Via Middle East Eye

Hardline Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich has drawn criticism for calling for Israel to expand its borders to Damascus in a recent documentary.

In an interview for the documentary, In Israel: Ministers of Chaos, produced by European public service channel, Arte, Smotrich claimed that Israel would expand “little by little” and eventually encompass all Palestinian territories as well as Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

“It is written that the future of Jerusalem is to expand to Damascus,” he said, citing the “greater Israel” ideology, which envisions the expansion of the state across the Middle East.

Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the incendiary remarks saying that they highlighted Smotrich’s dangerous and “racist” ideology.

Smotrich previously cited the concept at a memorial service for a Likud activist in Paris. When speaking from a podium decorated with a map of Israel that included Jordan, he claimed that there was “no such thing” as the Palestinian people.

The French foreign ministry subsequently announced that government representatives in Paris did not intend to meet with Smotrich during his visit to the country.

Aside from being the finance minister, Smotrich now holds significant powers over the occupied West Bank.

Meanwhile, over at US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday…

pic.twitter.com/EKvLIHWvjQ

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) October 11, 2024

In August, Smotrich expressed support for blocking aid to Gaza, saying that: “Nobody will let us cause two million civilians to die of hunger even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned.”

Watch a portion of the interview…

In a documentary produced by Arte TV channel, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich advocates for a Jewish state and says it is written that “the future of Jerusalem is to expand to Damascus”#WARonHUMANITY pic.twitter.com/ADdeyokH8i

— TRT World (@trtworld) October 10, 2024

At the end of February, the minister said that the state of Israel should “wipe out” the Palestinian village of Huwwara, after it was subjected to a violent rampage by Israeli settlers. 

Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, warned Friday that “treacherous” geopolitical conditions might have a profound impact on the global economy and “the course of history.”

“There is significant human suffering, and the outcome of these situations could have far-reaching effects on both short-term economic outcomes and more importantly on the course of history,” Dimon said in the bank’s third-quarter results release.

He said his bank has been “closely monitoring the geopolitical situation for some time, and recent events show that conditions are treacherous and getting worse.”

Tensions in the Middle East have been on the rise in recent weeks, with Israel battling the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group as it continues its war with the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

The Epoch Times’ Jack Phillips reports that in the bank’s news release, Dimon did not specifically make reference to the situation in the Middle East or anywhere else. But during an event last month, he appeared to express concern about the Israeli conflicts as well as the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war.

“Iran, North Korea and Russia, I think you can legitimately call them [an] evil axis,” he told reporters at the Financial Markets Quality Conference in Washington in September, referring to a term that was first used by former President George W. Bush to describe Iraq under then-leader Saddam Hussein, Iran, and North Korea.

Aside from geopolitical tensions, Dimon said Friday that U.S. inflation is slowing down and the economy has been resilient. But he cautioned that “several critical issues remain, including large fiscal deficits, infrastructure needs, restructuring of trade, and remilitarization of the world.”

“While we hope for the best, these events and the prevailing uncertainty demonstrate why we must be prepared for any environment,” the Chase Bank CEO said.

As the Nov. 5 presidential election nears, Dimon has been floated for senior positions on U.S. economic policy, such as Treasury secretary. He has been praised by former President Donald Trump and confirmed he spoke to Vice President Kamala Harris last month.

“I’ve always been an American patriot and my country is more important to me than my company,” said Dimon on a Friday call with analysts.

When asked if he would consider a government role, Dimon responded that “the chance of that is almost nil. And I probably am not going to do it. But I always reserve the right” to reconsider.

Dimon, who has run JPMorgan for 18 years, has emphasized that he and the rest of the board will “do the right thing” on succession when he eventually leaves, without specifying details.

The longtime banker has not publicly endorsed either Trump or Harris, and also did not make any reference to the forthcoming presidential election in November in the bank’s news release.

