Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/13/2025
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and deported more than 400 undocumented immigrants in the Houston area last week. Meanwhile, ICE and its law enforcement partners apprehended 189 illegal aliens in and around Washington, D.C. from May 6 to May 9.
In other news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Vladimir Putin of being “scared” to meet him for talks in Turkey.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Daniel Greenfield, Dean, Dora, JW, LP, MM, Reader from Chicago, Roger, Wilson, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. I check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
JP Morgan has lowered its prediction that the US will plunge into recession to “below 50 percent” as the Trump administration struck a deal with China for both countries to lower their tariffs for the next 90 days.
The firm had previously predicted that there was a 60 percent chance of recession taking place in 2025, but said on Tuesday in the wake of the deal with China, “The administration’s recent dialing down of some of the more draconian tariffs placed on China should reduce the risk that the U.S. economy slips into recession this year. We believe recession risks are still elevated, but now below 50%,” JPMorgan Chief US Economist Michael Feroli wrote.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
he Prague Stock Exchange reached a new all-time high on Monday, buoyed by investor optimism following an interim trade agreement between the United States and China. The PX index rose 1.04 percent to close at 2,168.26 points, according to official data from the exchange website.
“Today’s positive mood of investors, brought about by the agreement between the USA and China on the reduction of tariffs, also benefited the Prague Stock Exchange,” said Vladimir Vavra, a broker at Wood & Company, as cited by Echo24.
Trading volume was robust, totaling approximately CZK 885 million (€35.4 million) — well above average for the local market. More than two-thirds of that activity was concentrated in banking sector stocks, which led the gains.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher Tuesday for a second straight day after softer-than-expected inflation numbers added to investor optimism from Monday when the U.S. and China announced a trade truce.
The Dow fell, however, weighted down by a steep slide in UnitedHealth’s shares after the insurance bellwether suspended its annual forecast and its CEO stepped down.
On the data front, U.S. consumer prices rebounded moderately in April, with headline inflation increasing 0.2% last month after dipping 0.1% in March. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that the CPI would rise 0.3%.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. consumer prices rebounded moderately in April, but came in below expectations at 2.3% for the trailing 12 months.
Inflation, however, is expected to pick up in the months as tariffs boost the cost of imported goods.
The consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.2% last month after dipping 0.1% in March, which was the first decline since May 2020, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In Duplin County, NC an alleged intruder trying to break through a back door with an axe died after homeowners opened fire, shooting him numerous times.
WITN reported that the incident occurred Sunday morning around 6:30 a.m.
[Comment: File this under positive news.]
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Karmelo Anthony, the 17-year-old who has been charged with the killing of fellow high schooler Austin Metcalf at a Texas track meet in April, has reportedly been told that he will be allowed to graduate from high school.
Anthony’s spokesman Dominque Alexander told the Daily Mail, “We are in arrangements of doing an early graduation. They have agreed to allow him to graduate.” Anthony is a student at Centennial High School.
In the wake of an April 17 press conference held by Alexander and Anthony’s family, the school district said that Anthony would be allowed to graduate. Anthony, however, will not be allowed to participate in the school’s May 22 graduation or walk the stage with his fellow classmates.
Alexander said, “We’re not asking for accommodations. We’re not asking for him to be part of any activities or anything.” He claimed that Anthony had a 3.7 GPA at the time of the stabbing, which was high enough to graduate without completing any more school work.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A forthcoming book from CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson has revealed that advisors had discussed in private the possibility of Joe Biden requiring a wheelchair if he won another term in the White House.
The authors wrote in the book Original Sin, “Biden’s physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t do so until after the election,” per Axios.
Biden’s physician Kevin O’Connor also said privately that given Biden’s age, “If he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,” the book stated.
Biden’s aides believed that Biden using a wheelchair during his re-election campaign would have been politically untenable.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The first of May for most people means flowers and springtime, but for Communists it’s May Day, a time to wear red, scrawl something on a poster and shout at people at a big rally.
And perhaps block traffic.
May Day 2025 is being billed as a major protest turnout event. In New York City, the Democratic Socialists of America, the Communist Party, a few useless unions, and Bend the Arc will be rallying in the streets to “stop the billionaire takeover”. Since Bend the Arc is run and funded by Alex Soros, a billionaire scion notorious for his Hampton parties, the takeover is already here.
George Soros, Alex’s dad, put his billions to work building up the American Left.
The Working Families Party, which benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars in Soros money for its candidates, is another participant in the May Day anti-billionaire rallies. Its Instagram motto is “in this house we bully billionaires.” A video put out by WFP claims that the fight is “regular folk against the ultra wealthy” and warns against a “government run by billionaires.” That didn’t seem to be a problem when Soros handed out $20 million to a WFP coalition or when his pro-crime Justice and Public Safety PAC made the WFP’s New York party its third largest recipient of campaign cash in the 2020 election cycle or when the same Soros PAC provided $700,000 to the campaign of a pro-crime WFP prosecutor in Texas.
The WFP doesn’t bully billionaires: it’s wholly owned by a family of billionaires.
Former President Joe Biden had forgotten the names of a host of people — lawmakers, fundraisers, foreign dignitaries — midway through his final term as president, including two longtime White House aides, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
The Post cited the upcoming book titled “Original Sin” that is set to be released May 20.
The book chronicles how Biden’s mental acuity had begun to wane as far as back as the 2020 presidential campaign. By December 2022, however, Biden could not recall the names of national security adviser Jake Sullivan and White House spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield, according to the book.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s North American branch, the parent company of Bud Light, said on Monday that the company would be investing $300 million into its manufacturing in the United States as there has been a push from the Trump administration to reshore manufacturing jobs.
Anheuser-Busch, which is based in Missouri, said that it has invested around $2 billion into 100 facilities around the country over the last five years. However, the company has also announced the construction of a new plant that will be located in Columbus, Ohio, according to a press release from the company.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
An encounter between US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and political commentator Hasan Piker at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is prompting renewed concern over the government’s handling of US citizens at ports of entry.
Piker, who was returning from France on Sunday, says he was held for close to two hours and questioned about his political views, including his opinions on President Donald Trump and armed groups in the Middle East.
