News of the World
08-22-2024, 06:31 AM
USA
That means that the widow has been receiving the benefits illegally ever since.
Actually, we could claim that those pro-Palestinians are the reason why they erected a wall around the site of the DNC in the first place.
If Maduro's economy is so wonderful, how is it that people are still leaving Venezuela by the millions?
CANADA
EUROPE
ASIA
And I thought that the CCP had always been trying to destroy all vestiges of the traditional Chinese culture...
What's Walz's Actual Military Rank?
Quote:CLAIM: The Democratic National Committee claimed Wednesday in a video that Gov. Tim Walz rose to the rank of “Command Sergeant Major.”
VERDICT: True but missing context.
Walz is not a retired command sergeant major. The military promoted him to command sergeant major, but his rank was reduced to master sergeant a day before he retired because of his failure to complete the requirements to remain a command sergeant major. He is a retired master sergeant (E-8), not a retired command sergeant major (E-9).
Walz retired on May 16, 2005, Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong reported:
The rank and title of command sergeant major carries weight — as a command sergeant major is in charge of enlisted soldiers in a battalion. While Walz was promoted to command sergeant major, he did not retain that rank, since he retired before his contract was up and did not finish the Sergeant Majors Academy. He was reduced back to a master sergeant on May 15, 2005, a day before he retired, according to a statement from the Minnesota National Guard released on August 13, 2024. The statement said (emphasis added):
Governor Tim Walz received his notification of eligibility for retirement on August 3, 2002. He was promoted to sergeant major (E-9) on September 17, 2004, and immediately began serving as the command sergeant major for the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery while his packet was submitted to the National Guard Bureau to appoint him to command sergeant major (E-9). Once approved by NGB, he was laterally appointed to command sergeant major (E-9) on April 1, 2005. He retired from the Minnesota National Guard on May 16, 2005. Our records do not indicate when he made his request to retire. Leadership reviews and approves all requests to retire. He was administratively reduced to master sergeant (E-8) on May 15, 2005, because he did not complete all required U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy coursework.
How Many Officers Died on January 6th?
Quote:CLAIM: Former United States Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell claimed that “five officers” were killed “as a result” of the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
VERDICT: Mostly false. No police officers died on January 6. One died of natural causes the day after, and four took their own lives later that same year.
During his speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Wednesday, Gonell claimed that he “nearly died” while protecting the Capitol from rioters in 2021, and that “five officers” had “died as a result of January 6.”
“Before I begin, I need to acknowledge the sacrifices that five officers, who died as a result of January 6, made on that day,” Gonell told the crowd. “My name is Aquilino Gonell. I immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic when I was 12. I became an American citizen, I was a sergeant in the U.S. Army and a Capitol police officer, and I’ve seen violence while serving in Iraq. But, nothing, nothing prepared me for January 6.”
“We officers risk everything to protect innocent people,” Gonell continued. “We were beaten and blinded. I was assaulted with a pole attached to the American flag. President Trump summoned our attackers, incited with them. He betrayed us. When I joined the Army and Capitol Police, I took an oath to defend the Constitution. I did so with duty in my soul and I still feel it. To Donald Trump, I ask, why don’t you? On January 6, I nearly died protecting the Capitol, and I would do it again for our democracy.”
As Breitbart News has previously reported, Democrats such as President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have stated that five Capitol Police officers died while defending the Capitol from rioters on Jan. 6. However, none of the officers were killed during the violence.
One of the U.S. Capitol Police Officers, Brian Sicknick, ended up dying a day after the riot. However, a medical examiner later revealed that Sicknick had died from natural causes: “two strokes at the base of the brain stem caused by a clot in an artery that supplies blood to that area of the body,” according to the Washington Post.
As Breitbart News previously reported, “four Capitol Police and Washington Metropolitan Police Officers” who had responded to the January 6 riot, died from “suicide”:
In the weeks after the attacks, four Capitol Police and Washington Metropolitan Police Officers died by suicide. The Capitol Police officer’s union has said about 140 officers were injured during the protests.
The death of Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, who died by suicide, was ruled as a line-of-duty death, according to NBC News. This allowed Smith’s widow to be eligible to receive survivor benefits.
That means that the widow has been receiving the benefits illegally ever since.
PBS Was Wrong About This
Quote:Judy Woodruff of PBS Newshour apologized Wednesday for a false claim she made earlier this week that former President Donald Trump had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject a hostage deal with Hamas.
She also retracted the report, which had been based on an earlier report in Axios, which itself was based on unnamed U.S. sources. (Axios later updated its report after both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu flatly it.)
Woodruff’s retraction and apology came hours after Breitbart News published a story earlier Wednesday, reporting that Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) had demanded that she retract and apologize.
As Breitbart News reported Wednesday:
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) demanded Wednesday that PBS NewsHour‘s Judy Woodruff retract her claim on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump was telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject a hostage deal.
Waltz, speaking at a press briefing at Trump Tower, flatly denied Woodruff’s claim, and said that the veteran anchor needs to “come with the goods” to back up her reporting, or else retract her report.
Trump told reporters last week that the last time he had spoken to Netanyahu was in July, when the latter visited Mar-a-Lago.
Uncommitted Furious at DNC
Quote:The “Uncommitted” movement, which has threatened to withhold votes from Vice President Kamala Harris unless she promises to end U.S. support for Israel, is furious at Democrats for allowing Israeli speakers but not Palestinians.
