A Syrian migrant who forced a 12-year-old girl to perform sex acts on him will not receive any prison time. A court in Vienna, Austria, only asked him to pay the family of his victim a paltry €100 (~$100) in compensation.
The court decided the Syrian, supposedly 15 at the time of the attack, may not have understood his pre-teen victim was not consenting. They conceded she may have said “no” but insisted that people sometimes say “no” and then “allow themselves to be persuaded by affection.”
The Syrian, now said to be 17, arrived claiming to be a refugee during the migrant crisis in 2016. He met the girl on the social media platform Snapchat, agreeing to meet at a park. The girl was later taken to a parking garage, where she was forced to perform sexual acts. Several others, including a 19-year-old, have been charged but still await trial over the incident.
A lawyer representing the victim and her family said the verdict showed “boundless contempt” for the victim and called the $100 payment a “mockery.” The acquittal is not final and may be appealed. The case is just the latest involving migrants sexually abusing an underage girl in Austria. In one case, a 13-year-old girl named Leonie was not only drugged and sexually abused but died at the hands of several Afghans, who were later convicted for her murder.
The populist, anti-mass migration Freedom Party placed first in the European Union country’s recent elections and is currently attempting to form a government.
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A Syrian migrant who forced a 12-year-old girl to perform sex acts on him will not receive any prison time. A court in Vienna, Austria, only asked him to pay the family of his victim a paltry €100 (~$100) in compensation.
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Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers undergoing training in France have reportedly deserted. The desertions come as the Ukrainian military is currently struggling to hold back Russian advances.
The French army admitted that dozens of the 2,300 soldiers undergoing training in the country had deserted but claimed the figure was small in comparison to the number of troops that had been trained. As such, desertion is not considered a crime in France; none of the men who fled the Ukrainian army will face any criminal repercussions while in the country.
The soldiers all belong to the brigade “Anna of Kiev,” named after the second wife of France’s King Henry I. Ukrainian journalist Yuri Butusov claimed that 50 soldiers deserted in France and that, overall, 1,700 have fled before being sent to the front. Notably, Ukrainian land forces commander Mykhailo Drapatyi was confronted by the reports on January 6. He simply stated that he would not refute them.
Russian forces are currently advancing toward key cities and towns like the logistics hub Pokovsk. According to some estimates, as many as a million soldiers have been killed or seriously wounded in the war since it began in February of 2022.
Former North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said as far back as last May that Ukraine was clearly losing the war on the ground. As a result of heavy losses and desertions, including men fleeing the country, the Ukrainian military has begun kidnapping people from nightclubs and other venues and sending them into combat.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is also being pressured by the outgoing Biden-Harris regime to lower the conscription age to 18 to bolster troop numbers.
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Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers undergoing training in France have reportedly deserted. The desertions come as the Ukrainian military is currently struggling to hold back Russian advances.
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A new academic study released by Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) indicates that the TikTok social media platform, owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled company ByteDance, is used to promote pro-CCP propaganda among American youth. The study, an update to a preliminary report published by NCRI last August, reveals a bevy of evidence that TikTok routinely downplays negative content regarding the Chinese state, Communist Party, and their history of repression when searched even by U.S. audiences.
Using several dummy accounts, researchers could gauge the types of content users encounter through TikTok’s algorithm when searching for content that should explicitly expose controversies regarding the CCP’s historical actions. A comparative analysis by the researchers found that negative CCP content was generated over 80 percent of the time when searching the subject of “Uyghurs” on Instagram. The same search on TikTok generated negative CCP content just 11 percent of the time.
Likewise, on YouTube, searches for “Tiananmen” turned up negative CCP content 65 percent of the time. Conversely, just 20 percent of the content generated by the same search on TikTok was negative. Overall, the Rutgers study found TikTok’s algorithm appears set to generate overwhelming pro-CCP content when a user searches a subject where China has been embroiled in criticism and controversy.
INFLUENCING THE WEST.
The researchers argue that TikTok is a prime example of the CCP’s use of “persuasive technologies” as part of a broader propaganda campaign to influence public perception of the communist country in the Western world. According to pollingdata cited by the study, the more time users spent on TikTok, the more positive they perceived China’s human rights record toward political and ethnic minorities.
The study’s release comes just days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments regarding a possible ban on TikTok.
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A new academic study released by Rutgers University's Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) indicates that the TikTok social media platform, owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled company ByteDance, is used to promote pro-CCP propaganda among American youth. The study, an update to a preliminary report published by NCRI last August, reveals a bevy of evidence that TikTok routinely downplays negative content regarding the Chinese state, Communist Party, and their history of repression when searched even by U.S. audiences.
