#rep. French Hill

[decolonize-the-left]

In 2022, America’s top five weapons contractors made $196 billion in military-related revenue, according to Defense News. Lockheed Martin dominated all other defense-focused companies, with total military revenue of roughly $63 billion last year. RTX, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, was a distant second, earning roughly $40 billion in revenue in 2022. The same five American “prime” contractors have long dominated lists of the world’s biggest arms manufacturers. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, Boeing and General Dynamics have remained in the top seven of the Defense News ranking since it began in 2000. x

Some other fun facts:

Did you know Amy's dad was Shell the Oil Company's lawyer? They were actively lying about climate facts and denying climate change.

Kavanaugh, Alito, & Barret live within 10 minutes of these

None of them live further than 30 minutes from a weapons HQ. I checked.

So if you're ALREADY protesting in the are then consider paying them a visit so they don't feel left out ❤️

PS:

"A spokesperson for the Pine Bluff Arsenal did not respond to questions about whether the Israeli military is using white phosphorus munitions manufactured at the facility.

[...]The Pine Bluff Arsenal is not the only weapons manufacturer in Arkansas. In October, the defense contractor RTX Corporation announced it was building a new facility in East Camden in partnership with an Israeli defense contractor that will manufacture missiles to be used for Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system and its U.S. counterpart, SkyHunter. This facility will be the latest addition to a sprawling industrial complex that includes other defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin."

....the open secrets and donors for these guys is weird as hell for somewhere that should be boring af. It's def because of it's MD's military arsenal and it's definitely because these guys take money for it's use. They gotta go ASAP.

[tomorrowusa]

It's not exactly news that Republicans are regurgitating Russian propaganda. The leader of the GOP is himself a Russian asset.

The new twist is that at least a few Republicans are starting to bring this up in public.

GOP Rep. Mike Turner said Sunday that Russian propaganda has taken hold among some of his House Republican colleagues and is even "being uttered on the House floor." "We see directly coming from Russia ... communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor," Turner, chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union." "There are members of Congress today who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO, which of course it is not," he added.

Yes, Republicans are spreading Russian propaganda on the floor of the House. And Rep. Turner is not the only one who has called this out.

His comments come on the heels of remarks House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul made this week about how Russian propaganda has taken root among the GOP. McCaul, a Texas Republican, told Puck News that he thinks "Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base." Turner and McCaul each tied Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, to other authoritarian leaders, including President Xi Jinping of China and Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea. "[The propaganda] makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian versus democracy battle, which is what it is," Turner told CNN, adding, "President Xi of China, Vladimir Putin himself have identified as such." McCaul described explaining to colleagues that the threat of Russian propaganda is similar to threats made by other U.S. adversaries. "I have to explain to them what’s at stake, why Ukraine is in our national security interest," he said. "By the way, you don’t like Communist China? Well, guess what? They’re aligned [with Russia], along with the ayatollah [of Iran]. So when you explain it that way, they kind of start understanding it."

It's all good of Michael McCaul and Mike Turner to call this out. But what are they doing to get badly needed aid to Ukraine? They need to show that they are more than just do-nothing passive observers.

Last week, Rep. Don Bacon said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that he had commitments from Johnson and McCaul that they would allow a bipartisan Ukraine military aid package to advance to a vote. Rep. French Hill echoed this point on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday morning, saying he believes Johnson will bring Ukraine aid to the floor "immediately after completing the work on [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] and FISA's extension — that deadline of April 19 makes it a priority for the first few days we're back." "I believe he's fully committed to bringing it up to the floor immediately thereafter," Hill added. But Bacon, R-Neb., also warned that Johnson could face a vote to oust him from the speakership if he moves forward with Ukraine aid.

With a tiny majority and Marjorie Taylor Greene nipping at his heels, Speaker "MAGA Mike" Johnson is in a weak position. House members not wanting to make the US a vassal state of Vladimir Putin need to take advantage of this weakness.

If you live in the districts of these representatives, contact them and urge them to back uo their words with some action on aid for Ukraine.

Mike Turner (OH-10) Michael McCaul (TX-10) French Hill (AR-02) Don Bacon (NE-02)

[baura-bear]

When I’m writing Newsies fics sometimes the hardest part is finding headlines to put in so I’d like to share some a couple things! 

The first is this link it’s the library of congress’ archive of American newspapers 1777-1963. It’s very handy. You can sort by state, year, and even by which newspapers articles were published in! You can also search for key words or phrases. All of the articles about the actual strike are on there and you can also just see what else was happening at the time. I usually use this to find headlines to include in fics haha!

The second thing I wanted to share is all the headlines that are in papers from UKsies! I got Crutchie’s cast paper and the Seize the Day “New Newsies Price” paper. I’m just going to include headlines on the post, but if you want to know more about any of them or want the full article just message me and I’d be happy to send it :)

Crutchie’s paper front page:

The World. New Jersey Edition

Vol. XXVII., NO. 9,230  12 Pages.  Saturday, November 27, 1886  12 Pages. Price Two Cents

“NEW YORK AND LONDON. Number of columns of Advertising Printed During the Month of October:

 London News... 631 Columns

London Standard... 863 Columns

London Times... 985 Columns

London Telegraph... 1,049 Columns

New York World... 1,648 Columns

LORD CAMPBELL IN COURT. A Sensational Divorce Case Which Stirs London Society. Terrible Charges Against the Brother of the Maquis of Lorne-Meeting of Husband and Wife-The Painful Details of the Latter’s Story-The Duke of Argyll Unable to Bear His Son’s Disgrace. [Copyrighted by the Press Publishing Company (New York World), 1886.]

A MELANCHOLY HONEYMOON. The Story Told in Court of Miss Blood’s Courtship and Marriage [Associated Press Despatch.]

DAVITT’S CANADIAN TOUR. Rousing Reception at Montreal-Hot Shot for  O’Donovan Rossa.  [Special To The World.]

The President and the Statue. [Special To The World.]

A Hurricane and Cold Wave. [Special To The World.]

England’s Prosecution of Dillon.

Drank Aconite for Whiskey.

BALKED BY THE PRESIDENT. He Orders Chief Walker Discharged. -Overhauling The Commissioners. [Special To The World.]

