Yves Engler: My 5 Days in Jail as Political Prisoner for Criticizing Israel

I recently spent five days in jail for social media posts critical of Israel and police charges brought against me. It was an unpleasant, though interesting, experience that culminated in a small victory for free speech and Palestine campaigning.

On Thursday February 20 at 9:30 a.m. 30 rallied at the detention centre where I turned myself in for charges related to ‘harassing’ a Zionist influencer and the Montreal police. I told the crowd the charges and conditions brought against me were police and judicial harassment.

More than a dozen police were on hand to monitor those accompanying me at the detention centre. As I crossed over into the police precinct, we chanted “Free Palestine”.

Two inspectors were waiting for me near the door. I was searched twice and only allowed one shirt and pant. They also made me remove my glasses, which was disorienting.

The police inspectors sought to question me, but I refused to talk. I have no problem ‘incriminating’ myself by speaking publicly about state/Zionist abuses, but it should serve a political aim.

Another officer asked the two inspectors if I was to be released, which is common when you present yourself to be arrested. Instead, I was sent to the detention area because the police were seeking stifling conditions for my release and wanted to punish me. There was a lot of yelling from those locked up in adjacent cells. There was nothing except for two benches and a toilet (no seat) with water fountain in the cell. I slept using my boots as a pillow. Five hours and a bad oatmeal cookie later I appeared before a judge by video. The Crown objected to my release, so I was sent back to my cell where I exercised and played imaginary football with a cup. They gave me another oatmeal cookie and bad cheese sandwich. Around 7 p.m. a bunch of us were given our jackets, handcuffed and sent to the Bordeaux prison. Initially, the paddy wagon induced a sense of claustrophobia and it was cold. A man next to me and someone in the wagon ahead repeatedly yelled for heat, which made for a bizarre experience. It was nice to have my first conversation in 10 hours with a Newfoundlander related to former NHL player Michael Ryder, who I played with briefly when I tried out for the Hull Olympiques in the Quebec Junior Hockey League.

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Government Advisor Warns UK Is Heading For Civil War

A top academic and government advisor warns that the UK will experience a civil war within the next five years caused by the “destruction of legitimacy” brought about by the government’s failure to secure the border.

Professor David Betz made the comments during a podcast appearance with journalist and author Louise Perry.

Betz teaches at Kings College London and has advised or worked with the UK MOD and GCHQ as well as being a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

The professor, who describes himself as a “classic member of the establishment,” told Perry that British society is now “explosively configured” to suffer mass unrest.

He said the fallout began with the fracture of the social contract after the political establishment in the UK tried to subvert the Brexit vote.

Subsequent years have brought about a “destruction of legitimacy” as a result of successive governments’ open border policy and their inability to protect children from grooming gangs, in addition to a two-tier justice system presided over by a highly-politicised judiciary.

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Europe Spent More on Russian Fuel in 2024 than Ukraine Aid

The European Union (EU) has been talking very tough about its unwavering and unlimited support for Ukraine since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous visit to the White House, but data published by an independent research organization shows the EU spent more on Russian oil and gas in 2024 than it spent on Ukraine.

The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a group opposed to burning fossil fuels, calculated that European nations spent $23 billion buying Russian fuel in 2024, compared to $19.6 billion in foreign aid provided to Ukraine.

EU spending on Russian fuel was down six percent from the previous year, but this was largely due to falling prices, since the volume of Russian product imported by the EU was only down by one percent.

CREA also found Russian oil sales to China, India, and Turkey booming, although its total fossil fuel revenue of $254 billion was down three percent from 2023. Russia’s “shadow fleet” of some 558 tankers moved 167 million metric tons of oil in defiance of price caps.

“Despite a host of sanctions, Russian revenues in the third year have dropped by a mere 8% compared to the year prior to the invasion of Ukraine,” the report noted. Furthermore, the effect of sanctions appears to be diminishing, largely due to Russia’s skill at using its shadow fleet to evade price restrictions.

