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The premise of Black Santas caused a fuss 10 years ago — now, they're everywhere
  • I fully expect this movie soon based on where DC and Marvel are heading.

  • Revealed: how US residents are funding illegal settlements in the West Bank
  • Israel spends more per capita on defense than the US.

    Tbf Israel is surrounded by a few countries who would find great joy in annihilating her.

    America is bordered by a big happy face to the north, and in the south a large tortilla.

  • Revealed: how US residents are funding illegal settlements in the West Bank
  • IsraelGives is an Israeli tech company founded in 2019 by Israeli entrepreneurs Jonathan Ben-Dor and Joseph Hitler ...

    Excuse me??

  • Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin
  • Mr Putin remains the only candidate to be able to register as a candidate.

    He doesn't even try to pretend anymore.

  • Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin
    www.bbc.co.uk Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin

    A former TV journalist is barred from standing by officials due to "mistakes" on her application form.

    Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin

    Independent politician Yekaterina Duntsova wanted to run on a platform to end the war with Ukraine.

    But the electoral commission voted unanimously to reject her candidacy three days after her application, citing 100 "mistakes" on her form.

    Ms Duntsova said she would appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.

    The commission said 29 people have so far filed to run for the presidency. But after today's decision, Mr Putin remains the only candidate to be able to register as a candidate.

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    Alabama mother with rare double womb gives birth to two babies in two days
    www.bbc.co.uk Alabama mother with rare double womb gives birth to two babies in two days

    An Alabama woman gives birth to a pair of girls after a "one-in-a-million" dicavitary pregnancy.

    Alabama mother with rare double womb gives birth to two babies in two days

    Kelsey Hatcher, 32, delivered one daughter on Tuesday, and a second on Wednesday, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital.

    Announcing the arrival of her "miracle babies" on social media, Ms Hatcher hailed the medics as "incredible".

    The girls are described as fraternal twins - with rare separate birthdays.

    Hatcher said the family was now back at home and could "enjoy the holidays". She had previously expected a Christmas due date.

    The mother was told at age 17 she had a double uterus (uterus didelphys) - which the UAB described as a rare congenital anomaly affecting 0.3% of women.

    And the odds of becoming pregnant in both uteri - a dicavitary pregnancy - were even slimmer, at "one in a million", according to the UAB.

    13
    More than 1,100 officers under investigation for sexual or domestic abuse in England and Wales
  • The true total of officers in England and Wales under investigation for such offences will be far higher, because only 28 out of 43 forces responded to FoI requests.

    O.O

  • Doctors With Histories of Big Malpractice Settlements Have Found a New Home in the Insurance Industry
    www.propublica.org Doctors With Histories of Big Malpractice Settlements Have Found a New Home in the Insurance Industry

    Doctors working for health insurers can rule on 10,000 or more requests for care a year. At least a dozen were hired by major insurance companies after being disciplined by state medical boards or making multiple or outsized malpractice payments.

    Doctors With Histories of Big Malpractice Settlements Have Found a New Home in the Insurance Industry

    When Shawn Murphy’s wife died in 2009 after a botched gallbladder surgery, he presumed the doctor who performed the operation would be forced out of medicine for good.

    Dr. Pachavit Kasemsap, a former Air Force surgeon, had cut Loretta Murphy’s aorta during that common procedure, according to a database of malpractice payments kept by Florida insurance regulators. She never left the hospital and died just shy of her 40th birthday. Shawn Murphy was left to raise their two daughters, then 13 and 17, on his own.

    During the weeks that Murphy prayed for his wife to recover and the months that he fought Kasemsap in circuit court in Brevard County, Florida, he didn’t know that other families had complained that their loved ones had suffered under the same doctor’s care.

    Kasemsap has settled five malpractice cases for a total of $3 million, according to the Florida malpractice payment database. That includes $1 million paid to the Murphy family. In one of the cases Kasemsap settled, a patient said the doctor negligently stapled and stitched her rectum to her vagina. Kasemsap denied doing that, and in legal filings in all five cases, the doctor denied that he was negligent.

