Month: March 2026

A right-leaning news outlet in Belgium, 21News, violated journalistic ethics by publishing the complete transcript of the speech made by US Vice-President J D Vance at the Munich Security Conference in 2025, the French-speaking ethics commission ruled.

According to the ethics commission on March 3, 21News broke the “media cordon sanitaire”, the strategy where mainstream media outlets deliberately isolate what they label far-right, populist, or extremist actors.

It said the outlet showed a lack of contextualisation of the remarks made and the omission of certain information.

21News “violated ethics and, in particular, its social responsibility as a media of information”, the commission ruling stated.

Rather than fully publishing Vance’s speech, the outlet should have added information that he “represented an anti-democratic and liberticidal party”. According to Collins, the definition of “liberticidal” is: (of actions or policies) tending to destroy freedom; oppressive.

The outlet should also have used the time it had between the time of the speech and the publication to verify, cross-reference and put Vance’s statements in perspective, the commission said.

Without this, the outlet had allowed “the individual to roll out their talking points and communication strategy without any distance or pushback,” it said.

“As a result, all or part of the audience could come to believe that several claims made in the speech — even though they were contradicted by the facts or were racist — were accurate and legitimate.

“This carried the risk of turning the public against the functioning of European democracies or of inciting racism, discrimination, hatred or violence towards migrants. ”

Listen to Vance’s warning: why the cordon sanitaire belongs in the past, writes @TomVandendriese. pic.twitter.com/YpIfTvuo2m

— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 1, 2025

In a reaction to the verdict, 21News wrote in a comment: “This decision raises serious questions and testifies to a paternalistic view of journalism, according to which citizens should not be able to read political statements directly without prior journalistic filtering.”

It noted that readers should be able to verify exactly what Vance said and that his speech was broadcast by all the major media globally and is available on YouTube.

The outlet also highlighted that the two plaintiffs in the case were anonymous.

“Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference marked a notable moment in transatlantic relations,” it said.

“It immediately provoked many reactions and discussions in Europe. We can judge this controversial discourse, be in deep disagreement with his analysis or his tone. But it is precisely for this reason that it is a significant document for relations between Europe and the United States.

“In this regard, it is also an important document. 21News is neither for nor against the US administration, but believes that it is necessary that everyone can make their opinion.”

According to 21News, the ethics commission found the primary source problematic.

The outlet noted that Vance explicitly addressed freedom of expression in Europe, referring to examples where social networks would be under pressure to remove certain content, as well as measures that he said are increasingly restricting public debate.

American Vice President JD Vance criticised the EU at the Munich Security Conference on February 14, accusing European nations of anti-democratic behaviour. https://t.co/pYdi5l8OKu

— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 14, 2025

brusselssignal

A trans-identified male in Alberta, Canada, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison after brutally attacking his own children, severing the esophagus of his 8-year-old daughter and assaulting his 7-year-old son. Michael Joseph “Alice” Attwood, 36, had been released pending trial despite concerns that he posed a danger to the community and his family.

Attwood, who uses “she/they/he” pronouns and described himself as a “genderfluid queerdo” on social media, was arrested on February 19, 2025, after the horrific attack, which left his young daughter reliant on a feeding tube for recovery. Attwood had attacked the children while they were in their bedrooms at their Grande Prairie home before cleaning off the knife he had used to stab his daughter and calling 911 himself.

Despite the severity of the crime Attwood was released on bail shortly after his arrest. Concerned about the children’s safety, extended family petitioned the court for a psychiatric hold, which was initially granted. However, Attwood’s stay at the mental health facility was extremely brief, and he was released into the community just one week after the hold was issued.

CANADA: A "genderfluid" male has been charged with aggravated assault after attacking his two children with a knife, severing his 8-year-old daughter's esophagus.

Alice Michael Attwood, who uses "they/them" pronouns, was released pending trial.https://t.co/KVSCk8Qfan

— REDUXX (@reduxx) February 26, 2025

The release sparked national condemnation, including a formal statement by Chris Warkentin, the Conservative Party of Canada’s Deputy Whip and the Member of Parliament for Grande Prairie. In a statement titled “Monsters Who Stab Children Should Stay In Jail,” Warkentin called Attwood’s release “unacceptable.”

