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Category: World
September 3, 2024
William Upton
War
World

Six Officials In Zelensky’s Ukrainian Govt Resign, Signaling Major Reshuffle.

At least six prominent officials in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s government submitted letters of resignation on Tuesday, signaling a significant reshuffling of the country’s political leadership. Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin—who oversees weapons production—stepped down in anticipation of a new appointment.

Kamyshin’s announcement precedes the resignations of Deputy Prime Ministers Olha Stefanishyna and Iryna Vereshchuk, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska, and Ecology Minister Ruslan Strilets. Vitalii Koval, who oversees the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU), also resigned. The resignations were submitted to Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, who leads the country’s unicameral parliament.

The departures will leave nearly a third of President Zelensky‘s cabinet position vacant after the leader fired several ministers earlier this year. David Arakhamia, who heads Zelensky’s Servant of the People’s Party, stated that a significant government reshuffle was underway.

“Tomorrow is the day of dismissals, and the day after that is the day of appointments,” said Arakhamia in response to the resignation announcements.

It is speculated that Zelensky will attempt to fill his cabinet vacancies quickly ahead of a planned U.S. visit later this month. The Ukrainian leader intends to appeal to American lawmakers, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, to supply the country with more aid in its ongoing war with Russia.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russian territory—threatening the city of Kursk. While the move appears to have been intended to draw Russian troops away from front-line positions in Ukraine, it has thus far had little impact. Currently, the Russian military continues to push toward the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a strategic rail hub for supplying Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region. If the city is captured, it could imperil Ukrainian troops to the south with possible encirclement.

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At least six prominent officials in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's government submitted letters of resignation on Tuesday, signaling a significant reshuffling of the country's political leadership. Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin—who oversees weapons production—stepped down in anticipation of a new appointment. show more
September 3, 2024
War
World

Polish Globalist Minister Advocates Shooting Down Russian Missiles Over Ukraine.

Poland’s globalist foreign minister said his country should intercept and neutralize Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory before they breach its airspace on Monday. Radoslaw Sikorski’s remarks, made during an interview with the Financial Times, come despite NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opposing the action.

Sikorski emphasized the necessity of protecting national airspace independently of NATO’s stance, suggesting that objects heading toward Poland warrant action before reaching Polish skies. He underscored that safeguarding airspace is a constitutional duty for each NATO member.

“Membership in NATO does not trump each country’s responsibility for the protection of its own airspace,” Sikorski said. He also described such actions as legitimate self-defense, highlighting the potential risks from missile debris should they enter national territory.

Sikorski is noted for his anti-Russian stance. Prior to becoming Foreign Minister, he posted on social media a ‘thank you’ to the United States for destroying the Nord Stream pipeline. However, last month, it was revealed the Ukrainians may have conducted the operation as Germany issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national they believe responsible for the pipeline’s destruction.

In July, Poland signed an agreement with Kiev, permitting the interception of missiles over Ukraine. Nonetheless, the Polish government indicated it would not intervene in Ukrainian airspace without prior consultation with other NATO members. Meanwhile, NATO has consistently declined requests to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, citing the risk of direct military confrontation with Russia.

Just last week, an unidentified object, likely a military drone, crossed into Polish airspace from Ukraine. The Polish armed forces could not engage the object due to its unidentified nature.

Image via Estonian Foreign Ministry.

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Poland's globalist foreign minister said his country should intercept and neutralize Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory before they breach its airspace on Monday. Radoslaw Sikorski's remarks, made during an interview with the Financial Times, come despite NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opposing the action. show more
September 3, 2024
Jack Montgomery
UK
War
World

Britain Suspends Arms Sales to Israel.

Britain’s far-left government is suspending a portion of its arms sales to Israel, alleging a “clear risk” that they could potentially be utilized in ways that violate international humanitarian law. In a statement to Parliament on Monday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the suspension will affect 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel.

The suspension targets supplies that might be used in the ongoing conflict in Gaza against Hamas, but some exports, such as parts for F-35 fighter jets, will continue.

“It is with regret that I inform the House [of Commons] today that the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law,” Lammy said.

“We recognize, of course, Israel’s need to defend itself against security threats, but we are deeply worried by the methods that Israel’s employed, and by reports of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure particularly,” the Labour Party politician added.

According to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, more than 40,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict over the past ten months.

IMPLICATIONS.

British arms exports make up less than one percent of Israel’s total arms purchases, so the move is unlikely to have a significant impact on the course of the war. It is likely intended mainly for domestic consumption, with Muslims in Britain, generally loyal to Labour, turning away from the party over Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s insufficient support for Gaza.

