The German government’s investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline has concluded that an impounded yacht contains traces of undersea explosives that were used to blow up the pipeline. The yacht was chartered through a cut-out, so that it is difficult to determine who actually chartered the vessel.
In other news, more than a hundred new wildfires were triggered by lightning strikes in British Columbia, raising the total of currently burning Canadian wildfires to at least 300.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, DV, Fjordman, LP, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott has blamed customers for bank branch closures, telling a parliamentary hearing those who whinged about them didn’t end up visiting their local teller anyway.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australians spent about $600 less on online purchases than they did this time last year in another sign the cost of living crunch is putting the squeeze on households.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Countries Repatriating Gold in Wake of Sanctions Against Russia, Study Finds
An increasing number of countries are repatriating gold reserves as protection against the sort of sanctions imposed by the West on Russia, according to an Invesco survey of central bank and sovereign wealth funds published on Monday.
The financial market rout last year caused widespread losses for sovereign money managers who are “fundamentally” rethinking their strategies on the belief that higher inflation and geopolitical tensions are here to stay.
Over 85% of the 85 sovereign wealth funds and 57 central banks that took part in the annual Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study believe that inflation will now be higher in the coming decade than in the last.
Gold and emerging market bonds are seen as good bets in that environment, but last year’s freezing of almost half of Russia’s $640 billion of gold and forex reserves by the West in response to the invasion of Ukraine also appears to have triggered a shift.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
EU Countries Remain Skeptical of the €66B Budget Top-Up
The representatives of most EU member states expressed disapproval of the Commission’s proposed €66 billion budget hike during the European Council’s general affairs meeting on Monday, July 10th. Some criticized the size of the financial assistance to Ukraine, others wanted to gain access to their promised funds first, while almost everyone requested more clarifications on how the money will actually be spent.
As we wrote last month, the European Commission recently requested €65.8 billion in additional funds atop the member states usual contribution for the next 4 years to finance its increased operational costs, geopolitical ventures, and unforeseeable challenges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Inflation Rises for First Time in Three Months
German inflation rose in June, the federal statistics office announced on Tuesday, bucking a downward trend seen in the last three months.
The harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) was up 6.8 percent compared to June last year, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the previous month, while the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.3 percentage points to 6.4 percent.
Food prices remained the leading factor in the higher inflationary rate, with staple food items up 13.7 percent on average compared to the same month last year. Some items, however, are considerably more expensive.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two popular restaurants in prime Melbourne locations have been forced into administration over Victoria’s cost of living crisis and repeated lockdowns.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Accused NYC Scooter-Shooter Nods Off During Court Hearing, Claimed ‘People Were After Him’
The accused scooter-riding madman who allegedly shot four people in a two borough-spree over the weekend appeared to nod off during his first court appearance Monday — as his boss revealed he had a history of bizarre comments, including claiming a “chip” was implanted in his head and that “people were after him.”
Thomas Abreu, 25, continued to make strange statements — — saying unknown entities wanted him dead — as he attended his Queens Criminal Court arraignment from his hospital bed, dozing off at times and forcing the judge to stop and make sure he was OK.
“Are you coherent enough to follow these proceedings today?” Judge Scott Dunn asked the accused killer. “You keep closing your eyes — are you alert enough to go forward?”
But things weren’t much better for the visibly disoriented Abreu when he managed to stay awake during the virtual hearing.
“What happens is I think they wanted to kill me or murder me,” Abreu told a bewildered court through a Spanish interpreter. “Everyone says I’m innocent. That’s the best problem there is.”
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s DOJ Removes ‘International Sex Trafficking of Minors’ as an ‘Area of Concern’
Democrat President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has removed child sex trafficking from a list of crimes it considers to be an “area of concern.”
In late May, the DOJ erased content from its webpage on child sex trafficking.
The section had been added by President Donald Trump’s administration and highlighted that cracking down on the “international sex trafficking of minors” was a top priority for the U.S. government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
BofA Ordered to Pay $250 Million for Opening Fake Accounts, Charging Illegal Fees
Bank of America has pulled a Wells Fargo — and has agreed to pay $150 million in fines and $100 million to customers for opening unauthorized credit card accounts, improperly charging extra fees, and withholding rewards, according to US regulators.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Business Insider had to admit they were wrong on Tuesday after they published a story that claimed more people were leaving Florida than New York and California.
Business Insider published an article titled, “More people actually moved out of Florida than New York or California in 2021.” According to the article, 674,740 residents left the state, overtaking 433,402 residents exiting California and 287,249 residents exiting New York.
However, after examining census data on Florida, many Twitter users, including members of Gov. Ron DeSantis’, R-Fla., team, pointed out that Business Insider mistakenly switched the numbers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
California Democrats Push Judges to Make Race a Factor in Sentencing Criminals
California Democrats have proposed a bill that would require judges to consider a convicted criminal’s race when determining prison sentences.
Under the guidance of the California Reparations Task Force, Democrat state lawmakers introduced Assembly Bill 852 which “would require courts, whenever they have discretion to determine a sentence, to consider the disparate impact on historically disenfranchised and system-impacted populations” with the intent of “rectifying racial bias.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Suburb Starts Making $25K Reparations Payouts in ‘Test Run for the Whole Country’
A suburb of Chicago has become the first to start paying reparations to qualifying black residents in what is being seen as “a test run for the whole country.”
The city of Evanston has already paid 16 locals from a $10 million package first approved in 2019, the Evanston RoundTable said Monday.
By the end of the year, the reparations committee expects to have paid $25,000 each to 140 qualifying residents in the city of about 75,000, officials also told the Wall Street Journal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DC Council Passes Emergency Crime Bill Amid Sharp Rise in Violent Crimes
The D.C. Council on Tuesday passed an emergency crime bill aimed at giving judges more leeway as the city grapples with a sharp rise in violent crimes.
Ahead of the vote, Council of the District of Columbia Chair Phil Mendelson lamented, “You can get away with murder in this city.”
