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Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:55:00 +0000 "Democrats Know Their Constituents Can't Read Charts. That's Why..."
"Democrats Know Their Constituents Can't Read Charts. That's Why..."
Another attempted "gotcha moment" on X by Democrats backfired, revealing that their political strategists and whoever handles their social media accounts lack the
Read more.....
"Democrats Know Their Constituents Can't Read Charts. That's Why..."
Another attempted "gotcha moment" on X by Democrats backfired, revealing that their political strategists and whoever handles their social media accounts lack the most basic chart-reading skills. However, X users pointed out that these political operatives aren't DEI fools; instead, they seem incapable of telling the truth.
The X account for the Senate Majority PAC , which focuses on supporting left-wing Senate elections, posted four decades of USDA average beef price charts, trying to pin the rise on Trump.
"Let's be honest for a second. Republicans don't care about the price of beef because they don't answer to working Americans," SMPAC wrote on X.
Just like eggs earlier this year and power bills this fall, Democrat operatives are seizing any opportunity to blame Trump for soaring prices that mainly occurred in the previous four years.
X user ALX shows why context matters.
Via X user Peter Shrink ...
Comments...
And this...
SMPAC's chart isn't the first time Democrats have either misread charts or tried to deceive the public with them, and they've been called out time and time again:
Kyle Bass, founder and chief investment officer of Hayman Capital Management, recently pointed out another propaganda blunder the Democratic Party made with grocery prices...
SMPAC failed to mention Trump's moves to open global supply chains and address the cattle-shortage crisis to lower supermarket beef prices.
SMPAC's organizational structure... and there's a familiar name.
The Biden-Harris regime had four full years to fix the beef problem, yet failed to act; instead, they focused on nation-killing progressive policies, if that's 'green' or open borders, that have caused the current mess we're in today.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 06:55 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:30:00 +0000 EU Opens Antitrust Probe Into Google's Use Of Publisher, YouTube Content For AI
EU Opens Antitrust Probe Into Google's Use Of Publisher, YouTube Content For AI
EU Opens Antitrust Probe Into Google's Use Of Publisher, YouTube Content For AI
Authored by Vismaya V via Decrypt.co,
The EU has launched an antitrust investigation into whether Google exploited publisher and YouTube content to fuel its AI products without fair compensation or consent.
Regulators warn that the practices may give Google an unlawful competitive edge over rival AI developers across Europe.
This is the EU’s second investigation against Google in a month, as Brussels cracks down on Big Tech’s AI practices.
The European Commission launched a formal antitrust investigation this week into whether Google breached EU competition rules by using web publisher and YouTube content to power its artificial intelligence services without fair compensation or consent.
"The Commission will investigate to what extent the generation of AI Overviews and AI Mode by Google is based on web publishers' content without appropriate compensation for that, and without the possibility for publishers to refuse without losing access to Google Search," a Tuesday statement said.
Publishers must either let Google use their content for AI summaries without payment or risk losing visibility in Search.
YouTube creators face a similar dilemma, as uploading gives Google automatic AI-training rights with no compensation while rival AI developers are barred from using the same content.
"AI is bringing remarkable innovation and many benefits for people and businesses across Europe, but this progress cannot come at the expense of the principles at the heart of our societies,” Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, said in the statement.
Even Alex Chandra, partner at IGNOS Law Alliance, told Decrypt the investigation "reflects a deeper, structural ambition: to subject globally scalable digital business models to the EU's regulatory and competitive framework."
“If the Commission is not very disciplined (transparent about burden-of-proof, consistent across geography and business model) this could become less about “fair competition” and more about “favoring what fits European regulatory and economic priorities,” he said.
If proven, the practices under investigation may breach EU competition rules that ban dominant companies from using their market power to distort competition.
The regulator said it will carry out its investigation as a matter of priority, but provided no legal deadline for concluding the probe.
