Ukrainian officials said that voters in eastern Ukraine were coerced into participating in a referendum on annexation by Russia. Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called for sanctions against Russia to be dropped by the end of the year.
In other news, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that Australia violated the rights of Torres Strait Islanders by not taking action to prevent climate change.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Dean, Dora, DV, JW, LP, MM, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Dow Drops Below 30,000, Erasing All Gains Since Biden Took Office
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped below 30,000 on Friday, officially erasing its to-date gains since President Joe Biden was sworn in and signaling what looks to be an ongoing downward economic slide.
Trading on Friday afternoon put the Dow at around 29,400, below the roughly 31,000 at which it stood when Biden took the oath of office in January of 2021.
The Dow has been on a largely consistent downward trajectory since mid-August, when it began declining from around 34,000. It has lost over 7,000 points year-to-date.
The long slump puts the Dow into what economists call “bear market” territory, one in which futures have consistently declined amid investor pessimism and negative economic signals.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
“No Longer Employed”: Administrator at $60k Per Year NYC School Out After Project Veritas Exposé
Authored by Mimi Nguyen Ly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
An administrator at a private $60,000-a-year New York City school located in the city’s Upper West Side is “no longer employed” just under a month after Project Veritas published a video of her admitting to “promoting an agenda” in the classroom.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
New Mexico agreed to provide funds, allowing the possibility of prosecutions involving the on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin while filming “Rust,” as reported by the Santa Fe Mexican on Thursday.
The state Board of Finance granted around $317,000, which would go toward the cost of investigating the fatal shooting in New Mexico that occurred in October 2021.
The money was granted after an emergency request from First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies to fund a special prosecutor, special investigator, experts and others.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Ask for Drones and ICE to Look for Comrade Believed to be Dead in Portland
Following the news that transgender Antifa rioter Tabitha Wilson Curtis, also known as Tabitha Poppins, Antifa groups have formed search parties, and have implied that they won’t be involving the cops in the search for Poppins, who is believed to be dead.
According to previous reporting from The Post Millennial’s Andy Ngo, Poppins disappeared on the Columbia River north of Portland on Monday while paddleboarding.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Instagram account associated with an Antifa website that advertises violent direct action events has been banned from the platform, after the group’s content violated “community guidelines.”
It’s Going Down, an Antifa-affiliated website that advertises itself as “A media platform for reports, podcasts, columns, and analysis of revolt and social struggles from an anarchist perspective,” on Twitter, confirmed the banning on Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Antifa Member Reaches Plea Deal Over Plot to Firebomb the Seattle Police Officers Guild
Justin Christopher Moore reached a plea agreement on Thursday over a plot to burn down and destroy the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) building in downtown Seattle in September 2020.
According to the Justice Department, 34-year-old Moore admitted that he made 12 Molotov cocktails and carried them to the building on Labor Day, September 7, 2020 and he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of destructive devices, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Former President Donald Trump posted his support of Cayler Ellingson on Truth Social on Friday, offering condolenses to the family of the teen that was killed over the weekend by a man afraid of “Republican extremists.”
“Cayler Ellingson of North Dakota,” Trump began, “a great Republican Patriot with an unlimited future ahead, was struck by a truck and killed. The person that did this was a deranged Democrat maniac who was angry that Cayler was a Republican. The Media doesn’t want to cover this horrible event because of the politics involved. If it were a MAGA Republican that drove that truck, it would have been the biggest of all stories. We LOVE Cayler, AND WILL NEVER FORGET! Warmest condolences to Cayler’s family & friends.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Tells McDonald’s CEO to ‘Educate Himself’ After He Warns of Rising Crime
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot fired back at the CEO of McDonald’s after he highlighted the difficulty rising crime in the city has caused for his business, telling him he needs to “educate himself” on the matter.
“I think what would have been helpful is for the McDonald’s CEO to educate himself before he spoke,” the Chicago Democrat said during a media availability on Tuesday.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski warned in a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago luncheon last week that it was time to “face facts” and acknowledge that companies have been leaving the city over the past year due in part to rising crime.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Exclusive: GOP Leadership, Bill No. 1 After November Will be Repeal Funding for 87k New IRS Agents
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik vowed Friday that their first action as leaders of the chamber if the GOP wins the majority in November would be to repeal the funding President Biden signed into law to hire as many as 87,000 new IRS agents.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ex-Con Likely Scored Mistrial From Progressive Judge by Showing Up Late to Court: Prosecutors
EXCLUSIVE: A progressive California judge granted an ex-con a mistrial in a violent robbery case last month after the 24-year-old blamed the sheriff’s department for his sleepiness and courtroom tardiness — but the defendant was in part responsible, according to prosecutors.
