UCLA canceled classes today after violent clashes occurred overnight between Gaza camp protesters and counter-protesters supporting Israel. Meanwhile, NYPD cops tore down a Palestinian flag at CUNY and hoisted the Stars and Stripes in its place.
In other news, a woman in Baton Rouge picked up a man she met on Instagram and drove to a parking garage to have sex with him. Instead, however, she shot him multiple times. She then fled the state, but was arrested and extradited back to Louisiana. The man she shot is in the hospital, and is expected to recover.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, DV, Hellequin GB, MM, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
African and Middle Eastern Nations Withdraw Gold Reserves Amid American Economic Concerns
In a move reflecting growing concerns over the stability of the American economy, several African and Middle Eastern nations have begun withdrawing their gold reserves from the United States in recent months. This trend marks a significant shift in global economic dynamics and underscores the increasing skepticism among nations regarding the traditional safe haven status of the US dollar and American financial institutions.
The decision to repatriate gold reserves is not merely symbolic; it reflects a deeper unease among these nations about the trajectory of the American economy. Among the countries taking such actions are Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Algeria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, each representing crucial regions in Africa and the Middle East. Their actions are prompting questions about the future of the US dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency.
The deteriorating state of the American economy serves as the primary impetus behind these withdrawals. Persistent inflation, mounting debt levels, and concerns about the Federal Reserve’s ability to maintain stable monetary policy have eroded confidence in the US dollar. Additionally, geopolitical tensions and uncertainties surrounding trade relations have further fueled apprehensions among foreign governments.
| — Hat tip: Hellequin GB | [Return to headlines] |
Australian mortgage broker, Quang Huynh, compared Sydney and Switzerland’s cost of living and was surprised by the results.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Rand Low, from Bond University, has urged Aussies to cut back on spending to trigger a short, sharp recession.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
GDP Up by 0.3% in Both the Euro Area and the EU
+0.4% and +0.5% respectively compared with the first quarter of 2023
Overview
In the first quarter of 2024, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.3% in both the euro area and the EU, compared with the previous quarter, according to a preliminary flash estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the fourth quarter of 2023, GDP had declined by 0.1% in the euro area and had remained stable in the EU.
These preliminary GDP flash estimates are based on data sources that are incomplete and subject to further revisions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
[Updated] GoFundMe Raises $160k (and Counting) to Throw Massive Rager for Flag-Protecting Frat Bros
Sit back, dear friends, and let me tell you the tale of the majestic frat boys of UNC-Chapel Hill. Or better yet, let the organizer of a GoFundMe set up to reward these men tell the tale (and honestly, his writing is better than mine):
Commie losers across the country have invaded college campuses to make dumb demands of weak University Administrators.
But amidst the chaos, the screaming, the anti-semitism, the hatred of faith and flag, stood a platoon of American heroes. Armored in Vineyard Vines and Patagonia, fueled by Zyn and White Claws, these triumphant Brohemians protected Old Glory from the unwashed Marxist horde — laughing at their shrieks and wails and shielding the Stars & Stripes from Soviet missiles.
These boys… no, men, of the UNC Chapel Hill Pi Kappa Phi, gave the best to America and now they deserve the best.
Help us raise funds to throw this frat the party they deserve, a party [worthy] of the boat-shoed Broleteriat who did their country proud.
While the fundraiser is hilarious, in reality, the stalwart bros faced a harrowing situation. On Tuesday morning, a Marxist mob took down the American flag on the campus of the University of North Carolina, which had been at half-staff to honor four officers who had been killed in a shoot-out in Charlotte, N.C., a few days earlier.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“It Was Brutal”: 2nd Boeing-Linked Whistleblower Dies
A whistleblower at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems died Tuesday morning following a struggle with a ‘sudden, fast-spreading infection,’ the Seattle Times reports.
45-year-old Joshua Dean, a former mechanical engineer and quality auditor from Wichita, Kansas, alleged that Spirit leadership ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, including ‘mechanics improperly drilling holes in the aft pressure bulkhead of the MAX.’ When he brought this up with management, he said that nothing was done about it. So he filed a safety complaint with the FAA — and said that Spirit had used him as a scapegoat while they lied to the agency about the defects.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Disappointing First Year for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson
Authored by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner via Wirepoints.org
Nearly one year ago, Chicagoans cheered Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s removal from office.
Gone was her toxic attitude. Her flippant dismissal of the city’s many crises. Her abrasive politics.
In her place was Brandon Johnson, who promised a more inclusive approach to building a “better, stronger, safer Chicago.”
It hasn’t turned out that way.
Today, there’s little disagreement that Mayor Johnson has disappointed on most key issues. On crime. On policing. On migrants. On education. On governance. Even on foreign affairs.
Two recent polls show Chicagoans have a low opinion of Johnson and his performance so far.
A January poll by Tulchin Research found just 21% of registered Chicago voters approved of Johnson. And a new Harris poll shows just 9% of city residents rated Johnson’s performance as above average while 50% rated his performance as below average.
It’s reached the point where some Chicagoans are pursuing a recall initiative to remove the mayor.
As we approach Johnson’s one-year anniversary, let’s review how he’s mishandled the city’s key issues.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fifteen arrests were reportedly made after a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” popped up at Fordham University on Wednesday, only to be taken down by police later in the day.
The encampment also occurred hours after tent cities at two other NYC universities were destroyed by police.
Two prison buses have arrived at the encampment, and the school notified protesters late Wednesday afternoon that they’re suspended and banned from campus.
The night before, hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators were arrested at Columbia and the City College of New York campuses in a “massive” NYPD operation.
A total of 282 people were arrested: 109 people at the Ivy League campus after cops busted the mob that took over the university’s Hamilton Hall, and 173 at the “intifada” encampment at City College.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AP Admits Half of Americans Do Not Trust News Organization: Poll
The Associated Press admitted on Wednesday that more than half of the country does not trust mainstream news outlets when it comes to reporting on the 2024 presidential election.
A new poll revealed that 53% of respondents are “extremely” or “very concerned” that news organizations will report inaccuracies or misinformation during the election, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.
Nearly half of the respondents (47%) also revealed they are “extremely or very concerned” that the news outlets will not verify or fact-check information before they publish it, and 44% are concerned that the news will be presented in a biased way.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s Fentanyl Deal With China Failed to Stop Overdoses
Last November, Biden met with China’s Xi and the two leaders reached an agreement to tackle the fentanyl crisis fed by the traffic in precursor chemicals from the Communist dictatorship.
Three months later, the bodies are everywhere.
Fentanyl overdoses rose fourfold in Marin County in just 2 weeks, Oregon has the largest overdose rates in the nation and even children under 5 are dying of it in Tennessee.
And there’s no sign that the carnage is slowing down. 66 people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco in just the month of January. The majority of those deaths were fentanyl related.
Biden claimed after the meeting with Xi that China is “taking steps to shut down companies dealing in illicit trade and precursor chemicals.”
But officially what China did was send out warning letters to the firms shipping precursor chemicals to the cartels. Rather than warning Chinese companies that they faced action from their own government, the letters cautioned them that they faced legal action from America.
The companies making the poison killing Americans then had every reason to laugh it off.
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Forgives $6.1 BILLION for Art Students ‘Cheated’ by Predatory Art Institutes
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced that his administration had moved to cancel over $6 billion in student debt held by those who took classes at the Art Institutes.
The now-defunct nationwide chain of for-profit schools had promised prospective students that attending their programs would open the door to endless career opportunities, however for the vast majority, that was not the case.
“Today, my Administration is approving $6.1 billion in student debt cancellation for 317,000 borrowers who attended the Art Institutes,” the president wrote in a statement. “This institution falsified data, knowingly misled students, and cheated borrowers into taking on mountains of debt without leading to promising career prospects at the end of their studies.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Columbia University’s hallowed halls feature a memorial to “dead Hamas propagandists and alleged terrorists,” according to the Daily Mail.