CREA recommended “tighter sanctions” against Russia that could “slash Kremlin revenues” by up to 20 percent – but those sanctions would require the EU to break its addiction to Russian fuel. European purchases have declined greatly since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, but Europe still provides roughly a quarter of Russia’s fossil fuel export revenue.

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Hours After Trump Paused All Arms To Ukraine, Zelensky Reportedly To Sign Minerals Deal Under ‘Trump’s Strong Leadership’

Is President Trump going to announce ‘mission accomplished’ on the Ukraine minerals deal during tonight’s speech before a joint session of Congress? A breaking Reuters headline strongly suggests this is the case:

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and Ukraine plan to sign the much-debated minerals deal following a disastrous Oval Office meeting Friday in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was dismissed from the building, four people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump has told his advisers that he wants to announce the agreement in his address to Congress Tuesday evening, three of the sources said, cautioning that the deal had yet to be signed and the situation could change.

But as we’ve seen in the last several days since Friday, a lot can happen in one afternoon. Zelensky gave an ‘almost apology’ on Tuesday (below), but not quite what the administration seems to be asking for.

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Mysterious Naval Vessel Spotted In Washington State Is A New DARPA Drone Ship

Aslender, partially covered naval ship that recently emerged in Washington state is the Defiant, a new medium-sized uncrewed surface vessel (USV) designed from the keel up to operate without any humans ever onboard. Developed under the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, Defiant could be an important stepping stone for the U.S. Navy’s ambitions to add larger and more capable USVs to its fleets.

DARPA confirmed to TWZ that construction of the Defiant, also known by the hull code USX-1, was completed earlier this month. As noted, the first indications that the vessel had been launched came from residents in Washington state who spotted it being pushed by a tug through the Saratoga Passage in Puget Sound north of Seattle. This area of the Sound is also just a few miles from the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island. User @IntelWalrus on X was first to bring this to our attention.

The 180-foot-long, 240-metric ton Defiant is now set to “undergo extensive in-water testing, both dockside and at sea” and “is scheduled to depart for a multi-month at sea demonstration in spring 2025,” according to DARPA. It is unclear where exactly the vessel is currently docked. Serco Inc. is the primary contractor for the USV, which it has been developing since 2020. The company has told TWZ in the past that the core Defiant USV without any add-on mission systems has an approximately $25 million price tag.

The U.S. military has historically categorized uncrewed vessels like Defiant with lengths under 200 feet and displacements under 500 tons, but that are larger than ones with speedboat and jetski-type designs, as medium USVs (MUSV). Large USVs (LUSV) have been defined as ones up to 300 feet long and that displace up to 2,000 tons.

A picture of Defiant in the Puget Sound, as well as additional images DARPA has now released, show much of the vessel literally still under wraps. However, the overall hullform, along with the mast at the center sporting various commercial navigation radars and other antennas, is in line with models and computer-generated renders of the design shown in the past. An additional smaller mast with more radars and other antennas is also present on the bow.

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Who Really Provoked the Ukraine War? Was It Russia?

Ukrainian “president” Vladimir Zelensky lied when he called Russia the aggressor. Since 2014 his military forces have been shelling their own civilians in the east of Ukraine, killing at least 14,000 people and arresting thousands more with the SBU, the Ukrainian secret police, a de facto Gestapo-like terror organization.

Zelensky’s regime prohibited the Russian language in schools, political opposition was outlawed, the Orthodox church was banned, and all Russian shows and programs from TV were removed. Russian websites were blocked from the internet. Zelensky called Ukrainian Russians in the east a “species”, as if he were referring not to his fellow countrymen, but to animals. Yet he speaks and behaves as if none of this ever happened.

He portrays himself as a victim and a hero and ungratefully expects more money ($350 billion sent already!), some of which he and his fellow cronies have been found to spend on luxury cars, large fancy villas, and skiing resorts in Europe. It’s an open secret!

Russia simply stepped up for Russian people in Ukraine after eight years of doing nothing in the face of this injustice. Clearly Russia didn’t start it. They didn’t want this war. Period.

