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Posted 2024-08-20 16:15

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85 O'day 26

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posted: 2024-08-20 16:15

updated: 2024-08-24 20:35

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85 O'day 26 - boats - by owner - marine sale - craigslist

26ft Sailboat 1985 O'day 26

What makes Oday 26 Sailboat Comfortable Overnight Cruiser.

Make: ODay Model: 26

LOA: 25.6 Beam: 8

LWL: 21.6 Draft: 2.5-6

Ballast: 1850 Lbs Displacement: 4800 Lbs

Rig and Sails:

This boat is a Sloop with a Mast-head Rig, and 279 sq. feet of sail area. She has 2 Sails, Including Main Sail, Genoa.

She has a Center-board. The Hull is Original Gel-coat, and is in Untouched condition.

1 Mercury Gas (Outboard) Engine, 15 horse power with Hours.

swim-ladder, outboard, battery fenders, roller-furling, extra lines, VHF, Stereo w/ speakers, Binoculars

For decades the most popular sailboats were the O'day 25 footers. Because of their ease of sail handling and comfortable sleeping quarters, they made their way across the Country, culminating in their most prided design, the O'Day 26. This O’Day will have you sailing from day one. She is perfect for the Long Island Sound, or the Great South Bay as she only draws 3 feet. She can easily be trailered, with her centerboard keel. Once inside, you will feel fully at home, because her original interior layout has been designed for comfort, and relaxation. That means Her cushions are original styled fabric, original headliner, and all her teak is in glowing shape. If you have been waiting for the perfect overnight cruiser than this Oday 26 may be the perfect boat for you. She sits on the hard in City Island. Don’t wait to let her go to someone else.

Contact Fred for arrangements and info: 3479273350

Or email for more details: [email protected]

Photo Gallery: ODay 26

This listing Originated at Barronsmarine.com/boats-for-sale/ .

For questions on listings Call: (347) 927-3350   Email:  [email protected]

Call: (347) 927 3350 To Contact About a Boat

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• Sailboat Guide

1982 Oday 25

• Description

Seller's Description

Oday 25 ft sailboat in good condition With 10hp Johnson outboard which always starts!

Spacious cabin sleeps 4

Small kitchen area, Toilet, 2 sinks

Comes with Main sail, front jib sail, anchor, all needed ropes, trailer and much more

$3750 / best offer

Equipment: Fully equipped with all sails and rigging

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

One of company’s most successful models and in production for nearly a decade. A majority were delivered with a keel/cb, but a fixed keel version was also available (Draft:4.50’/1.37m), as was a taller rig. I: 32.00’ / 9.75m J: 10.60’ / 3.23m P: 26.50’ / 8.08m E: 9.00’ / 2.74m Yanmar inboard diesel available as an option.

This listing is presented by SailboatListings.com . Visit their website for more information or to contact the seller.

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Reverse or Neutral

• Thread starter jrocheleau
• Start date Sep 17, 2008
• Oday Owner Forums
• Ask An Oday Owner

I've heard conflicting views on what to do with your transmission when under sail. Should it be kept in neutral or reverse when sailing?  

What I've been told is to put it in reverse when under sail. This came from the best diesel mechanic in our area. He's the guy that works on most of the boats including the ferry and cruise boats here. I don't know if the make and model make a difference. Ours is a Universal M25. Hope this helps!  

Capt Jim24025

Depends on your engine and tranny Check with the engine manufacturer. My VolvoPenta w/saildrive says to use Reverse but my Perkins 107 manual says to use forward. In lieu of that, try them both and find out which one stops the prop from turning. You want to stop the shaft from turning to prevent excessive wear on the transmission and packing bearing. I've also been told that a stationary prop has less drag than a moving prop (but that seems counter-intuitive to me). Capt. Cook  

My spin... Right on, Cap'n... I have a Volvo/Perkins MD2030 hooked up to a Volvo MS25S saildrive. Manual states when under sail, place shifter momentarily in reverse to stop prop and then place in neutral. Cheers, Bob  

Hello All! Do you know right position of the Paragon reverse gear (Atomic engine) under sail? I didn't find it at the operation manual.  

Konstantin said: Do you know right position of the Paragon reverse gear (Atomic engine) under sail? I didn't find it at the operation manual. Click to expand

Thanks a lot! Hello Rad! My name is Konstantin. I'm from Russia and I've bought the same boat (O'Day 32)! I see that it is really rare boat and there is not a lot of information. How long you own your boat?  

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Ukraine Attacks Moscow in One of Largest Ever Drone Strikes on Russian Capital

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Ukraine attacked Moscow on Wednesday with at least 11 drones that were shot down by air defences in what Russian officials called one of the biggest drone strikes on the capital since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

The war, largely a grinding artillery and drone battle across the fields, forests and villages of eastern Ukraine, escalated on Aug. 6 when Ukraine sent thousands of soldiers over the border into Russia’s western Kursk region.

For months, Ukraine has also fought an increasingly damaging drone war against the refineries and airfields of Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter, though major drone attacks on the Moscow region – with a population of over 21 million – have been rarer.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences destroyed a total of 45 drones over Russian territory, including 11 over the Moscow region, 23 over the border region of Bryansk, six over the Belgorod region, three over the Kaluga region and two over the Kursk region.

Some of the drones were shot down over the city of Podolsk, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The city in the Moscow region is some 38 km (24 miles) south of the Kremlin.

“This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever,” Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app in the early hours of Wednesday. “The layered defence of Moscow that was created made it possible to successfully repel all the attacks from the enemy UAVs.”

Along Moscow’s boulevards, the cafes, restaurants and shops of the capital – which has been carefully insulated from the war – were crowded with little sign of concern, while President Vladimir Putin met Chinese premier Li Qiang in the Kremlin.

Two Russian citizens who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the foiled drone attack simply showed how well defended Moscow now was, and that Ukraine was “playing with fire” by attacking Russia both in Kursk and in Moscow.

Russia meanwhile is advancing in eastern Ukraine, where it controls about 18% of the territory, and battling to repel Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, the biggest foreign attack on Russian territory since World War Two.

Russian media showed unverified footage of drones whirring over the dawn sky of the Moscow region and then being shot down in a ball of flame by air defences.

Moscow’s airports, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, limited flights for four hours but restarted normal operations from 0330 GMT, Russia’s aviation watchdog said.

Sobyanin said that according to preliminary information, there were no injuries or damage reported in the aftermath of the attacks. There were also no casualties or damage reported following the attack on Bryansk in Russia’s southwest, the governor of the region, Alexander Bogomaz, wrote on Telegram.

Russia’s RIA state news agency reported that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to its north. Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region in Russia’s southwest, said air defence forces destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over the region, with no injuries reported.

The Russian defence ministry did not mention either Tula or Rostov in its statement listing destroyed Ukrainian air weapons. Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday it overnight struck an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system based in the Rostov region.

The drone attack on Moscow was on a par with a May 2023 attack when at least eight drones were destroyed over the capital, a strike Putin said was a Ukrainian attempt to scare and provoke Russia.

In Kursk, Russian war bloggers said intense battles were ongoing along the front in the region where Ukraine has carved out at least 450 square km (175 square miles) of Russian territory.

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Tim Walz Caught Fudging Record Again

Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., has been caught in two more fibs about his record.

For years Walz claimed the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce honored him and that he participated in a pilot Harvard program as one of the first American educators to teach Chinese high school students.

Walz claimed the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce gave him an award for his contributions to the state’s business community, Alpha News reported.

The Nebraska Chamber of Commerce “researched this matter” and confirmed that Walz received no award from the organization, according to a 2006 letter from Barry Kennedy, then-president of the organization.

Kennedy asked that Walz remove the false claim.

“I am not going to draw a conclusion about your intentions by including this line in your biography,” Kennedy said. “However, we respectfully request that you remove any reference to our organization as it could be considered an endorsement of your candidacy.”

“It should be pointed out, however, that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed your opponent, Congressman Gil Gutknecht, for his support of small business issues,” Kennedy added.

Walz’s campaign manager at the time called it a “typographical error” and updated the website by changing the citation from “Nebraska Chamber of Commerce” to the “Nebraska Junior Chamber of Commerce.”

For years, Walz claimed that he had worked in China during 1989-1990 through a Harvard pilot program taking groups of American educators to teach in Chinese high schools.

“Harvard University offered Walz an opportunity to gain a new perspective on global education by teaching in the People’s Republic of China,” Walz’s biography claimed.

His congressional biography, published after Walz had won his seat, said the same thing, according to The Washington Free Beacon. As recent as a 2018 version indicated that Walz taught there “through a program at Harvard University.”

The program, WorldTeach, was founded by Harvard undergraduates but does not appear to have been an official Harvard University program.

The Alpha News article also recapped some of the already reported on controversies and misrepresentations by Walz including about his military service, his rank, his DUI arrest and his IVF claim.

Trump Heads This Week to Blue Wall States Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

Donald Trump’s plans to visit Michigan for campaign event this week signifies commitment to lure swing states in presidential election battle.

