If the primary purpose behind the Trump Administration's snatch-and-grab operation against the illegitimate president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, was not readily apparent in January, it should be crystal clear today. Under Maduro, around 75% of the country's energy exports were going to China. This year, the US will be receiving around 50% of the oil supply while China's share is reduced to 10%.

The stunning shift in the direction of oil shipments is helping to insulate the US from shortages caused by the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Likely, this was part of the plan from the very beginning. However, the real benefits of the new relationship with Venezuela will not be readily apparent until the end of this year.

Prices at the gas pump for Americans are high since the start of the war with an average of $4.30 per gallon, but decidedly tame compared to most of Europe. The UK is currently at $8 per gallon and Germany at $9.30 per gallon. A portion of these crushing prices is owed to Europe's abusive energy taxation model and carbon agenda, but another big factor is Europe's lack of strategic energy independence (except for Norway).

Shortages have triggered a disease surge in the enclave, Doctors Without Borders says in report

Israel has used access to water as a weapon and a form of "collective punishment" against Palestinians in Gaza, according to a report by international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Israel has rejected the claims as baseless.

The organization said in a report released Tuesday that Israel has "engineered" water scarcity in the strip, creating "conditions incompatible with human dignity and survival." Access to water, sanitation and hygiene has been "severely undermined" since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in October 2023, it stated.

The report highlights a sharp rise in water-shortage-related diseases, including diarrhea, skin infections, lice, and infected wounds. Additionally, the lack of clean water and sanitation is also worsening malnutrition and severely affecting mental health.

The vehicle kill switch may be getting another chance to be killed in Congress this week as a member of the House Rules Committee wants to repeal legislation that directs automakers to install surveillance technology on all new vehicles starting in 2027.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a committee member and influential congressman on the conservative House Freedom Caucus, says the Biden-era mandate poses "a direct threat to our Fourth Amendment rights."

While the possibility of the amendment was still being discussed by the Rules Committee, Roy told The Daily Signal:

"Republicans should not be continuing a blatantly invasive Biden-era policy that enables round-the-clock monitoring of Americans in their own cars. That's why I introduced an amendment to FISA to eliminate the 'kill switch' and stop this Big Brother technology from being built into new vehicles."

The stolen files include everything an identity thief would want and nothing Eurail ever needed to sell a rail ticket.

Eurail wanted people's passport number to let them ride a train. Now that data is for sale on the dark web, and some of the 308,777 people caught up in the breach are being told to cancel their passports and pay for replacements out of their own pocket.

The Dutch company, which sells the Interrail passes used by young travelers across 33 European countries, confirmed this week that a sample of the stolen dataset has already surfaced on Telegram.

"We can confirm that data copied during the security incident has been offered for sale on the dark web and a sample dataset has been published on Telegram," a spokesperson said. "Customers whose personal data was included in the sample dataset are being informed directly where contact details are available to us."

The US Air Force has reportedly opened an investigation into a fire that broke out over the weekend at RAF Fairford in the UK. Crucially, it is a key US-allied base hosting a US bomber unit carrying out strikes on Iran as part of Trump's Operation Epic Fury.

The fire started early Sunday inside an "old or disused building" at the airbase, a UK defense ministry spokesperson has said. The Pentagon is investigating alongside local partners: "An investigation has been initiated and is ongoing. More information will be released as it becomes available," a statement said.

No injuries have been reported and officials said the blaze was quickly continued, with no further threat posed to the base and surrounding community. But it was clearly very large at one point, video evidence shows.

What Shantae Davies overheard as a teenager at Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch, she was never expected to be believed about. The federal record released earlier this year proves she heard it correctly.

"I'm sure there's something in there about a baby actually being born and then just disappearing — like Ghislaine taking it. I personally never witnessed anything like that, but I do remember overhearing conversations about trying to create the perfect baby, the perfect baby, the perfect gene pool. And I know that there was sort of a hunt, if you will, for the perfect gene pool."

— Shantae Davies, on 60 Minutes Australia, recounting what she heard at Zorro Ranch between 2001 and 2005, when she was between the ages of 17 and 21, and was being raped at the property by Jeffrey Epstein.

