Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker banned as the UK’s free speech backslide continues

Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Angel Eduardo

“Like any country, the British government can exercise broad discretion when it comes to who it decides to let into its borders. There is currently no proof that Uygur’s and Piker’s views on Israel were the motivating factor behind their visa revocations, but if they were, it’s yet more evidence of the UK’s backsliding on free speech in recent years. Remember the UK police database tracking ‘non-crime hate incidents?’ Or the 12,000 people arrested in the UK in 2023 for their online speech? And who can forget the UK government’s ominous and Orwellian ‘Think before you post’ warning on social media back in 2024? Perhaps most disappointingly, the banning of scheduled speakers from entering your country also betrays an unwillingness or inability to engage with ideas and arguments on their merits.” (06/01/26)

https://www.fire.org/news/cenk-uygur-and-hasan-piker-banned-uks-free-speech-backslide-continues

Kenya: High Court orders regime to release details of Ebola facility

Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]

“Kenya’s High Court has ordered the government to disclose details of a proposed United States-linked Ebola quarantine facility, a day after hundreds of people took to the streets in the central town of Nanyuki to protest about the planned site. The Reuters news agency said two people died from gunshot wounds during Monday’s unrest, citing protest organiser Patrick Wahome and a security source. The court extended conservatory orders stopping the establishment of any Ebola quarantine, isolation or treatment facility in Kenya and barred the admission of individuals exposed to the virus.” (06/02/26)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/2/high-court-orders-kenya-government-to-release-details-of-ebola-facility

Time to Move on from the Daylight Saving Time Obsession

Source: Independent Institute
by William F Shughart II

“With the apparent support of President Donald Trump, Congress may soon pass legislation allowing states to adopt misleadingly named daylight saving time year-round. In fact, DST — now in effect from early March until early November — doesn’t save anything. Clocks merely advance an hour, shifting sunlight from the morning to the evening. The length of the day doesn’t change a single nanosecond. … Permanent daylight saving time holds a false promise of energy savings, bustling stores, and enhanced social welfare. The idea backfired in 1964 and will fail again if the Sunshine Protection Act is included in the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act.” (06/01/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/01/move-on-from-the-daylight-saving-time-obsession/

The Gulf’s Bad Gamble

Source: The American Conservative
by Anik Joshi

“The recent war with Iran has been fought largely without the support of traditional European allies as well as aspirational Asian ones. Middle Eastern allies, however, have been far more willing partners. Israel is the most notable, but the Gulf states should not escape notice. They spent the last several decades sidling up to Western governments and capital, an approach that seemed broadly successful. They were able to maintain just enough interest in radical Islam to keep their people at bay, which meant the system broadly worked. But the most recent gamble of lowkey support for the war was one too far. The Gulf states planned on America taking out Iran and shielding them from the aftermath, and instead learned their place in the pecking order was far lower than imagined.” (06/01/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-gulfs-bad-gamble/

NYC: Tenant disarms burglar, kills him with his own knife

Source: New York Daily News

“A burglar was stabbed to death with his own knife by the tenant he was trying to rob after being caught breaking into a Brooklyn apartment, the Daily News has learned. The tenant, who was stabbed in the neck during the clash, is not expected to be charged because he acted in self defense, law enforcement sources said. … When the tenant came out of the bathroom, he caught the stranger red-handed, stealing two cell phones, a laptop and other belongings, the tenant says. …[Dan] Costume bit the tenant’s hands and cheek during the struggle, then whipped a knife out of his pocket and stabbed the tenant in the back of the neck, the tenant said. The tenant managed to disarm Costume and stab him in his thigh and lower back with the crook’s own knife, sources said.” (06/01/26)

https://www.nydailynews.com/2026/06/01/shocked-nyc-tenant-disarms-burglar-kills-dan-costume-with-own-knife/

Government works so well!

Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton

“As we are in the heat of the binneal Primary Season, while the ‘soft’ ceasefire in the Ami-Iran War staggers on, while there are rumors of a ceasefire in this phase of the Lebanese Conflict, our minds of course turn to the wonders and benefits of government. If we are honest (and love God and/or liberty), it is a pretty short list. And nothing on the list is anywhere close to balancing the immense cost and negative attributes that government enjoys.” (06/01/26)

https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/06/01/government-works-so-well/

Ukraine war: Russian forces launch large drone, missile attack

Source: Reuters

“Russian drones ​and missiles pounded the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities early on Tuesday. At least 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in the assault which also hit Dnipro and Kharkiv, authorities said. Last week, the Kremlin warned that it intended ‘systematic strikes’ on targets in Kyiv in response to a drone attack on a dormitory in Ukraine’s Russian-held region of Luhansk, which killed 21. Ukraine denied the attack. … Russian regions also came under attack. The Ilsky oil refinery, in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, caught fire after a drone attack, local authorities said on Telegram on Tuesday.” (06/02/26)

https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-war-live-major-new-russian-attacks-hit-kyiv-other-cities-2026-06-02/