Vivek Ramaswamy Is Confused

Sophie Park for The New York Times
OPINION: CARLOS LOZADA
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The theatrically combative presidential candidacy of Vivek Ramaswamy seems to be premised on two messages. One is his disdain for identity politics, which he argues creates a citizenry obsessed with victimhood and a corporate sector in thrall to trendy left-wing obsessions, leaving America trapped in a “cold cultural civil war,” as he put it last month in the first Republican debate. The other is his devotion to Donald Trump, whom Ramaswamy relentlessly defended in the debate, promising to support the former president, if Trump wins the Republican nomination, or to pardon him, if Ramaswamy wins the White House. He called Trump “the best president of the twenty-first century.” » | Carlos Lozada* | Monday, September 25, 2023

* Opinion Columnist and co-host of the “Matter of Opinion” podcast

Crypto King or Conman: Is Sam Bankman-Fried about to Be Sent Down for a Century?

THE GUARDIAN: His company managed billions in assets and made him one of the world’s richest people. Then, almost overnight, it collapsed. With a fraud trial beginning next week, a documentary asks how he bewitched so many

The embodiment of crypto … Sam Bankman-Fried. Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters
Sunil Kavuri is not a novice investor. Sure, he hasn’t always been involved in finance: 20 years ago, he was a model. He and his identical twin brother were the stuff of local newspaper human-interest stories, straight-A lads from Rugby in Warwickshire who got firsts in economics, were both on the way to do master’s degrees in finance at Cambridge and got picked up by O2 to do the adverts for Big Brother. You might remember the ad: two floppy-haired guys horseplaying on a sofa.

After that, though, Kavuri worked for Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and then JP Morgan, leaving in 2012 to do his own investing. In 2015, he started investing in cryptocurrencies, mainly bitcoin, which he saw as “digital gold”: “It has all the attributes of gold, but it’s easier to store, so it’s better than gold.” The premise of bitcoin is that the supply is fixed at 21m, so it’s a finite resource. “I saw bitcoin as a better, more portable version,” he says. “It has finance supply, it’s perfectly divisible, it’s fungible.”

But then, in the autumn of 2022, the value of crypto nosedived. As a creditor of the crypto exchange platform FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, Kavuri lost $2.1m (£1.8m). He is trying to retrieve those funds as part of a class-action lawsuit. » | Zoe Williams | Monday, September 25, 2023

Warschau wirft Scholz Einmischung vor

ÄUSSERUNGEN ZUR VISA-AFFÄRE
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Laut Justizminister Ziobro will der deutsche Bundeskanzler den polnischen Oppositionsführer Tusk im Wahlkampf unterstützen. Scholz hatte am Wochenende von Polen Aufklärung in der Visa-Affäre verlangt.

Die polnische Regierung wirft Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz wegen Äußerungen zur Visa-Affäre eine Einmischung in den Wahlkampf vor. „Die Zuständigkeit des Bundeskanzlers betrifft eindeutig nicht das laufende Verfahren in Polen“, schrieb Außenminister Zbigniew Rau am Sonntagabend auf der Plattform X. „Äußerungen in diesem Zusammenhang deuten auf einen Versuch hin, sich in die inneren Angelegenheiten des polnischen Staates und den laufenden Wahlkampf in Polen einzumischen.“ » | Von Niklas Zimmerman | Montag, 25. September 2023

Les pays membres de l’UE refusent de durcir les normes sur les gaz d’échappement des voitures

LE MONDE : Sous l’impulsion notamment de la France et de l’Italie, les Vingt-Sept ont approuvé une réglementation moins ambitieuse afin de préserver la compétitivité de l’industrie automobile.

Les pays membres de l’UE ont écarté lundi 25 septembre un nouveau durcissement des normes de pollution sur les gaz d’échappement des voitures particulières, estimant que cela risquait de freiner les investissements des constructeurs dans les véhicules électriques.

Sous l’impulsion notamment de la France et de l’Italie, les Vingt-Sept ont voté en faveur d’une réglementation moins ambitieuse que la proposition formulée par la Commission européenne en novembre 2022, afin de préserver la compétitivité de l’industrie automobile et ses 14 millions d’emplois dans l’UE. » | Le Monde avec AFP | lundi 25 septembre 2023

Brexit: The UK Is So Vain

Sep 25, 2023 | In this new Federal Trust video John Stevens and Brendan Donnelly discuss the recent report commissioned by the French and German governments on the future governance of the European Union. They conclude that the conclusions of this report have been grotesquely misreported in the British media; and that political reactions to this misreporting have, not for the first time in the UK’s European debate, only compounded the confusion.

SPEAKERS

Brendan Donnelly is the Director of the Federal Trust and a former Conservative MEP.
John Stevens Chair of the Federal Trust and an analyst and commentator on economic affairs.

ABOUT THE FEDERAL TRUST

The Federal Trust is a research institute studying regional, national, European and global levels of government. It has always had a particular interest in the European Union and Britain’s place in it. The Federal Trust has no allegiance to any political party. It is registered as a charity for the purposes of education and research.

Dean Phillips on the 2024 Presidential Race & a Looming Government Shutdown | The Warning Podcast

Sep 25, 2023 | Congressman Dean Phillips from Minnesota joins Steve to discuss the failures of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the moral imperative for generational change, and how the country moves on from a Biden-Trump rematch. Later, Steve asks the congressman if he would consider running against Joe Biden in 2024.

The Murdoch Story Is the Endless Pursuit of Control, Power and Profit – Rupert’s Resignation Is Unlikely to Change That

THE GUARDIAN – OPINION: Despite being deeply ensconced in global media, business and political circles, Rupert Murdoch liked to portray himself as an outsider ‘sticking it’ to the elites

Rupert Murdoch is handing the reins of News Corp to son Lachlan but he will remain involved with the media empire he built. Photograph: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
On 9 September 1953, a small page-two item in the Adelaide News announced: “Mr Rupert Murdoch, son of the late Sir Keith Murdoch, is to join the staff of News Ltd.” Seventy years later almost to the day, the news of his resignation as chairman of the global media empire that company became arrived to noticeably more fanfare.

When I started writing about the 92-year-old’s early years, the inevitability of his exit presented a poignant vantage point to take stock of how the Murdoch model came to be, when the endpoint — and the damage — is clear.

Like News Corporation’s new chair, Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert was groomed for success by his father, Sir Keith. One of Australia’s most prominent and controversial newspapermen, Murdoch Sr had spent his final years acquiring companies such as News Ltd as part of a small family chain for his occasionally wayward son to inherit — a son he regarded as a “zealous Laborite” with “alarming left-wing views”, but hoped might lead a “useful altruistic and full life” in the media. » | Walter Marsh | Monday, September 25, 2023

Baklava Cinnamon Rolls | Akis Petretzikis

Sep 25, 2023

Get the recipe here in English and here in Greek.

