[BB] The cutbacks are a huge setback to the progressive policy of importing diverse migrants to help fragment the civic rules that ordinary Americans have created to manage their neighborhoods, schools, and society.
The policy shift also reduces the growth of antisemitic communities in U.S. society, said Noah Pollak, a Trump deputy in the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Education. “This is the single most consequential policy to combat antisemitism in the US in the last decade and it’s not even close,” he wrote on X.
“The Trump admin — and especially those like @StephenM who implemented it — will get no thanks or credit from legacy Jewish organizations,” he added.
In 2024, President Joe Biden’s deputies welcomed a monthly inflow of roughly 14,000 migrants from Muslim-majority nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Malaysia.
But that monthly inflow plummeted to roughly 1,000 in February 2026, partly because of Trump’s agency reforms, such as extensive security checks.
The monthly inflows are mostly set by Congress and include new legal migrants, chain-migration relatives, and the refugee inflow set by the White House.
The chart does not include Muslims from nations that have Muslim minorities in countries such as India, which is providing a huge share of legalized migrants, mostly via the corporate hiring of Indians with H-1B, L-1, F-1, and J-1 visas.
The reductions come 25 years after Muslim migrants killed 3,000 Americans in the Twin Towers atrocity.
Then-President George W. Bush (R) favored mass migration for economic growth. But he also boosted Islamic migration as part of a foreign-policy strategy to reassure the Muslim populations of the Middle East.
His successor, progressive President Barack Obama (D), raised the Muslim inflow, and President Joe Biden (D) further accelerated the arrivals after the collapse of the Afghan government. The inflow was engineered by progressive deputies, such as Alejandro Mayorkas, with the aid of pro-migration laws passed in 1990 by Congress.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Leonid Tsukanov
The rest of the story.
[Regnum] A story worthy of an expensive film adaptation unfolded off the coast of Somalia. A group of heavily armed pirates boarded the tanker SIBU-1, owned by a businessman from the Iraqi Al-Shaganba clan.
His fellow tribesmen, unable to reach the authorities, organized their own rescue operation a month later, which not only succeeded in stealing the tanker from the attackers' lair, but also inflicted profound psychological trauma on them.
YOU PICKED THE WRONG PEOPLE
The Al-Shaganba clan is known among Iraqi tribal groups as one of the most militant and determined. Today, it comprises, according to various estimates, between 120 and 600 families, most of whom live in the southeastern part of Basra province near the border with Iran.
Today, clan members are primarily employed in the legal sectors of the economy, but they still enjoy a reputation as skilled trackers, bounty hunters, and shadowy caravanners. This historical legacy is so extensive that in local slang, the nisba's name is sometimes appended to "Al-Shaganba" to refer to smugglers and other types of adventurers.
Needless to say, news of the SIBU-1's capture in August 2026 was a blow to the clan's pride. Especially since the ship's owner, Haj Yaqub Tarish Al-Shaganba, enjoyed authority in Basra and was well-connected with high-ranking officials. He also graciously donated a portion of the income from his UAE-registered shipping companies to the budget.
Just two days after the Gulf of Aden incident, the clan's representatives appealed to the Iraqi authorities for assistance in freeing the prisoners and the vessel. However, they merely shrugged their shoulders: the pirates were demanding several billion dollars for the decrepit tanker, along with a million for each of the 20 crew members—a sum the country's budget could barely afford.
The situation was further complicated by the fact that the crew included only one Iraqi citizen, a distant relative of the ship's owner, and the Iraqi authorities were reluctant to pay for foreigners—especially without guarantees of subsequent reimbursement. Baghdad officials considered it downright inappropriate to accept money from clan members whose origins no one could clearly explain.
Realizing that they would have to solve the problem themselves, the clan elders convened a tribal council, at which the head of the clan, Sheikh Ali Al-Shaganba, announced the trampling of the family's honor and called on his relatives to undertake a "sacred march."
Not forgetting to mention that a fellow pirate was being held captive by the pirates, and his father promised a handsome reward for his release. The appeals were effective: about 40 volunteers responded, forming an expeditionary force. Development of Operation "Road Home" began.
