Elon Musk has taken full control of Twitter, and began his rule by firing a group of top-level editors. Mr. Musk promised to make Twitter’s algorithms and operations fully transparent.
In other news, Swedish police arrested five culture-enriching “youths” who were engaged in a gang rape late at night at a playground in Malmö.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, Reader from Chicago, Roger, 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.
Americans’ Savings Rate Plunges Near Record Lows as Inflation Overwhelms Income Growth
Americans’ personal incomes and spending were expected to increase MoM in September (on a nominal basis) and they did with spending rising more than expected (+0.6% MoM vs +0.5% exp)
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bank of England Expected to Hike Interest Rates by 33-Year High to 3%
Most economists think that the MPC is likely to rise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points to 3% at the meeting on Thursday November 3.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Says Price of Gas ‘Over Five Dollars’ When He Took Office, Data Shows $2.39
President Biden said during as speech Thursday that the cost of gasoline was “over five dollars” when he took office, when the average price for regular gas was reportedly closer to $2.39.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Suggests People Struggling to Afford Groceries Can Buy Generic-Brand Food to Save Money
President Joe Biden this week suggested that Americans struggling to afford basic necessities like groceries can switch to off-brand products in order to save money amid record inflation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A government source said Mr Hunt was targeting a 50:50 split between spending cuts and tax rises, meaning £25billion in hikes along with £25billion of cuts from public services.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Dodges Recession But Inflation Climbs to 11.6%
- Inflation higher than 10.9% forecast
- GDP posts surprise growth in Q3
- Consumer spending was key driver for output
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
High energy and fuel prices have resulted in more “sustainable behaviour” from the public, such as eating less meat, driving less, taking fewer flights, and not showering as frequently, Dutch researchers have claimed.
A study conducted by I&O Research for the Dutch trade journal Binnenlands Bestuur (Domestic Governance) claimed that there has been a noticeable shift in how people are living their lives over the past two years as a result of the growing cost of living crisis, with European energy and fuel prices soaring following lockdowns and the February invasion of Ukraine.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
That was much higher than City forecasts of around £173m. It dented NatWest profits, which came in at £1.1billion in the third quarter, lower than expected.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: PM Eyes £50 Billion Tax Hikes and Spending Cuts Amid ‘Massive Fiscal Black Hole´
Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt held a ‘sober´ meeting as they were warned about dire forecasts for economic growth.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
US Stocks — S&P 500, Nasdaq Set to Open Lower After Amazon, Apple Warnings
Consumer spending beats expectations in September*Amazon slumps after grim forecast*Apple edges higher on upbeat Q4*Futures: S&P down 0.33%, Nasdaq down…
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
38-year-old Justin Fields has been charged with murder and abuse of a corpse for stabbing and dismembering his girlfriend, authorities confirm
A man from Blount County, Ala., admitted to stabbing and decapitating his girlfriend in their home, after she refused to have sex with him, authorities confirmed to WBRC.
WBRC reported that Justin Fields, 38, was charged with murder and abuse of a corpse after body camera footage captured his confession to deputies for murdering 52-year-old Tammy Bailey, Blount County Sheriff’s Office told to outlet.
The victim lived with Fields in their home, but they had separate bedrooms. Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon said the couple went out last Friday, but got into an argument when they returned home later that night, per ABC 33/40.
“He had gone into his room, was playing guitar. His birthday was the day before he wanted to celebrate his birthday,” Moon said, ABC 33/40 reported.
“He wanted to have sex with her,” Moon said. “He went to her room and propositioned her and she turned him down. According to his statement, that frustrated him. He said he stabbed her one time and then he blacked out,” Moon continued, per WBRC.
According to the outlet, police believe Bailey died on Friday night, but was attacked again after her death.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Americans Divided Over Ukraine Funding, Poll Finds
While the majority of Americans still support sending weapons to Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, they are unsure about handing over federal funds, according to a new poll.
Convention of States Action, along with the Trafalgar Group, released the poll, which found that 40.3% of those surveyed support sending Ukraine “weapons and money” and 30.5% support sending them “weapons but no money.”
The poll found only 24.9% said to send them “nothing at all.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Articles of Impeachment Filed Against Philadelphia DA by Republican Officials
Republicans in the Pennsylvania House have introduced articles of impeachment against Philadelphia’s district attorney Larry Krasner.
