Iraq Body Count | In this first of a series of analytic articles we describe some remarkable findings revealed by an updated named victims list obtained directly from the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) in late March 2025 (with limitations placed on distribution, but not on analysis). This list contains greater detail than in any list made publicly available. We focus here on how the new detail in this list better allows us to document the progression and scale of the ongoing genocide. | A notable feature of Gaza’s official medical and medico-legal response to the Israeli attacks from October 7, 2023 onwards has been the periodic release of the names of its citizens killed and officially recorded up to that point in time, understanding that many would still be undiscovered or unrecorded. Gaza’s MoH has issued eight separate such lists, giving each victim’s name, age, sex, and ID number. Every list has been longer than the one before, in line with the escalating death toll.

■ Israel Attacks Kill Over 100 Gazans in 72 Hours (Antiwar.com)
✅ How Israel hunts and executes Palestinian medics (Eva Bartlett)
✅ The graver Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, the quieter the BBC grows (Jonathan Cook)

Sede Vacante is a period that spans from the death or resignation of the Pope to the election of his successor | Pope Francis passed away on April 21, 2025 at the age of 88. He was the 266th head of the Roman Catholic Church. His demise set off a period known as Sede Vacante, which means a "vacant seat." ● At this time the life of the entire church comes almost to a complete standstill, as most of its officials resign. Among those who retain their posts are the dean of the College of Cardinals, the major penitentiary, and the camerlengo, who manages the daily affairs of the Holy See. ● Among his other duties, the camerlengo must officially announce the pope’s death, seal his private chambers, manage the Holy See’s property, arrange the funeral and make sure that everything is in place for the election of a new pontiff. ● During Sede Vacante, coins are minted that don’t display a papal portrait. In 1978, when two popes - Paul VI and John Paul I - passed away, two coin sets were struck. The second one bore the inscription "sede vacante-2." These coins are the most coveted by numismatists.

■ Pope Francis to be buried late this week (TASS)
■ RIP Pope Francis (Moon of Alabama)
■ "World" Mourns Passing of Pope Francis (Sputnik)
■ Hong Kong’s Catholic Church recalls ‘inspirational leader’ Pope Francis (SCMP)
■ The canonization of the first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, is postponed after the pope’s death (Associated Press)
✅ The prophecy of the end of the world: Pope Francis has died, a strange prediction is connected with this (E. Suchov)

Former health secretary being sued by ex-MP Andrew Bridgen over post on X in January 2023 | Matt Hancock, a former health secretary, is being sued by Andrew Bridgen over a post on X in January 2023. Mr Bridgen, the former North West Leicestershire MP, shared a link to an article concerning data about deaths and other adverse reactions linked to Covid vaccines, stating: 💬 "As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust." Hours later, Mr Hancock shared a video of him asking a question in the Commons, captioned:

💬 “The disgusting and dangerous anti-Semitic, anti-vax, anti-scientific conspiracy theories spouted by a sitting MP this morning are unacceptable and have absolutely no place in our society." (Source)

He unsuccessfully asked a judge to throw out the case last year, and at a hearing in March asked the court in London to rule in his favour before a trial. Mr Bridgen opposed the application, with his barristers calling it a “desperate last throw of the dice”.

Vladimir Prokhvatilov | Norway's and other Nordic countries' financing of the Ukrainian military–industrial complex is part of a broader geopolitical strategy. | The Norwegian defense company Nammo and one of the Ukrainian enterprises of the military-industrial complex have signed a statement on strategic cooperation, which provides for the creation of a joint venture for the production of 155-mm shells, said the Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine, one German Smetanin. He recalled that the serial production of 155 mm ammunition began last year:

💬 "Last year, Ukraine started mass production of 155 mm ammunition. Today, this is the main artillery caliber of the Ukrainian army and NATO member countries. The domestic defense industry should increase their production." ● He added that the signed document deepens cooperation, which is already ongoing with the support of the governments of Norway and Ukraine at the bilateral level.: "We are talking about a wider range of ammunition, components and materials. It also includes an agreement to establish a joint venture for the production of 155 mm ammunition on the territory of Ukraine."

