A jury in Wisconsin has found Darrell Brooks guilty of six counts of intentional homicide. Mr. Brooks was convicted of deliberately running down people with his SUV in last year’s Christmas parade in Waukesha.
In other news, Pope Francis has offered his services to mediate in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, LP, Reader from Chicago, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, 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.
Australia’s biggest banks are now bracing for a possible 0.5 percentage point rate rise on Melbourne Cup Day after new data showed inflation soaring at the fastest pace since 1990.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Treasurer Jim Chalmers admits he’s concerned manufacturers could close in a matter of months as soaring energy prices put pressure on Australian businesses.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australia’s inflation rate has surged by 7.3 per cent — the fastest pace since mid-1990. The cost of living crisis is worsening with the news coming a day after a Budget with no cash handouts to help.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
First it was Australia, now it is Canada’s turn to hike less than expected.
Moments ago Canada’s central bank unexpectedly slowed its pace of hiking, increasing its benchmark interest rate by just 50 basis points (to 3.75%) rather than the 75-basis-point hike expected by both markets and most economists. This was the smallest hike since June (July was 100bps, September 75bps). It appears a bigger move was too much to stomach in a decision that also saw Governor Tiff Macklem and his officials raise the prospect the economy could fall into a technical recession.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Labor during the election campaign said 97 times that it would reduce household power bills by $275 by switching to ‘cheaper’ greener energy — instead they will go up 56 per cent.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Here we go again…
Just one day after 15 Pennsylvania House Republicans sent a letter to acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman demanding to know why 240,000 unverified ballots had been mailed out (“which, according to the law, must be set aside and not counted for the 2022 General Election unless the voter produces lD,” the lawmakers wrote), Chapman revealed that there will likely be delays posting the results after the midterm elections.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa-Allied Anti-Police Activist Appointed to Washington School Board
The Olympia, Washington School District board of directors has appointed anti-police activist and Antifa ally Talauna Reed to fill a director vacancy on the board.
Reed previously ran for an Olympia City Council position in 2021 but lost in the general election. She gained notoriety in July 2021 during the campaign at an event where she said, “F*ck the police” and encouraged people to “tear everything up in this f*cking city” until they get people’s attention.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Job Approval Back Down to 40%: Gallup
By Jeffrey Jones of Gallup
Joe Biden’s job approval rating is 40%, a step down from the 44% measured in August but still above his term-low 38% from July. In all other months in 2022, his approval rating has been in the 40% to 42% range.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Climate Activists Occupy BlackRock Headquarters on Third Day of New York Protests
Climate activists have gathered inside the headquarters of financial investment firm BlackRock to protest what the company’s investment in fossil fuels.
This is the third straight day of climate protests in New York City, led by activist groups like New York Communities for Change (NYCC) and the New York chapters of the Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion.
Video shows activists sitting down in front of escalators in the building holding banners that read things like “How dare you plunder the Earth?” and “Your greed = climate chaos.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Comedian JP Sears Embraces Alternative Tech Platform Locals to Launch Exclusive New Special
Comedian JP Sears will host his comedy special “Please Censor This!” exclusively on Locals, an alternative tech platform that allows creators to share content and make money by building a subscription-based community.
On YouTube, Sears had over 2.7 million subscriber and is using Locals to avoid censorship. Sears is part of the growing idea of named talent embracing Big Tech alternatives.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Darrell Brooks, the 40-year-old Milwaukee man accused of plowing a Ford Escape SUV through a Christmas parade in nearby Waukesha last year, has been found guilty of six intentional first-degree homicide counts and dozens of other charges — Wisconsin’s equivalent of murder — in a trial over the deaths of six and injuries to dozens more.
Brooks made several objections over “subject matter jurisdiction” before the jury returned. Judge Jennifer Dorow invited the jurors back. Brooks made a series of requests for documents; Dorow said they were noted and denied.
The decision came Wednesday after a 23-day trial which saw the defendant, who was representing himself, ejected from the courtroom multiple times for disruptive behavior.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Decades of Student Progress Wiped Out; National Math and Reading Scores at Historic Lows: Report
Authored by Terri Wu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
National math test scores in fourth and eighth grades showed the biggest drop since a national testing program began in 1990, and the reading level for the same grades reverted to a level from three decades ago.
Eighth-grade math performance has dropped eight points since 2019, and about a third of students in both grades can’t read at the minimum required level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Helped Write AI Laws Without Disclosing He Was a Major Investor
While former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was serving as chairman of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a commission selected by the House Armed Services Committee, he made investments in artificial intelligence startups.
The federal commission advised the US government on how to remain competitive in AI against adversaries. The commission made recommendations on many aspects of AI. It also proposed legislation that later became law and made the government invest billions of taxpayer dollars in the AI industry.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hundreds of Employees Leave Twitter for Jobs With Meta, Google as Musk Deal Approaches
Twitter employees are leaving at rates not seen before as a result of Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk’s takeover, Business Insider reports.