The lawmakers introduced the measure Wednesday to impeach Kranser and said they might add days to the legislative session to complete the effort before the two-year legislative term expires next month, according to local TV station ABC6 News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Biden Student Debt Relief Faces Another Legal Challenge
A Louisiana lawyer has mounted another legal challenge to the Biden administration’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loans for some borrowers.
The suit alleges that Biden lacks the constitutional authority to cancel the debt without action from the legislature, per the Epoch Times. Attorney Tommy Badeaux filed the suit in the New Orleans-based U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Publican Center for Justice and the Pelican Institute for Public Policy joined him in the suit.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Body Cam Footage: Uvalde Cops Complained They Were Afraid to Get Shot During Massacre
Newly leaked footage of Uvalde police officers shows a group of armed men covered in body armor expressing fear of getting “clapped out,” shot, or putting themselves in any danger whatsoever during the massacre at Robb Elementary School on May 24 during a massacre that saw 19 children and two teachers killed.
Local NBC News obtained the footage which featured the conversation between two unidentified Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers unable to figure out what to do or where to go at the school. One said, “Want to jump the f*cking gate or what?” to which the other replied “What is the safest way to do this? I’m not trying to get clapped out.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Capitol Police, FBI and San Francisco Police Launch Joint Investigation Into Pelosi Home Break-in
The United States Capitol Police (USCP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the San Francisco Police are launching a “joint investigation into a break-in” at the California home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to a U.S. Capitol Police statement distributed by the speaker’s office.
“During the California break-in, the Speaker’s husband [Paul Pelosi] was assaulted, but he is now recovering. The San Francisco Police Department has the suspect in custody. The motivation for the attack is still under investigation,” read the statement released on Friday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
CNN Employee Reports CNN Employees Bracing for More Layoffs
CNN staffers were notified by network boss Chris Licht that sweeping changes are ‘imminent,’ according to CNN‘s Oliver Darcy.
In a Wednesday memo, Licht — who has been conducting a six-month business review as part of a larger effort spearheaded by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav — said he’s identified areas where further change is needed, and that there is “widespread concern over the global economic outlook” adding “we must factor that risk into our long-term planning.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrat Lawmakers Call on YouTube to Censor “Incel” Content
Democrat lawmakers, led by Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Adam Schiff, wrote an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki calling on the censorship of “incel” content on YouTube. The letter warned that YouTube is an “easily accessible [pathway] into the larger ‘incelosphere.’“
Incel is short for “involuntary celibates.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk on Twitter Day 1 Says He’ll be ‘Digging in’ to Shadow Banning Allegations
Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, said Thursday that he “will be digging in more today” on claims of shadow banning and follower manipulation on the social media service.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Elon Musk Says ‘Comedy is Now Legal’ After Twitter Takeover
“Chief Twit” Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has started off with a bang as the billionaire aims to make the social media platform free for all users.
“The bird is freed,” he tweeted after he completed the $44 billion acquisition on Thursday. Musk has repeatedly stressed that his goal was to bolster free speech and work to “unlock” Twitter’s “extraordinary potential.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Eight climate protesters were arrested after hurling tomato soup at Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman’s apartment building, where Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis grew up.
The eco-activists used tomato soup to deface the front of 740 Park Avenue — which also boasts John D. Rockefeller Jr. as a former resident — while chanting ‘billionaires have got to go’.
Protesters from New York Communities for Change, Sunrise NYC, Extinction Rebellion and more gathered outside Schwarzman’s home at around 11am, WCBS reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The word ‘FIRED’ is trending on Twitter after the new owner of the company Elon Musk immediately sacked several individuals at the company previously responsible for censorship, bans and policing of free speech on the platform.
After officially acquiring Twitter, Musk immediately terminated the company’s top lawyer Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety.
Gadde was reportedly directly responsible for censoring the New York Post’s revelations on the Hunter Biden laptop before the 2020 election, and for banning President Trump shortly thereafter.
It was also reported by Politico earlier this year that “Gadde cried during [a] meeting as she expressed concerns about how the company could change,” on hearing that Musk was launching a takeover bid.
Musk has also fired CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and the company’s general counsel Sean Edgett.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Well, we’re finally there: stocks are officially trading off nuclear war headlines.
Moments ago, as part of his closely-watched speech, Vladimir Putin appeared to talk down the likelihood of a nuclear attack in Ukraine:
Putin: No Political, Military Reason in Nuke Strike in Ukraine
Which, however, is more than can be said about the US.
