Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“CCTV footage released on Monday showed the moment a pilot was caught at Jakarta airport trying to smuggle 70,000 ecstasy pills in his suitcase. A group of officers at the airport can be seen removing several bags full of drugs – which amounted to around four stone (26kg) – from a silver suitcase. The man told authorities that he was paid the equivalent of £9,000 to smuggle the drugs. According to authorities, the Malaysian pilot was under the influence when he was arrested.” (08/04/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c1l1d429m8eo
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Harvey Risch
“What America saw in the Senate hearing of Anthony Fauci on Wednesday is the end state of the toxic paternalism of an incompetent bureaucracy. The numerous discrepancies between Fauci’s diary entries and his public pronouncements over the Covid-19 pandemic were not just self-protection coverup of his earlier disastrous decisions. They reflect the standard model of public health administration: we know better than you how to manage a pandemic, and in fact we know it so well that we refuse to discuss any of it and instead use censorship and smear of contrary expertise and coercion rather than persuasion to effect our policies.” (08/04/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/anatomy-of-total-failure/
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The BBC recently interviewed an Israeli settler who said that all the Palestinians in four surrounding villages should be exterminated to avenge an Israeli who was killed while terrorizing a Palestinian village last month, adding that just a single Jewish life is worth ten million Palestinian lives. ‘I think now after they kill one Israeli people, we need to kill all the people in Tal and Sarra, even Jit and Farata,’ lawyer Yehuda Shimon told the BBC. ‘It sounds like you’re saying one Jewish life is worth hundreds or thousands of Palestinian lives,’ replied the BBC’s Lucy Williamson in the interview. ‘Million,’ Shimon corrected her. ‘One Jewish life, it’s ten million, okay?’ ‘That just sounds racist,’ Williamson responded, to which Shimon replied, ‘Yes, I know, I know. But this is the truth.'” (08/04/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/08/04/all-mainstream-western-institutions-view-palestinian-lives-as-worthless/
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“The Pacific Island country of Nauru has changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, its president said, matching the spelling and pronunciation in the national language. The country’s international code will change from NRU to NRO and its people will be known as dei-Naoero instead of Nauruan. Commonly known abroad by the pronunciation of Now-roo, the new name is spoken as Now-ero. The move would return the remote South Pacific island nation to its traditional name, a statement posted Thursday to the government’s Facebook account said. The country became known internationally as Nauru only because its local name was difficult for foreigners to pronounce and was a matter of convenience rather than one of choice, according to an earlier government statement.” (08/04/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/04/g-s1-137261/nauru-name-change
Source: Cobden Centre
“I [Max Rangeley] gave this speech at the Organization of American States in Panama, at the USA House. I talk through this fascinating topic from the perspective of evidence-based policy.” (08/04/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/08/speech-on-uaps-at-the-organization-of-american-states-in-panama/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“One of the things that has fascinated me ever since I founded The Future of Freedom Foundation is why so many Americans continue to hew to statism. After all, just look around us. The statist systems that 20th-century Americans brought into existence have brought us a life of constant chaos, crisis, war, conflict, hostility, monetary debauchery, massive taxation, death, suffering, tyranny, and oppression. … Who can possibly be pleased with the results of these deadly and destructive systems? Yet, most Americans continue to hew to them. Why?” (08/04/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/08/04/why-do-americans-continue-to-hew-to-statism/
Source: SFGate
“Floods and mudslides triggered by heavy rains have left at least seven people dead in Sri Lanka ’s tea-growing mountainous regions, forcing the closure of some schools, officials said on Tuesday. Heavy downpours over the last two days have flooded homes, fields and roads in many parts of the country. The mountainous areas in the central region are the worst hit, according to the government’s Disaster Management Center. At least five people died after being buried in mudslides that overran two houses in the central region, while two others died in floods, said Pradeep Kodippili, the center’s spokesperson. Three others have been injured. He said 291 houses had been damaged and nearly 3,500 people have been evacuated. Navy and army personnel have been deployed to rescue those trapped in the floods. Local television channel Hiru TV showed troops and civilians rescuing people trapped by floodwaters in their homes or at risk of being buried by mudflows.” (08/04/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/sri-lanka-closes-some-schools-as-heavy-rains-22372863.php
Source: Brookings Institution
“AI and toddlers: The impacts on early development.” (08/04/26)
https://shows.acast.com/tech-tank/episodes/ai-and-toddlers-the-impacts-on-early-development
Source: Law & Liberty
by James Hankins
“The accounts could show the way to get the government out of healthcare.” (08/04/26)
https://lawliberty.org/a-trump-account-hsa/
Source: US News & World Report
“Foundations funded and co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos have launched an initiative committing $200 million to revive 100 of Earth’s most threatened species, including endangered lemurs, salamanders, pangolins, pigs and echidnas. DiCaprio’s Re:wild and the Bezos Earth Fund are leading the Phoenix Species Project, the groups announced Tuesday. They call it the largest single fund in history dedicated exclusively to recovering critically endangered species.” (08/04/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2026-08-04/leonardo-dicaprio-and-jeff-bezos-lead-200m-project-to-save-100-of-globes-most-threatened-species
