🇺🇸🤝🇹🇼 U.S. Officials landing in Taipei, Taiwan.

It's very odd and considered a major provocation by China.

BOXER44 • US Air Force ✈️ C-40 Clipper reg 02-0202

🔗 MenchOSINT

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🇬🇧 There is a great retrospective in the WSJ today on how the UK's post-Brexit experiment with big increases in legal immigration went wrong.

Their mistakes yield some important policy lessons for supporters *and* critics of skilled immigration. Let's dive in:

(tl;dr: What was intended to be a skilled immigration surge made the catastrophic mistake of setting visa criteria based on college degrees and workers filling so-called "labor shortages," ultimately leading instead to a surge in low-skilled, rather than high-skilled, immigration.)

Post-pandemic Britain dramatically increased net migration, shifting away from the EU and towards migrants from outside Europe.

Visa issuance went up across the board: work visas, study visas, and particularly dependent visas.

The plan was initially supposed to be a limited, targeted, skilled immigration surge. The UK, post-Brexit, would be free to go out and attract top talent from anywhere. But things went wrong quickly. What constituted "skilled" work included roofers (!) alongside business executives.

The system was then blown apart by businesses claiming "labor shortages." Rather than raise pay, businesses appealed for special carve-outs in areas like construction. Basing their visa programs on filling so-called shortages invited this kind of lobbying. Nobody agrees on what a labor shortage actually means. The UK has a technocratic body meant to identify them, but it's ultimately just vibes and raw interest group battles all the way down.

Next, the UK rubber-stamped visas for students and their dependents regardless of the quality of the program or school in which they enrolled. There was a subsequent explosion in low-quality degree programs catering to foreign students (and their dependents) to take advantage of this option.

🔗 Connor O'Brien

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🇫🇷 44% of the new debt France acquired after 2017 was spent funding the French welfare system, mostly retirement pensions.

@CIG_telegram

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🇮🇩 Mass protests have erupted in Indonesia, with hundreds of students and workers marching through Jakarta demanding higher wages, lower taxes, and fairer economic conditions.

The movement, initially led by labour unions and students, escalated after security forces used extreme force, firing rubber bullets at close range, beating demonstrators, and even ramming a police vehicle into crowds, according to witnesses and circulating videos.

🔗 OSINTWarfare (@OSINTWarfare)

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🇺🇸 Thanks to tariffs (esp re: Canada), US aluminium prices are now roughly 50% higher than in Europe & Japan, thus putting US manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.

The demand for aluminium in the U.S. is too much for the aluminium manufacturing capabilities. Steel is in a similar position.

🔗 Scott Lincicome

📎 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-28/tariffs-turn-aluminum-maker-rio-tinto-into-buyer-in-us-market

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🇺🇸⚖️ DOJ drops charges against another client of AG Pam Bondi's brother Brad

For the second time in less than a month, the Justice Department on Wednesday abruptly dropped charges against a client represented by Brad Bondi, the brother of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Federal prosecutors in Missouri this week agreed to voluntarily dismiss an indictment against Sid Chakraverty, a property developer who faced felony wire fraud charges. Prosecutors under the Biden administration accused Chakraverty in 2024 of lying about hiring women- and minority-owned subcontractors on a housing development in order to allegedly secure favorable tax incentives.

As recently as three weeks ago, career prosecutors held that Chakraverty should face criminal penalties for his alleged scheme.

But on Wednesday, the newly installed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Thomas Albus, a Trump appointee, filed court papers informing the judge overseeing the case that the "defendants have agreed to make restitution of the taxes" and that it is therefore "prudent for the government to end this criminal prosecution."

In his letter to the judge, Albus explained that the decision to drop charges was part of a department-wide directive to no longer prosecute cases against those accused of violating "race- and sex-based presumptions like the [disadvantaged business enterprise] program" in St. Louis.

🔗 https://abcnews.go.com/US/doj-drops-charges-client-ag-pam-bondis-brother/story?id=125073335&cid=social_twitter_abcn

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‼️🇹🇷 ❌ 🇮🇱 - Is Turkey moving from symbolic protest against Israel to actual sanctions & preparation for long-term rivalry?

Ankara is now reportedly even building nationwide bomb shelters—something many in Iran criticized their own govt for neglecting when war broke out with Israel.

🔗 Sina Toosi

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🇹🇷❌🇮🇱 Turkey has closed its airspace to Israeli aircraft and passenger airlines.