A conversation with Sergei Mironov, chairman of the "Fair Russia" faction in the State Duma, offers insight into how Russian society and its leadership are dealing with the current crises — and why they are behaving the way they do.

Introduction

A friend of mine called me and asked whether I would like to meet Sergei Mironov — I'd love to. The invitation gave me an insight that is denied to many. In his office in the State Duma, where we met, there is no trace of pomp, but many books and photographs that point to a long career in politics and a wealth of experience. A study that seems not to have changed for years — much like Mironov himself, who has devoted his entire life to serving his country. With his age comes experience he can bring to bear. He is concerned with Russia, not himself — and that is something one believes. His eyes sparkle with energy, and his concise, clear manner of speaking is a blessing for someone like me, whose native language is not Russian.

He was expecting an interview, but a question-and-answer format cannot capture the atmosphere; since I want to weave my own reflections into what was said, I describe this first meeting with a man who gives the impression of representing Russia not only in parliament, but also with his heart.

Who is Sergei Mironov

Mironov, 73, was born in Pushkin near St. Petersburg; his father remained in the army after the war, and his mother worked for the party. A mining engineer, geophysicist, and geologist he traveled extensively throughout his life and spent the final years of the Soviet Union in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. From 1991 to 1993, he served as managing director of the Russian Chamber of Commerce, headquartered in Pushkin, which is organized as a closed joint-stock company. In 1992, he graduated from St. Petersburg State Technical University. In 1993, he received a certificate from the Russian Ministry of Finance authorizing him to operate in the securities market. From 1994 to 1995, he served as Executive Director of the St. Petersburg construction company Vozrozhdenie. In 1997, he graduated with distinction from the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. In 1998, he completed his law degree with distinction at Saint Petersburg State University.

I don't know many people who can boast such a broad and deep academic background.

His political career began in 1995 in St. Petersburg, and after holding various political offices — including serving as Chairman of the Federation Council from 2001 to 2011 — he has been a member of the Fair Russia party since 2006 and currently serves as its faction leader in the Russian State Duma.

Mironov is thus a political veteran in post-Soviet Russian politics who wields considerable influence.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is removing radical transgender ideology from dozens of regulations, which will, among other things, reserve women's shelters only for women, not for mentally ill men.

HUD issued a press release on April 23 confirming that it is erasing "radical definitions of gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender" from some 50 regulations. Instead, HUD will apply the biological definition of sex and end the woke prohibition on "gender identity" discrimination.

The latter meant that shelters specifically for men or women were required to accept an individual's identification as male or female regardless of biological reality. Obviously, this was a rule ripe for abuse. Therefore, HUD is taking steps to end the potential and actual abuse.

Last week, President Donald Trump commemorated income tax payments being due by having DoorDash deliver food from McDonald's to the White House. The delivery was intended to highlight the first year of tax-free tips. Removing tax on tips was part of the 2025 Big Beautiful Bill (BBB).

As the sponsor of the first No Tax on Tips legislation introduced in Congress, I was obviously pleased to see this change in tax laws included in the BBB. The bill also included other good tax changes such as removing tax on overtime and extending the 2017 tax cuts. Unfortunately, the bill also increased federal spending and debt.

Supporters of the income tax implicitly endorse the idea that our rights are gifts from government and, thus, can be revoked by government at the will of our rulers. Adoption of the income tax signified the abandonment of the belief that individuals have inalienable rights granted them by the Creator.

Far-left NYC Mayor Mamdani attempts to defuse info war against Ken Griffin

Citadel's Ken Griffin should have absolutely zero tolerance for far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

In a recent promotional video, Mamdani attempted to turn the billionaire's Manhattan penthouse into political ammunition for his tax-the-wealthy, anti-capitalist crusade to fund socialist experiments through a proposed pied-à-terre tax.

For Griffin and Citadel, alarm bells should be ringing because these unhinged Marxists in City Hall will attempt to ruin the Citadel brand through an information war and create years of political headaches.