Germany’s Consulate General in St. Petersburg closed on September 17 after Russia revoked its operating permission in response to Berlin’s decision to shut the Russian consulate in Bonn.

French far-right politician Éric Zemmour:

Kylian Mbappé’s "Islamic solidarity" is stronger than French solidarity, or even that of his host country, Spain.

French far-right politician Éric Zemmour:

Robots can replace immigrants in certain jobs.

French far-right politician Éric Zemmour:

Marine Le Pen is a woman of the left; she thinks Islam is compatible with the French Republic.

French far-right politician Éric Zemmour:

We must send back all foreign offenders, even those who are not in prison.

We must also send back long-term unemployed people, and therefore all those who live only on social assistance.

French President Macron will host leaders of parliamentary parties at the Élysée Palace on September 18 to discuss international conflicts and their domestic consequences.

Party leaders or presidential candidates attending include Jordan Bardella, Bruno Retailleau, Gabriel Attal, François Bayrou, Marine Tondelier, Fabien Roussel, Olivier Faure, Raphaël Glucksmann and Manuel Bompard.

Military and intelligence officials will also brief Macron and the participants on security developments.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico:

The situation has never been as serious and tense regarding the possibility of a pan-European military conflict as it is now.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on NATO:

I do not want Slovakia to become part of some military conflict because of Article 5.

Yes, we are in NATO, we respect that, we care about cooperation and fulfilling our commitments, but as prime minister I will do everything to ensure that Slovakia is never dragged into a military conflict.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Israel wants “substantive, open and candid dialogue” to establish ties with Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ), a party founded by former Nazis and historically associated with antisemitic figures.

The move followed FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl’s speech in Strasbourg, where he condemned Hamas’ October 7 attack and adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

Likud ministers welcomed the development. Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli called it a “historic turning point” in relations between the FPÖ and Israel.

Israel had previously maintained a formal boycott of the FPÖ due to its Nazi-era roots and history of antisemitic leaders.

Source: Haaretz

Sen. John Fetterman on Hasan Piker:

Our base loves him. So, like, maybe I can’t compete with that.

Sen. John Fetterman on Hasan Piker:

I feel like I lost to Hasan Piker.

Hasan Piker:

I think the Middle East would be more stable if Iran had nuclear weapons. Having said that, I am not advocating for it.

Do I want Iran to have nuclear arms? No, but I also don’t want America, Russia, or China to have nuclear arms either.

Joe Rogan:

Trump supporters are fucking nuts, man; they’re rabid.

Trump jokes:

The power of this office is crazy. I could have banned fishing.

I think I am going to do that just for a day or two.

Jake Sullivan on Iran:

Trump keeps talking about how he’s getting the Strait at least partially open. But just in the last 24 hours, we heard that something like four ships got through.

And that’s at the cost of billions of dollars and nearly half the U.S. Navy, and most of our special forces being devoted to try to pry the Strait open a little bit.

We’re stuck and there’s no good way out.

Trump on Iran:

Iran wants to make a deal. They’re not ready, in my opinion.

We’re going to either make a deal that’s good, or we’re not going to make a deal at all.

Trump on Iran:

Look anywhere in the world, Iran is considered the most evil country in the world, and they’ve been that for a long time.

Trump on Iran:

I think we will end up winning. I don’t know about through a deal, but we are already winning. I think we will end up winning.

The UN General Assembly voted to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address world leaders by video after the U.S. denied him a visa to travel to New York.

The resolution also allows Abbas and other Palestinian officials to participate virtually in UN meetings for the next year if they cannot enter the U.S.

Source: Reuters

Cybersecurity researchers hacked into an OpenAI employee’s ChatGPT account using Anthropic tools, gaining access to internal software information and GitHub code.

The three Hacktron AI researchers exploited a flaw in OpenAI’s third-party Discourse community forum as part of the company’s bug bounty programme and were paid $6,500. OpenAI said it fixed the vulnerabilities.

Source: FT

Italy will deploy warships to protect its commercial vessels through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said, warning Rome would not wait for an EU decision.

“We have the capabilities to protect the passage,” Crosetto said, adding that Italy “must not allow bureaucratic delays in decision-making to exacerbate an already complex situation.”