Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Sarasota this evening, with winds up to 120 mph. Numerous tornados were spotted across the region as the deadly hurricane approached the Florida coast.
In other news, a University of Kansas professor has been placed on leave after a video surfaced of him saying that men who aren’t willing to vote for Kamala Harris should be lined up and shot.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, DV, JW, McN, MM, Reader from Chicago, Vlad Tepes, WRSA, 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.
Czechia Aims to be Among the EU’s Top 10 Economies by 2040
As Czechia recovers from years of high inflation, newly appointed Industry and Trade Minister Lukas Vlcek has presented an ambitious economic strategy to become one of the EU’s top 10 economies in terms of GDP per capita by 2040.
After experiencing a 15.1% inflation rate in 2022, the second-highest since the country’s independence in 1993, and a still-high 10.7% in 2023, the Czech economy has shown signs of stabilisation, with inflation falling to 2.2% in August 2024. However, the road ahead remains challenging, with long-standing structural challenges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Economy Minister Confident Country Will Overcome Slump
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says he remains optimistic that Europe’s largest economy will find a way out of its current woes next year, after presenting revised figures that forecast gross domestic product (GDP) is set to shrink by 0.2% this year.
“Germany is a country full of strengths,” Habeck said.
While the economic framework was not satisfactory at the moment, “we will free ourselves from them and work our way out,” the minister, from the Greens, said.
Habeck stressed that Germany was home to innovative medium-sized companies including world market leaders, well-trained specialists and a vibrant start-up scene.
Germany’s GDP is expected to decline by 0.2% in 2024, according to the revised government forecast, meaning Europe’s largest economy is on course for recession.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
3 Injured in Plane Crash Into Bay After Takeoff From Albert Whitted
A six-passenger plane crashed into Tampa Bay on Tuesday after its engine failed during takeoff from Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg.
Ashlie Handy, a spokesperson for St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, said three of the four passengers in the private Cherokee plane were taken to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital. A small dog also was aboard.
The crash occurred about 10:50 a.m. The passengers, all men between 25 and 40, were trying to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton, Handy said.
The plane landed 300 yards east of the St. Pete Pier and sank completely in the bay. The passengers and the dog were rescued 500 feet from shore by a good Samaritan operating a boat, Handy said. Fire rescue crews and St. Peterburg police arrived shortly after.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
A Delaware judge ruled Monday that a defamation lawsuit against the sports website Deadspin can resume after tossing out the publication’s request for it to be dismissed, the New York Post reported. The lawsuit pertains to an article that falsely accused a 9-year-old NFL fan of wearing blackface and engaging in racism due to the attire he wore to a Kansas City Chiefs game last November.
Holden Armenta, a young native American boy, attended the game with his family, sporting a Native American headdress and painting his face red and black to support his favorite team, the Kansas City Chiefs. He was featured in a television broadcast of the game and was photographed by various news outlets in his attire.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
American Broadcaster ‘Improves’ Rambling Harris Response in Interview
The Columbia Broadcasting Systems CBS, one of the U.S. ‘Big Three’ networks, appears to have edited an interview with Democratic presidential candidate and current VP Kamala Harris, replacing a meandering response characterized by critics as “word salad” with a more succinct answer.
In a Sunday promotional preview of the full interview, scheduled to air the following day, reporter Bill Whitaker asks Harris why it seems like Israeli PM Netanyahu is not listening to the U.S. Harris’s response is:
Well Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by, or a result of, many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.
The clip was also shared on X by the “60 Minutes” program, which calls itself “the most successful news magazine in TV history.”
When the entire interview was broadcast on Monday, viewers could witness Harris respond to the question with:
We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Arizona State University Caught in Free Speech Tug-of-War Over Gov-Funded “Disinformation” Battle
Arizona State University (ASU) is a public school and therefore undisputed subject to the US Constitution’s free speech rules. Yet a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) demonstrates that it was prominently involved in working with, and on behalf of the US government. To affect free speech.
That would be a blatant example of what Congress is investigating and what the critics are calling Big Tech-(Big) Government collusion, given that the target of the “collaboration” the university was involved in was online “disinformation.”
The thing to remember when talking about this collusion is that the current White House had enough wits about it to never make a “beeline” reaching the end result of censorship. From what is known from the congressional probe and the Twitter Files alone, this was always instead a meandering effort that included many seemingly intermediary and/or legitimate actors.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Barron Trump Shut Out by Bank Amid Cancel Culture Accusations
Barron Trump, the youngest son of President Donald Trump, recently faced rejection while attempting to open a new bank account, according to claims from his mother, Melania Trump. She attributed the denial to political discrimination, labeling it as part of a larger “cancel culture” that she believes has targeted her family, raising significant concerns about potential civil rights violations.
Melania Trump, who shared this account in her newly released memoir titled “Melania,” expressed her deep frustration with the situation, revealing that she herself had been debanked.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Brown University Rejects Pro-Palestinian Students’ Demands to Divest From Israel
Brown University trustees voted down a controversial proposal to cut financial ties with companies that do business with Israel — rejecting the demand made by pro-Palestinian student protesters.
“Brown University will not divest from 10 companies described in a student-led divestment proposal as facilitating ‘the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territory,’“ the Ivy League school said in a statement on Wednesday.
Brown Corporation — the group that runs the school’s $7.2 billion endowment and chaired by Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan — cast their vote Tuesday over an issue that has roiled the campus in Providence, RI, since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel by Hamas terrorists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Epic Triumphs as Judge Orders Google to Open the Android Gates
Judge James Donato has ruled against Google in the Epic v. Google case, declaring the tech giant must dismantle several anti-competitive practices within its Android ecosystem. This ruling mandates Google to significantly open the Google Play Store environment by allowing better integration and visibility of third-party app stores and other competitive measures from November 1st, 2024, to November 1st, 2027.
The verdict demands Google stop exclusively tying its payment system to app distribution on Google Play, a major victory for Epic Games and potentially for users that want to get apps from alternative and non-Big Tech-controlled app stores.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Warns Would-be Hurricane Milton Looters: ‘Don’t Even Think About It’
As Hurricane Milton barrels toward the west coast of Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis fired a shot across the bow of anyone lying in wait to plunder homes or businesses left abandoned in the storm.
“There’s going to be a lot of damage from this storm. There will be a lot of opportunities to take advantage,” the Republican governor said in a press conference from Tallahassee Wednesday morning.
“Don’t even think about it. We’re going to come down hard on you, and you’ll regret that you did that,” DeSantis said in his sternly issued warning to would-be looters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fox News Pitches Second Debate to Trump, Harris With Election Less Than Four Weeks Away
Fox News is offering to host a second debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris later this month in Pennsylvania.
The conservative cable news behemoth doled out an invite to both campaigns on Wednesday, suggesting Oct. 24 and Oct. 27 as potential dates for one last verbal bout.
“With a month to go until the last votes are cast, FOX News Media would like to make one final pitch for a debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump,” the company’s president Jay Wallace wrote in a letter.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hurricane Milton Slams Into Florida’s West Coast With 120 Mph Winds, Leaving 1M Without Power
Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida’s west coast Wednesday night as an extremely dangerous storm, bringing a “life-threatening” surge and 120 mph winds that left more than 1 million people without power and areas inundated with water.