As Bloomberg just reported, the Pentagon’s new National Defense Strategy rejects limits on using nuclear weapons long championed by arms control advocates (and, in the not too distant past, by Joe Bide) citing burgeoning threats from Russia and China.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Judge Allows Group to Monitor Local Ballot Dropboxes in Arizona
A federal judge on Friday declined to prohibit a local group from monitoring ballot drop boxes in Arizona.
“The Court cannot craft an injunction without violating the First Amendment,” District Court Judge Michael Liburdi wrote.
He did not end the case and said he would allow the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans to again make a case against Clean Elections USA, per Politico.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nancy Pelosi Husband Attack: Who is David Depape, Suspected Paul Pelosi Assailant?
David DePape, a 42-year-old with a concerning online presence and ties to a radical nudist activist, is accused of breaking into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday morning and attacking her husband with a hammer, according to city police.
Officers arrested the Berkeley man after they responded to a call around 2:30 a.m. and encountered him and the congresswoman’s 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, struggling over a hammer.
“The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said during a news briefing later that morning. “Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NYC Worker Stabbed on Subway: Nobody Stopped to Help Me
A New York City fire inspector who was knifed in the back by a stranger on a subway platform Friday lamented to The Post that other straphangers simply walked past him as he was being attacked.
“In America, people don’t care about other people,” said Taofeek Ajisegiri, 54, who immigrated to the US from Lagos, Nigeria, six years ago.
“They were walking, they were looking away,” he said of the three or four other riders who were near him as he was being assaulted by a vicious nut on the A-B-C-D platform at Harlem’s 125th Street station in Manhattan around 4:25 a.m.
“People don’t want to involve themself with anybody,” Ajisegiri said.
“It’s not like my country,” he said. “If something happened on the street in my country, people would run to you and say, ‘What’s happened? What’s happened?’
“In this country people look away and go their own way.”
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
On Musk’s First Day, Twitter Flags Just the News on-Record Story on Election Ballots as ‘Unsafe’
On the day Elon Musk took over Twitter, the social media platform flagged a post by Just the News Editor-in-Chief John Solomon aboutt Florida Gov. GOP Ron DeSantis’ administration asking for a police probe into a Democrat politician’s whistleblower complaint about voting irregularities.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A funeral for the victim of gun violence was disrupted by gunfire on Friday in Pittsburgh.
Five people were shot in Brighton Heights outside of the funeral for 20-year-old John Hornezes, who was killed Oct. 15 in a gun battle outside of a Sunoco gas station on the North Side.
“It was his funeral that was taking place,” Pittsburgh Police Commander Richard Ford said. “As far as any of the relationships or what might have precipitated this shooting is still under investigation.”
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
The City of Charlottesville passed a new policy for city workers that prohibits them from commenting, offline and online, about a wide range of topics. The policy is a potential violation of employees’ First Amendment free speech rights.
The policy was passed in response to how the city handled Allen Groat, an analyst for the fire and police department, for his involvement in the January 6 2021 riot at the US Capitol. Groat tweeted that he would engage in a “show of force,” and posted a photo of himself and former head of the Proud Boys.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump to Stay on His Truth Social Amid Elon Musk Twitter Takeover
EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump wished Elon Musk the best with Twitter but stressed he will stay on his own Truth Social, a social media platform he touts as “better,” “safe” and that feels “like home.”
Musk on Thursday completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, tweeting before midnight that “the bird is freed” and updating his bio to designate himself as the “Chief Twit.”
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Friday, Trump said, “I like Elon and I wish him a lot of luck. I hope he does well with it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Twitter to be De-Listed From New York Stock Exchange Following Musk Takeover
Twitter will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange early next month, a consequence of the company’s officially being turned over to private ownership following Elon Musk’s mammoth buyout of the social media website.
