Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/19/2023

A Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv killed seven people, including a 6-year-old girl. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a visit to Sweden and asked for more weapons and equipment for Ukraine.

In other news, Hurricane Hilary is expected to make landfall in Baja California tomorrow afternoon, and then later bring catastrophic flooding to Southern California.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to Dean, JW, LP, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, Roger, SS, Upananda Brahmachari, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Financial Crisis
» Germany: Faith in Government & Democracy Dives; Bankruptcies Skyrocket
» German Family Firm Survived WWI, WWII, and Hyperinflation, But Current Government Policies Are ‘More Problematic’ Than Previous Crises
 
USA
» 60-Year-Old Asian Man Carjacked, Beaten to Death in Philadelphia
» Breaking: Biden Lands in Nevada for Another Vacation, Still Hasn’t Visited Maui
» Chicago Gangs Asked Not to Shoot Guns During Daytime
» Country Music Sensation Tells Hollywood to Pound Sand: “People in the Music Industry Give Me Blank Stares When I Brush Off 8 Million Dollar Offers”
» Ex-CIA Officer Reviews Evidence Against Biden: ‘There’s No Doubt This is Money Laundering’
» Ford CEO Admits Charging EV During Road Trip ‘Pretty Challenging’
» Georgia Man Arrested After Trying to Get Squatters, Hooker, Dogs Out of His Home — 6 Months Later They Are Still There
» Herald Square Stabber Suspect Arrested, Victim Says He Was Attacked After Perp Asked for $
» Hurricane Hilary Evacuation Warnings Issued in California as Storm Expected to Bring ‘Catastrophic’ Flooding
» Jake Tapper Stuns CNN’s Audience: “Trump Was Right and Joe Biden Was Wrong”
» Jim Jordan Issues Subpoenas After Judge Finds Biden ‘Very Likely Violated Americans’ First Amendment Rights’
» Leaked Photos Show Jan 6 Prisoner Tortured, Held in Horrific Conditions for Months
» Matt Gaetz Calls on Congress to Investigate Political Bias of Trump Judge Tanya Chutkan
» Pedestrian Sleeping Under Tractor-Trailer Killed After Driver Moves Rig
» RFK Jr Shreds ‘Experts’ Claiming Vaccines Are ‘Unequivocally Safe’
» Right on Cue: NY Hospital Reinstates Mask Mandates as Media Plays Up New COVID Variant
» Texas Store Owner Shoots & Kills Two Armed Thugs During Failed Robbery
» Tom Fitton Sues CIA Over Role in Intel Letter Attacking Hunter Biden Laptop Story Just Before Election
» Video: Biden Again Refuses to Talk About Maui Fires
» Vivek Ramaswamy Warns Tucker Carlson: This Country is “On the Cusp of Chaos… in a 1776 Moment”
» Vivek Ramaswamy Blames Woke Obama Crony for Horrific Maui Death Toll
» Watch: Biden Appears to Forget the Name ‘Maui’ — Refers to it as ‘The One You See on Television All the Time’
» X is Hiring Staff to Combat Election “Disinformation”
» YouTube is Sued, Accused of Enabling Mass Shooting by Not Censoring Hateful Content
 
Canada
» Breaking: ‘Unmarked Graves’ Discovery at Manitoba Residential School Turns Out to be Hoax — No Bodies Found, Only Rocks
 
Europe and the EU
» Afghan Turns Himself in After Dousing Partner in Gasoline at German Gas Station
» Austria: Sinking ÖVP Unveils “Future Plan 2030”
» ‘Big Win’: UK Government Will Force Banks to Keep Cash Available to Public
» British Nurse Lucy Letby Guilty of Killing Seven Newborn Babies
» Europe Braces for $3 a Pill ‘Poor Man’s Cocaine’ to Flood Streets After Gulf Crackdown
» Former Austrian Chancellor Kurz Faces Criminal Charges Over False Testimony
» France: Sarkozy Advocates for Ukrainian Neutrality and Dialogue With Russia
» Germany: Antifa Blamed for Machete Attack on Presumed Right-Winger
» Germany: TV Host ‘Faked Racist Tweet by AfD’
» Greek PM Shuts Down Football Fan Groups After Deadly Violence
» Harold & Kumar Go to Germany: Cabinet Approves Plan to Legalize Cannabis
» ‘In Germany, I Don’t Feel Safe, I Want to Return to Poland,’ Says Polish Woman to PM Morawiecki
» Julian Assange Extradition: A Done Deal?
» Poland’s Governing Conservatives Open Up 10-Point Polling Lead Over Liberal Opposition
» Terror Threat Level Raised in Sweden
» UK: Angry Londoners Attacking Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Dystopian ‘Low Traffic’ ULEZ Spy Cameras
» UK: Debanking: Farage Delivers ‘Don’t Kill Cash’ Petition to Downing Street
» Vox Digs Deep — and Young — for New Spokesperson
 
Russia
» Belarusian Forces Conduct Landing and Assault Drills Near Polish Border
» Russia’s Luna-25 Probe Experiences ‘Abnormal Situation’ in Preparation for Moon Landing
» Russia Fines Google for Not Censoring “Misinformation”
» Russian Missile Attack Kills Seven in Northern Ukrainian City, Including Six-Year-Old Girl
» Russia Claims to Have Destroyed U.S.-Made Strykers in Combat in Ukraine
» Russian Missile Attack Kills 7 in Northern Ukrainian City as Zelenskyy Visits NATO Candidate Sweden
» UK Bank Accounts Shuttered for Transactions With Ukraine
» War in Ukraine Rekindles Tri-National Black Sea Fleet Idea
» We’ve Shot Down Three Russian Attack Helicopters This Week, Says Ukraine
» Zelensky Travels to NATO Applicant Sweden as Putin Heads to Site of Failed Wagner Rebellion
 
South Asia
» Anti-Christian Acts Put Pakistan on Fire
» India: Islamic Sextortion Racket Busted in Bengaluru Intending to Convert Hindu Males
» Man Who Stabbed 11-Year-Old Girl for Rejecting Him Arrested
 
Far East
» Unplugged: Biden Suffers Earpiece Fail, Snubs Handshake With Japan, South Korea Leaders
» Watch: Alarming Video Shows Chinese Troops Rehearsing for Taiwan Invasion
 
Australia — Pacific
» Anthony Albanese Grilled About Cost of Petrol: Prime Minister Concedes He Doesn’t Know Current Price of Fuel
» Cairns Real Estate Listing Shocks With Brutal Description of Property as a War Zone Bunker
» CPAC: Tony Abbott and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price Lead Speeches in Support of No Vote on Voice
» Young Mum Ditches Corporate Job to Live Off Centrelink: NSW Woman Shara Owens Reveals Why She Doesn’t Regret the Move
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
» Kremlin Claims MI6 Deploying Sabotage Team Against Russia in Africa
» US Readying Plans to Evacuate Drone Bases if Necessary Under Niger’s New Junta, Commander Says
 
