Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times,

Obamacare enrollment declined by nearly 3 million in 2026, sparking renewed debate about the affordability of healthcare in America.

National politicians and policy experts disagreed on the reasons for the dip in enrollment, with some saying that it was driven by rising premiums. 

Others said the decline was evidence that program integrity measures taken by the Trump administration were successful in rooting out fraud and waste. 

The program grew significantly during the declared National Health Emergency from 2021 through 2024, when eligibility verification requirements were relaxed and participants were automatically reenrolled.

Enrollment peaked at 22.1 million last year and dropped to 19.2 million as of February, according to federal data released June 26.

Though that’s still higher than in any year except 2025, some analysts interpreted the decline as a massive loss of coverage resulting from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.

“One year later, the Trump administration’s policies are bleeding the revenue of the American tax system and have left millions of Americans without health coverage and food assistance,” Amina Khalique and Natasha Murphy wrote in a June 25 article for Center for American Progress, writing on the anniversary of the bill’s passage.

Others including Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute, say that the changes mostly reverted to pre-pandemic coverage and policy rules, which had been an incentive for fraud. 

“Excessive subsidies and zero-premium plans created unusually strong incentives for improper enrollment, while weak verification systems, permissive enrollment pathways, and insufficient oversight allowed those incentives to be exploited at scale,” Blase wrote in a June analysis.

The Trump Administration has focused on program integrity, preventing about 2.9 million enrollees from receiving Obamacare subsidies that they didn’t qualify for, according to a statement from the assistant secretary for Health and Human Services.

The government estimates that 2.6 million fraudulent enrollments remain in the program, down from an estimated high of 5.6 million last year.

Either way, the changes left millions uninsured, according to some experts. 

About 9 percent of 2025 Obamacare enrollees became uninsured as of March, according to a survey conducted by health research group KFF.

“While the Trump administration attributes this drop in enrollment to their attempts to address fraud, this coverage loss happened at the same time millions of people faced steep increases in their premium payments,” Cynthia Cox, a senior vice president at KFF, wrote on social media on June 29.

“Real people lost their health insurance or are now paying more,” Cox said.

The average monthly premium for 2026 is $178, compared to $113 in 2025, according to KFF. However, the 2026 premium is lower than the 2021 premium after adjusting for inflation.

The benchmark silver premium, which is used to set subsidy rates, increased by about 25 percent in 2026, according to KFF.

Democrats seized on the enrollment data to criticize President Donald Trump and Republicans over healthcare affordability. 

“Trump and congressional Republicans let healthcare premiums explode and now millions of Americans can’t afford coverage,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) wrote on social media on June 29.

“That’s not right,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, responding to the argument that premium increases have forced people off of the program. 

“The reality is we have a lot of fake people on the policies,” Oz told Fox News on June 29. 

Oz cited that 40 percent of enrollees never use the policies as proof that many either do not want the coverage, do not realize they have it, or were fraudulently enrolled.

Prior to the introduction of the enhanced subsidies in 2021, Obamacare enrollment had declined for four years.

Home prices in America’s top 20 cities were expected to fall MoM for the 3rd straight month in April (the latest reported data from S&P Cotality Case-Shiller) and they did… but only marginally.

Prices fell 0.04% MoM in April (less than the 0.10% decline expected), but the annual change rose modestly from +0.88% YoY to +1.14% YoY…

Source: Bloomberg

“Monthly price movements show seasonal strength masking underlying softness,” said Nicholas Godec, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, Head of Fixed Income Tradables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The oddly tight coupling with Fed Reserves suggests the path is lower…

“Geographic dispersion remains pronounced,” Godec continued.

“Midwest and Northeast markets are still leading moderate growth, while many Sun Belt and Western metros see ongoing declines.

Chicago was again the strongest market with a 6.5% annual gain, trailed by New York (3.8%) and Cleveland (3.2%).

Seattle’s 2.3% year-over-year drop was the steepest in April, with Denver (-1.8%), Tampa (-1.8%), Dallas (-1.6%), and Phoenix (-1.7%) also among the notable decliners.

The nearly 9 percent performance spread between Chicago and Seattle highlights how localized housing trends remain.