Pulitzer Hall, the home of Columbia’s prestigious journalism school that is named after Pulitzer Prize namesake Joseph Pulitzer, is lined with posters dedicated to “Gaza journalists” who have been killed during the Israel-Gaza war.
However, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that many of them have ties to the Hamas terror group. The Daily Mail reported that 21 people being honored worked for “Hamas’ propaganda TV and radio stations,” 11 others “worked for outlets affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group,” and three were known as alleged terrorists themselves.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Columbia Student Protester Says ‘It’s Finals! Can I Go Home?’ as NYPD Clears Occupied Building
A protester at Columbia University’s occupied Hamilton Hall expressed some measure of regret upon seeing NYPD officers approaching their location. As officers prepared to break into the building, blockaded by student protesters as well as what school administrators called outside agitators, the student called out “f*ck you, it’s finals! Can I go home?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Columbia’s Gaza Camp Organizers SJP Funded by Hamas-Linked Non-Profits: Report
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the anti-Israel activist group that organized the Gaza Camp protest at Columbia, is linked to terrorist organizations and received over “$3 million a year,” according to a new report.
The report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), said that SJP, which has over 250 chapters across the US, received millions from groups with links to Hamas.
According to the report obtained by the Daily Mail, the groups have been using pro-Hamas statements, chants, signs, and banners. ISGAP urged authorities to investigate the radical group.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The vast majority of Americans say they don’t believe Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will prove President Donald Trump’s guilt in the Democrats’ “hush money” lawfare trial.
Only about a quarter of people polled believe that Trump will be convicted in the New York “hush money” case, Breitbart reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Emails Show Facebook Chafed at Biden White House Pressure to Suppress COVID-19 Lab Leak Story
Emails released Wednesday show Facebook officials chafed at the Biden White House pressure campaign to censor reports that the COVID-19 pandemic came from a lab leak in China.
Facebook’s President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg described the White House as “highly cynical and dishonest,” in an email dated July 2021, according to an 800-page report from the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The report detailed alleged coercion between the Biden White House and Big Tech.
The full report can be found here.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fallen Chicago Officer’s Family Requests Mayor Johnson Not Attend Funeral: Report
The mayor of Chicago did not attend the funeral of a fallen police officer because the family of the deceased said he was not welcome, according to reports.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was scheduled to attend the funeral of Officer Luis Huesca, 30, who was killed while off-duty last month. Johnson’s schedule was later updated to show he would not be attending, and he did not make an appearance at the event.
Family members of Huesca reportedly told the mayor’s office that he was not welcome at the funeral, according to multiple local reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Approves ‘Antisemitism Awareness Act’ Aimed at Cracking Down on Campus Protests
Late in the afternoon Wednesday the House approved a bill which seeks to crack down on antisemitism on college and university campuses following days of protests and unrest driven by pro-Palestinian activists.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act has been approved in a 320-91 vote and will now head to the Senate. But the central question is: how and by what measure will federal authorities crack down on speech deemed “antisemitic”?
Will criticism of the government of Israel be deemed antisemitic? Will highlighting alleged war crimes or human rights abuses by the IDF be considered so? Will involvement in the BDS movement be deemed anti-Jewish? Will slogans such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” be illegal according to federal law? Will criticizing the US $3+ billion in annual foreign aid be considered anti-Jewish?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House COVID Committee Calling for Criminal Probe Into Gain-of-Function Virus Research in Wuhan
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is calling for a criminal probe into the origins of the COVID-19 virus.
The demands for an investigation come after the release of an interim staff report accusing EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak of funding “dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, without sufficient oversight.”
“Overwhelming primary source documents and credible firsthand testimony gathered throughout the Select Subcommittee’s investigation provide significant evidence that Dr. Daszak repeatedly violated the terms of the NIH grant awarded to EcoHealth,” a Wednesday statement from the Committee on Oversight and Accountability reads.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Wednesday, Portland State University caved to the demands of anti-Israel activists who have sieged the school’s library and shut down campus in support of Gaza. Many of those involved are Antifa-linked outside agitators and are not affiliated with the university.
President Cudd announced in an email that the university will not pursue criminal charges against those who participated in the destruction and seizure of the Millar Library, nor will students be suspended, expelled, or punished for their role in the occupation.
Additionally, Cudd vowed to personally support scholarships and creative works dedicated to Palestine, as well as PSU’s ongoing financial commitment to anti-racist work. The president also insisted she would be giving a personal donation to the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia (MENASA) Student Center at PSU, which was a condition of the agreement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Maricopa County and Arizona State Collaborate to Surveil Social Media and Censor “Misinformation”
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office and the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office have been exposed as doing their best to team up with social media companies, non-profits, as well as the US government to advance online censorship.
This, yet another case of “cooperation” (aka, collusion) between government and private entities to stifle speech disapproved of by federal and some state authorities has emerged from several public records, brought to the public’s attention by the Gavel Project.
The official purpose of several initiatives was to counter “misinformation” using monitoring and reporting whatever the two offices decided qualified; another was to censor content on social platforms, while plans also included restricting discourse to the point of banning users from county-run accounts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meet the Lawyers Taking Big Government to the Supreme Court… and Winning
Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
As the administrative state implements more regulations on Americans, a team of legal veterans has come together to fight the expansion of unelected government agency power.
Sometimes, they even win.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), which consists of a team of 27 lawyers and support staff, including former judges, had four of the cases they litigated go before the Supreme Court in 2023. One case was decided in their favor, the remaining three are pending.
Founded by Columbia Law professor Philip Hamburger six years ago, the NCLA targets cases where they believe federal agencies have blatantly overstepped their authority or violated civil liberties.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nashville Man With 105 Past Charges Arrested for Kidnapping and Raping Amazon Delivery Woman
On Friday, a Nashville man who had been charged with 105 offenses since 2007 was arrested yet again, this time in connection with the kidnapping and rape of a female Amazon delivery driver.
The suspect, 34-year-old Carl Jerome Hamilton, was subsequently hit with charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, and robbery.
According to WKRN, the incident took place around 4 am on the 700 block of President Ronald Reagan Way. The 25-year-old victim, whose identity has not been made public, was delivering packages in the mail room of an apartment building when Hamilton allegedly entered and shut the door behind him. He then allegedly forced her to take off her clothes and sexually assaulted her.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New: Far-Left and Conservative Protesters Unite in Chant of ‘F**k Joe Biden’ at U of Alabama
On Wednesday, far-left and conservative protesters at the University of Alabama united in their mutual disdain for President Biden, in which they engaged in unified chants of “F*ck Joe Biden!”
The moment occurred at the university’s Student Center Plaza around 5:30 pm local time during a pro-Palestinian protest which was countered by pro-Israel demonstrators, according to video footage shared by an editor at the school’s newspaper.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
As anti-Israel protests continue to plague college campuses across the country, Northwestern University has reached a deal with the protesters, sparking concern from many about the conditions.
On Monday, the Chicago school announced an agreement to curb protest activity in return for the reestablishment of an advisory committee on university investments and other commitments.
Some who are protesting the war in Gaza condemned the Northwestern agreement as a failure to stick to the original demands of student organizers, the Associated Press reported. Some supporters of Israel claimed the deal represented “cowardly” capitulation to protesters.
One of Northwestern’s radical professors has ties to a history of terror.
Zayd Ayers Dohrn, is the son of a former radical terrorist group leader, Bernardine Rae Dohrn and Bill Ayers. The group they led for years perpetrated terrorist bombings in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere around the country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYC Doctor, Serial Anti-Israel Protester, 47, Among Non-Students Arrested at Columbia, CUNY Raids
A Manhattan doctor and a known anti-Israel protester were among the 282 people arrested overnightwhen the NYPD raided campus encampments at Columbia University and the City College of New York.
