In the wee hours of this morning, a 29-year-old Delaware man named Richard A. York III rammed his car into a police barricade near the Capitol in Washington D.C. After setting the car on fire, he exited from the vehicle while firing a gun into the air. As police approached him, he turned the gun on himself and shot himself to death. It’s not yet clear how much of a white supremacist he was.
In other news, a young woman on a flight from Cyprus to Manchester stripped to her underwear and tried to storm the cockpit twice while shouting “Allahu Akhbar” (Arabic for “Down with patriarchal oppression”) and claiming that she had explosives. She was eventually restrained by a courageous fellow passenger.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, JW, LP, MM, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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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.
CPI Inflation in Moldova Hits 33.6% y/y in July
Consumer prices in Moldova increased by 1.4% in July, the slowest rate in the past year, but the annual inflation rate edged up to 33.6% y/y from 31.8% y/y in June, the statistics bureau announced.
Food prices increased by 36.4% y/y as of July, the prices of non-food goods by 24.1% y/y and the prices of services (which include natural gas and electricity) by 43.5% y/y.
In particular, the price of natural gas quadrupled compared to July 2021 and the price of electricity increased by 59%. The prices of hot water and heating increased by 80-90% y/y.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Inflation Surges to 13.7% y/y in July
Hungarian consumer price growth accelerated growth to 13.7% in July from 11.7% in June, a new 25-year high, figures from the Central Statistics Office (KSH) show (chart).
The July reading came in at 0.6pp above market consensus, weakening the Hungarian forint. The HUF was already struggling earlier in the day due to worries about oil supply after Ukraine suspended Russian oil flows to southern Europe because it did not receive transit fees.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moody’s Downgrades Turkey to Six Notches Below Investment Grade
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Turkey’s sovereign rating by one notch to B3 with a stable outlook, taking it to six notches below investment grade, the rating agency said on August 12 (Chart: Turkey’s rating history by Moody’s).
Pressure on the balance of payments has risen and the increasingly unorthodox policies from the Erdogan administration are unlikely to restore macroeconomic stability, Moody’s said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
North Macedonia’s Annual Inflation Accelerates to 16% in July
North Macedonia’s average annual inflation accelerated by 1.5 percentage points (pp) from the previous month to 16% in July (chart), statistics office data showed on August 8.
Inflation started to increase rapidly since April 2021. The central bank said in July that the inflation was mainly driven by import prices of food and energy, which are growing at a much stronger pace than expected. However, the pressures quickly spilled over to the prices of other products and services, and added to fuel inflationary expectations.
Month-on-month, the consumer price index (CPI) in North Macedonia slowed down by 0.9 pp from the previous month to 1.9% in July.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Average Annual Inflation High Next Year, Central Bank Head Says
Next year’s average annual inflation will remain high, Poland’s central bank governor wrote in a Friday article for the Super Express tabloid’s website.
Adam Glapinski wrote that inflation was expected to fall next year, but would still remain at a high level, with a bigger drop expected in 2024.
He added that the inflation increase recorded in many economies had global sources, mainly rising energy and natural gas costs, therefore bringing it down would not be possible without global-scale undertakings by central banks.
The tightening monetary policy introduced by central banks will slow economic growth and as a result bring down inflation, Glapinski wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland’s CPI Hits 15.6 pct y/y in July — Stats Office
Prices of consumer goods and services (Consumer Price Index, CPI) increased by 15.6 percent year on year and by 0.5 percent month on month in July 2022, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) reported in a flash estimate on Friday.
In an earlier flash estimate GUS reported CPI had increased by 15.5 percent year on year and by 0.4 percent month on month in July 2022.
Economists polled by PAP Business estimated that July’s CPI would reach 15.4 percent year on year and 0.4 percent month on month.
In June, the prices of consumer goods and services increased by 15.5 percent year on year and by 1.5 percent month on month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The State of Unemployment in Europe
As Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the infographic below, based on new data from Eurostat, in June 2022 the EU countries (plus the UK) where unemployment was most widespread were Spain (12.6 percent), Greece (12.3 percent) and Italy (8.1 percent).
In contrast, Switzerland (2.0 percent), the Czech Republic (2.4 percent), Poland (2.7 percent) and Germany (2.8 percent) had the lowest rates.
This compares to the average rate for the European Union of 6.0 percent, which is an improvement on the 7.2 percent average of the year before.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Unemployment Slightly Rose in Czechia in July
At the end of July, 240,706 Czechs were seeking employment through Czech authorities, the Czech Labour Office’s latest data show. This figure is 9,397 more people than the previous month, translating into a rise of 0.2% and a 3.3% unemployment rate. (chart)
When compared to last year this is 31,472 less unemployed Czechs, translating to 0.4% decrease of unemployment in a year-on-year comparison.
