WORLD NEWS
Iran dismisses European restraint calls as contradicting international law
Iran says the request by France, Germany and Britain ‘lacks political logic’ and it is determined to deter Israel.
Iran has dismissed calls by France, Germany and the United Kingdom to stand down its threat against Israel after the assassination of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement on Tuesday that the request “lacks political logic and contradicts principles of international law” and also “constitutes public and practical support” for Israel.
The European countries “raised no objection to the international crimes” of Israel and “impudently asked Iran not to respond to a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity”, he said.
Kanaani said Iran was determined to deter Israel and called on the three countries to “once and for all stand up against the war in Gaza and the warmongering of Israel”.
Hamas has blamed Israel for the July 31 assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The Israeli government has made no claim of responsibility.
Ukraine claims to control 1,000 sq kms of Russian territory
Ukraine’s top commander has said Kyiv’s forces control 1,000 sq km of Russian territory as they press their biggest cross-border incursion in two-and-a-half years of full-scale war.
Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukraine continued to “conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region” seven days after it began.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had brought war to others and now it was coming back to Russia.
But Russian leader Vladimir Putin described the offensive as a “major provocation” and ordered Russian forces to “to kick the enemy out of our territory”.
Hamas says Israeli captive killed, two wounded in Gaza
The Israeli army says it’s investigating but could not refute or confirm the claims of casualties in separate incidents.
Hamas’s armed wing has said one Israeli captive was killed in Gaza and two female captives were wounded in a separate incident, days ahead of a new round of ceasefire talks proposed by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement on Telegram on Monday that the Israeli captive was killed by his guards.
Taliban prepares to celebrate 3rd anniversary of seizing power in Afghanistan
Preparations were underway in Afghanistan as the Taliban was set to mark the third anniversary of their return to power in the country.
Moscow reveals origin of chemical weapons used in Kursk
An investigation into a reported chemical weapons attack by Ukraine in Kursk Region has found that the munitions used likely originated in the West, a senior Russian military official has said.
On Monday, acting Governor Aleksey Smirnov reported that a Russian repair crew had come under fire from Ukrainian forces and suffered from poisoning. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who heads the chemical and biological defense forces, shared the preliminary results of an investigation conducted by his troops.
”Those were smoke munitions. The smoke-producing agent is typical for munitions used by the US and Germany in terms of its composition… It is based on hexachloroethane and zinc oxide,” he told the news outlet Zvezda TV.
White smoke produced by the mixture of the two compounds is mildly toxic and has a range of military and public-order applications.
Kirillov said the military and the Health Ministry had organized the collection of samples at the site of the reported attack in line with the requirements of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). A Russian lab accredited by the international watchdog is studying them, he said.
Russian officials have some unanswered questions regarding the additives used in the munitions, the general said, “but we have time and we are not revealing those yet.”
UK charges pro-Palestine group members under terrorism law
Palestine Action members are accused of burglary, violent disorder at building belonging to Israeli defence firm Elbit.
British counterterrorism police have charged seven people with violent disorder over a break-in at a building belonging to Israeli defence firm Elbit in southwest England.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Tuesday that seven people, aged between 20 and 51, have been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary over an incident at the Elbit Systems premises in South Gloucestershire on August 6.
Draft bill allowing German police to search web with facial recognition panned
Germany is among the first European nations to push at the seams of the AI Act, with a row brewing over the Federal Ministry of the Interior’s plan to allow police use of facial recognition to identify terrorists.
A draft bill introduced by Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser proposes comparing photos or screenshots from violent video footage to images posted to social media with biometrics to determine the whereabouts of suspects or identity unknown criminals, Der Spiegel reports. Several of Germany’s policing laws would have to change to accommodate the system.
A report from RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) quotes deputy chairman of the Green parliamentary group Konstantin von Notz, who believes the use of facial recognition raises “profound constitutional questions.”
The Greens “expressly share the desire to consistently combat terrorism,” says von Notz. “However, it should first be noted that the coalition agreement contains a clear rejection of biometric recording for surveillance purposes in public spaces, and for good reason.” A 2020 plan to deploy live facial recognition at 135 train stations and 14 airports was scuppered over concerns about accuracy, and the Greens worry about surveillance creep and the potential for misuse should the new draft law go ahead.
For now, as the proposal awaits approval from the Cabinet and the Bundestag, Marcel Emmerich, chairman of the Green parliamentary group, says the Greens are “examining the intensity of the intervention very carefully” and that they “reject automated and biometric facial recognition because they massively curtail fundamental rights.”
The Ministry says concern about algorithmic mass surveillance are unfounded, since real-time facial recognition in public spaces is not part of the plan. Part of the motivation for pursuing the biometric system came from a recent case in which Canadian journalist Michael Colborne identified a former member of the Red Army Faction (RAF), labeled as a terrorist group by the German government, using Facebook photos and facial recognition software from PimEyes.
Donald Trump suggested during his interview with Elon Musk that he could flee to Venezuela if he loses the election, because it is ‘far safer’ than the United States.
