Charlie Kirk assassination suspect evades manhunt as investigators recover rifle in wooded area - Greg Norman

 

by Greg Norman

Utah Department of Public Safety and FBI involved in a manhunt for shooter 'dressed in all dark clothing'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were left shaken on Wednesday as news traveled of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.

One member of Congress described a "somber atmosphere" during the House’s evening vote series as legislators reckoned with the tragedy in Utah – which resurfaced concerns about their own safety in what has become an emotionally charged political landscape.

"If we don’t do something about this, a member of Congress is going to get killed," Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. "People in my family asked me today not to run for re-election. I mean, they’re scared."

Lawmakers have been forced to reckon with their own safety on multiple occasions in recent memory. 

LIVE UPDATES: MANHUNT FOR CHARLIE KIRK SHOOTER CONTINUES

View of a wreath laid by mourners outside the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria on Sept. 11, 2025, following the fatal shooting of U.S. youth activist and influencer Charlie Kirk while speaking during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. (PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images)

The two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump in 2024, the fatal shooting of a Minnesota state lawmaker and critical injury of her colleague, a firebombing at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, and now what the governor of Utah labeled a politically motivated assassination of the Turning Point USA founder, have all inspired new conversations about how to keep elected officials safe in an increased threat environment.

Both Fine and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital they would be speaking with the Capitol sergeant-at-arms about getting increased security.

"I am concerned about my safety. I’m concerned about the safety of my family. I’m concerned about the safety of my employees, so we are immediately reevaluating…to make sure we have thought about every possible scenario," Mace said.

Mace said she and many of her colleagues would likely now "pause outdoor events" for the time being.

"They almost killed Donald Trump, they killed Charlie Kirk, both outdoors," she said.

Fine said, "I will probably, you know, stay in the bubble more in Washington than I might otherwise."

Others, like Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., suggested lawmakers and other political figures should be allowed more lax firearm permissions, despite Washington, D.C.’s strict gun laws.

House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were left shaken on Wednesday as news traveled of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"I know there’s 435 of us. It’s kind of hard, but each and every one of us are out there in the public, and there’s crazy people out there," Gimenez said.

"I was concerned for my safety enough that I have a concealed weapons permit in the state of Florida. And maybe, I know that the weapons laws here in D.C. are different, but maybe…if you’re a political figure, you’re a representative or a senator, maybe those things, you know, we need to be exempted for our own personal safety."

He added, "I hope it doesn’t happen, but there may be a tragedy, and then things will change. And I hope things will change before you have a tragedy."

"You can’t help it," another House Republican told Fox News Digital when asked if they were now more concerned for their own safety. "People still are living their lives, but the topic of conversation is almost exclusively the tragedy…It puts a lot of things in perspective."

VIGILS HELD ACROSS US AFTER ASSASSINATION OF CHARLIE KIRK: 'WE MUST HEAL'

A second House Republican told Fox News Digital that they would also be limiting outdoor events but was skeptical of the feasibility of protecting all members of Congress when they are back in their home districts.

Kirk was shot from what authorities have described as a long-range distance while speaking at a student event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday afternoon. The 31-year-old, who was largely credited with energizing Gen Z voters to turn out for Trump in 2024, leaves behind a wife and two young children.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Thursday morning that he’s heard from "many members on both sides of the aisle" about concerns from themselves and their loved ones about their safety.

"We’re in a deliberate review process right now to determine what measures are appropriate, how much we can allocate for that," Johnson said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the media at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

A third House Republican told Fox News Digital they were "devastated" by Kirk’s killing and said they had been gradually increasing their own security since the assassination attempts on Trump in 2024.

"Our office steadily increased its safety protocols after the attempted assassination of POTUS last year, and we have steadily increased those precautions throughout this year as we have observed increased emotions and heightened tensions while at public events. We were already using security for most public and outdoor events, and we will continue to do so," they said via text message.

Others told reporters Wednesday that they, too, were concerned for themselves but declined to elaborate in the immediate wake of Kirk’s death.

"We don't have enough resources to protect the people who are threatened around here. But I don't want to make it about us right now. This is just, it's awful," said Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.

Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com 

Greg Norman

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/charlie-kirk-assassination-suspect-evades-manhunt-investigators-analyze-security-footage

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Ammunition in Kirk killing engraved with expressions of transgender, antifascist ideology - WSJ - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

According to an early bulletin by The Wall Street Journal, the older-model 0.30 caliber hunting rifle was discovered near the scene, with sources telling the paper to urge caution.

 

FILE PHOTO: Founder and president of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., February 28, 2019.

(photo credit: REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE)

Investigators found ammunition engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology in the rifle believed to have been used in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing an internal law enforcement bulletin and a person familiar with the investigation. 

A later report by the newspaper cited different officials who cautioned against reaching conclusions based on the internal report shared early on Thursday.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the older-model 0.30 caliber hunting rifle was discovered in the woods near the scene, wrapped in a towel with spent cartridges still located in the gun's chamber. 

There were also three unspent rounds in the magazine, all with the wording tied to transgender and antifascist ideology, the report added. 

Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday at an event at a Utah university. He was an influential ally of  US President Donald Trump and co-founder of Turning Point USA, the largest conservative youth organization in the country. "Charlie Kirk has been shot at Utah Valley University," a Kirk spokesperson told NBC.

US right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025. (credit: Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via REUTERS)

Authorities said they still had no suspect in custody as of Wednesday night, some eight hours after the midday shooting at Utah Valley University campus in Orem, Utah, during an event attended by 3,000 people.

Lone perpetrator remains 'at large,' local authorities say 

The lone perpetrator suspected of firing the single gunshot that killed Kirk, 31, apparently from a distant rooftop sniper's nest on campus, remained "at large," said Beau Mason, commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety, at a news conference four hours later.

State police issued a statement on Wednesday night saying that two men had been detained and one was interrogated by law enforcement, but both were subsequently released.

This is a developing story.  

Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-867173

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The Four Horsemen of the Western Apocalypse - Victor Davis Hanson

 

by Victor Davis Hanson

Europe faces four self-inflicted crises—radical green mandates, collapsing families, unchecked immigration, and rising tribalism—that now threaten Western civilization itself.

 

Europe is plagued by a number of existential crises. Yet they are all self-inflicted—and by a dominant, therapeutic culture that embraced utopian but lethal bromides.

These suicidal wounds are now nearing the end-stage. Indeed, they are destroying the very civilization that was soon envisioned to be heaven on earth.

The global warming hysterics could not just entertain gradual transformations away from dependencies on traditional fuels and power generation.

Instead, elites have demanded catastrophic and near-instant “net zero” mandates. That radicalism entailed transitioning to unreliable and costly solar and wind energy. Fuel and electricity prices then soared.

The green socialist elite cared little that shutdowns of nuclear, coal, natural gas, and oil power generation would cripple industry, reduce living standards, and impoverish Europe.

Germany, the once economic powerhouse of Europe, became a shell of its former self. The same efforts accelerated under the Obama and Biden administrations in the U.S.

Both administrations sought to slash new fossil fuel production and use, without regard to the costs, dangers to the economy, or deleterious effects on the middle class and poor.

Second, for the last half-century, affluent Westerners embraced the idea that there were no normative lifestyles. Often, they claimed nuclear families with 2-3 children were parochial and passé.

Children supposedly inhibited the lifestyles and aspirations of women. Larger families, we were told, unfairly burdened upscale professionals with unneeded costs and offered biased and injurious models to gays, the transgendered, and single, childless men and women.

The result is that the fertility rate plummeted in the West, particularly in Europe (1.4) and the United States (1.6), to unsustainable levels.

Academia, the media, government, and foundations promoted these ideas of “empowerment”—despite the historical evidence that societies that cannot reproduce themselves age, ossify, and finally implode.

The third horseman of the Western apocalypse was unrestricted and illegal immigration.

Again, the elites discarded a century of research and common sense that immigration into modern Western societies is only beneficial if it is legal, measured, diverse, meritocratic, and met with robust efforts of the host to integrate, acculturate, and assimilate foreigners.

The arrogant West scoffed at all that.

Instead, it destroyed borders. It welcomed in millions of impoverished and unaudited illegal aliens, many of them with little desire or ability to adopt the values of their hosts.

What followed were unsustainable social welfare entitlements, rising crime, social chaos, and growing internal strife.

The last horseman was a new tribalism, euphemistically dubbed diversity/equity/inclusion.

An elite Western class envisioned an entire set of reparatory actions for growing nonwhite populations to atone for purported prior, and sometimes ancient, sins of slavery, racism, colonialism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia.

No matter that all of these pathologies are commonplace worldwide, only in the self-critical West was slavery first outlawed, and tribalism curtailed.

Indeed, nonwhite immigrants knew precisely why fellow non-Westerners flocked to Western nations in the millions. Only there do meritocracy, consensual government, and self-criticism ensure more prosperity, freedom, and security than in their own tribal, often sexist, religiously and ethnically chauvinistic, and statist societies.

Human nature dictates that once racial fixations for any reason normalize exemptions and advantages, then tribalism and civil strife inevitably resurface.

Self-perpetuating myths of everlasting victimhood are necessary to ensure permanent special preferences. The Western idea of the Enlightenment, that we are individuals, not tribes and collectives, free to question the world about us, is shattered.

Instead, we descend into precivilizational tribalism, predicated on our superficial appearances.

There is some hope only because the four horsemen of our apocalypse were welcomed into the West by a minority of naïve, secular, and privileged Westerners. They believed as demigods that their wealth and freedom were irreversible birthrights, that utopia was near, and that they would be exempt from any consequences of their failure.

As a remedy, the West needs to stop apologizing for its 2,500-year history and take pride in its unique European and Judeo-Christian tradition that is innately inclusive.

It does not have to be perfect to be good—only far better than the alternatives, as mass illegal immigration attests.

The West needs to resist top-down radical green bromides and assess their cost-to-benefit damage to most citizens.