A defense lawyer for Vamazae Elgin Banks, who is charged with pointing a gun at the head of a McDonald’s cashier and threatening to kill her, asked for a mistrial August 31 after his client arrived at the Long Beach courthouse more than two hours late.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Lowenthal and Banks’ attorney Alan Nakasone repeatedly blasted Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who runs the county’s jails, for not providing Banks’ with a bed or blanket, and for his tardiness, according to a transcript.
However, the day the mistrial was declared, Banks allegedly admitted that it was his fault he was late in a recorded jailhouse phone call. “They called me for court and I said ‘f — — that, I’m going to get on the later bus,” he told a pal on the phone, according to Assistant District Attorney Tricia Halstead.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Fauci Declares Government ‘Botched’ ‘Certain Aspects’ COVID-19 Response as He Heads to Retirement
Dr. Anthony Fauci said that “certain aspects” of the government’s coordinated response to Covid were “botched” and cited masking and the slow rollout of rapid testing as examples while speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival in an interview on Thursday.
According to Fox News, Fauci said of the government “They did not get the commercial involvement in the tests quickly. They stuck to their own tests,” and “We didn’t know masks worked outside of the hospital setting.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Georgia Teen Suffered Medical Emergency During Flag Football Game Before Death: Report
A Georgia teen who died Wednesday during a flag football game reportedly suffered a medical emergency and was rushed to the hospital where the student later died.
The teen was identified as a high school student at The Weber School — a private Jewish community high school in Sandy Springs, a suburb of Atlanta.
The school said there would be counseling services on hand, and class was canceled Thursday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The House voted Wednesday to update the rules for congressional certification of presidential elections, a response to then-President Donald Trump’s questioning of the 2020 contest that Democrats and Republicans such as Rep. Liz Cheney say led to an attempted “insurrection.”
The Presidential Election Reform Act was sponsored by the Wyoming Republican and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., both of whom serve on the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 election protest at the Capitol that turned violent. It passed the House with support from every Democrat and just nine Republicans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
How the US Squandered Its Strategic Minerals
“The PRC’s [Communist China’s] long-term goal,” the Pentagon wrote in 2020, “is to create an entirely self-reliant defense-industrial sector—fused with a strong civilian industrial and technology sector—that can meet the PLA’s needs for modern military capabilities.”
While China has been relentlessly pursuing self-reliance when it comes to raw materials — especially strategic ones such as titanium, tungsten and cobalt, which are used in the defense industry — the US for the past several decades has been selling off huge chunks of the strategic minerals stockpile to the extent that the National Defense Stockpile is reportedly reaching insolvency.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Liberal Networks Avoid North Dakota Teen Killed by Man Who Dubbed Victim a ‘Republican Extremist’
The liberal media has long decried the threat of violent right-wing extremism, but when the violence allegedly targets the right, news organizations largely turn a blind eye.
Eighteen-year-old North Dakotan Cayler Ellingson was allegedly targeted and killed by drunken 41-year-old motorist Shannon Brandt following a “political argument,” according to court documents that revealed Brandt’s account of what transpired.
Brandt, who initially fled the scene after hitting the teen with his SUV, told police that Ellingson had belonged to a “Republican extremist group.” Brandt was released on $50,000 bond.
None of the five major news networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC — have offered any on-air coverage to the attack on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Grabien transcripts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Mark Zuckerberg, Wife Sued Over Alleged 2020 Election Funding Fraud
The Center for Renewing America (CRA) hit Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, his wife, and three voting rights groups with legal complaints over an alleged effort by which they improperly channeled roughly $500 million in a bid to influence the 2020 presidential election.
CRA alleges, according to Fox Business, that the Zuckerbergs sent the money to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), and National Vote at Home Institute (NVAHI), which in turn moved the money to Democrat leaning areas aiming to move competitive states into President Joe Biden’s column. Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe was reportedly Zuckerberg’s point man on the effort.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Multiple Reports of Fake Active Shooter Threats at Local Schools
CINCINNATI, Ohio (WDTN) — Law enforcement agencies around the Miami Valley are responding to multiple active shooter threats that are being reported as hoaxes.
According to NBC affiliate WLWT, a call came in around 10 a.m. from Princeton High School on Viking Way in Cincinnati on reports of an active shooter. The school was put on lockdown and Sharonville police have since said it appears to be a hoax.
Parents who are responding to the school are asked to head to Vineyard Church, almost a mile away from Princeton High School. All students are safe and accounted for, according to WLWT.
Moments later, Belmont High School in Dayton also received similar calls and went into lockdown around 10:35 a.m., but these also were proved to be false. Police are currently at the high school, but all students and staff are safe, and there is no incident at the school.
