Join us at our 2nd Annual LITERARY FESTIVAL in London Fri 5 June – Sat 6 June. TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-2n… See your favourite free speech champions, writers & broadcasters. Prof. David Betz, Allison Pearson, Dominic Frisby, Nigel Biggar, David Frost and many more!
NCF Senior Fellow Rafe Heydel-Mankoo is joined by Peter Barnes (political commentator and strategist) and Jack Hadfield (independent journalist) to discuss two-tier Britain (foreigners living in council houses and two-tier justice) and a new poll which suggests that if Andy Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election he is forecast to defeat Keir Starmer in a leadership contest and, as polls stand, also defeat Reform in a General Election. How should the right react to this?
“O you who believe, strong drink and games of chance and idols and divining arrows are only an abomination of Satan’s handiwork. Leave it aside so that you may succeed.” (Qur’an 5:90)
And so he smashes wine bottles in the infidel land in which he finds himself. Even there, he still has to please Allah.
🇬🇧 Afghan migrant goes on knife rampage inside a supermarket
An Afghan migrant, identified as Milad Panjshiri, entered a supermarket in Bradford armed with a 6-inch knife.
He stormed through the aisles, smashing wine bottles, stabbing merchandise, and waving the blade at staff.… pic.twitter.com/HULaw5V3qD
In the name of what, if not Islamist obscurantism?
A French public broadcaster sparked widespread condemnation this week after its primetime news programme apparently decided it was necessary to censor classical statues in the background of an interview.
A statue sculpted in 1894 by Louis Cosme Demaille was apparently too risqué for France Télévisions flagship France 2 broadcaster. The classical-style sculpture, which depicted a naked couple embracing, was blurred during Tuesday’s instalment of its evening programme “20 Heures”.
It came as French constitutional law expert Benjamin Morel was being interviewed in the public garden at Issy-les-Moulineaux square, where the statue is located.
The decision made by the programme hosted by its controversial presenter, the Lebanese-born French journalist Léa Salamé quickly drew outrage on social media.
One user was quoted by Le Figaro as joking: “Artificial intelligence to the rescue of stupidity. Respect the anonymity of the statutes, even the European Union had never thought of it.”
Prominent French entrepreneur Jérôme Bourreau-Guggenheim mockingly questioned whether it was a “new standard” that Salamé would apply to her reports.
Others questioned if a more sinister motive was behind the decision. National Rally MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy remarked, “After censoring crosses and Judeo-Christian culture, France TV censors a work of art in the name of prudishness.
“In the name of what, if not Islamist obscurantism? We must not give an inch, long live artistic nudity!”
🔴🇫🇷 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛 𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢 — La statue floutée dans le JT de France 2 se nomme « Amour ». Datant de 1894, elle représente un couple d’amoureux.
The broadcaster quickly backed down and apologised; however, it did not explain why the statue was blurred.
In a post on social media, the account for 20 Heures said on Wednesday: “Last night, during a segment on the number of laws in France, we mistakenly aired an interview with a blurred background. This individual initiative was unwarranted. We apologise to our viewers.”
It is just the latest controversy to befall the programme since Salamé took over as its presenter last year. The Lebanese-born journalist has faced frequent backlash for inaccurate statements made on the public airwaves.
However, perhaps most controversially, Salamé is in a long-term romantic relationship with French Member of European Parliament Raphaël Glucksmann, raising questions about her ability to remain impartial.
The issue will likely be magnified in the future, given that Glucksmann is widely rumoured to be planning to throw his hat into the ring for next year’s presidential election to replace Emmanuel Macron.
Even beyond his partner, Glucksmann appears to be a favourite of the left-wing establishment media in Paris, with an undercover recording last year revealing that two state-funded journalists plotted to steer their audiences toward supporting his candidacy.
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has suggested that encouraging Italians to have more children would lessen the country’s reliance on regular immigration to fill labour shortages.
Speaking at the 17th edition of the Festival del Lavoro at Rome’s La Nuvola Congress Centre on May 21, 2026, Tajani linked Italy’s demographic decline to its labour market needs.
“We have a problem of demographic decline and we must understand if we want to have more children,” he said.
“And if we have more children then we can also say: fine, we reduce the number of regular migrants who come to work in our companies, but otherwise we have no workers.”
He added that falling birth rates increase demand for foreign workers in Italian firms, with associated challenges around integration and the risk of irregular immigration.
Tajani also flagged the loss of young Italian professionals who leave the country in search of higher wages elsewhere in Europe, warning that domestic firms were struggling to retain them.
Italy has one of the lowest fertility rates in Europe, with births falling to record lows in recent years.
Official data show the native population continues to shrink, while net migration has been the main factor stabilising the overall resident population at around 59 million.
