Corax
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says EU must consider mandatory Covid jabs and rapidly deploy booster shots in response to the Omicron Covid variant, so far a total of 59 identified Omicron cases in the EU all of which have involved mild symptoms or been asymptomatic
World
Dr Angelique Coetzee who is also board chair of the South African Medical Association says all Covid-19 Omicron variant symptoms so far in the country have been mild and that no patients have needed hospital admission, says that things might change but that there currently is no need for panic
EU temporarily halts funding to WHO in the Democratic Republic of Congo after an independent investigation identified more than 80 alleged cases of sexual abuse implicating 20 staff members in the country since 2018, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus apologizes to the victims and promises a profound transformation with zero-tolerance plan against sexual exploitation and abuse in crisis zones
Donald Trump slammed for stating that the late Colin Powell was a republican in name only and that he made many big mistakes including Iraq, critics say that he dances on Powell's grave and is just jealous, respect has been paid to Powell by current and former government officials and every other living president across the political spectrum
Record cold season at South Pole from April to September, minus-61 Celsius is lowest temperature ever noted at Amundsen-Scott station, 4.4 degrees lower than second lowest measurement in 40 years, average temperature during September also lowest ever, ice levels around Antarctica grow to fifth highest on record
Hunter Biden offered to unfreeze Libyan assets in exchange for a USD 2 million retainer fee plus success fees, according to leaked 2015 email conversation between Libyan government and Democratic donors Sam Jauhari and Sheikh Mohammed al-Rahbani
UK High Court justices grant US government permission to challenge January court decision not to extradite Julian Assange, as psychiatric expert witness Professor Michael Kopelman is found to have misled the court about the existence of Assange's children
Ecuador revokes the citizenship of Julian Assange, citing multiple inconsistencies in the naturalisation letter, different signatures, the possible alteration of documents and unpaid fees, Assange’s lawyer will file appeals, saying the decision was made without due process and Assange was not allowed to appear in the case
Miscellaneous
Yokozuna Terunofuji defeats maegashira 15 Abi to clinch the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament championship victory with one day to spare, securing his second straight yusho since becoming a Yokozuna and his sixth in total
King Athelstan named Britain's top monarch, reigned from 925 to 939 AD and united England after merging the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and driving the Vikings out of Northumbria, also defeated the combined invasion forces of the kings of Scotland and Dublin at the Battle of Brunanburh, Elizabeth I in second place, according to poll with 84,000 votes run by the podcast The Rest is History
The painting Salvator Mundi that in 2017 sold for a record-setting USD 450 million to a buyer reportedly on behalf of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is downgraded by Prado curators from being "by Leonardo" to "attributed works, workshop or authorized and supervised by Leonardo", the painting depicts Jesus Christ emerging from darkness blessing the world with one hand while holding a transparent globe in the other
Britney Spears released from conservatorship, regains power over finances and career decisions as well as major personal matters such as whether she can get remarried, the conservatorship was placed in 2008 over concerns about her mental health.
Chinese man dissatisfied with Shanghai bank forcing him to wear a face mask withdraws USD 800,000 in cash and orders them to check it note by note, says he will be back daily for the same procedure until his account is emptied
Media
Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO effective immediately and will leave the board at the 2022 stockholders' meeting, says he left of his own accord and that he believes it to be severely limiting and a single point of failure for a company to be founder-led, former CTO Parag Agrawal appointed CEO
British newspaper The Independent criticized for claiming that Kyle Rittenhouse shot three black men despite all three attackers being white, Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times and Dutch news site NU.nl also described the rioters as black
Facebook blocks searches related to Kyle Rittenhouse who is currently on trial for shooting three people in self-defense during a 2020 riot in Wisconsin, the company comments that it deems the incident a mass murder and has removed Rittenhouse's Facebook and Instagram accounts
Facebook shuts down its face recognition system that automatically recognizes opt-in users in pictures and videos as well as automatically creates image descriptions for visually-impaired people, promises to delete more than a billion people's individual facial recognition templates, says that facial recognition is a powerful tool but that limiting its use is appropriate due to societal concerns and regulators still being in the process of providing a clear set of rules
Facebook changes its company name to Meta to reflect the vision for working and playing in a virtual world, Mark Zuckerberg comments that it's in the company DNA to build technology to connect people and that he hopes the metaverse will reach a billion people within the next decade