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President-elect Donald J. Trump says he will not take the use of military or economic coercion off the table for the United States to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal Zone.
Since his first term in the White House, Trump has sought to purchase Greenland from Denmark, which sits in the Western Hemisphere and could play a significant role in U.S. interests in the Arctic. Meanwhile, Panama’s recent warming relations with Communist China have prompted Trump to reevaluate the 1978 agreement, which granted the Central American country control over the U.S.-built canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is a lynchpin of international trade.
During a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, a reporter pressed the President-elect: “Can you assure the world that as you try to get control of [Greenland and the Panama Canal], you are not going to use military or economic coercion?”
Responding to the question, President-elect Trump said an abrupt and terse “No,” signaling that he is considering all options in pursuit of U.S. economic and security interests.
The National Pulse’s Editor-in-Chief, Raheem Kassam, has noted that the U.S. acquisition of Greenland isn’t a new venture, and prior presidential administrations dating back to 1867 have at least considered the prospect. However, the Arctic Circle island is increasingly becoming an important territory as Russia and China continue to push for greater influence over the far northern reaches of the globe. U.S. sovereignty over Greenland could bolster first response and missile interceptor capabilities and open access to untapped resources in the region.
Meanwhile, the Panama Canal, built over a decade from 1904 to 1914 through U.S. investment and labor, continues to be a strategic choke point in international trade. However, the rise of Chinese influence in Panama is prompting some in the U.S. to call for the canal’s return to American control.
WATCH:
Reporter: Can you assure the world that as you try to get control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, that you won’t use military or economic coercion?
President-elect Donald J. Trump says he will not take the use of military or economic coercion off the table for the United States to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal Zone.
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French nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, has passed away after a long life at the heart of French populist and nationalist politics. Le Pen, 96, co-founded the Front National, now the National Rally (RN), in 1972.
Le Pen was involved in politics from a young age, clashing with leftist activists during his university years. He was associated with but never joined the pro-monarchy movement Action Française.
EARLY LIFE.
Le Pen joined the French military, where he later met the famous French actor Alain Delon and became friends with him. He served in French Indochina (now Vietnam), Laos, Cambodia, and Suez, Egypt. At 27, he ran for office, becoming one of the youngest legislators in France in 1956.
However, Le Pen left politics to fight for France in Algeria, then a French colony, participating in the famous Battle of Algiers, one of the bloodiest episodes of the conflict, marked by terrorist bombings and guerilla warfare across the North African city.
He denied having participated in the torture of suspected terrorists during the war but did acknowledge the practice occurred and defended it in extreme situations. It was during this time, in 1958, that Le Pen lost his left eye, allegedly from a savage beating during the 1958 election campaign.
In 1972, Le Pen co-founded the Front National (FN) and began his first of many presidential campaigns in 1974, winning less than one percent of the vote. In 1976, his apartment was bombed, destroying it and making him and his children, including Marine Le Pen, homeless.
ELECTIONS.
The 1980s would see renewed electoral successes for Le Pen as he was elected to the European Parliament. After President Francois Mitterrand introduced proportional representation, Le Pen and the FN gained 35 lawmakers in the National Assembly following the 1986 legislative election, winning over 2.7 million votes.
The most significant breakthrough for Le Pen, however, came in 2002, when he ran for President of France and shocked the world by making it to the second round of voting against the notionally center-right Jacques Chirac. However, he was soundly defeated, winning just 17.79 percent of the vote after the establishment parties combined their efforts behind Chirac to stop the “far right.”
A NEW LE PEN.
After another failed presidential bid in 2007, Le Pen was replaced as president of the FN in 2011. He had led it for over four decades. His daughter, Marine Le Pen, replaced him as leader.
She expelled him entirely from the party in 2016 amid internal tensions as the party attempted to soften its image. A controversial figure in France, Le Pen was known as a staunch conservative and nationalist who was accused by critics of racism, bigotry, and antisemitism. He was convicted by French courts several times for downplaying the Holocaust.
The elder Le Pen also vocally supported his granddaughter, Marion Marechal, as she emerged as a potential challenger to his daughter Marine.
Jean-Marie Le Pen remained a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) until 2019.
MIXED REACTIONS.
French politicians had mixed reactions to Le Pen’s death. National Rally president Jordan Bardella said, “He always served France, defended its identity and its sovereignty.”
Conservative former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour said that, despite his scandals, “what we will remember about him in the coming decades is that he was among the first to alert France to the existential threats that awaited it.”
Far-left France Unbowed lawmaker Jean-Luc Melenchon took the opposite approach, saying, “The fight against the man is over. The fight against the hatred, racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism that he spread continues.”
