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Israeli Occupation Forces Shell Western Daraa Countryside

Al-Manar | September 21, 2026

Israeli occupation forces shelled the Abidin and Al-Raqad valleys in western Daraa countryside early Monday and opened machine-gun fire toward nearby areas, with no casualties reported.

SANA news agency reported several artillery shells struck the two valleys as Israeli forces simultaneously targeted the outskirts of Jamlah village in the Yarmouk Basin.

Israeli forces also opened fire from one of their positions along the 1974 disengagement line toward the outskirts of Abidin town, the correspondent added. … Full article

Syria probes mysterious arms depot explosions after fifth blast in three weeks

The Cradle | September 21, 2026

Syrian authorities are investigating the cause of an explosion that destroyed a Syrian army weapons depot in the southern Aleppo countryside on 21 September, the fifth such explosion in the past three weeks.

The Defense Ministry is opening an investigation into the cause of the explosion near Al-Eis in southern Aleppo, which injured four people, state media SANA reported on Monday.

More than 10 blasts were reported at the site, which were heard across parts of the western and northern Aleppo countryside.

SANA added that relevant authorities were investigating the causes of explosions at several such weapons depots in recent weeks and that they would take measures to protect personnel and military sites and prevent similar incidents. … Full article

Saudi airstrikes kill 4, injure 3 in northern Yemen

Al Mayadeen | September 21, 2026

Four workers were killed, and three others were wounded in Saudi airstrikes targeting communications towers in Yemen’s northeastern Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen’s Health Ministry in Sanaa said.

The ministry said Saudi warplanes carried out airstrikes on communications towers in the Khab wa Al Shaaf district, killing four workers and injuring three others.

The strikes were part of a broader series of attacks on Al Jawf. Yemen’s SABA News Agency reported that Saudi warplanes also carried out two airstrikes targeting the Al Maton district complex.

SABA also reported that Saudi forces fired dozens of missiles at several populated border districts in Saada Governorate in northern Yemen.

The attacks came after Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said on Sunday evening that Saudi warplanes had carried out 28 airstrikes on Taiz, Al Jawf, and Marib over the previous 24 hours. … Full article

IRGC air defenses destroy another US MQ-1 drone over Strait of Hormuz

Press TV – September 21, 2026

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Aerospace Force has intercepted and destroyed another MQ-1 drone belonging to the US military over the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC announced the development on Monday, saying the aircraft was brought down using the Aerospace Force’s new air-defense system operating under the control of Iran’s Integrated Air-Defense Network.

The medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft has won notoriety as the “Butcher of Kandahar” after logging 20,000 flight hours over Afghanistan.

It has been removed from the operational fleets of the US Navy and Air Force for several years and replaced by the MQ-9.

Its re-entrance into service has been attributed to the US Army’s having lost a large number of MQ-9 drones to the Islamic Republic’s defensive operations. … continue

Pakistan-Iran talks secure LNG shipment to Islamabad through Hormuz

Al Mayadeen | September 21, 2026

Pakistan has negotiated with Iran to secure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for another liquefied natural gas shipment, offering some respite as the South Asian nation struggles with an energy shortfall.

The tanker, which loaded LNG from Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility in late June, crossed the strait over the weekend and is signaling that it will arrive at Pakistan’s import facility by Tuesday, according to ship-tracking data.

The passage was negotiated between government officials, said people with knowledge of the matter, and would mark the second such Qatari delivery this month. The people asked not to be named as the conversations are not public. … continue

Black Sea grain crisis puts global wheat supplies under pressure

Al Mayadeen| September 21, 2026

The disruption of grain shipments from the Black Sea is deepening concerns over global food security, with Russia and Ukraine’s reduced wheat exports threatening to push prices higher and intensify inflation pressures.

The two countries account for more than a quarter of global wheat trade, making the Black Sea a critical route for grain shipments to some of the world’s largest importers. However, escalating attacks on ports, grain terminals, storage facilities, and vessels have severely disrupted exports since July.

The crisis comes as markets remain focused on energy disruptions and rising oil prices linked tothe US and Saudi aggressions in West Asia, while food supply risks have received less attention from investors.

“We can think of the Black Sea as important for global wheat trade as the Strait of Hormuz is for global oil trade,” Caitlin Welsh, a food security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said. “The world is underestimating the impact of these attacks.” … continue

Imran Khan’s entire immediate family detained in Pakistan ahead of mass protest demanding his release

The Cradle | September 21, 2026

Pakistan’s police have detained the three sisters of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan ahead of mass protests to demand his release, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported on 21 September.

Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader and former cricket star, has been jailed since August 2023 on corruption charges that he and his supporters say are politically motivated.

The PTI has called for a mass march in the capital, Islamabad, on 27 September, with Khan’s release from prison as a central demand.

On Sunday, his sister Aleema Khan was detained at her residence in Lahore under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law as part of a crackdown ahead of the protest.

PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram denounced the arrests. Akram said Aleema Khan was detained “because she refused to stay silent about her brother’s illegal detention, solitary confinement, and denial of medical care.”

Aleema and her children were taken to an unknown place in an armored vehicle, Akram added.