Doctors around the world report rise in cases of tics in young girls due to watching TikTok videos about Tourette syndrome, Texas Children's Hospital reported 60 cases of teen girls being admitted with tics since March 2020 compared to 1 or 2 the previous year, concerned parents are advised to encourage their kids to take a break from social media or block Tourette videos
Internal Twitter research shows bias in algorithm for rightwing politicians and news outlets, largest discrepancy found in Canada, the company says it is unclear as to why the results were produced but that it may now need to change the algorithm
Politics
Joe Biden reassures his allies that he plans to run for 2024 reelection, the message follows six-month stretch where his national approval rating has plummeted more than a dozen points into the low 40s amid growing inflation concerns, top donor John Morgan says he is unsure regarding Biden's future health despite recent health checkup showing the 79-year-old to be healthy and vigorous
Andrew Anglin: Antifa in Australia protests in support of more lockdowns and forced vaccination, obviously has no interest in “opposing the power structure” but supports every aspect of the agenda of the global ruling class
Japan prime minister Abe Shinzo resigns due to health concerns, recently became the longest sitting prime minister in the post world war two era, Abe has a brief stint as prime minister between 2006 and 2007 when he was also forced to resign due to chronic illness which was later claimed to have been successfully medicated
National Justice Party founded in US by members of alt-right, front man Mike "Enoch" Peinovich says in speech that freedom is a European concept and can not be upheld without European people, new party will work for rights of whites in US and the world
Orthodox Church locks horns with Montenegrin government over new anti-ecclesiastical legislation, law gives state leave to seize ecclesiastical property from churches who cannot produce ownership titles notarised before 1918, thousands march through streets of Podgorica amid clerical hymn chants decrying "[the State] ... snatching people's souls", gloves come off as President Milo Djukanovic attacks the Orthodox Church for undermining Montenegrin independence, The Church has 12 million followers in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro
Greta Thunberg throws down the gauntlet at Bristol climate rally, rain-soused teenagers bellow "The ocean is rising and so are we" and other equally stirring slogans, Greta—donning her iconic yellow mac—attacks political complacency in face of impending climate apocalypse
Sweden's foreign ministry summons Chinese ambassador with the intention of demanding immediate release and consular access to Gui Minhai, apprehended and detained by Chinese authorities in 2018 for sale of literature vilifying the Chinese state apparatus
Donald Trump's adviser and confidant Roger Stone sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment, found guilty on five counts of obstructing House Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Trump retweets Tucker Carlson segment calling for pardon, request for retrial filed by Stone's legal team
Arts Council England (ACE) threaten to withold public funding for museums and arts organisations who don't implement diversity quotas, appalled ethnic non-whites should be so woefully underrepresented in arts, report unearths a number of unnerving statistics - only 6% of workforce disabled as opposed to 21% in the national labour force
Opinion
Paul A. Nuttall: Viktor Orbán's 5-question referendum on LGBTQ+ law is a brave move, if he wins it could be the end of Hungary's EU membership and if he loses it would be curtains for him as prime minister, EU doesn’t like referendums as it does not like to leave anything to chance, but will now make the referendum about Hungary's membership, confident its people will be cowed into voting against Orbán’s proposals
Matthew Crawford: When science is elevated to authority to rule society it is distorted into a scientistic religion, manipulation becomes necessary to make public opinion conform to official intepretation of research results, leads to unstable regime which provokes stronger and more militant counterreactions
Peter Hitchens: The West pushes for war with Russia, which is a broken former superpower with the economy of about the same size as Italy's, imagine how US would act if Soviet had won the cold war, engulfed the former Nato nations into the Warsaw Pact, encouraged Texas and California to form an independent Spanish-speaking nation hostile to the US and based troops along the American border
Peter Hitchens: Scotland Yard’s raid on Polish Church of Christ the King in Balham during Good Friday devotions proof of revolution where much we used to know and believe is being insistently destroyed, with Johnson Government’s contemptuous indifferent to how insulting their actions are to those who acknowledge a power higher than them, but if the police had come in with Communist emblems on their cap-badges the Poles probably would have thrown them out, but free countries are incredibly easy to turn into despotisms, because nobody can believe what is happening
Kevin Karp: EU press Northern Ireland’s onerous post-Brexit arrangement as key for the Good Friday Agreement, while using it as a political prop to claw the rest of Britain back into the EU regulatory straitjacket, whatever the damage this causes to peace in Northern Ireland, spurring the recent sectarian violence and validating EU’s condescending disregard for British interests
Hans-Hermann Hoppe: Political exploitation of Covid-19 frighteningly successful, the state kills and makes ill more people than it saves with protective measures, at the same time local leaders are given opportunities to challenge central power and the critical importance of decentralized decision making is demonstrated