During his two-hour conversation with the tech mogul on X’s Spaces, the former president said the South American nation is ’emptying out’ its prisons and sending murderers and rapists to the southern border.
‘If something happens with this election, which would be a horror show, we’ll meet the next time in Venezuela, because it’ll be a far safer place to meet than our country.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Poll: More than half of Americans oppose deploying troops to ISRAEL
More than half of American respondents are against the idea of deploying U.S. troops to defend Israel, according to a new survey.
The opinion poll was conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA) think tank from June 21 until July 1. A total of 1,056 U.S. adults were polled on their opinion as to whether they support American troops being deployed to defend Israel from the Resistance Axis, an informal coalition of the Jewish state’s enemies led by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The think tank’s poll found that overall, 56 percent of U.S. citizens did not agree with the deployment of American troops to Israel. In contrast, only 41 percent of respondents supported the move.
It also found that 55 percent of Republican-leaning respondents backed sending American soldiers to Israel, while only 35 percent of both Democratic-leaning and independent respondents were in favor of the move.
According to The Cradle, data for the opinion poll was collected before Tel Aviv’s twin strikes that targeted major leaders of Hamas (formally the Islamic Resistance Movement) and Hezbollah (Party of God). One strike in the Iranian capital Tehran killed Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Ismail Haniyeh, while another killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
“This latest poll marks the lowest share of popular support in the U.S. for deploying troops to defend Israel since the [CCGA] began asking the question in 2010,” the outlet continued. “Despite the high level of support and cooperation granted to Israel by Washington since the start of the genocidal war in Gaza, the two countries do not have a formal pact that obligates the U.S. to come to Israel’s defense or vice versa.”
Watch as Minnesotans magnificently destroy Tim Walz: ‘I won’t forget to vote in November’
A stunning new video has appeared online, and already has collected nearly a million views, of Minnesotans talking about their governor, Tim Walz.
He’s the extremist who’s been caught in a cloud of accusations about “stolen valor” for lying about a military record and pushing the Midwestern state to the left so far residents have been moving out of state.
He’s also Kamala Harris’ pick to be her vice presidential candidate.
Their comments?
“I won’t forget being forced out of my job at the V.A. of 20 years because of the vaccine mandate.”
“I won’t forget when you decided which businesses were essential and which ones weren’t.”
“You shut down stores, malls, zoos, everything and we couldn’t even go outside.”
“I will remember when you sent COVID positive patients back to the nursing homes.”
And, “I won’t forget to vote in November.”
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been disqualified from appearing on New York’s general election ballot.
This decision comes after Democrat Judge Christina Ryba ruled on Monday that Kennedy’s claim of a New York address as his “place of residence” was a “false statement,” claiming that he had no genuine intention of returning to the Empire State.
The ruling is part of a DNC-backed lawfare campaign aimed at undermining Kennedy’s candidacy, despite his impressive grassroots support, having collected over 1 million signatures nationwide, including nearly 150,000 in New York alone.
The lawsuit against Kennedy is supported by Clear Choice Action, a Democrat-aligned super PAC focused on obstructing third-party candidates in the presidential election, according to CBS News.
Federal Appeals Court Finds Geofence Warrants Are “Categorically” Unconstitutional
In a major decision on Friday, the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that geofence warrants are “categorically prohibited by the Fourth Amendment.” Closely following arguments EFF has made in a number of cases, the court found that geofence warrants constitute the sort of “general, exploratory rummaging” that the drafters of the Fourth Amendment intended to outlaw. EFF applauds this decision because it is essential that every person feels like they can simply take their cell phone out into the world without the fear that they might end up a criminal suspect because their location data was swept up in open-ended digital dragnet.
The new Fifth Circuit case, United States v. Smith, involved an armed robbery and assault of a US Postal Service worker at a post office in Mississippi in 2018. After several months of investigation, police had no identifiable suspects, so they obtained a geofence warrant covering a large geographic area around the post office for the hour surrounding the crime. Google responded to the warrant with information on several devices, ultimately leading police to the two defendants.
On appeal, the Fifth Circuit reached several important holdings.
Elon Musk elaborated on why he endorsed former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election while speaking to him in an X Space on Monday, telling the 45th president, “We’re at a fork in the road of destiny of civilization … and you’re the right path.”
“We’re at a fork in the road of destiny of civilization, and I think we need to take the right path, and I think you’re the right path,” Musk said to former President Trump on Monday.
Musk also explained that he has always been a “moderate Democrat” or “slightly left,” but said the Democrats have gone too far. He then urged other moderates to vote for Trump, and he told the 45th president, “You are the path to prosperity,” adding that Vice President Kamala Harris “is the opposite.”
Report: Immigrants Gaining U.S. Citizenship at Fastest Rate in a Decade
The federal government is approving U.S. citizenship requests at the quickest rate in a decade, dispensing with a backlog attributed to the coronavirus pandemic and a tighter approval regime that reached its zenith under former President Donald Trump, a report Tuesday sets out.
Naturalization ceremonies typically spike ahead of a an election, the New York Times report makes clear, before detailing the rise in approval numbers for citizenship that also confers with it full voting rights.