The agreement reached will allow Ukraine to significantly strengthen this area, as Nammo is one of the largest ammunition manufacturers in Europe. ● Nammo was formed in 1998 by the merger of ammunition manufacturing companies in three Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden and Finland. Today Nammo is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries and the Finnish aerospace and defense company Patria Oyj, each of which owns 50% of the company's shares. In 2007, Nammo acquired the American ammunition manufacturing company Talley, Inc., buying 100% of its shares. ● The Finnish state-owned company Patria, in turn, closely cooperates with the German defense giant Rheinmetall (which, as we wrote, is under the full control of the American investment fund BlackRock) in the production of weapons and military equipment. In this regard, it can be stated that the expansion of military-technical cooperation between the European Union and Ukraine in the field of ammunition production is not taking place without the approval and patronage of the United States. (Original text in Russian)

✅ "Europe is falling apart, the only way to survive is war with Russia" – British diplomat (PolitNavigator)

Moscow will pause hostilities with Kiev for 30 hours, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced | Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary Easter pause in hostilities with Ukraine, which is slated to begin at 18:00 Moscow time on Saturday and last until midnight on April 21. ● The announcement came during his meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in Moscow. Putin expressed hope that Kiev would demonstrate goodwill and adhere to the ceasefire. ● ”At the same time, our troops must be prepared to respond to any violations or provocations by the adversary, to any aggressive actions,” he said.

■ Russian President Calls Easter Holiday Giving Love, Hope (Sputnik)
✅ Пасхальное обращение Патриарха Кирилла ко всем верным чадам Русской Православной Церкви (tsargrad.tv)

HERE WE ARE - 7 MONTHS INTO THIS GENOCIDE BY ISRAELI FORCES. BUT THEY COULDN’T DO IT ALONE

The wholesale killing of Palestinians in #Gaza marks a real turning point in western politics, and a dark turn for modern western civilisation. This festival of ethnic cleansing & genocide… pic.twitter.com/0E4107FCqr

— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) April 30, 2024

Israel has attacked all areas of the Gaza Strip, while, for nearly seven consecutive weeks, it has closed all the crossings – banning the entry of food, fuel, medicines, construction vehicles and essential supplies – driving Palestinians into multiple crises of starvation, displacement and unmitigated trauma. | “Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance,” said Amande Bazerolle, the emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza. “We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population in Gaza.” ● Since Israel resumed its mass-scale attacks on 18 March, approximately 1,700 people have been killed and more than 4,400 have been injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry, as the last partially-functioning hospitals remain out of medications, supplies, fuel, clean water, and are routinely bombed and attacked by Israeli forces. Around 420,000 Palestinians have also been newly displaced over the last four weeks of attacks. ● Before dawn on Thursday, 17 April, Israeli airstrikes across Gaza targeted displaced families living in tents in three separate places – in al-Mawasi Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Deir al-Balah in the center and in Jabaliya in the north. Journalists and eyewitnesses reported that the tents were engulfed in flames and the victims, including many children, were burned alive, with bystanders desperately trying to put the fires out.

■ Burned in his wheelchair: Paralyzed child among 23 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza tents (Days of Palestine)
■ Live: Israeli forces kill 70 Palestinians in Gaza over 24 hours (MEE)

Colonel Macgregor says the quiet part out loud: @realDonaldTrump @potus is owned by the Israeli Lobby. So are his Cabinet picks. The White House is occupied territory…. pic.twitter.com/FQWjIjs2Uu

— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) March 20, 2025

"Israel" is weighing a potential strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities despite US reluctance, as Netanyahu faces pushback from Trump's administration. | According to Reuters, the Israeli occupation has not ruled out a possible strike on Iran's nuclear facilities in the coming months, despite former US President Trump telling Prime Minister Netanyahu that Washington is currently unwilling to support such action, according to Israeli and US sources. ● Israeli officials have continued to press for the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program and have presented the US with various military options, including airstrikes and commando raids, some proposed for late spring or summer.

his Japanese MP (whose name is Shinji Oguma) absolutely nails it, and reflects what pretty all countries in Asia are thinking (VIDEO)

💬 "When Japan negotiates with what [Trump] is saying it's akin to being extorted by a delinquent. If Japan gives in, thinking it's a negotiation or a deal, and compromises on its position, it sets a bad precedent as a customary practice. If you give money to someone extorting you, they'll just come back to extort you again. "

■ APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE IN THE GAZA STRIP (ORDER OF 26 JANUARY 2024) (.pdf) + APPLICATION INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS (.pdf)
■ THE EXPRESSION OF HATRED FOR GENTILES (Richard Edmondson/Nahida Izzat) (10/04/14)

Vladimir Zelensky is "certainly" responsible for the unintended consequences of the Russian Armed Forces' attack on the venue where a Ukrainian command staff meeting was being held in Sumy, the Russian diplomat stated | Vladimir Zelensky bears the responsibility for the collateral damage that occurred as a result of Russia’s strike on Sumy, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing. She also called France and Britain's plan to station a "multinational peacekeeping contingent" in Ukraine insane. TASS has compiled her main statements.