Several hundred employees have left the media giant in 2022, with 530 leaving in the last three months. Many have left to competitors such as Meta and Google, the outlet reports
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said the leak earlier this year of a draft opinion reversing Roe v. Wade made conservative justices “targets for assassination” and changed the atmosphere at the court.
Alito’s comments came during a moderated conversation at the Heritage Foundation in the nation’s capital on Oct. 25. At the end of the discussion, Alito was given Heritage’s Defender of the Constitution Award.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kagan Blocks Jan. 6 Subpoena for Arizona GOP Chair’s Phone Records
Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday temporarily blocked a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, seeking the phone records of Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward.
Kagan responded to a request from Ward to stay the enforcement of the subpoena, per NBC News. The justice is responsible for emergency applications from that state and the committee has until Friday to respond to her ruling.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Let That Sink in’ — Elon Musk Barges Into Twitter HQ Ahead of Deal Close
Update (10/20/2022 1520ET): Elon Musk sauntered into Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters on Wednesday carrying a kitchen sink in preparation for his Friday takeover of the company.
The world’s richest man also changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Charged With Murder After Running Over Republican Teen to ‘Fully Defend Himself’ In Court
Shannon Brandt, the North Dakota man charged with the murder of 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson, made his first court appearance on October 13, and according to his lawyers, intends to defend himself against the allegations.
If found guilty, Brandt could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A man who was shot in the leg after fighting off would-be robbers in a Florida mall parking lot Monday afternoon managed to grab his own gun from his vehicle and apparently shot one suspect in the stomach.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Michigan Jury Finds Three Guilty of Supporting Terrorist Act in Whitmer Kidnapping Plot
Three men accused of supporting the plan to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were found guilty Wednesday of providing “material support” for a terrorist act as part of a paramilitary group.
A Jackson, Michigan, jury also convicted Pete Musico, his son-in-law Joe Morrison and Paul Bellar of a firearms crime and being members of a gang, the Wolverine Watchmen, The Associated Press reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An Illinois mayor told Fox News on Monday that the state’s new Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, set to go into effect in a few months, is the “most dangerous law” he has ever seen.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau is running for Congress in Illinois’ 6th District and has been vocal about his opposition to the radical new act. According to Pekau, the law essentially overhauls the state’s current criminal justice system, and he fears that it could cause crime in Illinois to “spiral out of control.”
“We create potential anarchy because law enforcement can’t do their job and then people feel that they have to do that job,” he said. “People aren’t trained in the use of force. They’re not trained to de-escalate situations.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Newsweek Roasted After Publishing Fact-Check Denying Existence of Antifa Groups
Twitter users scorched Newsweek after it fact-checked Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for condemning “Antifa riots.”
An episode of The View posted Monday featured Cruz debating The View’s hosts on the existence of left-wing political violence. After Cruz called out the “Antifa riots” from 2020, host Whoopi Goldberg replied “I don’t know what an Antifa riot is.”
While the piece acknowledged that over a thousand businesses were damaged in Minneapolis and there were “reports of fires after Floyd protests” in places such as Washington D.C., St. Louis, Seattle, and more, it took issue with the senator’s wording.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Oz Odds of Winning PA Soar After Historic Fetterman Debate Meltdown
The Fetterman campaign may have just watched what remained of its prospects in Pennsylvania circle the drain after tonight’s sole debate between him and PA Senate candidate Dr. Oz.
Fetterman, who suffered a severe stroke days before the May primary and cast his vote from a hospital bed, appeared unable to put together nearly a single coherent sentence throughout the entire debate while TV veteran Dr. Oz deftly and “surgically” sliced and diced his way through an hour of questioning, using Fetterman as a lifeless sparring dummy for a majority of the debate.
Recovering from his stroke, Fetterman’s answers ranged between somewhat inept and completely incomprehensible. The ugly performance started right from the beginning, with Fetterman bidding viewers “good night” as part of his opening statement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pennylvania lawmakers minced no words in a damning new report issued on Monday that detailed Democrat District Attorney Larry Krasner’s various shortcomings as well as the fallout of his leftist policies.
The “Second Interim Report,” produced by the House Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order, stated that the George Soros-backed Philadelphia district attorney “has contributed to a catastrophic rise in violent crime at the expense of public safety” and failed “to integrate and effectuate his progressive policies with any success.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Possible I-15 Road Rage Incident Leads to Fatal Shooting in Sandy
SANDY, Utah — A man was shot and killed in Sandy after a possible road rage incident that began on Interstate 15 on Wednesday.
According to the Sandy Police Department, the incident between two men began on the highway at around 9:30 a.m. when one, Rodrigo Monroy, cut off another driver. The other driver “suggested” Monroy pull over, according to the police report, leading to the men getting off I-15 near 10640 South Holiday Park Drive.
