on speech that is subject to strict scrutiny, and that Defendants fail to provide a compelling government interest requiring this restriction.”

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One Out Of Four Indian Tribes In The U.S. Is Now Involved In Marijuana Or Hemp Programs, New Map Shows

A new infographic from an advocacy group representing Native American tribes in the legal cannabis industry shows that more than a fourth of Indigenous communities in the continental United States are now involved with marijuana or hemp programs.

The map, created by the Indigenous Cannabis Industry Association (ICIA) in collaboration with the law firm Vicente, shows the locations of more than 100 tribal marijuana and hemp programs across the country.

Overall, approximately 26 percent of the 358 federally recognized Indigenous communities in the continental U.S. are now involved in some sort of cannabis program, the groups said.

The data, they said in a press release, “shows that the Indigenous cannabis industry is trending upward in terms of jobs, community development, and overall industry growth, with many Tribes currently scaling to meet demands for global cannabis distribution.”

“Since the first regulated Indigenous cannabis storefront opened almost 10 years ago in Washington State,” the groups said, “dozens of sovereign Indigenous communities have created their own unique regulatory systems to govern cannabis cultivation, production and sales.”

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DEA Approves Church’s Petition To Use Psychedelics In Religious Ceremonies Without The Need For A Lawsuit

A Washington State church says the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has approved its application for an exception under federal drug laws to use the psychedelic ayahuasca in religious ceremonies—and, for the first time, the agency granted the unique exemption without legal challenges.

The Church of Gaia on Friday said DEA approved a petition for congregants to use ayahuasca under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was enacted in 2009 to create a pathway for religious organizations to request a carve-out under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

There have been relatively few examples of DEA approving such petitions in the years since—and churches that have sought the exemption have had to engage in litigation against the federal government over their requests. Uniquely, approval for this latest petition was granted without the need for lawsuits, as Mason Marks of Psychedelic Week first reported.

“As the sacrament for the Church of Gaia, Ayahuasca serves as a profound ceremonial tool for accessing spiritual connection and abundance,” Connor Mize, founder of the church, said in a press release. “In pursuing the religious exemption, we aimed to ensure the safety of the church’s members, Indigenous elders, and leaders while protecting the right to practice our sacred ceremonies without persecution. This exemption means the church can fully embrace its religious offerings, including the Ayahuasca ceremonies we’ve long prayed for.”

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