Khan’s other two sisters, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, were detained later on Sunday after holding a press conference to denounce their sister’s detention. The three sisters’ children were also detained. … continue

EU nation detains former presidential frontrunner

RT | September 21, 2026

Romanian right-wing politician Calin Georgescu, who won the first round of the country’s 2024 presidential election before the result was controversially annulled, has been detained in connection with an alleged €1 million fraud scheme.

Georgescu’s surprise win on an anti-NATO platform was met with accusations from Brussels and Bucharest of fake online campaigning. He was disqualified from running when a new vote was held, despite revelations that the suspected digital campaign in question was run by a party opposing him.

Romania’s Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said on Monday that it had detained a suspect and searched five properties linked to the case, with local media identifying Georgescu as the person of interest. His key ally George Simion described the latest case as a warning that “any of us can be next.” … continue

German chancellor refuses to leave office after ‘disastrous’ election loss

The Cradle | September 21, 2026

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would remain in office on 20 September after his party faced its most serious loss in decades, with the chancellor himself referring to the result as a “disaster.”

Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was projected at 4.9 percent the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state of north Germany.

According to German law, a chancellor is not automatically ousted from office following a loss in regional elections.

Chancellors are elected by the federal parliament of Germany.

“What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness, and patience,” the German chancellor said.

Far-right movement Alternative for Germany (AFD) stood at 38.3 percent, while the Social Democrats followed at 35.4 percent.

This was AFD’s second first-place victory in state elections since the start of September.

Merz’s party has also suffered in Berlin state elections, where the CDU fell by 19 percentage points.

A poll from last month indicates that 85 percent of Germans are dissatisfied with Merz as chancellor.

The elections coincide with a surge of NATO-backed Ukrainian [terror] strikes on Russia. […]

Merz has supported these attacks and has framed them as a “defense” of Europe. … Full article

Unelected EU official fumes over Russian election

RT | September 21, 2026

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has lashed out at the results of Russia’s parliamentary election, dismissing it as a “veneer of democracy.” The senior EU official, a noted Russia hawk who was appointed, not elected, to her post in 2024, made no mention of the 1,600 drones Ukraine launched into Russia during the vote.

Her claims of democratic dysfunction did not include Ukraine’s own indefinitely suspended elections, but stuck to a vote whereby some 60 million people cast ballots across 11 time zones.

In a post on X on Monday, Kallas targeted the elections in which the ruling United Russia party retained a commanding parliamentary majority with nearly 58% of the party-list vote, well ahead of its rivals, according to preliminary results. Turnout exceeded 59% from 51.7% in 2021, according to Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova.

Kallas claimed that “the so-called Duma elections marked another major setback for Russian democracy,” adding that “their outcome was never in doubt.” She further accused Moscow of silencing its critics, stressing that “the veneer of democracy is all that remains in Russia.”

Kallas also claimed to have “proposed measures against those facilitating these sham elections in occupied Ukrainian territories.” The EU said separately that it would never recognize voting held in Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions – all of which voted to join Russia in public referendums in 2014 and 2022.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK issued a joint statement likewise describing the voting in those territories as a “sham.” … Full article

Zelensky floated single state idea to drag Warsaw into war – Polish opposition leader

RT | September 21, 2026

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky sought to drag Poland into war with Russia in 2022, even floating the prospect of creating a single state, Polish opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has claimed.

The head of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party recalled how the government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki reacted to the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Kaczynski was deputy prime minister at the time and chaired the government committee responsible for national security and defense affairs.

“The Ukrainians sometimes expected things that – for various reasons I cannot discuss here – we simply could not agree to,” the veteran politician said during a meeting with the PiS youth congress last weekend.

“Initially, they held a somewhat strange concept, namely, that they would drag us into the war, perhaps even to the point of creating a single state,” he added, noting that Zelensky’s speech in the Polish parliament was “heading in that direction.”

Zelensky addressed the Sejm remotely in March 2022 as part of his efforts to rally Western support. Warsaw went on to provide Kiev with additional military aid while pressing other NATO members to increase their contributions, Kaczynski said.

Other Polish politicians made similar criticisms of Zelensky

Krzysztof Gawkowski, a deputy to incumbent Prime Minister Donald Turk, similarly accused Kiev of trying to drag Poland into the war in 2024, as he rebuked Zelensky for “pestering” Warsaw with demands for greater military involvement.

Poland suffered casualties early in the conflict when a missile fired by Ukrainian air defenses struck a farm near the border village of Przewodow in November 2022, killing two civilians. Zelensky initially insisted that the projectile was Russian and urged for a collective NATO retaliation.

Former Polish President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, later described Kiev’s reaction to the incident as part of an effort to draw NATO nations directly into the conflict. … Full article

Leaked: Britain’s Sham Conviction Of Hashim Thaci

By Kit Klarenberg | Al Mayadeen | September 20, 2026

On September 16th, The Hague’s Kosovo Specialist Chambers found former Kosovo Liberation Army chief Hashim Thaci ⁠guilty of cruel treatment, arbitrary detention, torture and the murder ⁠of 96 people during the 1998/9 Kosovo War. The verdict stunned his supporters and detractors alike, but neither believe he will ultimately be convicted, with good reason. Thaci is but a sacrificial lamb, defendant in a purely symbolic show trial secretly orchestrated by British intelligence – who once considered the KLA leader their bosom ally. … continue

Russia Voted Under Fire. Washington Is Loading the Tankers.

