An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 asylum seekers are projected to arrive in Germany in 2023. Meanwhile, Tunisian authorities said that they have recovered 789 drowned migrants since the start of this year.
In other news, the Russian military said that it has shot down a Ukrainian missile over the southern Russian city of Taganrog.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, DV, JW, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, 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.
European Central Bank (ECB) Raises Interest Rate to Historic High
The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the ninth consecutive time on Thursday (27 July), even amid the growing risk of recession.
The bank has now increased borrowing costs by 4.25 percent since last summer, to the highest it has been in its 23-year existence.
Worried that high-profit growth over the last year may lead to a “tit for tat” increase in wage demands which would fuel further inflation necessitated another rate hike, ECB president Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GDP: US Economy Grows at a Faster Pace Than Expected in Q2
The US economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the second quarter of 2023, adding to signs that the threat of a recession has faded in the immediate term.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis’s advance estimate of second quarter US gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy grew at an annualized pace of 2.4% during the period, faster than consensus forecasts. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had the US economy growing at an annualized pace of 1.8% during the period.
The reading came in higher than first quarter GDP, which was revised up to 2%.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Activists Complain Threads Isn’t Doing Enough to Censor “Disinformation”
It’s starting: the next US presidential election is a year and a half away, but already various groups and power centers are trying to make sure that social media behave exactly as they expect.
Pressure is coming in various forms — with Big Tech creating “alternatives” to existing widely-used, but fallen-out-of-favor platforms, to subtle and not-so-subtle demands for even more censorship.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called out Democrat President Joe Biden and his administration for refusing to provide him with Secret Service protection.
Biden rejected Kennedy’s request despite his high polling numbers and tragic family history.
RFK Jr.’s father, Robert F. Kennedy, and his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, were both assassinated.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has dropped a bombshell by revealing that six major American banks have filed over 170 suspicious activity reports (SARs) against Democrat President Joe Biden’s family.
According to Comer, the banks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, filed the SARs with the Treasury Department regarding alleged serious criminal activity involving the Bidens.
Comer, who served as a bank director for a decade, revealed that the reports were related to activity involving money laundering, human trafficking, and tax fraud.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
DHS Secretary Mayorkas is Grilled Over Censoring American Citizens
The recent House Judiciary Committee on July 27 saw a heated confrontation centered on censorship complaints against Big Tech, with particular emphasis on perceived incursions on rights to free speech. The remarks came from Rep. Mike Johnson (R-AL) as he confronted DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, addressing concerns regarding repeated instances of government-led censorship primarily targeting conservative views on several Big Tech platforms.
The crux of the dispute arose when Johnson questioned Mayorkas’ stance on alleged “misinformation” online. He challenged the DHS Secretary’s viewpoint, arguing that it could lead to chilling effects on constitutionally guaranteed free speech.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Martha’s Vineyard police left the reason for the 911 call reporting Obama private chef Tafari Campbell’s drowning blank in official logs from the night of the accident, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Tafari, 45, fell into the water on Sunday night while paddle boarding on Great Edgartown Pond. He was not on the water alone, but police refuse to name the person he was with.
At 7.46pm, a 911 call was made to report that he had fallen in and could not make it back to the surface.
That call is noted in Edgartown Police Department’s logs, but the reason behind it is left noticeably blank. The reason for every other call for that night is given.
The origin of the call is also listed as Wilson’s Landing — a paddle board launch site, some two miles from the Obamas’ house on Turkeyland Cove, where Massachusetts State Police say the first call came from.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
FBI Engages in Warrantless Surveillance Again — This Time Over Legal Gun Sales on Facebook
In a striking case bearing on privacy rights, a Texas man found himself under unwarranted surveillance by federal authorities after posting his personal firearms for sale on Facebook.
The man had not violated any laws, yet the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) transferred his personal data to the FBI, which then kept him under scrutiny for six months.
The exchange detailing the situation was brought to light in internal documents procured by The Epoch Times. These documents revealed that ATF staff had interrogated the man, who confessed to posting his own guns on Facebook for sale.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Illinois College Ordered to Pay Christian Student $80k for Silencing Conservative Views
An Illinois college has settled with a conservative, Christian art student who claimed the school censored her speech and discriminated against her after complaints from classmates.
As part of the settlement won by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), three professors at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) will take mandatory training related to free speech on college campuses.
The settlement also stipulates that SIUE officials must revise their student handbook and policies to “ensure students with varying political, religious and ideological views are welcome in the art therapy program.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is zeroing in on Joe Biden and has just exposed more damning evidence against the Democrat president.
Jordan just dropped the second installment of his “Facebook Files” which highlights the Biden admin’s effort to censor the American people.
As Slay News reported earlier, Jordan dropped the first part on Thursday and asserted that the documents prove Biden has “abused his powers.”
Facebook’s parent company Meta finally handed over documents to Congress that show how the social media giant was pressured to censor information by the Biden admin.
According to the latest drop from Jordan, Biden officials even demanded that Facebook censor jokes and true information posted online by American citizens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Joe Biden Caves Under Pressure From Media, Admits He Has 7th Grandchild
President Joe Biden caved after the main stream media finally did their job and admitted he has a seventh grandchild.
4-year-old grandchild Navy Joan Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and a stripper Lunden Roberts.
While Hunter was having an affair with his dead brother’s widow(what a guy) he had knocked up Roberts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Joe Rogan: Democrats Are Plotting to Remove ‘Mentally Compromised’ Biden
Podcaster Joe Rogan has accused Democrats of plotting to “remove” Joe Biden from the White House, remarking that the Democrat president is “mentally compromised.”
Rogan slammed Biden during an episode of his show this week while discussing the mounting allegations of corruption against the president and his family.
He argues that Democrats will use the corruption allegations being leveled against Biden to force him out of office.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meta Files Patent to Scan Users’ Voices to Make a “Voiceprint”
Social media behemoth Meta has disclosed intentions to patent a system that leverages voiceprints for user identification. Critics will likely raise eyebrows at this step, which they argue gives Meta unprecedented access to a deeply personal aspect of users’ identities: their voices.
A voiceprint, the unique acoustic signature of a person’s speech, is potentially Meta’s new access key into the lives of its users. The system would recognize users by their voice, going beyond the conventional login systems involving passwords and biometric scans. While Meta claims this form of authentication offers superior protection compared to traditional biometrics such as fingerprints or retina scans, the proposed system could provoke concerns about overreach.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“We call on all elected leaders to unite and declare a state of emergency and bring together massive resources to address our public safety crisis.
“African Americans are disproportionately hit the hardest by crime in East Oakland and other parts of the city.
“But residents from all parts of the city report that they do not feel safe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New York, California Lost More Tax Income Than Every Other State as People Fled Liberal Enclaves
New York and California experienced the largest loss of tax income from migration of any states in the country as residents fled the deep-blue havens in droves, according to a new study that also found that Texas and Florida got the biggest IRS tax benefits from people moving in.
MyEListing.com, an online real estate portal, conducted a study of IRS migration data and found that California lost more than $340 million in 2021 IRS tax revenue due to residents moving.