The Democratic National Convention heard a moving speech on Wednesday evening from Ron Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the American-Israeli parents of hostage Hersh-Goldberg Polin, 23. Like the delegates at the Republican National Convention in July, who heard from the parents of American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra, Democrats welcomed the hostage family and gave them a standing ovation, chanting “Bring them home! Bring them home!”
But the “Uncommitted” movement, while supporting the appearance of the hostage family, was furious that the Democratic National Convention did not also allow a Palestinian speaker to talk about the ongoing war in Gaza.
CommonDreams.org reported:
While welcoming a scheduled Democratic National Convention speech by the Israeli-American parents of a young man kidnapped in Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, the co-founders of the Uncommitted National Movement on Wednesday implored the DNC to ensure that Palestinian voices are also heard on the event’s main stage.
…
In a Wednesday statement, Uncommitted National Movement co-founders Abbas Alawieh and Layla Elabed said the 30 Uncommitted delegates attending the DNC “urge the Democratic Party to reject a hierarchy of human value by ensuring Palestinian voices are heard on the main stage.”
“We are learning that Israeli hostages’ families will be speaking from the main stage. We strongly support that decision and also strongly hope that we will also be hearing from Palestinians who’ve endured the largest civilian death toll since 1948,” the pair continued, referring to the year in which the modern state of Israel was established amid the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs from Palestine, an event known among Palestinians as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.”
Later, on Wednesday evening, after Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents spoke, the Uncommitted movement issued a new statement in which they called on fellow “Uncommitted” delegates, who support a ceasefire in Gaza, to protest:
Harris has attempted, both publicly and secretly, to court the members and voters of “Uncommitted,” who could form a large enough bloc to affect the outcome of the 2024 election in Michigan and other swing states.
She has done so despite the fact that pro-Palestinian protests, both at the Democratic National Convention and elsewhere, have included participants who openly support Hamas terrorism, use antisemitic rhetoric, and burn American flags.
Actually, we could claim that those pro-Palestinians are the reason why they erected a wall around the site of the DNC in the first place.
Veterans Criticize Walz
Quote:Fifty Republican military veterans serving in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday sent a letter to Democrat vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (MN) harshly condemning his lies about his military service.
They said in the letter, which was released as Walz readied to deliver remarks at the Democratic National Convention:
The Office of the Vice President is a position that requires the trust of the American people and a solemn commitment to duty on behalf of the United States of America. As veterans who have served our nation, we feel compelled to address your egregious misrepresentations and urge you to come clean to the American people.
The Republican members said Walz should be proud of his service in the National Guard, but added, “There is no honor in lying about the nature of your service.” They wrote.
Repeatedly claiming to be a ‘Retired Command Sergeant Major’ when you did not complete the requirements was not honorable. Nor was it honorable to claim to carry weapons ‘in war’ when you had not served in war, and abandoning the men and women under your leadership just as they were getting ready to deploy was certainly not honorable either.
Walz falsely claimed he was a retired command sergeant major — the highest enlisted rank in the Army, when he was actually a retired master sergeant. He also falsely claimed he carried weapons “in war” when he had never deployed to a combat zone.
“To be blunt, when you falsely claim military service that did not happen and abandon your post, you diminish the real sacrifices made by veterans who did serve in combat,” they wrote, adding:
The honor of wearing the uniform is earned through dedication, bravery, and an unwavering sense of duty. You have displayed none of these characteristics as you have lied your way through a political career launched on the foundation of a title you did not earn and combat deployments you did not take part in.
They said their grave concern stemmed from the office he was running for, Vice President, which is “one heartbeat away” from Commander-in-Chief.
“You’ve already demonstrated your unwillingness to lead in time of war and a lack of honor through your blatant misrepresentations exploiting and co-opting the experiences of America’s combat veterans for personal gain,” they said, adding:
As a result, America’s veterans and servicemembers are rightfully concerned about what would happen to them should you ascend to the Presidency. When America asked you to lead your troops into War, you turned your back on your troops. You have violated the trust of our brothers and sisters in arms. Their blood, sweat, and sacrifice are the only reason our nation is able to exist. Until you admit you lied to them, there is no way you can be trusted to serve as Vice President.
RFK Jr's Campaign on Trump
Quote:Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, says their campaign is considering joining forces with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Tom Bilyeu on his show, Impact Theory, Shanahan revealed that she trusts “the future” of the United States under the leadership of people such as Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH).
When questioned about rumors that Kennedy was in talks with either Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign about a “potential endorsement” in exchange for a position in their cabinets, Shanahan said they were “definitely not in talks with Harris” and “definitely never have brought up this idea of an endorsement” with Harris’s campaign.
“There’s two options that we’re looking at, and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump — or we draw, somehow, more votes from Trump,” Shanahan revealed. “Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump, and we walk away from that, and we explain to our base why we’re making this decision.”
“If we’re splitting hairs, I would say that I trust the future of this country more under the leadership of the Trump and the Theos and the JD Vances than I do of the Harrises and Reid Hoffman,” Shanahan added during the interview.
Kennedy has previously announced that he has “no plans to endorse” Harris for president.
In a post on X, Kennedy wrote that the “Democratic Party would be unrecognizable” to his father and uncle.
“VP Harris’s Democratic Party would be unrecognizable to my father and uncle and I cannot reconcile it with my values,” Kennedy wrote. “The Democratic Party of RFK and JFK was the party of civil liberties and free speech. VP Harris’s is the party of censorship, lockdowns, and medical coercion. Kennedy Democrats were anti-war. Kamala’s is riddled with neocon warmongers.”
Kennedy, who initially began his presidential campaign as a Democrat, has slammed the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for having a “rigged” primary system.