A filing from the New York Stock Exchange informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of the exchange’s intent to “to remove [Twitter’s] securities from listing and registration on the Exchange at the opening of business on November 08, 2022.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Ilhan Omar Calls Anti-War Protesters “Dangerous Propagandists” For Disrupting Town Hall
After protesters crashed an AOC town hall earlier this month, calling her a sellout on foreign policy despite her being labeled a “progressive” — now it’s another member of ‘the Squad’ whose political rallies are getting crashed.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar held a town hall Thursday night in Richfield, Minnesota — which came days after she was among 30 Progressive Dems to issue a letter to President Biden urging a diplomatic solution on Ukraine, but which was retracted merely less than a day later after backlash from fellow Democrats. Like AOC before, anti-war activists demanded answers from Rep Omar on Ukraine. Journalist and independent political commentator Michael Tracy observed of a video clip of the exchange, “Pressed on her Ukraine war position for what may be the first time since February, Ilhan Omar just starts incoherently scream-crying”…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
YouTube has announced that it intends to allow medical professionals to become ‘certified’ as ‘reliable’ and “authoritative sources” in a fresh attempt to restrict so called ‘medical misinformation’ (anything that doesn’t match the accepted narrative).
In a blog post, global head of YouTube Health Dr. Garth Graham wrote that “YouTube Health has been working on additional ways to help doctors, nurses, mental health professionals and healthcare information providers to bring high quality health information into the spaces that people visit throughout their day — like their favorite video-sharing app.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Farmers “Very Nervous” About Fertilizer Emission Targets: Ontario Federation of Agriculture
The head of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) told parliament that farmers were anxious about losing fertilizer inputs, citing Liberal government targets to reduce emissions from fertilizer use by 30%.
OFA President Peggy Brekveld told the House of Commons agriculture committee last week that the government was “making a mistake” in the way it was approaching the issue.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
OPP Apologized to Convoy Organizers After Fuel Raid
An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) liaison apologized to Freedom Convoy organizers and accused the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) of “betrayal” after an attempt by Ottawa police to raid the convoy’s fuel depot, according to new audio exclusively obtained by True North.
Tensions over the incident apparently boiled over so much that it jeopardized the working relationship between the two police services.
Ottawa police spearheaded the Feb. 6 raid on Coventry, the nickname for the Coventry Rd. parking lot the City of Ottawa initially offered to the convoy as a staging and overflow area.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ottawa Police Circulated Report Full of False Claims About Freedom Convoy
A report circulated by the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) made numerous false and misleading claims about the Freedom Convoy.
As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the memo titled Examining U.S. Support and Funding for the Canadian Trucker Contoy was published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
The ISD made several false and since disputed claims including that funding for the convoy was from “international sources.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Still No Proof Emergencies Act Was Necessary (ft. Keith Wilson)
It’s been two weeks since the Public Order Emergencies Commission began, and despite hours of witness testimony: not a single piece of evidence justifying the Emergencies Act has been provided. Convoy lawyer Keith Wilson joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss why nobody has been able to justify the Act, his thoughts on the hearings so far, and his expectations for the weeks to follow. Also, why was the Peckford case dismissed and what does it mean for Canadians?
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
What is Bill C-11? A Breakdown for Elon Musk
Bill C-11, the Trudeau government’s latest effort to curb free speech on the internet, appears to be on new Twitter owner Elon Musk’s radar for the first time, after right-wing activist group Canada Proud asked the Space X founder if he would help in the fight against Liberal censorship.
“First I’ve heard” was Musk’s response to a question from Canada Proud on whether he’d join the fight. For many Canadians, just the fact that Musk is acknowledging the legislation in the slight manner that he did is reason to celebrate.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Czech Protesters Call for New Government, Direct Gas Talks With Russia
PRAGUE (Reuters) — Thousands of Czechs protested in Prague on Friday, demanding the centre-right government step down to allow an early election and calling for talks with Russia on gas supplies ahead of winter.
The demonstration on a national holiday in Prague’s main square was the third organised by far-right political movements, fringe groups and the Communist party. Police estimated the crowd in the lower tens of thousands, less than the two previous rallies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Demonises Muslims’ — UK Officials Censor Name, Ethnicity of London Terrorist in Official Report
Local government officials in England will censor the name and ethnicity of the London Bridge terrorist in an official report, to avoid “demonising” Muslims.
The Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Staffordshire County Council produced the report on Usman Khan, who stabbed five people, two fatally, at Fishmongers’ Hall and nearby London Bridge, where he was supposed to be attending a rehabilitation course, in 2019, because he had lived in Stafford.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Nations Agree to Ban Internal Combustion Cars by 2035
The European Parliament and the 27 EU member states have reached an agreement to ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines from 2035, the Czech EU presidency announced on Thursday. The deal is part of the EU’s drive to reduce transport emissions in the bloc to as close to zero as possible.