“The safety of staff and students is our utmost priority,” Dayton Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Lolli. “Parents can expect to receive more detailed information about this situation later today.”
Not too long after that, Springfield Police released a statement just before 11 a.m. that a similar active shooter threat at Catholic Central High School was reported. This was also labeled as a false alarm.
| — Hat tip: DV | [Return to headlines] |
New York Man Awaiting Soft Sentence in Rape Case Slapped With 7 New Charges
A New York man expecting a softball sentence in a sex crime plea deal is now accused of attempted rape, molestation and more against a string of new victims just days before his final court date.
Justin Washington, a 25-year-old Bronx man, was accused of first-degree rape in February and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of coercion in the second degree on Aug. 18, court records show. The original charge could have carried a sentence of up to 25 years in prison, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said prosecutors didn’t feel they had enough evidence for the original charge and reduced it to a third-degree rape offense, then offered the coercion plea for the deal, a class E felony.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Newsom Signs Legislation to Protect Workers Who Use Cannabis Outside Work
Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
California employers will soon be prohibited from firing—or not hiring—workers over their use of cannabis outside of their workplace and work hours.
Gov. Gavin Newsom put his signature on Assembly Bill 2188 Sept. 18 to prevent employers from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or terms and conditions of employment based on a drug screening test finding the presence of non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites in their system or for the person’s off-duty use.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
North Dakota Official Says ‘No Evidence’ Supports Suspect’s Claim
A North Dakota official said that there’s “no evidence” supporting Shannon Brandt’s claim that 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson was part of a “Republican extremist group” before he allegedly used his car to hit the teenager, who later died.
Brandt, 41, is being charged with criminal vehicular homicide, as well as leaving the scene of a crash involving a death after the incident in the early Sunday morning hours. He was held in the Stutsman County Jail until Tuesday, when he posted a $50,000 bond and was released.
The incident happened after a “street dance” in McHenry, North Dakota and Brandt told state first responders’ radio that he struck the pedestrian with an SUV because the pedestrian was threatening him,” a probable-cause affidavit states. The document also states that Brandt fled the scene, but later returned and called 911.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Parents Defending Education has filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education over an agreement with the teachers union which stipulated the district will create mentoring and development programs for educators of color, without opening the programs up to all employees.
The complaint was filed against the Jefferson Public Schools in Jefferson, Colorado, “for discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance in violation of both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 … and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
“PDE makes this complaint as an interested third-party organization that opposes racial discrimination and political indoctrination in America’s schools,” the complaint read.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Police: High-Powered Rifle Used to Shoot Into Shopping Center Parking Lot
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — The Fairfax County Police Department said it believed someone fired a high-powered rifle into a busy shopping center Friday, hitting at least one car.
Officers asked people in part of Bailey’s Crossroads to shelter in place as a result of what happened. The department tweeted about the incident in the 3500 block of S. Jefferson St. at 11:46 a.m.
South Jefferson Street runs between Leesburg Pike Plaza and Crossroads Place which are home to several businesses including HomeGoods, Starbucks, and Giant.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
Police Identify Man Abducted, Found Shot Dead in Trunk of Burning Car in Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore City Police released the identity of the man found dead inside the trunk of a burning car in northwest Baltimore.
Investigators say 39-year-old Steven Gillus was found dead in the 4300 block of Windsor Mill Road. Anne Arundel County police said Gillus lived at The Preserve apartments in Hanover.
Baltimore City Firefighters were called to Leakin Park at 11 p.m. on Wednesday to put out a burning car. They found a man dead inside the trunk of the car who had been shot at least once.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Postal Service Conducted Surveillance on Protesters With Pro-Gun, Anti-Biden Agendas, Report
The U.S. Postal Service is reportedly monitoring protesters across the country, focusing on Americans with such interests as guns and President Biden’s election.
Postal inspectors tracked the activities of gun rights activists gathering in Virginia; people demonstrations in Louisville, Kentucky, after the police shooting of Breonna Taylor; and far-right groups going to Washington, D.C., after Biden’s election, according to an investigation by The Washington Times.
The Times reports the investigation is based on redacted documents obtained by a fellow at the Cato Institute think tank that detail postal inspectors’ “spying” from September 2020 through April 2021.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Project Veritas Vows to Appeal Jury Decision Awarding Damages to Democrat Consulting Firms
Project Veritas said late Thursday it will appeal a court decision in which the undercover investigative group was ordered to pay $120,000 in damages to Democratic consulting firms it targeted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Prosecutors Recommend Not Charging Gaetz in Sex-Trafficking Case, Citing Witness Credibility: Report
Career federal prosecutors have reportedly recommended against charging GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz in a sex-trafficking investigation, telling Justice Department superiors that a conviction is unlikely.