Several Labour politicians, including a member of the then-Shadow Cabinet, lost their seats to pro-Gaza independents in the July 4 snap election. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has been filmed telling a council of Muslim elders she owes her parliamentary seat to their support and promising to recognize Palestinian statehood.

British cities, in particular the hyper-diverse capital of London, where only 36.8 percent of residents were classed as White British in the latest census, have been regularly disrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.

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Britain's far-left government is suspending a portion of its arms sales to Israel, alleging a "clear risk" that they could potentially be utilized in ways that violate international humanitarian law. In a statement to Parliament on Monday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the suspension will affect 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel. show more
September 2, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Immigration
News
World

Earthquake: Anti-Mass Migration Populists Win Big in European State Elections.

The right-populist, anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has won state elections in Thuringia and near-tied the establishment Christian Democratic Union (CDU), formerly led by Angela Merkel, in Saxony. The AfD has won an enormous share of the youth and working-class votes, in particular.

Led by Björn Höcke, the AfD in Thuringia is projected to have won over 33 percent of the vote on Sunday, up around 10 points on their previous showing in 2019. The CDU looks to be far behind, at around 25 percent. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a new, left-populist party that opposes mass migration, is third, at around 15 percent.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz‘s left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) is at around 6 percent. His party’s coalition partners, the far-left Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), have a statistically zero percent share of the vote.

In Saxony, the AfD appears to have secured a near-tie with the CDU, with both coming in around 40 percent. The SPD seems to have secured around 7 percent—its worst-ever result in Saxony. The Greens and FDP have also fared poorly, with the latter dropping to under one percent—their worst-ever result in any state election.

IMPLICATIONS.

While the AfD and the notionally right-wing CDU would enjoy legislative supermajorities in a coalition, the latter has refused to work with the former under any circumstances. Despite Merkel declaring multiculturalism had “utterly failed” in 2010, she opened the borders during the 2015-16 migrant crisis, with the SPD and its partners displacing her party after four terms in office in 2021.

However, the SPD has experienced a rapid collapse in support due to migrant crime worsening under their stewardship, and the Russia sanctions war and net zero policies driving up costs.

It will be difficult for the CDU to form governments without the AfD, given the level of support the populists achieved, and the unpopularity of attempting to form a “grand coalition” with the SPD and other left-leaning parties.

Germany’s establishment right, left, and far left also face long-term challenges, with the AfD winning a large plurality of the working-class vote in Thuringia and Saxony, and performing very strongly among younger voters. There are signs Germany’s youth are increasingly unhappy with mass migration and multiculturalism, with the viral song “Foreigners Out” spreading over the summer.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron faces a similar situation. The success of Marine Le Pen‘s populist National Rally (RN) in the recent European and national elections has left his faction in the legislature unable to form a government without the help of various far-left parties.

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The right-populist, anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has won state elections in Thuringia and near-tied the establishment Christian Democratic Union (CDU), formerly led by Angela Merkel, in Saxony. The AfD has won an enormous share of the youth and working-class votes, in particular. show more
musk ratioed
September 1, 2024
Christopher Tomlinson
Corruption
TECH
World

This Week, Brazil Joined a New, Totalitarian Club of Nations Which Have Banned ‘X’.

Following Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes’ move to ban the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) the country joins a new club of totalitarian countries that have also prohibited the website. Brazil, a member of the BRICS economic alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has entered a new “BRIC” club of themselves, Russia, Iran, and China, who have all banned or limited public access to X within their countries.

Also inside the new club of nations are even more nakedly totalitarian countries like Myanmar, formerly Burma, Venezuela, and North Korea.

Many X users in countries where the social media platform is banned or given limited access can use virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the bans. In Brazil, however, such activity could cost users as much as R$50,000 ($8,882 USD) per day in fines under the new rules.

Judge de Moraes has also demanded that tech giants Google and Apple remove the X app from their mobile stores within the next five days.

ONE-MAN CRUSADE AGAINST X.

The move to ban X comes after months of conflict between the platform and Judge de Moraes, which reached the point that the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, ordered his staff to leave the country or laid them off. Musk went so far as to shut down their physical office over alleged arrest threats and censorship demands.

The Supreme Court and Musk have been battling over the banning of accounts labeled “digital militias” that were accused of spreading “fake news” and “hate” during former President Jair Bolsonaro’s government. Musk reacted to the ban on Friday afternoon, stating, “The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries.”