In the news release and analyst call, Dimon did not say whether he believes the United States will enter recession territory. For months, he has warned the U.S. economy will enter a down period or worse. In September, he told reporters at a conference that the “worst outcome is stagflation, and by the way, I wouldn’t take it off the table.”

The CEO on Friday made reference to hurricanes Milton and Helene and their impacts, noting that they will likely not have lasting consequences on global markets.

“First and foremost, our hearts go out to all those people affected and the families who lost lives. We’re also helping our employees and customers, to do everything we can to be prepared at the state level,” he told CNN Friday, adding that “hurricanes have never had a traumatic effect on the global economy.”

Hurricane Helene wrought widespread destruction across much of the southeastern United States, while Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday night and caused significant damage across the state.

Officials say that at least 10 died during Milton in Florida, and Helene has caused more than 200 deaths in several states.

Watch Live: 

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Update (0950ET): 

Confirmed: Starship splashes down in the Indian Ocean. 

Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on an exciting fifth flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/FhCGznq9RO

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

Big moves for SpaceX this AM:

Starship splashdown & Super Heavy booster landing pic.twitter.com/CYfjrPTWNY

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) October 13, 2024

NASA head comments on X:

Thank you, sir!

Looking forward to serving NASA in returning humanity to the Moon.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2024

Where is Jeff Bezos’ rocket company? And Boeing? 

*   *   * 

Update (0900ET): 

Starship is ~30 minutes into flight and all systems continue to look nominal

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

*   *   * 

Update (0835ET):

SpaceX’s massive metal pincers, which SpaceX calls “chopsticks,” caught the Super Heavy booster at Starbase. 

Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

POV @SpaceX catching a rocket pic.twitter.com/cZvNj4UlDn

— Shaun Maguire (@shaunmmaguire) October 13, 2024

pic.twitter.com/UL6GTHuuFp

— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) October 13, 2024

History was just made. 

*   *   * 

Update (0854ET):

GO FOR LAUNCH! 

Liftoff of Starship! pic.twitter.com/WyNRN1fLbd

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

*   *   * 

Update (Sunday): 

SpaceX wrote on X on Sunday morning that it’s preparing the fifth test flight of the Starship mega-rocket. 

“The launch webcast will go live ~35 minutes ahead of liftoff which is currently targeted for 7:25am CT,” SpaceX said. 

The Starship team is go for prop load, and weather is looking ideal for today’s flight test!

The launch webcast will go live ~35 minutes ahead of liftoff which is currently targeted for 7:25am CT https://t.co/J5aeyTBcl7

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

SpaceX has started loading the world’s largest rocket with propellants:

Propellant load of Starship’s upper stage is now underway

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

Prop load of the Super Heavy booster is underway

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

The main objective for today’s test flight:

By continuing to push our hardware in a flight environment, and doing so as safely and frequently as possible, we’ll rapidly bring Starship online and revolutionize humanity’s ability to access space

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

Latest countdown tasks. 

*   *   * 

Elon Musk may be riding high after Thursday night’s long-awaited robotaxi unveil event (though TSLA shares dumped 9% on Friday) and this momentum may continue through the weekend with the possibility that SpaceX could launch its Starship mega-rocket as soon as Sunday—despite suspicious regulatory delays from the Biden-Harris’ Federal Aviation Administration. 

“Starship stacked ahead of its fifth flight test. We expect regulatory approval in time to fly on October 13,” SpaceX wrote on X on Friday afternoon. 

Musk quoted SpaceX’s Xpost, noting, “Looks like Starship might fly on Sunday!” 

He continued, “This the largest & most powerful flying object ever made at more than double the thrust of the Saturn V Moon rocket. We will try to catch it upon return to launch site using the Mechazilla arms like giant chopsticks (like Karate Kid)!” 

Looks like Starship might fly on Sunday!

This the largest & most powerful flying object ever made at more than double the thrust of the Saturn V Moon rocket.