Sanctuary Cities Are Multiplying Under Biden
Quote:There has a been a sharp increase in the number of so-called “sanctuary cities” for President Joe Biden’s illegal migrants, according to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies.
Sanctuary areas are defined as “state and local jurisdictions that have laws, ordinances, policies, or practices that prevent state and/or law enforcement agencies from cooperating fully with ICE in gaining custody of criminal aliens who have been arrested for local crimes,” the organization explains.
“These localities seem to be flouting state law, and there should be consequences if they do not reverse the policy right away,” said Jessica M. Vaughan, the director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
According to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 170 new jurisdictions have been added to the sanctuary map maintained by the Center for Immigration Studies.
CIS has maintained the sanctuary map since 2015 after the organization filed a Freedom of Information Act request and was granted access to ICE data.
The organization has identified at least 425 jurisdictions that qualify as sanctuary areas for illegals, which represents a 40 percent surge over the previous accounting.
Added to the map are new locations in Virginia, North Dakota, Nebraska, New York, and Minnesota.
Some of the new listings include:
North Dakota has been listed as a state, as none of its 24 corrections facilities cooperates fully with ICE.
Virginia has 27 additional counties and nine cities now listed.
Nebraska has 21 additional counties and one city listed.
New York has 13 additional counties listed.
Minnesota has 12 additional counties or regional corrections centers listed.
Jurisdictions were added in six states that have anti-sanctuary laws: South Carolina, Indiana, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas and North Carolina.
CIS adds that about 17 percent of the nation’s jails refuse to cooperate with ICE, meaning that many illegals are arrested multiple times for crimes but let go, only to be arrested again instead of taken into custody by immigration officials for deportation.
“Over the years, more than 10,000 criminal aliens have been released by local authorities due to sanctuary policies, and many of these criminal aliens have subsequently been arrested for additional crimes,” the CIS report notes. Vaughan said:
It is alarming to see the continued proliferation of sanctuary policies, especially in places like Virginia, where ICE has had to use its scarce resources to re-arrest violent gang members and rapists in our communities who were set free by local jails, when they should have been transferred directly to ICE custody for a plane ride home.
Cubans Crossing the Border
Quote:The Madrid-based outlet Diario de Cuba reported on Tuesday that, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics, 15,645 Cubans arrived in the United States in July — an average of 504 per day.
Cuba is facing a grave economic and humanitarian crisis that is a direct result of more than six decades of communist mismanagement under the authoritarian Castro regime. The situation has led to severe shortages of food, medicine, and basic supplies, as well as the collapse of its economy, which has forced nearly 90 percent of Cubans to endure conditions of extreme poverty.
The communist regime’s policies have led to the near-complete collapse of the nation’s infrastructure, forcing Cubans to face near-endless power blackouts that can last more than 12 hours at a time. Some areas reportedly only receive 30 minutes of running water every two months. This even includes the capital city of Havana, which serves as the communist regime’s seat of power.
The inhumane living conditions that the Castro regime continues to submit its citizens to have resulted in the worst migrant crisis in Cuba’s history and the ongoing decline of its population.
Diario de Cuba, citing CBP statistics, stated that 196,567 Cubans arrived in the United States during the 2024 fiscal year, so far. The outlet pointed out that, while the statistics from June and July show a lower registered number of arrivals than May’s 18,984, more than 235,000 Cubans are projected to arrive by the end of the 2024 fiscal year on September 30 if the average is maintained. That number would make the 2024 fiscal year record-breaking, surpassing the 2022 fiscal year’s 224,607 arrivals and 2023’s 200,287 records.
A Socialist Venezuelan in Florida
Quote:The residents of the Brickell neighborhood of Miami were reportedly terrorized on Tuesday by graffiti messages alluding to Venezuela’s socialist regime and its dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
“The Bolivarian Fury and the colored rooster are here,” the graffiti read,
The picture of the graffiti, originally posted online by Univision journalist Maria Alesia Sosa, reportedly went rapidly viral on social media as many users expressed their surprise and concern upon seeing a pro-Maduro graffiti in Miami, given its status as home to one of the largest Venezuelan diaspora communities in America.
“Bolivarian Fury” is the name of an ongoing brutal crackdown launched by Maduro in January against political dissidents, activists, and critics of the rogue socialist regime in Venezuela. At the time of its announcement, Maduro claimed that the “Bolivarian Fury” campaign was necessary to stop assassination plots against him.
In the past several months, the Maduro regime has used “Bolivarian Fury” to arrest dozens of civilians and members of the military, including activist and lawyer Rocío San Miguel, who the Maduro regime accused of being involved in the dubious and unproven assassination plot against Maduro.
The crackdown also saw the arrest of several members of Vente Venezuela, the country’s only mainstream center-right party. Vandalism also struck the headquarters of other political parties, radio stations, and media outlets critical of the regime. The arrests of Vente Venezuela members occurred in the months before the July 28 sham presidential election, which Maduro claims he “won” despite widespread rejection of the results internationally.
“The colored rooster” that the graffiti in Brickell also mentions refers to a moniker Maduro adopted during the presidential campaign originating in a popular children’s song. In July, Venezuelans in New York angrily denounced that Maduro’s colored rooster slogan and logo briefly appeared on an advertisement display in Times Square.
If Maduro's economy is so wonderful, how is it that people are still leaving Venezuela by the millions?
Interview Interrupted by DNC Protestors
Quote:The chaos outside the DNC came inside the house on Tuesday when anti-Israel protestors crashed Stephen Colbert’s live CBS broadcast, disrupting what was supposed to be a fluff interview with Nancy Pelosi.
