Iran says that ready to make its nuclear program more transparent at a moment it is preparing to send representatives for a third round of talks with the United States, set for April 26.

Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Tuesday that Tehran in return for this greater transparency wants US-led sanctions lifted.

“We will try to create more transparency and more trust [in the nuclear program] in exchange for lifting sanctions. In other words, in exchange for lifting sanctions — I emphasize, in a way that is effective and has a [positive] effect on people’s lives — Iran is ready to create more trust in its nuclear program and more transparency,” Mohajerani told reporters.

Mohajerani made clear that Tehran is ready to reach “good agreement” with the United States on nuclear issue. “We are confident that reaching a good agreement in a short time while respecting our national interests is realistic,” she said, calling the prior two rounds “good” amid a “constructive” atmosphere.

The day prior to these optimistic remarks, Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned that Israel was seeking to “undermine” the ongoing nuclear talks with Washington, amid reports in Israeli media that leaders are mulling a ‘limited’ attack on the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that a “kind of coalition is forming… to undermine and disrupt the diplomatic process” and that the “Zionist regime is at the center of this effort.”

Alluding to reports from last week of an internal US administration split on Iran, Baghaei further warned that hawks in the US are also involved in the effort to sabotage the talks. “Alongside it are a series of warmongering currents in the United States and figures from different factions,” he said.

President Trump has reportedly told the Israelis that no, he will not support preemptive strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and that he prefers to negotiate a solution. Below is what the US side said after last weekend’s second round of talks in Rome: 

“Today, in Rome, over four hours in our second round of talks, we made very good progress in our direct and indirect discussions,” the official said Saturday. “We agreed to meet again next week and are grateful to our Omani partners for facilitating these talks and to our Italian partners for hosting us today.”

Russia too, as an original signatory to the defunct 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal, is getting more deeply involved – reportedly at the invitation of the Trump administration.

The leader of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, visited Moscow on Tuesday where he met with President Vladimir Putin to discuss what’s next.

“Oman has been mediating between Iran and the United States as President Donald Trump seeks an agreement that would curb Iran’s nuclear program, which Washington believes is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon,” writes Reuters.

Fiery exchange between Israeli spox and editor-and-chief of Russia’s RT…

A fiery back-and-forth after we asked Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson if Israel will give up its nuclear weapons if Iran’s nuclear program is dismantled.

“Israel is not a threat to anyone. We don’t have any ambitions in any other country. Iran has ambition in the entire… pic.twitter.com/LlSH3Y3OYD

— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) April 22, 2025

“We discussed the progress of negotiations between Iranian and American representatives,” a Kremlin statement said. Moscow and Tehran have been increasingly close, given their recent cooperation on defense, and in places like Ukraine – where Russian forces are heavily reliant on Iran-produced suicide drones.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

The latest socio-political and security developments suggest that it relishes being a frontline state…

Estonia catapulted back into international news after it recently seized an alleged vessel from Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, to which Russia had a restrained reaction for the pragmatic reasons explained here, but it’s also been stirring up trouble with Russia in other ways too. The aforementioned provocation coincides with the passing of a law allowing Estonia to sink foreign vessels that it deems to pose a national security threat. It’s possible that this could be the next planned regional escalation.

On the security front, Estonia also reportedly wants to deploy some of its troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping mission jointly led by France and the UK. Moreover, there’s always the chance that the UK decides to transform its rotational ~1,000-troop military presence in Estonia into a permanent fixture. That would make it the third NATO member to do so in the region after the US (in Poland and Romania) and Germany (in Lithuania). This could be sold as a hedge against the US withdrawing some of its troops.

Estonia’s internal situation is also becoming increasingly tense as a result of three interconnected developments.

The first concerns the latest law denying local voting rights to foreigners, which includes some of those 22.5% of Russians living in the country who don’t meet the post-independence criteria for citizenship and are thus legally classified as “stateless persons”.