Ricardo Duchesne: White men are the most resented group because they are responsible for almost 100% of the greatest achievements in all fields of human endeavor in all of history, created all fields of academic study, were the foremost thinkers, artists, statesmen and explorers
Peter Hitchens: The lockdown and destruction of statues show the pillars of freedom and civilization are rotten as police chiefs and political leaders kneel like conquered slaves to the new gods of woke, and while the Left controls every lever of power, ignorant armies seek the final abolition of Britain as we face nothing less than a regime change
Europe
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says EU must consider mandatory Covid jabs and rapidly deploy booster shots in response to the Omicron Covid variant, so far a total of 59 identified Omicron cases in the EU all of which have involved mild symptoms or been asymptomatic
Ukrainian government to be toppled within days in Russian-backed plot, president Volodymyr Zelensky claims, says officials have received audio recordings in which representatives of Russia and Ukrainian officials discuss a coup d’état to take place on December 1-2 allegedly funded by Ukraine’s richest oligarch Rinat Akhmetov
Germany's euthanasia association makes proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid-19 mandatory for anyone wishing to be euthanized
An Austrian Interior Ministry expert group suggests a complete ban on the annual gathering in Bleiburg in southern Austria which commemorates tens of thousands of Ustasa troops and civilians who were killed by the Yugoslav Partisans in 1945, in 2016 the Croatian parliament decided to reintroduce state sponsorship of the Bleiburg event after it was withdrawn in 2012, the event has been described as one of the greatest gatherings of ultranationalist and fascist groups in Europe
France sends about 50 members of elite tactical forces to overseas territory Guadeloupe after rioting and looting amid protests against Covid-19 measures, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin says the first message is that the state will stand firm
Austria makes Covid-19 vaccination mandatory from February 2022 and enters nationwide lockdown for a maximum of 20 days from next Monday after record number of Covid-19 cases, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg says it was consensus that a vaccine mandate was not necessary but that they have to face reality
Clashes between around 200 anti-lockdown protesters and riot police with water cannons in The Hague during Friday, the Netherlands re-impose partial lockdown for three weeks due to highest ever number of Covid infection cases, Covid deaths in the country remain low
Belarusian military arms migrants with tear gas, destroy border fences and blind Polish troops with lights and lasers in migration crisis escalation, about 100 migrants crossed the border Saturday morning where they used the tear gas to attack Polish forces
"It's OK to be white" posters in three places spark hate crime investigation in Basingstoke in southern England, resident Priya Brown says the posters constitute divisive tactics used by neo-Nazi and white supremacy groups and have no place in today's society, police spokesman says they are liaising with local community groups as part of the investigation
North America
Toronto District School Board cancels invite to 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad about surviving being kidnapped by ISIS and sold into sexual slavery as a 14-year-old, school board superintendent Helen Fisher says Murad's book is offensive to Muslims and fosters Islamophobia
At least five dead and 48 injured after SUV driver plows into a Christmas parade in Milwaukee, 39-year-old aspiring rapper Darrell Brooks Jr. with 16 earlier charges arrested, at least nine victims of which mostly children in critical condition and seven others in serious condition
Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all counts, was charged with homicide, attempted homicide and recklessly endangering safety for killing two men and wounding a third after practicing self-defense against Black Lives Matter rioters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020, Governor Tony Evers pleads for calm and says 500 National Guard members are ready for duty in Kenosha if needed
Steve Bannon indicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection, risks a year behind bars
John Eisenman Sr is charged with first-degree murder for killing his juvenile daughter's former boyfriend after learning he sold her to a sex-trafficking organization operating in Seattle, the father managed to rescue his daughter shortly after she was taken
Southwest Airlines pilot under investigation by the company for finishing his announcement to the passengers with "Let's go Brandon", the phrase has been growing in right-wing circles after an NBC Sports interview where the reporter suggested the fans' berating of Joe Biden was instead cheers for the NASCAR driver she was interviewing
Olathe high school asks students about their gender identities and which sex they were attracted to on handed out Gender Unicorn worksheet pushed by Trans Student Educational Resources, causing outrage among parents, the Kansas school apologises and promises it won't happen again
White marketing VP David Duvall awarded a USD 10 million payout for being fired out of the blue to be replaced by two women of different complexions as part of the company's five-year plan for diversity and inclusion, Duvall one of five white male executives to be replaced by someone black or female during an 18-month period
Latin America
El Salvador plans issuing USD 1 billion in tokenized Bitcoin bonds and build Bitcoin City, 10% VAT to be the only tax, nearby Conchagua volcano to provide energy for Bitcoin mining
