After Afghan rioters ran amok on the streets of Paris, Marion Maréchal said that it was time for them to return home to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, acting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced plans to pay €30 million to asylum seekers for failing to process their applications on time.
In other news, pro-Palestinian protesters blocked streets and disrupted traffic near Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s home in Brooklyn. More than 100 were arrested.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, DV, Insubria, LP, McN, 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.
Russia’s economy will grow faster than almost all developed economies this year at 3.2 percent, according to the latest forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Its latest report is a blow to the European Commission, which has remained steadfast in its desire to sanction Moscow, often to its own detriment.
Russian economic growth is expected to outpace the 2.7 percent predicted for the United States, the 0.5 percent forecast for Britain, and, as far as the European Union is concerned, the two big European economies, Germany and France, will only manage 0.2 and 0.7 percent respectively.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Amazingly, Harvard Suspends Pro-Hamas Student Group
My apologies if this comes off sounding a bit on the crude side, but has someone in the administration at Harvard finally started to “grow a pair?” Following months of protests and disruptions, Harvard finally suspended the student group Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC). The same group had already been placed on probation for their ongoing antics, but it never seemed to slow them down. In a letter to the group, the administration further warned them that if they continued to operate or inappropriately use campus spaces, the members would face expulsion and be banished from Harvard Yard. PSC still has many supporters among the faculty and student body who are protesting the suspension, but it sounds as if the administrators are serious about this. The question is, will PSC’s members pay any attention to the order or simply ignore it? (National Review)
Harvard College temporarily suspended Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) on Wednesday for the remainder of the semester and students will face expulsion if they continue to operate.
Harvard College informed the group via email that it was temporarily suspended for failing to register a protest and violating guidelines on the responsible use of space. The group had been on probation since March.
“The organization will not be recognized and will not have access to university benefits and services during this time, including but not limited to use of campus space and appropriate use of the Harvard name,” reads an email from Harvard College, reviewed by the student-run publication The Harvard Crimson.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
President Joe Biden took the gloves off Wednesday by saying former President Donald Trump deserved to be punched and injected bleach into his hair — while engaging in his own battle with the teleprompter.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
On Wednesday, President Biden had yet another mishap with the teleprompter while delivering remarks during North America’s Building Trade Union National Legislative Conference. The president read obvious cue words out loud, such as “pause.”
Additionally, Biden suggested feeling a desire to physically assault former President Donald J. Trump and urged Americans to reject democracy—an apparent blunder given his political party’s support for democracy, which is criticized by Republicans due to the United States being founded as a Constitutional Republic.
The teleprompter mishap occurred when it appeared to instruct Biden to lead a chant of “Four more years.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chip Roy Raises Alarms About George Soros’ Purchase of Radio Giant Audacy
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is accusing liberal billionaire George Soros of trying to fast-track his acquisition of a major radio company through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
“I write today regarding Soros Fund Management’s acquisition of over $400 million in debt held by Audacy — the second-largest broadcast radio station owner in the country. Of particular concern, the Soros groups are asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve a change in ownership in Audacy without the FCC running its normal, statutorily required process,” Roy said in a letter.
“This transaction, which affects radio stations that reach millions of listeners across the U.S., including in Texas’ 21st congressional district, should — at minimum — be subject to rigorous FCC oversight to ensure U.S. radio stations are not subject to undue influence.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Wednesday morning, Columbia University leadership announced that they had extended negotiations with those occupying part of campus in what has become known as the Gaza Camp. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine wrote in a Wednesday afternoon press release that the university had issued a written commitment not to call the NYPD or National Guard to clear out the camp.
“Columbia’s reliance on the threat of state violence against peaceful protestors has created an unstable ground for the negotiations process which will continue over the next 48 hours. However, Columbia’s written commitment and concession not to call the NYPD or the National Guard signifies an important victory for students,” the group wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Google Fires More Workers Over in-Office Protests
Google has completed a second round of terminations linked to the anti-Israel demonstrations held at the tech giant’s offices last week.
After protesters took over Google’s corporate offices in New York, Seattle and Sunnyvale, California, on April 16 in 10-hour sit-ins, the company fired 28 workers the next day. This week, they fired more following an investigation into the incidents.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A 63-year-old grandmother was allegedly sexually assaulted by a violent Portland repeat offender after she fell unconscious at a TriMet station on her way to attend her grandson’s graduation last year.
Eduardo Guillermo Madrid-Roque, 29, was arrested by authorities on April 9 on multiple felony sexual assault charges, KATU 2 reports. He has prior felony assault charges, court records show.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Harvard Students Erect Anti-Israel ‘Liberated’ Gaza Camp on Campus
On Wednesday, Harvard students stormed the courtyard and constructed a Gaza Camp in protest of Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists, becoming the latest Ivy League university to establish a pro-Palestinian encampment, which have emerged on college campuses throughout the United States this past week.
Video footage shows students taking over the Harvard Yard and setting up tents. It appeared to be done in a pre-planned coordinated fashion as the protesters all sprinted on the grass at the same time, throwing their tents and sleeping items on the ground and chanting, “Free Palestine.”
Many of the students are wearing keffiyeh scarves in the clip.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
As college campuses across the country have seen Gaza Camps popping up in protest of Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani shared a video on X capturing a moment of confusion among protesters at New York University (NYU) who failed to clarify what exactly they were protesting.
In the video, a protester is asked about the main goal of the demonstration, to which she admits uncertainty about why she is there.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Joe Biden Signs Bill Potentially Banning TikTok, Bundled With Ukraine-Israel Aid
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed into law Wednesday a $95 billion war aid measure that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that also includes a provision that would force social media site TikTok to be sold or be banned in U.S.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Man Arrested on Suspicion of Punching Multiple Women on New York Streets
A man suspected of punching women on New York City streets has been arrested and taken into custody on criminal charges relating to eight unprovoked violent attacksacross the Big Apple that began earlier this year.
Daquan Armstead, 31, has been charged with eight counts of third-degree criminal assault and harassment. He was arrested by NYPD early Tuesday morning, the New York Post reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meadows, Giuliani and Other Former Trump Aides Indicted in Arizona 2020 Election Probe
An Arizona grand jury on Wednesday indicted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, and five other former aides to former President Donald Trump on felony charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Eleven Arizona Republicans have also been indicted on the felony charges, along with former Trump attorneys John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, and Christina Bobb, according to the Washington Post.
Trump was also listed as an unindicted co-conspirator, Politico reported. The names of the seven Trump allies were redacted on the indictment, but descriptions of them have made it clear who they were. The charges include allegations of conspiracy, fraud and forgery.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mark Zuckerberg started Meta’s earnings call by talking about artificial intelligence. Then he moved onto the metaverse, touting his company’s headsets, glasses and operating system. He spent almost the entirety of his opening remarks focused on the many ways Meta loses money.
Investors weren’t into it. Meta shares tumbled as much as 19% in extended trading on Wednesday, wiping out more than $200 billion in market cap. The drop came despite Meta reporting better-than-expected profit and revenue for the first quarter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Columbia University on Wednesday to meet with Jewish leaders amidst ongoing chaos from pro-Palestinian protestors on campus. There, he stated that if universities like Columbia cannot take control of the violence and anti-semitism on their campuses, then they do not “deserve” federal funding.
Addressing the crowd, Johnson stated, “Today I’m here to proclaim to all those who gnash their teeth, and demand to wipe the State of Israel off the map, and attack our innocent Jewish students this simple truth: Neither Israel nor these Jewish students on this campus will ever stand alone.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Mexico Spends Millions on Solar Power Not Knowing How Much Power it Will Get
(The Center Square) — New Mexico’s Economic Development Department announced plans this month to spend millions of dollars on “energy transition” projects with the goal of meeting climate change metrics and creating jobs. The only problem is she doesn’t know how much they will help in meeting those goals or how many jobs they will create.