LANDING ON THE HORN OF AFRICA
The initial plan—to set sail from the port of Basra—seemed too risky to the militias, as there were still numerous American patrols in those waters. Furthermore, government forces, who are extremely sensitive to the activities of border families who maintain relative autonomy, could easily try to disrupt the expedition.
As a result, it was decided to turn to the Iranians for assistance, with whom the Al-Shaganba clan had historically maintained good relations. Tehran didn't hesitate for long. After all, the theft of the vessel by pirates indirectly affected the national interests of the Islamic Republic: SIBU-1 was reportedly part of a "shadow flotilla" and regularly made voyages to Iran and Yemen.
Moreover, the intention of Iraqi tribal forces to resolve the pirate issue independently freed Tehran from the need to buy the ship from the pirates at the expense of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as had previously happened with several fishing vessels boarded in the Gulf of Aden.
Having received a "green corridor" from Iranian border guards, the Al-Shaganba clan militiamen crossed the border without hindrance, crossed part of the country on foot, and, boarding an Iranian fishing vessel in the port of Bandar Abbas, set off for the Horn of Africa.
However, the captain decided not to proceed directly to Somalia, fearing unnecessary talk of "IRGC intervention" in local conflicts. Therefore, in early September, the detachment landed at a staging point in Yemen—in territory controlled by the pro-Iranian Ansar Allah movement, known as the Houthis. There, they restocked their provisions and ammunition.
Despite the fighting that had broken out with the Presidential Council forces by that time and the constant bombing by Saudi air forces, the Houthis warmly welcomed the guests and agreed to supply them with the high-speed boats necessary for rapid movement across the Gulf of Aden.
And also more serious weaponry, including several heavy machine guns, launchers, and UAVs. However, Ansar Allah fighters refused to join the expeditionary force, citing the difficult situation on the front.
However, the Houthis did provide one more service to their Iraqi guests: they connected them with their Somali comrades, who had information about the location of the pirate base, the size and condition of the garrison, as well as the secret routes leading to the captured tanker.
For several more days, the militia studied patrol routes and prepared for the final push. Meanwhile, a specially trained representative of Al-Shaganba, posing as an Iraqi businessman, stalled for time and promised the pirates the imminent arrival of suitcases filled with cash.
Finally, on September 25 (or, according to other sources, 27), fighters from the Al-Shaganba militia stormed the pirate base. The battle lasted five hours, and at some point, nearby Somali security forces joined the advancing militia, as evidenced by body camera footage from the Iraqis.
Taken by surprise, the pirates tried to resist, but quickly faltered. In the confusion, most of them even forgot about the captured tanker and made no attempt to provide cover.
The battle was decided in favor of Al-Shaganba. By the end of the day, SIBU-1 weighed anchor and departed the pirate anchorage back to Iraq. On board, in addition to 40 clan militiamen and 20 crew members, were seven prisoners. They were apparently taken as live trophies.
The pirates, who had later come to their senses, attempted to give chase to the fugitives, but were stopped by heavy fire from heavy machine guns that Al-Shaganba's fighters had installed right on the upper deck.
In the heat of battle, at least one pirate boat was sunk by a well-aimed suicide drone strike, which completely discouraged the Somalis from engaging the uninvited guests.
CONTENDERS OF SOMEONE ELSE'S SUCCESS
Arab and African newspapers were immediately filled with sensational stories about Iraqi heroes who were able to achieve what neither the central authorities nor Mogadishu's powerful external allies, particularly Turkey, had been able to do.
As expected, there was some sparring. The Somali authorities were among the first to attempt to refute the "clan landing" theory. Apparently, they decided that the mere presence of government forces in the raid on the pirate base as auxiliary forces tarnished their professional reputation.
According to the Puntland Maritime Police, the operation was part of a larger anti-piracy campaign and lasted nearly 48 hours. During this time, Somali security forces allegedly captured approximately 50 pirates, and several more were killed in gunfire during the assault on the tanker SIBU-1.
In the press release, the clan members are described in a vague way as “personnel associated with the owner of the vessel.”
