x01 Archives

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A cargo vessel in the Red Sea has reported coming under attack, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre, a British maritime security alert service, said Sunday, amid a fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

The body said it received a report of the incident 30 nautical miles (56 km) southwest of the port city of Al Hudaydah in Yemen.

“A cargo vessel has triggered a distress alert stating that they are under attack by unknown assailants,” the UKMTO said in a post on X, adding that authorities are investigating the incident.

It urged vessels to “transit with caution”.

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The bishops of the European Union and Caritas Europa have criticized the EU for implementing stricter immigration rules.

On June 17, the European Parliament passed rules for faster deportation procedures for migrants who have to leave the union. Under the regulation, migrants without the right to remain can be held in detention pending deportation for up to 30 months under certain circumstances. Children may also face detention pending deportation, although lawmakers emphasize that such detention is a last resort in these cases.

The new regulation also allows for the establishment of special return centers outside the EU. These centers are intended to house rejected asylum seekers who cannot be deported to their home countries – for example, because their country of origin cannot be clearly determined or because there are no diplomatic relations with that country. The EU now also provides clearer guidelines on how rejected asylum seekers must cooperate with their own deportation if they wish to avoid penalties. In addition, the directive tightens the rules for individuals who pose a security risk.

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Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, left the country ahead of America’s 250th birthday celebration to attend an Islamic “spiritual wellness” retreat on a Spanish resort island.

Duwaji, a 29-year-old Texas-raised, Dubai-educated Syrian-American artist, was spotted Monday at Newark International Airport before boarding an eight-hour flight to Palma on the island of Mallorca, according to the New York Post.

The trip came as New York City marked the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Mamdani remained in the city on July Fourth and attended the lighting of the Empire State Building in red, white, and blue for Independence Day.

But Duwaji’s decision to leave the country for the retreat drew immediate criticism, especially given her history of anti-American social media posts and Mamdani’s own attacks on America during the holiday week.

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Attorneys for the Little Sisters of the Poor will appear before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit tomorrow to ask the court to block a nationwide ruling that rejected the Catholic nuns’ protection from the federal government’s abortion mandate.

The Little Sisters have spent more than a decade defeating government efforts to force them to provide abortifacient contraceptives in their healthcare plan or face tens of millions of dollars in fines.

That winning streak features three Supreme Court victories, including a 2020 ruling in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania upholding the federal conscience rule that protects the Sisters from the mandate.

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I started my career as a high school history teacher back in 1985. I taught my students about the Holocaust every year and was fortunate enough one summer to be selected for a special National Endowment for the Humanities seminar for teachers, led by Professor Lawrence Langer, a leading Holocaust scholar. Professor Langer came up with the term the “choiceless choice” to describe the no-win situations Jews were put in during the Holocaust, when there was simply no real choice to be made in the face of the genocidal Nazis. The idea has stuck with me for four decades.

It came to mind again when I read a recent Washington Post article following the Supreme Court’s adverse ruling in our case, BPJ v. West Virginia, on June 30, in which Julian Mark writes, “Critics, including some trans rights advocates, say the movement has rushed to tee up causes that the court’s 6-3 conservative majority is not ready to embrace.” While elements of the article were thoughtful, it is based on a flawed premise that warrants exploration.

First of all, the idea that “the [LGBTQ+] movement has rushed to tee up [trans] causes” is completely off the mark. There have been 2,446 bills designed to limit the rights of LGBTQ+ people introduced into state legislatures since 2022 — at least one in every single one of our 50 states — and 255 of them have become law in 27 states. The large majority of these laws are aimed at trans people. The LGBTQ+ movement didn’t “tee up” these laws: the opponents of the LGBTQ+ movement did, because they saw a political advantage to be won by picking on a small and relatively powerless minority and cynically exploited it. In other words, we didn’t pick this fight. We didn’t “tee up” trans issues. Our opponents did.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressuring the U.S. and Europe to provide more missiles to help Ukraine defend against Russian attacks.

“Last night, Kyiv came under a massive Russian attack. Russia launched 68 missiles and 351 attack drones,” Zelenskyy noted in part of a Monday post on X.

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Clashes in a Sri Lankan jail have killed 23 people, including four guards, and wounded more than 100 in the country’s deadliest prison riot in more than five years, officials said Monday.