ANOTHER BIG RAID. Harry Hill, Billy McGlory, Tom Gould and Other Shining Lights Arrested. 

RASCALITIES OF REED. Boston’s Defaulter Discovered in More Over Issues of Stock. [Special To The World]

Telegraph Ticks.

FORTY-TWO MINERS BURNED. Explosion of Mine Gas Caused By Disregard Of Warnings. It Happens Before All the Men Have Entered the Working-The Very Air About Them Seems Turned to Flame-Rescuers Overcome-The Bodies Almost Unrecognizable-At Least Twelve Will Die. [Special To The World.]

ABBET HAS IT NOW. The Recount at Camden Elects Turley (Dem.) Instead of Haines (Rep.). [Special To The World.]

THEY DISAPPROVED OF M’NEILL. Nominated for Mayor of Boston on the L- (from here the ink didn’t print well and I can’t make out the headline) [Special To The World.]

A Rioter’s Queer Excuse. 

Texas and the Cholera Scare. [Special To The World.]

Confessed to a Bogus Friend.

Stabbed by Her Insane Husband.

Jim Cummings, the Letter-Writer 

RESCUED FROM THE ROCKS. Gallant and Thrilling Feat Of The Life-Saving Heroes. After Lightning Dash by Rail of a Hundred Miles They rescue Twenty-four Men from Certain Death-An Incident of the Recent Storms on Lake Superior-Steam and Courage Carry the Day. [Special To The World.]

BELLIGERENT BAKER. Uncle John, After Beating Morrison, Beats Reporter Too. [Special To The World.]

Her Great-Grandchild at Her Wedding. [Special To The World.]

Canada Exchanging Swindlers. [Special To The World.]

Three Human Beings Roasted. 

(Those last five are also In the Seize the Day Pape but I won’t be repeating them)

Weather Indications 

Vogel Brothers’ Perfect-Fitting Overcoats 

Crutchie’s paper second page:

THE COMEIE FRANCAISE. Domestic Arrangements At The “Home Of The French Drama.” Mrs. Hooper’s Investigation of the Inner recesses of a Famous Historic Temple-Spacious Greenrooms and Artistic Loges-Manager Claretie’s Sanctum-Court-room of the Official Dramatic Jury. [Special Correspondence Of The World]

DEAD LETTER DRIFTWOOD. Annual Sale of Stray Trinkets in Uncle Sam’s Curiosity Shop. [Special To The World.]

NORRISTOWN NIPPED. A Clever Swindler Bluffs and Borrows on Large Bogus Drafts. [Special To The World.]

RECOVERING FROM HIS FRIGHT. Patrick Loughran Almost Ready to Begin Digging Another Sewer Trench. 

The George W. Cable Insult. [Special To The World.]

Assassinated for $65

Who Will Succeed Mr. Hoxie?

HOW WILSON PAID HIS DEBTS. His Accidental Acquaintance With The Engle Family. Various Facts Bearing on the Theory the He is Moon’s Legitimate Son-His Sudden Blossoming as a Capitalist-Pretense of a Marriage With Hattie Englee Kept Up- The Cemetery Lot. [Special To The World]

Cutting’s Mexican Colonization Scheme. 

Methodists Extending Their Work.

Stabbed by a Drunken Customer 

THE TEST OF THE ATLANTA. Lieut. Bacon Says She Is As Good A Ship As She Floats. The Trial was Not a Fair One, He Declares, Because Her Machinery was New and She was Kept at High Speed Too Long-He Says that She Can Make Twenty Miles an Hour.

A CHINESE GAMBLER FAILS. Two Hundred Infuriated Celestial Policy-Players Clamoring for Their Winnings.

Printers’ Union Nominations

General Railway Notes

THE AMSTERDAM MILL PICKETS. Meeting of the Strikers in Their Behalf-The Trial Postponed. [Special To The World]

Organizing A Cavalry Squadron

Great Excitement on Broadway 

New Publications (this section includes ads for subscriptions to magazines and newspapers and such, also a few ads for books and toys)

Seize The Day Paper Front Page:

(this one actually has a headline unlike Crutchie’s!)

NEW NEWSIES PRICE: SIXTY CENTS PER HUNDRED

CLOSE CONTEST FOR MAYOR. Four Candidates Will Struggle For The Honor At Plainfield. Some Sharp Republican Practices in the Deal for the Party Nomination-The Secret Caucus-The Fourth Ward Ignored-Inside History of the Campaign-Democratic Prospects Favorable. [Special To The World.]

WAKING UP OLD MORRISTOWN. Orange Soldiers Create Great Excitement in a Theater-A Plucky Spaniel.

NEWARK SCHOOL MATTERS. Change of Teachers and Dispute About the Site of a New School.

ONE STRIKER FOUND GUILTY. He was a Member of the Paterson “Escort” and Too Officious.

The Police Want New Quarters.

Wanted to be Sent to Snake Hill.

KILLED ON HIS WEDDING DAY. Sad Circumstances Attending The Death Of Charles F. Gocker. He is Supposed to Have Met the Fatal Accident at the Erie Tunnel, Jersey City, While Temporarily Insane-His Death Announced to an Assembled Bridal Party-Interview with the Bride-Elect’s Mother. 

REDUCTION OF TAXES DEMANDED. Jersey City Householders Object to Paying Too High Prices for Privileges. 

Last Night of the Fair.

DRINK MADE HIM A DEMON. Richard Dixon Went on a Thanksgiving Spree and Stabbed His Wife. 

THOSE RED BANK SLOPES. They Will Arrive in Jersey City To-Morrow Evening-Warrants Ready. [Special To The World.]

AT THE POINT OF DEATH. George Mackay Fatally Injured on a Coach When Driving Under a Bridge. 

IMPRISONED BY HER HUSBAND. A Wife Complains the She was Locked up for Two Days and Her Arm Broken.

IT WAS ALMOST A PANIC.  A Can Of Naphtha Explodes And Injures The Forewoman. Fifty Girls Get Scared and Rush Into the Street-Five of Them Faint and Are Sent Home in Carriages-Miss Cumming’s Face Neck and Breast Badly Burned-Beyond This Little Damage is Done.

