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Israel Bombs Humanitarian Aid Flotilla on Way to Gaza

A ship carrying supplies bound for the Gaza Strip was attacked by Israeli drones in international waters on Friday, according to the activist group that organized the flotilla. The vessel reportedly took at least one direct hit to its hull and sustained damage from fire, forcing its crew to issue an urgent call for help.

Organizers with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said one of their vessels was attacked by an unidentified drone in the early hours of Friday morning, noting the ship was not far off the coast of Malta when it was hit.

“At 00:23 Maltese time, the Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship, came under direct attack in international waters,” the group said in a press release. “Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull. [. . .] The drone strike appears to have deliberately targeted the ship’s generator, leaving the crew without power and placing the vessel at great risk of sinking.”

An FFC spokesperson, Caoimhe Butterly, later told Reuters that the ship was struck en route to Malta, where it was scheduled to pick up other activists, among them climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and retired US Army Colonel Mary Ann Wright. The group said it had arranged the aid shipment “under a media black out to avoid any potential sabotage.”

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New law requires clergy in Washington to report child abuse

Religious leaders in Washington will be required to report child abuse or neglect, even when it is disclosed in confession, under a new law signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on Friday.

“Protecting our kids, first, is the most important thing. This bill protects Washingtonians from abuse and harm,” Ferguson said, noting Washington is one of five states in which clergy are not currently mandated reporters.

It took Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, three years to get the bill to the governor’s desk. Making sure disclosures during confidential conversations between a penitent and religious leader were not exempt was critical, she said.

“You never put somebody’s conscience above the protection of a child,” she said.

Senate Bill 5375 passed by margins of 64-31 in the House and 28-20 in the Senate. It takes effect July 27. 

It adds clergy members to the state’s list of individuals legally required to report suspected child abuse to law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

Clergy would join school personnel, nurses, social service counselors, psychologists, and many others with a duty to report when they have “reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect.”

A “member of the clergy” is defined in the legislation to cover any regularly licensed, accredited, or ordained minister, priest, rabbi, imam, elder, or similarly positioned religious or spiritual leader.

While disclosures in confession or other religious rites where the clergy member is bound to confidentiality are not exempt, religious leaders will retain their privilege to not be compelled to testify in related court cases or criminal proceedings.

More than half the states make clergy mandatory reporters and most exempt what is heard in a confessional. Washington will join several states, including New Hampshire and West Virginia where such conversations are not exempt.

“It says the church is not above the law, especially when it comes to protecting children,” said Mary Dispenza, a founding member of the Catholic Accountability Project and member of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “We know children will be safer as a result of passing this law.”

Removing the confessional privilege proved the most divisive provision in legislative debates. 

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Rochester Man Who Filmed Mom Using N-Word Toward Child Was Previously Arrested for Sex Abuse of Minor

A viral video that ignited a social media firestorm and led to widespread condemnation of a Minnesota mother is now facing serious scrutiny—not only because of the woman in the video, but also because of the man who filmed it.

Shiloh Hendricks, the mother seen in a now-deleted video allegedly calling a child the N-word after he reportedly stole her 18-month-old son’s diaper bag, has raised nearly $500,000 through a GiveSendGo fundraiser to protect her family amid escalating threats, harassment, and doxxing.

According to Hendricks’ fundraising campaign:

“My name is Shiloh and I have been put into a very dire situation. I recently had a kid steal from my 18month old sons diaper bag at a park. I called the kid out for what he was. Another man, who we recently found out has had a history with law enforcement, proceeded to record me and follow me to my car. He then posted these videos online which has caused my family, and myself, great turmoil. My SSN has been leaked. My address, and phone number have been given out freely. My family members are being attacked. My eldest child may not be going back to school. Even where I exercise has been exposed.

I am asking for your help to assist in protecting my family. I fear that we must relocate. I have two small children who do not deserve this. We have been threatened to the extreme by people online. Anything will help! We cannot, and will not live in fear!

UPDATE: Where do I even begin?? The overwhelming support that my family and myself have received is unbelievable! I’ve never felt so scared, yet reassured in my life. It’s truly a whirlwind of emotions!

We are currently doing okay. No one has been harmed, and we are getting by. We are taking the proper procedures in order to stay safe from these constant threats. I’m still very frightened, and I don’t think I will feel safe until we can escape completely.