Latin America
» Death Toll in Dominican Republic Explosion Rises to 32; Officials Blame Plastics Company
» Most Intensive Ivermectin Use Had 74% Reduction in Excess Deaths in Peru: New Study
 
Immigration
» France Deploys Floating Water Barrier to Block Migrants Bound for UK
» Illegal Boat Migration Doubles Over Last Year in Italy in Blow for Meloni
» Italy: Ukrainian Teen Left Disfigured After Protecting Minors in Violent Robbery by 40-Strong North African Gang
» Italy: Lampedusa Hotspot Has 2,235 Migrants
» ‘Sanctuary City’ Chicago Mulls Plan to Bus Illegals to Suburbs
» Suspect in Brutal Rape and Murder of 11-Year-Old Texas Girl is Illegal Immigrant Who Crossed Into El Paso Amid Biden Border Crisis
 
Culture Wars
» Amazon Cancels Lesbian ‘A League of Their Own’ Remake
» April Hutchinson: Here’s the Truth About This Trans Powerlifter’s First-Place Picture: The Runners-Up Were the Only Female Competitors Willing to Compete… and That Cuddly Toy on the Podium Was an Especially Cruel Twist
» Chess Bans Trans
» Google’s New AI Summaries Are a New Way for the Company to Filter Everything Through Its Own Biases
» Keep Your Kids Away From Disney
» Official Gender Change Only Lawful After Surgery, Czech Court Rules
» Prominent AI Tech Being Integrated Into Many Products Has Strong Left-Wing Bias, Research Finds
» Ramaswamy: Kids Who Believe They Are Trans Have “A Mental Health Condition”
» WEF Professor: Declining Birth Rates Will Fight ‘Climate Change’
 

Germany: Faith in Government & Democracy Dives; Bankruptcies Skyrocket

As the German economy teeters on the edge of a recession—and with the population’s trust in democracy and confidence in the state’s ability to act plummeting—government data has revealed not only a significant uptick in bankruptcies but that tens of thousands of businesses shut down in the first six months of this year.

The figures, released by Germany’s Federal Statistical Office last week, revealed that a total of 50,600 companies went out of business between January and the end of June of this year, a 12.4% increase compared to the same period last year, the Hamburg-based daily newspaper Die Zeit reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

German Family Firm Survived WWI, WWII, and Hyperinflation, But Current Government Policies Are ‘More Problematic’ Than Previous Crises

The head of Germany’s oldest family firm, Coatinc, a metal finishing company over 500 years old, has placed the blame for Germany’s current economic crisis on the country’s left-wing government, with a special emphasis on its disastrous energy policy.

“War? Hyperinflation? What we experience now I see as much more problematic,” Paul Niederstein said in an interview with Die Welt.

Niederstein, whose company has been in the family since 1502, says that while 17 generations of his family firm had weathered a multitude of crises over the past 500 years, the current one, unlike many previous ones, is of the country’s own making. He said he primarily blames politics.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

60-Year-Old Asian Man Carjacked, Beaten to Death in Philadelphia

A 60-year-old Asian man was beaten to death after a carjacking in Philly on Thursday.

The attack happened at around 10 p.m. Thursday evening at the intersection of 3rd St. and Cambridge St. in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Breaking: Biden Lands in Nevada for Another Vacation, Still Hasn’t Visited Maui

President Joe Biden has gone on a second vacation this month to Nevada amidst the situation with the disaster in Maui.

Biden arrived with First Lady Jill Biden on Airforce One and can be seen going down the stairs of the landed aircraft.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Chicago Gangs Asked Not to Shoot Guns During Daytime

A community group has asked Chicago’s many gangs to refrain from engaging in gunfights during daylight hours. Rogers Park based Native Sons urged would-be shooters to hold off on pulling the trigger between 9 am and 9 pm in an effort to improve safety in the crime-riddled city.

Gang violence has led to a spike in shootings across Chicago as of late with rival gangs operating at all times of the day. Native Sons expressed hope that by adhering to their proposal, which they refer to as “The People’s Ordinance,” ordinary people won’t have to worry about getting caught in the crossfire at certain times of the day.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Country Music Sensation Tells Hollywood to Pound Sand: “People in the Music Industry Give Me Blank Stares When I Brush Off 8 Million Dollar Offers”

Country music sensation Oliver Anthony broke his silence after his song “Rich Men North of Richmond” became an overnight worldwide phenomenon. He said:

“People in the music industry give me blank stares when I brush off 8 million dollar offers. I don’t want 6 tour buses, 15 tractor trailers and a jet. I don’t want to play stadium shows, I don’t want to be in the spotlight.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Ex-CIA Officer Reviews Evidence Against Biden: ‘There’s No Doubt This is Money Laundering’

A former CIA has reviewed the mounting evidence against Democrat President Joe Biden and his family and stated on Joe Rogan’s hugely popular podcast that “there’s no doubt” that it proves “money laundering.”

Rogan suggested that Democrat power brokers are exposing Biden and his family’s corruption because they don’t think he can win reelection in 2024.

Meanwhile, his guest, former CIA covert operations officer Mike Baker, accused Biden of money laundering.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Ford CEO Admits Charging EV During Road Trip ‘Pretty Challenging’

Ford’s CEO got complaints from numerous electric vehicle (EV) owners during his recent cross-country road trip.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Georgia Man Arrested After Trying to Get Squatters, Hooker, Dogs Out of His Home — 6 Months Later They Are Still There

In Delkab County, Georgia, rental homeowner Tim Arko is still trying to evict squatters who got him arrested for trespassing on his own property in February after he found they had after they broke in and began living there.

According to WSB-TV, Arko’s eviction order has been approved and he is waiting for the DeKalb marshal to schedule a time to force the squatters out. In the 6 months they have lived there two people have reportedly died from drug overdoses and code enforcement cited Arko for violations even though he is not legally allowed to enter the property.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Herald Square Stabber Suspect Arrested, Victim Says He Was Attacked After Perp Asked for $

A man asking for money reportedly stabbed a senior citizen on the steps into the 34 St.-Harold Sq. subway on Sunday, August 13.

“There was blood everywhere,” recalled seventy-six year-old Iqbal Ahmed, recalling the out-of-the-blue attack on a GoFundMe Page he started to pay for his medical expenses. “He stabbed me in the torso and I bled profusely,” he added.

Thirty-eight year-old David Trotman, who allegedly attacked Ahmed, was arrested and booked on an assault charge by cops the following day.

Ahmed is recuperating in Bellevue, where he was rushed after the assault. He claims that he had rebuffed Trotman’s request.

“The only thing I remember is walking away and feeling a sharp pain in my torso…. I am now in Bellevue Hospital. I live alone and have no family to turn to. I am hoping that my fellow New Yorkers can help me in my time of need,” Ahmed concluded on his donation page. As of Aug. 16, he had raised over $11,000.