THE BONDSMEN COMPROMISE. Settling with the New Brunswick Insurance Company for Applegate’s Deficit.

DELANY TRIAL DELAYED. Convicted of Atrocious Assault Yet Still Retains His Liberty. 

To Establish a Principle.

TALKING ABOUT WATER. Newark Officials Considering the Question of Filtering the Passaic.

CRIMINAL TRAILS CONCLUDED. Petit Jurors in the Essex Quarter Sessions Complimented and Discharged. 

EDWARD RUTH’S FUNERAL. Many Organizations will Turn Out to Do Honor to the Dead Chief. 

SUNDAY DRUG TRADE IN DANGER. Asbury Park Commissioners Are Making a Dead Set to Stop it. [Special To The World.]

Sentence Day in Court.

(Front page ends with the repeated five articles from crutchie’s pape)

Seize The Day Paper Page Two:

BUILDING NEW WAR SHIPS. Completing The Contract For Constructing The Cruisers. The Union Iron Works of San Francisco Secure the Heaviest Work-The Firm Fully Responsible-Terms Imposed by Secretary Whitney on the Contractors-Names and Dimensions of the New Vessels Ordered.

BICYCLES IN THE PARK. Wheelmen Want to Know Why The Cannot Use all the Drives.

The Women G.A.R Veteran Rescued Him.

The Workingman in Politics.

TALLMADGE TALKS OF ARTHUR’S DEATH. And He Says All Ministers’ Sons Do Not Turn Out Bad. 

A VERDICT OF $48,861 28. The Nice Little Bill that the Third Avenue Surface Road will Pay. 

Hayden’s Slayer Loses His Bravado.

A Cannibalistic Murderer.

MADE NEGROES HIS HEIRS. Peculiar Will Of A Wealthy White Farmer Of Georgia. His Daughter by a Negro Woman Gets Most of His Estate-Surrounded by His Former Slaved and Dominated by One of Them-White Relatives Avoid Him-They Contest the Will. [Special To The World.]

THE CHICAGO HOTEL FIRE. Narrow Escape of Many Guests-Railroad Shops Burned-Other Fires. 

Theatrical Men’s Hobbies [From The News Letter.]

A MUNICIPAL FARCE. The Grotesque Situation of a Divided Seaside City. [Special To The World.]

FRATRICIDE AND SUICIDE. Tragic End of the Prolonged Debauch of Two Atlanta Brothers. [Special To The World.]

THE RELIEF OF THE LYCOMING. Towed to Fort Disabled After Severe Lake Storms.

A New Woodbridge Industry.

The Heir to Millions. [From The Philadelphia Call.]

Obituary Notes

California Wines (Strictly Pure).

THE CRIME OF CLUVERIUS. Three Of His Jurymen Want The Death Sentence Commuted. They Contend that They Did Not Know a Verdict For a Less Offense Could be Rendered-Some Contradictory Attitudes-Juror Jowell Stands Firm and Carries the Others With Him for Hanging. [Special To The World.]

CHANGED COLOR. A Blonde Victim of “Addison's Disease” Becomes Black. [from The Cincinnati Enquirer.]

Poor Brignoli’s Daughter. [New York Letter to Boston Globe.]

STRAY BERLIN NOTES. Death of an Eccentric Character-New York Enterprise. [Special Correspondence Of The World.]

Pittsburgh Stove Moulders Strike. 

Lamson and Kilrain Matched

(The rest of the paper is ads for government bonds, calls for money donations, and shipping news)

[handeaux]

How Did A Court Jester From The Ottoman Empire End Up Buried In Cincinnati?

It almost goes without saying that any given cemetery contains a lot of history. That is most certainly true of Cincinnati’s Judah Touro Cemetery in Price Hill. But Judah Touro, unlike any other cemetery in Cincinnati, can boast the grave of an actual court jester.

There must be a story, and indeed there is. The long journey of Hayeti Hassid begins in Thessaloniki, today the second-largest city in Greece but in 1852 part of the Ottoman Empire. It was in that year that Hayeti was born to David and Esther Hassid. Always small, the boy stopped growing altogether when he was around five years old. For the rest of his life, he stood only around 30 inches tall.

It appears that Hayeti early on developed a talent for making people laugh through a repertoire of dancing, singing and sleight-of-hand tricks. He had a remarkable skill for languages, eventually gaining fluency in Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Turkish.

At the age of 20, Hayeti’s reputation caught the attention of the Ottoman Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, who brought him to the royal palace in Istanbul, where he entertained the court for some years. The Sultan’s troubled reign was disrupted by wars, revolutions, intrigue and plots. He consequently developed a well-earned paranoia and maintained a high turnover among those with access to the court. Hayeti was consigned to the harem, where he entertained the Sultan’s many children, becoming, as it were, a sort of Ottoman Uncle Al.

Tiring of the kiddie fare, Hayeti made his way to Paris and joined the troupe of the Folies Bergère, where he was discovered by British entertainment impresario, Lloyd Forsyth and promptly named mayor of Forsyth’s “Tiny Town” revue. Whether as mayor of Tiny Town, or ringmaster of the “Lilliputian Circus,” Hayeti traveled the world. He was billed as the Turkish Tom Thumb, or Pasha Hayati Hassid, “pasha” being an Ottoman rough equivalent to a knighthood.

(The promoters and newspapers had a tough time transliterating his name from the Ottoman, so he appears as Hayeti, Hayati and even Chayatim. Although his tombstone reads Hayeti, most publicity materials show his name as Hayati.)

On a 1908 tour of Liverpool, Hayeti earned accolades from the local Birkenhead News:

“A truly wonderful little man is the Turkish Tom Thumb. His height is only 30 inches, his age being 56 years, and he knows no fewer than seven languages. He went through a smart conjuring performance, and also sang a French song, for which he was loudly applauded.”

The Folkestone Express [20 May 1908] devoted most of their coverage of the revue’s visit to this Kentish seaport on the English Channel to Hayeti’s act:

“Pasha Hayati Hassid, the Turkish Tom Thumb, is creating quite a sensation at the Pavilion this week. He styles himself the continental comedian and cuts a quaint figure as he struts up and down the stage. He talks in a very childish voice and is only able to sing with the power of a child of four or five years.”

