Elon Musk has hit back at German magazine Der Spiegel, after it branded the billionaire “public enemy No.2” and claimed he is working with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to “decompose liberal democracy.” In response, Musk insisted that he is a staunch defender of democracy.    

The German outlet published an article on Sunday with a cover depicting a close-up of the tech mogul with Trump’s features emerging through part of his face. The piece noted that the X owner and Tesla CEO has amassed huge economic clout and a prominent media profile. 

Retired American generals Philip Breedlove and Ben Hodges have claimed that a tiny German force in Lithuania could defend the country against a large-scale Russian invasion, citing opaque “war games” conducted in Washington.

The II BRICS+ Fashion Summit took place in Moscow on October 3-5, 2024. Who attended, what are their expectations from BRICS and why is the summit such a huge cultural phenomenon?

 

The East with a love for fashion: the faces of the BRICS+Fashion Summit    BY Ksenia Muratshina

 

BRICS plus the rest of the world

“O-o-o-o, Malaysia – truly Asia!” quoting a famous slogan, a tall, broad-shouldered Indian waves cheerfully at the Malaysian delegation. “Nice to meet you!”

Paris seeks UNESCO cultural heritage status for distinctive zinc rooftops

The French culture ministry wants to etch the unique zinc-plated rooftops of Paris and their workers in the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Though iconic, the roofs are often criticised for their inadaptability to hot temperatures brought on by climate change.

The zinc covering the roofs of central Paris has given the French capital's skyline its distinctive grey hue for almost two centuries.

https://consortiumnews.com/2024/10/20/watch-cn-live-brics-rising/

 

Vijay Prashad: A World Without Context

 

Providing an excess of information that comes without proper, democratic analysis and is almost entirely controlled by a small oligarchy is its own form of censorship. And it eliminates knowledge and wisdom.

 

By Vijay Prashad
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research

 

 

A victory for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris could usher in a crackdown on freedom of speech in the US, tech billionaire Elon Musk has warned.

Speaking at a rally for Republican candidate Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday, the Tesla and X CEO was asked what kind of administration he would expect to see from Harris if she wins the November election. 

“We’ll see a lot of censorship under a sort of Kamala regime. Kamala is really just a puppet, frankly. If the teleprompter breaks she doesn’t know what to say,” Musk said, adding that he prefers to think of the administration as a “big government machine” that puts on a certain face to appeal to voters.

France would work to rally Western countries behind Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s “victory plan,”French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said during his visit to Kiev on Saturday. 

“A Russian victory would be a consecration for the law of the strongest and would push the international order towards chaos,”Barrot told reporters during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrey Sibiga. 

“That is why our exchanges must enable us to make progress on President Zelensky’s victory plan, and to rally as many countries as possible around it.”

The diplomat reiterated that Paris would “support, again and again, Ukraine’s resistance against Russian aggression.” 

CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM NEW ZEALAND (EMIRATES)

As entertainment and distractions have become playgrounds for sponsors, WE THE PEOPLE ARE UNDER CONTINUOUS CONTROL…

IT’S NOT NEW….

SINCE THE DAWN OF CIVILISED TIMES, CIVILISATION HAS NEEDED TO CONTROL PEOPLE BY VARIOUS MEANS. 

WHAT DOES CONTROL MEANS? DOES IT MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO PREVENT US FROM KILLING EACH OTHERS, PREVENT US US FROM ROBBING EACH OTHERS, AND MAKE SURE WE ALL SING FROM THE SAME SONG SHEET?

SURE, BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLE OF “CIVILISED” PEOPLE’S EXISTENCE IS TO SERVE THE MASTERS TO MAKE MONEY AND DIE ON THEIR BATTLEFIELDS — GLORIOUSLY AND IN THE NAME OF KINGS (OR RICH DUDES) AND GOD — FOR COUNTRY AND ULTIMATE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD…

Every two years, a musical feat of world standard is achieved by a young Australian in an unlikely Victorian country town. Shepparton, home of irrigation and stone fruit, population almost 70,600, or an average AFL crowd, hosts it.

Those who have recently accomplished this stupendous achievement are unknown. Have you heard of Alex Zhang or Oliver She or Tony Lee? And you won’t have heard of Joshua Han, too, who on Saturday, 12 October, won this year’s Australian National Piano Award, taking home $41,000 in prize money.

 

Country town showcases world-standard young pianists    By Stephen Downes

 

Israel succeeded in what it is good at destroying, killing children and women and assassinating leaders, in killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. But the Israelis are only deceiving themselves if they think that through their crimes, they can accomplish success for their colonial project and force the Palestinian people to surrender.

 

Will Israel learn from its history or be doomed to repeat its mistakes?    By Ali Kazak

 

 

Moscow is interested in a lasting peace with Kiev, but not a short-lived truce, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Russia’s goal is to ensure its long-term security interests, Putin stressed during a meeting on Friday with the heads of leading BRICS media agencies at the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow.

"If we are talking about some kind of peace processes, then these should not be processes related to a ceasefire for a week, two weeks, or a year, so that NATO countries [which support Ukraine] could rearm and stock up on new ammunition,” he said.

Moscow is looking to achieve “conditions for long-term, sustainable and lasting peace that provide equal security for all participants in this difficult process,” the Russian leader explained.

Russian ships are popping up across the North and Baltic Seas, under the guise of research. An investigation found that they're actually spying on Western infrastructure like data cables and wind farms.

 

https://www.dw.com/en/russias-spy-ships-comb-the-baltic-sea/video-70472921

 

 

ACTUALLY, THE RUSSIAN SHIPS ARE DOING RESEARCH ON WESTERN WIND-FARMS AND DATA CABLES... THE AMERICANS, MEANWHILE, BLOW UP PIPELINES...

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in Sydney on Friday for the first Australian visit by a reigning monarch in more than a decade, a trip that has rekindled debate about the nation's constitutional links to Britain.

The Sydney Opera House's iconic sails were illuminated with images of previous royal visits to welcome the couple, whose six-day trip will be brief by royal standards. Charles, 75, is being treated for cancer, which led to the scaled-down itinerary.

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Democrat Kamala Harris will campaign for the first time with Barack and Michelle Obama in separate events next week, hoping to inject some political star power in the final dash to election day in November, a senior campaign official said.

“The ICC’s credibility is hanging by a thread,” warned one former United Nations official in response to the court’s delay in deciding whether to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

 

Brett Wilkin

ICC WILL WITHDRAW WAR CRIMES CHARGES IF SINWAR CONFIRMED DEAD. ALSO: NETANYAHU STILL ALIVE