One of Donald Trump’s two campaign events on Thursday in battleground states will take him to Michigan, where he will address the economy, indicating a renewed urgency to lure voters in swing states.

The former President will visit the business Alro Steel on Thursday afternoon in Potterville, Michigan. The campaign event is set for Thursday afternoon, one stop ahead of a visit Trump has set for La Crosse, Wisconsin, later on Thursday.

Michigan and Wisconsin, along with Pennsylvania, where Trump plans on stumping on Friday, are considered swing states for voters in this year’s presidential election. Trump claimed Wisconsin and Michigan in the 2016 election but lost them in 2020.

During the Michigan campaign stump speech, Trump’s campaign officials said he’d also address manufacturing and inflation as part of his election bid to defeat Democratic Presidential Nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, who ascended to the mantle after President Joe Biden decided to bow out of the race amid mounting pressure to leave the campaign in July.

“For nearly four years, the Harris-Biden economic policies have put unnecessary stress and pressure on Michigan families,” the Trump campaign said in a news release before the visit to Michigan.

“Michigan’s inflation is at 20.5% — forcing families to pay an additional $1,031 a month. Since Kamala Harris took office, Michiganders have spent $9,819 more on transportation, $4,464 more on energy, $4,020 on food, and $4,183 more on shelter. That’s thousands of dollars Michiganders should have been putting aside for their families’ peace of mind.”

Trump has announced he’ll be bearing down more on swing states after the Democratic National Convention last week, at which Harris reveled in a slickly produced event in Chicago, Illinois.

Trump has even started to ease up on Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican from Georgia. Trump has often blamed Kemp for Georgia’s vote loss to Biden in the 2020 election, which cost Trump the overall vote.

But Trump recently changed his tune toward Kemp after harping on the Georgia Republican.

In a social media post last week, Trump thanked Kemp “for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country.”

“I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote.

Trump’s words marked a major departure from his comments at a rally earlier this month. At that rally, Trump tore into the Governor in an Atlanta arena only blocks from the Georgia Capitol, blaming him for his narrow 2020 loss in the state.

Alaska Governor Declares Disaster and Evacuation Ordered Following Landslide in Ketchikan

One person was killed and three were injured by a landslide that prompted a mandatory evacuation in the Alaska city of Ketchikan, authorities said.

Three people were transported to Ketchikan Medical Center following the landslide, which struck around 4 p.m. Sunday and damaged homes and infrastructure, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and City of Ketchikan said in a joint statement Sunday.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared an emergency for Ketchikan, while Borough Mayor Rodney Dial and city Mayor Dave Kiffer issued a separate emergency declaration.

“Friends, is with a heavy heart we relay that a landslide in the city has taken a life, caused several injuries, damaged homes and impacted our community,” Dial said in the statement.

Kiffer said the loss of life was “heartbreaking, and my heart goes out to those who lost their homes.”

“In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I have never seen a slide of this magnitude. With the slides we have seen across the region, there is clearly a region-wide issue that we need to try to understand with the support of our State geologist,” Kiffer said.

Two of the victims were admitted to the hospital and one was treated and released. All other individuals have been accounted for, the statement said.

Multiple homes were impacted by the landslide and a mandatory evacuation was ordered for residents of Third Avenue and nearby streets, while a shelter was set up at Ketchikan High School, the borough and city said.

A potential secondary landslide area was identified to the south of the original slide location and crews were standing by, the statement said.

Power was restored to some affected areas by 8:15 p.m. Other areas will remain without power while the landslide is cleared and broken power poles are replaced, the borough and city said.

Various local and state agencies responded to the landslide in the southeastern Alaska city located about 297 miles (478 kilometers) south of Junea, the state capital.

A Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Response Specialist and federal Department of Transportation personnel are expected to travel to Ketchikan on Monday, Dunleavy said.

“I have directed state agencies to make available all resources and staff for the response effort,” Dunleavy said, noting the city was receiving assistance from the State Emergency Operations Center.

RFK Jr. Loses Secret Service Protection After Suspending Campaign, Backing Trump

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will no longer receive Secret Service protection after he announced on Aug. 23 that he was suspending his campaign in 10 battleground states and urging voters in those states to support former President Donald Trump instead.

“Mr. Kennedy no longer has USSS protection,” Kennedy’s press secretary, Stefanie Spear, told The Epoch Times on Aug. 25.

Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service chief of communications, confirmed that Kennedy “is no longer a protectee given he suspended his campaign,” in an Aug. 25 statement to The Epoch Times.

Kennedy was denied Secret Service protection five times before the Department of Homeland Security granted it shortly after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13.

Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified by authorities as the gunman. Trump’s ear was grazed by the gunfire, former fire chief Corey Comperatore was killed, and two others were injured.

Following the attack, Trump said that Kennedy should “immediately” get Secret Service protection.

“In light of what is going on in the world today, I believe it is imperative that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection—immediately,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do!”

On July 15, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas authorized Kennedy’s Secret Service protection.

“We are in a heightened and very dynamic threat environment. The United States’ Secret Service, we—including the FBI and our other partners across the federal government—take the threats very seriously and adjust security measures as warranted, maintaining the safety and security of the president, the former president in their campaign events is one our most vital priorities,” Mayorkas said.

“In light of the weekend’s events, the president has directed me to work with the Secret Service to provide protection for Robert Kennedy Jr.”

It’s standard procedure for the Secret Service to end protection when a presidential candidate drops out of the race. Kennedy said that he has suspended his campaign in 10 battleground states but will be on the ballot in the other 40 states during his Aug. 23 address. He encouraged voters to support him in states where he would not be considered a “spoiler” and detract backing for their Trump or Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.

In April 2023, Kennedy announced his candidacy to challenge President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

After encountering multiple roadblocks from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and asserting that the organization was preventing other candidates from competing, Kennedy chose to run as an independent in October 2023.

Earlier this year, the DNC announced the creation of a team to counter third-party and independent presidential candidates.

It hired a veteran Democrat strategist to spearhead an aggressive communication plan to combat Kennedy, independent Cornel West, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

The DNC has backed lawsuits in multiple states designed to prevent Kennedy from being on the ballot. Last week alone, he appeared in Pennsylvania and New York to testify in ballot access hearings.

Kennedy said that the repeated denials for Secret Service protection were “political” and part of a trend of federal agencies being “weaponized to serve a political agenda.”

Kennedy said his campaign had to spend millions of dollars on private security before being granted Secret Service protection.

Authorities making the decisions would rather he “spend money on protection than spending it on field organization or advertising,” Kennedy said.

Federal law indicates that the president and the Secretary of Homeland Security have the “broad discretion” to authorize Secret Service protection of presidential candidates.

Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, however, typically receive DHS security protection within 120 days of the first Tuesday of November in an election year.

Kennedy’s campaign has encountered a number of security issues. In September 2023, security personnel arrested an armed man impersonating a U.S. Marshal outside a campaign event in Los Angeles.

One month later, another armed man was arrested after twice attempting to break into Kennedy’s Los Angeles home. When the man was released after the first incident under a restraining order, he returned to the candidate’s home and again tried to break in before authorities arrested him a second time.

Following Mayorkas’s fifth denial of Secret Service protection in April, Kennedy threatened to sue the DHS.

“I worry about the safety of my family and the safety of bystanders if there happens to be a more serious incident,” he told reporters after a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, in April.

Gavin de Becker, whose firm provided private security for Kennedy, said last year that Secret Service protection is often issued to candidates before the 120-day window, pointing to former President Jimmy Carter giving then-candidate Ronald Reagan and other GOP candidates security “long before the 1980 election.”

De Becker also noted that the Carter administration provided Sen. Edward Kennedy, Kennedy’s uncle, with Secret Service protection 441 days before the 1980 election, “even though [Sen.] Kennedy hadn’t formally announced his candidacy.”

The Secret Service says it provides protection to “major presidential and vice presidential candidates,” as defined by “the Secretary of Homeland Security after consultation with an advisory committee.”

“The Secret Service has no role in determining who is to be considered a major candidate. The Secretary of Homeland Security determines who qualifies as a major candidate and when such protection should commence. … This determination is made in consultation with an advisory committee,” the agency’s website reads.

That advisory committee comprises the speaker of the House, House minority whip, Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader, and one additional member chosen by the committee.

Kennedy said he will now be “actively” campaigning for Trump. The Kennedy campaign did not provide further comment about the removal of Secret Service protection, and it is not known if he will retain Gavin de Becker & Associates again to provide security while on the campaign trail.

RFK Jr. Addresses Family Criticism of His Decision to Endorse Trump

On Sunday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a third-party 2024 presidential candidate, revealed that other Democrats plan to follow in his footsteps and endorse former President Donald Trump.

During an interview, RFK Jr. told anchor Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday that Trump will soon make several announcements involving politicians from the Democratic Party.

RFK Jr tells Shannon Bream that President Trump is preparing to make a series of announcements that other Democrats are about to join his campaign. The Unity Party to defeat the Democrat oligarchs is underway. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/xmJx6aazB2 — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 25, 2024

RFK Jr. announced earlier this week that he was suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump in the race to the White House.

