In a major first for a project aiming to restore the population of wildcats in Scotland, at least two females have given birth in the wild – and the footage of their kittens is as “awwww”-inducing as you’d expect.Last year, 19 captive-bred wildcats were released into Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park by Saving Wildcats, a project led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland that aims to recover the critically endangered Scottish population of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris).The project team has now announced that at least two of the female wildcats released have given birth, having caught the mothers and kittens on camera.“We suspected that some of the females had given birth when their movement and activity changed very suddenly but didn’t know for sure until footage of the kittens was captured on our cameras,” said Dr Keri Langridge, the field manager for Saving Wildcats, in a statement. “With the support of local landowners, gamekeepers and the local community, our field team has successfully managed to monitor and film these kittens in the wild – which is no simple task. We have taken extreme care not to disturb the mother and kittens.”What’s not yet known is who the baby daddies are. Though it’s hoped they’re fellow wildcats, there’s a risk that the mothers may have interbred with domestic cats – generally considered to be the biggest threat to the survival of the wildcat population in Scotland.“While we know from their GPS-radio collars that the two females that have given birth have overlapped with male wildcats, we do not yet know their paternity,” said Dr Helen Senn, Saving Wildcats’ lead.“Once the wildcats are old enough, we will attempt to get a DNA profile from them. We are hopeful that they are indeed the offspring of male wildcats that were released last year – and the first of many more to come.”Ok wildcat mom, keep your secrets.Image credit: Saving WildcatsWildcats were once widespread in Scotland, first having made their way over to Britain from mainland Europe around 9,000 years ago and getting stuck when Doggerland disappeared beneath the sea.However, habitat loss and hunting had already gone a long way to reducing wildcat numbers by the end of the 19th century – and in the century that followed, interbreeding and the spread of disease from feral domestic cats also took a heavy toll. By 2019, the Scottish wildcat was considered to be on the brink of extinction in the wild.It’s hoped that the birth of wildcat kittens in their native habitat is only the first in a series of successful steps to bring them back from that ledge. “This is a major milestone for wildcat recovery in Scotland,” said Senn. “These births demonstrate that the process of breeding wildcats for release into the wild is working, as those released animals have learned to hunt and survive – and now reproduce in their first breeding season, a clear indication that they are doing well.”“While the mortality rate for wildcat kittens in their first year of life can be high,” Senn added, “we are hopeful for the future of these kittens.”

High in the upper atmosphere, from the edge of space to well within it, there is the ionosphere. Atoms and molecules there are missing electrons, so they are electrically charged. They are influenced by what is happening nearer to the surface but also by the Sun. New observations suggest that there is more understanding to be had, following the discovery of new structures.The work was possible thanks to NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission. It found that there are some peculiar formations in the ionosphere shaped like letters: X and C. These are connected to the previously known phenomena of crests and bubbles in the ionosphere, places where there is more plasma than others.The X-shaped structures had been observed before, believed to be the merging of crests caused by intense activity either from a powerful volcanic eruption or from an increase in the solar wind – the stream of charged particles from the Sun – following solar flares or coronal mass ejections. GOLD has shown here that X-shaped formations can also happen during quiet periods.       “Earlier reports of merging were only during geomagnetically disturbed conditions — it is an unexpected feature during geomagnetic quiet conditions,” lead author Fazlul Laskar, from the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), said in a statement.The presence of X-shaped formations in quiet periods implies something else is at work. Computer models suggest it could be that churning in the lower atmosphere can actually pull down some of the plasma, leading to the merging of the crests into an X shape even when there are no major disturbances.“The X is odd because it implies that there are far more localized driving factors,” explained Jeffrey Klenzing, a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “This is expected during the extreme events, but seeing it during ‘quiet time’ suggests that the lower atmosphere activity is significantly driving the ionospheric structure.”Similarly to the crests, the bubble also ends up in the shape of a letter. These bubbles are generally thin and long, following the magnetic lines of the planet. But some bubbles become curved into a C or reverse C shape. The process is believed to be linked to terrestrial wind, even though the ionosphere extends from 80 kilometers to 640 kilometers (50 to 400 miles) above ground.Among the oddities, the team found plasma bubbles that were incredibly close together, in the range of several hundred kilometers. This suggests that there is significant turbulence in the ionosphere – it is far from calm.“Within that close proximity, these two opposite-shaped plasma bubbles had never been thought of, never been imaged,” said lead author of the work on the C-shaped formations, Deepak Karan, also at LASP.“The fact that we have very different shapes of bubbles this close together tells us that the dynamics of the atmosphere is more complex than we expected,” Klenzing added.Both papers were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics and can be found here and here.