Asked for comment during a perp walk out of the NYPD Transit Bureau at Columbus Circle, Trotman reportedly told the Daily News “lick my nuts, bozo.”

           — Hat tip: LP [Return to headlines]
 

Hurricane Hilary Evacuation Warnings Issued in California as Storm Expected to Bring ‘Catastrophic’ Flooding

Evacuation warnings have been issued in California ahead of its landfall this weekend as the National Hurricane Center predicts “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” from a year’s worth a rain in the drought-prone region.

The Category 2 hurricane, which has weakened since Friday, is expected to make landfall either Saturday night or early Sunday morning in the Mexican state of Baja California, and Southern California should start seeing major rain overnight Saturday or Sunday morning.

By Saturday afternoon, the hurricane was moving north-northwest in the Pacific Ocean at 17 mph, with wind speeds of 110 mph, according to FOX Weather Center.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Jake Tapper Stuns CNN’s Audience: “Trump Was Right and Joe Biden Was Wrong”

CNN’s Jake Tapper came clean and admitted that Trump was right and Joe Biden was wrong about Hunter Biden’s shady dealings in China.

TAPPER: Let’s turn to the Biden administration because Jeff you have some new reporting that President Biden might have a blind spot, according to people around him when it comes to his son Hunter Biden’s legal troubles and concerns about how this might impact his desire to be reelected. What do you got? What are you hearing?

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Jim Jordan Issues Subpoenas After Judge Finds Biden ‘Very Likely Violated Americans’ First Amendment Rights’

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has issued subpoenas to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The subpoenas were issued as part of the Committee’s ongoing censorship investigation into Democrat President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ).

Jordan wants communications between the FBI and DOJ, private companies, and other third-party groups related to the policing and suppression of disfavored speech online.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Leaked Photos Show Jan 6 Prisoner Tortured, Held in Horrific Conditions for Months

New photos have been leaked from a Philadelphia prison, exposing the horrific conditions that a Jan. 6 prisoner is being subjected to.

The images show Jan. 6 prisoner Ryan Samsel pictured in the closet room he has been held in isolation for the past five months.

Samsel has been held in prison without trial since January 2021.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Matt Gaetz Calls on Congress to Investigate Political Bias of Trump Judge Tanya Chutkan

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is calling on his colleagues in Congress to investigate the judge presiding over President Donald Trump’s case, Tanya Chutkan.

Gaetz and others have been raising concerns about Chutkan’s political bias.

Chutkan, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is accused of conducting her court with open bias and partisanship in handling the cases of people linked to the January 6, 2021, protests at the U.S. Capitol.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Pedestrian Sleeping Under Tractor-Trailer Killed After Driver Moves Rig

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An unidentified pedestrian has died after he was run over by a tractor-trailer after he allegedly fell asleep on the tractor’s axles early Saturday morning.

Metro police said the tractor-trailer was parked along a curb behind the Shell gas station and travel center located at 601 Fesslers Lane on Saturday, Aug. 19.

The 36-year-old driver told officers that he came out to the truck and checked the area around 4 a.m. and didn’t see anything unusual.

However, the driver told officers that he felt a bump as he pulled forward. That’s when the truck driver discovered the victim. Authorities reported that the man was apparently sleeping between the 2nd and 3rd axles of the tractor.

According to Metro police, the victim is described as a white man. Efforts are underway to identify the victim through his fingerprints.

           — Hat tip: Roger [Return to headlines]
 

RFK Jr Shreds ‘Experts’ Claiming Vaccines Are ‘Unequivocally Safe’

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired back at a group of “experts” for claiming that vaccines are “unequivocally safe.”

Kennedy shutting down globalist talking points in a resurfaced interview with the BBC has gone viral on social media.

During the interview, Kennedy shreds the claims by employing basic logic, asking simple questions, and citing publicly available data.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Right on Cue: NY Hospital Reinstates Mask Mandates as Media Plays Up New COVID Variant

The Update University Hospital in Syracuse, New York, reinstated mask mandates on Thursday amid reports of an uptick of COVID cases and renewed media hysteria over a new subvariant.

“Effective immediately, mandatory masking is required by all staff, visitors, and patients in clinical areas of Upstate University Hospital, Upstate Community Hospital, and ambulatory clinical spaces, according to a memo sent to staff and obtained by Syracuse.com. “Clinical areas are defined as any location patients gather, wait, transport thorough, or receive care.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Texas Store Owner Shoots & Kills Two Armed Thugs During Failed Robbery

A pack of armed thugs’ “jugging” attempt failed miserably when a Texas store pulled his own gun and defended himself during a botched robbery attempt.

The owner of Ruiz Cash & Carry managed to gun down two out of three of the gang of armed robbers.

The Houston Police Department believes that the armed thugs killed outside of a family-owned convenience store were trying to rob the owner in a “jugging” attempt.

The incident unfolded on Wednesday when the owner of the convenience store in Houston’s East End went to the bank.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Tom Fitton Sues CIA Over Role in Intel Letter Attacking Hunter Biden Laptop Story Just Before Election

Tom Fitton’s Judicial Watch has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the CIA for its role in the infamous intelligence community letter that claimed the Hunter Biden laptop story was “Russian disinformation” in the run-up to the 2020 election.

The lawsuit is demanding all communications of the spy agency’s Prepublication Classification Review Board (PCRB) regarding an October 19, 2020, email request to review and “clear” a letter signed by 51 former intelligence community officials characterizing the Hunter Biden laptop story as having “all the earmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Video: Biden Again Refuses to Talk About Maui Fires

Joe Biden again refused to answer any questions concerning the disaster in Maui, and even broke into an old man run to avoid reporters Thursday.

Here he is pathetically ‘running’ from the press on the White House lawn.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Vivek Ramaswamy Warns Tucker Carlson: This Country is “On the Cusp of Chaos… in a 1776 Moment”

Vivek Ramaswamy — the youngest Republican — sat down with Tucker Carlson in a wide-ranging interview this evening.

Ramaswamy talks about his controversial (for some) accusations that the government, the 9/11 Commission, and the FBI lied about certain events, leading to demands for accountability.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Vivek Ramaswamy Blames Woke Obama Crony for Horrific Maui Death Toll

Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy said the man that former President Barack Obama backs to handle Hawaii’s water resources is to blame for the extent of the deaths from the Maui wildfires.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Watch: Biden Appears to Forget the Name ‘Maui’ — Refers to it as ‘The One You See on Television All the Time’

In a speech in response to the fires devastating the island of Maui, President Joe Biden seemed to forget the name of the island and instead called it “the one” that “you see on television all the time.”

In a speech on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Biden spoke to a crowd of voters and broke his silence about the subject. Just a few days earlier he had told reporters, “No comment,” after being asked for his reaction to the death and destruction.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

X is Hiring Staff to Combat Election “Disinformation”

Update: This post has been updated to reflect that it was Kristen Ruby, Author of The Ruby Files and President of Ruby Media Group that first noticed X was seeking to hire a disinformation specialist.