Benito Mussolini: The Father of Fascism | Evolution of Evil | Timeline

Jul 28, 2022 | The rise and fall of Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, whose involvement in the creation of fascism made him a role model to Adolf Hitler and other 20th-century dictators.
This documentary is age-restricted; so it cannot be embedded on external websites. For this reason, it must be watched on YouTube itself. Please click here to watch it.

The Origins of Mussolini's Italy | Secrets of War | Timeline

Jan 10, 2021 | An inside look at fascist Italy. Starting with Mussolini's rise to power, the unknown stories of the shadowy figures who protected "Il Duce" and the tenuous Axis relationship with Nazi Germany.

Radical Evil: How We Became Mass Murderers | Nazi Documentary | Real Stories

Sep 19, 2023 | After winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Film for Counterfeiters, Stefan Ruzowitzky asks why normal people become mass murderers. Why do decent family fathers end up killing women, children and babies on a daily basis?

The perpetrators are members of the Nazi death squads, who killed about 2 million Jewish civilians in Eastern Europe – by bullets, face-to-face.

"Monsters exist, but they are too few in numbers to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men." (Primo Levi)


This documentary is fascinating, but disturbing. It is totally unsuitable for children. / Dieser Dokumentarfilm ist faszinierend, aber beunruhigend. Für Kinder ist er völlig ungeeignet. / Ce documentaire est fascinant, mais dérangeant. C'est totalement inadapté aux enfants. – Mark

France to Withdraw Troops and Ambassador from Niger - BBC News

Sep 25, 2023 | President Emmanuel Macron has said France will withdraw its ambassador and end all military co-operation with Niger following a coup.

The military junta which seized power in Niger in July welcomed the move.

The decision by Paris follows months of animosity and protests against the French presence in its former colony, with regular demonstrations in the capital Niamey.

The move deals a hammer blow to France's operations against jihadists in the wider Sahel region and Paris' influence there. But Mr Macron said France would "not be held hostage by the putschists”.

Sophia Loren Has Emergency Surgery after Falling at Swiss Home

NEW YORK POST: Sophia Loren has undergone emergency surgery after a fall at her home.

The actor, 89, was left with multiple fractures to her hip and leg after falling at her home in Geneva, Switzerland, over the weekend.

The incident occurred on Sunday in the bathroom of her residence. She suffered several fractures, including to her femur and hip. » | Stephanie Webber | Monday, September 25, 2023

Hitch-22: A Memoir - Christopher Hitchens in Conversation with Austin Dacey, June 13, 2010

Apr 19, 2020 | During the brief speaking tour to promote his memoir, Hitch-22, Christopher Hitchens spoke with Austin Dacey before a hometown crowd in Washington, DC at the Historic Sixth & I Synagogue on June 13, 2010. His sudden illness was announced shortly afterwards. …

Peter Oborne Absolutely DEMOLISHES Keir Starmer

Sep 25, 2023 | “You’d be very unwise to believe a word Keir Starmer ever says"

I have said it so many times before, but I think I need to repeat myself: The only man to vote for in the next general election is Ed Davay, the leader of the Liberal Democrats. The Tories, once Britain's best hope in each and every election, is now a corrupt party bereft of any good policy or any ideas for a prosperous future. It is also backward-looking – it forever harks back to Britain's glorious past. Furthermore, it has trashed the economy, even though it has been in power for more than 13 years. Any decent party in power for more than thirteen years would have got the economy in fairly decent order by now. Not so the Tories.

It's not worth voting for Starmer, because he is the leader of the socialist party: Labour. Socialists rarely have the economic answer to any economic problem. Moreover, you can bet your bottom dollar that if Keir Starmer comes to power, he will lead a bunch of champagne socialists. And one last very important thing: He is deluded! Why? Because he is determined to make Brexit work. Now that is delusion! Brexit will never work. It cannot work. There are many reasons for this, but the most obvious one is that Brexit has meant that this country has turned its back on the biggest single market in the world — The Single Market — and that single market just happens to be on our doorstep. Anyone who thinks that his country can prosper by walking away from such a trading bloc needs to go back to university and ask when the next 'Economics 101' class commences! He is in dire need of it!

In my opinion, there is only one leader of any party in British politics today that deserves to be given a chance, and that's Sir Ed Davey. He is pro-EU, pro NHS, and pro giving pensioners a better deal. He is also gay-friendly.

By the way, I am not a member of his party and nor am I affiliated with it in any way. I have also never met the man. I am merely telling you what I think. You can accept it or reject it as you wish. – © Mark Alexander

Le Maroc Vu du Ciel | Documentaire

Résumé : Des cimes du Haut Atlas enneigé au tumulte de Casablanca ou de Marrakech, Le Maroc Vu du Ciel est avant tout une invitation au voyage. Un voyage empreint de souvenirs mais aussi de découvertes, un périple à travers le temps, l’histoire, les paysages d’un pays que l’on croit connaître mais qui pourtant nous surprend et nous émerveille.

Crédits :

Une production HOPE PRODUCTION
En association avec CALT PRODUCTION
En partenariat avec 2M et l'ONMT
Avec la participation de FRANCE TELEVISIONS

Un film de YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND
en collaboration avec MICHAEL PITIOT
Ecrit par YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND ET ALI BADDOU
Raconté par ALI BADDOU
Musique ARMAND AMAR


S’il vous plaît. Faites un don pour le Maroc via ce lien.

Lib Dems to Attack Tories on NHS and Pensions Triple Lock, Ed Davey Says

THE OBSERVER: The leader says his party is focusing on the NHS and protecting pensions to woo Conservatives in rural heartlands

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey at the Barton Hills nature reserve in June 2023 while campaigning in next month’s Mid Bedfordshire byelection. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardian
The Liberal Democrats are planning to open two fronts against the Conservatives in their traditional heartlands, with a campaign focused on NHS waiting lists and a pledge to protect the pensions triple lock.

In an interview with the Observer, Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said that the scale of support his party had been receiving from lifelong Tory voters meant that there was now no Tory seat in either the “blue wall” or the Conservatives’ rural heartlands that was safe.

The Lib Dems are in an increasingly optimistic mood as their annual conference takes place this week after a string of byelection wins, including in Chesham and Amersham, and Tiverton and Honiton. There is also mounting concern among Tories in constituencies where the Lib Dems are in second place.

Davey’s party is now honing an election campaign designed to win over liberal, pro-remain Tory voters as well as rural communities that have been out of reach to the Lib Dems for years. He said that, unlike in the run-up to previous elections, concern about the NHS and GP waiting times was a “common thread” across all the voters it was targeting. » | Michael Savage, Policy Editor | Sunday, September 2023

In my opinion, this is the gentleman who would make the best prime minister for our times. This is the man who could lead this country out of the mess and morass we now find ourselves in after thirteen years of Tory screw-ups and misguided government. – © Mark Alexander

My Nazi Family | Silent History | Full Documentary

Apr 14, 2022 | After the WW2, German solders returned home and kept quiet about their actions. What was the price of this silence?

