News of the World
08-25-2024, 10:39 PM
USA
EUROPE
MIDDLE EAST
SS Agents on Admin. Duty
Quote:At least five U.S. Secret Service officials involved in the planning of former President Donald Trump’s ill-fated July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, have been placed on administrative duty.
At least five Secret Service officials involved in planning Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, where the 45th president was shot in the ear by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, have been put on administrative duty, two sources familiar with the situation told ABC News.
The Secret Service officials are still allowed to work, but they are prohibited from being involved in anything operational, such as security planning, the sources added.
The agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility investigation has reportedly expanded to not only the failures involving July 13, but also the classified threats against President Trump by Iran, and what the Secret Service did in response.
A Secret Service official told the outlet that more senior officials could get caught up in the probe.
“The U.S. Secret Service is committed to investigating the decisions and actions of personnel related to the event in Butler, Pennsylvania and the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump,” the agency said, adding that its “mission assurance review is progressing.”
“We are examining the processes, procedures and factors that led to this operational failure,” the Secret Service said.
RFK Jr. Left Has No SS Protection
Quote:The U.S. Secret Service is ending protection for Democrat-turned-Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following the suspension of his campaign on Friday.
Kennedy, who had been seeking Secret Service protection for months and finally had it granted after the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, is now having his protection pulled because he suspended his presidential campaign, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
On Friday, Kennedy announced he was “suspending” — although “not terminating” — his bid for the White House, and endorsed President Trump in battleground states. Kennedy is still on the ballot in blue states.
Notably, the Secret Service typically protects presidents, vice presidents, their immediate family members, former presidents, former first ladies, children of former presidents, visiting heads of state, and top presidential candidates.
If a candidate drops out of a race, the agency usually scales back its protection, but can also terminate it altogether, the New York Post noted.
Kennedy, whose father Bobby Kennedy and uncle President John F. Kennedy were both assassinated, had cited evidence of 34 instances of threats and concerning rants against him while trying to obtain Secret Service protection, according to a July 11 report by Newsweek.
On July 13, President Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he was shot in the ear by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, who killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore and severely injured two other rallygoers, David Dutch and James Copenhaver.
The agency has since faced heavy backlash in response to the events that unfolded on July 13, in what is seen as the biggest Secret Service failure in four decades.
After the assassination attempt against Trump, it was reported that top officials within the Secret Service have denied requests to increase security for the 45th president over the past two years.
These revelations came after Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) introduced legislation threatening to strip President Trump of his Secret Service detail if he is convicted — a move that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson referred to as “a death threat.”
Trumped Licensed Foo Fighters Song
Quote:Former President Donald Trump had the right to play Foo Fighters’ 1997 hit “My Hero” during his Friday rally in Glendale, Arizona — despite the band claiming otherwise — as the campaign says it licensed the song through BMI’s Songview service.
“We have a license to play the song,” a Trump campaign spokesperson told the Independent.
The outlet also noted that it “has seen documents confirming that the campaign had indeed licensed the song from BMI’s Songview service.”
As Breitbart News reported, the Foo Fighters claimed the Trump campaign did not have permission to play “My Hero” while Democrat-turned-Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the stage to endorse Trump during his Arizona rally on Friday.
“Let us be clear,” the Foo Fighters wrote in a Friday X post, sharing a screenshot of the band replying “No” in response to an X user that asked, “Did you let Trump use ‘My Hero’ to welcome RFK Jr. on stage?”
“Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it,” the band’s spokesperson told Billboard on Friday, adding that “appropriate actions are being taken” against the Trump campaign.
The spokesperson went on to say that any royalties received as a result of the song’s usage will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign.
The band did not acknowledge the apparent contradiction of receiving royalties for the song while claiming it was played without permission.
“Foo Fighters LIED about Trump not having permission to use ‘My Hero’ while introducing RFK Jr.,” podcast host Nick Sortor reacted, adding, “Trump should SUE these leftist hacks for defamation.”
“Imagine being so woke that you are mad your music was used to introduce one of the greatest political movements in U.S. history,” podcast host Cash Loren commented.
Political strategist Roger Stone also chimed in, writing, “The Foo Fuckers.”
“The Foo Fighters don’t even realize they sold the rights to their music to BMI,” another X user laughed.
“Foo Fighter’s so dumb they forgot they don’t own their songs,” another echoed.