X has distributed a call for applicants to fill new roles tasked with combating disinformation amidst an approaching 2024 election. This move will raise eyebrows among advocates of freedom of speech, particularly considering what happened when this was done with the 2020 election and since Elon Musk had famously bought Twitter with the pledge to honor the values of free speech and had initiated the release of the Twitter Files, detailing instances of election censorship from the past.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

YouTube is Sued, Accused of Enabling Mass Shooting by Not Censoring Hateful Content

Tech giants Alphabet, Google and its subsidiary YouTube, together with Reddit, find themselves embroiled in legal action linked to a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York in 2022. The litigation alleges that the platforms fostered an environment promoting “extreme and harmful” content, which supposedly played a significant role in preparing the shooter for his racist attack that left ten individuals of color dead.

Regular readers will already be following how a mass shooting is being used to pressure social media platforms to censor and will have already anticipated this type of lawsuit. We covered this in important detail within the last month.

The shooting, committed by Payton Gendron who was 18 at the time, happened in a supermarket where the victims were shopping.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Breaking: ‘Unmarked Graves’ Discovery at Manitoba Residential School Turns Out to be Hoax — No Bodies Found, Only Rocks

Chief Derek Nepinak of the Minegoziibe Anishinabe said the excavation of a Catholic church on the site of a former Manitoba school found “no conclusive evidence of human remains.” The lands the church is found on have been referred to as “mass graves” by outlets in the mainstream media.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Afghan Turns Himself in After Dousing Partner in Gasoline at German Gas Station

An Afghan national has handed himself in to German police after being caught on CCTV dousing a woman in gas before bundling her into a vehicle and fleeing the scene.

The incident occurred on Thursday morning in Langenhorn, Hamburg, when a maintenance company employee sounded the alarm after observing an unknown male pouring gasoline over a female at a Jet gas station on Langenhorner Chaussee.

When the employee tried to intervene, he too was doused in gasoline before the perpetrator dragged the woman into a car and took off.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Austria: Sinking ÖVP Unveils “Future Plan 2030”

In an attempt to redeem itself in the eyes of the population, Austria’s ruling People’s Party (ÖVP) has unveiled part of its “Future Plan 2030.” The party has lost some half of its support base since 2020 due to, at least in part, its draconian COVID-19 restrictions, proposed vaccine mandates, and inability to stem migration flows.

With much of its support base having flocked to the national-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which takes a harder line on immigration, the ÖVP appears to be trying to signal to Austrians that it has the political will to deal with the problem.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘Big Win’: UK Government Will Force Banks to Keep Cash Available to Public

The government will set unlimited fines for banks that fail to protect access to cash, the Treasury said, in a major move against the march towards a cashless society campaigner Nigel Farage has called a “big win”.

Banks in the United Kingdom will have to provide free-to-access cash withdrawals and deposits within one mile of a person’s home in urban areas and within three miles in rural areas according to new laws and rules being rolled out by the government to protect cash. Yet some pro-cash campaigners point out the change doesn’t go far enough, as retailers are still perfectly entitled to refuse to accept cash as payment.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

British Nurse Lucy Letby Guilty of Killing Seven Newborn Babies

LONDON (AP) — A neonatal nurse in a British hospital was found guilty of killing seven babies and trying to kill six others.

Lucy Letby, 33, was charged with murder in the deaths of five baby boys and two girls, and the attempted murder of five boys and five girls, when she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.

She was accused of deliberately harming the newborn infants in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Europe Braces for $3 a Pill ‘Poor Man’s Cocaine’ to Flood Streets After Gulf Crackdown

Bloomberg has described that what’s been dubbed “poor man’s cocaine” at as little as $3 a pill is threatening to proliferate across the Middle East and into Europe. It’s long been part of the underground party scene in what are otherwise strict Sharia law Arab Gulf countries, but that’s poised to change after authorities have prioritized its eradication.

“Europe is bracing for the possible influx of a drug that’s hooked the Middle East as political shifts and crackdowns in the Gulf spur producers in Syria and Lebanon to tap new markets,” a fresh report warns.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Former Austrian Chancellor Kurz Faces Criminal Charges Over False Testimony

Once considered a political wunderkind, former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz faces criminal charges and trial in October over alleged false statements regarding a corruption case against the government he led.

Kurz, who was elected in 2017 as leader of the Austrian Peoples’ Party (ÖVP) and made world headlines for becoming the youngest global leader at the time at just 31, faces up to three years in prison after being charged with giving a false statement regarding the appointment of Thomas Schmid to the state holding company ÖBAG in 2020.

According to a report from the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung, the trial against Kurz in the Vienna Regional Court is expected to last for around three days starting on October 18th, with a verdict in the case expected on the 23rd.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

France: Sarkozy Advocates for Ukrainian Neutrality and Dialogue With Russia

On the occasion of the publication of his memoirs, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has just given a lengthy interview to the press, in which he comes out in favour of Ukraine’s neutrality and maintaining dialogue with Russia, prompting a number of outraged statements from the French political class.

His memoirs, entitled Le Temps des combats, will be in bookshops on August 22nd. To coincide with their publication, Nicolas Sarkozy, French president from 2007 to 2012, spoke to Le Figaro for an exclusive interview in which he looked back on his years ast the head of France and on the national and international situation today.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: Antifa Blamed for Machete Attack on Presumed Right-Winger

A brutal attack on a man in the city of Chemnitz, Germany, has been blamed on far-left Antifa militants by members of the populist Alternative For Germany (AfD), as German counter-terrorism police investigate the incident that left the victim without several fingers.

The attack took place this week in the Stadtpark just after 3:00 p.m., according to a reportfrom Radio Chemnitz.

The victim, identified as 28-year-old Alexander W., was assaulted by several masked men armed with a machete next to the park’s tennis courts. The attackers chopped off several fingers on his left hand.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Germany: TV Host ‘Faked Racist Tweet by AfD’

A German broadcaster has parted ways with a television presenter after the presenter allegedly made up a racist social media post earlier this month and attributed it to Frauke Petry, the former leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Maurice Gajda, host of the programme Explosiv, was suspended by broadcaster RTL this week after Ms. Petry accused him of fabricating a post from X, the tabloid Bild reports.

The post, which Gajda broadcast on August 5th, involved a comment regarding singer Trong Hieu Nguyen, who was competing in a preliminary round for Germany ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) earlier this year.

The alleged post, which Gajda claimed Petry had deleted, stated, “I don’t think any normal German wants to see a pink-coloured Asian at the ESC.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Greek PM Shuts Down Football Fan Groups After Deadly Violence

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced this week that all fan groups of football clubs would be shut down after a Greek football fan was stabbed to death in Athens earlier this month in connection with a football game.

