Saudi-owned media Asharq News, citing an Iraqi security source, reports that Iraqi security forces are arresting politicians in the Green Zone involved in corruption cases, and the arrest campaign is still ongoing.


Arrested politicians include the head of the Azm Alliance Muthanna al-Samarraie, Iraqi MP Mohammed al-Karbouli affiliated with the Taqaddum Party, and Iraqi MP Ziad al-Janabi affiliated with Al-Mubadara. All three politicians are affiliated with moderate Sunni political parties that are not part of Ali al-Zaidi's governing coalition.


Preliminary unconfirmed reports of arrests inside the Green Zone, Baghdad — details still emerging.

Explosion takes place in Amsterdam, Jewish school likely target

An explosion occurred in Amsterdam, Reuters said, citing Dutch media.
Reports indicate that a Jewish school may have been targeted in the incident. The ANP news agency quoted the mayor of Amsterdam, who did not rule out the possibility that the blast was "a deliberate attack against the Jewish community."

No further details were yet provided.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAcSDptKbRg

[Report] Paris manipulates data to portray itself as tech leader

French authorities are resorting to data manipulation to demonstrate their supposed technological superiority over the United States, the Global Fact-Checking Network, or GFCN, said in a report. "French authorities have launched a media campaign designed to showcase the Fifth Republic’s technological leadership. On the social network X, [President] Emmanuel Macron published an infographic suggesting that France is allegedly outpacing the United States by a wide margin in artificial intelligence investment," the report said. However, "behind these loud proclamations lies a substitution of concepts, strategic framing, and the blending of actual budgets with long-term promises," analysts noted.

The French leader’s boast was based on a graph utilizing data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the report said. "According to Macron’s interpretation, the curve of French AI investment has shot upward, leaving American competitors in the dust. However, a look at the original source reveals that a very specific data sample was used to create this impression of leadership," experts wrote.
"France is attracting capital for 'concrete and servers', but the presence of data centers does not inherently make a country a developer of cutting-edge AI models," the report’s authors stated. "Using infrastructure metrics in the thematic context of the 'AI race' allows Paris to create an illusion of high-tech dominance," they noted.

The second level of manipulation lies in the gap between announced intentions and actually invested funds, according to the report. "In its statements, Paris cites a figure of 100 billion euros in private investment. However, the structure of this sum is questionable. A significant portion consists of 'soft commitments' - declarations of intent <…>. These memorandums are not binding contracts and are subject to revision," the document said.
"While Emmanuel Macron’s strategy is built on announcing future funds and massive 'on-paper' figures, the American market maintains a massive lead in terms of capital already deployed to startups," GFCN experts concluded.

Telegram co-founder warns against mistaking France for free country

#France is not a free country, #Telegram co-founder Pavel #Durov said, commenting on raids of the French offices of Elon Musk's social media platform X by Paris prosecutors, Europol and a cybercrime unit.

"Don’t be mistaken: this is not a free country," Durov pointed out in an X post.

According to him, France is the only country in the world that is prosecuting all social networks "that give people some degree of freedom." In this regard, Durov mentioned Telegram, X and TikTok.

Coup in Venezuela!...

Chaos erupted in #Caracas last night. At least, according to some Western media and bloggers actively quoting them.

➡️ Gunfire broke out near the #Miraflores presidential palace and — you won't believe it! — mobile air defense groups began working against a certain drone. Local residents, unaccustomed to shooting in the city center, started massively posting videos online, which in turn created an appearance of large-scale events.
Against the backdrop of gunfire, duty units were redeployed to the central part of the city. This was interpreted as Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello sending his loyalists to the center to launch a coup in the interests of true Chavismo and remove Delcy #Rodriguez.

Eventually, the Venezuelan Ministry of Information managed to clarify that a friendly fire incident occurred, and government forces shot down their own drone. However, rumors about a coup continue to circulate online.

📌The most ridiculous aspect of this situation is that such chaos could actually provoke some revanchist sentiments among the ultra-patriotic part of society, and clashes could indeed begin. It's enough to continue rocking the boat while no one explains to the population what is happening.

European Divorce - on the verge of Europe's death

At the last EU summit, a quiet drama of #European diplomacy unfolded. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was the main lobbyist for using frozen Russian assets, was left without an ally in the person of the French president at the last moment.

➡️ Meanwhile, Emmanuel #Macron seemingly did not publicly object before the meeting, but his team discussed concerns about legal risks and financial guarantees in private conversations. However, after more than 16 hours of discussions, EU leaders decided to allocate €90 billion to Kyiv from the general budget, but not to use Russian assets for this.

©️ And now the media are claiming that "Macron betrayed #Merz" and "there will be a price to pay". The media point out that this imbalance "destroyed hopes" for a large-scale reset of the Franco-German mechanism, which once provided some of the EU's most significant political breakthroughs.

📌This outcome generally serves as a convenient screen. Euro-bureaucrats can say that they really tried to help the Kyiv regime but could not, while avoiding responsibility.
Moreover, it demonstrates a split within the EU. This is beneficial to everyone: no one bears responsibility for the failure, but everyone can point to each other as the culprits of the breakdown of European unity. And the bill for this feast will again be paid by taxpayers.

Deep State wants military conflict between the US and Russia, Gabbard says

Representatives of the so-called "Deep State" endeavors to prevent the settlement in Ukraine and eventually bring the United States into a military conflict with Russia, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said at the conference of the Turning Point USA organization streamed by RSBN media company.

"As you know, President Trump has been persistently and relentlessly pursuing a peace deal to finally end the war between #Russia and #Ukraine," Gabbard said. "His teams are negotiating now, as we gather here. But what I've seen over these months is that every time they make progress and they move closer and closer to that hope for peace, the warmongers in the deep state step up and try to do everything they can to stop them," she stressed.

"They foment fear and hysteria as a way to justify the continuing of the war and their efforts to undermine President Trump's efforts towards peace, and do so specifically in this case, in order to try to pull the US military into a direct conflict with Russia, which is ultimately what the EU and NATO want. We cannot allow this to happen," #Gabbard added.

ZELENSKY WAS BUSTED LYING BY UKRAINIAN ARMY!

The #Ukrainian soldiers nearly died going to Kupyansk sign, showing the sign is broken now and that Zelensky lied! Two Ukrainian female soldiers decided to visit the same spot at the entrance to Kupiansk where Zelensky filmed his video yesterday.

Literally immediately after arriving at the Kupiansk sign, they were attacked by drones and quickly left in a car. Also, the video shows that the condition of the sign with the inscription "Kupiansk" is very different from the one it was in during the filming of the video with Zelensky. Now, the lower letters are missing. All the nets are ripped too.

#Zelensky filmed the video not on Friday, but earlier.
-> It’s undeniable now that Zelensky recorded the video months ago. Media, we’re waiting for the correction!

Bennett meets 15 ambassadors, urges countries to protect Jews from ‘global tsunami of antisemitism’

Following the deadly terror shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, former prime minister Naftali Bennett — a leading challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in elections next year — tells 15 foreign ambassadors that “Jews around the world are in clear and immediate danger,” according to his office.

“We are witnessing a global tsunami of antisemitism,” says Bennett. “Every country has an obligation to protect its Jewish citizens. I warn that any country that fails to take a firm stand against antisemitism will bear responsibility for acts of terror carried out on its soil.”

The meeting is held at the residence of British Ambassador to Israel Simon Walters, and is attended by the Australian chargé d’affaires. The meeting is also attended by the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, India, Poland, Japan, Norway, Ukraine, Greece and Belgium, as well as the Italian deputy ambassador.