We will try to catch it upon return to launch site using the Mechazilla arms like giant chopsticks (like Karate Kid)! https://t.co/8g7mLaTCRK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2024

Like this…

Starship 5 is happening on Sunday. This is the largest and most powerful rocket exert built. @SpaceX will attempt to catch the Booster with Chop sticks like this pic.twitter.com/3Kcn7WfKnG

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 12, 2024

SpaceX provided more details about the upcoming Starship test flight:

Starship’s fifth flight test could launch as soon as October 13, pending regulatory approval.

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app. The launch window will open as early as 7:00 a.m. CT. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to stay tuned to our X account for updates.

Flight 4 was a tremendous success. A fully successful ascent was followed by the first ever booster soft-landing in the Gulf of Mexico and Starship making it through a brilliant reentry, before its own landing burn and splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

The fifth flight test of Starship will aim to take another step towards full and rapid reusability. The primary objectives will be attempting the first ever return to launch site and catch of the Super Heavy booster and another Starship reentry and landing burn, aiming for an on-target splashdown of Starship in the Indian Ocean.

Extensive upgrades ahead of this flight test have been made to hardware and software across Super Heavy, Starship, and the launch and catch tower infrastructure at Starbase. SpaceX engineers have spent years preparing and months testing for the booster catch attempt, with technicians pouring tens of thousands of hours into building the infrastructure to maximize our chances for success. We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only be attempted if conditions are right.

Thousands of distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch attempt of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the booster and tower and a manual command from the mission’s Flight Director. If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.

The returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone. Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers.

Starship will fly a similar trajectory as the previous flight test with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean. This flight path does not require a deorbit burn for reentry, maximizing public safety while still providing the opportunity to meet our primary objective of a controlled reentry and soft water landing of Starship.

One of the key upgrades on Starship ahead of flight was a complete rework of its heatshield, with SpaceX technicians spending more than 12,000 hours replacing the entire thermal protection system with newer-generation tiles, a backup ablative layer, and additional protections between the flap structures. This massive effort, along with updates to the ship’s operations and software for reentry and landing burn, will look to improve upon the previous flight and bring Starship to a soft splashdown at the target area in the Indian Ocean.

With each flight building on the learnings from the last, testing improvements in hardware and operations across every facet of Starship, we’re on the verge of demonstrating techniques fundamental to Starship’s fully and rapidly reusable design. By continuing to push our hardware in a flight environment, and doing so as safely and frequently as possible, we’ll rapidly bring Starship online and revolutionize humanity’s ability to access space.

Musk has been particularly vocal about the Biden-Harris team weaponizing federal agencies against his companies, such as SpaceX, slowing rocket launches.

🚨 MUSK: “The next fight of Starship is ready to fly. We are waiting on regulatory approval 🤦‍♂️. It shouldn’t be possible to build a giant rocket faster than the paper can move from one desk to another.” 😂 💀 pic.twitter.com/O5mx71nAqr

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) September 10, 2024

Biden-Harris’ lawfare against SpaceX’s Starlink before the hurricane that decimated parts of western North Carolina likely cost lives. 

Had the FCC not illegally revoked the SpaceX Starlink award, it would probably have saved lives in North Carolina.

Lawfare costs lives. https://t.co/FF0ugexP2g

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 2, 2024

Musk called out the fed’s “lawfare” on Tucker Carlson. 

Elon Musk warns that if Kamala Harris somehow wins the election, she will go after free speech, noting “They’ll try to prosecute X, they’ll try to prosecute me. The amount of lawfare we see taking place is outrageous.” Report here: https://t.co/4YqtxAQEcY pic.twitter.com/mM3VLcfKz1

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) October 8, 2024

All of this gov’t lawfare against Musk and his companies is because Democrats hate X’s free speech. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry said the quiet part out loud in recent days and weeks. 

Some folks are still trying to get over Robotaxi Day… Now a giant Starship could be launched within the next day. 