By Larry C. Johnson | SONAR21 | September 20, 2026

Two things happened this weekend that belong in the same frame, though you will not see them connected anywhere in the Western press. Russia held a national election under a hail of drones and cyberattacks — and came through it. And overnight, the United States began signaling that it is about to widen the war in the Middle East. They are not separate stories. The same barrage that tried to break the Russian vote also tore a piece out of Russia’s refining capacity, and that connects directly to the fuel crisis Washington is about to make worse. Take them in order. … continue

12 Things Your Oncologist Was Trained Not to Tell You

An Essay on the Profession Trained for Procedures, Not Cure

Lies are Unbekoming | September 15, 2026

The single most consequential number in this essay:

“The overall contribution of curative and adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year survival in adults was estimated to be 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the USA.”

— Morgan, Ward, and Barton, Clinical Oncology, 2004

Everything else follows from that number, and from the specialty’s twenty-plus-year refusal to act on it. … continue

Anthrax Attacks Paved Way for COVID-Era ‘Junk Drugs and Vaccines’

By Jill Erzen | The Defender | September 16, 2026

The anthrax attacks that followed 9/11 did more than frighten Americans — they helped create the legal, regulatory and biosecurity framework that later enabled the government’s response to COVID-19, according to Dr. Meryl Nass.

Speaking at the Turning the Tide: 9/11 25 Years Later conference last week in New York City, Nass drew a direct line between the anthrax letters of 2001 and the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s worth thinking about the similarities between the COVID experience and the anthrax letters because it seems that both were inside jobs planned by the same cabal for the same purpose,” Nass said.

Nass, an internal medicine physician who has conducted extensive research on biological warfare and anthrax, outlined what she sees as striking parallels between the two events.

“Each had an uncanny, scripted simulation preceding it,” she said, pointing to the Dark Winter tabletop exercise in 2001 and Event 201, a pandemic simulation, in 2019.

“Each was blamed on countries the U.S. government had already targeted,” Nass said. The anthrax attacks were initially blamed on Iraq while COVID-19 was blamed on China.

“A huge, expensive biodefense gravy train resulted after each of them,” she said.

Both events were also accompanied by “a massive amount of false narrative construction and control of the media to project the false narratives.” And neither received a serious investigation into who perpetrated the event, according to Nass.

In addition, both crises “led to a mushrooming of the surveillance state,” Nass said. … continue

Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian, Injure Another Near Jenin

IMEMC | September 20, 2026

On Sunday, Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian man and injured another after opening fire on their vehicle near Haddad Resort, east of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the General Authority for Civil Affairs informed it that Israeli soldiers had killed Sami Hasan Hussein Zawaida, 32.

Local sources said the soldiers fired live rounds at a vehicle carrying two Palestinians, killing Zawaida and wounding the other man. The wounded man’s condition remained unknown at the time of publication.

The Israeli army alleged that the vehicle had attempted to ram soldiers before they fired several live rounds at it. The claim could not be independently verified. … Full article

How Real Is the Impact of Western Sanctions on Israel?

By Salman Rafi Sheikh – New Eastern Outlook – September 20, 2026

Europe is getting tougher on Israel in rhetoric and sanctions, but its latest measures may be designed to create political distance from Israel without creating enough economic pain to make Israel change course in the West Bank or anywhere in Palestinian territories. … continue

Iran Army downs US Orbiter reconnaissance drone over Strait of Hormuz

Press TV – September 20, 2026

The Iranian Army says it has destroyed an advanced Orbiter reconnaissance drone over the Strait of Hormuz, the latest in a series of American unmanned aircraft destroyed by the country’s armed forces during the war.

In a statement on Sunday, the Army said the drone was targeted and destroyed by indigenous air defense systems stationed in the southeastern part of the country.

It added that the systems operated as part of Iran’s integrated air defense network when they intercepted the advanced Orbiter reconnaissance drone over the strategic waterway. … Full article

How Iran turned US military and economic aggression into strategic leverage to dictate terms

Press TV – September 20, 2026

… The most rigorous test of victory in any war is whether the aggressor achieves its stated objectives. By this metric, the United States has failed decisively and comprehensively.

Before the war was launched in late February, American officials articulated goals such as toppling the Islamic Republic, ending Iran’s uranium enrichment program, eliminating its ballistic missile capability, and dismantling its regional network.

Seven months later, none of these objectives have been achieved. The Iranian government remains in power, its enrichment program continues, its missile arsenal has grown rather than shrunk, and its regional allies – including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Ansarullah in Yemen – remain active and strong. The Yemeni military forces have recently expanded their control along the Red Sea coast, capturing strategic ports and islands.

What the United States has lost, by contrast, is substantial. It has completely lost control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf at large. It has seen its expensive military stockpiles depleted to levels that will take years and decades to replenish. It has alienated key allies and demonstrated to the world that its military power is a myth.

The strategic implications extend beyond the immediate region. The US failure to achieve its military or strategic objectives in Iran will be studied by policymakers and strategists for years to come. … Full article

Turkey to consider Saudi military needs amid Yemen attacks, Fidan says

Al Mayadeen | September 20, 2026

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia may have some military needs to address continued attacks carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces, adding that Türkiye will consider and assess those needs under the trilateral defense agreement signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Speaking to Turkish broadcaster NTV, Fidan said joint defense frameworks and mechanisms were being developed to address security developments and emerging threats in the region.