On a YoY basis, Chicago reported the highest annual gain among the 20 cities with a 6.5% increase in April, followed by New York and Cleveland with annual increases of 3.8% and 3.2%, respectively.

Seattle posted the lowest return in April, falling 2.3%.

The chart below compares year-over-year returns for different housing price ranges (tiers) in Chicago.

“The affordability pinch remains a key headwind,” Godec concluded.

“After dipping below 6% earlier this year, 30-year mortgage rates climbed back to 6.3% in April, keeping financing costs elevated. In this higher-rate environment, home price growth remains constrained, with housing largely treading water in nominal terms and falling in real terms.”

Finally, with inflation accelerating to 3.8% in April, U.S. home values have now declined in real terms for an 11th straight month, further eroding inflation-adjusted housing wealth.

A.P. Moller-Maersk shares rose in Copenhagen trading after the world’s second-largest container carrier surprised analysts by raising its full-year profit outlook, citing stronger-than-expected containerized demand, particularly across Asia. The upbeat guidance suggests the global container market has remained resilient despite earlier Hormuz-related chokepoint disruptions, with global shipping demand holding.

The Danish shipping and logistics giant now expects global container volumes to grow about 4% this year, up from its prior forecast of 2% to 4%. It also lifted guidance for EBITDA, EBIT, and free cash flow, with the new ranges coming in well above analyst expectations, as tracked by Bloomberg.

Here’s a snapshot of the full-year guidance upgrade (courtesy of Bloomberg):

• Sees underlying Ebitda $8 billion to $10 billion, saw $4.5 billion to $7 billion, estimate $7.33 billion (Bloomberg Consensus)
• Sees underlying Ebit $2 billion to $4 billion, saw loss $1.5 billion to $1 billion, estimate $1.42 billion

Maersk’s guidance matters because container shipping offers one of the clearest real-time reads on global demand for goods.

The stronger outlook reflects a recent surge in spot freight rates, resilient export volumes in Asian markets, and tighter effective capacity due to ongoing route disruptions. The key question for investors now is whether that momentum is strong enough to push Maersk shares back toward, or through, their 2021 highs.

Wolfe Research analyst Jacob Lacks noted:

Maersk is clearly benefitting from the recent surge in spot rates, and a key question in our minds for the stock is how long the current environment lasts. We continue to believe the recent tightness reflects at least some degree of a pull-forward and an early peak season. This is consistent with ocean freight futures which continue to show a meaningful normalization lower in ocean rates following July.

Deutsche Bank analyst Harishankar Ramamoorthy noted:

..but difficult to see rates momentum sustain over the medium-term.

We have revised our forecasts for 2026 to reflect the guidance above, but make little changes to estimates beyond 2026 (see Figure 2). Freight rates have been volatile in the past several months, given many “black swan” events, and it is difficult to argue that the current momentum in spot rates should continue structurally into the medium term. Nevertheless, as we noted in our monthly Transportation Leading Indicators note yesterday, markets are pricing in an easing in freight rates for Maersk driven by the peace deal in the Middle East (latest SCFI is still c. 140% higher than in end Feb); but they seem to be ignoring that bunker 380 has dropped c. 37% from its peak in March, now trading only 7% higher than at the end of Feb.

We have been arguing that the direction of travel for spot freight rates relative to bunker costs has been favourable for Maersk (see Figure 1), and it is indeed providing some near-term tail risk. Given the swing in EBITDA, FCF, and consequently net debt, while we haven’t changed our valuation methodology or the multiples used, our price target stands revised from DKK 12,970 to DKK 14,030. Despite the near-term tailwinds to spot rates, the situation on overcapacity in the industry warrants caution over the medium term; retain HOLD.

Bernstein analyst Alex Irving noted:

This increase follows strong demand leading to strong freight rates. We see the increase in spot rates YTD as having two components. The initial rise in spot rates following the outbreak of war in the Middle East was likely largely, if not entirely, due to additional surcharges for higher fuel costs. However, rates continued to rise even as fuel prices started to decline as Q2 went on, reflecting strength in demand. What is not yet clear to us is how much is a pull-forward of demand, ahead of further surcharges and the risk of higher tariffs in Q3, vs genuinely greater demand. Maersk has increased its volume outlook for total container trade for the year from a range of 2-4% growth, to 4% growth. By implication, the answer is some of both.