• SpaceX’s massive metal pincers, which SpaceX calls “chopsticks,” caught the Super Heavy booster at Starbase. 
• Starship splashes down in the Indian Ocean. 

Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Indonesia’s communications minister said on Oct. 11 that the nation had asked Google and Apple to block Temu from their app stores in a bid to protect small businesses.

Temu, a China-based, ultra-low-price e-commerce app, currently operates in only a few Southeast Asian countries. Globally, it’s available in 79 countries. According to a Momentum Works report, its 2023 gross market value was just $100 million in Southeast Asia compared to $16.3 billion in the United States.

In the United States, it has come under fire for links to forced labor. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) persecution of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, where about 90 percent of the country’s cotton comes from, is known to involve forced labor.

Google, Apple, and Temu did not respond to inquiries by publication time.

The minister said Temu’s business practices would introduce “unhealthy competition.”

“We’re not here to protect e-commerce, but we protect small and medium enterprises. There are millions we must protect,” he said.

Small businesses make up a large portion of Southeast Asian economies, contributing to 40 percent of GDP, according to consulting firm YCP.

Indonesia’s e-commerce industry is set to expand to about $160 billion by 2030 from $62 billion in 2023, according to a report by Google, Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, and consultancy Bain & Co.

In Indonesia, 99 percent of businesses are small, and Indonesia is the biggest e-commerce market in the region. Thailand, the second largest, saw Temu launch in July.

Authorities say they have not yet seen transactions by Indonesians on the Temu app, and the move is a preemptive one.

The minister added that it would oppose any Temu plans to enter the Indonesian market through investment as well. When Indonesia last year forced China-based ByteDance and its app TikTok to close its e-commerce function in the country, TikTok instead agreed to buy a majority stake in Indonesian e-commerce company GoTo to stay in the market.

Indonesia formally asked to join the Trans-Pacific trade pact last month, which is made up of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the UK, and Vietnam—a group of Pacific Rim countries that notably excludes China.

The members benefit from low-tariff trade between countries, and experts initially concluded that the pact lacked incentives to attract China. However, the situation has changed. In 2021, China applied to join the pact, and Australia said in 2023 that it would not happen.

Countries have increasingly put up trade barriers against China, citing the CCP’s “predatory“ pricing tactics meant to put global competitors out of business.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Authored by Josh O’Sullivan via CoinTelegraph.com,

James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, is suing Newport City Council in the United Kingdom for 495 million British pounds (around $647 million) in damages after accidentally discarding a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin.

According to WalesOnline, Howells has made numerous attempts to retrieve the drive from the local landfill but has met resistance from the council, which has repeatedly denied his requests to excavate the site.

He mistakenly threw out the hard drive containing Bitcoin in 2013 during a household clearout, now worth almost half a billion pounds.

A war of attrition

Howells has attempted to recover the lost hard drive for over a decade after mistakenly placing it in a bin liner, which ended up in a recycling center. 

In 2013, the value of his 8,000 BTC was around 1 million pounds (around $1.3 million).

Howells has assembled a team of legal experts to file the court claim, which is set to be heard in December. 

Council rejection to excavate 

Despite Howells’ offering to give the council 10% of the recovered BTC value if the hard drive is found, Newport City Council has consistently opposed the excavation request, citing environmental concerns.

The landfill in question has been flagged for breaches of its environmental permit, including elevated levels of asbestos, arsenic and methane. 

The council argues that digging up the site could harm the surrounding area and claims its operation follows strict monitoring protocols.

Robots, garbage, BTC…oh my

In 2022, Howells reportedly pitched an $11 million idea to locate and recover the lost hard drive, potentially surrounded by 110,000 tonnes of garbage. 

The plan is active and would involve no cost to the council. Still, Newport City Council remains firm in its decision to refuse, questioning the legality and feasibility of Howells’ claims.

To keep BTC safe, it’s important to store hardware wallets safely, keep private keys secure offline, and back up recovery phrases in multiple secure locations for extra security. 