Development in the upcoming months will also be dependent on the war in Ukraine, particularly on the “number of newly registered applicants for employment from Ukraine, impact of the energy crisis on the employers or persisting high inflation”, Director of the Labour Office Viktor Najmon told Czech TV.
By the end of July 73,908 Ukrainians worked in Czechia under the temporary asylum scheme.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elizabeth Warren, whose career was built on a lie about her heritage, allegedly claimed that people would “come up to her” and tell her that she’d have their vote if only she was equipped with a penis.
“Everyone comes up to me and says, ‘I would vote for you, if you had a penis’,” Warren reportedly told NBC Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali, who wrote about the comment in her new book “Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House … Yet,” Politico reports.
The story was greeted with widespread derision on social media. “[Warren] should name a single person that has ever said this to her,” said Washington Free Beacon Executive Editor Brent Scher.
The popular account NumbersMuncher, meanwhile, jokingly pointed out: “So people took the time to go to Warren’s events and spent hours there… only to take the time to tell her they would vote for her ‘if you had a penis’?” —Just the News
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Amazon Deploys Palm Recognition to More Whole Foods Stores
65 Whole Food Stores in California will soon have Amazon One, the tech giant’s palm print payment technology. The expansion was announced despite the privacy concerns the technology raises.
Amazon One allows customers to pay for groceries using their palms, instead of their phone or card. The technology was first announced in 2020 and was trialed at Whole Food stores in New York, Los Angeles, Austin, and Seattle. According to the company, customers have said that the payment system is more convenient.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Amazon Plots to Turn Surveillance Network Into Reality TV Series
Comedian Wanda Sykes will host a new show, called “Ring Nation,” that will feature videos captured by Amazon Ring cameras, according to a report on Deadline. Amazon-owned MGM Television and Big Fish Entertainment will produce the show.
The show will feature funny and viral content captured by Ring cameras, like “neighbors saving neighbors, marriage proposals, military reunions and silly animals.”
Such videos can be entertaining and often go viral. However, they pull people’s attention from the mass surveillance Ring cameras conduct. Videos from Ring cameras have been used in investigations by law enforcement in the US and abroad, even pulling video from people’s doorbell cameras without a warrant.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Congressman Perry Gets Phone Back From FBI, Unclear About Motives Behind Seizure
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-Pa.) confirmed that he has received his cell phone back from the FBI after the agency had seized it a few days back.
On Aug. 9, a day after raiding former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, FBI agents had taken Perry’s phone as part of a separate investigation. At the time, Perry was traveling with his family. Speaking to “Capitol Report” on NTD News, the GOP member confirmed that he has received his phone.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Death Penalty Looms Over NYC Bike Path Attack Jury Selection
NEW YORK (AP) — About 200 potential jurors for the trial of a man charged with killing eight people on a New York City bike path in a terror attack filled out questionnaires Thursday posing questions about the death penalty in a case in which the U.S. Justice Department still has not indicated if it will seek death if there is a conviction.
The questionnaires handed to people sworn in Thursday in Manhattan federal court will be used to help choose 12 jurors and six alternates for the Oct. 11 trial of Sayfullo Saipov.
Saipov, who has pleaded not guilty, was charged in the Oct. 31, 2017, attack after he emerged from a truck that struck numerous pedestrians with a pellet gun and a paintball gun and shouted an Arabic phrase, “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is Great.” He was shot by a police officer and arrested at the scene along the West Side Highway.
Saipov was not in court Thursday as Judge Vernon S. Broderick addressed the potential jurors for about 20 minutes. He described the jury selection process and the charges Saipov faces while emphasizing that the defendant was presumed innocent unless proven otherwise.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former National Intelligence Director: Trump Has ‘Ultimate Declassification Authority’
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A former director of national intelligence said Aug. 12 that it is “virtually impossible” to prosecute people for mishandling classified documents, and asserted that former President Donald Trump has the “ultimately declassification authority” in terms of such documents.
“The president does have ultimate declassification authority. He can literally declassify—and President Trump had that authority, and could declassify anything you want while he was president,” John Ratcliffe, a Republican congressman before Trump appointed him to be director of national intelligence, said on Fox News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former FBI Agent Says Mar-a-Lago Raid Was Government’s Attempt to ‘Embarrass’ Trump
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Greg Shaffer, a retired FBI agent for the elite hostage rescue team, said that the agency’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Aug. 8 was “completely and totally unprecedented.”
