Month: December 2023

A trans-identified male cyclist has won the Women’s Singlespeed national title at the 2023 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships, outraging women’s rights advocates. Kylie Small, formerly known as Kyle Small, had been competing in men’s races earlier this year.

Though Small has begun participating in women’s events, he was competing in the male division at USA Cycling competitions under his birth name as recently as April. Last season, Small came in 44th place in the CX Male Senior 18-22 division, and largely floundered while competing as a cyclist in men’s competitions.

But on December 8, Small competed as a “woman” at the USA Cyclocross National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, taking gold in the Women’s Single Speed division with a time of 38 minutes and 19 seconds.

The fastest female in the race was Jennifer Malik, who was awarded second place. The results of the race led the International Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) to condemn USA Cycling for continuing to allow males to self-identify into the women’s category.

After the championship, Small was interviewed on his success in women’s cycling by Evie Edwards, a representative from ICONS.

Smalls made no mention of his sex, instead crediting his win to “pushing gaps” and “clean dismounts.” During the interview, Small stated that the idea to compete in the women’s single speed competition came from one of his coaches who persuaded him to join the competition.

It’s the male women’s singlespeed cyclocross US national champion Kylie (Kyle) Small talking about his race!

He says his success is due to nailing dismounts and pushing those gaps after them. 💪

(I wonder if his large male body also played a role. 🤔 ) pic.twitter.com/iUzT65SprY

— 🚲 (@i_heart__bikes) December 9, 2023

This is not the first time a male has taken first place in a women’s cycling championship in recent months.

Just weeks ago, two trans-identified males dominated a women’s category at the Illinois State Cyclocross Championships, topping the podium in the Women’s Single Speed category and taking home medals set aside for female racers. Tessa Johnson and Evelyn Williamson placed first and second, respectively, in the competition, leaving space for only one biological woman – Kristin Chalmers – on the podium.

Johnson also seized the gold in both the Women’s Single Speed and Category 1/2 races at the Chicago CycloCross Cup in October, with the latter also coming with $150 in prize money.

In June, trans-identified male Austin Killips took first place in the women’s category of a North Carolina cycling tour known as The Belgian Waffle Ride, adding to his expansive list of victories against female cyclists. Killips also placed first in the 2022 Tour of the Gila, an internationally-recognized elite cycling competition. Notably, the 2022 Tour was the first in the competition’s history where the prize money for both the male and female categories was equal. But following Killips’ win, two biological males walked away with the prize pots.

But the issue of males dominating women’s cycling competitions is not isolated to the United States.

Emily Bridges and Lilly Chant, two trans-identified males, took the first and second place spots, respectively, at the ThunderCrit race at the Herne Hill Velodrome in London in June of 2022. Jo Smith was the only female to step onto the winner’s podium, and was seen standing at third place with her child in a photo that began to circulate on social media after the race had finished.

BREAKING 🚴🏻

Emily Bridges and Lilly Chant take 1st and 2nd place in tonight’s Thundercrit cycle race at Herne Hill Velodrome.

Notice anything different about them compared to the cyclist who takes third place? #savewomenssports#WomensRightsNetwork pic.twitter.com/OF2lmtxKao

— Women's Rights Network – WRN (@WomensRightsNet) June 3, 2022

In March of this year, after British cycling announced their plans to ban males from female cycling competitions, Bridges responded in a statement posted on his social media, calling the move a “violent act” and claiming British Cycling was furthering trans “genocide.”

USA Cycling also recently announced an update to their policy regarding trans-identified male athletes competing in women’s competitions.

Announced in June, the update will come into effect on January 1 of 2024. In a statement, the sporting body said that “trans athletes” will be divided into two categories; category A and category B. Category A cyclists will be required to reduce their testosterone below 2.5 nmol/L for at least two years and provide medical evidence of this at least 3 months before a competition. Category B cyclists will only need to complete a gender self identification form to move from the male competitions to the female competitions. These standards only apply when competing domestically.

Commenting on the policy update, USA Cycling’s CEO said: “The revision of our Transgender Participation Policy was a complex process guided by several factors. Foremost was the direction of our Board of Directors, who asked us to prioritize the balance between fairness and inclusion.”