Donald Trump has survived two assassination attempts within a very short period of time, but now with less than a month to go till the November election, his campaign is reportedly requesting the use of military aircraft and vehicles to protect him.

Sources who spoke to the New York Times and Washington Post in Friday stories indicate the former president has requested much greater protections that US Secret Service agents currently provide him. There are also new reports saying he’s unlikely to play golf again until new expanded protocols are in place, as the Secret Service would have trouble protecting him on a golf course.

The Washington Post reports based on emails it reviewed: “Donald Trump’s campaign requested military aircraft for Trump to fly in during the final weeks of the campaign, expanded flight restrictions over his residences and rallies, ballistic glass pre-positioned in seven battleground states for the campaign’s use and an array of military vehicles to transport Trump.”

The report further calls the requests “extraordinary and unprecedented” given that “no nominee in recent history has been ferried around in military planes ahead of an election.”

The campaign has reportedly cited the Iran threat directed against Trump. Late last month he was given a special briefing by top US intelligence officials about alleged efforts of Tehran to assassinate him.

A Sept. 24th statement from the campaign said, “President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.”

These new efforts to get military-level protections, which are typically only afforded to the sitting Commander-in-Chief, are based precisely on the belief that Iran is still trying to kill him.

The WaPo report says “Trump advisers have grown concerned about drones and missiles, according to the people.”

Republican congressional leaders have also urged the necessity of greatly heightened protocols to protect the former president, to include protective military assets, such as when his plane goes from state to state in these final days leading up to the election: 

She [Susie Wiles, co-campaign manager for Trump] also wrote that the U.S. government has not been able to provide what the campaign views as an extensive enough plan to protect Trump. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a Trump ally who is on the House Intelligence Committee and the Butler assassination inquiry, wrote a letter to the Secret Service asking for military aircraft or additional protection for Trump’s private plane, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Post.

CNN late Friday provided some further details on what exactly the Trump campaign is requesting: 

Trump’s campaign wants to use these resources – including access to military aircraft with deterrent systems to protect against surface-to-air missiles – as the former president crisscrosses the US during the final weeks of the presidential campaign.

President Joe Biden, when asked about Trump’s requests on Friday, said they should be fulfilled – “as long as he doesn’t ask for F-15s.”

Reporter: “Will you approve Mr. Trump’s request to use military aircrafts in the final stages of the campaign?”

Joe Biden: “As long as he doesn’t ask for F-15s.” pic.twitter.com/ybHdhaQwlP

— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) October 11, 2024

While mainstream media is likely to scoff at these requests, calling them “unprecedented”, it remains that it is also unprecedented that a former president who is running for the top office again should face two assassination attempts within just two months of each other, and with massive Secret Service failures to boot. Recently a foreign leader was ferried about the eastern US in a military plane: Zelensky. And Democrats didn’t bat an eye over a foreign leader getting such protections at the taxpayers’ dime, ironically enough.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is facing more backlash after an ad featuring a controversial Islamic preacher burning Dollar and Euro bills appeared on underground advertising billboards.

The ad, which was placed inside trains as well as on platforms, shows Islamic preacher Ismail ibn Musa Menk holding burning US dollars with the caption “Join the money revolution.”

In Sadiq Khan’s London, ads displaying;

Junk food = Banned.
“Body shaming” = Banned.
Artisan cheese = Banned.

Ad featuring Islamic hate preacher, Ismail ibn Musa Menk, who is banned in other countries. = Perfectly fine.

“Inclusive” London now includes seeing hate preachers. pic.twitter.com/BlGZfPE2BV

— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) October 10, 2024

Another version of the ad, for an Islamic finance start up called Wahed, shows the Muslim preacher burning a suitcase full of dollars with the caption “withdraw from Riba,” a concept in Islamic banking that refers to charged interest.