Piker, a US citizen and well-known online commentator, recounted the incident on his Twitch livestream the next day, describing a prolonged secondary screening in which a CBP officer repeatedly brought up designated terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Houthis. According to Piker, the questioning centered on whether he supported them or viewed them as resistance organizations. He said he told the officer that he is a pacifist and opposes violence.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
House Democrats erupted into fury and profane invective Tuesday as Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) forced a vote on his rogue efforts to impeach President Trump.
The vote could be tough for many Democrats, who feel impeachment is politically foolish but are facing demands from their grassroots to mirror Trump’s shock-and-awe tactics.
Thanedar took to the House floor Tuesday afternoon to notice his seven articles of impeachment as privileged, which forces the House to vote on them within two legislative days.
“This is the dumbest f***ing thing. Utterly selfish behavior,” said a third House Democrat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about a colleague.
| — Hat tip: LP | [Return to headlines] |
A FUMING driver has been charged a hefty fee every time he parks in his own driveway.
The city’s parking law has already cost the driver $160 this year.
The California driver, James Huffaker, said the city has been charging him an $80 fee every time he parks in his own driveway.
“Nobody’s ever been impacted by us parking, except the city and they’re impacted because they get $80 every time we park there,” he told NBC affiliate KNSD.
In San Diego, where Huffaker lives, much of the city’s housing was military housing that was built during the 1950s.
During that time, houses were fitted with short driveways to accommodate smaller vehicles of that era.
Out of curiosity, Huffaker took the time to measure the length of his driveway from the sidewalk to the garage door — only 13.1 feet.
To put it in comparison, a standard single-car driveway is typically 18 to 20 feet long
| — Hat tip: Dora | [Return to headlines] |
Nearly one year after 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine was shot outside Garfield High School, his family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Seattle Public Schools (SPS), alleging systemic security failures and negligence led to his killing.
Murphy-Paine, a varsity football player who was just days from graduating, was shot multiple times on June 6, 2024 while trying to break up a fight during lunchtime outside the school. Despite a year-long investigation, no arrests have been made in connection with his death.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in King County Superior Court by his father and estate representative, Arron Murphy-Paine, along with Amarr’s mother, stepmother, and brother, argues that the school district failed in its legal obligation to protect students. The family claims that Amarr’s death was a foreseeable consequence of relaxed security measures, citing the school’s open-campus policy and a history of gun violence in the surrounding Central District neighborhood.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Federal and local authorities have launched a joint investigation into an attempted arson attack that occurred on Saturday at a Tesla dealership in Vallejo, California. Agents with the the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) are working to determine if the incident was an act of “domestic terrorism.” Authorities first responded to reports of vandalism, police said.
The incident occurred around 12:50 am on May 10 at the Tesla dealership located in the 1000 block of Admiral Callaghan Lane. Vallejo police officers responded to the scene and later notified the FBI and Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. health regulators announced plans Tuesday to phase out fluoride-containing supplements sometimes used to strengthen children’s teeth, opening a new front in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s effort against a mainstay of dental care.
The Food and Drug Administration said it will conduct a scientific review of the products by late October with the aim of removing them from the market. It was not immediately clear whether the agency planned to formally ban the supplements or simply request that companies withdraw them.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Legislators in the US state of Florida have shot down a bid to introduce a law that would have mandated encryption backdoors.
The outcome of the effort — known as SB 868: Social Media Use by Minors — means that the backdoors would have allowed encryption to be weakened in this fundamental way affecting all platforms where minors might choose to open an account.
As the fear-mongering campaign against encryption is being reiterated over and over again, it’s worth repeating — there is no known way of undermining encryption for any one category of users, without leaving the entire internet open and at the mercy of anything from government spies, to plain criminals.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday reportedly dismissed two top officials on the National Intelligence Council, as part of her effort to curb the “politicization” of the intelligence community.
Gabbard in April highlighted her efforts to depoliticize the community, along with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, which included revoking security clearances of Biden administration officials and referring leakers of classified information to the Justice Department for prosecution.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Harvard University President Alan Garber sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon Monday asking for the ability to address issues on campus, such as antisemitism and discrimination, without federal oversight, prompting the Trump administration to revoke additional grants from the school Tuesday.
Garber’s letter highlighted Harvard’s shared interest in tackling discrimination but argued that the administration’s recent decision to cut over $2 billion in federal grants from the school — due to its alleged failure to protect Jewish students and continued use of affirmative action policies — harmed its independence and ability to institute change. While Garber recently promised to address the problems identified by the Department of Education (ED), he declined to bend the knee to the department’s prior demands, stating the school had its own plan for dealing with the situation, resulting in the administration cutting an additional $450 million in federal grants.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Rhode Island federal judge who blocked President Trump’s sweeping freeze on federal assistance earlier this year has been slapped with a complaint from a conservative legal group alleging that he could benefit from his decision.
Providence US District Judge John McConnell sat on the board of Crossroads Rhode Island, a homeless services provider that has benefited from federal assistance, from 2006 to at least 2023, the nonprofit’s tax records show. Between 2011 and 2021, the judge served as the board’s chairman.
America First Legal, which began digging into McConnell’s past after he issued a preliminary injunction halting Trump’s freeze earlier this year, argued in a complaint filed to the Boston-based 1st Circuit Court of Appeals that the judge’s ties to Crossroads pose a conflict of interest.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Two Trump officials tasked with undertaking work at the Library of Congress were blocked by staffers of that branch on Monday after President Donald Trump fired the head librarian on Friday. A source further told The New York Times that staffers were refusing to recognize Trump-appointed Todd Blanche as acting librarian of Congress.
President Trump fired Carla Hayden as head over wokeness and installed his former personal attorney and Assistant AG Blanche to head up the Library of Congress. Blanche sent two Justice Department Officials over to the Library of Congress on Monday with a letter letting administrators know that Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves would be heading up the US Copyright Office.
Library of Congress staffers refused to let the men in and called US Capitol Police. The library’s General Counsel Meg Williams asked them to leave and told them they would be denied access to the Copyright Office. Staff, the Times said, “is recognizing Robert Newlen, the principal deputy librarian who was Dr. Hayden’s No. 2, as the acting librarian until it gets direction from Congress.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
PORTLAND, Ore. (WKRC) — A man was sentenced for stabbing a lottery winner 15 times after following him home, then falling asleep at the victim’s kitchen table instead of escaping with the money.