Big tech cornered
The investigation comes less than a month after the Commission formally launched proceedings to assess whether Google applies fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory conditions of access to publishers' websites on Google Search under the Digital Markets Act.
In September, the Commission fined Google $3.1 billion (€2.95 billion) for breaching EU antitrust rules by favoring its own advertising technology services over competing providers.
Europe's competition regulator has opened a formal investigation into tech giant Meta over policy changes that allow the company's own AI chatbot to operate on WhatsApp while blocking rivals from doing the same. The European Commission announced Thursday it's examining whether Meta violated antitrust rules by effectively reserving WhatsApp's AI chatbot access for itself. The action targets updated business terms WhatsApp rolled out in late October, which ban third-party AI companies from distri...
The Commission ordered Google to end its self-preferencing practices and implement measures to address conflicts of interest across the adtech supply chain.
Last week, the Commission also opened an investigation into Meta over policy changes that allow its own AI chatbot to operate on WhatsApp while blocking rivals from doing the same.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 06:30 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 10:45:00 +0000 Indonesia Targets Finfluencers In Crackdown After P2P Investment Losses
Indonesia Targets Finfluencers In Crackdown After P2P Investment Losses
Indonesia’s financial regulators are stepping up action against social-media investment gurus after a wave of losses tied to risk
Read more.....
Indonesia Targets Finfluencers In Crackdown After P2P Investment Losses
Indonesia’s financial regulators are stepping up action against social-media investment gurus after a wave of losses tied to risky digital platforms and unverified financial advice. Beginning this week, a new rule issued by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) will force securities firms to vet, supervise and assume legal responsibility for content produced by influencers they pay, according to Nikkei .
Influencers who analyze investments must be licensed advisers, while those promoting products must register as marketing partners and clearly disclose paid endorsements. They will also be required to explain risks, not just potential returns. As the OJK cautioned in an October campaign, “The next time a piece of financial advice blows up on your feed, take a pause. Just because it’s viral doesn’t mean it’s sound.”
The crackdown coincides with mounting complaints against peer-to-peer lending (P2P) apps once hyped by finfluencers. Akseleran, one of the country’s most recognizable platforms, is being sued by at least 19 investors who say they collectively lost around 6 billion rupiah. The company attributes its problems to borrowers defaulting en masse. Several other platforms, including KoinP2P, Crowde and Dana Syariah Indonesia, are under similar scrutiny. The OJK recently revoked Crowde’s license and is coordinating with police to investigate potential criminal activity tied to other platforms.
Nikkei writes that one casualty of that boom-and-bust cycle is 29-year-old Surabaya resident Anita Carolina. Three years ago she was persuaded by a financial influencer to invest 471 million rupiah (about $28,000) in Akseleran. Today she is still trying to recover the money. The experience, she says, changed the way she invests. “Investing should not be marketed as a casual game. Influencers are salespeople, not financial advisers,” she said, adding that she now avoids them “entirely.”
Carolina’s story reflects a broader shift in Indonesia’s financial landscape. Investor participation has exploded, climbing from 2.5 million registered participants in 2019 to 19.2 million in October 2024, fueled by easy-to-use apps and pandemic-era interest in alternative income. Many new retail investors — dominated by millennials and Gen Z — chased high returns through stocks, crypto and P2P lending, often guided not by licensed professionals but by relatable personalities on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. A 2023 CELIOS survey found that 70% of Indonesians trust finfluencers, nearly equal to the 69.5% who trust certified advisers.
Experts say that reliance has created a fertile market for unqualified “advisers” who blur the line between education and marketing. “It has become easy for individuals to label themselves as finfluencers without a proper background,” said economist Tauhid Ahmad. Many fail to disclose paid partnerships, while others promote products they barely understand. Regulators have also struggled to keep up: from 2017 to September 2024, the OJK says it blocked over 13,000 illegal financial entities, most involving online loans or investment schemes that quickly resurface in new forms.