Hayeti and his revue performed in Australia and New Zealand as well as in most European countries. The ensemble toured Canada and the United States, but ran into an unusual obstacle at the U.S. border. According to the Cincinnati Post [10 August 1910]:

“Fifty midgets came to Cincinnati Friday morning to entertain Cincinnati and her guests during the Ohio Valley Exposition. The half hundred Lilliputians are connected with the Tiny Town Circus and they have just come from Europe. They are so small that the U.S. immigration officials declared they were deformed and wanted to exclude them from the country. After thinking the matter over for a day, however, they were permitted to land in New York and came to Cincinnati on special cars.”

Eventually, the years of performing with a large group paled, and Hayeti went solo. There wasn’t much to his act. He was usually booked as a sideshow oddity and did little more than sit and be stared at. The 15 January 1908 edition of Punch, a British humor magazine, carried the report of a correspondent who found Hayeti ensconced in the “Mammoth Fun City,” a sort of ongoing freak show staged in the London borough of Islington:

“They are mostly school-children, and are staring at the ‘Turkish Tom Thumb,’ as he sits in a tiny wicker chair, selling photographs of himself on postcards. Whenever his attention is called away the children look at one another and suppress a giggle. Then, as he turns round, they resume their preternatural solemnity with extraordinary suddenness. There is no charge for seeing him. I gaze at him, too but (I hope) without rudeness. The T. T. T. takes no notice of any of us. He merely hands the postcards and pockets the pennies for them with silent and impassive dignity.”

Hayeti’s travels eventually brought him to Cincinnati’s Chester Park. He made $42 a week pretty much just sitting in his chair selling postcards. He never asked for a raise, explaining:

“What does a fellow with a little stomach need a lot of money for?”

While in Cincinnati, Hayeti was reunited with a friend from childhood, Leon Ben Mayor. According to the Cincinnati Post [29 April 1919], Ben Mayor said:

“I had known him at Saloniki [today’s Thessaloniki] when I was a boy, and so I was glad to keep him for nothing. It was just like taking a little child into the house. But he insisted on paying $5 a week for board and lodging.”

Hayeti slept in a crib outgrown by one of Ben Mayor’s children. As his health worsened, Ben Mayor sometimes had to lift Hayeti into the crib. The Turkish Tom Thumb died, aged 67, on 27 April 1919. Ben Mayor and another compatriot, Vita Habib, arranged the funeral, purchasing a child-sized coffin for his burial.

It may surprise some that a citizen of the very Islamic Ottoman Empire is buried in a Jewish cemetery, but Thessaloniki was for many years a majority Jewish city. The Sephardic community there was protected by the Ottomans after thousands of Sephardic Jews were banished from Spain after the Catholic conquest in 1492. In the Spanish-based dialect of the Sephardic community, Thessaloniki was known as “The Mother of Israel.”

[wmproprt]

Rep. French Hill: "…the bill does not reinvent the wheel or restrict the SEC from policing the financial markets. Instead, FIT 21 includes consumer protections, imposes capital requirements on intermediaries, and implements higher standards for custody, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion told the House Financial Services Committee on May 21. …" @RepFrenchHill

House Passes Landmark Crypto Regulation Bill

[thefree-online]

Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Applaud $95 Billion Supplemental Arms Package

Defense contractors see “margin growth” with massive escalation of weapons shipments to the Ukraine-Russia war. LEE FANG, APR 28, 2024 Last weekend, the House of Representatives moved to pass a string of bills to provide over $95 billion in foreign aid and military arms to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, saluted the […]Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Applaud $95 Billion…

[christinamac1]

Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Applaud $95 Billion Supplemental Arms Package

Defense contractors see “margin growth” with massive escalation of weapons shipments to the Ukraine-Russia war. LEE FANG, APR 28, 2024 Last weekend, the House of Representatives moved to pass a string of bills to provide over $95 billion in foreign aid and military arms to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, saluted the funding as akin to the foreign aid that helped the…

[digitaltariq]

Households nonetheless hope to satisfy with Biden as first Nationwide Hostage Day flag is raised