Attwood ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in July of 2025.

After being released on bail, Attwood was active on social media – even commenting about and admitting to stabbing his daughter in a Facebook thread.

“For obvious reasons I’m going to sit and stay silent on the locally viral rumors going around. I understand people’s upset (trust it’s not as high as my own) and I’m going to answer for what I did. When I can see the picture more clearly then I will be here to hold myself accountable as well. It’s just… not the right time for that. I need to focus on my mental health and finding the WHY to this happening… which means not being online,” he wrote.

“I am very apologetic and hurt though. Trust that. This was nowhere near my 2025 bingo card,” Attwood posted to Facebook. “And yes, I stabbed my daughter in the shoulder, and scraped my son’s arm. The cause, and the why are the slander I am mentioning here. I definitely had some sort of mental break…”

In another comment, Attwood responded to a woman who offered him sympathy for his situation, writing: “Thank you so much. I was definitely terrified of just being rejected for that happening. I’ve got a lot to go through now, and it’ll be a lot of work… but I finally found my friends… And it’s all of YOUUUU. Mod Squad!!! Assemble!”

Attwood was previously employed as a paramedic in Alberta. He has made several social media posts about being unable to work due to an alleged “disability,” or Fibromyalgia. He set up a GoFundMe for donations to support him and his three children, the youngest two apparently living with him full time. He posted that he was separated from the children’s mother.

In another Facebook post, Attwoord stated he would use some of the funds to ensure his oldest could go to a “trans-inclusive” school in Calgary, suggesting the child identifies as transgender.

“This is terrifying enough to get a GoFundMe made… let alone expect it to do well… I just, don’t have any other way right now. It’s me… and this thing, and what little bit my co-parent can manage to send me trying to live in Calgary so our oldest can go to the only trans-inclusive school we have been able to find…”

While the circumstances leading up to the crime are unknown, Attwood’s defense attorneys had attempted to make several arguments mitigating his responsibility for the crime. Among them, that Attwood had recently experienced a marijuana-induced psychotic episode in the week before the attack.

“I would suggest that this falls into the category of a person harming their own children because they’re in crisis,” Attwood’s lawyer said during a January 2026 pre-sentencing hearing. He also cited Attwood’s gender identity, claiming that past attempts at suppressing his transgender status had contributed to depression and his increasing reliance on cannabis.

Attwood’s lawyer also took issue with the “politicization” of the trial, and accused MP Chris Warkentin of improperly identifying his client despite a publication ban that had been in place at the time.

However, during the trial, a forensic psychiatrist examined Attwood and found no evidence of serious mental illness at the time of the offenses. According to the Western Standard, the Judge also contested many elements of the defense’s claims.

“Although the accused’s gender identity may have been an additional source of stress. There is no evidence that it triggered mental health issues so acute as to diminish moral culpability,” Judge Jasmine Sihra said.

“This Court seeks the strongest possible condemnation of the accused actions for violating Canadian society’s basic value of protecting children, particularly one’s own,” Sihra continued, before imposing a 5-year sentence on Attwood for his crimes with credit for time served.

Just days before stabbing his own children, Attwood uploaded a reel to Instagram in which he said that he needs to “protect [his] family from the negativity within.” He also posted a meme about Elon Musk being “transphobic,” accompanied by a series of rambling thoughts.

“Nobody needs T.R.A.S.H in their lives. It’s insidious. Like being a cop. It can infect the whole family, and even the friend group. That level of Fash was only reserved for one group before, until incels showed up anyways… well, and cops. Because, ACAB. Unless they’re going to actually do something about it, and then they’re a reformed version of that. Just remember though. Just because you’re trash, doesn’t mean you can’t do great things. Don’t let shame hold you down,” he wrote, adding that T.R.A.S.H was an acronym which stood for: “Transphobic. Racist. Ableist. Sexist. Homophobic.”

Attwood continued that he “used to be trash too.”

Attwood was described as a woman by local media, who referred to him by “she/her” pronouns in reports covering his trial.

reduxx

The online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has the message “Wiki loves Ramadan” plastered on top of its Christianity page.