Some influencers now admit their own role in fueling unsustainable P2P enthusiasm. TikTok creator Felicia Putri Tjiasaka, who has 1.4 million followers, said she also invested in Akseleran but exited in 2023. “In Indonesia, it’s the productive P2P sector that is failing,” she told her followers, citing economic pressures and lax credit screening.
Others argue regulations are long overdue. Educator and influencer Roy Shakti says untrained personalities are “positioning themselves as experts to teach trading,” and supports measures similar to China’s ban on wealth-flaunting. “You won’t find me promising easy money,” he said. “Instead, I teach people how to raise funding and avoid scams.”
Though she continues to invest in mutual funds and bitcoin, Carolina now conducts her own research before committing a single rupiah. “It’s disappointing, as I followed their advice,” she said. “But now, I avoid them entirely.”
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 05:45 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 10:00:00 +0000 UK Teacher Banned For Daring To Tell Muslim Pupil Britain Is Still A Christian Country
UK Teacher Banned For Daring To Tell Muslim Pupil Britain Is Still A Christian Country
UK Teacher Banned For Daring To Tell Muslim Pupil Britain Is Still A Christian Country
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
In yet another chilling assault on free speech and cultural identity, a London primary school teacher has been dragged through the wringer for simply pointing out Britain’s Christian roots to a Muslim student.
This outrageous case exposes how woke bureaucrats are weaponizing child protection rules to silence anyone who dares affirm traditional values in a multicultural minefield.
Suspended, sacked, and slapped with a ban from working with kids, the educator’s only “crime” was enforcing school policy and delivering a dose of reality about the UK’s religious landscape. Backed by the Free Speech Union, he’s now fighting back against this blatant overreach that reeks of leftist intolerance for inconvenient truths.
The incident kicked off when the teacher caught students washing their feet in the boys’ bathroom sinks—a clear violation at the non-faith school where prayers were confined to a designated room. According to reports, he addressed the group, explaining the rules and emphasizing British values of tolerance.
But one pupil took offense, claiming the teacher said the school wasn’t religious and suggested an alternative. Specifically, the child reported the teacher stating, “Britain is still a Christian state,” while noting the King’s role as head of the Church of England. The educator also allegedly remarked, “if you want that, there’s an Islamic school a mile away,” referring to accommodations for Islamic practices.
Police from the Metropolitan’s child abuse team got involved, probing a potential hate crime. Though that inquiry was dropped, the local safeguarding board branded the teacher’s comments as causing “emotional harm” to the child, leading to his ban from the profession.
The school wasted no time: suspended in March 2024, sacked for gross misconduct by February 2025 after nearly three years on the job.
With the aid of the Free Speech Union, the teacher is now suing the local authority. Lord Toby Young, the group’s director, remarked, “This teacher lost his job and almost ended up being barred from the profession for life just because he pointed out to a class of Muslim schoolchildren that the national religion of England is Anglicanism.”
He drove the point home: “Things have reached a pretty pass in this country if a teacher can be branded a safeguarding risk because he says something that’s incontestably true. If he’d claimed that Islam is the official religion of England, even though that’s not true, I doubt he would have got into any trouble.”
Young’s critique highlights the double standard plaguing Britain’s institutions, where affirming the majority culture invites punishment, but pushing minority agendas gets a free pass.
The teacher successfully appealed the ban and now works part-time at another school outside London. Yet the damage is done—his career derailed over a factual statement in a lesson on tolerance, no less.
This fiasco echoes broader concerns that safeguarding protocols are being hijacked to target conservative views. Just days prior, an ex-Royal Marine faced a similar ban for online posts criticizing illegal immigration, as noted in related coverage .
Leftist enforcers in education and government are stifling dissent under the guise of “protection.” It’s no secret that unchecked multiculturalism, fueled by open borders policies, has led to clashes like this, where schools become battlegrounds for identity politics.
