What is Cartel de los Soles, which the US is labelling as a terrorist organisation?

The United States has designated the Cartel de los Soles (Spanish for Cartel of the Suns) – a group it alleges is headed by Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and senior figures in his government – as a foreign terrorist organisation.

Labelling an organisation as a terrorist group gives US law enforcement and military agencies broader powers to target and dismantle it.

In recent months, the US has been ramping up pressure on Maduro, saying his government is illegitimate following last year’s election, which was widely dismissed as rigged. The designation gives it another way to turn up the heat.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inUSA, Venezuela

IntegrityTO has faced blowback for its graphic online posts. Is it showing the ‘stark reality’ of Toronto or making local politics toxic?

The Instagram video is a highlight reel of troubling scenes from Toronto’s streets: burned-out garbage cans, discarded needles, a man sleeping on public transit. In a blurred-out but still disturbing image, a woman, apparently homeless, stands naked on the edge of a public square.

Superimposed over it all is a graphic of Mayor Olivia Chow, dancing to the tune of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.”

The Oct. 12 post is a salvo from IntegrityTO, an online advocacy group whose leader, Daniel Tate, says he’s out to expose the realities of Toronto — or as he calls it, “Chowtown”— a city he says is being plunged into decline while its progressive mayor and her allies ignore its problems.

I claim the origin of “Chowtown”! The Chow regime is toxic but the Star loves toxic.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Toronto - Canada's version of a Democrat run city"

As Trump Pushes to End Ukraine War, Europe Toils to Have a Say

For Europe’s leaders, the weekend began with another threat to their relevance, courtesy of President Trump. Would the Americans really force Ukraine to capitulate, embrace President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and undermine NATO — all without even bothering to consult with them?

By Tuesday, the latest diplomatic emergency seemed to have been averted for the moment, if hardly resolved, thanks to a how-to-handle-Trump playbook that European leaders have honed over a year of similar episodes.

The Europeans — led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany — resisted the urge to lash out at Mr. Trump’s 28-point peace plan despite its pro-Russia tilt. Instead, they embraced the plan publicly to keep the president happy, even as they insisted that it was only a starting point for discussions.

They want to meddle to seem important. No thanks.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

Alleged ‘porch pirates’ targeted FedEx packages with insider information: Prosecutors

Prosecutors in New York said they have dismantled a “sophisticated ‘porch pirate’ criminal organization” that allegedly stole FedEx packages containing electronic devices.

Fourteen people have been indicted for enterprise corruption and other charges in connection with the alleged theft ring, the Suffolk County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday.

AI or real? You decide!

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inCrime, WTF?

Doug Ford tells heckler to ‘find a job’ as protest erupts over Ontario law critics say will speed up evictions

The Ontario government has passed a controversial omnibus bill that critics say will make it easier for landlords to evict tenants from their homes.

Bill 60, also known as the “Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act,” passed third reading 71-43 at Queen’s Park Monday following a fast-tracked process with limited debate.

The voting took place amid loud chanting of “people over profit” and “shame” from the public gallery. Following the vote, the speaker ordered the gallery to be cleared as those being ushered away yelled “you’re putting people on the streets.”

As one of the protesters was being ejected from the chamber, Premier Doug Ford yelled up from the floor of the house “go find a job, buddy.”

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inWTF?

Trump Army secretary meets Russians in Abu Dhabi after US, Ukraine agree 19-point peace plan

The Trump administration’s Army secretary sat down Tuesday with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi to present a slimmed-down plan to end Moscow’s 33-month-old invasion of Ukraine.

Dan Driscoll arrived in the Middle East after representatives from Washington and Kyiv hammered out a revised framework to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

“The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal,” a US official said. “There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal.”

Updated peace plan could be a deal Ukraine will take – eventually

Donald Trump wants a peace deal in Ukraine very badly.

Kyiv wants peace even more, just not at any cost.

That’s why when the US began pushing it to agree to a deal by Thanksgiving on what looked close to surrender terms, Ukraine pushed back.

It scrambled senior officials to talks in Geneva and all of Sunday we saw delegates from the US and Ukraine shuttling back and forth between the two main venues in black limousines with darkened windows.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Ukraine - Russia"

Porn no longer subject to Canadian content quotas, says CRTC

Ottawa will no longer be imposing Canadian content quotas on the pornography sector, according to new guidelines released by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission.

Buried in a recent update to CRTC protocols is the agency’s announcement that it will no longer be requiring “certification” of adult programming.

What will the Elbows Up people watch now?

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted inWTF?

The royals are ‘concerned’ Fergie might tell all on US TV? I bet they are

Might Sarah Ferguson go “rogue” after accepting a “six-figure offer” for a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey? Palace sources have told The Sun that she’s contemplating doing one — adding that the royal family is “concerned”, but feel “there’s not much they can do to stop her”.

Blimey! I’m not surprised at the “concern”, are you? The idea of Ferguson — who was never anything if not a bit “rogue”, even at her best behaved, but now? In the present moment? Booted out of her home, stripped of her titles, her latest children’s book likely pulped, dropped by the charities with which she worked, reputation in the gutter, friends, running for the hills? Now, when she has really very little, if anything, left to lose? The idea of this incarnation of Fergie, spilling unknowable beans? That could cause the royal family real damage. More, potentially, than Prince Harry’s book Spare. More, even, than his and Meghan’s interview with Winfrey.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"Woke Royals"

GOP lawmaker complains Canada’s defense spending still falls short in the long run

HALIFAX — Republican lawmaker Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina says it’s all good and well that Canada is finally meeting its NATO defense spending commitments, but Canada should make up for two decades of back dues — to the tune of $300 billion.

“Can we do a makeup payment for the 20 years of shortfalls as well?” Tillis told a Saturday panel at the Halifax International Security Forum, a international gathering of defense officials and security professionals.

The only money spent will be used to fortify Festung Ottawa against anticipated popular uprisings.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted in"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", Canada, Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, USA

How the UK Police Criminalised Christian Speech

Forget terror plots, knife crime, or rampant theft, Britain’s police have bigger things to worry about—Christian street preachers. Shaun O’Sullivan, a 36-year-old preacher at the evangelical Awaken church in Swindon, was acquitted unanimously by a jury last week at Crown Court. He faced charges of racial and religious harassment against Muslims for saying the words: “Pray for the Jews and pray for the Palestinians.” This culminated in a six-day trial, costing an estimated £20,000.

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by Blazingcatfur••0•Posted infreedom of religious expression, Freedom of speech, UK