Washington — On Saturday, the U.S. is marking its first Nationwide Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day. Bipartisan legislation signed into regulation by President Biden established March 9 as a day of remembrance for People wrongfully held abroad. The Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day Act was launched and shepherded by way of Congress final yr by Reps. Haley Stevens and French Hill, and Sen. Chris Coons. The measure additionally created a nationwide flag for wrongfully detained People and hostages, which was raised for the primary time exterior the State Division on Friday morning alongside the American flag. The black and yellow flag is paying homage to America's prisoners of conflict and people lacking in motion (POW/MIA) flag. March 8, 2024. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell proven with flag to be raised exterior the State Division yearly to commemorate Nationwide Hostage Day on March 9.State Dept. Flickr account A handful of former hostages and their households attended the flag-raising ceremony with State Division officers, standing alongside households of those that stay wrongfully detained overseas. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell introduced on the ceremony that the flag will likely be raised exterior the State Division yearly on March 9. It'll additionally fly when an American hostage held overseas both dies or returns dwelling. Diane Foley, Siamak Namazi and Emad Shargi on the State Division. March 8, 2024.Camilla Schick Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who claims to hold in his pocket a card with a listing of the handfuls of People held hostage or unjustly detained, introduced in a video deal with earlier than the flag-raising that he has "been capable of cross off 46 names on that listing" over the previous three years. "Roger introduced me with my very own card — I am having it laminated. I'll carry it with me at all times," Campbell instructed the gang, referring to Roger Carstens, the particular presidential envoy for hostage affairs. As he stood underneath the flag, Carstens instructed CBS Information that the brand new flag is considered one of solely three allowed to fly exterior federal buildings, along with the American flag and the POW/MIA flag. Hostage households on the State Division. March 8, 2024Camilla Schick The date of March 9 holds particular significance for the household of 1 hostage specifically. "March 9 is the anniversary of my father's disappearance," stated Sarah Levinson Moriarty, the daughter of Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran in 2007 and have become the longest-held American hostage in historical past. In March 2020, U.S. officers instructed the Levinson household that that they had intelligence indicating Robert had died in captivity in Iran. "It has been a horrific day for us for the previous 17 years. Once we have been advocating for today of consciousness and the flag being codified, we took the chance to show a extremely damaging day right into a constructive for our nation," Levinson Moriarty instructed CBS Information. The flag can fly on three days of the yr: Hostage Day on March 9, Flag Day on June 14, and on July 4, in addition to when a hostage dies overseas or comes dwelling, Levinson Moriarty stated. "It will be significant to my father to know his struggling and ache was not in useless, and that our household and our nation have been capable of take what occurred to him and switch it into one thing that may assist others to forestall it," she added. The flag was designed by David Ewald, a professor on the College of Oregon College of Journalism and Communication. He instructed CBS Information that the households of these wrongfully detained had helped create its distinctive yellow and black design, with two rows of tally marks extending throughout its middle evoking the passage of time for detainees. Ewald stated he did not suppose he would see the day it flew, describing the flag as an actual "heavy weight." After the flag-raising ceremony, various households headed to Lafayette Sq. in entrance of the White Home to stage a sit-in, considered one of a number of protests that the grassroots group Carry Our Households Residence has held exterior the president's door to strain him to satisfy with them and for the administration to do extra to carry their family members dwelling. "My dad was taken when was vp," stated Harrison Li, the son of 61-year-old Kai Li, who has been wrongfully detained in China since 2012. "So it is actually been a really very long time." Kai Li is considered one of three People wrongfully detained in China, together with Mark Swidan and David Lin. Harrison Li is a co-chair of Bring Our Families Home, which was shaped quickly after the president met in March 2022 with the mother and father of Trevor Reed, a Marine Corps veteran who was detained in Russia in 2019. Reed was freed in a prisoner swap only a month later, prompting a few of the households of different hostages to wonder if they have been being handled in another way by the U.S. authorities. "All of the China circumstances have been very, very lengthy circumstances. I do know that there are individuals placing in effort. However I believe the true roadblock is there's loads of disagreement and paperwork," Harrison Li stated. "The sense I get is there's loads of of us who perhaps aren't so certain on what to do and how one can method these circumstances, and that results in loads of gridlock. That is actually but another excuse why we're seeking to simply meet with the president — he can type of break up that gridlock." He continued, "If we're capable of get Trevor Reed and Brittney Griner out of Russia throughout the Ukraine state of affairs, then you'll be able to think about getting People out of China at a time, particularly now, after they're making an attempt to heat up relations with the U.S." Li's predecessor at Carry Our Households Residence was Neda Sharghi, whose brother Emad Shargi was held for years in Iran. Neda Sharghi had buttonholed the president at a crowded White Home Persian New 12 months's celebration in March 2023, after months of unsuccessful makes an attempt by her household to obtain a gathering. Emad was launched in a prisoner change with Iran a couple of months later, together with fellow People Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and two others who wished to stay nameless. The Biden administration additionally helped make obtainable $6 billion in restricted Iranian oil income to the regime in Tehran. Households embroiled in the newest hostage disaster — Israeli-People held by the militant group Hamas in Gaza — met Wednesday with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and with nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan. They have been invited to satisfy in particular person with the president in December, weeks after their households have been taken hostage — a relatively compressed timeframe that was not misplaced on the households of hostages held in different international locations. There are six American twin residents nonetheless unaccounted for, together with Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Edan Alexander, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Omer Neutra, and Itay Chen. CIA Director Invoice Burns was in Doha on Friday urgent for a Hamas-Israel deal to launch 40 or extra hostages in change for a six week cessation in violence and surge of support into Gaza. A handful of relations of People wrongfully detained overseas have been invited by members of Congress to the president's State of the Union deal with, Thursday, together with Anna Corbett, spouse of Ryan Corbett, who's at the moment being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Harrison Li was additionally invited. "I needed to attend, hopefully to get out to satisfy individuals who can assist me get to the president, and even maybe meet the president himself, nevertheless briefly," Li instructed CBS Information. The household of Wall Road Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich have been additionally company of the First Woman on Thursday evening, as President Biden made point out of Evan and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, each detained in Russia. Paul Whelan has been detained in Russia since 2018. His brother, David Whelan, says that the federal government has made progress in its efforts to take care of American hostages. "When Paul was arrested there was no infrastructure, no help for households, there was no overt exercise by the U.S. authorities, by the State Division or anyone. So we have come so removed from that," David Whelan instructed CBS Information. "We're now beginning to see tangible proof of the U.S. authorities making an attempt to grapple with this hostage-taking drawback." Biden has met with the Whelan household twice—in September 2022, and in January. "I believe that the households of hostages and detainees have the suitable to request a gathering with the President. I believe that the U.S. Authorities, the State Division and the White Home specifically, ought to take laborious have a look at how they deal with household circumstances in another way, as a result of, whether or not they intend to deal with them in another way or not, they're doing so." "On the identical time, and clearly with the privilege of getting had Elizabeth (Paul's sister) communicate to the president twice, I believe Paul's case is a extremely good instance of how chatting with the President would not really lead to somebody coming dwelling." "I believe our authorities has at all times stated that a majority of these issues are a high precedence," Sarah Levinson Moriarty stated. "However what higher strategy to present it than to truly meet with these households, maintain their fingers and inform them that the U.S. authorities is doing each doable factor that they'll to finish their struggling." — Margaret Brennan and Andrew Bast contributed to this report. Extra from CBS Information Read the full article

[mariacallous]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian drones fly without ammunition. Russian artillery unleash deadly volleys from safe positions beyond the range of Kyiv’s troops. Shortages of ammo and supplies are resulting in lost ground to Moscow, U.S. congressional leaders warn, yet the Republican-controlled House has shown little hurry to resupply Ukraine with military aid.

Across Washington, officials are viewing the drop-off in ammunition shipments with increasing alarm. It’s now been over two months since the U.S. — which since World War II has fashioned itself as the “Arsenal of Democracy” — last sent military supplies to Ukraine.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson appears determined to chart his own course away from a $95 billion foreign aid package passed by the Senate — a decision that could stall the package for weeks to come after an already arduous months-long wait in Congress.