Flights from Israel to Russia will now be longer in duration.

@CIG_telegram

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🇮🇱🇮🇱❌🇹🇷 Israel's minister of national security, Itamar Ben Gvir, on X/Twitter:

"Turkey = Hamas" and with a picture of Hamas' late leader, Ismail Haniyeh shaking the hand of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

@CIG_telegram

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🇹🇷❌🇮🇱 Turkey severs commercial ties with Israel after the IDF bombed and dismantled several Turkish listening posts and other installations near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

@CIG_telegram

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🇺🇸 🇻🇪 🇳🇱 ‘Largest drug offload’ in U.S. Coast Guard history includes cocaine found in ‘many’ vessels from Venezuela, feds say

Chamie thanked the Netherlands, which has Dutch Caribbean territory that includes Bonaire, Aruba, and Curaçao, three islands in the southern Caribbean, near the coast of Venezuela.

The USCG announced the offloads in Fort Lauderdale valued at $473 million were part of the $2.2 billion in drugs that had been seized and offloaded so far this year after interdictions at sea.

On Monday, at Port Everglades, USCG Rear Adm. Adam Chamie described it as “the largest drug offload” in USCG history and the result of a team effort in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean.

Rear Adm. Charles “Chase” Sargeant, the deputy director of the Joint Interagency Task Force-South, said multi-national air and maritime forces were involved. “The Dutch remain a steadfast partner to the United States as they battle the cartels right alongside us,” Chamie said.

Kehoe, who U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed as interim in April, described Venezuela as a “haven” for two foreign terrorist organizations plaguing the U.S. with drugs and violence.

“They are a threat to national security on a daily basis,” Kehoe said about the Tren De Aragua, a transnational gang involved in street-level drug distribution, and the Cártel de Los Soles, a narco-trafficking organization with connections to criminal organizations in Colombia and Mexico.

Terrance “Terry” Cole, the DEA administrator since July, told Fox News on Thursday that there were criminal connections between Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela, and he referred to Maduro as a corrupt narco terrorist.

On the foreign diplomatic stage, Maduro’s military partners include Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba.

The DEA has identified China as “the primary source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.”

“The drugs fuel and enable cartels and transnational criminal organizations -- the very same groups that are pushing fentanyl and other deadly substances to our communities,” Chamie said on Monday about the impact of the USCG drug seizures at sea.

https://www.local10.com//news/national/2025/08/25/venezuela-was-source-of-about-22-billion-in-drugs-seized-at-sea-so-far-this-year-feds-say/

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🇺🇸📊 In Q2, imports collapsed ~30% after Trump’s tariffs.

Because fewer goods were bought from abroad, less was “subtracted” in the GDP formula.

That one swing alone added nearly 5 percentage points to GDP even though nothing new was actually produced at home.

🔗 StockMarket.News

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🇻🇦🇬🇷🇵🇸❌🇮🇱 Orthodox and Latin Jerusalem Patriarchates warn of imminent Gaza City offensive, vow to remain with civilians

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem issued a joint statement yesterday expressing grave concern over Israel’s announced plans to take control of Gaza City, warning that mass evacuations and military preparations signal an imminent offensive. They report that evacuation orders have already been issued for several neighborhoods in Gaza City, accompanied by heavy bombardment causing further destruction and death.

The Patriarchates emphasize that their compounds—the Orthodox compound of St. Porphyrius and the Holy Family compound—have sheltered hundreds of civilians since the war’s outbreak, including elderly people, women, children, and people with disabilities cared for by the Sisters Missionaries of Charity. “Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence,” the statement declares, explaining why clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue caring for those seeking refuge.

The Patriarchates call for an immediate end to the violence, stating “There is no reason to justify the deliberate and forcible mass displacement of civilians.” They appeal to the international community to act to end what they termed a “senseless and destructive war,” while also calling for the return of missing people and Israeli hostages. The statement concludes with a prayer for conversion of hearts, “so that we may walk in the paths of justice and life, for Gaza and for the whole Holy Land.”

🔗 https://orthochristian.com/172170.html

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🇨🇳 At President Xi Jinping’s invitation, 26 world leaders will attend China's VDay commemorations on September 3.

🔗 Chinese Embassy in USA

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🇻🇪🤝🇨🇴 Nicolas Maduro has given support for President Gustavo Petro’s plan to send 25,000 troops to the border in the Catatumbo Region.