● On [the] Sumy strike
● [On the] "Coalition of the willing" [losing] its marbles
● On weapons supplies to Kiev
● On moratorium on strikes on energy facilities
● On Kiev’s crimes
● On the detention of Gagauzia head
● On Estonia’s actions

The Russian Orthodox Church has condemned Moldova’s actions as an affront to Christianity. | Archbishop Markel was stopped at Moldova’s international airport and barred by border guards from flying to Jerusalem for the Holy Fire — a major Orthodox tradition. The Church is calling it a blatant case of state meddling. ● This is a direct blow to Moldova’s Orthodox Church — backed by 70% of the population — where authorities are currently propping up a rival body: the so-called Metropolis of Bessarabia.

■ Moldova launches a war on Christians to please its EU overlords (RT)

Aleksandar Vucic says he is “ready for the whole sky to fall on his head” due to pressure from Brussels | Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has confirmed he will travel to Russia for the Victory Day celebrations next month, despite warnings from the European Union that the move could jeopardize Belgrade’s accession hopes. ● Moscow will host its annual military parade on Red Square on May 9 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. Vucic attended the event in 2020, prior to the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. ● EU foreignpolicy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that the bloc does “not want any candidate country to take part in the May 9 events in Moscow.” EU officials have even reportedly threatened to derail Serbia’s bid to join the bloc if Vucic attends the celebrations.

■ EU pressuring Serbia’s Vucic not to visit Moscow (RT)

Member states have agreed on a 32-page pact to improve global pandemic preparedness and response, addressing equity, technology sharing, and cooperation—five years after COVID-19 exposed critical failures | Years of negotiations culminated with countries agreeing the text of a landmark accord on how to tackle future pandemics, aimed at avoiding a repeat of the mistakes made during the Covid-19 crisis. After more than three years of talks and one last marathon session, weary delegates at the World Health Organization's headquarters sealed the deal at around 2:00 am (0000 GMT) Wednesday. [...] Five years after [the so-called] "Covid-19" [the military bio- weapon] ["the vax"] killed millions of people and devastated economies, a growing sense of urgency hung over the talks, with new health threats lurking, ranging from H5N1 bird flu to measles, mpox and Ebola.

■ WHO conducts a 2-day pandemic simulation called ‘Exercise Polaris’ – bringing together 350 predatory health groups worldwide (04/16/25)

In the most detailed account of her detention to date, Ozturk describes what followed after masked agents dragged her off the street—repeated asthma attacks, being asked if she was a “terrorist,” and confinement in filthy, overcrowded cells. | Rumeysa Ozturk, a Fulbright scholar currently detained at a facility in Louisiana, recounts her experience following her arrest by ICE agents on May 25, in a sworn declaration obtained by TRT World. The document, exclusively available to TRT World, was filed in federal court by her lawyers on April 10. ● Ozturk, 30, was detained shortly after her name and photo appeared on Canary Mission, an anonymously run blacklist site that claims to document individuals who “promote hatred of the USA, Israel, and Jews” on college campuses and beyond. [...] A Turkish citizen, Ozturk is among hundreds of students and professors profiled by Canary Mission since 2015 for expressing views the site deems anti-Israel or antisemitic. Other individuals recently spotlighted include Columbia University students Mahmoud Khalil on March 8 and Mohsen Mahdawi in the latest, on April 14.

■ The Zionist Destruction of American Higher Education (04/01/25)

WARNING AND THREAT BY MS. KALLAS ARE DISRESPECTFUL AND I STRONGLY OBJECT TO THEM.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, is warning EU leaders against participating in the May celebrations of Victory Day in Moscow. She claims that such participation will… pic.twitter.com/KsHGJtOVRO

— Robert Fico 🇸🇰 (@RobertFicoSVK) April 15, 2025

Russia has slammed the EU for warning candidate states against attending WWII celebrations on May 9 | Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that the EU’s attempts to pressure candidate states not to attend the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II in Moscow are tantamount to a revival of Nazism. ● On Monday, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, warned the leaders of EU members and candidate states against taking part in the event in the Russian capital on May 9. British daily The Telegraph later wrote that candidate states such as Serbia could be barred from joining the bloc if their leaders attend the Victory Day celebrations. [...] The Telegraph wrote that EU officials warned Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who has indicated that he would attend the May 9 parade, that the visit would derail his country’s accession to the bloc. [...] Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the only EU member state leader who has indicated he will attend, slammed her statement as “disrespectful” and potentially a form of blackmail.

