Germany Offers Afghans Taxpayers' Cash To Abandon Resettlement Pledges

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The German government has sent letters offering Afghan nationals taxpayer-funded cash incentives to withdraw from resettlement programs and either return to Afghanistan or move to a third country, as reported by the German Press Agency (dpa).

The letters, distributed via the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), offer several thousand euros in compensation and logistical support, such as transport, medical assistance, and three months of psychosocial care to Afghan nationals awaiting resettlement flights in their home country and neighboring Pakistan.

The federal interior ministry, cited by Welt, said the voluntary offer is meant to “give those who cannot expect to be accepted in Germany a future.”

Recipients were told that all local admission procedures must be completed by the end of 2025 and warned that “there is no guarantee all steps can be completed on time.” The deadline to accept the offer is Nov. 17, after which re-entry into the relocation process will not be possible.

Over 2,000 Afghan nationals are currently awaiting transfer to Germany under various protection and resettlement schemes. The current CDU/CSU-SPD coalition government suspended the previous administration’s admission programs for Afghans in May, but flights have continued to arrive since the Berlin Administrative Court ruled that the government must honor its previous commitments to admit an Afghan woman and her 13 family members in a landmark case.

The court found that previously issued admission approvals were legally binding and could not be revoked, ordering the Foreign Ministry to act immediately. While the government had the opportunity to appeal the decision, it withdrew its application in August, finalizing the ruling.

The interior ministry defended the financial incentive proposal, saying it targets those whose resettlement approvals were never finalized.

The various Afghan resettlement schemes were launched in 2021 after the Taliban retook control of the country. Applicants were required to travel to Pakistan for visa processing and security screening before entering Germany.

The government argues that the suspension of admissions is necessary due to “security and procedural concerns” fuelled by newspaper reports earlier this year that only one in eight Afghans admitted under special protection programs had undergone full security vetting before arrival. The report claimed that more than 31,000 Afghans and family members entered Germany without complete background checks.

The federal police union (DPolG) urged a total suspension of flights, citing identity-verification failures and terrorism concerns. “The current procedure, in which travel documents are issued despite identities not being fully verified, is highly risky and irresponsible,” said DPolG chief Heiko Teggatz in March.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 11/13/2025 - 02:00

Experts Doubt China's Claims On AI, Quantum Radar

Authored by Mike Fredenburg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Commentary

There is little doubt that China’s recent announcements on quantum radar and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered submarine detection, which collectively rip away the operational advantages of submarines and stealth aircraft, are aimed at discouraging any thought by any country to be actively involved in defending Taiwan. The announcements are also meant to demoralize Taiwan.

A U.S. Air Force fifth generation F-35A Lightning II stealth aircraft comes in to land in Lakenheath, England, on April 17, 2025. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

However, while there is little doubt about the intent of the announcements, there is some room for doubt about their accuracy.

The first announcement involves a four-channel single-photon detector entering mass production in Anhui Province. This component is heralded as the cornerstone of quantum radar systems that will render U.S. stealth aircraft visible.

The second announcement describes a five-layer AI-enhanced ocean grid that was allegedly demonstrated during Joint Sea-2025 exercises with China and Russia. China claims this AI-enabled grid will turn the Western Pacific into a “transparent” sea where no submarine can hide.

On the face of it, these twin initiatives appear to be breakthroughs, but because of Beijing’s history of making exaggerated claims, a bit of healthy skepticism is warranted. Sure, they could be ready tomorrow or in just a few months. Still, with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping ordering China to be prepared to invade Taiwan in 2027, we should also examine the possibility that the announcements are more about creating fear, uncertainty, and doubt in the minds of those who might be inclined to help Taiwan than they are about actual, deployable military technology. With this in mind, we’ll briefly examine the claims to assess what level of credibility they warrant.

On Oct. 14, Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, declared that China had achieved self-sufficiency and international leadership in quantum information components with the mass production of the “single photon catcher.” This matchbox-sized device detects single photons with 90 percent efficiency at negative 184 degrees Fahrenheit, reducing noise by 90 percent and shrinking the device’s size to one-ninth of what other countries have achieved.