    The doctor’s LinkedIn profile says his last job as a surgeon ended in December 2012, months before he settled the last of those five cases. But there was one industry ready to welcome him regardless: health insurance.

    6
    Imported US sweets with illegal ingredients seized
  • Cause those are legal in Canada and that's where most of them were coming from.

  • Battle over creating new court centers on equality in Mississippi's majority-Black capital city
    apnews.com Battle over creating new court centers on equality in Mississippi's majority-Black capital city

    Constitutional rights are at the center of a legal fight over a state-run court in part of Mississippi’s majority-Black capital city of Jackson.

    Battle over creating new court centers on equality in Mississippi's majority-Black capital city

    A federal judge is set to hear arguments Dec. 19 over the Capitol Complex Improvement District Court, which is scheduled to be created Jan. 1.

    The new court would be led by a state-appointed judge and prosecutors, and it would be the equivalent of a municipal court, handling misdemeanor cases. Municipal judges and prosecutors in Mississippi are typically appointed by local elected officials, but legislators who created the CCID Court said it was part of a package to fight crime.

    The Justice Department says the new court would continue Mississippi’s long history of trying to suppress Black people’s right to participate in government.

    “Just like many past efforts to undermine Black political power, (the law) singles out the majority-Black City of Jackson for loss of local control of its judicial system and ability to self-govern and enforce its own municipal laws,” wrote Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the department’s Civil Rights Division, and Todd Gee, the U.S. attorney for south Mississippi, in a Dec. 5 federal court filing.

    0
    Imported US sweets with illegal ingredients seized
  • The UK doesn't deem them safe for human consumption tho, because they err on the side of caution instead of allowing big oil and/or corps to do what they want.

  • Imported US sweets with illegal ingredients seized
  • Jolly Ranchers hard candy has mineral oil in them.

    Most often, mineral oil is a liquid obtained from refining crude oil to make gasoline and other petroleum products ... like a liquid version of petroleum jelly. Source

    And America allows companies to sell this shit.

  • Federal jury decides Google’s Android app store benefits from anticompetitive barriers
    apnews.com Federal jury decides Google’s Android app store benefits from anticompetitive barriers

    A federal court jury has decided that Google’s Android app store has been protected by anticompetitive barriers that have damaged smartphone consumers and software developers, dealing a blow to a major pillar of a technology empire.

    Federal jury decides Google’s Android app store benefits from anticompetitive barriers

    The unanimous verdict reached Monday came after just three hours of deliberation following a four-week trial revolving around a lucrative payment system within Google’s Play store. The store is the main place where hundreds of millions of people around the world download and install apps that work on smartphones powered by Google’s Android software.

    Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, filed a lawsuit against Google three years ago, alleging that the internet powerhouse has been abusing its power to shield its Play Store from competition in order to protect a gold mine that makes billions of dollars annually. Just as Apple does for its iPhone app store, Google collects a commission ranging from 15% to 30% on digital transactions completed within apps.

    Apple prevailed in a similar case that Epic brought against the iPhone app store, but the 2021 trial was decided by a federal judge in a ruling that is under appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court.

    But the nine-person jury in the Play store case apparently saw things through a different lens, even though Google technically allows Android apps to be downloaded from different stores — an option that Apple prohibits on the iPhone.

    Just before the Play store trial started, Google sought to avoid having a jury determine the outcome, only to have its request rejected by U.S. District Judge James Donato. Now it will be up to Donato to determine what steps Google will have to take to unwind its illegal behavior in the Play Store. The judge indicated he will hold hearings on the issue during the second week of January.

    22
    Calgary traffic reporter goes viral after response to body shaming comment
  • It is a quote from the sister of Giulia Cecchettin, an Italian woman who was murdered by her ex 3 weeks ago.

    “It is often said ‘not all men.’ “They are not all men, but they are always men” (she) wrote. “No man is good if he does nothing to dismantle the society that privileges him so much. It is the responsibility of men in this patriarchal society, given their privileges and power, to educate and call out friends and colleagues as soon as they hear the slightest hint of sexist violence. Tell it to that friend who controls his girlfriend, tell it to that colleague who engages in street harassment, harass those behaviors accepted by society, which are nothing more than the prelude to femicide.”