Larger, multi-generational, and two-parent families are not strange but the historical lifeblood of robust civilizations.

If foreigners wish to move legally to the West, they should be reminded why they do so and thus integrate and assimilate to the hosts’ values—or stay home.

Finally, Americans especially need to speak out against anyone of any race or tribe who stereotypes and spouts hatred of others outside their tribe.

And feigned victimhood will end only when the invented victimizers say, “Sorry, enough is enough.”

Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness and the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is an American military historian, columnist, a former classics professor, and scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a visiting professor at Hillsdale College since 2004, and is the 2023 Giles O'Malley Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush, and the Bradley Prize in 2008. Hanson is also a farmer (growing almonds on a family farm in Selma, California) and a critic of social trends related to farming and agrarianism. He is the author of the just released New York Times best seller, The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation, published by Basic Books on May 7, 2024, as well as the recent  The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won, The Case for Trump, and The Dying Citizen.

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/09/11/the-four-horsemen-of-the-western-apocalypse/

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Georgia attorney general joins effort to help American victims of Oct. 7 sue Hamas supporters - JNS

 

by JNS

“Those who provide support to violent terrorist organizations must be held accountable,” stated Chris Carr.

 

Statue of Lady Justice on a gray background. Credit: Ezequiel Octaviano/Pixabay.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr joined an amicus brief to support the rights of victims of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and their families to sue American individuals and organizations accused of providing material support to Hamas, the attorney general’s office announced on Wednesday.

Organizations named in the document include anti-Israel groups Students for Justice in Palestine, Within Our Lifetime and “other affiliated organizations that are alleged to have served as the Hamas propaganda division.”

Actions listed in the brief include recruiting foot soldiers for direct acts of violence, property destruction and campus disruptions on behalf of the terrorist organization.

“Those who provide support to violent terrorist organizations must be held accountable,” Carr stated. “We’re proud to support the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks and the families of those brutally murdered by Hamas, and we will continue to stand against antisemitism in all its forms.”

According to the filed brief, the organizations “willfully associated themselves with Hamas and knowingly took direction from a terrorist organization to spread propaganda in the United States.”

Carr also filed an amicus brief in September 2024, allowing Oct. 7 survivors to sue American Muslims for Palestine and National SJP, also for allegedly providing material support to Hamas. 

JNS

Source: https://www.jns.org/georgia-attorney-general-joins-effort-to-help-american-victims-of-oct-7-sue-hamas-supporters/

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Netanyahu likens Israel’s strike in Qatar to US response after 9/11 - Amelie Botbol

 

by Amelie Botbol

“We also have a September 11. We remember October 7. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

 

The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York on fire after hijacked planes flew into the buildings on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Credit: Michael Foran/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday invoked the memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States as he defended Israel’s strike in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders behind the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

“We remember September 11. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery on American soil since the founding of the United States,” Netanyahu said. “We also have a September 11. We remember October 7. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

The premier drew a direct comparison between Israel’s actions and the U.S. campaign against Al-Qaeda.

“What did America do in the wake of September 11? It promised to hunt down the terrorists who committed this heinous crime, wherever they may be,” he said. “And it also passed a resolution in the Security Council of the U.N., two weeks later, that said that governments cannot give harbor to terrorists.

“Well, yesterday, we acted along those lines. We went after the terrorist masterminds who committed the October 7 massacre. And we did so in Qatar, which gives safe haven, it harbors terrorists, it finances Hamas, it gives its terrorist chieftains sumptuous villas, it gives them everything,” Netanyahu continued.

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He stressed that Israel’s operation followed the same model the United States used when it pursued Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and ultimately eliminated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

“Now, the various countries of the world condemn Israel. They should be ashamed of themselves,” continued Netanyahu. “What did they do after America took out Osama bin Laden? Did they say, ‘Oh, what a terrible thing was done to Afghanistan or to Pakistan?’ No, they applauded. They should applaud Israel for standing up to the same principles and carrying them out.”

The prime minister ended with a warning: “And I say to Qatar and all nations who harbor terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will.”

On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners set to travel from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions to California.

The hijackers crashed the first two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, two of the world’s five tallest buildings at the time.

A third plane was crashed into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Va., while a fourth aircraft crashed in rural Pennsylvania amid a passenger revolt.

The attacks killed 2,977 people.

“This comparison between Oct. 7 and 9/11 is appropriate in that Hamas’s goal on Oct. 7 was to destroy Israel. The percentage of the Israeli population that was murdered on Oct. 7 is greater than the percentage of Americans murdered on 9/11,” Likud Party lawmaker Ariel Kallner told JNS on Thursday.

Kallner said Israel lacks the international support the U.S. received after 9/11, citing European leaders’ reliance on electorates with large Muslim populations and short-term politics. He also blamed what he called the “progressive worldview” and a red-green alliance, saying the radical left erodes family, national and religious identity and threatens the West.

“What we need to do is destroy Hamas. It is more justified for Israel to do so than any other country in the world—and of course, what the U.S. did after 9/11 is justified, and the right way to fight evil and radical Islam and its call to conquer the whole world,” the lawmaker concluded.