The teacher’s legal team stressed the school’s non-faith status and the informal ban on playground prayers, extending to sink usage. But facts didn’t matter to the ideologues who prioritized feelings over reality.
In a nation where Christianity shaped laws, holidays, and institutions for centuries, stating the obvious now risks professional ruin.
Britain’s slide into this woke dystopia serves as a stark warning. If bureaucrats are allowed to redefine “harm” to include historical facts, then free expression crumbles. The teacher’s fightback offers hope, but it underscores the urgent need to dismantle these speech-suppressing mechanisms.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch . Follow us on X @ModernityNews .
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 05:00 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 09:15:00 +0000 Rep Massie Introduces Bill For US To Dump 'Cold War Relic' NATO
Rep Massie Introduces Bill For US To Dump 'Cold War Relic' NATO
Conservative and outspoken libertarian-leaning Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced legislation Tuesday for the United States for formally withdraw from
Read more.....
Rep Massie Introduces Bill For US To Dump 'Cold War Relic' NATO
Conservative and outspoken libertarian-leaning Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced legislation Tuesday for the United States for formally withdraw from NATO. Sen. Mike Lee is also helping lead the charge, introducing companion legislation in the Senate.
The bill argues that the US military cannot be seen as the police force of the world, and that given NATO was created to counter the long-gone Soviet Union , which no longer exists , American taxpayers’ money would be better spent elsewhere.
"We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country , not socialist countries … US participation has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and continues to risk US involvement in foreign wars… America should not be the world’s security blanket - especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay for their own defense ," Massie said.
Getty Images
That latter part is likely designed to gain Trump's attention and sympathy, given the president has been emphasizing this point all the way back to his first term.
The bill if passed would require the US government to formally notify NATO that it intends to end its membership and halt the use of American funds for shared budgets . Republican Senator Lee actually introduced similar legislation earlier this year, but it stalled in committee.
Of course, most Congress members have viewpoints which merely reflect the 'pro-NATO' established position of the vast majority of Western politicians generally, so it's very unlikely to ever be passed.
Massie wrote on X , "NATO is a Cold War relic . The United States should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our country, not socialist countries. Today, I introduced HR 6508 to end our NATO membership ."
"Our Constitution did not authorize permanent foreign entanglements, something our Founding Fathers explicitly warned us against," he said additionally.
The NATO Act :
Requires the President to formally notify NATO of U.S. withdrawal under Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
Concludes that NATO’s original Cold War purpose no longer aligns with current U.S. national security interests.
Finds that European NATO members have adequate economic and military capacity to provide for their own defense.
Prevents use of U.S. taxpayer funds for NATO’s common budgets, including its civil budget, military budget, and the Security Investment Program.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced companion legislation, S.2174, in the United States Senate. The text of the NATO Act is available at this link .
Under pressure from Trump, NATO members agreed this year to gradually raise their defense spending to 5% of GDP, significantly above the old 2% guideline. European leaders were finally amenable to this, despite mocking it years ago during Trump's first term, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the "threat" to Europe that they perceive.
Moscow has denied time and again that it has 'expansionist' ambitions - yet US and EU leaders continue to portray Putin as some who dreams of reestablishing an old empire, or else revive Soviet power and borders.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 04:15 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 08:30:00 +0000 Money For Nothing
Money For Nothing
Money For Nothing
Authored by Niall McCrae via Off-Guardian.org,
British people are glum and grumbling after Rachel Reeves’ budget, but what did they expect? They should know by now that government is an extortion racket.
While many voters regret their decision in last year’s general election, die-hard Labour supporters continue to make excuses: Tory mismanagement and Brexit ruined the economy. Daily Mail readers, meanwhile, have been told that the budget has taken from hard-working families to give to benefit claimants.
This is exactly what the powers-that-be want people to believe, not only as the old divide-and-rule strategy, but because society needs to understand that jobs are disappearing rapidly, and the future is basic universal income and total dependence on the state.
