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Deadly Ukrainian drone raid causes ‘significant damage’ in Belgorod

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Belgorod news
Image – © MAX / Valentin Demidov.

One civilian was killed and ten others wounded in a major attack on residential areas, Mayor Valentin Demidov has said.

One person has been killed and at least ten others wounded in a major Ukrainian drone attack that caused “significant damage” in the Russian city of Belgorod, according to Mayor Valentin Demidov.

Eight of the wounded were hospitalized, while two others were discharged after receiving medical treatment, Demidov wrote in a post on social media early on Sunday.

“The enemy launched a large-scale drone strike on residential areas in the center of the city,” he said.

The raid damaged multiple residential buildings, personal vehicles, and public and commercial facilities, according to the mayor. More than 50 people were forced to seek shelter in temporary housing centers.

Belgorod Region, which borders Ukraine, has been frequently targeted by Ukrainian drone and artillery strikes since the escalation between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022.



Ukrainian attacks inside Russia continue despite renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict, with Moscow announcing plans to resume trilateral talks with Washington and Kiev following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday.

Oryol Region Governor Andrey Klychkov said that three people were killed in a missile strike on a civilian enterprise, which was carried out during rush hour on Friday. On the same day, an incursion by Kiev’s UAVs caused the temporary closure of all four of Moscow’s airports, leading to the cancellation and delay of multiple flights.

Russia has accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting civilians and infrastructure to compensate for setbacks on the battlefield, where Moscow’s forces continue to advance.

In response to Ukrainian terrorist attacks, Moscow has intensified long-range missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s military facilities and infrastructure supporting Kiev’s war effort. The Russian Defense Ministry maintains that it never targets civilians.

Mass protests grip Europe (Video)

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Inspired by French student unrest, anti-government protests have escalated into clashes with police across several European nations
Published 24 Oct, 2026 19:25 | Updated 25 Oct, 2026 02:46
Police clash with protesters in Paris, France, on October 24, 2026 © Telegram / SputnikInt
Mass protests have swept across Europe over the weekend, with demonstrators clashing with riot police amid widespread anger over soaring living costs and government policies.

The unrest has largely been inspired by the protests in France, which began in September. Spearheaded by students, they were originally aimed at rising education costs, a lack of teachers, and the poor condition of educational facilities. They eventually morphed into widespread violence and now carry a broader anti-government undertone.

France remains the hotbed of the protests, with at least 410,000 people hitting the streets nationwide on Saturday, including some 110,000 in Paris, according to Interior Ministry figures. The CGT union, one of the key organizers of the demonstrations, put the estimate nearly twice as high, at about 800,000.



The French authorities have implemented strict security measures in an effort to avoid a repeat of widespread rioting over the past weekend. In Paris, the demonstrators were banned from gathering at several central locations, ending up confined to the city’s southeastern edge.

The protests nevertheless turned violent in multiple locations, including Paris, where clashes between police and rowdy demonstrators were observed after the march concluded. Violence has been reported in Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Marseille, Strasbourg, Nice, Nantes, and other cities, where law enforcement used riot control measures to repel protesters.

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested across France on Saturday, according to authorities, as several cities reported looting, vandalism and attacks on police. Some 70,000 officers were deployed nationwide to contain the unrest.

Albania

Albania is another hotspot. Riot police repeatedly clashed with demonstrators in Tirana on Saturday as thousands gathered for renewed anti-government protests. Months of unrest have escalated into a nationwide movement fueled by soaring living costs, unemployment, corruption and deteriorating public services. Student-led demonstrations demanding cheaper education and better university conditions have intensified pressure on Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose resignation has become a central demand of the protesters.

Italy

Mass protests have also been held across Italy, which endured a wave of violence last weekend. Bracing for renewed unrest, the government deployed an additional 500 troops to Milan, where luxury boutiques were boarded up in an effort to prevent a repeat of looting and clashes.

Still, violence erupted at many locations across the country, including Rome, Naples, and Bologna, with police seen deploying water cannons and using tear gas to try to disperse rowdy protesters.

A group of protesters forced their way into the Colosseum in Rome, briefly occupying the ancient landmark before being forced out by security guards. Elsewhere in the capital, demonstrators hurled bottles and firecrackers at police barricades.

Belgium

Major anti-government demonstrations have been held in Brussels, Belgium. The country was one of the first to feel the spillover effects of the French unrest, with local youth also embarking on violent protests for the sake of better conditions in the education system.