If it can indeed operate only at that temperature and still achieve good results, it is a significant achievement, as the United States has developed high-performing single-photon detectors, of which we are aware, that operate at negative 458 degrees Fahrenheit to negative 452 degrees Fahrenheit.

But given that there is no detailed, peer-reviewed scientific paper documenting this, we don’t really know just how good China’s single-photo sensor is. China is also making claims that its quantum radar has a range of 62 miles. If true, this is significantly better than U.S. quantum radar, which is limited to 6.2 miles.

However, a truly effective and militarily useful quantum radar should have a range of hundreds of miles, making a 62-mile range of limited practical value, given that more conventional anti-stealth radar, etc., already can detect stealth craft at 62 miles. And there is no independent verification of these major advances in physics, material science, and engineering. However, as previously noted, there is room for some healthy skepticism.

Though China does publish loads of valid research, including research on quantum technology, it also leads the world by a large margin in retractions of scientific papers, with more than 32,000 academic papers retracted, with seven out of the ten top institutions with the most retractions being Chinese.

As documented in Retraction Watch’s database, reasons for retractions include validity of data or results (more than 24,000 retractions), false/forged authorship (180) of data, dubious images (4,300), fake peer review (6,200), ethics, etc. And there have been 150, 680, 23, and 10 papers retracted involving quantum technology, AI, radar, and sensor fusion, respectively.

A case study of a retracted paper on Chinese research integrity dives into the potential reasons why China is publishing so much flawed and fraudulent research. Given all of this, it is at least possible that research papers published to support Chinese claims could be flawed.

In the United States, MIT, Raytheon, and many other research entities are working on developing quantum radars. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, is working on developing Robust Quantum Sensors. Getting ranges beyond 6.2 miles has not been possible to date, given decoherence as a key issue. No one is making any predictions about when militarily deployable quantum radar with ranges of hundreds of miles will become possible. And there are no claims to support China’s implied claim that a military-grade quantum radar can be deployed in a matter of a few years.

However, when it comes to quantum sensing—a key requirement for quantum radar—the consulting firm McKinsey and Company has suggested we could see limited commercial adoption for short-range applications by the early to mid-2030s. But these applications avoid the biggest problem with quantum radar, maintaining coherence over long range. Hence, most Western experts are highly skeptical of China’s claims.

However, China’s claims of using AI and the sensor fusion of sonar, magnetic anomaly detection, salinity sensors, etc., as reported in the South China Morning Post, to detect submarines is a horse of a different color. It is much more plausible than its quantum radar claims. Indeed, using AI in such a fashion is so obvious that, given the hundreds of billions of U.S. taxpayers’ spend on the military each year, it would be downright scandalous if the United States did not have something similar in the works.

Still, while there are no extremely difficult scientific/engineering hurdles standing in the way as there is with quantum radar, we should not just take China’s word that it now has an AI-powered submarine detection network that is fast enough and well-trained enough to allow it to detect real U.S. submarines 95 percent of the time.

Nevertheless, if China has been able to detect its own subs and Russian subs as they might have done during recent joint exercises, then with the right training data, it should provide a boost in detecting U.S. subs. But given just how dynamic and complex the underwater environment is, experts such as those cited in this Deutsche Welle piece are dubious of the 95 percent claim. So while the precise claim of 95 percent is questionable, the concept behind the technology is valid. Consequently, China’s claim in this case cannot summarily be dismissed.

There is no doubt that the timing of these two announcements is to sow fear, uncertainty, and doubt into the mind of China’s competitors and to demoralize Taiwan, but that does not mean the claims are false. However, our brief examination of the two separate claims reveals that while an AI-powered submarine detection network is very possible and cannot summarily be dismissed as mere information warfare/propaganda, China’s claim of being able to deploy a game-changing quantum radar in the next few years is highly improbable and is likely more propaganda than an immediate threat.

Bottom line, paraphrasing President Ronald Reagan, when it comes to communist China: don’t trust, and always verify.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/12/2025 - 22:35

Trump Pens Letter Urging Full Israeli Pardon Of Netanyahu In Corruption Cases

Just as he previously strongly hinted he would do, President Donald Trump has penned an official letter asking the Israeli president to grant a full pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his ongoing major corruption trial.