Internet personality Cam Higby, meanwhile, surmised that the “Foo fighters are coping.”
Other X users accused the Foo Fighters of lying.
“These people do nothing but lie. They’re despicable,” one commented.
“All they do is lie,” another echoed. “@foofighters are a fn joke.”
“Lies and more lies,” another X user said. “They just spread hate. We the people are growing stronger and stronger. United we stand MAGA.”
“More lies brought to you by the corrupt Democrat machine,” another commented.
“I will never support @foofighters again,” another remarked. “This is disgusting.”
17 Merchant Ships / Warships Sidelined
Quote:There are not enough Merchant Marines for the U.S. Navy to fully man 17 vessels, reportedly causing officials to plan to take them out of regular operation.
The Merchant Marines organization, made up of civilian mariners managed by a combination of federal government and the private sector, has lost too much manpower to “properly crew and operate ships across the fleet,” Fox News reported.
“The problem, of course, is the ships are at sea, away from home port 12 months of the year,” Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation for the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, said.
While they are not officially members of the U.S. military, Merchant Marines are operators of commercial ships who also serve as an auxiliary during wartime or in a national emergency, according to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Maritime Administration.
According to Montgomery, “We’re desperately short of the number of people.”
“There’s a lack of experienced merchant mariners to crew the ships, and this is really a clear danger to national security,” he added.
The Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) has planned to put 17 ships into “extended maintenance,” the U.S. Naval Institute reported Thursday.
Sources told the news organization that MSC has scheduled “two Lewis and Clark replenishment ships, one fleet oiler, a dozen Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPF) and two forward-deployed Navy expeditionary sea bases” for “force generation reset,” and to have their crews redistributed to other ships.
Montgomery stressed that the issue mostly affects Merchant Marines.
“The sailors tend to man our warships … the merchant mariners man something that’s equally important, which is the logistics backbone of the Navy — oilers, ammo ships, transports ships that move the Army and Marine Corps across the water,” Montgomery told Fox.
“Just like 90 percent of trade is done by ships and not aircrafts, the same thing applies at sea: It’s too difficult, too expensive — it’s not sufficient to move all that stuff by aircraft, so it’s moved by ships.”
Northern Border
Quote:The record-shattering surge of migrant crossings in the Swanton Sector continues with the apprehension of more than 2,700 migrants in July. The sector of the U.S.-Canada Border experienced an increase of nearly 200 percent from the same record-setting period one year earlier.
According to the CBP Nationwide Encounters report, during the first ten months of Fiscal Year 24, which began in October 2023, Swanton Sector agents apprehended 15,612 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Canada into Northeastern New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. This is up 197 percent from the 5,257 arrested during the same period in FY23.
During the last three months, agents apprehended nearly 30 percent more migrants than during the entire previous fiscal year.
Border Patrol officials previously told Breitbart Texas that most migrants crossing from Canada into the Swanton Sector are not looking to surrender. Rather, agents must track down and rely on community tips to find the migrants attempting to sneak into the U.S. interior.
In June, Chief Garcia reported that agents apprehended migrants from 85 different countries this fiscal year, Breitbart Texas reported.
The list of nations includes migrants from Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Liberia, Lithuania, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Romania, Russia. Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Taiwan, Togo, Turkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.
In addition to the migrants being smuggled into the U.S., Swanton Sector agents also arrested a Chinese citizen who allegedly attempted to smuggle 28 eastern box turtles out of the U.S.
Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont accused Wan Yee Ng, a 41-year-old Chinese national living in Canada, of loading a duffle bag into an inflatable kayak. Border Patrol agents arrested the Chinese woman on the Vermont bank of Lake Wallace as her husband, and another man set out from the Canadian bank in an inflatable watercraft.
Officials found 29 eastern box turtles individually wrapped in socks inside the duffle bag. Prosecutors stated that the colorful turtles are “especially prized” animals in the foreign pet trade, especially in China.
Russia Collusion Fakes News Makes Its Comeback
Quote:The “Russia collusion” conspiracy theory is back, this time in the form of a memoir by former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, who complains: “I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump.”
Once again, the facts are brushed aside: the fact that Putin did not invade anything while Donald Trump was president; the fact that U.S. forces killed hundreds of Russian mercenaries in Syria under Trump; the fact that Trump slapped sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia; and the fact that Trump held Russia in check while being outwardly polite.