Stephen Colbert was interviewing former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) about her new book when shouting was heard from the audience, prompting producers to halt the interview. “The subject is on Israel and Palestine and if you have a seat, we have to go to commercial break,” a clearly peeved Colbert said.
Watch below:
Later, he scolded the protestors for expressing their views on his show. “Please don’t interrupt my guests,” he said.
This year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago has experienced chaotic protests as woke progressives have descended on the city to express their anti-Israel sentiment as well as their refusal to vote for Kamala Harris in November.
Their demonstrations have received support from non-establishment left-wing candidates Cornel West and Jill Stein. West even urged voters to “abandon” Kamala.
The mainstream news media have tried to downplay the scope of the protests, but the party poopers are finding ways to make themselves heard.
In recent weeks, Democrat leaders have tried to assuage the woke, anti-Israel section of the party by having Kamala Harris distance herself as much as possible from Joe Biden.
But young progressives aren’t buying it.
Protestors have disrupted a number of Kamala’s speaking events, even provoking her into a tit-for-tat exchange in Michigan during which Kamala scolded them in a condescending tone.
“I am speaking now,” she said, regurgitating one of her favorite lines.
MD Governor Praises Kamala...
Quote:Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) gave credit to Vice President Kamala Harris for getting help to Baltimore after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed during his speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Moore, who entered gubernatorial office last year, gave Harris the shout-out after reflecting on the tragic cargo ship crash that led to the destruction of the bridge and the deaths of six maintenance workers.
“A port that drives 13 percent of our state’s economy was now closed. Thousands of workers were hours away from waking up and realizing they no longer had a job,” Moore told the Wednesday evening audience. “Six Marylanders who had been on the bridge in the middle of the night fixing potholes lost their lives.”
He continued, “One of the first phone calls that I got that morning started with these three words: ‘Gov, it’s Kamala.'”
According to the progressive governor, Harris told him, “I know you spoke to the President, and I want you to know we are here with you every step of the way.”
“She said, ‘Help is coming,’” he remarked. “I saw Kamala Harris is the right one to lead in this moment firsthand.”
After the bridge collapsed, President Joe Biden pledged to fully fund its replacement.
“It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstruction in that bridge. I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said from the White House hours after the news broke.
Harris reiterated that she and Biden “directed the federal government to use all the resources that are available to assist with the search and rescue, to reopen the port, and to rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible”:
While the Biden administration was quick to pledge money to the situation, Maryland Department of Transportation officials said it would take until fall 2028 and an estimated cost of $1.7- 1.9 billion, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
CANADA
Trudeau's Railway Crisis
Quote:The administration of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heeding left-wing demands to stay out of a dispute between railroad companies and unions.
If labor and management cannot reach an agreement, Canada will experience its first complete shutdown of rail freight on Thursday, with devastating consequences for both Canadian and American businesses.
Canada is heavily reliant upon rail freight, especially for agricultural products and manufactured goods. The vast and sparsely-populated country is crossed by over 26,000 miles of railroad, which handles about 70 percent of freight between cities and half of Canada’s international exports, according to statistics compiled by the Railway Association of Canada (RAC).
The RAC noted that Canada’s railways move 330 metric tons of freight per year, including $200 billion worth of exports, at very competitive rates. Rail freight is integral to many Canadian business models.
Canadian rail freight is dominated by two companies, Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). CPKC dispatchers also coordinate passenger rail travel in the big cities of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, since the passenger trains use rails that also handle large quantities of freight.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which counts about 9,000 railroad employees as members, has been negotiating a new labor agreement with CNR and CPKC since early this year.
EUROPE
Germany
Quote:A Turkish national has been arrested in Germany after a man was shot three times in the head in an execution-style killing in Frankfurt Central Station on Tuesday evening.
A 27-year-old man from Turkey was shot and killed on the platform of the main train station for the German city of Frankfurt at around 9 pm local time on Tuesday night. The man, who was shot three times in the head, died at the scene.
On Wednesday, German authorities said that a 54-year-old man, also from Turkey, has been arrested and brought before a local magistrate.
“We have applied for an arrest warrant to be issued against the suspect on the urgent suspicion of murder,” said Frankfurt prosecutor’s office spokesman Dominik Mies, according to German broadcaster NTV.
It is currently being investigated whether the two men knew each other, Mies said, adding that investigations are “still at the very beginning”.
The prosecutor’s office did reveal that the 54-year-old was seen approaching the victim and allegedly shooting him in the back of the head.
After the 27-year-old fell to the floor of the platform, the suspected assailant is said to have shot him twice more in the head before fleeing the scene.
However, Federal Police officers tracked the Turkish national down before he was able to board a train and escape, detaining him near the location of the killing.
The prosecutor’s office said that they recovered the suspected murder weapon and have determined that the suspect is registered in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Quote:Two men accused of planning an attack in Sweden for an affiliate of the Islamic State group in response to the burning of copies of the Quran have been charged in Germany, where they were arrested earlier this year, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The two Afghan citizens, identified only as Ibrahim M.G. and Ramin N. in line with German privacy rules, were charged with conspiring to commit a crime and violating export laws. Ibrahim M.G. was charged with membership in a terrorist organization and Ramin N. with supporting one.
The men were arrested on March 19 near Gera in eastern Germany. Federal prosecutors said they filed the indictment on Aug. 12 to the state court in Jena, which will decide whether and when the case goes to trial.
Ibrahim M.G. is accused of joining an IS affiliate that has carried out attacks in Afghanistan and elsewhere, known variously as ISIS-K, IS-K or ISPK, in August 2023. Prosecutors said that prior to that, the two suspects collected about 2,000 euros ($2,220) in Germany in donations for IS.