Fernando Bobis, 42, an internal medicine doctor based in Washington Heights, was one of the 109 people arrested at Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus, where rioters had broken into an academic building, occupying it for more than 20 hours before university officials called the cops for help.
“Five and 1/2 hours in a holding cell with no bathroom, no water, no food. I had a hard time checking my insulin to make sure I was okay. I’m Type 1 diabetic,” Bobis told reporters after his arrest was processed at NYPD headquarters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York City’s leaders and top law enforcement officials have raised the alarm of a “global” effort seeking to “radicalize young people” in America.
Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Police Department (NYPD) leadership issued the warning while announcing that approximately 300 arrests were made at Columbia University and City College on Tuesday night.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Worldcoin, a digital ID project based on biometrics, namely, eyeball scanning, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is eying (no pun) partnerships not only with OpenAI, but also PayPal, reports say.
However, these movements are not accompanied by any clarity for now, an example of this being another Worldcoin co-founder and its CEO Alex Blania refusing to make a direct announcement regarding the deal with OpenAI.
Blania at the same time confirmed that the company (specifically, Tools for Humanity, the main Worldcoin developer) is talking to PayPal — but the payments transactions giant is currently not commenting on any of this.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The shooting took place outside Mount Horeb Middle School in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. No one else was injured, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said.
Police shot and killed a student outside a Wisconsin middle school Wednesday as officers responded to a report of a person with a gun, officials said.
No one else was hurt in the incident outside Mount Horeb Middle School, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in an evening news conference. The attorney general said the investigation was ongoing and declined to disclose details of what led up to the police shooting.
“Police officers from the Mount Horeb Police Department responded to a report of an individual with a weapon outside the middle school. Police officers responded to that threat and they used deadly force,” Kaul said, adding that the individual was a student in the Mount Horeb Area School District.
As is protocol, some officers will be placed on leave following the shooting, Kaul said.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Police shot and killed an armed student outside a Wisconsin middle school Wednesday, sending students fleeing for their lives — including some who escaped on in-line skates.
Authorities responded to an “active shooter” situation reported outside Mount Horeb Middle School and “neutralized” a student with a gun, school officials said.
No one else was harmed, State Attorney General Josh Kaul said at a press conference Wednesday evening.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Seattle Coffee Shop Workers Call 911 When Homeless Man Causes Disturbance; No Officers Arrive
A homeless man in Seattle was caught on camera causing a disturbance in an ice cream and coffee shop, and the small business’s owner says police officers were not dispatched when his workers called 911.
The incident took place around 7 p.m. April 24 in the Pike Place Market area near Seattle’s famous Gum Wall, according to Baxter & Frost owner Ian Halcott. Security camera footage shows a man wearing a beanie and hoodie with his hands in his front pockets talking to an employee before shoving things off a counter display, making a mess in the establishment.
A second clip shows the man pushing a movable display case at two workers, prompting one to pull a knife to defend himself and his coworker while the other grabbed a spatula and baking tray. The workers continued arguing with the man, before he left and a Pike Place Market security guard showed up.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Study Finds Elevated Risk of Eye Inflammatory Disorder Following COVID-19 Vaccination
Authored by Megan Redshaw, J.D. via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
People with a history of uveitis may experience a recurrence of the eye inflammatory disorder following COVID-19 vaccination, especially in the early postvaccination period.
A recently published study in JAMA Ophthalmology found that about 17 percent of nearly 474,000 vaccinated individuals with a history of uveitis experienced a recurrence within one year after vaccination.
Uveitis is inflammation inside the eye that occurs when the immune system is fighting an infection or attacks healthy tissue in the eyes. It can cause symptoms including pain, redness, and vision loss while damaging the uvea and other parts of the eye.
Researchers collected data on all individuals diagnosed with uveitis in South Korea between January 2015 and February 2021 to determine the risk of recurrence after COVID-19 vaccination. Data was retrieved from the Korean National Health Insurance Service and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency databases. The incidence of uveitis was assessed from Feb. 26, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2022. The cases were classified according to the onset at three months, six months, and one year, the type of uveitis (anterior or nonanterior), and vaccine type.
Individuals included in the study received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or Johnson & Johnson and did not test positive for SARS-CoV-2 during the study period.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Supreme Court Will Not Ban Governments From Dismantling Homeless Encampments, Former Official Says
A former top U.S. federal official has asserted that the Supreme Court won’t rule that local governments can’t dismantle homeless encampments.
Former foreign service officer James Rogan confidently weighed in on the case in an article in the Washington Examiner.
The case before the high court is City of Grants Pass v Gloria Johnson.
In the case, the defendants assert that homelessness is a state of being like addiction.
They argue that banning homeless encampments is “cruel and unusual.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump to Address ‘Libertarian Party Concerns’ at Group’s National Convention
Former President Donald Trump will address “Libertarian Party concerns” later this month at the group’s national convention in Washington, DC, the party announced Wednesday.
“Libertarians are some of the most independent and thoughtful thinkers in our Country, and I am honored to join them,” Trump, 77, said in a statement.
The Libertarian Party’s unprecedented decision to give the presumptive Republican nominee for president a platform at the third-party group’s 2024 nominating convention will allow Trump to court voters beyond his GOP base.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Blasts Biden for Silence on Campus Gaza Camps, Encourages Colleges to ‘Vanquish the Radicals’
On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump demanded the removal of every Gaza encampment that has emerged on college campuses across the US and criticized Biden for his silence on the matter.
Trump made the remarks during a campaign speech in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in which he urged institutions to put an end to the “radical extremists” occupying their campuses and chastised President Biden for failing to act.
He also praised the New York Police Department for dismantling the infamous Gaza camp at Columbia University, referring to the officers as “New York’s finest.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UCLA Cancels Wednesday Classes Over Student ‘Distress’ Caused by Violent Gaza Camp Clashes
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) canceled classes on Wednesday after violent clashes occurred overnight between Gaza camp protesters and counter-protesters supporting Israel.
“Due to the distress caused by the violence that took place on Royce Quad late last night and early this morning, all classes are cancelled today. Please avoid the Royce Quad area,” wrote UCLA in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: NYPD Tears Down Palestinian Flag at CUNY and Hoists the Stars and Stripes and it is Glorious
It’s not exactly the Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima, but it was damned satisfying to watch.
Pro-Palestinian protesters at the City College of New York had removed the American flag from the flagpole at the start of their protests two weeks ago and raised the Palestinian flag. After the NYPD swarmed the CUNY campus and began arresting dozens of protesters, several cops began to take down the Palestinian flag.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Woman Accused of Shooting Man After Allegedly Meeting on Instagram to Have Sex
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) — A Louisiana woman has been arrested after she allegedly shot a man she met on social media in a parking garage.
According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, 23-year-old Latoria Matthews has been taken into custody in connection with the shooting that happened on April 7 in the Baton Rouge area.
Police said Matthews picked up the man after they met on Instagram and drove to a parking garage to have sex.
Instead, she shot him multiple times, police said.
The man, who has not yet been identified by police, was able to escape from the vehicle to get help.
He was taken to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds but is expected to survive.
According to Baton Rouge police, Matthews ended up leaving the scene before being located in Houston.
She was extradited back to Baton Rouge and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.