“I don’t know what the FBI, Department of Justice, or this administration was thinking by doing this,” Shaffer said in an Aug. 10 interview with NTD. “It was an overt act meant to embarrass the former president. It just shows the total lack of optics on their end. The rule of law obviously does not play equal on both sides anymore.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Scott Wheeler via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Years of investigations have led to claims by Republicans of partisan political power plays at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice.
A raid on former President Donald Trump’s home on Aug. 8 has sharpened the nation’s focus on what many Republicans have been raising alarms about for years—the politicization of the Justice Department (DOJ) and its law enforcement arm, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Republican U.S. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa has been demanding answers about alleged politicization well before the raid.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Delta Airlines Attendant Sues After Being Fired for Anti-Trump Meme
Former Delta Airlines attendant Leondra Taylor is suing the company for firing her for sharing an anti-Trump meme on Facebook.
The complaint alleges that Taylor was fired in April 2020 after sharing a photo on Facebook featuring President Trump in a Ku Klux Klan hood while debating with Joe Biden, with the moderator saying:
“Thank you, Mr. President, for wearing your mask.”
Delta claimed that the image was “racially motivated” and that it violated the company’s social media policy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
JPMorgan Traders Found Guilty of Manipulating Gold Market for Years
CHICAGO (BLOOMBERG) — The former head of JPMorgan Chase’s precious metals business and his top gold trader were convicted in Chicago on charges they manipulated markets for years, handing the US government a win in its long crackdown on bogus “spoofing” orders.
Michael Nowak and Gregg Smith were found guilty on Wednesday (Aug 10) by a federal jury after a three-week trial and more than eight days of deliberations. Prosecutors presented evidence that included detailed trading records, chat logs and testimony by former co-workers who “pulled back the curtain” on how Nowak and Smith moved precious metals prices up and down for profit from 2008 to 2016.
A salesman on the desk, Mr Jeffrey Ruffo, was acquitted of charges that he participated in the conspiracy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ken Griffin Deploys More Than $1 Billion on Florida Real Estate After Leaving Chicago
How finished with Chicago — and how optimistic on Florida — is Citadel’s Ken Griffin? He’s $1 billion sure.
Griffin has already spent over $1 billion on real estate recently, but CNBC noted on Friday that he was putting even more cash to work in Florida.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Crashes Car Near US Capitol Barricade, Opens Fire and Kills Himself
A man drove a vehicle into a barricade near the US Capitol early on Sunday and opened fire in the street before fatally turning the gun on himself as his car burst into flames, authorities said.
Nobody else was injured in the 4 a.m. incident, which started when the man, identified as Richard A. York III, 29, of Delaware, rammed his car into a barricade at East Capitol Street and Second Street in Washington DC, according to the US Capitol Police.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Crashes Burning Car Into US Capitol Barricade Before Shooting Himself: Police
WASHINGTON — A man drove his car into a barricade near the U.S. Capitol early Sunday and then began firing gunshots in the air from the burning car before fatally shooting himself, police said.
The incident happened just after 4 a.m. at a vehicle barricade set at East Capitol Street and 2nd Street in Washington.
It comes at a time when law enforcement authorities across the country are facing an increasing number of threats and federal officials have warned about the potential of violent attacks on government buildings in the days since the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Salman Rushdie is ‘Pulling Through’ And is ‘Feisty and Defiant’ After Stabbing, Family Says
Salman Rushdie is able to speak and retains his “feisty and defiant” sense of humor, his family said in a statement Sunday — as his ex-wife Padma Lakshmi expressed relief that the author was “pulling through” after being stabbed multiple times at a lecture in upstate New York.
The famed writer’s son confirmed reports that his father was off a ventilator after the Friday attack, and said that while he appears in good spirits, he remains in critical condition with “life changing injuries.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sen. Rand Paul Calls for Repeal of the Espionage Act Following FBI Raid of Trump’s Florida Estate
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is calling for a repeal of the Espionage Act after the Federal Bureau of Investigations raided former President Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Paul made the announcement in a tweet on Saturday night.
“The espionage act was abused from the beginning to jail dissenters of WWI. It is long past time to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st Amendment,” Paul tweeted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Special Ops Veteran Cancels Plans for Sunday Protest at FBI Headquarters After ‘Trap’ Warnings
Authored by Patricia Tolson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
In the wake of the unexpected fallout sparked by an Aug. 8 media pitch, a military veteran has revised his plans to hold a protest at the FBI headquarters in Washington on Sunday, Aug. 14.