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key in Sarasota County around 8:30 p.m., with winds up to 120 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center — significantly lighter than the 180 mph Milton blew while raging as a Category 5 storm at various points as it traveled across the gulf.
Siesta Key, a barrier island off Sarasota that’s been named one of the 25 best beaches in the world, has about 5,500 residents who are mostly retirement age.
Water levels rose more than 8 feet in nearby Sarasota, the National Weather Service reported, with storm surges up to 5 feet recorded from Naples to Charlotte Harbor, with more inundation likely in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Irangate: Iran’s Plan to Stop Trump and Elect Kamala
In the last two months, Iran set up fake news sites to defame Trump and promote Kamala, hacked the Trump campaign and tried to pass stolen documents to the Harris-Walz campaign and its media allies, and finally plotted to assassinate former President Trump and his officials.
These rather definite statements of Iran’s intentions in the presidential election have been dismissed with generic Russiagate buzzwords that describe the Islamic terrorist state as being out to “destabilize and sow chaos”. When Iran hacked the Trump campaign, we were told that it was to “sow chaos” and now that Trump has been briefed on the assassination threats, once again it’s been described as a plot to “destabilize and sow chaos” in the United States.
But if Iran is out to only “sow chaos” then why isn’t it trying to assassinate Biden or Kamala?
Where are the Iranian agents soliciting useful idiots to take a shot at current administration officials rather than former Trump administration officials? And why didn’t Iran hack into the Kamala campaign and then email the stolen files to the Trump-Vance campaign?
Iran isn’t trying to “sow chaos” which is a meaningless buzzword the intel community seem to have come up with to project its own nation building paradigm abroad onto American politics.
The Islamic Republic is out to win. And it defines winning as Trump’s political defeat or death.
America’s leading middle eastern enemy actively interfering in a presidential election ought to be bigger news than it is. The Clinton campaign spun Russia’s awkward efforts to recruit black nationalists into backing its Syria agenda after the election into the great Russiagate hoax complete with British ex-secret agents, micturating hookers in Moscow hotel rooms, secret bank internet connections and a multi-year investigation fronted by a senile former FBI boss.
The revelation that Iran is trying to stop Trump and elect Kamala by any means occasions no more from the White House and the intel community than a reluctant briefing and some boilerplate prose about sowing chaos as if there is no motive or agenda to these activities.
No one has brought ‘Irangate’ into being even though there’s more than enough materials.
| — Hat tip: Daniel Greenfield | [Return to headlines] |
Kamala Harris on What She Would Do Different From Biden: ‘There is Not a Thing That Comes to Mind’
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday on ABC’s “The View” that she would do nothing differently than President Joe Biden.
Co-host Sunny Hostin said, “As Vice President you worked closely with President Biden for almost four years. He was here on our show and he said there wasn’t a single thing that he did that you could not do. What do you think would be the biggest specific difference between your presidency and a Biden presidency?”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A University of Kansas professor is on leave after a video surfaced of him musing to a class about lining men who don’t want to vote for a female president up against a wall and executing them.
“It’s what frustrates me. There are going to be some males in our society that will refuse to vote for a potential female president because they don’t think females are smart enough to be president,” the professor, whom the university later identified as Phillip Lowcock, complained in the clip.
“We can line all those guys up and shoot them. They clearly don’t understand the way the world works.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Alaskan man accused of threatening to torture and kill six US Supreme Court Justices in online messages wants his cellphone back — claiming he needs it for his safety, according to new court papers.
Panos Anastasiou, 76, was released without bail last month in the case charging him with sending hundreds of menacing messages through the high court’s website. But a judge put conditions on Anastasiou’s release, including barring him from using an internet-enabled phone.
But Anastasiou’s lawyer is asking a judge to lift the cell phone restriction, noting that Anastasiou was filmed by a local news network outside his home “in a manner that plainly identified” his house, according to the Monday filing.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mayor of NC Town Says Daughter Was Denied $750 Fund From FEMA After Home Destroyed
The daughter of Newland, North Carolina’s mayor who lost her home in Hurricane Helene was turned down for the $750 FEMA emergency grant, she says.
Mayor Derek Roberts says that his daughter applied for the $750 Serious Needs Assistance from FEMA after her home was seriously damaged by floodwaters two weeks ago, he told Fox News.
“My daughter, whose house got completely wiped out, she has no flood insurance. She meets with a FEMA person, applies for everything…she doesn’t get the $750 that Kamala says she is supposed to get,” Roberts said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An MS-13 leader is on trial in Virginia for his role in a half-dozen gruesome murders over the last five years, including one in which he and his gang shot a young waitress in the face so many times that her corpse was unrecognizable.
Federal prosecutors say Elmer Alas Candray, a 27-year-old native of El Salvador, became one of the busiest killers in Virginia as he rose through the ranks of the savage gang, which is known for its horrific violence, according to the Washington Post.
But now, he’s facing the music in federal court in Alexandria, where he’s accused of murder, racketeering conspiracy and firearms charges stemming from the six killings, which left five corpses in ritzy Fairfax County, Virginia, and another in Massachusetts, the outlet said.
Prosecutors say the murder case — which would imprison Alas Candray for life if he’s convicted — is the biggest they’ve taken to trial in several years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Nordstrom CEO Says Seattle Area is Worst Market for Violent Retail Shoplifting in the US
King County, Washington is the worst market for retail theft at Nordstrom in the entire US, according to the company’s CEO. Erik Nordstrom told the first King County Public Safety Summit on Organized Retail Crime last week that the retailer’s King County stores make up only 3 percent of the department store’s global footprint but manage to account for 10 percent of its companywide losses due to theft. There are more than 360 Nordstrom and discount Rack stores.
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, Nordstrom told law enforcement officers, politicians, and prosecutors at the summit, held on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond to bring together the groups to better combat organized retail theft, “We’re born and raised here and huge homers when it comes to anything local. Unfortunately, King County is our worst area for this. It’s a big financial headwind.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pentagon Denies Report Claiming to Reveal Name of Top-Secret UFO Program ‘For the First Time’
The Pentagon has categorically denied a report claiming that a whistleblower has, for the first time, revealed the name of an ultra-secret program investigating UFOs.
The whistleblower has named an “active and highly secretive” unacknowledged special access program (USAP) being illegally withheld from US Congress, according to independent American journalist Michael Shellenberger, writing on his Public Substack blog.
‘Immaculate Constellation’ is allegedly the name of a program established by the Department of Defense in 2017 after The New York Times revealed the existence of an earlier UFO investigation effort, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Pilot Dies in Middle of Flight to Turkey, Forcing Emergency New York City Landing
A Turkish Airlines pilot died midflight, forcing the co-pilot into an emergency landing in New York City on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
Flight 8JK landed safely shortly before 6 a.m. at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
Pilot Ilçehin Pehlivan, 59, “fainted during the flight,” and when “medical intervention to our captain on the plane was ineffective,” the co-pilot opted to land, Turkish Airlines said in a statement.