According to a statement from the department, it has funded nearly $6 million for “four projects that will diversify the economy and create jobs unrelated to fossil fuel development or use. The projects are part of an effort “to achieve 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 80 percent by 2040, with accompanying targets for utilities and co-ops to reach zero-carbon resources by 2045 and 2050, respectively.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
NPR Chief Knocks ‘Bad Faith Distortion’ of Social Media Posts
NPR’s top executive is dismissing criticism from conservatives over social media posts she published before taking the top job at the public broadcaster.
“All of this, frankly, is a bit of a distraction relative to the transformation our organization needs to undergo in order to best serve our mandate,” Katherine Maher told The Wall Street Journal during an interview this week.
Maher, the former head of Wikimedia who took over as the outlet’s CEO this spring, has faced intense criticism from the right in the wake of an op-ed published by a former top editor at NPR accusing the outlet of liberal bias.
Conservatives used Uri Berliner’s essay to highlight, in some cases, years old social media posts from Maher showing her praising Democrats and promoting progressive ideas.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On Monday, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, many of them Jewish, marked the secondnight of Passover by staging a “Seder in the Streets” in New York City.
The protest, which took place in Grand Army Plaza just blocks from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s home, lasted for hours, disrupted traffic, and led to over 100 arrests.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Opposing Legal Teams in 2021 PB Riot Label Each Other ‘Liars’ in Antifa Trial
In the legal equivalent of a bare-knuckles brawl, defense lawyers and prosecutors in the January 2021 Pacific Beach violence accused each other at trial of lying.
Closing arguments Monday and Tuesday in downtown Superior Court saw Jeremy White’s defense counsel lash a deputy district attorney for “insinuating” crimes, “reaching” for conclusions and “misrepresenting” videos.
Defendant Brian Lightfoot’s lawyer said: “It’s 100% not Brian” in a video showing a group attack on Ryan Luke, who drew a 12-inch Bowie knife in one “Patriots March” incident.
And Makenzie Harvey, lead litigator for the District Attorney’s Office, told the jury that Bay Area defense lawyers Curtis Briggs and John Hamasaki “lied to you.”
“The defendants lied to you” about not seeing a certain attack and not instigating the violence, she added.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pilot Reported Fire on Fuel-Laden Plane and Tried to Return to Airport Before Deadly Alaska Crash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — One of the two pilots of an airplane that was laden with fuel reported a fire on board shortly before the aircraft crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both of them and leaving debris over a wide area, a federal transportation official said Wednesday.
The pilot made radio contact about the in-flight emergency shortly after taking off Tuesday, said Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska regional office. They were attempting to return to Fairbanks International Airport when they lost contact, he said.
The plane crashed about 7 miles (11 kilometers) outside Fairbanks, hitting a steep hill, sliding down an embankment to the bank of the Tanana River and bursting into flames. No survivors were found, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers said recovery efforts would resume Wednesday with the aid of cadaver dogs but noted that thin ice and open water on the river were making their efforts difficult. The pilots’ names have not been released.
The partial remains that have been recovered will be sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for identification, troopers said.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Police Officer Disciplined Over Undercover Conduct on Jan. 6: Agency
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
A police officer in Washington was disciplined after violating rules guiding the conduct of undercover law enforcement, according to Washington’s police department.
The investigator “was disciplined for violating general orders relating to undercover operations” during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a spokesperson with the Metropolitan Police Department told The Epoch Times via email.
“The member violated policies and procedures specific to working in an undercover capacity,” the spokesperson added.
In documents the department gave to the Council of the District of Columbia earlier this year, the agency said that an investigator was disciplined because he had “participated in [the] January 6 riot.”
The officer, whose name was not listed but who was described as a white male, was suspended for 10 days for prejudicial conduct, or violation of “orders/directives,” according to the documents.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Supreme Court Takes New Step in Jan. 6 Case, Orders DOJ to Explain Themselves
Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 23 directed the U.S. Department of Justice to reply to a man convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Justices said the department’s response to Russell Alford is due May 23.
Mr. Alford was convicted by a jury of four misdemeanor counts but is challenging two of the charges, arguing that they don’t apply to his conduct.
The charges should not have been brought because the laws on which they’re based bar disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building and in a restricted building, but Mr. Alford merely entered the Capitol and stood silently against a wall before exiting, the Supreme Court was told in a filing from Mr. Alford’s lawyers.
U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan, an appointee of President Barack Obama, originally rejected Mr. Alford’s request to dismiss the counts, finding that his “mere presence inside the Capitol disturbed the public peace or undermined public safety.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A new poll has found that Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in six of seven key 2024 battleground states, while Biden leads by a slim margin in just one.
The poll, conducted by Bloomberg News/Morning Consult, found that Trump leads in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, while Biden leads in Michigan.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Truth Social CEO Calls on House to Investigate Potential ‘Unlawful Manipulation of DJT Stock’
Devin Nunes, CEO of the Trump Media & Technology Group, is asking House committee leaders to investigate the potential “unlawful manipulation of DJT stock.”
In a letter to the committees, Nunes pointed out that DJT [the initials for Donald J. Trump] has appeared every day since April 2 on Nasdaq’s “Reg SHO threshold list,” which he said is “indicative of unlawful trading activity.”
The concern follows Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is social networking site Truth Social, began being traded late last month on the Nasdaq stock market.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
US Quietly Shipped Long-Range ATACMS Missiles to Ukraine
Russia-Ukraine War Live News Updates: In recent weeks, the United States discreetly delivered long-range missiles to Ukraine to aid in its defense against Russian forces, according to a U.S. official speaking on Wednesday.
The missiles were part of a $300 million military aid package approved by President Joe Biden on March 12, with the official choosing to remain anonymous regarding the quantity of missiles sent.
During a briefing, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed that a “significant number” of missiles had been dispatched and indicated plans for further deliveries. He also noted Ukraine’s commitment to using the weapons solely within its borders, not against Russia.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
USC Gaza Camp Protesters Block Police From Arresting Agitator
Another Gaza Camp has formed at the University of Southern California’s campus as these encampments protesting Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists have spread on college campuses across the nation.
Law enforcement was seen breaking up the group, removing tents that had been set up. According to KCAL, the encampment was set up at USC’s Alumni Park on Wednesday morning and quickly grew in size.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UT Austin Protests Descend Into Chaos, Anti-Israel Students Yell at Police: ‘Pigs Go Home!
One hundred or more protesters gathered on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday to participate in an unruly anti-Israel demonstration.
The rowdy protests invited hundreds of onlookers, some of whom joined in on the anti-Israel chants on the school’s South Lawn. UT Austin is one of many American universities where anti-Israel protests have intensified over recent days, as the Israeli military’s war against Hamas continues in the Middle East.
The Austin Police Department (APD) and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) were observed making arrests. Some officers monitored the protests on horseback.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Trudeau Liberals’ New Budget Fails to Provide Anticipated Bounce in Polls
Canadians are not impressed with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest budget and if he was expecting a bounce in public support, he’s not getting it, according to an Ipsos poll released Tuesday.
Although 28 percent of those surveyed had no opinion at all about the budget, of those who did, 40 percent gave Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget of $52.9 million in new spending a “thumbs down.”
Another 43 percent described themselves as neutral. Only 17 percent of those polled expressed satisfaction with the budget, giving it a “thumbs up.”