Beryl, the first named hurricane of this year’s Atlantic season, has made a historic start even before it’s due to reach the Caribbean this morning and, according to officials, it seems set to continue making its mark.While the Atlantic hurricane season runs all the way from June 1 through to November 30, the first named hurricane usually forms in early to mid-August and the first major hurricane – Category 3 and above – between late August and early September.Hurricane Beryl has already gone against the grain in both cases. First, it formed in late June – Friday 28 specifically, from a tropical storm. Second, it rapidly reached major hurricane status; on Sunday, its powerful winds took it into Category 4, making it the earliest storm of that strength to form in the Atlantic on record.Hurricane Beryl as it moves into the Caribbean.Image credit: CIRA/NOAAAlthough it’s now dipped back down into Category 3, Beryl is still set to be an “extremely dangerous” hurricane as it makes landfall in the Caribbean, according to the key messages of an advisory issued this morning by the National Hurricane Center.“Potentially catastrophic hurricane-force winds, a life-threatening storm surge, and damaging waves are expected when Beryl passes over portions of the Windward Islands with the highest risk of the core in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada beginning later this morning,” said the center.The latest data has shown the storm has maximum sustained winds of around 195 kilometers per hour (120 miles per hour), the strength of which is capable of uprooting trees and majorly damaging even well-built homes.It’s also anticipated that the storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 1.8 to 2.7 meters (6 to 9 feet) above normal tide levels, bringing “large and destructive” waves to coastal areas, said the National Hurricane Center.Add to that potential rainfall of 7.6 to 15.2 centimeters (3 to 6 inches), and it’s no wonder that residents in the Caribbean islands set to be hit by the hurricane first are being advised to prepare as much as possible.“Shelter in place or evacuate to a safe location if your home is unsafe or vulnerable to flooding or wind damage. Secure food, water and medicine for at least seven days in waterproof containers. Outdoor drains should be clear and loose objects secured by now. Sandbags should be near all entrances to your home,” warned the Trinidad & Tobago Meteorological Service early Monday morning.Even once Beryl passes over those first islands and moves across the Caribbean Sea, it’s expected to remain a “powerful hurricane”.While the current hurricane has already made its mark, it may not be the only one that does so this year. Back in May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service predicted that the 2024 hurricane season was likely to be an “extraordinary one”, with potentially four to seven major hurricanes.

Two sticks found in a cave in southeastern Australia show signs of processing that perfectly match curse-making practices described in the 19th century. The sticks have been dated at an estimated 11,000 and 12,000 years old, which would make this the longest period over which we have evidence for the continuation of a cultural practice anywhere in the world.Cloggs Cave, in Victoria’s Gippsland region, lies within the lands of the GunaiKurnai people. In the 1970s, an archaeological dig was conducted there without consultation with the GunaiKurnai, but little of value came of it. In 2009, GunaiKurnai representatives decided they wanted their history explored properly and set about establishing a relationship with anthropologists at Monash University, which has proved vastly more fruitful.Much of the cave became a sinkhole around 6,000 years ago, leading to objects of very different ages lying side-by-side. Consequently, Professor Bruno David and colleagues decided to focus on a part of the cave unaffected by the collapse. They found a lightly burnt Casuarina stick 40 centimeters (16 inches) long emerging from a fireplace the size of a hand, surrounded by limestone rocks. The stick was carbon-dated as approximately 12,000 years old, making it the oldest surviving wooden artifact found in Australia.It’s very unusual for anything wooden to survive that long, and the stick showed some even more exceptional features. The singeing at one end indicated it had been briefly placed in a cool fire, nothing like what is seen for something that was once part of a fire for warmth or food.The stick as it was found in the cave, one end still in the fireplace in which it was lightly charred.Image Credit: Monash UniversityThat alone indicated a ritual or cultural practice to David, and the more the stick was investigated the stronger the indication became. The stick carried lipids from human or animal fat, and twigs branching off had been carefully removed.Further digging revealed a similar Casuarina stick, approximately a thousand years younger, but processed in the same way. The end of the second stick had an angled back like a spear thrower, an instrument associated with power among Australian Indigenous cultures.