The statement was a notable pivot from comments he made in March, suggesting that the “perception” of high crime was overshadowing the reality on the ground.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DOJ Indicts ‘Missing’ Whistleblower Just Days After He Accuses Bidens of Bribery
Whistleblower Gal Luft has been indicted by Democrat President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ indictment comes just days after Luft reemerged with a video statement to accuse Biden and his family of engaging in an international bribery scheme.
Luft had disappeared after giving information to congressional investigators after claiming he feared for his safety.
Gal Luft, a 57-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, claims to have provided the FBI with information on the Biden family’s business dealings in China.
However, he is now facing decades behind bars for alleged arms trafficking and other charges involving Iran, which he denies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
After President Joe Biden looked dazed and confused on another big stage, Texas Rep. and former White House doctor Ronny Jackson said that there is something “seriously wrong” with President Joe Biden
Jackson said: “You don’t need to be a doctor to see that something is seriously wrong with Joe Biden. It’s undeniable. Biden has become a total embarrassment to our country. Get this guy out of there, now!”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Colluded With Ukraine in Social Media Crackdown — Lawmakers
The FBI cooperated with Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) to clamp down on social media accounts disseminating alleged “Russian disinformation,” but ended up flagging pages run by the US State Department and American journalists, a report by the House Judiciary Committee has revealed.
Released on Monday, the report accused the FBI of not properly vetting lists of accounts provided to it by the SBU before sending them to the likes of Meta, Google, and Twitter.
As a result, the two agencies “flagged for social media companies the authentic accounts of Americans, including a verified US State Department account and those belonging to American journalists,” and requested that those pages be deleted, the document read.
On some occasions, the FBI followed up to ensure that “these accounts were taken down,” according to the report, which was based on documents subpoenaed from Meta and Alphabet in February.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Georgia Democrat Flips to GOP, Accuses Dems of ‘Using & Abusing Black Community’
A Georgia Democrat state lawmaker has defected to the Republicans and issued a blistering rebuke of her former party.
Rep. Mesha Mainor has represented District 56 in the Georgia State House as a Democrat since January 2021.
Shortly before noon on Tuesday, Mainor announced she is officially dumping the Democrats and switching her party registration to the GOP.
The move came after Mainor had angered her Democrat colleagues over her support for a recent school choice bill.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GOP Rep. Gaetz Introduces Resolution Urging Congress to Not Renew Surveillance Tools
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz on Tuesday introduced a resolution in support of allowing the surveillance authorities granted under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to expire at the end of the year.
Gaetz asserted that the intelligence community had repeatedly abused the authorities granted to it, citing a FISA Court decision which determined that the FBI had wrongly used its authority at least 278,000 times to surveil Americans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A gun-rights advocacy group issued a “travel advisory” for Massachusetts after a Democrat lawmaker filed a bill that would put more restrictions on firearms.
The National Association for Gun Rights issued the advisory on Tuesday and said the law would be among the most restrictive in the U.S.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hero Who Inspired ‘Sound of Freedom’ Slams Left for Smearing Movie: ‘Kind of Sick’
Tim Ballard, the hero whose story inspired “Sound of Freedom,” has slammed critics on the Left for trying to smear the anti-child trafficking movie.
The corporate media appears to have launched a coordinated attack against the hit film starring Jim Caviezel.
Ballard is portrayed by Caviezel in the movie as a former government agent who left his job to save one girl from sex traffickers in Colombia.
However, he ended up saving scores more children.
Despite the movie shining a light on the horrors of the international sex-trafficking industry, the media has been attacking the film by falsely claiming it’s based on conspiracy theories associated with QAnon.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
James Lewis, Longtime Suspect in the 1982 Tylenol Murders, Dead at 76
James Lewis — the longtime suspect in the cyanide-laced Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area in 1982 — died in his home Sunday.
Lewis was pronounced dead by medics in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, house after they responded to a 911 call of an unresponsive person at about 4 p.m., police said. He was 76.
Police said his death was not suspicious.
Lewis was the prime — and only — suspect in the Tylenol murders that shocked the country and forever changed pharmaceutical packaging.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Joe Biden’s Migrants Take Jobs, Americans Lose Jobs
Federal data show a rise in unemployment among black Americans due to the administration’s transfer of migrant workers into U.S. workplaces.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Podcaster Joe Rogan and Tesla CEO Elon Musk roasted MSNBC for a Monday tweet highlighting an article about the “far right’s obsession with fitness” that linked fitness and nutrition efforts to Adolf Hitler and White supremacist ideology.
The column, originally from 2022, was revived online after MSNBC’s official Twitter account reposted it on Monday.
“The far right’s obsession with fitness is going digital,” MSNBC tweeted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leftists Argue Government Censorship is the Highest Form of Speech
by Daniel Greenfield
When Judge Terry Doughty issued an injunction in Missouri v. Biden that banned the government from “specifically flagging content or posts on social-media platforms and/or forwarding such to social-media companies urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner for removal, deletion, suppression”, all hell broke loose.
Evelyn Douek, a Stanford law professor, formerly of the Knight First Amendment Institute, warned that preventing the government from colluding with corporations to censor citizens would have a “chilling effect on communication between the government and platforms.”
In traditional free speech jurisprudence, ‘chilling effects’ were inflicted by the government, but Douek is worried that free speech might have a chilling effect on government censorship. After advocating, in cases like Lamont v. Postmaster General, that any interference with speech, no matter how odious including, in the aforementioned Supreme Court case, asking recipients of Communist propaganda to affirmatively agree to receive it, entailed a ‘chilling effect’, liberals don’t want to chill the censors, instead they’re worried that civil rights will chill censorship.
Even though it’s the height of summer, chilling effects on censorship were on display.
Liberals who might have once worried about free speech now fret that the government will be inhibited from censoring free speech. According to CNN, “Legal experts say that the order is overly broad and scholars on online misinformation warned that it could have a chilling effect on the government’s efforts to curtail lies about public health emergencies and elections.”…
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
“The Democratic Party is a party of war,” People’s Party presidential candidate Cornel West said in a social media post Monday, expressing his view on U.S. involvement in the Ukraine war.