Londra metrolarında faizsiz yatırım aracı @WahedInvest in reklamları var. Sloganları ise Riba (faiz) dan çık. Fotoğrafta ise Zimbabwe müftüsü @muftimenk . Wahed, Midas benzeri bir uygulama. Henüz ülkemizde kullanılmıyor. ABD, İngiltere, Dubai ve Malezya’da aktifler. #riba… pic.twitter.com/Dfgznc3Wzr

— Ali GÖZ (@aligoz52) October 12, 2024

The ad has also appeared on the side of buses in London.

Sharia Law now being advertised in London 😢😲 https://t.co/Jn4nRZnkxe

— Mill Hill Broadway News (@MillHillBwy) October 10, 2024

Menk, who is banned from several countries for inflammatory teachings, previously called gay people “filthy” and “worse than animals,” and has routinely made other extreme claims.

Critics have charged that the sanctioning of the ads by TFL, operated by the Mayor of London, represents a double standard, given that other much more tame ads have been removed or rejected.

Susan Hall, a Conservative member of the London Assembly and former mayoral candidate, told GB News that “The Wahed advert on TfL services begs a lot of questions about the Mayor’s policing of advertising.

“If Wahed had wanted to advertise their platform with a high-calorie meal on the Tube, it would be banned, but apparently a preacher banned from other countries for promoting religious discord is fine.”

Ms Hall added: “We strongly urge TfL to reconsider the suitability of this advert, particularly when they so quickly clamp down on others.”

Hall was referring to the fact that a comedian had to alter an ad featuring him eating a hot dog, replacing it with a cucumber, after the Mayor’s office claimed it promoted unhealthy eating.

Another example that Sadiq Khan is a patronising clown who doesn’t belong in office.
After banning the “beach body ready” ad, he’s now forced a comedian to change his ad with an image of a hot dog for a cucumber.
The tour is called “Hot diggity dog”, not hot diggity cucumber. pic.twitter.com/XneGqQVUUS

— Cold957 (@cold957) March 27, 2024

Hall confronted Khan with the ads during a Mayor’s Question Time at the London Assembly.

Khan responded, “I’ve not yet read the advert. I’ll have a look at it as soon as Mayor’s Question Time is finished, to see what’s gone on there. I’m more than happy to look into that.”

If you’re not allowed to advertise hot dogs on TfL, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to advertise using someone who called gay people “filth”. @Councillorsuzie brought this awful farce to the Mayor’s attention at MQT today – now only time will tell whether Sadiq actually acts. pic.twitter.com/UCpa2H8RWB

— City Hall Conservatives (@CityHallTories) October 10, 2024

In past years, TfL has also banned ads such as Protein World’s weight loss adverts which featured an attractive woman in a bikini with the caption “beach body ready”.

Only one of these tube ads annoyed London’s left-wing, Muslim mayor, @SadiqKhan.

(Hint: It wasn’t the communist propoganda or the Islamic hate preacher — it was the beautiful Western woman) #modestyculture@TfL @simonelhanna 👍 pic.twitter.com/50x8MHUzLt

— Peter Lloyd (@Suffragent_) October 11, 2024

Sadiq Khan claimed that such ads encouraged ‘negative body images’.

One of these ads was pulled in Sadiq Khan’s London this week, while the other wasn’t. Welcome to Britain, 2024. pic.twitter.com/bikQElraxg

— Starmer Sycophant (@sirwg202110) October 10, 2024

The recent Heinz ad was removed after people claimed that the black bride’s absent father perpetuated a stereotype. That’s a whole other story!

“For my brothers with daughters”

Because, believe it or not, Black girls have Dads too. pic.twitter.com/LngrCCZ4rW

— Nels Abbey (@nelsabbey) October 4, 2024

Historian and broadcaster Rafe Heydel-Mankoo told Talk TV “We’ve gone from two-tier policing, and two-tier justice, now we’ve got two tier advertising as well.”