After stopping near a Maverik gas station, the victim went up to Monroy’s vehicle and hit it with his hands. Monroy then allegedly pulled a gun from under his seat and pointed it at the other man while telling him to back away.
When the victim tried to grab the gun, a fight began, ending when Monroy pulled the weapon away and fired one shot into the other man’s chest. The victim, only identified as being in his 40s, died after being transported to a nearby hospital.
Monroy, 32, told police that he had “brake checked” the victim on I-15 and continued to follow him off the highway. Claiming to be scared, Monroy pulled the gun, but admitted to officers that he didn’t “think about just backing up and leaving the area.”
Police took Monroy into custody where he was charged with murder and felony discharge of a firearm.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Proven right yet again. Waukesha killer found guilty of intentional homicide.
The media reported that it was an “accident” or that the SUV was responsible.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Second Miami Man Arrested in Beating of Marco Rubio Campaigner
Police in Hialeah, Florida have arrested a second suspect following the attack of Christopher Monzon, a campaigner for Sen. Marco Rubio, on Sunday night.
Jonathan Alexander Casanova was taken into custody on Wednesday in connection with the beating, which left Monzon with a broken jaw and internal bleeding.
“After tirelessly working to bring justice to the victim, Hialeah Police Detectives have arrested and charged Jonathan Alexander Casanova for the attack,” Sgt. Jose Torres told FOX News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
St. Louis School Shooter May Have Used Gun That Police Confiscated Months Ago
Oct 26 (Reuters) — A 19-year-old man who went on a deadly shooting rampage at a St. Louis high school this week may have used the same firearm that his mother had removed from the family home several months earlier, the city’s police commissioner said on Wednesday.
The mother of Orlando Harris, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers minutes after the attack began, had contacted police several months earlier after discovering that her son had acquired a gun, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mike Sack said during a news briefing.
Officers removed the gun from the home and gave it to a unnamed adult, he said.
“It could have possibly been this gun,” Sack said, referring to the AR-15 style rifle used in Monday’s shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. Two people were killed and seven others wounded in the attack, the latest in an epidemic of shootings at U.S. schools in recent years.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
These Are America’s Violent Crime Hotspots
The District of Columbia had the highest rates of violent crime in the United States in 2020, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s data.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tribel Social Media Platform Swiftly Boots Libs of TikTok
While many conservatives complain about censorship on mainstream social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, an alternative platform called Tribel reportedly kicked Libs of TikTok off in a matter of minutes.
“Let’s see how long my account on Tribel (the new leftie social media site) lasts,” Libs of TikTok tweeted. “BREAKING: it appears @tribelsocial suspended my account. I can no longer access it. I’ve tried multiple times to log in. My account lasted less than 20 minutes. I’m being silenced,” Libs of TikTok announced shortly thereafter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter Employees Panned for Letter to Elon Musk Demanding Continued Employment, ‘Safety’
A letter, ostensibly composed by and on behalf of some Twitter employees, surfaced online this week — to very poor reviews. The writers of the letter “demand” that Elon Musk maintain “the current headcount” at Twitter, as well as the fringe benefits and “safety” so many employees have enjoyed, should Musk’s acquisition of the Big Tech platform proceed as expected. However, critics responded to the letter by accusing Twitter employees of acting like spoiled brats.
Time acquired a draft of the letter, which the Independent claimed “has not yet been published but has been circulating around Twitter’s staff.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UC Davis Cancels TPUSA Event After Female Student Attacked by Far-Left Protesters
On Tuesday evening, a female student was maced and her phone damaged by protesters that gathered outside a student-organized Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Davis. Video from The Prudent Patriot on YouTube captured outside the venue, a woman was seen gasping and grabbing her eyes, maced in the face along with other attendees of the event. Her phone was also destroyed.
In the background, protestors were heard yelling “f*ck all fascists.” According to Fox News, the event, which was set to feature Turning Point USA contributor and podcaster Stephen Davis, was canceled over student safety concerns.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A 76-year-old great-grandmother who goes by Miss Faye was caught on video earlier this month pulling out her cane and going after a would-be purse snatcher in her Oakland neighborhood, scaring off the drive-by thug and even chucking her cane at the getaway car for good measure.
What’s more, the crook dropped the purse belonging to Miss Faye’s fellow senior citizen neighbor who was on her back in the middle of the street.
“Fear never crossed my mind,” Miss Faye told KGO-TV.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Veteran Denied Service at VA Clinic Over Mask Rules Despite Medical Condition
A US military veteran was recently denied service at the West Cobb County VA Clinic after the man said he could not wear a mask due to a medical condition.
Videos posted to Twitter by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene show Robby Entrekin being denied access by staff members at the clinic, who also said that he could not film the encounter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘We Were Lied to by Everyone: ‘ Ben Shapiro Walks Back Support for COVID Vaccine
Ben Shapiro, who has been an outspoken advocate for the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines, said during his show on Tuesday that he, like many others around the world, had been lied to regarding the efficacy of the vaccines, specifically with regard to their ability to prevent transmission of the novel coronavirus.