Religious Zionism Party lawmaker Simcha Rothman, who heads the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, told JNS that “the terrorists who conducted this attack on Israel should be treated no better than Al-Qaeda.”

As to why Israel does not enjoy the same level of support America did back in 2001, Rothman explained that Israel is not a superpower.

“Those who would never have dared to support anyone attacking America because they feared American power now feel free to do so when it comes to Israel,” he said. “They even coordinate with antisemitic trends on both the left and the right, which always emerge when Israel is the issue.”

“I believe many in the West do support Israel and its fight against Iran’s terror regime—we saw this during the attack on Iran and against terrorists worldwide,” he added. “These people understand that Israel stands on the front line of the West as jihadist Islamic organizations seek to take over all of Western civilization. Israel may be the first to be attacked, but it will not be the last.”

Religious Zionism Party lawmaker Ohad Tal told JNS on Thursday that Netanyahu’s comparison “between the attack in Qatar and the free world’s response to 9/11 was correct and precise.”

“Israel stands on the front line of the Western and free world against radical Islam,” Tal said. “Facing the forces of evil and barbarism—from Iran to the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters—Israel’s security forces are fighting with strength, bravery, and determination. The terror that struck this week in Jerusalem is the same terror that strikes in Paris, London and Berlin. And it is the same terror that finds refuge in Doha.”

“While the nations of the world are confused and fail to grasp these simple facts, President Trump and the United States stand with us, unshakeably and courageously,” the lawmaker told JNS.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote, “Remember 9/11. Remember the victims. We stand together in our shared fight for freedom and against terror.” 

Remember 9/11.
Remember the victims.
We stand together in our shared fight for freedom and against terror. pic.twitter.com/701ZmpZB88

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 11, 2025

Amelie Botbol

Source: https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-likens-israels-strike-in-qatar-to-us-response-after-9-11/

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How the EU Pays Mainstream Media to Promote Its Narratives - Robert Williams

 

by Robert Williams

The European Commission has, it seems, has literally paid off almost everything and everyone in the media world -- meaning that everyone, from news agencies to media outlets, public broadcasters and other media organizations, sits in the pocket of the European Commission to greater or smaller degrees.

 

• The report also shows that the EU runs a highly sophisticated "EU media complex" through which it gets to shape media narratives about itself and its agendas.

• The European Commission has, it seems, has literally paid off almost everything and everyone in the media world -- meaning that everyone, from news agencies to media outlets, public broadcasters and other media organizations, sits in the pocket of the European Commission to greater or smaller degrees.

• These abundant examples of media and news organizations are just those within the EU. The EU, however, is also operating a large-scale influence operation outside of the EU....

• There is nothing transparent about any of this funding. According to the report, it is opaque and difficult to uncover.

• "The EU's ever-expanding system of media financing...creates financial dependencies, incentivises narrative conformity and fosters an ecosystem in which dissenting voices are marginalised – all under the virtuous banners of 'fighting disinformation', 'promoting European values' and 'building a European public sphere'" — Thomas Fazi, "Brussels's media machine: European media funding and the shaping of public discourse," June 2025.

• The EU sadly appears to be a deeply corrupt and undemocratic regime, which desperately clings to power through influence-peddling and the imposition of heavy-handed censorship. Hundreds of millions of Europeans continue to put up with these tactics. When will they please wake up?

The unelected leadership of the evidently corrupt European Union (EU) is now paying mainstream media to promote the agendas of its EU "elites." The EU appears to have spent as much as 1 billion euros during the past decade alone in the process. (Image source: iStock/Getty Images)

The unelected leadership of the evidently corrupt European Union (EU) is now paying mainstream media to promote the agendas of its EU "elites." The EU appears to have spent as much as 1 billion euros during the past decade alone in the process, according to a recent report, "Brussels's media machine: European media funding and the shaping of public discourse," by Thomas Fazi, from the European think tank MCC Brussels.

Framing the projects as "fighting disinformation" and "promoting European integration" the EU has been throwing taxpayer money, conservatively estimated at €80 million annually, to "media projects" -- not including indirect funding, such as advertising contracts.

The report also shows that the EU runs a highly sophisticated "EU media complex" through which it gets to shape media narratives about itself and its agendas.

According to Fazi's report:

"The European Commission – through its Journalism Partnerships programme alone, with a cumulative budget approaching € 50 million to date – oversees a vast ecosystem of EU media 'collaborations.' Over the years, these have included hundreds of projects, ranging from pro-EU promotional campaigns to questionable 'investigative journalism' initiatives and sweeping 'anti-fake news' efforts. And that's on top of the advertorial campaigns funded through the Information Measures for the EU Cohesion policy (IMREG) programme, to the tune of € 40 million so far...

"Even more concerning is the central role played by major European public broadcasters in this process. These projects show that this is not a matter of one-off collaborations, but rather an evolving semi-structural relationship between EU institutions and public media networks."

