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Top Trump Admin. Officials Allegedly Hold Secret Talks With Zelensky’s Possible Replacements

On Thursday Politico claimed that members of President Donald Trump’s ‘entourage’ have begun talks with rivals of Ukrainian Dictator Vladimir Zelensky in the hopes of replacing the wartime ruler with someone new in an election.

“Four senior members of Donald Trump’s entourage have held secret discussions with some of Kyiv’s top political opponents to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just as Washington aligns with Moscow in seeking to lever the Ukrainian president out of his job,” Politico said Thursday.

The discussions revolved around the possibility of having Ukraine hold elections soon, something the country’s dictator has repeatedly refused to do.

“The senior Trump allies held talks with Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, a remorselessly ambitious former prime minister, and senior members of the party of Petro Poroshenko, Zelenskyy’s immediate predecessor as president, according to three Ukrainian parliamentarians and a U.S. Republican foreign policy expert,” Politico said Thursday.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick denied the President was “weighing into Ukrainian politics,” clarifying that all Trump wants is a partner for peace.

In February Trump called Zelensky a dictator without elections, perhaps signaling he wants Ukraine to hold elections. On Monday Trump suggested that Zelensky won’t be around for very long if he refused to make a deal with Russia.

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Sanctuary city scandal: Migrant who set fire to woman as she slept on NYC subway avoids deportation

An illegal immigrant accused of burning a woman alive inside a New York subway car will remain in the US because of sanctuary city policies that prohibit him from being deported.  

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, is facing murder and arson charges relating to the killing of Debrina Kawam, 57. 

Prosecutors say Zapeta-Calil set the New Jersey woman on fire on a stopped train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station on December 22.

He then fanned the flames with a shirt before sitting on platform bench and watching as Kawam burned, they allege.

Under current policies enacted in the Big Apple, the city’s corrections department have refused to honor an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer for Zapeta-Calil. 

That decision was slammed by Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who was in NYC this week to meet with law enforcement. 

In a clip of her taken on the platform of the Coney Island stop, she said: ‘ICE lodged an immigration detainer with the NYC Department of Corrections to take this depraved alien into custody 

‘Because of current sanctuary city policy, the corrections department has indicated it will NOT honor the detainer.’

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British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles are useless in Ukraine now President Trump has blocked US intelligence from being shared with allies

Britain’s long-range Storm Shadow missiles are feared to have been rendered useless in Ukraine after President Donald Trump blocked US intelligence from being shared with allies.

In a huge blow to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s invasion, Trump froze American military aid to Kyiv before suspending intelligence sharing with President Volodymr Zelensky’s war-torn country.

The UK, which has vowed to stand by Ukraine throughout the three-year war, is among the countries who have been banned from sharing Washington intelligence with Kyiv.

It comes amid an ongoing transatlantic rift after Trump and Zelensky dramatically clashed in a heated Oval Office row last week, sparking a wave of support for Ukraine from European allies including Britain.

MailOnline revealed on Tuesday that UK intelligence agencies and military outlets have received an order expressly forbidding the sharing of US-generated intelligence, previously known as ‘Rel UKR’ – short for Releasable to Ukraine’. 

The impact is likely to have major ramifications as British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles, a critical asset used inside Russia’s Kursk region by Ukraine, require US data to hit their targets. MailOnline has contacted the MoD for comment.

Storm Shadow missiles, jointly developed by the UK and France who call it Scalp, are precision-guided munitions used for deep-strike missions as they can hit targets up to 250km (155miles) away. 

The effective missiles, believed to cost roughly £2million each, allow Ukraine to penetrate hardened bunkers and ammunition stores and down critical infrastructure, command centres and logistics hubs at huge ranges.

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Three piglets stolen from art exhibit where they were meant to starve to death — until a 10-year-old girl spoke up

The three little pigs were rescued from the big, bad wolf.

Three piglets that were left to starve to death as part of a shocking art exhibit in Denmark have been stolen and saved from their horrific fate thanks to a 10-year-old girl begging her father to come to their rescue.

Artist Marco Evaristti opened the “And Now Your Care?” exhibit on Friday in Copenhagen to “wake up the Danish society” to the cruel treatment of factory-farmed pigs in the nation that is one of the world’s largest pork exporters.

To make his point, the native Chilean constructed a cage of hay and shopping carts, trapping a trio of adorable piglets inside with the express purpose of allowing them to starve to death. 

But the tiny pigs have been given a second chance at life after the conscience of a friend of the artist, Caspar Steffensen, prevailed over the unsavory demonstration.