On Tuesday’s episode of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” he said, “It is now perfectly clear that we were lied to. And we were lied to at a very high level and from very, very early on by both the vaccine companies, in terms of the ability of the vaccine to prevent transmission, and … by our politicians who apparently knew better.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Women Stabbed, Slapped in Frightening Morning Rampage in Brooklyn
A man stabbed a teenaged woman in a terrifying, unprovoked attack Wednesday in Brooklyn, then slapped another victim nearby, police sources said.
The 18-year-old stabbing victim was walking on Central Ave. near Bleecker St. in Bushwick when the attacker approached her around 10:20 a.m., according to the sources.
The man, dressed in all black, threw the young woman to the ground, punched her and stabbed her around her right hip.
She was taken to Wyckoff Hospital in stable condition.
A short time later, the menace struck again, this time targeting a 35-year-old woman who was walking near the same intersection.
The man randomly slapped the woman before taking off.
Police did not make any immediate arrests and are still looking for the attacker.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Day 10 Recap of Emergencies Act Hearings
Yet another senior officer says Act wasn’t required
On Day 10 of the Emergencies Act hearings, yet another senior police officer has testified that the Emergencies Act was not required to clear protesters from downtown Ottawa.
Under questioning from Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Rob Kittredge, Ottawa Police Service (OPS) Superintendent Robert Bernier, who was tasked as the incident commander for the Freedom Convoy, said that the Emergencies Act was not required to tow vehicles and that officers would have been able to clear the protests without the act.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nova Scotia’s highest court says the previous provincial Liberal government went too far in its efforts to contain an anti-vaccine protest in May of last year.
In a decision released Wednesday, the Court of Appeal said the province should not have applied for an ex parte injunction and a lower court should not have granted such a sweeping measure.
The injunction was sought on May 14, 2021. It was aimed at heading off planned protests that were to be held that weekend on Citadel Hill in Halifax, at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth and at the Barrington Baseball field.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Belt Und Road: Germany Agrees to Sell Stake in Largest Port to Communist Chinese Shipping Giant
The left-wing government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz has approved the controversial sale of a stake in the port of Hamburg to a Communist Chinese state-owned shipping giant, despite warnings from Germany’s intelligence community on becoming over-reliant on Beijing as it previously did with Moscow.
The German government appears intent on continuing the cosy relationship with China developed under former Chancellor Angela Merkel, with the cabinet of Olaf Scholz’s traffic-light coalition government approving the sale of a 24.9 per cent stake in Hamburg’s shipping container terminal to state-owned COSCO Shipping. The quarter stake is seen as a compromise from Scholz with other members of the coalition government, including the Greens and the FDP, which opposed the deal when it was originally set for a 35 per cent stake.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China Accused of Operating ‘Secret Police Stations’ In the Netherlands
The Dutch foreign ministry said it was investigating reports that China had set up two “illegal police stations” in the Netherlands to monitor dissidents.
According to Dutch media reports, two Chinese “posts” have been operating in Amsterdam and Rotterdam since 2018.
The “police stations” allegedly claim to offer diplomatic assistance to Chinese nationals but have not been registered with the Dutch government.
NGOs have claimed that the facilities are actually used by Beijing to monitor and silence political opponents and dissidents abroad, using former military and intelligence officers as employees.
China’s government said the reports were “completely false”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Despite Risks, Germany Plans to Legalize Marijuana for Recreational Use
Germany’s health minister has confirmed that the government will move forward with its plan to legalize the purchase and possession of marijuana for recreational use despite the health and social risks related with the drug.
Possession of up to 1 ounce of the drug will become legal, and adults will be permitted to buy marijuana from licensed premises across the country, said Karl Lauterbach (SPD) on Wednesday.
For adults over the age of 21, the THC content, the psychedelic component of the drug, will be capped at 15 percent, while for 18 to 21 year olds, it will be capped at 10 percent. In the 1960s, most of the marijuana being smoked had a THC content level of approximately 2 percent, while in the 1990s, this was boosted to around 5 percent. Those over 21 years of age would have legal access to marijuana with THC levels three times the levels typically seen in the 1990s.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Europol Wants to Know How to Police “Misinformation” In the Metaverse
The metaverse is still a concept but many are already concerned about how to best police it: from Big Tech that is supposed to build this “new iteration of the internet,” the various power centers who would like to regulate it, to the actual police.
Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, has published an observatory report titled, Policing in the Metaverse — What Law Enforcement Needs to Know, that focuses on current developments, potential implications and provides what it calls “key recommendations.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Alleged Knife Murderer Had Prior Stabbing Arrest in May
A teenager accused of stabbing a 39-year-old man to death in Southern France had already been arrested for another stabbing in May but had been released pending trial.