  • Why Americans are going hungry despite a strong economy
  • When I first moved over it was cool here. Now it's like Xitter/reddit all over again.

    sigh

  • Why Americans are going hungry despite a strong economy
  • If you read the article it states that her husband was deported back to Mexico, so it's her and 6 kids.

    You also don't know if she lives in a food desert where a single grocery store could charge whatever prices it wants because there's no competition.

  • Ontario has a rental housing enforcement unit. It investigates a fraction of cases and fines even fewer
  • #DrugFraud could give a shit about Ontarians. He only cares about the rich people who donate big bucks, so he serves their interests.

  • Scientists issue warning against commercial tree-planting schemes: ‘We should shift focus’
  • Because natural forests are never a monoculture. In replanted areas it is always a monoculture, and that leads to massive problems with infestations (ie: the mountain pine beetle in BC) that kills thousands of hectares of forests, that leads to the massive fire season Canada had last year.

    Adding to that is the fact deciduous trees act as a firebrake between pine/spruce, limiting forest fires.

  • Calgary traffic reporter goes viral after response to body shaming comment
  • Ah yes, your singular experience that invalidates all the conflicts every woman has faced from men.

    I was wondering when you would show up.

  • Why Americans are going hungry despite a strong economy
  • You're right ofc. But almost every radical change in the world has come from revolution, because rich powerful people don't listen to, or even see, the struggles the people face.

  • Biden goes into 2024 with the economy getting stronger, but voters feel horrible about it
  • The DNC manipulated the vote between Clinton and Bernie so Clinton would win the nomination.

    They're not "icky" ... they're manipulative assholes.

  • Biden goes into 2024 with the economy getting stronger, but voters feel horrible about it
  • Bernie would have won, and the last 8 years would have been vastly different.

  • Elite Afghan troops face return to Taliban after UK 'betrayal'
    www.bbc.com Elite Afghan troops face return to Taliban after UK 'betrayal'

    About 200 British-trained special forces soldiers are in danger as Pakistan expels undocumented foreigners.

    Elite Afghan troops face return to Taliban after UK 'betrayal'

    The figures - gathered by a network of Afghan veterans - reveal the scale of what one former UK general calls a "betrayal" and a "disgrace".

    The soldiers fled to Pakistan, which now says it will expel Afghan refugees.

    The UK says it has brought thousands of Afghans to safety.

    Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who served the British Army in Afghanistan over 12 years, told BBC Newsnight that the failure of the UK to relocate these soldiers "is a disgrace, because it reflects that either we're duplicitous as a nation or incompetent".

    "Neither are acceptable," he said. "It is a betrayal, and the cost of that betrayal will be people who served with us will die or spend their lives in prison."

    30
    Calgary traffic reporter goes viral after response to body shaming comment

    TV traffic reporter Leslie Horton has developed a thick skin over the years because of nasty feedback from viewers, but she unleashed a viral smackdown last week after she says one of them "crossed my line."

    The usually unflappable host, who has been at Global Calgary since 1995, was about to give a live report on the morning show when she decided to read out a message she received during a break.

    "I'm just gonna respond to an email that I just got saying, 'Congratulations on your pregnancy. If you're gonna wear old bus-driver pants, you have to expect emails like this,"' Horton said.

    "So thanks for that," she responded. "No, I'm not pregnant. I actually lost my uterus to cancer last year. And this is what women of my age look like. So if it is offensive to you, that is unfortunate.

    "Think about the emails that you send."

    60
    Ontario has a rental housing enforcement unit. It investigates a fraction of cases and fines even fewer

    The RHEU, run by the province, is mandated to uphold landlord and tenant rights. It has the power to investigate complaints and fine individual landlords up to $50,000. It works independently from the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).

    Of the ministry's $1-billion operating expense budget for its housing program this year, $1.8 million goes to the RHEU, according to the ministry's website. The RHEU's budget is expected to stay the same next year.

