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🇬🇧 Piddington has voted to “declare independence” from the UK in protest against plans to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby.
In a non-binding referendum, 285 of 312 voters backed the move, citing a lack of consultation and the proposed site’s proximity to homes and a children’s park.
📎 Europa
In a non-binding referendum, 285 of 312 voters backed the move, citing a lack of consultation and the proposed site’s proximity to homes and a children’s park.
📎 Europa
📵 🇪🇺 👨💻 The EU is preparing new rules that could require age verification for online gaming accounts as part of its upcoming Kids Act.
The proposal would cover online games considered risky for minors, as well as social media, video platforms and AI chatbots.
The proposal would set 15 as the minimum age for an independent account, with younger kids needing different levels of parental control.
It could also target things like infinite scrolling and recommendation systems, while companies covered by the rules may have to pay a fee to help the EU enforce them.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/europe/eu-social-media-ban-children-intl
📎 Pirat-Nation
The proposal would cover online games considered risky for minors, as well as social media, video platforms and AI chatbots.
The proposal would set 15 as the minimum age for an independent account, with younger kids needing different levels of parental control.
It could also target things like infinite scrolling and recommendation systems, while companies covered by the rules may have to pay a fee to help the EU enforce them.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/europe/eu-social-media-ban-children-intl
📎 Pirat-Nation
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Forwarded from (Tabz)
With only five military hospitals, civilian facilities would need to absorb the overflow, potentially requiring around 15,000 of Germany’s 440,000 hospital beds.
Hospitals are also assessing anti-drone barriers, bulletproof glass and expanded medical stockpiles.
A Cold War-era nuclear bunker beneath a hospital in Ulm, capable of sheltering 2,000 people for 90 days, is also being assessed for reactivation.
Officials say the biggest challenge is personnel, as only a few hundred German doctors have experience treating wartime injuries.
The Bundeswehr conducted its largest medical exercise in decades in March 2026, while a new Health Security Act is expected this fall to enable real-time tracking of beds, medicines, and staff.
Officials acknowledge the system is not yet ready.
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🇺🇸⚡️- Americans should drive less if they want gas prices to go down, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Forwarded from (Doha)
The F-15SA is a highly capable variant valued at approximately $110 million or more per aircraft, depending on configuration and associated systems.
The aircraft is also a two-seat configuration, allowing for two crew members to be onboard.
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Forwarded from (Doha)
The squadron operates the advanced F-15SA variant as part of the RSAF’s combat aircraft fleet.
@GeoPWatch
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📎 Breaking911
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/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global
The administration has requested an additional $67 billion to restock the Pentagon’s arsenal and patch looming budget gaps.
The independent estimate is similar to other public estimates: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate hearing in July that the war had cost $37.5 billion.
If the conflict is sporadic, as it was during a ceasefire in May and June, the CBO estimated continued costs would be about $2 billion per month; costs would be close to $3 billion per month if the conflict intensifies, as it did in July.
The war has drawn down the U.S. stock of missile interceptors, which will take years to rebuild and could leave the U.S. vulnerable to missile attacks from other countries, such as China, according to the report. The CBO also noted that the estimate is based on government databases and public reports because the Defense Department did not respond to CBO’s request for information.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/09/15/iran-war-cost-38-billion-through-july-report-says/
📎 Washington Post
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The Washington Post
Iran war cost $38 billion through July, report says
The U.S. is expected to spend $2 billion to $3 billion per month as the war continues, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
🇪🇺 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 E.U. Talks of Making Canada first 'Associate Member as US. Ties Weaken
Details are scant, and the linkup is not a done deal, but the announcement was the boldest step yet in a joint quest by the European Union and Canada for tighter global partnerships. Both economies have been trying to build stronger alliances with a variety of countries as they find themselves caught between a competitive China and an at-times-hostile United States.
Mr. Carney gave a headline-grabbing speech at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this year during which he argued that the world order that emerged from the Cold War was facing a “rupture, not a transition,” and that “middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
The move on Wednesday was a clear demonstration of that strategy.
Ms. von der Leyen did not lay out in detail what associate membership to the European Union might entail. But European diplomats and officials in recent days have made it clear that Canada and the European Union, which will meet for a summit at the end of October, are working toward closer cooperation on technology regulation, trade and the supply of critical minerals.
Since trade talks between Canada and the United States collapsed last month, the two countries have been locked in a trade war. President Trump has also repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st state, prompting a wave of patriotism among Canadians.
By contrast, polls suggest that four out of five Canadians want Mr. Carney to bring their country closer to the European Union and that more than half would like Canada to join the bloc as a member.
Mr. Carney often calls Canada “the most European non-European country.” Already, Ottawa and Brussels have a free-trade agreement, though the deal has not been approved by 10 of the 27 E.U. member states. Nonetheless, about 90 percent of trade between the European Union and Canada is tariff-free. Total trade between the two was $150 billion last year, compared with the United States-Canada trade relationship, which was worth more than $800 billion.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/world/europe/eu-canada-associate-member.html
📎 The New York Times
Details are scant, and the linkup is not a done deal, but the announcement was the boldest step yet in a joint quest by the European Union and Canada for tighter global partnerships. Both economies have been trying to build stronger alliances with a variety of countries as they find themselves caught between a competitive China and an at-times-hostile United States.
Mr. Carney gave a headline-grabbing speech at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this year during which he argued that the world order that emerged from the Cold War was facing a “rupture, not a transition,” and that “middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
The move on Wednesday was a clear demonstration of that strategy.
Ms. von der Leyen did not lay out in detail what associate membership to the European Union might entail. But European diplomats and officials in recent days have made it clear that Canada and the European Union, which will meet for a summit at the end of October, are working toward closer cooperation on technology regulation, trade and the supply of critical minerals.
Since trade talks between Canada and the United States collapsed last month, the two countries have been locked in a trade war. President Trump has also repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st state, prompting a wave of patriotism among Canadians.
By contrast, polls suggest that four out of five Canadians want Mr. Carney to bring their country closer to the European Union and that more than half would like Canada to join the bloc as a member.
Mr. Carney often calls Canada “the most European non-European country.” Already, Ottawa and Brussels have a free-trade agreement, though the deal has not been approved by 10 of the 27 E.U. member states. Nonetheless, about 90 percent of trade between the European Union and Canada is tariff-free. Total trade between the two was $150 billion last year, compared with the United States-Canada trade relationship, which was worth more than $800 billion.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/world/europe/eu-canada-associate-member.html
📎 The New York Times
Nytimes
E.U. Talks of Making Canada First ‘Associate Member’ as U.S. Ties Weaken
Canada and the European Union have been confronting an increasingly challenging relationship with the United States under President Trump.
Forwarded from (Tabz)
The move has disappointed Labour figures, who now believe Brussels is unlikely to offer the UK significantly better terms than those secured under the Conservatives.
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“For every month the conflict lasts, the probability of permanent [oil] demand destruction increases,” wrote Sverre Alvik, vice president at consultancy DNV in a late August analysis.
At the same time, governments in countries that had planned to rely on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have been signalling shifts towards favouring domestic clean energy instead – or continuing to use coal for longer.
The current crisis, therefore, has the potential to not only lower fossil-fuel use and emissions in the short term, but also on a more lasting basis.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-global-fossil-fuel-emissions-set-to-fall-in-2026-amid-hormuz-crisis
📎 OSINTtechnical
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🇺🇸⚡️- The Fed raises interest rates by 25 basis points.