“Despite its numerous attractions, from the booming tech industry and world-class universities to beautiful landscapes and cultural richness, California’s high personal income tax rates seem discouraging for many high-wealth individuals,” MyEListing wrote in its analysis. “This, coupled with the state’s high cost of living, will likely fuel a wealth migration out of California.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
No Humans Needed: Kroger Opens Grocery Store Without Cashiers or Baggers (Must Have Shelf Stackers)
A Kroger grocery store in Tennessee has recently converted to self-checkouts only. There will reportedly be no cashiers or baggers present. The company claims the move will not result in store employees losing their jobs.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
An off-duty security guard randomly slashed by a scissors-wielding nut job in Greenwich Village said Friday the city is “getting very, very dangerous” — after the attacker “tried to stab me in my chest” and nobody stepped in to help.
Diogenes Jaquez Jr., 24, told The Post he had just finished an overnight shift and was headed to the West Fourth Street subway station in the trendy Manhattan neighborhood around 9 a.m. when he heard a crazed man shouting.
“I turned around and just saw some guy just standing in front of me. He just charged at me with a knife or a pair of scissors and just started like attacking me,” said Jaquez of the Bronx.
“He tried to stab me in my chest. I did my best to block it. Thank God I did,” he said.
“I just put my arm up.”
The crazed assailant grazed Jaquez’s right forearm with the weapon while inexplicably hollering about revenge, the victim recalled.
“[He yelled] something like, ‘[It’s] payback! Oh, that’s what you get,’ “ said Jaquez.
“After that he just left.”
Jaquez said that as he bled from his arm, he ran — hoping a good Samaritan would help him — to no avail.
Jaded New Yorkers, including some who saw the slashing unfold, “just kept walking” and one woman simply pointed him in the direction of the nearest hospital, he said.
“I was expecting like at least somebody to break it up, help me at least, but nobody did,” Jaquez said.
“They did nothing. No, they just kept walking.”
Jaquez eventually “stumbled across” the NYPD’s Sixth Precinct stationhouse in the West Village and was treated medically.
He has since suffered PTSD-like symptoms, such as fear, anxiety and trouble sleeping, he said.
“I am not gonna lie, now I’m kind of looking over my back every 5, 10 minutes. Even at work, I’m kind of like a little shook,” he said.
“Sometimes I try to go to sleep, and I’m thinking about that exact moment of him striking me.”
Police say the scissors-wielding attacker, Hassan Victoria, 45, randomly slashed Jaquez and another victim in the neck on nearby Hudson Street at Christopher and Bleecker streets.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
Out-of-Towners Flocking to California City Make Up Majority of Drug Arrests, Police Say
San Francisco’s crackdown on drug markets in the city’s notorious Tenderloin district has yielded almost as many arrests in the first seven months of the year as there were in the entirety of 2022. But most of those who find themselves on the wrong side of the law are not from the Golden City, police say.
“Cities like San Francisco that have robust services, lax enforcement, and cheap drugs have become regional magnets,” Bay Area activist Tom Wolf told Fox News.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police Investigating Death of Obama’s Chef Refuse to Identify 2nd Paddleboarder
Investigators with the Edgartown Police Department (EPD) are refusing to reveal the identity of the second paddleboarder who was with Barack Obama’s chef when he mysteriously drowned at the former first family’s lavish Martha’s Vineyard estate.
As Slay News reported, 45-year-old Tafari Campbell drowned after being reported “missing” on Sunday night.
On Monday morning, Campbell’s body was recovered from a pond at the Obamas estate where he had been paddleboarding.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Port of Baltimore is One of the “Hottest Beds of Stolen Vehicles Leaving the Country”
A wild report from Arlington 7News I-Team found two of the four Mercedes, including a $200,000 G-Wagon, stolen from a Bethesda, Maryland, dealership earlier this year — were recovered at the Port of Baltimore before being shipped off to Africa.
7News I-Team was given exclusive access to the Port of Baltimore in recent weeks. While talking with US Customs and Border Protection agents, a scan of one container found the missing vehicles in a container destined for West Africa.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has issued a warning to the American people about the devastating impact that the Democrats’ divisive agenda is having on “the fabric of our republic.”
Speaking during an appearance on Fox Business, Paul blasted the “investigation” into the bag of cocaine found in Democrat President Joe Biden’s White House.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Revealed: Facebook Felt “Pressure” From “Outraged” Biden White House to Remove Posts
Calling somebody a member of the “Disinformation Dozen” — there’s a nasty piece of propaganda work, trying to discredit political opponents in a time of crisis.
Worse still, it wasn’t happening out in the open, on actual social networks, but behind the curtains of government/Big Tech collusion.
And now — with the new US election looming large already — it’s probably prudent, if your party/political affiliation was on “the wrong” end of the stick the last time, to try to fight against this repeating “early, and often.”
The term “Disinformation Dozen” refers to a (conspiracy, to all effects) theory that there were only 12 people in the world (… right?) who were behind Covid vaccine criticism back in 2021.
And what a difference, strictly scientifically speaking, two years make…
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have jointly proposed a strategy to rein in Big Tech companies, reignite competition, and curb the spread of what they call “harmful” online content.
“Our legislation would guarantee common-sense safeguards for everyone who uses tech platforms. Families would have the right to protect their children from sexual exploitation, cyberbullying, and deadly drugs. Certain digital platforms have promoted the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, suicidal ideation, and eating disorders or done precious little to combat these evils; our bill would require Big Tech to mitigate such harms and allow families to seek redress if they do not,” the senators wrote in a New York Times opinion piece.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Sound of Freedom’ to be Played on Hundreds of Extra Screens Amid Huge Box Office Success
The smash hit anti-child trafficking movie “Sound of Freedom” is going to be played on hundreds of extra screens at theaters across America amid its ongoing success at the box office.
The move to expand the film comes after “Sound of Freedom” soared past the $100 million mark at the box office.
The Jim Caviezel-led film, which deals with the horrors of human trafficking, continues to grow.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Maggie R. DeJong was a grad student in art therapy when, according to a suit she filed last year, SIUE used the ‘no contact’ order to muzzle her speech and effectively ban her from classes.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Suspected Texas Vehicle Thief Dies in Shootout With Vehicle Owner Who Tracked Him Down, Police Say
A suspected vehicle thief has died in a mall parking lot gunfight in Texas after the owner of the truck he allegedly stole managed to track him down, police say.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters that the shooting happened outside the South Park Mall on Thursday just two minutes after officers received a call about the theft.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trump Vows to Run for President From Prison if Convicted and Sentenced on Criminal Charges
Former President Donald Trump has vowed to continue his 2024 White House run even if he is convicted and sentenced on criminal charges.
Trump made the promise during a Friday appearance on “The John Fredricks Show,” a pro-Trump radio program, when asked whether his potential conviction would terminate his second bid for the White House.
“Not at all. There’s nothing in the Constitution to say that it could,” Trump said. “Even the radical left crazies are saying, ‘No, that wouldn’t stop!’ And it wouldn’t stop me either.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UN Chief Unveils New Green Agenda Narrative: ‘Global Boiling Has Arrived’
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has unveiled a fear-mongering narrative to promote the globalist green agenda.
In a new doom-loaded statement, Guterres claimed that the Earth has now become “unbreathable” and “the heat is unbearable.”
The UN chief claims that these alleged conditions on Earth are due to “man-made climate change.”