Additionally, he seeks further collaboration with Colombia against narcotics groups.

🔗 SA Defensa

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🇺🇸❌🇵🇸❗️ — Axios also reports that the U.S. State Department has denied visas to Palestinian officials for the September UN General Assembly.

➡️ This unprecedented action violates the U.S.-UN agreement, which requires the U.S. to grant visas to UNGA delegations.

📝The decision comes amid Western countries’ plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the Assembly.

@TabZLIVE

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🇫🇷 Updated graphics on the French national debt and the retirement pensions:

Since 2017 when Emmanuel Macron took office, France accumulated 1 trillion EURs in debts and 490 billion of it was spent on French boomers and their retirement pensions, or ~50% of all the debt was wasted for the comfort of people who had a few short more years to live, which the new generations now have to spend decades to pay back.

The total national debt of France is worth 3.3 trillion EURs or 113% of the French GDP and one third of it was acquired in the last 8 years. This is unsustainable.

@CIG_telegram

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🇮🇱✈️🤝🇹🇷 — TRACKED: Despite Turkey’s announcement less than 24 hours ago that its airspace was shut to all Israeli flights, Israeli airlines are still transiting Turkish skies without restriction.

➡️Arkia Israeli Airlines flight AIZ388 (IZ388), an Airbus A320-214 from Belgrade to Tel Aviv.

➡️The flight path shows it crossing Turkish airspace near Izmir, despite Ankara’s recent announcement that Israeli flights were banned from entering Turkish skies.

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🇨🇦 Someone needs to check on Canada

Capital is flying out of the country at a record pace, like it just got "elbowed" in the head

This kind of outflow creates a chain reaction.

The dollar gets volatile. Borrowing costs rise. Institutional confidence fades.

And domestic capital becomes harder and more expensive to raise.

🔗 Katusa Research

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🇺🇸🤝🇮🇱 Texas AG, Ken Paxton, on X/Twitter:

I'm announcing an investigation and demanding documents from Plano ISD following several antisemitic incidents.

Any teacher or administrator that has facilitated or supported radical anti-Israel rhetoric in our schools should be fired immediately.

🔗 Ken Paxton

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🇺🇸❌🇻🇪 President Trump ordered seven warships carrying 4,500 personnel — including three guided-missile destroyers and at least one attack submarine — to the waters off Venezuela. — Axios

"This is 105% about narco-terrorism, but if Maduro winds up no longer in power, no one will be crying," said one Trump administration official familiar with the policy discussions.

Another administration official had a different view. "This could be Noriega part 2," the official said, referring to the U.S. military's 1989 operation to capture Panamanian President Manuel Noriega, who — like Maduro — faced U.S. drug-trafficking charges.

However, Trump's deployment does include 2,200 Marines, the boots-on-the-beach branch of the military. That's hardly typical in drug enforcement.

In December 1989, the U.S. invaded Panama with a force of 27k troops, The U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard and 300 aircraft in Operation Just Cause. The invasion force was met by the 16k strong Panama Defense Force (PDF).

Panama was defeated after one month of fighting, with 23 U.S. soldiers killed (two by friendly fire) and 314 PDF soldiers dead and close to 2000 captured. The Panamanian dictator, Manuel Noriega was captured and sent to the U.S. by George H.W. Bush to face drug trafficking charges.

Venezuela on the other hand, is a country far bigger than Panama and has a far bigger military, with 137k troops (all branches) in addition to an estimated 3 million militiamen.

In 1989, when Panama was invaded, Manuel Noriega had no allies. Nicolas Maduro does, in the form of Columbia's Gustavo Petro, who has already deployed some 25k troops to the Catatumbo region in case the U.S. wanted to attack Venezuela over Maracaibo Lake.

Another ally is Lula da Silva's Brazil, although he won't directly contribute with Brazilian troops to Venezuela's defense in case of war, but may send humanitarian and military aid.

📝:The real play by the Trump Administration will likely be bombing the Venezuelan Army from the Leeward Antilles. Three key islands off the coast of Venezuela are the Dutch islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. Another U.S. ally is Trinidad & Tobago in Venezuela's east, with the only other islands in the Leeward Antilles with an airbase being the Nueva Esparta/Margarita islands, controlled by Venezuela.

