Military Madness > Ukraine finally gets $106bn loan from EU

 

Ukraine to receive $106B loan from European Union after 5 month delay

By Paul Godfrey

    

European Union ambassadors unanimously backed a long-delayed $106 billion loan to help Ukraine keep defending itself when they met in Brussels on Wednesday, along with a 20th package of sanction on Russia. File photo by Patrick Seeger/EPA-EFE

April 22 (UPI) -- European Union ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday backed a long-delayed $106 billion loan to Ukraine and a 20th economic sanctions package on Russia.

The breakthrough came a day after Ukraine announced its damaged Druzhba pipeline, through which Russia supplies oil to Hungary and Slovakia, was ready to begin pumping again.

Leaders of the 27-member-country bloc will sign off on the measures at an informal summit in Cyprus on Thursday.

The financial package, which Ukraine badly needs to stay afloat and continue fending off invading Russian forces, was agreed in December but was held up after outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would withhold his backing while the pipeline remained out of action.

Orban held Kyiv responsible even though the pipeline was damaged in a Russian attack. The sides traded blackmail allegations, with Hungary accusing Ukraine of stalling repair work in a conspiracy with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition to "create supply disruptions" to push up fuel prices in Hungary ahead of elections.

Kyiv confirmed Wednesday that the pipeline was up and running again for the first time in almost three months since the line was shut off Jan. 27.

Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova said she had been told by Ukrainian energy operator Ukrtransnaft that pressurising of the pipeline had commenced and that crude oil would start arriving in Slovakia on Thursday.

Oil was also expected to begin flowing into Hungary by Thursday, at the latest.

Speaking Tuesday night ahead of the meeting in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had discussed the loan issue with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head, Antonio Costa, who represents the 27 member states.

"There can be no grounds for blocking it anymore. The EU asked Ukraine to repair the Druzhba oil pipeline, which had been destroyed by Russia. We have repaired it. We hope the EU will also deliver on the agreed commitments," he said.

Ukraine urgently needs the money to bolster its disintegrating public finances and replenish air defenses and military equipment.

The impasse was unlocked by Orban's ouster after 16 years in power in a general election on April 12 with Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar saying he would drop Hungary's opposition to the measures as soon as he took office in May.

The olive branch from Budapest prompted Zelensky to announce the pipeline would be open again by the end of April which in turn saw Orban, who remains Hungary's leader during the transition, soften his position saying he would drop his veto of the loan.

Hungary was able to block the loan because, like most actions by the bloc, EU rules required the unanimous approval of all 27 member-states, even though it managed to negotiate a carve-out back when the deal was agreed in December under which it has no financial liability for the loan.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia negotiated the same deal in exchange for giving their consent for the loan under which the EU will provide interest-free cash advances this year and in 2027, funded by borrowing in the capital markets that will be backed by its long-term budget.

Kyiv is only required to repay the loan in the unlikely eventuality that Russia ever ends up paying war reparations to Ukraine for the damage and destruction it has wreaked on the country during the war.

Read More

• Bulgaria's Progressive Party wins election amid fears of Russia meddling
• 5 killed, 11 injured in large-scale Russian strikes across Ukraine
• Hungary blocks latest EU sanctions on Russia, $105B loan to Ukraine
• European Commission mulls loan to Ukraine from Russia's frozen assets

Islam in America > Muslim prayer rooms in Minnesota schools - no problem; Muslim Rep uses Pakistani flag on chamber desk

 

Ten Commandments display ‘unconstitutional,’ but Muslim prayer rooms in Minnesota schools are fine

Apr 23, 2026 11:00 am By Christine Douglass-Williams15 Comments

School administrators and other school employees are restricted as follows:

When acting in their official capacities as representatives of the State, teachers, school administrators, and other school employees are prohibited by the First Amendment from encouraging or discouraging prayer, and from actively participating in such activity with students. 

With regard to 2024 lawsuits referred to in the article below about the Ten Commandments, one must remember a key clause. That while mandatory state laws are often blocked, schools may display the Ten Commandments if they are part of a secular historical curriculum:

Public schools and universities are also required to include a three-paragraph “context statement,” explaining the history of the Ten Commandments in the American public education system. The statement, written into the law, explains how the document has been used in education throughout American history, noting various versions of textbooks that have included the Ten Commandments.