“We are still astounded that they've preserved for so long,” David told IFLScience. “Things that favoured survival are: (1) this part of the cave is very dry; and (2) the sediments are not acidic, but rather have pHs between 7 and 8 ... meaning that they're neutral to slightly alkaline. Also, (3) there's not much mechanical weathering of the deposit; no large animals running or hopping around, and the cave was never used by family groups for camping. And (4) the sticks were quickly buried by fine sediments (including by ash from later low-heat fires nearby). All of these are ideal conditions for the preservation of buried items."The locations in which the two sticks were found, drawn as cartoons (left) relative to rocks and a wombat dropping and photographed.Image Credit: Monash UniversitySurviving GunaiKurnai people had lost the cultural memory of what the sticks might have been used for. However, 19th century ethnographer Alfred Howitt recorded aspects of culture of the Indigenous People of southeastern Australia, including descriptions of practices that were forgotten when the region’s First Nations were subsequently confined to missions and banned from speaking their own languages.Uncle Russell Mullett of the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) discovered that, in addition to a book Howitt had published, his notes were kept in a museum. After a long struggle, Mullett gained access to these notes, restoring information not only to the GunaiKurnai but to other Indigenous Peoples whose ancestors Howitt had engaged with. At a time when many other anthropologists were mostly interested in trying to prove Indigenous Australians were racially inferior and destined to die out, Howitt appears to have been genuinely interested in their culture and a faithful reporter.Howitt recorded that when the GunaiKurnai people wanted to curse someone, they would have a highly-trained person known as a mulla-mullung conduct a ceremony using a Casuarina stick and something belonging to whoever had attracted their ire. According to Howitt, the item from the intended victim stick was fastened to the stick with some eaglehawk feathers and the stick was smeared in human or animal fat. The stick would be stuck in the ground next to a fire and the mulla-mullung would sing over it, including the victim’s name. If buried soon after the ritual, the stick would have been indistinguishable from the two sticks David and colleagues found.Mulla-mullung were also healers and may have had matching rituals designed to cure people.Jessica Shapiro of GLaWAC told IFLScience that reports of the ritual are distinctive to GunaiKurnai country.For these artefacts to survive is just amazing. They’re telling us a story. They’ve been waiting here all this time for us to learn from them. A reminder that we are a living culture still connected to our ancient past.Uncle Russell Mullett“The connection of these archaeological finds with recent GunaiKurnai practices demonstrates 12,000 years of knowledge-transfer,” David said in a statement. “Nowhere else on Earth has archaeological evidence of a very specific cultural practice previously been tracked so far back in time.”The GunaiKurnai lands border on Bass Strait, which flooded around the times these sticks were used, isolating Tasmania. Intriguingly, there is evidence Tasmanian Indigenous people retained stories of that flooding, as well as positions of the stars at the time, until the 19th century, becoming then the oldest surviving stories in the world.“For these artefacts to survive is just amazing. They’re telling us a story. They’ve been waiting here all this time for us to learn from them. A reminder that we are a living culture still connected to our ancient past. It’s a unique opportunity to be able to read the memoirs of our Ancestors and share that with our community,” Mullett said.“Today, GLaWAC and Monash University are showing what a true Traditional Owner-led partnership should look like. It’s only when you combine the Western scientific techniques with our traditional knowledge that the whole story can start to unfold,” The discovery is published open access in Nature Human Behaviour.