The underlying threat to industry profitability of oversupply has not gone away, and in recent days we have seen reports of further mega orders (MSC just yesterday reported to be ordering up to 20 vessels of 20,000 TEU each, for delivery from 2029). Near term, the rate environment continues to support very strong earnings at container lines.

Last week, Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc told Bloomberg: “It has been strong throughout the first half of the year, despite the war and the disruption to energy markets,” adding, “For us, the expectation is that this in all likelihood, right now looks like it’s set to continue into the rest of the

Authored by Autumn Spredemann via The Epoch Times,

The artificial intelligence revolution may not be eliminating human jobs as quickly as some feared. Rising computing costs, operational headaches, and inconsistent results are prompting some companies to change course and bring workers back.

It’s a hard lesson learned in the throes of the early AI boom, in which bold claims of big savings have enticed many businesses to downsize their staff.

Many industry professionals now say that roles requiring sound judgment, creativity, customer interaction, and quality control need to keep humans in the driver’s seat.

A Careerminds survey of 600 human resources professionals who’d made layoffs in the previous 12 months revealed that nine out of 10 companies would rethink their AI-related terminations.

Three out of four human resources professionals who took the survey confirmed that their organization sacked employees because of technological advancements that replaced roles and responsibilities.

But only 8.4 percent of the survey pool said AI delivered the promised results.

“Over the past 12 months, we have seen a noticeable uptick in companies coming to us after pausing or scaling back AI tool rollouts,” James Calloway, chief operating officer at Stealth Agents, told The Epoch Times.

Calloway’s company provides executive-level virtual assistants, an area where the cost difference between human workers and AI agents is stark.

“One e-commerce client had budgeted for an AI customer service implementation and found the licensing, integration, and ongoing prompt engineering costs were two to three times their original estimate,” he said.

“They hired two of our [human virtual assistants] instead and cut their per-ticket resolution cost by nearly 40 [percent].

“Human employees remain more cost-effective in client-facing communications that require empathy and judgment, tasks that require reading between the lines of what a customer actually needs, work involving proprietary context that cannot safely be fed into third-party AI systems, and any workflow where a mistake has real reputational or legal consequences.”

Big tech companies have also found this to be true. In April, Bryan Catanzaro, vice president of applied deep learning research at Nvidia, told Axios, “For my team, the cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees.”

Nickle LaMoreaux, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at IBM, argued that augmenting roles with AI is more essential to corporate growth than replacing human talent entirely, during a Wall Street Journal Leadership Institute summit in March.

LaMoreaux’s comments followed just weeks after IBM announced plans to triple its entry-level hires. When asked why so many companies aren’t taking a similar approach, he said, “It’s because they’re in this productivity mindset versus the growth mindset.”

A BCG analysis predicted that 50 percent to 55 percent of all jobs in the United States will be “reshaped” by AI within the next couple of years.

Visitors crowd an IBM exhibition stand at the 2026 Hannover Messe industrial trade fair in Hanover, Germany, on April 20, 2026. This year’s trade fair included an increased emphasis on industrial AI. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Unforeseen Expenses

Jon Hill, CEO of The Energists, said there’s a misconception that generative AI is just “software with a subscription fee.” He has personally witnessed how AI buyer’s remorse can lead to staff rehires.

“Many of our clients aggressively pursued generative AI initiatives, thinking they would reduce labor costs,” Hill told The Epoch Times, “but we’re increasingly seeing those clients circling back to human employees after discovering the real-world costs of AI systems.”

Hill gave the example of one company that he worked with that planned to automate some of its compliance reporting and technical support. The company found that while the projected savings initially looked promising, those gains evaporated when taking into account the costs of cybersecurity, human oversight, and application programming interface usage.

The client chose to pause AI deployment because “human staff provided more predictable output at a lower long-term cost,” he said.

Hill said there are multiple costs that organizations can overlook. Cloud compute costs alone can be “a six- to seven-figure annual expense,” depending on usage, Hill said.