“Our work encompassed a study of the UCI’s most recent review of the latest scientific literature, an assessment of the U.S. legal environment and similar policies from other sports organizations, and outreach to our athletes, club and team managers, and event organizers. As U.S. law and scientific findings evolve, we will use this as an opportunity to do further review and revisions of this policy as needed.”

https://reduxx.info/trans-identified-male-seizes-top-womens-title-at-usa-cycling-cyclocross-national-championships/

The police in Chemnitz, Saxony, have achieved a significant manhunt success. A 17-year-old teenager of Syrian nationality, suspected of having made anti-Semitic threats, was identified following a public manhunt. The case had attracted widespread attention and emphasises the importance of cooperation between the police and the public in the fight against crime.

On October 11, an incident took place during a demonstration against Hamas terror in the Gaza Strip, which was also attended by a 68-year-old Jewish senior citizen. A group chanting anti-Semitic slogans approached the demonstrators. From this group, the young person, who has now been identified, is said to have threatened the elderly lady with death because of her Jewish faith.

The police reacted immediately to the incident and launched a public manhunt, which was supported by the publication of a photo of the suspect. The efforts quickly proved successful: within a few hours of the photo being published, the criminal investigation department received numerous tips. In the end, the wanted teenager handed herself in to the police.

This case illustrates several important points: the determination of the police in prosecuting hate crimes, the role of the public in supporting investigations and the need to firmly oppose anti-Semitism.

Erfolgreiche Fahndung in Chemnitz: Polizei Identifiziert Jugendliche nach Antisemitischer Attacke (haolam.de)

A mass brawl at a high school in Germany, of which 81 percent of students come from a migrant background, left 49 staff members and fellow pupils injured, state police revealed on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at around 10:30 a.m. on Monday at the Campus Efeuweg Community School in the Neukölln district of Berlin.

According to German media, an argument broke out among a handful of boys around 14 years of age over a soccer match. One of those involved pulled out a can of pepper spray but injured himself in the process, causing another individual to grab the can and use it on other students sparking mayhem.

Two teachers attempted to intervene and break up the brawl but were attacked themselves and pepper-sprayed, according to Tagesspiegel. The 52-year-old headmistress also attempted to restore order but was also assaulted and needed treatment for a broken finger.

School staff alerted the police who attended the scene and tried to disperse the crowd, however, one officer was punched in the face by the older brother of one of those involved.

In total, 49 staff, police officers, and students sustained injuries during the chaos and several perpetrators are now under investigation for causing actual bodily harm.

The educational authority responsible for the management of the school has instructed a crisis team and psychologists to speak with students with Martin Klesmann, a spokesperson for the authority confirming on Tuesday that “appropriate measures” have been taken to ensure student welfare.

“We will continue to communicate to ensure the best possible support for the school,” he added.

According to Tagesspiegel, the facility is classed as a “focus school” due to its high proportion of students whose families receive social benefits. The school is also largely attended by students of a migration background with the number of pupils for which German is not their first language being recorded at 81.3 percent last year.

The school now requires an in-house security force to guard the classrooms and ensure law and order.

A mother of one of the pupils at the school told German media she was shaken by the attack and was anxious about keeping her child in school.

“All the children were sent home early. It’s terrifying. I’m afraid to send my child to school. I hope the incident has consequences,” she said.

One pupil, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, “That’s what happens – it’s a hotspot school. In the first lesson, we were told not to talk to anyone.”

“The boys have often caused stress, beating each other three times before. The teachers intervened at the time, but couldn’t mediate. Nevertheless, I’m not afraid to go to school. I’m used to it,” another said.

“Two boys were fighting. My classmate tried to help but then got hurt himself. After that, all the lessons were canceled,” added a third.

https://rmx.news/crime/mass-brawl-at-berlin-school-leaves-49-staff-and-students-injured-as-headmistress-and-police-officers-are-assaulted-during-the-chaos/

A Syrian man (35) killed his wife (28) in Vienna with 19 stab wounds. He has now confessed to his crime at the Vienna Regional Court. His defence lawyer described a tragic love story as his motive. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
A Syrian man (35) admitted to killing his wife, seven years his junior, with a kitchen knife on 3 July 2023 in Vienna’s Ottakring district court on Wednesday. He has now been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The judgement is final.
“She was the love of his life,” said defence lawyer Manfred Arbacher-Stöger. However, she had been in love with another man and had wanted to leave him. That’s why he stabbed her. He inflicted a total of 19 stab wounds to her neck, chest, abdomen and extremities. The woman had no chance of survival. He then jumped out of the window, but survived the fall from the couple’s first-floor flat.