According to court documents obtained by local outlet KGW, the victim won $2,000 at a lottery machine in Montana’s Bar in Portland on the night of Aug. 18, 2024. At some point after winning, 62-year-old Pablo Figueroa reportedly introduced himself to the winner.
After the victim left the bar, Figueroa reportedly followed him on foot all the way back to his apartment, which was multiple blocks away. Figueroa slipped through the victim’s security gate before it could close, and tackled him into his apartment as soon as he opened the front door.
According to local outlet KPTV, Figueroa punched the victim multiple times while ordering him to hand over money. Even though the victim reportedly gave his assailant multiple hundreds of dollars, Figueroa took out a knife and stabbed the victim a total of 15 times across his face, chest, and arms. The victim realized things were looking grim and decided to play dead, eventually blacking out, per KGW.
The victim said he woke up to the sound of snoring and realized that Figueroa was still in his apartment — and was currently taking a nap at his kitchen table. He expressed his disbelief in an interview with The Oregonian:
“Mr. Figueroa had the money and could have left my apartment, but instead decided to sit at my kitchen table and watch me die,” the victim said.
The victim escaped his apartment and called police, but the apartment was empty by the time officers arrived. Authorities quickly obtained access to the building’s security cameras and realized that Figueroa still hadn’t left the building. He was soon found hiding in the complex’ garbage room. Police found blood on his pants and $624 in cash on him, and later found the pocketknife used on the victim in a cat’s litter box.
| — Hat tip: Roger | [Return to headlines] |
Alongside US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer on Monday, McDonald’sannounced that it plans to hire up to 375,000 workers over the summer.
The company and Chavez-DeRemer celebrated McDonald’s 10-year anniversary of its “Archways to Opportunity” program, in which tuition assistance is provided to employees as well as assistance in achieving other education goals, such as earning a high school degree, per CNBC.
The announcement was the company’s biggest hiring goal in years. For comparison, the company set out to hire 260,000 workers as it was reopening dining rooms in 2020. The company aims to add 900 domestic locations by 2027.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Somewhere deep in the bowels of Nintendo’s legal dungeon, a team of lawyers got together and decided that merely banning you from playing online wasn’t enough punishment for daring to touch your own hardware.
No, that was too quaint. Starting May 2025, thanks to a delightfully dystopian update to the Nintendo User Account Agreement, your beloved Switch, or its yet-to-be-born sibling, the Switch 2, can now be executed remotely. Not locked, not banned. Bricked. Kaput.
This new policy update quietly slipped into the user agreement like an eviction notice under your door at midnight, was spotted last week by Game File. It details a new standard of corporate punishment: if you so much as look at the internals of your console the wrong way, Nintendo might just euthanize it.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Summary:
Some highlights of President Trump’s lengthy speech before the US-Saudi Investment Forum, wherein he frequently praised his Saudi host crown prince Mohammad bin Salman and advanced peace through deal-making…
The stock market is “gonna go a lot higher.” He said “People should have listened. We’ve never had anything like this,” and he cited the “explosion of investment and jobs.” Business executives “weren’t that happy when they saw me,” a month ago, but changed their tune as markets rose,” Trump added.
“We are rocking: The United States is the hottest country, with the exception of your country,” Trump said, pointing to MbS in the front row before him.
Saudi Arabia as Global Business/Tech Hub
“Mohammed do you sleep at night? How do you sleep?” he said, addressing the crown prince. “Critics doubted it was possible, what you’ve done, but over the past eight years, Saudi Arabia has proved the critics totally wrong.”
“…Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves, the people that are right here, the people that have lived here all their lives, developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions and charting your own destinies in your own way.”
Silence befell the crowd as Trump said that it was his “fervent wish” that Saudi Arabia “will soon be joining the Abraham Accords” — but he ultimately conceded that the kingdom will do it in “it’s own time”.
“It will be a special day in the Middle East, with the whole world watching, when Saudi Arabia joins us. And you’ll be greatly honoring me, and you’ll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East. And I really think it’s going to be something special — but you’ll do it in your own time. And that’s what I want, and that’s what you want, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ed Martin Jr., who will be the Justice Department’s new pardon attorney after President Donald Trump pulled his nomination to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, said Tuesday that he plans to scrutinize pardons that former President Joe Biden issued on his way out of the White House.
“These are big moments, and so they have to be able to withstand scrutiny,” Martin told reporters on Tuesday, his last full day as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses in January on his last day in office. He also pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Trump administration has slashed regulations concerning standards over the width of shower heads, bans on a swath of gas stoves, as well as other regulations for standards ruling over other household appliances that were imposed by the Department of Energy. This also comes as EPA head Lee Zeldin is taking aim at start-stop technology in cars, or the system that automatically turns off a car when it is stopped at a light to save gas.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Energy Department took sweeping actions on Monday to slash dozens of regulations for household appliances from dishwashers to dryers that were issued under former President Joe Biden. The regulations included restricted sales on certain types of gas stoves, faucets, shower heads, and microwaves.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has said that the Biden-era policies regarding the targeting of citizens over “concerning non-criminal behavior” have to end and referred to them as an abuse of power with respect to federal intelligence agencies.
On Monday, Gabbard told Just the News that former President Joe Biden’s efforts to investigate “domestic terrorism” included the weaponization of the FBI “against everyday Americans whose ‘offense’ was supporting President Trump or daring to disagree with or oppose their policies.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The University of Washington’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB) has been targeted in a second wave of destruction, less than a week after a violent antisemitic occupation left behind over $1 million in damages in its wake. Scheduled plans to reopen sections of the building this week have been abruptly delayed due to the latest attack.
Vandals smashed windows and scrawled “Boeing kills” on the building. The aerospace giant donated $10 million to help finance the construction of the brand-new $100 million facility. Pro-Hamas activists have targeted Boeing because it sells weapons to Israel and other countries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Northern Virginia man was sentenced last week to more than 30 years in prison for providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and ISIS.
Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, 35, of Springfield, was sentenced May 7 to 364 months.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, from 2019 through 2022, Chhipa collected and sent money to female ISIS members in Syria to benefit ISIS in various ways, including by financing the escape of female ISIS members from prison camps and supporting ISIS fighters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The online version of the British newspaper The Telegraph is running a series of essays this week, all dedicated to Europe’s demographic crisis. Countries across the Old Continent all face the existential problem of low birth rates and, thus, aging populations.
Political Director to the Prime Minister of Hungary Balazs Orban was among the distinguished experts who shared his views on the matter with The Telegraph. Hungary’s Fidesz government, in power since 2010, has been quite a success story on that front: the country’s birth rate rose from just 1.25 births per woman in 2010 to 1.52 by 2022, above the EU average.
As Balazs Orban points out in his piece, all this took place while the liberal elite across the world vehemently argued that mass migration is the answer to the demographic challenges.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Far-left activists in Brussels have continued their intimidation campaign against the conservative think tank MCC Brussels. The campaign aims to force conference venues around the European capital to close their doors to one of the very few right-wing organizations that speak out on behalf of the already limited freedom of speech and plurality in the EU.
This time, the Antifa activists targeted the Stanhope Hotel, the venue of MCC Brussels’ upcoming event about how President Trump has been reshaping the global order. The event is planned for Wednesday, May 14th, and includes as speakers an associate professor from Cambridge and the chair of the Edmund Burke foundation, as well as a former undersecretary in the Italian foreign ministry.
Typical Nazis, right? Well, the Antifa certainly thinks so, as the vandals covered the hotel’s entrance with eggs and graffiti on Tuesday morning, just one day before the event, in what they regard as protesting the ‘extreme right.’
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The European Commission is analysing the trade deal struck between the US and the UK for implications for the 27-nation European Union and global trade, European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said.
Washington and Britain announced a deal to lower tariffs on some goods on May 8, with US levies on cars and steel being cut and both sides gaining better access to agriculture markets.
“We are currently closely analysing the content … to assess its … potential implications particularly as regards any effects on EU interests or the global broader global trade environment,” Dombrovskis said on May 12.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Washington can no longer ignore the political repression under Donald Tusk-led Polish government, nor the EU’s censorship rules that threaten free speech both in Poland and the U.S.
Jim Jordan, the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives, along with four other congressmen, has sent a letter to Michael McGrath, the EU Commissioner for Justice and Rule of Law, to condemn these practices and demand urgent action from Brussels.
In the letter obtained by the europeanconservative.com, dated Tuesday, May 13th, the congressmen stated that they were writing to McGrath
to express concern about recent allegations that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government is weaponizing Poland’s justice system to target and censor political opponents … [and] how these allegations affect the potential that Europe’s censorship regime will affect free speech in the United States.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On May 13th, the European Parliament hosted a historic event titled ‘The End of World War II and the Crimes of Communism,’ a conference organized by Croatian MEP Stephen Nikola Bartulica, member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. The event served as a platform to denounce the atrocities committed by communist regimes after the end of WWII , with special attention to the crimes perpetrated in former Yugoslavia and, in particular, in Croatia. The event marked a milestone for the cause of the victims of communism and posed a moral challenge to European institutions: to confront the crimes of the 20th century without double standards, and in defense of memory, justice, and freedom.
Under the banner of memory and justice, the day brought together historians, victims, and relatives of those repressed by the Yugoslav communist regime. Topics addressed included the massacres of Bleiburg and the ‘Way of the Cross,’ religious persecution, and the case of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, as well as the repressive intelligence operations of the UDBA (Yugoslav secret police), including extraterritorial acts.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Paris court has found French movie star Gérard Depardieu guilty of sexual assault.
The actor received an 18-month suspended prison sentence the morning of May 13 for sexual violence against two women in 2021.
In response to the verdict, Depardieu’s lawyer said he would appeal the decision.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
National Rally leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella lead the field of prospective candidates to replace French President Emmanuel Macron when he is termed out in 2027.
A poll conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion (Ifop) for Le Figaro, which surveyed the indicators of candidates voters “wish” to run in the upcoming presidential election and those whom they expect to be in the race.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
French left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has accused the US border control agency of becoming “a political police” following detention of an American left-wing Twitch streamer.
Mélenchon’s comments followed claims from the US streamer Hasan Piker that he was detained by US border agents and questioned about his political views and Donald Trump upon his return to the US from Paris.
Known online as HasanAbi, while in Paris Piker met with Mélenchon, whom he interviewed live on his Twitch channel.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A self-declared “king” of Germany and three of his senior “subjects” have been arrested and their group banned for attempting to overthrow the state.
Peter Fitzek, 59, was among those arrested in morning raids across seven states on Tuesday, which involved about 800 security personnel.
The government banned their group, the Reichsbürger, or “citizens of the Reich”, which seeks to establish the Königreich Deutschland, or “Kingdom of Germany”.
Alexander Dobrindt, German’s interior minister, accused the group of attempting to “undermine the rule of law” by creating an alternative state and spreading “antisemitic conspiracy narratives to back up their supposed claim to authority”.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have split over the question of cooperating politically with the hard-left party Die Linke.
While the CDU has maintained a longstanding ban on any political cooperation with Die Linke, some within the party have begun to question this stance.
Die Linke was the direct successor of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the Marxist-Leninist party which governed East Germany before the end of the Cold War.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s state TV station ZDF has come in for criticism after one of its hosts leaked the identity of a prominent anonymous YouTube personality on air.
On May 9, Jan Böhmermann, host of the late night programme “ZDF Magazin Royale”, presented the result of investigations his programme conducted jointly with Left-Liberal national newspaper Die Zeit into the identity of the person behind the YouTube channel “Clownswelt” (Clown’s World).
Clonswelt, hosted by an anonymous YouTuber using the name Clownie, frequently ridicules left-wing politicians and mainstream media, including Germany’s state broadcasters.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Surveillance of Alternative für Deutschland party officials violates laws protecting politicians from state persecution and is “endangering democracy”, AfD leader Björn Höcke argued on Monday.
