Keir Starmer said he would defend the budget “all day long” at the Welsh Labour conference, amid protests by farmers outside the venue.

In his first address to the Welsh Labour conference since taking power, the prime minister went on to hail a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.

“Make no mistake, I will defend our decisions in the budget all day long,” he said. “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality.

Other angles:

https://files.catbox.moe/4dakpn.mp4

https://files.catbox.moe/nfzio2.mp4

There are over 100 sick prisoners here with me, all of them from Gaza. Some have chronic diseases, some have been injured under torture, and all of them scream from the pain, as there is no treatment.

One day after your visit, a group of soldiers came with dogs, they came to where we were. They selected prisoners at random from every age group … children, young men, old men. They made them lie on the ground, face down, their hands tied behind their heads.

Then they set the dogs on them again, and then one of the soldiers tried to get one of the dogs to rape one of the prisoners! They teach their dogs to have sex with prisoners! Can you imagine?

They made the dogs attack them, tearing at the skin and flesh of the prisoners […], then they stood them up and put them in a corner where there was a big "iron window". They put [the prisoners'] hands on the window, then began beating them on their backs, their buttocks, and their legs from behind.

They attacked another prisoner called "J.M." in the same way - they beat him and abused him, and brought in dogs to rape him. They stripped him naked and put the dogs on top of him, they were ripping at his flesh, then a soldier came carrying an "electrical baton", which emitted high-voltage electric shocks, and they started beating the prisoner on his genitals.

Article about it

“On October 13, the Biden administration told Prime Minister Netanyahu that his government had 30 days to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza or face the consequences under US law, which would include cutting off military assistance,” the Massachusetts senator said in a statement shared with the Guardian.

For the first time on the issue, Warren threw her weight behind a joint resolution of disapproval, a legislative tool that enables Congress to overturn actions taken by the executive branch. Such a resolution must pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

She added: “The failure by the Biden administration to follow US law and to suspend arms shipments is a grave mistake that undermines American credibility worldwide. If this administration will not act, Congress must step up to enforce US law and hold the Netanyahu government accountable through a joint resolution of disapproval.”

Dutch authorities have said they are investigating reports of police violence against pro-Palestinian protesters after a banned rally on Wednesday evening had been broken up.

A total of 281 protesters were detained as they rallied in central Amsterdam on Wednesday in defiance of a ban imposed after violence stemming from a football match between Ajax and the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv last week.

Detained protesters were put on buses and driven to a location on the outskirts of the city, where they were released.

A video circulating online, seen by Reuters, showed people being hit with batons by police in riot gear, seemingly while walking away after they had been released in the port area west of Amsterdam. The images could not be verified by Reuters.

About 50 years ago, a man named Hans Bauer who worked in marketing for a German carmaker came up with the slogan Vorsprung durch Technik or “advantage through technology”. Poetry it wasn’t. The slogan seemed a little clumsy and too heavy on consonants, sounding harsh even to German ears. But it stuck because it captured something that rang true. The Germans had an edge in manufacturing cars and other machines.

The company that employed Bauer was Audi, which has used the slogan ever since. For a long time, there seemed to be no need for adjustment. True, whenever the Germans experienced an economic downturn, they asked themselves whether the all-important carmakers had lost their edge. But then some tweaks would be made, and the engine would roar back to life. This time feels different. And that’s not just because of recent bad news, which includes BMW and Mercedes posting profit warnings, Volkswagen pondering massive job cuts and, on top of it all, Donald Trump threatening to slap steep tariffs on US imports. It’s because the Germans are now realising they may have lost that special something called Vorsprung.

The history of the country’s car industry goes back to Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, inventors whose pioneering work didn’t translate into immediate business success. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, German carmakers were run by engineers who cared more about technology than sales. The production was time-intensive, and there weren’t enough buyers for the expensive and carefully crafted automobiles.

WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration has concluded that Israel is not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore is not violating U.S. law, the State Department said on Tuesday, even as Washington acknowledged the humanitarian situation remained dire in the Palestinian enclave.

Eight international aid groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, said in a report that Israel had failed to meet the demands by the Tuesday deadline.