The accused and the woman who was killed – both from Syria – had married in their home country in 2010. Three children were born between 2016 and 2020, and in 2021 the wife and mother moved to Vienna – her parents, who had been living in Austria for some time, had brought their daughter to Austria. Subsequently, the rest of the family also settled in Vienna, and in the early summer of 2023, the defendant also arrived in Vienna. “Things started to become strained in the relationship. He suspected that his wife might have another man,” said the public prosecutor.
On July 2 – one day before the crime – the wife finally confessed to the accused that she had actually fallen in love with someone else. “He then decided to deal with the matter himself,” the public prosecutor stated.

Ehefrau getötet: Syrer (35) muss 20 Jahre in Haft | Exxpress

A furious row has erupted in France and left a teacher in fear for her life after she showed a 17th century Renaissance painting depicting nude women to pupils in art class, prompting complaints from Muslim parents.

Staff members at Jacques Cartier in Issou, west of Paris, refused to work on Monday in solidarity with the teacher who showed the masterpiece – ‘Diana and Actaeon’ by the Italian painter Giuseppe Cesari – in class on Thursday.

The work portrays a Greek mythology story in which the hunter Actaeon bursts in at a site where the goddess Diana and her nymphs are bathing. It shows a naked Diana and four nude female companions, and is held at the Louvre museum in Paris.

Following the class, false posts circulated on social media accusing the teacher of making racist comments, fuelling the anger further.

France’s Education Minister Gabriel Attal visited the school in person on Monday and later said pupils who made the false claims would be disciplined.

The crisis comes after a French court on Friday convicted six teenagers for their role in the 2020 beheading of Samuel Paty outside his secondary school near Paris, after they helped to identify him to a radicalised Islamist.

Paty, a 47-year-old history and geography teacher, was stabbed and beheaded in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in October 2020, just 12 miles from Issou.

Teachers there are now worried they too could be attacked, The Times reports.

On Thursday, ‘during a French class, a colleague showed a 17th-century painting that showed naked women’, said Sophie Venetitay, secretary general of the Snes-FSU secondary school teachers’ union.

The name of the female teacher and false claims that she had made racist remarks to Muslim students were subsequently circulated on social media, reports said, raising fears that she could be targeted.

According to Le Figaro, the students allegedly accused their teacher of racism – claiming that she showed the painting as provocation and as a means to target her Muslim students by showing them naked women.

In reference to the furore, Venetitay told broadcaster BFMTV.: ‘We know well that methods like that can lead to a tragedy… We saw it in the murder of Samuel Paty. 

‘Our colleagues feel threatened and in danger.’ 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12852075/outrage-Muslim-parents-Renaissance-painting-nude-women-French-class-crisis-teachers.html

A 23-year-old Tunisian has been arrested for stabbing a 20-year-old employee at an asylum center in the eastern German port city of Rostock.

The migrant allegedly attacked his victim after the resident was found using drugs once again inside the building despite repeated warnings

According to the police report, when authorities attempted to temporarily expel him from the property, “there was a sudden attack with a knife.”

Despite the security employee being stabbed in the neck, he was treated at the hospital and according to police, his injuries were not life-threatening.

“The perpetrator, who fled immediately after the crime, was caught and arrested thanks to extensive search measures,” according to police.

A large police presence was deployed to the asylum center, including riot police, police dogs, and a helicopter.

In June this year, three migrants residing at the center were charged with assault after they attacked security guards. The police say the three men became intoxicated and were denied entry to the building, as there are strict rules against alcohol drinking and consumption on the premises, according to Ostsee Zeitung.

In August, a Ukrainian refugee attacked two security employees with a metal pole, injuring two of them. He then threatened employees with a hedge trimmer and a chair. Police threatened to use their firearms and the man gave up and was placed under arrest.

https://rmx.news/crime/germany-tunisian-migrant-stabs-asylum-center-worker-in-the-neck/

An 18-year-old Muslim student in class 12 from Bijnor was assaulted by other Muslim residents of a hostel on the campus of Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh after he was accused of uttering offensive remarks about the Prophet Muhammad as well as sharing the same on social media. The incident transpired on 12th December in Aligarh’s Civil Lines Police Station area.

A First Information Report was registered against him and cops have initiated a probe into the matter. Furthermore, he was suspended from the Senior Secondary School for Boys which is run by the university. According to the complainant who is of Kasgand and is a pupil in the varsity, the boy has a history of passing similar statements against Islam and is anti-Muslim. The complainant told OpIndia in an interview that the accused student has a habit of making comments against the Prophet.