The non-profit organisation, which attracts up to $180million in donations annually, displayed the religious banner at the top of the screen in support of their campaign for the Muslim celebration.

In 2025, Wikipedia detailed the “Wiki loves Ramadan” campaign as: “A global volunteer-driven campaign that encourages contributors to create and improve content related to Ramadan.

“This includes articles, photographs, quotes, and data about the religious, cultural, historical, and social aspects of Ramadan.

“The goal is to expand knowledge and make it accessible in many languages, helping people everywhere understand Ramadan’s significance beyond borders.”

The campaign saw contributors from 18 countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Ghana, Pakistan, and others.

Both online and offline events, including so-called “edit-a-thons” and workshops, were part of the scheme.

Wikipedia, celebrating 25 years since its inception, has been accused of ” ideological bias” before.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk previously claimed the site is “controlled by far-left activists” and told his social media followers to “stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority.”

The owner of X and Tesla even resorted to creating his own website, Grokapedia, in protest of the site. All articles produced are generated by AI.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s AI adviser, David Sacks, claimed the site is “hopelessly biased”, adding: “Magnifying the problem, Wikipedia often appears first in Google search results, and now it’s a trusted source for AI model training.”

Texas Senator Ted Cruz even sent a letter on October 3 to the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organisation founded by Jimmy Wales that hosts the site, requesting “information about ideological bias on the Wikipedia platform.”

In his letter, Mr Cruz claimed: “Acoordinated group of editors pushed antisemitic narratives on Wikipedia while whitewashing the activities of groups like Hamas.”

Former Interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, accused the site of “allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda to the American public.”

However, the accusations have not solely been swirling around in America.

In December 2024, French magazine Le Point accused “a handful of hyperactive left-wing contributors” at Wikipedia of “distorting reality.”

The website experienced an eight per cent decline in readership in 2025 compared to 2024, which is expected to continue to decrease.

GB News has contacted Wikipedia for comment.

gbnews

A 22-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker, who was staying at a taxpayer-funded Dutch asylum center, has been arrested in connection with a violent assault and attempted rape of a 19-year-old woman in the Rotterdam district of Schiebroek. The man, who was staying at a reception centre in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, was apprehended at Dordrecht station on Wednesday after police released his photograph earlier that afternoon.

A Rotterdam police spokeswoman confirmed the suspect’s status as an asylum seeker. According to sources cited by De Telegraaf, he is what is known as a “safe lander” — someone who applies for asylum despite coming from a country considered safe and who has no realistic prospect of being granted leave to remain in the Netherlands.

Rotterdam Mayor Carola Schouten, who is known for promoting Rotterdam as a “dynamic and diverse global city,” had this to say about the crime:”I learned with horror of a serious crime that took place in Rotterdam-Schiebroek. It is terrible what the victim has experienced; it is also terrible for her loved ones.”

She also praised the swiftness of the police response, saying it “has led to the early arrest of a suspect.”

The attack took place in the early hours of Saturday morning, shortly before 5 a.m., on Secretariestraat. The young student had travelled from Rotterdam Central Station on the back of a friend’s bicycle before choosing to walk the final stretch home alone from the Gordelweg. Along the way, she passed a man cycling a cargo bike carrying a brown box. Moments later, she noticed the same man on foot behind her, while the cargo bike was nowhere to be seen. He seized her from behind and threatened her with a knife.

She managed to break free and fled into Secretariestraat, but the man caught up with her, assaulted her, and attempted to rape her. The attack only ended when a local resident was roused by the noise and came outside to investigate. Seeing the student being assaulted, he called out, causing the attacker to flee. The young woman was taken to the hospital immediately afterwards.

Police later examined a driveway on the street as part of their investigation. Neighbors said they had been unaware of what was unfolding outside.

“I heard screams, but had no idea why that was,” one resident said.

Another similar case rocked the Netherlands last year, involving a Nigerian migrant raping and murdering 17-year-old Lisa in Amsterdam.