The bill also specifies that schools can choose to display the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance alongside the Ten Commandments, but those documents are not required. It doesn’t specify which version of the Ten Commandments schools should display or any other religious texts schools may display.  

Muslim prayer rooms and foot-washing stations just don’t factor in here. They simply do not constitute any part of a secular historical curriculum. So yet again, it is clear that Muslims are enjoying special privileges.

Wudu baths by PLBechly, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

More on this story.

Report: Minnesota High School Renovation Includes Prayer Rooms, Foot-Washing Stations

Twitchy, April 22, 2026:

Back in 2024, lawsuits were filed immediately after Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a new requirement for the state’s public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Not surprisingly, David French immediately penned an op-ed for The New York Times decrying the law and arguing that having God in classrooms is not a conservative position. “Altering constitutional law is not the only motivation here; a version of Christian mysticism is also in play,” French wrote, arguing that “there is a real belief that the Ten Commandments have a form of spiritual power over the hearts and minds of students and that posting the displays can change their lives.” 

A federal district court blocked the law in late 2024, and a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals initially upheld the block last summer, calling it “plainly unconstitutional.” The “separation of church and state” crowd was out in full force.

Now, we’re learning that a high school undergoing renovations in Minnesota will include a prayer room and foot-washing stations.

The post continues:

… foot-washing plans “were included in updated plans after hearing from user groups on student needs.”

“This is undoubtedly for Muslim students only. I cannot understand how this can be happening in this era of no religion in schools,” the tipster said…

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Connecticut: Muslim state rep removes American flag from her desk, displays Pakistani flag

Apr 23, 2026 1:00 pm By Robert Spencer16 Comments

Priorities, priorities.

Connecticut State House Chamber by Liam Enea, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

GOP protests display of tiny Pakistani flag on CT lawmaker’s desk

by Mark Pazniokas, CT Mirror, April 21, 2026:

Small yellow Gadsden flags blossomed like late daffodils Monday on the desks of 18 Republicans in the House of Representatives, not a complaint of Connecticut’s uncertain spring but a rebuke to a Muslim colleague born in Pakistan: Rep. Maryam Khan, a Democrat from Windsor.

On Khan’s desk in the third row, three off the center aisle of the House, the tiny U.S. flag displayed on most desks since the attack on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001 had disappeared. In its place was the flag of Pakistan, a green banner with a crescent and star symbolizing its founding as a Muslim homeland.

“I displayed the Pakistani flag as a reflection of my heritage and personal pride. Any suggestion that it represents something improper or disloyal is simply inaccurate,” Khan said in a text. “Pakistan is a longstanding diplomatic partner of the United States, and acknowledging one’s background does not diminish commitment to this country or to serving the people of Connecticut.”

Khan, a school teacher elected to the House in a special election in 2022, said she made the switch after reports April 8 of Pakistan’s success in brokering a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. She said she was disappointed that no Republican approached her directly before staging their mini-flag protest.

“I’ve had the Pakistani flag in my office for little while,” Khan said.

It replaced the U.S. flag as a matter of pride, not a rebuke to America, the country where she is now a citizen, Khan said. Space on legislative desks is limited, she said.

“I’m going to try to get a multiple-flag holder so I can have multiple flags,” she said….

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This Week's Islamic Massacres > Boko Haram threaten to kill 416 captives in Nigeria; Philippine troops kill 10 Islamic Jihadis on Mindanao

 

Nigeria: Jihad group issues 72-hour ultimatum to government, threatens to murder 416 captives

Apr 21, 2026 3:00 pm By Robert Spencer21 Comments

This is all entirely in accord with Islamic law. The video is designed to “strike terror in the enemies of Allah” (Qur’an 8:60). The kidnapping itself is a matter of precise legal directives: “As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, ‘When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks’ (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4)” — Al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance).

Note also that it’s Boko Haram that is issuing an ultimatum to the government, and not the other way around. It’s clear which is the more powerful force.