At least 68 dead after eight-hour gun battle between rival gangs inside Ecuador's largest prison, more than 300 prisoners have died in clashes in penitentiaries across the country this year, authorities say overcrowding as well as inmates' access to guns constitute major problems but that pardons and international aid will help the situation
25 suspected bankrobbers killed by Brazilian police in offensive during the early hours of Sunday, police spokesperson calls the raid the biggest ever and compares the heavily armed gang to the cangaço outlaws who roamed the country's north-eastern backlands in the early 20th century
Colombian coca growers take 180 soldiers hostage during attempt to eradicate the illegal crops, General Omar Sepulveda says six plutoons were kidnapped in Tibu after being surrounded by farmers armed with sticks and machetes, the office of Colombia's human rights ombudsman has sent a delegation to try and secure the soldiers' release
Venezuela launches new bolívar with six fewer zeroes, the currency lost three zeros in 2008 and another five in 2018, the country's GDP has plummeted by 80 percent since 2013 and IMF estimates that the inflation rate at the end of 2021 will be at 5,500%
At least 79 inmates die in riots at prisons in three cities in Ecuador as two rival gangs were trying to gain criminal leadership within the detention centres and an escape attempt, with 800 police offices helping to regain control of the facilities
Asia
North Korea bans leather coats to stop craze copying Kim Jong-un's signature look, police calls it an impure trend to challenge the authority of the Highest Dignity, follows decision to ban mullets and skinny jeans for representing Western decadence
Yahoo pulls out of China and shuts down all remaining business, cites increasingly challenging business and legal environment, the move is largely symbolic as key Yahoo services has already been blocked by Beijing
Knife-wielding man setting a fire aboard a Tokyo train injures at least 17 people, 24-year-old man dressed as The Joker arrested
North Korea starts breeding black swans on an industrial scale to overcome chronic food shortages, follows Kim Jong Un speech telling the citizens to expect to eat less food until the country re-opens its borders with China in 2025
Islam will no longer be the state religion of Bangladesh as the government has decided to revert to its 1972 Constitution, two constitutional amendments during successive military regimes between 1978 and 1990 instituted Islam as the state religion, Bangladesh is battling a spurt of Islamist violence after a picture
on social media showed the Holy Quran at the feet of Hindu God Hanuman at a Durga Puja pandal in Comilla town
Teresa Van Lieshout is arrested for allegedly ordering fake police badges as part of preparations to overthrow the Australian government, she is part of a group which discussed forming an alternative federal police force to arrest politicians and public servants
Russian authorities blame Azerbaijan for violating the ceasefire agreement that was signed last November to end the war, clashes have continued between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces despite the ceasefire
Hong Kong lawmakers object to government facilitation of the organisation of Gay Games Hong Kong, Junius Ho does not want officials involved leaving it up to the civil society's business to arrange them because he does not want to earn what he considers dirty money, local LGBT+ activist and Director of the Hong Kong Pride Parade Wylie Yeo slammed the lawmakers’ comments calling them homophobic garbage
MIDDLE EAST
Turkey investigates 31 Syrians of which 11 is arrested and 7 to be deported on charges of provocatively eating bananas in social media posts, the viral trend began after a Turkish man complained about not affording bananas while the Syrians bought kilos, the arrested are charged with the crime of inciting or insulting the public to hatred and hostility
Israel's decision to label six Palestinian NGOs as terror organizations based on being PFLP fronts criticized internationally, UN Human Rights Office in Ramallah says the decision includes entirely peaceful activities and EU says the funding will continue, at least two of the organizations have denied the allegations
Turkey is building a wall along its border with Iran to prevent a new refugee flow, a 5 km section of the 3 metre-high wall is under construction and Turkey is aiming to build a 295 km-long wall on its Iranian border, beefed up by barbed wires and trenches
Hard-line Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi wins Iran presidential election in landslide victory amid lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic's history after a panel under the watch of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei disqualifies Raisi's strongest competition
Yamina leader Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid reach deal to form new governing coalition consisting of partners that span the Israeli political spectrum, ending the record-setting 12-year rule of Benjamin Netanyahu, the agreement still needs to be approved by the Knesset
Requests for permits to carry a weapon spike in Israel after the riots in Lod and Ramla, normally, 270 applications are made weekly, but between May 10 and May 16, 1,926 were received, all Israeli citizens can apply for a license to carry a firearm once they reach the eligible age
Israel Defence Forces announce it killed five senior Hamas leaders in targeted strikes, the dead include head of Hamas military intelligence security department and head of the military intelligence counterespionage department, adding "looks like our intel was better"
Africa
Scientists mystified that Africa make up just 3% of the global total Covid-19 deaths despite low vaccination rates and less resources to fight the virus, high rates of malaria exposure and low average age mentioned as possible reasons, Nigeria with 3000 deaths so far among its 200 million population begins campaign to inoculate half the population before February