The clashes in Brussels appeared to be less violent and much smaller compared to the previous weekend. Still, police were seen using pepper spray and tear gas to disperse demonstrators, even though they had reported no major incidents by the end of Saturday afternoon.

Spain

Spain has joined the weekend of protests too, with a massive pensioners’ demonstration held in Madrid. Thousands took to the streets of the Spanish capital, demanding better pensions and closing the gender gap, as well as regular indexation to inflation.

While the pensioners’ protest was orderly and peaceful, violence hit Spain’s second-largest city of Barcelona, where an unauthorized youth protest was staged. The rally was reportedly organized and coordinated through social media. While law enforcement managed to break up the main gathering, the protesters dispersed in smaller groups across the city, engaging in looting and arson, chaotic footage from the scene suggests.

Portugal

Lisbon also saw mass demonstrations on Saturday, with thousands marching against soaring rents and unaffordable housing. Protesters erected dozens of tents in the capital’s central Rossio Square despite police warnings and a crackdown earlier in the week, when officers dismantled a previous encampment and arrested 55 activists.

Person critically injured in Māngere assault

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Mangere crime news
AI-generated image.

One person is in critical condition following an assault overnight in Māngere.

The assault occurred outside a commercial premises on Massey Road around 12.10am. One person was transported to hospital where they remain in critical condition.

“The alleged offender fled the scene prior to Police arrival, and we are making enquiries to locate them”, said Detective Senior Sergeant Kevin Tiernan.



“A scene guard is in place on Massey Road while Police conduct a scene examination. The public can expect an increased Police presence during this time.

“Anyone who has any information or witnesses the assault is urged to contact Police through 105 – either online or over the phone – referencing file number 261025/0338.”

Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

Pentagon designates Chinese cultural centers national security threat

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Confucius Institute news
Image – @CI4TCM, X.

Rebranded Confucius Institute chapters were trying to “infiltrate the minds of American students,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has claimed.

The Pentagon has designated cultural programmes linked to China’s Confucius Institute as a national security threat, according to US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. He claims that the centers, which largely offer Chinese language courses on American college and university campuses, serve as a front for Beijing’s “propaganda” campaign – an allegation Chinese officials have previously denied.

In a video posted on Facebook on Friday, Hegseth said that while the US Congress had previously “banned” the Confucius Institutes from American educational institutions, they “came back disguised in new forms” and under new names.

Hegseth was apparently referring to several measures passed by Congress in recent years that stripped universities that hosted Confucius Institutes of federal funding. The pressure from the lawmakers has led to the closure of multiple centres on US soil.



According to Hegseth, over the past two months, the Department of War has “systematically dismantled” 80 new Chinese-backed cultural centers across 30 universities, adding “these sleeper organizations to our list of institutions that threaten our national security.”

The official alleged that the targeted entities had sought to “steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students,” but stopped short of providing any concrete evidence.

Back in 2020, the US Department of State designated Confucius Institutes as a “foreign mission of the People’s Republic of China,” requiring the institutions to regularly provide information regarding their Chinese personnel, recruitment, funding, and operations to the US government. The US Department of State characterized the China-funded cultural centers as “part of Beijing’s multifaceted propaganda efforts.”

Later that year, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleged that the centers were working to recruit “spies and collaborators” at US colleges, and expressed hope that “we will get them all closed out.”

China’s Foreign Ministry at the time accused Pompeo of deliberately undermining cultural and educational exchanges “by discrediting Confucius Institutes… [out of] ideological bias and political expediency.”

Beijing urged Washington to “abandon the Cold War zero-sum mentality… [and to] stop interfering with normal people-to-people and cultural exchanges.”

Confucius Institutes have similarly come under government pressure in several other Western countries in recent years.

Last year, Australian media reported that six local universities had shut down Beijing-backed cultural centers amid government scrutiny, reducing the number of such entities in the country by half.

In 2020, several media outlets, including The Times, claimed that Sweden had become the first European nation to close all Confucius Institutes and related classrooms.

The shot and the lie

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Sure, I’m frustrated.

After years of litigation, deep audits, and some extreme dedication by the vaccine-injured, we now are in possession of a 1,048-page book that details ghastly and widespread injury from shots people were forced to get. Many died. Many have lifelong suffering. Many have seen their lives, finances, and families shattered.