Of those surveyed, 65 percent disapprove of the way Trudeau is managing the economy while 35 percent approved. Only eight percent said the budget would make them more likely to vote Liberal while 34 percent said it would make them less inclined to support the current government. Adding another $40 billion to the national debt did not sit well with most of those polled either, with 59 percent saying the financial statement is too focused on spending.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two Montreal UN Employees Charged in Alleged Conspiracy to Sell Weapons to Libya
Two former United Nations employees in Montreal have been charged by the RCMP for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to sell military equipment, including Chinese-made drones, to Libya in violation of sanctions.
According to the RCMP, 61-year-old Fathi Ahmed Mhaouek, who resided in the Sainte-Catherine suburb of Montreal, has been arrested and is expected to appear in a Montreal court on Tuesday.
“It is alleged that Mhaouek conspired to facilitate purchases of Libyan oil between prohibited entities and the People’s Republic of China contrary to the United Nations Act,” reads an RCMP statement.
His alleged accomplice, 27-year-old Mahmud Mohamed Elsuwaye, remains a fugitive with Interpol issuing a global alert to track him down.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
After a Leaked Budget Proposal, the German Government Comes Closer to Falling Apart
The leaked 12-point action plan for future budgets of Free Democrats (FDP) Finance Minister Christian Lindner almost immediately caused an extraordinary coalition storm; it also raises further evidence of a potentially early breakup of the ruling government.
The new budget would see major cuts to social welfare and green energy initiatives. Among other things, the finance minister proposed a 30 percent cut in the so-called Bürgergeld, the much-discussed welfare payment, especially for the unemployed, which has been in place for the past year. According to Lindner, this reduction would mainly affect those who do not accept “reasonable job offers.”
Another proposal that has caused a storm is that no decision on new social benefits should be taken for at least three years. Analysts say the rationale behind this is that work should be worth more than social benefits.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
British Fighter Jets to Patrol Polish Skies
On Tuesday, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared in Warsaw that Typhoon fighter jetswill patrol Polish airspace. During his visit, Sunak met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Speaking alongside Tusk at a joint press conference, Sunak chose to first address the audience in Polish, affirming, “We are allies forever.”
“There is a strong bond between Poland and the United Kingdom, which fosters security,” he said. “We will strengthen our cooperation in all formats to work on the most crucial aspects of air defense.”
The U.K. prime minister also said he would send 16,000 troops to Poland.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Budget, Not Security, to Dominate EU Enlargement Debate?
The question of whether the EU can even afford all the new members currently lining up to join by the early 2030s will be probably the most debated part of the whole enlargement discussion in the next couple of years.
While enlargement used to be considered a merit-based process linked to legal reforms and economic compatibility, the Russian invasion of Ukraine fundamentally altered Brussels’ perceptions. The EU accession of Ukraine (and to some degree of Moldova, and even Georgia) has become a strategic question, with a security dimension that easily trumps every other concern that might arise.
That might change in the coming years as the bloc gets closer to actually integrating Ukraine and others into the EU and Europeans realize what the true cost of enlargement will be.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Commission Chief Pledges EU Support for Ukraine After U.S. Aid Package
A €57 billion ($60.8 billion) military aid package for Ukraine passed by the U.S. Congress on Saturday has sharpened the resolve on both sides of the Atlantic to redouble efforts regarding supporting Ukraine amid rumours of an impending Russian offensive.
Speaking to a gathering of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the decision by Congress to back the package despite objections from parts of the Republican Party.
According to Politico, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen spoke on the phone with President Biden after the vote, pledging to redouble support for Kyiv. “We will stand with Ukraine, as long as it takes, because it’s the right thing to do. And also because the alternative would endanger our own freedom,” von der Leyen said.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielus Landsbergis told the press that the infusion of American money “does not remove the pressure from Europe.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Deforestation Rules Could Cause European Coffee Shortage
Even as Europeans continue to struggle with inflation, EU bureaucracy may soon make some everyday consumer goods—such as coffee, chocolate, and even wooden picture frames—more expensive.
Part of the Green Deal, the new EU directive on deforestation-free supply chains went into force in June 2023, with an 18-month transition period before its detailed rules fully apply. The binding rule lists cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy, and wood as raw materials that need to come from supply chains that do not contribute to deforestation or damage to forests, whether those trees are inside or outside of the EU. The items listed were chosen because the Commission estimates that these materials account for the largest share of deforestation caused by the European Union. Naturally, the rule also applies to anything made from these materials.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
ECR Takes on Green Deal and China in New Policy Roadmap
The European Conservative and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament has targeted China and the Green Deal in a roadmap for the next legislature of the European Union.
This 10-point programme reportedly aims to show that the group are “capable of leading and rubbing shoulders with the most powerful in Brussels”, a source told Brussels Signal.
Much of the points centre around sovereignty, defence and economic growth, as well as the strengthening of Europe’s energy and raw materials supply.
“It is a general and simple framework in which all national delegations are reasonably comfortable,” said Jorge Buxadé, the leader of the Spanish political party VOX’s EP delegation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EP’s Crackdown on Dirty Money in Football ‘Doomed to Fail’
The European Parliament’s crackdown against money-laundering in the European Union football industry will be “a worthy but ultimately fruitless exercise” possibly even “counterproductive”, a leading financial-crime analyst has told Brussels Signal.
On April 24, the European Parliament will vote to add the football industry to its money-laundering directive, an attempt to stop corrupt oligarchs and criminals from laundering what the UN estimated was $140 billion (€130.9 billion) of “dirty money” through the game every year.
Kathryn Westmore, of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, told this website that the new rules, requiring the EU’s football clubs and agents to monitor transactions, assess their money-laundering risks and apply customer due diligence (CDD), are insufficient to combat the “dirty money that seemingly underpins the modern game”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Launches Investigation Into Chinese Medical Device Market
The European Commission launched an investigation on Wednesday into Chinese public procurement of medical devices, in the latest move to try to protect European Union producers from what it says could be unfair competition.
The probe — which Beijing swiftly criticised — is meant to determine if European suppliers have been granted fair access in China, the EU’s official journal said.
If it concludes that they have not, it could lead to the bloc placing restrictions on Chinese medical device companies bidding in EU public tenders.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
European Authorities Seek to ‘Listen in’ on Encrypted Chats
European citizens’ private online messages should be open to the authorities to peruse, according to Europol and the heads of national police forces.
In a joint statement published on Sunday, they are calling for end-to-end encryption to be abolished. Through end-to-end encryption, only those sending and receiving the message can read it—even social media companies are prevented from accessing communications between the users.
The announcement comes as Meta, the owner of Facebook and WhatsApp, is rolling out the end-to-end encryption technology for its well-known chat platform Messenger. Whatsapp had already been outfitted with it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Forint Wobbles Boost Euro’s Appeal Among German Investors in Hungary
The volatility of the forint EURHUF has boosted support for introducing the euro among German investors in Hungary to its highest level in 13 years, a survey by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce showed on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has no target date to adopt the euro and his cabinet has ruled out joining the single currency before Hungarian living standards rise closer to average levels of the European Union it joined two decades ago.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Paris Olympics 2024: A New Era of AI and Biometric Surveillance
There is — and not just the obvious, either — a link between the previous Tokyo Olympics, and the event now coming up, to be held in Paris.
In 2020, the Tokyo Games were postponed because of the pandemic.
The pandemic, justifiably or not, with measures adopted by various governments and organizations around the world, threw people’s lives for a loop, and the Olympics were no exception.
Yet one of the most “teachable moments” that has thus far emerged from the Covid era is that the situation was often used as a very convenient excuse to introduce a plethora of new mass surveillance policies and technologies.
Those based on AI and biometric data feature most prominently. For large sporting and other venues and events, these had been waiting in the wings for a while, but the pandemic truly gave them a “booster dose” as far as public policy, and even opinion, is concerned.
