Friday Fuss And Fun

Before I get to today's stories, let me note that I will wait until some definite news comes in about Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation vote before I post anything about it.  Meanwhile, here are some things going on, including developments on the Kavanaugh situation:

From Radio Poland, Poland appears about to pass Portugal in per capita GDP.  (via Voice Of Europe)

From Radio Praha, today and tomorrow, Czechs vote in municipal and Senate elections.  (via Voice Of Europe)

From Voice Of Europe, one of French politician Marine Le Pen's daughters and her cousin were assaulted Nanterre, France.  (If you read French, read the story at Le Parisien.  In fact, only by reading a bit of the French article have I figured that the cousin is male, due to the phrase son cousin.  If the cousin had been female, the term would have been sa cousine.)

From Deutsche Welle, a youth leader in the party AfD claims that Hitler was "forced" to invade Poland.

From NL Times, the Zaanstad Sinterklaas committee withdraws from the national Sinterklaas festival.

From Dutch News, the Dutch government declines to raise gasoline taxes by 75 percent.

From VRT NWS, a Belgian wind farm gets the world's biggest wind turbines.  (Even bigger than the ones I've seen in Pennsylvania and Ohio?)

From France24, French President Macron tells the French to stop complaining.

From RFI, a French man shown in a video slapping a woman in Paris gets six months in jail.

From the Express, unemployment in the U.K. is half that of the Eurozone average.

From the Independent, the U.K. launches a campaign against female genital mutilation.

From The Guardian, in Scotland, a rape defendant finds that the criminal and civil standards of proof are indeed different.

From the Metro, a new law forbids U.K. mapmakers from putting the Shetland Islands in a box.

From El País, in 2017, Spain emitted slightly increased amounts of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter.

From ANSA, a mother and child were found dead near Lamezia Terme, Italy due to a flood caused by extreme weather.  (via Voice Of Europe)

From the Greek Reporter, a strike planned for October 11th could close the Acropolis and other Greek ancient sites.

From Sputnik International, some information about Russia's S-400 air defense system.

From Hürriyet Daily News, Turkish President Erdoğan suggests a referendum over his country's bid to join the E.U.

From Rûdaw, Turkey and Saudi Arabia seek to increase their oil output.

From Arutz Sheva, about 20,000 Gazans riot near the border with Israel.

From AhlulBayt News Agency, Saudi Arabia talks with arms manufacturers in South Africa.  (ABNA is an Iranian site, from which objectivity toward Saudi Arabia is probably doubtful.)

From Dawn, the Leader of the Opposition in Pakistan's National Assembly is arrested in connection with a housing scheme.

From Zee News, the remains of a temple have been found under the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India.

From StepFeed, according to a Saudi cleric, woman should not be angered by polygamy.

From Minds, a look at claims of alleged genocide by the Buddhists of Myanmar.

From the Chicago Tribune, a Chicago police officer has been convicted of second degree murder for shooting a black teenager.  (He shot the guy 16 times.  I must concede that I've never been a cop, nor have I had to shoot anyone in self-defense.  But I still can't understand how a suspect, after taking the first five or six bullets, still remains a lethal threat such that a cop needs to fire 10 or 11 more shots in order to defend himself.)

From FrontpageMag, believe all women......well, not really all of them.

From National Review, Judge Kavanaugh won't necessarily be a partisan Justice.

From the New York Post, the FBI's latest investigation about Kavanaugh was not a cover up.  (via Townhall)

From LifeZette, Senators Collins (R-ME) and Manchin (D-WV) appear intended to vote to confirm Kavanaugh.

From LifeNews, a high-ranking officer of Planned Avoidance of Parenthood admits that their opposition to Kavanaugh was all about abortion.

From Fox News, Representative Greg Gianforte (R-MT) offers his plane to Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) so he return to D.C. and vote on the Kavanaugh nomination.

From Twitchy, Sean Spicier drives the left even battier than usual.  (Sean Spicier is not a real person, but a parody account on Twitter.  Sadly, some people are not aware of this fact.)

From The Washington Post, President Trump does a little extra paperwork.  (H/T Annie of Southern Sense, who put this in her BlogTalkRadio chatroom.)

And from The Babylon Bee, Secretary of Defense James Mattis likes mustard with his ricin.