McMaster, long seen as a favorite of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and the anti-Trump establishment, is cashing in on the opportunity Trump gave him, writing a memoir timed for election season that revisits the debunked Russia collusion hoax.
In an excerpt published by the Wall Street Journal, McMaster writes about how he disobeyed Trump’s orders, ostensibly to prevent Putin from using Trump to his own advantage:
About two weeks later, on March 4, 2018, former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury, England, with a banned military-grade nerve agent that was easily traced to Moscow. Russian spy agencies—the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and the military Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU)—were the perpetrators. The use of a nerve agent had placed hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives at risk. It was with this particularly heinous method that Putin had apparently decided to assassinate Skripal, a former KGB double agent who had been imprisoned for 13 years in Russia but was then released by Moscow in an exchange in July 2010, the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.
Just a few days after the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter, a story appeared in the New York Post with the headline “Putin Heaps Praise on Trump, Pans U.S. Politics.” When I walked into the Oval Office that evening, on another matter, the president had a copy of the article and was writing a note to the Russian leader across the page with a fat black Sharpie. He asked me to get the clipping to Putin. I took it with me. When I got home that night, I confided to my wife Katie, “After over a year in this job, I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump.”
News was breaking about the poisoning in England, and I was certain that Putin would use Trump’s annotated clipping to embarrass him and provide cover for the attack. The next morning, I stuck to procedures and gave the clipping to the White House Office of the Staff Secretary, which manages any paper coming into and out of the Oval Office. I asked them to take their time clearing it and to come back to me before sending it to Putin via his embassy in Washington. Later, as evidence mounted that the Kremlin and, very likely, Putin himself had ordered the nerve agent attack on Skripal, I told them not to send it.
The book is called At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House.
McMaster waited more than six years after his firing to release it, right before the 2024 election.
As late as 2022, 72% of Democrats still believed that Russia was responsible for Trump’s victory in 2016. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, armed with a phalanx of left-wing prosecutors and tens of millions of dollars, could find no evidence that Trump, or any other American, had colluded with Russia.
Is Fani Willis About to Lose Her Job?
Quote:Courtney Kramer, a Republican candidate for District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, is pledging to put an end to Fani Willis’s prosecution of rapper Young Thug.
The rapper, whose given name is Jeffery Williams, has spent the last two years in jail on RICO charges as his trial, which started in November of 2023, continues to grind on. In fact, the prosecution has been going on so long, it has now become the longest trial in Georgia state history, according to the website Hot New Hip Hop.
Young Thug was arrested in May of 2022 along with 27 others, all charged with conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO statutes and street gang charges.
But Kramer wants to put an end to all this and set the Grammy-winning rapper free.
In a campaign letter posted to X/Twitter last week, Kramer accused current Democrat DA Fani Willis of “pursuing fame” by even bringing the case in the first place, and she pledged to voters that he would end the case in an effort to “restore justice, transparency, and integrity” to the Office of the District Attorney.
“If I am elected as the next District Attorney of Fulton County, I promise to end this prosecution immediately,” Kramer wrote in her letter. “I challenge my opponent [Fani Willis] to do the same thing, the right thing, and end this prosecution and release the accused in this case who are being held without bond.”
Kramer is not the only Republican insisting that the trial is a face. GOP candidate for president Donald Trump also blasted the case and insisted recently that the rapper was being treated unfairly.
“I heard it from other people that he’s being treated unfairly. So, he’s got to be treated fairly,” Trump told Internet streamer Adin Ross.
The latest in the case is that a new judge has been put in charge after Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville was removed from the case because he improperly took a meeting with prosecutors and a state witness in the case.
Cornell West Must Appear on Michigan's Ballots but Not on Pennsylvania's
Quote:A Michigan judge ruled that independent presidential candidate Cornel West must appear on the state’s ballot.
In a ruling on Saturday shared by the watchdog group Fair Election Fund, Judge James Robert Redford ruled that state officials were “ordered to qualify” West and his running mate, Melina Abdullah, as independent candidates on the Michigan ballot.
Redford wrote in his ruling:
The state defendants are ordered to qualify West and Abdullah as independent candidates for the ballot, on the condition that the Board of State Canvassers does not determine they are disqualified after a review of the signatures on the qualifying petitions and West complies with MCL 168.590d(2).