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
Reddit Bans Forum Dedicated to Sharing Information About Would-be Trump Assassin Thomas Crooks
A forum dedicated to sharing information about would-be assassin Thomas M. Crooks has been banned from Reddit. Crooks was killed by snipers after launching an assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Reddit, a social forum and news aggregation website, said that it banned the “Thomas Crooks” subreddit because it violated its “rules against posting violent content.” An archive of the subreddit shows that it was a popular forum that generated a high level of engagement. It’s unclear the exact date it had been taken down.
The posts issued on the forum varied, but all pertained to seeking answers and sharing information about the historical assassination attempt on the 2024 GOP nominee’s life. Questions about Crooks, security failures that day, and whether the attempt was an inside job were discussed in the section before the ban. Reddit did not provide an example of the violent content shared that went against its company policies.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Biden-Harris administration faces scrutiny over its priorities, after spending just $137 million dollars on relief after Hurricane Helene while doling out many times that on migrants, Ukraine and COVID.
A government watchdog has slammed US federal disaster chiefs for failing to adequately help Helene’s victims because too much of their funding is tied up in COVID and other bygone crises.
Christopher Neefus, a spokesman for OpenTheBooks, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) was scrambling to raise cash to help hurricane victimseven as it doled out a staggering $171 billion on the pandemic.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was threatening political violence Wednesday against “anyone” attempting to remove Lina Khan as the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
“Let me make this clear, since billionaires have been trying to play footsie with the ticket: Anyone goes near Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl. And that is a promise. She proves this admin fights for working people. It would be terrible leadership to remove her.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Tim Walz, Raising Cash With Gavin Newsom, Pushes for End to Electoral College
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the Democratic Party candidate for Vice President, called for the abolition of the Electoral College at a Tuesday fundraiser with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) at his Sacramento home.
Walz, endorsing the Democrats’ campaign for a “National Popular Vote,” would give inordinate power to the large “blue” states, meaning presidential candidates would spend all their time in Democratic cities like New York City and Los Angeles.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Threatens Google With Break-Up
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is considering forcing Google to break up, or to make significant changes to how it does business, just weeks after a judge ruled that the search engine giant had acted illegally to maintain its monopoly.
There are about 8.5 billion searches on Google every day, which equates to around 90% of the global online search market. But the DoJ is now weighing up measures, including “structural requirements,” that could see the company being “asked” to divest its smartphone Android operating system or its Chrome browser. It could also be required to make its search data available to rivals, and barred from paying other tech firms to have its search engine pre-installed on new devices.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Virginia School Board Storms Out After Parents Sound Alarm Over MS-13 Gang Member Enrollment
A Virginia school board meeting came to an abrupt halt on Tuesday when parents expressed concerns about an MS-13 gang member’s enrollment at Loudoun Valley High School. The student is an illegal immigrant with a criminal record who was suspended from Blue Ridge Middle School in May 2023 for bringing a firearm to school and threatening students.
A worried father confronted the Loudoun County School Board about the issue, but the elected officials refused to address the concerns and stormed out of the room. One school board member shut him down within seconds of him giving a public comment, stifling the father’s allotted time behind the podium.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Watch: Outbreak of Tornadoes, Warnings in Effect Across Florida as Hurricane Milton Barrels Down
A number of tornadoes have been reported across Florida as Hurricane Milton barrels towards on the Sunshine State.
“Multiple tornado warnings in effect across Florida peninsula,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a Wednesday afternoon update. “Tropical-storm-force winds are moving onshore the west coast of Florida.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
X Users Celebrate President Trump’s Hilarious Appearance on Comedian Andrew Schulz’s Show
President Donald J. Trump’s appearance on comedian Andrew Schulz’s podcast was widely celebrated on social media, with supporters of the 2024 GOP nominee dubbing Trump as the “funniest president in American history.”
The unfiltered interview released on Wednesday and published to X, formerly Twitter, covered a wide range of topics, including politics, the Biden administration, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whom the comedian host asked if was Trump’s “favorite African American.”
Bursting out in laughter, President Trump responded by saying that Musk “loves our country and he’s picked a side. A lot of people don’t want to pick a side. I have a lot of people who are big supporters of me, but they won’t go all out. They’re scared, there is a cost. But there is also a liability.”
“This guy was up there doing jumping jacks, saying you’ve got to vote for Trump!” the president said about Musk, referring to his recent campaign rally in Butler, PA where the billionaire tech giant joined him on stage. “He was jumping high! He’s in good shape!”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The staroste (chief administrator) of Klodzko County withheld information about the burst dam in Stronie Slaskie on Sept. 15 for “several dozens of minutes,” reported wPolsce24 TV.
“She could have warned the residents about the approaching flood earlier, but she did not do so,” the station said, adding that in such a situation, even this amount of time is a lot, as “residents could have tried to save their belongings, but they did not get such a chance.”
Law and Justice (PiS )MEP Michal Dworczyk commented on X, saying: “As reported by wPolsce24, the Klodzko County head waited more than half an hour to provide information about the embankment break at the dam in Stronie Slaskie! During the flood operations, the director of the crisis management department resigns from his job. Things are going badly in the Klodzko district office.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Allegedly ‘Violent’ Greta Thunberg Faces Call for Germany Entry Ban
Greta Thunberg is facing calls for her to be banned from entering Germany amid a decision by local police to classify her as a “violent participant” in political demonstrations.
Senior Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician Alexander Throm is leading the calls for the climate activist to be forbidden from entering the country, citing her involvement in contentious protests against Israel.
Speaking to local publication Bild, Throm went beyond the police allegations that Thunberg is “violent.” He said Thunberg was a “Jew hater” who incites hatred against Israel, though he produced no evidence to back up his accusation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Ample Evidence’ Antidepressants in EU Damaging Environment, Commission Says
There is “ample evidence” that the presence of human antidepressants in EU water sources is leading to considerable harm to aquatic environments, the European Commission has said.
Writing in response to an MEP question about the issue, outgoing Green Deal chief Maros Šefcovic confirmed that “certain pharmaceuticals are posing problems in rivers and thus to human and animal health”.
“[T]there is a high level of attention at EU level to the toxicity of pharmaceuticals in the environment and action is being taken to better monitor and reduce the presence of pharmaceutical residues in water bodies, including through funding research and innovation,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Austria remains in political limbo following last month’s national elections, as Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen announced that no party has been given a mandate to form a government yet.
After hosting talks with the leaders of the FPÖ, ÖVP, SPÖ, NEOS, and the Greens at the Hofburg Palace on Wednesday, Van der Bellen made it clear that he expects more clarity from the top three parties by the end of next week before any mandate is issued.
The right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), led by Herbert Kickl, emerged as the clear election winner with a record 28.8 percent of the vote, but it faces challenges in forming a government.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Dutch Parliament Votes NATO Spending Norm Into Law
A large majority in the Dutch parliament on October 8 approved the fixation of the two per cent spending norm in defence.
This will legally require the Netherlands to allocate two percent of its annual GDP to its military, in line with NATO’s agreed-upon standard.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, pressure has been mounting on European countries to invest in their army to enhance collective security within the NATO alliance.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU Retaliates Against Russian ‘Hybrid Warfare’ With New Regulations
After numerous incidents of Russian cyber attacks, sabotage efforts and other destabilising activities, the EU is striking back with a joint declaration and a new legal framework for imposing foreign sanctions.