The 18-year-old, who was arrested and indicted on Saturday in Montpellier, is accused of stabbing a 39-year-old man in the commune of Clermont-l’Hérault last Thursday in the early morning near the local town hall.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Police Attacked by Mob of 100 Far-Left Extremists
An attack by a mob of alleged far-left extremists in the no-go Paris suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis on five police officers over the weekend left two officers injured after they were pelted with projectiles.
The attack took place late Friday night and into early Saturday morning in the commune of Montreuil, just east of the city of Paris and within the district of Seine-Saint-Denis.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Activists From Extinction Rebellion Protest at Baden-Baden
Around twenty people from the groups Extinction Rebellion and Debt4Climate occupied this morning the Kongresshaus in Baden-Baden, where the reinsurance industry is currently holding its annual get-together.
It is understood that the early morning saw a number of activists climbing onto the canopy with a five-metre-long banner saying, Stop (re)insuring Climate Chaos. Other activists glued themselves in front of the entrance doors.
Posters were also taped to the glass facade alleging to show the destruction of ecosystems by the fossil fuel projects insured by conference participants. On the forecourt, activists have spread an oil-like substance and laid on the ground as if dead. They demanded that conference participants stop insuring oil, coal, and gas projects.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Court Blocks Intelligence Service From Spying on AfD Party in Bavaria
In a number of German states, the country’s main conservative opposition party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), is already listed as a “potential threat” to democracy and is being monitored by security services. However, in Bavaria, the party just won at least a partial victory against similar surveillance efforts.
The Administrative Court of Munich has blocked the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s main domestic intelligence service, from monitoring the Bavarian state chapter of the AfD party. In other states like Thuringia, the BfV can read all emails and monitor the telephone calls of all AfD members without a warrant, but the Munich judges blocked these methods in Bavaria. The judges found that such an operation “severely interferes with the party’s activities with the risk of clandestine spying.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Globalist’ Is an Antisemitic Slur That Should be Banned, Argues Legacy Media
A debate has emerged in Britain over the term ‘globalist’, with elements of the legacy media and social media arguing that using the word to describe the political ideology of preferring super state over state is actually a racist term against Jewish people.
Following what many, such as Brexit leader Nigel Fage, have described as a “globalist coup” to install former Goldman Sachs banker and World Economic Forum (WEF) acolyte Rishi Sunak as prime minister, left-wing figures have attempted to make the very term “globalist” an off-limits slur, claiming that it is antisemitic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Majority of Czechs Don’t Trust Current Government
Up to 55 percent of respondents do not trust the government of Petr Fiala, according to a survey by the Median agency.
“It’s unpleasant news,” says political scientist Jan Kubacek. “The government is simultaneously facing unprecedented challenges that haven’t been here — and let’s be happy about that — for several decades.” He argues that the government could have, however, communicated better: “It could have had a much more humble, consistent style so that clear information reached people on how to proceed, what to watch, what to watch out for.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No Fracking Way: UK Flip-Flops Back to ‘Green’ Religion
Almost as quickly as UK Prime Minister Liz Truss was ousted from office, so too was her (now-temporary) order to resume gas shale fracking — a plan which included offering UK households £1,000 each for allowing the practice in their neighborhoods.
According to the Financial Times, her successor — the WEF-sponsored (of “great reset, eat bugs, own nothing and be happy” fame) Rishi Sunak is reversing Truss’s order, and reinstating the fracking ban.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Official Warns Hungary Must Change Its Policies on Russia
Polish government officials are once again attacking Hungary, with President Andrzej Duda’s chief of staff, Jakub Kumoch, saying that Hungary must change its policies on Russia if it wants a reset on Hungarian-Polish relations.
“Hungary must change their policies if they wish to be a credible partner,” said Kumoch.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sabotage Again Suspected as More European Internet Cables Cut
Two European fibre optic cables have been severed in the last week, fuelling speculation of possible sabotage with both phone networks and internet traffic disrupted.
The first incident took place in the North Sea last week and saw an underwater fibre optic cable cut, shutting off the internet and mobile phone networking to the Shetland Islands, the northernmost islands of the United Kingdom for an entire night.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A group of men in a BMW attacked a white van being driven through North Wales by Sean Powell in early September. The footage was filmed by a fellow motorist.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
In her first speech to the Italian parliament as Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni outlined her agenda, looking to reduce taxes overall while extending the flat tax, combat people smuggling and illegal migration and introduce policies to benefit Italian families.
Meloni gave her first speech as Prime Minister to the parliament on Tuesday and outlined her new policies going forward with her coalition government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK to Join EU ‘Military Mobility’ Group to Transport Troops and Weapons, Claims Dutch Defence Chief
Despite officially leaving the European Union nearly three years ago, the United Kingdom will partner with the bloc on its “military mobility” unit so that it can move troops and weapons across the continent quicker, Dutch defence minister Kajsa Ollongren revealed.