The Fair Election Fund wrote that “voter suppression efforts” from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had been “overturned in a win for democracy and a loss for Democrats.”
“Judge Redford has just ruled that @CornelWest must be on the ballot in Michigan,” the group wrote in their post.
Redford’s ruling comes after Michigan state election officials denied West ballot access, citing notary issues, according to the Washington Post.
In response, West’s campaign announced that it would be appealing the decision.
“Victory in Michigan! We brought thousands of voices to the table, and the court listened, rejecting the Democrats’ technical challenges,” West wrote in a post on X. “This is a win for democracy and for every person fighting for truth, justice, and love. Onward!”
On Friday, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer ruled that West could not appear on the ballot in the state, siding with the Pennsylvania secretary of state’s office, which had rejected paperwork West had submitted for his candidacy, according to the Washington Examiner.
The secretary of state for Maine recently ruled that West was allowed to appear on the ballot. This came after Maine residents had filed two different challenges regarding West being on the ballot.
More Democrats Than Republicans Hired as Poll Workers
Quote:The Republican National Committee (RNC) is accusing Detroit, Michigan’s election commission of hiring more Democrat than Republican poll workers as the presidential election approaches.
The RNC has slapped the Election Commission of the City of Detroit with a lawsuit that alleges officials broke state law by hiring over seven times more Democrats than Republicans for those roles, Fox News reported on Friday.
The outlet continued:
Michigan requires that the board of election commissioners “shall appoint an equal number, as nearly as possible, of election inspectors in each election precinct from each major political party,” according to Section 168.74 of the state’s election law.
However, the city of Detroit hired about 2,300 Democratic poll workers and only about 300 Republican election inspectors for the state’s 2024 primary election, according to the Detroit Election Commission Report cited in the lawsuit.
In a statement to Fox News, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump stated, “Detroit’s failure to hire Republican poll workers is the kind of bad-faith Democrat interference that drives down faith in elections.”
It is important to note that the RNC and Trump campaign recently surpassed 150,000 poll watchers and workers after setting a goal of 100,000 for their election integrity program, according to Breitbart News:
The RNC and Trump campaign announced the launch of the massive election integrity program earlier in 2024, describing it as the “most extensive and monumental election integrity program in the nation’s history.”
…
Every battleground state will have an election integrity hotline, and with that comes poll watching, which is a massive part of the program. Along with this comes “comprehensive training sessions” every month on election monitoring. In fact, in late July, the GOP celebrated 100 days until the election by holding a nationwide election integrity training event.
In September 2022, the RNC criticized the cities of Kalamazoo and Flint, Michigan, once city leaders appointed significantly fewer Republican election inspectors than Democrats, Breitbart News reported at the time.
“Under Michigan law, local election commissions must hire an equal number of Republican and Democrat poll workers. However, Kalamazoo and Flint officials significantly deviated from this requirement,” the outlet said.
The case is Republican National Committee v. Election Commission of the City of Detroit in the Michigan Circuit Court for the County of Wayne.
Why Didn't Harris Fix Inflation During Biden's Tenure?
Quote:On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Harris Campaign Surrogate Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) responded to criticism that 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t solved the inflation problem during her tenure as Vice President by stating that she’ll “continue to lead as Vice President,” and will “be out there talking about the things that she’s going to do for people.”
Host Kaitlan Collins asked, “[S]he was…talking about a more secure border, talking about tamping down inflation, housing prices, what voters are dealing with. The response that I saw also was, well, she is the Vice President right now, it’s not like she doesn’t have any power, that she’s out of office and saying what she would do. Obviously, being at the top of the ticket and being the president is much different. But what would your response to that criticism be?”
Healey responded, “Well, on immigration, the fault’s really with Congress on this one. They’re the ones who did not act, and they did not act, because Republicans in Congress, once again, bowed down to Trump. So, I think she’s going to continue to lead as Vice President, of course, alongside President Biden. But the game is on. We don’t have many days, many weeks to go, Kaitlan, and every day, I know she’s going to be out there talking about the things that she’s going to do for people. And again, whether you’re talking about health care or reproductive freedom, whether you’re talking about middle-class tax cuts, whether you’re talking about increasing housing, these are things that most Americans support and want, they’re the things that Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz (D) are offering.”