Russia has been accused of attacking European countries in various ways in apparent retaliation for the bloc’s support for Ukraine, such as with migrant flows in so-called “hybrid warfare” incidents.
In a statement, published on October 8, the High Representative of the EU, Josep Borrell attempted to retaliate by condemning these incidents on behalf of the EU.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France and Italy Expel Islamic Extremists
Zulfiqar Khan, an imam from Pakistan, has been expelled from Italy following accusations that he supports extreme jihadist ideologies and backs the Hamas terror group.
According to Il Giornale, Khan, who had been serving as an imam at a mosque in Bologna, was detained and is awaiting a hearing to confirm the order issued by the Interior Ministry.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini welcomed the decision, saying, “We have finally sent him home.” Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Khan was showing “growing ideological fanaticism,” and noted his “propensity toward radical positions,” including strong anti-Western and antisemitic rhetoric, as well as anti-gay and anti-feminist statements.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France’s Macron Views Ukrainian Troops Being Trained in France for Combat Against Russia
A FRENCH MILITARY BASE, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is inspecting the training of Ukrainian troops at a military camp in eastern France, a show of support for Ukraine as its Western allies mull a victory plan championed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian brigade that Macron is visiting Wednesday is being battle-readied and armed by France for front-line deployment against the Russian invasion.
French military personnel are training 2,300 Ukrainian soldiers at the camp, teaching them how to use and maintain French-supplied weapons, and subjecting them to combat-like conditions, with stress, noise and drones.
It’s the first time Macron has met with some of the 15,000 Ukrainian troops that France has trained since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.
For security reasons, Macron’s office said the base’s specific location could not be reported.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
France: Macron to Receive Zelensky in Paris Ahead of Berlin Visit
French President Emmanuel Macron will receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris on Thursday, before Zelensky travels to Berlin on Friday to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
This was announced by the Élysée Palace on Wednesday evening.
Zelensky’s separate trips to Paris and Berlin come after a major Ukraine solidarity summit at Ramstein air base in Germany, which was originally planned for Saturday, was cancelled.
In Paris, Zelensky is likely to be seeking further military support to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s war of aggression.
As recently as Wednesday, France had promised to deliver Mirage fighter jets in the first quarter of 2025. Training for Ukrainian pilots and mechanics for the aircraft is already under way in France.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germans Most Worried About Cost of Living and Migration, Study Finds
The rising cost of living and the arrival of migrants into Germany are the two top concerns weighing on minds of German citizens, a new long-term study published on Wednesday has found.
Rising prices are the number one German angst, with 57% of respondents saying they are worried about the cost of living surging further.
It was also the concern named most often in the 33 surveys conducted as part of the study.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Police Shut Pro-Palestinian Camp Over Thunberg Invite
German police have closed a pro-Palestinian protest camp that had invited Greta Thunberg, a vocal critic of Israel, who accused authorities of silencing activists.
Police pointed to the fact that the Swedish climate activist had attended a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin on Monday — the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel — that ended in clashes with police.
Police in the western city of Dortmund on Tuesday shut a four-month-old protest camp that had invited the 21-year-old activist.
Police said they had carried out a “risk assessment” and found that Thunberg’s visit would have drawn large crowds.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germans Increasingly Worried About Risk of Terror Attacks, Only Israelis Feel More Threatened
The fear of a terrorist attack is soaring among Germans, a pollster finds, a worry rising in parallel with concern about crime and extremism.
Germans are some of the most fearful of the potential for terror attacks in the world, pollster Ipsos Mori find in their periodic barometer of global sentiment on concern for key issues. Terrorism fear has increased from four to 20 per cent in just one year, the pollster states.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Greta Thunberg Slams German Police for Shutting Down Protest Camp
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has accused German authorities of “silencing” protesters after police shut down a pro-Palestinian camp in the western city of Dortmund which Thunberg had been planning to visit.
“After almost 4 months of encampment, the student Palestine encampment in Dortmund were forced by German police to take down the camp and leave, and police said they would arrest me if I went there,” Thunberg wrote on X on Wednesday.
“Germany is silencing and threatening activists who are speaking up against the genocide and occupation in Palestine,” Thunberg said in a video message attached to the post.
“If you can, please show your support to the student movement and encampment in Dortmund and everywhere else where people are facing repression for speaking up against Israel’s genocide and full-scale attacks,” she said, adding: “We will not be silenced.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Hate Preacher Imam Expelled From Italy for Glorification of Hamas ‘Martyrs’
The Italian government has authorized the deportation of an Islamic extremist imam on the grounds of national security as the country continues to counter extremism and radicalization within its borders.
Zulfiqar Khan, the imam of a mosque in Bologna, was informed of his expulsion from Italy this week, following an order signed by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. He had been living in the country since 1995 having arrived from Pakistan and held a residence permit.
A police statement said Khan had “manifested a fundamentalist vision of the concept of jihad, had contacts with figures of ultra-radical Islam,” and had glorified the “martyrdom” of Hamas terrorists in the attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 last year.
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Hungarian Air Force Gets New Weapons
The Hungarian Armed Forces’ Dezso Szentgyörgyi 101st Airborne Brigade uploaded a video showcasing some of its new weaponry, including for its Gripen aircraft. The 27-millimeter Mauser BK-27 can fire 1,680 rounds per minute.
The Hungarian and Swedish governments agreed that in addition to the existing fighters, four new JAS-39 Gripen fighter-bombers will be added to Hungary’s fleet for which the government also purchased a modernization package, Magyar Nemzet writes.
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Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjartó said that Hungary will not be affected by the expected stoppage of the transit of Russian natural gas via Ukraine because the country today primarily gets its gas via the TurkStream pipeline.
His comments came at a press conference following the meeting of the Hungarian-Serbian joint economic committee. He further noted that an “extremely brave decision” was made with Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey to build this pipeline, with those involved in the construction and preparation facing serious threats from allies who tried to dissuade them from building it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Key EU Green Deal Project Entirely Reliant on Debt and China, Swedish Expert Warns
Northvolt, the Swedish battery company supposed to put fire to the feet of American and Chinese competition in battery making, is running out of steam fast, losing money and investors at speed.
The battery factory is viewed as a crucial component of the European Green Deal and the push for greater autonomy in energy and electric vehicle production. It received a lot of EU money to achieve this.
But rather than being an independent green innovator, Northvolt uses old Chinese technology, with 20-year-old equipment that was already out of date when put in place.
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Knives Out as Eurocrats Dogpile Hungary in Strasbourg
Tensions were running high in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the morning of October 9, with the EU’s top bureaucrats and politicians turning on Hungary as it tried to present its plan for the EU presidency.
Leading the charge was Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who publicly blasted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over his push to protect the EU’s external borders.
“You said that Hungary is ‘protecting its borders’, and that ‘criminals are being locked up’ in Hungary. I just wonder how this statement fits with the fact that last year your authorities released from prison convicted smugglers and traffickers before they did their time,” she railed.