The recommendation is in part because of credibility issues with the case’s two key witnesses, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post, which on Friday reported on the status of the roughly 2-year-old investigation.
Senior department officials have not made a final decision on whether to charge Gaetz, but rejecting such advice is rare, said the newspaper’s sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Conservatives on social media and on Capitol Hill are pointing to heated rhetoric from President Biden following a killing in North Dakota that left a teenager dead following a reported political disagreement.
Cayler Ellingson, 18, was killed on Sunday in North Dakota after 41-year-old Shannon Brandt allegedly ran over him with his car following a political dispute and said he believed Ellingson was a “Republican extremist,” according to court documents.
In recent days, conservatives on social media have pointed to a recent speech by President Biden suggesting that supporters of former President Trump represent an “extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EXCLUSIVE: Embattled Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón transferred top prosecutors who say they were demoted for publicly criticizing his soft-on-crime policies — including John McKinney, who won a murder conviction against the man who killed rapper Nipsey Hussle in July, Fox News Digital has learned.
McKinney and John Lewin, both deputy district attorneys in the Major Crimes Division, and Jason Lustig, assistant head deputy attorney overseeing the Long Beach courthouse, learned Thursday that they would be shunted to low-level positions in two weeks; however, their salaries will not change.
McKinney announced in July that if Gascón was recalled, he would run as a candidate to replace him, and supported the removal effort, which failed to obtain enough signatures.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
State Allots Money for Costs Tied to 4 Potential ‘Rust’ Prosecutions
The state Board of Finance has awarded the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office more than $317,000 to prosecute people connected to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust in October, according to the board’s website.
The money — awarded in response to an emergency request from District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies — is only about half of what the District Attorney’s Office estimates it will need to bring charges against up to four people, according to a copy of the request obtained by The New Mexican.
The DA’s Office had requested $635,000 to cover the cost of prosecuting the case.
“We will be requesting a special appropriation for the rest of the money,” Carmack-Altwies said Thursday.
Carmack-Altwies declined to comment on which cast or crew members could face criminal charges in connection with Hutchins’ death and the wounding of director Joel Souza, who was injured by the same bullet that killed Hutchins.
“One of the possible defendants is well known movie actor Alec Baldwin,” according to the request, which says the prosecution of the movie set shooting “could require up to 4 separate jury trials.”
Asked which specific charges could be brought in the case, Carmack-Altwies said her office is “certainly looking at all the homicide statutes and any gun statutes under New Mexico criminal code.”
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
Video: Biden Gets Lost on a Stage Yet Again
Joe Biden managed to get lost on a stage Thursday, right in front of the steps he climbed up, for the umpteenth time in the past fortnight.
Biden had just finished short remarks at the Global Fund Conference in New York and doddered around the stage seemingly completely lost, gesturing to handlers for support about how to get down.
This incident comes after his appearance on 60 Minutes just a few days ago where he was questioned about concerns whether he is mentally fit to be in office. Biden encouraged people to “watch me.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Wokers Are Easy to Recognize’ For Their Hatred of America: Sen. John Kennedy
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., gave his take on “woke” corporations in federal banking on “The Story” Friday,
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Well, it’s not exactly a news flash that President Biden has appointed thousands of Uber-wokers to his administration. Wokers are easy to recognize: they hate George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head. Wokers respect no one’s opinionbut their own.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Wall Street Journal editorial board published an editorial Thursday, slamming Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., after she encouraged customers of Chase bank to close their accounts.
During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Tlaib encouraged consumers to remove their deposits from J.P. Morgan in mass because the company’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, dismissed her demand to stop any current and future investments in fossil fuel projects.
The Wall Street Journal editors called Tlaib’s demands a “financial threat” for Americans.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
32% of Liberals Support Defunding CBC
A new poll by Mainstreet Research shows that a shocking 32% of Liberal voters support defunding state broadcaster CBC news.
The poll between September 21 and 22 shows 16% of Liberal voters strongly support defunding CBC, and 16% somewhat support the tax-saving strategy.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Protests and counterprotests have erupted outside the Oakville, Ontario high school where Kayla Lemieux, a Canadian, biologically male teacher identifying as transgender, went viral after showing up to class wearing giant prosthetic breasts and a wig.
According to Global News, protests are planned on Friday and over the weekend.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The EU is threatening to punish Italy for electing a right-wing coalition government.
How dare they democratically elect people the EU doesn’t like! The sheer nerve!