Amid Britain’s continued role in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the country has allegedly signed up to a pact with the European Union on the movement of military personnel and equipment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Tesco Stores Could Face Lawsuit After Demanding Customers Download an App to Enter
Tesco, the leading UK and global retail chain, will get sued for allegedly unlawfully collecting data from its customers at checkout-free stores in Europe, outside the UK, a civil liberties organization has threatened.
Corporations are increasingly including checkout-free shopping as a way to get rid of cashiers and instead use systems that detect shoppers’ product preferences and bill them.
This includes the use of QR codes, smart shopping carts, RFID tags, and machine vision. But the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has penned a letter to Tesco’s CEO Ken Murphy warning that it will take legal action should the retailer giant decide to spread the use their own brand of those tools into any of the European Economic Area countries (the EU, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
London police arrested two activists from the Just Stop Oil protests after they splattered paint across the front of Ferrari, Bugatti and Bentley car dealerships in the city center.
The two women used fire extinguishers to spray orange paint across the windows of the two Berkeley Square locations in the affluent Mayfair neighborhood of London’s West End at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Protestors also painted the front of a Bugatti dealership, the Independent reported.
One person could be heard in the video of the vandalism saying “What are you doing?” and then “You’re a disgrace!” as the women finish covering the windows. Once finished, the protestors put their paint down and gave a speech bemoaning the purchase of luxury cars while “people can’t even afford to eat or heat their homes.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Viktor Orban: EU Bigwigs Will ‘End Up’ Falling Like Soviet Dictators
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed that bigwigs within the European Union will “end up” facing the same fate as Soviet dictators of old.
Those at the helm of the European Union looking to take on Hungary will face the same fate as the Soviet dictators who came before them, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed on Sunday.
The comments came as part of a speech delivered by the premier to mark the 66th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising, an anti-communist revolution that took place across the country in 1956.
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Watch: Orban Remembers Fallen Heroes of 1956 Who Fought Communism
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban commemorated the fallen heroes of the Hungarian 1956 Uprising against the Soviet Union on Oct. 23, a day of momentous importance but also national mourning. For those unfamiliar with the full story of this tragic event in Hungarian history, Remix News has put together a short five-minute clip detailing not only how Hungarians fought to the bitter end, but how the same spirit of resistance lives on with Hungarians today.
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Iran: Coverage of Nationwide Protests in Iran on Wednesday
Scheduled nationwide protests in Iran on the 40th day of Mahsa Amini’s death started before noon Wednesday with a large gathering at her grave in her hometown.
The 40th day of a loved one’s death has a special significance in Iran, and in case of an unjust killing, such as the 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody, the occasion turns into public mourning and fuels angry protests.
A large crowd of people gathered Wednesday morning in the cemetery of Saqqez, Mahsa Amini’s hometown, where the icon of Iran’s 2022 protests is buried, to commemorate the fortieth day of her death.
Videos received by Iran International show that people were chanting “Freedom, Freedom”, “Khamenei will be ousted this year” in the Saqqez cemetery, northwest Kordestan province.
Large attendance at the fortieth day ceremony of Mahsa Amini comes as security forces threatened her family not to hold any gathering at her grave.
All the roads to Saqqez were also blocked Tuesday night by police and the armed forces deployed to prevent people from other cities to come to Saqqez.
By 22:00 local time protests were reported in 30 cities across the country.
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Finnish Seismologists Detect Five Blasts in Russian Waters
HELSINKI, Oct 25 (Reuters) — Finnish seismologists detected five underwater blasts in Russian waters in the Baltic Sea last week.
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Pope Offers to Mediate Between Russia and Ukraine
Pope Francis is ready to mediate in the conflict in Ukraine and has offered to host talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Leonid Sevastyanov, president of the International Union of Orthodox Christians, told the Russian state news agency TASS on Tuesday, referring to his conversation with the Catholic Church leader.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s suggestion that Pope Francis and the U.S. leadership could be included in mediation efforts.
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Ukraine Wants $2 Billion of EU Taxpayer Money in Aid Every Month
Officials from Ukraine are looking to get the EU taxpayers to bankroll them to the tune of $2 billion dollars every month.
Taxpayers within the European Union should hand over billions of dollars in funding to Ukraine every single month, officials from the war-torn nation have said.
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India: Slain Harsha Hindu’s Family Gets Death Threat, Alleges Sister Ashwini
Harsha’s Family Gets Threats for Dire Consequences from Islamists
Harsha and AshwiniB Upendran | HENB | Hassan | Oct 25, 2022:: The helpless family members of Harsha, a Hindutva activist who was murdered in February this year in Shivamogga by alleged fanatic cadres of Islamist Organisation, have alleged that unknown people of radical orientation posed threat to their lives on Monday night.