For background, Estonia considers them to be the descendants of “Soviet occupiers”, which is the basis upon which it’s restricted their rights.

Expanding upon the last point about historical perception, Estonia is also ramping up its long-running campaign of dismantling Soviet-era World War II monuments, which the state regards symbols of Soviet occupation. 

Russia, however, believes that this move amounts to historical revisionism. In connection with that, readers should be aware that Russia has consistently accused Estonia of glorifying Nazi collaborators, with the most blatant example thereof being the annual marches in honor of the SS.

As if these moves weren’t provocative enough, Estonia just passed a law requiring the Estonian Chrisitan Orthodox Church to sever its canonical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov reacted to this by denouncing “the systematic destruction of fundamental human rights and freedoms continues under the guise of far-fetched, so-called democratic slogans. Once again, a blow has been dealt to one of the most sensitive areas – religious rights and freedoms.”

Estonia is able to threaten Russia’s direct and indirect interests, correspondingly relating to its national security and the rights of its co-ethnics in that country, with impunity due to its NATO membership. The only realistic scenarios in which Russia might countenance using military force are if Estonia participates in blockading the Gulf of Finland, uses force against Russian vessels (whether a warship or Russian-flagged civilian ship), or attacks across the “Baltic Defence Line” that it’s building along their border.

So long as Estonia keeps its provocations below these thresholds, then the risk of a major war breaking out should remain low, but bilateral tensions will worsen as will those between Russia and the European members of NATO. That could turn Estonia into Europe’s next trouble spot, thus accelerating the militarization of the Baltic Sea and the nearby Arctic region, likely including the Russian-Finnish border. Russian-EU tensions would then persist indefinitely even if Russian-US relations improve in the future.

The last time Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was in the same room with US President Donald Trump, it didn’t go so well. That was scene of the February 28 fireworks in Oval Office (see below), also involving Vice President JD Vance. Since then, US-Ukraine relations have been very strained, and Trump had even briefly halted the flow of weapons to Ukrainian forces.

Zelensky would like to try again, at a moment he’s not happy the US and Russia are engaged in ongoing bilateral talks with the purpose of diplomatic normalization and achieving resolution to the Ukraine war. Zelensky on Tuesday made clear that he would like to meet Trump in the Vatican on Saturday where global leaders will attend the funeral of Pope Francis, who died in the early hours of Monday.

“Yes, I would like to, I am ready. We are always ready to meet with our partners from the United States,” Zelensky said in answering a journalist’s question on whether he hopes to meet Trump and the funeral ceremonies.

And a Vatican statement has indicated the two leaders are likely to sit near each other, up at the front of the proceedings.

“We expect the world leaders coming for the papal funeral, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will be seated in the front row or towards the front of the funeral in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday morning. We might see some images of the world leaders greeting each other. The ceremony will be solemn,” it stated.

Trump just before this last weekend warned he’s ready to walk away from efforts to forge a peace deal if progress is not quickly made, and that’s when Putin unveiled his 30-hour Easter truce.

This week much discussion has reportedly focused on Crimea, with the US being open to giving formal recognition of Russia’s hold over the peninsula. But this has been another source of tension, as Zelensky has already rejected this.

If Trump and Zelensky do meet, it could be just brief and informal, or else they could set up a meeting on the sidelines while in Rome. According to more details of funeral preparations:

Francis’s coffin — which he previously ordered should be of wood and zinc — will then be taken inside the church and from there to Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial. 

The funeral date was set by cardinals meeting in a so-called “general congregation”, the first of a series of meetings which will culminate in a conclave within three weeks, where a new pope will be elected.

Francis died in the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican residence where he lived during his 12-year papacy, and his body was laid out in its chapel on Monday evening.

The Pope during his pontificate frequently called for peace in Ukraine, but he also at times lashed out at the West and the arms industry for fueling the bloodshed.

Not very long ago, in late February, this scene played out at the White House…

Wow.