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Allahu Akbar!’ vs ‘Jai Shri Ram!’ — UK Riots Between Muslims and Hindus Spreading
Riots between Muslims and Hindus in Britain have spread from Leicester to Smethwick — and may “spread all over Britain”, community leaders warn.
A mob of over 200 Muslims shouting “Allah akbar!” gathered outside the Durga Bhawan Temple in Smethwick, a post-industrial town in the West Midlands, on Tuesday night, with mob members trying to scale its perimeter fence before scrapping with intervening police officers, according to reports.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
There was an audible gasp among the House of Commons on Friday as newly-appointed Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced his flagship policy for his first budget statement, the scrapping of the 45p tax rate for Britain’s highest earners, a move he believes will “attract global talent and incentivize enterprise.”
Tax cuts dominated Kwarteng’s first major policy announcements, including the scrapping of a tax rise in Britain’s corporation tax to 25 percent that was due next year, instead keeping the tax at 19 percent.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
EU States Are Fighting Over the Repeal of Veto Right
The member countries of the European Union have revived the debate on whether to introduce majority voting on some issues of foreign or security policy instead of the current need for unanimous consent of all the bloc’s states.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
German Health Ministry Published Inflated COVID Hospitalisation Numbers in ‘Fact Booster’ Campaign
The German health ministry has issued a correction after it published inflated numbers on COVID-19 hospitalisations as part of its “fact booster” awareness campaign.
Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health has issued a correction after it published an inflated percentage in relation to the number of COVID-19 cases that result in hospitalisations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The number of participants in a public demonstration in Stralsund against the German federal government’s energy policy exceeded all expectations on Wednesday evening, mainly due to a call from the city’s mayor, Alexander Badrow, for participation.
Authorities estimated the number of participants at around 4,000 — only 300 people were initially registered. Even during the Monday demonstrations, the police last counted just 400 people in the city of 59,000 on the Baltic Sea — now 10 times as many came.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
‘Just Good Common Sense’: UK Confirms it Will Lift Fracking Ban in England
The UK government has removed a ban on the use of fracking in England, with the country’s Energy Secretary telling the house of commons that the move is “just good common sense”.
A ban on the use of fracking in England that has been in place since 2019 has finally been lifted in the face of the ongoing energy crisis, with the UK Energy Secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, having said the decision makes “just good common sense”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The new Polish ambassador to Czechia, Mateusz Gniazdowski, said that support for Ukraine brought Poland and Czechia closer together.
Gniazdowski emphasized that Poland and Czechia are among countries most engaged in sending humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.
“Cooperation between the two countries is very immense. It comes from a similar perception and understanding of threats,” said Gniazdowski.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Right-Wing Czech Voters on the Rise
In the Czech Republic, the establishment has been losing ground, while right-wing and populists are on the rise.
A few days before the Czech Senate and local elections, a Europe-wide trend is also being confirmed in another EU country: the power base of the established sanctions parties is crumbling rapidly, and forces critical of the EU have been growing stronger.
A current opinion poll by the agency STEM has revealed the figures: the populist ANO party of former Prime Minister Babis is currently ahead in parliamentary elections with 30 percent, followed by the Eurosceptic “Freedom and Direct Democracy” with 14,3 percent. “The Party for Freedom and Direct Democracy is gaining ground in the face of heated sentiment and an uncertain outlook thanks to its longstanding anti-establishment base,” STEM commented.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Prime Minister of Estonia has warned that her country faces blackouts if Russia disconnects the three Baltic states — all NATO and EU members — from its grid amid the ongoing Russo-Western sanctions war.
“We must… be prepared [that] Russia might disconnect Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from their electricity grid,” warned Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in an address to the nation on Thursday evening, translated into English on her government’s website.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Climate Protester Sets Himself on Fire Before Roger Federer’s Last Match
A climate protester set himself on fire Friday just before Roger Federer was set to play his last-ever match at 02 Arena.
The 20-year-old activist named ‘Kai’ set his right arm on fire int he middle of the court to protest the use of private jets in the UK. He belongs to ‘End UK Private Jets’ which claims that ‘carbon emissions in 2022 are genocide,’ according to the Daily Mail.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Free Speech Union Vows to Change Law After PayPal Deplatforming
The Free Speech Union has vowed to secure a change in the law after it, its founder Toby Young, and the Daily Sceptic website were all deplatformed by PayPal.
The trade union-like organisation, the Free Speech Union (FSU) has successfully defended, among others, a railway worker and a radio presenter punished by their employers for questioning “white privilege” and Harry Miller, a former policeman who had been branded as the perpetrator of a “non-crime hate incident” over social media posts which offended transgender activists.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
By Announcing Mobilization, Russia is Showing Its Weakness, Says Polish President
Russia is showing weakness and sowing fear among its own citizens by mobilizing reservists, Polish President Andrzej Duda has claimed.