“Let us not be deceived: NATO is an expanding instrument of U.S. global power that provoked Russia into a criminal invasion and occupation of Ukraine,” West, who formally jumped into the presidential race in June, said in a lengthy social media post.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Gets 37½-Year Sentence for Shooting That Killed Girl Jumping on Trampoline
D’Pree Robinson pleaded guilty in March, just as his trial was set to begin, but tried to withdraw the plea to no avail.
The man behind a gang shooting that killed 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith in north Minneapolis was sentenced to 37½ years on Tuesday, more than two years after the tragic slaying of a child as she was jumping on a trampoline with friends.
D’Pree Shareef Robinson, 20, pleaded guilty in March right as his trial was set to begin, but three weeks ago he tried withdrawing that plea by claiming he was under the influence of pain pills when he waived his right to trial and agreed to a lengthy sentence for murder in connection to the shooting in the 2200 block of Ilion Avenue N. on May 15, 2021.
Hennepin County Judge Julie Allyn wasn’t persuaded by the argument then or on Tuesday when Robinson again tried to say he was not guilty and instead pressured into the plea with his previous attorney. Despite that, he added that he’s sorry, sad and heartbroken about Trinity’s death.
“I did not have nothing to do with this young girl’s death,” Robinson said. “Your honor, can you please give me a chance to take my plea back and give me a chance to fight my case?”
Allyn said she already had ruled the plea was knowingly and intelligently made.
“Now regretting what your sentence could be is not the same thing,” she said. The judge also allowed for a sentence longer than suggested by guidelines because the shooting was made in the presence of children.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Manson Family Killer Freed on Parole
Leslie Van Houten, who was convicted in two killings as a follower of Charles Manson, was released on parole Tuesday, according to officials.
Houten, 73, spent more than five decades in prison. “The original conviction and death sentence were reversed on appeal and she was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole,” the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
“She will have a three-year maximum parole term with a parole discharge review occurring after one year,”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
MyPillow is auctioning off hundreds of pieces of equipment and subleasing manufacturing space after several shopping networks and major retailers took the company’s products off shelves.
But Founder and CEO Mike Lindell says he will be vindicated and vows to fight on.
Lindell’s company listed more than 850 “surplus equipment” items on the online auction site K-Bid. Sewing machines, industrial fabric spreaders, forklifts, desks, chairs, etc are up for auction.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Portland Antifa Leader and OnlyFans Starlet Scheduled for Trial Over Violent Attack
Portland-based OnlyFans starlet-turned-unofficial Antifa leader Alissa Eleanor Azar (b. Feb. 12, 1991) is scheduled to go on trial in September for felony rioting.
Azar, who rose through the ranks of the far-left for her Antifa-themed online sex work, was indicted in December 2021 in Clackamas County. Azar is charged with felony riot, second-degree disorderly conduct and unlawful use of stun gun, tear gas or mace in the second degree.
The charges stem from a June 2021 Antifa riot in Oregon City’s Clackamette Park.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Red States, Blue Cities: Who’s to Blame for America’s Homicide Crisis
Authored by Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner and Grayson Garelick via Wirepoints.org
Red states, blue cities: Who’s to blame
There’s a debate raging over who’s responsible for the surge in homicides and violent crime across the country. California Gov. Gavin Newsom blames Republicans, saying that “8 of the top murder states are red.” Left-leaning think tank Third Way claims it’s “red” state-level leadership and policies that are responsible for the nation’s homicide problem. And Politico’s recent analysis on gun violence claims the problem is most acute in places “where Republicans have dominated state governments for decades.”
The problem with those arguments is that local governments, and not states, are overwhelmingly responsible for managing crime. Yes, state officials set criminal penalties and some broader parameters, but it’s mayors who control police and policing, local prosecutors who decide what to prosecute, and district/county judges who determine who to sentence.
State-level gun laws are often cited as the key factor explaining murder rates, but gun-friendly Maine, Idaho, Utah, Iowa have some of the nation’s lowest homicide rates, according to most-recent CDC data. Then there are states like Illinois, Maryland and Delaware that have strict gun laws and yet have relatively high homicide rates. Illinois often complains that the permissive gun laws of its neighboring states are to blame, but that doesn’t explain why its neighbors have much lower homicide rates.
The answer is that it’s not a red vs. blue state debate, but rather a red vs. blue city one.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rite Aid Shutters Bartell Drugs Location Amid Increase in Retail Theft
Another Bartell Drugs location shuttered last month, adding yet another closure in the Seattle area for the Rite Aid-owned chain.
According to The Seattle Times, the closure of the South Lake Union’s Bartell Drugs at 1001 Mercer St. brings the total number of Seattle shutdowns for the chain to four in less than a year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has just made a campaign pledge that will have Dr. Anthony Fauci sweating bullets.
On Monday, RFK Jr. said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Jesse Watters Primetime” that, if elected president, he would order the prosecution of Fauci.
Kennedy said that Fauci must be held accountable for his actions before and during the pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Unsold electric cars are piling up on dealer lots as the auto industry cranks out more electric vehicles (Evs) than there are buyers in an attempt to compete with Tesla. Luxury brands in particular are struggling with high inventories of Evs that no one wants to buy.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Secret Service Declines to Honor Records Request for White House Cocaine Docs
The U.S. Secret Service on Tuesday declined to honor a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for communications related to its investigation of the cocaine found at the White House, saying that to release those materials would compromise the investigation.
Bloomberg investigative reporter Jason Leopold posted the response from the Secret Service to his request, in which the agency stated that “disclosure could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”
The rest of the letter outlined Leopold’s options to challenge that determination but offered no other explanation for the agency’s refusal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tacoma Businesses Demand City Council Allow More Electric Fences to Stop Rampant Theft
Businesses in Tacoma, Washington are looking into installing electric fences to prevent thefts that have resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars. Now the Tacoma City Council is considering allowing more to be put up.