“The Earth is unbreathable,” Guterres during a speech Thursday at the UN headquarters in New York City.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Rand Paul Urges Caution on Rushing Into Impeachment of Biden
Senator Rand Paul hit out at Democrats for pushing a “terrible precedent” by twice trying to impeach President Donald Trump, urging Republicans to “do better” by conducting a thorough investigation of the Biden corruption allegations.
In a Fox Business interview Thursday, Paul noted “I think the Democrats set a terrible precedent in impeaching Donald Trump just because they didn’t like him basically,” adding that “both of their impeachments fell flat and made them look, I think, terrible.”
Amid signs that Republicans are edging down a road to impeachment against Biden, Paul stated “I think it’s not good for the Republic to keep impeaching presidents and indicting presidents,” emphasising that “All this stuff is destructive.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
WSJ: Facebook ‘Demoted’ Video of Tucker Carlson by 50% at the Demand of Biden White House
Newly disclosed emails from within Facebook (now known as Meta) reveal that the Biden administration and its appointed officials exerted significant pressure on the tech giant. Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook frequently bent the knee to the White House demands, such as one case in which emails state executives were “ready to tell the White House that it had demoted a video posted by Tucker Carlson by 50% in response to the White House’s demands, even though the post didn’t violate any policies.”
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
AfD Division Over European Elections Expected to be Aired at Magdeburg Conference
The AfD gathered in the East German city of Magdeburg on Friday, June 28th, for its annual party congress—and to decide its slate of candidates for the 2024 European elections amid internal discord over its stance on the war in Ukraine and the prospect of cooperating with the conservative CDU.
If current record polls continue, the AfD is expected to double its number of MEPs from 11, elected in 2019, to over 20 at next year’s EU elections as it benefits from the ruling traffic light coalition’s economic mismanagement of the German economy and a popular backlash against Berlin’s commitment to the war in Ukraine.
Despite left-wing protests conducted outside the congress, and near constant state surveillance, roughly 600 AfD delegates assembled in Magdeburg Friday morning to decide on at least 30 prospective candidates for a landmark European election that could see them become Germany’s largest party in the European Parliament.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chinese Firm Builds €1.5 Billion Car Battery Plant in Hungary
Chinese Sunwoda, one of the world’s largest battery manufacturers, will build its first European plant in Nyiregyhaza with an investment worth around HUF 580 billion (€1.51 billion), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjartó announced in Budapest on Thursday.
The company, one of the world’s top 10 battery manufacturers, is setting up its first plant in Europe in response to growing demand from the continent’s automotive industry. The company has announced an initial investment of HUF 93 billion in the first phase, but the value of the project, including the other construction phases, will reach HUF 580 billion in the long term, creating thousands of jobs in Nyiregyhaza, Szijjartó said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Defamation Case Brought by Judge in NatWest’s LGBT Awards Thrown Out by Polish Court
Bart Staszewski, a prominent LGBT activist and judge in NatWest Poland’s LGBT+ Diamond Awards, has lost his defamation lawsuit against a patriotic youth activist who called him “trash.”
Staszewski initiated legal proceedings against the activist who insulted him for opposing Polish Independence Day celebrations. The youth activist, Mateusz Marzoch, who is a board member of the Independence March Association, was cleared by a Polish court after detailing Staszewski’s past behavior to justify his view.
Staszewski is a prominent anti-government campaigner who was responsible for inaccurately claiming there are “LGBT-free zones” in Poland. This claim can be found in a raft of media stories about LGBT issues in Poland and has even found its way into the European Commission’s rule of law reports on Poland.
The only evidence for the existence of these “LGBT-free zones” was produced by Staszewski photographing himself in front of a sign that read “LGBT-free zone.” Staszewski later admitted he had erected the sign himself as a stunt.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EP to Expand With 15 New MEPs in 2024: France, Spain and the Netherlands to Gain Two Seats Each
The European Parliament will see an increase of 15 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in 2024, following a preliminary agreement on its composition, reports Politico. France, Spain, and the Netherlands will be the major beneficiaries, gaining two additional seats each in the next mandate. Other countries such as Austria, Belgium, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Latvia, Ireland, and Denmark will also receive one extra seat each.
The decision, dated July 26, is subject to formal legal approval by the European Council and the Parliament itself. This change will raise the total number of seats in the European Parliament from 705 to 720 between 2024 and 2029.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Advisory Committee Details Plan to Exclude Hungary From EU Presidency
An independent advisory body to the European Union is drawing up a detailed plan on how to prevent Hungary from assuming the presidency of the European Union scheduled for the second half of 2024, daily Magyar Nemzet reports.
The Netherlands-based Meijers Committee, a body consisting of legal professionals that advises the European Union on assessing legislative proposals, has put together a series of recommendations, based on which the European Parliament could prevent a member state from assuming the rotating presidency.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Initiates Antitrust Investigation Into Microsoft’s Bundling of Teams With Office 365
The European Union (EU) has formally opened an investigation into Microsoft, probing whether the tech giant gave its communication app Teams an unfair competitive advantage by bundling it with its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages.
The inquiry, revealed by the European Commission on Thursday, will assess if Microsoft’s actions violate EU competition laws through the packaging of Teams with its widely-used business suites.
“The European Commission is concerned that Microsoft may be exploiting its market position in cloud-based productivity software by hindering competition in this field,” stated European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà during a press conference.
She added, “At this point, discussing potential commitments is premature. We must first ascertain whether there has indeed been a breach of antitrust regulations.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Mexican Tourist Gang-Raped in Shadow of Eiffel Tower
A young Mexican woman on holiday in France was gang-raped by five suspects in a park near the Eiffel Tower this week, according to reports.
The horrifying incident unfolded during the overnight hours between Wednesday and Thursday in the heart of the French capital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Interior Minister Meets Police Unions to Calm Growing Protests
As police protests against the imprisonment of one of their own spread across France, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin attempted to calm the situation by meeting with the police unions, saying he was sympathetic to their demands.
The minister met with the police unions on the evening of Thursday, July 27th. The meeting was eagerly awaited by both sides, following the announcement that a police officer from the Marseille Brigade Anti-Criminalité (BAC) had been taken into custody on charges of serious violence against a 22-year-old young man during the wave of riots at the end of June.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: In Munich Pickpocket Stole a Watch Worth 400,000 Euros, Police Identify Him
Today, July 28, the police identified the identity of the criminal through photographs where he was captured fleeing on one of Munich’s shopping streets.
However, the professional pickpocket managed to escape, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
As Bild reported, the incident occurred on July 21 when the thief pursued a 22-year-old millionaire from Thailand and forcefully took the watch from his wrist before disappearing. The police determined that the thief is a 28-year-old professional pickpocket from France who specializes in stealing high-value watches. Law enforcement authorities now intend to issue an international arrest warrant for him.
According to BILD, the French thief was last successful in stealing a Richard Mille RM55 White Legend watch, which is valued at over 400,000 euros.
This is not the first such incident in Munich. In late June, an unknown individual stole a luxurious Richard Mille watch from a 46-year-old man’s wrist. Investigators estimate the value of the stolen accessory to be around 140,000 euros. The victim chased the criminal, but after a brief scuffle, the thief managed to escape with the help of an accomplice on a scooter.