■ EU pressuring Serbia’s Vucic not to visit Moscow (RT)
■ ‘It’s 2025, not 1939’ – Fico challenges EU’s warning against Moscow trip (RT)

■ Zakharova brands Ukraine’s bid to host EU leaders on May 9 'theatre of absurd' (TASS) | Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Ukraine’s possible invitation of European Union leaders to Kiev on May 9 a "theatre of the absurd." Zelensky stated that he was ready or could invite representatives of the European Union countries or heads of the European Union countries to Kiev for the event.

US President Donald Trump has again threatened China with increasing duties, this time to 245%. This statement was published on the official website of the White House. | According to the source, Trump imposed a 10% duty on all countries and set higher individual tariffs for those with the largest trade deficit with the United States. ● More than 75 countries have approached the White House with proposals for new trade agreements. As a result, the imposition of individual increased tariffs was temporarily suspended, with the exception of China, which responded with similar measures. (Translation: DeepL) (Original)

■ US threatens China with 245% tariff (RT)
■ US Playing Hardball: Restrict China’s Access in Exchange for Fewer Tariffs on Allies (Sputnik)
✅ War by other means — Trump’s tariffs and the empire’s final gamble (Thomas Fazi)

Iskander Lutsko, the Dubai-based head of research and portfolio management at Istar Capital, noted a visible thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington, which, in his view, also played a role in making the Russian currency more attractive to investors | The Russian ruble has strengthened against the dollar by 38% in over-the-counter trading since the beginning of the year, becoming the world's most profitable currency due to the US dollar weakening amid new American duties, Bloomberg reported, citing economists. ● "Unlike many emerging-market currencies, the ruble is not facing pressure from capital outflow, caused by global investors’ retreat from riskier assets," Sofya Donets, an economist at T-Investments, told the agency.

■ WHO conducts a two-day pandemic simulation, Exercise Polaris, involving over 15 countries and 20 health agencies.
■ The exercise tests a new global coordination mechanism for health emergencies, bringing together predatory public health officials and organization that seek to implement a bio-surveillance state.
■ These simulations, advertised as preparedness, actually mask global bio-terror propaganda campaigns and totalitarian pursuits.
■ These simulations are designed to maximize compliance with predatory vaccine programs that are already in development.
■ Psychopaths at WHO failed to get their bird flu pandemic in 2024 and 2025, and are trying to come up with new ways to submit populations to their plans.

A senior Chinese official warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s tariffs would backfire and that soon, “those peasants in the U.S.” would “wail in front of the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.” | The remarks are the latest Chinese repudiation of Trump’s global trade war as Beijing shifts gears from attempting to communicate with the White House to hitting back frequently and forcefully in an effort to cast the United States as an irresponsible global power. ● China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong and Macao, Xia Baolong (shown above), lashed out at the U.S. during a speech on national security, in which he linked 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong with what Beijing sees as continued U.S. efforts to suppress China. Xia called the U.S. decision to levy a tariff of 145 percent on all goods from Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China...

💬 “...brutally unreasonable and extremely shameless.” ● “The U.S. isn’t after our tariffs but our very survival,” he said. “The U.S. has repeatedly contained and suppressed Hong Kong … and this will eventually backfire on itself.”

Since Trump took office in January and set about remaking the global trading system, the world’s two largest economies have levied import duties on each other that are now so high they amount to a trade embargo. ● China has countered Washington’s latest levies by imposing a tariff of 125 percent on all U.S. goods while Trump has maintained 145 percent taxes on all Chinese imports, with temporary exceptions for semiconductors and consumer electronics.