He criticized his former party, calling the Democratic Party a party of “corruption, big tech, big donors, big Pharma, and big money.”

He also spoke out about his family, who expressed frustration and disappointment with Kennedy following his announcement. In a social media post, his sister, Kerry Kennedy, condemned and accused him of betraying the family and everything they stand for.

Kennedy downplayed the tensions between him and his family members, saying it was OK for them to disagree on issues and still love each other.

“You know, my family is at the center of the Democratic Party. I have members of my family that are working for the Biden administration. Biden has a bust of my father behind him at the Oval Office, and he’s been a family friend for many years,” he said.

“My family is – I understand that they’re troubled by my decisions. I love my family. I feel like we were raised in a milieu where we were encouraged to debate each other and debate ferociously and passionately about things and still love each other. They’re free to take their positions on these issues. There are many, many members of my family working at my campaign and who are supporting me.”

The Independent candidate said he will be “actively campaigning” for Trump with the message of “Mak[ing] America Healthy Again.”

“I talked specifically with President Trump about that issue, and he said that he wanted to leave as his legacy of healthy children,” Kennedy said.

Possible Cyberattack Cripples Port of Seattle, Sea-Tac Airport

The Port of Seattle, which includes Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, is experiencing outages that may have been caused by a cyberattack, Port officials said on Saturday.

The outages are impacting internet and web-based systems.

“Earlier this morning the Port of Seattle experienced certain system outages indicating a possible cyberattack,” according to a post on X. “The Port isolated critical systems and is in the process of working to restore full service and do not have an estimated time for return.”

The Port of Seattle, including SEA Airport, is experiencing an internet and web systems outage, which is impacting some systems at the airport. Passengers are encouraged to check with their airlines for the latest information for their flights. pic.twitter.com/GY6fbAHBg8 — Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport (@flySEA) August 24, 2024

Passengers may experience some disruptions, such as long lines and delays at baggage check or ticketing counters.

Port of Seattle officials did not immediately provide additional information about the cyberattack.

Anyone traveling via Sea-Tac Airport is encouraged to check in with their airline for updates. SEA officials also suggest loading your mobile boarding pass on your phone and registering checked bagged via your airline’s app before arriving to the airport.

Hurricane Hone Slams Hawai’i with Heavy Rains in Active Pacific Storm Season

Hurricane Hone swept past Hawai’i over the weekend, lashing the Big Island with heavy rains as emergency officials said a high wind warning would remain in effect for several areas through 6am Monday local time.

While the Atlantic hurricane season is experiencing a brief lull, parts of the Pacific are very active.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued advisories for two hurricanes and one tropical storm and forecasters in Japan warned that a sixth typhoon to form this month was expected to threaten the nation as a “very powerful” storm this week, per the Japan Times.

Hurricane Hone reached its closest point to Hawai’i some 45 miles south-southwest of South Point, on Hawai’i’s Big Island, on Sunday morning, according to the the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu.

The Category 1 storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 80 mph some 160 miles from Honolulu as continued to move away from the state late Sunday morning, per the NHC.

The hurricane was bringing heavy rains “capable of causing flash flooding to the Big Island and causing strong winds areawide” throughout Sunday, the National Weather Service’s Honolulu office noted in a forecast discussion.

A Hurricane warning was issued for the waters south of the Big Island and a tropical storm warning was in effect for all other waters surrounding Big Island. A flash flood warning was in effect for much of the island’s coast.

“Wind and heavy rainfall will gradually diminish by late tonight into Monday,” the NWS Honolulu said.

In addition to Hurricane Hone, the NHC issued advisories for the newly formed Tropical Storm Hector and the weakening Category 3 Hurricane Gilma. Neither of these storms posed any immediate threats to land.

Meanwhile in Japan, forecasters warned that Typhoon Shanshan would strengthen on Tuesday ahead of approaching near western and eastern Japan, where it could dump heavy rains and powerful winds.

The typhoon that originated near the Mariana Islands, northwestern Micronesia, on Aug. 22 could bring winds of up to 111 mph Tuesday near parts of Kyushu, the southwesternmost of Japan’s main islands.

The storm was forecast to weaken on landfall in Honshu or Shikoku by Wednesday morning.

Sea surface temperatures were at record levels for 15 months until July and continue to be above-average in many places, a situation linked to a spike in global warming during 2023 and into 2024.

Axios’ senior climate reporter Andrew Freedman notes that in addition to disrupting marine ecosystems, including through coral bleaching, warmer oceans provide more energy for hurricanes to develop and intensify.

In the Ocean around Hawai’i, climate change made the ocean temperature at this location on this day at least twice more likely, per Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index: Ocean, which aims to show the influence of climate change throughout the world’s oceans in real time.

Climate change made the Pacific Ocean temperature off Japan’s Shikoku coast at least 100 times more likely, per the Climate Central index.

Meteorologists are expecting an extremely active hurricane season in the Atlantic from next month.

The region has already seen five named storms — including Hurricanes Beryl and Debby, which made landfall in the U.S.

More Girls Than Ever Are Caught in an OnlyFans Trap, But There’s a Way Out

When Bree Solstad was kneeling beside the tomb of St. Claire in Assisi, Italy, in 2023, her life began to change.

A force compelled Solstad to genuflect and cross herself as she entered and exited the basilicas and cathedrals of Florence and Rome. Solstad, however, felt disgusting and guilty when she returned from her trip. She had spent a decade in the pornography industry.

Solstad told the Daily Caller she converted to Catholicism in April.

Financial incentives are pushing young women like Solstad to flock to an increasingly popular app called OnlyFans, where lewd material prevails. Solstad, who posted such content on the network, says women “don’t have a chance” nowadays in avoiding the temptations of modern society. Luckily, however, many are waking up to the downsides and choosing a different path.

“The perversion of our society and pornification of our culture is everywhere, not just in entertainment, but everywhere,” Solstad explained to the Daily Caller. “I recently ran out of blush, and I was thinking, ‘What is this blush that I really liked using back then?’ And I look it up, and the name of the blush was ‘Orgasm …’ Does it really have to be called that?”

Her journey in the adult content world wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.

“Now in society, it seems almost like there’s a shift. Before it was embarrassing to be in porn and was something that you would hide. Now it’s empowering, like girl power,” she said.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by EDIFY (@edify_usa)

British tech entrepreneur and investor Timothy Stokely launched OnlyFans in 2016. He previously owned two other adult entertainment businesses, GlamGirls and Customs4U, according to Business Insider.

OnlyFans is a subscription-based service where creators can charge anywhere from $5 to $50 a month for viewers to see their content and interact. The app saw an explosion during the COVID-19 pandemic: Approximately 200,000 users signed up daily between the months of March and April 2020, Business Insider reported. OnlyFans had 384,000 creators in 2019, but in 2020, the number skyrocketed to 1.6 million, the company’s financial report says. In terms of users, the app leaped from 13.5 million to 82.3 million within the same time period.

Transactions on OnlyFans also rose seven-fold to $2.4 billion, the Financial Times reported.

Celebrities have taken a liking to the platform and have found astounding financial success: Famous actress Bella Thorne rakes in $11 million monthly. Rappers Cardi B and Iggy Azalea follow with $9.5 million and $9.2 million, respectively. Coco Austin, a model and actress, is at the fourth place spot with $9 million a month and adult actress Mia Khalifa makes $6.5 million, according to Lad Bible.

The profitability potential entices young women across the globe, but according to Influencer Marketing Hub, 10% of OnlyFans users are earning 73% of all the money on the platform.

Those who have dipped their feet, toes and other parts of their bodies into OnlyFans know this all-too-well.

“I was never very successful,” Solstad said. She expected this, however, since her goal was for OnlyFans to be a mere supplement to the X-rated content she was doing elsewhere.

Solstad told the Caller about her experience interacting with her subscribers, which might not be an apparent feature to outsiders. She would have Skype sessions with certain “regulars” and developed relationships with them, allowing these men to masturbate while she belittled them.

It’s not only women who are harmed by sex work, but men, too, Solstad said. The tables have turned, and she feels like she objectified men, rather than the other way around.

Solstad also felt enslaved.

“I was really miserable. I was angry all the time, really irritable, and I was going to therapy once a week. There was a period when I went twice a week. And it wasn’t until I truly allowed God, Jesus and Mary back into my heart that I started to feel actually happy with myself and proud of myself,” Solstad explained.

Content on OnlyFans can be a lot more addicting than porn, due to the interactive features, Licensed Clinical Psychotherapist Dr. Dawn Elise Snipes explained to the Caller. These features can lead men into thinking they’re forming an actual relationship.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Miss B Converted (@breesolstad)

Former OnlyFans user Jada Bell says she managed to earn an impressive income by sharing explicit content on the site, but she quickly felt the weight of that pressure. While she set limits about what she was willing to share online, her morals and ethics were tested: Bigger risks could lead to even larger payouts.

According to Jada, she joined OnlyFans at the tender age of 19 and quickly earned as much as $10,000 in her first month posting explicit content.

“I didn’t post pornography or sex work, like it’s mostly used for. But since I knew that was what it was used for, I did take advantage of that and promoted a little bit more sexual content, being in lingerie or a bikini and things like that,” she said. “And I was really just trying to get fast money, really fast.”