In a recent interview for American TV network PBS, Duda said that “Putin declared he would take Ukraine in 72 hours, but as we know, he did not succeed. That is why he is using different methods.”
When asked for his opinion on Putin’s threat to use a nuclear weapon, Duda said that Russia has never gone as far as using one, even in the most tense period of the Cold War, but it is hard to exclude such a possibility. “Putin toughens his rhetoric and no one can guarantee that he will not use this weapon, despite the fact that Ukraine does not have a nuclear option,” the Polish president said.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Orban Calls for Sanctions on Russia to be Lifted by the End of the Year
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban (Fidesz) has appealed to the European Union to lift sanctions against Russia by the end of the year at the latest in order to alleviate soaring inflation not just in Europe, but across the globe.
At a parliamentary group meeting in Balatonalmadi on Lake Balaton, Orban warned that the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv is no longer a matter between the two countries and is escalating into a global economic war expected to last into next year.
Brussels’ bureaucrats promised in the summer that the measures taken against Russia would harm the Kremlin and not EU citizens. In Orban’s view, however, the opposite is the case. The Fidesz politician noted that he considers the sanctions partly responsible for the energy crisis and inflation.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Russia Prepares to ‘Ramp Up’ Stealth Jet Production Amid Rising Threat of War With West
Russia’s war in Ukraine escalated this week when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of the country’s military and vowed to use “all available means” to deter future attacks against Russia — a reference to the country’s diverse nuclear weapons arsenal.
Then Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, provided fresh warnings Thursday on the heels of Putin’s nuclear threats that “Hypersound [hypersonic weapons] will be able to reach targets in Europe and in the United States much faster, guaranteed.”
Now there’s word that Russian state-owned defense corporation Rostec will increase production of Su-57 5th-generation stealth fighter jets.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine War: Five Key Developments to Know About Today
1. Ukraine accuses Russia of coercion in ‘sham’ referenda
Russia launched referendums on Friday aimed at annexing four occupied regions of Ukraine, raising the stakes in what Kyiv has called a sham that saw residents threatened with punishment if they did not vote.
Ukrainian officials said people were banned from leaving some occupied areas until the four-day vote was over, armed groups were going into homes, and employees were threatened with dismissal if they did not participate.
“Today, the best thing for the people of Kherson would be not to open their doors,” said Yuriy Sobolevsky, the displaced first deputy council chairman of Kherson region.
The referendums on joining Russia were hastily-organised after Ukraine recaptured large parts of the northeast in a counter-offensive earlier this month.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ukraine Says Residents Coerced Into Russian Annexation Vote
KYIV, Sept 23 (Reuters) — Russia launched referendums on Friday aimed at annexing four occupied regions of Ukraine, raising the stakes of the seven-month-old war in what Kyiv called a sham that saw residents threatened with punishment if they did not vote.
Ukrainian officials said people were banned from leaving some occupied areas until the four-day vote was over, armed groups were going into homes, and employees were threatened with the sack if they did not participate.
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Updated: A List of Oligarchs and Putin Critics Found Dead Since Ukraine War
Another mysterious death among Russian top executives last week drew further attention to the ever-increasing number of suspicious demises among the oligarchs and critics of President Vladimir Putin, raising questions on whether they have become all too common to be completely coincidental.
Ivan Pechorin, a top manager at the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was found dead in Vladivostok after allegedly falling off his luxury yacht and drowning near Cape Ignatyev in the Sea of Japan two days before, according to the local administration.
“On September 12, 2022, it became known about the tragic death of our colleague, Ivan Pechorin, Managing Director for the Aviation Industry of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic,” a statement from the company said.
[Comment: Article dated September 22, 2022.]
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Worshippers Killed in Car Bomb Attack at Kabul Mosque
A car bomb went off as worshippers were leaving a Kabul mosque, killing at least seven people and wounding 41 including several children, a Taliban official said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, the latest in a steady stream of attacks since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan just over a year ago.
A column of black smoke rose into the sky and shots rang out several minutes after the explosion near the mosque, located in a high-profile diplomatic neighbourhood of the Afghan capital.
A Taliban-appointed Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul Nafi Takor, said the vehicle with explosives was parked by the roadside near the mosque and detonated as worshippers were coming out after Friday prayers. He added that an investigation was under way, with police at the site.
The Italian Emergency Hospital, one of Kabul’s clinics that treated the victims, said it received 14 casualties from the site, with four dead on arrival.
Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said worshippers were intentionally targeted as they were leaving the Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque.