Currently, Tacoma only allows electric fences to be installed in industrial areas, but the council is considering changing the code to allow more businesses to do the same. If a new measure is adopted by the city council, electric fences could be installed in some mixed-use, commercial and downtown districts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tech Explainer: How to Disable 3 of Google’s Main Ways of Tracking Your Every Move
Google and the other Silicon Valley Masters of the Universe have built their empires based on surveillance capitalism — the practice of sucking up every detail of users’ private lives for use in targeted advertising. Although data collection goes hand-in-hand with the use of modern technology, there are some things we can do to slow down Google’s ability to track our every move. In this article we’ll give you easy steps to shut down three of Google’s most common trackers.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Teens Gain Right to Vote in Local Elections Amid Far-Left Push to Lower Voting Age Nationwide
Proponents of lowering the voting age to 16 are gaining ground, with teenage activists putting pressure on Democrats to make the adjustment nationwide. While full participation in federal elections for 16-year-olds is unlikely to become a reality any time soon, counties in numerous states have altered the rules to give them the right to vote in certain municipal contests.
According to Fox News, a teen-led movement known as “Vote16” recently succeeded in getting Democrats in the Vermont State Legislature to override Republican Gov. Phil Scott after he vetoed a bill that would allow 16-year-olds to vote in municipal elections. As a result, the town of Brattleboro gave them the right to cast their ballots, serve on the select board, and act as representatives at the town’s annual meeting.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Slams Biden Over Cluster Bombs for Ukraine
In sending Kiev cluster bombs, the US government is “dragging us further toward World War Three,” former US president Donald Trump warned on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden “should be trying to end the war and stop the horrific death and destruction being caused by an incompetent administration,” Trump said in a statement posted on his Truth Social platform.
The 45th US president objected to the use of cluster munitions on both humanitarian and strategic grounds, pointing to the fact that unexploded ordnance “will be killing and maiming innocent Ukrainian men, women, and children for decades to come,” long after the war has ended.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Lawyers Ask for Extension in ‘Extraordinary Case’ of Mar-a-Lago Seized Documents
On Monday, Donald Trump’s lawyers asked the judge overseeing the former president’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents case to delay proceedings for an unspecified amount of time, citing the unprecedented nature of the charges.
Trump’s legal team suggested that they may need upwards of a year to be ready for the case, hinting that they would like to see it pushed back until after the 2024 election. Judge Aileen Cannon of the US District Court in West Palm Beach had initially wanted to begin the trial in August, but pushe the start date back to December 11 to give the defense time to prepare.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Holds 39% Lead Among GOP Voters Nationwide: Poll
Yet another poll has shown Donald Trump to be the clear frontrunner among Republican presidential candidates, holding a commanding 39 point lead over his closest competitor, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The former president has seen his support among GOP voters increase over the past six months, while most of his challengers have either remainded stagnant or lost ground.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tucker Carlson is back with something everyone should pay attention to.
Episode 9 of ‘Tucker on Twitter’ is a lengthy (complete) interview with Andrew Tate — the former-kickboxer-turned-influencer who is currently being held on human trafficking, rape, and criminal gang charges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Virginia Police Find Sausages Embedded With Fish Hooks, Suspected Culprit Targeted Dogs, Owners
Police in northern Virginia are searching for the person who put sausages laced with fish hooks on city streets, in an apparent attempt to harm dogs or punish dog owners.
An animal services officer found nine pieces of sausage with fish hooks in them Friday at an intersection in Alexandria, Virginia. They were discovered after someone walking a dog discovered one that morning.
“We’re looking for leads,” an Alexandria Police Department spokesperson said Tuesday.
The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria says the laced sausages were put in the streets to intentionally harm animals.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Washington State Murders Reach All-Time High: Report
A new report shows that murders reached an all-time high in Washington state in 2022.
There were a reported 394 statewide murders last year, which is a 16.6 percent increase from the year prior, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
White House Opposes Independent Oversight of Ukraine Aid
President Joe Biden’s administration has objected to plans by US lawmakers to establish an independent inspector general who would scrutinize Washington’s massive military and economic aid packages for Ukraine.
At issue is a provision added to the $874 billion US defense budget for the government’s next fiscal year, calling for an additional oversight layer on Ukraine aid modeled after the inspector general established for reconstruction in Afghanistan.
Conservative lawmakers, including Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, have argued that the White House lacks adequate controls to prevent fraud and other misuse of the $113 billion in aid approved by Congress to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canadian Lightning Strikes Trigger Over 100 New Wildfires in British Columbia, Raising Total to 300
Lightning strikes over the weekend triggered more than 100 new wildfires in British Columbia, raising the total above 300 and leading authorities to order on Monday a ban on campfires for most of the province.
The wildfire danger was high to extreme across most of British Colombia. The province’s Wildfire Service said almost 200 of the fires were ranked as out of control.
Officials warned of challenging conditions, with lightning storms forecast for most of the week and above-average temperatures throughout the central interior of the province.
In announcing the campfire ban, Bowinin Ma, British Columbia’s minister of emergency management, said the province expected “continued extreme fire behaviour? after 115 fires were sparked by lightning over the weekend.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
EU Commissioner Says Social Media “Didn’t Do Enough” to Censor French Riot Posts
Pro-censorship European Commissioner Thierry Breton’s recent critique of social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat for purportedly inadequate content censorship during France’s riots has sparked concerns among free speech advocates.
Speaking on France Info radio, Breton highlighted the firms’ alleged failure to control content related to the civil unrest, a standpoint that some fear could potentially infringe on freedom of expression.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Support for Ukraine Will Wane — Bloc Member’s President
Ukraine should aim to regain as much territory as it can from Russia before the end of the year as it may not have a second chance at a counteroffensive, Czech President Petr Pavel has warned. He cited general “war fatigue” and the upcoming presidential elections stateside as potential reasons why Kiev’s backers may have less of an appetite for a continuation of hostilities.
In an interview with Britain’s Sky News TV channel broadcast on Tuesday, Pavel acknowledged that while “in an ideal world” he would want to see Ukraine regain control of all its territories within its 1991 borders, this may not be realistic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
June 27, 2023. Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris, shortly before 8 a.m. Two policemen on a motorcycle try to stop a car. The driver, 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, is obviously dangerous, driving erratically, barely avoiding people crossing the street. A 15-second video circulating on social networks shows the car stopped, with the two policemen aiming their weapons at Merzouk. One policeman, gun drawn, leans his elbow on the windshield. He tells Merzouk to turn off the engine and place his hands above his head. The car drives off. The policeman shoots at the car. Merzouk is shot and dies shortly after.