He also revealed that proposals and initiatives aimed at ending the fighting had been conveyed to all relevant parties in the region.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan activate defense agreement

On August 31, Fidan said the three countries had held comprehensive discussions on the practical steps to be taken during the implementation of the Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

His remarks followed the first meeting of the Political and Strategic Defense Committee established under the agreement, which was held in Istanbul. … Full article

France, You Are Guilty: How Paris Turned Western Sahara into the Maghreb’s Powder Keg

The Rupture That Was 50 Years in the Making

By Mohammed ibn Faisal al-Rashid – New Eastern Outlook – September 20, 2026

On September 10, 2026, Algeria announced the severance of diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE ambassador was given 48 hours to leave the country, and as of September 11, Algerian airspace was closed to all Emirati aircraft. The official reason was “provocative and hostile actions” by Abu Dhabi. Behind that phrasing, however, lies a conflict that had been smoldering for decades—and in which one of the key roles was played by… France. … continue

Merz calls preliminary German election result a ‘disaster’

RT | September 20, 2026

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described his Christian Democratic Union’s performance in Sunday’s state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as a “disaster,” after preliminary results showed a historic low for the party.

The CDU received just 5.5% of the vote, according to an ARD exit poll, its worst results in a state election since the founding of the federal republic in 1949. This leaves the party just above the 5% threshold required to enter the regional parliament.

The Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is leading with 37%, ahead of the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) at 35.5%, according to the poll.
Half of Germans expect Merz to be out by year-end – poll READ MORE: Half of Germans expect Merz to be out by year-end – poll

Merz’s party is faring better in Berlin but is still trailing the Left, which leads with 24.5%. The CDU is second with 20%, followed by the AfD at 16%, according to exit polls.

The preliminary results come two weeks after the AfD took first in Saxony-Anhalt, and amid mounting pressure on Merz over the CDU’s declining support. The chancellor called a meeting of the party leadership for Sunday evening to discuss the election results.

Ukraine launches ‘unprecedented’ attack during elections – officials

RT | September 20, 2026

Two civilians were killed and several others, including two children, were injured in Moscow Region during a powerful Ukrainian drone raid that was aimed at derailing Russia’s parliamentary elections, local officials said.

In a statement on Sunday, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said more than 1,600 UAVs were repelled since the previous day, adding that 450 UAVs were intercepted on approaches to the capital.

“The unprecedented attack was clearly planned to disrupt the elections. The enemy failed,” he said. … Full article

Russian Investigators Open Terrorism Case Over Ukrainian Attacks on Moscow, Moscow Region

Sputnik – 20.09.2026

MOSCOW – Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into terrorism over Ukrainian drone attacks on civilian infrastructure in Moscow and the Moscow Region, Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told Sputnik on Sunday.

“A criminal case has been opened regarding the terrorist attack carried out by Ukrainian armed formations using unmanned aerial vehicles in the Moscow Region (Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code),” she said.

On the night of September 20, Ukrainian forces carried out a massive drone attack on civilian facilities in Moscow and the Moscow region. … Full article

Pentagon says four killed in US strike on alleged drug boat in Caribbean

Experts have raised serious doubt about the legality of the US military strikes killing untried suspects

Press TV – September 20, 2026

The US military has announced that a strike on a boat allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea killed four people.

The Pentagon said the boat suspected of being used to move narcotics from Latin America to the United States via the Caribbean Sea was targeted on Saturday as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing so-called campaign against international drug traffickers.

US Southern Command claimed it targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. On August 25, the Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere also attacked a go-fast vessel in the Caribbean, killing four people the command claimed were “narco-terrorists.”

At least 231 people have been killed in 69 strikes since the Trump administration began its boat attacks in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea about a year ago.

The US Southern Command did not provide any evidence to prove that the people killed in the attack were actually drug smugglers or that the boat targeted in the strike had any drugs aboard. A video posted by the military on X showed an image of what appeared to be a moving boat followed by a sudden flash. … Full article

2025 Nature Paper Claiming Worsening Global Drought Gets RETRACTED … Heavily Flawed

By P Gosselin | No Tricks Zone | September 20, 2026

A study by Gebrechorkos et al. (published in Nature in 2025) claiming climate change is worsening global drought severity has been retracted, reports ScienceFiles.

Gross errors throughout… continue

Your Milk Is Not the Problem

An Essay on How a $50 Billion Industry Convinced a Generation of Mothers That Their Bodies Were Hurting Their Babies

Lies are Unbekoming | September 20, 2026

Mothers of newborns are being told by pediatricians, every week, that their infants are allergic to their breast milk. They are instructed to stop breastfeeding and switch to specialized formulas costing tens of dollars a week. The claim is biologically implausible, and the mainstream medical literature, when examined, confirms that it is false in more than 99 percent of cases. … continue

The Hidden Harms of Modern Lighting and the Fight to Bring Back Incandescent Bulbs

Decades of forgotten research show natural light is an essential nutrient our bodies are being starved of

A Midwestern Doctor | The Forgotten Side of Medicine | September 17, 2026

Story at a Glance:

• Sunlight is one of the most important things for our health (e.g., it halves our risk of dying or getting cancer), yet all we ever hear is how important it is to avoid it.