The wounded were rushed to the Negombo hospital, north of the capital Colombo, following overnight clashes between inmates from two drug gangs at the area’s main prison, police said.

Hospital director Pushpa Gamlath said there were 23 bodies at her state-run health facility, and more than 100 wounded inmates and guards were also admitted.

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A federal court has blocked the Trump administration from firing 19 intelligence officers assigned to DEI programs.

 

In a 2-1 decision, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Trump administration’s firings were illegal because they did not allow for an appeal or the opportunity for the 19 intelligence officers to request a reassignment.

The Court further ruled that the Trump administration illegally made the decision based on the anti-DEI executive order signed by President Donald Trump upon entering office rather than “workplace misconduct” or “performance concerns.”

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Iranian state media outlets reported Wednesday, July 1, that two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in the western city of Paveh in Kermanshah Province.

The incident occurred on the evening of June 30, near the border with Iraq’s Kurdistan region. State television described the event as “a terrorist and cowardly act.”

It added that “exact details of this incident and the measures being taken to identify those responsible are under review.” Two additional IRGC members were wounded in the shooting at the victims’ homes.

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The math does not add up for the left, and polling data show they will have a much harder time picking up leads than they originally thought. This is because most sensible Americans do not appreciate how radical the party has become. And if you are surprised by this, you are probably a leftist buffoon.

According to CNN’s Data Analyst Harry Enten, the Democrats will need to pick up four seats and lead in at least one GOP-held seat in North Carolina if they hope to take back the Senate. The GOP currently leads six points in the key six swing states, with 53% saying the Democratic Party has gone too far left.

“On the mathematical march to four seats, there really is only one seat at this point that Democrats can look like they can count on,” Enten said.

While it is entirely possible they could win one or two of these seats, they need four, making this a “math problem,” according to Enten.

“These are states that are just very hard to win because, bottom line, what is holding them back is the fundamentals. And when you put it all together, and you look at the prediction marks, the chance to win the Senate, the environment is getting a little bit better for Republicans. There are seats on the table, but the fundamentals are against them,” Enten said. “Simply put, they have a statistical math problem.”

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Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) laid out details on a new bill that would expand the U.S. Supreme Court, under a hypothetical Democrat president and Democrat-controlled Senate, by four justices in order to swing the court’s balance of power to the left.

“The Republicans stole two Supreme Court seats in 2016 and 2020. That’s what’s giving them their supermajority. The only way to solve this problem in a very short period of time is to expand the Supreme Court by four seats, up to 13,” Markey said during a recent appearance on MS-NOW.

“That would then restore the 7-6 majority, which should be in place right now. And we have to fight for that, and we can do that statutorily. It does not require a constitutional amendment,” he added. “That has to be at the top of the agenda, and that’s what I’m talking to my colleagues about right now.”

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“Attacks on law enforcement are unacceptable and those responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The safety of our residents and visitors remains our highest priority.”

A chaotic block party in North Charleston, South Carolina, led to multiple arrests after several police officers were assaulted while responding to reports of gunfire.

The North Charleston Police Department released a statement following the circulation of a viral video showing a female officer being attacked by a black mob. Police said the violence that erupted during a neighborhood block party in the Chicora-Cherokee community spiraled out of control, resulting in multiple arrests and the seizure of several firearms and a makeshift spear.

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For all its B-movie trappings, Citizen Vigilante is the first of its kind: a film that sees the migrant crisis in Europe as a crisis for Europeans.

It is politically incorrect in the most provocative sense and, as such, was probably destined to be made by two people (director Uwe Boll and actor Armie Hammer) who have been routinely dragged through the mud and probably feel like they have nothing left to lose.

If the oft-ridiculed Boll and the scandal-plagued Hammer are both at a point where they have stopped caring what people think of them, then the strident tone of Citizen Vigilante reflects a growing outrage many people are feeling with regard to the migrant situation in Europe. The film is unambiguous in the way it opens with the superimposed location title “EUROPE” and closes with the stark dedication: “To the thousands of rape and murder victims in Europe who were betrayed by our legal system.”

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The Vatican’s Dicastery of the Doctrine of Faith headed by scandal-plagued Cardinal Manuel (“Tucho”) Fernandez released a decree of excommunication this morning declaring the six bishops of the Society of St. Pius X automatically excommunicated following the consecration of four new bishops without papal approval.

