“For the first time since being elected in May, Pope Leo XIV waded into U.S. politics, criticizing those who say they’re against abortion but support the death penalty, saying that’s ‘not really pro-life.’ Leo, a Chicago native, was asked late Tuesday about plans by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich to give a lifetime achievement award to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin for his work helping immigrants. The plans drew objection from some conservative U.S. bishops, given the powerful Democratic senator’s support for abortion rights. Leo called first of all for respect for both sides, but he also pointed out the seeming contradiction in such debates. ‘Someone who says ‘I’m against abortion but says I am in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life,’ Leo told reporters.” (10/01/25)
“Jane Fonda and other Hollywood actors, directors, writers and producers relaunched the post-World War II Committee for the First Amendment to fight back against the Trump administration’s targeting of free speech. Originally formed in 1947 by Hollywood heavyweights Gene Kelly, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and others, the Committee for the First Amendment pushed back against the so-called Red Scare political repression of left-wing individuals during the 1940s and 1950s. In a statement Wednesday, the Committee for the First Amendment said it was relaunching at a time when it sees similar political oppression emanating from the Trump administration.” (10/02/25)
“The man who was photographed as a baby on the cover of Nirvana’s classic album Nevermind has failed in his attempts to sue the band for distributing child pornography. A four-month-old Spencer Elden was pictured swimming naked underwater on the 1991 LP’s famous cover. He sued the rock band and photographer Kirk Weddle, but a judge has ruled that ‘neither the pose, focal point, setting, nor overall context suggest the album cover features sexually explicit conduct.’ A lawyer for Nirvana said: ‘We are delighted the court has ended this meritless case and freed our creative clients of the stigma of false allegations.’ Mr Elden originally filed a lawsuit in 2021, arguing that his identity and name were ‘forever tied to the commercial sexual exploitation he experienced as a minor which has been distributed and sold worldwide.'” (10/02/25)
“A vehicle was driven toward a crowd of people and a man was stabbed near a synagogue in Manchester, a northern British city, police said. ‘One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,’ the Greater Manchester Police said on social media. The incident occurred outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in a northern suburb of the city on Thursday morning, law enforcement said. … Police said at least four people had been injured …. Police said they had declared the major incident, along with a ‘PLATO’ designation, a law enforcement shorthand that means the incident was being treated as a potential marauding terrorist attack. Thursday is Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day of the year in Judaism.” (10/02/25)
“ICE officials may pop up at the 2026 Super Bowl, an adviser to Homeland Security signaled Wednesday, three days after Bad Bunny was named the halftime headliner. … Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson asked Trump administration adviser Corey Lewandowski on his show if ‘ICE will have enforcement’ at the Super Bowl show. … ‘There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people in this country illegally [sic]. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else,’ replied Lewandowski, who is a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, per a video posted to Johnson’s Facebook page Wednesday. … ‘If there are illegal [sic] aliens, I don’t care if it’s a concert for Johnny Smith or Bad Bunny or anybody else. … We’re going to do enforcement everywhere.'” [editor’s note: If they try to pull that sh*t, I suspect they’ll get an embarrassing beatdown – TLK] (10/01/25)
“President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a ‘non-international armed conflict,’ according to a Trump administration memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, after recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean. A person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly said the Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials on Wednesday. The move comes after the U.S. military last month carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela. Pentagon officials could not provide a list of the designated terrorist organizations at the center of the conflict, a matter that was a major source of frustration for some of the lawmakers who were briefed, according to the person.” (10/02/25)
“The Papua New Guinea cabinet has approved a defence treaty with Australia, Prime Minister James Marape said on Thursday, as Canberra seeks to block China from expanding its security presence in the Pacific. Under the Pukpuk defence treaty, Australia and Papua are obliged to come to each other’s aid if attacked. … The treaty would also allow as many as 10,000 Papua New Guineans to serve with the Australian Defence Force, under dual arrangements, the statement said. The landmark treaty still requires ratification from both nations’ parliaments.” (10/02/25)
“A trained MMA fighter said he relied on his skills — and faith — when a stranger broke into his family’s South Florida home last week. It happened last Saturday, Sept. 27, in Wilton Manors, just north of Fort Lauderdale. ‘I’m prepared. It’s not my first time; I don’t feel pain,’ said Henny, the mixed martial artist who subdued the intruder. Henny said his nephew woke him frantically that morning, warning that a man was inside their living room. ‘I don’t have guns; I wasn’t looking for a knife — just God and my hands, that’s it,’ he said. The accused intruder, identified as Austin Carasani, appeared before a judge just hours later with visible injuries. Carasani’s face was black and blue from the encounter. Carasani told Wilton Manors police he had been drinking at a local club and ‘was attempting to go to his friend Paul’s house who resides in the area.'” (10/01/25)
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“Israeli [pirates] stopped 14 boats carrying foreign activists and aid bound for Gaza, flotilla organisers said on Thursday, but 23 boats are continuing to sail towards the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave, according to the flotilla’s tracking system. … The flotilla is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland by almost two years of war. The flotilla’s organisers denounced Israel’s action as a ‘war crime.’ They said the [pirates] used aggressive tactics, including the use of water cannon, but that no one was harmed. ‘Multiple vessels … were illegally intercepted and boarded by Israeli [pirates] in international waters,’ the organisers said in a statement.” (10/02/25)