In January this year, the victim of a Somali suspect stormed out of court when the attempted murder charge against the man was dropped by a Dutch court, despite the victim stating that she was strangled for several minutes by the man. The judge sentenced the man to three and a half years in prison for attempted sexual assault in the case.

rmx.news

The leader of the Spanish conservative People’s Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has accused Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of “going against the security of Spain” because of his stance against the US and Israeli attack on Iran.

Spain is defying pressure from the US by refusing to authorise the use of its military bases for potential strikes against Iran.

Feijóo addressed this issue in a speech at the Europa Forum in Bilbao today, stating that Spain “must stand with its allies”, otherwise it will be left “without an operational framework”.

He also urged the European Union and the US not to confuse Spain’s “precarious government” with its citizens as a whole.

“Today, Spain is not a reliable partner, not only with the United States, but also within the EU, and today Spain does not have a voice when it comes to establishing strategic positions in response to the geopolitical problems the world is experiencing,” he insisted.

Feijóo has argued against “compromising” the Iranian regime, which he has accused of “massacring” its own citizens. “No democrat can deny this reality; the fewer tyrants there are in the world, the better.”

The PP leader accuses Pedro Sanchez of pandering to its ultra-left-wing electoral base.

Acknowledging that the US is one of the main investors in Spain and has been key to the defence of the southern border, he called it “irresponsible” to antagonise US President Donald Trump over a specific issue.

Many major US companies are present in Spain, especially in the industrial sector.  In 2022, cumulative US investment in Spain reached €33.1 billion.

EU member states remain split over how to respond to the escalating confrontation with Iran, exposing familiar fault lines in the bloc’s foreign policy with German Chancellor Merz joining Trump in criticising Spain over defence spending

Meanwhile, the European Commission has signalled resolve, declaring itself “ready” to defend the EU’s interests, even as the bloc struggles to present a single, coherent stance.

brusselssignal

In Scotland, transgender activists are “advising young people on how to self-medicate using illicit cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers,” and experts warn of a “booming black market” with “vulnerable youths reportedly sourcing illegal supplies from street dealers and online vendors,” according to a report from the Scottish Daily Express.

A UK-wide ban on the sale, supply, prescription, and dispensing of puberty blockers for minors was introduced on a temporary basis in June 2024 after the Cass Review revealed the evidence of the harm they cause; that ban was made permanent in January 2025 by the pro-LGBT Labour government. It is a criminal offense to supply puberty blockers to minors in Scotland.

“Medical experts have issued stark warnings that self-medicating with these unregulated drugs carries severe health risks, including fatal dosing errors and contamination,” reported the Scottish Daily Express on March 1.

“Despite the dangers, a group operating under the name Trans Harm Reduction (THR) recently hosted a ‘Self-Med 101’ workshop inside a Glasgow bar … Shockingly, the group also actively offers assistance with ‘accessing supplies for trans people who are self-medicating in Ireland and Scotland.’”

The workshop included “the basics of self-medicating from costs to dosages to how to do things safely.”

“It’s frankly terrifying that vulnerable young people could be encouraged to use black market puberty blockers,” said Dr. Sandesh Gulhane, the Conservative shadow health secretary. “This would put lives at risk, and anyone involved in pushing these illicit medications must be investigated.”

A Scottish doctor, who spoke anonymously to the Sunday Times, shared Gulhane’s fear.

“To have organisations that facilitate self-medicalisation with no clinical oversight is dangerous,” he said. “The greatest harm is in the prescribing of cross sex hormones. These are used off licence and there is mounting evidence of the increased risk of irreversible harms, which include stroke, ischaemic heart disease and early mortality.”

“These groups bypass general practice, thereby removing safeguards,” he continued. “They are trans-led — one states it is a grassroots community group involving no medical professionals. There is no screening for comorbidities such as autism or trauma. There is a disclaimer stating they ‘cannot provide authoritative medical advice’ and, as such, absolve themselves of any medico-legal liability.”

They claim harm reduction by signposting patients to where they can have blood taken, but also provide advice on how patients can analyze their own results, again bypassing GP safeguarding.