Following the unprecedented raid on the Mar-a-Lago residence of former President Donald Trump, an Aug. 8 media pitch announced that a 20-year military and former Special Ops veteran named Adam Hardage was “calling on fellow veterans and Americans of all walks to join him Sunday 8/14 at the FBI HQ in Washington DC to protest the out of control FBI and its actions against President Trump.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Texas small-town police department refused to apologize for a selfie one of its officers snapped with Kyle Rittenhouse amid a slew of online criticism, noting how the now 19-year-old was acquitted by a jury of his peers in the August 2020 shooting of three demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“Make those stops, you never know who you might meet. Today it was Kyle Rittenhouse, welcome to Texas,” the Thrall Police Department, which serves the city outside of Austin, wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday, sharing a selfie of an unidentified officer smiling with Rittenhouse.
The post received more than 1,700 comments, 1,500 shares and 10,000 likes as of Sunday’s count.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Calls for Seized Documents to be Returned to Mar-a-Lago
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for the Justice Department to return the reams of documents FBI agents seized at his Mar-a-Lago resort last week, pointing to a report that said the information was covered by attorney-client or executive privilege.
“Oh great! It has just been learned that the FBI, in its now famous raid of Mar-a-Lago, took boxes of privileged ‘attorney-client’ material, and also ‘executive’ privileged material, which they knowingly should not have taken,” Trump said on his Truth Social site.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
What Forensic Testing Reveals About Revolver in on-Set ‘Rust’ Shooting
The report is part of a criminal investigation into the deadly shooting.
The gun used in the fatal shooting on the “Rust” movie set could not have been fired without pulling the trigger, according to an FBI forensic report obtained Friday by ABC News.
Actor Alec Baldwin shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western, which he was producing and starring in, last year. The actor believed he was handling a “cold gun” — one without live ammunition — when it went off and a live bullet struck Hutchins, killing her. The film’s director, Joel Souza, was also wounded in the shooting.
Accidental discharge testing determined that the firearm used in the shooting — a .45 Colt (.45 Long Colt) caliber F.lli Pietta single-action revolver — could not have fired without the trigger being pulled, the FBI report shows.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
White House Says ‘We Get’ Biden’s Low Poll Numbers, Insists He’s Running in 2024
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Sunday said “we get” President Biden’s low job approval numbers — but insisted he will mount a reelection bid in 2024, despite some Democratic lawmakers saying he should step aside.
ABC News’ Jonathan Karl asked Jean-Pierre about a recent poll that showed a majority of Americans believe the US economy is getting worse and questioned her on why “so many Americans are unhappy with President Biden’s handling of it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Did Health Canada Weigh the Risk vs. Benefit of the COVID Vaccines for Minors Before Authorization?
In partnership with the often shadowy Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Health Canada continues to rubber stamp novel COVID-19 mRNA injections for Canadians.
As of July 14, Health Canada authorized the Moderna injection for babies, toddlers and preschoolers aged 6 months to 4 years old at a lower mRNA dose than that which is approved for 5 year olds and up.
This came the same day that the Canadian COVID Care Alliance (CCCA) — an alliance of over 600 independent Canadian doctors, scientists and healthcare professionals intent on sharing quality, balanced and evidenced based information to the Canadian public — launched their #StopTheShots campaign. In their launch video, they discuss poor clinical trial design, inadequate testing and safety data but also, their opinion that the benefits of what they refer to as genetic vaccines are short-lived and therefore the risk of the unknowns with the novel biologic does not outweigh the benefit as advertised by the manufacturers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
European Energy Crisis Deepens as Power Prices Reach Records
European power prices rose to fresh records on Thursday as a heatwave limits energy supplies and wildfires rage across France.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Finns Accused of Plotting ‘Satanic Neo Nazi’ Terror Offences
Five young men in Finland could be facing terrorism charges over forming an alleged “Satanic Neo Nazi” group and plotting to carry out attacks.
The five men living in the Kankaanpää region were initially arrested last December and police have claimed they adhere to the ideology of “accelerationism” and were working to collapse Finland’s social system through acts of terror and violence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Climate Activists Fill Golf Holes With Cement After Water Ban Exemption
Climate activists in southern France have filled golf course holes with cement to protest against the exemption of golf greens from water bans amid the country’s severe drought.
The group targeted sites near the city of Toulouse, calling golf the “leisure industry of the most privileged”.
The exemption of golf greens has sparked controversy as 100 French villages are short of drinking water.