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Le Pen Could Lead Right-Wing Coalition in France, Claims MEP Marion Maréchal
A right-wing French coalition led by National Rally’s Marine Le Pen is now a distinct possibility, MEP Marion Maréchal has said.
During an interview on CNews on October 8, the senior politician — who, along with a number of her colleagues, broke away from Eric Zemmour’s Reconquest party earlier this year — expressed optimism that her newly formed Identity-Liberty party could be a part of this possible alliance.
She pointed out that although Marine Le Pen had previously rejected the idea, the political landscape has shifted.
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Neo-Liberal French Government Survives No-Confidence Vote Launched by Leftist Bloc
The leftist attempt to bring down the new French government failed Tuesday, as just 197 members of the National Assembly voted for the no-confidence measure, far below the 289 needed to collapse the government.
In what amounted to nothing more than an exercise in political catharsis, the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP), comprised of the Communists, Socialists, Greens and Jean-Luc Mélenenchon’s radical La France Insoumise (LFI) party, followed through with its vow to launch a vote of no confidence against the newly installed government of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
The vote was essentially dead on arrival, however, with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally — the largest single party in the National Assembly — refusing to join the far-left in its bid to censure the centrist government so early in its tenure.
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Netherlands: Suspect in Erasmus Bridge Stabbing in Rotterdam Has Pre-Trial Detention Extended
The man from Amersfoort who is suspected of a deadly stabbing incident at the Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam will spend three months longer in pre-trial detention. The presiding judge of the court in The Hague decided this on Wednesday.
A 32-year-old man from Rotterdam lost his life during the stabbing incident on Thursday, September 19. A 33-year-old man from Switzerland was also injured. The first public hearing in the court in The Hague will be on 19 December. The Public Prosecution Service will then explain the status of the investigation at that hearing.
The Public Prosecution Service suspects the man of murder and attempted murder with a terrorist motive. It was reported earlier that the suspect was known to police and the justice department prior to the incident. He had been convicted for violent incidents in the past.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Far-Right MP Wants Amsterdam Mayor Sacked for Allowing Pro-Palestinian Rally on Oct. 7
PVV MP Marco Deen plans to ask Interior Affairs Minister Judith Uitermark to fire Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. Other MPs strongly criticized Deen after he made his remarks during a Wednesday debate about the budget for the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
For Deen, just like PVV party leader Geert Wilders, this is a result of Halsema’s official response to a pro-Palestine demonstration during the memorial service for the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. “Once again, the mayor let violent activists get close to the commemoration,” said Deen.
Amsterdam police did prevent the protesters from getting to the Dam Square memorial services. Halsema responded further by officially declaring an end to the pro-Palestine rally, with police then arresting 322 demonstrators and moving them away from the city center.
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Norway Raises Threat Level to ‘High’ in Fear of Threats to Jewish Targets
Norway raised its terrorism threat level from “moderate” to “high” on Tuesday as the result of an increased risk of attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets. The threat level is the second highest on a scale from 1 to 5.
The Norwegian Security Services PST said the “ongoing escalation of the conflict in the Middle East” is one of the reasons for taking the step. Also, several Jewish holidays in October could be seen as “symbolic targets for potential terrorist actions,” PST said in a press release.
Norwegian police officers will also be armed, starting immediately, which is a departure from the norm in the Scandinavian country.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Orban’s Presentation of Hungarian Programme Turns Into Left-Wing Mudslinging
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s presentation of the Hungarian EU Presidency’s programme in the European Parliament on Wednesday, October 9th, turned into a mud-slinging contest by leftist-liberal parties who used the opportunity to make outrageous, false accusations against the conservative government of Hungary.
Viktor Orban said his aim was to present the suggestions of his government on ways to “make Europe great again” in areas such as competitiveness, migration, and security, but berated the far-left, centre-left, and liberal members of the European Parliament (EP) for turning the debate into a “party political intifada,” and for attacking Hungary with the usual “left-wing propaganda.”
He also criticised European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for giving a political speech, in which she, too, attacked Hungary and the patriotic parties of Europe instead of being a neutral actor, as the Commission should be. “The debate has gone beyond the bounds of reason and the world of facts,” Viktor Orban said in conclusion.
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Poland and Czech Republic to Cooperate on Nuclear Power
Poland and the Czech Republic agreed to cooperate more closely on the civilian use of nuclear energy at a meeting between Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his Czech counterpart Petr Fiala in Prague on Wednesday.
Tusk said that Poland is starting “from zero” in this field, while the Czech Republic already has many years of experience.
“We are convinced that nuclear energy is the way forward,” said Fiala.
Poland plans to invest heavily in nuclear power in the coming decades.
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Son of Osama Bin Laden Barred From Returning to France After Deportation
A son of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden has been barred from returning to France, where he lived for years painting landscapes in a Normandy village, after allegedly posting comments on social media deemed to have glorified terrorism.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he had signed an order banning Omar Binladin from France after the judiciary confirmed the legality of a prior deportation order issued on grounds of national security.
Retailleau gave no details about the timing of the deportation or where Bin Laden had been sent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Spanish Government ‘Doesn’t Know’ How Much Money it Gives to Hamas-Tied UNRWA
Spain’s foreign minister has refused to say how much money the country has given the controversial UNRWA agency, despite widespread reports of the group’s links to Hamas.
According to documents obtained by Spanish media outlet El Debate, Spain has failed to record the specific amounts paid to the group in recent years, despite concerns that workers for the UN agency took part in the worst anti-Jewish massacre since the Holocaust.
Following the October 7th, 2023 attack by Hamas—which killed 1,200 Israelis and led to 250 being taken hostage—most Western countries suspended funding to UNRWA. Israel has classified the group as a terrorist organisation. However, Spain remains the only major Western country to maintain its financial relationship with the organisation.
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Sweden ‘Cannot Rule Out Russian Attack,’ Defense Minister Says
Russia could attack Sweden for control of the Baltic Sea, Stockholm’s Defense Minister Pål Jonson said Wednesday.
“Russia poses a threat to Sweden, as it does to the rest of NATO. We cannot rule out a Russian attack on our country,” Jonson said in an interview with Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
Though the Kremlin’s forces are “tied up in Ukraine,” Moscow has shown it is “willing to take serious military and political risks,” he added, with Russian naval fleets still docked in St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden Moves to Ban Cousin Marriages
An investigation commissioned by the Swedish government recommends banning cousin marriages and also proposes making marriages between close relatives—such as an uncle and his brother’s child, or half-siblings—illegal.
The investigation points out that cousin marriages are linked to honor-based norms, and that there is a specific risk of girls and women facing ‘honor-related oppression’ in these marriages. It also highlights that cousin marriages today happen to a considerable extent in Sweden.
The proposed ban would apply to marriages in Sweden but also mean the country would not recognize such marriages conducted in other countries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Navy “On the Scene” Shortly Before Nord Stream Sabotage
Just days before the Nord Stream gas pipeline attack in September 2022, warships belonging to the U.S. Navy were on the scene and ordered nearby officials to keep away.
That is according to John Anker Nielsen, who is harbour master at Christiansø, the easternmost part of Denmark in the Baltic Sea, northeast of the island of Bornholm and close to the sites of the Nord Stream explosions.