The European Commission has, it seems, has literally paid off almost everything and everyone in the media world -- meaning that everyone, from news agencies to media outlets, public broadcasters and other media organizations, sits in the pocket of the European Commission to greater or smaller degrees. Some examples:

Among news agencies -- upon which practically all news outlets depend for their reporting -- the European Commission has poured money into the following, among others: Agence France-Presse has received €7 million from the EU, ANSA (Italy) €5.6 million, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, (Germany) €3.2 million, Agencia EFE (Spain) €2 million, Associated Press (AP) €1 million, Lusa News Agency (Portugal) €200,000 Polish Press Agency €500,000, and Athens News Agency €600,000.

A selection of news outlets also appear to be being paid off by the European Commission: Euronews (pan-European) €230 million, ARTE (France) €26 million, Euractiv (pan-European) €6 million, Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland) €105,000, 444.hu (Hungary) €1.1 million, France TV (France) €400,000, GEDI Gruppo Editoriale (Italy) €190,000, ZDF (Germany) €500,000, and Bayerischer Rundfunk (Germany) €600,000.

Public broadcasters have received the following: Deutsche Welle (Germany) €35 million, France Médias Monde €16.5 million, France Télévisions €1 million, RAI Radiotelevisione italiana (Italy) €2 million, RTBF (Belgium) €675,000, RTP (Portugal) €1.5 million, Estonian Public Broadcasting, ERR €1 million, RTVE (Spain) €770,000 ERR (Estonia) €1 million and TV2 (Denmark) €900,000.

Media organizations such as Reporters Without Borders (France) and Journalismfund Europe (Belgium) have received €5.7 million and €2.6 million respectively. A Dutch organization that calls itself independent, Bellingcat, has received €440,000.

These abundant examples of media and news organizations are just those within the EU. The EU, however, is also operating a large-scale influence operation outside of the EU, of course under the benign sounding propaganda words of "framed as support for media freedom and pluralism" – as if the EU knows the first thing about freedom and pluralism. The projects have centered especially on media in Ukraine, Armenia,  Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Belarus and the western Balkans.

There is nothing transparent about any of this funding. According to the report, it is opaque and difficult to uncover. It makes sense, however, that the EU would seek to cover up its own influence peddling as much as possible.

The report concludes:

"[T]he EU's ever-expanding system of media financing... creates financial dependencies, incentivises narrative conformity and fosters an ecosystem in which dissenting voices are marginalised – all under the virtuous banners of 'fighting disinformation', 'promoting European values' and 'building a European public sphere.'

"The extent of institutional entanglement between EU bodies and major media actors – from public broadcasters to news agencies to online outlets – cannot be brushed aside as harmless or incidental. It constitutes a systemic conflict of interest that compromises the media's ability to function as an independent pillar of democracy. Even absent direct editorial interference, the structural dependency on EU grants and contracts is enough to exert a chilling effect on critical reporting and encourage a reflexive alignment with official EU positions."

The EU appears, sadly, to be a deeply corrupt and undemocratic regime, which desperately clings to power through influence-peddling and the imposition of heavy-handed censorship. Hundreds of millions of Europeans continue to put up with these tactics. When will they please wake up?

Robert Williams is based in the United States.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21870/eu-pays-media

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France’s new premier draws mixed Jewish reactions - Canaan Lidor

 

by Canaan Lidor

While one community leader congratulated Sébastien Lecornu, others doubt there will be any shift from Paris’s anti-Israel line amid internal turmoil and rioting in the country.

 

Sebastien-Lecornu visits the Ecole polytechnique in Paris on Oct. 14, 2022. Photo credit: Institut Polytechnique de Paris / J.Barande.

French Jews reacted with cautious optimism on Wednesday to the appointment of a new prime minister amid an internal political crisis and rioting in major cities.

Jonathan Arfi, the president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, on Wednesday congratulated Sébastien Lecornu on his appointment on Tuesday to replace François Bayrou as prime minister following a no-confidence vote in the French parliament.

The government fell in connection with the austerity plan led by Bayrou under President Emmanuel Macron. Protests over the plan erupted into riots on Sept. 10 during a general strike declared by the French far left. Hundreds have been arrested, and a dozen police officers were injured in rioting in major cities, including in Paris, where rioters torched at least one building.  

“I offer him my best wishes for success in serving all French people. CRIF will stand by his side in the urgent fight against antisemitism as well as in the battle against all hatreds that fracture society,” Arfi wrote in a statement.

Bayrou was the subject of a controversy this week for saying during a televised interview that “What’s happening in Gaza is a stain not only on the history of Israel, but on a part of the history of the Jews of the world.”

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Bayrou’s comments, occurring amid a wave of antisemitic violence and hate in France, were seen by critics as an endorsement of the so-called new antisemitism phenomenon, in which Jews are targeted by perpetrators, often Arab or Muslim ones, in connection with Israel.

Bayrou’s remarks came on the backdrop of a crisis in bilateral relations between Israel and France, which has escalated into a row between Paris and Washington. Macron’s administration has imposed an arms embargo on Israel, which he has accused of “barbarism” in Gaza. France said it would recognize a Palestinian state this month, drawing objections by U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner, among other U.S. officials.