And now, with the looming Paris Games, we’re seeing the seeds sown during the pandemic continuing to grow, and slowly overtake the figurative ground.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French Hard-Right Mysteriously Immune to Online Reach Reduction
Euro MP Nicolas Bay says he and his hard-right colleagues from France have remained immune to the reach-reduction phenomenon that has hit right-wing MEPs from other countries.
In an interview with Brussels Signal, Bay, a member of the French Reconquête party, said he has not experienced any reduction in so-called “reach” or the ability to connect with followers online, despite remarks on migration that are regarded as controversial by many across the political spectrum. On X, the phenomenon is known as “shadow-banning”.
During a parliamentary discussion on the EU Migration Pact, Bay strongly voiced disapproval of immigration into the EU.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s Youth Swing to the Right: Anti-Immigration AfD Becomes No. 1 Party for Germans Under 30
German youth are shifting towards the Alternative for Germany (AfD) amid concerns over mass immigration, inflation, the economy, and the war in Ukraine, according to the “Youth in Germany” study, which was conducted on 14— to 29-year-olds.
The results of the large-scale survey show that twice as many young people would vote for the AfD compared to 2022 and that the party is now the number one party in Germany in terms of favorability.
“The AfD has clearly succeeded in presenting itself as a protest party for the traffic lights and as a problem solver for current concerns,” reads the study.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Green Deal Champion Ribera to Lead Spanish Socialists in the EP
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera, a staunch champion of the European Green Deal, will be the new leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in the European Parliament.
In an April 24 communiqué, the PSOE confirmed rumours that Ribera will lead the Socialists’ list for the European Parliament elections in June.
“We want a more just, social, ‘green’ and feminist Europe,” Ribera said after the announcement.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Irish PM Presses Ahead With Catastrophic Hate Speech Law
If it is left up to Taoiseach (prime minister) Simon Harris, an amended version of Ireland’s insidious and controversial hate speech bill will be passed before the next general election.
Under the bill in its current form, owning and distributing “material likely to incite hatred against persons” could carry multi-year long prison sentences.
Harris’ reiteration of his commitment to the bill’s passage comes as Scotland’s own newly enacted hate crime legislation is causing a flood of ‘hate crime’ reports which have put undue pressure on police, who are left unable to handle an increasing number of shoplifting cases, sexual assaults, and car thefts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Man Arrested for Apology of Shoah
Egyptian, 29, hailed Holocaust and Hitler say cops
A 29-year-old Egyptian man was arrested in Milan Wednesday for apology of the Shoah.
Moustafa Khawanda, 29, was put under house arrest for hailing the Holocaust and Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, as well as praising Adolf Hitler and other rightist figures.
A 33-year-old Italo-German man, Raul Kirchhoff, born in Milan and resident in Switzerland, is also under investigation in the probe.
Kirchhoff is said to have had links to a Naziskin group based at Bollate near Milan.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Anti-Israel Students Continue Protests After Rome Clashes
‘Not protest but delinquency’ comments Meloni
Student groups protesting against Italian universities’ cooperation with Israeli institutions amid the war in Gaza are continuing their demonstrations on Wednesday after violent clashes broke out with police at Rome’s La Sapienza University on Tuesday.
The students are staging a sit-in outside Rome’s main courthouse after two young people were arrested in the clashes, which drew the ire of Premier Giorgia Meloni.
The protesters initially sought to break into a meeting at the university’s academic senate, then there were clashes when they tried to break through a cordon of police in riot gear at an exit and there was also trouble at a police station.
“Devastation, attacks, assaults on a Rectorate and on a police station, with a police director getting punched.
This is not demonstrating, it’s delinquency,’ Meloni’s said.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Rome’s Underground Mosques Breeding Ground for Islamic Extremism
Following in the footsteps of the European capitals of Paris and Brussels, Rome is fast emerging as a place where would-be Islamists are made, an undercover investigation by the conservative daily Il Tempo reveals.
Several underground mosques in the Eternal City, the report states, are spreading hatred for the Western world, its values, and its people.
Described as “hidden places of worship,” these underground mosques—initially founded to serve the increasing number of Muslim immigrants following the 2015 European migrant crisis—are seen as potential hotbeds for radicalization, with fears that individuals may be indoctrinated into extremist ideologies, posing security threats to society.
Il Tempo highlights the dangers posed by these spaces, warning of the emergence of “lone wolves” who could perpetrate acts of violence in the name of jihad.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Left-Wing European Parliament Rejects Free Speech Debate After Conservative Conference Chaos
The majority left-wing European Parliament voted on Monday against a motion to discuss, at the final EU plenary of this parliamentary term, the attempt to censor a high-profile conservative conference last week in Brussels.
Italian MEP Nicola Procaccini, co-chair of the ECR group, proposed the initiative to acknowledge the treatment of those who attended the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon) last Tuesday in the de facto EU capital — an event that was twice in jeopardy after confirmed venues pulled out due to pressure exerted by left-wing politicians and activists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Meloni vs. Deepfakes: Italian Government Submits AI Law to Parliament
Rome has finished drafting what would be Europe’s first comprehensive artificial intelligence regulation at a national level, complementing the EU’s own AI Act. The bill, approved by the government and submitted to the Parliament on Tuesday, April 23rd, introduces heavy punishment for any unlawful use of the novel technology, Il Giornale reported.
The draft legislation would create a “national AI strategy” that ensures that any application of AI technologies respects “the autonomy and decision-making power” of human beings.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Ethics Body Could be Misused to Harass MEPs
All groups to the right of the political spectrum in the European Parliament have rejected an agreement to set up an ethics body whose proclaimed goal is to “strengthen integrity, transparency, and accountability in European decision-making.”
The agreement, supported by all the left-wing groups, was rejected by the centre-right EPP, the conservative ECR, and the right-wing Identity and Democracy (ID) groups. They argue that the new institution lacks any legal basis in the EU treaties, making its decisions vulnerable to challenges in court and having the potential to be politically abused to target members of parliament. So-called “independent experts,” placed under the supervision of the left-leaning, politically biassed Commission, would have the power to examine individual cases and declarations of interest.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
PM Orban: The EU Has Led Hungarian Farmers to Ruin
Hungarian farmers over the last decades have managed with great difficulty to obtain capital, tools and machinery, and by and large, this is now becoming normal in Hungarian agricultural society. However, right as Hungarian farmers should be thriving, prices have collapsed across Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at the beginning of his nationwide EU election tour.
“Prices have not collapsed on their own, but were brought down by a misguided European decision to allow Ukrainian grain into the European Union. The government did look into this a few weeks ago, and we have taken some decisions to try to help you, but the problem cannot be solved in Budapest alone,” said Orban.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The interrogation conducted by the Tusk coalition-led investigative committee in the Polish parliament, is not going as planned. Instead, it has revealed to the left-liberal Civic Coalition (KO) how Poland under the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) was a country governed in a way in which wrongdoing was uncovered and dealt with, which was not always the case under the Tusk government from 2007 to 2015.
Mariusz Kaminski, the interior minister in the previous PiS government, simply stuck to the facts of how the state’s security services properly detected and addressed wrongdoing. It should offer an educational experience for the Tusk people, but probably won’t. The contrast with the way the left-liberal government handled previous scandals such as the Amber Gold financial pyramid scheme and the scandal of massive VAT fraud could not be greater.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland in Danger Over Storing US Weapons Destined for Ukraine, Warn Experts
Russia has reacted with fury to the U.S. decision to approve a massive aid package for Ukraine, which includes advanced weapons. The Kremlin’s spokesman limited himself to saying that this will simply add to the casualties and damage to Ukraine, but the Russian national security council deputy chief and former president Dmitry Medvedev was far more forthright, calling it aid for a “bunch of neo-Nazis.”