• While the importance of vitamin D is generally recognized, many of the other critical functions of light within plants, animals and human beings remain almost completely unknown, and hence are the focus of this article.

• One of the defining characteristics of modern life is continual exposure to unnatural light (particularly from energy efficient light bulbs). This is viewed as relatively benign, but decades of forgotten research (and a growing body of new research) show it is a root cause of a myriad of inexplicable physical and behavioral illnesses.

• Cells communicate with each other through faint emissions of ultraviolet light. This was once one of the most active fields in biology (yielding over 700 papers, 11 Nobel nominations, and a blood test which detected cancer with over 95% accuracy) before it was abandoned for political reasons and forgotten.

• The eyes and the blood conduct light throughout the body. When this process is disrupted (e.g., by glasses with lenses that filter out critical parts of the spectrum), a variety of significant illnesses can develop.

• In 2022, the federal government effectively banned the incandescent bulb because most of its output is “wasted” infrared rather than visible light, despite our bodies using that infrared for a myriad of essential processes. Senate Energy Chairman Mike Lee introduced a bill to bring those bulbs back, which yesterday received its first hearing, and with public support, can free us from the unhealthy bulbs that have been forced upon us.

Continue to article

The Next Wave of Censorship Won’t Look Like Censorship

Who controls the AI shaping what you read, write, and believe?

By Sayer Ji | September 12, 2026

For a decade, they suppressed what you posted. Now they’re building the layer that writes what you say — and Congress is about to hand it to three companies.

You already know about the censorship.

You know about the accounts that disappeared. The videos that got taken down. The doctors who lost their platforms in 2021. The “shadowban” that everyone used to argue was a conspiracy theory until the Twitter Files showed the internal Slack messages. You know the shape of it because you lived through it, or you watched someone you trust live through it. You know it happened.

Six of the Americans it happened to sued the federal government over it. Their case, Finn v. Global Engagement Center, was dismissed in July 2026 on pleading defects — a procedural ruling — without ever reaching the merits. The judge did not decide whether the White House pressured Facebook to reduce their reach by sixty percent. The judge decided the complaint had too many defendants. So the evidence sits in the public docket, unruled on, and those plaintiffs built Restore the First to make sure it did not sit there in silence.

This statement is not about that fight. It is about the one that is already replacing it, in a way that will make the last fight look almost quaint.

The censorship that is coming will not look like censorship. It will not remove your post. It will not shadowban your account. It will not throw up a warning label on your video. It will do something quieter and much harder to catch: it will compose what you say, before you say it. And on September 3, 2026, Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar introduced a bill to license which companies are allowed to build the layer that will do it.

What is actually being built

Open your phone. Look at the last email you sent. Was any of it drafted by autocomplete? Autocomplete used to be five letters at the end of a word. Now, in Gmail, in Outlook, in iMessage, in every major writing app, it is entire sentences, entire paragraphs, entire replies — offered before you have finished thinking. You accept some and ignore others, but the ones you accept are now, in a real and measurable sense, not fully yours.

Open your browser. Type any question into the search bar. Google no longer returns ten blue links. It returns an “AI Overview” — a single confident paragraph, generated by Google’s model, that answers the question directly. Most people never scroll past it. The links are still there. Almost nobody looks at them.

Now imagine — because it is not imagination, it is what is being pilot-tested at every major tech company this year — the same layer inside your text messages, your therapy apps, your kid’s homework helper, your car’s voice assistant, your smart speaker, your video calls. Not autocomplete. Not search. Everywhere.

That layer is called AI mediation. It sits between you and every act of speech, every act of listening, every question you ask, every answer you receive. … continue

US lawmaker blocks $2.8 billion weapons sale to Israel: Report

MEMO | September 19, 2026

A top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, has placed a hold on a $2.8 billion weapons sale to Israel, The Hill reported on Friday.

Shaheen has voiced frustration that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not addressed concerns raised by Democratic lawmakers over civilian deaths in Gaza, Israeli strikes in Syria, and growing violence against Palestinians by extremist Israeli occupiers in the West Bank. … continue

Support for ‘Israel’ turns negative across US electorate: CNN

Al Mayadeen – September 19, 2026

All indicators of support for “Israel” have turned negative in the United States, with declining sentiment extending beyond Democratic voters to the wider US electorate, CNN reported.

The network’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, cited polling from Ipsos, Fox News, Marquette Law School and the Pew Research Center, saying the figures point to a 67-point shift in sentiment toward “Israel” compared with the first Trump administration, when it enjoyed strongly positive net favorability.

Enten said the issue has increasingly become a broader American concern rather than one confined to the political left, as public attitudes toward “Israel” have continued to deteriorate.

More recent polling released in September provides further indications of this shift.
Polls show declining favorability toward ‘Israel’

A Marquette Law School national poll conducted from September 2-9 found that 29% of US adults held a favorable view of “Israel,” while 59% viewed it unfavorably, resulting in a net favorability rating of -30. … Full article

Turkiye dismantles Israel-linked scam network accused of $266 million fraud

The Cradle | September 19, 2026

Turkish police announced the completion of an operation to dismantle an Israel-linked fraud network that stole hundreds of millions of dollars from victims on three continents over two years, Middle East Eye reported on 18 September.