Earlier this month, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, a political spy agency, under the direction of the now former far-left Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, classified the anti-mass migration AfD party as a “right-wing extremist” organisation over its stance against the open borders agenda of the Berlin establishment.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Heating bills for Hungarian households could rise by as much as three and a half times if the European Union moves forward with a full ban on Russian natural gas imports, according to a new report by the Szazadvég Institute, as cited by Magyar Hirlap.
The economic research group estimates such a move would impose nearly HUF 1,100 billion (approximately €2.8 billion) in additional annual costs on Hungary, putting severe pressure on both the country’s energy system and its citizens.
According to Szazadvég, their calculations — based on publicly available domestic and international energy data — show that a total ban on Russian energy imports would result in a doubling of gas prices and heightened volatility on European energy markets. This would not only harm the EU’s competitiveness but also destabilize Hungary’s long-standing utility bill reduction program, which currently ensures some of the lowest heating costs in Europe for Hungarian families.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Ireland is preparing to grant police new powers to deploy facial recognition tools, with legislation expected as early as this summer. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has made clear his intention to press ahead with the plan, which would legalize the use of retrospective facial recognition (RFR) by Gardai, a move that has reignited privacy concerns across the country.
RFR technology allows authorities to scan pre-recorded video to identify individuals after an incident has taken place. It has already seen use in the UK, despite longstanding concerns over surveillance overreach.
O’Callaghan defended the proposal during a local broadcast interview, using the example of two retired Garda officers who were called back into service to manually comb through footage from the 2023 Dublin riots. He dismissed the process as antiquated, calling it a poor use of resources when more advanced options exist.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Authored by Joe Baron via DailySceptic.org
According to David Betz, Professor of War in the Modern World at King’s College London, many of the preconditions for civil war exist in Britain today.
Using academic studies on social cohesion, civil war causation theory and social attitudes surveys, he argues that the following preconditions are in place: elite overreach, factional polarization, a collapse in trust, economic pressures, and the perceived downgrading of the majority population in a previously homogeneous society, are all present in contemporary Britain.
The current dynamics, he continues, point to an emerging conflict between radicalized factions within the Muslim community and an incipient nativist white nationalism. Professor Betz goes on to claim — using the Maoist model that divides insurgencies into three phases — that the nativists are in phase one, the so-called defensive phase in which the group begins to organize, disseminate propaganda and build a conscious community of followers.
Islamists, on the other hand, are in phase two — when violent attacks occur on a semi-regular basis, a military structure is being developed, but they are not yet strong enough to challenge the state’s monopoly on violence. (Professor Betz believes that, due to the absence of clear geographic divisions between the antagonists, Britain is unlikely to reach phase three — the offensive phase. This is when the insurgent groups are strong enough to challenge government forces.)
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A bombshell new report has found over 400 Isis jihadis have returned to the UK and have avoided facing justice.
Fighters for the terror group are thought to have returned after travelling to the Middle East.
Isis, also known as Daesh or IS, committed widespread campaigns of terror, murder, and rape in lands across Syria and Iraq.
Now, a new report has warned that none of the supporters of the group who had made their way back to the UK had been successfully prosecuted.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The European Investment Bank (EIB) was now for the first time funding “purely military projects”, said its president May 12.
The EIB had entered the military market despite considering it “unfortunate”, as “we are all aware that the EU is a peace project”, Nadia Calviño told a conference in Brussels.
Calviño said “Recently we expanded our scope to be able to cover purely military projects,” citing drone production as an example, at an event hosted by the Brussels-based Bruegel Institute.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
On May 13th, Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola met in Brussels with representatives of three victims’ associations linked to the flooding disaster resulting from the DANA (Isolated High-Level Depression) that struck Valencia on October 29th, 2024. The meeting, held at the request of the associations following von der Leyen’s visit to Valencia during the European People’s Party (EPP) Congress, served as the setting for the delivery of a lengthy letter addressed to the President of the European Commission. The document reflects the testimonies of affected families and includes both political and financial demands. However, its content has sparked controversy due to its accusatory tone, omission of key actors, and alignment with very specific ideological positions.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The European Parliament (EP) Special Committee on a censorship initiative known as “the European Democracy Shield” has published a working document, “on protecting European democracy and our values.”
The pretext for the initiative is the Brussels bureaucracy’s assertion that the bloc and member countries have been subjected to “escalating” threats in terms of foreign information manipulation and interference, hybrid attacks, and disinformation — originating from “third-country actors.”
The premise is that it is not EU’s own, many, anti-free speech regulations and policies, like the Digital Services Act (DSA), that are an actual threat to European democracy — not to mention “our” values — but rather, to deflect elsewhere.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Three men from a “wicked, vile and sordid” grooming gang who raped a teenage girl have had their “pathetically short” sentences increased by the Court of Appeal.
Ibrar Hussain, 47, and brothers Imtiaz and Fayaz Ahmed, aged 62 and 45, were convicted in January of raping a teenage girl in Keighley in West Yorkshire in the 1990s.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A car exploded into flames on Thursday just metres from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s £2million north London home.
A 21-year-old man was arrested and detained in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.
Counter-terrorism police are now investigating three suspicious fires, including the vehicle blaze on May 8 and two separate incidents at properties linked to the PM.
The car, a Toyota RAV4, was completely destroyed in the explosion.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Maté Kocsis, the Fidesz faction leader in Hungary’s National Assembly, says Ukraine being a member of the European Union would seal the fate of Hungarians for 100 to 150 years. He also says Brussels is urging Ukraine’s accession to the EU without examining the consequences.
The MP told the press that, unlike other countries, the Hungarian government is asking people about the accession of a country at war in the form of a mail-in vote sent to all Hungarians, reports Magyar Nemzet
“A government or a local government can be elected every four or five years, but a decision about Ukrainian accession can only be made once in a lifetime, in our lifetime,” Kocsis pointed out, adding that, this is a decision that will determine the fate of Hungarians for 100 to 150 years.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Germany’s Jan Böhmermann, well known for his far-left comedy late night show, is more or less the Stephen Colbert of Germany, except he is perhaps even more aggressively and nakedly a political activist. During his taxpayer-funded show Neo Magazin Royal on ZDF, he doxxed the right-wing YouTuber “Clownwelt” last week, who had attempted to remain anonymous.