The decision will be reviewed again in 2026. Under the EU’s climate change package, emissions are to be cut by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, with climate neutrality to be achieved by 2050.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Finland, Sweden Promise to Join NATO Together in United Front to Turkey
HELSINKI, Oct 28 (Reuters) -Finland and Sweden will joint NATO at the same time, their prime ministers said on Friday, presenting a united front to Turkey.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Police Find Body in Jet Landing Gear Near Frankfort Airport
A dead body has been found in the landing gear bay of an aircraft that flew from Tehran to Frankfurt Airport, German police said on Thursday.
German newspaper Bild reported that the Airbus aircraft, belonging to the German company Lufthansa, had taken off from Tehran early on Thursday morning.
Police said the ground crew found the body while carrying out maintenance work. German local broadcaster Hessenschau reported that the work had been going on for four hours before the body was found.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Education: ‘There Has Never Been a Decline Like This’
Compared to the overall current picture, the German education disaster looks comparatively harmless. But it is fatal for Germany’s future as an industrial nation.
There is a new study that makes the extent of the decline clear and the Munich ifo Institute for Economic Research has sounded the alarm about the educational and learning deficits of German elementary school students.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Doctors Protest Government Plan to Legalize Recreational Marijuana
Germany is proposing the most radical plan in Europe when it comes to marijuana legalization, but a number of doctors’ associations are pushing back against the plan, arguing the health risks are clear for young people.
The president of the professional association of German pediatricians and adolescent physicians, Thomas Fischbach, has warned against the plans of the country’s so-called traffic light coalition to make cannabis legal.
“Regular cannabis use can cause irreparable brain damage in adolescents and young adults, up to and including permanent impairment of intellectual performance and social competence,” he told Rheinische Post in an interview.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Police Arrest Over 100 in Country’s Biggest Ever Drug Crackdown
Hungarian police wrapped up the country’s biggest ever series of drug raids resulting in the arrest of 109 people and seizure of 600 million forints (€1.47 million) of various drugs, National Police Headquarters announced at a press conference on Thursday.
“Nearly 2,000 law enforcement officers and uniformed personnel across the country took part in a coordinated operation involving drug crime rings, seizing 600 million forints worth of drugs and dismantling criminal gangs,” the National Police Headquarters (ORFK) reported at a joint press conference with the National Tax and Customs Office (NAV), the National Investigation Office of the Intervention Police (KR NNI), and the Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Left-Wing EU Commissioner Responds to Elon Musk, Says ‘The Bird Will Fly by Our Rules’
Among the various challenges Elon Musk faces as the new owner of Twitter, one of his biggest might be the European Union, especially if he moves forward with many of his promised efforts to restore free speech on the platform.
After Musk tweeted that “the bird is free!” following his purchase of Twitter, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton warned him, writing, “In Europe, the bird will fly by our [European Union] rules.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘No One Wants These Laws’: Ireland to Jail ‘Hate Speech’ Offenders for Up to Five Years
Those who use so-called “hate speech” will soon be jailed for up to five years under new legislation published on Thursday.
Any individual found guilty of using “hate speech” in Ireland will soon find themselves facing up to five years in jail. The country’s Justice Minister, Helen McEntee, has been at the centre of the country’s push towards implementing effective “hate speech” legislation, with her department announcing on Thursday that the first draft of the new laws would soon enter the country’s parliament.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Removes Soviet-Era Monuments in 4 Different Locations
Poland tore down four Soviet-era monuments dedicated to Red Army soldiers who died during World War II on Thursday. Two of the monuments were in the Silesia region of Glubczyce and Byczyn, while the other two were in Bobolice in the west part of the Baltic coast, and Staszow in the Swietokrzyskie region in the south of Poland.
Karol Nawrocki, the head of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), attended the removal of the monument in Glubczyce. “This monument is one of falsehood,” he said.
Nawrocki stressed that the Red Army did not bring liberty but a system of evil that called for world revolution and genocide of specific social groups.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poles Support Larger Army and More Military Spending, Polling Shows
Polish citizens want a larger army and are willing to pay more for it, according to a new poll from United Surveys for RMF FM radio and the Dziennik Gazety Prawna daily show.
The data shows that 63.4 percent of Poles have a positive opinion of the government’s policy of increasing the total number of Polish soldiers to 300,000. The majority of the respondents also believe the United States to be the main military ally of Poland.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Police Bust ‘Arab’ Teens During Gang Rape at Malmo Playground
Police in Sweden arrested five foreign males who were allegedly engaged in a gang rape at a playground last weekend, according to reports.