Nielsen late last month told a reporter at Politiken, a major Danish daily, that he went out with a rescue team four or five days before the blast to check on nearby ships with switched-off radios, suspecting there might have been an accident, only to find U.S. warships, whose staff ordered the team to turn back immediately.
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Of the counter-terrorism work performed by Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, three-quarters are “Islamic extremist”, the agency director said in a public threat briefing.
The UK Security Service, best known as MI5, has worked with police to foil 43 “late-stage attack plots” since 2017, agency director Ken McCallum said on Tuesday. Making a rare public address, the top spy headlined his comments with remarks about counterterrorism work, but this important facet of intelligence work was roundly ignored by UK news headlines overnight, which focussed heavily instead on his comments on the “fevered imagination of Putin’s regime” and its efforts to “generate mayhem” in Britain in revenge for its interventions on behalf of Ukraine.
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The interminable process to replace failed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as the leader of the Conservative Party has been whittled down to two candidates Wednesday after former Home Secretary James Cleverly was knocked out of the running.
Former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and ex-Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch have been left as the last two candidates standing in the months-long contest for the Conservative Party leadership after a narrow vote among Tory MPs on Wednesday afternoon.
The vote saw Badenoch receive the support of 42 fellow MPs, compared to 41 for Jenrick, and 37 for former Home Secretary James Cleverly, who has now been elimnated from the running.
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Biden and Netanyahu Hold ‘Productive’ Call Amid Middle East Violence
Washington, DC — United States President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have held a “productive” 30-minute call, the White House says, amid an escalation of violence across the Middle East.
The call between the two leaders on Wednesday was their first publicly announced conversation since August.
“It was direct. It was productive,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said of the call. “They discussed a range of issues.”
The call was made as Israel considers an attack against Iran in response to Iranian ballistic missile launches that targeted Israeli military sites on October 1.
| — Hat tip: McN | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: Anti-Israel Activists Protest Tim Walz Appearance at Elite Fundraiser in Seattle
During his brief visit to the Seattle area on Tuesday for an exclusive fundraising event, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faced protests from anti-Israel activists. The Democratic nominee for vice president was in Seattle for less than 18 hours to speak to a small group of donors at a morning event at the waterfront mansion of former Costco CEO and co-founder Jim Sinegal in Hunt’s Point.
According to the Seattle Times, the exclusive event had a price tag of $250,000 per person and was attended by a few dozen invitees, including Microsoft President Brad Smith and former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Local Democrats told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI that they felt taken for granted because the VP nominee did not hold any public events during the brief trip and was using Seattle as “The Democratic Cash Machine.”
Outside the home, activists from The International League of The People’s Struggle chanted “Tim Walz, you’re not welcome here,” and “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the US war machine.” The group posted on Instagram that “The brave resistance of the Palestinian people in the face of 75 years of occupation serves as a call to confront Zionists, war profiteers, and the imperialists everywhere they go.”
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Hadera Terror Stabbing Leaves Six Wounded, Terrorist Eliminated
Six people were wounded in a terror stabbing attack in Hadera, police reported Wednesday morning. The terrorist was later neutralized.
This is the third major terror attack in Israel in recent weeks and follows the terror attacks in Tel Aviv last Tuesday and Beersheba on Sunday.
Magen David Adom paramedics treated two men, ages approximately 30 and 50, who were in serious condition. A third individual, around 70 years old, sustained moderate injuries. All three were evacuated to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Situation in Lebanon Should Not Turn Into Situation in Gaza, US State Dept Says
WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) — The U.S. State Department on Wednesday warned that it would be unacceptable for Israel’s military incursion in southern Lebanon to evolve into a situation similar to its invasion of the Gaza Strip.
“We cannot and must not see the situation in Lebanon turn into anything like the situation in Gaza. That would, of course, not be acceptable,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing when asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments on Tuesday.
“I’m making very clear that there should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza.”
Netanyahu said on Tuesday in a video message directed at the people of Lebanon that Hezbollah was weaker than it had been in many years and urged Lebanese to “take back your country.”
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Ukraine Integration Plan Doesn’t Include Russian-Controlled Territories
The European Union’s plan to integrate Ukraine into the EU does not currently include the parts of the country currently under Russian control, a senior eurocrat has claimed.
Moray Gilland, head of the European Commission’s interregional and transnational cooperation unit, confirmed that no such plans for bringing these regions under EU control currently exist. He spoke during an event at the Committee of the Regions (CoR) on the future enlargement of the EU on October 8.
“Ukraine’s integration process continues, focused on the regional level, not including regions under Russian control for the time being,” he said.
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Russia and Turkey Block Discord
Today, Russia and Turkey have banned Discord from their countries. Using the premise of “digital sovereignty,” Russian regulators have been making significant moves against the unfettered flow of information on the internet. Their latest target is Discord, a messaging platform that is popular in Russia, with an estimated 30-40 million users, contributing to about 4% of Discord’s global traffic.
For Turkey, the news follows a story whereby messages praising a 19-year-old man who murdered two women on Oct 4 were shared on other social media platforms and following concerns about grooming, blackmail, and “cyberbullying.”
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Russian forces are advancing across the Donbas in various directions and successfully occupying villages and settlements, reports Hungarian financial news outlet Portfolio.
Citing reports from Reuters, Ukrainian military bloggers and other sources, the paper notes that two settlements, both north and south of the city of Kurakhove have fallen, Zolotya Niva and Zorjane Perse.
Although Ukraine’s General Staff has not confirmed the loss of the villages, it admitted that the sector around Kurakhove “was the site of the heaviest clashes on the eastern front.”
In recent days, Ukrainian forces have been forced to retreat in other areas as well, with last week serving as a special blow to Kyiv with the fall of Ugledar (Vuhledar) after Ukrainian forces previously successfully defended the city for two years. The city, which is strategically important, was labeled a “fortress” by its previous defenders due to its massive tower blocks that rose up from the surrounding plains.
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Ukrainian Drone Strikes Another Arms Depot Inside Russia, Officials Say
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian drone struck an important arms depot inside Russia, the Ukraine military said Wednesday, three weeks after another drone blasted a major Russian armory and three days after a drone smashed into a key oil terminal in Russia-occupied Crimea.
The Tuesday night strike targeted an arsenal in Russia’s Bryansk border region where missiles and artillery munitions were stored, including some that had been delivered by North Korea, a Ukrainian General Staff statement said.
Hugely powerful glide bombs that have terrorized civilian areas of Ukraine and bludgeoned Ukrainian army defenses were also kept at the arsenal, located 115 kilometers (70 miles) from the Ukrainian border, and some of the ammunition was stored in the open, it said.
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Sideloading Under Fire: Google’s New Move to Block Apps Raises Eyebrows
Google continues to explore ways to block sideloaded apps under the premise that this is something needed to combat fraud and scams. A sideloaded app is an app installed on a device through means other than the device’s official app store, allowing users to bypass Big Tech control.
A new testing ground is India, where the US tech juggernaut is launching a pilot — a part of the Google Play Protect, that it calls “enhanced fraud protection.”