These are not statistics on a preprint server awaiting the arduous process of slogging through anonymous peer-reviewers. This is not another model that conjures up possible scenarios. This is not some dry dashboard with probabilities and possibilities.



These are the life stories of real people as reported to the CDC through its own vaccine-safety monitoring system called V-safe. These people were not anti-vaxxers; just the opposite. Many were thrilled to step up and do their part.

Authorities said the potions were effective (they were not) and safe. Injuries were “very very rare” and far outweighed by the benefits, which is that you would not get and spread Covid, which was never true. It was a horrible lie.

Tens of millions stepped up. Then came the migraines, screaming pitches in the ears, rashes on the back and neck, welts on legs, crippling pain in the arms, racing heart and volatile blood pressure, blindness in one eye then two, numbness in the face, often followed by a full body decay that no specialist could explain.

The text of the system promised a callback. No one called back. Suffering people were left to languish alone, screaming into the void for help. None ever came. The CDC – on the receiving end of a tsunami of human suffering – tried to keep their stories quiet. They only released them once forced by a federal judge.

There were groups on social media at the time where the injured and surviving populations could gather and speak. Social media companies censored the groups and removed them. The Biden White House called true stories of vaccine injury “malinformation” because they would increase hesitancy.

They were forced to suffer alone, unable to walk to get groceries, bankrupted by medical bills, too blinded to see the TV, hearts racing at a pace that prevents sleep and causes months of deep sleep deprivation.

Now, at last, these people – friends, neighbors, family members, fellow citizens – have been given voice. This book alone chronicles a scandal for the ages. A good society would have maximum focus on revealing the truth, finding the culprits, figuring out how and why they lied, and seeking justice so nothing like this would ever happen again.

Remember that these shots were supposed to be the way out. Governments at all levels had tortured society for nearly a year with shutdowns, insane protocols, the destruction of millions of businesses, the denial of education to children, the stopping of travel, the banning of holiday celebrations, and cruel masking that could never stop a respiratory infection.

After all this came the magic shots, made by companies that had been given a liability waiver for any harm done. Many resisted taking them. The government wasn’t having it. The Biden administration forced every company with more than 100 employees to impose them on their workers, again, without liability. The courts had to intervene to block that but preserved the mandates on the military, government, and health-care workers.

Five cities were segregated by vaccine status. In Boston, Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, and New Orleans, no one without proof of vaccination was allowed into a bar, restaurant, theater, or library. The churches were spared the mandate but many imposed segregation in any case.

When the first round of shots failed – the virus mutated – the manufacturers released a booster. Then another. And another. With each round, the injuries grew and spread, and so did the death. Excess deaths rose following the shots that were supposed to save us from Covid. They did the opposite, taking down sports stars, influencers, musicians, and many other public figures. Those were the ones we saw. There were millions we did not see.

When we released Cries for Help, a free version online plus two volumes plus a Kindle and audio version, I set out to read the entire book in a series of videos. After 10 hours of reading, I could feel something was going wrong in my mind and heart. I had to stop. It was too painful.

In any case, I had every confidence that this release would rock the news. I quickly shared the full file with my network of media contacts. This would hit the headlines, I thought. There would finally be a reckoning. Whatever debates stemming from conflicting reports and uncertainties would be over.

Maybe even the shots would be pulled. After all, in this form, the pain, injury, and death would be undeniable. There is just no way that the FDA and CDC could continue to back these after all this data. As for babies, don’t even go there. It’s wicked even to think of such a practice.

Where are we today?

Not a single major media venue has covered our book or its contents, all words straight from victims as reported directly to the CDC. Not one word of coverage. Not one think tank of the old legacy establishment has mentioned the book. Not one. No professional society has bothered to reach out or otherwise amplify this content. Not one.

There has been near total silence. The only mentions have come from our partner organizations, underfunded and very much on the outside: IMA, ICAN, CHD, HFDC, React19, Feds for Freedom, and some Substackers and X accounts. Otherwise, it’s been crickets.

As for the CDC, the site has been updated to broaden the recommendations, even denying (despite mountains of evidence) that there is any fertility risk.

COVID jab new

At this point in the debate, we need an open discussion about the role of the lie in a society such as ours. We experienced the closest thing to totalitarianism in our lifetimes from 2020-2023 (if it actually ended). I took a moment to examine what F.A. Hayek had to say about this in his 1944 book The Road to Serfdom.