However, it is the Financial Times revelations that the arms from the aid package will begin to flow through Poland very soon, as much of the arms have already been stored in the southeast of Poland near Rzeszów, close to the Ukrainian border.
This is causing concern to specialists such as the former intelligence service analyst Robert Cheda, as it makes Poland a direct target and should mean the country’s security services should be on prime alert to counter any attempt by the Russians to scupper the deliveries or to attack the region as revenge.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland: President Duda Criticizes Proposal to Dissolve Anti-Corruption Bureau
During a press conference while visiting Canada, President Andrzej Duda responded to the government’s announcements regarding the proposed dismantling of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) and its replacement with a new entity, the Central Bureau for Combating Corruption, which would operate under police structures.
The Polish president highlighted the irony in the government’s proposal, noting that politicians from the Civic Platform (PO) party had originally voted in favor of establishing the CBA back in 2006.
“It seems that all the deputies from the Civic Platform at that time voted for the establishment of the CBA,” Duda observed, implying that the current efforts to shut it down might be politically motivated.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Poland Records Largest Defense Spending Increase in Europe
According to SIPRI’s report, the rise in defense budgets was observed globally, and total global military spending reached $2.44 trillion in 2023, with Poland’s expenditures totaling $31.6 billion, ranking 14th globally in terms of size.
Global military expenditures had been steadily increasing for nine years, but the 6.8 percent rise in 2023 was the largest since 2009. All top 10 countries with the highest military budgets, including the U.S., China, and Russia, increased their spending.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Children as young as five have been revealed to be bringing blades into their classrooms, with one charity boss branding the battle a ‘cancer that is spreading’ across the country.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Slovakia Looks to Counter Rise in Bear Attacks With New Shooting Law
A bill to eradicate problem bears has been approved by the Slovak government, but it will not stop the predators.
Last year, a total of 14 brown bears attacked humans in the country, and more than 10 such attacks have occurred in the four months so far this year, not including two just recorded in recent days.
In the latest incident on Sunday, a bear attacked a volunteer firefighter walking on a marked trail near the village of Gerebes in the district of Kysucaújhely while he was hunting. The bear bit the man on his thigh and his wife took him to the hospital. A few days earlier, a brown bear attacked a fisherman near Banska Bistrica.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
One of Europe’s major four football leagues, Spain’s LaLiga, is trying to go even harder against what is considered to be (content) piracy.
It doesn’t help that massive amounts of money are already in the football industry — LaLiga, and no doubt others, believe they can always squeeze an extra euro. Whichever way.
And, in trying to do that, they are also trying to prove that Big Tech stores (both Western and Eastern) aren’t “doing enough” to comply.
Never mind that the original accusations against Newplay, an IPTV app at the center of this case submitted by LaLiga to the European Commission in 2022 seemed flimsy at best, in technical terms.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spain to Reopen Investigation Into Hacking of Premier’s Phone
Spain’s High Court has ordered the reopening of an investigation into the Pegasus affair, involving the alleged hacking with Pegasus spyware of the phones of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and several government ministers.
The case has been something of a political scandal for Sanchez. Under his government, Spain has been at its weakest in its always tense and complicated relations with Morocco, the country suspected of placing the spyware on the PM’s phone. If Morocco is indeed behind the hacking, which resulted in a data catch as large as thousands of documents, the Muslim country now possesses seriously compromising information about the politician. In a worst-case scenario, Morocco could now be blackmailing Spain through Sanchez.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Study Finds Suicidal Behaviors Increased by Over 50% in Catalonia, Spain After the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked extensive discussions about its effect on mental health. While global suicide rates remained stable during the pandemic, the specific impact on non-lethal suicidal behaviors, namely, ideation or suicide attempts that are survived, during and after the pandemic had not been explored.
A new study, led by Dr. Victor Serrano-Gimeno from the Mental Health Research Group of the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau), reveals a significant increase in these behaviors after the lockdown.
The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, analyzes data from a Catalan cohort from all hospitals in Catalonia collected through the Catalan Suicide Risk Code in three periods: the pre-lockdown period (January 1, 2018, until the implementation of the lockdown in Spain on March 14, 2020); the lockdown period (March 14, 2020, until the end of the lockdown on June 21, 2020); and the post-lockdown period (June 21, 2020, until December 31, 2022).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sunak Increases UK Defence Spending to Put Country “On a War Footing”
In a clear attempt to secure positive headlines ahead of next week’s local elections—and to create a fresh dividing line between his party and Labour after polling suggested that voters believe the opposition is better equipped to handle most national issues—Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced a boost to defence spending.
The defence budget will now be increased to 2.5% (rather than 2 percent) of GDP by 2030—ahead of Labour’s pledge to boost spending to the same level, but only “when economic conditions allow.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Met Police Clash With St. George’s Day Crowd, Fueling ‘Two-Tier Policing’ Claims
A scuffle broke out yesterday, on St. George’s Day, between officers and a small crowd clad in English flags, prompting further complaints of the “two-tier” approach taken by London’s Metropolitan Police.
Reports say that the rally to celebrate England’s patron saint in the capital largely “passed off peacefully,” although the Met pointed to one particular incident which it said saw a group react “violently” to the formation of a police cordon deploying two horses.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ULEZ Protesters Claim Met Police Used Excessive Force as Video Shows Woman Knocked to Ground
A London mayoral candidate has alleged that Metropolitan Police officers ‘pushed and pulled the hair’ of anti-ULEZ protesters while activists claim people were unfairly arrested and manhandled. Howard Cox, Reform UK’s pick for the city’s highest office, has called for an ‘urgent investigation’, claiming that protesters were dealt with in a ‘needlessly extremely aggressive’ way in Tooting on Saturday (April 6).
The protest reportedly took place close to Sadiq Khan’s home which prompted police to use special powers to tackle alleged harassment, alarm or distress caused to residents. A video posted to Facebook seen by MyLondon appears to show a woman being shoved to the floor during a fracas over another woman’s arrest. It’s claimed she has recently had spinal surgery.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: ULEZ Cameras Toppled Over in Uxbridge as ‘Protesters’ Joke ‘It is Windy’
A video has emerged online that appears to show two traffic lights with ULEZ cameras on top toppled over in West London. The clip — posted on Monday, April 22 — shows what appear to be anti-ULEZ protesters standing next to the lights at the junction of Long Lane and Freezeland Way, in Uxbridge, as it falls over.
A man can be heard saying afterwards: “ULEZ is having a bad day over here. This one’s fell over.” A voice is then heard saying: “Have a look at that — it’s windy here today in Hillingdon.”
The camera then cuts to what seems to be a different traffic light on its side. A voice says: “I don’t believe it”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Von Der Leyen ‘Back-Up Candidate’ Rumours Add to Re-Appointment Woes
Pressure is growing on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with an increasing number of former backers willing to express dissatisfaction with her work over the past five years.
Allies who voted for her in her razor-thin win as EC chief in 2019 are now saying they would prefer a different candidate, and her own European People’s Party (EPP) is rumoured to be working on “back-up” plans ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.
The EPP is reportedly mulling replacing von der Leyen following the elections, according to rumours circulating in her homeland.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wales: Amman Valley School on Lockdown and Air Ambulances on Scene
Three people have been injured and are receiving treatment following what has been described as a ‘stabbing’ at a secondary school. Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford has been put into lockdown with emergency services at the scene.
Dyfed-Powys Police has confirmed that one person has been arrested and that they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. Multiple people with children and family members in Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford said they have been told to stay in classrooms, with students reportedly asked not to use their phones.
An air tracking service has confirmed there are two air ambulance at the scene, one from Dafen, Llanelli, and one from Welshpool. Ysgol Dyffryn Aman on Margaret Street in the town is a bilingual comprehensive school and sixth form with around 2,000 pupils who come from a large surrounding area.