Ashwini, Harsha’s sister, on Tuesday, told the media that a group of people riding bikes was heard threatening her and other people of attack on Monday night. “I heard them saying that they would not leave us. They also damaged a couple of bikes parked nearby and also assaulted a passer-by,” she alleged.
Ms. Ashwini said her brother sacrificed his life for Hindutva. “How many more should die? It is sad that the BJP is in power both at the Centre and the State. The State Home Minister is also from our district. Yet, we don’t have security. If we two sisters die, who will look after our aged parents?” she asked.
She alleged that a false case accusing her of damaging a car had been filed. Ms. Ashwini said she was not involved in the incident. “Why would I damage a car? Will my brother come back if I damage a car?” she wondered.
Ms. Ashwini has been accused of damaging a car during a procession held in the city on October 23. Syed Farveez, a resident of K.R. Puram in Shivamogga, has filed a complaint with the Doddapete police alleging that Ms. Ashwini and a group of 10 to 15 people damaged his car during a procession on October 22 near Nurani Masjid.
Meanwhile, Shivamogga SP G.K. Mithun Kumar said he had spoken to Harsha’s family and collected details. “We are here to ensure the safety and protection of people. Not only Harsha’s family, we will ensure the safety of all in the city,” he said.
Six persons with Jihadi allegiance were arrested in the connection with the murder of Bajrang Dal member Harsha Hindu in Shivamogga’s Bharathi Colony on February 20, this year.
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Security has stepped in after a family member of the two boys jailed for murdering year 10 student Angus Beaumont approached the 15-year-old victim’s grieving parents outside court.
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Algerian Illegal Caught Raping Woman in France
An illegal migrant from Africa was caught in the act of raping a woman in France this week, according to authorities.
The horrifying incident unfolded at around 2 a.m. on Saturday in the culturally-enriched city of Marseille.
Police on patrol in the 15th arrondissement heard a woman screaming for help and rushed to investigate, Actu 17 reports.
“Help! He’s raping me! I’m going to die!” the victim yelled.
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Census Shows Nearly One in Four People in Canada Are Immigrants
New census data released by Statistics Canada shines a light on the country’s rapidly changing demographics.
The latest set of results from the 2021 Census shows that the portion of Canadians who were immigrants is the largest it has been since the country’s founding. Immigrants now make up 23% of the population, or over 8.3 million people.
Canada now ranks as the top G7 country when it comes to percentage of immigrants. A majority of immigration to Canada is from Asia and the Middle East.
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Federal Data Quietly Reveals 100 Terror Suspects Caught at Southern Border
Newly published federal data reveals that close to a hundred individuals listed on the FBI terror watchlist have been apprehended at the Southern border in the last year, a record high and a huge uptick in recent months.
The Customs and Border Protection agency data, released without fanfare on Friday night, reveals that so far this year 98 individuals apprehended attempting to get into the U.S. at the southern border were suspected terrorists or closely affiliated with terrorist organizations.
The figure has jumped from just 27 in early April.
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France: Protests Against Murder of 12-Year-Old Lola Sparks Probe Into ‘Right-Wing’ Groups
The brutal rape and murder of the 12-year-old Parisian schoolgirl known only as Lola continues to spark heated social debates about French immigration policy. In the latest development, the prosecutors’ office of the French city of Lyon opened an inquiry into possible incitement to hatred by a right-wing group that protested the inaction of the authorities.
The investigation was opened after the prefect of the Rhône district referred the matter to the public prosecutor. In a statement sent to BFM Lyon, the prosecutor’s office said it had opened an investigation into the charge of “public incitement to hatred or violence against a person or group of people because of their origin or their membership of an ethnic group, nation, race or religion.”
The investigation has been entrusted to the Rhône departmental public security directorate.
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Giorgia Meloni Vows to Restore Order to Italian Immigration
ROME — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni assured Parliament Tuesday her government would rein in the country’s chaotic immigration situation and restore order and legality to migratory flows.
In a policy statement ahead of a confidence vote in her new government, Meloni told the Chamber of Deputies that security and legality are tied to the correct management of immigration, summed up in a simple principle: “in Italy, as in any other serious state, you do not enter illegally.”
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Property in German Town to be Confiscated for Asylum Seekers
So far it has been dismissed as a malicious “conspiracy theory” that living space for asylum seekers would end up being confiscated in Germany. But this “theory” is sadly coming true. In the Bavarian district of Fürstenfeldbruck, not far from Munich, it is being implemented.
The local CSU District Administrator Thomas Karmasin has refused to use gymnasiums as “refugee” accommodation. But the existing public accommodation is running out in the face of exploding numbers of asylum seekers. Karmasin therefore wants to have public and private properties confiscated in order to accommodate the newcomers. The first efforts have already started.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Could be Organizing Another Migration Crisis Originating in Kaliningrad
Poland is considering the construction of a barrier on its frontier with the Russian province of Kaliningrad, similar to that installed along the country’s border with Belarus, after media recently reported on an influx of migrants to the Russian enclave.