The Turks also wanted to claim some of the credit: they claimed that the decisive role in the operation's success was played by the appearance on the horizon of two Turkish destroyers and a group of military helicopters, which had previously operated in the area. The terrified pirates allegedly "froze in place," after which they were captured by arriving Somali security forces and "other participants in the fighting."
Not everyone agrees with the naval police report and Ankara's claims, however. Even in Somalia. Opposition-affiliated media outlets, citing sources, claimed that federal forces arrived at the very last moment, when the bulk of the work had already been done by "Shiites from Iraq."
However, this version of events also contains discrepancies with the clan's reports. Specifically, it is claimed that the militias purchased weapons and boats only in Puntland and, with a group of locals, went hunting for pirates, recapturing a tanker and handing over the captured weapons and captives to the security services.
Be that as it may, one thing remains certain: clan fighters from Iraq did indeed arrive in Somalia and, in one way or another, participated in the raid on the pirate base. This, in turn, significantly expands Iran's ability to deploy forces and units loyal to it not only in the Middle East but also in adjacent regions.
Even though the Al-Shaganba clan acted largely on its own initiative, there's little stopping Tehran from using similar experience to conduct deep-seated raids into opponents' territory, including in those parts of the Horn of Africa where Israel's influence has recently significantly increased.
Riyadh, October 1, 2026, 9:20 PM — Regnum News Agency. On Thursday, October 1, the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry confirmed that a co-pilot attacked his colleague on a Flydubai flight.
"A preliminary investigation conducted by the Kingdom's competent authorities, in conjunction with a task force from the fraternal United Arab Emirates, revealed that an incident involving physical force occurred between the aircraft's commander and co-pilot," the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement.
The agency added that both pilots received injuries of varying severity.
The incident on board a Flydubai flight occurred on September 30. Flydubai flight FZ1073, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 180 passengers on board, issued emergency codes 7700 (emergency) and 7500 (hijacking). The flight then diverted and landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Saudi Arabia.
The crew may have activated the distress signal after a fight broke out between the pilots. The pilots were nationals of Oman and the UAE. The Omani is believed to have been the culprit; he may have attempted to deliberately cause a plane crash by diverting the plane into the ground, but the co-pilot prevented this.
One of the passengers, dentist Shota Musayev, personally participated in the neutralization of the pilot who had attacked a colleague with a knife. The doctor reported that he restrained and bound the Omani using zip ties and headphone cables, after which he immediately went to the cockpit to provide emergency medical assistance to the injured pilot. It was later revealed that he was a native of the USSR and a Moscow lover.
Plumber Yaniv Hayun also intervened. He reached the control column and took control of the plane for a few seconds to stabilize the flight. A little later, the other crew members took control.
Israeli journalist Amit Segal reported that both pilots were hospitalized. The pilot stabbed was placed on a ventilator. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later stated that Israel may join the investigation into the incident. WAM also reported that the UAE is considering an attempted terrorist attack as the cause of the incident on the Flydubai plane.
They noted that the country had formed an investigative team. It will determine the extent to which the incident may have been connected to terrorist activity and establish whether it was premeditated.
"The security incident on Flydubai flight FZ1073, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, has been brought under control," the agency said in a statement.
The incident occurred on September 30. Flydubai flight FZ1073, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 180 passengers on board, issued emergency codes 7700 (emergency) and 7500 (hijacking). The flight then diverted and landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Saudi Arabia.
The crew may have activated the distress signal after a fight broke out between the pilots. The pilots were nationals of Oman and the UAE. It's possible that the Omani was the culprit; he may have attempted to deliberately cause a plane crash by diverting the plane into the ground, but was prevented by the co-pilot.
According to the newspaper Israel Hayom, the two pilots who landed the plane were Russian and Ukrainian nationals. They were traveling as passengers and happened to be at the scene of the accident. This information has not been officially confirmed.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Student protests have escalated into widespread riots in France with schools set on fire and teachers beaten and doused in petrol.
Rioters have unleashed chaos in major cities across the country after what started as largely peaceful demonstrations against the state of education descended into violent chaos.
Protests began last Monday, when students and teaching staff took to French towns and cities to demand the replacement of absent teachers, an increase of educational resources, school renovations and 'decent' learning conditions.
