A 'Drone Wall' Is Coming to NATO's Eastern Border

 

A sweeping new defense initiative is underway along NATO's eastern border as the alliance ramps up surveillance and deterrence capabilities in response to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

The project, nicknamed the "Drone Wall," envisions a continuous layer of unmanned aerial systems stretching from Norway to Poland, leveraging cutting-edge technology to defend against incursions and unconventional warfare tactics.

Why It Matters

The Drone Wall is designed to serve as a permanent early warning and reconnaissance network along NATO's eastern flank, particularly in vulnerable areas bordering Russia. It stands as both a literal and symbolic effort to reinforce Europe's defenses, assert regional control over surveillance technologies and counter the kind of gray-zone conflicts that have marked Russia's recent strategies in Ukraine and elsewhere.

The initiative also reflects a growing shift in European defense strategy toward self-reliance. This pivot comes at a time when the United States' commitment to NATO appears less certain, especially following the return of President Donald Trump, who has pressured European members to increase their defense spending.

A sweeping new defense initiative is underway along NATO's eastern border as the alliance ramps up surveillance and deterrence capabilities in response to Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

The project, nicknamed the "Drone Wall," envisions a continuous layer of unmanned aerial systems stretching from Norway to Poland, leveraging cutting-edge technology to defend against incursions and unconventional warfare tactics.

Why It Matters

The Drone Wall is designed to serve as a permanent early warning and reconnaissance network along NATO's eastern flank, particularly in vulnerable areas bordering Russia. It stands as both a literal and symbolic effort to reinforce Europe's defenses, assert regional control over surveillance technologies and counter the kind of gray-zone conflicts that have marked Russia's recent strategies in Ukraine and elsewhere.

The initiative also reflects a growing shift in European defense strategy toward self-reliance. This pivot comes at a time when the United States' commitment to NATO appears less certain, especially following the return of President Donald Trump, who has pressured European members to increase their defense spending.

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Kamau Kambom, taught Africana Studies at North Carolina State University: “We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet."

 

“We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet.” Kamau Kambon, who taught Africana Studies 241 in the Spring 2005 semester at North Carolina State University, calls for genocide.

The conference was organized to discuss mainstream media coverage of racial issues after Hurricane Katrina.

 

Kambon explained how he grew up in Brooklyn and eventually began to wonder why so many of his Black friends were dying. He concluded that the reason was systematic oppression by a society designed and run by Whites, according to an article published by the Associated Press in 2025.

 

“We have to exterminate White people off the face of the planet to solve this problem …,” he said. “So we just have to just set up our own system and stop playing and get very serious and not be diverted from coming up with a solution to the problem, and the problem on the planet is White people.”

 

Lawrence Guyot, a civil rights leader and speaker at the conference, immediately challenged the remarks, warning that Blacks can’t work toward full freedom with “racial fanaticism.” Opio Sokoni, a filmmaker and broadcaster who helped organize the event, also has distanced himself from Kambon’s remarks.

Paramount’s Shari Redstone Says Freedom of the Press Means ‘Giving the Facts, Not Opinions’ | Exclusive

 

Just hours after the surprise resignation of “60 Minutes” boss Bill Owens, Paramount Global non-executive chairwoman Shari Redstone described her views on the role of media in the current era, and what freedom of speech means.

Speaking to TheWrap after the premiere of the documentary “Children of October 7,” Redstone said, “there is nothing controversial about telling the truth. There’s nothing controversial about getting the real story out there. And I think companies have not only an opportunity, but a tremendous responsibility, to use the resources that they have to tell these stories and to get them to as many audiences, let people decide how they feel about something and how they react to something, but give them the facts.”

Asked how she balances press freedom with the financial demands of media companies, Redstone said, “I don’t think there’s ever a time you have to compromise what it is that you say and do, but freedom of the press involves telling both sides of the story, giving the facts, not giving opinions. And I think that’s our responsibility as a media company.

“The days of Walter Cronkite, where, whatever it is, people believed in the truth, people really crave the information they need to be independent and make their own judgments. That’s what freedom of speech is,” Redstone added.

Redstone however declined to talk about “60 Minutes” or Owens’ resignation.

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Far-right shift on anti-Semitism sparks unease, even among Jews

 

After a past marked by anti-Semitism, far-right parties now often portray themselves as defenders of Jews, but critics accuse them of shifting their stance solely for political gain.

Last month several far-right leaders travelled to Israel for a government-organised conference on combating anti-Semitism.

They included Jordan Bardella, president of France's National Rally; Kinga Gal, an MEP for Hungary's Fidesz party and Milorad Dodik, the leader of Bosnia's Serb-dominated territory Republika Srpska, who is an ally of Vladimir Putin and wanted by Interpol.

"Hatred of Jews and the state of Israel is a global scourge that we must fight relentlessly," Bardella said, repeating his party's new mantra that the National Rally (RN) "is today the best shield for our compatriots of Jewish faith".

Such statements stand in stark contrast to views expressed by Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the RN under its former name the National Front, who famously called the Holocaust "a detail of the history of World War II".

His daughter Marine Le Pen, who pushed him out of the party as part of her reform drive, marked her distance from her father "concerning all forms of anti-Semitism", said Nonna Mayer, a political scientist at France's CNRS research body.

Marine Le Pen, who now heads her party's parliamentary group, had already embarked on a policy dubbed "de-demonisation" when Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.

The assault presented the RN with an "unexpected opportunity to exploit anti-Semitism so they could position themselves as the defenders of Jews in France and Israel", Mayer said.

- 'Zero tolerance', 'safe space' -

Similar rhetoric is heard elsewhere in Europe among identity-based right-wing parties, for whom immigration into Europe is a top policy issue.