With U.S. military shipments cut off, Ukrainian troops withdrew from the eastern city of Avdiivka last month, where outnumbered defenders had withheld a Russian assault for four months. Delays in military support from the West are complicating the task for Kyiv’s military tacticians, forcing troops to ration ammunition and ultimately costing the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

“If Ukraine gets the aid they will win. If they don’t get the aid they will lose — with dire consequences to the United States,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who visited Ukraine last week.

Defense officials are discussing options, which include possibly tapping existing stockpiles even before Congress approves funding to replenish them, according to Sen. Jack Reed, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee. And at a White House meeting this week, President Joe Biden, the two top Democrats in Congress and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell all took turns intensely urging Johnson to take up a Senate-passed package that would provide $60 billion worth of assistance for Kyiv.

So far, the Republican speaker has refused.

The Louisiana Republican — just four months into the powerful job as speaker, second in the line to the presidency — is under intense pressure from all sides. The leaders of 23 European parliaments have signed an open letter urging him to pass the aid. And within his own House ranks, senior Republicans are growing restive at the inaction, even as other far-right members have threatened to try to remove him from leadership if he advances the aid for Kyiv.

“The House is actively considering options on a path forward, but our first responsibility is to fund the government and our primary, overriding responsibility — and it has been for the last three years — has been to secure the border,” Johnson said at a news conference.

Johnson responded to the pressure on Ukraine by saying the House had only received the funding legislation in mid-February after the Senate took four months to negotiate, including enforcement policies at the U.S.-Mexico border. The deal on border security swiftly collapsed after Republicans, including Johnson, criticized the proposal as insufficient. Yet Johnson and other House Republicans are once again hoping to secure some policy wins on border security.

When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Congress late last year, he told Johnson that the military aid would last into February. But as Congress entered March, Johnson so far has allowed House members to craft their own proposals and revealed little on his plans for the package.

“We’re beyond the time frame that this should have taken, this analysis and careful consideration by the House should have been completed before the end of the year or very shortly after the new year,” said Rep. French Hill, an Arkansas Republican.

Hill and several other senior Republicans are pressing Johnson to act by crafting a new national security package in the House. That bill, which is being drafted by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and key appropriators, is expected to come in less than the $95 billion Senate package but include many similar provisions — including money that Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies could use to purchase U.S. military equipment, as well as some humanitarian assistance.

It may also include a version of the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians, or REPO Act, which would allow the U.S. to tap frozen Russian central bank assets to compensate Ukraine for damages from the invasion, Hill said. He said it would save taxpayer dollars in the long run and help gain Republican votes in the House.

“This is more a matter of finding out the way to move forward,” said seasoned Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., the chairman of the Rules committee. “But a substantial majority of both houses of Congress wants to help Ukraine. You had 70 over there,” he said about the robust Senate support, “and the vote here will be well north of 300.”

Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, who leads a caucus of centrist Democrats called New Dems, said many in her party are ready to help Johnson pass a military aid package if he brings it to the floor. But she said the bill already passed by the Senate would have the broadest support.

“We’re at a critical moment right now, and I encourage Speaker Johnson to work with us,” Kuster said. “He has such a slim majority.”

Meanwhile, any decision by the Pentagon to send Ukraine weapons before Congress approves funding is fraught with risk. Since there is no money to replenish the equipment and weapons sent, the military would be depleting its stockpiles and potentially risking harm to unit readiness for war.

In addition, there are worries that action from the Pentagon could dissuade Congress from moving quickly on the funding bill.

Reed said it would make more sense for Congress to pass the supplemental package, because then the Pentagon “could immediately order the equipment they’re drawing down. We run the risk without that of drawing down the equipment and not being able to replace it or being confident of replacement.”

But he added, “There might be circumstances where the president would decide to ship equipment like ATACMS, even though it would be a difficult judgment.”

The U.S. has sent medium-range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) as well as HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems). But there has been pressure for the U.S. to send longer-range ATACMS. The U.S. has resisted out of concerns Moscow would consider them escalatory, since they could reach deeper into Russia and Russian-held territory.

Ukrainian leaders, however, could use the longer-range missiles to disrupt Russian supply lines — a capability that is seen as essential as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks to surge more troops this spring.

Ukraine also has made it clear that its forces also need additional artillery, including 155 mm howitzer rounds, as well as air defense ammunition.

Ukrainian officials have expressed confidence they can withstand a Russian offensive for several more months, said Shelby Magid, deputy director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council, which advocates for American cooperation with Europe. Yet she added that the Pentagon’s consideration of using drawdown authority sent a somber message that officials view the conflict as having direct implications for U.S. national security.

Some are warning that if Congress fails to provide the aid, U.S. troops will next be called on to help defend NATO allies.

Schumer said that during his trip to Ukraine, “One leading American said to me if we don’t get the aid, Russian tanks could be at the Polish border by December.”

[blogynews]

Unprecedented US Congress Delegation Makes Startling Visit to Opposition-Held Northwest Syria - What They Discovered Will Astound You!

Three members of the US Congress, specifically Reps. Ben Cline of Virginia, French Hill of Arkansas, and Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, made a short visit to northwest Syria on Sunday. This visit marks the first known trip to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years. The Congress members entered Syria from Turkey through the Bab al-Salama crossing in northern Aleppo province,…

[blogynewz]

Unprecedented US Congress Delegation Makes Startling Visit to Opposition-Held Northwest Syria - What They Discovered Will Astound You!

Three members of the US Congress, specifically Reps. Ben Cline of Virginia, French Hill of Arkansas, and Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin, made a short visit to northwest Syria on Sunday. This visit marks the first known trip to the war-torn country by American lawmakers in six years. The Congress members entered Syria from Turkey through the Bab al-Salama crossing in northern Aleppo province,…

[truly-morgan]

[JJ speak French]

Jean-Jacque Leroy | Yuri On Ice 23-06-2021

[#yoi #jjleroy , french] (yes, this isn't mx.tx 🤯)

what if, in a random international skating competition outside of canon, JJ meets some French skater.

Things are, anytime they interacted was with other ice skaters, where they all used English as a common language. But what if on the second night of competition, JJ's been training until late in the evening and is rather tired, but still stumbles upon this French skater (let's call him Étienne to make it easier).

So Étienne greets him in English out of habit and because JJ is Canadian.