Ibrahim M.G. allegedly was tasked by the IS affiliate in summer last year with carrying out an attack in Europe as a reaction to Quran burnings in Sweden and elsewhere. The two suspects planned to kill police officers and other people near the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm using firearms and made “concrete preparations” in close consultation with members of the group, prosecutors said in a statement.
The two men conducted online research on the location and tried repeatedly but unsuccessfully to procure weapons, prosecutors said.
UK: Immigration, Arrests, Criminals Released & London Mayor on Trump
Quote:A 67-year-old man has been jailed after making derogatory remarks about Islam and chanting “you’re not English any more” at police during a London demonstration last month.
David Notley, of Buckhurst Hill in Essex, was jailed by the Inner London Crown Court this week for 20 months after pleading guilty to causing religiously aggravated distress and taking part in violent disorder, the BBC reports.
The court heard that Notley had joined in with the crowd to chant “you’re not English anymore” at police officers outside Whitehall and sang “Who the f*** is Allah?”
During the alleged “far-right” demonstration, which was organised hastily in the wake of the mass stabbing that left three young girls dead in Southport, 121 people were arrested amid an outbreak of violence.
The broadcaster reported that bottles and cans were thrown at police during the demonstration.
While it was not alleged that Notley directly engaged in attacks on police, prosecutor Alex Agbamu told the court that he had confronted police with a “fighting pose” and had helped push another protestor towards police, which “precipitated a physical confrontation involving the police [and] demonstrators.”
According to Essex Live, the 67-year-old claimed that he did not engage in violence towards police and denied intentionally pushing anyone. He said that he was already in London at the time of the demonstration and was “swept up” in the protest.
Judge Freya Newbery said that the protest “caused serious disruption” and had a “serious detrimental impact on the community at the heart of our parliamentary democracy.” She also informed the court that Notley was previously jailed in 2009 for drug smuggling and that his involvement in the protest had violated his license release conditions.
Notley is among over 1,000 people so far arrested in connection with the widespread unrest and riots that broke out across the UK since the Southport stabbings.
Quote:Criminals being set free in a bid to reduce overcrowding at a prison are reoffending and being returned to custody, an inspection report released Wednesday reveals.
The early release scheme — known as the end of custody supervised licence (ECSL) — is designed to free up space to ease prison overcrowding.
The BBC reports a new study shows revealed a quarter of HMP Nottingham prisoners released under the scheme were homeless, leading to “inevitable recalls”, said chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor.
The report comes as the left-wing Labour government’s emergency Operation Early Dawn measure to clear UK prison space amid the sentencing of anti-migration rioters, protesters, and social media posters will reportedly see at least 5,500 criminals released early by the autumn, as Breitbart News reported.
Taylor conceded it was “uncertain how many had been recalled”, the number of inmates who were homeless when they were released early was “astonishing.”
He cautioned high-risk offenders are not being given enough attention, despite warnings about the danger they posed.
At HMP Nottingham, preparation for the early release of inmates under the scheme was “often chaotic and rushed”, despite staff “doing their best”, the HM Inspectorate of Prisons report as seen by the BBC said.
“A quarter of prisoners released on this scheme were homeless and although data was not clear, it resulted in inevitable recalls,”Taylor said. “Overall, Nottingham is a jail that is coping with the many challenges that it faces, but it remains a fragile institution that carries a lot of risk within its constantly churning population.”
The early release scheme was introduced by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative administration in October, initially releasing prisoners 18 days early.
More than 10,000 prisoners were released up to 70 days early between October 2023 and June this year under the emergency plan, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures published last month.
Quote:London Mayor Sadiq Khan has waded into American politics once again, saying that he is worried about his safety if Donald Trump returns to the White House and that the left-wing Labour Party should openly support the campaign of Kamala Harris.
The far-left Mayor of London, who has a long history of public verbal spats with former President Donald Trump, said in an interview with the globalist New Statesman this week that he has personal fears of the Republican nominee being victorious in the presidential election in November.
“The last time we had a Trump presidency, as a matter of public record, there was a massive increase in hate crime towards me… I worry about what a second Trump presidency would mean for me and my family, but I’m not going to allow these people to cower me. It makes me even more determined to do my job,” Khan told the British news magazine.
Khan, one of the most powerful members of the Labour Party, broke ranks with the now-governing left-wing party to argue that it should openly support Vice President Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential race.
In light of the possibility of needing to negotiate with a second Trump administration, the new government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has attempted to take a more neutral stance, while dispatching figures such as Foreign Secretary David Lammy to meet with Trump allies in Washington, including now running mate JD Vance.
It is unclear how successful such a rebrand will be given Lammy’s own history of criticising Trump, previously branding the American leader as a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath.”
Mayor Khan argued that the leftist party should abandon attempts to cover up its true preferences in the race, saying: “It’s obvious what my politics are. I’m a member of the Labour Party – we’re a social democratic party. I want the Democrats to win.
“It’s no secret many Labour Party members go and volunteer for the Democrats during presidential elections. We shouldn’t pretend otherwise. Many of my staffers helped all three: Obama, Clinton and Biden,” Khan said.
“I’ve been so impressed with Tim Walz. It just shows the judgement that Kamala Harris has in relation to her choice for vice-president. Compare and contrast that with the choice made by the other guy, in JD Vance,” he added.
The far-left mayor rose to international attention through his feud with Trump, which began in earnest in 2017 when Khan demanded that the then-President be refused a state visit to the UK when he met with Queen Elizabeth II.