Vance and Trump went in on Zelensky and it was deserved. pic.twitter.com/dnAsRDIqWf

— Wendy O (@CryptoWendyO) February 28, 2025

At the moment, at least 99.5% of Kursk territory is back in Russia’s control. Russia’s military also still continues to advance in remaining parts of Donetsk still held by Ukraine, but slowly and village by village.

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The number of asylum applications in Austria dropped sharply in the first quarter of 2025, marking a significant decline of 33 percent compared to the same period last year.

From January through March, a total of 4,644 applications were submitted. With 1,329 applications, March saw the fewest monthly asylum requests since July 2020.

As reported by Heute, only around one in three asylum requests are new, with the remainder typically involving requests for an upgrade in status, such as moving from subsidiary protection to full asylum, as well as applications for children born in Austria or those related to family reunification.

This pattern is particularly evident among Afghan nationals. Of the 504 Afghan applications submitted in the first quarter, just 93 were first-time filings. One contributing factor is the continuing effect of a European Court of Justice decision, which states that Afghan women do not require individual hearings in certain cases. As a result, individuals previously granted subsidiary protection are increasingly applying for full asylum status.

Syrians show a similar trend, with 268 follow-up applications compared to only 58 new ones. The Austrian government continues to accept asylum applications from Syrians, but generally does not process them while the political future of Syria remains uncertain following the Islamist coup in Damascus and the fall of the deposed former president Bashar al-Assad.

As of now, there are 12,918 pending asylum cases involving Syrians, followed by 4,112 involving Afghans. In total, Austria is handling just under 15,300 asylum cases a year. During the first quarter, asylum status was granted in 2,120 cases, while subsidiary protection was approved 451 times and humanitarian residence in 299 cases.

Afghans were the most likely group to receive asylum or residence, with almost 1,500 individuals granted asylum titles alone. In contrast, only 77 Syrians were granted asylum during the same period.

The new coalition government in Vienna is expected to introduce new legislation to suspend family reunification for at least a year, which is expected to further halt the flow of asylum applications in the country.

Austria’s new government announced it will “temporarily” suspend family reunification for migrants.

The right-wing FPÖ says it’s all smoke and mirrors.

“The quota is supposed to be zero for only half a year, then more people will be reunited.” said FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. pic.twitter.com/7n807KB4vm

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 13, 2025

A poll published last month found that more than 80 percent of respondents in Austria back tighter asylum regulations.

A general decline in asylum applications was also observed across the wider European Union, with 210,641 applications filed by the end of March, representing a 19 percent drop. However, some countries, including Poland, Croatia, Luxembourg, and Belgium, have seen increases in applications.

When population is taken into account, Austria now ranks tenth among European countries in terms of asylum application rates.

Despite the drop in new applications, Austria’s basic support infrastructure remains under pressure. As of early April, more than 65,000 individuals were receiving basic care services, although this number has decreased by nearly 3,000 since the beginning of the year.

These services were particularly affected by the influx of Ukrainian refugees over the past few years, with 55 percent of those receiving support coming from the war-torn country.

Read more here…

Authored by Stephen Xia and Sean Tseng via The Epoch Times,

More than a century ago, Nikola Tesla proposed an invention that he said could “abolish war” as we know it, the New York Herald headlined in a Nov. 8, 1898, article. The newspaper reported that Tesla was a “great magician of science” who claimed remote-controlled weaponry could neutralize even the mightiest naval forces.

Tesla envisioned a single operator using electricity to direct ships, balloons, or land vehicles from shore, including torpedo-laden vessels poised to strike enemy ships above or below the surface.

“War will cease to be possible,” he declared, “when all the world knows tomorrow that the most feeble of nations can supply itself immediately with a weapon which will render its coast secure and its ports impregnable,” according to the article.