The complaint stated that the former along with some of his acquaintances was present in the Allama Iqbal Hostel of AMU when the offender arrived there and began speaking disparaging and inappropriate things about Islam and its prophet. It is reported that he began using derogatory words after the complainant stopped him and announced, “Do whatever you can, I will continue to say all this.” The complainant claimed that the remarks had offended his religious sentiments.

Strict action has been demanded against the culprit after a case has been launched under sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) based on the complaint. OpIndia has a copy of the FIR.

The complainant and his colleagues beat up the accused in the name of blasphemy, per several media accounts. However, the former countered that these charges were unfounded while talking to OpIndia. He alleged to have all of the hostel’s CCTV footage as evidence. He responded with a “No” when inquired whether there was any proof of insult to Prophet Muhammed by the student. 

Notably, AMU Deputy Proctor S Ali Nawaz Zaidi revealed that the pupil was attacked by the claimant and his aides. “The student was suspended with immediate effect and an inquiry has been ordered into his objectionable posts. Till the completion of the probe, he will remain suspended. Hostel inmates thrashed the student after locking him in a room last evening and forced him to delete the post. The student ran out of the hostel and was saved by security personnel,” he mentioned.

https://www.opindia.com/2023/12/up-muslim-pupil-beaten-suspended-for-offensive-remarks-against-prophet/

Portugal will go to the polls in a snap election on March 10th next year as the nation comes to terms with the dramatic chain of events which culminated in the arrest of multiple members of the Portuguese Cabinet on November 7th. The arrests were part of a corruption probe into the issuing of hydrogen and lithium mining contracts by the ruling Socialist Party.

The police raids resulted in the downfall of Prime Minister António Costa, a regular fixture on the European centre Left. He had been in office since 2015 and had his official residence raided as part of the criminal investigation. 

The crisis stems from Portugal’s enhanced role in lithium and hydrogen production in recent years. The country is Europe’s largest lithium producer and the flow of green subsidies enabled Costa’s party to create a patronage network from dodgy contracts and grift.

Costa requested the President of Portugal to dissolve parliament and is expected to retire after serving as caretaker PM until the March election.

The turmoil has thrown the hegemonic rule of his Socialist Party into disarray and opened the door for the right-wing Chega party to be kingmakers after the election.

Founded in 2019 on a fiscally conservative and politically nationalist platform, Chega received a comfortable 7.2% share of the vote in last year’s elections, winning twelve parliamentary seats. 

Led by former sports pundit and seminarian turned populist leader André Ventura, the party has experienced something of a surge since the November crisis and sits at 16% and rising in the polls.

The party has the wind in its sails with its anti-grift message striking a chord among Portuguese voters, the party’s Director of International Relations Ricardo Regalla Dias Pinto told The European Conservative.

Regarding the potential of a Chega coalition with the centrist Social Democrats, Dias Pinto stated that they would impose “serious conditions” around immigration, tax reductions and combating corruption, with the long-term objective of ultimately freeing Portuguese society from socialist rule forever. 

Dias Pinto outlined his belief that, on the current electoral trajectory, it is not impossible that Chega could become Portugal’s primary party of the Right. The party could even become the primary partner for government should it achieve north of 20%.

Chega is so hated by the Portuguese establishment that one socialist PM candidate suggested the formation of a grand coalition of the Left and the Right “Bloco Central” just to keep the populist party out of power.

So far, Chega has played up its anti-corruption credentials and made specific moves against an alleged spike in crime by Roma gipsies with party posters around Lisbon decrying the political inertia among the current Portuguese establishment,

On the international stage, Chega is politically aligned with the right-wing Identity and Democracy (ID) faction within the European Parliament, the same bloc that hosts Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, Geert Wilders’s PVV, and the German AfD.

Two days after Wilders’s shock upset in the Netherlands last month, Chega hosted a meeting of ID leaders in Lisbon hopeful about their strong expected performance for next year’s European elections.

While the campaign has yet to step into gear, a major breakthrough for Chega could be enough to severely undermine decades of two-party power in Portugal as well as the institutional dominance of the socialist left for most of the post-Cold War period.

A combination of factors from socialist complacency to endemic corruption has opened the political door for Chega and the next few months will show if the party can walk through it.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/portugal-election-chega-challenges-establishment-parties/

Radical climate activists launched a series of coordinated strikes against public Christmas trees throughout Germany on Wednesday morning in response to the supposed climate “catastrophe”.