There are a lot of reasons to believe this doxxing was not the work of research performed by Bohnermann’s staff and Zeit, as Bohnermann claims, but outright intelligence agency information fed to his team, or at least someone on his team.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
After Algeria expelled another 15 French officials, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that France would respond “immediately, firmly and proportionately” to this “incomprehensible and brutal decision,” reports France24.
Thus, tensions continue to escalate between France and its former colony of Algeria, which gained its independence after 130 years of French rule back in 1962.
FM Barrot noted that “the departure of agents on temporary missions is unjustified and unjustifiable,” adding that it has damaged French interest and thus must be answered in kind.
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The French Development Agency (AFD) will invest €150 million in Morocco’s southern provinces in Western Sahara.
The announcement came during AFD Director General Remy Rioux’s visit to the area, which has been the center of a dispute between Morocco and Algeria, with the latter long supporting the Polisario Front’s push for Western Sahara’s independence. The United Nationshas had the former Spanish colony listed as “a non-self-governing territory” since 1963.
“The AFD Group will now invest in the southern regions by bringing in investments and financing,” Rioux said at a press conference, adding that these investments bode well for youth employment in the region, Morocco World News reported.
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Arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister should be null and void while a challenge against the decision is being reviewed, Israel has argued. Officials said the warrants “must be withdrawn or vacated pending the Pre-Trial Chamber’s determination” after the ICC’s own appeals chamber said it was wrong to have dismissed Israel’s previous challenge.
Pressure is also mounting after reports suggested the warrant was issued for Netanyahu’s arrest simply to deflect from sexual assault allegations against ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan.
European leaders are usually quick to respond to news from bodies like the ICC on Israel’s war against Hamas. Indeed, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell previously said that the court’s arrest warrant should be “respected and implemented” by member states. But they have noticeably had much less to say about the doubts now being cast upon both the ruling and the institution as a whole.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is “no way” Israel will halt its war in Gaza — where airstrikes on two hospitals Tuesday (May 13, 2025) killed at least eight and wounded dozens — even if a deal is reached to release more hostages.
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments are likely to complicate talks on a new ceasefire that had seemed to gain momentum after Hamas released the last living American hostage on Monday in a gesture to U.S. President Donald Trump, who is visiting the region but skipping Israel.
They pointed to a potentially widening rift between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump, who had expressed hope that the release of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander would be a step toward ending the 19-month war.
| — Hat tip: JW | [Return to headlines] |
Having survived the October 7th Hamas pogrom at the Nova music festival, Yuval Raphael is now representing her country, Israel, at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the song “New Day Will Rise.” For many of those who lined the streets upon her arrival in Basel on Sunday, Raphael’s was not a story to be celebrated but one that inspired hatred.
One man among the noisy Palestinian flag-wavers made a throat-slitting gesture and is said also to have spat at members of Israel’s delegation. Israeli broadcaster Kan has filed a complaint to the Swiss police as well as to Eurovision’s organiser, the European Broadcasting Union, “requesting that action be taken to identify the individual.”
But at the opening ceremony itself, Raphael and her team responded to this hatred with grace, blowing kisses and brandishing big smiles.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivered a speech on 12 May in the Hungarian Parliament at the Conference of Presidents of the European Union Parliaments. In his address, Orban declared that ‘nobody dares to say it’, but the war in Ukraine ‘is lost’.
He argued that the EU’s approach to the war and the imposition of energy sanctions has backfired—undermining the bloc’s economic competitiveness and deepening internal divisions.
On the subject of Ukraine’s potential accession to the EU, the prime minister warned that continued support for the ongoing conflict would only exacerbate the crisis. He contended that Brussels’ proposal to mandate energy decoupling from Russia would devastate Hungary’s economy. ‘Brussels cannot want to destroy Hungarian families,’ he said, emphasizing that peace and an end to sanctions are necessary to stabilize Europe.
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump said Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will represent him at Russia-Ukraine peace talks expected to take place Thursday in Istanbul — after suggesting he might go himself to try to end Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
Trump announced that America’s top diplomat would make the trip during a speech to Saudi leaders and businessmen on the first day of his three-country tour of the Middle East.
“Talks are being held in Turkey later this week — probably on Thursday, and they could produce some pretty good results. Our people are going to be going there, Marco is going to be going there, others are going to be going, and we’ll see if we can get it done,” Trump said.
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Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Vladimir Putin of being “scared” to meet him for talks in Turkey this week to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president has warned that he will only attend the high-stakes talks if Mr Putin also attends, because only a face-to-face meeting with the Russian president can deliver peace.
This is due to the fact that “absolutely everything in Russia” depends on Mr Putin, said Mr Zelensky, adding: “If he takes the step to say he is ready for a ceasefire then it opens the way to discussing all the elements to end the war.”
“I’m not even mentioning that he is scared of direct talks with me,” Mr Zelensky said, adding that he would first meet Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for talks and would head to Istanbul if Mr Putin arrived there.
The fresh ultimatum comes after US president Donald Trump suggested he could join Mr Zelensky and Mr Putin in Turkey this week if the two leaders meet.
But the Kremlin has declined to comment on whether Mr Putin will travel to Turkey, saying only that “the Russian side continues to prepare for the negotiations”.
| — Hat tip: Dean | [Return to headlines] |
Russia is responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and has violated international civil aviation agreements, the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) ruled this week. The ruling follows a complaint filed by the Netherlands and Australia and was confirmed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Flight MH17 was shot down by pro-Russian separatists over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch nationals and 38 Australians, were killed. The aircraft had been en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was struck by a Russian surface-to-air missile over territory controlled by separatists. In the Netherlands, the names of all 298 victims are read aloud annually on July 17, followed by two minutes of silence in their memory.
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India has ordered a Pakistani diplomat to leave the country within 24 hours as tensions simmer in the wake of heavy military exchanges between the nuclear-armed neighbours before a ceasefire was agreed last week.
The unnamed official, stationed at Pakistan’s embassy in New Delhi, was accused by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday of “indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status”.
The move comes after a brief but intense military confrontation last week that threatened to erupt into the fifth full-scale war between the two countries. While the truce brought a temporary halt to cross-border missile and drone strikes, sporadic skirmishes continue along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border in disputed Kashmir, a region claimed by both nations.