EUROPE
Mass Stabbing Suspect Should Have Been Deported
Quote:The Syrian asylum seeker suspected of killing three and injuring several others at a “festival of diversity” in Germany on Friday reportedly had a deportation order last year, but authorities failed to remove him from the country.
According to information obtained by German paper of record Die Welt, 26-year-old Issa Al H., the Syrian asylum seeker who surrendered himself to police on Saturday after the mass stabbing in Solingen, was supposed to be deported in 2023.
The suspected terrorist had a removal date scheduled to have him sent to Bulgaria, the country where he first entered the European Union, and therefore, under the Dublin regulations, the country where he should have had his asylum claims processed.
However, following his deportation order, Issa Al H. disappeared from his residence in the Western German city of Paderborn. He re-appeared several months later, but rather than removing him, he was reportedly granted “subsidiary protection” for people from countries with civil wars and transferred to a refugee centre in Solingen, where Friday’s attack took place.
While the suspect was apparently not on the radar of police for extremist leanings, the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack in Solingen, claiming that it was intended as an act of revenge against “Christians” for “Muslims in Palestine and around elsewhere.”
The alleged knifeman is also reported to have shouted out the jihadist war cry “Allahu Akbar” during Friday’s attack on the diversity festival, which saw three people killed and eight others injured, including four with life-threatening wounds. The suspected terrorist is said to have specifically targeted the necks of his victims.
The attack has led to increased pressure on the leftist government coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to crack down on mass migration and ramp up deportations.
The leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Friedrich Merz, called for the government to begin deportations to Syria and Afghanistan, which have been halted over safety concerns, and to stop accepting asylum seekers from the countries.
“It’s enough,” Merz wrote, saying: “After the terrorist act in Solingen, it should now be finally clear: it is not the knives that are the problem, but the people who run around with it… In the majority of cases, these are refugees, in the majority of the deeds, there were Islamist motives behind them.”
The CDU leader also called on the government to immediately revoke residence status for any alleged asylum seeker who travels back to their home country after it was revealed that many so-called refugees from Afghanistan had vacationed in their homeland despite supposedly needing asylum from the country.
However, while the centre-right party has been out of power since the end of 2021, some have still cast blame on the party given its role, under former leader Angela Merkel, for “opening the gates” to mass migration from the Middle East and Africa in 2015 and sparking the Europe Migrant Crisis. A sign placed at the memorial in Solingen sarcastically quipped, “Thank you, Angela Merkel Party Greens”.
France: Arson Attack on Synagogue
Quote:France’s acting interior minister ordered police reinforcements to protect Jewish places of worship after a suspected arson attack Saturday on a synagogue in a southwestern Mediterranean town.
Two cars parked at the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort town of La Grande Motte near Montpellier were set ablaze on Saturday morning, injuring a police officer, according to French media reports. It was not immediately clear how many people were inside the synagogue at the time. There are no reports of other injuries.
Acting Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the incident was being treated as an “attempted arson” that is “clearly a criminal act.” One of the cars allegedly contained a propane gas tank, local media reported.
“I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens of my full support and say that at the request of President Emmanuel Macron all means are being mobilized to find the perpetrator,” Darmanin said in a post on X.
He ordered more police deployed at Jewish places of worship around the country following a surge of antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last year.
Darmanin is expected to travel to Le Grand Motte later on Saturday along with France’s acting Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
Quote:A man suspected of trying to set a synagogue ablaze in the southern French city of la Grande-Motte was arrested late Saturday after a shoot out with police, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
About 200 police officers had been hunting for the suspect, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal confirmed earlier, adding the attacker had set fire to several entry doors to the synagogue and several cars nearby, as Breitbart News reported.
Earlier the alleged arsonist had been seen running from the front of the Jewish religious building on foot, his face uncovered, a red keffiyeh on his head.
He was also reportedly wearing a Palestinian flag wrapped around his waist alongside two plastic bottles containing a yellowish liquid in his hands, Le Parisian reports.
Jewish community leader Yonathan Arfi said the incident was “an attempt to kill Jews” and seemed to have been timed to target Saturday morning worshippers.
President Emmanuel Macron said the incident was “a terrorist act.”
BFM TV said the suspect was a 33-year-old Algerian. Local police declined to give further details, Reuters reports.