The famous chapter “Why the Worst Get on Top” speaks about the inevitable failure of totalitarian plans to materialize as promised. In this case, the totalitarian schemes for jabbing the entire population did not achieve their goal. They did not stop the spread. They did not prevent infection. They were not safe. They left millions injured and countless lives extinguished in the womb.

What, according to Hayek, happens now? He says that the people who hatched the plans have to choose between admitting failure and rejecting common morality. They choose to lie and press on. Those who are very good at lying advance and gain a foothold on power. The system needs the lie to survive. So it becomes entrenched and spreads from institution to institution.

“Advancement within a totalitarian group or party depends largely on a willingness to do immoral things,” writes Hayek. “The principle that the end justifies the means, which in individualist ethics is regarded as the denial of all morals, in collectivist ethics becomes necessarily the supreme rule. There is literally nothing which the consistent collectivist must not be prepared to do if it serves ‘the good of the whole,’ because that is to him the only criterion of what ought to be done.”

Since the late 19th century, a firm nation of utilitarianism has taken hold of vaccinology. A maximum number must be injected in order that herd immunity be obtained, even if it comes at some cost in the form of injury and death. It’s a calculation we must make, never mind that the Covid shots in particular were never sterilizing, never useful in stopping transmission, never broad or lasting even under the best scenario.

Still, the raw ethics of utilitarianism is still invoked here. Individual rights have to go, and the truth has to go too, else the collective goal of maximal vaccine uptake be compromised. Nothing about this philosophy fits with any notion of freedom as we hold it in the West.

This book should end the debate forever. I dare any man of good conscience to pick it up, turn to a single page, and be just fine with what you read. These people were being poisoned, screaming in pain, crying for help, begging for truth, aching spiritually from deep betrayal at the hands of the leaders of industry and government. The promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was stomped dead in the name of science.

And yet here we are, shots still on the market, still highly recommended by our own government agencies, the makers of them still protected from all liability, the companies and schools still imposing them on people avoiding all legal consequences. This is our world today as we swim and drown in the lie.

What is to be done? We do all we can do. We tell the truth. Help us get the word out.

Rapist wins NHS discrimination case over Ramadan medication

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Dahir Ibrahim news
Image – West Midlands Police (UK).

A Somali prisoner serving a life sentence for multiple rapes in the UK has successfully challenged an NHS prison healthcare policy that prevented him from taking prescribed painkillers outside designated dispensing hours during Ramadan.

Dahir Ibrahim, 41, argued that requiring him to consume codeine under supervision during daylight hours conflicted with his religious fasting obligations.

The dispute arose at HMP Birmingham in 2019, when medical staff refused to let him collect the medication for later use, allegedly leaving him suffering withdrawal symptoms. Birmingham County Court ruled in 2024 that the arrangements constituted indirect religious discrimination, a finding subsequently upheld by the High Court despite arguments that prison security and staffing requirements justified the restrictions.



Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has acknowledged the judgment and is reviewing its procedures. Ibrahim, who was convicted of raping five women in separate cases, is approaching parole consideration, while the Home Office has confirmed it intends to pursue his deportation following his release.

Infantino defiant as FIFA leadership row deepens

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FIFA leadeship news
AI-generated image.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has dismissed suggestions he should resign over a controversial proposal to sell commercial rights to private investors, insisting he retains overwhelming support across international football.

The abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise scheme triggered accusations of deception from leading regional football organisations, with UEFA demanding access to key documents and explanations by 2 November.



Although Infantino has apologised for shortcomings in consultation and communication, he has yet to provide a firm timetable for releasing the requested information. Speaking to BBC Sport, he acknowledged disagreements within football’s governing bodies but maintained that differing opinions should not prevent progress.

Pointing to renewed endorsements from Asian and African football associations, Infantino expressed confidence in his leadership ahead of next March’s presidential election, for which no rival candidate has yet emerged.

UK government plans sweeping bank account powers to recover unpaid tax

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UK tax news
AI-generated image.

Britain’s Labour government is reportedly preparing to expand HM Revenue & Customs’ authority to recover unpaid taxes directly from personal and business bank accounts, potentially allowing deductions for debts of just a few pounds without court approval.