The atrocities committed by the Nazis have been widely discussed at a general level since the Second World War. Less attention has been paid to the fact that the perpetrators of the atrocities have kept quiet about their actions to their own descendants.

This wall of silence has descended around the actions that have been done but that have not been handled and talked about within families. The silence has grown these things into problems that will last for generations.

The documentary My Nazi Family opens perspectives on the consequences of silence and why the antisemitism is growing again. This is reflected in the true stories of the three German families, where the past and the present meet in surprising ways.

The documentary deals with themes of hatred, war and violence and is not recommended for children under 12 years of age.

Director: Ruut Ahonen
Interviewees: Jobst Bittner, Frank Pfeiffer, Caroline Hohnecker, Friedhelm Chmell, Rita Kasimow Brown
Length: 45 minutes
Languages: English – German (subtitled English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese and Finnish)
Published: April 2022
Producer: Mika Ahonen
Production: Hurttimurtti


Please note that this documentary is not suitable for children. / Bitte beachten Sie, daß diese Dokumentation für Kinder nicht geeignet ist. / Attention, cette documentation ne convient pas aux enfants. – Mark

No One Can Be Surprised If Donald Trump Wins This Time | #shorts

Steve Schmidt issues a stark warning about the possibility of Trump being re-elected as president. (Heaven forfend!)
Jesus Christ, America! Please spare the world this disastrous outcome! This would be one catastrophe too many! There are enough clowns in politics as things stand; we don’t need another to grace the world stage. If God allows Trump to win, then we will know that God doesn’t exist. No omnipotent, compassionate, loving, merciful god would thrust this man onto the world for a second time! So, if He does, then He must be very angry with his recalcitrant children. – © Mark Alexander

China Sentences Uyghur Scholar to Life in Jail – BBC News

Sep 24, 2023 | A prominent Uyghur academic has been reportedly jailed for life by China for "endangering state security".

Professor Rahile Dawut is an expert on Uyghur folklore and traditions and had been teaching at Xinjiang University College of Humanities before her arrest.

The 57-year-old lost her appeal last month.

China denies allegations of crimes against humanity towards the Uyghur population located in northwest China.

Brexit Called ‘A Huge Mistake’ by Protesters at Rally in London

THE OBSERVER: National Rejoin March culminated in demonstration in Parliament Square calling for the UK to rejoin the EU

A protester in Parliament Square in central London on Saturday. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
Protesters against the UK’s exit from the EU have labelled the move “a huge mistake” as they campaigned to rejoin the bloc.

A large crowd of pro-EU protesters gathered outside the Hilton hotel on Park Lane in central London for the National Rejoin March (NRM) on Saturday.

Hundreds of people dressed in blue clothes and carrying EU flags filled the pavement before the march through the city’s streets, which was expected to culminate with a rally in Parliament Square.

Clusters of Metropolitan police officers were at the scene as protesters handed out flyers and passing cars hooted their horns in support. » | PA Media | Saturday, September 23, 2023

Pope Slams ‘Indifference’ towards Migrants Arriving in Europe by Sea

Sep 23, 2023 | The head of the Catholic Church has urged nations to overcome what he calls a "paralysis of fear" about refugees and migrants. Pope Francis is on a tour in Marseille, in southern France.

There has been a surge in the number of refugees and migrants arriving on Europe's shores in recent weeks.

Al Jazeera's Natasha Butler has this report from Paris, France.

Bobby Flay's Pumpkin-Ricotta Pancakes | Brunch @ Bobby's | Food Network

Sep 23, 2023 | Bobby tops his stack of light and fluffy Pumpkin-Ricotta Pancakes with some spiced apple cider caramel sauce!

Get the recipe here.

Voters Are SICK of Politicians LYING about BREXIT

Sep 23, 2023 | According to the polls, the vast majority of the British electorate have now seen through the Brexit delusion. They realise that far from taking back control, we’ve transformed from being a rule-MAKER WITHIN the EU, to being a rule-TAKER OUTSIDE the EU, having to comply with EU rules in order to trade with the massive economic bloc on our geographical doorstep - but no longer having any say in those rules. The public have realised this, so why are the government and the official opposition still LYING about the true consequences of BREXIT?

Why Kevin McCarthy's Government Shutdown Is In Service of Donald Trump's Re-election | The Warning

Sep 23, 2023 | Steve Schmidt explains why Kevin McCarthy's government shutdown serves no purpose, but to help reelect Donald Trump in 2024.

Ismael & Gordon: "30 November 2022" | Scotland Wedding

Dec 6, 2022

Related wedding here.

How Life Is Changing for Italy's Gay Families – BBC News

Sep 23, 2023 | Italy’s government is planning to criminalise people who travel abroad to have children via surrogacy, which is already banned in the country.

While the majority of Italians who seek surrogacy abroad are believed to be heterosexual, many same-sex parents fear the new law is targeting LGBT families by making it harder for them to have children.

A recent Ipsos poll shows that 45% of Italians oppose the idea of surrogacy, but 45% were also in favour of granting legal recognition for children born via surrogacy.

Fox News Is a Lie factory That’s Destabilized Democracy | #shorts

Steve Schmidt explains what Fox News is.

Inside Russia : How Russia Steals Ukrainians’ Citizenship | #shorts

Konstantin explains.

The Guardian View on the Murdoch Handover: Lachlan Inherits a Dark Legacy

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Through his businesses, Rupert Murdoch pushed a world view with the pursuit of money at its heart

Rupert Murdoch ‘had his most malign effects in the US’. Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP
There are not many chairmanships of companies that would so fascinate writers, and television producers, that they would make four series about them. Rupert Murdoch’s long tenure at Fox and News Corp was one. For viewers of Succession, this week’s announcement that Mr Murdoch is handing control to his eldest son, Lachlan, is a real-life coda to a dynastic struggle in which they are already immersed – in fictionalised form. Lachlan’s reputation, as the most rightwing of the three siblings seen as plausible successors, is deeply dismaying, given the power he will now wield and the context in which he will wield it – above all in the United States, where Donald Trump aims to run for president next year. » | Editorial | Friday, September 22, 2023

BURKA-VERBOT: "Wo sie erscheint, verschwindet die Freiheit und der politische Islam nimmt Platz!"

Sep 23, 2023 | BURKA-VERBOT: "Wo sie erscheint, verschwindet die Freiheit und der politische Islam nimmt Platz!"