But then JJ, who's too tired, just replies to him in French because they both speak it, why speak in English when it's the two of them?

Étienne is then pleasantly surprised because he did not expect JJ to speak French!

Cue Étienne being all excited that someone else (than those who came with him here) can speak to him in French because it is easier like this than always speaking in a second language. JJ does find some energy to speak some more with him.

The next morning, everyone is a bit surprised to find them at breakfast speaking French as if no one else was around them.

I just want French Canadian JJ who speaks French 😩 gimme that rep, please.

(brought to you by me feeling down because I see too much Quebec bashing on tiktok (and the internet in general really) and it makes me feel down. I just want French Canadian jj this is the hill I'll die on, he is French Canadian)

Original

[coinnewz]

Crypto bills pass congressional committee in 'huge win' for US crypto

A key United States House panel has approved a pair of bills that could finally deliver some regulatory clarity to crypto firms — including clarifying the differences in jurisdiction between the US securities and commodities regulators. On July 26, the majority of U.S. lawmakers voted in favor of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act as well as the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. The House Financial Services Committee approved the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act in a 35-15 vote which would establish rules for crypto firms on when to register with either the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). #PASSED: In a historic first, the House Financial Services Committee just advanced the BIPARTISAN FIT for the 21st Century Act to protect consumers and provide clear rules of the road for the digital asset ecosystem. Up next: @HouseAgGOP considers the legislation tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/kOyLmolPuz — Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) July 26, 2023 The Republican bill also outlines a process for firms to certify with the SEC that their projects are adequately decentralized which would allow them to register digital assets as a digital commodity with the CFTC. Republican Congressman, French Hill, who also serves as the Vice-Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said he was proud the bill had passed its first hurdle, and that it had been passed by the committee with bipartisan support. "We have crafted landmark legislation that establishes robust consumer protections and clear rules of the road for market participants while keeping innovation in the United States." Meanwhile, the bipartisan “Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act” led by Republican Congressman Tom Emmer and Democratic Congressman Darren Soto, aims to set out guidelines that remove hurdles and requirements for “blockchain developers and service providers” such as miners, multi-signature service providers and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. Republican Representative Tom Emmer praised the passing of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act as a "huge win" for the United States. BREAKING: My nonpartisan bill – the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act – just passed out of the @FinancialCmte. This is a huge win for the United States as we are one step closer to putting Americans in the driver’s seat in crafting the future peer-to-peer digital economy. pic.twitter.com/JEOuflDMax — Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) July 26, 2023 Emmer explained that the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act "specifically deals with what blockchain-related entities qualify as money transmitters" in the United States. If passed in the House of Representatives, the bill "will clear things up by affirming to the blockchain community that if you don’t custody customer funds, you are not a money transmitter," Emmer added. Related: US crypto's future could fall on these 4 digital asset bills Despite the passing of these acts, a number of Republicans and Democrats refused to support another proposed piece of legislation, dubbed The Digital Assets Market Structure bill. Democratic Representative Maxine Waters condemned the bill for too closely heeding the calls of the crypto industry and ignoring regulatory guidance from the SEC. "As I have said before, we don’t need to invent new regulatory structures simply because crypto companies refuse to follow rules of the road. Our securities laws have protected investors and retirees for 90 years while supporting capital formation and facilitating innovation," said Rep. Waters. Opinion: GOP crypto maxis almost as bad as Dems’ ‘anti-crypto army’ Additional reporting by Jesse Coghlan. Source link Read the full article

[virginiaprelawland]

House Passes $1.5 Trillion Bill

By Noreen Karam, University of Virginia Tech, Class of 2024

April 27, 2023

House Republicans narrowly passed legislation Wednesday pairing nearly $4.8 trillion in deficit reduction measures with a debt limit increase into next year — a move they argue should force Democrats to finally negotiate conditions for raising the nation’s borrowing limit.

The 222-member House GOP conference largely unified around the bill after weeks of tense negotiations, including last-minute changes leadership reluctantly agreed to include in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. 

Dozens of Republicans who supported the bill were casting their first ever votes for a debt limit increase. “For the first time we have a bill serious about controlling the reckless spending that’s destroying America’s productivity and its prosperity,” Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., who has opposed debt limit increases for 15 years, said on the floor. Ultimately, four Republicans — Tennessee's Tim Burchett, Florida's Matt Gaetz, Colorado's Ken Buck and Arizona's Andy Biggs — voted against the bill, the maximum number of defections GOP leaders could afford. The 217-215 vote was otherwise along party lines. 

Burchett said the measure did not include enough “real deficit reduction.” Biggs agreed, saying in a statement that the measure only lowers the projected gross national debt a decade from now from $52 trillion to $47 trillion. Gaetz cited a similar figure, saying in a statement that "gaslighting nearly $50 trillion in debt to America is something my conscious cannot abide at this time.” Buck explained his vote was for the same reasons. But a full-court press from Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other GOP leaders won over others who'd been leaning against the measure, such as Nacy Mace of South Carolina. 

Mace said after a Wednesday afternoon meeting with McCarthy that she'd back the bill after the speaker promised to work with her on future efforts to balance the federal budget, including a possible balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.

Key components of the measure include:

· Raising the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or extending it through March 2024, whichever comes first. 

· Cutting and capping discretionary spending for the next decade, starting with a $1.47 trillion topline in fiscal 2024 and allowing for 1 percent annual growth over the following nine years. The first-year cap reflects a $131 billion cut from current funding levels, which spending wouldn’t catch up to until the end of the decade under the proposal.

· Repealing most of the energy tax credit provisions from Democrats’ 2022 climate, tax and health law, with the exception of some biofuel provisions Midwestern Republicans pushed to protect. 

· Rescinding unobligated IRS tax enforcement and climate-related grant funds from the 2022 law and unspent COVID-19 relief from various pandemic-era aid packages.

· Canceling President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. 

· Expanding existing work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and instituting new rules for Medicaid beneficiaries.

· Overhauling infrastructure permitting and other energy-related laws and regulations to spur more domestic production, primarily for fossil fuels.

· Requiring congressional authorization for major administration regulatory initiatives.