On this past Friday's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough strongly suggested that Biden should quit the race in the wake of his disastrous debate performance. But incredibly, Scarborough was AWOL today on the show's next episode. He abandoned the show to Mika Brzezinski, who opened with a lengthy defense of Biden, saying she was not even close to calling on him to drop out, and that he was still "the man for the moment." Mika claimed that Scarborough was away on a "planned vacation." Riight. With the Democratic Party in a state of panic and the Supreme Court scheduled to rule on presidential immunity, he planned a vacation...and did not cancel. A vacation without his wife.  If Joe Scarborough were the Macho Man he has often bragged about being, this was the one day he should have been at his TV helm. This raises questions: Is he in trouble with the Bidens? Did he want to let Mika speak without constantly interrupting her? Will he be out all week, while his wife holds down the morning fort?  Mika repeatedly emphasized that Biden's schedule needs to be "managed," suggesting that he does better during the day than at night. But who is president here? What you can't manage is . . . the rest of the world. You can't send a stern message to Putin, Xi, the mullahs, Kim Jong Un, etc., warning them that all crises must be strictly initiated between 10 am and 4 pm Eastern time. Remember Hillary's famous "3 am phone call" ad when she was running against Obama for the 2008 Dem nomination? If a crisis erupted in the middle of the night now, would Biden's handlers even bother trying to rouse Ol' Joe? Mika unsubtly proposed "changes maybe even to those around" Biden. Translation: Anita Dunn—there's a bus leaving DC at midnight. Be under it.  Mika said that "America needs an explanation from Joe Biden and reassurance that the other night was a one-time event and not part of a larger problem." It wasn't a one-time event! There have been countless glaring Biden stumbles. But you and the rest of the liberal media and the Biden handlers have tried to pass them off as deep fakes and cheap fakes. And people with Biden's acuity problems don't get better. There's only one direction for him. Mika falsely claimed that Biden went into the debate "fresh off" two trips to Europe. To the contrary, for the full week before the debate, Biden's handlers had cleared his calendar, and he was holed up at Camp David for debate prep, presumably with plenty of rest scheduled. What's with the calendar-mangling?  In her most despicable moment, Mika claimed that Trump's role in overturning Roe is "killing women and babies." To the contrary, the limits on abortions subsequent to the Dobbs decision have saved the lives of countless babies. Mika misrepresented Scarborough's statement on Friday. She claimed that he had suggested waiting "a few days" before a decision is made on Biden's need to exit. It was just the opposite. As we noted, Scarborough quoted Obama's former campaign aide David Plouffe as suggesting that people wait "three or four days." Scarborough politely took issue with that, saying he respects Plouffe, "but" unless "things change" [i.e., Biden quits] "I fear Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States."  Mika claimed that at the debate, Biden had been "slowed down by a cold." Biden wasn't someone being slowed by a cold. He was a man whose age and mental infirmities were on unmistakable display.  Here's the transcript. MSNBC Morning Joe 7/1/24 6:00 am EDT JOE BIDEN [at debate]: Um, dealing with, everything we have to do with, uh, look, if -- we finally beat Medicare. MIKA BRZEZINSKI: It was bad. He said we, quote, "We beat Medicare." He couldn't seem to land a thought. It was an unmitigated disaster by any measure.  More than three days after that debate, it is still hard to comprehend what we saw from the president . . . And, yet, the very next day in North Carolina, there was Joe Biden back to form, finding his voice, his winning smile, the vintage sparkle back in his eyes. Two appearances that were as different as, well, night and day! . . .  So what was different? A little more sleep? Perhaps it was an event during the day rather at night. On debate night, 90 minutes, starting at 9:00 pm, Joe Biden was fresh off back-to-back trips to Europe .First to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-day and a state dinner with President Macron, and then to Italy for the G7, followed by a flight across 12 time zones to L.A. for a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama. . . .  I really question his schedule. It makes me angry that he was moving across the world on four different time zones. It seems to me this is a lack of discipline.  . . .  My family and I, as you know, have known this man for decades, and his family as well.  And yes, I know them personally. And I still believe in Joe Biden  . . .  Do there need to be changes? Yes! Managing him, management to his schedule. Changes maybe even to those around him. I'll also say America needs an explanation from Joe Biden and reassurance that the other night was a one-time event and not part of a larger problem . . .  Let's take a quick moment to look at the current alternative . . . Donald Trump. The man who incited a political coup against our government and who indicates he will not accept the results of the 2024 election if he loses again. The convicted felon who faces three more indictments. The man who was found liable for sexual assault. The man who was found liable for massive fraud. The man who brags about having ended a woman's right to abortion healthcare, a decision that is killing women and babies, and causing immeasurable and preventable agony for women across the country. . . .  Now, Joe, our Joe, is off this morning on a planned vacation. On Friday's show, I should clarify, Joe said it may be time for Biden to consider stepping aside. He also said we should wait a few days to see how he responds. We're shoulder to shoulder on that.  I do agree, Joe Biden has work to do. He has to do better. His team has to do a lot better. I'm just not ready, though, to count Joe Biden out, not even close.  . . .  A man slowed down by a cold, versus a man with a cold, vile, and merciless heart. I think in the days and weeks ahead as we move away from this debate, clarity will hopefully set in.  For me, Joe Biden is still the man for this moment.