Italy’s low birth rate has fuelled legal immigration to sustain the economy, particularly in sectors facing chronic labour shortages.
The comments quickly drew criticism from the left-wing opposition Democratic Party (PD).
PD senator Valeria Valente described the remarks as “absurd”, arguing that Italy needs both higher birth rates and well-managed immigration.
“These are all issues for which the Meloni Government has done little and has done it wrong because it continues to look at the world from the keyhole of nationalisms, while we should think of Italy in terms of a piece of the United States of Europe.”
Tajani, who leads Forza Italia, is a senior figure in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s centre-right coalition government.
Italy is experiencing one of the most acute demographic crises in Europe.
In 2025, the country’s total fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.14 children per woman, down from 1.18 the previous year, according to provisional figures from national statistics agency ISTAT.
This is well below the replacement level of 2.1 required to maintain a stable population over the long term.
As a result, births dropped to a historic low of 355,000, a decline of 3.9 per cent compared with 2024 and the fewest since Italian unification in 1861.
Meanwhile, deaths stood at around 652,000, producing a natural population deficit of approximately 296,000.
This negative natural balance has persisted for years, driving a gradual shrinkage of the native Italian population.
As of January 1, 2026, the resident population totalled roughly 58.94 million, virtually stable after 12 consecutive years of decline.
The Italian-citizen population dropped by 189,000 to 53.38 million, while the foreign-resident population reached 5.56 million, or 9.4 per cent of the total, marking an increase of 188,000 (+3.5 per cent) over the previous year.
ISTAT recorded around 440,000 arrivals against 144,000 departures in 2025. Net international migration of 296,000 almost entirely offset the natural decline. Without this flow, the population would have fallen by nearly 300,000.
Italian life expectancy remained among the highest in Europe at 81.7 years for men and 85.7 years for women, further straining the pension and healthcare systems.
The implications are already visible in an ageing society and shrinking workforce.
Italy’s median age continues to rise and the ratio of working-age individuals to dependents is deteriorating.
Without sustained net migration or a significant recovery in birth rates, official projections indicate the total population could decline to around 54 to 55 million by 2050.
The working-age population (15-64) would shrink markedly, placing further strain on the pension system, healthcare and economic growth.
Under current trends of persistently low native fertility combined with continued net migration of 200,000 to 300,000 per year, the share of residents of recent foreign origin (including naturalised citizens and their descendants) is expected to rise steadily.
Independent analyses suggest this group could approach or exceed 30 to 40 per cent of the population by 2050-2070, potentially pushing the native Italian share below 50 per cent in the second half of the century if policies remain unchanged.
Migrant drug gangs in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg are accused of exploiting underage girls by luring them with gifts, getting them hooked on hard drugs, and then demanding sex in exchange for further supplies, according to a press release from the state police.
The suspected exploitation centered on Nelson Mandela Platz near the city’s main railway station, as well as nearby areas including Südstadt and Celtispark, which have long been known to police for drug crime.
In a statement published on Thursday, Bavarian Police said investigators found growing evidence that members of the drug scene were deliberately approaching young girls from unstable family and living situations. The men identified so far are described by police as predominantly of Syrian, Pakistani, and North African origin.
The girls, some as young as 13, were allegedly first offered affection and gifts such as clothing or cosmetics. Investigators believe they were later supplied with hard drugs, including crystal meth. Once dependent, they allegedly received further drugs only in exchange for sexual acts or other “services,” with some forced into prostitution.
Ten people have been identified so far, according to the Nürnberger Nachrichten. Four are under investigation for offenses including drug trafficking, supplying drugs to minors, and sexual crimes. A 23-year-old Syrian national is already in custody, while arrest warrants have been issued for two men still on the run: a 22-year-old Syrian and a 25-year-old stateless person. An 18-year-old Pakistani national is also under investigation.
The Nuremberg criminal police have set up a special investigation unit called “EKO Kajal,” which began work on May 18, according to Junge Freiheit. The unit is working with the Nuremberg-Fürth Public Prosecutor’s Office and city partners to identify suspects, secure arrest warrants, and examine possible deportation proceedings.
Police spokesman Andreas Gramlich told the Nürnberger Nachrichten that “there is suspicion that sexual assaults and rapes have also occurred in this context.” He said investigators have not yet established a clearly organized gang structure, but believe there are links between the suspects.
Gramlich said the girls “apparently went to the apartments voluntarily,” while stressing that investigators are examining the wider pattern of dependency, coercion, and abuse. He said police would “pursue the matter thoroughly” and aimed “to shed light on the entire area of unreported crime.”