Emergency services remain at the scene and the school has been closed while investigations continue. In a statement, Dyfed-Powys Police said: “Dyfed-Powys Police is dealing with an incident at Amman Valley School.
“Three people have been injured and are receiving treatment. One person has been arrested and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident. Emergency services remain at scene and the school has been closed while investigations continue.
“We are working closely with the school and Carmarthenshire County Council. We are aware that there is footage of the incident currently circulating on social media. We would ask that this is removed to avoid contempt of court and distress to those affected. We would ask the people do not speculate while there is a police investigation ongoing”.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
In harsh words, Law and Justice (PiS) MEP Dominik Tarczynski told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European People’s Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber that they will not be smiling after the upcoming EU parliament election.
“The madness of illegal migration and the Green Deal will cease after this election and smiles will be wiped off your faces, when the right wins the election and makes Europe great again,” Tarczynski said.
The plenary discussed the last meeting of the European Council, with Tarczynski addressing his remarks directly at von der Leyen. He said that she had presented a vision but no numbers to back it up.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The former Minister of Internal Affairs Mariusz Kaminski appeared before the parliamentary investigative committee for the second consecutive day.
On Monday, he testified as a witness before the commission investigating the so-called visa scandal, and on Tuesday, before the investigative committee on the attempt to hold a postal ballot for the presidential elections during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. And this time, emotions in the room were running high.
From the outset of the hearing, Kaminski clashed with the chairman of the committee, Dariusz Jonski from Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO). Kaminski insisted that he is still an MP, something Jonski would not accept since the speaker of the parliament invalidated Kaminski’s mandate following the former minister’s criminal conviction for irregularities in an anti-corruption sting in the 2000s.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Israel’s Netanyahu Says ‘Antisemitic Mobs’ Have Taken Over America’s ‘Leading Universities’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video message Wednesday saying “what’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific.”
“Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty,” he said. “This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally. But that’s not what happened. The response of several university presidents was shameful.”
Netanyahu spoke as American college students are continuing to hold anti-Israel demonstrations Wednesday around the nation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Popular Iranian Rapper Sentenced to Death for Supporting ‘Anti-Hijab Protests’
A 33-year old Iranian activist and rapper who has recently been involved in anti-government demonstrations has been handed a shockingly draconian sentence by an Iranian court. Toomaj Salehi was first arrested in Oct. 2022 for publicly backing the so-called ‘anti-hijab’ protests which swept the ultra-conservative Islamic country. But this week…
“Branch 1 of Isfahan Revolutionary Court… sentenced Salehi to death on the charge of corruption on Earth,” his lawyer quoted the court’s ruling as saying. The state laid out its case focused on a highly ambiguous charge of spreading “propaganda”.
Salehi’s lawyer further described that the court “in an unprecedented move, emphasised its independence and did not implement the Supreme Court’s ruling” — while noting that “we will certainly appeal against the sentence.”
The charges further centered on the Revolutionary Court accusing him of “assistance in sedition, assembly and collusion, propaganda against the system and calling for riots.”
In September of 2022, Iran’s Islamic ‘morality police’ arrested 22-year old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini for “improper hijab” as she entered a subway station. Activists say she had been beaten and later died in custody, while Iranian authorities claim she suffered a natural health episode (state media and officials described it as a heart attack), fainted and hit her head on the ground.
Her death sparked months of protests across major cities featuring anti-government slogans and clashes with police. Some international reports say that in total over 500 demonstrators died, while reports said dozens of police and security service personnel were killed and wounded.
Iranian authorities at the time attempted to tie the raging domestic unrest to an externally supported destabilization campaign by Tehran’s enemies Israel and the United States.
As for the rapper and his immense popularity and influence in Iran, Sky News has observed that “Salehi, who has 2.3 million followers on Instagram, had posted videos after Amini’s death talking about ‘revolution’ and resistance.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Russian court sided with state-run lender VTB Bank in its efforts to recoup $439.5 million from JPMorgan Chase
that the American lender froze in U.S. accounts after the Ukraine invasion.
The court ordered the seizure of funds in JPMorgan’s Russian accounts and “movable and immovable property,” including the bank’s stake in a Russian subsidiary, according to a court order published Wednesday.
The order came after VTB filed a suit last week in a St. Petersburg arbitration court, seeking to be made whole for funds frozen in the U.S., and asking for relief because JPMorgan has said it plans to exit Russia.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Warns Europe Not to Confiscate Frozen Assets
Russia has warned the European Union that it will retaliate with countermeasures if the EU decides to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. The threat comes as EU leaders ponder how to make use of the assets, with a myriad of legal and political risks surrounding the debate.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western countries froze Russian bank accounts, real estate properties, stocks, bonds, luxury assets, and various investments held by Russian entities and oligarchs. The funds also involve around €275 billion in central bank assets across the EU, the United States, Japan and Canada. The biggest share of these assets, €210 billion, is held within the EU.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Papua New Guinea PM Angrily Slams Joe Biden Over ‘Cannibals’ Claim
U.S. President Joe Biden’s claim his uncle — an American World War II pilot — had been eaten by “cannibals” in Papua New Guinea after crashing on the Melanesia island chain was firmly rejected Sunday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Alleged Teen Extremists Linked to Bishop Stabbing Arrested in Australia
Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in raids across Sydney on Wednesday.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australia’s Biggest House Builder’s Chilling Warning as Insolvencies Surge to a Decade High
Australia’s biggest home builder Metricon has issued a warning to the Australian government with construction companies now making up a quarter of businesses going into administration.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Australian Police Charge 5 Teens in Investigation Stemming From Stabbing of Sydney Bishop
MELBOURNE, Australia — Five teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology have been charged with a range of offenses in an investigation that began with the stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church, police said Thursday.
The five, aged from 14 to 17, were among seven boys arrested across southwest Sydney on Wednesday in a major operation by the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team. The team includes federal and state police as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the nation’s main domestic spy agency, and the New South Wales Crime Commission, which specializes in extremists and organized crime.
Two boys aged 16 and a 17-year-old have been charged with conspiring to engage in or planning a terrorist act, a police statement said. The older boy was also charged with carrying a knife in public, it said.
Two boys aged 14 and 17 were charged with possessing or controlling violent extremist material accessed online, police said.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Australian PM Calls for Crackdown on Memes About Himself
Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese has endorsed social media censorship of satirical memes about him.
Albanese insinuated that social media platforms are duty-bound to suppress the so-called “misinformation” present on their sites.
Albanese noted, “I noticed today, for example, on the way up here that they removed various sites that were up containing fake images of myself superimposed on other people. That’s just the sort of thing that’s going on on social media. Social media has a responsibility to do the right thing here.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bishop Backs Musk: Stabbing Victim Stands Against Censorship in Australia
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel appeared as a strong ally for Elon Musk, the owner of X, amid pressure from the Australian government for Musk to implement censorship on the global platform. The bishop has been outspoken against the eSafety Commissioner’s choice to censor videos and speech on X.
The bishop maintains that Musk should continue allowing the video to remain accessible on X. “He’s strongly of the view that the material should be available,” X’s counsel, Marcus Hoyne, disclosed at a Federal Court hearing.
This legal dispute is unfolding at the same time as X fortifies its fight against the eSafety Commission’s contentious directive by hiring prominent Sydney barrister, Bret Walker, SC. As X puts up a formidable resistance, the Australian public cast their interests in the corporate actions that X has been taking to defend their rights to information.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Seven minors have been arrested in raids across Sydney with the Australian Federal Police focussed on those allegedly adhering to a ‘religiously motivated violent extremist ideology’.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
The the Assyrian Orthodox church leader from Sydney’s south-west has reportedly leapt to the defence of Elon Musk over the billionaire’s refusal to take down footage of the alleged stabbing from X.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Austria: Albanian Migrant Stabs Ex-Girlfriend 42 Times With Knife After She Breaks Up With Him
An Albanian migrant in Vienna who stabbed his ex-girlfriend 42 times with a knife until the blade fell off is standing trial for attempted murder.