Philippine Troops Kill 10 Islamic Separatist Jihadis in Lanao del Sur Clash

Apr 24, 2026 3:00 pm By Ashlyn DavisLeave a Comment

Philippine security forces killed at least 10 suspected Islamic jihadis in Lanao del Sur province on April 17, 2026, in one of the most significant encounters in the country’s restive southern region. The clash broke out in Marantao when joint teams of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines attempted to serve multiple arrest warrants against Amerol Mangoranca, a jihadi commander of the Dawlah Islamiya-Maute group, an ISIS-affiliated faction in the southern Philippines. He led a local armed cell in Lanao del Sur, one of the key hotspots of Islamic insurgency in the Philippines, and is accused of carrying out ambush attacks that killed four soldiers in January 2026.

1st SFG (A) trains with Philippine National Police Special Action Force, U.S. Army, Public domain

Authorities said the jihadis were holed up in a residential compound. As troops approached the hideout, the jihadis opened fire, triggering an intense gun battle that lasted for about an hour. Mangoranca and nine other suspected jihadis, including four women, were killed in the exchange. The female casualties are believed to have been active members of the jihadi network, highlighting that women within these communities are also involved in pursuing the jihadist objectives of these groups. Troops recovered a cache of high-powered firearms, improvised explosive devices, ammunition, and bomb-making components, suggesting the group had been preparing for further attacks.

Dawlah Islamiya, an umbrella organization of pro–Islamic State factions in the southern Philippines, including remnants of the Maute group, is a jihadist group that the brothers Abdullah and Omar Maute founded around 2013 in Lanao del Sur. The group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and sought to establish a wilayah, or province, of a global caliphate in Mindanao. The Maute group rose to prominence during the 2017 Siege of Marawi, when ISIS-linked jihadis seized large parts of the city, triggering a five-month urban conflict that killed more than 1,000 people and displaced over 350,000 residents.

Even after the defeat of the Marawi siege, Dawlah Islamiya factions have continued to carry out sporadic but deadly attacks across Mindanao and nearby island provinces. On August 24, 2020, twin bombings struck Jolo town in Sulu province, killing about 14–15 people, including soldiers and civilians, and injuring more than 75 others. The first explosion involved a motorcycle-borne improvised explosive device that jihadis placed near a military truck, while a female suicide bomber who detonated herself as security forces responded carried out the second. The use of suicide tactics reflected a growing shift toward ISIS-inspired methods in the region.

On December 3, 2023, a jihad bombing during a Catholic mass at Mindanao State University in Marawi City killed four people and injured at least 50 others after an improvised explosive device was detonated inside a crowded gymnasium.

Earlier, on January 27, 2019, twin jihad blasts targeted the Jolo Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu, killing 20 people and injuring over 100. The first explosion occurred inside the cathedral during Sunday mass, followed by a second blast outside as security forces responded. Another major incident occurred on June 28, 2019, at a military camp in Indanan, Sulu, where two jihadis detonated explosives on their bodies, killing at least six people, including soldiers and civilians, and injuring more than 20 others. Philippine authorities attributed the attack to Abu Sayyaf jihadis linked to the Islamic State.

The Islamic insurgency in the Philippines is rooted in decades-long separatist movements among the Moro Muslim population in Mindanao. Groups such as the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front led armed attacks beginning in the 1970s. While these movements initially sought full independence, they later entered into peace negotiations with the Philippine government, leading to autonomy arrangements.

A major breakthrough occurred with the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2019, granting greater political and administrative control to Muslim-majority areas. However, some factions rejected the peace deal, and jihadi groups such as Dawlah Islamiya and elements of Abu Sayyaf continued to push for a fully independent Islamic state and pursue armed jihad. These groups have relied on a mix of guerrilla warfare, urban terrorism, bombings, and kidnappings for ransom to sustain their operations.

The insurgency in the Philippines bears a stark resemblance to historical developments in South Asia, particularly the creation of Pakistan in 1947 through the Partition of India, a process that involved large-scale communal violence and mass displacement of Hindus. This demand, however, did not stop with the creation of Pakistan and later Bangladesh. As the Muslim population increased in Kashmir, Islamic militancy rose sharply in the late 1980s, leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Hindus. Islamic separatists sought to secede from India and join Pakistan. Today, as insurgent groups continue to pursue separatist goals in the Philippines, the situation offers patterns and lessons that the world can observe and learn from.

Lanao del Sur