Steffensen said his 10-year-old daughter begged him to “make sure the piggies won’t die.”

So the big-hearted dad teamed up with the animal rights group De Glemte Danske (the Forgotten Danes) to steal the animals even if it meant betraying his friend.

“When I was approached by an activist to help free the animals, I let them into the gallery secretively on Saturday,” Steffensen admitted to the Associated Press.

The pigs, named Simon, Lucia and Benjamin, were spirited away from their makeshift torture chamber and taken to a safe location by De Glemte Danske.

“On Saturday morning, we were contacted by one of Evarsitti’s colleagues, who informed us the pigs could be picked up before 11 o’clock on the same day,” the statement from the activist group posted Tuesday read.

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Houthi Weapons Arsenal Remains A Mystery To The U.S.

The U.S. remains puzzled about how many weapons the Houthis have or where they get them all, a senior  U.S. defense official told The War Zone, adding that the militants are highly innovative when it comes to developing their arsenal. Meanwhile, numerous airstrikes by the U.S. and its allies on Houthi targets in Yemen have not halted the rebel group’s ability to produce the weapons and use them at will, the official said.

“There’s some debate as to what’s in their magazine,” the official told The War Zone during a media engagement at the Air and Space Forces Association Air Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado. “There’s a good bit right now we don’t know about the Houthis.”

The official spoke a day before the U.S. officially designated Ansar Allah – the official name of the Houthis – as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. 

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Romania – The first “post-election” democracy?

In December 2024, a Romanian court cancelled the second round of the planned Presidential election and annulled the completed first round, citing (totally theoretical) “Russian interference”.

This caused massive protests in Romania, as you can imagine. The first round had been won by right winger Călin Georgescu following a social media-based campaign, and he was predicted to quite easily win the second round as well.

The Romanian opposition – denied a likely victory – took their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Then, earlier today, the ECHR threw the case out without even hearing it. Apparently, the Romanian courts were perfectly within their rights to simply indefinitely postpone their election on the basis of unproven allegations, and all those people who already voted and wanted to vote again can just go to hell.

This is the ECHR, which lectures the world on rights and democratic norms on the regular.

And everyone is apparently just fine with it. It’s crazy.

Imagine the outrage in the media if Putin or Trump had suddenly cancelled elections they looked like losing because “they weren’t going to be fair”.

Anyway, now Călin Georgescu has been arrested, and his supporters are taking to the streets, while  the Romanian government is set to crack down on “conspiracy theories” and other “misinformation”.

This anti-election narrative is growing outside of Romania too.

Ukraine, of course, hasn’t had any elections in years either. They also outlawed certain political parties, religions and television channels. Meanwhile, laundering billions of dollars/pounds/euros through the Ukrainian government to boost the bottom line of arms manufacturers is considered “defending democracy”.

Last month, former EU chairman Thierry Breton remarked that they had already had to cancel the Romanian elections, and might have to do the same in Germany. (As it happens the “right side” won in Germany, so I guess that election was fair).

To a smaller extent, nine local elections across the UK have been “postponed” for at least a year for unknown reasons.

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Ohio GOP Lawmaker Files Bill To Revise Voter-Approved Marijuana Law With Less Sweeping Changes Than Senate-Passed Measure

A Republican Ohio lawmaker has introduced a rival bill to Senate-passed legislation that seeks to amend the state’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law. And the proposed changes in the House measure are less sweeping—for example, maintaining the current allowable amount of cannabis plans that can be grown at home by adults.

Rep. Brian Stewart (R), chair of the House Finance Committee, is sponsoring the new 120-page cannabis bill.

Unlike the Senate proposal from Sen. Steve Huffman (R) that moved through the full chamber late last month, Stewart’s legislation would not alter a provision of the current law allowing adults 21 and older to grow up to 12 plants for personal use by cutting that amount in half.

However, it would reduce the maximum THC limit for cannabis extracts from 90 percent to 70 percent, as News 5 Cleveland first reported.

The Senate bill would lower the maximum household plant limit for home cultivation from 12 to six, but it similarly calls for the same reduced THC cap. Both bills would also make it so only 350 dispensaries could be licensed in the state.

“While there will obviously continue to be good faith debate and disagreement over the pros and cons of legalization, a majority of our constituents have made it clear to us that they support legal adult-use marijuana that is taxed at a reasonable rate, that is regulated by the state to ensure products are as safe as possible and that can, if desired, be grown at home,” Stewart said during a press briefing on Thursday.

