How Elon Musk has meddled in European affairs

Posted on by

From bashing Keir Starmer to promoting the AfD, the X owner is not shy about intervening

A limited – at best – understanding of the continent of Europe and its component countries has not prevented the world’s richest man from intervening in the domestic politics of several of them, as well as attacking the EU itself.

Here we take a brief look at some of the occasions on which X owner Elon Musk has used his position as proprietor of one of the world’s largest social media platforms to meddle in the internal affairs of sovereign democratic states outside the US.

Continue reading...

Friend of British hiker missing in Italy voices ‘acceptance’ as search continues

Posted on by

Joe Stone says authorities ‘trying everything’ to find Aziz Ziriat after body of Sam Harris discovered on Wednesday

A close friend of a British hiker who has been missing in the Dolomites since New Year’s Day has said “there is an acceptance that it won’t be good news” as search efforts continued.

Sam Harris, 35, and Aziz Ziriat, 36, from London, last sent messages home on 1 January and the pair did not check in to their flight home on 6 January. Friends and relatives have travelled to Italy.

Continue reading...

Thousands gather in Germany to protest far-right AfD congress – Al Jazeera English

Posted on by
  1. Thousands gather in Germany to protest far-right AfD congress  Al Jazeera English
  2. Co-leader of Germany’s far-right AfD calls for mass deportations  Financial Times
  3. Far-right party’s convention draws protests as Germany’s election campaign warms up  The Associated Press
  4. Protesters stage blockade as AfD holds conference before German elections  The Guardian
  5. Protesters chanting ‘no to Nazis’ block access to AfD party congress  POLITICO Europe
Posted in Uncategorized

‘So immoral’: gig economy workers forced to pay fee to receive their wages

Posted on by

Retail assistants on low pay using YoungOnes platform docked cash or told to wait up to 30 days for earnings

Retail assistants have accused a gig economy firm of “holding them to ransom” by making them pay a fee if they want to receive their wages within a month.

A new payment system brought in by YoungOnes, which supplies “freelance” retail assistants to many well-known high street stores, charges gig workers 4.8% of their earnings to be paid in one minute or 2.9% to be paid in three days. If they decline, they typically have to wait 30 days. Previously the workers were paid in three days, without a charge.

Continue reading...

Search for missing sisters in Aberdeen extended to coast

Posted on by

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti last seen near Victoria Bridge in city centre in early hours of Tuesday

The search for two sisters, who went missing in Aberdeen on Tuesday morning, has been extended to the coast, police said.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti – who are part of a set of triplets – were last seen in the city on Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

One of four lynx captured in the Scottish Highlands dies – The Associated Press

Posted on by
  1. One of four lynx captured in the Scottish Highlands dies  The Associated Press
  2. Illegally released lynx captured in Scottish Highlands dies  The Independent
  3. Fears of ‘rogue rewilding’ in Scottish Highlands after further lynx sightings | Scotland  The Guardian
  4. Two lynx cats spotted loose in Scotland after two others captured  UPI News
  5. Four Lynx Have Been Illegally Released Into the Scottish Highlands. Officials Think ‘Guerrilla Rewilding’ Is to Blame  Smithsonian Magazine
Posted in Uncategorized

IAF strikes Hamas command center embedded within school in Jabaliya – The Jerusalem Post

Posted on by
  1. IAF strikes Hamas command center embedded within school in Jabaliya  The Jerusalem Post
  2. Israeli siege of north Gaza leaves 5,000 dead, missing after 100 days  Al Jazeera English
  3. Gaza: Israel bombs school sheltering displaced people  Vatican News - English
  4. Gaza death toll has been significantly underreported, study finds  CNN
  5. Researchers Say Study Shows Gaza Death Toll Far Exceeds Official Figures  Haaretz
Posted in Uncategorized

A Glowing Metal Ring Crashed to Earth. No One Knows Where It Came From – WIRED

Posted on by
  1. A Glowing Metal Ring Crashed to Earth. No One Knows Where It Came From  WIRED
  2. Debris falling from the sky: More often, more risk  Phys.org
  3. Harvard Expert Weighs In on Mystery of Makueni Debris  Kenyans.co.ke
  4. Rail workers' union leader Mick Lynch announces retirement  MSN
  5. 1,100 Pound Space Object Falls from the Sky in Kenya, Fueling Misinformation  The Debrief
Posted in Uncategorized

Sudan’s army recaptures Wad Madani from rebel Rapid Support Forces

Posted on by

Strategic city fell into control of RSF, which has been accused of genocide by the US, in December 2023

Sudan’s military and its allies have taken back a strategic city from the rebel Rapid Support Forces, officials said.

The recapture of Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira province, took place more than a year after it fell to the RSF. Wad Madani had previously been a haven for displaced families in the early months of the war.

Continue reading...

LA fires: evacuation orders expand as Santa Ana winds are expected to pick up

Posted on by

Neighborhoods now under evacuation orders include Encino and tony Brentwood in west Los Angeles

Evacuations have been ordered for areas of Los Angeles east of the uncontained Palisades fire – as the Santa Ana winds that initially fueled the four-day inferno are expected to moderately pick up.

The Los Angeles fire department issued a new immediate evacuation order at 7pm local time on Friday to areas that cover Sunset Boulevard north to the Encino reservoir and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon.

Continue reading...

Ahead of Trump’s return to office, Ukraine and Russia battle for Kursk – The Washington Post

Posted on by
  1. Ahead of Trump’s return to office, Ukraine and Russia battle for Kursk  The Washington Post
  2. Two Offensives, Two Bloody Massacres—In Kursk, Drones Smash Attacks By Both Sides  Forbes
  3. Ukraine takes another bite out of Russia as Moscow grinds on in Donetsk  Al Jazeera English
  4. Ukraine war latest: Ukraine's 47th Brigade releases video of 'massive' Russian attack repelled in Kursk Oblast  Kyiv Independent
  5. Ukraine gambled big in its daring assault into Russia's Kursk. Was it worth the risk?  Yahoo! Voices
Posted in Uncategorized

‘I’ll never call him dad again:’ Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter says she suspects her father also drugged her for sexual abuse – CNN

Posted on by
  1. ‘I’ll never call him dad again:’ Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter says she suspects her father also drugged her for sexual abuse  CNN
  2. ‘I can’t keep the unthinkable at bay – did he abuse me?’: an exclusive extract from the memoir of Dominique Pelicot’s daughter  The Guardian
  3. I'm sure I was drugged and raped too, says the daughter of the Monster of Avignon - as she says there is 'no w  Daily Mail
  4. ‘My father should die in prison,’ says daughter of Dominique Pelicot  The Telegraph
  5. "He Should Die In Prison": French Rapist Dominique Pelicot's Daughter  NDTV
Posted in Uncategorized

‘White people shouldn’t mess with it’: Native American church laments psychedelic cactus shortage

Posted on by

Western ‘psychedelic renaissance’ is partly to blame for dwindling supplies of peyote, which produces mescaline

Aldous Huxley wrote about the spiritual visions he had while taking the drug mescaline in The Doors of Perception, while Hunter S Thompson wrote of driving at 100mph while under the influence of it in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

But now a growing number of western spiritual seekers dabbling in psychedelics are accused of causing a shortage of the plant that produces mescaline.

Continue reading...