Germany has activated its first permanent foreign troop deployment since World War II, establishing a 5,000-strong armored brigade in Lithuania. This decision follows Defense Minister Boris Pistorius' announcement in 2023 to bolster troop presence on NATO's eastern flank in response to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian War.

The deployment demonstrates Germany's willingness to take a leading role in the conventional defense of Europe with Brig. Gen. Christoph Huber emphasizing, "We're not only moving toward operational readiness; we're taking responsibility."

According to the Bundeswehr, the brigade will consist of three major combat units — including a mechanized infantry battalion, a tank battalion, and the multinational enhanced Foreign Presence Battle Group Lithuania — and will be complemented by combat and support elements. The brigade aims to be at full operating capability by 2027.

SHANGHAI - There could not be a more strategic place to spend these past Trump Tariff Tizzy (TTT) heady days than in Shanghai - China's trade, commercial and cultural capital.

From the top of the Jin Mao tower in the world class Lujiazui financial district in Pudong, an elegantly discreet art deco companion to the World Financial Center super-skyscraper - the trademark symbol of China's economic power - it's as if the spokes of a wheel radiated to the Bund and beyond tracking a ceaseless drive to counteract the absurd idiocy of the "Emperor of Tariffs", relentless mocked across myriad Chinese social media platforms.

I have had the privilege to transit from the Bund Financial Center, which hosts among others the Fosun Foundation - a bamboo-inspired architectural masterpiece - to the China Academy at the immaculate campus of Fudan University, where I shared a seminar with star professor Zhang Weiwei and a round table with top PhD students from several disciplines. Professor Zhang Weiwei is the foremost conceptualizer of China as a civilization-state.

The key theme of our seminar was the Russia-China strategic partnership, but inevitably the focus switched back and forth to the rationale behind the Emperor of Tariffs. The questions from the students were as sharp as they come. That was compounded with an in-depth interview for China Academy hosted by their CEO, the formidable Pan Xiaoli.

A visit to the HQ of Guancha - the top independent new/analysis site in China, whose several channels in several different platforms reach an astonishing 200 million people - could not have been more timely. Guo Jiezhen, a research fellow from the China Institute, who was part of our round table at Fudan University, came up with one of the more astute analyses of what he describes as Trump's "deranged money-making technique".

While meeting with Guancha's new editor-in-chief He Shenquan and discussing with hyper-competent international relations specialist Kelly Liu and Yang Hanyi - the China Institute's communication officer - we watched together an exceptional podcast featuring PLA Colonel Wang Lihua, Gao Zhikai - Deputy Director of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) - and the always essential Li Bo, President of the Shanghai Chunqiu Development Strategy Institute.

Russian positions have been attacked numerous times by Kiev's forces, the Defense Ministry has said

The Russian military has been targeted more than 1,300 times by Ukrainian forces in the less than 24 hours since the declaration of an Easter truce by both sides, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that the pause in hostilities would be in effect from 6:00pm Moscow time on Saturday, and last until midnight on Monday. He instructed the country's military to stay on high alert and be ready "to respond to any violations or provocations." Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky answered a few hours later that Kiev's forces "will act in a reciprocal way."

The Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that "despite the announcement of the Easter truce," Ukrainian forces attempted to assault the positions of the Russian military in the areas of the settlements of Sukhaya Balka and Bogatyr in Russia's Donetsk People's Republic overnight. The attacks were repelled, it added.

Plan also called for studying extremism and domestic terrorist recruitment among service members and finding ways to curb in-prison radicalization

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a Biden-era plan to counter domestic terrorism that called for greater information-sharing with tech companies and a legislative push to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Developed in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the plan outlined a government-wide effort to track how foreign actors use disinformation to radicalize Americans and urged coordination with private industry on domestic threats. It also called for measures to curb in-prison radicalization and study extremism within the military.

Among its proposals was a plan to "develop awareness training for active service military members, DOD employees and contractors, and those service members separating or retiring from the military on the threat posed by domestic terrorism, the potential targeting of those with military training by violent extremist actors, and relevant reporting mechanisms."

Washington's offer also reportedly envisions easing sanctions on Moscow and ending Kiev's NATO aspirations.

The US has presented its allies with details of its peace plan to bring the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to an end, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing European officials familiar with the matter.

The proposal, outlined during a meeting in Paris on Thursday, reportedly includes easing sanctions on Russia, as well as terminating Ukraine's aspirations to join NATO. The roadmap would effectively freeze the conflict and leave former Ukrainian territories that are part of Russia under Moscow's control, the sources suggested.

One of the officials told Bloomberg that the proposal still had to be discussed with Kiev, adding that the plan would not actually amount to a definitive conflict settlement. Kiev's European backers would not recognize the territories as Russian, the source suggested.