“And that was very addictive, very, very addictive,” she explained.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Jada Bell (@thejadabellpodcast)

Like Solstad, Jada believes sexual OnlyFans content also harms men.

“You’re preying on men with sicknesses, men that really need to get help.”

Jada said she had made more money than some of her peers because she had a significant following on social media and was able to parlay that to paid subscribers, which isn’t the case for most OnlyFans girls. She knows women who are either losing money or making just enough for rent, and they could probably be working any other job.

Ultimately, Jada says she decided to quit the app in November 2020.

“It’s just not worth your morals,” Bell said. “You’re thinking about right now instead of the future, and I would really make some bigger goals for yourself.”

One of Snipes’ specializations is helping people get over porn addiction. The first thing men who are suffering from this should do is define their “rich and meaningful life,” and then identify how their addiction is interfering with that, Snipes said. They should also evaluate how its affecting their relationships.

Once that is figured out, men can start being more practical.

“Put on what I call nanny-wear on your computer to make sure that your firewall is strong enough to block OnlyFans and anything similar to OnlyFans, ideally blocking any porn as well, because porn can be a gateway,” Snipes says. The nanny-wear can also alert someone trustworthy to prevent one from consuming again.

“We need to help people replace what they were using with something that helped achieve the same goal. Were they engaging with OnlyFans because they were lonely? Okay, if you’re lonely, how can we address that in a healthier way that can help you meet in real life?” Snipes continued. “We try to help them create a schedule. Downtime is bad time because that’s time where you can get into your own head and start thinking about it. So helping them develop a schedule that is incompatible with OnlyFans can also be helpful.”

YouTuber and musical artist Iolande Melody was distraught when she discovered the trouble her friend was in after joining OnlyFans. This subject is one that is “very close” to Iolande’s heart.

The popular portrayal of this kind of work is “completely fabricated,” and nobody touches on how dark things can get, according to Iolande. Girls think they can easily make a ton of money just by posing in their underwear, but that’s not the case, she says.

During one disturbing exchange between Iolande’s friend and a male subscriber, his requests grew more and more extreme and pushed her well beyond her usual limits.

“He first asked for used underwear. He said, ‘Could you send me your used underwear with all types of bodily fluid on the underwear?’ And he was offering 40 pounds for this. And she was willing to agree to that. And then he said, ‘I have another request. Please don’t try and block or delete me if you think this is too weird, but I’m willing to pay a sizable amount of money for this if you’re willing to do it.’ And she was like, ‘Go on, tell me what it is.’ And he said, ‘I have a fetish to do with teeth. I would like for you to extract your teeth and send them to me. If you could try and retain as much blood as possible from the extractions and send that as well.’”

As disturbing as this sounds, Iolande says her friend entertained the idea.

“She had no money, and she believed completely that this was her only gateway out of poverty.”

Sex is now cheap and no longer a sacred, private thing two people who love each other do, which is destroying society, according to Iolande. It’s just a tool for financial gain.

If there wasn’t any demand, OnlyFans wouldn’t exist, conservative filmmaker and podcast host Robby Starbuck told the Daily Caller.

“Men need to be leaders again and shape culture to build the world we want to see. A guy so desperate that he goes on OnlyFans to see a woman naked should be viewed the way we’ve always viewed a peeping Tom: creepy. Once we successfully categorize this as creepy, it becomes less socially acceptable to do these things,” Starbuck said.

The ability and desire to lead, provide, innovate and protect should define a man, and they should strive to build a world they want their daughters to live in, according to Starbuck.

“This needs to be an aspirational goal for men instead of the hedonistic values Hollywood has sold them. Those hedonistic values are like meth … It might make you feel good for a little while, but you’re going to destroy your life with it. ”

There seems to be a silver lining, as there are now various high-profile cases of former OnlyFans users quitting posting sexual content and turning to a more traditional, religious life.

Blac Chyna, famous rapper and actor who used to be married to Rob Kardashian, had reportedly raked in $240 million posting racy photos of herself on the app.

“It’s a dead end. All that stuff is a dead end, and I know that I’m worth way more than that,” she said on The Jason Lee Show in March 2023.

That same month, she got baptized and became a Christian.

“I was reborn on my birthday 5-11-22 🙏🏽 God is Good 🙌🏽,” Chyna wrote at the time.

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Blac Chyna 💋 (@blacchyna)

Popular TikToker Gwen the Milkmaid followed suit, abandoning OnlyFans and becoming more conservative.

In a similar instance, internet personality Nayla Ray had made $9 million on OnlyFans, but she too quit and became a Christian.

Young men are trending in a conservative direction, a Financial Times article from January shows, which coupled with online social media accounts that promote family farming, gives Starbuck hope.

“We need to continue this trend but with an extra focus on men modeling what what it truly is to be a man. It’s not parties, it’s not a harem of women and it’s not a fancy car collection. Your worth as a man is defined by the safety you provide your family, the love you have with your wife, who your children grow up to be, how you lead your community, how you take care of the body that God gave you and how you overcome adversity,” Starbuck told the Caller.

Young women, on the other hand, need to realize that the best men will not desire someone who easily reveals their intimate parts to the world. One this is made clear, less women will think this lifestyle is a good idea, according to Starbuck.

Both the public and private sectors have roles to play when it comes to reviving our culture, Starbuck said.

“The best thing we could do longterm is incentivize family. Higher child tax credits, nationwide school choice that allows homeschool as an option to take then money so more parents can afford to stay home from work and make culture celebrating family dominant once again,” he told The Caller.

Starbuck said it’d be nice if right-wing billionaires could fund alternative entertainment industries, since pop culture has always been a crucial part of a society and its behavior.

“Culture will decide our politics and our future. Will we win the culture war or not? That will decide the reality our kids live in.”

Trump’s Shift in Abortion Messaging

Pro-life advocates are aghast regarding former President Donald Trump’s statement that his administration will be beneficial for “reproductive rights,” a sign of the Republican Party drifting away from its position during the 2024 presidential campaign.

On Friday afternoon, Trump posted on his platform, Truth Social, that his administration “will be great for women and their reproductive rights,” a shift in language from his earlier positions on the campaign trail.

Pro-life activists have long criticized the term “reproductive rights” as being a euphemism for abortion.

Lila Rose, the head of the pro-life group Live Action, said on X, “There is no ‘reproductive right’ to kill a child.”

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life, responded similarly, saying, “Please define ‘reproductive rights,’ as that cannot include the ‘right’ to kill a child.”

Abortion has been a major topic for Democrats throughout the 2024 election cycle, the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned constitutional protections for the procedure in the June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Although the former president has taken credit for appointing the three justices crucial for the Dobbs decision, Trump has repeatedly denied any support for any nationwide abortion legislation, instead saying that abortion policy belongs in the hands of the states. But he has also criticized some state prohibitions on abortion as overly restrictive.

Vance: Trump Would Veto a National Abortion Ban

Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Donald Trump would veto a national abortion ban if it were passed in his second term.

Host Kristen Welker said, “It’s being talked about on the campaign trail, abortion. Democrats made the case this week and beyond this week that Donald Trump, if elected, will impose a federal ban on abortion. Donald Trump says he won’t, but can you commit, senator, sitting right here with me today, that if you and Donald Trump are elected that, you will not impose a federal ban on abortion?”

Vance said, “I can absolutely commit that, Kristen. Donald Trump has been as clear about that as possible. It’s important to step back and say what has Donald Trump said on the abortion question and how is it different from what Kamala Harris and the Democrats have said. Donald Trump wants to end this culture war on this particular topic. If California wants to have a different abortion policy than Ohio, then California has to respect Ohio, and Ohio has to respect California.”

Welker said, “Senator Graham said I will keep saying that there should be a federal ban. If such a piece of legislation landed on Donald Trump’s desk, would he veto it?”

Vance said, “I will. He would be very clear; he will not support it.”

Welker said, “Will he veto it?”

Vance said, “Yeah, if you’re not supporting it,”

Welker pressed, “So he would veto a federal abortion ban?”

Vance said, “I think he would. He said explicitly that he would.”

RNC abortion shift 

Under Trump’s leadership, the Republican Party has shifted in recent months away from the pro-life movement. In July, the vast majority of the pro-life language from the 2016 Republican platform was removed from the 2024 version, as was language regarding the sanctity of life.

Pro-life advocates, and Catholics in particular, also voiced frustration last month with Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance for stating his support for access to the abortion pill mifepristone, which is responsible for nearly two-thirds of the abortions in the United States.

Nevertheless, Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the leading pro-life group SBA Pro-Life America, called Trump the “most pro-life president in American history” in April.

When Vice President Kamala Harris named Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate, Dannenfelser said that Trump, Vance, and the GOP writ large “support the right of the people to set limits on abortion and provide real options for mothers in need,” making a sharp contrast with the Democratic position of no gestational age limits for abortion.

Other pro-life advocates and conservative leaders, though, highlighted that the gap between the Republican and Democratic parties on abortion appears to be shrinking.