Trump wrote, "I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister, and is now leading Israel into a time of peace." 

"While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System, and its requirements, I believe that the ‘case’ against Bibi, who has fought alongside me for a long time, including against the very tough adversary of Israel, Iran, is a political, unjustified prosecution," Trump continued in the letter.

This is being widely viewed, especially by the domestic opponents of the Netanyahu government, as a brazen attempt to intervene in Israel's judicial system. Trump has tried a similar intervention against the ongoing prosecution of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

Trump said in the letter that US-Israel relations stand strong at a "historic time, as we have, together, just secured peace that has been sought for at least 3,000 years."

The Israeli president's office confirmed Wednesday, "This morning, President Isaac Herzog received the attached letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, calling on him to consider granting a pardon to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

Recent reports and statements out of the White House indicate Netanyahu came under unprecedented pressure from Trump to accept the historic Gaza ceasefire deal, which has held for a little over one month. Trump's lobbying for dismissal on Netanyahu's behalf could be part of quid pro quo connected with achieving the celebrated truce.

"Now that we have achieved these unprecedented successes, and are keeping Hamas in check, it is time to let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him, and ending that lawfare once and for all," Trump wrote.

The trial began in May 2020 and has been going on-and-off throughout wars and major geopolitical shifts in the Middle East, including the conflicts with Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria. 

NEW - Trump sends a letter to President Herzog formally asking him to pardon Netanyahu, saying the case against him is "a political, unjustified prosecution." pic.twitter.com/DTZNGqI0a2

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) November 12, 2025

The trial focuses on three corruption cases - including charges of fraud and breach of trust, as well as charges of bribery. The allegations range from illegally receiving expensive gifts based on political favors, to quid pro quo agreements with some Israeli media sources for more favorable coverage, to authorizing telecom-related regulatory decisions to benefit friends and allies.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/12/2025 - 22:10

Cloned Foods Are Coming To A Grocer Near You

Authored by Sylvain Charlebois via The Epoch Times,

Cloned-animal foods could soon enter Canada’s food supply with no labels identifying them as cloned and no warning to consumers - a move that risks eroding public trust.

According to Health Canada’s own consultation documents, Ottawa intends to remove foods derived from cloned animals from its “novel foods” list, the process that requires a pre-market safety review and public disclosure. Health Canada defines “novel foods” as products that haven’t been commonly consumed before or that use new production processes requiring extra safety checks.

From a regulatory standpoint, this looks like an efficiency measure. From a consumer-trust standpoint, it’s a miscalculation.

Health Canada argues that cloned animals and their offspring are indistinguishable from conventional ones, so they should be treated the same. The problem isn’t the science—it’s the silence. Canadians are not being told that the rules for a controversial technology are about to change. No press release, no public statement, just a quiet update on a government website most citizens will never read.

Cloning in agriculture means producing an exact genetic copy of an animal, usually for breeding purposes. The clones themselves rarely end up on dinner plates, but their offspring do, showing up in everyday products such as beef, milk, or pork. The benefits are indirect: steadier production, fewer losses from disease, or more uniform quality.

But consumers see no gain at checkout. Cloning is expensive and brings no visible improvement in taste, nutrition, or price. Shoppers could one day buy steak from the offspring of a cloned cow without any way of knowing, and still pay the same, if not more, for it.

Without labels identifying the cloned origin, potential efficiencies stay hidden upstream. When products born of new technologies are mixed in with conventional ones, consumers lose their ability to differentiate, reward innovation, or make an informed choice. In the end, the industry keeps the savings while shoppers see none.

And it isn’t only shoppers who are left in the dark. Exporters could soon pay the price too. Canada exports billions in beef and pork annually, including to the EU. If cloned-origin products enter the supply chain without labelling, Canadian exporters could face additional scrutiny or restrictions in markets where cloning is not accepted. A regulatory shortcut at home could quickly become a market barrier abroad.