It is possible that the investigation could uncover a larger grooming gang scandal across the city, with youth welfare officers already sounding the alarm about the scale of the problem. Frank Schmidt, deputy head of Nuremberg’s youth welfare office, said problems around major train stations are “not unique to Nuremberg,” but warned that the open nature of suspected drug-related prostitution among young girls was new.
Two of the girls involved have reportedly been placed in social care facilities outside Bavaria.
Seven men allegedly part of a grooming gang in Norfolk have been charged with rape and child sex abuse offences, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Jamil Khalil, 20, Ahmadin Ahmadzai, 21, Qais Kaker, 20, Fazal Auryakhel, 20, Mohammed Farooq Sinwary, 23, Ali Ahamad, 21, and Sayed Wahid Davdzai, 20, were charged with a range of rape and child sexual abuse offences.
The offences allegedly occurred between August 2023 and May 2025.
Jenny Hopkins, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service’s Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute seven men with rape and child sexual abuse charges for alleged offending during August 2023 to May 2025 – following a Norfolk Police Constabulary investigation into organised grooming gang activity in the county.
She added: “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We have worked closely with the Norfolk Constabulary as they carried out their investigation.
“We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
“It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
It is not only the barbecue areas on the Danube Island that are popular, but also the Steinbruchwiese barbecue area in Ottakringer Wald. Four student friends from Vienna had gone there to have a barbecue together, but the large Muslim families who were also barbecuing there took offence at their food. “You’re not barbecuing pig, go somewhere else,” the Austrians were told. This is what one of the students involved, Daniel K., told the website exxpress.
Pork belly, chops and spare ribs – all pork cuts that are hugely popular in Austria during the barbecue season. It was precisely with these cuts that four young law students from Vienna wanted to spend a “chilled-out” afternoon at the popular barbecue spot, Streinbruchwiese in the 16th district, and throw the traditional classics on the barbecue. But it didn’t get that far, as they were advised by larger groups of Muslim barbecue enthusiasts to go and barbecue elsewhere.
“When we arrived, there were already loads of people having a barbecue, and the place was packed. There seemed to be a lot of people or families from migrant backgrounds, but that didn’t bother us at all. We did get a few sceptical looks when we settled in among the crowd, but nobody had a problem with us. Until we took the meat out and two men came a bit closer to have a closer look. Then came the question: ‘Pork?’ When we answered ‘Yes’, the second man said in a sharp tone: ‘You don’t barbecue pork, go somewhere else.’ Then they went back to their group and everyone gave us very angry stares. “We then packed up because we didn’t want any arguments or a row,” says one of the students. No complaint has been filed regarding this incident, but one of the students spoke to the exxpress on the phone and described his view of events.
It’s no secret that Austrians like to eat pork. So, at the very least, its consumption should be tolerated. Similar debates have already taken place in schools and nurseries.
Bishop Marian Eleganti has said that “Islam has a problem in its relationship with violence” after a Moroccan immigrant in Modena, Italy, drove his car into a crowd.
In an interview with Italian newspaper Il Giornale, Eleganti was asked about the terrorist attack that occurred in Modena, Italy, on May 16. A 31-year-old Moroccan man, Salim El Koudri, drove his car at reportedly 50 to 60 miles per hour into a crowd on the busy central street, Via Emilia. After he hit several pedestrians, the car crashed into a shop window. He then got out of the car and stabbed a man who tried to intervene. Eight people were injured in the attack, including a woman who required both of her legs to be amputated.
The official investigators ruled out an Islamist motive, instead naming mental health issues as the main reason behind the horrific act.
However, Eleganti offered a different view: “It may be that in this specific case, we are once again dealing with a disturbed psyche. However, it is striking that in the case of similar attacks in European countries, the conclusion seems to come almost automatically: it is a lone wolf, a mentally ill person. In short: there is no connection to Islam or Islamism as one of the possible causes (sources) of such terrible acts. In any case, there is a regular effort to exonerate Islam in general and Muslims in particular by framing the incident as a mental disorder. But we cannot rule out that both factors are at play: Islamic fanaticism, mental disorder, and personal frustrations.”
“Why don’t Christians commit terrorist acts of this kind?” Eleganti asked. “Apparently, their religion (Christianity) offers far greater potential for individual resilience and immunity in the face of such demonic acts of violence, in which innocent people who have no personal connection to the perpetrator are the victims.”
“Benedict XVI was absolutely right when he diagnosed that Islam has a problem in its relationship with violence. It is an obvious fact,” Eleganti added.
It was later revealed that El Koudri expressed anti-Christian sentiment in emails sent to the University of Modena on April 27. While venting his frustration about the lack of job opportunities, he wrote, “F*** Christian b*****ds, you and your Jesus Christ on the cross, I’ll burn him.” He apologized for his “rudeness” in a follow-up email.