The 40-year-old defendant, who has not been named by the Exxpress newspaper, waited in a park in front of his victim’s home in Vienna-Liesing on Oct. 27 last year as he prepared to follow up threats made the day before during which he told her she would not see her next birthday.
“You won’t live to see your birthday on Nov. 5! Your brother will put flowers on your grave,” the public prosecutor told the court as they recounted the defendant’s warning to his 40-year-old victim.
The Vienna regional court on Tuesday heard how the woman was attacked from behind in the courtyard outside her home where she was stabbed 12 times in the neck, face, and back with a knife.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Outdoor swimming pools in Berlin will trial a new “call for help” app this summer to combat the increasing number of fights, sexual crimes, and attacks on employees that plagued the complexes last summer.
As reported by the Berliner Morgenpost, the app will enable guests to alert on-site guards to incidents and facilitate swifter intervention in a bid to boost the feeling of security at the pools.
Riots have erupted at Berlin’s outdoor swimming pools in recent years including at the Berlin Columbiabad in the borough of Neukölln last July, which led to the site being closed due to staff shortages after too many employees left due to stress.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Callous People Smugglers Kill Again: Five Drown in English Channel
Sad irony as human traffickers again send migrants to their deaths just hours after UK government passes its deterrence bill.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Taxpayers to Pay €30 Million to Asylum Seekers for Slow Processing Times
While increasing numbers of Dutch citizens are struggling to cope with ever-rising living costs, the outgoing and profoundly distrusted cabinet of acting Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced plans to disburse a colossal €30 million in penalty payments to asylum seekers for failing to process their applications on time.
Outgoing State Secretary for Justice and Security Eric van der Burg, responsible for overseeing matters related to migration and asylum, told the Amsterdam-based newspaper De Telegraaf the tens of millions of euros to be paid to asylum seekers by the Dutch state follows, in part, from the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s (IND) inability to process an increasing number of applications.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Farage: French Navy ‘Working for the Traffickers’ by Assisting Migrants Cross English Channel
France has been accused of aiding the people smuggling gangs operating along its coast after failing to stop an overcrowded dinghy setting sail for Britain and the French Navy escorting the small boat to UK waters even after five people fell off the vessel and drowned on Tuesday.
On the first day after the UK finally passed legislation to send illegal boat migrants to processing centres in Rwanda, 402 foreigners successfully crossed the Channel from France. However, five migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, a woman, and three men died as the engine of the overcrowded dinghy cut out, sparking panic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Jordanian citizen on trial for a series of rapes and sexual assaults has begun in Munich, Germany, but the case has already made headlines for the defendant’s wild antics and threats in court.
The 40-year-old rejected asylum seeker, Fadi M., has disrupted the trial several times with outbursts, and during the reading of the indictment, he threatened the public prosecutor by making a throat-cutting gesture in his direction.
The man has been living in an asylum home with his wife since 2019 and is also furious that his defense attorney is a woman, saying: “I would rather be killed than go through this torture here,” and that “the reason for the torture is my lawyer.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A 17-year-old student and a teacher were so badly injured in a mass brawl in front of the Schmellwitz secondary school in the north of Cottbus on Monday that they had to be taken to hospital.
The teacher had tried to break up a dispute after several individuals, believed to be of a migration background and not students at the school, attacked a student.
Another person was also injured but was able to walk again after brief treatment on-site.
A video obtained by Junge Freiheit shows the outbreak of violence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
There were serious riots in the French capital over the weekend, in which several hundred Afghan immigrants were seen rampaging through the streets. A number of viral videos have been circulating on the internet, which show groups of Afghan men attacking passing cars, setting off smoke grenades, tossing garbage cans and tables, and shattering shop windows.
“No media broadcast the images, but Afghan rioters sowed chaos in the streets of Paris. It’s time for them to return home to Afghanistan!” wrote Marion Maréchal, a candidate for Reconquête.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Lancet: Migration is ‘Inextricably Linked to Climate Change’
The once prestigious Lancet medical journal is galloping onward in its woke agenda, insisting on an “inextricable” link between climate change and immigration.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Left NGOs Accuse Former EU Border Chief of Crimes Against Humanity
Two NGOs have filed a complaint of “complicity in crimes against humanity” against the EU’s former head of border management, Fabrice Leggeri, just weeks before he is expected to be elected as an MEP for the national conservative Rassemblement National (RN).
His alleged crime? Trying to prevent illegal immigrants entering the EU. Which many might think sounds like doing his job as head of Frontex, the EU border management agency.
The NGOs filed the civil complaint against Leggeri in Paris on Monday, alleging that he engaged in human rights abuses by obstructing open border groups operating on the Mediterranean and enabling so-called ‘pushback’ operations against illegal migrants during his tenure leading Frontex between 2015 and 2022.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The notion that mass immigration brings a net economic benefit to a developed nation is a myth that needs to be debunked, a former U.K. government minister who resigned over the spiraling numbers arriving in Britain has claimed.
In an interview with the Conservative Home website, Robert Jenrick, the Conservative MP who stepped down from his role as immigration minister in the Home Office last year, called the government’s post-Brexit immigration policy a “complete disaster” and a “betrayal to voters” who for decades have elected parties promising to cut the number of new arrivals into Britain.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A 25-year-old homeless Algerian migrant has been arrested and charged for allegedly kidnapping, beating and raping a 49-year-old French woman in Saint-Herblain, near Nantes, after she worked with the man “for years” to help him.
The victim was raped in an ordeal that lasted from Friday evening all the way into Saturday morning, with the man forcibly keeping her inside the apartment until she managed to escape and alert police.
Prosecutors say the man broke into her home with a knife and held the victim captive. The victim’s husband and children were not home during the incident.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK Finally Passes Safety of Rwanda Migrant Removal Legislation
The bill would theoretically see illegal migrants removed from Britain to Rwanda, however, getting illegals on flights is not a certainty.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Aviation experts warn of huge ‘commercial risks’ for firms signing up to scheme
Rishi Sunak has said it will be ‘10 to 12 weeks’ before the first plane carrying asylum seekers takes off on a one-way trip to Rwanda.
The Prime Minister promised ‘multiple flights a month through the summer and beyond’ and said an airfield was on standby with charter planes booked ‘for specific slots’.
Although his Rwanda law finally passed through Parliament on Monday, finding an airline to operate the flights has been a major practical challenge — with the negative publicity around the scheme making it toxic for mainstream carriers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Farage Predicts PM Sunak Will Call Summer Election to Avoid Public Seeing Rwanda Scheme Fail
Brexit leader Nigel Farage said that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has “staked the house” on stopping illegal migrants crossing the English Channel and therefore will have to call for a general election in June or July to force voters to cast their ballots before his hallmark legislation has a chance to fail.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak supposedly secured one of his first significant accomplishments since being installed in Downing Street in a 2022 globalist-backed Westminster coup which ousted short-term PM Liz Truss as the parliament finally passed through legislation intended to clear the way for illegal boat migrants to be removed to Rwanda rather than putting them up in British hotels while their asylum claims are processed.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Migrants Gone Wild on Streets of Midtown Manhattan
A pack of illegal aliens viciously fought each other with sticks, belts, and whatever they could get their hands on outside a migrant hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
Footage of the fight was uploaded on X on Sunday. The scenes show parts of Manhattan transformed into what appears to be third-world-esque as law and order lapses under a city controlled by rogue Democrats.
