EU: Von der Leyen survives confidence vote

Source: Semafor

“European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen won a no-confidence vote Thursday by a significant margin. Some 360 members of the European Parliament rejected the motion against Von der Leyen, while 175 backed the move. A far-right group of the European Parliament had accused the EU president of engaging in corruption when negotiating access to COVID-19 vaccines, with Hungary’s prime minister joining calls for her to go.” (07/10/25)

https://www.semafor.com/article/07/10/2025/european-commission-president-faces-confidence-vote

Thomas L. Knapp

Children Are Not a Harm to Reduce

Source: The Dispatch
by Leah Libresco Sargeant

“Can you save the whales by ditching the kids? Some people seem to think so: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pledged in 2019 to have no more than two children for the sake of the earth, and some groups actively ask people to pledge to have no children at all. ‘You can protect children while fighting climate change and systematic corruption by refusing to procreate!’ reads the website of one such organization. But in their new book, After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People, the economists Dean Spears and Michael Geruso take steady aim at the claim that fewer children would mean a better world.” (07/10/25)

https://thedispatch.com/article/birthrate-population-climate-children-harm/

Thomas L. Knapp

Come April, Pope Leo might need a tax adviser

Source: Washington Post
by Daniel A Witt

“Here’s a not uncommon situation confronted by tax attorneys and advisers: A U.S. citizen is suddenly, perhaps unexpectedly, elevated to a CEO position. And that CEO holds dual citizenship in a country with which the United States does not have a bilateral tax treaty. To complicate the situation, the company’s headquarters — or siège social, in international law — are in a third country with which the United States also does not have a bilateral tax treaty. I’m referring, if you haven’t already guessed, to Pope Leo XIV. He is an American citizen and a citizen of Peru. He is now also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign nation. That’s a complicated tax posture under any circumstances. … absent some relief, His Holiness could spend next April 15 finishing a Form 1040. (One can only imagine the issues with valuing the Apostolic Palace as a fringe benefit or parsonage allowance.)” (07/10/25)

https://archive.is/a7UKC

Thomas L. Knapp

SCOTUS rejects Florida regime’s immigration law appeal

Source: United Press International

“The Supreme Court is letting stand a lower court’s ruling barring Florida from enforcing a contentious immigration law that imposes criminal penalties against undocumented migrants who enter the state. The United States'[s] highest court issued its single-sentence ruling on Wednesday. No reason was given. … Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed Senate Bill C4 into law in February, making it a misdemeanor crime punishable by nine months’ imprisonment for an undocumented adult who knowingly enters the state. A second offense is a felony, punishable by at least one year behind bars. Under the law, if an undocumented migrant who knowingly enters Florida and commits a capital felony, such as murder, may receive the death penalty under the law.” (07/10/25)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/07/10/SCOTUS-Florida-immigration-law/7241752135509/

Thomas L. Knapp

Upstart?

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“The spectacular fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk over the Big Beautiful Bill in particular (but deficit spending and debt accumulation in general) promises political watchers a big, ugly brawl.
Now, billionaire Musk appears to be serious about his proposed ‘third party,’ the ‘America Party.’ A name perfectly designed to ruffle Trumpian feathers. It might steal some of the thunder of ‘America First’ and ‘Make America Great Again.’ The president mocks the notion, saying that third parties ‘have never succeeded in the United States.’ Well, that is not exactly true. For a long time, it was second parties that had problems.” (07/10/25)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/07/10/upstart/

Thomas L. Knapp

Bangladesh: Tribunal indicts Hasina over protester deaths

Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]

“Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has indicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two senior officials over alleged crimes against humanity linked to a deadly crackdown on protesters during last year’s July uprising. The tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder and comprising justices Shafiul Alam Masud and Mohitul Enam Chowdhury, formally charged Hasina on Thursday. … Hasina, who fled to India following a student-led uprising last August, had been facing several charges. Earlier this month, in a separate ruling, she was sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court by the ICT.” (07/10/25)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/10/bangladesh-tribunal-indicts-ex-pm-hasina-over-protester-deaths

Thomas L. Knapp