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Committee In Tennessee Signs Off On Proposal To Tighten Restrictions On Hemp Industry

Despite warnings that the hemp industry would be decimated, the House Judiciary Committee passed a measure Wednesday that would put stricter regulations in place.

Sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R) of Portland, House Bill 1376 would place the industry under the Alcoholic Beverage Commission instead of the Department of Agriculture and remove products from convenience and grocery stores. Only vape and liquor stores would be allowed to sell some hemp products.

The House bill is set to be heard next in the Commerce Committee, where agreements with the industry could be reached.

“It does ban [derivatives] THCA and THCP. The reason for that is we have not legalized marijuana in this state,” Lamberth said.

Hemp is distinguished from marijuana in that it contains a compound called delta-9 THC. Cannabis with a concentration of less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC is defined as legal hemp in Tennessee—and federally. Cannabis with concentrations greater than 0.3 percent is classified as marijuana and is illegal to grow, sell or possess in Tennessee.

Hemp flowers also contain THCA, a nonintoxicating acid that would be banned in Tennessee under this bill. When heated or smoked, the THCA in the plant converts into delta-9 THC—an illegal substance in Tennessee in greater than trace amounts.

Clint Palmer, a representative of the hemp industry, told lawmakers the bill is similar to one passed in 2023 that led to a lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture that remains in litigation.

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Governor Youngkin’s expected cannabis veto: A $3.5 billion gift to Mexican cartels and Chinese gangs

As Governor Glenn Youngkin once again faces a bipartisan bill that would establish a regulated cannabis distribution platform in Virginia, it is widely anticipated that he will act against the public’s interest just as he did in March 2024. In the twelve months since his last veto, the only certainty is that Mexican cartels and Chinese gangs have benefited from $3.5 billion in untaxed, unregulated cannabis sales while the proliferation of hemp-based THC products has skyrocketed. We anticipate that Youngkin will once again roll out his prohibitionist arguments but will fail to point to any tangible decrease in illegal cannabis sales the over the last 12-month— further proving that gifting Mexican cartels and Chinese drug dealers $3.5 billion and allowing the proliferation of illegal stores from Arlington to the Tennessee state line has only benefited organized crime at the expense of Virginians.

Youngkin’s argument hinges on a fundamental contradiction. He acknowledges that Virginia’s current system is “pervasive and dangerous,” yet refuses to implement the one policy proven to reduce illegal markets — regulation. Instead, he clings to outdated scare tactics, misrepresenting data from other states while ignoring the realities of his own.

Prohibitionists once used the same flawed logic to keep whiskey illegal, relying on bootleggers to supply demand while enriching organized crime. The parallels to cannabis today are undeniable. By refusing to regulate cannabis, Youngkin is ensuring that the only suppliers are Mexican cartels and Chinese gangs, just as Prohibition once empowered the Mafia. This policy failure is not just historical irony — it is a $3.5 billion mistake.

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Macron Announces New Global Order, Aggression Toward Russia & US, Repeatedly References His Nuclear Weapons

On Wednesday French President Emmanuel Macron addressed his nation to announce a new global order characterized by Western European aggression toward Russia without the backing of the United States. Macron repeatedly referenced his nuclear weapons as a valuable tool against Russia, although he did not comment on deploying them as a deterrent against the U.S. like a Canadian Prime Minister candidate recently spoke of.

“You are quite rightly concerned about the historical events that are taking place right now and that are shaking up the world order….Support to Ukraine is uncertain, and yet at the same time the United States of America [is] striving to implement tariffs on products being sent out from Europe…It is with clarity that I can say that we are moving into a new era,” Macron said, referencing the end of the post-WWII era.

Macron laid out the battlefield of this new era.

“The Russian threat is ever-present and is on European borders, it is affecting all of us. Russia has already turned the war in Ukraine into a global conflict,” the French leader said. “Russia is crossing borders to influence what is happening in Moldova, in Romania, they are impeding the operations of our hospitals, they are spreading lies on social media, and they are pushing our limits.”

He went on to detail Russian military metrics and figures, then predicted that one day Europe will have peace with Russia, but said now is the time to mobilize against it.

“Given the world of danger that we live in, standing idly by would be madness, so we have to make decisions now for Ukraine, for the security of French people, for Europe,” Macron said.

Surprisingly, Macron did say that peace initiatives with Russia over Ukraine are heading in the right direction, but he then contradicted himself.

“We need to continue enabling Ukrainians to resist so that they can end up in a stable situation for themselves but stability for us as well, and that is why peace cannot be achieved by abandoning Ukraine,” he said, saying Russia cannot dictate the terms of peace.

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