Denmark & Sweden
Quote:The Danish and Swedish justice ministers vowed Wednesday to go after organized crime leaders abroad, whom they say have been hiring teenagers in Sweden to carry out deadly shootings in Denmark.
Denmark’s Peter Hummelgaard has said that gangs have hired young Swedes to commit crimes in Denmark at least 25 times since April, in part because Swedish law imposes lighter penalties for minors who commit serious crimes.
“Several of the people who orchestrate this reckless and violent crime are hiding under warmer skies, and of course this is completely unacceptable,” Hummelgaard told a press conference Wednesday after a meeting with his Swedish counterpart Gunnar Strömmer in Copenhagen. He said they were “often in the greater Middle East” but didn’t name any specific country.
One of Sweden’s two major gangs is led by a Swedish-Turkish dual national who lives in Turkey, which refuses to extradite its own citizens.
Swedish and Danish media say that gang is involved in a deadly feud with one of the main criminal gangs in Denmark – Loyal to Familia which was banned in 2021.
Sweden has grappled with gang violence for years, while in Denmark, police have also seen violence between gangs but on a lesser scale.
Last year, Swedish police noted an increase in the number of teenagers under 18 who were recruited to carry out killings for hire because they do not face the same police controls as adults and are often shielded from prosecution.
Strömmer said that Sweden would tighten its laws, noting that minors who are convicted of murder in Sweden are placed in juvenile facilities, while they can face up to 16 years in prison in Denmark.
The two also vowed to crack down on online gang activity, with Strömmer saying that “leading figures in these criminal networks order murders and bombings totally out in the open online.”
Earlier, Hummelgaard has said that solutions could include changing Danish law to allow facial recognition technology, and deploying better software to monitor encrypted messages.
Serbia on DNC Convention
Quote:Serbia’s top diplomat, Foreign Affairs Minister Marko Đurić, sent a letter to a Democrat-affiliated organization this week expressing “deep concern and disappointment” over the presence of Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti at the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
Kurti attended the convention this week and participated in a panel on the sidelines hosted by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) that describes itself as having a “loose affiliation with the Democratic Party.” Joining Kurti on the panel were longtime Democratic commentator Donna Brazile and former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD).
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has still not received formal recognition as a state from Belgrade. Ethnic tensions between Serbs and Albanians in the region have simmered for decades and recently worsened during the term of leftist American President Joe Biden, who has not prioritized relationships in the region, leading to riots by ethnic Serbs in Kosovo and brawls in the Kosovar Assembly, the national legislature.
President Donald Trump, in contrast, invested significant diplomatic energy into reducing violence and discord in the region. His work there earned him one of several nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Kurti has used his time in Chicago, currently hosting the DNC, to meet with members of the ethnic Albanian community there and some lawmakers. The prime minister highlighted a talk with Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) in which he thanked the lawmaker for a “warm and positive meeting” in which he shared Kosovo’s “strong democratic and economic progress during our Government’s mandate over the past three and a half years.”
Kurti described the NDI panel as delivering a “fruitful discussion on the best lessons we’ve learned from leading and being part of political parties.”
Đurić, the Serbian foreign affairs minister, wrote a letter to the NDI reportedly arguing that Kurti did not deserve a warm welcome from Democrats as he had allegedly worked against American interests in eastern Europe. Đurić accused Kurti of human rights violations, a translation of the content of the letter by the news site Kosovo Online indicated, and claimed he “repeatedly engaged in practices undermining U.S. interests and presence in the Western Balkans.”
Drones in Moscow
Quote:Moscow came under one of the largest attacks yet by Ukrainian drones since the start of fighting in 2022, Russian authorities reported Wednesday, saying they destroyed all of those headed toward the capital.
The drone attacks come as Ukrainian forces are continuing to push into Russia’s western Kursk region.
“This was one of the biggest attempts of all time to attack Moscow using drones,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel. He said strong defenses around the capital made it possible to shoot down all the drones before they hit their intended targets.
Russia downed 45 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 11 over the Moscow region.
Some Russian social media channels shared videos of drones apparently being destroyed by air defense systems, which then set off car alarms.
Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, reported a “mass” attack on his region but said that all 23 drones were destroyed.
While Ukraine has been bogged down in a land conflict in eastern Ukraine in which the Russians have been driving forward slowly at a heavy cost to both sides, Kyiv has also been attacking Russia with drones. Ukraine has targeted oil refineries and airfields in an attempt to weaken Russia’s fighting potential, and also has targeted the capital several times.
The daring incursion into Russia has raised morale in Ukraine with its surprising success and changed the dynamic of the fighting. But it’s uncertain how long Ukraine will be able to hold the territory it has seized in Kursk.
It has also opened up another front in a fight where Ukrainian forces were already badly stretched. The gains in Kursk come as Ukraine continues to lose ground in its eastern industrial region of Donbas.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, said in its daily report late Tuesday that the Ukrainians had made additional advances in their incursion in Kursk, now in its third week.
The Russian state news agency Tass reported that 31 people had died since Ukraine´s attack on Russia began Aug. 6, citing an unnamed source in the medical service – figures which are impossible to verify. It said 143 people had suffered injuries, of whom 79 were hospitalized, including four children.
Ukraine´s attacks on three bridges over the Seym River in Kursk, in areas it does not control, could potentially trap Russian forces between the river, the Ukrainian advance and the Ukrainian border. Already they appear to be slowing down Russia´s response to the Kursk incursion.
Ukrainian forces appear to be striking Russian pontoon bridges and pontoon engineering equipment over the Seym in an area west of the Ukrainian advance point, the Washington think tank said.