The 23-year-old is facing charges that include attempted second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Pierre Poilievre Ejected From House of Commons for Calling Trudeau ‘Wacko’ and ‘Extremist’
After Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “a wacko” and “an extremist” during Question Period for decriminalizing the use of hard drugs in British Columbia, Speaker Greg Fergus ordered Poilievre to leave the House of Commons.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fernando José Vaquero Oroquieta holds a degree in law from the University of Navarra and is a criminologist from the University of the Basque Country. Co-author of La tregua de ETA: mentiras, tópicos, esperanzas y propuestas(2006) and author of several books, including La ruta del odio(2010), De Navarra a Nafarroa, La otra conquista (2019), and Biografia no autorizada del PNV (2022). We talk about his latest book, De ETA a EH Bildu: Las pieles de la serpiente(From ETA to EH Bildu: The Skins of the Serpent), and the electoral growth of radical Basque separatism.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“We Will Put Independence on the Agenda”: An Interview With Tom Van Grieken
Tom Van Grieken is the leader of the Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party, a nationalist, anti-globalist, anti-immigration party which strives for Flemish independence from Belgium. Its popularity has been growing for the past few years, and is set to become the largest party in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders with 26-27% of the votes. Belgium holds federal and regional parliamentary elections on June 9th, the same day of the European Parliament elections. There is a cordon sanitaire imposed on the party, with mainstream forces refusing to cooperate with Vlaams Belang. The region’s largest party, the conservative, pro-independence New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which is currently polling at 21-22% in Flanders, has also ruled out such cooperation, and opted instead to govern together with centre-right and liberal parties after the 2019 regional elections. On a federal level, neither the N-VA nor Vlaams Belang is part of the seven-party Belgian government. We talked to Tom Van Grieken on the sidelines of the CPAC Hungary conference in Budapest about his party’s chances and whether the cordon sanitaire can be lifted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
AfD’s Alternative to the Coming EU “Superstate”
The right-wing populist AfD—Germany’s second highest polling political party—launched its EU election campaign on Saturday, April 27th, by focusing largely on Brussels’ constant centralization efforts. It seems Brussels aims to eventually replace nation states with an EU “superstate.” In contrast, AfD proposes an alternative to Germans: de-centralization, a union of sovereign states with all the benefits of the EU internal market, and no undemocratic bureaucracy forcing European capitals into submission.
AfD has changed. It no longer advocates a “Dexit” (Deutschland Exit), but, like most members of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group—which also includes Le Pen’s Rassemblement National and Salvini’s Lega—it would rather return to the “original idea of a European community.”
“We are not anti-European, … but we no longer want this EU,” co-chair Tino Chrupalla stated at the campaign launch event on Saturday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: ChatGPT Hit With Privacy Complaint for ‘Hallucinating’
The Austrian data privacy watchdog NOYB (None of Your Business) has announced it is filing a complaint against the popular AI tool ChatGTP for providing incorrect personal data without any mechanism to correct it.
“ChatGPT keeps hallucinating—and not even OpenAI can stop it,” NOYB said in a statement.
In tech speak, hallucinating is a technical term for when an AI program gives wrong information.
NOYB explained in a statement:
The problem is that, according to OpenAI itself, the application only generates “responses to user requests by predicting the next most likely words that might appear in response to each prompt.” In other words: While the company has extensive training data, there is currently no way to guarantee that ChatGPT is actually showing users factually correct information. On the contrary, generative AI tools are known to regularly “hallucinate,” meaning they simply make up answers.
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Austria: National Conservative FPÖ Decries ‘Politically Driven’ Investigation
Austrian prosecutors are investigating the leader of the anti-globalist, right-wing party FPÖ, Herbert Kickl on suspicion of using public funds to pay for adverts in return for alleged favourable media coverage. The party has accused the government and the “deep state” of attempting to tarnish their image before the upcoming European and national elections.
The prosecutor’s office responsible for economic crime and corruption (WKStA) said on Monday, April 29th, that they had launched an investigation into Kickl and several former government members. The case dates back to when the FPÖ was in a coalition with the centre-right People’s Party (ÖVP). According to the accusations, between 2018 and 2019 the tabloid Österreich received lucrative adverts paid for by public funds, in exchange for favourable media coverage of the FPÖ. The adverts were allegedly commissioned by then-Interior Minister Kickl and other members of his party, including then-party leader Heinz-Christian Strache.
The accusations come at a time when the FPÖ has been leading opinion polls for the past year-and-a-half, with European elections coming up in June, and national elections set to be held in the autumn.
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Donald Tusk Claims Poles Will be Richer Than Brits by 2029 as ‘It’s Better to be in the EU’
The Polish prime minister has boasted Poles will be richer than Britons by next year because “it’s better to be in the EU”.
Donald Tusk, the former president of the European Council, claimed forecasts show Poland is on track to have a higher GDP per capita than the UK by 2025.
GDP per capita refers to the total income of a country, divided by the number of people living in it.
Mr Tusk referred to World Bank forecasts which show that GDP per capita in 2021 was £36,038 ($44,979) in Britain and £27,974 ($34,915) in Poland.
If GDP per capita in the UK continues to grow at an average of 0.5 per cent annually, as it did between 2010 and 2021, and should Poland maintain its 3.6 per cent average growth, it will overtake Britain by 2030.
[Comment: I would not be surprised if Poland reaches a higher per capita GDP than the UK. However, it would not be due to Poland’s membership in the EU, but due to less economic interventionism and to socio-cultural factors.]
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EU Moves to Further Institutionalize Ideological Blackmail
EU affairs ministers in the European Council are discussing a proposal that, if voted into law, would tie the disbursement of EU funds to the implementation of rule of law “milestone” reforms by default. This would normalize the case-by-case punishment of countries that break the arbitrary norms (“European values”) agreed upon by the Brussels liberal mainstream. A strengthened Article 7 procedure—the suspension of a state’s voting rights, to date deployed exclusively against sovereigntist conservative governments—would still be used to further threaten and punish alleged miscreants.
The German non-paper, submitted to the Council by Berlin’s Green EU affairs chief Anna Lührmann, and obtained by Politico, argues that the process to systematically reform the EU in anticipation of the next wave of enlargement provides the perfect opportunity to also update Brussels’ instruments for preventing violations of the rule of law.
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EU Overtakes China as Military Spending Surges Worldwide
EU countries have collectively overtaken China in terms of military spending, a new report has found, with overall expenditure surging worldwide.
Data gathered by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that member states increased their military spending to 24 per cent of the worldwide total following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Europe is not the only region which saw an increase, with overall military spending worldwide soaring to unprecedented levels in 2023, reaching $2443 billion globally.
This marks the ninth consecutive year of growth in such spending and a 6.8 per cent increase from the previous year — the sharpest rise since 2009.
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EU Pseudo-Democracy on Display at the Commission Lead Candidates’ Debate
In an American-style TV debate, representatives of eight leading political factions within the EU took to the stage to debate their suitability for the EU top job. Cynics might say this carefully calculated spectacle was designed to bolster the legitimacy of the Commission chief position, which is not directly elected by voters.
Issues ranging from the future of the moribund Green New Deal to whether it was time for a ceasefire in Ukraine played out for the cameras in the Dutch city of Maastricht on Monday. The debate was sponsored by the Politico, house journal of pro-Brussels insiders.
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European Union’s Anti-Musk ‘Twitter Alternative’ Closes With Only 18 Active Users
Two years after commencing a “pioneering journey” to forge an EU-controlled answer to Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the European Commission has called time on ‘EU Voice.’
Brussels wanted its very own alternative to the social media giant recently rebranded X, which has itself clashed with Eurocrat regulators over its free speech policies. An anti-Musk platform, based on the left-leaning networked system Mastodon, has proved a dismal failure.
The decision to shutter the EU-run platform comes after, embarrassingly, the site could only register a mere 40 ‘institutional accounts’ from the hundreds of MEPs, Commissioners, diplomats and other officials employed by the Commission. Even Margrethe Vestager, a top EU Big Tech regulator, appears never to have used her own account.
Brussels’ Twitter clone was handled by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). The exact costs of this doomed initiative remain unknown. Hilariously, a sister platform ‘EU Video’ could only recruit six registered accounts!
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France Ramps Up Its Military Industry
French industrial companies involved in the manufacture of Aster anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missiles will have to prioritize the production of these weapons’ components over other orders, announced the French Armed Forces Ministry.