The network defrauded victims in Europe, East Asia, and Africa of some $266 million by selling them fraudulent investments. […]

Turkish officials said an Israeli national who also holds a Portuguese passport operated the fraud network.

Potential call center employees were given polygraph tests to ensure they had no links to law enforcement or security agencies.

“Speaking Hebrew inside the office is prohibited,” the Turkish official said.

Employees were forbidden from attempting to scam Israelis. “One of the strictest rules reportedly enforced within the network is that Israeli citizens must not be targeted.”

Multiple fraudulent companies based in Israel have run similar scams, according to past investigations by Reuters and the OCCRP, a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group.

In one case, OCCRP identified a network of call centers based in Israel, Eastern Europe, and Georgia whose employees scammed at least 32,000 people out of at least $275 million. … Full article

Israeli army closes last route to West Bank village, isolating 47 Palestinian families

MEMO | September 19, 2026

The Israeli army has closed the last access route leading to Khirbet Ras al-Ahmar, a small Palestinian village southeast of Tubas in the northern West Bank, completely isolating 47 Palestinian families for a fifth consecutive day, Anadolu reports.

The closure came after “more than two months of shutting all dirt roads leading to the village,” Thaer Basharat, a resident, told Anadolu on Saturday.

Basharat said the siege had been tightening for about three years but reached a critical stage five days ago, when the Israeli army dug a trench across the last remaining route to the village, which was only passable by livestock and agricultural tractors.

He said the village has been turned into a “cage” surrounded by trenches, walls and military zones.

“The 47 families in the village rely on livestock farming and are now unable to bring in their basic necessities or sheep feed,” he added.

Basharat said about 360,000 dunams (360,000,000 square meters) had served as grazing land for farmers in the village, but 90% of it had either been seized or placed off-limits, leaving farmers facing difficult conditions.

“The Israeli pressure aims to forcibly displace the entire community from the village,” he said.

Four Palestinians, including child, killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza

Press TV – September 19, 2026

At least four Palestinians, including a child and the son of Gaza’s Health Ministry director general, have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, with several others reported wounded, according to Palestinian medical and civil defense sources.

Three people were killed in attacks on Saturday, while another Palestinian died from injuries sustained in an Israeli strike the previous day, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

In Gaza City, an Israeli drone targeted a civilian vehicle in the Sheikh Radwan market area, killing one person and injuring at least four others, including two children, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.

The strike set the vehicle on fire, and rescue teams struggled to put out the blaze. One body was taken to al-Shifa Medical Complex and was reportedly burned beyond recognition.

An Al Jazeera correspondent, reporting from Gaza City, said the vehicle was hit by at least one drone missile and remained engulfed in flames for about half an hour before emergency and civil defense crews arrived.

Earlier on Saturday, another drone strike in northern Gaza killed Basir al-Bursh, the eldest son of Munir al-Bursh, director general of Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Basir was targeted in the az-Zahra neighborhood west of the Jabalia refugee camp, where another person was also seriously wounded, according to the report. He was taken to hospital in critical condition after suffering major blood loss but was pronounced dead upon arrival. … Full article

Iran’s nuclear doctrine not changed, but NPT withdrawal possible: Top security official

Press TV – September 19, 2026

Iran’s top security official says the country remains committed to its policy of non-weaponization of its nuclear program, adding that withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is possible in response to military and political threats from the United States and the Israeli regime.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, who serves as the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said in remarks published on Saturday that Iran is still committed to a religious decree by the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, that forbids nuclear weapons.

“We remain committed to the fatwa of the martyred Leader of the Revolution and have not changed our nuclear doctrine, but we do not know what will happen in the future,” Rezaei said in an interview with the Qatari-based news channel Al Jazeera.

The SNSC chief said, however, that what the US and the Israeli regime have done to Iran in the past months, including a military aggression earlier this year and the following campaign of economic and political pressures, allows the country to withdraw from the NPT.

“We have not yet made a decision in this regard, but this issue depends on US behavior,” said Rezaei. … Full article

Yemeni army claims responsibility for strikes on sensitive sites in Saudi capital, Aramco facilities in Yanbu

Press TV – September 19, 2026

Yemeni armed forces have claimed responsibility for two separate missile and drone attacks on strategic installations deep inside Saudi Arabia in retaliation for Riyadh’s smear campaign and ongoing acts of aggression against the Arab Peninsula nation.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesperson for Yemen’s military, announced in a statement on Saturday that Yemeni army units had targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital Riyadh, as well as Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Yanbu port city on the Red Sea coast.

He added that both operations, involving swarms of homegrown ballistic and cruise missiles as well as combat drones, were successful and caused massive blazes at the impact sites.

Saree noted that the attacks were in reprisal for Saudi Arabia’s unsubstantiated allegations of an attempted drone attack near the city of Mecca, and an unrelenting onslaught against the Yemeni nation.

The drone and missile operations were also in response to the Saudi enemy’s vile attempts to target the Yemeni capital Sana’a through tactics once employed by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group. The tactics included indiscriminate shootings and bombings targeting civilians, he added. … continue

Black smoke, flames rise near Riyadh airport amid Yemen strikes

Press TV – September 19, 2026

Flames and a large plume of black smoke have been reported near King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, as the airport faced major flight delays and cancellations.

