The small Italian island of Lampedusa is in crisis after more than 6,000 illegal migrants landed within the span of a day. Hundreds of boats have been seen arriving at the island’s ports, leading to increased tensions and violent confrontations between migrants and Italian police.
Mayor Filippo Mannino made the decision to declare a state of emergency on Wednesday evening and has called for more help and resources for the island.
– Everyone has helped in some way the migrants who needed help. But now it is really time to look for a structural solution, says Mannino.
The Italian government under Giorgia Meloni is now facing increased criticism. The government has promised to stop illegal immigration, but the numbers have instead skyrocketed. Over 100,000 illegal migrants have arrived in Italy so far in 2023, leading to accusations that the government has betrayed its voters.
Reports indicate that the final destination for many of the migrants is high-benefit countries in Northern Europe, primarily Germany, which puts further pressure on an already strained situation.
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The number of travelers to the United States has declined significantly since Donald Trump took office. The decline is visible in almost all parts of the world, but mostly from countries in the Caribbean and Central America.
In March, the number of travelers to the country fell by nearly 12%, compared to the same time last year. In February, the number of travelers decreased by two percent, compared to the previous year. According to data from the International Trade Administration, there were 17 percent fewer visitors from Western Europe in March, 24 percent fewer from Central America and 26 percent fewer from the Caribbean compared to a year ago, reports the Washington Post.
When Trump took office in January, international tourism in the country had almost returned to pre-corona figures, but now the decline is at the same significant level as then. Experts believe the decline is due to Trump’s statements, including that the imposed tariffs are creating tension internationally. Some countries have also tightened travel advisories to the US.
– The reaction of international travelers to avoid the US is entirely predictable, says Adam Sacks, CEO of Tourism Economics, an industry research firm:
– The combination of policy and rhetoric that has been so divisive and combative and isolationist – each successive policy and related polemics have been making the situation worse.
May affect tourism revenues
The downturn is the first significant one since the coronavirus crisis and could result in the loss of millions of dollars in tourism revenue if it persists. The U.S. Travel Association estimates that travel added $1.3 trillion to the US economy and created 15 million jobs last year.
– We attribute this to a variety of factors, including a strong dollar, long visa wait times, concerns over travel restrictions, a question of America’s welcomeness, a slowing U.S. economy and recent safety concerns, says Allison O’Connor, a spokeswoman for the organization.
In a response to a request for comment on the decline, the White House said Trump’s policies would strengthen the country’s image.
– President Trump’s agenda to make America wealthy, safe, and beautiful again benefits Americans and international visitors alike, said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.
Thousands of British girls have been sexually abused, raped or held as sex slaves in recent decades by so-called “grooming gangs”, often led by people of Pakistani origin.
Despite the systematic and widespread nature of the abuse, it was covered up by the British authorities – and the current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is held responsible for the cover-up in his former role as Attorney General.
As early as the late 1980s, young vulnerable girls in several towns in the north of England began to be exploited by Pakistani gangs. The girls were drugged with drugs or alcohol and subjected to serious rape.
It has since emerged that the authorities failed to intervene – partly for fear of being accused of “racism”.
– I want to see those responsible held accountable for gross misconduct, former police officer Maggie Oliver told Swedish state broadcaster SVT, which recently released a documentary about the events.
The misconduct led Oliver to resign and instead become one of the most prominent critics of government inaction.
“They stole my childhood”
Oliver is far from alone in his criticism, with foreign commentators such as Trump advisor Elon Musk also drawing attention to the scandal and attacking the UK government.
“They should receive the severest punishment. Hang them for treason”, he wrote in a statement in early January.
Good. They should receive the severest punishment. Hang them for treason.
The fact that Pakistani grooming and pedophile gangs have been able to continue their rampage for decades despite the alerts about the abuses has led to widespread public anger against British politicians and authorities. Many believe that the country’s leaders have blood on their hands and are heavily complicit in the destruction of the girls’ lives.
– The only way to cope was to turn everything off.They stole my childhood, says Elisabeth, who was 14 the first time she was raped.
She says she was held captive in an apartment and raped daily by different men.
– These men destroyed lives, and the authorities helped them do it, she continues.
“A cover-up”
Elisabeth was left in the apartment of the pedophile network despite being a minor, and she is far from alone in suffering from the authorities’ betrayal, with the police failing to act.
– It was a cover-up.They didn’t want it to be known that these kinds of sexual crimes were going on in the country, explains Maggie Oliver.
A fairly typical “British” grooming gang – these particular offenders are from Halifax. Photo: West Yorkshire Police
Many believe that the UK’s highest political leadership bears ultimate responsibility for the failure to stop the pedophile network – with Prime Minister Keir Starmer being singled out for blame in the cover-up scandal.
Mr. Starmer was the former Attorney General and was formally ultimately responsible when a huge number of child sexual abuse cases were ignored or covered up by the authorities.
– There was no one higher up to turn to.So I think he is complicit and knew exactly what was going on and he let it continue to happen.To me, that’s inexcusable, Oliver further argues.
Starmer insists on his innocence
The fact that British establishment politicians have rejected a national investigation into the scandal has further strengthened allegations of a cover-up – with critics seeing the unwillingness to get to the bottom of it as evidence of trying to protect themselves and their friends.