“At this point what is even the difference between this campaign and the Democrats?” far-right political activist Nicholas Fuentes said on X.

Ryan Anderson, the president of the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, called the choice of the parties one “between an abortion extremist and someone who will be ‘great’ for ‘reproductive rights.’”

“This is what we’ve come to,” Catholic philosopher Edward Feser said on X. “And as when people insist that we have to surrender to either the German army or the Russian army, my inclination is to follow Patton’s advice and attack in both directions.”

Parents Lose Custody of 16-Year-Old Autistic Son After Refusing to Let Him Transition to a Girl

A military family who lost custody of their autistic son after they refused to transition his gender are suing a major DC hospital.

The family said their boy had never shown any desire to become a girl until, at 16, he was hospitalized for self-harming after a bitter breakup with his girlfriend in 2021.

Staff at Children’s National Hospital informed the family that he wanted to be female and should be referred to using she/her pronouns going forward, the suit claims.

His army veteran parents, from Prince George County in Maryland, rejected the suggestion, saying their son was ‘impressionable’ due to being autistic.

They have accused the hospital of starting a ‘full-on campaign to transgender this child’ and accused staff of ‘mental re-programming’, saying their son had been forced to write letters to friends disavowing his previous male identity.

According to the lawsuit, the hospital used its emergency policies to keep the boy in its units and reported the parents to child protection services.

The boy was then moved into foster care and hasn’t been back to the family home since. What followed has been a two-year legal battle for custody over the teen, who is now 19 and remains in foster care.

The parents, who are in their 40s and African-American, say their son was at risk because his condition means he is vulnerable to social manipulation.

They have spoken exclusively to DailyMail.com but want to remain anonymous to protect their estranged son’s privacy.

The boy’s father revealed how they had to sell their thriving business and four-bedroom family home to cover legal costs.

The father said: ‘This has been devastating. It drained so much money, there is no money left.

‘It changed our entire way of life, with the loss of a child and then with the loss of our income.’

Karl von Batten, a committee member for the DC Republican party who is supporting the parents, said the case was personal to him because he also has an autistic son.

Mr von Batten said: ‘To me, this is personal. My son is autistic, and if you tell him you are a penguin he will tell me he is a penguin.

‘I am very upset by what they have done in this case, there seems to be no safe-guarding. I don’t want this to happen to my boy or any other child with autism.’

The family is seeking up to $100million in damages and cover for their legal costs.

The lawsuit says the child is currently living with the hospital’s ‘non-gendered’ chaplain, Lavender Kelley, who regularly posts online about trans issues.

In one post on Facebook from 2022, Kelley said they supported transitioning children without their parents’ consent — saying they were ‘drained’ from arguing with families.

The suit adds that, since being removed from the care of his parents, the youngster has appeared in provocative and sexually suggestive poses on Instagram.

It is unclear whether the 19-year-old has received any sex change treatments like feminizing hormones or gender reassignment surgery.

The lawsuit was filed in the Maryland District Court, accusing Children’s National Hospital of eight counts including negligence, inflicting intentional emotional distress and discriminating against someone based on their religion.

It has since been sealed by a judge, and is now in the Fourth Circuit US Court of Appeals.

In a statement, the hospital told DailyMail.com that the case had been withdrawn by the parents lawyers. Representatives for the parents lawyers denied this.

Children’s National is ranked the fifth best pediatric hospital in the country, and treats around 223,000 patients every year — including those with gender dysphoria.

It also runs a ‘Gender and Autism Program’, which says it helps young children with autism to understand their gender.

Amos Jones, who is representing the family, previously said: ‘This is the craziest case I’ve ever had. I don’t know why there are people who think this makes sense. But I guess lots of people agree with this in Washington DC now.’

The family say their eldest son was hard working and initially home-schooled, before being sent to high school at age 14.

He graduated a year later, and was then accepted onto an Associates degree in Engineering program.

He texted friends in May 2021 to say that he was LGBT, but used masculine pronouns — and at no point indicated that he wanted to be female.

Around this time, he was also undergoing tests for autism — and attending a counseling service for disabled children.

He was willingly rushed to Children’s National Hospital in early November 2021, after he attempted to commit suicide following the end of his relationship with his girlfriend.

But — after the hospital determined he had gender dysphoria — he was held there for 41 days.

It was not clear how this was determined, or whether any tests or psychological assessments were carried out.

The child was then moved to foster services, the lawsuit said, and placed with a single foster mother who had a previous assault charge and was alleged to be a close friend of Ms Kelley’s.

In July, 2022 — the boy made a second suicide attempt, and was re-admitted to Children’s National as a girl.

He also had a second autism assessment in August, but at this meeting the foster mother removed him — claiming it was not necessary, according to the lawsuit.

The foster mother then died unexpectedly, with the boy believed to have been moved into the care of Ms Kelley, according to the lawsuit.

He turned 18 years old in March 2023, meaning he is now an adult and does not have to return to his parents if he does not wish to.

In the court filings, his parents accused the hospital of a ‘cruel, abrupt, and intentional interruption of two fit parents’ fundamental rights to parent their minor son’.

‘[We] had never known of [our] son’s purported desire or plan to change genders,’ the documents read.

‘Rather than treating [us] as patrons with legal and dignitary rights, the defendant… treated the parents as though they had harmed their son, even though the parents had never endangered their child and had home-schooled him to college entry at fourteen years old.’

They added: ‘At Children’s National, it is as if all critical reasoning toward the child was suspended, and there was no investigation into the extent that the child was lying.’

The parents have requested a trial by jury.

Judge Rules Cornel West Must Appear on Michigan Ballot

Presidential candidate Cornel West must appear on voting ballots in Michigan, a state judge ruled on Saturday.

Judge James Robert Redford issued the ruling days after West and his running mate, activist Melina Abdullah, were kicked off the ballot earlier this month due to technical issues.

The Michigan Bureau of Elections had notified West’s campaign of the discrepancies in an August 16 letter. The campaign responded by arguing that the Michigan Democratic Party was weaponizing technicalities in an effort to remove West from the ballot.

“We are confident that these accusations will be seen for what they are—frivolous and unfounded attempts to stifle opposition and debate,” campaign spokesman Edwin DeJesus told the Michigan Public Radio Network.

West responded to Saturday’s ruling with a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

“Victory in Michigan! We brought thousands of voices to the table, and the court listened, rejecting the Democrats’ technical challenges. This is a win for democracy and for every person fighting for truth, justice, and love. Onward!” he wrote.

Despite the victory, West’s campaign is facing similar challenges in states across the country. A Pennsylvania judge ruled on Friday that we was not qualified to appear on ballots in that state.

A similar legal battle in Maine also ended in victory for West, however, with the secretary of state declaring he is qualified to appear on the state’s ballots.

The ballot battle comes as Vice President Harris remains in a neck-and-neck battle with former President Trump.

The other notable third-party candidate in the race, RFK Jr. withdrew and endorsed Trump on Friday.

Venezuelan Gang Violence Spills Into Quiet Suburb from the Sanctuary City Next Door

Denver’s decision to welcome migrants with open arms is bringing bloodshed to the suburbs next door. A notorious Venezuelan prison gang has set up shop in Aurora, Colorado — even though the town wanted no part of the influx of asylum seekers in the first place.

Aurora — a quiet bedroom community with a population of 390,000 directly east of the Mile-High City — has become a base of operations for the brutal Tren de Aragua gang, which has seized multiple apartment complexes and set off a wave of violent crime.

Denver leads the nation in new migrant arrivals per-capita, with more than 40,000 arriving from the southern border since December 2022.

The city has bent over backwards to provide aid, even slashing emergency services to help foot the cost – so far estimated at over $68 million and counting.

But Aurora has made it clear it doesn’t share Denver’s desire to be the country’s leading sanctuary city.

In February, Aurora City Council passed a resolution 7-3 emphatically stating that it will not provide resources and support to migrants or others brought into the community from neighboring cities.

“It’s been pretty tense here, we’re feeling it,” city council member Danielle Jurinsky, a sponsor of the resolution, told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”

“We will not be aiding into this migrant crisis.”

But Denver’s largesse has become Aurora’s problem anyway — forcing the community to grapple with increasing gang violence as Tren de Aragua has moved into town, taking whatever they can get their hands on, according to police, officials and law enforcement sources.

The ‘Cookie’ monster

One local gang leader decided to set up shop in town, according to law enforcement sources. His name Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, and he goes by the name “Galleta” — Spanish for “Cookie.”

Within months of arriving in the US, cops say he and fellow gang members brutally beat a man at an Aurora apartment complex that the gang took over and occupied. In July, cops arrested him again — this time for shooting at the same complex that left two men wounded.

Members of Tren de Aragua are accused of a slew of violent crimes across the US — including murdering Georgia nursing student Laken Riley earlier this year, and shooting of two NYPD cops during an arrest in June. Leaders of the gang recently gave the “green light” for members to shoot American cops who try to interfere with their criminal activity.

One local investor in a company that owns multiple apartment complexes in Aurora said there was a “massive shootout” at one of the properties taken over by the gang.