The proposed measures, expected to feature in next week’s Budget, aim to recover approximately £4 billion owed by 4.8 million individuals and businesses, while removing existing restrictions that generally limit direct recovery to debts exceeding £1,000 and require taxpayers to retain at least £5,000.



Bureaucrats are also considering using credit agency information to assess repayment capacity and recover outstanding penalties and interest. However, tax professionals have warned that automated deductions could unfairly penalise people affected by administrative mistakes, illness or unresolved disputes, while opposition politicians have criticised the potential removal of financial safeguards.

“The more direct and possibly automated the recovery process is, the greater the risk that innocent taxpayers get money deducted from their account before the liability question is fully resolved,” tax expert Fiona Fernie said.

US lawmakers plot to derail Trump’s Russian diesel deal

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Trump - Russia diesel deal news

Senate Democrats reportedly plan to investigate US companies involved in the deal, while Republican warhawk Brian Fitzpatrick has tabled a bill blocking Russian oil imports outright.

A number of American lawmakers intend to block the Trump administration’s deal to ease sanctions on Russian diesel through April and are threatening action against US companies involved in the trade. The bipartisan group is also planning to block the US Treasury from issuing such a waiver in the future.

US President Donald Trump announced the deal earlier this month, as US diesel prices hit a record $6.50+ per gallon in September and prices in parts of California topped $8. Under the waiver, struck just weeks ahead of the impending November midterm elections, Moscow agreed to immediately put 300,000 tons of diesel into the market, and commit to further releases.



The disruption of global energy markets, caused by the Iran war and the Ukraine conflict, has resulted in rising gas prices in the US, further denting the positions of Republicans ahead of the vote. Diesel is the key fuel type extensively used in agriculture and freight; its price affects the cost of virtually all goods, resulting in further cost-of-living issues. Rural communities, smalltime farmers, and truckers are particularly vulnerable to diesel prices spikes.

Senate Democrats are now seeking to investigate the diesel deal, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed Senate Democratic aide. According to the aide, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has requested companies involved in the scheme to preserve documents ahead of a possible probe by the panel.

“[The companies] should have liability concerns as well as investigative concerns,” the aide told WaPo.

Further action against the diesel deal has been taken by Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), an outspoken hawk, Ukraine backer, and proponent of sanctions against Russia. The proposed legislation, titled the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act of 2026, would effectively block Russian oil imports for good.

The bill would nullify the standing Russian oil waiver, “immediately rendering General License 135 ineffective and prohibiting future waivers or general licenses authorizing the importation of Russian energy products,” as well as strip the Treasury from the ability to expend funds “on agreements that violate the Ending Importation of Russian Oil Act of 2022,” the legislation that sanctioned Russian energy products, including diesel, in the first place.

Apart from the energy part, the bill also would “reinforce critical intelligence support for Ukraine,” obliging spy agencies to cooperate with Kiev and to “notify congressional intelligence committees within 24 hours of any interruption.”

Image credit: Jean-Daniel Francoeur

Fire destroys Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s Nest’ mountain retreat

The police suspect arson as the cause, according to Bild.

The Eagle’s Nest mountainous retreat built for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in the Bavarian Alps has been devastated by a blaze, the German police have said.

The former tea house for the leader of the Third Reich, which was constructed on the peak of the Obersalzberg in southern Germany in 1938, sits at an altitude of 1,834 meters (6,000 feet).

A fire alarm at the Eagle’s Nest went off on Friday evening, and it was completely engulfed in flames by the time emergency services arrived, the police said.



The high elevation complicated the work of some 200 fire fighters, who were only able to extinguish the blaze on Saturday morning, they added.

“It is damaged to a large extent. The house is unlikely to be saved,” a police spokesperson told Bild tabloid.

The police said that a suspect had been arrested in connection with the fire, but revealed no further details.

According to Bild, the detained person was a motorcyclist whom the officers encountered on their way to the burning retreat, but his involvement in the case currently remains unclear. Investigators believe arson caused the fire, the paper’s sources claimed.

Following reports of the blaze, the Bavarian authorities announced plans to rebuild the structure, Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said.

“We will not allow ruins to remain there,” DPA quoted him as saying.

The Eagle’s Nest was one of the few historic building from Hitler’s era to avoid damage by bombing during the World War II. The retreat hosted a museum and a restaurant since the 1950s, becoming a popular tourist destination. It was preserved as “a cautionary reminder of the abysses of the inhumane Nazi dictatorship,” according to its website.