Mitsotakis met with UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin as well as the owners of four of Greece’s major football clubs, PAOK, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, and AEK, before announcing the closure of the fan groups, Ekathimerini reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Harold & Kumar Go to Germany: Cabinet Approves Plan to Legalize Cannabis

The German federal cabinet has approved a draft law to legalize marijuana and give the country some of the most liberal cannabis laws in Europe.

Under the plans announced by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, the Cannabis Act would allow consumers to legally possess up to 25 grams of cannabis for recreational use, grow up to three cannabis plants at a time for personal use, and join “cannabis clubs” of up to 500 members where the plant can be grown and the drug acquired.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘In Germany, I Don’t Feel Safe, I Want to Return to Poland,’ Says Polish Woman to PM Morawiecki

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said a Polish woman living in Germany told him she wants to move back to Poland because, as she says, it is dangerous in Bavaria.

Morawiecki made the remark during his speech in the parliament this week, where he related a conversation he had with a Polish woman who lives in Bavaria. The head of the Polish government met her during one of the military picnics, with the wPolityce.pl news outlet being the first to publish the recording of the conversation.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Julian Assange Extradition: A Done Deal?

Suggestions of a plea deal have raised hopes that America’s battle to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could come to an end. Political extradition is explicitly banned under the UK-U.S. Extradition Treaty, but for years, the handing over of Mr. Assange due to the leaking of U.S. government documents has appeared imminent. Mail on Sundaycolumnist Peter Hitchens, one of the very few British journalists to have campaigned loudly and regularly in Mr. Assange’s favour, recently predicted that “by the time most of us have realised what has happened, it will be over.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Poland’s Governing Conservatives Open Up 10-Point Polling Lead Over Liberal Opposition

The governing conservatives in Poland have opened up a 10-point polling lead over its main opposition ahead of the general election later this year; however, such a result would not give any political party the authority to rule alone.

The latest polling by Social Changes for the wPolityce.pl news site brings good news for the United Right coalition, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PiS) party, which increased its lead over the Civic Coalition led by former Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

A total of 39 percent of respondents declared their intention to vote for the United Right/Law and Justice, up two percentage points from the previous poll. The Civic Coalition/Civic Platform (PO) attained 29 percent of the votes, up one percentage point.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Terror Threat Level Raised in Sweden

Sweden has raised its terrorist threat level to four, the second-highest level on a scale of five. Level four is a “high threat,” which means there is a very good chance that potential wrongdoers have both the intent and capability to carry out an attack and that a concrete threat against Sweden exists, reports The Local.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Angry Londoners Attacking Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Dystopian ‘Low Traffic’ ULEZ Spy Cameras

London police revealed Friday nearly 300 incidents of attacks against spy cameras used in the city’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) have been recorded ahead of the contentious scheme’s wider rollout later this month.

The Metropolitan Police launched an operation in April after it received reports from local government agency Transport for London (TfL) of criminal damage and theft against the cameras designed to help deliver Mayor Sadiq Khan’s tax on older cars.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

UK: Debanking: Farage Delivers ‘Don’t Kill Cash’ Petition to Downing Street

A petition against the cashless society organised by Brexit leader Nigel Farage and UK broadcaster GB News has reached 300,000 signatures, and was hand-delivered to Downing Street by Mr Farage on Thursday afternoon.

Nigel Farage, political leader-turned broadcaster and now key campaigner on the debanking scandal carried the Don’t Kill Cash petition to No. 11 Downing Street on Thursday. Flanked by his fellow petitioners and co-hosts from the GB News Network Mr Farage handed the list of names over at the door of the official residence and personal office of Jeremy Hunt, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister).

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Vox Digs Deep — and Young — for New Spokesperson

VOX wants to demonstrate with its new congressional spokesperson, 28-year-old Pepa Millan, that it has a future. Recent poor electoral outcomes and the sudden departure of Ivan Espinosa de los Monteros, the party’s previous congressional spokesperson and one of its founders, seems to call for a new face

Espinosa announced last week, shortly before the parliament opened its new session, that he was stepping down, citing “personal and family” reasons. During the press conference, he stated specifically that his “parents are now older” while his children are “not so old” and that he had spent too many nights at the hospital recently to continue his political work. He is the father of four and his wife, Rocio Monasterio, remains president of VOX Madrid and the party’s leader in the regional parliament. Indeed, though Espinosa cited personal reasons, speculation abounds about the internal conflicts within the party that may have motivated his demission.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Belarusian Forces Conduct Landing and Assault Drills Near Polish Border

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense has confirmed that a five-day training exercise for land and assault forces is being conducted in Brest, a city in southwest Belarus on the Polish border.

It is understood that officers have already practiced parachute landings and embarked on a 15-kilometer march in the region. The training area is just a few kilometers from the Bug River on the border between Poland and Belarus.

A month ago, the training site near Brest was also used by the Wagner Group mercenaries. This too was acknowledged by the Belarusian defense ministry.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Russia’s Luna-25 Probe Experiences ‘Abnormal Situation’ in Preparation for Moon Landing

An “abnormal situation” has been detected during a maneuver by Russia’s Luna-25 probe prior to its moon landing, the Russian space agency said on August 19.

“At 2:10 p.m., thrust was released to transfer the probe onto the pre-landing orbit. During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be performed with the specified parameters,” Roskosmos said.

The agency added that specialists were analyzing the situation. No further details were given. Touchdown on the moon was scheduled for August 21. It is unclear whether the probe can keep this schedule.

Roskosmos said earlier it had received the first results from the Luna-25 mission and that they were being analyzed.

The agency also posted images of the moon’s Zeeman crater taken from the spacecraft. The crater is the third deepest in the moon’s southern hemisphere, measuring 190 kilometers in diameter and 8 kilometers in depth, according to Roskosmos.

           — Hat tip: JW [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Fines Google for Not Censoring “Misinformation”

In a recent move illustrating the growing suppression of free speech in the digital sphere, Russia slapped a fine of 3 million rubles (equivalent to around $31,000) on Google for failing to comply with the Russian state’s censorship demands. The internet giant has been accused by a Moscow court of refusing to delete content that Russian authorities have deemed “false” regarding their military operations in Ukraine, according to state-controlled news outlet TASS.

This decision articulates the rising conflict between the Russian government’s intensifying attempts to enforce online narratives, especially amid the escalating crisis in Ukraine.

Google is not isolated in attracting the ire of Russian authorities. The burgeoning propensity for censorship is substantiated by the recent fines imposed on various online platforms including Reddit, Apple, and even Wikipedia.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Missile Attack Kills Seven in Northern Ukrainian City, Including Six-Year-Old Girl

CHERNIHIV, Ukraine (AP) — A missile attack in the center of a northern Ukrainian city killed seven people and wounded scores of others on Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Sweden, his first visit to the country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

The dead in the daytime strike on the northern city of Chernihiv included a 6-year-old girl, while 12 children were among the 117 wounded, acting mayor Oleksandr Lomako said.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Russia Claims to Have Destroyed U.S.-Made Strykers in Combat in Ukraine

Russia claims to have destroyed four U.S.-made Stryker armoured fighting vehicles, the donation of which constitutes a significant component of American military support of Ukraine’s war effort.