Some French Jews do not believe that diplomatic tensions will subside under Bayrou’s successor, noting that he had been involved in imposing the arms embargo on Israel during his previous stint as minister of the armed forces.

On X, Yoann Taïeb, a prominent French-Jewish journalist, reminded Arfi that Lecornu is “the minister who ordered the boycott of Israeli defense firms and the embargo on arms sales to Israel.”

On Wednesday, Macron condemned Israel for the second time for carrying out a precision strike on Tuesday in Qatar against a Hamas delegation.

“These strikes are unacceptable. I condemn them,” Macron wrote, adding he had, during a talk with Qatar’s leader, “reaffirmed France’s commitment to the sovereignty and security of Qatar.”

He said he had also expressed my wish for the continuation of negotiations for the release of all hostages still held by Hamas, adding: “I paid tribute to Qatar’s constant efforts toward this goal. This permanent state of war in Gaza cannot continue.”

Macron also tweeted a similar statement in Arabic, to which Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister for diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, replied in Arabic on X: “I thought that the Qataris only bought [the] Paris Saint-Germain [soccer team], but it seems they also bought Macron.”

Bruno Benjamin, the former president of the CRIF chapter in Marseille, home to France’s second-largest Jewish community, said France should “address its rhetoric, which is seen as partial, on Israel” and “support Israel’s fight on terrorism,” but he added he does not expect to see this happening under the new prime minister.

“In my opinion, as long as Emmanuel Macron remains president and the war continues, France’s support for Israel will remain fragile and often compromised,” Benjamin told JNS. “Gestures of friendship will happen occasionally, but the political line will remain ambivalent, as it seeks above all to accommodate all parties, sometimes at the cost of injustice to Israel.”

As for Lecornu’s appointment, “I do not see, at this stage, any major departure from the line followed until now. His past in the state apparatus does not suggest a radical change,” said Benjamin.

Growing polarization within French society “risks further exacerbating this imbalance: the government, under pressure from the public and certain ideological sources, will likely opt for a discourse that appeases domestic public opinion, even if it means hurting Israel,” he added.

 

Canaan Lidor

Source: https://www.jns.org/frances-new-premier-draws-mixed-jewish-reactions/

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Greenhouses pay the costs of demonizing ‘greenhouse gas’ - Vijay Jayaraj

 

by Vijay Jayaraj

The self-inflicted pain of “decarbonization” is not accidental but by design -- a way of forcing a decrease in energy use to satisfy a perverted, anti-human ideology that preaches an apocalyptic vision with no basis in science or common sense.

 

The era of hypothetical warnings about the cost of green policies is over. We have now entered the brutal phase of reporting with empirical data the economic devastation that the foolish “decarbonization” agenda has left in its wake. The latest exhibit in this gallery of ruin is New Zealand, where the so-called “green” transition has just claimed a victim: greenhouse growers of the nation's food production line.

Typically made of glass or plastic, greenhouses are used for indoor crop production. They allow growers to control parameters such as temperature and humidity, enabling year-round cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Common food crops are tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce. Because carbon dioxide is a plant food, concentrations of the gas are sometimes elevated in greenhouses to accelerate growth.

All this requires a lot of energy, making greenhouses vulnerable to climate taxes on carbon dioxide emissions and bans on hydrocarbons, which drive fuel and electricity prices higher.

Government policies have tripled natural gas prices for Simon Watson of NZ Hothouse, a 25-year tomato producer in South Auckland, who says the very foundation of his business is crumbling.

“Twenty-five years ago, gas was abundant and we were told it was going to last forever,” said Watson. “It was a wonderful thing.”

But the good times are gone. Natural gas supplies are running out, and rising costs threaten to uproot the entire operation, disrupting hundreds of workers. Watson's two plants represent about 10% of New Zealand's 500 acres of covered crops in the upper North Island. He predicts many will have to cut back or close because they can't afford to pay for gas.

Natural gas fuels far more than greenhouses. Watson points out that 80% to 90% of supermarket products -- from meat and dairy to sugary drinks and liquor -- rely on gas-intensive processes. The decline in natural gas reserves is pushing prices higher. The government and the energy industry have nine months to come up with a solution before the high energy demands of next winter make the situation catastrophic.

Self-Inflicted Energy Pain

The gas crisis in New Zealand began with a 2018 ban on new permits for offshore exploration in the Taranaki region, curtailing growth in oil and gas production. The energy sector, historically a significant contributor to New Zealand’s economy, has faced reduced investment and exploration activity, impeding domestic gas production.

Recently reversing its ban on permits, the government has now allocated $200 million for offshore gas exploration. Similarly, New Zealand has exited an international group promoting the phasing out of fossil fuels, signaling a retreat from climate policies. But it will take a while before these changes can yield results, leaving businesses in limbo.

Threat to Global Agriculture

This manufactured crisis reveals the true cost of climate virtue-signaling -- not just in New Zealand but across the globe, where similar policies are damaging the agricultural sector.  