Golf officials say greens would die in three days without water.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Woman Dragged Away and Raped in Paris Street by ‘African-Type’ Man: Report
A 25-year-old woman claims to have been dragged off the street in Paris and raped earlier this week by a man she described as having an “African-type” appearance in what is just the latest public rape attack within a week.
The woman was allegedly raped at around 3 a.m. on Thursday in the 12th arrondissement (district) of Paris near the Rue Erard, with the 25-year-old victim claiming she was dragged into a dead end by a man near the Reuilly-Diderot metro station.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Latvia Designates Russia as Terrorist State, Urges Europe to Follow
Latvia on Thursday became among the first European countries to designate Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism” after nearby Lithuania was the first to do so back in May. Latvia’s Parliament made the declaration while alleging that Russian forces are targeting civilians in the ongoing Ukraine invasion, and urged other countries to implement their own formal designations.
Out of the 100-seat assembly, 67 lawmakers voted yes, with 16 abstaining. The formal designation charged Russia forces with enacting “Suffering and intimidation as tools in its attempts to demoralize the Ukrainian people and armed forces and paralyze the functioning of the state.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A hero-father-of-three restrained a woman who stripped to her underwear and ran through a Manchester-bound plane naked before trying to storm the cockpit twice while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.
Phillip O’Brien, 35, was a passenger on the Jet2 flight from Lanarca, Cyprus to Manchester on Tuesday 9 August when a woman, in her 30s, caused the panicked scene shortly after take-off.
The woman seemed to suggest she had explosives on board with her, and also asked the children she was with if they were ‘ready to die’.
She also told the terrified passengers and staff that her parents were members of terror group ISIS.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
McKinsey Won Dutch Contracts Without a Call for Tenders
The global consulting firm McKinsey was awarded contracts without a call for tenders in the Netherlands and it was an important link in the rollout of the “new normal” during the Coronavirus scare.
Data analyst Cees van den Bos has unearthed FOI documents about the role that consultancy firm McKinsey played in the Dutch government’s Corona approach. Wopke Hoekstra, who has served as second Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the fourth Rutte cabinet since 10 January 2022, was a partner at this consultancy firm prior to his ministry position.
During the pandemic, McKinsey was awarded various contracts without a call for tenders and turned out to be an important link in the roll-out of the “new normal” and large donations to NGOs, Van den Bos discovered.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: Support Gap Narrows Between Ruling Coalition, Main Opposition Bloc
Poland’s ruling United Right coalition enjoys the support of 37 percent of voters, against 31-percent backing for the main opposition grouping, the Civic Coalition (KO), a new poll has shown.
The poll, commissioned by the wPolityce website and conducted by the Social Changes pollster, showed KO’s support to have grown by 4 percentage points (pps) since the last survey while the United Right’s support dropped by 1 pps.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Population Decline to Take Emerging Europe Back to the Early 20th Century
Population decline across almost all of emerging Europe will result in the populations of many countries dropping to levels not seen since the early 20th century.
UN data shows that the total population of the post-socialist countries in Central, Southeast and Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia will drop from 418mn in 2021 to an expected 362mn by the end of the century, according to the median projection in the World Population Prospects 2022 report.
Taking out the countries of Central Asia — the only region where countries have rapidly growing populations — the slump is even deeper, from 339mn to 231mn, or a decline of 32%, according to bne IntelliNews calculations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scotland: Police Probe Threat Against J.K. Rowling After She Tweets Support for Salman Rushdie
Police in Scotland on Sunday said they are investigating reports of an online threat against author J.K. Rowling after she tweeted in support of Salman Rushdie.
The chilling threat against the “Harry Potter” creator came after she posted “feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok” on Friday, in reference to Rushdie being stabbed while he was giving a lecture in upstate New York.
“Don’t worry you are next,” a Twitter user replied to Rowling’s post.
A spokesperson for Scotland’s police said, “We have received a report of an online threat being made and officers are carrying out enquiries.”
Rowling on Saturday also confirmed cops were involved after she shared screenshots of the threatening tweet and another by the same user praising the man who allegedly attacked Rushdie.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Soros Turns to Austria to Prepare Regime Change in Belarus
Belarusian exiles are being trained at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna — quietly and secretly. The dubious program is funded by Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) from the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Will the next regime change in the Eastern European country be orchestrated in Austria? This much is clear: The ex-chancellor has met several times in the past with representatives of the Belarusian opposition. He also maintains close ties to global financiers of regime change groups.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK University Posts Hand Selected by Communist China According to Political Allegiance: Report
Communist China reportedly has the final say on the recruitment of staff who run and operate Confucius Institutes on British universities, with prospective candidates’ political beliefs and backgrounds being subject to the scrutiny of Bejing.