Starmer himself claims to have done nothing wrong, saying instead that he “tackled that problem head on”.
–I reopened cases that had been closed and supposedly finished, I brought the first major prosecution of an Asian grooming gang, he claims.
Keir Starmer: no inquiry into grooming gangs, everyone calling for one is far-Right, know your place, your betters have spoken. pic.twitter.com/cbFJTbyH31
Others point out that not only have leading politicians acted far too late – but that the problems have still not been addressed, and that British girls are still being systematically abused by foreign gangs.
Rotherham, an English town of just over 100,000 people, is often cited as the prime example of the corruption and incompetence of the authorities. By the early 1990s, abuses were already well known in the town – but despite politicians and police being alerted on numerous occasions, the abuses continued for decades. Despite the city’s small size, it is estimated that at least 1,400 girls were exploited, raped or sold as sex slaves in the city between the late 1980s and 2013.
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson has announced that there may be new congressional hearings on the September 11, 2001 attacks – and believes there are still a number of unanswered questions about the official story and the inadequacies of the investigations conducted so far.
Johnson points out, for example, that Building 7 could only have been destroyed by an explosion and argues that crucial evidence was hidden or destroyed.
According to the official story, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan – while a third hit the Pentagon and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
Many have noted that the World Trade Center’s Building 7 also collapsed and disintegrated into dust – despite not being hit by any aircraft. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the explanation is that the building was ignited by fires caused by debris from one of the nearby towers, an explanation that many independent investigators have found to be unreasonable.
However, in an interview with American political commentator Benny Johnson, the senator questions this explanation, pointing out that it was apparently a controlled demolition that led to the collapse of the 47-storey building.
– Well, let’s start with Building 7. Again, I don’t know that you can find structural engineers other than the ones that have the corrupt investigation inside NIST that would say that that thing didn’t come down in any other way than a controlled demolition.
– You talk about molten steel. Again, you listen to the documentary Bravo 7. There’s an awful lot of questions. Who ordered the removal and the destruction of all that evidence? Totally contrary to any other firefighting investigation procedures. I mean, who ordered that? asks Ron Johnson.
Senator Ron Johnson drops BOMBSHELL:
Tells us that 9/11 Hearings are being planned, Building 7 was potentially a “Controlled Demolition”
“Structural Engineers say that thing didn’t come down in any other way than controlled demolition. Molten steel. Destruction of evidence. We… pic.twitter.com/aBQzCakll7
The senator also points out that important documentation from the investigation has disappeared without a trace and that he has spoken to other politicians who also want to see a new and more thorough investigation.
– Now, there are a host of questions that I want, and I will be asking, quite honestly, now that my eyes have been opened up.
Jonson also says that a number of family members of the victims have contacted him and are insisting that the unredacted FBI files related to the investigation be made public. He hopes that the Trump administration will be more willing than previous administrations to get answers and relevant documents to the families – and Johnson points out that Trump should have some self-interest in the matter, as he is from New York.
– What actually happened in 9-11? What do we know? What is being covered up? My guess is there’s an awful lot being covered up in terms of what the American government knows about 9/11.
Independent experts: controlled demolition
Back in 2016, independent experts published an extensive article in the prestigious physics publication Europhysics News, stating that the evidence for the official version, that the buildings collapsed by themselves, is simply not true. Instead, they point out that it is much more likely that controlled demolitions caused the buildings to collapse.
After nearly 54 years, 86-year-old globalist and technocrat Klaus Schwab has decided to step down as Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. Instead, the new leader will be Norway’s former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Bilderberg top Børge Brende.
The World Economic Forum has evolved into one of the world’s premier power conferences where world leaders, lobbyists, media moguls, bankers, entrepreneurs and other power brokers come together to discuss the state of the world and decide which agendas to focus on.
The article was originally published on The Nordic Times on May 24, 2024.
Schwab founded the forum in 1971 and has long been its main public face. He has also become a deeply unpopular figure, especially for the ultra-globalist and technocratic policies it has advocated. He himself has repeatedly boasted about the influence of his network and how his followers have “penetrated” governments around the world and influenced policy.
– I have to say that when I mention our names like Mrs. Merkel and even Vladimir Putin, and so on. All of them have been Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum. But what we are very proud of right now is the young generation like Prime Minister Trudeau, the President of Argentina and so on, that we are penetrating the cabinets, he proudly told us in 2017.
– I was at a reception for Prime Minister Trudeau and I should know that half of his government or even more than half of his government is from the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, he continued.
Bilderberg and Høyre
Schwab has also been heavily criticized for his high salary, equivalent to almost one million Swedish crowns a month, and for his organization financially benefiting various private companies linked to Schwab and his family. However, the profiled globalist will not be leaving the WEF altogether, but will take up a new role as ‘non-executive’ chairman of the forum.
“The organization has undergone a planned governance evolution from a founder-driven organization to one in which a chairman and board take full executive responsibility”, the WEF writes in a statement.
His successor Børge Brende has been at the helm of the WEF since 2017 and has been responsible for many of its day-to-day operations for some time.
Justin Trudeau, Klaus Schwab och Børge Brende. Photo: World Economic Forum/Benedikt von Loebell/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Brende, who has a long background in Norway’s liberal-conservative Høyre party, has served as the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Environment and Minister of Trade and Industry. He is also a member of the Bilderberg Group’s steering committee.