The Munich police explain that such robberies are a common phenomenon across Europe.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Significant Consequences of COVID Vaccine on Kids
Hanover — Home schooling, no sports activities, hardly any contact with friends — children and young people in particular have suffered from the measures taken in the Corona pandemic. The Ministry of Health in Lower Saxony has now drawn up a preliminary assessment of the health consequences.
The number of children and adolescents who had to be treated for depression has risen significantly. While the number fluctuated between 4900 and 5500 cases before the pandemic, it was around 8700 in the first quarter of 2023.
Cases of diagnosed eating disorders rose from around 2100 cases in 2018 to almost 3000 at last count, according to a response from the Ministry of Health to an AfD query.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany is facing several tough years due to a combination of transitioning to sustainable energy sources and the rising costs of energy, warned Germany’s Green Economic Affairs Minister Robert Habeck.
The federal minister, who has long called for a radical energy policy change, said that Germany faces “five tough years ahead” and revealed the country will have to borrow to support companies’ energy costs or lose their industry.
“Tough years of green industrial transition will put a burden on people,” Habeck said, noting that the IMF expects the German economy to shrink by 0.3 percent this year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In the Czech Republic, a Gas Station Employee Stole Money From the Cash Register for 12 Years
An employee at a petrol station in the Czech town of Kromeriž has been stealing money from the cash register for 12 years. During this time, she managed to embezzle nearly 5.6 million Czech crowns.
Now, the 47-year-old woman is facing criminal charges for embezzlement, and she could be sentenced to up to eight years in prison, as Czech media Vinegret reported.
According to the police investigation, the woman began working for the company in 2001, and everything seemed fine at first. Her efficient work earned her the trust of her supervisor, and she gained significant experience in managing the petrol station.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Knife-Wielding Jihadist Attacks “Non-Muslims” in France
A suspect wielding a blade was arrested after he targeted random “non-Muslims” at a lake in France this week, according to reports.
The disturbing incident unfolded on Monday afternoon at Lake Créteil, located in the Paris metro region.
“Armed with a knife, a man tried to attack ‘non-Muslim’ passers-by,” Actu Val-de-Marne reports.
Police quickly intervened and prevented any serious injuries.
“The psychiatric examination of the detainee concluded that he had lost his capacity for discernment,” the public prosecutor said on Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: BBB Leader Caroline Van Der Plas Doesn’t Want to be Prime Minister
Caroline van der Plas of farmers’ party BBB won’t be Prime Minister if her party wins the parliamentary elections in November, she said in an interview with the Telegraaf. She hopes to nominate someone else for the premiership this week. She’s considering someone with “international experience,” she said.
“If he or she says ‘yes,’ the choice is easy for me: then I will not be Prime Minister,” Van der Plas said. If the intended candidate, who will be second on the list of BBB candidates, says no, Van der Plas will “reconsider” her choice.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Norway and Finland Face Record Bird Flu Outbreaks
Norway and Finland are facing severe outbreaks of bird flu this year, resulting in the deaths of thousands of seagulls and other bird species, reports Reuters. Livestock is also at risk, and certain areas have imposed travel restrictions due to the spread of the disease.
Bird flu, known as avian influenza, has been spreading across Europe in recent years, leading to the culling of millions of birds on French farms in May and June, affecting the poultry meat and egg supply.
In Norway’s Finnmark county specifically in the Arctic town of Vadso, officials have reported collecting over 10,000 dead birds. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has taken action by imposing a travel ban on three nature reserves.
According to Ole-Herman Tronerud, the chief veterinary officer at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the outbreaks in Finnmark this year are much larger than previously seen in Norway.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland is Almost Doubling the Size of Its Armed Forces
The Polish Army, which previously consisted of three divisions, will now have six divisions. One of the new divisions will appear soon, according to Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, reported by the Polskie Radio.
One of the main tasks, perhaps even the primary task of the state as an organization that unites the nation in defense. Security in every dimension, both external and internal security, stated Kaczynski. He mentioned that the current focus is on border security and the present government views this issue as a priority. Kaczynski also criticized previous politicians who limited Poland’s armed forces and reduced their presence east of the Vistula River, in regions that have always been potentially more threatening.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Polish government has ordered further reinforcement of the country’s eastern border with Belarus after a further deterioration in relations between the two nations.
“We intend to further expand the barrier on the border with Belarus, in places where it is not yet present,” said Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party and Poland’s deputy prime minister, on Thursday during a visit to the border.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Polish Interior Minister: Poland, Lithuania and Latvia Are Ready to Close the Border With Belarus
Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia may jointly decide to close their borders with Belarus, if serious incidents involving the Wagner Group occur on the Belarusian border, Polish Minister of Internal Affairs Mariusz Kaminski revealed on Thursday.
The Polish minister did not rule out that “if the countries consider this to be the right response, it will lead to the complete isolation of Belarus,” the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported.
On July 19, Poland decided to move military units to the east after Wagner mercenaries began training Belarusian special forces a few kilometers from its border. Two days later, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Poland of territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union and said that any aggression on Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A group of nearly 70 rights organizations from around the world have penned a letter to EU Internal Commissioner Thierry Breton, concerned that the EU’s new legislation might lead to internet shutdowns.
In the letter, they are urging Breton to clarify his recent statements and reassure the public that the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA) will not be turned into a tool to coerce online platforms into deleting “hateful content,” under threat of blocking them as punishment.
If the DSA is designed to, as the signatories put it, arbitrarily block major social networks which the EU finds are not immediately complying with “hate speech” takedown rules — then they view that as a violation of human rights protections found in international law.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Social Strife in the Czech Republic: Rising Animosity Between Roma and Ukrainians
The interview with activist Ivan Veselý, who wrote a letter to Ukrainian President Zelensky, discusses the growing hostility between Roma and Ukrainians in the Czech Republic, reports Parlamentni. The roots of this problem can be traced back to the 1990s when cheap unskilled workers from Ukraine came to the Czech Republic. This put Roma at a disadvantage in the labor market. Roma were gradually pushed out of accommodations due to the lack of social housing policies.
Some people perceive the preferential treatment of Ukrainian refugees in terms of social benefits as a cause of the increasing animosity. Humanitarian aid provided to Ukrainian refugees has been criticized, especially for the evident disparities between their needs and the position of the Roma minority. Roma may legitimately feel frustrated that after thirty years, strategies for Roma integration remain unimplemented. Then suddenly funds become available for another group.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spy Agencies Were Involved in Controversial UK Counter Disinformation Unit Since Its Inception
During the pandemic, UK spy agencies ran roughshod over civil liberties by breaking the rules and expanding their surveillance activities. And now, new documents have linked these intelligence agencies to another controversial Covid-era project — the Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU).
The CDU was established in 2019 within the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and throughout Covid, it was used to surveil dissent and flag it for censorship. This year, the CDU has faced mounting pushback as the scale of its activities has been revealed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden’s Islamic Party Starts Campaigning for a Seat in the European Parliament in 2024
Party leader Mikail Yüksel tweeted an image of a billboard and urged voters in Kula, a district of Turkey’s Konya province where 40 percent of Turks and Kurds who have immigrated to Sweden come from, to vote for him in the 2024 European elections. The ad says they only need 160,000 votes across Sweden. Thousands of Turkish-Swedish immigrants are expected to spend their summer vacations in Kula.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Government Censorship Unit Consulted With United Nations and G7 on “Misinformation”
The UK government is not a fan of free speech and its Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU), which urged social media companies to censor Covid dissent from UK citizens, is one of many recent examples of the ways it tries to chill the public’s speech.