The horrifying attacked unfolded at around 11 p.m. on Saturday night in the culturally-enriched city of Malmö.
Officers interrupted a sexual assault in progress at Kungsparken in central Malmö, Expressen reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Dutch climate activist glued himself to a table during a live TV debate, forcing security to intervene and tip him off.
Extinction Rebellion’s Jelle de Graaf was invited to speak on the Khalid and Sophie talk show about the eco protesters who stuck themselves to the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting in The Hague.
During the discussion, he leaped up on to the table and put glue on his hands before slamming them down on the surface.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Just Stop Oil Activists Spray Orange Paint on Rolex Store in Knightsbridge
Two Just Stop Oil protesters have sprayed Rolex’s London store with orange paint from a fire extinguisher.
The two activists defaced the front of the luxury jewellers in Knightsbridge at around 8.30am, the group said.
It comes after three weeks of daily protests, which have included climbing 200ft above the Dartford Crossing and people gluing themselves to several roads.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rishi Sunak today urged Emmanuel Macron to make the Channel ‘completely unviable’ for people traffickers.
In their first call, the PM and the French president committed to ‘deepening our partnership to deter deadly journeys’.
They have agreed to stage the long-promised UK-France summit next year, after tensions over migrants and the Northern Ireland protocol threw a chill over relations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wave of Attacks and Threats Against Poland’s Main Conservative Party
Poland saw a wave of attacks against offices of Law and Justice (PiS) politicians in recent days.
MP Monika Pawlowska stated that on Wednesday, an unidentified man attacked her constituency office in Wlodawa, a town located in the eastern part of the country near the borders with Belarus and Ukraine. According to Pawlowska, the intruder threatened to kill an employee at the office.
The attacker “broke into my MP office in Wlodawa and made death threats against my employee,” Pawlowska wrote on Twitter. She added that the attacker yelled out that “the office will be destroyed” and that “he will drown the employee in a cesspool, where she will die.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish President Wants Montenegro in Three Seas Initiative
Polish President Andrzej Duda met with Montenegro’s President Milo Djukanovic in Warsaw and signaled that Poland wants the Three Seas initiative to include Montenegro as one of the countries on the Adriatic Sea.
The Three Seas Initiative was introduced by Poland as a platform for cooperation between states inside the EU that lie between the Baltic, Adriatic, and Black Seas. It is composed of new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Austria.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bottler Boris Trying to Cling to Relevance With New Ukraine Foundation
Fresh from bottling out of the Conservative (Tory) Party leadership, Boris Johnson is making a bid for continued relevance by launching a foundation focused on Ukraine.
An unflinchingly belligerent policy towards Russia with respect to the Ukraine war made Johnson popular in Kyiv (Kiev) during his time as Prime Minister — indeed, after successor Liz Truss was forced out of office Ukraine openly, albeit briefly, endorsed Johnson returning to 10 Downing Street — even as his premiership fell apart at home.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Vitali Klitschko, 51, said that his country have been left desperate due to numerous attacks on power plants.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Declares End of Ukraine Mobilisation Campaign, U.S. Sending More Arms
Russia says it drafted 300,000 people in a month*U.S. says sending more weapons to Ukraine*Ukraine’s Zelenskiy says he doubts call-up has finished*Battle…
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine War: Bio-Weapons ‘Fabrication’, New Kyiv Air Defence, And Kherson Waits for Battle
Here are the latest news developments from Russia’s war in Ukraine:
1. West dismisses talk of Ukrainian biological weapons activity
The United States and its Western allies on Thursday dismissed Russia’s claims that banned biological weapons activities are taking place in Ukraine with American support, calling the allegation disinformation and fabrications.
Russia’s UN ambassador said Moscow will pursue a UN investigation of its allegations that both countries are violating the convention prohibiting the use of biological weapons.
Russia’s allegation of secret American biological warfare labs in Ukraine has been disputed by independent scientists, Ukrainian leaders and officials at the White House and Pentagon.
Ukraine does have a network of biological labs that have received funding and research support from the US. They are owned and operated by Ukraine and are part of an initiative called the Biological Threat Reduction Program that aims to reduce the likelihood of deadly outbreaks, whether natural or manmade.
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Hungary and Georgia Working on ‘Energy Pipeline’ To Europe
Hungary and Georgia are planning a major power conduit between the two countries which could result in a major change in Europe’s energy supply, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after meeting his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili in Budapest.