Alleged context (feel free to correct if you have info in comments):

After Israeli Maccabi hooligans terrorized Amsterdam, the Dutch government demonized the pro-Palestine movement and banned protests. People came to protest anyways (peacefully)

The police arrested peaceful protesters and put them in a bus. They were driven to a parking lot. The police released them from the bus in a parking lot near a station.

While the protesters were walking to the station the police started hitting them. Allegedly for not moving fast enough.

I understand why the major media passes on stories like these. When I published the J.D. Vance Dossier — provided to me by the same Iranian government-linked source who went by the name “Robert” — I was smeared as a dupe. In their telling, I had taken the “bait,” a silly word for it since I was fully aware and transparent that it was part of a hack-and-leak influence operation by the Iranian government. (The same, by the way, is true of the Rubio dossier.)

Or perhaps they’re worried about the FBI, which paid me a visit after I published the Vance dossier. Reuters subsequently reported (to their credit) that it had received its own notification from the FBI that they were victims of “foreign” interference. I’m told other news organizations received notifications as well, though they’ve declined to alert the public to this obvious pressure campaign.

Here are some of the highlights. They shed light on Rubio’s various (and highly contradictory beliefs) about foreign affairs and Donald Trump. All of what follows appears verbatim in the dossier, prepared by the Trump campaign.

Russian collusion in 2016: “In 2018, Rubio underscored that Putin interfered in the 2016 election, developed a preference for Trump, and should be punished for having done so.”

The 2020 Election: “On inauguration day, in January 2021, Rubio acknowledges Biden as “our new President” and calls him a “man of tremendous empathy.””

Trump as President: “In 2016, Rubio contended that Trump was dangerous and could not be trusted with America’s nuclear codes – a position he continued to hold even after dropping out of the 2016 GOP primary.”

9/11: “in 2015, Rubio criticized Trump’s criticism of Bush over 9/11 and claimed Trump “doesn't have a fundamental understanding of what caused 9/11.””

Russia: “In 2022, Rubio said it was “unfortunate” Trump was using language in seeming praise of Putin and called on Trump to be more “careful” with his wording.”

NATO: “In 2016, Rubio disagreed “with Donald Trump’s suggestion that the United States shouldn’t automatically come to the defense of fellow NATO members if they are attacked”.”

“In 2019, Rubio joined a bipartisan group of Senators sponsoring legislation “that would prevent the president from withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) without Senate approval”.”

North Korea: In 2019, Rubio “also said he’s skeptical that ongoing negotiations between Trump and North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un would lead the Asian country to give up its nuclear weapons”.”

Free Trade: “In 2011, Rubio noted “I think one of the great things that will help us grow our economy in the years to come is further free trade”; Rubio further noted his support for free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia.”

China: “in 2015: “as President, I would respond not through aggressive retaliation, which would hurt the U.S. as much as China, but by greater commitment and firmer insistence on free markets and free trade. This means immediately moving forward with the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade agreements”.

Border and Immigration: “In 2024, Rubio blamed the lack of a Congressional border security measure on ‘crazy… MAGA people’.”

While president-elect Donald Trump accuses the U.S. military of being too “woke,” a morale patch showcased on a Defense Department website suggests some troops are as bigoted as ever. While the military has covered up evidence of the patch, removing photographs of it amid press outcry, the Pentagon has not disavowed it.

In late October, the website of the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service — the Pentagon’s official photo repository — posted a photograph highlighting the shoulder patch of Lt. Kyle Festa, a pilot assigned to the Navy’s Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 74.

Festa’s patch features crosshairs over likenesses of the Tusken Raiders, the fictional “sand people” who attacked Luke Skywalker in the 1977 movie “Star Wars.” The patch reads: “Houthi Hunting Club. Red Sea 2023-2024.”

!

The U.S. will not change its policy on arms transfers to Israel even though the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains dire, the State Department said Tuesday, the deadline the White House set for Israel to ramp up access to aid in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters the decision came as "Israel has taken a number of steps" outlined in a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli counterparts last month. "We continue to be in discussion with Israel about the steps they took and other steps they need to take," he said.

An average of just over 30 trucks a day have been let into Gaza in recent weeks, representing “just over six percent of the daily needs,” according to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Nadhmi al-Nasr, who has managed Neom’s construction since 2018, departed from his post in recent days, leaving while the project is plagued with uncertainty.