But recently released witness statements have revealed that the government’s eagerness to crack down on speech is so great that it doesn’t even restrict its censorship operations to domestic government agencies. Instead, it lets representatives from foreign governments, who weren’t elected by UK citizens, give feedback to a domestic censorship unit that target the lawful speech of UK citizens.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Debanking: No Return to Politics, But a Crusade Against Cashless Society, Says Farage
Nigel Farage has said he will continue to act on behalf of the “tens of thousands” of people in the UK who have already been ‘debanked’, often over things as little as operating small businesses that take payments predominantly in cash, as he declares a war against the great-reset style cashless society.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Figures Across Political Spectrum Reveal They Have Been Debanked Too
The tide appears to be turning on Britain’s banking culture with government action after Brexit leader Nigel Farage’s revelation that he was being debanked, with examples from anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller to a once-notorious London mosque also revealing they were experiencing debanking.
Nigel Farage responded to the revelation that debanking scandal-hit NatWest saw its profits surge 23 per cent to £2.3 billion this year so far, saying the industry was making a lot of money while failing in its duty to ordinary people. He wrote: “The NatWest profits are no great surprise. Interest payments have risen sharply yet deposits have lagged. The whole sector is making massive profits whilst treating the public badly.”
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Farage Brings Down Second Bank Boss: Coutts CEO Resigns in Wake of Debanking Scandal
The CEO of Coutts, the exclusive bank that terminated Nigel Farage’s accounts for political reasons has said he bears “ultimate responsibility” and is consequently resigning, the second top banking figure to go over the Farage scandal in as many days.
The consequences for the politicisation of banking, manifesting itself as the debanking of Brexit leader Nigel Farage for his views, friendships, and Twitter usage, continue, with a second bank CEO resigning in two days.
Peter Flavel, the now former boss of Coutts, the prestigious bank which terminated Farage’s business and personal accounts and which is a part of the NatWest Group said that while he was “exceptionally proud” of his leadership of Coutts, nevertheless “we have fallen below the bank’s high standards of personal service” and that “As CEO of Coutts it is right that I bear ultimate responsibility for this, which is why I am stepping down.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Officials Fear Crimewave as School Truancy Grows
The rise in children being absent from school is likely to result in an uptick in crime in the near future, government analysis suggests.
Close to 25% of English children were “persistently absent” from school during the 2022/23 autumn term. This figure is widely understood to largely be a result of the lockdown, since which time the number of pupils missing at least 10% of school time (1.7 million) has roughly doubled. 125,000 children now skip most of their schooling altogether.
Officials are worried that many of those for whom school is now a foreign country will wind up committing crimes. The Times, citing a new study, reported that as many as 9,000 more young offenders, including 2,000 violent criminals, could be on the streets by 2027 as a result of absences.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The metropolitan elite is hopping mad that the Farage debanking scandal has stopped their agenda to financially ruin people who dissent against regime-approved opinions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Explosion Hits Russian Oil Refinery in Samara, Nobody Hurt — Lawmaker
MOSCOW, July 28 (Reuters) — An explosion occurred on Friday at the Rosneft (ROSN.MM)-owned Kuibyshev oil refinery in the Russian city of Samara, lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein wrote on social media.
He said nobody had been injured and that there was no serious damage to the refinery. The plant’s capacity is 7 million metric tons per year (140,000 barrels per day).
Khinshtein said that investigators’ preliminary conclusion was that the blast was caused by an explosive device.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Moldova Expels 45 Russian Diplomats and Embassy Staff
Forty-five employees from the Russian Embassy, including diplomats and technical staff, will be expelled from the former Soviet state Moldova. Igor Zakharov, advisor on communication at the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, informed Deschide.MD of the decision on Wednesday, July 26th.
While Zakharov was careful in stressing it was “not about expulsion, but rather parity,” since these persons had not been “declared persona non grata.” Instead, they were asked to leave to “ensure diplomatic parity,” a later MFA press release referred to “numerous unfriendly actions towards the Republic of Moldova, as well as “attempts to destabilize the internal situation in our country” as reasons for the move.
As a result, embassy personnel will be cut to 25 from more than 80, the foreign ministry said, bringing Russia’s diplomatic presence in Moldova up to the same level as Moldova’s in Russia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Moscow Says it Shot Down Ukrainian Missile Over Russian City, Arrested Oil Refinery Bomber
July 28 (Reuters) — The Russian military said on Friday it had shot down a Ukrainian missile over the southern Russian city of Taganrog and that fragments of the missile had injured civilians and damaged buildings.
There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine, which rarely comments on attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory.
Vasily Golubev, governor of Russia’s Rostov region, which includes Taganrog and is close to Ukraine, said a café had been hit along with a museum and that the windows of a residential building had been blown out.
He said nine people had been taken to hospital with injuries but that nobody had been killed.
Videos from the scene, circulating online, showed a low-rise building partly reduced to rubble.
Separately, an explosion was reported to have hit an oil refinery in the Russian city of Samara.
Member of parliament Alexander Khinshtein said the explosion at the refinery owned by Rosneft (ROSN.MM) appeared to have been caused by a bomb. “Fortunately there is no serious damage and no casualties,” he said on Telegram.
The TASS news agency reported that a person believed to have been responsible for the blast had been detained.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Putin Offers “Free” Grain to Six Impoverished African Nations
Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘went big’ the first day of the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg on Thursday, offering free grain to six impoverished African countries.
The gathering of some 17 African heads of state (down from prior years, given US pressure and the Ukraine war) and many more senior officials from countries across the continent, comes just days after Moscow rejected renewal of the UN-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Says it Intends to Open Embassies in Almost All African Countries
Ahead of the two-day Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg that kicked off on Thursday, July 27th—and as part of what it sees as its mission to establish a multipolar world—Russia earlier this week announced its intention to open embassies in nearly all African countries.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, July 25th, Oleg Ozerov, the Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry and head of the secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, said:
Relevant decisions are being prepared. I think they will be adopted. We will start with a small number, but I hope that eventually, we will reach the opening of embassies in almost all African countries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Bombs New York! (…a Village in Ukraine)
“The enemy dropped 2 air bombs on New York” reports Ukrainian state media this morning, only mentioning later in their report that New York is the name of a village in Donetsk, Ukraine.
A village in Ukraine named after the Big Apple was bombed by Russia this morning, with Donetsk Regional Military Administration Head Pavlo Kyrylenko reporting the strike damaged nine homes and one government building. Other strikes in the area killed one person and injured two, he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Big Push: Ukraine to Deploy Thousands of Men in New Advance Attempt
The Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russian armed forces occupying much of the south of the country has produced few results since it was launched in June and has seen several Leopard II tanks given to the Ukrainians by the West damaged, with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu claiming all 16 German-made tanks given to the country by Poland and Portugal were destroyed.
According to a report from the New York Times, Ukraine seems to be gearing up for a big push in the south and is deploying thousands of troops to the area; troops which are said to have been trained and equipped by Western nations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Bombs Residential Area With Cluster Munitions, Killing One Woman
The Ukrainian Armed Forces three times shelled the town of Tokmak in Zaporozhye with cluster munitions, killing a civilian woman, the acting governor of the region, Yevgeny Balitsky, reported on his Telegram channel.