But disorder has spread since Tuesday with some 600 arrests and 85 police officers wounded.
The unrest gathered pace this week after the Left-wing mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, told protesters on Tuesday 'violence can be legitimate' in remarks that sparked fury across the country.
In Marseille, staff at the Victor Hugo High School were splashed with petrol as the school was targeted in an arson attempt. All members of staff were forced to take refuge inside the building for their safety.
In Nantes, the entrance hall of Nelson Mandela High School was destroyed by a fire this morning.
The school's deputy head Gaelle Cordier said this was an act of 'arson'.
Footage from the school showed all storeys of the entrance hall alight, as people stood around and watched.
Another clip, captured from further away, showed smoke rising out of the building.
Elsewhere in Marseille, a firefighter was injured after rioters set a fire engine alight near the Saint-Exupéry high school this morning.
A video of the incident showed black-clad young men battering the emergency vehicle with metal objects, before cheering as a fire quickly began consuming it.
The mayor of the city, Benoit Payan, today called for calm.
Speaking in Madrid yesterday, President Emmanuel Macron slammed hard-Left politicians he accused of 'legitimising violence' in the French school protests.
Mr Macron has since called a crisis meeting in Paris to deal with the spiralling unrest. French media reported that all ministerial trips have been cancelled until the beginning of next week, in light of the heightened security situation.
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Interior minister Laurent Nunez slammed the 'targeting of law enforcement officers, the throwing of projectiles, acts of violence, verbal abuse, attempted arson, and what amounts... to urban violence'.
Education minister Edouard Geffray today called for classes to be held remotely at schools where blockades are taking place.
He described the violent scenes this morning as 'extremely serious', calling for 'those who commit this violence to be prosecuted and punished' and adding: 'It goes far beyond the issue of schools alone. No demand can justify such acts.'
Hard-right politician Marine Le Pen has now weighed in on the matter.
She wrote on social media: 'Marseille, Lyon, Grenoble, Besançon, Nîmes, Strasbourg: everywhere in France, the situation is deteriorating. Teachers are being attacked, street furniture is being set on fire, buses are being pelted with stones.
'By personally showing up in front of high schools to harangue the youth, by calling on his supporters to rise up in insurrection, by sending his deputies to the school grounds, Jean-Luc Mélenchon bears heavy responsibility for the situation our country is facing today.
'Order must be restored and access to high schools ensured. The safety of students and teachers must be guaranteed. Nothing can justify these outrages, committed for several days now and only intensifying, being allowed to continue.'
In Pas-de-Calais, the headteacher of the Fernand Degrugillier vocational high school in Auchel was injured by a 'mortar' firework this morning.
man, in his fifties, was hit in the ear and taken to hospital, officials said. Regional authorities said that 37 have been arrested since this morning.
In Bordeaux, dramatic footage taken on Rue Sainte-Catherine in Bordeaux, one of Europe's longest shopping streets, showed teenage protesters lighting cans of aerosol on fire in a pile.
After a few seconds, the pile exploded and the gathered crowd of thugs cheered.
At the Claude Fauriel high school in Saint-Etienne, countless young men in hoodies were seen running through the campus.
Several cities have said that their public transport systems have come to a complete standstill.
Marseille officials announced it will stop bus, tram and metro services following a targeted attack against a bus driver near high schools in the north and east of the city.
Meanwhile, Strasbourg has suspended its tram services 'in order to limit the movement of vandals and protesters'.
Grenoble officials said they were shutting off the city's bus and tram services due to the 'high school student movement'.
Saint-Denis mayor Bagayoko, said early this morning that he stood by his Tuesday remarks as 'they are the correct words of a mayor who does not wish to engage in a logic of escalating violence'.
The Paris Police Prefect has since filed a complaint against Mr Bagayoko for 'incitement to commit a crime'.
Yesterday evening, French security services said they had arrested over 600 people during the national riots.
Eighty-three police officers and gendarmes were wounded on Wednesday during the protests, which affected a total of 356 schools, he added.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Iran-aligned armed groups have demanded an end to the country’s financial dependence on the United States before agreeing to lay down their arms, a senior lawmaker close to the groups told Rudaw on Thursday, a day after US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq.