Das Schweizer Parlament hat ein Verbot von Gesichtsverhüllungen verabschiedet. Der Nationalrat stimmte mit 151 zu 29 Stimmen für das Gesetz. „Die Schweiz ist ein liberales Land“, sagt NZZ-Redakteur Alexander Kissler. Darin sei sie ein Vorbild für Deutschland, doch dafür brauche es „mehr Mut“.


Das Vollverschleierungsverbot ist korrekt und erwünscht. In einem freien Land wie die Schweiz ist es gar nicht nötig und sicherlich auch nicht wünschenswert Leute in der Öffentlichkeit ganz verhüllt zu dulden. Man muß sich eine einfache Frage stellen: Wer steckt hinter dieser Vollverschleierung?

Das Schweizer Parlament hat Mut gehabt, dieses Gesetz durchzuführen. Und insofern als sie es gemacht haben, haben sie den Weg gezeigt für den Rest Europas ihnen zu folgen. – © Mark Alexander

Verwandtes Video hier.

Michael Lambert: Why the UK Is in Such a MESS

Sep 23, 2023 | This week Rishi Sunak announced that he was cancelling five items of obscure ideas for possible legislation. This was bizarre. He delayed and amended the net zero programme against his manifesto commitments and to the annoyance of many. Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister and a few colleagues took a 160-seat plane to New York to at huge cost to the taxpayer.

Sunak heads a cabinet of 30 which includes 30 ministers, 20 of whom voted to remain in the EU. Keir Starmer heads a shadow cabinet all of whom voted to remain in the EU.

In the meantime, the consequences of Brexit are becoming more and more evident. Businesses are failing, inward investment depends upon huge grants being given to companies such as Tata, owned by a friend of the Prime Minister's father-in-law.

The cost-of-living continues to be a huge problem. The NHS HAS 7 million patients awaiting treatment, the immigration service, the police, crime, education, etc, are all in crisis. Councils ARE going bankrupt; and yet Sunak and Starmer are both preaching support for Brexit.

Revivez en images la troisième journée de la visite de Charles III en France

Sep 22, 2023 | Après deux jours à Paris, le souverain britannique s’est envolé ce vendredi pour Bordeaux, pour une visite placée sous le signe de l’amitié franco-britannique et de l’écologie. Retour en images sur cette visite royale exceptionnelle.

Ne-Yo : One in a Million | Official Music Video | Reupload

Sep 3, 2010 | Views on YouTube: 329,737,401

Ukraine War: Zelenskyy Speaks in Canada after Strike on Crimea Navy Base - BBC News

Sep 22, 2023 | Ukraine's President Zelenskyy has addressed the Canadian parliament, praising the country's commitment to "defending freedom."

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau welcomed Zelenskyy and pledged C$650m in aid for Ukraine. The three-year "predictable, steady support for Ukraine" will include some 50 armoured vehicles as well as training for F-16 pilots, he says. This comes after Ukraine mounted a missile strike on the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea navy in Crimea.

Alfonso XIII | Gay Wedding | G & I Tie the Knot | Boda Gay en Sevilla de Ismael y Gordon

Aug 10, 2023 | Seville - Gay wedding of the decade Gordon & Ismael at Hotel Alfonso XIII Sevilla

What a beautiful, stylish and unusual gay wedding. And such a beautiful venue, too. I wish you both, Gordon and Ismael, a wonderful, healthy, happy and prosperous life together. ¡Buena suerte! – Mark Alexander

Chris Brown : Forever | Official HD Video | Reupload

Oct 25, 2009 | Views on YouTube: 330,485,747

Ne-Yo : Sexy Love | Official Music Video | Reupload

Dec 14, 2009 | Views on YouTube: 137,889,883

Rishi Sunak Considers Banning Cigarettes for Next Generation

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Sources say law could gradually increase smoking age to ultimately prevent sales to people born after certain year

Rishi Sunak is considering introducing some of the world’s toughest anti-smoking measures that would in effect ban the next generation from ever being able to buy cigarettes, the Guardian has learned.

Whitehall sources said the prime minister was looking at measures similar to those brought in by New Zealand last December. They involved steadily increasing the legal smoking age so tobacco would end up never being sold to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. » | Pippa Crerar and Rowena Mason | Friday, September 22, 2023

Meddlesome politicians just won’t give up, will they? The war on tobacco and smoking is unrelenting. Talk about a nanny state! This is it! This is a perfect example of one.

In today’s world, it is fine to smoke drugs, snort cocaine — or whatever the hell else people get up to —, but don’t, for God’s sake, light up a cigarette!

I am an ex-smoker, and anyway, at my age, such a law wouldn’t affect me. But I object in the strongest terms to the government, any government of whatever stripe, telling people whether they can smoke a cigarette, or not. Although I no longer smoke — I stopped smoking a year last April — I have fond memories of the years I did smoke, because smoking gave me years of smoking pleasure.

I have never tried vaping, and nor will I ever. Vaping just looks silly to me, and in any case, it holds no appeal to me. A person smoking a cigarette can look attractive and sexy; not so someone vaping. Moreover, we still don’t know the long-term health consequences of vaping. We know the health risks of smoking tobacco, but it is my firm belief that anything done in moderation, if it gives one pleasure, is acceptable. Because all things, when done to excess, are dangerous to one’s health.

Politicians go on about smoking, but I will assure you of one thing: they won’t ban the smoking of fine cigars. Why? Because they love smoking a fine cigar themselves. They are such hypocrites!

Even though I no longer smoke, I reserve the right to re-start should I ever wish to do so. And one thing I can assure you: I would never ever vote for any political party that would take a person’s right away to smoke a cigarette. I have an aversion to nanny states

If politicians really want to have a war on something, they can have a war on drugs. Now that would be a good and sensible thing. But they won’t have a war like that, because they know they wouldn’t be able to win it. – © Mark Alexander

Canada Asks India to Cooperate in Murder Probe

Sep 22, 2023 | Canada's Prime Minister says the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader must be taken seriously.

Justin Trudeau is calling on the Indian government to cooperate. He says Canada has evidence that India was involved in the killing, but that he will not make it public. New Delhi denies the accusation and has suspended visas for Canadians. Both sides have expelled each other's diplomats.

Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi reports from Vancouver, Canada.

Emmanuel Macron : “So Proud.”

Sep 22, 2023

Italy - President Addresses United Nations General Debate, 78th Session

Sep 21, 2023 | Giorgia Meloni, President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Italy, addresses the general debate of the 78th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 19 - 26 September 2023). This video is available in multiple languages. Click the settings ⚙️ button to change the language track.

BREAKING: Sen. Bob Menendez Indicted on Bribery Charges

Sep 22, 2023 | The Justice Department announced that Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and his wife have been indicted on bribery charges. NBC News' Ken Dilanian reports on the charges and how the senator allegedly received payments of cash and gold bars.