The alleged combat success came in one of the daily Russian digests of their perspective of the war, saying they had launched a strike against the Ukrainian army near Zaporozhye. The casualties they claimed were severe, asserting they had “eliminated” 195 Ukrainian soldiers and a selection of heavy equipment.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Russian Missile Attack Kills 7 in Northern Ukrainian City as Zelenskyy Visits NATO Candidate Sweden

CHERNIHIV, Ukraine — A Russian missile attack in the center of a northern Ukrainian city on Saturday killed seven people and wounded over a hundred others, including children, Ukrainian officials said.

The attack in Chernihiv happened as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Sweden on his first foreign trip since attending a NATO summit in Lithuania last month.

Images of the aftermath showed badly damaged buildings including a theater with its roof blown away, mangled cars and survivors walking amid the debris with bloodstained clothes. The dead in the daytime strike included a 6-year-old girl, while 15 children were among the 129 wounded, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

           — Hat tip: Dean [Return to headlines]
 

UK Bank Accounts Shuttered for Transactions With Ukraine

UK officials have long lauded themselves for being among the staunchest supporters of Ukraine in its war against Russia. But the forcible closure of bank accounts that are owned by businesses trading with Ukrainian counterparts has prompted a good deal of anger aimed at the British state.

Bank accounts of businesses trading with Ukraine are in danger of being shut down because the war has made it difficult to discern between Ukrainian and Russian financial activity. Concerns are high that sanctions against Russia may in fact facilitate money laundering, according to a report in Politico.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

War in Ukraine Rekindles Tri-National Black Sea Fleet Idea

Russia’s invasion of Turkey has revived plans for a multi-national Black Sea fleet, Romanian news portal Ziare reports.

NATO first began considering such a force after the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia, but all but abandoned the plan by 2016.

At the time, the proposal came from Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the rise of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Bulgaria and Turkey rejected it with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov saying at the time he wanted to see sailing ships in the Black Sea, not warships.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

We’ve Shot Down Three Russian Attack Helicopters This Week, Says Ukraine

What could be called steady progress for the Ukrainian armed forces, as they announce the third downing of a Russian helicopter this working week, at least two of them claimed to be KA-52 attack helicopters.

Ukraine claimed two shot-down KA-52 helicopters on Thursday morning, one in the Bakhmut theatre and the other near Zaporizhzhia, the Ukrainian city perhaps best known for being the location of Europe’s largest nuclear power station. The Ka-52 is a two-seat attack helicopter roughly analogous in role and vintage to the U.S.-built Apache helicopters, and is known for its distinctive contra-rotating coaxial rotor pair.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Zelensky Travels to NATO Applicant Sweden as Putin Heads to Site of Failed Wagner Rebellion

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is visiting Sweden on Saturday — his first visit to the country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, the Swedish government said.

It said Zelenskyy will meet Swedish government officials in Harpsund, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Stockholm. He will also meet Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia at a palace in the area.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Anti-Christian Acts Put Pakistan on Fire

The province of Punjab in Pakistan has been in the grip of a wave of anti-Christian persecution of rare violence over the last few days.

The violence began on August 16th, following an accusation of blasphemy against a Christian family, who were accused of desecrating the Quran by tearing out pages and insulting the prophet. They strike all Christian denominations, without distinction, and have forced thousands of Christians—around 2,000—to flee to escape the destruction of their property and homes. So far, no deaths have been reported, but many churches have been burnt down and destroyed. According to various journalistic sources, reliable numbers are hard to come by, but they range between 15 and 50.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

India: Islamic Sextortion Racket Busted in Bengaluru Intending to Convert Hindu Males

Mehernnusia alias Meher alias Neha’s accomplices would secretly film her engaging in these activities with the men. They would then exploit the recorded footage to blackmail the victims, according to reports. The main targets were Hindus…

Rudrabhishek Awasti | HENB | Aug 19, 2023:: Bengaluru law enforcement has successfully dismantled a sextortion ring operated by a Muslim woman who enticed men and coerced them into parting with large sums of money. The targets were mainly Hindus.

While three gang members viz. Sharana Prakash Baligera (a converted) and two other Muslims — Abdul Khader, and Yasin were apprehended earlier, the prime suspect, Neha alias Mehernnusia alias Meher — a woman at the center of the operation was arrested by Karnataka Police from Mumbai later.

The main accused, identified as Neha, also known as Meher or Meherunnisa along with her associates, allegedly reached out to men using Telegram, a messaging platform, and invited them to her residence for intimate encounters all in a Halal way to exploit the Hindu men from 20-50 range of age.

Meher’s accomplices would secretly film her engaging in these activities with the men. They would then exploit the recorded footage to blackmail the victims, according to reports.

The victims faced a harrowing choice: either marry Meher and convert to Islam or provide her with money.

Over the course of approximately eighteen months, the gang managed to extort more than Rs 35 lakh through their blackmail tactics.

Authorities have thus far retrieved Rs 60,000 from the gang. Payments were facilitated using Paytm.

Reportedly, Meher’s whereabouts were traced by the police to Mumbai, and a special team was sent to nab the prime accused.

The full extent of the gang’s illicit activities is still under investigation. Current estimates suggest that over 50 men have fallen victim to their extortion schemes. Mainly, Hindu males were victims of this Islamic honey trap in the design of another Sex-Jihad.

A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged at Puttenhalli Police Station. The charges include Wrongful Confinement to Extract Confession (Section 348) and Cheating (Section 420) of the Indian Penal Code.

Investigators are also exploring the angle of the victims possibly being coerced into undergoing Halal circumcision as part of the gang’s intimidation tactics.

           — Hat tip: Upananda Brahmachari [Return to headlines]
 

Man Who Stabbed 11-Year-Old Girl for Rejecting Him Arrested

A man in Kalyan, India, killed an 11-year-old girl after she rejected his proposal. He stabbed her multiple times before attempting suicide.

Kalyan: Aditya Kamble, who killed an 11-year-old girl in Kalyan East on Wednesday night, allegedly told police that it was love at first sight when he saw her at a grocery shop in May. In June, when he proposed to the minor, she rejected him and even refused to talk to him because of which he couldn’t express his love for her, a police officer from Kolsewadi police station said.

Senior police inspector M Deshmukh said, “Kamble followed her so many times but whenever the girl saw him, she would run away. Kamble was angry with her behaviour and therefore he decided to kill her and later tried to kill himself too.”

The 20-year-old man was arrested on Saturday. A local court sent him to police custody till August 28.