Although many Western nations have banned Confucius Institutes (CI) from their campuses, the CCP propaganda outlets has been left free to operate with apparently little scrutiny in Britain.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ‘Disgusting’ Farmer Rages at Vegan Activists Who Threw Around Milk Around Supermarkets
Farmers have raged at vegan activists after protesters associated with an animal rights group were captured pouring dairy produce over the floor of a Harrods department store. A frustrated farmer branded the protesters “childish” after the display organised by activist group Animal Rebellion gathered attention. The waste of produce has been slammed amid the cost of living crisis hammering households across Britain and the activists have been accused of having “no idea” of food production. Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones said: “We’ve got to stop these people.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Rape Gang Victims Were Branded ‘Troublemakers’, ‘Child Prostitutes’ By Police: Survivor
Politically correct police officers and local officials who failed to tackle mostly Muslim, South Asian heritage rape gang groomers dismissed their victims as “child prostitutes” and “troublemakers”, a survivor has revealed.
The issue of so-called grooming gangs, largely consigned to obscure regional reports by the establishment media again after a number of high-profile scandals in towns and cities including Rochdale, Rotherham, and Telford enjoyed a brief spell in the spotlight, has been highlighted again over the course of the Conservative Party leadership contest, which will decide the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Interview: Has Ukraine’s Southern Offensive Finally Begun?
After a series of explosions on a Russian military airfield on Ukraine’s occupied Crimean Peninsula, Kyiv officials told Western media that the blasts marked a new phase in the nearly six-month war and the start of a long-awaited counteroffensive in southern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian officials who spoke of the August 9 attack did so anonymously but said their country’s forces had a direct role in the blasts. Publicly, Kyiv has denied responsibility but also spoken coyly about the explosions in Crimea, which was forcibly annexed by Moscow in 2014.
On August 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on officials to stop talking to reporters about military tactics, announcing an investigation would be held into the disclosures…
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Asks Ukraine to ‘Stop Shelling’ Nuclear Plant, Let International Inspectors In
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces on Sunday fired rockets on the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, killing at least one person, and a Russian diplomat called on Ukraine to offer security assurances so that international inspectors could visit a nuclear power station that has come under fire.
The Mykolaiv region is just to the north of the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces have vowed to retake. The Ukrainian emergency service said one person was killed in shelling early Sunday of the Mykolaiv region settlement of Bereznehuvate.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A large fireworks blast in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, rocked the city on Sunday, killing multiple people and wounding dozens more.
The explosion, which occurred at the Surmalu market, killed at least two people and injured at least 60 others.
First responders were still battling the fire that the explosion set off at the shopping mall well into the night while others tried to search for people who might be trapped under the rubble.
Video of the incident shows a massive plume of black smoke coming up from the area before the explosion leveled the building and sent people running.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
China Censors Platform That Contradicted Government’s Recommend COVID Measures
Hangzhou Lianke Meixun Biomedical Technology Co., the company behind the health and science fact-checking website DXY, had some of its social media accounts censored.
Some of the company’s Weibo accounts have been suspended for “violating regulations.” On other social media platforms, the company has not posted since Monday. The censored accounts combined had 8.69 million followers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Lawmakers Land in Taiwan on Unannounced Trip 12 Days After Pelosi Visit
A mere 12 days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip enraged China and triggered a week of threatening military drills, a new delegation of American lawmakers has touched down on the self-ruled island.
“The five-member delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will meet senior leaders to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade, investment and other issues, the American Institute in Taiwan said,” The Associated Press reports.
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‘Gun-Free’ Oz: Shooter Opens Fire in Australian Capital’s Airport
(AFP) — A gunman fired around five shots inside Canberra’s main airport Sunday, sending passengers fleeing but injuring no one before he was detained by Australian police.
Images posted on social media showed a police officer restraining a man on the ground inside the terminal as the emergency alarm sounded in the capital’s main airport.
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Nigeria Will be a Testing Ground for Microsoft’s Digital ID Tech
Microsoft will partner with Nigeria in the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project in the areas of “data protection and capacity development.”
In a press release, Microsoft’s head of government affairs Nonye Ujam lauded the Nigeria Digital ID4D project for what has already been done in the areas of digital identity and expressed Microsoft’s readiness to help the project succeed.
“We are here to ensure that we support you to make things work very well. We are happy with the achievements Nigeria ID4D has recorded in such a short period,” Ujam said.