The police have witnesses, video surveillance, and data showing that the driver has been implicated five times for refusing to comply with police officers. He had been arrested a few weeks earlier for disorderly conduct against police and consumption and sale of narcotics, and was shortly to appear before a judge. He was only 17, too young even to have a French driver’s license.
That day, he was driving a rented $90,000 Mercedes with fake Polish license plates. All of this information, apart from his age, was glossed over by the media and political leaders. The single video, filmed by a passerby on an iPhone and sent to the media, failed to show the entire incident.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Tells UN: Nord Stream Inquiry Found Subsea Explosive Traces on Yacht
UNITED NATIONS, July 11 (Reuters) — Germany found traces of subsea explosives in samples taken from a yacht that it suspects “may have been used to transport the explosives” to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, it told the U.N. Security Council in a letter with Sweden and Denmark.
A series of unexplained explosions hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea last September in the exclusive economic zones of Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
The trio are each conducting separate investigations and sent an update — seen by Reuters — ahead of a meeting of the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday called by Russia, which has complained that it has not been kept informed about the probes.
“None of the investigations has been concluded and at this point, it is still not possible to say when they will be concluded. The nature of the acts of sabotage is unprecedented and the investigations are complex,” the three wrote in a joint letter, dated Monday, which included an update on each inquiry.
The joint letter said Germany has been investigating “the suspicious charter of a sailing yacht” that had been rented in a way to “hide the identity of the real charterer.” Germany was still investigating the precise course of the boat.
“It is suspected that the boat in question may have been used to transport the explosives that exploded at the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines,” the letter said of Germany’s inquiry. “Traces of subsea explosives were found in the samples taken from the boat during the investigation.”
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian PM Makes Ukraine Peace Proposal
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has urged NATO to promote a ceasefire and peace talks in Ukraine rather than continue to ship weapons to Kiev. He made the argument in a video clip posted on social media on Monday.
“Instead of bringing weapons to Ukraine, we should bring peace,” Orban said in the video, delivered in Hungarian with English captions. “A ceasefire is necessary, and instead of war, peace negotiations should start as soon as possible.”
NATO is supposed to defend member states, “not to carry out military actions on the territory of other countries,” Orban noted in the video, urging the US-led bloc to stay true to its official “defensive” mission.
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Hungary Unveils New Jet-Propelled Drone for Military Use
Hungary’s Rotors & Cams Zrt., along with the country’s military, unveiled on Monday the first domestic-made drone for military use, daily Magyar Nemzet reports.
According to the company’s statement, the ProTAR drone was developed specifically for military use and is intended to improve the air defense capabilities of the military. The unique jet-propelled drone will serve as a target for Hungarian air defense units, which must hit the drone during simulated alerts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
MEP Christine Anderson to Sue YouTube for Censoring Her Videos
YouTube has managed to make another enemy for itself thanks to Google’s giant video platform’s unrelenting, multi-year, overzealous censorship of a range of topics, prominently information and debate around coronavirus and the handling of the pandemic.
German Member of EU Parliament (MEP) Christine Anderson has decided to sue after two of her videos got blocked in September last year, ostensibly for mentioning Big Pharma heavy-weights in an unfavorable context.
The videos came in a series, “EU Special Committee on Covid Pandemic,” and were titled, “Deputies are fed up! — Big Pharma under cross-examination!,” “Lesson learned? — Politics further beyond reality!”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Metsola Voices Opposition to Nature Restoration Law Ahead of Crunch Vote
The President of the European Parliament Robert Metsola has taken the unusual step of wading into the debate over the EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL) this week, saying in an interview with the Financial Times that lawmakers should tone down green regulations because it is placing too much of the economic burden on ordinary citizens.
Metsola, who is an MEP with the EPP-affiliated Maltese Nationalist Party, made the comments in the context of the EPP being accused by left-wing parliamentarians of breaking ranks on the EU green agenda after the party group turned against the NRL at the committee stage in Brussels last month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NATO Vilnius Summit: Sparks Fly on Day One
The historic summit between NATO leaders in the Lithuanian capital began on Tuesday, July 11th, with allies touting “unprecedented unity” after Turkish President Erdogan announced that he’s finally giving the green light to Sweden’s membership bid the evening before.
Yesterday, we published a detailed “what to expect” piece with all the relevant themes ahead of the summit, so now let’s see what was actually discussed on the first day in Vilnius.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland’s head of state told reporters that members and partners must now act on the decisions taken at the Madrid summit on strengthening NATO’s eastern flank with Russia. Discussions at the summit in Vilnius will include a provision that each country commits ready-for-combat forces to counter the threat from Russia. According to Duda, 300,000 troops would strengthen NATO’s eastern flank in the event of an attack in a maximum of 30 days.
The Polish president also said that there was a need to extend pipelines supplying fuel to NATO territories in the east of the alliance. At the moment, these pipelines run only as far as Germany.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly Half of Poles Against Ukrainian NATO Membership — Survey
Nearly half of the Polish population opposes immediate NATO membership for Ukraine, a survey has indicated. Officials in Kiev have insisted on being rapidly accepted into the military bloc, although heavyweight members such as the US and Germany have expressed their reservations.
According to a poll by IBRiS and commissioned by the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, 47.7% of Poles do not want Ukraine to join NATO at present. Another 40% are in favor of immediate membership, while the rest voiced no preference.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Cardinals to be Created in September 2023
True to his habit since his election in 2013, Pope Francis announced the creation of 21 new cardinals for the next consistory to be held on September 30th, 2023. Over the past 10 years of his pontificate, this is the ninth time he has done so—an intensive pace in contrast to the habits of his predecessors—a privileged means for him to guarantee his ‘line of succession’ by appointing personalities faithful to his pastoral orientations.
The election of his successor is obviously on his mind. Given the rate at which new cardinals are being created (121 since 2013), Pope Francis can hope that when the time comes there will be a majority—two-thirds of the cardinals, to choose the new pope, made up entirely of cardinals appointed by him.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The move to debank people in Britain — largely driven by the use of holdover EU directives prior to Brexit — could be part of a wider effort to usher in the “tyranny” of a cashless society, Brexit leader Nigel Farage has warned.