Kit Klarenberg | Given these findings, the overwhelming majority of governments the world over now have a clear legal obligation to do anything and everything in their power to halt the Zionist entity’s obliteration of Gaza and its people. | On March 22nd, this journalist detailed the findings of a UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on “Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since 7 October 2023.” That investigation focused primarily on the hideous, industrial scale rape and sexual abuse of male and female Palestinian detainees in Zionist Occupation Force prisons, a phenomenon so pervasive it can only be dedicated, determined policy, signed off upon and directed by the highest levels of the Israeli government. ■ Reinforcing that horrifying conclusion, buried within the Commission’s report are bombshell passages unequivocally charging the Zionist entity with deliberately committing “genocidal acts” in Gaza, consciously and intentionally “calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians as a group.” The details provided are irresistibly persuasive, and point to Israel being in flagrant breach of both the Rome Statute, and Genocide Convention. In a truly just world, the mainstream media’s mass omertà on this landmark ruling would in itself be a criminal act.

Exact details of the shipment are unclear, but Ynet reports it includes 3,000 munitions for Israel's Air Force | The Israeli military is set to receive a “major new weapons shipment” from the US in the coming weeks to help prepare it for continued operations in Gaza and a potential attack on Iran, the Israeli news site Ynet reported on Monday. ● The details of the arms shipment are unclear, but Ynet said it would include 3,000 munitions for Israel’s Air Force. The report said the bomb shipment was recently approved by the Trump administration. ● The Pentagon’s Defense Cooperation Agency said on Monday that the State Department approved a $180 million arms deal for Eitan Powerpack Engines that will go to Israel, but it did not announce any new bomb shipments.

■ Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill 38 Palestinians Over 24 Hours (Antiwar.com)
✅ Media Find Ways to Minimize Israel’s Murder of Paramedics (Belén Fernández)

Abhishek G Bhaya | As anti-Muslim hatred spreads across continents, experts warn that Islamophobia, a modern-day manifestation of racism, is not just a Muslim issue but a crisis threatening the foundations of democracy, human rights, and pluralism. | International experts on Sunday issued a clarion call for urgent global action against what they described as a rapidly worsening phenomenon – at a session titled ‘Confronting Discrimination and Racism in the 21st Century’ on the concluding day of the fourth Antalya Diplomacy Forum at the Turkish Mediterranean resort city.

✅ THE EXPRESSION OF HATRED FOR GENTILES (Richard Edmondson/Nahida Izzat) (10/04/14)

Military bloc members want the country’s government to remain a “Nazi regime” hostile to Russia, the foreign minister has said | European NATO states are working to sustain a “Russophobic” regime in Ukraine by finding another “half-Fuhrer” to replace Vladimir Zelensky, should he be ousted, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. ● In an interview published on Monday by Kommersant, Lavrov stated that while Western powers are talking about sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, they are actually trying to strengthen the anti-Russian foothold in the country, instead of seeking a real settlement.

💬 “They have come up with a ‘resilience force’... In other words, in order to maintain Ukraine’s resilience, they are not going to send blockade troops... but the military of ‘civilized’ Western countries,” Lavrov explained. ● “Europe will do everything to ensure the regime does not change in its essence,” Lavrov said. “They’ll find some new half-Fuhrer… but the essence of the regime will remain.”

These troops will protect “the same regime” he said, adding that even if European NATO members agree to allow a new election in Ukraine, they will make every effort to make sure that the political landscape remains the same. ● Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May 2024, but the Ukrainian leader refused to call new elections, citing martial law. Russia has declared him “illegitimate,” claiming that under these circumstances, the true legal authority lies with the Ukrainian parliament.

The move comes after the university rejected the US administration’s request for policy changes | The administration of US President Donald Trump has announced it is freezing more than more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University, after the Ivy League school rejected a list of demands from the White House. ● A major clash between the administration and some of the country’s top universities has been unfolding in response to how the pro-Palestinian student protests that erupted on campuses last year were handled. Since taking office, Trump has stepped up pressure on universities to address anti-Semitism and dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. [...] Harvard rejected the demands on Monday, accusing the White House of attempting to “control” its community.

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which manages the hospital, strongly condemned the attack | Early Sunday morning, the Israeli military bombed the al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, putting the medical facility out of service. ● According to Middle East Eye, Gaza’s Civil Defense said the bombing caused “the destruction of the surgery building and the oxygen generation station for the intensive care units.” The strike damaged other buildings, including the adjoining St. Phillip’s Church. ● The Civil Defense said the strike hit the hospital “minutes” after the Israeli military ordered the hospital to be evacuated. Eyewitnesses told MEE that they only had 18 minutes to leave the hospital.

■ Israel bombs Gaza City's last fully-functioning hospital (MEE)
■ Palestinian family of 10 erased in overnight Israeli strike on Khan Younis (MEE)