Secretary General Krzysztof Sobolewski of Poland’s Law and Order ruling party told Polish Radio the country “would need a strengthening of its forces along this part of the border,” and must also “consider building a similar border barrier to the one on the Polish-Belarusian part.”
Reports surfaced that Russia is organizing the transit of new waves of refugees from Asia and Africa. According to reports, the Kaliningrad airport signed contracts with Syrian, Turkish, and Belarusian airlines, which could indicate that special services are importing refugees that will be directed to Europe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The extraordinary scale of the Channel migrant crisis was laid bare yesterday in a major test for Rishi Sunak’s new premiership.
The official in charge of tackling illegal crossings admitted for the first time that the asylum system was ‘overwhelmed’ by the numbers trying to reach the UK.
The Home Office’s clandestine Channel threat commander Dan O’Mahoney told a committee of MPs that there had been an ‘exponential’ rise in arrivals from Albania, facilitated by criminal gangs.
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A claim by prominent U.K. conservative Nigel Farage that an illegal migrant who landed on England’s southern shore, evaded border authorities, and proceeded to enter a woman’s home and demand he be driven 300 miles to Manchester has now been verified, despite claims by local media who insisted the story was untrue.
The incident occurred on Sunday morning at approximately 9.30 a.m. in the Aycliffe housing area of Dover, Kent. The illegal migrant had reportedly crossed the English Channel undetected by border officials, landing at nearby Shakespeare Beach.
He then proceeded to head towards the residential area and entered the home of 59-year-old Sue Doyle who recalled the events to Farage in an interview on GB News on Monday.
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A British member of Parliament who has faced intense criticism over her refusal to disassociate biological sex from gender doubled down last week, reiterating that she will not refer to 60-year-old comedian Eddie Izzard as a woman — even if it means imprisonment.
What are the details?
On Friday, Rosie Duffield, a Labour member of Parliament for Canterbury, England, attended the annual LGB Alliance conference in London.
The LGB Alliance, which seeks to help the “Ls,” the “Bs,” and the “Gs,” but is not so much interested in the “Ts,” affirms that “biological sex is binary, female and male, and that (for the vast majority of people) sex is determined at conception, observed at birth (or in utero), and recorded.”
The Independent reported that at the conference, Duffield was asked about the possibility that referring to a transsexual’s biological sex might soon amount to a hate crime.
The Canterbury MP replied, “Is that a serious thing? Is that coming to Parliament any time soon? I hope not because you might as well arrest me now. I’m not calling Eddie Izzard a woman.”
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Majority of Americans Say Transgender Movement Has Gone ‘Too Far’ In Targeting Minors: Poll
A new poll has revealed that a majority of Americans believe that the transgender movement has gone “too far” in its encouragement of minors to pursue medicalized gender transitions.
The poll was conducted by McLaughlin and Associates for Summit.org between October 12 and 17 of 1,000 likely general election voters nationwide.
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SCOTUS Orders Washington Football Coach Fired for Praying at Games be Reinstated by March 2023
The former Bremerton High School assistant football coach who was fired for praying on the field after games, who won his US Supreme Court case earlier this year, must be reinstated to his former position by March of 2023 and is entitled to “reasonable attorneys’ fees” from the school according to court documents filed on Tuesday.
The US Supreme Court ruled over the summer on Joseph Kennedy’s case 6-3 in favor of the coach.
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A transgender woman claims she feared for her life when hotel owners kicked her out of their premises.
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WEF Report Explores Online “Interventions” Including Content Removal, Warning Labels to Protect Kids
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is “thinking of the children” — especially, it seems, if that real or convenient concern can be worked into the agenda of enhancing and expanding the limits of online censorship.
The particular focus of a piece published on the WEF site, from the pen of its “formative content” senior writer, has to do with the age of those who are signing up for social media, and the harms perceived to come out of allowing children under 13 to be present on social media.
The UK has long struggled with ways of adding age verification as declaratively a way to protect children, but at the same time raising many red flags regarding how these checks could seriously undermine privacy of everybody, and be misused and abused. WEF now cites UK’s telecommunications regulator Ofcom as presenting a report it commissioned, about the age of children on social platforms.
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World Bank Consultant: “Digital Identity is Not Enough, “ Suggests a Need for Access to Data
Singapore is no stranger to some “advanced” and even “avant-garde” approaches to developing and harnessing the power of biometric technology for improved mass surveillance of the population. And it appears, the World Bank (WB) wants to learn from it, and spread that knowledge around the world.
The World Bank and Government Technology Agency (GovTech) of Singapore have teamed up to produce a case study about the country’s Singpass program — digital ID for citizens’ transaction needs “in everyday life” — as well as MyInfo — a Singpass feature that shares user data via the scheme, and via organizations.
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