The Row is one of many hotels and shelters converted to house illegal aliens in NYC from the open southern border. About 200,000 migrants have flooded the city since early 2022. There are as many as 64,000 in these shelters.
“Must be such joy to live in that NYC cesspool. Between the crime, looting, murders, sucker punching — and now the feral illegal aliens….just lovely,” one X user said, referring to the video.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Wanjiru Njoya is a former Rhodes Scholar from Kenya and has a Ph.D. in law from the University of Cambridge (St. Edmunds, 1998). She is the co-author with David Gordon of Redressing Historical Injustice: Self-Ownership, Property Rights and Economic Equality (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).
Wokism is an increasingly aggressive and extreme movement, and many think this is the beginning of its end. Are they being overly optimistic?
There is reason to be optimistic, in that more people are now aware of the threat, but those who say that we’re witnessing the end, or even the beginning of the end, are wrong. DEI is still mandatory in many universities and corporations, with no sign of abating. On the contrary, some CEOs have reported that they’re stepping up their DEI efforts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
BBC Apologizes for False Report on J.K. Rowling’s Transgender Comments
The BBC has issued an apology for running a false report on “Harry Potter” novelist J.K. Rowling’s comments about transgenders, admitting that its reporting was “inaccurate” while also admonishing its journalists about the “importance of accuracy.”
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
Biden’s New Title IX Rules Classify ‘Misgendering’ as ‘Sex-Based Discrimination’
The new Title IX rules out from Biden’s Department of Education, headed by Miguel Cardona, shied away from making a final determination on the eligibility of trans-identified male athletes to play in women and girls school sports, but they did expand the concept of sex-based discrimination to include so-called misgendering.
Misgendering, for the uninitiated, is to correctly identify a person according to their biological sex when referring to them, using terms man, woman, and the associated pronouns, even when that person believes themselves to be the opposite sex or seeks to present themselves as belonging to the opposite sex.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Canada’s Euthanasia Regime: An Interview With Ramona Coelho
For the past several years, the euthanasia horror stories unfolding in Canada have captured the attention of the press on both sides of the Atlantic. I have detailed many of them in my reporting; as I write this, a desperate father is battling in court to prevent his healthy 27-year-old autistic daughter from dying by doctor-administered lethal injection; another Canadian has been approved for euthanasia after developing bedsores while waiting for necessary healthcare that is increasingly difficult to obtain.
At the end of January, the Trudeau government delayed, for the second time, their plan to expand euthanasia eligibility to Canadians struggling solely with mental illness. Initially, a strong majority of Canadians supported legal euthanasia in limited circumstances. The events of the past several years have begun to erode that support, and the Conservative Party is campaigning on a promise to pass legislation banning euthanasia for mental illness. It is an incredibly pressing issue: if suicide-by-doctor were to be made available to the mentally ill, Canada’s ever-rising euthanasia death rate would spike overnight.
Dr. Ramona Coelho has been a prominent opponent of Canada’s euthanasia regime from the very beginning. A family physician from London, Ontario, with a practice largely serving marginalized patients, she has testified before Parliament, laid out the dangers of legal euthanasia on TV and in print, and presciently warned policymakers of many of the scenarios we now see unfolding. She spoke with The European Conservative about what is happening in Canada, and whether it can be stopped.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Drag queen Lil Miss Hot Mess read her book ‘If You’re a Drag Queen and You Know It’ and had kids chant ‘Free Palestine’ during a story hour event in Massachusetts.
| — Hat tip: SS | [Return to headlines] |
EU Parliament Votes to Define Surrogacy as Human Trafficking
The European Parliament on Tuesday voted by a very large majority in favour of adding—as a minimum—the practice of surrogacy to its legal definition of human trafficking.
The vote counted 563 in favour, 7 against, and 17 abstentions, demonstrating the existence of a very broad consensus on condemning the practice of surrogacy among members of the European Parliament, whatever their political persuasion.
This was a revision of the 2011 European directive on trafficking in human beings, which will now include “the exploitation of surrogate motherhood,” as well as illegal adoption and forced marriage. The revision was initiated by MEP François-Xavier Bellamy, who is once again heading the list for the French centre-right Les Républicains party, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A group of senior clinical psychologists have apologised for the role their profession played in the promotion of transgender ‘medical’ treatments to children in the UK following a damning report which found that such interventions were done on “shaky foundations”.
In a joint letter published by the left-wing Guardian’s sister paper The Observer, 16 unnamed “senior clinical psychologists”, including some who actually worked in the now-discredited Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) clinics that prescribed hundreds of children life-altering puberty-blocking drugs, said that their profession led the way in pushing children into such a direction.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Western Leaders Still Can’t Make Up Their Minds About TikTok
Europe and the U.S. are calling for a clamp down on TikTok, the social media platform which is particularly popular among the young. But in their spare time, their officials are setting up profiles on the app and sharing short videos in the hope of winning over these very same newly-able-to-vote audiences.
The European Commission is beginning its second round of formal proceedings against Chinese-owned TikTok which could see it ban the app’s ‘Lite’ reward plan. Brussels officials say the scheme, which allows users to collect Amazon vouchers and PayPal gift cards if they engage with a high amount of content, could have addictive effects, especially for young—that is, most—TikTokers.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Schumer is possibly the most evil person in modern American politics, and there is a lot of competition for the title.
“Schumer is possibly the most evil person in modern American politics”
To all who feel that those who espouse, promote and/or engage in commie-toddlerism (i.e., socialism, communism, Marxism, fascism, Bidenomics, stateism, et al)…
I think you’re all jousting with a shadow of your own making. These infantile Bolsheviks (aka ‘toddlers) are true believers. That is, they’re NOT “evil”, in the general sense. Instead, these hysterical girls (and their genetically-male counterparts) TRULY believe they are either doing God’s work or, for the non-believers, working towards peace, love and the betterment of mankind (adhering to Lennon’s mostly tongue-in-cheek “Imagine”). This’s why they view Trump as—and, like all ideological fanatics, FEEL they MUST DESTROY (politically or literally!) —”Orange Hitler”; and view non-hyphenated, law-abiding CITIZENS as The Enemy…and a direct threat to their ever-expanding [utopian] safe space.
If you’ve missed any of my previous Sayet posts, I’d encourage you to watch this (nearly one hour) video. If you’re an open-minded, logic-based TRUTH SEEKER, I reckon this’s as close to being a Rosetta Stone of ‘toddlerism as I’ve seen. Watch..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDb3sTwD_vA
‘Toddlers (with plump Pampers): As predictable as a well-regulated Rolex.
“Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mark Meadows, and a number of others who advised Donald J. Trump during the 2020 election were indicted in Arizona on Wednesday, along with all of the fake electors who acted on Mr. Trump’s behalf there to try to keep him in power despite his loss in the state.” —New York Times (25 Apr 2024)
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/us/arizona-fake-electors-trump.html
“[Easy] Prediction: As The Prince and The Party’s LIES and GASLIGHTING’re beginning to become evident to average Obamericans, the ‘toddlers’ll need to FABRICATE (yet) another LIE—a la Hillary’s “Trump-Russian collusion” LIE—in order to shift the media spotlight away from their web of criminal corruption and onto “Orange Hitler”.” —posted to fb (20 Jan 2024)
“So, it turns out that everyone’s been colluding with the Russians EXCEPT for Donald Trump. This entire Clinton-spun story was devised by Hillary and her Russian comrades….most likely, in a vain attempt to turn the media spotlight away from Hillary’s alleged [criminal] destruction of evidence….colour me surprised…” —posted to fb (24 Oct 2017)
You really can’t make this guano up. There’s no reason to: these Bolshie ‘tots’re so predictable.