‘We’ve Got to Run to Something’: Vivek Ramaswamy on Campaign Message

Sep 19, 2023 | ABC News’ Linsey Davis spoke with GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy about his 2024 campaign, his views on climate change policy, and on race in America.

This guy is nothing if not controversial! – Mark

'Outrageous’: Listen to Vivek Ramaswamy’s Controversial Position on Immigration

Sep 21, 2023 | ivek Ramaswamy promotes two controversial policy ideas: stripping citizenship from and deporting people born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrant parents, and taking away voting rights from 18- to 24-year-olds unless they pass a civics test. "Decency seems to be in short supply these days, cruelty in abundance," Eddie Glaude responds to Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump's 2024 immigration strategies. "What we're experiencing right now is fear over demographic shifts. This is 'the Great Replacement' ... this is a part of that debate."

Vive le Roi ! France Has Welcomed King Charles as though Brexit Never Happened

GUARDIAN – EUROPE: Such a warm and touchy-feely state visit should remind both nations of the closeness they once shared – and could do again

This is what you call taking a country by storm. King Charles and Queen Camilla’s state visit to Paris and then Bordeaux was always going to be a feast of bons mots and cordiality. Such is the rule of this diplomatic game. However, on a Richter scale of affability, Britain and France’s heads of state scored high. After all, France was one of the countries Queen Elizabeth II most visited during her long reign, and where she enjoyed five state visits. The affection runs deep.

If there ever was a rule that said one should not touch the monarch, that rule died in the streets of Paris on Wednesday afternoon. Or perhaps, a new rule was born: only a French president can touch the British sovereign. They didn’t go as far as their wives, who were on cheek-kissing terms at first sight, but Emmanuel Macron and the king were very often seen touching each other’s backs and arms during the couple of days they spent together. This didn’t feel like misplaced familiarity, but rather warm affinity between the two men. A most welcome change after the disastrous Boris Johnson and Liz Truss episodes, which saw the bilateral relationship between our governments sink deeper and deeper. (+ videos) » | Agnès Poirier | Friday, September 22, 2023

After Jacinda Ardern, a ‘Scary Time’ for Women in New Zealand Politics

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Three years after Ms. Ardern won a resounding victory for her Labour Party, the nation will vote in a very different political landscape.

Jacinda Ardern giving her last speech in New Zealand’s Parliament, in Wellington, in April. | Mark Coote/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The last time New Zealanders voted in a general election, they were choosing between two women who were self-professed feminists. Three years later, in a sign of how sharply the pendulum has swung, they will pick between two men named Chris.

Ahead of next month’s polls, and 130 years after New Zealand became the first country to grant women the vote, the political landscape is in many ways unrecognizable from the era of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, whose pursuit of women’s rights and gun control transformed her country’s image abroad.

Issues like pay equity, child poverty and the prevention of domestic violence and harassment have seldom featured in the current campaign. Female politicians across the spectrum now say they face extraordinary abuse from a misogynistic and sometimes scary slice of the population. Some women say they did not seek office because of safety fears. » | Natasha Frost | Friday, September 22, 2023

Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Says Rupert Murdoch’s ‘Anger-tainment’ Damaged the Democratic World

GUARDIAN – INTERNATIONAL: Longstanding Murdoch critic says mogul leaves ‘hell of a legacy’, as minister suggests he will still play ‘very big role’

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says Rupert Murdoch has left a ‘hell of a legacy’ after the media mogul announced he was stepping down as chair of News Corp. Composite: AAP/AP
Rupert Murdoch has been accused of doing “enormous damage to the democratic world” by a former Australian prime minister, as senior political figures in his country of birth greet news of the mogul stepping down as chair of his media empire with scepticism.

Malcolm Turnbull, a former Liberal prime minister and advocate for a royal commission into the Murdoch media empire, said the media mogul had created an “anger-tainment ecosystem” that had left the US “angrier and more divided than it’s been at any time since the civil war”.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, described Murdoch as a “controversial but influential” figure, while other senior political figures have noted that his decision to step down as chair of Fox and News Corp – but serve as “chairman emeritus” – will still allow him a “big role” in his media empire. » | Paul Karp, Chief political correspondent | Friday, September 22, 2022

Key takeaways from Michael Wolff’s book on Murdoch, Fox and US politics: Here’s what we’ve learned so far from the eagerly awaited book The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty »

Rupert Murdoch Turned Passion and Grievance Into Money and Power

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The retiring Fox leader built a noise-and-propaganda machine by giving his people what they wanted — and sometimes by teaching them what to want.

Rupert Murdoch on Thursday announced his retirement from the boards of Fox and News Corporation. | Mike Segar/Reuters
The polite way to describe the legacy of a man like Rupert Murdoch is to leave aside whether his accomplishments were good or bad and simply focus on how big they were. It is to eulogize him like Kendall Roy memorializing his father, Logan, in “Succession,” the HBO corporate drama none too slightly based on the Murdochs, among other dynasties. Maybe he had “a terrible force,” as Kendall put it, but “he built, and he acted. … He made life happen.”

But the polite way is exactly the wrong way to assess Mr. Murdoch, who on Thursday announced his retirement from the boards of Fox and News Corporation. Mr. Murdoch achieved nothing the polite way. His style and his work were direct and blunt. Let us take his measure his way.

Rupert Murdoch’s empire used passion and grievance as fuel and turned it into money and power.

His tabloids ran on the idea of publishing for readers as they were, not according to some platonic ideal of how one wished them to be. That meant pinups and prize giveaways and blaring scandal headlines. » | By James Poniewozik | Published: Thursday, September 21, 2023; updated: Friday, September 22, 2023

How Lachlan Murdoch Became the New Head of Fox and News Corp

THE GUARDIAN: Rupert Murdoch’s passing the crown to Lachlan comes as Fox News faces a difficult balancing act in the run-up to the 2024 election

Lachlan Murdoch, 52, spent a decade away from the Fox and News Corp empire, before returning in 2014. Photograph: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Rupert Murdoch’s decision to hand the keys of his global media empire, including the role of chairman of both Fox Corp and News Corp, to his eldestson Lachlan brings to an end to years of speculation over his desired plan for succession.

Lachlan Murdoch, 52, now gains sole control of a media group that has reshaped the media landscape across continents and radically altered politics in the US. The move is the fulfillment of a promise first indicated in 2019, when the elder Murdoch named Lachlan as heir to his business.

“This is Lachlan’s best chance to prove to investors and his family that he is the best option for the future,” said David Folkenflik, NPR’s media correspondent and author of Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires. But he warned that it remained uncertain whether the successor could hold the empire together. » | Ed Pilkington and Dominic Rushe | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Schweiz gegen Burkas: Parlament verbietet endgültig Vollverschleierungen

Sep 22, 2023 | Das Schweizer Parlament hat ein Verbot von Burkas und anderen Gesichtsverhüllungen endgültig verabschiedet. Der Nationalrat stimmte am Mittwoch mit 151 zu 29 Stimmen für das Gesetz, das bereits vom Bundesrat gebilligt worden war. Damit folgt die Politik einem landesweiten Referendum vor zwei Jahren, bei dem die Schweizer knapp für ein Verbot von Niqabs, Burkas sowie Skimasken und Halstüchern, wie sie gelegentlich von Demonstranten getragen werden, gestimmt hatten.