The looming technocracy has no use for the majority of the workforce. Data and distribution centres will be run by robots. Artificial intelligence will rise through the occupational strata to replace professional practitioners such as lawyers and doctors.
Call it new technology
And they use it to burn
And they show no concern
Work for their prosperity
While the big wheels turn
Now it’s too late to learn
Don’t upset the teacher
Though we know he lied to you
Don’t upset the preacher
He’s gonna close his eyes for you
And it’s a shame
That you’re so afraid
Just a worker waiting in the pouring rain
Putting back the pieces of a broken dream
Father worked in industry
Now the work has moved on
And the factory’s gone
See them sell your history
Where once you were strong
And you used to belong
There was once a future
For a working man
There was once a lifetime
For a skillful hand – yesterday
Prophetic words by the band Erasure, back in 1986. But most people do not heed the warnings, preferring to shoot the messenger.
A talented OffGuardian writer, Todd Hayen, has decided to stop writing due to the abusive responses to his latest article on the persistent faith of citizens in government and in official narratives. He used the term ‘sheep’ for the easily herded folk who take the vaccines and believe in the scripted saviours and bogeymen.
Funny how the same people can be utterly convinced that their own pet catastrophes—Trump returning to power, climate change, systemic racism, white supremacy, overpopulation, or the rise of the far right—are existential threats that will end life as we know it unless we surrender every freedom immediately to stop them. But mention digital id, central bank digital currencies, vaccine passports, social credit systems, or the creeping transhumanist agenda, and suddenly you’re the paranoid one wearing a tinfoil hat.
The threats to humanity are – or at least should be – emphatically clear. A digital prison is being built around us, with the implicit consent of the ‘sheep’, who still think that technology will solve our problems. Convenience, security and efficiency are prized over meaningful social interaction, privacy and freedom. As Hayen explained, this delusion was primed long ago:
Most of them have been psychologically and educationally groomed for decades to believe that socialism, Marxism, or outright communism are not only benign but morally superior. ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs’ sounds noble when you’ve never watched the state decide what your needs actually are. They think communism is free healthcare, student-debt forgiveness, and government UBI cheques. They have no idea it’s secret police at 3 a.m., neighbours denouncing neighbours for extra bread rations, gulags, re-education camps, forced confessions, and a boot stamping on a human face—forever.
I am no less against global corporate capitalism and fascism as I am of leftist totalitarianism, but merely a minority of critical thinkers see through the Left versus Right paradigm. Ask a progressive liberal student whether she’d expect a fascist government to give free money to everyone in society, of whatever colour or creed, and she’d probably scoff at such a ridiculous notion. Welfare is a thing of the Left – that’s how younger generations are taught to love Big Brother.
Britons are led to believe that the government will always be there as a safety net, when the jobs are gone. Therefore, they don’t threaten aa uprising on the throwing of taxpayers’ money at Ukraine or on the perpetual influx – a million every year – of immigrants whose cheap labour will be a temporary pursuit.
The budget is misunderstood by the majority as a giveaway to the workshy. It is really setting the scene for digitally-controlled UBI, and everything else is a sideshow. Or as Erasure called it, ‘The Circus’.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 03:30 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 07:45:00 +0000 EU Rushes To Secure Russian Assets Under Emergency Powers, Bypassing Hungary Veto
EU Rushes To Secure Russian Assets Under Emergency Powers, Bypassing Hungary Veto
Ukraine is desperately seeking more money, which has been a persistent reality of the war, and the European Union is sc
Read more.....
EU Rushes To Secure Russian Assets Under Emergency Powers, Bypassing Hungary Veto
Ukraine is desperately seeking more money, which has been a persistent reality of the war, and the European Union is scrambling to find solutions amid a general Western war weariness which has already seen hundreds of billions poured into Kiev's coffers.
