Saturday Stuff

As the end of the week and the middle of June arrive, here are some things going on:

From Free West Media, a German ship captain is charged with trafficking illegal migrants by rescuing them from the Mediterranean.  (In my opinion, the real villains in this human smuggling are whoever has been supplying rubber boats to the migrants when they are still in northern Africa.  If you read German, read more at LutherKirsche.)

From Deutsche Welle, in an opinion column, a war in the Persian Gulf "can have no winners".

From the CPH Post, Danish politicians will raise the price of cigarettes, but will that deter young people?  (Have you ever noticed how some people want to legalize marijuana but are trying their darnedest to discourage the consumption of tobacco?)

From Radio Poland, during the E.U. elections, Russia reportedly targeted Poland with disinformation.

From Radio Praha, most Czech MPs want August 21 to be a memorial day for the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

From The Slovak Spectator, read the inauguration speech of new Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová.

From Sputnik International, a Russian beauty queen married to a former Malaysian king is a new mother.

From The Moscow Times, Russia successfully test launches its new "Arctic missile".

From EuroNews, Moldova had two parallel governments, until one of them quit.

From Novinite, Bulgaria deals with a new, but small oil spill.

From Ekathimerini, two robbery suspects with alleged terror links will testify next week.

From the Greek Reporter, beware the highly toxic silver-cheeked toadfish.

From Total Croatia News, the Bosnian justice ministry receives Croatia's request to extradite former soccer team head Zdravko Mamić.

From the Malta Independent, in Valletta, Malta, some people just want to bang on the drum all day.

From SwissInfo, the Pride Parade in Zurich, Switzerland includes the temporary renaming of a bridge.

From The Portugal News, Portugal's population is decreasing.

From France24, according to a spokesman for Notre-Dame Cathedral, only the small donors have sent previously pledged money.

From RFI, "yellow vest" protesters rally again, but with fewer participants.

From VRT NWS, if you're visiting Belgium by car, slow down.

From the NL Times, over 3,000 kilos of cocaine is found in a shipment of rice in Antwerp, Belgium, believed to be headed for the Netherlands.  (This is not the same story as the one I linked yesterday from VRT NWS, even though both discoveries were made in Antwerp.  That stash was only 617 kilos, and was hidden in a shipment of tuna.  I'm surprised that the NLT, which usually hasn't published many stories on weekends, has included a few new ones today.)

From the Express, a finance expert warns Boris Johnson about the exact moment when his fellow Tories could oust him as prime minister.

From BBC News, in 24 hours, three people are murdered in London.

From the Evening Standard, two boats carrying 40 migrants are intercepted in the English Channel.

From the Independent, hundreds of homes are evacuated due to flooding in Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, England.

From the Irish Examiner, according to Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, removing the Irish backstop would be as bad as a no-deal Brexit.

From CBC News and speaking of floods, the aftermath of floods can be long-term.

From Global News, a former environment minister urges the Canadian cabinet to reject the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

From CTV News, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service destroyed a file on the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.  (He was the father of the current prime minister.)

From TeleSUR, military police are used against demonstrators protesting against President Jair Bolsonaro's proposal to privatize Brazil's pension system.

From Hürriyet Daily News, Turkey opens its first coffee museum.  (Somehow, I don't think that it will include anything related to King Jan Sobieski of Poland.)

From Turkish Minute, Turkey's red meat imports increased by 233 percent in 2018.

From Rûdaw, fires ravages the countryside near Mosul, Iraq.

From The Times Of Israel, Israel reportedly demands the bodies of two dead soldiers from Hamas.

From The Jerusalem Post, Israel and Lebanon will reportedly begin talks on their maritime border in July.

From YNetNews, "the secret life of the elite Muslim IDF soldier".  (Israel's Arab minority, most of whom are Muslim, are not required to participate in military service, but Israel allows those who wish to serve to do so.)

From Egypt Today, according to Sudan's attorney general, ousted President Omar al-Bashir will go on trial next week.

From Radio Farda, should the world be worried about Iranian chemical weapons?

From INRA, Iran deports 44 illegal immigrants from Pakistan back to Pakistan.  (Some people consider this sort of thing racist when done by the U.S. or other western countries.  The story comes via The Express Tribune.)

From The Express Tribune, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party calls the ruling party's proposed budget "amnesty for rich, taxes and inflation for poor".)

From Khaama Press, a resident of Kabul, Afghanistan is arrested for "cooperating" with terrorists.

From the Hindustan Times, 5 million tons of Indian crude oil reserves are uninsured.

From ANI, India is "inching" toward meeting its goals under the Paris Agreement.

From India Today, in the Indian state of Bihar, 73 children have died of encephalitis.

From the Daily Mirror, Sri Lankan opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa calls for "compassion, tolerance and non-violence" in his Poson Day message.  (Poson Day commemorates the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.)

From the Colombo Page, Indian and Sri Lankan military personnel and their families visit each other's country.

From Gatestone Institute, Iran's mullahs promise to destroy Israel and American civilization.

From The Jakarta Post, an elderly Buddhist couple are killed in a drive-by shooting in southern Thailand.

From The Straits Times, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam suspends a controversial extradition bill.

From The Borneo Post, all 48 Malaysians in Sudan are reportedly safe.

From The Conservative Woman, the next leader of the U.K. Tories will not be a messiah, just a mess.

From Snouts in the Trough, a blunder from Boris and political correctness "gone mad".  (Trigger warning: the post concludes with a very non-PC joke.)

From National Review, hypocrisy from Democrats on "foreign interference".

From Townhall, for those who think that President Trump is a homophobe, here's a real homophobe.

From The Washington Free Beacon, the Obama administration tried and failed to prove that air pollution makes children fat.

From the Washington Examiner, about 300 migrants from Africa who entered the U.S. from Mexico pass through San Antonio and keep going.

From American Thinker, the 630-year-old (as of today) reason why Eastern Europeans don't like Islam.

From NewsBusters, a look back at ABC's 2008 prediction that New York City would be flooded by 2015.

From Fox News, Mexico's president vows to help Central Americans fleeing poverty and violence.

From The Daily Caller, College Republican in Puerto Rico try to raise money to build a statue of President Trump.  (Don't they realize that SJWs will try to pull it down?)

From the New York Post, why young left-wingnuts could help re-elect President Trump.

From Breitbart, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide calls it "a past that is ever present".

From WPVI-TV, according to customers reporting on social media, Target stores have some major technical difficulties.

From ESPN, at an auction, a Babe Ruth jersey sells for a record price.  (via the New York Post)

And from Twitchy, who knew that a ban on plastic straws could cause such a hassle?  (Well, anyone with a brain.)