Google said it was “excited” to include India in this experiment, after Singapore, Thailand, and Brazil.
Sideloaded apps are a major thorn in Google’s and Apple’s side since they provide users with a way to bypass official stores.
This is a threat not only to the giants’ exorbitant revenues collected from these stores, but also to their ability to control, and if need be, censor, i.e., remove apps.
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In Charleroi, Pennsylvania, the local population grapples with a surge of Haitian migrants.
Charleroi, Pennsylvania, is a deeply troubled place. The former steel town, built along a stretch of the Monongahela River, south of Pittsburgh, has experienced the typical Rust Belt rise and fall. The industrial economy, which had turned it into something resembling a company town, hollowed out after the Second World War. Some residents fled; others succumbed to vices. The steel mills disappeared. Two drug-abuse treatment centers have since opened their doors.
The town’s population had steadily declined since the middle of the twentieth century, with the most recent Census reporting slightly more than 4,000 residents. Then, suddenly, things changed. Local officials estimate that approximately 2,000 predominantly Haitian migrants have moved in. The town’s Belgium Club and Slovak Club are mostly quiet nowadays, while the Haitians and other recent immigrants have quickly established their presence, even dominance, in a dilapidated corridor downtown.
This change—the replacement of the old ethnics with the new ethnics—is an archetypal American story. And, as in the past, it has caused anxieties and, at times, conflict.
The municipal government has felt the strain. The town, already struggling with high rates of poverty and unemployment, has been forced to assimilate thousands of new arrivals. The schools now crowd with new Haitian pupils, and have had to hire translators and English teachers. Some of the old pipes downtown have started releasing the smell of sewage. And, according to a town councilman, there is a growing sense of trepidation about the alarming number of car crashes, with some vehicles reportedly slamming into buildings.
Among the city’s old guard, frustrations are starting to boil over. Instead of being used to revitalize these communities, these residents argue, resources get redirected to the new arrivals, who undercut wages, drive rents up, and, so far, have failed to assimilate. Worst of all, these residents say, they had no choice—there was never a vote on the question of migration; it simply materialized.
Former president Donald Trump, echoing the sentiments of some of Charleroi’s native citizens, has cast the change in a sinister light. As he told the crowd at a recent rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, “it takes centuries to build the unique character of each state. . . . But reckless migration policy can change it quickly and permanently.” Progressives, as expected, countered with the usual arguments, claiming that Trump was stoking fear, inciting nativist resentment, and even putting the Haitian migrants in danger.
Neither side, however, seems to have grappled with the mechanics of Charleroi’s abrupt transformation. How did thousands of Haitians end up in a tiny borough in Western Pennsylvania? What are they doing there? And cui bono—who benefits?
| — Hat tip: WRSA | [Return to headlines] |
Alleged Leader of Crime Organization Based in the Netherlands is Arrested in Paris
A special unit of the French police force has arrested an important leader of a criminal organization and drug trafficker based on a European arrest warrant issued by Dutch prosecutors. According to French media outlets, the man is Saïd A. The suspect has a Moroccan nationality.
The man was arrested without incident in a quick operation by plainclothes officers as he left a snack bar in the Barbe’s district, not far from Gare du Nord station.
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Almost 60% of Spaniards Believe There Are “Too Many” Foreigners in Spain
41% of Spaniards—16 points more than a year ago—view immigration with “a lot of concern,” according to a survey conducted by the 40dB Institute for El Pais. This survey follows a report from the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS), which also found that immigration has become the top concern for Spaniards.
The percentage of Spanish people who believe there are “too many” immigrants in the country has increased to 57.2%. Among VOX voters, this sentiment is even higher, with 86.1% agreeing. A significant portion of PP and PSOE voters share this view, as well as 27.7% of Sumar voters and 24.2% of Podemos voters. Meanwhile, only 4.1% of the respondents think there are “too few” immigrants in the country.
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Almost 1 MILLION People Applied for Asylum in US in 2023
Almost one million “asylum seekers” applied for entry into the United States in fiscal year 2023 just as tens of millions have crossed the southern border illegally during the tenure of the Biden-Harris administration.
The total of 945,370 asylum applications was record-setting, according to a report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The numbers were not only the highest in recorded US history but DHS documented how both affirmative and defensive asylum cases almost doubled in size under the Biden-Harris administration. Affirmative asylum applicants are those who begin a case for asylum with US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Defensive asylum seekers are people who are on the verge of being thrown out of country and apply to an immigration judge for asylum in the hopes of postponing or ending their deportation, the Daily Caller News Foundation noted.
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While countries in the north of Europe are given free rein to close their borders by the EU, forces in Brussels have long punished any attempt by nations like Hungary and Italy to protect the EU’s external borders.
In an article for Italian newspaper Il Giornale, Francesa Galici writes that “overly permissive policies imposed by the EU on external borders push countries to impose internal border controls for self-protection. Italy is not allowed.”
The Schengen zone has long been touted as one of the great achievements of the European Union, but mass immigration from non-European lands, namely Asia and Africa, has led to a massive crisis and destroyed the free movement of goods and people.
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Germany: Over Half of Prisoners Are Foreigners in Many States, Costing Taxpayers Billions
In numerous German federal states, the prison population is made up of more than 50 percent foreigners, with the cost of these prisoners totaling €2 billion a year, according to an exclusive report from the Austrian news outlet Freilich.
Already in mid-July, German state media outlet SWR reported that for the first time, more than half of all prisoners in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg are foreigners. Currently, this figure stands at 50.8 percent. Freilich decided to look into the situation in other German states and found that five others also feature prison populations that are more than 50 percent foreign.
The state with the highest proportion of foreigners is Hamburg, which stands at 57.8 percent.
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A young German woman has said she was made to feel “like a doll” by two Afghan migrants currently standing trial on rape charges pertaining to an alleged attack more than three years ago.
Sina, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, spoke to the Bild newspaperabout her experience amid the ongoing case being heard at the district court in the western German city of Wiesbaden.
“The nightmare repeats itself when I see their faces. It feels like it all happened yesterday,” the now 21-year-old said as she recalled a trauma that continues to affect her today.
She explained how she met the defendants, Sayed Sajad H., 23, and Rames H., 22, in the summer of 2021 at Kollmann-Weiher in Frankfurt’s Sossenheim district after matching with Rames on a dating app.
“I had just turned 18. I wanted a stable relationship, something solid. Since that day, nothing has been the same,” she said.
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Germany Sees Drop in Asylum Applications After Migration Crackdown
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has hailed the drop in asylum applications as proof that the country’s tough measures are working, with figures for 2024 showing a 23% drop from the previous year.
Last month, Germany caused a stir when it announced the reintroduction of checks at all its internal borders as a permitted exception to the rules of the borderless Schengen area.
According to figures released by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees on Tuesday, the number of applications also fell from 27,889 in September 2023 to 18,113 in September 2024.
Faeser praised the figures as proof that “our measures are working.”
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Netherlands: Senate Rejects Gov’t Plan to Circumvent Parliament and Declare Asylum Crisis
The Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, has rejected the Schoof I Cabinet’s plan to use state emergency law to declare an asylum crisis and implement measures without parliament and the Senate’s approval. A majority supported a Groenlinks-PvdA proposal calling this plan “undesirable” and asking for a plan B — using urgent legislation instead that passes through the typical political channels at an accelerated pace, NOS reports.