Republicans said the measure reflects the shared priorities of various ideological factions in the conference and serves as their opening offer to President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats, who want a clean debt limit increase.  “The whole purpose of this is to compel the president to negotiate — and to demonstrate to Washington, D.C., that Kevin McCarthy has the votes to raise the debt ceiling,” Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., said.

House Democrats all voted against the bill, arguing that Congress should raise the debt limit without conditions. They also slammed the spending cuts in the bill, saying they would have a massive impact on government programs Americans depend on, from health care and nutrition services to education and infrastructure. “There is no way Congress will agree to 10 years of destructive caps and the biggest single cut to nondefense programs in American history," House Budget ranking member Brendan F. Boyle, D-Pa., said during debate. The debt limit “x date” — when the Treasury Department is at risk of running out of cash and wiggle room under the borrowing cap to pay bondholders and other obligations — will hit as early as June. The exact timing will depend in large part on tax receipts the Treasury is still analyzing, but the department plans to release an updated forecast later this week or next.

The Senate is planning to ignore House Republicans’ bill but will be under pressure to either negotiate or act on an alternative plan. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer no indication Wednesday that the House vote would change his negotiating posture. “We think what Speaker McCarthy and the House have done is going to bring us closer to default, not further away from it,” the New York Democrat said. 

Senate Democrats have demanded a clean debt limit bill, but Schumer declined to say whether he planned to bring one to the floor. “Our plan has always been the same: to avoid default, pass a clean debt ceiling — no brinksmanship, no hostage-taking,” he said. Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith said Schumer’s position isn’t tenable. “They have to get off that because he can't even get his own Democrats to vote for it … and they’ve got to have 60 votes over there,” the Missouri Republican said. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his conference are backing McCarthy's insistence on spending cuts for raising the debt limit. “Until [Biden] and the speaker of the House reach an agreement, we’ll be at a standoff,” McConnell said. Biden has threatened to veto the GOP bill and continues to insist on a clean debt limit increase. The president has repeatedly said he would meet with McCarthy again only when House Republicans produce a budget. But on Wednesday ahead of the vote, the only condition Biden gave for meeting with the speaker is that raising the debt limit remains “not negotiable." 

The White House had previously signaled Republicans’ debt limit bill wouldn’t suffice as a plan to kick-start spending negotiations but on Wednesday issued a statement on the measure that characterized it as a budget. “House Republicans are selling out hard-working Americans in order to defend their top priority: restoring the Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest and corporations at a cost of over $3 trillion,” White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt said. “Budgets are a statement of values — and House Republicans have made clear who they are fighting for.” Republicans do not extend any of the 2017 tax cuts in their debt limit bill and have not yet made that a request in negotiations, despite the White House repeatedly trying to make that connection.

It’s unclear if the White House intentionally referred to Republicans' debt limit bill as a budget to allow Biden to open the door to negotiations or not, but some congressional Democrats are predicting he’ll ultimately get there. “I think he will sit down, probably,” Rep. Henry Cuellar said. However, the Texas Democrat said the Senate would “not necessarily” be pressured into doing anything, noting that “the Senate is the Senate.”

Maryland Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the former No. 2 House Democrat who stepped down from leadership at the beginning of the year, said negotiations are inevitable since the parties will need to compromise to avoid a crisis. “I'm sure there are going to be some negotiations because we don't believe that default is an option either. Both sides agree on something,” he said. 

But if Republicans expect Democrats to cut a deal, they need to offer something that will appeal to their party, Hoyer said. “We would want to have rational numbers,” he said, referring to discretionary spending levels. “And right now we're not even close to rational numbers.”

______________________________________________________________

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/04/26/us/debt-ceiling-vote-news

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/04/26/house-gop-debt-limit-debate/

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-gop-narrowly-passes-bill-raise-debt-ceiling/story?id=98881337

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-republicans-debt-ceiling-bill-vote/

[swldx]

Voice of America 0337 17 Apr 2023

6080Khz 0259 17 APR 2023 - VOICE OF AMERICA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) in ENGLISH from MOPENG HILL. SINPO = 55333. English, s/on with dead-carrier. @0259z Yankee Doodle int fb news anchored by Tommy McNeil @0300. Sudan’s army appeared to gain the upper hand on Sunday in a bloody power struggle with rival paramilitary forces, pounding their bases with air strikes, witnesses said, and at least 59 civilians were killed including three U.N. workers. At least 32 defence volunteers and 10 soldiers have died in suspected jihadist attacks in insurgency-hit northern Burkina Faso, officials said on Sunday. The army said the death toll was 40 -- eight soldiers and 32 defence volunteers, adding that "at least 50 terrorists" were "neutralised" in the counter-attack, including a number killed in air strikes. In the weeks since Chinese leader Xi Jinping won a third five-year term as president, setting him on course to remain in power for life, leaders and diplomats from around the world have beaten a path to his door. None more so than those from Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron made a high-profile state visit to Beijing last week accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, just days after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. At the same time, the EU is deeply concerned about a military escalation in the Taiwan Strait. China launched war games just after Macron left. But unlike the U.S., with its military and strategic interest in Taiwan, the Europeans mostly see the island in economic and pro-democracy terms. One hundred and thirty Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released and returned home in a "great Easter exchange", a senior Ukrainian presidential official said on Sunday, the day of Orthodox Easter. Ukrainian and Russian forces have held regular prisoner exchanges during Moscow's invasion, now in its 14th month. Russia holds swathes of territory in Ukraine's east and south. House Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, pledged his committee would hold hearings to investigate the leaks, which included documents about Ukrainian battle plans and U.S. spying efforts in allied nations’ capitals, according to multiple reports. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said that the Senate Intelligence Committee would do the same. Netanyahu says the Israeli government will not scrap plans for judicial overhaul despite the ongoing protests. Pope Francis on Sunday rejected as offensive and unfounded what he called insinuations by the brother of a Vatican schoolgirl who went missing 40 years ago about one of his predecessors as pontiff, Saint John Paul II. @0305z “Daybreak Africa” anchored by male announcer. MLA 30 amplified loop (powered w/8 AA rechargeable batteries ~10.8vdc), Etón e1XM. 100kW, BeamAz 350°, bearing 85°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 14087KM from transmitter at Mopeng Hill. Local time: 2159.