More than 1,600 migrants brought to Italy in one night

Despite promising a crackdown, right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has seen arrivals triple this year

Italian authorities brought 1,650 predominantly African and Middle Eastern migrants ashore before dawn on Saturday, depositing them in already overcrowded shelters. One day earlier, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced stiffer penalties for traffickers, in a bid to reduce arrival numbers that have soared under her administration.

 » …

Pope Francis speaks out on ‘gender ideology’

The pontiff has warned that transgenderism is one of the “most dangerous ideological colonizations”

Pope Francis reiterated his opposition to transgenderism on Friday, warning that it’s a “dangerous ideology” and arguing that its proponents are naïve if they believe they’re on the “path to progress.”

“Gender ideology,

 » …

Corsicans vow to resist Paris’ restriction on language

A court in Bastia ruled only French could legally be spoken in the island’s political offices

Corsicans have come out in force to denounce Thursday’s verdict banning the use of the Corsican language (known as Corsu) in parliament and other political offices after a court in the city of Bastia cited the French constitution in its decision arguing French is the only language permitted in official communications –

 » …

MEP blasts West’s ‘criminal’ approach to Ukraine

The EU lawmaker slammed Brussels’ continued military aid to Kiev

Irish MEP Mick Wallace has condemned the EU’s continued military support for Kiev, saying Brussels is not taking the option of peace talks seriously and arguing that Ukraine is being “sacrificed” for the geopolitical “obsessions” of the US.

 » …

Meta confirms decentralized Twitter competitor in the works

Facebook’s parent company has gone back to the drawing board after its Metaverse failed to attract public interest

Facebook parent company Meta is building a decentralized, text-based social networking platform, the company confirmed on Thursday in an email to tech outlet Platformer. Code-named P92, the app suggests a radical diversion from the company’s namesake Metaverse project.   

 » …

Russia should lose, but not ‘too badly’ – US congressman

Many other politicians in Kiev and Washington, however, disagree

The US doesn’t “actually want Russia to lose too badly” in Ukraine, Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton claimed in an interview on Friday. While some Washington lawmakers have gone as far as to call for regime change in Moscow, the Kremlin has repeatedly stated that it will succeed in achieving all the goals of its military operation.

 » …

Suspect detained following hours-long hostage situation in Germany

Several people were taken hostage in a pharmacy in the city of Karlsruhe, the police said

German authorities launched a large-scale operation in response to what they called a hostage situation in the German southwestern city of Karlsruhe on Friday. A suspect took people hostage in a local pharmacy, demanding a ransom amounting to a single-digit million-euro sum,

 » …

Fentanyl is American problem – Mexican president

Andres Manuel Lopes Obrador has told Washington to deal with its own “problem of social decay” instead of blaming drug labs in his country

The fentanyl crisis claiming tens of thousands of American lives every year is of the US’ own making, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopes Obrador, known as AMLO, said in a statement on Thursday. 

 » …

Kosovo wants to start NATO-Serbia war – Belgrade

The Serbian president compared the breakaway province’s leader to Ukraine’s Zelensky

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused on Friday the ethnic Albanian authorities in the breakaway province of Kosovo of attempting to provoke a war in which NATO would once again take their side.

“They want to drag Serbia into a conflict with NATO.

 » …

Trump to publish ‘private’ letters from foreign leaders

An upcoming book will feature decades of communications between the ex-president and a long list of public figures

Former US President Donald Trump is set to publish scores of letters from a range of world leaders, celebrities, athletes and business moguls, among them North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, the late Princess Diana and even Hillary Clinton.

 » …