The Hungarian leader said that “a major new energy cooperation is taking shape,” in which the Hungarians have a special interest. They want to create a new, huge electricity pipeline system that would bring energy from Azerbaijan to Hungary via Georgia and Romania, he explained.
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Hindu Women: Minors Remain Unsafe Amid Rising Abduction Cases in Pakistan.
In a recent case, a 10-year-old Hindu minor girl was kidnapped and married off to an 80-year-old Muslim man in Sindh.
ANI | Sindh (Pakistan) | Oct 28, 2022:: Women continue to remain unsafe in Pakistan as numerous married women and Hindu girls have been abducted in the country, especially in Sindh region with a recent incident being that of a 10-year-old Hindu minor girl kidnapped and married off to an 80-year-old Muslim man on October 22, local media reported.
As per media reports, the incident took place at Shaikh Bhirkio area of Sindh where Meena Bajani, a 10-year-old Hindu girl, was kidnapped from the washing ghat.
She was abducted by unlawful means by the goons of Zamindar Mulla (Muslim landlord) Rashid and was forced to convert to Islam and was later married off to Mulla Rashid, an eighty-year-old widower.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident from Sindh, a married Hindu woman name Shanti Meghwar was abducted by four armed men, namely Manzoor Sheikh, Sultan Sheikh, Gab Sheikh and Javed from her home in Sindh’s Tandu Muhamman Khan district on October 24, as per local media reports.
According to reports, the victim was forcibly converted to Islam and married off to Manzoor Sheikh.The mother alleged that her FIR was not registered by SHO Irfan Dastikol because she could not give PKR 5,000/- as a bribe.
She appealed to Sindh CM Murad Shah to intervene in the matter and direct the police to retrieve her daughter as the cases of abduction have been on the surge in Sindh.
Cases of Hindu girls being kidnapped and converted to Islam after being married to their abductors are on the rise with reports of four such cases being reported from Pakistan’s Sindh province for quite a long.
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Signal Says it Will Leave India if the Government Bans Encrypted Messaging
Signal is one of the apps competing in the security and privacy-first market, offering users who put these features first encrypted communication.
Another thing Signal promises is not to collect huge amounts of data, that could then be abused by any number of malicious actors — from hackers to governments.
When governments and law enforcement criticize this kind of app or service, the argument usually comes down to those allegedly promoting less security both for a country as a whole and individuals — since criminals can also use them to safely communicate. And as of late, another narrative in favor of undermining encryption — that of the need to stop the spread of “misinformation” — has also been gaining in popularity in those circles.
These governments, naturally, don’t go into how individuals and societies are threatened by government overreach when messaging and chat apps are unencrypted and open to data harvesting and warrantless mass surveillance.
India is among the many countries that are looking for ways to “curb” encryption, and that goes from trying to weaken and effectively destroy it with built-in backdoors, all the way to imposing a ban on the technology that experts agree is vital for the internet’s health as a whole.
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Rare Protests in Tibet Over COVID Lockdown
Residents in Tibet’s regional capital of Lhasa took to the streets to protest harsh COVID-19 measures, a rare demonstration in the heavily policed city.
Video footage showed hundreds of people, including both native Tibetans and Han Chinese migrants, taking part in the demonstrations.
The videos, reportedly shot Wednesday, were shared on Chinese social media sites Douyin and Weibo before being taken down by authorities.
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The women were joined by their 13 children after being removed from the al-Roj camp near the Iraqi border in an operation involving Australian officials and the Syrian Democratic Forces.
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Peter Dutton has asked the government to explain its green-lighting of a repatriation mission for 17 Australian nationals whose husbands and fathers took them to ISIS warzones.
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Sydney pharmacist Hany Samir Youssef Ibrahim’s registration has been cancelled for sexually assaulting a young female at Priceline Pharmacy Mascot when she went to purchase contraception.
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Polls Show Brazil’s High-Stakes Election on Knife’s Edge
While prior polling suggested Lula has maintained a clear, albeit narrow lead in Brazil’s bitterly fought presidential contest to decide the fate of the world’s fourth-largest democracy, Bloomberg cites a fresh poll Friday as follows: “President Jair Bolsonaro would have 50.3% of the so-called valid votes on Brazil’s presidential election on Oct. 30, while his opponent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would have 49.7%, according to a Futura poll commissioned by Modalmais brokerage firm.”