Mit der Abstimmung im Unterhaus hat das Parlament das Verbot im Bundesgesetz verankert und eine Geldstrafe von bis zu 1000 Franken für Zuwiderhandlungen festgelegt. Fortan ist das Bedecken von Nase, Mund und Augen sowohl in öffentlichen Räumen als auch in privaten Gebäuden, die der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich sind, verboten. Das Gesetz lässt jedoch einige Ausnahmen zu. Länder wie Belgien und Frankreich haben bereits ähnliche Regeln erlassen.


Das Schweizer Parlament hat völlig recht. Die Schweiz braucht weder Nomadenkultur noch Wüstenkultur zu importieren. Die gleiche Entscheidung sollte für ganz Europa gelten. Eine Muslimin braucht keine Vollverschleierung, um ihre Religion auszuüben. – © Mark Alexander

Belgrade: The City Where Dirty Air Is Seen as a ‘Consequence of Economic Growth’

THE GUARDIAN – EUROPE: Critics decry lack of political will in Serbian capital to clean polluted air that residents say they can ‘feel and taste’

When the Yugoslav prime minister Džemal Bijedić promised to clean the country’s air at a conference in Belgrade in 1974, a reporter from the New York Times wrote that there was little hope of early relief for the city’s residents, who felt the pollution was getting worse. “The choking, sulphurous atmosphere of Belgrade and several other major Yugoslav cities reddens eyes, shreds nylon stockings and ruins pianissimo passages in the concert hall because of the nearly continuous coughing it causes in audiences,” the writer said.

Half a century later, residents of Belgrade are still holding their breath. “I have asthma and it’s killing me,” says Dejan, 40, a graffiti artist and MC who runs a paint shop in the industrial Palilula district. “It’s not smog, man, it’s a black fog. You cannot see.”

The air in the capital of Serbia, a country of 7 million people in line to join the EU, is worse than in almost any other city in Europe. Belgrade is home to five of the 15 most polluted districts on the continent, Guardian analysis of modelling based on European air quality data has revealed. Foul coal plants, vast landfills, old vehicles and bad heaters spew a cocktail of toxic particles that land in the lungs and veins of the city’s residents. » | Ajit Niranjan in Belgrade | Friday, September 22, 2023

We Can’t Alter Brexit Deal to Appease Car Industry, Says European Commissioner

THE GUARDIAN – EUROPE: Thierry Breton stands firm amid opposition to incoming tariffs on electric vehicle exports between EU and UK

Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, said he could not favour one ‘category’ over another. Photograph: Spanish Eu Presidency/EPA
The Brexit trade deal should not be reopened just to satisfy demands from some sectors of the UK and EU motor industry concerned about looming tariffs on electric cars, Thierry Breton, the influential European commissioner, has said. EU leaders have come under pressure to suspend 10% tariffs on electric car exports that are expected to begin in January under the Brexit treaty.

But Breton, who is responsible for the EU internal market and was speaking exclusively to the Guardian, said the commission and EU leaders are bound under competition laws to look at the entire automotive “ecosystem” and not favour one “category” in the industry over the other.

He believes the trade deal should not be unpicked.

“If something has been negotiated, it shouldn’t be changed,” Breton said. » | Lisa O’Carroll in Brussels | Friday, September 22, 2023

Keir Starmer: Labour in Power Would Not ‘Want to Diverge’ from EU

THE GUARDIAN: Party leader says he would not bring in lower environmental and food standards than in Europe or reduce workers’ rights

Keir Starmer at the Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal on 16 September, where he blamed most of the UK’s conflict with Europe post-Brexit on attempts to diverge from it.Photograph: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Keir Starmer has gone further than before in outlining his vision of a future UK relationship with the EU, saying Labour didn’t “want to diverge” – in comments that were immediately seized on by the Conservatives.

The Labour leader was speaking at an event in Canada bringing together liberal and centre-left politicians, where he said that “most of the conflict” since Brexit had arisen because the UK “wants to diverge and do different things to the rest of our EU partners”.

“Actually we don’t want to diverge, we don’t want to lower standards, we don’t want to rip up environmental standards, standards for people that work, food standards and all the rest of it,” he said during a question and answer session on Saturday at the event in Montreal. » | Ben Quinn, Political correspondent | Thursday, September 21, 2023

GB News Will Not Investigate Claims against Presenter Dan Wootton

THE GUARDIAN: Journalist accused of using pseudonym to solicit sexual images from former colleagues at the Sun

GB News has said it will not investigate claims of inappropriate behaviour made against star presenter Dan Wootton because none of the accusations relate to his work for the channel.

Wootton, who has a nightly show on the rightwing news channel, has been accused of using a pseudonym to solicit explicit images from former colleagues at the Sun over many years. The presenter has not directly denied the allegations but says he is the victim of a smear campaign by unknown forces who want to shut down his political views.

The GB News chief executive, Angelos Frangopoulos, told the culture select committee he is monitoring “serious allegations” against his primetime presenter but “none of these allegations have been admitted or proved by an independent body”. » | Jim Waterson, Media editor | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Steve Schmidt Explains Why Rupert Murdoch's Retirement Could Mean the End for Fox News | The Warning

Sep 21, 2023 | Steve Schmidt reacts to Rupert Murdoch stepping down as chairman of NewsCorp. He discusses how Rupert harmed American democracy and why Fox News could be in trouble under Lachlan Murdoch's reign.

Thanks for speaking the truth, Mr Schmidt. We wouldn't have had that stupid Brexit had it not been for Rupert Murdoch and his poison. – © Mark Alexander

Entre le Royaume-Uni et la France, l’exigence d’une nouvelle Entente cordiale

LE MONDE – ÉDITORIAL : La visite de Charles III confirme la volonté du premier ministre britannique, Rishi Sunak, de renouer avec l’UE et la France. Pourtant, il faudra plus qu’un dîner pour surmonter des années de dérive anti-européenne de Londres et d’incompréhension réciproque.

Bien sûr, ce ne sont que des images, des gestes, des mots, souvent des poncifs. Il faut prendre les visites des souverains d’Angleterre en France pour ce qu’elles sont : des mises en scène à haute teneur symbolique destinées à célébrer les liens, des manifestations de prestige jugées profitables de part et d’autre, des jalons aussi dans la longue et tumultueuses histoire franco-britannique. » | Éditorial « du Monde » | jeudi 21 septembre 2023

Discours de Charles III au Sénat : le roi du Royaume-Uni propose une nouvelle « entente cordiale » pour agir pour le climat : Au deuxième jour de sa visite d’Etat en France, jeudi, le souverain a tenu un discours historique devant les parlementaires français, où il a longuement loué « la relation indispensable entre le Royaume-Uni et la France ». »

What’s Happening with Normalising Ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel?