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Australia Climate Inaction Violated Torres Strait Islanders’ Rights, U.N. Says
GENEVA, Sept 23 (Reuters) — A United Nations committee found on Friday that Australia had violated the human rights of a group of islanders off its north coast by failing to adequately protect them from the impacts of climate change, such as by cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The complaint, filed over three years ago by eight Torres Strait Islanders and their children, is one of a growing body of climate cases being brought around the world on human rights grounds, and the ruling is expected to embolden others.
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African Illegal Arrested for Stabbing Rampage Days After Arrival in France
An illegal migrant was arrested for his suspected role in a stabbing and robbery spree just days after he arrived France, according to reports.
A series of attacks unfolded between 1 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning in Montpellier, a city on the French Riviera.
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Deported Immigrants Dream of Returning to ‘Beautiful’ Martha’s Vineyard
Authored by Rita Li via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)
Some of the roughly 50 illegal immigrants who flew to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts last week only to be deported, said they would like to return to the “beautiful” elite island home of wealthy families in the summer.
Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Fall River told the National Catholic Reporter newspaper that three out of the dozens said they wouldn’t mind returning to Martha’s Vineyard given “how beautiful” the island is, after being bussed away to a nearby emergency shelter in Barnstable County last Friday.
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Eric Adams Launches Plan to Pitch Tents to House Illegal Migrants in NYC
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday that the Big Apple is preparing to set up tents to house intake centers and cots for the waves of migrants pouring into the city, as the influx of southern border-crossers has overwhelmed its shelters.
The plan came as officials revealed that more than 2,000 additional migrants had streamed into the city over just the last week, reported New York Post. This brings the total number of new arrivals, mostly from Central America, to an estimated 13,600, the bulk of which — 10,300 — are staying in city shelters.
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Florida Deputy Killed by Illegal Immigrant in Hit-and-Run Before Fleeing Scene, Sheriff Says
A man arrested in the death of a Florida sheriff’s deputy was living in the United States illegally, sources told Fox News.
Juan Ariel Molina-Salles, 32, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident. The charge stems from the Thursday hit-and-run death of Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy Michael Hartwick, a 19-year veteran who left behind two adult sons.
Hartwick was working a traffic detail in a construction zone at night when Molina-Salles was driving a front loader that hit Hartwick, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Friday. He said the driver of the vehicle was going “I think too fast.”
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A Florida state lawmaker is suing Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials for orchestrating the transportation of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
State Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat who represents the Miami-Dade area, claims in a new lawsuit that relocating migrants from another state using Florida funds is an illegitimate use of those funds and violates Florida laws. The lawsuit also requests a judge to stop such relocations.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany: Berlin Police No Longer Allowed to Record Migrant Background of Young Criminal Perpetrators
Since 2011, Berlin police have been required to record whether a criminal suspect up to the age of 21 has a migrant background, even if he or she has a German passport. However, this important data point has been secretly abolished since Aug. 3, with this development only now coming to light.
There’s a good reason why Berlin’s left-wing government may not want this information to be available to the public. In recent years, approximately three-quarters of all suspects under the age of 21 arrested for serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, and assault have a migrant background. Only a quarter of suspects in this age group actually have parents who hold German citizenship.
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Germany to Broaden Criteria for Asylum for LGBT Migrants
The leftist German government is looking to expand the criteria for a positive asylum claim for LGBT migrants, with future LGBT asylum seekers being able to claim asylum regardless if they are publically open regarding their sexuality or gender identity or private about it.
Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) announced this week that it would be changing the criteria as of October of this year in order to scrap its “behavioural prognosis” which assumes that those needing asylum are open and public regarding their sexuality or gender identity in their home countries and therefore prosecuted for it.
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French police have busted a major people-smuggling ring that has made £3.5million carrying 2,000 migrants across the Channel in dinghies.
The ring, run by Iraqi Kurdish migrants, had a logistics hub in Lille, a northern French city about 60 miles from the Channel beaches around Calais used for crossings.
Three Iraqi men have been charged, along with three French suspects after their arrest on Monday.
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More than 1,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats the day after the total for the year exceeded 30,000, according to Government figures.
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that 21 boats were intercepted on Thursday carrying 1,150 people.
This is the third highest daily figure in 2022 and brings the total to have made the crossing so far this year to 31,665.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
This is the shocking moment three migrants ‘bull-rushed’ a Texas farmer’s house and broke into his elderly grandparents’ home as they tried to dodge Border Patrol.
The man, who has asked to stay anonymous, revealed several minutes of surveillance footage that saw three out of eight illegal migrants attempt to break into various properties within view before finally getting into one.
The video sees three immigrants running towards the street but then they suddenly turn back and attempt to gain access into nearby homes.