Nigel Farage, who recently revealed that his longtime bank had closed his account and that nine other banks refused to offer him their services, said on Monday that he fears the UK could be moving towards a situation such as in Canada, where the leftist government of Justin Trudeau froze the bank accounts of truckers protesting lockdown restrictions.
‘Mr Brexit’ noted that since coming forward with his experiences of being debanked, many other prominent figures in British political circles, now including the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself, Jeremy Hunt, who reportedly was blocked from opening an account with the Online bank Monzo last year. Others such as Lord Clarke, who served as treasury chief under John Major, and Russian-British aristocrat Alexandra Tolstoy have both come forward saying that their accounts have been shut.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Struggles With Flood of Ukrainian Grain in 2023
In the first months of 2023, Poland received 600 times more Ukrainian wheat than in 2022, according to Polish Finance Ministry data obtained by the Rzeczpospolita daily from the Polish Agriculture Ministry.
Between 2021 and 2022, grain imports to Poland tripled from 1.1 million tons to 3.2 million tons. The largest increase was in wheat and corn, with over 2 million tons of corn imported last year, according to Polish Ministry of Finance and the National Revenue Administration data.
Between January and April 2023, when protests by Polish farmers were already underway, nearly 338,000 tons of wheat were imported from Ukraine. This marked a staggering 610 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A pair of baby-faced brothers who plotted to join ISIS from their bedroom in Birmingham have admitted terror offences.
Muhammad Abdul Haleem Heyder Khan and younger sibling Muhammad Hamzah Heyder Khan had made preparations to travel to Afghanistan when they were arrested on November 2, last year.
The 21 and 18-year-old were found to have encouraged others to ‘shed’ the blood of non-believers, as well as threatened former Prime Minister David Cameron.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A teacher who was jailed for 25 years for grooming pupils to become terrorists has been banned from the classroom today.
New evidence revealed by teaching watchdogs has found that Umar Haque, who was 25 when he was jailed in 2015, may have been planning an attack on the late Queen.
Haque, who had been ‘fanatical’ about ISIS, had plans to create a London-based ‘death squad’ made up of pupils from a fee-paying independent Muslim school in Leyton, east London.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israel Blocks Spain’s Spyware Investigation
Israel has all but officially blocked the Spanish state’s investigation into the alleged hacking of Spanish President Pedro Sanchez’s phone in 2020.
Spain’s National Court announced Monday, July 10th, that the investigation into the phone hacking had been paused, since four requests to the Israeli government for information had gone unanswered.
“This silence clearly shows an absolute lack of legal cooperation on the part of the government of Israel. This leads us to presume that the judicial request in question, which has been sent four times, will never be executed,” José Luis Calama, a judge at Spain’s National Court, said, as reported by local media Monday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Defense Company Rheinmetall to Open APC Factory in Ukraine
German defense contractor Rheinmetall AG will open a factory for making armored personnel carriers in Ukraine, CEO Armin Papperger told CNN on Monday.
Rheinmetall will also train Ukrainian units to maintain the tanks and other armored vehicles produced at the plant.
“The Ukrainians have to help themselves. It is not a solution that they always have to wait for the Europeans or the Americans to help them in the next 10 or 20 years,” Papperger said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kissinger Falls Victim to Russian Pranksters Posing as Zelensky
Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger said he wouldn’t criticize Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, according to a video published by a pair of Russian pranksters. The centenarian thought he was talking to the Ukrainian leader himself.
The duo, who go by stage names Vovan and Lexus, posed as the Ukrainian leader during a video conference with Kissinger, they claimed on Monday. A full hour-long episode of their show, which was based on the prank, was released on social media the next day.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kremlin: The US Just Confessed to Imminent War Crimes in Ukraine
Statements made by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on the Sunday news shows have been seized upon by the Kremlin as a clear demonstration the US has ‘confessed to war crimes’.
Kirby in a fresh interview with ABC was defending President Biden’s approving cluster bombs for Ukraine, which are banned by over 120 countries internationally for being ‘indiscriminate’ and thus more likely to result in civilian deaths. Kirby at one point told ABC that “we can all agree that more civilians have been and will continue to be killed by Russian forces… than will likely be hurt by the use of these cluster munitions.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Kremlin Spokesman: Wagner Chief Met With Putin in Moscow Days After Mutiny
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and a few dozen senior commanders from the private military contractor (PMC) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin just days after the group aborted its short-lived march toward Moscow, according to various Russian and Western media reports.
Speaking to the Russian press on Monday, July 10th, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters:
Indeed, the president has had such a meeting. He invited 35 people to it. All the commanders of the detachments and management of the company, including Prigozhin himself. This meeting took place in the Kremlin on June 29th. It lasted three hours.
The commanders outlined their version of what happened [on 24 June]. They emphasized that they are staunch supporters of the head of state and the supreme commander in chief… and also said that they were ready to continue to fight for their homeland.
Putin listened to the explanations of the commanders and offered them further options for employment and further combat use.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NATO Looks to ‘Israel Style’ Relationship With Ukraine, Rejecting Full Membership… for Now
NATO will make binding commitments to Ukraine modelled on its relationship with Israel but won’t commit to admitting it as a member until Russia has been defeated, it is claimed.
Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are meeting in Vilnius for the alliance’s annual summit today, and one of the major topics for discussion — beyond the apparent imminent admission of longtime European neutral Sweden, after Turkey appeared to drop its objections — is Ukrainian accession.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian Defense Official Claims Responsibility for Crimea Bridge Attack
Ukraine’s deputy defense minister reflected on 500 days of war on Saturday, July 8th by admitting responsibility for last October’s sabotage of the Kerch Strait Bridge, a key supply line connecting Russia and the Crimea Peninsula.
In a Telegram post, Hanna Maliar wrote that the bridge—which opened four years after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014—was targeted to “disrupt Russian logistics.” She noted that that day marked 273 days since the “first strike” on the bridge.