Sep 21, 2023 | For months, Saudi Arabia and Israel – with the United States – have been discussing an agreement to normalise relations.

The US has made it clear that official relations between its two allies in the Middle East is a top priority, with top diplomat Antony Blinken declaring it a “national security interest“. This comes amid a regional realignment after Iran and Saudi Arabia re-established diplomatic ties after years of animosity.

On Wednesday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) told US channel Fox News: “Every day we get closer” to a normalisation deal with Israel.

Al Jazeera’s Behdad Mahichi reports.


Related video here.

Morocco After the Quake | Between Us

Sep 21, 2023 | When senior foreign correspondent Stefanie Dekker arrived in Morocco, she witnessed the extent of the destruction of the earthquake that shook the country on September 8.

In this episode of Between Us, Dekker reveals the challenges faced when covering a natural disaster as well as the emotional toll it has taken on everyone.

The Guardian View on Liz Truss’s Premiership: A Mistake Britain Would Be Stupid to Repeat

THE GUARDIAN - EDITORIAL: Rishi Sunak criticised his predecessor’s plans as ‘fairytales’. But it’s magical thinking that the Conservatives want

Liz Truss. ‘As a politician she believed in burning rather than building bridges.’ Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images
It only took 49 days for Liz Truss to tank the British economy. Imagine what a decade could do? Ms Truss is shamelessly thinking about just that. She is now working on a book, Ten Years to Save the West, to be published in April next year. The west had better watch out. Ms Truss’s tome is unlikely to deliver the mea culpa the public deserves for crashing the pound and sending interest rates spiralling upwards a year ago. The shortest-serving prime minister in British history is likely to double down on her misjudgments. » | Editorial | Sunday, September 17, 2023

Liz Truss’s comeback defies all belief – until you understand the rotten forces making it possible: A weak PM, a dying government, a radicalised rightwing press: these are the foundations of Truss’s unlikely relaunch »

Related links here.

Revealed: One in Three Europeans Now Votes Anti-establishment

THE GUARDIAN – EUROPE: Exclusive: analysis of results in 31 countries last year found 32% of votes were cast for parties that are populist, far-left or far-right

Italy’s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni addressing an election rally in Ancona in August 2022. Composite: Guardian Design/AP
Almost one-third of Europeans now vote for populist, far-right or far-left parties, research shows, with wide support for anti-establishment politics surging across the continent in an increasingly problematic challenge to the mainstream.

Analysis by more than 100 political scientists across 31 countries found that in national elections last year a record 32% of European voters cast their ballots for anti-establishment parties, compared with 20% in the early 2000s and 12% in the early 1990s.

The research, led by Matthijs Rooduijn, a political scientist at the University of Amsterdam, and shared exclusively with the Guardian, also found that about half of anti-establishment voters support far-right parties – and this is the vote share that is increasing most rapidly. » | Jon Henley, Europe correspondent | Thursday, September 21, 2023

A perfect storm brewing’: how populists could challenge Europe this autumn: Anti-establishment parties look likely to play a significant role in elections in Slovakia, Poland and the Netherlands »

Saudi Crown Prince Says Deal with Israel Is Closer ‘Every Day’

Sep 21, 2023 | Saudi Arabia is getting closer “every day” to a landmark deal normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said. Yousef Gamal El-Din reports on Bloomberg Television.

A Very Royal Crisis: A Countdown to Abdication | BBC Select

Sep 21, 2023 | The biggest scandal and constitutional crisis ever to engulf the British Royal Family - a forbidden love affair which had a devastating impact.

This BBC Select Original Documentary series recounts the story behind the ten days leading to Edward VIII abdicating his throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson It would change the royals, the press, and British history forever.

Watch A Very Royal Crisis: A Countdown to Abdication on BBC Select in the US here or if in Canada, here.

Rupert Murdoch Steps Down as Fox and News Corp. Chairman, Son Lachlan Now Chairman of Both

FilmMagic
VARIETY: Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as Fox and New Corp chairman, the companies announced today. His son, Lachlan, will take over the role at each company as Rupert moves into a chairman emeritus role. Rupert’s career at Fox began nearly 70 years ago in 1954. The new board moves will be effective as of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of each company in mid-November.

“On behalf of the FOX and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” said Lachlan Murdoch in a statement. “We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted. We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies.” » | Zack Sharf | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Ina Garten's Fresh Pea Soup | Barefoot Contessa | Food Network

Sep 20, 2023

Get the recipe here.

Salman Rushdie, l'interview exclusive

Sep 7, 2023 | Augustin Trapenard propose en direct chaque mercredi à 21h00 sur France 5, un magazine qui suit de près l'actualité littéraire avec pour seul mot d'ordre, le plaisir.

Depuis la fatwa lancée contre lui par l’ayatollah Khomeyni en 1989 suite à la publication des Versets sataniques (Christian Bourgois), Salman Rushdie est mondialement reconnu comme un symbole de la liberté d’expression.

Il y a un an, il était victime d’une tentative de meurtre qui lui coûtait un œil et l’usage d’une main. Son nouveau roman, célébration des pouvoirs de l’écriture, de l’imaginaire et des mots paraît enfin en France sous le titre La Cité de la victoire (Actes Sud), et c’est sans conteste l’évènement de cette rentrée littéraire.

Il offre à La Grande Librairie sa seule interview pour la télévision française.

This excellent interview has been conducted in English, but it does have French sub-titles. Unfortunately, it cannot be embedded on external websites. Tt must be viewed on YouTube itself. So, here’s a link to the interview. – Mark
More about Salman Rushdie here.

France State Visit: King Charles Addresses French Senate | In Full

Sep 21, 2023 | Britain’s relationship with France is vital to ensure the “climate and biodiversity emergency” is tackled “more effectively”, King Charles has told senators in a historic speech.

Charles spoke fluently in French during parts of the first-ever address by a British monarch from inside the chamber of the country’s parliament in Paris.

The monarch made a “pledge to do whatever I can to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the UK and France”.

Concluding his address, he drew on the climate change causes that have long been close to his heart, as he urged the assembled politicians and dignitaries to “cherish and nurture our Entente Cordiale”, the landmark treaty of 1904 that helped thaw cross-Channel relations. The King continued: “Let us renew it for future generations so that, I would like to propose, it also becomes Entente pour la Durabilite - a partnership for sustainability - in order to tackle the global climate and biodiversity emergency more effectively.”