His system relied on line-of-sight wireless control, a limitation of his era. Tesla couldn’t have imagined today’s satellite communication, sensors, and navigation systems. These modern tools enable the precise, worldwide operation of unmanned platforms, surpassing the possibilities of Tesla’s time.

Fast forward to today, Ukraine’s unmanned surface vessels (USVs) are bringing Tesla’s vision to life amid war with Russia. 

Leading the charge is the Katran, unveiled by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the drone program chief, on March 25.

Also nicknamed “Shark,” this advanced USV is designed for attack and reconnaissance. It can travel more than 900 miles at speeds up to 80 miles per hour—formidable in the Black Sea, the maritime battleground for Ukraine and Russia.

Built-in artificial intelligence (AI) allows it to operate under radio silence, essential in areas filled with electronic waves. Meanwhile, its electronic countermeasures can neutralize Russia’s anti-USV drones.

Katran adds to the capabilities of Ukraine’s existing USV fleet.

With at least 15 different types, from basic jet-ski drones to sophisticated attack platforms like the Magura V5 and Sea Baby, Ukraine’s drone fleet has already damaged Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, military ports, and the Crimean Bridge.

The Katran builds on that threat, doubling as both a kamikaze drone and a multi-role strike vessel.

Katran carries an impressive arsenal: machine guns, surface-to-air missiles, and torpedoes, enabling it to strike land, air, and underwater targets. This kind of firepower poses a serious challenge to conventional defenses, such as helicopters and close-range naval guns, which Russia uses to neutralize USVs.

Last December, a Ukrainian USV armed with anti-aircraft missiles downed a Russian helicopter—a testament to their versatility.

Moreover, the recent supply of advanced torpedoes from Sweden—likely Torpedo 47s or Saab lightweight torpedoes (SLWTs)—could further expand the USVs’ attack range, allowing strikes on warships over 12 miles away.

The Katran’s AI-driven autonomy and electronic warfare suite go far beyond Tesla’s rudimentary remote control. It can complete missions with minimal human oversight, reacting to threats in real time—an evolution that Tesla could only have imagined.

The rise of USVs marks a seismic shift in naval strategy, challenging the very existence of large, crewed warships. Ukraine’s success with low-cost, agile drones in undermining Russia’s naval dominance suggests that the days of massive battleships and carriers may be numbered.

With the ability to gather intelligence and launch precise strikes autonomously, the Katran already exceeds Tesla’s 1898 concept, echoing his prophecy that advanced weapons could level the playing field for any nation, regardless of its size.

With stronger weapons, longer ranges, and smarter AI on the horizon, expensive manned platforms—such as warships, aircraft, and tanks—risk becoming obsolete. The Katran and its successors could make, in Tesla’s words, the “mightiest armorclads” become “scrap iron” in the face of innovation.

In a candid call with analysts on Tuesday, Elon Musk announced that he will begin scaling back his involvement with the federal government starting in May, signaling a shift in priorities back toward Tesla. As a result, Tesla shares were up 5% late in the after hours session.

“I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said. 

Musk has been a central figure in the effort to streamline the federal government under the Trump administration through an initiative he dubbed the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE. That effort has involved an aggressive reduction of federal workforce levels, targeting DEI programs, and a broad reorganization of agency resources.

Despite growing protests against Tesla and Musk’s role in Washington, he remains unapologetic. “The work with DOGE is critical,” he stated, while dismissing the backlash as “organized and paid for.”

Although the billionaire entrepreneur holds the title of “special government employee”—a designation that legally limits him to 130 days of federal work per year—his presence in the capital has been nothing short of influential.

Musk indicated that the heavy lifting to establish DOGE is “mostly done,” allowing him to reallocate his schedule. “I will spend ‘a day or two’ per week on government matters if President Trump wants me to,” he said, but emphasized that more of his attention will now return to Tesla.

Despite his pullback from the capital, Musk said he will “continue to advocate for lower tariffs, rather than higher tariffs,” noting that this is the extent of his ongoing engagement on trade policy.