“Yesterday, the enemy launched three rocket attacks with cluster munitions on the residential area of Tokmak. As a result of the shelling, a private residential building caught fire and a woman was killed,” he posted on social media.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Charges Zelensky Party Politician for Going on Holiday During Wartime
A member of parliament from Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party has been accused by the intelligence services, accused of breaking the ban on non-essential foreign travel to enjoy the Maldives.
The Security Service of Ukraine confirmed on Wednesday they were investigating a Member of Parliament for breaking the wartime rules on foreign travel, allowing servants of the state only to leave the country on official business, when he took his family to the exclusive Waldorf Astoria hotel in the Malvices in mid-July.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian Drone Shot Down Outside Moscow, Claims Russia
AP — A Ukrainian drone was shot down early Friday outside Moscow, Russia’s defense ministry said. It was the third drone strike or attempt on the capital region this month.
The ministry said there were no injuries or damage in the early morning incident. It did not give details about where the drone was shot down, but said it took place in the Moscow Oblast, a region that surrounds but does not include the city itself.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Western Money Keeping Ukraine Alive — Orban
Ukraine is not a fully sovereign country, since it depends on Western donations to fund government spending, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has argued. And it’s the US that determines whether that aid will continue, he believes.
“The Americans can pull out a lot of money with all sorts of financial manipulations, but the euro is a different story, it’s not suited for that,” Orban said on Friday, in an interview with state broadcaster Kossuth radio.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Every Electric Car You Buy Will Fund Al Qaeda
by Daniel Greenfield
The Taliban recently announced that, “five countries are interested in investing in the lithium mining sector in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province”. A Chinese company has already put down a $10 billion bid that would include infrastructure along with improved roads for the terror group.
Shahabuddin Delawar, the Taliban’s mining boss, boasted that, “we have 2.5 million tons in Nurestan alone. Extract it, and Afghanistan can be one of the richest countries in the world.”
And who would be in charge of an estimated $50 billion worth of lithium?
Hafiz Muhammad Agha Hakeem, the governor of the Nuristan province, recently appeared on a UN Security Council list of Taliban governors who were affiliated with Al Qaeda. The Islamic terrorist group had a stronger foothold in the area than almost any other part of Afghanistan. When Al Qaeda had been driven out of the rest of Afghanistan, it stayed on and went on fighting and killing Americans in Nuristan, While the area was named after a non-Pashtun minority who had been forcibly converted to Islam, it became a Taliban and Al Qaeda route to Pakistan.
Al Qaeda will be in charge of its share of an estimated $1 trillion in lithium in the country (not to mention the gem mines). The lithium, desperately needed for electric car batteries, will be mined by Chinese companies and resold to the United States for “green energy”.
Every electric car you buy will help fund Al Qaeda…
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
Report: China Looks to Flood U.S. Market With Cheap Electric Vehicles
Chinese automakers are looking to flood the United States market with cheap Electric Vehicles (EVs) as President Joe Biden’s administration has made a rapid all-electric, green energy push without having first ensured domestic manufacturing capacity.
According to Axios, Chinese automakers like BYD Co. Ltd., Li Auto, Xpeng Motors, Nio Inc., and Geely are looking to the U.S. market to sell cheap EVs to Americans as the Biden administration makes its push for an all-electric economy.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
TikTok Pushes Chinese Propaganda Ads to Millions Across Europe
China-owned TikTok is pushing a slew of Chinese propaganda advertisements to millions of Europeans in recent months. The ads tout everything from support of Chinese coronavirus lockdowns to presenting the Xinjiang region, where Uyghur minorities are forced to work in concentration camps, as a wonderful tourist destination.
Propaganda ads from China’s largest state media outlets have been broadcast to millions of European users on the platform, according to TikTok’s new ad library, obtained by Forbes.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Finance Minister Pushes Digital ID System Despite Data Breach Concerns
As the world swiftly moves towards an era of digitization, Australia’s government announced plans to implement a national digital ID system by mid next year. However, the introduction of this digital ID initiative, intended to aggregate an individual’s vital data including healthcare, driving license, passport, and Centrelink details, has sparked concerns over data security and privacy rights.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher relayed the plan to converge these crucial documents into a digital ID system at the Australian Financial Review’s Government Services Summit. She stated that despite the ambitious timeframe, the government is fully committed to its roadmap.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Commonwealth Games Boss Shuts Down Daniel Andrews’ Claims the Event Would Cost Up to $7 Billion
The Victorian Premier last week sensationally announced his state would no longer host the sporting event, citing financial issues.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
A man who took part in ice-fuelled, sexual escapades with sheep and a goat inside a school milking shed has a troubled life of drug convictions and a complicated relationships.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Niger Coup Widely Condemned, Countries Urge Return to Order
NIAMEY, July 27 (Reuters) — Niger President Mohamed Bazoum remained held in the presidential palace on Thursday afternoon and it was unclear who was in charge of the country after soldiers on Wednesday evening declared a military coup that sparked widespread condemnation.
France, the country’s former colonial power, and the West African regional bloc ECOWAS called for Bazoum’s immediate release and a return to constitutional order. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said that constitutional order should be restored.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said cooperation with Niger’s government was contingent on its “continued commitment to democratic standards”.
The U.S. also supports taking action at the United Nations Security Council to de-escalate the situation in Niger, a spokesperson for the U.S. U.N. mission said.
African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said he had spoken on Thursday with Bazoum and that the president was “fine”, Russian news agency RIA reported.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Niger Coup Not ‘Final, ‘ Says France as Army Backs Putsch
The coup attempt in Niger is not yet “final,” France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Friday.
Both France and detained Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum had previously stressed that not all soldiers had participated in or supported what Bazoum called a “coup bid.”
“If you hear me talking about an attempted coup, it’s because we don’t consider things final, there is still a way out if those responsible listen to the international community,” Colonna said while on a diplomatic visit to Papua New Guinea in the Pacific.
DW West Africa correspondent Olisa Chukwumah said it remains unclear who has control in Niger.
“If you look at a situation right now, almost 48 hours since Wednesday’s coup was started by the Presidential Guard, it does seem that the coup is not complete,” Chukwumah said
“If Bazoum is no longer in charge and the military says the regime that they know is no longer, who is in charge?” he added. “That is the big question many are asking right now in Niger.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Colombian Soccer Player, 18, Clutches Chest, Drops to Field During World Cup Practice
An 18-year-old on the Colombian women’s soccer team had a health scare during World Cup practice Thursday.
The team was jogging around the field when Linda Caicedo clutched her chest and fell to the field.
She turned onto her back as members of the team and medical staff tended to her.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Alderman Jeanette Taylor of Chicago’s 20th Ward reportedly said Mayor Johnson’s aides were hiding the grim reality locals were facing.
“Tell the issue about the people who are outside threatening [residents]. Tell them about the sex trafficking that’s happening. The drug dealing that’s happening,” she said. “They’re outside smoking weed. They’re outside having whole parties right in front of the senior building. And the police are scared. Let’s be honest.”