According to the police, the accused was roaming around the girl’s house at Durga Darshan Society in Tisgaon for almost three to four hours on Wednesday. Around 8 pm, when the girl returned from a private tuition class along with her mother and took the steps to reach her flat, Kamble stabbed her seven to eight times.

When residents of the society and a few passersby rushed in hearing her mother’s cries, Kamble opened the phenyl bottle and drank from it before he was grabbed and handed over to the police, a police officer said.

           — Hat tip: McN [Return to headlines]
 

Unplugged: Biden Suffers Earpiece Fail, Snubs Handshake With Japan, South Korea Leaders

President Joe Biden may have touted the historic agreements with the leaders of South Korea and Japan at Camp David on Friday, but several mishaps peppered his press conference as the trilateral meeting wrapped up.

It is almost a given that any public speech offered up by Joe Biden comes with a generous dollop of blunders. The US president did not fail to deliver on the latest occasion, as he gave a press conference at Camp David in Maryland.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Watch: Alarming Video Shows Chinese Troops Rehearsing for Taiwan Invasion

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command has released a provocative video showing troops practicing a coastal invasion of Taiwan. The video first appeared on the social media site WeChat Thursday, and features waves of PLA soldiers storming beaches, including armored vehicles and tanks driving into attack positions.

The clip didn’t specifically name Taiwan, but given the Eastern Theatre Command oversees the Taiwan Strait area, it’s being widely interpreted as a warning and threat aimed at the self-ruled island which is backed by the West.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Anthony Albanese Grilled About Cost of Petrol: Prime Minister Concedes He Doesn’t Know Current Price of Fuel

The Prime Minister was asked about basic costs in the wake of a major speech to the ALP National Conference, where he said the cost-of-living was the number one priority for his government.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Cairns Real Estate Listing Shocks With Brutal Description of Property as a War Zone Bunker

Home buyers were left shocked at a harshly honest listing of a property described as a ‘war zone bunker’ by a property agency. Despite the brutal description, the apartment is up for sale.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

CPAC: Tony Abbott and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price Lead Speeches in Support of No Vote on Voice

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has slammed the Voice campaign, saying this generation of Aboriginal Australians are ‘not victims’ and their counterparts are ‘not oppressors’.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Young Mum Ditches Corporate Job to Live Off Centrelink: NSW Woman Shara Owens Reveals Why She Doesn’t Regret the Move

A single mum who quit her high salary job and swapped it for Centrelink payments claims working full-time was sending her broke amid the crippling cost of living.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Kremlin Claims MI6 Deploying Sabotage Team Against Russia in Africa

Kremlin-funded media outlets are reporting that Britain’s overseas intelligence service MI6 is preparing a sabotage team of 100 Ukrainian soldiers to be dispatched to Africa later this month in a bid to undermine Russia and the Wagner group’s growing influence on the Continent.

According to an anonymous source speaking to the Russian domestic news agency RIA Novosti, the deployment is to be led by Ukrainian intelligence officer Vitaliy Praschuk and consists of veterans from the Eastern Front.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

US Readying Plans to Evacuate Drone Bases if Necessary Under Niger’s New Junta, Commander Says

The U.S. is making precautionary plans to evacuate two key drone and counter-terror bases in Niger if that becomes necessary under the West African nation’s new ruling junta.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Death Toll in Dominican Republic Explosion Rises to 32; Officials Blame Plastics Company

The explosion which occurred on Monday (August 14) sent shock waves through the area of San Cristobal, less than 30 kilometres west of the country’s capital Santo Domingo.

Case against plastic company

The police and public ministry recently released a joint statement that said that the blast — which also damaged nine buildings and destroyed four — occurred at a business called Vidal Plast, rather than at a bakery as authorities had said initially.

“The Public Ministry has evidence that compromises the criminal responsibility of those responsible who, with their actions, caused the death of dozens of people and caused millions in losses,” said the statement, citing prosecutor Fadulia Rosa Rubio.

According to officials, the company Vidal Plast recycles, buys and sells plastic materials. They also said that they had evidence that there was a fire at the business back in March as well following a spark and a chemical substance.

The company did not take any measures “despite knowing the high risk of its operations,” said the Dominican authorities, reported the Associated Press.

Search and rescue teams, some using sniffer dogs, continued to work at the site, said deputy director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE), Julian Garcia, on Friday. He added, “Until all the rubble is removed, the search will not stop.”

Garcia also warned that the death toll could still rise. A report by AFP citing COE said that among the 32 killed “13 corpses have been identified and 11 bodies have been delivered to relatives.”

The government, on Thursday, said it could take up to three months to identify all those killed in the blast.

           — Hat tip: MM [Return to headlines]
 

Most Intensive Ivermectin Use Had 74% Reduction in Excess Deaths in Peru: New Study

Authored by Megan Redshaw, JD via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

According to a new peer-reviewed ecological study, a natural experiment occurred when the government of Peru authorized ivermectin for use during the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in evidence of the drug’s effectiveness and ability to reduce excess deaths.

The paper’s results, published August 8 in Cureus, found a 74 percent reduction in excess deaths in 10 states with the most intensive ivermectin use over a 30-day period following peak deaths during the pandemic. When analyzing data across 25 states in Peru, researchers found these reductions in excess deaths correlated closely to ivermectin use during four months in 2020.

When ivermectin was available without restriction, there was a fourteenfold reduction in nationwide excess deaths. Once access to ivermectin was restricted by the government, a thirteenfold increase in excess deaths was observed in the two months following the limitation of its use. The findings align with summary data from the World Health Organization for the same time period in Peru.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

France Deploys Floating Water Barrier to Block Migrants Bound for UK

French authorities have erected a floating barrier to block boats carrying migrants from entering the English Channel, according to reports.

The river Canche, which runs through the department of Pas-de-Calais and empties into the Channel, has become popular with smugglers using “taxi boats” to pick up groups of migrants hoping to reach England.

A new “floating dam” consisting of buoys strung along a chain has been laid across the Canche in the port town of Étaples, Le Parisien reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Illegal Boat Migration Doubles Over Last Year in Italy in Blow for Meloni

Italy has seen the number of illegal boat migrants landing on its shores double over last year, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has so far failed to live up to her hardline reputation.

Italian Interior Ministry figures released this week show that 89,158 illegals have crossed the Mediterranean Sea since the start of the year, compared to 41,435 during the same time period last year, representing an increase of 115 per cent.

While deportations were slightly up from last year, increasing from 2,000 to 2,561, they paled in comparison to the increase in people applying for asylum, with 72,460 making the request in the first seven months, an increase of 70.59 per cent over last year, Il Sore 24 reported.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Ukrainian Teen Left Disfigured After Protecting Minors in Violent Robbery by 40-Strong North African Gang

An 18-year-old Ukrainian refugee was left disfigured and in need of plastic surgery after being slashed with a box cutter in a violent robbery at the hands of a large gang of approximately 40 North African men in Italy.