Currently EU member states are rapidly advancing a plan to permanently freeze as much as €210 billion ($244.38 billion) in Russian state assets to finance Ukraine for at least the next two years. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is seeking to use a loophole to rush this through , based on invoking emergency powers to sanction the frozen assets on a permanent basis , instead of holding the funds based on current six-month renewals, which requires unanimous agreement from all member states.
The plan would see €90 billion (roughly $104.71 billion) released over the next two years. Von der Leyen's scheme would allow for the plan to pass merely with a qualified majority , and so couldn't be derailed by just a lone veto. Nations like Germany and Spain have already signaled their support.
Hungarian and Belgian leaders. Source: vrt.be
EU leadership is rushing it forward to circumvent holdout Hungary in getting what's being dubbed a "reparations loan" to Ukraine, and there's also the idea that it would bolster the EU’s negotiating position in US-led peace negotiations.
EU summits chairman Antonio Costa has vowed to deliver the desired outcome by any means. "The leaders are to decide at a summit on December 18 in Brussels how to deliver on their pledge and Costa told reporters in Dublin he would keep them talking for days, if necessary, until they reach an agreement ," Reuters reports.
It will involve more than just overcoming the hurdle of Hungarian objections, however, given Belgium is not onboard at this point , and the bulk of the Russian funds are kept in Belgian banks.
For starters, Brussels fears immediate negative repercussions from Russia, which could deeply hurt its economy, and so wants guarantees ahead of any EU vote that all members would help absorb the impact .
Von der Leyen has acknowledged the issue, posting on X: "Belgium’s particular situation regarding the use of the frozen Russian assets is undeniable and must be addressed in such a way that all European states bear the same risk ." She added: "We agreed to continue our discussions with the aim of reaching a consensus at the European Council meeting on December 18."
Belgium's initial reaction was to call it "complete madness" - according to The Hungarian Conservative :
‘This is complete madness,’ [Belgian Prime Minister Bart] de Wever said of the proposal in October, according to POLITICO Brussels. The Belgian prime minister argued that the risk of legal and financial retaliation from Moscow is simply too great. He told his colleagues that if Russia were to win lawsuits against Belgium or Euroclear—which holds the frozen assets—the country would be forced to compensate the entire amount itself .
De Wever’s concerns are not unfounded. Reacting to the Commission’s proposal, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that any ‘illegal action’ involving frozen assets would provoke the ‘harshest reaction ’, adding that Moscow is already preparing a package of countermeasures. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev described the plan as a ‘casus belli’, labelling the move tantamount to outright theft .
EU diplomats have been in back-and-forth negotiations with Belgium. Germany's Chancellor Merz has also acknowledged, "What we decide now will determine Europe's future: Belgium's particular vulnerability in the issue of utilizing the frozen Russian assets is indisputable and must be addressed in such a way that all European states bear the same risk."
The European Commission is working on 'safeguards'. "The Belgian government, along with Euroclear, are looking for financial guarantees from fellow EU member states before committing to supporting the plan ," Fox News writes. "De Wever fears that Belgium will ultimately be held responsible and be forced to pay back the assets that are seized in the event a sanctions deal is negotiated with Russia as a way to end the war in Ukraine." But without doubt, the Kremlin has been brainstorming the punitive actions it could in turn unleash to make Belgium and Europe feel the pain.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 02:45 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 07:00:00 +0000 Pakistan Offers To 'Take Grooming Gang Leaders' If UK Hands Over Dissidents
Pakistan Offers To 'Take Grooming Gang Leaders' If UK Hands Over Dissidents
Pakistan Offers To 'Take Grooming Gang Leaders' If UK Hands Over Dissidents
via Middle East Eye
Pakistan has reportedly offered to take back grooming gang leaders in exchange for Britain handing over Pakistani political dissidents living in the UK .