On Tuesday, Pakistan reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire but warned it would respond forcefully to any future attacks.
| — Hat tip: Wilson | [Return to headlines] |
Kemi Badenoch has called for grooming gang members who fled to Pakistan after raping a teenage girl to be jailed there.
Speaking on GB News, the Tory leader said: “What we want to see is them being put in jail in Pakistan for the crimes they have committed.”
Her comments come after two brothers, Imtiaz and Fayaz Ahmed, absconded to Pakistan during their trial for rape offences committed in Keighley.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
We weren’t aware that the game of chess could lead to a raging gambling addiction, but apparently the Taliban thinks so…
“The Taliban government in Afghanistan has banned chess until further notice due to fears the game is a source of gambling,” BBC reports Monday. “Officials said the game has been prohibited indefinitely until its compatibility with Islamic law can be determined.”
“There are religious considerations regarding the sport of chess,” Atal Mashwani, the spokesman of the Taliban government’s sports directorate, told AFP news agency. “Until these considerations are addressed, the sport of chess is suspended in Afghanistan.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
For decades, if there’s one thing that’s been a taboo in the Indian foreign ministry, it is third-party mediation — particularly in the long-running dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir.
Those in the know, then, are not surprised that US President Donald Trump — known for his unorthodox diplomacy — has touched a raw nerve in Delhi.
On Saturday, he took to social media to announce that India and Pakistan — after four tense days of cross-border clashes — had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire”, brokered by the US.
Later, in another post he said: “I will work with you both to see if, after a thousand years, a solution can be arrived at, concerning Kashmir.”
The Kashmir dispute dates back to 1947, when India got independence from British rule and was partitioned to create Pakistan. Both neighbours claim the Kashmir region in whole, but administer it only in part.
Several rounds of bilateral talks over the decades have not yielded any resolution. India treats Kashmir as an integral part of its territory and rules out any negotiation, particularly through a third party.
| — Hat tip: MM | [Return to headlines] |
As President Donald Trump delivered a speech in Saudi Arabia after he signed multiple deals with the country’s leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he talked about how the US leveraged trade in order to get a peace deal brokered between India and Pakisan.
“Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan, and I used trade to a large extent to do it,” Trump said.
“I said, ‘Fellas, come on, let’s make a deal. Let’s do some trading. Let’s not trade nuclear missiles. Let’s trade the things that you make so beautifully. And they both have very powerful leaders, very strong leaders, good leaders, smart leaders. And it all stopped. Hopefully it’ll remain that way, but it all stopped,” Trump added.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee has released a gripping new book that meticulously exposes Apple’s deeply troubling ties with China, revealing how these connections fueled the communist regime’s rise to a global manufacturing powerhouse.
In an interview with The Free Press founder Bari Weiss, McGee revealed key insights from his new book, Apple in China, detailing Apple’s complex relationship with the country.
Presently, approximately 155 million Americans own an iPhone — a remarkable figure that McGee contends would have been unattainable without Apple’s substantial investments in China.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A 30-year-old Afghan national residing in Merksem is facing a possible one-year suspended prison sentence after admitting to inappropriate contact with a 14-year-old girl at a swimming pool in Lier, Belgium.
The incident occurred on Aug. 13, 2023, at the Lago De Waterperels swimming complex in the province of Antwerp.
According to reports from Belgian outlet 7Sur7, the man, identified by his initials Z.A., first collided with the girl while using a water slide. He then allegedly touched her underwater. He has not denied the allegations.
The public prosecutor’s office described the offense as serious and has requested a one-year prison sentence, to be fully suspended. The court has yet to issue its final ruling, which is expected on June 5.
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An African migrant is now on trial for biting off a large piece of a German police’s woman ear in the city of Cologne, leaving her with a serious injury that has left her permanently unfit for duty.
The 40-year-old African had multiple offenses on his criminal record is now on trial for dangerous bodily harm, along with various other charges. The incident, which dates back to 2024, is only being tried now, starting yesterday, Monday, in Cologne’s regional court.
The incident started as many do in Germany, with the African man assaulting random people on the street. Witnesses reported the incident after he began attacking people with a key.
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After a Muslim was stabbed to death in a mosque in the French city of Ale’s, the media quickly pointed to an anti-Muslim motive. Images of neo-Nazis stabbing Muslims in their places of worship were conjured, and thousands were mobilized onto the streets to protest against violence directed at Muslims. However, this narrative may be more complicated.
In fact, the suspect in the case comes from an immigrant family himself, a Bosnian Roma, who has now turned himself into the police in Italy after going on the run for three days.
A police source has told Le Parisien that so far, a picture is forming of the youth, Olivier Hadzovic, as “a rather socially isolated, unemployed (man) addicted to video games, to which he devoted most of his time, he had until now been living on welfare.” Hadzovic had 11 siblings.
In addition, he allegedly produced disturbing messages on social media, “mentioning his desire to rape or desecrate corpses.” However, police have so far found no evidence of racist or hateful posts, including any against Muslims.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GB News presenter Patrick Christys travelled to Calais to investigate the migrant crisis firsthand, revealing the stark reality behind Channel crossings.
More than 12,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, marking a record for the first five months since data collection began in 2018.
The current total for 2025 is up 31 per cent compared to the same point last year, according to Home Office figures.
In his interviews, Patrick spoke with migrants who openly expressed expectations that British people would provide for their needs upon arrival.
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A federal grand jury indicted Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan on May 13 on charges that she tried to assist an undocumented immigrant escape arrest from her courtroom last month, putting her at the center of the growing dispute between President Donald Trump and the judiciary.
The two-page indictment accuses Dugan, 66, of obstructing a U.S. agency and concealing an individual to prevent an arrest. The two charges carry a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $350,000 fine, but sentences in cases involving nonviolent offenses typically are much shorter.
Dugan is expected to enter a plea at a May 15 hearing. But members of her defense team issued this statement: “As she said after her unnecessary arrest, Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court.”
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
To convince voters that his government is serious about cracking down on vast asylum numbers, Friedrich Merz must deal with the immense ‘pull factor’ luring migrants to Germany.