“I’m scared that this could happen in America,” the source said.

Earlier this month, Aurora’s Police Department announced it formed a task force with the Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado Bureau of Investigations to counter the gang’s growing threat.

Aurora police declined to provide additional details about the task force, but said in a statement it that “APD will not tolerate violent crime in our communities.”

John Fabbricatore, who was previously the head of ICE’s office in the Denver region and is now running for congress, said the gang has been running amok in the area — and officials have been slow to react.

“It’s become increasingly clear that certain city officials, including the Aurora Police Department, have downplayed or ignored the criminal activities affecting many neighborhoods in North Aurora,” said Fabbricatore.

“Notably, illegal immigrant gang activities have been present in specific apartment complexes throughout Aurora, yet these issues have been understated for what appear to be ideological reasons.”

Despite the slew of Tren de Aragua crimes in Denver, Marc Sears, president of Aurora’s police union, said that it’s “absolutely inaccurate” to say the gang is taking over the city.

“They’re not any different than any other documented gang that we have. I can tell you that the officers, is there a concern about this quote, unquote, ‘green light’ that they have on officers. Sure, there’s a concern about it, but in my opinion, as the union president, I feel that we have been green-lighted since 2020.”

Free to wreak havoc

When Pacheco-Chirino — an alleged “shot-caller” in the gang — crossed the southern border in 2022 into Texas, he was vetted by federal border authorities who didn’t see anything concerning about his past — and then released, Homeland Security sources said.

He told Border Patrol agents he was going to New York, but ended up at an ICE office in Colorado in June 2023, when he was given a court date and again was cut loose.

Soon after, he started unleashing havoc on the community.

In November 2023, Pacheco-Chirino allegedly took part in a brutal assault that almost turned deadly at the Fitzsimons Place apartment complex in Aurora, which was recently shut down over code violations, which the owners argued they couldn’t fix due to a takeover of the building by the gang, according to court documents obtained by The Post.

During the assault, Pacheco, along with several other drunk men identified who were said to be “part of a gang that steals from Walmart” and claiming “they run” the apartment, allegedly hit the victim in the head with a bottle of Corona and then began to beat him up after he fell to the ground, the documents alleged.

The apartment investor told The Post that they’ve “lost control” of several properties because the gang has taken over units.

“They were first hanging out around the property and creating a bad element that’s constantly there. And then they started taking over, quite a few months ago, they started taking over vacant units”

Soon, the alleged gang members began renting out the units to other migrants whom they also “threatened.” Then, they began terrorizing the apartment staff, who were forced to flee the properties, leaving them to the gangs.

The bloodied victim of Pacheco-Chirino’s alleged assault suffered a traumatic brain injury, a broken nose and broken upper jaw, according to the documents.

Pacheco-Chirino was eventually nabbed in March 2024 and charged with several felony assault charges, but bailed out of custody and failed to show up for his court date thereafter, the court documents show.

Fast forward to July 28, 2024, cops arrest Pacheco-Chirino and three others for allegedly carrying out a shooting at the same apartment where the previous assault occurred that left two male victims with gunshot wounds and another with a broken ankle.

Pacheco-Chirino was quickly arrested that time around and handed over to ICE.

He had been ordered deported by an immigration judge last week, but because he’s from Venezuela, a country that doesn’t accept deportations from the US, he is likely here to stay, sources say.

Tren de Aragua, which hails from Venezuela’s Aragua region, has been sneaking members into the US via the southern border for years. It’s also started recruiting within the US among migrant communities mainly in New York, Denver and Chicago.

One of the gang’s members, Jean Torres-Roman, 21, was arrested in New Mexico this month in connection to a shocking and violent caught-on-camera robbery of a Denver jewelry store from June 25.

Sears, the Aurora police union head, said that after the shooting in the apartment complex, he and other cops were on scene to close down the apartment where Pacheco-Chirino’s alleged crimes occurred.

They did so without incident and without finding any contraband, he said. They did find that the gang members had trashed the place, he said.

Garbage was piled “two stories high.”

Israel Foils Attacks on Mossad, Intel Bases

Hezbollah has listed 11 bases it said it targeted, but it and the IDF have also implied that it was also hoping to target Mossad headquarters and IDF headquarters.

The Jerusalem Post understands that measures were even taken in advance to reduce the likelihood of casualties had such attacks taken place.

Those attacks would have been part of an attack of somewhere between several hundreds and potentially thousands of rockets all over northern Israel, with some targeting the Tel Aviv and central Israel regions.

Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah continued to claim that his organization’s attacks had caused damage to the IDF intelligence headquarters, while providing no evidence.

IDF’s preemptive strikes on Hezbollah prevented severe damage

However, so far the IDF’s preemptive strike before 5 a.m. prevented such higher quality attacks.

Through Sunday afternoon, the largest reported damage was to dozens of buildings hit by Hezbollah in Acre.

Prior to Sunday, villages in the northern Galilee and Golan Heights had been hit; Kiryat Shmona had been hit throughout the war, but damage to Acre had been very rare and much smaller.

It was still unknown how much damage Hezbollah caused to certain IDF bases in the north, though casualties were estimated to be very low, while still under gag order.

UPDATE: France Arrests Suspect in ‘Terrorist’ Attack on Synagogue

French police arrested a man suspected of trying to set a synagogue on fire in La Grande-Motte, France, on Saturday following a lengthy manhunt.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed the arrest in a post on X, and BFM TV reported that the suspect is a 33-year-old Algerian. RAID, an elite tactical unit of the French police, carried out the arrest alongside police officers from Marseille and Montpellier.

About 200 police officers began a manhunt on Saturday morning after an attacker set fire to the entry doors of the Beth Yaacov synagogue and several nearby vehicles. One police officer was injured after a gas bottle exploded as police secured the site of the attack.

An explosion outside a synagogue in southern France wounded a police officer on Saturday morning in what authorities said was being treated as a terror attack.

A suspect caught on a surveillance camera outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort of La Grande-Motte, near the city of Montpellier, was caught in surveillance camera footage clad in a Palestinian flag.

France’s acting interior minister ordered police reinforcements to protect Jewish places of worship after the suspected arson attack.

French President Emmanuel Macron calls the attack “an act of terror,” adding in a post on X that “the fight against antisemitism is a daily fight.”

“Sending thoughts to the faithful of the synagogue of La Grande-Motte and all the Jews of our country,” Macron wrote, promising that all efforts were being made to apprehend the perpetrator and to “protect places of worship.”

Police were hunting for the suspect and the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office was put in charge of the investigation, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said.

“This is an antisemitic attack. Once more, our Jewish compatriots are targeted,” Attal said on X.

“We won’t give up. In the face of antisemitism, in the face of violence, we will never allow ourselves to be intimidated.”

Two cars parked at the synagogue in the seaside resort town were set ablaze at about 8:30 a.m., causing the blast that injured the police officer, according to French media reports. One of the cars allegedly contained a propane gas tank.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS Another synagogue in France was targeted. An explosion at the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande-Motte, southern France, is treated as an arson with two cars exploding using a hidden gas bottle. A police officer was injured. Anti-Jewish hate crimes continue… pic.twitter.com/uxF3I9X6qs — (((Yuval David))) (@YuvalDavid) August 24, 2024

The blast occurred during Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest that runs from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday and often when many attend synagogue services. There was, however, no religious service ongoing at the time of the incident, a police source said.

Two doors of the synagogue were damaged in the blast.

The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) said the blast was “an attempt to kill Jews.”

The use of a gas canister “in a car at a time when worshippers are expected to arrive at the synagogue is not simply a criminal act,” CRIF president Yonathan Arfi said. “This shows an intention to kill.”

A suspect caught on a surveillance camera after the explosion was brandishing a Palestinian flag, according to a source close to the police’s terror probe into the incident.

There was no immediate information about the gravity of the police officer’s injuries.

Acting Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the incident was being treated as an “attempted arson” that was “clearly a criminal act.”

“I want to assure our Jewish fellow citizens of my full support and say that at the request of President Emmanuel Macron all means are being mobilized to find the perpetrator,” Darmanin said in a post on X.

He ordered more police deployed at Jewish places of worship around the country following a surge of antisemitism since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last year.

Darmanin was expected to travel to Le Grand Motte later on Saturday along with Attal.

The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) called the explosion “an attempt to kill Jews.”

The use of a gas canister “in a car at a time when worshipers are expected to arrive at the synagogue is not simply a criminal act,” CRIF president Yonathan Arfi told AFP. “This shows an intention to kill.”

La Motte, which has around 8,500 permanent residents, is a popular seaside resort and visited by more than 100,000 tourists every year.

La Motte’s mayor, Stephan Rossignol, said that CCTV had picked up images of an individual setting fire to the cars.

A group of mostly liberal white women were quick to raise their glass in a toast to “being racist” when cajoled into doing so by an undercover man-bun-wearing conservative podcaster Matt Walsh.

Walsh crashed a progressive supper club Race2Dinner commiseration session last year for his upcoming documentary “Am I Racist.” Those dinners, which reportedly cost women up to $5,000, feature two-hour-long “honest” — many say self-loathing — conversations about race typically with eight guests.