While the U.S. Air Force and Navy bomb the Venezuelan military, civil uprisings will be encouraged as well as army mutinies.

@CIG_telegram

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‼️🇹🇷 ❌ 🇮🇱 - Turkey says it bars Israeli ships from its ports, restricting airspace

urkey has decided to bar Israeli vessels from using its ports, forbid Turkish ships from using Israeli ports and impose restrictions on planes entering Turkish airspace, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday.

A source had also said that Turkish-flagged ships would be prohibited from calling at Israeli ports.

"We have totally cut our trade with Israel, we have closed off our ports to Israeli ships and we are not allowing Turkish vessels to go to Israel's ports," Fidan told an extraordinary parliamentary session on Israel's attacks on Gaza.

"We are not allowing container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, and airplanes to go into our airspace," he added, without giving details.

🔗 Reuters

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🇹🇷⚔️🇮🇱 Neo-Ottomanism in Syria | Collision Course with Israel | CIG #commentary (revised)

By December 8th, 2024, the Syrian Arab Republic, along with the ruling Assad dynasty, had collapsed. In its place, the Syrian Transitional Government was established and emerged with a new era. As for what happens next, neighboring Iraq may present a realistic path forward. After Iraq, Iran, and Turkey defeated ISIS in 2017, they invaded Iraqi Kurdistan. This move enabled Turkish forces to expand militarily and establish many bases within Iraqi borders. Now, with Assad gone, Syria's Kurdish-ruled separatist state in the northeast has an uncertain future.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Northeastern Syria live in a house built on sand. As a Kurdish-led coalition of diverse ethnic militias, they will have to contend with local demographics, which include a wide geographical dispersion of Sunni Arabs. Many of whom are vocally sympathetic towards the FSA, setting the tone for mass uprisings and the activation of sleeper agents within their territories. In fact, much of the SDF itself is composed of such fifth column elements. If a joint Syrian-Turkish invasion transpired here, it would likely be accepted as a war of liberation with local support among the Arab populace.

After a major victory for Turkish influence in the Levant, US & Israeli officials are worried about defending a land corridor in Syria. In order to prevent regional actors such as Turkey, Iran, and various Islamist factions from posing a threat to Israel and their regional allies, the Kurds. Some have theorized that Israel and Turkey agreed to partition Syria. Something akin to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the ramifications it had for Poland. Despite the outcome of which led to the most brutal chapter of war in human history with tens of millions dead.

https://syriagenerals.wordpress.com/2024/12/09/neo-ottomanism-in-syria-collision-course-with-israel/

@CIG_telegram

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🐣 Fertility decline across the civilised world is mainly due to leftists stopping having children.

For all the talk of a general fall in births, the drop is overwhelmingly driven by people on the left having fewer kids.

By ceding the topic of family and children to the right, progressives risk ushering in a more conservative world.

@CIG_telegram

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— 🇮🇱/🇵🇸/☦️ NEW: The Twitter account of the Jewish Policy Center (JPC) refers to Christian Palestinians in churches in Gaza City as 'part of the battle' and issues a violent threat towards them.

@Middle_East_Spectator

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🇺🇸📈 Thanks to tariffs (esp re: Canada), US aluminium prices are now roughly 50% higher than in Europe & Japan, thus putting US manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage.

🔗 Scott Lincicome

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🇨🇳🌍 In the past year, 25 African nations imported at least 100 megawatts of solar capacity—up from 15 countries a year earlier.

China, which produces around 80% of the world’s solar panels, remains Africa’s main supplier.

🔗 https://www.africanews.com/2025/08/28/africas-imports-of-chinese-solar-panels-jump-60-as-continent-turns-to-renewables

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🇮🇱🇹🇷🇸🇾Israel dismantles Turkish spying devices in Syria - report

An Israeli official confirmed that, during the recent operations in Syria, the military dismantled devices used by Turkey to spy on Israel.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-865618

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🇻🇪🇺🇸 When asked about possible strikes against Venezuela, Press Sec. Karolin Leavitt has stated that it is a notice for Trump alone to declare, but the US will use “every element of American power to stop the drugs”.

🔗 SA Defensa

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✡️ The Combat Antisemitism Movement has launched “Report It,” a mobile app that lets users document “antisemitic incidents” in real time.

Reports can be submitted anonymously and are forwarded to law enforcement, media, and community organizations.

🔗 AF Post

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