CNN reached out to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for a statement about Maliar’s claim but had yet to receive a response at the time of writing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Zelenskyy Outraged After Biden Rejects Ukraine’s NATO Membership: ‘Unprecedented and Absurd’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not being shy about his dissatisfaction over his country currently being denied NATO membership, taking to social media to express his outrage.
Ukraine will be present at the NATO summit taking place Tuesday and Wednesday in Vilnius, Lithuania, but Zelenskyy lamented that the alliance continues to keep his country from joining.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
China Balks as South Korea, Japan Leaders Plan to Attend NATO Summit
Chinese state media furiously denounce South Korea and Japan for planning to attend this week’s NATO summit in Lithuania.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
RFK Jr.: CIA ‘Involved’ in Wuhan COVID Lab Leak
Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has accused the CIA of secretly playing a role in the dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab where Covid originated.
According to Kennedy, “the CIA was involved” in the research at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology that caused the pandemic.
RFK Jr. made the allegations on national television during an interview with Fox News anchor Jesse Watters.
Kennedy suggested that Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration is not interested in punishing China for covering up the lab leak because it would expose National Institutes of Health-funded bioweapons programs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scientists who wrote a paper dismissing the so-called “lab leak theory” of the origin of COVID-19 admitted they feared blaming China for accidentally releasing the virus, according to internal communications obtained by a House subcommittee.
A co-author of the March 2020 Nature Medicine article “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2” and other scientists who collaborated on the paper privately worried about the “s—tshow that would happen” if “China in particular” were deemed responsible for COVID escaping one of their research labs, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic majority revealed in an interim report Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
High-profile scientists caught up in the controversy over Covid’s origins have admitted the decision to play down the lab leak theory was political.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Staff of one of Australia’s biggest employers have won the permanent right to work from home, while former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett is demanding those doing so have their slashed.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Germany Sends 240 Troops to Australia for Anti-Chinese Military Exercises
Germany will deploy up to 240 troops to transnational military exercises in Australia as Berlin increasingly refocuses its foreign policy to the Indo-Pacific and rising Chinese power in the region.
The German troops will partake in the biennial Talisman Sabre exercise involving over 30,000 soldiers from 12 different nations designed to simulate landing operations and jungle warfare and which runs from July 22nd until August 4th in Western Australia.
Despite lingering questions about fighting capability and poor equipment, Germany has put aside previous post-war reservations about deploying troops abroad as the German government announced plans to station 4,000 troops in Lithuania permanently, to fend off the threat of Russian invasion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Snow Falls on Johannesburg for First Time in Decade
South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg, witnessed its first snowfall in more than a decade on Monday, bringing a rare wintry experience to residents.
Puseletso Mofokeng, a senior forecaster at the South African Weather Service (SAWS), told AFP news agency that the city last saw snow in 2012, and before that not since 1996.
Earlier, SAWS issued warnings of disruptive snow over parts of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark Considers Banning Refugees From Holidays in Their Home Countries
In order to claim asylum in many countries, an asylum seeker is required to prove there is a threat to them in their home countries, but in recent years, there has been a trend of those with refugee status heading back to their home countries for a quick holiday or vacation.
Often refugees are not working in the countries they claim asylum in and have been known to spend taxpayer money to finance their holidays in the countries they claim to have fled as well.
Denmark, a country that has become increasingly strict on matters of asylum in the last few years, has announced it will be looking at banning those with refugee status from holidays in their homelands, and could even strip people of asylum status if they take a holiday back home.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EP Coalition Goes After Conservative Countries in Mediterranean Migration Dispute
A broad coalition of socialists, liberals, and the center-right submitted a motion for resolution to the European Parliament on Monday, July 10th, calling for the establishment of an EU-wide search and rescue operation on the Mediterranean and for nearby countries to keep their ports open for NGO ships.
As we reported, MEPs held a heated debate last week about the Libyan smuggler ship that sank recently off the coast of Greece, dragging hundreds of migrants to their deaths. The incident was the second high-casualty accident involving illegal migration on the Central Mediterranean this year, following a similar shipwreck in February, near the coast of Italy.
In both cases, leftist members of the European Parliament accused the conservative governments in Rome and Athens of being at least partially responsible for the deaths by not doing enough during rescue operations and by hindering the work of international rescue NGOs.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
— as they compare themselves to Thatcher-era anti-nuclear Greenham Common activists
Organisers of an angry protest at a luxury Welsh hotel destined to be taken over by asylum seekers claim they are the new Greenham Common activists in a call back to the anti nuclear group from the Margaret Thatcher era.
Angry locals living near to the four-star Stradey Park Hotel in Llanelli, South Wales, are camping out as they continue their campaign to stop the venue being turned into a refugee centre.
Many of the hardcore of 80 protesters are local women in their fifties and sixties who fear their community is at risk from economic migrants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Zemmour: The Link Between Riots and Immigration is Obvious
In a wide-ranging interview, the first he has given to the foreign press since the French race riots erupted late last month, Éric Zemmour—the former journalist who now leads the national Right party Reconquête—answered questions relating to Islam in France, the future of the country, the nature of the civil insurrection, its source, who is to blame, and what measures must be taken to prevent subsequent catastrophes.
The interview, conducted by Jose Maria Ballester Esquivias for the Spanish digital newspaper El Debate, gave Zemmour ample opportunities to speak his mind on the perilous issues facing France, and as usual, speak his mind he did.
“[France] is on the verge of civil war,” Zemmour said candidly. “I’ve been saying this for a long time, and the recent guerrilla scenes prove it.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In an interview that has gone viral, one French-Algerian man says that he lives in France even though he claims it is racist, explaining that he is there to colonize the country and warning that he and his people will colonize France “until death, until the end of time.”
“Racists, they colonized us for 132 years. And now it’s our turn to come here. How can I explain it to you? I can’t find the words. They’ve colonized us for 132 years and now we’re going to colonize them for life until we die. Until the end of time.
The video has been seen nearly 4.5 million times.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Somali Migrant Sexually Assaults 10-Year-Old Girl on Train Near Munich
A 28-year-old Somali man has been arrested for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl on a German train in Bavaria. The girl was saved by a woman who saw the incident, but the horror story did not end even after the girl reached her destination, where her aunt was waiting for her.