Tesla remains the only publicly traded firm among Musk’s sprawling portfolio, which includes SpaceX, Neuralink, XAI, and The Boring Company. As such, it has absorbed much of the public response—both praise and criticism—related to Musk’s deepening political ties.

Yet, the CEO expressed confidence in Tesla’s direction. “I remain extremely optimistic about Tesla’s future,” he said, pointing to the company’s ambitions in autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots.

He reiterated his forecast that Tesla will become the most valuable company in the world, noting that robotaxis are expected to deliver a meaningful financial impact by mid-2026. He also revealed that Tesla aims to have thousands of its Optimus humanoid robots operational in factories by the end of the year, with plans to scale to one million units annually within five years—a pace he described as faster than any product in the company’s history.

Closing the call with idealism, Musk said, “I like this phrase sustainable abundance for all,” and affirmed his commitment to continue leading Tesla through its next phase of innovation and expansion.

Tesla reported earnings after the market closed that were worse than analyst expectations. The stock, with most of the bad news seemingly already priced in, held its ground in after hours trading. The results were:

• Revenues $19.34BN, big miss to estimates of $21.37BN
• EPS 27c, missing estimates of 43c
• Gross margin 16.3% (down from 17.4% y/y), and beating estimates of 16.1%
• Automotive gross margin ex reg credits 12.5%, beating estimates of 11.9%
• Operating income $399 million, -66% y/y, missing estimates of $1.13 billion
• Free cash flow $664 million (vs. negative $2.53 billion y/y) missing  estimate $1.08 billion
• Capital expenditure $1.49 billion (down -46% vs $2.77Bn y/y and down 47% vs $2.78BN Q/Q), missing estimates of $2.49 billion

Of note, Tesla eked out positive free cash flow number by slashing capex almost in half compared with the prior quarter and a year ago. Absent that, it would have burned cash. 

Tesla offered a measured outlook during its earnings report, signaling that it will revisit its 2025 guidance in the Q2 update, while notably omitting any concrete forecast for a return to growth. The company emphasized that its rate of growth will hinge on a range of variables, including global trade policy, which it admitted is difficult to quantify in terms of impact.

Tariffs, in particular, are expected to weigh more heavily on the company’s energy unit than its automotive business, with Tesla cautioning that the broader tariff landscape could have a larger effect on demand and operational strategy. Nevertheless, the company maintained that actions are being taken to stabilize performance over the medium to long term, and it expressed confidence in having sufficient liquidity to fund its product roadmap.

Tesla confirmed that plans for new, more affordable vehicle models remain on track for production in the first half of 2025, though it acknowledged that these models may lead to less dramatic cost reductions than previously expected. Even with trade headwinds, the company reiterated a growing need for energy storage solutions across markets.

Read our full earnings wrap up here. 

Authored by Frank Miele via RealClearPolitics,

Joe Biden was resurrected – for at least one night – when he delivered a paid speech last week to a conference of Advocates, Counselors and Representatives for the Disabled in Chicago.

While passing up the opportunity to make a tasteless “blind leading the blind” joke, I do think it is necessary to at least question the wisdom of putting the former president, with his now publicly acknowledged mental shortcomings, in the limelight to lead a rear-facing assault on the current administration.

Let’s face it. In the wake of a slew of books and articles detailing Biden’s cognitive decline, it’s hard to take seriously his “analysis” of any major issue without being told up front who wrote his speech.

Still, Biden mostly stayed on script as he attacked President Trump and accused him, without evidence, of trying to gut Social Security. Yes, Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency announced that 7,000 jobs would be lost in the agency out of 57,000 total. But there is no proof that those jobs were necessary, and if you asked the average American if they think government agencies are bloated and inefficient, you would get little argument.

But Democrats know that Americans are also sensitive about protecting Social Security in order to ensure that the program’s benefits will be available to them when they reach retirement age. So the loss of jobs is a perfect target of opportunity for politicians (and former presidents and their handlers) who want to demagogue the issue.