Pakistani media reported that the proposal was made in a private meeting last Thursday in Islamabad between Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Jane Marriott, the British high commissioner. Naqvi reportedly urged the UK to hand over anti-government figures Shahzad Akbar and Adil Raja .
via Al Jazeera
Akbar, who was a minister in Imran Khan's government, and Raja, a former army major , are both living in the UK. They have both strongly criticized the Pakistani government over its alleged human rights abuses and suppression of political dissent.
The British government has previously requested that Pakistan extradite Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf, who were jailed in 2012 as ringleaders of a grooming gang that sexually assaulted and abused 47 girls over two years in Rochdale .
Both Khan and Rauf, Pakistani immigrants, were stripped of their British citizenship after being convicted . But days before a judge ordered them to be deported to Pakistan, they renounced their Pakistani citizenship. Pakistan has since refused to accept them .
According to Pakistani media, the Pakistani government said it would accept Khan and Rauf if the UK hands over dissidents Akbar and Raja.
'Unprecedented and deeply disturbing'
This comes as the Labor government is facing mounting pressure to take further action on child sexual exploitation. Its attempts to set up a nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs have faced repeated delays and debates about how wide its scope should be.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said on Monday the inquiry must "consider the role of ethnicity, religion and other cultural factors" and should "leave no stone unturned" .
It is thought that Britain is highly unlikely to agree to the reported Pakistani proposal, and the Home Office and Foreign Office have declined to comment on the reports.
Raja, now a freelance journalist, told The Telegraph that the report "is unprecedented and deeply disturbing. It shows the extent to which an authoritarian regime is willing to go to suppress dissent".
"I have broken no UK law. My only 'offence' is practicing journalism and exercising free expression," he said. "I trust that the UK, a country committed to the rule of law and press freedom, will not allow political critics to be traded away under pressure from a foreign government."
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from government in April 2022 through a parliamentary no-confidence vote following a fallout with the country's influential military.
He has spent more than two years in prison. Last year a UN report concluded that his detention is arbitrary and in contravention of international law.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 02:00 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 05:00:00 +0000 FBI Arrests Alleged MS-13 Assassin, 'Kill Squad' Leader In Nebraska: Patel
FBI Arrests Alleged MS-13 Assassin, 'Kill Squad' Leader In Nebraska: Patel
FBI Arrests Alleged MS-13 Assassin, 'Kill Squad' Leader In Nebraska: Patel
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,
A suspected leader of the criminal gang MS-13 has been arrested in Nebraska, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Dec. 9 post on X.
Gerson Cuadra Soto, a Honduran national, “is believed to be responsible for overseeing one of their major kill squad units—and suspected of executing the assassination of the son of the former President of Honduras,” Patel wrote.
“This is part of the FBI’s Joint Task Force Vulcan investigation out of @FBIHouston to locate, indict, and arrest members of MS-13 leadership ‘La Mesa.’”
On July 14, 2022, Saíd Omar Lobo Bonilla, son of former Honduran President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo Sosa, and three other men were killed outside a nightclub in Honduran capital city Tegucigalpa.
Joint Task Force Vulcan is an initiative launched in August 2019 under the first Trump administration that aims to disrupt and eliminate MS-13.
La Mesa, or “The Table,” is a group of senior MS-13 gang leaders who allegedly authorize murders throughout the United States.
Patel commended FBI Omaha, Nebraska, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners for their work that resulted in Soto’s arrest.
“This admin is taking a whole of government approach to dismantling MS-13 and their presence within the country,” he said. MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department in February.
In a Dec. 9 statement , Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen welcomed the arrest of Soto, who he said was illegally in the country and living in the city of Grand Island.
“Cuadra Soto, a leader of the terrorist MS-13 gang and Honduran assassin, entered the United States illegally in 2022 under Biden’s watch—eventually obtaining a California driver’s license before establishing a residence in Grand Island,” Pillen said.
“Here’s the simple truth: Weak borders put our families at risk. Thankfully, under conservative Republican leadership, our border has never been more secure.”