FW de Klerk dead at 85 following a struggle against mesothelioma, was the president of South Africa between 1989 and 1994, shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela for helping to negotiate an end to apartheid
Addis Ababa city authorities ask residents to register their weapons and organise by blocks and neighbourhoods after Tigrayan forces indicated they might advance on the city, Tigreans claim to have captured the strategic towns of Dessie and Kombolcha including the highway linking the capital of the landlocked nation to the port of Djibouti in the last few days
South African cricket player Quinton de Kock out of the T20 World Cup game against West Indies after refusing to take a knee before the game, Cricket South Africa notes that de Kock refused the global gesture against racism despite it being mandatory and that they await a further report from team management before deciding on the next steps
Swaziland nurses refuse to treat police after colleagues shot during a pro-democracy rally, government spokesperson says that no live ammunition was used and that no nurses have been reported shot, demonstrations have been banned in the country and some internet services shut down
Economy
Royal Dutch Shell is acquiring ubitricity the owner of the UK’s largest public electric vehicle charging network, for an undisclosed amount marking the oil giant's expansion into the fast-growing on-street EV charging market
Idaho legislators introduce House Bill 7 allowing state funds to be held in physical gold and silver to help secure state assets against the risks of inflation and financial turmoil, South Carolina and Wyoming are considering similar measures
Record sales of Christmas trees in Australia leads to tree farms closing earlier than planned, four-year production cycles cause difficulties balancing supply and demand when sales peak
Scandinavian airline SAS signs SEK 3.3 billion three-year revolving credit facility agreement where 90% is guaranteed by the Swedish and Danish states approved by the European Commission, the company says it will further its dialogue with the Norwegian government regarding NOK 1.7 billion state guaranteed funding and that it will seek additional governmental support to ensure its providing of critical Scandinavian airline infrastructure
Technology
Apple to scan iPhone user’s private photos and report child abuse imagery found to the authorities, bypassing any end-to-end encryption, describing privacy activists as "the screeching voices of the minority", Edward Snowden among signatory of petition on Github against Apple's plan
Virgin founder Richard Branson makes trip to suborbital space on the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 spaceplane on Sunday, narrowly beating Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos to travel away from Earth, who argues it does not count as it failed to pass the Kármán line, which at 100km above sea level is considered by many to be the true boundary of space
Kawasaki Heavy Industries builds world’s first of 80 planned tankers for liquified hydrogen, the tanker is 116 meters long and can transport 75 tons of liquified hydrogen kept at temperatures of minus 253 degrees Celsius, the Japanese government’s plan for 2050 is having hydrogen and ammonia serve as the fuel for 10 percent of electric power generation
Third of staff quit as software company Basecamp refuses to let internal work tools become platform for political activism and shuts down employee committee formed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion
Valve will not allow Super Seducer 3: The Final Seduction to be released in any form on Steam citing it does not ship sexually explicit images of real people, the first two games remain available on Steam, the game revolves around the art of pickup artistry
Science
New planet detection algorithm used to identify 366 new exoplanets, including one planetary system that comprises a star and at least two gas giant planets, could help understand what building blocks are needed for successful planet formation, according to astronomers at University Of California
Researchers should be banned from using the word Caucasian because it is associated with a racist and pseudo-scientific classification of humans, instead the term "the European-associated principal component analysis cluster" should be used, according to paper written by five Cambridge and University College London scientists
Norwegians have as much sex as they had 20 years ago, unlike rest of the West where sexual activity is generally declining, according to survey with 4,000 participants
Chinese Tianwen-1 spacecraft successfully lands on Mars' surface on the vast plain Utopia Planitia on Saturday, leaving its orbit where it's been since March, the rover Zhurong is later to depart from its platform to conduct inspections on the ground
Method for blocking sunlight developed by balloon test over northern Sweden although first version will not disperse darkening particles, Harvard scientist are behind project which is controversial as it may decrease interest in cutting greenhouse gas emissions
Sharing bed with dogs beneficial for length and quality of sleep say researchers who surveyed 962 American women, dogs disturb less than human bed fellows and give stronger feelings of comfort and security, cats as disruptive as humans and the least comfort inducing of the three species studied
Previously unknown whale species discovered in waters west of Mexico, US marine biologists were looking for beaked whales when they notice individuals with unusual teeth placement and unique calls, water samples taken in hope of doing DNA analysis