Prime Minister François Bayrou called Le Pen a figure of French political life, adding, “We knew, by fighting him, what a fighter he was.”
French nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, has passed away after a long life at the heart of French populist and nationalist politics. Le Pen, 96, co-founded the Front National, now the National Rally (RN), in 1972.
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After rounds of negotiations among establishment parties that ultimately collapsed, the President of Austria has called on populists to form the next government. President Alexander Van der Bellen met with populist Freedom Party (FPOe) leader Herbert Kickl on Monday, January 6, and announced that Kickl would be tasked with forming the next government.
The meeting comes after the center-right Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP or OeVP) and the leftist Social Democrats (SPOe) failed to agree on forming a coalition. Van der Bellen invited the two parties to attempt to create a government despite the FPOe winning the last national election last September, albeit without an outright legislative majority.
Previously, the OeVP had stated it would not form a government with Kickl and the FPOe, but it recently changed stances, opening the door to a potential right-wing coalition.
“The voices that rule out cooperation between the ÖVP and Herbert Kickl’s FPOe have become quieter,” Van der Bellen said over the weekend.
HERBERT KICKL.
Kickl is known for his fiery speeches, vaccine skepticism, and anti-mass migration stance. If he becomes Austrian Chancellor, he could become one of the most prominent populist voices in Europe. It would also be the first time in history that the FPOe has led a national government.
During the election campaign last year, Kickl went as far as backing a policy of “remigration,” or mass deportations, for illegal immigrants, bogus asylum seekers, and those taking advantage of Austria’s social benefits. During a speech, he even referred to such people as “invaders.”
While populist, the FPOe is also classically liberal on several issues, including being pro-firearms ownership and supporting several classical liberal economic policies. In the European Union, Kickl and the FPOe are key allies of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and are members of Orban’s Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament.
After rounds of negotiations among establishment parties that ultimately collapsed, the President of Austria has called on populists to form the next government. President Alexander Van der Bellen met with populist Freedom Party (FPOe) leader Herbert Kickl on Monday, January 6, and announced that Kickl would be tasked with forming the next government.
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Globalist Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on Monday, January 6. He is stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party as his popularity plummets in the polls.
Trudeau met with Canada’s Governor General, King Charles III’s representative in Canada, to prorogue parliament until March 24, closing it for all business. The Liberals are expected to launch a leadership race, but Trudeau will remain in his position until a new leader is selected.
Speaking outside Rideau Cottage, an official residence of the Canadian Prime Minister, he stated, “Parliament has been paralyzed for months,” stating the Governor General agreed to prorogue parliament.
“I intend to resign as party leader, as Prime Minister,” Trudeau said, noting that he asked Liberal Party members to begin the process of selecting his successor.
The resignation marks the end of Trudeau’s nine-year reign as Prime Minister of Canada, in which he and his party have seen scandal after scandal, from multiple pictures of Trudeau in blackface to allegations of corruption regarding charities and more.
Trudeau also oversaw Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and cracked down on Freedom Convoy protestors who wanted an end to provincial and federal restrictions on travel, vaccine passports, and mandates.
He used the Emergencies Act, essentially martial law, to crack down on peaceful protests, freezing the bank accounts of protestors and those who donated to them.
However, in recent months, Trudeau and the Liberals have tanked in the polls ahead of an expected national election this year. Some polls suggest that the Liberals will win just a handful of seats and could be replaced by the separatist Bloc Quebecois as the official opposition to the Conservatives, who will likely win a massive majority.
WHO’S NEXT?
Conservative Party (CPC) leader Pierre Poilievre, however, is rocky on core conservative issues, supporting many leftist social issues, including same-sex marriages and more, despite widespread popularity.
On abortion, Poilievre refused to vote for legislation that would ban sex-selective abortions and has refused to introduce any legislation to restrict abortion at all in Canada.
Currently, there are no criminal laws in Canada regarding abortion, meaning there are no criminal penalties for abortions through all nine months of pregnancy.
Medically assisted suicide, known as MAID in Canada, is now one of the leading causes of death in the country, killing thousands per year. Despite this, Poilievre has not stated that he will ban the practice.
On Ukraine, Poilievre has expressed as much support for the Ukrainian cause as Trudeau and has not called for a ceasefire or a deal like President-elect Donald J. Trump.
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Globalist Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on Monday, January 6. He is stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party as his popularity plummets in the polls.
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A mass shooting has left 12 dead, including two children, in Cetinje, Montenegro, after 45-year-old Aco Martinović opened fire following a bar brawl. Martinović killed family members, including his sister, the bar owner, and the bar owner’s nephews, before targeting multiple locations around the Balkan town. He killed himself as police closed in.