Expanding Scope
Under the Trump administration, the FBI has intensified its targeting of foreign criminal groups.
In March, the FBI announced that it was expanding its counterterrorism mission to aggressively battle transnational organized crime.
The announcement was made after the State Department designated several international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
The FBI changed the name of its Terrorist Screening Center to the Threat Screening Center, saying that the updated name expands the scope of national security screening to cover groups such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua that operate in the United States.
U.S. military personnel escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the MS-13 gang recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, on March 30, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters
“Border security is essential to protecting our country and providing safer communities for our citizens,” Patel said in a statement at the time.
“We’re expanding the watchlist to include cartel and gang members from newly designated foreign terrorist organizations. This change will assist our law enforcement and Intelligence Community partners as we all work together toward the goal of crushing violent crime within our borders.”
In a Dec. 3 statement , the Department of the Treasury said that its Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned key affiliates of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
“Under President Trump, barbaric terrorist cartels can no longer operate with impunity across our borders. The Tren de Aragua network’s narcotrafficking and human smuggling operations have long posed a grave threat to our nation,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in the statement.
A March report from the State Department detailed the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations. It specifically highlighted Mexican criminal organizations as “one of the greatest threats” to the United States.
Mexico was deemed to be the most significant source of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, with Mexican groups Sinaloa Cartel and New Generation Jalisco Cartel the primary distributors of these drugs in North America, the report said. Mexico is also the source of most of the heroin and meth seized in the United States.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 - 00:00 Close
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 04:35:00 +0000 Palantir Lands $448 Million Deal To Fix Navy Submarine Delays
Palantir Lands $448 Million Deal To Fix Navy Submarine Delays
Palantir Technologies is becoming a deeper partner to the US military as the Navy launches ShipOS, a $448 million effort to use the compan
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Palantir Lands $448 Million Deal To Fix Navy Submarine Delays
Palantir Technologies is becoming a deeper partner to the US military as the Navy launches ShipOS, a $448 million effort to use the company’s AI and data tools to improve submarine production, according to a new report from Bloomberg .
The deal will provide Palantir’s Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform across select shipyards and suppliers.
The Navy wants to fix chronic delays and overruns affecting its Virginia- and Columbia-class programs. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said the goal is to speed up an industry that has struggled with labor issues and subcontractor delays: “By enabling industry to adopt AI and autonomy tools at scale, we’re helping the shipbuilding industry improve schedules, increase capacity, and reduce costs.”
Palantir CEO Alex Karp emphasized the scale of the challenge, saying, “It takes 10 million man hours to build a submarine. There are 2,000 businesses involved. Every single one of these components is specialized.” He added that tracking parts through software is vital because “that’s exactly why you need software” to remove bottlenecks, arguing that “already that problem’s gone.”
Bloomberg writes that two major shipbuilders and three public shipyards will receive the software first, and Phelan said the same system could later support carriers, the fleet, and even fighter jets.
The Navy expects the Palantir approach could “significantly” reduce the Columbia-class delay, currently projected to push delivery to March 2029. The contract uses a new “shared risk” model. Phelan said, “If they perform well…they’re going to do well and they should.” Karp responded, “You’re forcing us to absorb risk,” adding, “We get paid as we perform…This is not your typical ‘you get paid after everything fails’ kind of contract…We want to change contracting across the US government to ‘you get paid when it works.’”
Among names worth watching in the submarine space are Kraken Robotics, which has signed cooperative R&D agreements with the U.S. Navy for next-generation sonar systems, Huntington Ingalls Industries, the parent of Newport News Shipbuilding, and General Dynamics, which owns Electric Boat, builder of the Virginia- and Columbia-class nuclear submarines.
Palantir, meanwhile, is expanding its work with the U.S. Navy, using AI and data management platforms to support fleet readiness, logistics, and complex maintenance programs across submarine and surface operations.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/10/2025 - 23:35 Close