Putin on Russian Values
Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday extending temporary residency to foreigners who share “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values” and would like to take a vacation from “the destructive neoliberal ideological agenda.”
The “neoliberal agenda” described by Putin’s order includes “gender change, LGBT policies, and criticism of traditional religions,” as Turkey’s Anadolu Agency put it on Monday.
Russia passed laws against promoting LGBT values in 2022 and designated the worldwide LGBT movement as “extremist” in 2023.
Putin’s decree instructed the Russian Foreign Ministry to cook up a list within 30 days of all the countries that are “pursuing a destructive neoliberal agenda.” Putin’s government will probably require a lot less than 30 days to comply with that demand.
According to Putin’s order, foreign nationals and stateless individuals who have “spiritual and moral values” compatible with Russia can obtain a three-month residency permit without learning the Russian language or taking exams on Russian history, which are standard requirements for other immigrants.
Putin instructed his government this week to create a program dubbed “Russia In the World” for promoting “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values” overseas.
The order was rather vague about exactly what values the program would advance, but it seems like a safe bet that opposition to the LGBT movement would be on the agenda.
Putin has previously denounced the Western world as “Satanic” for indulging gay and transsexual politics. He has also claimed he is not “homophobic,” but wishes to promote “traditional values” that are “more stable and more important for millions of people” than what he refers to as “neoliberalism.”
The notion for extending special visas to foreigners who share Russian “values” was ostensibly hatched during a conversation between Putin and an Italian exchange student at Moscow State University named Irene Ceccini in February.
Ceccini told Putin at a panel discussion that she was having trouble securing a residence permit, in part because of the notoriously slow pace of Russian bureaucracy. She suggested the authoritarian Russian leader create exactly the sort of program he would announce six months later, granting expedited services and migration assistance to “foreigners who share our values and dream of moving to Russia.”
Putin initially responded with a creepy insistence that a beautiful girl like Cecchini must be eager to move to Russia because she was romantically involved with a Russian man, but when she insisted that was not the case, he said he found her notion of aggressive “inpatriation” interesting. He claimed Russia’s economy would have plenty of room in the future for skilled immigrant labor.
Putin Visits Chechnya & North Ossetia
Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin paid his first visit to Chechnya in 13 years on Tuesday, meeting with erratic Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and performing a surprise inspection of Chechen troops preparing to fight for his imperial war in Ukraine.
“As long as we have men like you, we are absolutely, absolutely invincible,” Putin told the fighters training at the Russian Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya.
“It is one thing to shoot at a shooting range here, and another thing to put your life and health at risk. But you have an inner need to defend the Fatherland and the courage to make such a decision,” Putin told the Chechen troops.
Kadyrov said over 47,000 fighters have trained at the Russian Special Forces University. A substantial number of Chechens opposed to Kadyrov and Putin are also fighting — on behalf of Ukraine.
Putin’s ostensibly unscheduled and unannounced visit to Chechnya came at a moment when Russian forces have been embarrassed by a surprisingly successful Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk border region. Ukrainian forces have now held Russian soil for three weeks, marking the largest and longest invasion of Russia since World War II.
Business Insider speculated Putin chose this moment to visit Chechnya, whose bid for post-Soviet independence was ruthlessly crushed by Putin two decades ago, to send Ukraine a message that its independence will meet a similar fate.
Putin might also have felt he needed a morale-boosting photo op with his superfan Kadyrov, who has described himself as Putin’s eager “foot soldier.” Putin personally appointed Kadyrov to rule Chechnya in 2016.
Putin arrived by helicopter in Grozny, shook hands with Kadyrov, and then strolled to a limousine with his arm around the Chechen leader’s shoulders.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich despite the hard working day is full of energy and ready to visit several places in Chechnya,” Kadyrov excitedly wrote on Telegram.
The Moscow Times reported that Putin also visited North Ossetia on Tuesday, where he made an appearance at the Beslan school where 330 people were killed during a siege by Chechen rebels in 2004.
During his visit, Putin compared the vanquished Chechen rebels to the Ukrainian forces invading Kursk. He angrily accused the Ukrainians of “trying to destabilize” Russia with their attack.
“We will punish the criminals. There can be no doubt about that,” he promised.
ASIA
China & its Olympians
Quote:Genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping welcomed the country’s delegation to the 2024 Paris Olympics to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday, haranguing them about their duty to the Communist Party and greeting them during an extended standing ovation to himself.
China sent a massive, 716-member delegation to the Paris Olympics this month that came home with 91 medals, 40 of them gold. China tied with America for most gold medals of any country but was dwarfed by America’s overall 126 medal haul. The athletes’ participation was not with controversy, as several Chinese swimmers were implicated in longstanding doping allegations and animosity between fans of two Chinese women table tennis players resulted in at least one arrest at home.
The Olympics were nonetheless tremendously popular in China, where fans filled up movie theaters to cheer on their athletes.
That popularity appears to have alarmed the Communist Party, which moved following the Olympics Closing Ceremonies to silence Olympians’ online fans and redirect praise towards Xi. Xi addressed the athletes in Beijing on Tuesday, crediting “the country’s growing national strength” under his leadership for their victories.
“China’s delegation has been committed to winning gold medals for morality, conduct and integrity, and has demonstrated sportsmanship and earned broad respect and recognition,” Xi declared, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper.
“The fundamental reason why China has joined the ranks of the world’s leading sports nations and become a major Olympic player is the country’s growing national strength, Xi said,” the state outlet reported.