“Before the police could intervene, (the suspect) opened fire on the (police), which returned fire. The man was wounded in the face,” the office said in a statement describing the moments leading up to the apprehension and arrest.
Two other people were taken into custody after the incident.
A policeman was slightly injured when a gas bottle exploded as police secured the site of the attack on Saturday morning, Attal said.
“This is an antisemitic attack. Once more, our Jewish compatriots are targeted,” Attal said on X.
UK: 2 Stabbings
Quote:The first day of London’s annual Notting Hill Carnival saw at least 38 arrests, multiple knives seized, and a man stabbed, prompting police to enact stop and search powers.
Notting Hill Carnival, the two-day multicultural Afro-Caribbean street party dating back to the 1960s, once again experienced an outbreak of violence as the festivities began on Sunday.
At the time of this reporting, London’s Metropolitan Police said that they made 38 arrests and recovered four knives. In a statement, the police force said that a man believed to be in his 20s was stabbed, though thankfully his injuries are said to not be life-threatening.
“While the majority at today’s event have come to enjoy themselves, a number of people regrettably have not,” the Met said.
The British capital’s police force also announced that a Section 60 order has been put in place in the area until 2 am on Monday, granting officers stop and search powers in the designated zone to “prevent further violence”.
The two-day event, Europe’s largest street festival, will continue on Monday, with around one million expected to attend.
During the Carnival last year, there were 275 arrests, eight people stabbed, and around 80 police officers assaulted, including multiple officers who were sexually assaulted.
Ahead of the street party this weekend, retired Met detective chief inspector Mike Neville told The Telegraph that the Carnival represents the “ultimate in two-tier policing,” alleging that officers are afraid of making too many arrests for fear of being accused of racism.
“If the behaviour of the Notting Hill Carnival was replicated at football matches or any other event, it would be banned,” the former policeman said.
“You see people openly smoking drugs, abuse of police officers, dancing with female officers to the point of sexual assault. I challenge anybody to do the same thing on the way to a Millwall football game.”
Quote:Police arrested four people, three men and a woman, following a stabbing in front of a row of shops in the multicultural British city of Birmingham.
At around 1:25 in the morning on Saturday, a 34-year-old man was attacked at the junction of Dudley Road and Bellefield Road in Birmingham. The man sustained a slashing knife injury and was brought to hospital, where he remains in stable condition.
Footage purporting to have captured the attack was widely shared on social media.
While some had speculated that the victim had been on the street with a child as it appeared that he was pushing a pram, police said this was not the case, saying that the man merely had a “trolley of belongings” and that “no children were involved” in the incident.
Following the attack, West Midlands Police arrested three men aged 34, 29, 26 and a 22-year-old woman, while further information has not been revealed to the public.
The 34-year-old man remains in custody on suspicion of attempted murder, while the woman and the 26-year-old were released with no further action planned. The 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged with unrelated offences, the police said.
West Midlands Police said that it was “aware of video circulating on social media showing the incident and it is being examined as part of our enquiry.”
The force said that detectives believe that the attack was an isolated incident and are not currently looking for any other suspects.
Italy Will Investigate Superyacht Sinking
Quote:Prosecutors in Italy said Saturday they have opened an investigation into culpable shipwreck and multiple manslaughter after a superyacht capsized during a storm off the coast of Sicily, killing seven people onboard. They included British tech magnate Mike Lynch and his daughter.
Termini Imerese prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed the investigation has been launched, but said no suspect is currently identified.
“We are only in the initial phase of the investigation. We can’t exclude any sort of development at present,” he told reporters at a news conference.
Cartosio said his team will carefully consider each possible element of responsibility, including those of the ship’s captain, the crew, individuals in charge of supervision, the ship-builder and others.
“For me, it is probable that offences were committed, that it could be a case of manslaughter, but we can only establish that if you give us the time to investigate,” he said.
The main question investigators are focusing on is how a sailing vessel deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.
Prosecutors said the event was “extremely rapid” and information they gained seemed pointing to a “downburst,” a localised, powerful wind that descends from a thunderstorm and spreads out rapidly upon hitting the ground.
Initially, Civil protection officials said they believe the yacht, which featured a distinctive 75-meter (246-feet) aluminum mast, was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout.
Investigators were also asked why the crew was almost entirely saved, except for the chef, while six passengers remained trapped in the hull.