The incident took place between Mühldorf and Dorfen, where according to police, the Somali man sat down on the seat next to the girl, who he did not know, and began touching the child between her knees.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Students Protest Decision to House 100 Migrants at Their High School Gym
Around 150 students demonstrated on Monday morning against a local government decision to accommodate 100 refugees in the gymnasium at their high school.
The student body at Palmnicken High School led a march through the town center of Fürstenwalde, located in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, Germany.
The district administration recently announced that up to 100 migrants would be accommodated temporarily on the school’s grounds in the absence of viable alternative accommodation sites, meaning that from the beginning of the new school year, the sports center will be unavailable for lessons, training or working groups.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In the wake of the massive riots by Eritreans in the German city of Giessen, the political debate has begun after yet another show of violence from Germany’s migrant community.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) was quick to condemn the riots and assaults on police, which were posted across social media and showed officers battling with Eritreans.
“How can you allow the Eritrean dictatorship to show off in Germany, endanger the life and limb of German police officers and even pose a threat to the German population,” stated AfD MP Stephan Brandner.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Scientific age assessments of migrants who claim to be children will start this year, the immigration minister has confirmed.
The oldest asylum seeker yet discovered pretending to be a child was actually found to be 41, Robert Jenrick said.
He told MPs that medical assessments — thought to include X-rays or MRI scans — will initially run in parallel with existing tests which are based on behavioural and language studies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More than 13,000 migrants have crossed the Channel by small boat so far this year — with a further 338 people intercepted yesterday alone.
Up to and including Monday July 10, a total of 13,160 people had made the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits in 288 boats — an average of 46 migrants crammed into each vessel.
The figures are fast approaching last year’s record numbers, according to official Government data.
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Brits have been urged to open up their homes to asylum seekers in order to save the government money on hotel accommodations.
The proposal was recommended in a report published on Tuesday by the Policy Exchange think tank. The report by Dr. Rakib Ehsan, titled “Fixing the U.K.’s Broken Asylum System,” addressed the ongoing migrant crisis on England’s southern border and was backed by former Conservative Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis, who wrote the foreword.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Mob of Migrants Attack Graduation Party in Germany
German police arrested at least a dozen suspects after a mob of foreign men attacked a graduation party over the weekend, according to reports.
The shocking incident unfolded during the overnight hours between Saturday and Sunday in Görlitz, a town in the state of Saxony.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Clinton Judge Orders Wisconsin School to Let Male Students Use Girls’ Restroom
A Bill Clinton-appointed federal judge has ordered a Wisconsin school district to let male students use the girls’ restroom.
Judge Lynn Adelman in the Eastern District of Wisconsin ruled that the Mukwonago Area School District is prohibited from stopping students from using the facilities of their opposite gender.
The district was banned from enforcing its bathroom policy in Adelman’s temporary restraining order against the rule on Thursday.
A lawsuit was brought against the district by the family of an 11-year-old boy who “identifies” as a girl.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Summer Camp Declares it Will Hide From Parents the News of Any Kid Who ‘Transitions at Camp’
Camp Solomon Schechter, a Jewish summer camp in Washington state has made headlines for allowing children to keep their gender transitioning secret from their own parents.
Many schools and childcare institutions have come under fire for secretive social transitioning, where students are socially treated as a gender that does not correlate with their biological sex, without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
State law in Washington allows teenagers to keep information on their health plan from their parents regarding “Gender dysphoria” and “Gender affirming care” even if they are under 18.
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Tennis legend Martina Navratilova told Megan Rapinoe to pound sand after the “woke” soccer trashed her and called for men to be allowed in women’s sports.
Rapinoe trashed Navratilova for opposing the idea of transgender participation in women’s sports ahead of the retiring soccer star’s final World Cup later this month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
They really despise you and they’re no longer even bothering to hide it.
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“Denmark Considers Banning Refugees From Holidays in Their Home Countries”
Even woke Canada under Trudeau will theoretically do this already.
That’s why fake refugees wait until they get PR to go for a visit to the land of their oppression. Indeed, if one does NOT do so at that point, that’s pretty much a guaranteed confirmation that he was real.
(Yes, I’m aware that there are a few situations where one isn’t oppressed as a visitor, but only as a resident. Germany’s ban on homeschooling is an example.)
Hopefully the holiday is not banned. Only the return trip should be banned.
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Max Blumenthal’s Brave UN Speech on Ukraine
https://rumble.com/v2yurkg-max-blumenthals-brave-un-speech-on-ukraine.html
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
48.6K followers
Here’s a story from UK Daily Mail about another horrendous and senseless murder in the USA.
Look at the photos of the victim and the killer.
Anyone want to place a bet on how long this story will disappear?
Just like the father in Maryland who was murdered a couple of months ago, in his own home, by a gang of unnamed criminals.
Anyone see a pattern here?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12291629/Patient-killed-Memphis-hand-surgeon-Ben-Mauck-identified-Larry-Pickens.html
Black.
How does the german government know which type of explosives was used?
When they sent investigators they didnt have the equipment with them to dive down to the destroyed pipelines.
I smell a rat.
I think the more important question is how can the German government continue to maintain this fiction?
They have to know that the destruction of the pipeline was done by the US to harm them economically, yet they maintain the fiction that the Ukrainians did it while knowing that the Americans did them dirty.
It’s as if you let your friend borrow your car which he crashes then blames it on your brother while you know for a fact it was your friend, yet you choose to back the lie and also blame your brother even though you know he’s innocent.
Bingo. This is a CIA-planted story to divert heat (attention) from the biden regime. The key is that working at 250 feet for, say, an hour to plant explosives would require either long decompression times or a decompression chamber on the boat.
….All known decompression chambers are too big to be inserted below-deck on that sailboat. Also the marina that chartered the boat said no cranes came to the dock to load such a chamber aboard.
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Trailer to “Nordstream bomb was not 0.000125kt TNT equivalent,
but 2.5kt TNT equivalent.
It was a “mini”-nuke
https://rumble.com/v2w8to0-trailer-to-nordstream-bomb-was-not-125kg-but-2.500.000kg.-it-was-a-mini-nuk.html