However, despite the revelations, the archbishop of Modena said loneliness and mental health issues were the root causes of the attack.
Eleganti responded by stating, “These are political statements in line with the spirit of the times, as well as attempts to shield themselves from the harsh reality that will not spare us and will teach us a lesson as soon as Islam takes control and becomes the majority.”
“Then the so-called unbelievers – that is, non-Muslims – in these countries will no longer have it easy. Such Good Samaritan-style statements by the bishops are made so as not to jeopardize, at least on a semantic level, peaceful coexistence among religions. In my view, in this context, they are a form of denial of reality. Take it from someone who has Muslim friends and even relatives!”
“No European country is immune to Islamic radicalization,” the Swiss bishop warned. “I believe that Islam is incompatible with our conception of society and the state shaped by Christianity, with our conception of religious freedom and freedom of personal conscience.”
“Islam has been an anti-Christian religion from the very beginning and has led to the disappearance of Christianity everywhere or decimated it to the point of near extinction.”
“This is still the case today,” Eleganti continued. “Many on the left and many Muslims today share a fundamentally hostile attitude toward Christianity; at the very least, none of them would lift a finger to ensure the survival of Christianity in our societies.”
“Rather, they dream together of a post-Christian era,” he concluded.
The world loves coal. That is the simple message from results showing new coal-fired power plants hit a global 10-year high in 2025, defying climate doomers who decry its use and long for wind farms, solar panels and hydro power everywhere.
Rising gas prices and supply disruptions linked to the Middle East crisis are just some of the factors pushing countries like China, Indonesia, India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Italy to rely more heavily on dependable coal-fired energy security even as the global coal fleet generated less electricity – for now.
Overall coal power capacity — plants that came online or were commissioned — jumped 3.5 percent last year according to a report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM), which has tracked coal power for more than a decade, AFP reports.
The overwhelming majority of that — 95 percent — was in China and India, GEM said, with the U.S. also keenly embracing the power source under President Donald Trump who calls it “beautiful, clean coal,” as Breitbart News reported.
According to the president, his administration has also approved more than 70 permits for new mining projects, after Biden approved none throughout his term.
Beijing sees coal as a reliable failsafe for intermittent renewable supply, particularly for after power shortages several years ago, the AFP report notes.
India, the world’s most populous country, is leaning heavily on coal-fired sources to meet soaring electricity demand.
In Africa, coal proposals were again concentrated in Zimbabwe and Zambia, which together accounted for two-thirds of new coal development in the region.
Globally, the retirement of coal power slowed last year, with nearly 70 percent of units that were due to end operations instead staying online, GEM said per AFP.
In Europe, those missed targets were linked primarily to decisions taken during the 2022-23 energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In the United States however, retirement delays reflect a determined government push for coal as a direct aid to energy self-sufficiency , said Shearer.
“U.S. coal-fired generation rose by more than 80 TWh (terawatt hours) year-on-year, a figure so large that no other country came close,” said Christine Shearer, project manager of GEM’s Global Coal Plant Tracker and author of the report.
The surge “was not simply a function of (demand) growth, it reflected a policy environment that actively encouraged it,” she added.
A photo of the Turkish murder suspect, Thamer Hassan Ali B
Following a manhunt by German police that lasted for months, the suspect in the fatal stabbing of 41-year-old restaurant owner Mortsa S. has been apprehended in Turkey. Hamburg police discovered that the suspect, Thamer Hassan Ali B., is a Turkish national and had been residing there under a false identity.
The suspect is currently detained and set for deportation, but he has lodged an objection against deportation proceedings.
The Turkish judicial system must now determine if the alleged killer will be transferred to the authorities in Hamburg. The man was found after Hamburg police successfully tracked down his location in Turkey.
The victim, Mortsa S., ran the Persian restaurant “Sepideh“ on Hammer Straße, a name meaning “dawn.”
In February 2026, the victim was stabbed following a dispute that took place behind the establishment. The two had reportedly long been in conflict before the fatal attack, according to Bild newspaper.
Even though Mortsa S. was mortally wounded, the 41-year-old managed to pull himself back inside his restaurant. His workers then rushed him in a Mercedes-Maybach to the Asklepios Clinic in Wandsbek, but medical professionals were unable to save his life.
Mortsa S. left behind two young children, a son and a daughter.
Months prior to the incident, Thamer Hassan Ali B. had behaved poorly inside the restaurant and was banned from entering the property. In the wake of the ban, the relatives were reportedly terrorized with threatening phone calls.
On the exact day of the crime, the suspect returned to the premises once more and told the victim, “I want to talk.“
When they went behind the restaurant, the stabbing attack reportedly occurred.