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Following Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes' move to ban the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) the country joins a new club of totalitarian countries that have also prohibited the website. Brazil, a member of the BRICS economic alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has entered a new "BRIC" club of themselves, Russia, Iran, and China, who have all banned or limited public access to X within their countries. show more
August 31, 2024
Christopher Tomlinson
World

German Populists Likely To Win First State Election Sunday.

Two German states, Thuringia and Saxony, will hold elections on Sunday, September 1, as the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) looks to clearly win the former and come close to winning the latter.

Despite polls indicating a large election win for the AfD in Thuringia, it is highly unlikely the party will secure enough of the vote to win a majority, and as many parties, including the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), refuse to work with them, they’re unlikely to govern.

The last polls before the election, released on Friday, August 30, put the AfD at 29 percent, followed by the CDU at 23 percent.

A new left-populist party, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which espouses many of the same anti-mas migration and socially conservative views as the AfD but with leftist economic policies, is expected to surge to 18 percent.

If the allegedly conservative CDU refuses to work with the AfD, it would be forced into a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the BSW to govern. Election results may differ, however, as nearly a third of voters say they do not know how they will vote on election day.

In Saxony, the CDU is leading the AfD but barely, as the party polled 33 percent of the AfD’s 30 percent.

A CDU coalition with the SPD and the Greens, which polled only 6 percent each, could be possible as the CDU in Saxony has totally ruled out any cooperation with the AfD.

COALITION COLLAPSE.

Polling for the SPD, the Greens, and the Free Democrats, who make up the ruling federal government coalition, is abysmal in the two regions. This reflects the national sentiment toward the federal government, which has seen record-low approval ratings.

Following the mass stabbing that led to three people being killed at a festival in Solingen earlier this month and the arrest of a failed Syrian asylum seeker allied to the Islamic State terror group, the federal government promised to do more to deport migrant criminals.

However, a tougher stance on migration, which is seen as a major source of votes for populist parties in Germany and elsewhere, has yet to garner support from the AfD.

SHUT OUT.

The elections also reflect a growing trend of populist parties winning elections but being unable to govern as the establishment unites to prevent them from gaining any establishment power at all.

This was the case in France, where Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) won the largest number of steps of any single party but was blocked from holding any key positions within the parliament despite receiving millions of French votes.

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Two German states, Thuringia and Saxony, will hold elections on Sunday, September 1, as the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) looks to clearly win the former and come close to winning the latter. show more
August 30, 2024
William Upton
NatSec
World

EU Chief Admits Trump Was Right, Europe Must Spend More on Defense.

The European Union must do more to bolster spending on its defense, says European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The remarks echo calls by former President Donald J. Trump for the European nations to take on a greater role in paying for and organizing their military defense capabilities rather than being overly reliant on U.S. military aid and protection—especially regarding the NATO alliance.

“Protecting Europe is first and foremost Europe’s duty. And while NATO must remain the center of our collective defense, we need a much stronger European pillar,” said von der Leyen—who leads the executive body of the European Union—during a security conference in Prague on Friday. The European Commission president added: “We Europeans must be on guard. We must refocus our attention on the security dimension of everything we do. We must think about our Union as intrinsically a security project.”

FOLLOWING TRUMP’S LEAD.

Former President Trump has long pushed for the European states to meet their NATO defense spending obligations. The National Pulse reported in June that 23 of the 32 alliance members had finally met the two percent of GDP defense spending benchmark required of NATO states. This comes after former President Trump began pushing member states to increase their defense contributions during the 2018 NATO summit. Since then, the number of states meeting their two percent funding obligation has steadily risen.

Even after leaving office, Trump has continued to press European nations to take on more significant roles in regional security. The former President, during a February rally in South Carolina, noted that at some point, the U.S. would not be able to guarantee European security if NATO states on the continent won’t step up themselves.

Trump’s running mate, Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), has also pressed Europe to step up, telling a security summit in Munich earlier this year: “The problem with Europe is it doesn’t provide enough of a deterrence on its own… The American security blanket has allowed European security to atrophy.”

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The European Union must do more to bolster spending on its defense, says European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The remarks echo calls by former President Donald J. Trump for the European nations to take on a greater role in paying for and organizing their military defense capabilities rather than being overly reliant on U.S. military aid and protection—especially regarding the NATO alliance. show more
August 29, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Immigration
NatSec
World

Taylor Swift Islamic Terror Plot Aimed to Kill ‘Tens of Thousands’.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Deputy Director David Cohen says a jihadist terror plot targeting a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, Austria, aimed to kill “tens of thousands” of people, including “many Americans.”