    In comparison, Ontario's animal welfare service agency, which also employs officers to enforce provincial law, has an annual budget of $21 million.

    5
    Jury trial will decide how much Giuliani must pay election workers over false election fraud claims
    apnews.com Jury trial will decide how much Giuliani must pay election workers over false election fraud claims

    A trial set to get underway in Washington on Monday will determine how much Rudy Giuliani will have to pay two Georgia election workers whom he falsely accused of fraud while pushing Donald Trump’s baseless claims after he lost the 2020 election.

    Jury trial will decide how much Giuliani must pay election workers over false election fraud claims

    The former New York City mayor has already been found liable in the defamation lawsuit brought by Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who endured threats and harassment after they became the target of a conspiracy theory spread by Trump and his allies. The only issue to be determined at the trial — which will begin with jury selection in Washington’s federal court — is the amount of damages, if any, Giuliani must pay.

    The case is among many legal and financial woes mounting for Giuliani, who was celebrated as “America’s mayor” in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack and became one of the most ardent promoters of Trump’s election lies after he lost to President Joe Biden.

    Giuliani is also criminally charged alongside Trump and others in the Georgia case accusing them of trying to illegally overturn the results of the election in the state. He has pleaded not guilty and maintains he had every right to raise questions about what he believed to be election fraud.

    4
    Hong Kong 'patriots only' election falls flat with record low turnout
    www.reuters.com Hong Kong 'patriots only' election falls flat with record low turnout

    A "patriots only" district election in Hong Kong that barred opposition democrats from the ballot sheet amid a national security squeeze had a record low voter turnout of 27.5% as many voters spurned what was seen as an undemocratic poll.

    Hong Kong 'patriots only' election falls flat with record low turnout

    The sharp slide in turnout since the last such election in 2019 comes after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that has been used to clamp down on dissent, and overhauled the electoral system to shut out democrats and other liberals.

    "It can be seen that everyone has begun to feel that the election has no meaning," said Lemon Wong, one of the few remaining democrats still involved in local politics.

    "Even pro-establishment supporters are asking themselves why they need to vote because it's all the same."

    The previous lowest turnout was 35.8% in 1999. Four years ago at the last such election during Hong Kong's mass pro-democracy protests, a record 71% turnout brought about a landslide victory for the democratic camp in a fiercely contested poll.

    0
    In ‘covert op,’ Israeli consulate backed poll inflating support for Gaza war ⋆ The Breach
    breachmedia.ca In ‘covert op,’ Israeli consulate backed poll inflating support for Gaza war ⋆ The Breach

    Liberal insiders strategized to use poll to “inform thinking” in prime minister’s office, messages show

    In ‘covert op,’ Israeli consulate backed poll inflating support for Gaza war ⋆ The Breach

    The poll was conducted in late October by Aurora Strategies Global, which is headed by Liberal strategist Marcel Wieder, who The Globe and Mail once labelled a “dirty-tricks man” for his use of manipulative tactics.

    His firm did not disclose that the poll was done on behalf of the Israeli consulate in its news release or the poll’s full text, a move that flies in the face of conventions set out by the Canadian Research Insights Council, which the major polling agencies in the country follow.

    Deborah Cowen, a professor of geography and planning at the University of Toronto, a member of the Jewish Faculty Network, and a former fellow of the Trudeau Foundation called the poll “outrageous.”

    “The Israeli state is essentially engaging in covert operations to craft what was meant to pass as ‘Canadian public opinion,’ in an attempt to manufacture support for their indefensible attacks on civilian life in Gaza.”

    0
    South Carolina jury convicts inmate in first trial involving deadly prison riots
    apnews.com South Carolina jury convicts inmate in first trial involving deadly prison riots

    South Carolina jurors have convicted an inmate on charges related to participation in the deadliest U.S. prison riot of the past quarter-century.

    South Carolina jury convicts inmate in first trial involving deadly prison riots

    Smith was imprisoned at the time of the riot after being convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of a University of South Carolina student. That conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court three years ago. He’s been held since then at a Columbia detention center.