Canadian greenhouse farmers face carbon tax bills that represent up to 40% of their energy costs. Added to this are carbon taxes that Canadians pay when buying fuel, electricity, and groceries.

Agriculture ranks among global industries most dependent on fossil fuels, making it particularly susceptible to the harms of bad energy policy. Diesel fuel powers equipment and propane runs grain dryers and heats barns. Nitrogen fertilizer, herbicides and insecticides are synthesized from natural gas and oil byproducts.

The biggest irony is that the CO2 that climate activists demonize enhances photosynthesis and boosts agricultural productivity.

The self-inflicted pain of “decarbonization” is not accidental but by design -- a way of forcing a decrease in energy use to satisfy a perverted, anti-human ideology that preaches an apocalyptic vision with no basis in science or common sense. The question is whether societies will recognize this path to destruction before it's too late to reverse course.

Image: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Related Topics: New Zealand, Global Warmimg

  

Vijay Jayarajj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO₂ Coalition, Fairfax, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor’s in engineering from Anna University, India.

Source: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/09/greenhouses_pay_the_costs_of_demonizing_greenhouse_gas.html

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Israel's Ambassador Leiter rebukes US rabbis over Gaza claims, urges apology - Amichai Stein

 

by Amichai Stein

Ambassador Yehiel Leiter responds to rabbis' letter on Gaza, accusing them of spreading misinformation and ignoring Hamas's role in aid diversion.

 

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter speaks to the media at the Capital Jewish Museum, near the site where two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead, in Washington, DC, US, May 22, 2025

(photo credit: REUTERS/KEN CEDENO)

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yechiel Leiter, on Thursday, responded sharply to a public letter signed by 80 American Orthodox rabbis calling for “moral clarity” from Israel regarding alleged starvation in the Gaza Strip.

In a letter obtained by The Jerusalem Post, Leiter, whose son, Maj. Moshe Leiter, was killed in action in Gaza, accused the signatories of promoting misinformation and echoing anti-Israel narratives.

“Your statement not only reflects a severe unfamiliarity with the facts,” Leiter wrote, “but also relies on the lies of our worst enemies.”

Leiter cited Israeli intelligence estimates, also confirmed by UN monitoring sites, indicating that up to 90% of humanitarian aid to Gaza is seized or diverted by Hamas. “Hamas physically seizes aid, imposes taxes and fees, runs smuggling operations, and even infiltrates aid organizations themselves,” he wrote.

He criticized the rabbis for ignoring the reality that “Israel is the one feeding those who are firing on our children.”

Yechiel Leiter holds a photo of his heroic son Moshe Yedidya (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

The rabbis’ letter, organized by Rabbi Yosef Blau, claimed there is hunger in Gaza and pointed to settler violence in the West Bank. In response, Leiter said linking the two issues serves only to delegitimize Israel and suggested the motivation behind the letter was political.

“According to the Shin Bet, the core group of violent individuals numbers fewer than 100,” Leiter wrote. “By contrast, in 2023, Palestinians carried out 11,370 terror attacks in Judea and Samaria.”

No barriers on quality or quantity of Gaza aid

Addressing claims of starvation in Gaza, Leiter noted that Israel is working to establish alternative mechanisms to deliver aid outside the existing UN channels, which he said empower Hamas. “Israel places no barriers, neither in quality nor in quantity, on the delivery of humanitarian aid,” he wrote, citing the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) as one such effort.

Leiter also directly addressed Rabbi Blau, writing: “Had you taken the time to study the subject, you would have read the research published under the title Debunking the Genocide Claims: A Re-examination of the Israel-Hamas War, which refutes the allegations of famine in Gaza and demonstrates that they were based on faulty data, circular citations, and failures in source criticism.”

He concluded by calling for moral courage: “In the face of heavy pressures and false accusations, what is required is moral backbone and a deep belief in the justice of our cause. Sadly, your statement undermined that.”

Leiter ended the letter with a pointed rebuke: “As Israel fights for survival on seven fronts, faces international pressure, and leads historic changes in the Middle East for security and stability, this is the time to support Israel’s elected government and the people of Israel, not to conduct political criticism rooted in blatant ignorance of the facts. You should apologize.” 

Amichai Stein

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-867229

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Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA founder, assassinated at 31 on college campus - Sarah Rumpf-Whitten , Adam Sabes , Samantha Daigle

 

by Sarah Rumpf-Whitten , Adam Sabes , Samantha Daigle

Conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder was scheduled to appear as part of American Comeback Tour

 

 

Charlie Kirk,the conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, is dead after being shot during a campus event at Utah Valley University Wednesday.

President Donald Trump confirmed Kirk's death in a post on Truth Social.

"The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us," Trump wrote. "Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!"

The FBI said "the subject" of the shooting is in custody.

DEVELOPING STORY: CHARLIE KIRK SHOT AT UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY EVENT

Charlie Kirk speaks before he is shot during Turning Point's visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

Charlie Kirk hands out hats before speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

Kirk died after he was taken to a hospital in critical condition after being shot Wednesday at a Utah event, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Video posted from the event appeared to show Kirk being shot as he spoke to the crowd from under a white pop-up tent. After the shot, the crowd dispersed, with onlookers shouting, "Run, run, run!"