Danylo Shydlovskyi, who fled his homeland following the Russian invasion last year, was hospitalized as a result of the attack on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 6, in Milan.

He had been returning home from a day trip to the lake with his brother and some friends when the group was attacked outside the Garibaldi train station.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Italy: Lampedusa Hotspot Has 2,235 Migrants

(ANSA) — ROME, AUG 19 — The hotspot on the stepping stone island of Lampedusa, closer to Africa than to Italy, on Saturday hosted 2,235 migrants against an official capacity of just 400, local officials said.

Some 662 migrants were moved to Sicily Friday and another 700 are slated to follow Saturday, the officials said.

They said that thanks to various new measures the facility was “able to cope with up to 3,000 people without getting clogged up.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

‘Sanctuary City’ Chicago Mulls Plan to Bus Illegals to Suburbs

Chicago is currently considering plans to bus illegal border crossers out of the so-called “sanctuary city,” according to reports.

Chicago’s Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson is mulling a plan in which the city would bus illegal aliens out to surrounding suburbs.

According to Center Square, Johnson said he is working with Cook County officials and various counties to coordinate a plan.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Suspect in Brutal Rape and Murder of 11-Year-Old Texas Girl is Illegal Immigrant Who Crossed Into El Paso Amid Biden Border Crisis

An illegal immigrant from Guatemala is the main suspect in the murder of an 11-year-old Texas girl who was found dead in her home on Saturday.

Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, who had illegally entered into the US through El Paso in January, is believed to have allegedly strangled and sexually assaulted the young girl, according to the Pasadena Police Department. The victim, Maria Gonzalez, was found dead under her bed by her father, Carmelo Gonzalez, upon his return home from work, NewsNation reports.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Amazon Cancels Lesbian ‘A League of Their Own’ Remake

Amazon is officially discontinuing A League of Their Own on its platform. The 1992 film was getting a reboot with queer characters in a three-part series when it was canceled.

After the first season of the queer-themed remake of Penny Marshall’s sports comedy, it was renewed to have more episodes for a second and final season. However, even after finishing the script for the upcoming episodes prior to the Writers Guild of America strike on May 2, the series has been canceled.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

April Hutchinson: Here’s the Truth About This Trans Powerlifter’s First-Place Picture: The Runners-Up Were the Only Female Competitors Willing to Compete… and That Cuddly Toy on the Podium Was an Especially Cruel Twist

HUTCHINSON: A smirking Ann Andres took gold at the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s women’s championship. What was so funny, I’ll never know. But women are being treated like a joke.

           — Hat tip: SS [Return to headlines]
 

Chess Bans Trans

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has has become the latest governing body to completely ban trans-identifying biological men from competing in women’s competitions.

FIDE introduced new guidelines that state “In the event that the gender was changed from a male to a female the player has no right to participate in official FIDE events for women until further FIDE’s decision is made.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Google’s New AI Summaries Are a New Way for the Company to Filter Everything Through Its Own Biases

Google’s latest move toward automated article summaries raises questions about its commitment to balanced journalistic integrity, particularly as the company hasn’t exactly been known for its objectivity in recent years.

The tech giant announced on August 15 it has made major modifications to its artificial intelligence systems, introducing a feature that compresses and summarizes articles for users perusing websites. Though described as a tool to efficiently “navigate information online,” previous precedents paint a concerning picture of Google’s propensity to filter content to support its own ideological perspectives.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Keep Your Kids Away From Disney

Disney is producing a charming new “coming of age” show about a teenager who is impregnated during a one night stand with Satan.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Official Gender Change Only Lawful After Surgery, Czech Court Rules

The Czech Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) has rejected an appeal from a pre-op transgender person who claimed that the requirement for them to undergo surgery to change from a woman to a man before they can officially change their gender was unconstitutional.

The appellant was born as a woman but now identifies as a man. They wanted official recognition of their amended gender status but the Czech registry office refused to comply with the request for an official change of gender, including the entry of a male name and a male version of the birth number, because the appellant had not undergone a surgical procedure associated with the disabling of reproductive function, as required by law.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Prominent AI Tech Being Integrated Into Many Products Has Strong Left-Wing Bias, Research Finds

OpenAI’s leading chatbot technology, ChatGPT, is reportedly displaying a staggering leftist tilt, recent research suggests. A team of academics at the University of East Anglia in England led a comprehensive probe into the AI system’s political leanings, revealing a notable systemic bias towards leftist ideologies and political organizations, including the Democratic Party in the United States, Brazil’s ex-president Lula, and the UK’s Labour Party.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

Ramaswamy: Kids Who Believe They Are Trans Have “A Mental Health Condition”

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has declared that if a child says they are transgender, then they are really suffering a from a mental health crisis, and that it is “inhumane” to affirm their misguided belief.

“When a kid is saying their gender doesn’t match their biological sex, they’re going through a mental health struggle. That’s a mental health condition,” Ramaswamy said during an interview with The Blaze.

He continued, “The compassionate thing to do is not to affirm that confusion — that is not compassion, that is cruelty. The compassionate thing to do is figure out what’s going wrong in that kid’s life.”

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

WEF Professor: Declining Birth Rates Will Fight ‘Climate Change’

A World Economic Forum-linked professor has declared that the declining birth rates recorded in countries around the world are actually a “good thing” because the issue will help to fight “climate change.”

As Slay News has reported, experts have been raising the alarm in recent months as global birth rates sink way below sustainable levels.

The issue has led to warnings of a “baby drought” as the birth rate continues to fall.

Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China have all recorded dangerously low birth rates.

           — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago [Return to headlines]
 

One thought on “Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/19/2023

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    They are, damn me, not normal in Sweden!

    THE CONSENT ACT

    Alleged to have done ‘two too many’ – was charged with rape.

    Published August 19, 2023 in Fria Tider

    A 20-year-old man who had consensual intercourse with a woman was charged with rape after the woman reported him for making two more “coital movememts” after she withdrew her consent.

    However, the woman’s information was contradictory and the 20-year-old was therefore acquitted by a district court that disagreed, as the ‘Dagens Juridik’ first reported.

    The parties had had two voluntary intercourses earlier in the evening, but the third – which the woman was not satisfied with – was what led her to report the man and make a claim for damages.

    The accused man stated that he had followed the law of consent and explicitly asked the woman if he would “stuff it in” and then received an affirmative answer before the intercourse began.

    However, the woman claimed that she asked the man to stop and that he then performed two more coital movements without pronounced permission, before he stopped. For that, the prosecutor believed that the man should be sentenced to three years in prison.

    The accusation was, as usual, unproven, but since NO proof is required in rape cases, charges were brought anyway. However, the plaintiff’s information in the district court turned out to deviate from the information she provided in police interrogations and which are recorded in journal entries so strongly that the accused man was acquitted.

    Two jurors still wanted to sentence the man to three years in prison for rape.

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