“They planned to kill a huge number of people, tens of thousands at this concert including, I’m sure, many Americans,” Cohen said. “The Austrians were able to [arrest the suspects] because the [CIA] and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do,”

Concerts planned for August 8, 9, and 10 in the European capital were all canceled after the plot was uncovered. Initially, two Austrian citizens with Turkish and Croatian backgrounds were arrested in connection with the scheme, followed by an 18-year-old Iraqi immigrant.

Young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class in Southport, England, were targeted in a mass stabbing by a migration-background teenager on July 29. Three were killed, and several others were left in critical condition. Two adult female teachers and a man in his sixties who tried to stop the attacker were also injured. However, the authorities have not identified the attack, which sparked widespread anti-immigration demonstrations and counter-demonstrations, as terrorism.

In 2017, a jihadist suicide bomber attacked an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 and injuring over 1,000. Many of the victims were minors and their parents, with the youngest fatality being an eight-year-old girl.

Image by Ronald Woan.

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Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Deputy Director David Cohen says a jihadist terror plot targeting a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, Austria, aimed to kill "tens of thousands" of people, including "many Americans." show more
August 29, 2024
Jack Montgomery
Lawfare
TECH
World

Telegram’s Durov Put Under Organized Crime Investigation by Judge.

A French judge has placed Telegram CEO Pavel Durov under formal investigation for alleged involvement in organized crime activities on the messaging platform. The judge granted Durov bail under the conditions that he pay five million euros, report twice weekly to the police, and remain in French territory.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau claims there are sufficient grounds to pursue an investigation into the charges for which Durov was detained four days prior. These include allegations of complicity in facilitating illegal transactions, dissemination of child sex abuse images, drug trafficking, fraud, refusal to provide information to authorities, and money laundering.

Under French law, a formal investigation is not indicative of guilt and will not necessarily lead to a trial. Still, it signifies that judges believe there is adequate evidence for a full probe, which could last several years.

French authorities initiated an introductory indictment in July. Telegram has made limited remarks on the arrest, stating it complies with European Union (EU) censorship regulations and rejecting liability for platform abuse.

NOT ‘POLITICAL.’

France’s President Emmanuel Macron claims Durov’s arrest is not political, insisting “France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication [and] will remain so.”

This is flatly untrue, as speech is heavily regulated in France. For instance, a woman in her fifties who called Macron “filth” in a Facebook post was arrested for the crime of “insulting the President of the Republic” in 2023.

Many believe the decision to hold Durov, a Russian who also has citizenship in France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), responsible for allegedly criminal content on Telegram smacks of two-tier justice. Of 36 million reports of child sexual abuse material in 2023, 85 percent were on Meta platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—yet leftist owner Mark Zuckerberg is not held personally accountable for such activities.

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A French judge has placed Telegram CEO Pavel Durov under formal investigation for alleged involvement in organized crime activities on the messaging platform. The judge granted Durov bail under the conditions that he pay five million euros, report twice weekly to the police, and remain in French territory. show more
August 29, 2024
Immigration
World

Meloni Impounds NGO Ship in Fresh Migration Crackdown.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government seems to be changing course on illegal migration, seizing the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) migrant taxi ship, Geo Barents. The ship was impounded for 60 days by Italian authorities after dropping off 191 migrants it picked up in the Mediterranean.

Rome accused the crew of Geo Barents of endangering lives during a night-time rescue operation last Friday, alleging that they failed to inform Italian authorities promptly. MSF denies the charges, stating that the crew was forced to act after witnessing migrants falling—or being pushed—overboard from a small boat as a Libyan coastguard vessel approached.

Meloni’s government, backed by her Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, has succeeded in reducing migrant arrivals. This year, just over 39,500 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea, a sharp decline from the 112,500 who reached Italian shores during the same period last year.

MSF and other pro-migration groups have lodged formal complaints with the European Commission, which is still assessing whether Italy’s policies are consistent with EU and international law.

The Geo Barents is the latest in a string of migrant taxi vessels impounded by Italy, with authorities detaining ten such boats this year. The new approach for Meloni comes after a year of unsuccessfully trying to work with the European Commission and others to tackle the migrant crisis as over a hundred thousand illegals arrived in Italy by boat.

At one point, Meloni even stated that Europe and Italy needed immigration, adopting the establishment stance that migrants should be given safer legal routes to Europe. While migrant numbers to Italy have slowed in recent months, many seem to have switched to the Spanish route to Europe, which has surged.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government seems to be changing course on illegal migration, seizing the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) migrant taxi ship, Geo Barents. The ship was impounded for 60 days by Italian authorities after dropping off 191 migrants it picked up in the Mediterranean. show more