People visit an AI data center at SK Networks during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on March 3, 2025. A February survey of human resources professionals revealed that nine out of 10 companies would rethink AI-related terminations. Manaure Quinter/AFP via Getty Images

Matt Baharav, CEO of MKB Media Solutions, told The Epoch Times that the AI content assistant his team implemented ended up being both costly and inefficient.

“Last quarter, we decided to stop utilizing an [AI] automated content assistant for our outreach pitches. We realized the software was ineffective,” Baharav told The Epoch Times.

“The company we hired and paid thousands per month charged us licensing costs, as well as had my team spend countless hours rewriting generic paragraphs created by their tool.”

In this photo illustration, a screen shows the Deepseek app in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 31, 2026. After the rapid rise of AI implementation in industrial settings, a growing number of businesses are bringing human workers back to the workplace. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times

Baharav said he learned that “a good writer is less expensive than an expensive automated content assistant” when it comes to complex communications.

“We eliminated the software altogether and transferred the funds back into hiring competent, sharp writers,” he said.

Tech spending tracker Mavvrik, in its 2025 State of AI Cost Management report, observed that 80 percent to 85 percent of companies missed their AI infrastructure forecasts by more than 25 percent, while 84 percent reported “significant gross margin erosion” because of miscalculated AI costs.

The offices of Amazon Germany’s new headquarters in Munich are pictured on April 16, 2026. The retail giant laid off 16,000 workers in January in its latest round of cuts, part of a multi-year wave of layoffs driven in part by the company’s adoption of artificial intelligence. AFP via Getty Images

Luxury Component

Marcus Mossberger, chief market strategy officer at workforce intelligence platform LYTIQS, said he believes that AI could have its own niche within the workforce, so long as it’s not a situation that would be better served by human judgment.

“HR is a great example where AI can be used to field transaction questions like ‘what is the deductible on my health insurance plan,’ but not for more intimate requests, like ‘what should I do about a co-worker who is making me uncomfortable?’” Mossberger said.

He said some companies are likely to “over-rotate” toward AI and learn a hard lesson, but he thinks that there could be bigger consequences for companies than just having to hire new talent.

“I actually believe the biggest hidden ‘expense’ associated with implementing generative AI has been the disruption of trust between employee and employer. And let’s face it, this wasn’t exactly an area of strength to begin with,” Mossberger said.

A Microsoft AI booth is shown during the AI+Expo Special Competitive Studies Project in Washington on June 2, 2025. Many companies are feeling buyer’s remorse, hiring industry insiders say, as they find that the cost of AI implementation is higher than anticipated. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

He pointed out that hard-working Americans are watching employers invest billions in AI infrastructure while laying off their co-workers and being asked to help train their own AI replacement.

“If you think these same individuals are giving you discretionary effort and taking innovative risks to improve your organization, you are badly mistaken,” Mossberger said.

He predicts that this will necessitate a need for companies to rebuild trust in their brand while training new hires. Mossberger said he thinks that many of the people laid off during the early days of the AI gold rush may refuse to come back.

The practice of a worker returning to the same company that initially laid them off has come to be known as a “boomerang employee.”

For Baharav, the decision to prioritize human talent has definitely paid off. “To date, we have actually ended up saving money,” he said.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in a talk before reporters Monday ripped the Trump administration, blaming the US for giving into Iran’s demands that a peace framework incorporate the Lebanon front.

Trump “exerted pressure” on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu within several telephone calls “in the run-up to the signing of the memorandum of understanding” – and ultimately prevented Israel from disarming and destroying Hezbollah, he asserted.

Katz expressed “regret” at the US linking up Iran and Lebanon, saying: “The connection between the Iran and Lebanon fronts is an American interest; if there had been no connection between the fronts, Hezbollah would have collapsed.” 

Katz suggested the Israeli army was then forced to go to a “Plan B,” which he outlined as “pushing deeper into the ‘Yellow Line’ zone in southern Lebanon” – which extends nearly 10 kilometers into Lebanon, and mainly constitutes what the IDF currently occupies.

The Times of Israel bluntly put it as follows:

Briefing reporters, Katz claimed that had it not been for American pressure on Israel, the IDF would have caused Hezbollah’s collapse in Lebanon. He said the IDF had planned a “massive” aerial campaign that, he claimed, “would have dismantled Hezbollah,” and that the terror group was “begging the Iranians to save it.”