Historian and broadcaster Rafe Heydel-Mankoo reacts to an advert for Islamic finance startup Wahed, on the London Underground.

“We’ve gone from two-tier policing, and two-tier justice, now we’ve got two tier advertising as well.”@ThatAlexWoman |@RafHM pic.twitter.com/PamxuRPsyR

— Talk (@TalkTV) October 11, 2024

A TFL statement regarding the Wahed ads claims “This advert was reviewed and found to comply with our advertising policy, which reflects legal requirements. The Mayor has no involvement in approving or deciding which ads run on the TfL network.”

Some of the Wahed ads also feature former UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, who has close links to Russian warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, a Putin ally.

This is a more likely reason that Sadiq Khan would remove them if pressured to do so.

London Is No Longer An English City

They remind you of this with adverts like the ones pictures below.

Adverts with Models wearing bikinis ❌

Adverts with Islamists ✅ pic.twitter.com/pHCjAVneMa

— James Goddard (@JamesPGoddard90) October 10, 2024

*  *  *

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.

Authored by Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov via Headline USA,

Despite their constant whining about the Jan. 6, 2021, “insurrection,” the Democrats recently admitted that they won’t certify the 2024 election results if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is elected.

Axios reported that the Democrats would certify the election results only if Trump used “free, fair and honest means to secure a victory,” which, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., is not what Trump would do. This statement implies that he would be declared a winner only if he cheats.

“[Trump] is doing whatever he can to try to interfere with the process, whether we’re talking about manipulating electoral college counts in Nebraska or manipulating the vote count in Georgia or imposing other kinds of impediments,” the politician told the news source.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., also questioned whether Trump would win the election fair and square, telling Axios that she doesn’t know “what kind of shenanigans he is planning.”

Conservatives on Twitter pointed out the hypocrisy after the article was published.

“I’ve been told this type of rhetoric is “dangerous to our democracy” or something,” @Patriot_Vibes wrote.

I’ve been told this type of rhetoric is “dangerous to our democracy” or something

— Patriot Vibes (@Patriot_Vibes) October 11, 2024

Co-owner of Trending Politics, Colin Rugg, also mocked the Democrats who have been talking non-stop about Republicans and Trump’s alleged attempt to overthrow the government at the beginning of 2021.

“The ‘democracy defenders’ won’t commit to certifying an election?” he wrote.

The ‘democracy defenders’ won’t commit to certifying an election?

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 11, 2024

Others wrote that the recent news is a warning from Democrats about their own insurrection, this time it being real and violent.

Democrats warning of their own J6, except they will actually be violent.

— The Raymond G Stanley Jr (@raymondgstanley) October 11, 2024

Some conservatives noted that hearing about the recent news was not surprising after the Democrats replaced Joe Biden, who was elected by leftists during the primaries, with the current Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, who nobody cared about before the disastrous debate between Trump and Biden.

“No surprise there. They threw democracy out the window when they put Kamala in w/o a single vote. Why wouldn’t they pull some more shenanigans? We’ll get SCOTUS involved if we have to, but they need to do their job or GTFO,” an anonymous person wrote.

No surprise there. They threw democracy out the window when they put Kamala in w/o a single vote.

Why wouldn’t they pull some more shenanigans?

We’ll get SCOTUS involved if we have to, but they need to do their job or GTFO.

— – Josh – (@WEAPONFORTRUTH) October 11, 2024

The Democrats’ recent comments are also unsurprising because Raskin said he would never allow Trump to be in the White House again.

“I’ve been warning of this for months. Here is Rep Jamie Raskin confirming what I’ve been predicting. Even if President Trump wins the 2024 election, Democrats will not accept the results and refuse to leave the White House, creating a civil war scenario,” investigative reporter and commentator Drew Hernandez said.