Images posted on social media platforms showed smoke rising from a fuel storage depot at the airport in the aftermath of the strikes. The cause and extent of the fire near the airport were not immediately known.

It comes hours after the General Directorate of Saudi Civil Defense issued its first air raid alert since the resumption of military aggression on neighboring Yemen in July.

Saudi authorities have not yet issued a statement on the incident.

Early Saturday, Saudi Civil Defense issued emergency warnings via the National Early Warning Platform to residents across Riyadh and the adjacent governorate of al-Kharj, alerting them to an immediate potential hazard.

The alert was directly broadcast to mobile devices using cellular network protocols, as multiple powerful explosions were heard in the Saudi capital.

Saudi Civil Defense officials instructed residents to remain calm, stay indoors, and shelter in interior rooms away from windows, balconies, or glass surfaces.

Members of the public were also urged to avoid open spaces, gatherings in public areas, or filming emergency operations.

According to Saudi media outlets, similar sirens also sounded in Yanbu port city on the Red Sea coast of western Saudi Arabia, al-Ula city northwest of the holy city of Medina, the cities of Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Abha in southwestern Saudi Arabia, as well as Jeddah and Taif. … Full article

Saudi airstrikes on Yemen reach 300 this week: Yemeni Armed Forces

Al Mayadeen | September 18, 2026

Saudi warplanes carried out 26 airstrikes with F15 aircraft over the past 24 hours, spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced on Friday.

Saree said the strikes “took off from Khamis Mushait Air Base and targeted Taiz province” south of the capital, Sanaa, noting that the total number of airstrikes carried out this week reached 300, using F15 and Typhoon aircraft that took off from Khamis Mushait and Taif bases and targeted the provinces of Taiz, Hajjah, Marib, Al-Jawf, Al-Bayda, Amran, Al-Hudaydah, and Saada.

The Yemeni Saba News Agency reported that “Saudi forces carried out artillery shelling targeting the border districts of Shada and Al-Dhaher west of Saada province in northern Yemen.” … Full article

Sinking the empire: How Western militarism surrendered the arteries of global trade

By Jenny Williams | MEMO | September 19, 2026

… Ultimately, the unfolding crisis from Hormuz to Bab Al-Mandeb highlights the terminal structural decay of contemporary Western foreign policy. Short-sighted political calculations and unconditional alignment with aggressive, expansionist regional agendas drive a militarism that actively dismantles stability rather than securing it.

As long as Washington and Tel Aviv continue to prioritise kinetic dominance over diplomatic parity, justice and respect for regional sovereignty, they remain prisoners of their own making. They must now watch helplessly as the maritime arteries of global trade slip permanently from their imperial grasp. – Full article

Iran Judiciary issues indictments against 159 US, Israeli officials for assassination of Leader, commanders

Press TV – September 19, 2026

Iran’s Judiciary has issued indictments against 159 senior US and Israeli political and military officials over the assassination of the martyred Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and military commanders, Judiciary spokesman Ali Kazemi says.

Kazemi said on Saturday that 92 of the accused are US nationals and 67 are Israeli, adding that the indictments had been issued and the cases referred to court.

He said a separate civil case, filed collectively by people in Tehran and concerning material, moral and punitive damages, is being heard after the jurisdiction of Iran’s courts to consider the lawsuit was established. A hearing date will be set soon, he added.

Regarding the cases involving martyred commanders, Kazemi said cases have been opened and investigated concerning 19 commanders. Indictments were ultimately issued against 97 US and Israeli officials, including 74 Americans and 23 Israelis. … continue

Turkiye revokes Iranian bank license under US sanctions campaign

The Cradle | September 19, 2026

The Turkish Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) revoked Iran’s Bank Mellat license, citing vague financial risks amid Washington’s economic sanctions campaign on Tehran, Turkiye’s Official Gazette reported on 18 September.

The regulator invoked Article 71(b) of Turkiye’s banking law, which allows a license to be revoked if a bank is deemed a threat to depositors or to the stability of the financial system, thereby ending the lender’s 44-year presence in the country. … continue

Araghchi: Military intervention cannot create security; coercion cannot bring peace

Press TV – September 19, 2026

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says military intervention cannot create security and coercion cannot bring peace, calling for a fundamental shift from militarism and intervention toward sustainable development, respect for national sovereignty, and lasting peace.

Addressing the “Calling for a Global U-Turn: Recentering Development, Reclaiming Humanity, Restoring Justice in a Crazi(er) World” conference at the 2026 Global Town Hall hosted by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia on Saturday, Araghchi said decades of foreign intervention, military pressure, and endless wars in West Asia have demonstrated that military intervention does not create security and coercion does not lead to peace.

The tragedy of Gaza and the ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli regime are among the clearest and most horrific manifestations of this failed pattern, Araghchi said.

He warned that a dangerous pattern has emerged in which military force is no longer being used as a last resort, but as a permanent mechanism for reshaping the political and security landscape of the region.

Under such circumstances, aggression becomes normalized, escalation becomes institutionalized, and destruction turns from a consequence of war into a tool for advancing political objectives, he said. … continue

‘Stop your crocodile tears’: Araghchi hits back at French FM over human rights allegations

Press TV – September 19, 2026

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has hit back at recent claims by his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot accusing Iran of human rights violations, criticizing Paris for its silence over the killing of Iranian schoolchildren by the United States.