Local official confirmed that most of the bodies recovered were found in the same part of the ship, close to the exit, suggesting that passengers had tried to get out.
Deputy Prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano said it was likely that the passengers were asleep, adding that one of the main focus of the investigation is to ascertain whether they were alerted by someone.
Cammarano confirmed that one person was on watch in the cockpit.
Rescuers on Friday brought ashore the last of seven bodies from the sinking of The Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged luxury yacht that went down in a storm near the Mediterranean island in southern Italy early Monday. The sailboat was carrying a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers.
Ukraine War: 5 Killed in Russia
Quote:Five people died in Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, officials said Sunday, while Russian forces struck a hotel in eastern Ukraine, leaving one journalist missing and two others injured.
Twelve other people were wounded in the Russian village of Rakitone, 38 kilometers (23 miles) from the Ukrainian border, including a 16-year-old girl reported to be in critical condition, said regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Russian forces struck a hotel overnight in the city of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, injuring two people and leaving one trapped under the rubble, regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said. All three were reported to be journalists from Ukraine, the U.S., and the U.K.
Reuters news agency said Sunday that their journalist covering the war in Ukraine was missing and two other team members were hospitalized after Hotel Sapphire, where a six-person crew was staying, was hit “by an apparent missile strike” on Saturday. “One of our colleagues is unaccounted for, while another two have been taken to hospital for treatment,” the agency said.
The rest of the team has been accounted for, said the news agency.
In addition to the hotel, a nearby multistory building was also destroyed, Filashkin said, and rescuers were busy clearing the debris at the site.
Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region also came under Russian fire, resulting in multiple civilian injuries, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
In Kharkiv’s Chuhuiv region, five people were injured, including a 4-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, after two houses were struck by Russian fire. In Kharkiv city, eight people were wounded when a two-story house was set on fire by a Russian attack.
In Balakliia, a Russian strike destroyed six houses and damaged others. A 55-year-old man was injured. In the Kupiansk area, a house was set on fire by a Russian attack, wounding four women.
MIDDLE EAST
IDF's Preemptive Strike Against Hezbollah
Quote:The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced early Sunday morning local time that it had launched a preemptive strike on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon to thwart a major imminent attack by the Iran-backed terror group.
Residents of northern Israel were advised to enter bomb shelters and “safe rooms” in their homes in anticipation of a response by Hezbollah. Israel’s missile defense system, notably the Iron Dome, was said to be intercepting rockets.
Israel’s Army Radio reported that residents were being advised to take shelter even in cities relatively far from the northern border, such as the port city of Haifa, which is in the north of the country but typically safe from rockets.
The Home Front Command prohibited public gatherings of over 130 people, from the Tel Aviv region northwards.
In a statement in Hebrew, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the military had detected that Hezbollah was about to fire a large barrage of rockets and missiles into Israel. Therefore, he said, the Israel Air Force (IAF) had taken preemptive action. A response was expected from Hezbollah, and therefore he said that residents of the north should enter safe rooms for at least ten minutes. He stressed that Israel’s defenses were “not hermetic.”
Israel’s Army Radio reported that Hezbollah acknowledged that it had been about to attack, but claimed that it had, in fact, done so, prior to the Israeli airstrikes.
A more comprehensive briefing was expected.
Update: Hagari said in a public statement that the IDF would attack Hezbollah “throughout Lebanon,” not just in the south as necessary. He repeated the restrictions on public gathering, and added that the Home Front Command had said people should not go to work in the northern region if they were far from a bomb shelter. “The defense is not hermetic, and therefore you should continue to listen to instructions from the Home Front Command,” he said.
Hagari concluded by saying that the IDF would do whatever was necessary to defend the citizens of Israel.
He added that Ben-Gurion airport had been closed but would reopen at 7 a.m. local time. He said that it would close again if necessary.
Asked whether the U.S. had provided intelligence that led to the preemptive strike, Hagari did not answer directly but said that Israel was cooperating with the U.S., and noted the arrival in the region Saturday of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman U.S. Air Force General Charles Q. Brown.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would convene his security cabinet at the “Kirya,” the main IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, at 7:00 a.m. Defense minister Yoav Gallant said that he had spoken with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and agreed on the need to avoid a broader regional escalation (presumably, involving Iran.)
