“Algeria decided to sever diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after what it described as the ‘exhaustion of all means to preserve bilateral ties’, Algerian state media said on Thursday. Algeria accused the UAE of ‘provocative and hostile acts’, without providing details in a statement released by the foreign ministry. … Shortly after Algeria’s announcement, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said on X that diplomatic relations should be based on ‘rationality, communication and clarity of interests’, rather than ‘riddles and signals that require decoding’.” (09/10/26)
“The city of Denver filed a lawsuit Thursday to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from going to voting sites. The lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secretary Markwayne Mullin argues that ordering federal officers to carry out detainments and serve warrants violated the ‘troops at polls’ law. The troops at polls law, established by Congress during the Civil War, imposed fines and potential jail time for federal officers who show up to ‘any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.'” (09/10/26)
“US wholesale inflation picked up more than expected in August, government data showed Thursday, driven by higher energy costs in the month – particularly for diesel – as the US war with Iran continued. Rising prices at the pump are squeezing US households and businesses weeks ahead of key midterm elections, pressuring President Donald Trump’s administration, as average diesel costs hit new highs. The Producer Price Index (PPI) was up 5.4 per cent year-on-year last month, the Department of Labour said. This was a significant acceleration from the 4.8 per cent rise in July and above the 5.3 per cent that economists expected in a consensus forecast published by MarketWatch.” (09/10/26)
“One August day, immigration officials boarded a shackled South King County man on a flight leaving Boeing Field. The Colombian immigrant had been held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma and was suddenly told he was leaving. He was one of about 95 people U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement put on the flight — part of an unprecedented wave of transfers from the local [concentration camp] to [concentration camps] out of state. … In one week alone at the end of August, authorities boarded roughly 400 people on ICE flights leaving Boeing Field, formally known as King County International Airport, according to passenger numbers counted by a recently hired county staffer monitoring such flights. … The increase in flights comes as the federal government is planning for the Tacoma [concentration camp’s] future. ICE’s contract with the GEO Group, a national corporation that owns and runs the [concentration camp], runs out in late October.” (09/10/26)
“Spanish intelligence services warned their Moroccan counterparts and Madrid of migrants’ plans to storm Ceuta a day before more than 70,000 people crossed into Spain’s North African enclave, according to documents released by the government on Wednesday. In a July 29 note to the Moroccan intelligence agencies DGST and DGED, Spain’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Centre (CNI), warned of plans on social media platforms for migrants to enter Ceuta by scaling the border fence or swimming around it, taking advantage of Morocco’s annual Throne Day celebrations. On the same day, the CNI also warned the Spanish government’s representative in Ceuta of the plans, according to declassified WhatsApp messages. … The release of the documents is likely to intensify scrutiny of the operational decisions taken in the hours before the crossing and whether sufficient measures were put in place to prevent it.” (09/10/26)
“Slightly fewer Americans filed for unemployment claims last week as jobless claims remain at historically low levels and layoffs are still relatively rare. Filings for benefits dipped to 206,000 last week from a revised 207,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, also fell modestly to 206,000. Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them because they can be a sign of where the job market is headed. For the past year, claims have mostly stayed within a historically low range of 200,000 to 230,000 a week.” (09/10/260
“Mayors in England will be given the power to impose a new fee on visitors’ overnight stays, in a move the government says will mean more money can be invested into local areas. Under the plans, local leaders will be able to bring in an uncapped levy, dubbed a ‘tourist tax’, as a percentage of the cost of hotels, bed and breakfasts and other types of accommodation rather than a flat fee. Hospitality leaders have warned it will put jobs at risk and hit families in the pocket. But the government said it would protect budget holidays ‘by making sure low-cost accommodation always pays lowest levy’ and said the extra cash could be invested in high streets and local transport.” (09/10/26)
“Several leading British rabbis have backed the UK’s new sanctions on Israeli [squats], amid protests from prominent Jewish groups and leaders against the measures. A day after the sanctions were announced by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, senior Masorti rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg took to X to express his support for the sanctions. ‘What is taking place today in the West Bank is a Chillul HaShem, a violation of God’s name of the worst order. We cannot stay silent. This is terrible for Palestinian people who want to get on with their lives in peace. It is terrible for Israel,’ Wittenberg wrote on X. … Elsewhere, Rabbi Alexandra Wright of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London said that the ‘occupation and escalating violence are harming Palestinians and Israelis’. … Other rabbis who came out in support of the measures include Jeremy Gordon of the New London Synagogue, and Lev Taylor of Kingston Liberal Synagogue.” (09/10/26)
“Federal agents on Thursday captured an accused election fraud ringleader who allegedly paid Skid Row homeless a few bucks each to sign California ballot petitions using the stolen identities of real voters. The FBI apprehended alleged election crook James Brass, a.k.a. ‘Lord,’ in Victorville, San Bernardino County, just before dawn. He allegedly ran his scheme through a small company he owns called Pinnacle Brass …. Also charged in the two-count indictment against Brass are two petition circulators who allegedly worked for him: Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California. … All three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price are charged with an additional count of identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.” (09/10/26)
“Vice-president JD Vance appeared to partially row back on Donald Trump’s outlandish claims that every adult citizen in the US would receive $5,000 if the Republicans retain the House and Senate in the midterm elections. … Vance, speaking after the president, suggested the so-called dividend payments would not go to the wealthy and that it could be paid for by US tariff revenues – though the suggested payment dwarfs what the US has taken in through the protectionist measures. Congress would need to approve or otherwise acquiesce to the payment. The sum would far exceed US tariff revenues even before the Supreme Court tossed much of the president’s tariff program last year.” (09/10/26)