The US delegation at the Paris meetings, which involved senior officials from several countries, was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff. They met with French President Emmanuel Macron and also held discussions with top officials from France, Germany, the UK, and Ukraine.

The US might pressure him to assemble a government of national unity on pain of once again suspending military and intelligence aid if he refuses to dilute his power in lieu of holding elections.

Ukraine extended martial law until 6 August following Zelensky's request earlier this week, which will prevent elections from being held over the summer like The Economist claimed late last month was a scenario that he was considering in an attempt to give himself an edge over his rivals. This move therefore exposes his fear of losing re-election. It's not just that he's very unpopular, but he likely also fears that the US wants to replace him after his infamous fight in the White House.

To that end, the Trump Administration might not turn a blind eye to whatever electoral fraud he could be planning to commit in order to hold onto power, instead refusing to recognize the outcome unless one of his rivals wins.

The detention of a 'pro-Russian' Orthodox bishop before one of the holiest days of the year is a sign of terrible things to come.

On Thursday, Moldovan authorities chose to detain Bishop Marchel of the Moldovan Metropolis, a metropolitanate under the Russian Orthodox Church, at Chișinau International Airport.

Bishop Marchel was on his way to Jerusalem to bring back the Holy Fire for Easter, one of the most sacred ceremonies of the year for Orthodox believers. According to reports, he was pulled aside for a "thorough inspection" of his person and luggage, had his passport confiscated, and was not allowed to board his flight - even though nothing suspicious was ever found. His documents were only returned thirty minutes after the plane departed.

By contrast, the rival Metropolis of Bessarabia - a different Orthodox Christian church in Moldova, canonically under the Romanian Patriarchate - sent its own delegate, Bishop Filaret, on the same mission unmolested.

"As I have always said: The only difference between the KGB and the FBI is that the KGB has never claimed to be a legitimate law enforcement agency." ~ Jesse Trentadue

Readers may know the name John Ashcroft, attorney general under George W. Bush.

Well, good old Ashcroft was at the heart of a high profile cover-up: the Oklahoma City bombing, according to attorney Jesse Trentadue. The following comes from a court filing provided to ZeroHedge by Trentadue, attorney to OKC bombing accomplice Terry Nichols.

For context (per Jesse from kennethtrentadue.com):

Jesse is the brother of Kenneth Michael Trentadue who died in August 1995, while incarcerated at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Following the death, the Department of Justice (DOJ) immediately deemed it a suicide, denied the medical examiner access to the cell where Kenneth Trentadue was killed, ordered the cell cleaned and painted, and repeatedly asked both the medical examiner and Kenneth Trentadue's family to authorize the cremation of his body. The medical examiner could not legally authorize cremation and the family refused, demanding that Kenneth's body be returned to them. When Trentadue's body was returned to the family, they removed heavy makeup and discovered bruises all over his body, from head to foot. The bruises, cuts, and other wounds depicted an obvious beating and murder.

Now for the story...

Israel is expanding its "Iron Wall" offensive in the West Bank as it approves plans to separate the northern West Bank from the south. The plan is an accelerated prelude to Israel's expected annexation of the West Bank.

Israeli forces escalated their offensive in the occupied West Bank last week across Palestinian cities and refugee camps, killing three Palestinians. The escalation came amid renewed Israeli plans to expedite annexation plans to solidify the expansion of key new settlement projects in the central West Bank, including connecting one of the largest Israeli settlements, Maale Adumim, to Jerusalem.

Last Monday, April 7, Israeli forces opened fire at three children in the town of Turmusayya, northeast of Ramallah, killing 14-year-old Palestinian-American citizen Omar Saadeh. On Tuesday, April 8, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian woman, Aminah Yaaqoub, 30, at an Israeli checkpoint near Salfit in the northern West Bank.

These killings raised the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers since October 2023 to more than 800, as the Israeli army increased its use of lethal force as part of an ongoing military crackdown on the West Bank's cities and refugee camps.

Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs "lacks any statutory authority to impose these sweeping, one-size-fits-all mandates," dentist's suit says. Federal appeals court hears challenge to California law.

The scientific rigor behind "implicit bias" has been questioned since at least 2009, when the Journal of Applied Psychology deemed the evidence "surprisingly weak" that the Harvard-designed implicit association test "predicts discriminatory behavior," despite the confident claims of psychologists and pop-science purveyors including Malcolm Gladwell.

"Sexy But Often Unreliable," Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin declared in 2011 in reviewing the "replicability of experimental findings with implicit measures."

Even liberal journalists at Vox and New York Magazine found the Harvard test unable to deliver consistent results, and a disclaimer provided in individual test results warns that they are "not a definitive assessment of your implicit preference."