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More than 300 migrants who tried to cross the English Channel needed to be rescued by Border Force and lifeboat crews as the record total for 2022 hit almost 40,000.
Border Force and RNLI boats rescued 308 migrants in the English Channel after they attempted to reach the UK in small boats in rough conditions on Thursday, according to official figures.
It takes the number of migrants who have been intercepted making the treacherous crossing to 37,801 in 930 boats so far this year, almost 10,000 more than 2021.
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New Italian Interior Minister Working to Ban Migrant Taxi NGOs
Italy’s new Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has vowed to ban migrant taxi NGOs from entering Italian waters, claiming the vessels used by the NGOs to ferry migrants to Italy operate outside of the limit of the law.
Piantedosi is said to be focusing on two NGOs and their vessels, the Ocean Viking, operated by the French NGO SOS Méditerranée and Humanity 1, which is operated by the German-based NGO SOS Humanity.
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Angry residents have hit out at late-night music and raucous football tournaments at a Holiday Inn Express that is housing 130 asylum seekers.
They claim there has been ‘really loud music all night long’ at the site in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, after refugee families were relocated and young men were housed at the hotel instead.
Footage has emerged of people partying in a car park and having all-night five-a-side football tournaments.
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Editors, Publishers Launch Petition to Block SCOTUS Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Book From Print
Nearly 500 self-identified members of the literary community have signed a petition calling for the censorship of a new book by Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett because of her ruling in the case that overturned Roe v. Wade.
According to the Guardian, the petition read, “we recognize that harm is done to a democracy not only in the form of censorship, but also in the form of assault on inalienable human rights. As such, we are calling on Penguin Random House to recognise its own history and corporate responsibility commitments by reevaluating its decision to move forward with publishing supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett’s forthcoming book.”
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Father Sues Florida School District Over Pride Flag Display
A father in West Palm Beach, Fla., is suing his son’s school district over the display of pride flags inside a classroom, alleged violations of a recent Florida state law.
Francisco Deliu alleges that computer science teacher Rachel Raos hung two pride flags in her classroom at Emerald Cove Middle School, which he labelled an attempt to “indoctrinate” students, including his son. The son reportedly told his father that Rao had not only hung the flags, but had used a search engine to find websites discussing LGBTQ issues.
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Florida Committee Moves Toward Banning Gender Treatments for Minors
A Florida committee on Friday approved rulemaking language to ban minors from taking hormones or getting surgery as treatments for gender dysphoria.
Made up of members from the Florida Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine, the committee will vote Nov. 4 to finalize the new rule, according to Politico.
The committee decision followed a meeting in Orlando during which experts on “gender-affirming” care spoke on the subject. The outlet highlighted the concerns of Patrick Hunter, a member of the Board of Medicine, who pointed to a lack of evidence from studies to support such treatments.
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Poll: Aussies Turn on Woke Elite Sports — Tell Athletes to Stop Preaching, Start Playing
Six in ten Australians believe elite sporting codes are “too politically correct,” a poll Friday revealed, with the sports-mad nation Down Under turning on woke athletes and management who want to preach politics over simply doing what they are lucky enough to be paid to do.
Marketing research firm Dynata, asked 1,000 Australians to specifically agree or disagree with the statement: “Sporting codes like the AFL, NRL, cricket, and netball have become too politically correct.”
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Public Comments Flood Virginia Over Plan to Treat Students by Biological Sex, Not Gender Identity
A month after Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed reversal of his predecessor’s transgender policies, which let students use restrooms and participate in sports based on their gender identity, the commonwealth’s Department of Education is dealing with a crush of feedback from across the country.
The public comment period for the “Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools” ended Wednesday night, with nearly 72,000 comments filed by individuals and groups across the political spectrum.
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Colleges across America are warning students of “cultural appropriation” as they prepare to dress up for Halloween, giving tips on how to avoid offending others.
Schools such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ohio University, University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Michigan are all encouraging students to choose a Halloween costume that does not appropriate another culture.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a webpage dedicated to “Halloween cultural awareness” which states that students should avoid “racist, crude, or culturally insensitive” costumes.
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Germany cannabis – now they have no energy and no industry they no longer need a sane industrious workforce. Making them all stoned may be like the pills in Brave New World so they no longer realise they have no country and no future and don’t get upset or depressed about it.
They could euthanise them?