Immigration analyst Xiao Wang, chief executive of Boundless, a company that reportedly uses government data to analyze immigration trends while offering services to immigrants who seek professional help in navigating the application process, told the outlet the rush comes with commensurate outcomes:
The surge in naturalization efficiency isn’t just about clearing backlogs; it’s potentially reshaping the electorate, merely months before a pivotal election.
Every citizenship application could be a vote that decides Senate seats or even the presidency.
The NY Times report goes on to set out at under five months, application processing speed is now on a par with 2013 and 2014. About 3.3 million immigrants have become citizens during President Joe Biden’s time in office, with less than two months to go before the close of the 2024 fiscal year.
Colorado CIty Closes Migrant Apartment Block amid Gang Crime, Squalor
City officials in Aurora, Colorado, are closing down a large apartment building today amid rival claims about landlord abuse and a hostile takeover by Venezuala’s Tren de Aragua migrant street gang.
“Tren de Aragua taking over properties and communities in Aurora means that we are not able to be present on this property, or any of our other properties in similar situations, also being impacted by [migrant] gang presence,” said a statement to Breitbart News by an “investor for multiple affected properties in Aurora.” The statement was provided by a spokesman for the Florida-based landlord, CBZ Management.
The owners are “out-of-town slum lords,” Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman responded via 9News.com on August 8:
That building has been a problem for years, mountains of garbage, rats, sewage, no electricity …. We’ve been working with this building and its owners for a very long time. I mean, I they’re they’re out-of-state slumlords, and they haven’t maintained the building.
Coffman is a prominent supporter of more labor migration into the city’s workplaces and housing. “America is a nation of immigrants with a rare ability to take the best of many cultures from all corners of the world and almost magically integrate them to become uniquely American,” he told ColoradoPolitics.com in 2020. One in five of Auroroa’s population of 400,000 is an immigrant.
The migrants must leave by Tuesday. Many will get free accommodation at local hotels until August 31, mostly arranged via pro-migration advocacy groups, such as the East Colfax Community Collective.
Biden to announce funding for research on cancer surgeries as part of Moonshot effort
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Louisiana on Tuesday to announce up to $150 million in federal awards for research projects focused on improving cancer surgeries.
The president and first lady will participate in a tour at Tulane University and deliver remarks on how funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is being used to treat and detect cancer as part of the White House’s Cancer Moonshot effort.
The funding, which is being distributed among eight recipients, is going toward participants in ARPA-H’s Precision Surgical Interventions program, which is focused on making cancer surgeries more effective to reduce the need for multiple procedures to remove tumors.
Tulane University will receive up to $22.9 million, Rice University will receive up to $18 million, and the University of Washington will receive roughly $21 million in funding to develop new techniques to visualize individual cells on the surface of a tumor that has been removed, the White House said.
The government is providing roughly $21 million to Johns Hopkins University, $15 million to the University of California, San Francisco and up to $32 million to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to invent new microscopes and other tools to identify microscopic cancer remnants inside patients.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Reservoir of liquid water found deep in Martian rocks
Scientists have discovered a reservoir of liquid water on Mars – deep in the rocky outer crust of the planet.
The findings come from a new analysis of data from Nasa’s Mars Insight Lander, which touched down on the planet back in 2018.
The lander carried a seismometer, which recorded four years’ of vibrations – Mars quakes – from deep inside the Red Planet.
Analysing those quakes – and exactly how the planet moves – revealed “seismic signals” of liquid water.
While there is water frozen at the Martian poles and evidence of vapour in the atmosphere, this is the first time liquid water has been found on the planet.
The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Federal judge declares Google a MONOPOY is a Big Tech shakeup in the works?
Search engine giant Google violated antitrust regulations by engaging in monopolistic practices that violate section 2 of the Sherman Act, federal justice Amit Mehta ruled this week.
In its quest to become the world’s dominant online search engine, Google worked to minimize public oversight and media exposure of its efforts to illegally make itself No. 1 through shady financial leverage agreements with other major multinational corporations such as Apple and Samsung.
“This enabled Google to set itself as the default search engine across numerous devices, an advantage that Judge Mehta found to be unfairly limiting competition,” reported Reclaim the Net.
“The financial scope of these agreements was substantial, with Google disbursing over $26 billion in 2021 to secure default status on various devices, a practice that the court criticized for lacking legitimate justification.”
While Judge Mehta’s ruling stops short of actually punishing Google for its crimes, it does suggest that Google could run into trouble in the future. Google is also expected to appeal the decision, which could mean that the case will eventually be tossed.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Army and National Guard accused of abandoning 24-year-old soldier with “debilitating heart condition” that internal memo “linked” to COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.
New military records confirm the soldier’s heart injury was “In Line of Duty,” and details her account of “complications since receiving the second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.”
Moderna did not respond to our questions.
Army Specialist Karoline Stancik now faces over $70,000 in medical debt.
More Stories
Today’s News: September 03, 2024
Today’s News: August 30, 2024
Today’s News: August 27, 2024