Elizabeth II addressed the French Senate in 2004, but she did so from the Salle des Conferences, which adjoins the main chamber.


Related links here, here and here.

Obersalzberg – From the Alpine Village to the Führer's Off-limits Area: Eyewitness Reports

Jan 31, 2022 | Obersalzberg had been Adolf Hitler's vacation domicile since 1923. During the National Socialist era, the mountain ridge above Berchtesgaden became the second seat of government of the Nazi regime.

With historical footage and interviews with contemporary witnesses, this film documents the expulsion of the local population and the transformation of the old village into the "Führersperrgebiet" (Fuhrer's Restricted Area) with large buildings such as Hitler's Berghof and the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest).

Former neighbors tell how Hitler lived in the Wachenfeld house in the 1920s and wrote "Mein Kampf." While they had to sell their houses after 1933, Hitler enjoyed life on Obersalzberg with Eva Braun, received state guests such as Benito Mussolini and led the Second World War from here.

It was not until April 1945 that the "Führersperrgebiet" was partially destroyed in an air raid. The exhibition film by journalist and book author Ulrich Chaussy was shown in the Dokumentation Obersalzberg from 1999 to 2021. The film was slightly edited for the online version.

Sources:

Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 609 20", Quelle: Bundesarchiv, Bestand Film: K-72204
Obersalzberg, Quelle: Bundesarchiv, Bestand Film: 27462-1


WIKIPEDIA: Obersalzberg and Mein Kampf.

India Suspends Visas for Canadians as Row Escalates

BBC: India has suspended visa services for Canadian citizens amid an escalating row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.

Visa service provider BLS posted a message from India's mission blaming "operational reasons" for the decision.

Tensions flared this week after Canada said it was investigating "credible allegations" linking India with the murder of the separatist leader.

India angrily rejected the allegation calling it "absurd".

Analysts say relations between the countries, which have been strained for months, are now at an all-time low.

The message about the suspension of visas was first posted on the BLS website on Thursday.

"Important notice from Indian Mission: Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice," it read. » | Meryl Sebastian, BBC News, Cochin | Thursday, September 21, 2023

Stars Join King Charles at Versailles Banquet during French State Visit

THE GUARDIAN: Trip designed in part as show of friendship to reset UK-French relationship after Brexit years

Queen Camilla and King Charles with Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday evening. Photograph: Stéphane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images
King Charles was welcomed at a lavish state banquet at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday night, at the start of a state visit to reinforce the renewed UK-France relationship after the near total collapse in trust during the Boris Johnson years after Brexit.

In Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, the famed 17th-century gallery built by the Sun King Louis XIV to project the power and majesty of the French monarchy, King Charles told the French president, Emmanuel Macron: “Your generosity of spirit brings to mind how my family and I were so greatly moved by the tributes paid in France to my mother, the late Queen … You said that she had touched your hearts – and it was she who held France in the greatest affection.”

He added: “I would like, if you would allow me, to raise a toast to President and Madame Macron and to the French people, as well as to our entente cordiale – a sustainable alliance. Whatever lies ahead, may it endure, faithful and constant, for centuries to come.” He was accompanied by Queen Camilla, who wore a blue silk crepe dress and matching cape by Dior, with diamonds inherited from the late Queen. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Versailles | Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Middle Class, Environmentalist Citizens Are Becoming "Figures of Hatred" in EU | Amanpour and Company

Sep 15, 2023 | In Europe, the far right is advancing and is in fact becoming part of the political mainstream. Extremist parties are gaining support and forming coalitions with national governments. Catherine Fieschi is director of policy and strategic outreach at Open Society Foundations, focusing on Europe and Central Asia. She joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss this phenomenon in European politics. Their conversation is part of Exploring Hate, our ongoing series on antisemitism, racism, and extremism. | Originally aired on Sep 15, 2023

Das Salzkammergut - Berge, Seen und kaiserliches Flair | SWR Doku

Sep 3, 2023 | Steile Berge, türkisfarbene Seen: lange abgeschieden von der Welt, lockt Österreichs Seensuchtsland mit spektakulärer Natur und außergewöhnlichen Geschichten.

Östlich von Salzburg in Österreich liegt eine kleine Region mit einer außergewöhnlichen Geschichte. Das Salzkammergut war über Jahrhunderte Privatbesitz der Kaiserfamilie von Österreich. Die großen Salzvorkommen nördlich der Berge des mächtigen Dachsteingebirges brachten ihr Reichtum. Besondere Traditionen und eine ganz eigene Mentalität erwuchsen aus dieser langen Abgeschiedenheit und charakterisieren den Landstrich noch heute – genauso wie seine grandiose Natur. Steile Berge und türkisfarbene Seen locken schließlich betuchte Sommerfrischler aus ganz Europa in Österreichs Westen. Ob Traunsee, Altausseer See oder Wolfgangsee - die Region östlich von Salzburg ist ein wahres Seen-Paradies. Die besondere Vergangenheit des Salzkammerguts zu achten, aber die Zukunft im Blick zu haben, das ist eine Aufgabe, der sich viele Menschen hier stellen. Die Familie kaiserlicher Zuckerbäcker, die Rezepte pikanter Herkunft bewahrt. Der junge Spitzenkoch, der dem Geschmack der Region ein Denkmal setzt. Oder der Plättenbauer, der mit den Booten der Salzschifffahrt aus einer Sackgasse seines eigenen Lebens gefahren ist.

Die Dokumentation von Gunnar Mergner trägt den Originaltitel „Das Salzkammergut - Berge, Seen und kaiserliches Flair“, Ausstrahlungsdatum: 3.9.2023 im SWR Fernsehen.

Alle Aussagen und Fakten entsprechen dem damaligen Stand und wurden seitdem nicht aktualisiert.

Sufjan Stevens ‘Learning to Walk Again’ after Autoimmune Disease Diagnosis

THE GUARDIAN: US musician in rehabilitation after contracting potentially life-threatening Guillain-Barré syndrome

Sufjan Stevens said he owes his life to his medical team. Photograph: Dawn Miller
The Oscar-nominated US indie-folk artist Sufjan Stevens has announced he is suffering from a serious autoimmune disease.

In an Instagram post, he said he has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and is unable to walk. He said symptoms began last month: “My hands, arms and legs were numb and tingling and I had no strength, no feeling, no mobility,” he wrote. After a diagnosis in hospital, he spent two weeks “stuck in a bed, while my doctors did all the things to keep me alive and stabilise my condition. I owe them my life.” » | Ben Beaumont-Thomas | Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Ambitions, Lauren Boebert's Misconduct, Trump Returns to Iowa | The Warning

Sep 20, 2023 | Steve Schmidt breaks down the reported vice-presidential ambitions of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the misdeeds of Lauren Boebert, and Trump's return to Iowa as challengers like Tim Scott & Nikki Haley look to unseat him.