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60 minutes Plus - Producer Bill Owens resigned abruptly this week, complaining that he no longer had the editorial independence

 

Paramount owner Shari Redstone in recent days sought to know which upcoming 60 Minutes stories were about President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the situation — triggering a series of events that ended with the Tuesday resignation of the show’s longtime producer.

Producer Bill Owens resigned abruptly this week, complaining that he no longer had the editorial independence to run the iconic Sunday evening news show.

In a note first shared with The New York Times, Owens said that “over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ’60 Minutes,′ right for the audience.”

“So, having defended this show — and what we stand for — from every angle, over time with everything I could, I am stepping aside so the show can move forward,” he wrote.

His resignation was the culmination of months of tensions between 60 Minutes and Paramount, which has taken greater interest in oversight of CBS News.

Following Trump’s demand that the FCC inflict “punishment” on CBS over a recent 60 Minutes piece on Greenland and Ukraine, Paramount executives, including Redstone, asked the program to provide a list of upcoming Trump-related pieces it was reporting on for the duration of its season, which ends in May.

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Imigrantes que faltam a agendamentos na AIMA atingem 15% por dia

 

O presidente da Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA), Pedro Portugal Gaspar disse, esta segunda-feira, à Lusa, no Porto, que diariamente, há quase um ano, 15% dos imigrantes agendados para regularizar a sua situação no país não comparecem.

"Ao princípio andava a rondar os 10% e agora aumentou um pouco, portanto está à volta dos 15% em que diariamente não comparecem as pessoas que estão agendadas", afirmou o responsável em declarações à margem da conferência "Ser Imigrante em Portugal", promovida pela Associação Cívica +Porto. 

Pedro Portugal Gaspar admitiu tratar-se de uma "questão preocupante", adiantando que foram publicados "vários alertas no site [da AIMA] para as pessoas atualizarem a morada".

"Uma das razões que consideramos é que eventualmente seja devido ao problema de e-mails antigos [de pessoas que] estão há anos à espera de serem chamadas pela administração", continuou o presidente da AIMA, que lamentou a existência de "uma carga instalada que não é otimizada".

Na sua intervenção na conferência, Pedro Portugal Gaspar afirmou que a AIMA tem "capacidade para, diariamente, agendar e receber 1.000 pessoas, mas o que é facto é que 150 não comparecem", situação que piora quando se sabe "haver pessoas que não conseguem o agendamento". 

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21 bairros a evitar (Zonas Urbanas Sensíveis)

 

Lista de bairros portugueses classificados como ZUS (Zonas Urbanas Sensíveis), com base em programas como o Iniciativa Bairros Críticos e o Programa Escolhas:

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Lisboa

1. Bairro da Jamaica (Amadora)

2. Cova da Moura (Amadora)

3. Estrela d’África (Amadora)

4. 6 de Maio (Amadora)

5. Quinta da Lage (Odivelas)

6. Bairro do Alto da Cova da Moura

7. Bairro da Quinta do Mocho (Loures)

8. Bairro da Musgueira

9. Bairro do Condado (Lisboa)

10. Bairro da Flamenga

Porto

11. Bairro do Cerco

12. Bairro do Lagarteiro

13. Bairro do Aleixo (demolido em parte, mas ainda referenciado)

14. Bairro das Pedras Rubras (Maia)

15. Bairro do Viso

Setúbal

16. Bairro do Grito do Povo (Barreiro)

17. Bairro da Bela Vista (Setúbal)

Outras Regiões

18. Bairro da Cova do Vapor (Almada)

19. Bairro do Talisso (Portimão)

20. Bairro do Zambujal (Cacém)

21. Bairro das Marianas (Guarda)

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Critérios de Classificação

Estes bairros são selecionados com base em:

• Pobreza e exclusão social

• Elevado desemprego

• Baixa escolaridade

• Degradação urbana

• Conflitos sociais ou étnicos

 

Nobel prizes - Jews (22%) and Muslims (1,8%)

Jewish Nobel Laureates

Jewish individuals have been recognized with Nobel Prizes in the following fields:​

• Physics: Over 50 laureates, including Albert Einstein (1921) and Richard Feynman (1965).​

• Chemistry: More than 30 recipients, such as Ada Yonath (2009) and Martin Karplus (2013).​

• Physiology or Medicine: Over 50 laureates, including Paul Ehrlich (1908) and Eric Kandel (2000).​

• Literature: Approximately 15 recipients, such as Isaac Bashevis Singer (1978) and Bob Dylan (2016).​

• Peace: Around 10 laureates, including Menachem Begin (1978) and Elie Wiesel (1986).​

• Economic Sciences: Over 20 recipients, such as Milton Friedman (1976) and Robert Aumann (2005).​

This represents about 22% of all individual Nobel laureates, a significant proportion considering that Jews constitute approximately 0.2% of the global population. ​

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☪️ Muslim Nobel Laureates

Muslim individuals have been awarded Nobel Prizes in the following categories:​

• Peace: Notable laureates include Anwar Sadat (1978), Yasser Arafat (1994), Shirin Ebadi (2003), Muhammad Yunus (2006), Malala Yousafzai (2014), and Narges Mohammadi (2023).​Wikipedia

• Literature: Naguib Mahfouz (1988) remains the sole Muslim laureate in this category.​

• Physics: Abdus Salam (1979) is the only Muslim recipient in this field.​

• Economic Sciences: No Muslim laureates have been awarded in this category to date.​

Overall, Muslim laureates represent about 1.8% of all individual Nobel Prize recipients, while Muslims make up approximately 24% of the global population.