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Mexican Cartel Attacks Multiple Northern Mexico Towns
Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, also known as CJNG, have claimed responsibility for multiple attacks across multiple northern Mexico towns, some located across the United States southern border. A series of attacks were reported across Tijuana, Tecate, Ensenada, Rosarito and Mexicali in Baja California on Friday.
The cartel set 10 vehicles ablaze in Tijuana. They also posted a message in the city giving people a curfew and telling residents they’ll be hurt if seen outside from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. PT.
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YouTube Censors Journalists in Brazil Over “Hate Speech”
Brasil 247 announced that YouTube has removed at least 15 videos from its channel over “hate speech.”
“Youtube has just removed dozens of videos from TV 247 for alleged hate speech when the essence of our work is precisely the fight against hate speech and fascism. We are in contact with Youtube, but we need everyone’s solidarity at this moment,” said Brasil 247’s journalist Leonardo Attuch in a statement.
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Belarusian Services Destroy Border Barrier Polish Border Guard Says
Belarusian services use specialised tools to damage the fence at the border with Poland, Polish Border Guard has said.
Poland has completed construction of a 187-kilometre-long fence stretching along the Polish-Belarusian border in response to last year’s crisis caused by thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, attempting to cross the Polish frontier from Belarus and enter the European Union.
In addition to the five-metre high wall made of steel spans, electronic surveillance systems are being installed to secure a total of 202 kilometres.
On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Polish Border Guard (SG) told PAP, citing migrants detained on the Polish side, that Belarusian officers “not only drive migrants to the border, but also try to force the security measures to clear the way for them.”
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European Union Court: Italy Cannot Revoke Welfare Benefits of Violent Migrant
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that Italy cannot expel a migrant from its reception system, even if the migrant in question has been accused of violence.
The CJEU ruling regards a case of a Senegalese asylum seeker in the Italian reception system who had his welfare benefits revoked by the prefecture of Florence, which deprived him of handouts after he was accused of a violent attack on a railway worker.
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Italy: Afghan Released From Jail a Day After Arrest for Sex Assault on Two Minors
A 34-year-old Afghan migrant accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls at an Italian beach has been released by a judge just a day after his arrest.
The Afghan admitted to touching one of the girls while swimming but was able to convince the judge to release him from jail, despite calls by the prosecutor to keep the 34-year-old in pre-trial detention.
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Italy Elections: Salvini Party MP Hospitalised After Migrant Threw Rock at Car on Motorway
An Italian member of parliament from populist Matteo Salvini’s League party was hospitalised this week after a migrant threw missiles at moving vehicles along a major Italian motorway.
League MP Claudia Gobbato was injured and taken to hospital after the migrant, a 22-year-old Egyptian national, allegedly threw an object at her vehicle, smashing the windscreen and causing glass to hit her in the eye as she was travelling with her family for their summer holidays.
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Italy Elections: Over 45,000 Boat Migrants Have Arrived Illegally So Far This Year
The Italian Interior Ministry has released new statistics showing that, since the start of 2022, over 45,000 migrants have illegally entered the country as new boat landings continue on Italian shores.
The Interior Ministry figures say that a total of 45,664 migrants have arrived on Italian shores since January 1st — a substantial rise from the same period last year, in which 32,533 migrants arrived in Italy illegally by sea.
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More than 20,000 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year, Government figures show.
Some 607 were detected on Saturday — the third time the total has topped 600 since the start of 2022.
It takes the provisional total for the year to 20,017.
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Not Climate Change? Shisha-Smoking Iraqis Started German Forest Fire, Police Say
German police have identified four shisha-smoking Iraqi migrants as suspects in a forest fire in Saxony that took place last month and devastated the Saxon Switzerland National Park.
The four Iraqi men, aged between 24 and 25, have been identified by the German Criminal Police (Kripo) in connection to the wildfire which broke out in mid-July.
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Poland Accepts Nearly 5.5 Mln Refugees Since War in Ukraine Started
Since February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, close to 5.5 million people have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border into Poland, the Border Guard (SG) tweeted on Sunday morning.
According to the SG, on Saturday Border Guard officers carried out around 27,700 border checks on people entering Poland from Ukraine, and by 7:00 a.m. on Sunday the number of arrivals had reached around 7,000 people.
The Border Guard also said that more than 3.63 million people had left Poland for Ukraine since the beginning of the war. On Saturday, around 33,700 people crossed the border from Poland to Ukraine.
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‘Too Cold’ — Afghan Refugees Refuse Free Homes in Scotland and Wales
Refugees from Afghanistan have reportedly refused to move to Scotland or Wales from their taxpayer-funded hotel accommodations for fear that the countries are “too cold” or that they don’t speak English.