“For the first time, we have mobilized administrative police powers, which allows the prioritization of a certain number of subcontractors, where civilian orders must now take second place to military orders in order to give priority to the Aster range,” Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu said in Calvi, during a meeting with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto.
The metallurgical company Aubert & Duval, which produces special types of steel for civil aeronautics, submarines and Caesar gun tubes, is particularly concerned by this obligation, according to a source close to the issue.
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French Journalist Fired for Discussions With Rassemblement National President
Managers at French public service radio just dismissed journalist Jean-François Achilli for “serious misconduct,” on the grounds that he was considering working with Rassemblement National (RN) president Jordan Bardella. The basis for the sacking is problematic, in that there were never any more than informal exchanges between the two men—proof instead of political censorship.
It took several weeks for the case to reach a conclusion. On March 14th this year, Achilli—presenter of the programme Les Informés on France Info radio and an employee of the public broadcasting service—was suspended and taken off air. The decision followed revelations in an article in Le Monde alleging that the journalist and RN president Bardella and head of its list for the European elections, had exchanged views, with the idea of writing a biography of the right-wing nationalist politician.
The charges against the presenter are based on very slim facts. Excerpts written by Bardella were allegedly submitted for Achilli’s approval, who in turn refused to take part in the biographical work envisaged by Bardella. But according to Le Monde, the journalist ‘nonetheless worked in the shadows, helping Bardella recover his memories, thus enabling the beginnings of a text to see the light of day’. This was enough to trigger proceedings against Achilli by the management of the Radio France group, leading to his dismissal for serious misconduct a month and a half later, on Monday, April 29th.
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Germany: UAE Ambassador Calls Pro-Caliphate Demonstration “Unacceptable”
The United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Germany, Ahmed Alattar, denounced last weekend’s Islamist demonstration in Hamburg where over a thousand radically anti-German Muslims gathered and called for the introduction of Sharia law and an Islamic state, among other demands.
The demonstration’s organizers are closely associated with the “confirmed extremist movement” ‘Muslim Interaktiv.’ Its slogans calling Germany a “dictatorship of values” rang out, accompanied by “Allahu Akbar!” (God is great) chants. Most disturbingly, as The European Conservative reported, at least one placard read “a caliphate is the solution.”
Taking to the social media platform X to express his dismay, Alattar, said he found it “unbelievable, unacceptable, and incomprehensible” that people who’ve “found a home in Germany are turning against Germany,” but added he wasn’t especially taken aback by it since this behavior is “typical of political Islamists.”
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German Intel Stayed Silent on Espionage Suspicions Against MEP’s Aide
Serious questions have arisen in the case surrounding the arrest of the Chinese-born parliamentary aide to AfD MEP Maximilian Krah suspected of spying for Beijing after it came to light that German intelligence agencies, despite working with and monitoring his activities for years, never informed Krah.
Suspicions about Krah’s aide were first reported by The European Conservative last April, which could have been cause for the German MEP to question the AfD’s parliamentary staff further about the perceived doubts about his assistant’s loyalties.
Days ago, the German press revealed that Jian Guo, the arrested parliamentary assistant, had in 2007 been listed as an informant for the Saxony State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV). Over the next eight years, Guo is said to have provided the state intelligence agency with information about people, companies, and associations in Germany with potential links to China’s spy services.
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German State TV Falsely Claims Islamist Rally Calling for a Caliphate Was ‘Right-Wing’
German state television broadcaster ZDF has corrected a false report claiming that a radical Islamist demonstration in Hamburg was organized by those “close to a right-wing extremist group observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.”
The false claim was made on the morning news program heuteeXpress on April 29 by presenter Sara Bilda.
“In fact, the correct sentence would have been “that ‘Muslim Interaktiv’ is being monitored by the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a confirmed extremist movement in the Islamist milieu,” the broadcaster clarified.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungary Says Farmers Must be Saved From EU’s Radical Agricultural Policy With June 9 Vote
The European Union has sacrificed European farmers on the altar of environmental protection, so a fundamental change is needed in EU agricultural policy, which can only be achieved by replacing the current Brussels elite, Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said in Luxembourg on Monday.
Speaking to Hungarian journalists after a meeting of agriculture ministers from member states, Istvan Nagy said the current situation of EU agriculture is a good example of the performance of Brussels decision-makers over the past five years.
It has become clear that the rules written by Brussels bureaucrats, who are completely detached from reality, are not in touch with the reality farmers experience on the ground, he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leak: EU Plans to Dump ‘Rule-of-Law’ Case Against Poland
A Monday, April 29th meeting of European Union commissioners approved plans to move ahead to terminate the seven-year-long ‘rule-of-law’ vendetta against Poland, The European Conservative has learned. The matter will be referred to member states at the European Council for final approval in the days ahead.
A classified document reveals that European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova will soon write to the European Council at the behest of the EU’s Justice Department (DG JUST), citing findings that show “the clear risk of a serious breach no longer exists” regarding the rule of law in Poland. Selectively, this ignores recent crackdowns on the opposition by the country’s new rainbow coalition government, led by former Council President Donald Tusk.
In 2017, the European Commission initiated rule-of-law harassment against the then Polish Law and Justice (PiS) government over alleged conservative interference in the nation’s judiciary. Subsequent legal wrangling resulted in billions of euros of EU funding being withheld from Warsaw. This programme now looks set to be shelved, according to the leaked report.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leak: EU Governments Impose Bulk Scanning Orders on Encrypted Messaging Services
Yet another leaked document has emerged revealing details from the European Union policy regarding the implementation of the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation.
(That’s “chat control” — ultimately designed to allow for bulk scanning of all private communications under the guise of looking for illegal content.)
The latest leak, again first published by the Contexte website, is a working document from the current (Belgian) EU Presidency that concerns draft methodology and criteria for the risk categorization of services.
Things are moving fast over in Brussels, at least on this issue — the draft was published on April 10 to member delegations and was to be discussed as soon as five days later by the Law Enforcement Working Party.
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More Than 120,000 Take Part in May Day Protests Across France, Dozens Arrested
Riot police used tear gas and batons to disperse some of the demonstrators. Police put the number of protesters in the French capital at about 18,000, though the hard-left CGT union put the figure at around 50,000.
Protesters were mainly angry about the cost of living and reform of unemployment benefits, though some also waved Palestinians flags to show solidarity with the people of Gaza.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Names Its New F-35 Fighter Jet After Public Vote
Poland has officially named its F-35 fighter jet “Husarz” (Hussar) following a popular vote.
The General Staff of the Polish Military announced the name of Poland’s new F-35 fighter jet
on social media, marking a new chapter for the Polish Air Force, which expects to receive 32 of the advanced aircraft.
The name “Husarz,” which refers to the historical Polish cavalry known as Hussars, garnered the most support in a public online poll conducted on the social media profiles of the Polish General Staff. The winner of the contest will be invited to a presentation of the first Polish F-35.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Should Receive Nuclear Weapons, Says Lithuanian President
ithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has endorsed the idea of deploying nuclear weapons in Poland as part of NATO’s nuclear sharing program, aiming to bolster European security
Nauseda told journalists that “recent events have indeed led to an increased military presence in our region, especially with the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, this is the reality today, both in the Kaliningrad region and, as far as we know, in Belarus.”
The Lithuanian leader said he believes that deploying such weapons in Poland should not be seen as provoking war or a threat to Russia.
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Polish Conservatives Gain Ground on PM Tusk’s Governing Party Ahead of Upcoming EU Elections
Polish voters are returning to the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party ahead of the upcoming European Parliamentary elections in a recent poll that raises questions over the public’s satisfaction with Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government.
According to polling conducted by CBOS, support for Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) has dropped from 35 percent one month ago to 28 percent. Meanwhile, PiS saw its popularity increase by three points from 23 percent to 26 percent.