I’ve been warning of this for months

Here is Rep Jamie Raskin confirming what I’ve been predicting

Even if President Trump wins the 2024 election

Democrats will not accept the results and refuse to leave the White House creating a civil war scenario

pic.twitter.com/iwz8fVckv4

— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) August 6, 2024

Authored by Huey Freeman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

New research shows that our daily exercise and sleep habits can affect brain function for up to two weeks.

Our brains do not react to things in quick, isolated surges; instead, brain activity evolves over more extended periods.

“This suggests that even a workout or a restless night from last week could still affect your brain—and therefore your attention, cognition and memory—well into next week,” according to the study’s press release.

Physical activity, sleep patterns, heart rate changes, and even subtle mood shifts can imprint on our neural networks for up to two weeks. This revelation challenges conventional wisdom about brain function and opens new avenues for understanding cognition, memory, and mental health treatment.

Researcher Becomes the Study Subject

Ana Triana, a doctoral candidate at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, performed double duty as the study subject, tracking her own activities while serving as the research team leader. Brain scans, smartphones, and wearable devices recorded her daily life and brain activities.

This experiment was designed to challenge the conventional wisdom that “just a few trials are sufficient for correctly sampling an individual’s brain activity and behavior,” the researchers wrote in their study, published Tuesday in the Public Library of Science (P

Triana emphasized the importance of continuous monitoring through wearable technology, noting that traditional brain scans, conducted while a person rests for 30 minutes twice weekly, offer limited insights.

“We wanted to go beyond isolated events,” Triana said in the press release.

“Our behaviour and mental states are constantly shaped by our environment and experiences. Yet, we know little about the response of brain … on different timescales, from days to months.”

The researchers hope their unique study will help improve mental health treatment, focusing on individual information on the brain and a person’s daily life.

“Our approach gives context to neuroscience and delivers very fine detail to our understanding of the brain,” Dr. Nick Hayward, a physician, a neuroscientist, and study co-author, said in the press release. He added that information from daily life should be examined in a lab “to see the full picture of how our habits shape the brain.”

Read the rest here…

Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Jose Fernandez, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment, told reporters in Portugal on Oct. 8 that the Chinese regime is using its oversupply of lithium to price out global rivals.

“They engage in predatory pricing,” Fernandez said. “[They] lower the price until competition disappears. That is what is happening.”

Fernandez said China was producing much more lithium “than the world needs today, by far” and dumping it on the market, resulting in a steep price drop of 80 percent over the past year. China is now responsible for two-thirds of the world’s refined, battery-grade lithium production.

Portugal has 270,000 metric tons of lithium reserves, according to the 2022 U.S. Geological Survey, and its government has set goals to increase mining to advance energy goals. Local communities have opposed some of these new projects, saying they damage livelihoods and the environment.

Western countries have, in recent months, put up barriers against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) trade practices. Although China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, China is not a free-market economy, as its industries produce based on the state goals set by the authoritarian CCP.

For example, the European Union raised tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles only after determining via investigation that the regime had subsidized the industry to overproduce, subsequently dumping low-priced vehicles on the international market. This is a practice that can put global competitors out of business.

During a recent trip to Washington, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said China had “killed“ India’s manufacturing sector decades ago with the same tactic.

Asian countries have similarly hiked tariffs on Chinese imports. Japan this year increased duties on Chinese electrolytic manganese dioxide, another battery material, and Korea, whose electric vehicle market is already dominated by Chinese products, is cutting subsidies for vehicles using Chinese batteries.

Trade officials have recognized that tariffs alone may not be enough. Chinese manufacturers may partner with international manufacturers or trade partners to bypass tariffs. For instance, China manufacturers supply a large number of parts to Mexican manufacturers, and Mexico is the largest auto-parts supplier to the United States.

The about-face of China’s global trade partners in key industries also comes at a time when the Chinese communist regime is struggling to prop up a faltering economy. Chinese industries facing overcapacity may soon see firms shutter, with a ripple effect of job loss, lost revenue for already-indebted local governments, and social unrest due to unemployment.

Reuters contributed to this report.