A witness to the Glasgow workshop told the Sunday Times that “I witnessed hosts openly recommending websites for sourcing cross-sex hormones, of a fund to subsidise purchases and distributing syringes, needles and swabs. One referred to a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy on age, suggesting they were content to supply supplies such as injecting equipment to minors without verification.”

“Therapy was absent from discussion and irreversible changes and side-effects barely mentioned,” the witness added. “Peer-to-peer networks linked across Signal groups [secure messaging] and real-life meet-ups are quietly building an underground supply chain that bypasses clinicians entirely.”

“The uncomfortable truth is some of those charlatans now operate within self-described ‘trans community’ spaces. This parallel system, dangerous, illegal in key respects and almost impossible to eradicate, risks irreparable harm to vulnerable children and young people.”

Trans Harm Reduction, however, stated that it will continue its activities – and echoed the arguments made by pro-abortion activists who insist that abortion must be legal because otherwise it will be perpetrated illegally.

“Trans people will continue to self-medicate regardless of whether they can access support from medical professionals,” they claimed. THR now works to connect gender dysphoric youth with illegal drugs and keeps a “private list” of doctors willing to help.

Police Scotland have stated that they are keeping a close eye on the situation. “Emerging drug trends are monitored and we will act proportionately to any increase in the prevalence or circulation of new or existing drug types,” they said in a statement.

lifesitenews

Two foreign men have been convicted of manslaughter after mowing down 32-year-old Estelle Roaux while the two were racing each other on a narrow bridge. The two men will not serve any prison time, as they were given a three-year prison sentence, with two years suspended. In addition, they may be back on the road in just two years, or even sooner, given their history of driving without a license.

On June 15, 2022, the two men, Mamadou D., originally from Mali, and Zidane Junior NM, were treating the stretch of road between Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron and Dolus like a racetrack. Their reckless driving, which saw them speeding at110 km/h in a zone set at 70 km/h, ended on a bridge near the Oléron Island viaduct. The two were swerving from lane to lane on the narrow bridge, trying to overtake each other, according to witnesses, when Estelle Roaux was struck by Mamadou D. on her motorcycle while driving in the opposite lane.

“They took my only child, my princess… They ruined my life,” said Brigitte Roaux, who has been devastated by grief for almost four years since her daughter’s death.

Mamadou D. had his license suspended and will not be able to apply for a new one for two years. Zidane Junior NM did not even have his license when Estelle Roaux was killed. He will also have to wait two years before he can apply for a new one. Despite their repeated traffic violations, including after the death of Estelle Roaux, they will be allowed to be on the road in just two years.

Due to the judge’s sentence, French outlet Sud Ouest claimed the men would not serve prison time.

The pair had been friends since the age of 16, and both worked at a fiber optic installation company. They were at a worksite on the day of the accident.

Witnesses described them “driving like crazy” and weaving in and out of traffic, while drivers coming from the opposite direction were forced to swerve to avoid a collision. Video surveillance confirmed what witnesses had described.

No remorse and further traffic infractions

In court, the two defendants showed little remorse. Their behavior after the accident only compounded matters — both committed further traffic offenses during their judicial supervision, despite being prohibited from driving. One of them had seven speeding offenses alone since the time of Estelle Roaux’s death.

The prosecution was unsparing. Philippe Courtois, lawyer for the victim’s in-laws, called them “irresponsible” and “imbeciles.”While acknowledging that neither man set out to cause a death, the Public Prosecutor’s Office argued that they had “intentionally adopted extremely dangerous behavior towards other road users.” The fact that the driver without a valid French license was not the one who struck the victim did not absolve him — it takes two to race. This reasoning led prosecutor Lucile Babin to request the same 3-year prison sentence for both men, with a deferred committal warrant.

The defense urged the magistrates “not to judge with the heart.” The court ultimately handed down sentences of three years in prison, including two years suspended with probation for three years, along with obligations to seek treatment and maintain employment.

The light sentence for this type of street racing stands in stark contrast to similar cases in other countries, such as one in Germany, where Faraz A. was given a life sentence for killing 22-year-old Janine W.

In 2019, Berlin prosecutor at the time, Andreas Winkelmann, was interviewed by Welt after a deadly illegal street race and the introduction of a new law to combat the growing wave of such deadly accidents.