Taylor also blasted city leaders for not taking the crisis seriously enough to bring it up with Biden administration officials when they were in town on Monday to discuss the city hosting the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Mass Migration Threatens School System, Teachers’ Association Leader Warns
Following a year that saw a record-setting two-and-a-half million migrants make their way to Germany, and with current migration projections indicating that another 300-400,000 will arrive in 2023, leading community figures have warned that the sustained influx of immigration has overwhelmed the country’s school system.
One of those community leaders is the Honorary President of the German Teachers’ Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, who has warned of worsening levels of learning at schools due to mass migration.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Give Us More Weapons to Cut Mass Migration to Europe, Says Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing a food crisis that will force more migrants from the developing world to head to Europe, so the continent should give Kyiv more weapons to end the conflict sooner, they say.
Hunger in the developing world drives mass migration to Europe, and Russia is deliberately targeting Ukraine’s food export infrastructure which in peacetime forwards millions of tons of grain to Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, a top Kyiv official points out in a pitch for further weapon deliveries. If Europe wants to slow down migratory waves — which are again surging to levels last seen in the 2015-16 migrant crisis — the continent should give more weapons to Ukraine quickly, says deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council Denys Marchuk.
There is a clear link between how quickly European nations hand over stocks of weapons to Ukraine and how many migrants will attempt to travel to Europe, Marchuk said in an appeal for missiles on Ukrainian Radio yesterday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hungarian Prime Minister: Any Mechanism for Distributing Migrants is Unacceptable
Gergely Gulyas, the minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office, expressed his strong opposition to any kind of migrant distribution mechanism. He mentioned that the proposal to speed up migrant quotas was blocked due to the resistance from the V4 countries (Visegrad Group: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) and Germany, reported by About Hungary.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Invasion: 300-400 Thousand Asylum Seekers Expected to Arrive in Germany in 2023
From January to June 2023 alone, 162,271 migrants applied for asylum in Germany. After all, that corresponds to the population of a city the size of Heidelberg or Darmstadt. If migration continues at this rate, Germany will have 324,542 asylum seekers by the end of the year.
For example Salzgitter (Lower Saxony 103,000 inhabitants), Trier (Rhineland-Palatinate: 110,000 inhabitants) and Bergisch-Gladbach (NRW, 111,000 inhabitants).
In 2022, just 295,300 apartments were newly completed. 378,000 daycare places are already missing in Germany. And by 2025 there will be a shortage of 25,000 teachers.
The renowned Bremen-based migration researcher Stefan Luft told the German press: “In terms of immigration, Germany is heading towards a state of clear overload. Successful integration cannot be expected with an influx of this magnitude.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
One in Three Human Trafficking Victims Are Children in Italy, Charity Reports
A report from Save the Children has found that one out of every three victims of human trafficking in Italy are children, with many being forced into the fields for gruelling farming work and others being sold into sexual slavery.
There were officially 757 new cases of trafficking and exploitation identified in 2021, according to the Save the Children charity, which found that one-third of victims were under the age of 18. The report, “Little Invisible Slaves”, also noted that there was more of a prevalence for victims to be females, who comprised 168 cases compared to 96 males.
The main country of origin of victims was Nigeria at 46.7 per cent, followed by Pakistan (8.5 per cent), Morocco (6.8 per cent), Brazil (4.5 per cent) and the Ivory Coast (3.3 per cent). Among the forms of exploitation, sexual was the most commonly recorded, comprising 38 per cent of victims, while labour represented 27.3 per cent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: 84 Boat Migrants Rescued; 1 Dead
Spain’s maritime rescue service on Tuesday said it had rescued a boat near the island of Gran Canaria carrying 84 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, one of whom had died.
The Canary Islands off the coast of West Africa have become the main destination for migrants trying to reach Spain, with a much smaller number also seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea to the Spanish mainland. Summer is the busiest period for all attempted crossings.
TV footage showed emergency services helping the migrants disembark, offering blankets and seating some of them in wheelchairs. One of the passengers had to be carried on a stretcher.
Eight of the migrants, which were all male except one woman, were taken to a hospital.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia Recovered 789 Drowned Migrants in First Half of 2023
In the first half of this year, 789 bodies of migrants heading to Europe, including 102 Tunisian nationals, were recovered from the sea by Tunisian authorities, Husameddin Jezebabli, a spokesman for the country’s coastguard, said on Thursday.
The number of people rescued by the Coast Guard in the January to July period was four times higher than last year: 34,290 migrants were rescued by the Coast Guard this year, compared to 9,217 last year. The majority of the migrants continue to come from Sub-Saharan Africa, with 30,587 foreign nationals rescued, up from 6,597 last year.
The number of rescue operations has also reportedly doubled, with 1,310 carried out up to July this year compared to 607 last year.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The University of Chicago’s 2023-2024 course catalog includes a religious studies course on “Queering God,” applying LGBTQ+ ideology to different religions and examining the ways gender is being reimagined in theology.
“Can God be an ally in queer worldmaking? Is God queer? What does queerness have to do with Judaism, Christianity, or Islam? This course introduces students to foundational concepts in queer and trans studies by focusing on queer Jewish, Christian, and Islamic theologies,” the course description reads.
“We will analyze the ways that contemporary artists, activists, and scholars are using theology to reimagine gender and experiment with new relational forms,” it continues. “Our readings will include a variety of genres: memoir, letters, scriptural interpretation, and a novel. There will be no presumption of previous acquaintance with any of the readings or topics discussed, or indeed with any academic theology or queer theory at all.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Leftist Parents “Flee” Florida Because of New Laws Blocking Child Mutilation
A recently passed Florida law, known as Senate Bill 254, now makes transgender surgeries and hormone therapies with irreversible effects illegal for minors in the state while also requiring people to use bathrooms and locker rooms according to their biological sex.
Circumventing the often cited problem of narcissistic parents using their children as political fashion accessories, the law outlines the reality that minors do not have the capacity to consent and that sex change procedures should wait until they are adults. It also sets a standard for dozens of states across the country seeking the stem to tide of destructive biological denial associated with far left ideology.
Of course, not everyone is happy that state governments are coming to their senses and protecting children from mutilation — Some leftist parents say they must now “flee” places like Florida in order to “keep their children safe.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
More Than 100 Trans Men Enter Miss Italy Pageant After Trans Women Ban
Over 100 trans men, women who identify as men, have entered the Miss Italy pageant in protest against the competition banning trans women from entry.
Earlier this month, Miss Netherlands awarded the title to Rikki Valerie Kollé, a transgender, which then prompted the Miss Italy official organizer, Patrizia Mirigliani, to say that transgenders would not be allowed to compete in that country’s competition.
“Lately, beauty contests have been trying to make the news using strategies that I think are a bit absurd,” Mirigliani told an Italian radio station.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Quick! They’re not frightened enough! Come up with something more terrifying!
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Instead of a lethal injection, Lois Cardinal says she got a ‘numbing cream’ that ‘doesn’t work. The failures of Canada’s ultra-liberal healthcare system are a ‘human rights concern,’ she adds.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Editor Dismissed Over Tweet About Transgenderism to Take Legal Action
Amidst an escalating discussion on freedom of speech, editor Sibyl Ruth recently announced a crowdfunded legal undertaking against her past writing firm, Cornerstones, on allegations of being dismissed due to her controversial public statements regarding gender. Ruth stirred the pot with a tweet that critiqued the interpretation of gender identity. She expressed incredulity over the notion of someone with a “heavy five o’clock shadow” being viewed as a woman.