“In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has made so much damage and so much destruction,” Biden said. “They’ve taken a hatchet to the Social Security Administration.” He added:

Ask yourself, “Why is this happening? Why are these guys taking aim at Social Security now?” Well, they’re following that old line of tech startups. The quote is, “Move fast, break things.” They’re certainly breaking things. They’re shooting first and aiming later. As a result, there’s always a lot of needless pain and sleepless nights.

The octogenarian Biden probably doesn’t know much about tech startups, but he does know a lot about breaking things. Consider his ruinous border policy which invited millions of illegal aliens into the country and twisted U.S. laws to allow them to stay indefinitely. When he claimed he needed a new law to fix the problems he created, many believed him, but Trump closed the border within days of taking office – by following existing law.

Instead of talking about how Trump is breaking things, Democrats should be looking at the disastrous Biden administration and asking themselves how they can get out from under its burdensome notoriety. But the American people won’t let that happen. They have one simple question: Who allowed the cognitively challenged Biden to take office in the first place, and who stood him up for years to deteriorate in public and hide in private? Because Democrats enabled Biden to stay in office despite his obvious disability, they “bought” both him and his “broken” legacy.

It’s no surprise that CNN and MSNBC barely acknowledged the resurfacing of President Biden in his Chicago speech. Only Fox News covered the event live, since any reminder of Biden is good news for conservatives.

Democrats are sure to demand that Biden return to his basement strategy that worked so well in 2020. Just stay out of the way and hope no one catches on that you are just a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

This quote from an anonymous Democratic operative says it all:

It takes a special level of chutzpah as the man most responsible for reelecting Donald Trump to decide it’s your voice that is missing in this moment. The country would be better served if he rode off into the sunset.

And if Biden does continue to make speeches, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that it was Republicans who were footing the bill.

Frank Miele, the retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., is a columnist for RealClearPolitics. His book “The Media Matrix: What If Everything You Know Is Fake” is available from his Amazon author page. Visit him at HeartlandDiaryUSA.com or follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA and on X/Gettr @HeartlandDiary.

Via The Libertarian Institute

The Israeli military has increasingly opted to deploy an unmanned version of Caterpillar’s D9 bulldozers to a number of battlefields. The remotely operated systems allows the IDF to flatten areas without risking additional troops.

According to The Times of Israel, Tel Aviv has deployed the unmanned D9 – or RobDozer – to Gaza and Lebanon since October 7, 2023, and Israeli officials say the IDF is ramping up its use of the system. One source told AFP Israel has used “robotic tools for over a decade, but in very small numbers. Now it is being used in large-scale warfare.”

The RobDozer was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which claims the platform is the “ultimate combat bulldozer.” IAI’s website explains that “The RobDozer’s integration into military engineering units significantly boosts their capability to rapidly alter landscapes to favor defensive or offensive operations.”

While the RobDozer can be remotely controlled, IAI claims it can even operate autonomously. As the Jerusalem Post reported last month, IAI “says it can operate on several levels of autonomous independence, ‘allowing it to dig trenches in the field, clear a route in difficult or otherwise impassable areas, and move large or suspicious obstacles.'”

While the company stresses that the platform ensures the safety of Israeli soldiers who no longer have to drive combat bulldozers in dangerous situations, it does not mention if the RobDozer can identify and avoid civilians during autonomous operation.

The Israeli state arms maker is also in the process of developing an unmanned M113 armored personnel carrier.

Israeli military D9 armored bulldozers are plowing through the Nur Shams Camp in the Northern West Bank. pic.twitter.com/qCaaaAx4wo

— 🇺🇸ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) October 19, 2023

Combat bulldozers have played a major role in Israel’s military operations in Gaza, where large swaths of territory have been flattened by Israeli bombs. As the rubble is littered with unexploded munitions and potential Hamas-planted explosives, the IDF has used a large number of D9s to clear regions that were once cities in Gaza.