I am so grateful to all of you who have donated to my family. I never would have imagined that we would be supported to such an extreme. It still feel as if it’s too good to be true, and it’s all going to disappear. It’s such a strange feeling to be living in a blissful dream and a nightmare simultaneously.

Thank you all for your continuous support and love. We have to keep fighting for the safety of all our families, not just mine.”

The City of Rochester and Democrat officials were quick to condemn Hendricks, with Mayor Kim Norton and local NAACP leaders piling on the outrage and urging charges against her. The Rochester Police Department launched an investigation into the video.

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Ex-State Department employee pleads guilty to embezzling $650K

A former budget analyst for the State Department has pleaded guilty to embezzling $657,347.50 during her employment.

Levita Almuete Ferrer, 64, of Maryland, admitted she used her signature authority over a checking account for the State Department between March 2022 and April 2024.

Ferrer, also known as Levita Brezovic, attempted to hide the scheme through a QuickBooks account, specifically assigning herself as the payee and printing them.

She would often then alter the payee in QuickBooks to a genuine State Department vendor, making it difficult to trace her activities.

Ferrer pleaded guilty to theft of government property and will be sentenced on Sept. 18. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

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UK government plans to mandate new homes have solar panels and also plans to block sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface; the two do not go together

The UK’s Future Homes Standard aims to ensure that new homes built from 2025 produce 75-80% fewer carbon emissions compared to homes built under the current Building Regulations. It will require new homes to have very high levels of energy efficiency and low-carbon heating systems, ensuring they contribute to the UK’s net-zero carbon emissions target.

The standard includes specific performance requirements for building elements like external walls, roofs, floors, windows and doors, as well as minimum efficiencies for heating systems, ventilation and lighting.  It also demands that people’s homes be adorned with solar panels.

“The so-called Future Homes Standard regulations is due to be unveiled ‘soon’, billed as ensuring that properties are ‘highly efficient’ and do not have fossil fuel boilers by 2030,” the Daily Mail reported.  “The latest version of the blueprint could see four-fifths of new homes required to have solar panels covering 40 per cent of their footprint.”

A Ministry of Housing spokesman said, “Through the Future Homes Standard we plan to maximise the installation of solar panels on new homes, as part of our ambition to ensure all new homes are energy efficient, and will set out final plans in due course.”

This mandate is expected to add between £3,000 and £4,000 to the cost of building a home.

Meanwhile, war criminal and former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that the government’s net zero targets are “unrealistic” which has caused the Labour Party to descend into bitter infighting, with some Members of Parliament and unions urging a re-evaluation of net zero policies while others are defending them.

A day after issuing his comments, Blair, who has advised Sir Keir informally, backed down and insisted he supported Labour’s plan to reach net zero by 2050.

Blair wasn’t criticising the false “climate change” premise on which net zero policies are built. He merely criticised the current net zero approach as “doomed to fail” and called for a pragmatic “reset,” arguing that people in developed countries are unwilling to make financial sacrifices and lifestyle changes when their impact on global emissions is minimal.

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Entire CIA Workforce Gets Buyout Offer from Trump Administration

In a bombshell turn of events, the Central Intelligence Agency has offered to buy out its entire workforce as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping initiative to streamline the bloated federal bureaucracy.

The shocking revelation dropped Tuesday, when the CIA became the first intelligence agency to allow employees to quit their jobs immediately in exchange for eight months of full pay and benefits.

The mass downsizing “is a bid to bring the agency in line with President Trump’s priorities, including targeting drug cartels,” officials told The Wall Street Journal.

The CIA buyout offer mirrors the federal civilian employee buyout proposal Trump made last month, which senior administration officials projected could ultimately save taxpayers $100 billion annually.

The resignation period began Jan. 28 and ends on Feb. 6.

In an email to federal civilian employees last week, the Office of Personnel Management suggested there’s no assurance that those who don’t resign won’t be laid off.

“If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce,” the OPM email read.

“At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency, but should your position be eliminated, you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”

This sentiment was echoed in a Washington Post report late Tuesday.

“A supervisor in a government agency now run by allies of billionaire Elon Musk told staff early this week that layoffs across the federal government are ‘likely’ after Thursday’s deadline to accept the deferred resignation offer,” the outlet reported.

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Transportation Secretary Cancels $54 Million in University Grants Tied to DEI, Climate Agenda

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Friday announced the termination of seven federally funded university research grants totaling $54 million, saying the programs are wasteful and ideologically divisive projects that fall outside the scope of the Department of Transportation’s core mission.