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Hours later they were sailing to Britain. How WILL our new Home Secretary end this crisis?
Breakfast time in Dunkirk, and a human trafficker in a black top brazenly marches a large crowd of migrants along a street busy with French shoppers buying their baguettes.
Displaying all the confidence of an official tourist guide, he leads his throng to a local bus stop. There the 70 or so Iraqis and Iranians — some with little children on their shoulders — join him on board for the hour-long road-trip to the beach where a black rubber boat waits to take them illegally to England.
This was the scene on Wednesday morning at the French port, even though plenty of gendarmes were on patrol to stop this latest addition to the flow of illegal migrants crossing the Channel from France.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bipartisan Coalition of Women’s Groups File Motion to Save Women’s Sports in Indiana
An amicus brief has been filed in Indiana, requesting that the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacate a preliminary injunction issued last month blocking Indianapolis Public Schools from enforcing state laws that mandate children should participate on sports teams that match their birth sex.
The brief was filed on September 13 jointly by both the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) and the Concerned Women for America (CWA).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Bishops Bless Same-Sex Couples in Flanders and No One Bats an Eyelid
There it is in black and white on the webpages of the Belgian Episcopate. The text of a liturgical blessing for same-sex couples, which is being delivered in Catholic churches in Flanders, Belgium. In this way, five Flemish clerics, Cardinal Josef De Kesel (Malines-Bruksela), and Bishops Johan Bonny (Antwerp), Lodewijk Aerts (Brugge), Lode Van Hecke (Gandawa), and Patrick Hoogmartens (Hasselt) have broken the longstanding teachings of the Church on homosexuality.
If this had happened a decade ago, it would have been news and would have caused a shock within the Church. Many Catholics would have been outraged at a betrayal of their faith and heresy. The liberals would have praised the bishops’ courage and held them up as an example to follow.
But in the world of today, there is no reaction. No seismic shift.
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The Halton District School Board (HDSB) says it “has heard” of protests that have been planned for Friday and over the weekend regarding an Oakville, Ont., teacher’s controversial attire.
Images have gone viral online and in the media over the past several days, appearing to show a teacher at Oakville Trafalgar High School wearing large prosthetic breasts in class.
Social media posts have indicated that protests have been planned over the controversy, both on Friday and over the weekend.
It comes after trustees with the HDSB met and agreed to review the dress code.
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DoD Announces Creation of Diversity and Inclusion Committee
The Department of Defense has formed the Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODAI) and on Friday announced the appointment of its inaugural slate of members.
General (Ret.) Lester Lyles will chair the committee, which is “composed of civilian women and men who are appointed by the Secretary of Defense to provide advice and recommendations on matters and policies relating to the improvement of racial/ethnic diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity within the Department with a primary focus on military personnel,” according to a DOD press release.
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Facebook Bans Ad Account of Conservative Children’s Book Publisher Brave Books, Then Reverses Course
EXCLUSIVE: Conservative children’s book publisher Brave Books says Facebook pulled the plug on its advertising account on Thursday with no explanation and immediately denied the publisher’s appeal.
The account was restored after Fox News Digital reached out to Facebook for an explanation.
Brave Books said the permanent suspension of Facebook Ads by the Meta-owned social media platform was “a massive blow” for the publisher, which creates books for kids ages 4 to 12 that promote “pro-God, pro-America and anti-woke values.”
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Judge Rules Arizona’s Ban on Abortions Can be Enforced, Setting Up Legal Showdown Before Election
An Arizona judge ruled Friday that a century-old law banning most abortions in the key battleground state can be enforced, setting up a legal showdown in the shadows of the midterm elections.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
PayPal Banned Anti-Pedo Group, While Pro-Pedo Group Remains on Platform
Paypal has hit headlines again this week for cancelling the accounts of more organisations and individuals engaging in political wrong think. And while the online banking platform banned an anti-pedophila group, a PRO-pedophila group remains able to do business via Paypal.
Paypal closed the account of Gays Against Groomers, an pro-gay rights organization that campaigns to expose sexualisation of children by perverts hiding behind the LGBTQ flag.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland Mulls ‘Gender-Neutral’ Compulsory Military Service for Women
The Swiss government has considered mandatory military service for women to boost the number of army personnel amid a soldier shortage, according to the Swiss daily newspaper Tribune de Genève. Currently, military service for men is compulsory once they reach adulthood.
A report presented by a parliamentary commission before the Council of States, the upper house of the Swiss Legislative, found that in the event of a mobilization, only 80% of soldiers could be called to duty, or about 80,000 out of the 100,000.
The commission offered two alternatives to increase the army size: merging the armed forces with civil protection services or making military service obligatory for all able-bodied women aged 19.
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