The demand comes as the Iraqi government moves to bring all weapons under state control following the end of the US-led coalition’s military mission in the country.
Saud al-Saadi, head of the parliamentary faction of the Hoquq Movement - the political wing of Kata’ib Hezbollah - told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman that “the complete withdrawal of US and foreign forces, including Turkish troops; preventing foreign interference; and liberating Iraq’s financial decision-making, which has been used as leverage by the US Federal Reserve over Iraqi oil revenues,” are “among” the conditions set by the factions for laying down their weapons.
Kata’ib Hezbollah has previously demanded the withdrawal of US and Turkish troops, as well as the dissolution of the constitutionally sanctioned Peshmerga forces, as preconditions for disarming. However, the group has not previously publicly cited ending US oversight of Iraq’s oil revenues as a condition for laying down its arms.
[FOX] Hezbollah terrorists in Yemen received $157 million worth of weapons in 2024, most of it given freely by Iran, according to a new report from the Israeli nonprofit Center for Research of Terror Financing (CENTEF).
The report, titled "Hezbollah Financial Statements," relied on open-source data as well as known valuations of Hezbollah's military assets, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The report found that Hezbollah spent just $28 million on procuring weapons, and those were limited to small arms, ammunition, drone components, dual-use equipment and equipment obtained through its international procurement networks.
Meanwhile, CENTEF said Iran provided roughly $129 million worth of weapons as an in-kind grant, including rockets, missiles, drones, ATGMs, air-defense systems, ammunition, launchers, naval equipment and IED-related assets.
The CENTEF analysis found that Hezbollah acquired 4,000 short-range Katyusha rockets, 400 Falaq-1 and 2 rockets, and 120 Burkan rockets in 2024. The short-range rockets are estimated to cost $300 per unit, while the Burkan rockets are estimated to cost $400.
The report also detailed more sophisticated weaponry obtained by Hezbollah, including Iran’s Fajr series and Syrian-origin heavy rockets. The Fajr-3 is a 240mm artillery rocket armed with a 45-kilogram warhead, while the Fajr-5 is a 333mm rocket with a GPS-guided Fajr-5C variant, according to the Post.
The rockets are estimated to cost $2,000 to $10,000, and CENTEF estimates Hezbollah obtained 600 of them in 2024.
Anti-tank guided missiles make up a major portion of Hezbollah's arsenal. The research found that the Russian-made Kornet and Iran's reverse-engineered Dehlavieh make up the bulk of Hezbollah's ATGMs, with the former costing approximately $26,000 per round and the latter costing an estimated $12,000 to $15,000, according to the Post.
Hezbollah has expended vast measures of its arsenal in its attacks against Israel over the past year, and Israeli forces have decimated the group's leadership ranks.
IDF Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, the founder and president of the Israel-based Alma Research and Education Center, told Fox News Digital earlier this month that the IDF has decimated 90% of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile arsenal.
"Today Hezbollah is holding between 10,000 to 15,000 rockets, which is much less than what it used to have. Most of the array of sophisticated missiles, accurate missiles and long-range missiles was either eliminated or neutralized," Zehavi said.
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Syria’s Ministry of Information on Thursday denied reports that representatives of the Syrian government held a meeting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in Türkiye.
The ministry’s External Media Directorate said the reports were false, stating, “These claims are false, and no such meeting took place.”
The denial came after Reuters reported, citing six sources familiar with the discussions, that Syrian government representatives and Hezbollah officials had held direct talks in Türkiye last month in an effort to ease tensions between the two sides.
According to Reuters, the meeting was facilitated by Turkish security and intelligence agencies and was the first known direct dialogue between the Syrian government and Hezbollah since the ousting of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2024.
Reuters reported that the discussions focused on security concerns between the two sides, including Syria’s accusations that Hezbollah was smuggling weapons through Syrian territory. The sources said no final agreement was reached.
The Syrian government has not publicly acknowledged holding such talks.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
BREAKING: Israel says pilot tried to hijack flydubai flight to Tel Aviv that diverted, landed in Saudi Arabia