On Friday, the government revealed that around 21,000 Afghans have been relocated to the United Kingdom after President Joe Biden’s disastrous and hasty withdrawal from the country, ceding control of the South Asian nation to the Islamist Taliban.
According to a report from The Telegraph, around 9,500 Afghans and their families are still being housed in hotels in England a year after they were evacuated from Kabul.
The scheme to house the refugees in hotels is costing the taxpayer around £1 million per day. This is in addition to the £3 million spent per day housing other migrants in hotels, including those who cross the English Channel illegally.
The British broadsheet reported that, despite many Afghans being unhappy with remaining in hotels for such a long time, there is a reluctance to move to Scotland or Wales because they believe the British Home Nations are too cold.
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Atlantic Op-Ed Claims Catholic Rosary Has Become ‘An Extremist Symbol’
Atlantic contributor Daniel Panneton declared that the Catholic rosary has become a “symbol” of religious radicalism.
The rosary is a string of beads or knots used by Catholics as they pray a sequence of prayers, but one writer warned they have taken on a far darker meaning in modern times. “Just as the AR-15 rifle has become a sacred object for Christian nationalists in general, the rosary has acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional (or ‘rad trad’) Catholics,” Panneton claimed in the Sunday piece titled, “How the Rosary Became an Extremist Symbol.”
He added, “On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal.”
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Twitter Locks Accounts of Users Who Complained About Transgender Players in Women’s Sports
During the Gaelic soccer women’s cup final earlier this month, a 30-year-old transgender woman was allowed to play and the team, Na Gaeil Aeracha, won. Social media companies have been censoring content criticizing the fact a transgender woman was allowed to play on the women’s team.
Giulia Valentino, originally from Italy, moved to Dublin, Ireland, in 2019 and started playing rugby. Valentino has previously advocated for allowing transgender women to play on women’s teams and criticized World Rugby for not allowing trans women at higher levels. While playing rugby, Valentino also complained about not being allowed to use the same changing room as biological women.
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Wokepox: The WHO is Asking for the Public’s Help in Re-Naming Monkeypox
Further proving that the World Health Organization is misguided at best, useless at worst, the agency is out asking “for the public’s help” in…not combating monkeypox…but re-naming it.
At least we know the agency has its priorities in order…
The WHO was out this past week asking for new names for monkeypox “part of an ongoing effort to discourage harmful misconceptions associated with the current name,” according to Bloomberg.
“WHO is holding an open consultation for a new disease name for monkeypox. Anyone wishing to propose new names can do so,” the agency said in an actual statement that was drafted up by someone who could have been allocating their energy to actually fighting the virus.
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Look what an interesting article. How the understanding was implanted in India that a woman is something indecent. A real gender holocaust.
https://kreately.in/urdu-how-women-are-put-in-their-rightful-place-by-calling-a-naari-an-aurat/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn8h7xgyFt0
Probably, no one told these blacks that the Russians owe them nothing.
In Moscow, four citizens of the Republic of Chad beat traffic police officers
“Officers of the traffic police of the traffic police of the Internal Affairs Directorate for the North-West Administrative District of Moscow stopped a car-sharing car driven by a 29-year-old man to check documents. The driver, as well as three passengers of the car, came into conflict with traffic police officers, during which they jointly used violence against three police officers and inflicted multiple bodily injuries on them, ”the ministry said in a statement.
Traffic police inspectors managed to detain the hooligans. According to RIA Novosti, they were citizens of the Republic of Chad. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation noted that criminal cases were opened against them.
In Russia, serious sentences are imposed for attacks on government officials.
And prisons are most often located in cold temperature zones.
Those African’ts are about to get a taste of the Russian prison system and won’t survive. LOL
I don’t know if the grammar of the auto generated youtube closed caption is accurate but I found two things interesting. The police are not the authorities. They are representatives of the authorities. The men were not arrested but were detained. I don’t know if that if from translation or if it is more accurate to how things are done and viewed in Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-89Fk3sa4EI
Watch how Muslims goes crazy over Satanic Verses book
“It seems that the leaders of the New Improved Reich have once again smelled the smoke of the pine-tar torches and seen the glint of the pitchforks approaching the walls of their high-tech bunkers.”
Really?! The provincial regime you are talking about, and the entire country–the political class, the media, the legal system, the foreign policy establishment, the migration industry–are dominated by and composed of radical LEFTISTS. Your rhetoric confuses the issue and it confuses your readers. Is that what you want?
The Nationalist right are going to make a comeback of Biblical proportions, the marxist left are going to perish by the millions before it is all said and done.