“Can I just propose a toast? I mean, just raise a glass if you’re racist,” Walsh instructed attendees at the anti-racism dinner party, in a new teaser clip of his upcoming flick shared exclusively with The Post.

Almost all of the women at the dinner table promptly did so.

“Wait a minute, I’m not racist, ” Regina Jackson, who co-founded the progressive gab session with Saira Rao, said at one point and lowered her glass. Jackson and Rao lecture women during the Race2Dinners.

Walsh’s upcoming documentary will be the Daily Wire’s first original theatrical release and explore his personal (but really facetious) adventure through the anti-racism movement.

It is intended to serve as a deconstruction of the movement similar to how his 2022 documentary, “What Is a Woman” tackled gender ideology. His infiltration of the Race2Dinner is set to be one of the highlights of the film.

Throughout the preview clip, attendees at the high-dollar feast smiled and seemed baffled by Walsh, who donned a head cap over his luscious hair and a mask that later slipped down.

Walsh was supposed to be their caterer, but he bumbled about, dropping silverware and plates, while seeming all too eager to butt into their conversation about race.

“I used to be a white woman, an unsuccessful one for many decades, and it was a miserable experience,” Rao reflected to her white female guests.

In this scene from my upcoming film “Am I Racist?” I was honored to earn a seat at the table during a Race to Dinner session. I was even more honored to lead the women in a toast to racists. Tickets on sale at https://t.co/iJv1cNRoWV pic.twitter.com/o7kriAG0X3 — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 25, 2024

“That’s all they do. That’s all they do. I’m telling you, these white women…,” Walsh interjected before dropping plates and kicking them into the nearby kitchen, while the dinner guests recoiled at his clumsiness.

Jackson joked that they might have to add Walsh to their table due to his penchant for adding his own two cents to their “uncomfortable” conversation. An irritated Roa told Walsh that he wasn’t allowed to take a seat at the table.

One attendee asked if Walsh was an actor and explained that they were trying to listen.

“We’re all acting all the time in our lives and I think that that’s part of the problem. It’s like we’re all trying to play a part rather than just being real and having these uncomfortable conversations,” he said. “That’s what I’m always trying to tell people, especially, you know, white women. No offense.”

“No, but see like you’re a white dude, there’s power positions,” Rao responded. “White people pointing fingers at each other is not helpful.”

Ignoring her prior not-so-subtle plea to go away, Walsh took a seat at the table with the ladies briefly, before leaving and coming back for the toast.

“Am I Racist” is set to hit the silver screen on Sept. 13.

The film will entail Walsh roleplaying a “bumbling, zealous DEI trainee,” while exploring the literature produced by such groups, talking with anti-racism experts and scoring a sit-down with Robin DiAngelo, author of “White Fragility.”

California Pedophile Sentenced to 350 Years for Abducting and Molesting 5-Year-Old Girl Could Be Freed

An ‘inhuman’ pedophile who was sentenced to 350 years in jail for abducting and molesting a five-year-old girl in 2003 could now be freed under a controversial California law.

Charles William Mix was 47 when he kidnapped his friend’s daughter and smuggled her over state lines to Utah before subjecting her to his sordid fantasies in June of that year.

Her family believed he would spend the rest of his life behind bars, but 20 years later, Mix, 69, could be freed under California’s relatively new Elderly Parole Program due to his age after serving just six percent of his sentence.

The victim, now 27, is not ready to speak about the horrors she endured, but her relatives have written a heart-wrenching letter imploring officials to keep Mix in jail – while blasting the parole program as offering a ‘pardon lite’ to felons.

In the letter, they slam Mix as a ‘vile’ predator who was ‘old enough to be her grandfather’ while quoting the damning final remarks made by the judge who sentenced him to 350 years behind bars.

‘I’m writing to request — no, to implore — that you deny parole for the above referenced inmate, who 20 years ago was sentenced to 350 years-to-life in prison for sexually molesting a 5-year-old girl,’ the victim’s family wrote to commissioners.

‘He was 49 years old at the time — old enough to be her grandfather, and certainly old enough to know exactly what he was doing.

‘The basic facts stated above are vile enough. But the details of the crime are worse.’

Mix was convicted on a variety of felony charges including willful child cruelty, kidnapping to commit robbery or rape, lewd acts with a child under 14, burglary and more.

He had been living with the family in Riverside at the time of the abduction. On the morning of June 2, 2003, the girl’s father realized she was missing and dialed 911.

The next day, Riverside Police located Mix and the victim hundreds of miles away in Richfield, Utah, after a passerby noticed them and reported the sighting.

Mix had fled with the child in a stolen vehicle, which was found to have disturbing heart-shaped scribblings on the interior.

Police also uncovered sexually explicit photographs Mix had taken of the girl, along with love letters he had written to her.

He later admitted to Utah detectives that he slept naked with the girl, according to the Los Angeles Times.

‘Inmate Mix was not a stranger to the child, but a “friend” to both the child and her father,’ the family wrote of his disgusting betrayal in the letter to commissioners.

‘They lived together in the same home, where he took advantage of his proximity, family-like relationship, and a very young child’s trust — heaping long-lasting emotional damage atop the physical.’

Their letter goes on to quote the scathing final remarks made by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Christian F. Thierbach, who sentenced Mix to 350 years in jail.

Thierbach told Mix at the time: ‘The human race has yet to create a punishment that adequately addresses what you did to this little girl, and I suspect one reason for that is what you did to her is inhuman.’

The judge went on to explain that Mix could only be freed from prison if he received a pardon.

‘I dare say if that happens, civilization as we know it will have ceased to exist,’ Thierbach said.

The family letter blasts the Elderly Parole Program as a ‘pardon lite’ which could make this horror a reality.

Under the program, inmates who are 50 years or older and who have served 20 consecutive years in jail to the board of parole hearings.

The victim’s sister, Claira Stansbury, has also spoken with KTLA about the scarring impact the experience has had on her sibling.

‘She has to deal with this for the rest of her life and she has to learn to cope with what happened to her for the rest of her life,’ she said.

Stansbury added that this has been compounded by the prospect of Mix being freed.

‘A lot of trauma has been reopened,’ she told KTLA. ‘Stuff that we have healed from that we have to dive back into.’

The Elderly Parole Program aims to ease the financial burden of keeping elderly people in prison if officials believe they are unlikely to commit another crime.

The parole board will consider the severity of Mix’s crimes, whether he has taken responsibility or shown remorse for them, and whether he still poses a danger to society.

Stansbury said she does not believe Mix can be rehabilitated, adding that the parole program is an affront to victims and their families.

‘The legislators all want to talk about how terrible life sentences are for this criminal, these types of criminals, I don’t think they’re actually looking at life sentences of the victims who didn’t have a choice in this,’ she told KTLA.

‘I absolutely think that he would offend again, whether it be going to find my sister or another innocent child.’

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said they stand with the victims who must attend parole hearings to keep ‘dangerous felons’ in prison.

‘It is appalling that the state continues to put victims and their families through further trauma, forcing them to fight for the sentences that have already been handed down by a court of law,’ the office said.

‘This practice compels victims to relive their devastating experiences.

‘We have a team of dedicated attorneys and victim specialists fighting against the early release of dangerous felons.

‘Our office is committed to protecting victims and seeing that this practice of early parole, is put to an end.’

Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Lebanon

The Israeli military said about 100 of its fighter jets “struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels” across dozens of launch sites from Lebanon on Sunday.

Israel said it launched what it called preemptive strikes against “terror targets in Lebanon” after identifying that the militant group Hezbollah was “preparing to fire missiles and rockets toward Israeli territory.”

Shortly after the Israeli strikes began, Hezbollah said it launched strikes toward Israel in a heavy exchange of fire amid fighting in the Middle East that risks sending the region into all-out conflict.

The IDF said approximately 200 rockets had been launched from Lebanon towards Israel early Sunday, with no reports of injuries so far. Hezbollah said the “first phase” of its strikes against Israel “has ended with complete success,”claiming that it launched 320 rockets and a barrage of drones toward Israel.

Hezbollah said it carried out strikes towards Israel in response to the killing of top military commander Fu’ad Shukr last month in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a populous neighborhood that is also the Iran-backed group’s stronghold.

The Israeli military and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for months, and the cross-border hostilities have raised the specter of a regional conflagration which have prompted intense diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions.

Israel’s latest strike aimed at Hezbollah targets in Lebanon came after its military said on Saturday that it was prepared for any possible retaliatory attacks by Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah or Iran for the killings of its senior leaders.

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant has declared a “‘special situation on the home front’ across the country,” which enables the Israeli military to issue instructions to citizens, “including limiting gatherings and closing sites where it may be relevant.”

Gallant has also briefed US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

President Biden is closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon, the White House said Saturday night.

“He has been engaged with his national security team throughout the evening. At his direction, senior US officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts. We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability,” National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement.

Rocket fire toward Israel by Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon has become a near-daily occurrence since the outbreak of war in Gaza, but there has been an increasing number of skirmishes.