The defense minister blamed US President Donald Trump’s linking of the US-Iran talks with Lebanon for preventing Israel from doing so. According to Katz, when Trump “linked Iran and Lebanon,” Israel had to stop “bringing down buildings in Beirut,” but could carry out “surgical strikes” on Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital.

Katz emphasized, “I’m sorry about that linkage, but it was an American interest. They very much wanted to advance the possibility of negotiations with Iran.”

He also noted of recently strained US-Israeli relations, “when you enter into a partnership, it has advantages, but it also comes with certain constraints.”

“People should not hold their breath wondering where the next place will be from which Israel will withdraw in Lebanon, because it will not happen until Hezbollah is disarmed. We have no territorial ambitions in Lebanon, but until Hezbollah is disarmed, we will not withdraw a millimeter,” Katz added.

He also said, “When it comes to defending ourselves, there are no compromises, not in Lebanon and not in Iran.”

The defense chief then made clear that Israel is preparing to go it alone regarding Iran if need be:

“If Iran attacks, that is the third Iran war. The situation is very clear. There is no reality in which Israel will allow missile fire at its territory without responding with force. It could happen within two days. My directive to the IDF is to prepare for a blue-and-white operation in Iran.”

🚨Three remarkable comments from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz today:

On the reported plan to topple the Iranian regime, originally prepared under former Mossad chief David Barnea:

“There were external actors who were supposed to join, but they did not allow it to…

— גיא עזריאל Guy Azriel (@GuyAz) June 29, 2026

The “blue-and-white” label is apparent reference to taking the war to Iran, but without external Washington help. However, it’s also clear that the Iranians have in the past been able to inflict serious damage on Israel, even when it did have active and significant US military support.

The defense minister also again admitted that Israeli intelligence has had assets inside Iran all along, but that these ground elements were prevented from orchestrating full regime change in the Islamic Republic.

Via Remix News,

Germany’s Verena Brunschweiger, a self-described “radical feminist,” is promoting the slogan: “My lineage ends with me.” She says she hopes to encourage people, especially White people, to stop having children.

She claims that Western pro-natalists only want to “control women, and keep refugees out.”

The article on her views, from Australian broadcaster news.com.au, is entitled: “‘My bloodline ends with me’: Why feminist ‘childfree icon’ wants fewer ‘white babies’ and more refugees”

The report quoted her as saying: “We have a proud slogan, ‘My bloodline ends with me.’ I think this is a responsible choice.”

Brunschweiger said that Europeans are to blame for the poor quality of life in Africa, and she would invite the entire world to Europe.

🇩🇪German feminist Verena Brunschweiger promotes the slogan “My lineage ends with me.”

She calls for people, especially White people, to stop having children.

She claims that Western pro-natalists only want to “control women, and keep refugees out.”

Brunschweiger said that… pic.twitter.com/8DGwDdQkQU

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 27, 2026

“So I would take all immigrants and refugees in because we ruined the world, so to speak.”

“We produce the climate change which makes life in Africa, for instance, miserable and horrible. So of course, why not invite [them] if they want to come?”

She said that in her home country, “populist nonsense” is being promoted by the German party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

In einem neuen Interview verkündet die kinderlose Verena Brunschweiger stolz, dass ihre Blutlinie mit ihr endet und das sei die verantwortungsvolle Entscheidung. Sie fordert weniger ‚weiße Babys‘ im Westen und attackiert Elon Musk sowie alle, die mehr Nachwuchs wollen, um die… pic.twitter.com/5Y7q3rpb2g

— Lexa 🇩🇪 (@rebew_lexa) June 29, 2026

She claimed the party wants Germans to have more babies so “they can say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, dear refugees, go back and drown or die or starve or whatever, because we have so many of our own people and we have to care for them first.”

“They say we need our own kids because German white kids are better than other kids who immigrate into the country,” she added.

“All the white people go, ‘Wouldn’t it be so horrible if we lost the white people, the white majority?’ They always want white women to have more babies to in order to be able to say, ‘Oh, stay the way we are, we are already full,’” she added.