Nasr earned a chilling reputation managing Neom. He bragged that he drove everyone “like a slave”, adding, “When they drop down dead, I celebrate. That’s how I do my projects.” In one incident, after two video game companies cancelled their sponsorship deals with Neom, Nasr threatened his communications team, saying that he would “take a gun from under my desk and shoot you” unless he was told who was responsible for the deals falling through.

According to the WSJ report, two other controversial foreign executives have also left Neom.

Borg was known for his tirades, in which he reportedly disparaged Islam, made lewd references about sexual positions and said women from the Arabian Gulf looked like “transvestites”.

He also called South Asian migrant workers at Neom "fucking morons" and said that “white people are at the top of the pecking order".

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on October 13, giving Israel 30 days to allow at least 350 humanitarian aid trucks per day into Gaza, open a fifth crossing into the enclave, and ensure access to northern Gaza for aid groups, among other specific steps outlined in the letter.

Noncompliance would violate National Security Memorandum 20, which President Joe Biden issued in February to demand credible assurances from Israel that it was acting according to international law, and Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits the U.S. from providing military aid to countries that are blocking U.S. humanitarian aid.

Louise Wateridge, a senior emergency officer for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said Tuesday that the Biden administration's warning 30 days ago did not improve conditions in Gaza, with aid entering the enclave "at its lowest level in months."

A driver killed 35 people and severely injured another 43 when he rammed his car into people exercising at a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, police said on Tuesday.

Police had detained a 62-year-old man at the sports centre in Zhuhai after the ramming late on Monday, on the eve of an airshow by the People’s Liberation Army that is hosted annually in the city.

Police identified the man only by his family name of Fan, as is usual with the Chinese authorities. Fan was discovered in the car with a knife, with wounds to his neck thought to be self-inflicted, according to the statement. Police said he was unconscious and receiving medical care. They added that their preliminary investigation suggested he had been dissatisfied with the split of financial assets in his divorce.

Consider this paradox: The New York Times ran the headline, “Israeli soccer fans injured in attacks linked to antisemitism in Amsterdam,” but the body article contained only verified evidence of anti-Arab racism.

Its lede emphasized antisemitic motivation, while the body of the article cited footage by Maccabi Tel Aviv fans chanting anti-Arab and racist slogans – footage that the New York Times had actually verified. The only basis at the time for claiming antisemitism came from a single tweet by the Dutch prime minister, while the linked Amsterdam police's own statement made no such attribution (subsequent police statements did condemn “antisemitic behavior”).

!

The New York Times was not alone in minimizing Israeli fan violence and anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism. Other mainstream outlets like NBC, CBS, CNN, and the BBC, all ran almost identical headlines that read like Israeli press releases, emphasizing that Israelis had been “attacked.”

!

Despite no Israelis being killed, a media system loathe to use the term genocide to describe the deaths of over 43,000 Palestinians seemed happy to use terminology redolent of the Holocaust. Suddenly, incidents of soccer hooliganism and anti-Israeli violence seemingly provoked by anti-Arab racism were being reduced to antisemitic pogroms.

Buried or omitted in most accounts was verified evidence of anti-Arab racism that had occurred prior to these events, including footage of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans tearing down Palestinian flags, attacking taxi drivers, and chanting explicitly racist slogans like “Death to the Arabs” and “Let the IDF fuck the Arabs.”

“2024 – a masterclass in climate destruction.” That is how UN secretary general António Guterres started his address to world leaders at Cop29 on Tuesday.

“Families running for their lives before the next hurricane strikes; Workers and pilgrims collapsing in insufferable heat; Floods tearing through communities, and tearing down infrastructure; Children going to bed hungry as droughts ravage crops. All these disasters, and more, are being supercharged by human-made climate change,” he said.

The world leaders event happens at the start of Cop, intended to spur and inspire their negotiators towards a strong final agreement. But it was Guterres that read the riot act, with very strong words on the human cost of the climate crisis, and the extreme urgency of action.

“No country is spared,” he emphasised, with global supply chain shocks sending prices soaring for everyone. “Unless emissions plummet and adaptation soars, every economy will face far greater fury.”

With solar and wind the cheapest source of new electricity almost everywhere, “doubling down on fossil fuels is absurd,” he said. “The clean energy revolution is here. No group, no business, and no government can stop it. But you must ensure it is fair and fast.”