The publicly owned pollster tends to produce opinion surveys that show the ruling party ahead and this poll was no different; however, Tusk’s governing liberals have lost a considerable lead on the conservative opposition.
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The planned construction of the Central Communication Port (CPK) in Baranów, between Lódz and Warsaw, which was set to cost over 40 billion zloty (€9.27 billion), has been postponed. Investments will instead flow to Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, which will see its capacity increased to 30 million passengers per year, an increase of 50 percent, at a cost of 2.4 billion zloty (€0.56 billion).
Some flights will be redirected to airports in Modlin, Radom and Lódz, as revealed in Gazeta Wyborcza in the context of the 90th anniversary of the Okecie-Chopin airport.
Commentators have no doubts that this move is a strategy by the government to “sink” the CPK project, which was promoted by the previous conservative government. Instead of a clear decision by Prime Minister Donald Tusk to cancel the investment, there will be a gradual move away from the CPK.
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Renowned Scientist: All COVID-Vaxxed ‘Will Die in 3 to 5 Years’
A world-renowned scientist and leading immunology expert has raised the alarm with an explosive warning to the public that everyone who has been vaccinated with Covid mRNA shots “will die within 3 to 5 years, even if they have had only one injection.”
The alert was issued by Professor Dr. Dolores Cahill.
Prof. Cahill has over 25 years of expertise in high-throughput protein array, antibody array, proteomics technology development, and automation.
The experience includes work on how proteins and antibodies can be used in biomedical applications, including in biomarker discovery, diagnostics, and personalized medicine.
She is the Professor of Translational Science at Conway Institute at the University College Dublin’s (UCD) School of Medicine.
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Scotland: SNP Meltdown Damages Wider Independence Cause
The speedy demise of anti-free speech Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Humza Yousaf; police charges against Peter Murrell, former SNP chief executive and husband of former head of the Scottish government, Nicola Sturgeon; even the worrying decline of Scotland’s education and health systems.
Everything is going wrong for the hard-left SNP, which polling now suggests will pay for its failures at the next election.
But more significant than this is that the wider cause of Scottish independence from the UK appears to have taken a beating, too.
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Separatists Score a Victory in Poland, But Silesian is a Polish Dialect and Not a Language
The decision to declare Silesian a language went through Poland’s parliament last week because the ruling left-liberal coalition backed it, whereas the minority conservative Law and Justice (PiS) opposition were against it. Nevertheless, Silesian may now become Poland’s second regional language, together with Kashubian.
This means that if the bill is signed by the president, the Silesian language is to be added to the act on national and ethnic minorities as the second regional language, alongside the Kashubian language. This includes the possibility of introducing optional Silesian language classes in schools, installing bilingual signs in localities where over 20 percent of the population declares the use of the Silesian language, and subsidizing activities related to the preservation of the Silesian language.
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Sleeping With the Enemy: Swedish Police Staff Leaked Deadly Info to Gang Members
Some 30 police officers in Sweden provoked public outrage in yet another major scandal involving gang activity. It appears that law enforcement officials allowed themselves to be seduced and exploited by gangsters to whom they gave information that later led to several deadly altercations on the streets.
The shocking details were first revealed in an extensive investigation published by the local daily Dagens Nyheter (DN), which found over 500 instances of Swedish police personnel leaking classified information. Gang members were briefed regarding ongoing investigations, upcoming raids, or competing gangs.
DN‘s report also found evidence that leaks concerning information on rival criminals assisted in several attacks on enemy gang members, including at least four murders.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Somali Imam Arrested in Sweden on Terrorism Charges
The 60-year-old leader of a mosque in Tyresö, Sweden, has been arrested on suspicion of direct participation in a terrorism organization. The Somali imam was heading a mosque on a volunteer basis, teaching children and youth on the premises of a Muslim cultural association.
The imam has been leading the mosque at least since the early 2000s, and for a time functioned as the chairman of the cultural association. His arrest was the result of an investigation following a raid by Swedish security services SÄPO in March, where four men in their 20s were detained.
Two of those, converts to Islam, have now been arrested on suspicion of preparation for terrorism and aggravated weapons offense. The two others are members of a known criminal gang. According to TV4, some of the suspects have been on the radar of law enforcement since September of last year.
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Spanish Conservatives Slam Sanchez’s Theatrics After PM Announces He’ll Continue in Office
Spanish conservatives pulled no punches in their criticism of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez after the Spanish premier announced on Monday his intention to continue in office.
At a press conference on Monday, Sanchez said a mobilization of support from his Socialist party had convinced him to stay on as prime minister despite a new investigation being opened into his wife, Begoña Gómez, amid allegations of corruption.
The Socialist leader had announced on Thursday he was stepping down from public duties for a few days to consider his position in light of the new allegations, but has since confirmed he will fight on.
Addressing the public following Sanchez’s announcement, the leader of Spain’s VOX party, Santiago Abascal, accused the prime minister of being an “angry, unleashed autocrat” whose “victimizing” theatrics had plunged Spain into an “international embarrassment of incalculable proportions.”
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Top Molecular Geneticist: COVID Spike Protein is a ‘Bioweapon’
A world-renowned molecular geneticist has warned the public that the spike protein found in the COVID-19 virus and the mRNA vaccines “is a bioweapon.”
Dr. Michael Nehls, a celebrated German scientist, raised the alarm during an interview with Tucker Carlson.
According to Nehls, the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is present in both the virus and the Covid injections, was created with the injection of harming and killing human beings.
Nehls warns that spike protein was designed as “a bioweapon against the brain.”
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UK: London’s Surveillance Scheme Rakes in Millions While Failing the Community
A scheme implemented by a Labour Party-controlled council in London, relying on Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) surveillance, is proving to be a lucrative “business” for the council — but is essentially failing the community it is supposed to serve.
The system is meant to reduce traffic (“rat runs”) in what is known as low-traffic neighborhoods (LTNs). These projects gained momentum with the pandemic, with some now featured in the data gained through freedom of information requests, first introduced in mid-2020.
Two such areas under the authority of the Hammersmith and Fulham council — while reporting significant monetary gains (up to £1.5 million last month in just one LTN) — at the same time had the system issue an exorbitant amount of erroneous fines last year — 83%.
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UK: Man, 36, Charged With Murder of Daniel Anjorin, 14, After Hainault Stabbings
Teenage boy died in attack by man armed with sword, while two police officers and two others were injured
A man has been charged with murder after a series of stabbings in Hainault on Tuesday that left a teenage boy dead.
Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, 36, was charged with the murder of Daniel Anjorin, 14. He will appear at Barkingside magistrates court on Thursday.
Monzo, a Spanish-Brazilian dual national, has also been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article. The families of all those affected have been informed.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Poll: Western Balkan Countries Show Pro-West Trends, But Support for EU Shrinking
WASHINGTON — The western Balkan countries are starkly split between the West and Russia, with the once-strong support for European Union accession now shrinking, according to a recent poll by the International Republican Institute.
The results of the February-March poll, which the Washington-based research group conducted in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, comes as the region faces renewed ethnic tensions amid an EU enlargement slowdown and a rise in pro-Russian sentiment.
The poll found that overwhelming majorities in Albania and Kosovo want their countries to pursue an unequivocally pro-European Union and pro-Western course, while only 10 percent of the respondents in Serbia gave the same response.
A majority of the Serbs polled indicated they want Serbia either to maintain ties to Russia or pursue a pro-Russian foreign policy.
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Clips shared on social media showed how major highways in the Kingdom were overrun by devastating floodwater that cascaded down typically dry and rocky outcrops to flood the cities below
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Turkish Police Arrest 210 at May Day Protests in Istanbul
ISTANBUL: Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Wednesday said 210 people were arrested in clashes with police at May Day rallies in Istanbul.
Turkish police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters as more than 40,000 police personnel were deployed across Istanbul, blocking even small streets with metal barriers.