IDF Reveals Reason For Attacking Hezbollah
Quote:The New York Times reported Saturday evening that Hezbollah had planned to hit Tel Aviv with missiles at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning Israel time, which is why the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a pre-dawn preemptive strike.
The Times’ Ronen Bergman reported:
Israel’s preemptive attack was aimed at missile launchers in Lebanon that had been programmed to be fired at 5 a.m. in the direction of Tel Aviv, according to a Western intelligence official. The official said that all the launchers that were targeted were destroyed and that Israel was anticipating a harsh response from Hezbollah.
As Breitbart News reported, the IDF launched a large preemptive strike early Sunday morning local time, preempting what it said was a major imminent attack by Hezbollah. Israeli authorities urged residents of the northern half of the country, from Tel Aviv northwards, to stay near bomb shelters and safe rooms, and prohibited public gatherings of more than 130 people as a precaution. It said people should feel free to go to work if they were near available shelters.
A major response is expected from Hezbollah, and Israel’s political and military leaders are reportedly gathering in the “Kirya,” the main IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.
According to Israel’s Army Radio, Hezbollah claimed that it had, in fact, struck first and was not surprised by Israel.
The Hezbollah attack could have been the long-anticipated response to Israel’s killing last month of the terror group’s second-in-command, Fuad Shukr.
Hezbollah Hit a Chicken Coop
Quote:Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror organization that controls much of Lebanon, is being widely mocked after claiming on Sunday that it was attacking military targets in Israel, but hitting a chicken coop and little else.
As Breitbart News reported, Israel launched a preemptive strike on thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers early Sunday morning after concluding that Hezbollah was about to launch hundreds of rockets, including Tel Aviv among its targets.
Hezbollah did launch several hundred rockets and drones. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that the attack was meant to be a retaliation for Israel’s killing of second-in-command, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut last month.
Hezbollah also claimed that Israel had not preempted anything — which also confirmed Israel’s suspicions that an attack had been imminent.
With 100 Israeli aircraft participating in the mission, a significant portion of the Hezbollah rockets were prevented from being launched, and Israel’s missile defense system took care of the rest.
But one, apparently, hit a chicken coop.
Israel Hayom reported that Nasrallah was being mocked by on social media, including in the Arab world, for his exaggerations, and for offering what amounted to a very flimsy retaliation against Israel.
Another Victim of Houthi Attacks
Quote:The Greek-flagged oil tanker MV Sounion was left adrift and burning in the Red Sea on Wednesday after multiple attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen.
The Sounion has a 25-man crew and was carrying about 150,000 tons of crude oil through the Red Sea, en route from Basra, Iraq, to the port of Agioi Theodoroi in Greece. The vessel is operated by the Athens-based Delta Tankers company, which has seen two other ships attacked by the Houthis during their terror campaign against Red Sea shipping.
Two small boats full of armed men approached the tanker as it passed about 77 nautical miles west of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah on Wednesday morning. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center said the crew of the Sounion exchanged small arms fire with the attackers.
Later on Wednesday morning, multiple projectiles launched from near Hodeidah targeted the tanker, probably either ballistic missiles or explosive-packed drones. The attack started a fire aboard the Sounion and caused it to lose engine power.
According to Delta Tankers, the tanker’s crew was able to extinguish the fire before abandoning the ship. The vessel made a distress call to the European Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) in the region, which dispatched a warship to assist the Sounion.
The EUNAVFOR ship reported targeting and destroying an unmanned surface vessel (USV) — or drone boat — which “posed an imminent threat to the ship and the crew.”
The crew was evacuated safely and taken to the nearest safe port of Djibouti. The Sounion was left adrift for several hours, but its anchor was eventually lowered.
EUNAVFOR warned on Thursday morning:
Carrying 150.000 tonnes of crude oil, the MV Sounion now represents a navigational and environmental hazard. It is essential that everyone in the area exercises caution and refrains from any actions that could lead to a deterioration of the current situation.
The Houthis took responsibility for the attack on Thursday, claiming a Western ship was “violating a blockade on vessels heading to Israel” and was left “adrift due to waves after it malfunctioned because of strikes.” The Houthi statement did not identify the Sounion by name.
Greek Shipping Minister Christos Sytlianidis condemned the attack as a “flagrant violation of international law and a serious threat to the safety of international shipping.”
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
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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