She says Western countries have a moral duty to accept refugees.

“Because we produce all the climate change and all those things which make them leave [their] country,” she said.

Despite immigrants producing children at a much higher rate than White people, especially African migrants, she dismisses any argument against restricting immigration.

She said that she “of course” targets Whites specifically to stop having children.

“My focus, and that’s what drives the AfD nuts, is we have to cut back our numbers,” she said.

Read more here…

A six-figure salary is considered low-income in a handful of California counties, according to the 2026 income limits set by the state’s Department of Housing & Community Development.

These new income limits, which took effect June 23, are used to calculate the cost of affordable housing for certain state housing assistance programs.

Most counties saw an increase in the cutoff for what is considered low-income, and seven counties—Santa Cruz, San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Santa Clara, Orange, and Santa Barbara—had their cutoffs set at six-figure amounts.

As Cynthia Cai details below for The Epoch Times, Santa Cruz County has the highest cutoff, with a limit set at $122,200 for a single-person household. This is a nearly 10 percent increase from the previous year, which set the low-income cutoff at $111,100.

For each additional person added to the household, the income cutoff is adjusted so that “income limits should be higher for larger families and lower for smaller families,” the Department of Housing & Community Development wrote in its memo.

Following Santa Cruz are three more coastal counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin.

These three counties have cutoffs of $117,700 for single-person households, which is also an increase from the previous year’s limit of $109,700.

The low-income limit in Santa Clara is set at $113,700 for single-person households, and in Santa Barbara it is set at $102,000.

Two counties, however, are maintaining their low-income cutoffs from last year. Solano County will continue to use $76,950 as its limit, and Shasta will continue to use $54,500.

These figures come as housing and affordability remain top issues for residents.

“California home prices continue to be much more expensive than the rest of the US,” the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) reported in its 2026 Housing Affordability Tracker.

A mid-tier home, or the average-value middle-market property, costs around $775,000 in California, according to the LAO. That’s nearly double the national average of $398,771 for a mid-tier house, according to Redfin.

The Golden State saw a rapid home price increase of 14 percent per year during the pandemic from 2020 to 2022, the LAO stated. But home price growth has slowed down since then. The average price of a mid-tier home is currently increasing by approximately 1 percent per year.

“While home prices have stabilized, housing has become less affordable for most Californians in recent years” due to incomes failing to keep pace with the increase in housing costs, the LAO added.

As a result, only about 23 percent of households would qualify for mid-tier home mortgages in 2026, down from roughly 31 percent in 2019.

The state’s low homeownership and higher-than-average rental costs and home values were also noted in a recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), which said the state “has a housing problem.”

“Homeownership is the second lowest in the nation, and housing has become a dominant reason people leave the state,” the report states.

“Two of every three Californians say the cost of housing is a ‘big problem’ in their part of California.”

Ownership is particularly low among young adults, with about 31 percent of people between 30 and 34 years old reporting owning their own home. The national average for homeownership among that age group is about 49 percent.

Rental costs in California also exceed the national average by about 40 percent, the PPIC reported. The average cost to rent is about $2,159 in California compared with the national average of $1,526.

The PPIC noted that coastal cities face the highest costs, and large numbers of people are relocating inland, where costs are lower but housing supply struggles to keep up with demand.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

A theme park in Britain has received intense backlash for marketing exclusive access, halal vendors and Islamic stalls, effectively sidelining non-Muslims.

Gulliver’s Land in Milton Keynes is handing its rides and grounds to a day promoted as reserved exclusively for the Muslim community. Organisers described it as a “Muslim Theme Park experience” with unlimited rides, halal food vendors, Islamic stalls, kids’ activities and limited tickets sold primarily to that group.

Promotional material from Mubarak Moments, the group behind the event, highlights “a theme park reserved exclusively for the Muslim community” and “exclusive access… for one evening only,” effectively confirming the event is a faith-targeted buyout of a family theme park.

Another day in 2026 Britain: Gulliver’s Land hosting a ‘Muslim Theme Park Experience’ with halal only vibes and Islamic stalls.

Faith, fun & family… for some. Where’s the English family day?