Earlier President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that annual protests would not be allowed to take place at the Taksim Square on May Day. Authorities since 2013 have banned rallies in Istanbul.
Yerlikaya in a statement on X, said that 210 people were arrested in Istanbul after they attempted to walk to the Taksim Square and attack the police officers on May 1 Labour and Solidarity Day.
Police clashed with demonstrators near city hall, firing rubber bullets and tear gas to stop protesters from breaching barriers.
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At Least 30 Men Have Died Trying to Flee Ukraine Draft
Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, some Ukrainian 30 men have died trying to sneak out of the country and avoid being forced into a war that looks increasingly futile — and increasingly deadly for those on the losing side.
That grim tally was shared by Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service leader Andriy Demchenko in a Monday interview with Ukrinform, a Ukrainian state news agency. The fact that this was disclosed in a state outlet suggests that it was meant to serve as a cautionary tale, to dissuade other Ukrainian men from attempting to leave the country.
“Overall, since the full-scale invasion began, about 30 people have died attempting to illegally cross the border,” Demchenko told Ukrinform. He also said that the government had identified 450 criminal groups that have helped facilitate escapes — for hefty fees.
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Ukrainian Drones Hit Major Rosneft Refinery in Russia
By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com
Just as Russia had started to bring back some refinery capacity damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks earlier this year, a new wave of drone attacks hit a major refinery owned by Rosneft, for a second time.
Rosneft’s Ryazan refinery southeast of Moscow caught fire after the overnight drone attack, an anonymous Ukrainian military source with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.
The refinery in the region of Ryazan, whose main city of the same name is some 120 miles southeast of Moscow, was first attacked by drones in the middle of March. The first attack also led to a fire.
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US Accuses Russia of Using ‘Chemical Weapon’ in Ukraine
The US State Department accused Russia Wednesday of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow.
In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia also used “riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC,” the department said in a factsheet.
“The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield,” the State Department said.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Georgia Rocked by Clashes Over ‘Foreign Agent’ Bill
Riot police in Georgia fired tear gas and water cannon into crowds protesting against a bill seen by the opposition as targeting media freedoms.
Thousands waving Georgian and European Union flags gathered outside parliament for a second night to protest what they see as a Russian-inspired law.
MPs approved the second reading of the controversial “foreign agent” bill on Wednesday.
The EU warns it could harm Tbilisi’s ambitions of joining the bloc.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday she was following events in Georgia with “great concern”.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, she added: “The Georgian people want a European future for their country. Georgia is at a crossroads. It should stay the course on the road to Europe.”
The bill cleared its second reading with a vote of 83 to 23. If it becomes law, organisations would be required to state whether they were funded from abroad.
Georgia’s governing party wants it enacted by the end of the month, but critics say it is authoritarian.
The country has been rocked by weeks of protests over the issue. On Tuesday night, there were similar clashes between police and protesters on Rustaveli Avenue, outside parliament.
Several people were injured, including Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the main opposition party United National Movement (UNM). He posted a picture of his bruised face on social media and later appeared in parliament, his face heavily bandaged.
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Macquarie Bank Ditches Cash at All Branches and Goes ‘Completely Digital’
One of Australia’s largest banks is ditching cash at all of its branches as it shifts towards ‘digital-only’ services.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Illegal immigration into Germany reached a five-year high in the first quarter of 2024, the latest government figures show.
The federal government admitted its failure to combat the ongoing migration crisis in its written response to a question by AfD lawmaker Martin Hess, as seen by German news outlet Junge Freiheit.
It revealed that up to April 1, a total of 20,000 illegal border crossings into Germany were registered by federal police, up 2 percent for the same period last year.
In March, the last month for which figures are available, a significant increase in illegal migrant activity was recorded at the German-Polish border where the largest number of illegal border crossings took place.
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The Perth grandmother told Immigration Minister Andrew Giles that she feels let down by authorities after he finally reached out to her on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Irish authorities this morning launched an operation to move asylum seekers who created a ‘tent city’ on Mount Street in central Dublin amid an ongoing row with the British government over immigration.
Hundreds of migrants have been sleeping rough beside the city’s International Protection Office, setting up makeshift accommodation around the building that snakes off down nearby streets.
A slew of videos circulating on social media showed how officers in hi-vis this morning bundled up tents as the migrants filed onto a string of coaches dispatched to Mount Street.
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A 15-year-old French boy was stabbed to death on Saturday evening by an Afghan migrant in another murder that has caused outrage across the country and put immigration back at the top of public debate.
An Afghan minor of the same age and his 37-year-old mother appeared before an investigating judge on Monday after being arrested for “voluntary homicide.”
The attack occurred in the Saint-Denis region of Chteauroux on Saturday at around 6 p.m. The authorities were dispatched to the scene after receiving reports of a stabbing where they found 15-year-old Matisse lying unresponsive in the street.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Arabic Language CDU Campaign Backfires Spectacularly
The centre-right CDU party recently caused quite a stir in the German city of Leipzig by putting up Arabic and Turkish-language election posters.
The party, which under Chancellor Angela Merkel, was responsible for initiating an open-border policy that let millions of migrants into Europe, has been lambasting the current leftist Berlin government for its own lax migration measures.
Even in Leipzig, the CDU put up election campaign posters demanding a “U-turn in migration policies.”
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Hundreds of Illegal Aliens Set Up Camp in Seattle Park, Demand Handouts From Taxpayers
Hundreds of illegal aliens have established an encampment in a public park in Seattle after the city ran out of funding to house them in hotels.
According to local reports, dozens of tents popped up at Powell Barnett Park in Seattle’s Central District neighborhood.
Illegal border crossers from Venezuela, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are living in the park while they demand that taxpayers pay for their permanent housing.
The group of mostly military-aged men had previously camped outside Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila in early 2023.
However, the Democrat-run “sanctuary city” allocated tax dollars to pay for them to secure a stay at a hotel in Kent, FOX13 Seattle reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Migrant With Alleged ISIS Ties Was Living in the U.S. for More Than Two Years, Officials Say
Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently arrested an Uzbek man in Baltimore with alleged ISIS ties after he had been living inside the United States for over two years, according to two U.S. officials.
The man, 33-year-old Jovokhir Attoev, crossed the border into Arizona and was apprehended by Border Patrol in February 2022, the officials said. At the time, neither Customs and Border Protection nor ICE could find any derogatory information on Attoev. He was released inside the U.S. on bond.
Then, in May 2023, Uzbekistan put out an international notice that Attoev was wanted in his home country for his alleged affiliation with ISIS.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Over 1000 Venezuelan Illegal Aliens Arrested for Committing Crimes in Chicago During 1st Quarter
The latest crime figures have revealed the devastating impact on Chicago from floods of illegal aliens arriving in the Democrat-controlled “sanctuary city.”
During the first three months of this year alone, over 1,000 illegal aliens from Venezuela were arrested for committing crimes in Chicago.
The news comes amid widespread outrage over additional taxpayer money being used to feed and shelter illegal border crossers.
In the first quarter of 2024, Venezuelan illegal aliens were recorded in the crime figures for:
- 609 arrests for driving/traffic offenses
- 9 violent felonies
- 75 violent misdemeanors
- 313 other offenses listed as non-violent
- 9 other crimes listed as unknown or not listed
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan’s Asylum Clampdown Risks Sending Waves of Refugees to Europe
Attempts by the central government in Pakistan to crack down on millions of long-term resident Afghan refugees could set in motion a fresh refugee stampede to Europe.
Human rights organisations warn that 800,000 Afghans face immediate deportation, following some 375,00 Afghans who have left the country since late last year. Islamabad signalled its intent to begin mass expulsions of recently-arrived Afghan refugees in November 2023, ending a tradition of openness to those fleeing conflict in the neighbouring country,
EU operatives are already on the ground dealing with the exodus of Afghans, with one Council of Europe official calling on nations to ‘do more’ to facilitate refugees in conjunction with ‘civil society’ at an embassy level.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Ukrainian Refugees Asking for Protection Against Conscription Have Quadrupled
Poland is weighing its options for dealing with the record-high number of Ukrainians it shelters who are doing their utmost to avoid military service at home.