    1
    DeSantis' wife prompts Republican reminder of Iowa nominating process rules
    www.reuters.com DeSantis' wife prompts Republican reminder of Iowa nominating process rules

    A call by the wife of Republican candidate Ron DeSantis for women from across the United States to "descend" on Iowa for its 2024 presidential nominating process prompted a reminder by the state Republican party that only residents can take part.

    DeSantis' wife prompts Republican reminder of Iowa nominating process rules

    "You must be a legal resident of Iowa and the precinct you live in and bring a photo ID with you to participate," the state Republican party said on Friday in a post on the social media platform X.

    The party is scheduled to hold local gatherings, known as the Iowa Caucus, on Jan. 15 in which participants will vote for their choice for the Republican candidate to run in November’s presidential election. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to be the Democratic Party’s nominee.

    The state Republican Party posted its reminder after Casey DeSantis, appearing on Fox News with her husband, the governor of Florida, called on women from across the country to join the gatherings, saying, “You do not have to be a resident of Iowa to participate."

    63
    Israel-Gaza latest news: UN warns half of Gazans starving, as Israeli hostage confirmed dead - BBC News
    www.bbc.com Israel-Gaza latest news: UN warns half of Gazans starving, as Israeli hostage confirmed dead - BBC News

    An official says most people in the territory can't eat every day, as Israeli bombardment continues.

    Israel-Gaza latest news: UN warns half of Gazans starving, as Israeli hostage confirmed dead - BBC News

    The UN warns that half the population of Gaza is starving and nine out of ten people there can't eat every day - as Israeli bombardment of the territory continues

    A hospital boss in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, says his team has "lost control" over the numbers of dead and wounded arriving at the facility

    The city is surrounded by Israeli tanks on two sides; the Israeli military says it's fighting from house to house

    The death of an Israeli hostage - Sahar Baruch, 25 - has been confirmed by his kibbutz and a hostages' group, following reports of a failed Israeli rescue operation

    On Friday, the US blocked a resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, arguing this would be dangerous and unrealistic

    37
    Johnny Depp among stars paying tribute at funeral of The Pogues singer Shane MacGowan
    apnews.com Johnny Depp among stars paying tribute at funeral of The Pogues singer Shane MacGowan

    The funeral of The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan has taken place in Ireland, attended by family, neighbors and friends including Johnny Depp and Nick Cave.

    Johnny Depp among stars paying tribute at funeral of The Pogues singer Shane MacGowan

    Musicians including Cave and Imelda May performed several of MacGowan’s songs during the service, including a rousing rendition of “Fairytale of New York” led by Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill that had the congregation dancing in the aisles.

    3
    How a factory city in Wisconsin fed military-grade weapons to a Mexican cartel

    But in 2018, Racine’s suburban sprawl on the edge of Lake Michigan became a source of high caliber weapons for one of Mexico’s top fentanyl trafficking gangs, the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), U.S. federal arms-trafficking investigators allege.

    The cartel exploited permissive federal and state-level gun control rules to buy some of the most powerful weapons available to American civilians, according to two former agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and two other sources, all with knowledge of the investigation.

    Members of a local family, working with a cousin in Mexico, enlisted friends and relatives who bought guns on their behalf in Racine and transported them to California and south across the border, according to an indictment from Wisconsin’s Eastern District Court unsealed in February.

    The traffickers in Racine and two connected cells in other locations bought more than $600,000 of high-end military-style firearms in under a year, internal ATF documents reviewed by Reuters allege. It seemed like an unprecedented shopping spree, said Tim Sloan, the other former ATF investigator. Sloan was the first to trace a CJNG gun to Racine.

    4
    Canada's surging cost of living fuels reverse immigration
    www.reuters.com Canada's surging cost of living fuels reverse immigration

    The dream of making it big in Canada is turning into a battle for survival for many immigrants due to the high cost of living and rental shortages, as rising emigration numbers hints to newcomers being forced to turn their back on a country that they chose to make their adopted home.