The decree states that the consecrator Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta and the four newly consecrated bishops (Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier) have incurred latae sententiae excommunication. Bishop Bernard Fellay was also declared excommunicated for serving as co-consecrator.

The document goes further, labeling all SSPX priests as schismatics subject to excommunication and declaring that confessions heard by them and marriages they witness are invalid.

The decree also warns the faithful who formally adhere to the SSPX could face excommunication. It urges Catholics to remain in full communion with the Pope Leo XIV and to abstain from participating in Masses and activities promoted by the Society.

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Federal immigration enforcement data and reporting indicate a notable increase in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in recent days.

According to a report from the New York Times, ICE detained more than 10,000 individuals over the last five days of June. This figure reflects a doubling of the daily arrest rate to approximately 2,000 arrests per day, compared to roughly 1,000 per day earlier in the year.

Arrests reached a peak of more than 2,400 on one Saturday during this period, according to documents reviewed by the outlet.

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Key Takeaways

  • A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s restrictions on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, citing violations of free speech rights for borrowers engaging in lawful activities such as supporting immigrants and teaching inclusion.
  • Judge Joun criticized the lack of justification for the rule, which could potentially disqualify borrowers based on vague accusations of illegal activity, asserting that the administration cannot create new criminal prohibitions through rulemaking.
  • The PSLF program, which provides loan forgiveness for government and non-profit workers after ten years of service, has helped over one million borrowers since its inception, while the recent ruling aligns with a broader legal challenge from multiple states and organizations against the administration’s policies.

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The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) provided no information on whether it has undisclosed information regarding taxpayer funds used to pay out lawmakers’ sexual misconduct settlements.

The House passed Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie’s resolution on June 30 that directed the OCWR and House Ethics Committee to release a list of congressional members subject to sexual misconduct investigations and disclose cases that resulted in taxpayer-funded monetary settlements. The OCWR told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday it will fully comply with the resolution, though they refused to provide further comment.

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The massive funeral event in Iran over the weekend for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei included calls for murdering President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from both members of the crowd and official speakers at the events.

The UK Guardian noted that the first official day of the elaborately staged funeral on Saturday was a bit smaller, more subdued, and less “militant” than the angry crowds swarming the street on Sunday.

The crowd was treated to such inducements as a government-authorized presentation from poet Mohammad Rasouli, who mixed his poetry with a call for Trump’s murder.

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Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow withdrew from the Democratic Senate primary on Sunday. Once running neck and neck with her rivals for the seat being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who is retiring, McMorrow had plummeted to a distant third after revelations about previously deleted tweets and a series of other campaign missteps.

While McMorrow is considered far-left, she stops short of being a democratic socialist.

She did not endorse either of the two candidates remaining in the race: Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who is backed by both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the United Democracy Project, the primary super PAC affiliated with AIPAC; or the radical Abdul El-Sayed, who has been endorsed by democratic socialists Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

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America’s collapsing birth rate is being driven largely by people with left-wing beliefs, according to new research.

The study suggests that political beliefs are closely tied to how many children Americans choose to have.

Led by researchers at the University of Vienna in Austria, the study was published in “Scientific Reports”

The findings show that people on the Left tend to have fewer children, while conservatives have maintained birth rates closer to historical averages.

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Xbox is handing the pink slip to 3,200 of its employees, or 20 per cent of the total workforce, over the next year. The move comes as part of the Microsoft-owned company’s broader AI-led layoffs, with Xbox being affected the most as its “business is not healthy”, Chief Executive Officer Asha Sharma said in a letter to employees.

In her email to workers, Sharma noted that 1,600 employees will be laid off on Monday, while the remaining ones will be let go over FY27. In addition, Xbox will divest four of its gaming studios and is preparing to part ways with another.

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It is an unchallengeable dogma of our post-9/11 civic faith that every Muslim in the United States, from the leaders of national Muslim organizations to the rank-and-file believers in the serried ranks of worshipers at mosques around the country, is a “moderate.” Everyone assumes that Muslims in the U.S. all reject terrorism and violence as a twisting and hijacking of their peaceful faith, and that only racist, bigoted “Islamophobes” would dare suggest that the gentle soul in the next cubicle at work or who runs the store down the street could possibly harbor anything but love for his non-Muslim neighbors.