Treanor said the shooting happened at about 12:20 p.m.

WATCH – EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Video

In one video, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, captured Kirk moments before the assassination. The video shows students crowded around a white tent emblazoned with the words, "THE AMERICAN COMEBACK" and "PROVE ME WRONG."

 

In one video, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, captured Kirk moments before the assassination. The video shows students crowded around a white tent emblazoned with the words, "THE AMERICAN COMEBACK" and "PROVE ME WRONG." 

Manhunt

"The subject for the horrific shooting today that took the life of Charlie Kirk is now in custody. Thank you to the local and state authorities in Utah for your partnership with [the] FBI," FBI Director Kash Patel said in an X post. "We will provide updates when able."

"We have a person of interest in custody that is being interviewed right now," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a Wednesday evening press conference.

Emergency responders walk towards Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado after a shooting on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.  (Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Campus police on Wednesday afternoon asked students to call a hotline and be escorted off in public transportation. UVU boasts of being the state's largest public university with 44,000 students.

"Police will come and escort you out of the building," the university wrote in an X statement. "Public transportation is available at Orem Station by pedestrian bridge."

In a statement, UVU said that police are escorting students off campus: "UVU campus is closed. Classes cancelled. Those on campus, secure in place until police officers can escort you safely off campus. Police are currently going building to building escorting people off campus. Roads to campus are currently closed."

SEE IT: 

The crowd reacts after Charlie Kirk is shot during Turning Point's visit to Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.  (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

Video

 

 

"We had a speaker, Charlie Kirk, who was invited by a student group, Turning Point USA, who was speaking on campus today at noon," the statement said.

"At about 12:20 shots were fired from a building about 200 yards from the speaker. To the best of our knowledge, the individual was hit and was taken away immediately by his security personnel," Treanor said previously. Treanor said the campus is closed for the day.

SEE IT: 

Allison Hemingway-Witty cries after Charlie Kirk is shot during Turning Point's visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)

 In a campus-wide alert, Utah Valley University said that: "A single shot was fired on campus toward a visiting speaker. Police are investigating now."

Charlie Kirk listens onstage during Politicon 2018 on October 20, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images/Politicon)

Utah Valley University noted that the campus is "closed until further notice."

"Ongoing police investigation. If you are still on campus, follow police directions."

Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, speaks during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, US, on Friday, July 22, 2022. (Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Kirk had been scheduled to appear at Utah Valley University on Wednesday as part of his American Comeback Tour, with another stop at Utah State University later this month. His appearances have drawn protests and petitions from student groups critical of his views.

In a since-deleted post on Kirk's social media just hours before the attack, the conservative firebrand wrote: "WE. ARE. SO. BACK. Utah Valley University is FIRED UP and READY for the first stop back on the American Comeback Tour."

The fall 2025 leg of the tour began at the Orem, Utah university and is "a nationwide campus tour aimed at equipping students with the tools to push back against leftwing indoctrination in academia and reclaim their right to free speech." 

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk speaks during the Turning Point Action's The Believers Summit 2024 ahead of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump’s presentation, in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., July 26, 2024. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)

Trump wrote on social media: "We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!"

In a statement on X, Vice President J.D. Vance wrote: "Say a prayer for Charlie Kirk, a genuinely good guy and a young father."

FILE - Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk stands in the Oval Office of the White House on May 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Utah Senator Mike Lee posted to X shortly after news of the shooting broke, writing, "I am tracking the situation at Utah Valley University closely. Please join me in praying for Charlie Kirk and the students gathered there."

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CHARLIE KIRK

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote: "Prayers for Charlie Kirk. An incredible Christian, American, and human being. May the healing hand of Jesus Christ be upon him."

Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, throws hats to the public on May 1, 2025, at UC San Diego's Town Square. (Michael Ho Wai Lee/SOPA Images/LightRocket )

In a statement, the U.S. Secret Service expressed their "deepest sympathies" to the Kirk family.

"The safety and security of our protectees is the U.S. Secret Service’s top priority. President Trump receives the highest levels of U.S. Secret Service protection and the agency adjusts our protective posture as needed to mitigate evolving threats," they said. "Out of concern for operational security, we cannot discuss the means and methods used for our protective operations."

President Donald Trump shakes hands with conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a forum dubbed the Generation Next Summit at the White House on March 22, 2018, in Washington, D.C.  (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Kirk married former Miss Arizona USA Erika Frantzve in May 2021. They have two children, a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.

Charile Kirk and his wife, Erika Lane Frantzve and their two children at Christmas 2024. (Charlie Kirk via Facebook)

He is the author of four books including, most recently, "The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas that Will Win the Future." Kirk is the host of The Charlie Kirk Show podcast, which was downloaded over 120 million times in the last 12 months and regularly ranks among the top 10 shows on Apple Podcasts charts.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital. 

You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

  

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten , Adam Sabes , Samantha Daigle

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/charlie-kirk-shot-utah-event-hospitalized

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