Tel Aviv has declared a buffer zone along the borders of Gaza, and Defense Minister Israel Katz recently expanded that zone to include the entire southern city of Rafah. Israeli forces have destroyed most structures in those areas and kill any Palestinians who try to approach.

Katz said that “Gaza will become smaller and more isolated, and more and more of its residents will be forced to evacuate from the fighting zones.”

At first glance, there is nothing odd about a bulldozer turning up soil at a test site in Israel, but as it approaches, it’s clear: the driver’s seat is eerily empty.

Army engineers and military experts say the Robdozer is the future of automated combat.https://t.co/PFXseRO15D pic.twitter.com/fTwwaLV2DB

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 20, 2025

Additionally, the IDF has built corridors that bisect the Strip, flattening the infrastructure in those areas as well. Israel now controls over 50% of Gaza.

One day after it was reported that World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, 88, resigned after Chairman after 55 years, the WSJ reports that Schwab is under investigation by the organization he created after a whistleblower alleged financial and ethical misconduct by Mr. “eat the bugs” and his wife.

In an anonymous letter from sent to the board of directors by ‘current and former Forum employees,’ Schwab and his wife are accused of commingling their personal affairs with WEF resources without proper oversight, and much more…

Among the most serious allegations:

• Schwab asked junior employees to withdraw thousands of dollars from ATMs on his behalf and used Forum funds to pay for private, in-room massages at hotels.

• His wife Hilde, a former Forum employee, scheduled “token” Forum-funded meetings in order to justify luxury holiday travel at the organization’s expense.

• The letter also raises concerns about how Klaus Schwab treated female employees and how his leadership over decades allegedly allowed instances of sexual harassment and other discriminatory behavior to go unchecked in the workplace

Other allegations include the Schwab family’s use of Villa Mundi – a luxury property bought before the pandemic by the Forum located next to the organization’s Geneva headquarters, which the whistleblower letter maintains that Hilde Schwab maintains tight control over, and which the forum paid $30 million to purchase and another $20 million to renovate – also overseen by Hilde.

In recent days Schwab is said to have railed against an investigation – telling board members that he denied the allegations and would challenge them in a lawsuit, according to the report. 

Instead, the board launched a probe during an emergency meeting on Easter Sunday. In response, Schwab resigned immediately as chairman vs. staying on for an extended transition period as previously planned.

A spokesman for the Schwabs told the Journal that they deny every allegation in the whistleblower complaint, and that Klaus will file a lawsuit against whoever’s behind it – and “anybody who spreads these mistruths.”

Furthermore, Scwab says he paid the WEF back for said ‘in-room massages’, and denied the allegations about luxury travel and withdrawing funds.

According to the WEF, its board unanimously supported the decision to launch an independent investigation “following a whistleblower letter containing allegations against former Chairman Klaus Schwab. This decision was made after consultation with external legal counsel.”

“We feel compelled to share a comprehensive account of systemic governance failures and abuses of power that have taken place over many years under the unchecked authority of Klaus Schwab,” reads the letter, which states it was from current and former Forum employees.

The organizer of the annual Davos conference has been shaking up its leadership in recent weeks in response to a previous board probe into its workplace culture. In a recent memo, Børge Brende, the Forum’s CEO, said the Forum would take steps to address leadership issues identified by the prior probe and that the investigation didn’t substantiate the allegations against its founder.

A few weeks ago, Schwab, 87, said he’d step down as nonexecutive chairman of the Forum’s board, and the Forum said the succession process would be completed by January 2027. The whistleblower letter blew up that timeline.

Behind the scenes, a high-stakes boardroom drama unfolded pitting Schwab against the global powerplayers on the Forum’s board. The board includes celebrities like cellist Yo-Yo Ma and politicians like Al Gore. It also has business leaders like AXA Group CEO Thomas Buberl and Accenture CEO Julie Sweet. -WSJ

As such, it’s no surprise that Schwab’s relationship with the board had been deteriorating over the past year, according to the report.

Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times,

Members of the South Carolina Senate voted on April 21 to remove the state’s embattled treasurer for “willful neglect” of his duties, sending the matter to the state House for consideration.

The 33–8 vote followed an hours-long hearing of the full Senate, during which state Sens. Larry Grooms and Stephen Goldfinch, both Republicans, pushed for state Treasurer Curtis Loftis’s removal over a $1.8 billion accounting error.

South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis prepares for a hearing in the state Senate, in Columbia, South Carolina, on April 21, 2025. Jeffrey Collins/AP Photo

“The big secret of Treasurer Loftis, the one that he’s kept hidden away, is that there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in errors in the Treasury books today, and he doesn’t know how to fix them,” Grooms said in opening the hearing.

A state Senate Finance subcommittee report released last month said Loftis, a Republican, “failed to maintain the integrity” of South Carolina’s banking and investment records after state officials were alerted to an unexplained $1.8 billion in funds under his office’s exclusive control.

An outside forensic audit determined that most of the funds in question were not real cash but the result of bookkeeping errors that followed the state’s transition to a new accounting system in the 2010s.

Loftis, now in his fourth term, was first elected treasurer in 2010 and has held the office since.

While two other public officials have resigned in connection with the state’s accounting issues, Loftis, Grooms said, “remains defiant and refuses to take responsibility for his failures.”

Loftis, defending his record, likened himself to President Donald Trump, who vociferously denounced various investigations related to his affairs.

“I’m inspired by President Trump, and I, too, will not back down,” Loftis said.

During prior Senate testimony, the treasurer indicated that the inexplicable funds not only existed but had been invested and were generating returns. After the audit, however, he claimed the report “validated what we’ve known all along,” a statement that Goldfinch derided as “a lie.”

The senator accused Loftis of attempting to cover up a serious error that he knew would damage his reputation.

Loftis’s attorneys downplayed the discrepancy as “an on-paper accounting error” and “an honest mistake.”

“AlixPartners reviewed more than 1 million documents and did not find a single piece of evidence suggesting wrongdoing by the treasurer,” noted Shawn Eubanks, an attorney in the treasurer’s office, referencing the firm that conducted the forensic audit.

Eubanks further held that the audit report provided “good news for the state” in that it found no missing or stolen funds.

“The treasurer’s books reconcile to the bank,” he said.

Loftis’s lawyers also criticized the Legislature’s efforts to oust him as a violation of both his due process rights and the will of the voters who elected him.

“Treasurer Loftis is the most popular statewide official in the history of South Carolina. This is a man who received 80 percent of the vote in the last election, a man who received overwhelming bipartisan support,” attorney Debbie Barbier said.

Decrying the proceedings as “drastic” and unprecedented, Barbier said lawmakers had stripped Loftis of his right to call and confront witnesses by using the state’s removal on address procedure rather than impeachment.

“They’re asking you to make this decision not based on a trial, not with witnesses, not with exhibits and documents and expert testimony and authentication of documents, not with rules of evidence, but based upon a one-and-a-half-hour presentation with video clips,” she said. “There is not one shred of proof and absolutely no evidence to support the removal of Treasurer Loftis.”

The more common impeachment process gives lawmakers the power to impeach and convict a statewide officer for “serious crimes or serious misconduct in office.” The South Carolina Constitution also provides an avenue to removal for “willful neglect of duty” or another “reasonable cause” deemed insufficient for impeachment. That process requires the governor to remove an officer “on the address of two-thirds of each house of the General Assembly” after a hearing.

If Loftis is removed, he would become the first state official in South Carolina’s 235-year history to be ousted under the provision.

It will now be up to the state House, also under GOP control, to decide whether to hold a hearing on the matter.