Addressing Barrot in a post on X, Araghchi said, “1.5mn Algerians were slaughtered by France in their War of Independence. Less than 1/10 of them have been recorded by Paris, which refuses any apology for its colonial crimes.”

“Stop your crocodile tears @jnbarrot. Your silence when the US massacred our schoolkids said it all,” he added.

Arahgchi was referring to the February 28 air raid on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School in Minab in southern Iran, which was carried out on the first day of the US-Israeli military aggression against the Islamic Republic and is considered the war’s deadliest attack on civilians.

The assault killed 168 people, including 120 students and 26 teachers. More than 110 people were wounded.

Investigations indicate three precision-strike Tomahawk missiles hit the school. The school was struck three separate times.

On Thursday, a United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission concluded there are “reasonable grounds” to believe the US committed war crimes during its war of aggression on Iran, citing indiscriminate attacks that resulted in massive civilian casualties, including the devastating strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School.

US-Denmark Agreement on Greenland Is ‘PR Stunt’ Ahead of Midterms

Sputnik – 19.09.2026

“This treaty is mostly for show, but in legal terms it’s much ado about nothing” because “the US already had free access to Greenland and the main responsibility for the defense of Greenland,” Swedish military and geopolitics analyst Mikael Valtersson told Sputnik, commenting on the new US-Denmark Greenland deal.

While the agreement grants the US permanent military access, basing and overflight rights, Valtersson pointed out that Washington already had these rights, and that it was the US itself that “voluntarily and drastically reduced its own military resources on Greenland” after the end of the Cold War.

Valtersson suspects the deal is “mainly a PR stunt for the US government ahead of the upcoming midterm elections in November.”

However, given fears in Denmark and Europe in general that the current administration’s “erratic foreign policy” might trigger an actual military conflict over Greenland, which “would have created a huge crisis in Transatlantic relations,” the agreement is likely to be a relief to the EU, and will let Copenhagen “stop worrying about a potential military confrontation with the US” over the dependency.

Hurricanes Are A Thing Of The Past

Issues & Insights | September 17, 2026

As of Sept. 16, there had been zero Atlantic hurricanes. Not since 1941 have we gone so far into hurricane season without one forming. Global warming, it seems, has failed to do its job as demanded by the climate zealots and grifters.

There has been at least one hurricane every year since the historical record began in 1851. There’s time for one or more storms to form this year, as there are still about two months left in the Atlantic hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30. It seems more likely, though, that we are living in the first year that there will be no hurricanes on record since researchers began documenting them in 1851. The Atlantic Accumulated Cyclone Energy index is running “about 85% below the 1991–2020 climatological normal for this point in the season,” says Pierre Gosselin of the No Tricks Zone, a site that offers a healthy dose of climate skepticism.

All the best people have been telling us for decades that man’s use of fossil fuels was going to increase hurricane frequency and intensity, much like the London-based Independent assured us in 2000 that in Great Britain “Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past.”

Of course this was nonsense. It still snows in Britain. Yet this didn’t stop a Bloomberg opinion crank from declaring in 2024 that snow was “becoming a thing of the past” because humans have been “warping the climate by burning fossil fuels.” We wonder how he’s handling the news in 2026 that the recent five-year mass gain in Antarctic ice sheet “was driven by a massive increase in snow and ice accumulation.” … Full article

Wrong, USA Today, “Hottest Summer Ever” Claim Ignores the Most Important Temperature Record

By Anthony Watts | Watts Up With That? | September 14, 2026

In a recent USA Today story “Hottest summer ever? US breaks longstanding record,” the writer claims that the United States just experienced its hottest summer ever based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) latest temperature analysis. That claim is misleading, based on an incomplete causal analysis. The best available evidence suggests that much of the reported “record” depends on adjusted temperature datasets and weather stations increasingly affected by urban development, while the nation’s highest-quality climate network tells a very different story.

USA Today accurately repeated NOAA’s announcement that the average temperature for June through August 2026 was the warmest in the 132-year record for the contiguous United States, edging out 1936 and 2021 by just 0.4°F.

That sounds straightforward enough, but unfortunately, it isn’t. … continue

Fraud Squared

Prominent Israel flunkies too dumb and lazy to produce their own genocide apologia

By Mouin Rabbani | September 19, 2026

When journalists are exposed for fabricating or plagiarizing their reports, responsible media typically remove the offending columns from their websites. They will often additionally attach a health warning to the rest of that journalist’s published work.

Numerous journalists have in fact, and quite properly, been fired for fabricating and/or plagiarizing their stories.

In recent weeks the historian Matthew Ghobrial Cockerill has published a series of remarkable exposés on Twitter demonstrating that a number of the most prolific, aggressive, shameless and invariably vulgar Israel flunkies and genocide apologists have consistently resorted to Artificial Intelligence (AI) to produce their third-rate propaganda.

In other words these fraudsters, including John Spencer, Andrew Fox and various fellow travelers, are so lazy and intellectually limited they don’t even possess the capacity to formulate and articulate their own lies. In some cases they have additionally and explicitly denied that that they use AI.

As Cockerill has thoroughly and convincingly demonstrated and documented, these clowns are not using AI to improve or edit or polish their original work, but rather to produce it from scratch. … continue