“He praised the athletes for showing the world the profound heritage of traditional Chinese culture, displaying an open, inclusive, vibrant and enterprising image of modern China, and demonstrating the ambition, courage and determination of the Chinese people.”
And I thought that the CCP had always been trying to destroy all vestiges of the traditional Chinese culture...
Taliban Bans UN Human Rights Envoy
Quote:The Taliban announced Wednesday that U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett has been banned from entering the country.
The Taliban claimed Bennett was banned for lacking “professionalism” and spreading “propaganda.”
Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi told Reuters on Wednesday that Bennett was “unable to acquire a travel visa to Afghanistan” because the Taliban junta was displeased with his conduct.
“Even after repeatedly requesting Mr. Bennett to adhere to professionalism during work … it was decided that … his reports are based on prejudices and anecdotes detrimental to (the) interests of Afghanistan and the Afghan people,” Balkhi said, as Reuters quoted.
“Mr. Bennett’s travel to Afghanistan has been prohibited because he was assigned to spread propaganda in Afghanistan,” another Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told the Afghan media outlet Tolo News.
Mujahid claimed Bennett “took small issues and exaggerated them for propaganda.”
A diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday that Bennett was “informed of the decision that he would not be welcome to return to Afghanistan several months ago.”
The Taliban spokesmen were most likely referring to Bennett’s criticism of their regime’s appalling human rights record, especially concerning women.
Bennett issued a report in March 2023 that said the Taliban’s mistreatment of women and girls “may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity.”
“The Taliban’s intentional and calculated policy is to repudiate the human rights of women and girls and to erase them from public life,” Bennett said at the time.
Bennett was among those who criticized the United Nations in June for sweeping human rights issues and women’s rights off the table at the third round of U.N.-sponsored talks in Qatar on the future of Afghanistan. The Taliban did not participate in the first two rounds and said it would only attend the third forum if it was not harassed on its human rights record.
“If these exclusions are the price of the Taliban’s presence in Doha, the cost is too high,” Bennett wrote in a June op-ed for the New York Times.
“The Taliban are not recognized by the United Nations as a government and should not be treated as such. They must not be allowed to use the threat of backing out of the talks to dictate the terms of this conference or any future international process,” he wrote.
PM Modi Will Visit Ukraine
Quote:Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently on a visit to Poland, announced on Wednesday that he would travel to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky and work on “deepening” India’s ties to the country.
The visit to Kyiv will be the first ever for an Indian head of government and address mounting tensions between Kyiv and New Delhi, exacerbated by India’s close relationship to Russia and incidents such as the Ukrainian Defense Ministry sharing art featuring a scantily clad depiction of a Hindu goddess. It will also be the first visit for an Indian Prime Minister to an active war zone.
While India has long relied on Russia for regular weapons sales and continues to purchase vast amounts of Russian oil, Modi’s upcoming conversation with Zelensky also comes on the heels of outrage in India after families of the missing accused Russia of scamming young Indian men into fighting on the front lines in the Ukraine invasion.
Modi announced the visit via social media, where he specified that Zelensky had personally invited him to his country. Zelensky has enthusiastically encouraged prominent international figures to make the pilgrimage to wartime Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began in 2022 and welcomed a host of world leaders, such as President Joe Biden, as well as popular personalities such as comedian Ben Stiller and Swedish climate alarmism activist Greta Thunberg.
“This visit will be an opportunity to build on the earlier discussions with him and deepening the India-Ukraine friendship,” Modi wrote. “We will also share perspectives on the peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict. As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region.”
Ukrainian state media site Ukrinform reported that Modi is expected in Kyiv on Friday after his stop in Poland and will mark Ukrainian Flag Day with Zelensky.
“During the visit, Modi will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation. A number of documents are to be signed between Ukraine and India,” the state outlet added. “On Thursday, August 22, Modi will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw.”
Traveling to Kyiv by air is not feasible given the ongoing Russian invasion, so Modi will travel from Poland to Ukraine via a special ten-hour train, India’s World Is One News (WION) reported on Wednesday.
Modi confirmed his arrival in Poland on Wednesday, emphasizing the use of meetings there to improve bilateral ties.
While Ukrinform reported on the scheduled trip, Zelensky has personally not commented on it at press time. On Monday, however, Zelensky noted in a thread on Ukraine’s foreign policy that he hopes to emphasize forging closer ties with “Asia-Pacific” states.
“This region is one of the centers where the future of the next decades will be decided. Ukraine has its own view on global development, which should be exclusively peaceful within the framework of a rules-based world order,” Zelensky wrote on social media. “Ukraine is ready to contribute to these processes as a security donor and defender of the international order. We will strengthen our diplomatic presence in Asia.”
Modi will visit Ukraine slightly over a month after visiting Russia, where strongman Vladimir Putin offered Modi a warm welcome and awarded him the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, the highest award Russia offers to foreign nationals. New Delhi’s close relationship to Moscow harkens back to the days of the Soviet Union and has since been strengthened through membership in BRICS, a global anti-American alliance originally featuring, in addition to Russia and India, China, Brazil, and South Africa. BRICS welcomed five new members – Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt – in January. BRICS also welcomed Saudi Arabia to join, but the latest reports indicate that Riyadh has not yet completed the bureaucratic work to become a full member.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
![[Image: SP1-Scripter.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Scripter.png)
![[Image: SP1-Writer.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Writer.png)
![[Image: SP1-Poet.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Poet.png)
![[Image: SP1-PixelArtist.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-PixelArtist.png)
![[Image: SP1-Reporter.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/GmxWbHyL/SP1-Reporter.png)
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