Imagine the outrage if they had an English only day. pic.twitter.com/27zDtZJsb7

— British Bastard ?? (@BritishBastardX) June 29, 2026

A Milton Keynes local community hub post on Facebook stated “This event has been independently organised by a Muslim community group, so naturally its primary focus is on bringing the Muslim community together, just as any community group would when organising an event for its members.”

The post continued, “That said, there is nothing to suggest that people of other faiths or backgrounds are unable to attend and enjoy the event. Everyone is welcome to attend in the spirit of mutual respect and understanding.”

It added, “As with any community-led event, it is expected that those attending will be supportive of the organisers, respectful of the event’s purpose, and considerate of everyone present.”

Some suggested the event was fake, manufactured as rage bait, but the organiser’s original post is here:

Note how the image on that post features a Muslim family, where as in the other image that element has been removed.

Responses poured in immediately. One user summed up the widespread frustration: “Two-tier Britain in full effect. While English culture gets sidelined and mocked, we’re funding and celebrating parallel societies on our own soil. Gulliver’s Land should be for British families, not imported theocracies.”

Exactly.

Two-tier Britain in full effect.

While English culture gets sidelined and mocked, we’re funding and celebrating parallel societies on our own soil.

Gulliver’s Land should be for British families, not imported theocracies.

This nonsense ends when we take back…

— Harry Lines??????? (@HarryLines7) June 29, 2026

Others asked the obvious follow-up questions that never receive answers from officials or venue managers: when is the Christian family day, the English-only evening, or the Jewish community slot? Calls for boycott spread quickly. Several noted the hypocrisy directly: if the same marketing had read “reserved exclusively for the English community,” every equality body, media outlet and politician would have descended within hours.

How does this support multiculturism – this is deeply divisive.
When will people be told to sit at the back of the bus for segregation! Wake up to Racism in all its guises!

— MPsFailPeople (@MPsFailPeople) June 29, 2026

When is the Christian, Jewish, Sikh Theme park experience day?

— Ben Graham (@BenGrahamUK) June 29, 2026

not very inclusive

— The Celtic Patriot (@Celticpatriot_) June 29, 2026

While Americans reading this might think it’s another example of how far teh UK has fallen, this is also going on over there, in Texas of all places.

Earlier this year a taxpayer-funded indoor waterpark in Grand Prairie, Texas – the $88 million Epic Waters facility built with public sales tax money – advertised its 3rd Annual DFW Epic Eid celebration as a “Muslims only” event. Flyers specified modest dress rules including burkinis for women, halal-slaughtered meat, a private prayer room, and Islamic etiquette such as lowered gaze around the opposite sex.

Backlash forced organisers to edit the language to “modest dress only” and “all are welcome,” yet the underlying restrictions remained visible in FAQs. Critics pointed out the obvious double standard: a publicly funded venue effectively closed to regular visitors for a faith-specific gathering.

The outrage was immediate and effective. Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to withhold $530,000 in state grants from the city if the discriminatory event proceeded. Grand Prairie officials canceled it.

Perhaps an even more disturbing development in Texas is the East Plano Islamic Community project, rebranded as The Meadow. This planned development of 1,000 homes, a mosque and schools has drawn concerns over potential Sharia enforcement inside what amounts to a parallel community.

NEW: ‘Muslim City’ in Texas gets legal win after a judge ordered that the state must comply with developers.

The East Plano Islamic Community (EPIC), which has now been rebranded to The Meadow, will feature 1,000 homes, a mosque, schools, and more.

Texas leaders are worried… pic.twitter.com/HoSvNeV307

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 30, 2026

Governor Abbott has been clear that Sharia law, Sharia cities and no-go zones have no place in Texas. Developers still secured a legal win ordering state compliance.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, multiple landlords have advertised rental properties exclusively for Muslims in breach of the Equality Act 2010. Ads on Facebook, Gumtree and Telegram specified “Muslim only,” “only for Muslims,” or “for 2 Muslim boys or 2 Muslim girls.” Some targeted Muslim students only. These are not fringe cases. Investigations found dozens of such listings operating in plain sight while authorities focus enforcement resources elsewhere.