The shooting took place on Wednesday, with Martinović returning to the bar with a firearm following the brawl. His victims included seven men, three women, and two children. Four others were wounded.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, of the pro-European Union party Europe Now, is exploiting the massacre to push for a ban on private gun ownership. However, there is mounting evidence that law enforcement failures enabled Martinović. He had previously been convicted of violent behavior and illegal weapons possession.
“Most of the victims were people he knew, his closest friends and relatives,” according to Police Commissioner Lazar Šćepanović. “This criminal act wasn’t planned or organized. It was unpredictable,” he claimed.
Montenegro has declared three days of national mourning, canceling New Year’s festivities.
The incident marks the second mass shooting in Cetinje in recent years. In August 2022, another gunman in the town killed 10 before being killed in a shootout with police and civilians.
A mass shooting has left 12 dead, including two children, in Cetinje, Montenegro, after 45-year-old Aco Martinović opened fire following a bar brawl. Martinović killed family members, including his sister, the bar owner, and the bar owner's nephews, before targeting multiple locations around the Balkan town. He killed himself as police closed in.
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A U.S. think tank claims Russia suffered significant troop losses during its 2024 territorial advances in Ukraine. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), geolocated evidence suggests Russian advancements totaling 4,168 square kilometers, roughly equivalent to 1,609 square miles. The organization estimates that Russia lost approximately 40 soldiers per square mile gained.
The estimate aligns with data from the Ukrainian military’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who reported 427,000 Russian casualties for the year, encompassing both deaths and injuries.
Despite Russia’s territorial gains, progress has been slow compared to past Ukrainian offensives—such as the surprise attack on the Kursk region in August. Although Russia has reclaimed much of the territory Ukraine captured in the summer offensive, a significant strategic breakthrough remains elusive. The ISW noted that over half of Russia’s territorial gains last year occurred between September and November.
The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence, referring to Ukrainian estimates, reported that November was exceptionally costly in terms of Russian casualties, with 45,680 over the month—averaging roughly 1,523 daily. “The Russians have been, I think, at the expense of high casualties and exhaustion, continuing with a very high tempo of operations, which haven’t ceased,” ISW analyst George Barros said in a recent interview, adding that the country has undertaken more aggressive operations in Ukraine since 2023.
Russia’s recruitment efforts have been intense. Former President Dmitry Medvedev claimed in December that approximately 440,000 recruits joined the Russian military in 2024.
The ISW interprets this as Russia attempting to match its casualty replacements one-to-one, maintaining its military strength despite the ongoing high casualties.
A U.S. think tank claims Russia suffered significant troop losses during its 2024 territorial advances in Ukraine. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), geolocated evidence suggests Russian advancements totaling 4,168 square kilometers, roughly equivalent to 1,609 square miles. The organization estimates that Russia lost approximately 40 soldiers per square mile gained.
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The Palestinian Authority has halted Qatari-owned Al Jazeera broadcasts in parts of the West Bank, accusing the channel of incitement and bias. Al Jazeera, known for a pro-Palestinian slant, condemned the move, claiming it is an attempt to suppress information about events in the territories. The closure follows coverage of a security crackdown in Jenin, where at least 11 people have died.
Al Jazeera, already barred in Israel, faced enforcement actions in Ramallah, marking the second such incident in recent months. Video footage showed a uniformed officer delivering closure orders to Al Jazeera staff.
The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, which holds no power in Gaza, has accused Al Jazeera of sowing discord within the region. The Authority, cooperating with Israeli security, faces declining public support, particularly in Jenin, a stronghold for armed factions.
Security operations in Jenin have intensified since December, with battles against groups linked to Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Analysts suggest the Palestinian Authority seeks to reassert control and demonstrate its strategic significance to international stakeholders, including the future U.S. administration.
The crackdown on Al Jazeera follows Israel’s similar actions. The Israeli parliament previously voted to close the broadcaster, citing national security concerns.
Qatar owns not only Al Jazeera but also several other major outlets, including AJ+. The Qataris have spent billions of dollars advocating for groups like Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hezbollah over the years.
The National Pulse’s Editor-in-Chief, Raheem Kassam, has previously spoken on Qatari media influence in the U.S., noting how Al Jazeera pushed far-left viewpoints supporting activists like Black Lives Matter (BLM).
The Palestinian Authority has halted Qatari-owned Al Jazeera broadcasts in parts of the West Bank, accusing the channel of incitement and bias. Al Jazeera, known for a pro-Palestinian slant, condemned the move, claiming it is an attempt to suppress information about events in the territories. The closure follows coverage of a security crackdown in Jenin, where at least 11 people have died.
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