The proposal got support from GroenLinks-PvdA, CDA, D66, SP, ChristenUnie, PvdD, Volt, SGP, and OPNL. The coalition of PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB does not have a majority in the Senate and needs opposition support to get plans and laws passed. The coalition is mainly looking toward the right-wing Christian parties for this support. All three of them — CDA, ChristenUnie, and SGP — voted against the coalition on Tuesday.
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Netherlands: NSC Joins Opposition Rejecting Plan to Put “Sending You Back” Signs at Asylum Centers
Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber must drop her plans of placing discouraging signs at asylum seeker centers. A majority of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament has voted for a motion which is calling for the plan to be withdrawn. Coalition party NSC gave the deciding vote.
Faber said that she had been inspired during a visit to Denmark to find ways to discourage asylum seekers from coming to the Netherlands. The signs were reported as an idea that came forth from the visit, although no such signs have been seen in Denmark. “We’re working on sending you back” was one of the lines that was reportedly set to be displayed at the center.
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They need more room at the inn.
New York City’s use of hotels as emergency shelters to house migrants will continue for the foreseeable future, The Post has learned, as the Department of Homeless Services is seeking a contract with hotels to provide a total of 14,000 rooms to shelter migrants at least through next year.
The city projects that spending on housing for migrants over the past two years and this fiscal year combined will surpass a staggering $2.3 billion — much of it on rent paid to hotels in the Big Apple.
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NYC to Close Controversial Randall’s Island Migrant Camp by the End of February
New York City will close the controversial Randall’s Island migrant camp shelter by the end of February, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday.
City Hall, in a press release announcing the massive tent encampments Feb. 28 closure, said that the number of migrants housed in taxpayer-funded shelters had gone down for 14 consecutive weeks, and was now at its lowest level in more than a year.
It touted the administration’s 30-and-60 day limits on stays for single adults and families, respectively, as well as reticketing — a service that helps arrange travel out of the city — and connecting migrants to services for its success in reducing the shelter population.
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Orban’s Unexpected Praise for France’s New Interior Minister Raises Eyebrows
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban praised France’s newly-appointed Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau’s recent stances on migration policy at a press conference on Tuesday (8 October) in an unforeseen move that may end up embarrassing the Frenchman.
As Orban was criticising the European Commission’s track record on migration and calling for the immediate implementation of asylum ‘hotspots’ outside of the EU, he unexpectedly expressed approval of Bruno Retailleau.
“I have a lot of respect for him,” he said.
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A Tren de Aragua gang member has been busted after allegedly trying to recruit middle school students, according to cops — and experts warn that it’s a sign the brutal Venezuelan gang has already infiltrated American schools.
Jorgenys Robertson Cova, 32, who has multiple arrests for theft since crossing the border illegally two years ago, is suspected of trying to make contact with students at Jane Long Academy and Las Americas in Houston, federal law enforcement sources told The Post.
Cova, a Venezuelan migrant and confirmed member of Tren de Aragua, wanted to train the kids for a large-scale shoplifting ring across the city, authorities said.
He targeted the young teens because they face few consequences when they’re caught, the sources said.
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3.3% of High Schoolers Identify as Transgender; CDC Survey Claims
Authored by Ken Silva via HeadlineUSA.com
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released the results of a 2023 survey on Tuesday, finding that 3.3% of U.S. high school students identified as transgender as of last year.
The CDC survey also found that 2.2% of students “identified as questioning.” The study, from the 2023 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, was touted as the first of its kind.
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Canadian Euthanasia ‘Doctor’ Says ‘Nobody More Grateful’ for Her Work Than Her Patients
Abortionist and euthanasia provider Dr. Ellen Wiebe said in a BBC documentary, “I love my job” because “there’s nobody more grateful than my patients and their families.” Wiebe is a one of the doctors committed to taking lives in Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program that has made the country a destination for assisted suicide.
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Fresh FEMA Outrage Over Taxpayer-Funded ‘Equity’ Seminar to Discuss Plight of Transgender Migrants
A resurfaced video of a FEMA seminar has sparked fury after panelists were criticized for suggesting disaster preparedness policies should be tailored to transgender migrants.
The March 2023 discussion, titled ‘Helping LGBTQIA+ Survivors Before Disasters’,saw FEMA’s Pride group’s director of education Reilly Hirst discuss the concerns ‘migrant transwomen’ have in seeking shelter.
She suggested that trans migrants might struggle to find accommodations at faith-based shelters, ‘because of the way they’ve been responded to in the past’.
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The Cautionary Tale of Canada’s Euthanasia Regime: An Interview With Alexander Raikin
The UK’s first atheist prime minister, Keir Starmer, is planning to fast-track a bill legalizing assisted suicide, telling the BBC on October 4 that he is “pleased” to be able to do so. Euthanasia activists have been waiting for this moment and are ramping up their campaigns. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater wrote an editorial for the Guardian in which she stated, with admirable honesty: “Life is precious. But so is choice.” She makes it clear—although without moral clarity—that between life and choice, we must always pick choice.
Wes Streeting, Starmer’s Secretary of State for Health, has stated that he opposes legalizing euthanasia because the state of end-of-life care in the UK is horrifying—and because the notion of choice, considering the availability of palliative care, is farcical: “When I think about this question of burden, I do not think that palliative care … in this country is in a condition yet where we are giving people the freedom to choose without being coerced by the lack of support available.” Similar concerns were raised in a 2023 parliamentary report that emphasized the need for “major improvements” in end-of-life care.
Labour’s disabilities secretary, Sir Stephen Timms, also expressed his opposition. In 2022, he stated, “If we were to legalise assisted dying, we would impose an awful moral dilemma on every conscientious frail person nearing the end of their life … If ending their life early were legally permissible, many who do not want to end their life would feel under great, probably irresistible, pressure to do so. There is no way to stop that happening.” At least five senior ministers have already indicated that they plan to vote against assisted suicide. Starmer hasn’t confirmed his vote, but he has expressed support for assisted suicide in the past.
The most insidious aspect of this is that Starmer knows what will happen if assisted suicide and euthanasia are legalized. His own health secretary has made it clear. So has the disabilities secretary. In fact, Canada—a Commonwealth country—has provided a singular case study over the past several years, with many euthanasia horror stories being featured prominently in the UK press. None of those supporting euthanasia have taken the trouble to rebut the assertion that ‘choice’ will play little role in many deaths. Considering the prevalence and prominence of the evidence, it is difficult not to conclude that they believe that is an acceptable price to pay.
Alexander Raikin has been covering Canada’s euthanasia regime for years and has consistently broken stories that other journalists missed (or ignored). His work on euthanasia and assisted suicide has been cited by The Atlantic and the New York Times and has been featured in cover stories for National Review and The New Atlantis. Now a Visiting Fellow in Bioethics and American Democracy Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, he is based in Washington, D.C. In an interview with TEC, he described how Canada’s euthanasia regime became an international cautionary tale—and gives a glimpse of what may unfold in the UK.
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