“Most of the perpetrators are male, in their early 20s, and have a migration background,” he said.

rmx.news

Nigel Farage introduced two veteran Labour politicians to his team on Wednesday, including a former London region mayor, stating their long experience on the local government “front line” would be invaluable to the party as Reform UK seeks to transform the country.

Brexit pioneer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his London Mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham unveiled two defections from the Labour party on Wednesday, the Former Labour mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales and 21-year Labour councillor Clive Furness. Farage said Furness would stand as Reform’s candidate for the forthcoming Mayor of Newham election in May while Sir Robin will become Reform’s London director of local government.

Mr Farage has long been teasing Labour defections to Reform in the face of criticism that Reform has taken too many former Conservatives, and stated that the arrival of these experienced local government operatives, who he said had decades of service between them, would be a boon. The Reform leader said: “in some ways our weakness as a party is not having people who have been on the front line, managed budget, run government at all levels. And today makes a significant step forwards for us in that direction”.

Sir Robin Wales, who Farage hailed as an unusually successful former Labour Mayor, explained of their defection that endless failures including on the migrant boats, the state of the military, housing prices making family formation impossible for young people, the soaring cost of the NHS with no improvement in health outcomes, and “the rape gang coverup” had forced them to move. He said: “we came to the conclusion that the old parties can’t deliver services and the result of not delivering is cynicism in the electorate. We promise, promise, promise and nothing happens”.

On Reform, he said the party “has got a lot of rough edges”, but that there is an opportunity “to transform our society” at hand.

The former Labour man decried the attempts to paint Reform UK as extremist. He said: “they keep labelling and labelling and labelling. If Reform is racist I wouldn’t be in this room or even near this headquarters. It’s not.

“I can show you some other parties that are racist, some parties that are anti-Semitic but I don’t believe Reform is in any way racist. But what it is doing is standing against the illiberal values that people are trying to bring into our countries, it is discussing issues other people don’t want to discuss.”

He said he’d formerly represented an electoral area that was “one third Muslim” but he was concerned about the outcome of last week’s special election, where it is alleged that sectarian voting and unsound voting practices swayed the result. He remarked: “Gorton… exposed the transactional relationship between reactionary Muslims and those who want to get their votes.

The political establishment have “lost their moral compass”, he said, for their willingness to permit medical experiments on children. And as for the present debate on the value of university, Sir Robin added: “they’re scamming kids on the debt they’ve got… on pointless courses with fourth-rate lecturers”.

breitbart

Friedrich Merz’s party, along with the other mainstream groupings in German politics, constantly brands the populist AfD as the enemy of democracy. But when it suits them, they are more than happy to trample on long-established practices themselves.

The elite late last year ousted a democratically elected deputy mayor from office in North Rhine-Westphalia, simply because she represented the AfD, on the ludicrous pretext that she might have frightened off tourists. In Lower Saxony, it has breached the party’s democratic rights by effectively excluding it from oversight of the Office for the Constitution. And in Nieder-Olm, the AfD has been altogether barred from standing in this year’s mayoral election.

Democracy will next suffer at the hands of the establishment coalition in the Saxony-Anhalt September elections, which we previously identified as having the potential to set a course for the European Union.

The AfD has long polled at around 40% in this region, well above the CDU—the party of Merz, which follows in second place with around 25% of the expected vote. So the constitution and laws are being amended there to hinder the opposition party even in the likely event of ‘victory.’

Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that the CDU, SPD, and FDP, alongside the Greens and the Left faction, are working on legislation they hope will pass in May, to—as the paper put it—“safeguard the most important democratic institutions.” This will make it more difficult for the largest parliamentary group to choose the state parliament president, and reduce its influence on the membership of the state constitutional court.

(Current) officials also want to make it more difficult to abolish the State Agency for Civic Education, which the AfD says has “increasingly developed into a left-wing indoctrination institution.”

Yet AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund claims that “much of what is now being proposed can be reversed through simple legislation or adjusted again later.” Right-wing publication Junge Freiheit suggests he is wrong to be so “unperturbed.”

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