The so-called ‘Last Generation’ green activist group sprayed public Christmas trees with orange paint in Berlin and six other German cities on Wednesday morning, including festively adorned trees in Potsdam Square and the tree outside the nearby Federal Council building in Berlin.

The climate crazies also claimed to have similarly smeared Christmas trees with paint in the cities of Keil, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, Rostock, and Oldenburg. The attacks were all coordinated to occur simultaneously at 10 am local time.

A police spokeswoman told the Bild newspaper that police were responding to the incidents, however, no arrests have been announced at the time of this reporting.

Justifying the act of vandalism, the group said in a statement on X: “Amidst the flashing lights, shiny jewellery and festive atmosphere, it’s easy to forget: We’re racing full speed towards catastrophe and our governments are failing miserably to pull the emergency brake in Dubai.”

🎄 Wir färben Weihnachtsbäume orange

🧯In Berlin, Oldenburg, Kiel, Leipzig, Rostock, Nürnberg und München haben wir Weihnachtsbäume mit orangener Farbe eingefärbt. pic.twitter.com/p3ZvNimLzX

— Letzte Generation (@AufstandLastGen) December 13, 2023

It is not the first time that the Last Generation activist collective has tried to use the holidays to promote their alarmist message. Last year, the group attempted to hijack a live Christmas television programme to spout their dire warnings about the supposed climate crisis, however, police intercepted them before they were able to carry out their plan.

The Last Generation has used similar tactics to other climate extremist groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, including glueing themselves to motorways and vandalising prominent paintings in museums.

In one infamous incident, a woman was left brain dead after her ambulance was delayed by Last Generation radicals blocking the way to a Berlin hospital. The group also drew criticism last year for throwing mashed potatoes on Claude Monet’s “Les Meules” painting.

Last year, police announced that they had opened up an investigation into the Last Generation as a potential “criminal organisation” over attacks on an oil refinery on the German border with Poland, which caused disruptions to critical supplies of energy.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/12/13/climate-crazies-wage-coordinated-attack-christmas-trees-in-seven-cities-in-germany/

The cereal regulators sitting in the European Parliament have voted in favour of tighter restrictions on breakfast foodstuffs.

Stylised as the “breakfast directives” within the Parliament, politicians voted in favour of tightened rules regarding various agricultural products such as honey, fruit juice, jam, jellies and marmalades.

According to the position adopted by the Parliament, breakfast products should fall under stricter labelling regulations. Politicians are calling for the mandatory detailing of sugar content, as well as the country of origin of the fruit used in a product.

The proposed rules would also allow fruit drinks processed to contain less sugar to be advertised as “reduced-sugar fruit juice”. MEPs also voted in favour of allowing juices to use the label “contains only naturally occurring sugars” if they meet Brussels’ requirements.

Politicians did emphasise that fruit products which have less sugar must not then contain sweeteners to compensate, although they failed to explain why in their approved version of the directive.

MEPs also backed the implementation of extra restrictions on honey, with politicians calling for a “traceability system” to ensure that such produce originates from where the label claims it does and that it is not diluted with lower-quality substances, like sugar syrups.

Speaking on the vote, rapporteur Alexander Bernhuber MEP said the new restrictions would help Europeans make healthier decisions at breakfast time and support products that are locally sourced.

He also said that the restrictions would help stamp out “fraudulent practices” surrounding honey products.

“This, together with other measures, will protect consumers and beekeepers from adulterated honey and facilitate informed consumer choices through more transparency,” he added.

Berhuber was not the only politician enthusiastic about the new breakfast-time regulations, with the honey crackdown in particular stirring many in the Parliament.

France’s Pascal Canfin expressed delight at the new restrictions. The Macronist politician emphasised that the new restrictions would help protect the EU single market.

“Our text will prevent honeys that are not honeys … from entering the European market,” the RENEW member said.

“This will put an end to unfair competition with our beekeepers.”

Such honey restrictions are an attempt to retaliate against low-quality imports from the likes of China and Turkey.

Politicians have expressed concern that foreign producers are using water or sugary syrups to dilute their honey, lowering the cost of production – and of quality and purity.

https://brusselssignal.eu/2023/12/youre-a-fraud-honey-european-parliament-cereal-killers-come-after-breakfast/