“The previous administration turned the Department of Transportation into the Department of Woke,” Duffy said in a May 2 statement. “I’ve focused the Department on what matters; safety, making travel great again, and building big, beautiful infrastructure projects.”

The grants supported research projects that Duffy said were used to advance a “radical DEI and green agenda” that wasted taxpayer resources and were not aligned with the transportation priorities of Americans.

The seven canceled grants had been awarded to research centers at the University of California–Davis, City College of New York, University of Southern California, New York University, San Jose State University, University of New Orleans, and Johns Hopkins University.

He cited specific examples of what he called ideological misuse of funds, including a $12 million grant to UC Davis for research on “accelerating equitable decarbonization,” a $9 million grant to the City College of New York for studying “equitable transportation for the disadvantaged workforce,” and a $6 million grant to San Jose State University that examined infrastructure and safety issues facing women and gender non-conforming individuals.

“We’re taking out all the racist DEI and green new scam and injecting a dose of reality back into our higher education system,” Duffy said in a video statement.

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Judge rules Trump order pulling security clearances from law firm unconstitutional

Afederal judge in Washington, D.C., on Friday ruled that President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm Perkins Coie was unconstitutional and blocked the administration from enforcing it.

The president signed an executive order in March that pulled the security clearances of some of the firm’s staff, claiming the law firm engaged in “dishonest and dangerous activity,” and essentially barred its attorneys from federal buildings.

The firm sued the administration over the order, accusing the administration of targeting the firm for its representation of Democratic clients, such as Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Judge Beryl A. Howell decided to skip a trial over the case and ruled that the president’s actions amounted to unlawful coercion, and violated the First and Fifth Amendments.

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Can the PELOSI Act bring accountability to Congress?

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has reintroduced the aptly named PELOSI Act in Congress, which aims to ban members of Congress from engaging in insider trading.

The bill’s title, the PELOSI Act, stands for “Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments” — which is essentially calling out former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the questionable way she made millions in the stock market.

“Most members of the public think it’s already banned,” Hawley explained in a statement regarding the proposed act. “And when I say, ‘Actually, it’s 100% legal,’ they say, ‘Why?’ And there’s no good answer to that question.”

“Nancy Pelosi is the poster child for all of this,” Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” comments. “I mean, you’ve seen her estimated net worth — $250 million.”

$175,000 a year in Congress for the 289 years that she’s been alive somehow ends up with a net worth of $250 million,” she continues.

The act would not completely ban elected officials from investing, as they could still invest in mutual funds, ETFs, and U.S. treasuries.

However, Gonzales isn’t hopeful things will change.

“The problem here is that I don’t think this will ever happen, because there are too many people on both sides of the aisle who are doing this right now,” Gonzales says. “They are profiting off of their position, and it just feels like there’s no end in sight.”

“You’ve got a couple of good guys like Josh Hawley who’s like, ‘Hey, we should do this.’ You’ve got a couple of good guys like Ted Cruz who are like, ‘Hey, we should have term limits.’ And the rest of them are like, ‘Nah, let’s just do this forever and get really rich,’” she adds.

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Maine Drops Transgender Lawsuit After Federal Funds Released

The state of Maine and President Donald Trump struck a deal over ‘transgender’ athletes in girls’ sports.

Maine dropped its April 7 lawsuit after the USDA agreed to restore the federal funds it had frozen.

The funding freeze came because Maine refused to bar trans athletes from girls’ teams.

Now the money’s flowing again, and the lawsuit’s out.

Another win against woke!

The state of Maine and President Donald Trump reached an agreement in their dispute over transgender athletes in girls sports.

In exchange for the U.S. Department of Agriculture agreeing to restore federal funds to Maine that it had frozen, the state dropped its lawsuit against the Trump administration.

The lawsuit was filed April 7 after a federal funding freeze in response to the state’s refusal to keep trans athletes out of girls sports.

Federal Judge John Woodcock ordered the Trump administration to restore those funds April 12. Woodcock, a senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine, was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2003.

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office released a statement addressing the settlement Friday afternoon.

“It’s unfortunate that my office had to resort to federal court just to get USDA to comply with the law and its own regulations,” Frey said. “But we are pleased that the lawsuit has now been resolved and that Maine will continue to receive funds as directed by Congress to feed children and vulnerable adults.”

However, the state is still facing other legal battles related to the issue.

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