And fundamentally speaking, Zelensky’s presidential term ran out in May 2024. He blocked new elections, apparently because polling showed his approval rating at four percent, so he’s not even the legitimate president of Ukraine anymore – not even on paper as a puppet. Clearly he is in no position to negotiate anything now.

There is so much more that Vice President Vance and President Trump could have said to Zelensky in that historic and heated exchange before the cameras in the Oval Office. It was he, Zelensky, who initialled and then reneged on the peace agreement after Russian forces withdrew from around Kiev and other parts. And Zelensky walked out on the peace deal early on in March and April 2022, not Putin.

Although it was Zelensky’s regime which from 2014 to 2022 was bombing the Donbas and killing the 14,000 Ukrainian Russians, Zelensky turns around and hypocritically blames Putin for everything that he, Zelensky, did.

And Crimea? Crimea is Russian, historically speaking, and 75 percent of the population is ethnically Russian. Relatively few Ukrainians live there. It was always the southern jewel of Russia but was unlawfully ”gifted” to Ukraine in the 1950s by the Soviet dictator Khruschev, who was also leader of the Ukrainian Communist Party at the time.

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Australian government open to sending troops to Ukraine as U.S. pulls the plug

Anthony Albanese has reaffirmed Australia’s support for Ukraine, saying his government is open to considering sending troops if requested, despite the U.S. pulling the plug on military aid.

It comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear his intent to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, to end the bloodshed and negotiate a peace deal.

“What they’re fighting for is the international rule of law (and) Australia stands ready to assist,” Albanese told media in Sydney.

“There’s discussion at the moment about potential peacekeeping, and from my government’s perspective, we’re open to consideration of any proposals going forward, as Australia has historically played an important role in a range of peacekeeping areas.

“We want to see peace in Ukraine, but we want to make sure the illegal, immoral actions of Russia are not rewarded, and that Vladimir Putin and his designs, which are imperialistic, are not rewarded or encouraged.

“But we’ve worked with the United Kingdom and we’ll continue to do that as well and with European partners and look at the best way in which we can provide support.”

Australia has provided more than $1.5 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago. The Coalition has also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Kyiv.

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Norway Disavows Private Company Refusing to Fuel American Ships & Russia Attacks Supply Line

A private Norwegian fuel supplier Haltbakk Bunkers, has said after the way Zelensky was treated by Trump, they are cutting off all fuel for American Ships. The Norwegian government has disavowed that policy, assuring the United States this is not a government policy and that American ships will be refueled, contrary to the statement of Haltbakk Bunkers.

Meanwhile, since Zelensky has refused to accept any cease-fire, we should expect to see the fighting now escalate. Russia has now attacked a cargo ship, Swiss-owned MSC LEVANTE F, a Panama-flagged, with missiles to “sink” it after they received reliable information that the vessel carried British weapons to aid Ukraine that included drones and weaponry loaded in Turkey before being taken to the Ukrainian city of Odesa. This demonstrates that Zelensky’s refusal to accept any cease-fire warrants an escalation that will now target the Ukrainian supply line. This is a standard military tactic, and it is surprising that Russia has waited so long to take this step.

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Chrystia Freeland Canada Needs to Arm Nuclear Against the USA

Chrystia Freeland, Klaus Schwab’s stooge, has gone rogue and is pitching to become the next prime minister of Canada. She claims that the world is looking to Canada to be the new leader of the Free World. She is advocating joining with NATO against the United States, with Britain and France adding as nuclear powers, all to protect this leftist agenda because they know they are losing support globally. She said:

“The US is turning predator, and so what Canada needs to do is work closely with our democratic allies, our military allies. I would start with our Nordic partners, specifically Denmark who is also being threatened, and our NATO European allies. I would be sure that France and Britian were there who possess NUCLEAR WEAPONS and I will be working urgently with these partners to build a closer security relationship that guarantees our security in a time when United States can be a threat.”

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