This debate comes at a time when public trust in Canada’s food system is already fragile. A 2023 survey by the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity found that only 36 percent of Canadians believe the food industry is “heading in the right direction,” and fewer than half trust government regulators to be transparent. Inserting cloned foods quietly into the supply without disclosure would only deepen that skepticism.

This is exactly how Canada became trapped in the endless genetically modified organism (GMO) debate. Two decades ago, regulators and companies quietly introduced a complex technology without giving consumers the chance to understand it. By denying transparency, they also denied trust. The result was years of confusion, suspicion, and polarization that persist today.

Transparency shouldn’t be optional in a democracy that prides itself on science-based regulation. Even if the food is safe, and current evidence suggests it is, Canadians deserve to know how what they eat is produced.

The irony is that this change could have been handled responsibly. Small gestures like a brief notice, an explanatory Q&A, or a commitment to review labelling once international consensus emerges would have shown respect for the public and preserved confidence in our food system.

Instead, Ottawa risks repeating an old mistake: mistaking regulatory efficiency for good governance. At a time when consumer trust in food pricing, corporate ethics, and government oversight is already fragile, the last thing Canada needs is another quiet policy that feels like a secret.

Cloning may not change the look or taste of what’s on your plate, but how it gets there should still matter.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/12/2025 - 21:45

Move Over Mamdani, Seattle Set To Elect Socialist Mega-Karen Mayor

Self-avowed socialist Katie Wilson is on the brink of winning Seattle's mayoral race in what is the latest sign that the Democrat Party is shifting even further to the left.

As of Tuesday, Wilson pulled ahead of incumbent Bruce Harrel by a mere 1,300 votes. Wilson overtook Harrel with the help of mail-in ballots, which have favored the socialist by wide margins, according to King County Elections.

"Kate Wilson won 61.23% of the 6,121 ballots counted today," said local political consultant Crystal Fincher. "I'm comfortable calling this race for Wilson now.”

Politico reports:

Ms. Wilson, who describes herself as a socialist, centered her campaign on housing affordability and economic inequality—themes that echo New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's progressive platform. She proposed a capital gains tax to generate revenue, stronger tenant protections, and expanded public transit.

The message resonated in a city where median home prices have soared beyond the reach of many residents. Ms. Fincher noted a generational divide over economic concerns. "There's a disconnect between what younger people are going through in day to day life today," she said.

Despite Wilson’s all-but-certain victory, some Washington state Republicans are licking their chops over a socialist running Seattle.

Washington State Republican Chairman Jim Walsh believes Wilson "would be very bad for Seattle, but very good for the Washington state Republican Party.”

However, Wilson isn’t declaring victory just yet, telling reporters, “We’re going to wait for all of the ballots to be counted, but I think we won this race.”

Some are comparing Wilson to Zohran Mamdani, whose nine-point demolition of Andrew Cuomo in the New York mayoral race has thrust City Hall into the hands of a 34-year-old democratic socialist whose policy agenda threatens to upend the city’s fragile post-pandemic fiscal equilibrium and accelerate the exodus of capital and talent.

Mamdani's radical platform. such as fare-free transit, city-run grocery stores, rent freezes on all stabilized units, and a 2% “mansion tax” on residences above $5 million, would add at least $18 billion in annual spending, according to preliminary estimates from the Independent Budget Office.

Ahead of taking office, Mamdani is already attempting to repair his relationship with President Donald Trump, telling local media that good relations “will be critical to the success” of the city, and said that he plans to call the president soon.

“I will be proactive in the work that I do, and I think that is because the responsibility I hold to 8.5 million people being their mayor,” Mamdani said. “It is important that you are open to working with anyone, no matter what disagreements you may have. And, I’ve said this when it pertains to President Trump, that President Trump wants to speak about lowering the cost of living or delivering cheaper groceries like he ran on, I’m there to have that conversation.”

In a recent interview with Fox News Channel host Bret Baier, Trump warned that Mamdani was off to a “bad start” by targeting him repeatedly in his victory address.

“It was a very angry speech, certainly angry toward me,” Trump told Baier. “I think he should be very nice to me. You know, I’m the one that sort of has to approve a lot of things coming for him. So, he’s off to a bad start.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/12/2025 - 21:20