Currently, the country pays asylum seekers more money each month than anywhere else in Europe, according to a report in Bild. The paper notes that other European Union member states know this to be the case and so “happily wave the migrants through.”
If a migrant’s asylum application is approved, the German taxpayer forks out to fund a €563 monthly citizen’s allowance—not to mention rent and health insurance. That’s much more, for example, than the €160 (plus accommodation) given to those granted asylum in Poland.
Bild adds that even those who have not yet had—and may never have—their applications approved receive €441 per month in Germany, plus accommodation, compared to €236 in Denmark and €210 in France. And those whose applications are rejected still receive this fund, whereas cash support is cut off in other countries.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and deported hundreds of undocumented immigrants in the Houston area during a seven-day operation last week.
The operation, which lasted from May 4 to May 10, resulted in the arrests of 422 undocumented immigrants. 528 immigrants were also deported across that timespan.
In a press release shared with KPRC 2, ICE included a list of several notable criminals who were among those apprehended during the sting.
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U.S. immigration officials conducted a “worksite enforcement action” that resulted in eight arrests Tuesday in Madison, three days after their boss, Kristi Noem, was subjected to a protest in the same South Dakota city.
At least one of the two targeted businesses, Manitou Equipment, was awarded financial support from the state while Noem was governor.
The media office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a written statement that the agency’s action was at Manitou and also at Global Polymer Industries “in response to information or allegations received by ICE Homeland Security Investigations.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement working with law enforcement partners apprehended 189 illegal aliens and served notices of inspection to 187 local businesses during an enhanced targeted immigration enforcement operation focusing on criminal alien offenders operating in and around Washington, D.C. May 6 to May 9.
“The District of Columbia is exponentially safer today because of countless hours of investigative work and dedication to duty displayed by ICE Washington, D.C. and our law enforcement partners,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russell Hott. “Working with our partner agencies, ICE officers and agents arrested 189 illegal aliens and removed them from the streets of our nation’s capital. Throughout this enhanced enforcement operation, we targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in the city of Washington, D.C. Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid. I commend the efforts of everyone involved, as all were truly committed to the success of this operation. ICE Washington, D.C. remains dedicated to our mission of prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing criminal offenders from our nation’s capital and surrounding communities.”
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A federal judge ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump has the authority to invoke a wartime law to deport members of a Venezuelan gang he designated a terrorist group, deepening a judicial divide and prompting calls for swift Supreme Court intervention, The Hill reported.
Trump can use the Alien Enemies Act to deport members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, breaking with several other courts that have blocked the administration’s actions under the 18th century law.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines, a Trump appointee in Pennsylvania, concluded that the president can remove individuals affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations under the AEA. However, she determined the administration must provide detained migrants with 21 days’ notice in both English and Spanish before deportation can occur.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct has set a hearing date of June 9 for a judge accused of blocking a federal agent attempting to arrest an illegal immigrant.
The incident happened in 2018 at the courtroom of Judge Shelly Joseph in Newton, Massachusetts, on the west side of Boston.
The commission posted a detailed 111-page document that specifies the charges against Judge Joseph, including the details surrounding the incident at the courthouse.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
A Sudanese migrant has told GB News host Patrick Christys that there is “no way” he will be sent back to Sudan once he makes the illegal crossing into Britain.
Awaiting the perilous journey across the English Channel at a migrant camp in Calais, France, the 28-year-old migrant explained how he had travelled from Sudan, through Italy and into France — in the hope that he can reach the UK.
During a special report for GB News, Patrick Christys described the migrant camps he has visited, declaring he “can’t emphasise enough just how many people” are living in the camps, waiting to cross the Channel.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
GB News presenter Patrick Christys has been reporting from Calais, where he discovered a forest filled to the brim with migrant tents which he described as a “significant camp”.
Most migrants at the site were from Eritrea and were regularly attempting to cross the Channel to Britain.
Patrick also interviewed a Sudanese migrant preparing to make the dangerous journey across the Channel.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
During the TVP presidential debate last night, the last one before Poles vote on May 18, candidates got testy on the topic of migration.
In the first round, there was a heated exchange of views between the two favorites, reports Do Rzeczy, when Karol Nawrocki, an unaffiliated candidate supported by right-wing Law & Justice (PiS), asked the liberal PM Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO), Rafal Trzaskowski, about the tenement house at Marszalkowska 66 in Warsaw.
In the second round, Nawrocki brought up the topic of immigration. He quoted Trzaskowski from 2015, speaking about submitting a pilot proposal to Brussels to accept 2,000 “refugees” to Poland.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court on Monday to lift its temporary ban on deporting a group of nearly 200 alleged Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members who are currently detained at a federal detention center in Texas. Some barricaded themselves in a room and threatening to take hostages, the Trump administration said in court filings.
The administration argued in a 66-page court filing that recent “dangerous behavior” from at least 23 of the alleged gang members in the detention facility justifies their immediate removal from the United States. The group “barricaded themselves in a housing unit for several hours and threatened to take hostages and harm ICE officers,” according to the court filing. The incident occurred at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, on May 4.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
In response to growing electoral pressure from Reform UK and off the back of less-than-impressive local election results, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to finally radically reform Britain’s immigration system — but was accused of parroting right-wing rhetoric in a desperate attempt to stave off the populists.
At a press conference on Monday, the Labour leader outlined the details of a white paper designed to reduce net migration by the end of this parliamentary term in 2029.
It is worth noting that practically every British government in power this century has made such a pledge, yet net migration continues to run at astronomical levels compared to those witnessed prior to Tony Blair’s arrival in Downing Street back in 1997.
Starmer slammed the previous Conservative administration for further opening Britain’s borders despite vowing to do the opposite.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
Sweden: Time to “Wake Up” to Dangers of New Gender Legislation
A new law set to come into effect on July 1st will make it easier for Swedes to legally change their gender, with reports claiming that a single digital healthcare ‘visit’ will suffice.
Christian Democrats politician Christian Carlsson said it was “incomprehensible” that only his party and the Sweden Democrats tried to stop the legislation from moving forward last year, “and that this spring we were the only ones who tried to have the new law repealed before it takes effect.”
It is time for the other parties to wake up.
| — Hat tip: Reader from Chicago | [Return to headlines] |