    Canada's surging cost of living fuels reverse immigration

    Trudeau has made immigration his main weapon to blunt Canada's big challenge of an aging and slowing population, and it has also helped fuel economic growth. That drove Canada's population up at its fastest clip in more than six decades this year, Statistics Canada said.

    But now a reversal of that trend is gradually taking hold. In the first six months of 2023 some 42,000 individuals departed Canada, adding to 93,818 people who left in 2022 and 85,927 exits in 2021, official data show.

    The rate of immigrants leaving Canada hit a two-decade high in 2019, according to a recent report from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), an immigration advocacy group. While the numbers went down during pandemic lockdowns, Statistics Canada data shows it is once again rising.

    While that is a fraction of the 263,000 who came to the country over the same period, a steady rise in emigration is making some observers wary.

    8
    Some Republicans Were Willing to Compromise on Abortion Ban Exceptions. Activists Made Sure They Didn’t.
    www.propublica.org Some Republicans Were Willing to Compromise on Abortion Ban Exceptions. Activists Made Sure They Didn’t.

    ProPublica reviewed 12 of the nation’s strictest abortion bans. Few changed in 2023, as state lawmakers caved to pressure from anti-abortion groups opposing exceptions for rape, incest and health risks.

    Some Republicans Were Willing to Compromise on Abortion Ban Exceptions. Activists Made Sure They Didn’t.

    “With the current law in place, I will tell you, I wake up fearful of my pregnancy and what it would mean for my children, my husband and my parents if something happened to me and the doctor cannot perform lifesaving measures,” she told her fellow lawmakers last February, her voice faltering as tears threatened.

    Rehfeldt was a stroke survivor and her pregnancy put her at high risk for blood clots and heart issues that could kill her. The state’s ban made abortion a felony unless it was “necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female.” If Rehfeldt developed complications, doctors told her, the law didn’t make clear how close to death she needed to be before they could act.

    “When can a doctor intervene? Do I need to have my brain so oxygen-deprived to the point that I am nonfunctional?” she asked the room.

    10
    School district and The Satanic Temple reach agreement in lawsuit over After School Satan Club
    apnews.com School district and The Satanic Temple reach agreement in lawsuit over After School Satan Club

    An eastern Pennsylvania school district has reached a settlement with The Satanic Temple in a lawsuit alleging discrimination against students by barring one of the group's After School Satan clubs from using a school building.

    School district and The Satanic Temple reach agreement in lawsuit over After School Satan Club

    The American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday that the Saucon Valley School District had agreed to pay $200,000 in attorney’s fees and to provide The Satanic Temple and the After School Satan Club it sponsors the same access to school facilities as is provided to other organizations.

    The ACLU filed the lawsuit in March after the district rescinded its earlier approval to allow the club to meet following criticism. The After School Satan Club, with the motto “Educatin’ with Satan,” had drawn protests and even a threat in February that prompted closure of district schools for a day and the later arrest of a person in another state.

    Saucon Valley school district attorney Mark Fitzgerald told reporters in a statement that the district denies having discriminated against The Satanic Temple, its club or “the approximately four students” who attended its meetings. He said the district’s priorities were education and the safety of students and staff.

    89
    Yemen's Houthi rebels hijack an Israeli-linked ship in the Red Sea and take 25 crew members hostage
    apnews.com Yemen's Houthi rebels hijack an Israeli-linked ship in the Red Sea and take 25 crew members hostage

    Israel says Yemen’s Houthi rebels have seized an Israeli-linked ship in a crucial Red Sea shipping route and taken the 25-member crew hostage.

    Yemen's Houthi rebels hijack an Israeli-linked ship in the Red Sea and take 25 crew members hostage

    The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel and took the crew as hostages. The group warned that it would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israel’s campaign against Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

    “All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets,” the Houthis said.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had blamed the Houthis for the attack on the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier affiliated with an Israeli billionaire. It said the 25 crew members had a range of nationalities, including Bulgarian, Filipino, Mexican and Ukrainian, but that no Israelis had been on board.

    5
    girlfreddy girlfreddy @lemmy.world
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