The Reform Party rally that took place at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre in England was disrupted on Sunday when TikTok abruptly suspended the live stream. The event featured speeches from Reform Party leader Nigel Farage and other notable figures, including Ann Widdecombe, according to Reclaim the Net.The suspension reportedly lasted about 30 minutes and was later described as a "moderation error," according to a TikTok spokesperson. Despite this explanation, concerns spread among those watching Widdecombe's speech when the feed cut out.'We continue to invest heavily in training technology and human moderators to detect, review, and remove harmful content.'Widdecombe was speaking about the need for reform throughout the country and noted that the Reform Party was committed to "common sense" governance, going on to criticize the country's current governmental strategies.The report mentioned that Widdecombe said, "These next four days are crucial," alluding to the vote set to take place on July 4. She added that she had "heard more common sense" among those she was currently affiliated with than her previous time with the Conservatives.A second report mentioned that Widdecombe accused the Conservatives of putting all their "eggs in the Rwanda basket." She said there was no good reason why Reform UK should not form the official opposition party throughout the country.Despite TikTok's interruption, the feed was soon restored. A spokesperson for the social media platform said, “Nigel Farage has had their access to Live restored after a temporary suspension (less than 30 mins) due to a moderation error."“More than 40,000 people work alongside technology to keep TikTok safe, and this includes dedicated teams and detection models to moderate Lives in real time."“We continue to invest heavily in training technology and human moderators to detect, review, and remove harmful content.”Despite the brief setback, this is not the first time the party has experienced censorship with online platforms during election season, according to Reclaim the Net. The report stated that Google only reinstated Reform UK's advertising account in June after there were accusations of election interference by Nigel Farage.Farage has previously taken aim at X, formerly known as Twitter, claiming that it prevented his messaging from being shared with followers. As a result, he called for Google's Matt Brittin to take action against what he perceived as censorship. As a result, Google restored the account, raising questions about Big Tech's involvement in the political process.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that former President Donald Trump has some presidential immunity for acts taken in the course of his duties as president.'PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!'The justices, in a 6-3 vote, determined that presidents have “absolute immunity” for official acts.“Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts,” the Supreme Court wrote. While Trump’s motion to dismiss the case based on presidential immunity was not outright granted, the decision will likely postpone Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case until after the November election. The Supreme Court stated that it is not required to determine whether the presidential immunity is “presumptive or absolute.” The case will go back to the district court for further factual development on several points.“Certain allegations—such as those involving Trump’s discussions with the Acting Attorney General—are readily categorized in light of the nature of the President’s official relationship to the office held by that individual. Other allegations—such as those involving Trump’s interactions with the Vice President, state officials, and certain private parties, and his comments to the general public—present more difficult questions,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.Trump reacted to the ruling on Monday, stating on X, “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY. PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Between his empty stares and incoherent babbling, there’s no question that President Biden’s performance in the CNN Presidential Debate shocked the nation. While it revealed just how unqualified our president is to be president, what came after might have been more revealing — when Jill Biden had to escort her husband off the stage and praised him, condescendingly, for answering questions. In a video from CNN, Donald Trump is seen easily leaving the stage after the debate, but Joe is left standing there, waiting for his wife to slowly help him down the very short set of stairs. Then, when Joe and the first lady take the post debate stage together, it gets worse. “Joe you did such a great job, you answered every question, you knew all the facts,” Jill said in an infantilizing tone. “And let me ask the crowd, what did Trump do?” “Lied!” she then yelled, pointing at the crowd. The Biden crowd may have cheered in return, but those viewing the situation with a critical eye have been left wondering if the first lady may be the real driving force behind Biden’s re-election campaign. Glenn Beck is one of them. “I believe that Jill Biden was the driving force behind Joe making this decision to run again and that there were people in the White House and people in the Democratic Party that knew that it was going to be a disaster,” Glenn says. Biden’s apparent mental decline has long been a point of conversation — even on the left — but now it’s become impossible to ignore. Even, maybe, for Jill Biden. “She’s running a little dog-and-pony show where Joe is just kind of, you know, still looks like he was hit by a freight train, and she’s spinning this whole thing,” Glenn says. “I think this was a Democratic inside job to get her to have so much pressure, not him, her, to feel the pressure that he has got to go.” Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Early last month, establishmentarians were utterly humiliated in the European parliamentary elections where right-leaning parties enjoyed significant gains. One of the most telling showings was in France, where Marine Le Pen's National Rally ran circles around French President Emmanuel Macron's pro-European Renaissance Party, more than doubling its votes. The continental trouncing was so embarrassing as to prompt Macron, who already lacked a majority in the French parliament, to call snap national elections on June 30 and July 7. Macron tweeted, "I have confidence in the ability of the French people to make the fairest choice for themselves and for future generations." On Sunday, the supermajority of eligible French voters cast ballots, fairly choosing to rid the country of Macron and his ilk. Le Pen's National Rally and its allies reportedly secured 33.1% of the vote Sunday. Macron's centrist coalition couldn't even place second, instead coming third with 20.8% after the New Popular Front, a leftist coalition, which secured 28% of the vote. 'Democracy has spoken.' CNN indicated that National Rally is poised to secure the most seats in the National Assembly but may prove unable to net the 289 seats necessary for an absolute majority, meaning the country may end up with a hung parliament. Le Pen's party and its allies are currently expected to pick between 230 and 280 seats. However, should the right-leaning party prevail in the second round of voting on Sunday, National Rally President Jordan Bardella, Le Pen's protégé, will likely become the next prime minister. With Bardella running parliament, Macron would effectively be a lame duck until the end of his term, which runs out in 2027. Bardella indicated Monday that the country has before it the decision between national unity, the well-being of the republic, and the furtherance of its values, or rule by an "alliance of the worst and the extreme left." Le Pen told a crowd Sunday, "Democracy has spoken, and the French people have placed the National Rally and its allies in first place — and has practically erased the Macronist bloc." Le Pen and Bardella both stressed that the next round of voting is critically important for the fate and future of the country. Liberals further afield bemoaned the result. Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, for instance, said, "This is all really starting to smell dangerous." Tusk added on X, "They love Putin, money and power without control. And they are already in power or are reaching for it in the East or West of Europe. They are joining ranks in the European Parliament." Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez similarly whined about the success of French rightists, noting, "The advance of the far right in France isn't unconnected with what's happening in other parts of the world — including in Spain — where we're seeing how, directly or indirectly," reported Al Jazeera. "The far right is advancing institutionally and in the opinion polls," added Sanchez. The mainstream media leaned into the tired and ineffective suggestion that France's right-leaning populists were Nazis reborn. France24 concern-mongered that the elections "could put France's government in the hands of a far-right party for the first time since World War II," discounting the Nazis' leftist nature. The liberal publication beat this dead horse repeatedly, reiterating, "Victory for RN would lead to France's first far-right government since the Nazi-allied Vichy Regime." NBC News similarly amplified the preferred narrative, noting, "Voters across France are casting ballots in the first round of an exceptional parliamentary election that could put France’s government in the hands of nationalist, far-right parties for the first time since the Nazi era." Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggested that the establishment's smear campaign against right-leaning politicians in Europe had once again proven toothless. "The constant attempt to demonize and corner people who don't vote for the left ... is a trick that fewer and fewer people fall far," said Meloni. While the media fruitlessly vilified the people's top choice of party, Macron planted the seed of violence, suggesting that electoral success on the part of National Rally could push "people towards a civil war." Sure enough, after it became clear the party critical of unchecked immigration, a detached political elite, and ruinous economic policies was set to win, radicals — including Pro-Hamas demonstrators and Antifa thugs — began rioting. The Daily Mail reported that riot police were dispatched across Paris, where rioters launched incendiary devices, looted, and smashed up various establishments. After a night of their comrades clashing with police, far-left politicians began urging Macron's supporters to support them to prevent National Rally from securing power. Clémentine Autain, a member of the New Popular Front, said in an X post Monday, "The far right is at the gates of power. We must do everything to prevent them from winning and to open up hope with the New Popular Front." The Telegraph indicated that Gabriel Attal, Macron's prime minister, has advised his party's supporters to support the radical left if the alternative was Le Pen's National Rally, stressing they had a moral duty to "prevent RN from winning an absolute majority." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Glitches make the best videogame moments. Everyone looks back fondly on the open-world bugs in the early GTA games and the Hunter grabbing you through a wall in Left 4 Dead, but most games don't truly embrace the jank. Videogames not working as they should is too often seen as a negative but as The Long Drive continues to prove - as it soars on Steam - jank can make a good game great. Continue reading Charmingly “janky” driving sim The Long Drive hits new Steam peak MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best open-world games, Best racing games, Best indie games