Any native British landlord attempting the reverse – advertising “English only” or “Christian only” – would face immediate investigation, fines and media pile-ons. The asymmetry is the definition of two-tier treatment.

Britain’s own institutions have tilted the field further. All members of the government’s “anti-Muslim hostility” advisory group have documented links to Islamist organisations. The state effectively handed rule-writing power over “hostility” definitions to the very networks that benefit from reduced scrutiny.

Schools received official guidance urging staff and pupils to report perceived “anti-Muslim hostility,” creating an Orwellian atmosphere where questioning Islamic practices or parallel societies risks being treated as thoughtcrime.

The same authorities that move swiftly against native dissent have shown remarkable tolerance for actual criminal networks. Sadiq Khan once claimed there were no grooming gangs in London. Police are currently investigating around 4,000 cases.

None of this is about preventing people from celebrating their faith. It is about whether public venues, taxpayer assets and the legal system treat every community by the same rules. When theme parks, waterparks and housing markets begin carving out faith-exclusive zones while the host population is told any reciprocal preference is bigotry, the social contract fractures.

Texas demonstrated that elected leaders can still draw a line against explicit religious discrimination in public facilities and win. Britain’s trajectory has been the opposite: accommodation of separatism, institutional capture by one-sided “hostility” definitions, and native families left wondering why their own cultural continuity receives less protection than imported alternatives.

The Gulliver’s Land episode is simply the latest visible symptom. It will not be the last unless the underlying policy of mass low-assimilation immigration and selective multiculturalism is reversed. Equal rights mean equal rules. Anything less is not tolerance – it is managed decline.

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Latvia has announced confirmation its government has inked a new deal for Ukraine to assist in a Ukrainian drone manufacturing plant on Latvian soil, right near the border with Russia, as well as close to the Belarusian border.

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said following an emergency cabinet meeting held in Latgale that his country will “accelerate plans to establish a joint drone manufacturing facility with Ukraine and aims to locate it near the country’s eastern border region,“ regional media reports.

The small Baltic country has been a member of NATO since 2004, and along with other allies like Estonia and Lithuania (both of which also joined NATO during the mid-2000s expansion wave).

These Baltic states have remained outspoken in their anti-Moscow hawkishness, and this latest announced plan of Latvia to produce drones with Ukraine once again reveals that there’s no heed being given to Russia’s red lines.

The Kremlin has for years warned European states that constant NATO and military infrastructure expansion right up to Russia’s borders could trigger major war. Of course, in Ukraine it has, but fears remain that some kind of major provocation could result in direct Russia-NATO conflict.

Regional media is really emphasizing the closeness of the planned facility to Russia:

Kulbergs said the agreement on cooperation in the field of unmanned systems, signed at the beginning of June, includes plans for joint production. In particular, a manufacturing facility is to be built rapidly near Latvia’s border with Russia.

The prime minister said the government would do everything necessary to ensure the facility is located close to the border. He added that the region needs economic activity, investment and jobs.

So now these Baltic leaders are just openly prodding and provoking Russia, it seems.

The Latvian leader after saying all of this is still promoting the ‘defensive’ nature of such a joint drone program: “Kulbergs also said that new counter-drone systems are expected to become operational along Latvia’s borders with Belarus and Russia in July and August, allowing the country to respond to aerial threats without deploying aircraft on every occasion.”

“If there is a drone threat, we will not have to scramble aircraft every time. It is a very expensive and effective solution, but it is neither the best nor the most efficient one,” he said further.

There’s been a heightened spillover threat of UAVs from the context of the Russia-Ukraine theater, however, in some cases these have been reported to be errant Ukrainian drones, and not just Russian ones.

Russian media has really seized on this trend…

Latvia and Ukraine to build interceptor drones together — to defend Latvian airspace from drone incursions

Every drone that has breached Latvian airspace has been UKRAINIAN

Kiev now manufacturing drones in Latvia to shoot down drones from Kiev? pic.twitter.com/JJjU9jaaoU

— RT (@RT_com) June 29, 2026

Kulbergs is also saying he hopes to reach Ukraine’s level of drone defense by the end of the year. The Zelensky government has over the past year been aggressively marketing its expertise to allied nations, and even in the Middle East in the context of the Iran war.