Ruth said: “I do believe that people should be allowed to wear what they want etc etc… But what blows my mind is the idea that with heavy five o’clock shadow, a perm and lippy and a bag with gold chains = woman.”
Her actions stem from a firm conviction of biological sex being immutable and defined at conception.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Combined together, meat, dairy, and eggs make up nearly 18% of the average person’s diet.
But, as Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao details below, in order for these meat and animal products to reach consumers, a vast global livestock industry — one supporting the livelihoods of 1.3 billion people globally — operates in fields and farms largely unseen from major cities.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The latest from Seymour Hersh, worth every word in gold imo:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-was-behind-both-crimean-bridge-attacks-seymour-hersh
Edit: Interestingly, there is a different version about the ending of the grain export deal on the other side. I’ll have to go digging for the source, it was either on Telegram or a site behind some censorship fog.
It said the deal had simply expired on that date as it was negotiated in the first place, independent of concomitant events. But since the entire part of the deal which meant concessions to Russia was never kept, they refused to renew it. Putin expressed that they would not hesitate to enter it again if and when this changes. He also complained that the lion share of grain exports destined for poor countries never made it beyond European ports, where it got taken and sold throughout the continent.
If someone of Hersh’s caliber is unaware of this information, or does not include it for whatever reasons, then this muddies the waters quite a bit more than they already are.
Here are some postings on the grain deal’s timeline:
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/ukraine-russia-agree-extend-black-sea-grain-deal
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/no-chance-extending-grain-deal-set-expire-july-kremlin
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2023-07-25/why-russia-left-grain-deal
Found again where I first saw it, this site russland.jetzt is run by a Russian whose passion is translating news items from his country into German. He doesn’t usually include links to the original, but I find it consistently corroborated through Telegram and Russian sites accessable only by proxy because of censorship. This was the official statement given after the ending of the grain deal:
“Conditions for return to grain agreement
Moscow lists conditions for Russia’s return to the Grains Agreement. According to Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, there are seven of them:
1. Actual, not just speculative, absorption of Russian grain and fertiliser supplies into world markets.
2. Removal of all obstacles to Russian banks servicing supplies.
3. Resumption of imports of spare parts and components for agricultural machinery into Russia.
4. Resolve all problems with chartering ships and insuring Russian food exports.
5. Restoration of the Togliatti – Odessa ammonia pipeline.
6. Release of Russian assets related to the agricultural sector.
7. Restoration of the original humanitarian character of the Grain Initiative.”
https://www.russland.jetzt/2023/07/bedingungen-fur-ruckkehr-zum.html
Comment: The grain deal might not be the most significant item in this whole wretched string of events but it exemplifies the skewed reporting about everything to do with Russia in the West.
Without Hatred of Russians, Forest Fires Could Be Extinguished
Just two years ago, in 2021, the forest fires in Greece were quickly under control. The use of the best fire-fighting aircraft in the world was the decisive factor. This year, however, it may no longer be requested by Athens because of the sanctions against Russia.
https://www.anderweltonline.com/klartext/klartext-20232/ohne-russenhass-koennten-waldbraende-geloescht-werden/
Australia’s Commonwealth bank has rule that;
The Commonwealth Bank states a customer may not use their banking services if they engage in conduct ‘that in our opinion’ is ‘offensive, harassing or threatening to any person’ or ‘promotes or encourages physical or mental harm of any person’.
It was designed to prevent financial abuse in domestic violence BUT it is so general it could be used against anyone. What is offensive? Rejecting Islamic migration? Voting NO in the Voice referendum?
What are rice prices doing in your locale? I noticed something shopping just now and went looking up what’s going on…
From https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/rice
to https://frontline.thehindu.com/news/indias-rice-export-ban-triggers-panic-buying-in-us/article67109028.ece
and https://www.txtreport.com/news/2023-07-29-russia-imposes-ban-on-rice-exports-until-the-end-of-this-year.rycf1UGjn.html
Now waiting to see what the rest of the BRICS countries is doing next. Interesting the justifications: India says it needs to protect its domestic supply and prices, which is not entirely implausible. Russia continues to export to “friendly” countries. China is good so far but wait until we get in hot water with them, too. In the comments in Western news, I can’t find a single mention that this may be a direct response to sanctions, but it clearly is. Only the USA produce enough for their own consumption and a smaller portion of previous exports, the rest is facing some changes at least for a while. This is only one item out of many they can pick and choose to make us aware of what we’ve been taking for granted, until we went too far weaponizing everything. Locally grown potatoes it is for the time being…
“Knife-Wielding Jihadist Attacks ‘Non-Muslims’ in France
…
The psychiatric examination of the detainee concluded that he had lost his capacity for discernment,”
How does a “psychiatric examination” miss the very fact established in the first place, namely that this person is equipped with a very profound capacity for discernment between believers and unbelievers? Sheesh.
We live in a world of global spectacle.
For example, Russian conspiracy theorists write that since Poland refused to pay reparations to Jews, then most likely it will also go to the slaughter.
I wonder if this prediction will come true?
Slaughter by whom? Are the “evil” Israelis going to invade Poland specially? Not to excuse those Poles who betrayed their Jewish neighbors, but others protected them at the risk of their lives.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Col. Douglas Macgregor
Tsar Putin Gives Poland-Lithuania Part of Ukraine
that was theirs for 500 yrs. Both Leaving NATO!
https://swebbtube.se/w/rbYPe27q2PLiGZi1bNPuJz
A natural consequence is that the entire EU is dissolved and the countries return to what made them unique? It is not possible to develop something that has never worked before? We can summarize the entire EU project as a single failure and the winners are only those 705 parasites who sit in Brussels and think they are doing something for the citizens? After the EU all the other dominoes fall, the UN, WHO, WEF, IMF, NATO and others. So the war in Ukraine could open up freedom for all EU citizens. No evil, that has no good in it?”
What the heck does that mean?
.
Nigel Farage starts group against politicized banks
Published July 29, 2023
British EU critic and politician Nigel Farage had his bank accounts closed – and now he is starting a pressure group against political discrimination from big business, banks and other institutions.
– I will launch a website where people who have been suspended from any institution can join, so we can form a very powerful pressure group. Because what is going on is that the banks are making billions, while people’s lives and businesses are being destroyed, says Farage.
In a post, he notes that the banking industry has gone too far and is now starting to fear the consequences.
Banks should provide banking services, not have a set of opinions on political and value issues that we must conform to. They need to stop their woke nonsense immediately,” he writes on Twitter.
In a post on Twitter, he also demands that government-owned bank NatWest sack banker and chairman Sir Howard Davies, who was at the helm when the bank closed his own and many other people’s accounts.
The demand comes after NatWest’s board decided that the account closure should be “investigated” by Chris Hale, a distinctly left-wing lawyer who is in practice a sort of British counterpart to the Swedish left-wing activist and Svea Court of Appeal judge Mårten Schultz.
This stuff reads like a novel, quite amusing actually if we didn’t know who gets to pay for the fallout of everything the leadership does. Not that we’re any better across the pond, but it often lacks in the humour department.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/no-way-out-week-saw-end-pretense-joe-biden-re-election-candidate
Ah, love the small Swiss banks, they thumb their noses at the EU rules.