On Friday, Hezbollah had claimed 15 strikes against Israel. Hezbollah also acknowledged the death of seven fighters on Friday but did not specify where or when they were killed.

The IDF said a total of 110 projectiles were launched from Lebanon towards Israel on Friday, marking one of the fiercest days of cross-border fire in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, flights have resumed at Tel Aviv airport after being temporarily suspended for less than two hours on Sunday.

The latest strikes between Israel and Hezbollah come as negotiations toward a ceasefire and hostage deal in Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza continue.

Before the strikes, US officials said the talks between Israel and Hamas were at an advanced stage after months of feverish negotiations.

Despite Sunday’s strikes, an Israeli delegation is still expected to head to Cairo for negotiations that are due to resume on Sunday, an Israeli official told CNN.

Senior negotiators were expected to discuss remaining sticking points over a potential three-phase agreement.

Sydney Mass Stabbing: 6 Injured, Including Police Officer

Horrific details have emerged from the scene of a car crash and stabbing spree in Sydney’s south, where a woman and police officer were among those slashed with a blade.

Six people were taken to hospital after the incident, including the man suspected of carrying out the wild attacks at Engadine at around 9am on Sunday morning.

Of those injured, two were hurt in the accident and four suffered knife injuries including a bystander who assisted the woman.

The woman, 48, allegedly attacked in the car is the partner of the alleged offender, 58, who is known to police. She was allegedly being assaulted by the man as he drove.

Witnesses say the male was driving erratically prior to the accident and had a box cutter.

Superintendent Don Faulds told media a vehicle was travelling south on the Princess Highway at Engadine at 8.50am when it crashed, with witnesses going to the aid of those injured.

“That vehicle has collided with another vehicle and as a result of that a number of members of the community stopped to assist both occupants from both those vehicles,” Spt. Faulds said.

“As the community members were assisting on of the females out of the vehicle the male got out of that who was armed with what we believe to be a box cutter and the female had obviously sustained a number of injuries from an altercation inside that vehicle.”

Police raced to the scene, and the alleged offender ran away.

“Emergency services arrived very quickly afterwards, that male was engaged by the police, a short foot pursuit occurred, a taser deployment was initiated and that person was taken into custody.”

Spt. Fauls said the man had inflicted a number of injuries to himself before the police arrival and is currently at Liverpool Hospital in a serious condition.

The man is known to police for a number of matters, and the two people in the car where there was a stabbing were known to eachother and are from southwest Sydney.

“They were in a domestic relationship, there’s no history we are aware of, there’s no apprehended violence orders between the two, but definitely domestic related.”

Spt. Faults said the car was seen by witnesses driving “erratically” prior to the accident and they believe the woman was being assaulted while the car was in motion before it collided with another vehicle.

“We believe the female was being assaulted in the car while the man was driving at the same time.

“ … The allegation is that he is covered in blood when he exits the vehicle, whether or not that was his blood or the victim’s blood, but he’s definitely seen to injure himself after exiting the vehicle.”

He praised the brave bystanders who went to assist those in the crash, along with the emergency services.

“Amazing work, they’ve just turned up thinking it was a normal motor vehicle accident so they’ve obviously have gone to render assistance to both people and then they were faced with a male armed with a box cutter, quite frightening but very brave on those peoples’ behalf.”

He has asked the community to reach out to Crime Stoppers or Sutherland Police if they have any information about what occurred today.

One witness, an NRL club chairman, shared traumatic details of seeing the knifeman “slashing” at a woman before he squared off with the attacker as police arrived.

The incident unfolded at the intersection of Princes Highway and Old Bush Road.

Witnesses reported seeing a car swerving at speed through traffic before crashing into other vehicles, according to The Daily Telegraph.

A white Jaguar went through the intersection and collided with a blue Mitsubishi Lancer, witnesses have reported.

One eye witness, identified as Wayne, told radio station 2GB he saw a man get out of the Jaguar appearing to be armed with a box cutter yelling “I’m going to kill you”.

All those injured were being treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics.

A NSW spokesman said of those injured, one male patient had sustained slash wounds to his arms and his neck and has been taken to Liverpool Hospital and is now in a serious but stable condition. A woman in her 40s was taken to St George Hospital with multiple stab wounds and is in a critical condition.

Another female was hospitalised in a serious condition with a stab wound to the abdomen. The police officer sustained a large laceration to his arm and is in a stable condition at St George Hospital.

The Princes Highway has been closed in both directions and drivers are urged to avoid the area.

An extraordinary first-hand account of the incident has been given by Cronulla Sharks NRL club chairman Steve Mace, who told the Telegraph he confronted the alleged knifeman.

“I was taking my little fella innocently to his knock out elimination final and a car accident happen in front of us,” Mr Mace told the newspaper.

“I saw him slashing her. Cutting her neck, her breast, across the stomach. Wherever he could go. I tried to get her out to stop the stabbing.”

Mr Mace received a small gash and said another bystander suffered a stab wound when they came to the woman’s aid.

He said he grabbed a torch and had a “standoff” with the knifeman before the attacker turned to “get my fella”.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France

Pavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unnamed sources.

Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.

TF1 and BFM both said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.

The encrypted Telegram, with close to one billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.

Russian-born Durov founded Telegram with his brother in 2013. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VKontakte social media platform, which he sold.

“I would rather be free than to take orders from anyone,” Durov told U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson in April about his exit from Russia and search for a home for his company which included stints in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco.

After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become the main source of unfiltered – and sometimes graphic and misleading – content from both sides about the war and the politics surrounding the conflict.

The platform has become what some analysts call ‘a virtual battlefield’ for the war, used heavily by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his officials, as well as the Russian government.

Telegram – which allows users to evade official scrutiny – has also become one of the few places where Russians can access independent news about the war after the Kremlin increased curbs on independent media following its invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian foreign ministry said its embassy in Paris was clarifying the situation around Durov and called on Western non-governmental organisations to demand his release.

Russia began blocking Telegram in 2018 after the app refused to comply with a court order to grant state security services access to its users’ encrypted messages.

The action interrupted many third-party services, but had little effect on the availability of Telegram there. The ban order, however, sparked mass protests in Moscow and criticism from NGOs.

‘Neutral platform’

TF1 said Dubai-based Durov had been travelling from Azerbaijan and was arrested at around 8.00 p.m. (1800 GMT).

Durov, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, said some governments had sought to pressure him but the app should remain a “neutral platform” and not a “player in geopolitics”.

Telegram’s increasing popularity, however, has prompted scrutiny from several countries in Europe, including France, on security and data breach concerns.

Russia’s representative to international organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, and several other Russian politicians were quick on Sunday to accuse France of acting as a dictatorship – the same criticism that Moscow faced when putting demands on Durov in 2014 and trying to ban Telegram in 2018.

“Some naive persons still don’t understand that if they play more or less visible role in international information space it is not safe for them to visit countries which move towards much more totalitarian societies,” Ulyanov wrote on X.

Elon Musk, billionaire owner of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, said after reports of Durov’s detention: “It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.”

Several Russian bloggers called for protests at French embassies throughout the world at noon on Sunday.

Police Arrest Suspect in German Festival ‘Terror Attack’

26-year-old Syrian man suspected of a stabbing rampage in the western German town of Solingen has been taken into police custody, a state official told German television on Saturday, some 24 hours after the attack that killed three people.

North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister Herbert Reul told the ARD broadcaster that he was “a bit relieved” after authorities spent the day following a “hot lead” that lead to the arrest.

The Islamic State group earlier claimed responsibility for Friday’s knife attack that also wounded eight people.

Police spent the day conducting a manhunt, making two arrests that were likely not the perpetrator, Reul said.

“The real suspect is the one that we’ve arrested just now,” he said. The individual is being questioned and evidence was seized, he said.

Reul said the man was affiliated with a home for refugees that had been searched earlier in the day.

Describing the man who carried out the attack as a “soldier of the Islamic State”, the militant group said in a statement on its Telegram account: “He carried out the attack in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.”

Hendrik Wuest, premier of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, described Friday evening’s attack during a festival in the city as an act of terror.

“This attack has struck at the heart of our country,” Wuest told reporters.

The attack took place in the Fronhof, a market square in the western German city where live bands were playing as part of a festival marking the its 650th anniversary.

Markus Caspers, an official with the public prosecutor’s office in Duesseldorf, said authorities were treating the attack as a possible terrorist incident because there was no other known motive and the victims seemed unrelated.

A police official, Thorsten Fleiss, said the assailant appeared to aim for his victims’ throats.

“The perpetrator must be quickly caught and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a post on X.

Police cordoned off the square on Saturday and passers-by placed candles and flowers outside the barriers.

“We are full of shock and grief,” Solingen Mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach told journalists.

A German musician who goes by the name Topic said he was playing on a nearby stage when the incident occurred. He was told about what had happened but was asked to keep playing “to avoid causing a mass panic attack”, he posted on Instagram.

He was eventually told to stop, and “since the attacker was still on the run, we hid in a nearby store while police helicopters circled above us,” Topic wrote.

Authorities cancelled the remainder of the weekend festival.

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