Under Ukraine’s martial law, men aged 18-60, with some exceptions, are not allowed to leave the country—nor are those living abroad permitted to stay there. In early April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a measure which would lower the compulsory military service age from 27 to 25, allowing for more men to be conscripted.
As reported by Rzeczpospolita, the number of Ukrainian citizens living in Poland having applied for international protection to prevent deportation has quadrupled.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dissatisfaction is growing in Slovenia because the Ljubljana government thinks the solution to the problems caused by foreigners is to legalize illegal migration, former Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa told Hungarian news outlet Magyar Hirlap at the CPAC Hungary 2024 conference.
“The latest figures show that the proportion of migrants has increased several times compared to the previous period. Robert Golob, Slovenia’s left-wing prime minister, has invited migrants, saying the solution to illegal migration is to make it legal. Migration centers are full, and this is the result of this policy. Of course, the population does not like it,” Jansa said.
He added that migration has not yet become a critical social issue only because the government is hiding its true magnitude:
“Perhaps this (migration being a major issue) cannot be said yet, as the government controls the press, so it can hide the actual number of migrants and the problems they cause. But the fact is that discontent is growing, and the issue has become central to the current European Parliament elections.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The number of migrants crossing the Channel on small boats has hit a new record high for the first four months of the year, jumping 27% on 2023.
A total of 7,567 people made the journey from January to April, provisional Home Office figures show.
That is 27% higher than the number of arrivals recorded in the first four months of last year (5,946) and an increase of 13% compared to figures logged for the same period in 2022 (6,691).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The first migrants set to be deported to Rwanda have been detained.
The Home Office said a series of operations took place across the country this week, with more activity due to be carried out in the coming weeks.
Officials have not yet said how many people have been detained, or where they were taken into custody.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Thousands of Migrants Set for Rwanda Deportation Are “Missing”
For a moment, it looked as though the Conservative government’s ‘Rwanda plan’—sending illegal migrants to the African nation for asylum processing—was actually getting somewhere. Having finally managed to get the bill passed into law, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had the first deportation flight pencilled in for July. Officials were even told to start identifying—and possibly detaining—migrants who could be deported.
But then it emerged that thousands of these migrants have effectively gone missing.
The Home Office is in contact with just 38% of those it intends to send to Rwanda, according to a “quietly”-released impact assessment. The document said that of the 5,700 identified for removal, only 2,145 of them “continue to report to the Home Office and can be located for detention.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
George Alan Kelly, the Arizona rancher who became the face of the border crisis after he was charged with shooting a migrant dead on his land, says he feels vindicated after charges were dropped.
Kelly, 75, was charged with the killing of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, a Mexican national found dead on Kelly’s sprawling ranch in January 2023.
He insists he never shot Cuen-Buitimea, instead only firing a warning shot to scare away groups of migrants who regularly crossed through his land.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Who is Crossing the English Channel?
Five more people, including a child, died when trying to cross the English Channel by boat last Tuesday (April 23).
The news came the same day that Rishi Sunak’s government pushed through the next steps of its Rwanda legislation, supposed to deter such attempts to cross from happening. The Rwanda bill has sparked backlash, with a majority of the UK public doubtful that it will cut down on small boat arrivals.
The new law will state that any asylum seeker who has arrived in the UK “illegally” after January 2022 could be deported to Rwanda, where their asylum requests would be processed instead of in the UK.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pride in Protest activist Quay-Quay Quade disrupted proceedings with an expletive-filled tirade at the parliamentary inquiry held in NSW Parliament in Sydney on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Do you think it is possible to write a script for a horror film based on this plot, “Heart of a Tajik”
A Volgograd resident who ate a human heart left prison for a Special Military Operation.
The cannibal Dmitry Malyshev, known throughout the country for his terrible act, signed a contract and went to the zone of a special military operation, where he met with the dismemberment maniac from Volzhsky, Alexander Maslennikov. They published a common photo on social media.
10 years ago, Dmitry Malyshev was sentenced to 25 years for killing his friend from Tajikistan, cutting out his heart, which he then fried and ate with vegetables. The Volgograd resident filmed the entire process. He was also charged with a number of other crimes. Alexander Maslennikov met two girls at a club, invited them to his home, where he brutally killed them, dismembered them and then buried them in the forest.
Years later, both criminals ended up in the SVO zone. According to the V1.ru portal, Malyshev went to the Northern Military District “in the name of the traditional values of Russia.”
https://xn--b1ats.xn--80asehdb/feed/obshchestvo/sevshiy-chelovecheskoe-serdtse-volgogradets-otpravilsya-iz-tyurmy-na-svo-7823034337.html
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I’m sitting here and thinking: Why do I need all this reincarnation in Russia? I think about Eudaimonia and Ataraxia, listen to the music of the Baroque era… Why do I need all this????
UCLA’s faculty and administration are overwhelmingly leftist and vote Democrat. The mess at UCLA is a result of university policy, and reflects the policy of the entire University of California System, and of the State of California legislature and Governor’s Office. UCLA is a government indoctrination center and social engineering laboratory, masquerading as an educational institution.
The whole US education system is far left indoctrination. It will be impossible to deprogram these “social justice warriors” who have been taught for decades that all western people are colonialists. The Palestinians have joined every cause in anti American protest claiming to be among the brown oppressed.
Replacing the American flag with the Palestinian flag is the clear message of “we will replace you”. Islam is in this for the long haul.
Cynthia: Exactly.
This time?!
“It’s clear that Trump’s political enemies will stop at nothing to keep him out of the White House this time…They’re convinced that Trump is the equivalent of Hitler and that he’ll destroy democracy if he’s elected. So in their minds, the ends justify the means. They’ll justify any action, legal or illegal, to ensure his defeat…Nineteen Eighty-Four was supposed to be fiction. Unfortunately, it’s becoming reality.” —James Rickards (30 Apr 2024)
https://dailyreckoning.com/will-trump-survive-this/
“As predicted in April 2017, as beneficial as his ACTIONS as president have been for the country, I reckon “Orange Hitler’s” odds of completing his first term remain at 50/50. That is, one could make a good, cogent case either way. The guy’s a marketing genius who ACTS like a bug that’s drawn to whichever bug-zapper’s being missed by all the other bugs, so he’s assured of making the GREATEST splash.
And, actually, considering the powers that’re allied against him and their long history of law-breaking and irrationality, the odds’re probably more like 49/51 against. But I could be wrong..” —posted to fb (July 2018)
Obamerica.
Just figured that out, huh?
“Dear President Biden,
Your administration’s reported plan to accept Gazan refugees poses a national security risk to the United States. With more than a third of Gazans supporting the Hamas militants, we are not confident that your administration can adequately vet this high-risk population for terrorist ties and sympathies before admitting them into the United States…” —34 GOP Senators (1 May 2024)
https://www.ernst.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/gazan_refugees_letter.pdf
“The latest in Joe Biden’s AMERICA LAST agenda is an absurd scheme to bring into our country the people who cheered as Americans and Israelis were killed, beaten, raped, and taken hostage on October. THESE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE WHO ELECTED HAMAS AS THEIR GOVERNMENT. These are people who live next to Egypt, yet EGYPT FINDS THEM TOO MUCH OF A NATIONAL SECURITY RISK TO LET THEM INTO THEIR COUNTRY.”
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4639059-gop-senators-palestinian-refugees-national-security-risk/
“Joe Biden is an incompetent, anti-American stooge; possibly (even likely) funded by enemies of the United States.” —posted to fb (Aug 2021)