The Belgian national team on Monday morning was granted the right to appeal FIFA&#8217;s last-minute decision to reverse a one-game suspension that had been imposed on U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun after he received a phantom red card in America&#8217;s round of 32 victory.
FIFA&#8217;s decision to overturn Balogun&#8217;s suspension on Sunday, which came after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-thanks-fifa-for-reversing-great-injustice-as-european-rivals-rage-at-world-cup?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Thanks+FIFA+For+Reversing+%E2%80%99Great+Injustice%E2%80%99+As+European+Rivals+Rage+At+World+Cup">phone call</a> between President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, outraged the soccer elites of Belgium and other European nations. Belgium&#8217;s soccer officials <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/belgium-astonished-folarin-balogun-ruling-investigating-potential-options">said</a> they were &#8220;astonished.&#8221; Belgium soccer coach Rudi Garcia also took a shot at FIFA after the reversal.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t know that in the FIFA offices the 5th of July corresponded to the 1st of April &#8230; it was a discovery for me,&#8221; Garcia <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/watch-vertical/fmc-8t88x881kprva0ge">said</a>.
Belgium also <a href="https://x.com/BrentScher/status/2073898775257530664">reportedly</a> &#8220;lawyered up&#8221; to fight FIFA&#8217;s decision to overturn Balogun&#8217;s suspension. After the outrage, Belgium was granted an appeal, which will ultimately leave it up to one member of the FIFA appeals committee to decide whether Balogun&#8217;s suspension should be upheld. A decision on Belgium&#8217;s appeal could be handed down before the game between the United States and Belgium starts at 7:00 p.m. ET, but Belgium was not guaranteed that a ruling would come from FIFA before the game, The Athletic reported.
The appeals committee member selected to hear the appeal is not a member of the European soccer association, UEFA, or of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football to ensure the appeals process is unbiased. The UEFA released a statement Monday morning, siding with Belgium, and blasting FIFA&#8217;s decision to allow Balogun to play Monday night.
&#8220;Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,&#8221; UEFA wrote in a statement, adding, &#8220;When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.&#8221;
Norway&#8217;s coach Ståle Solbakken, whose team advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday, also <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/05/sports/norway-coach-blasts-fifas-really-bad-folarin-balogun-decision/">ripped</a> FIFA over the decision.
“I think it is not a great conclusion. [Balogun] got a red card and the VAR concluded that it was a red card. He was sent off. That means you are suspended for one game,&#8221; Solbakken said. “I think what is really bad about that situation is it will be [hanging] over the United States now. Because if they beat Belgium, it will always have that extra thing about it. Maybe he scores a goal, maybe he plays a good game, and the Belgians will be furious.”
FIFA reversed Balogun&#8217;s suspension after the White House put together a team of elite lawyers to challenge soccer officials&#8217; use of replay review in determining Balogun&#8217;s red card last week, Outkick founder Clay Travis reported. Balogun was given a red card for his contact with a defender for Bosnia and Herzegovina after the referee used video replay to determine that the U.S. star&#8217;s cleat scraped the back of the defender&#8217;s ankle.
Trump also called FIFA&#8217;s president to better understand why a red card had been issued, but Trump did not push FIFA to overturn the suspension, according to Axios. During that phone call, Infantino informed Trump that a review of the red card had already begun.
America&#8217;s star player, who leads the team with three goals so far in the tournament, is preparing to play Monday night as the United States looks to advance to its second-ever quarterfinals. Team USA was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-team-lit-after-red-card-reversal-news-thought-it-was-ai-at-first?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=U.S.+Team+%E2%80%98Lit%E2%80%99+After+Red+Card+Reversal+News%3A+%E2%80%98Thought+It+Was+AI+At+First%E2%80%99">ecstatic</a> on Sunday after hearing the news that Balogun could play.

USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina: Round Of 32 – FIFA World Cup 2026

Seeing Red: Belgium Granted Appeal After Europe Cries Over American Suspension Reversal

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The last few years have tested the NATO alliance like few periods in its history. Divisions over burden-sharing, threat perceptions, and sharp disagreements on conflicts beyond Europe have strained the alliance. But America should not turn away from NATO. We need a strong, capable NATO more than ever — one that is modernized and reformed to meet today&#8217;s threats, not abandoned over the frustrations of the moment.
NATO has weathered deep divisions before. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, the United States strongly opposed the military actions of Britain and France in Egypt, exposing sharp transatlantic rifts and prompting European accusations of American unreliability. In the early 1960s, French President Charles de Gaulle, frustrated with American dominance, withdrew France from NATO&#8217;s integrated military command structure in 1966, ordered U.S. and NATO troops to leave French soil, and developed an independent French nuclear force. During the Vietnam era, there was strong European opposition to the war, with massive protests across the continent and open criticism from NATO governments. And in 2003, the alliance fractured bitterly over the Iraq War: France and Germany led the opposition, blocking NATO consensus on providing direct support to Turkey and prompting Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld&#8217;s famous distinction between &#8220;Old Europe&#8221; and &#8220;New Europe.&#8221;
But each time, predictions of NATO&#8217;s demise were proven wrong. The alliance endured — and emerged stronger — because its core strategic logic remains sound: American security depends on a secure Europe.
That logic was never clearer than in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. For the first time in its history, NATO invoked Article 5 — the collective defense clause — on behalf of the United States. European allies joined American forces in Afghanistan to dismantle al Qaeda and deny these terrorists a safe haven. More than 1,100 troops from NATO allies made the ultimate sacrifice in that conflict, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. forces. When our homeland was attacked, the NATO alliance came to America’s aid.
Recent tensions have been painful. I regret that many NATO states failed to support the United States and Israel during the 2026 war against Iran. Some went further, refusing to allow the use of NATO bases and facilities for American operations. This was a serious mistake that badly damaged trust and deepened divisions within the alliance. Allies should support one another when vital interests are at stake, not selectively opt out.
Critics of an open-ended U.S. commitment to NATO have made serious arguments that decades of American security guarantees have given Europe little incentive to invest seriously in its own defense, leaving European militaries plagued by fragmented procurement, duplicated systems, hollowed-out logistics, and critical shortfalls in airlift, air defense, and precision munitions — gaps that spending percentages alone cannot fix. Past efforts at reform, such as the 2014 Wales pledge, produced little until Russia&#8217;s 2022 invasion of Ukraine created an immediate threat to Europe, lending credence to the view that only a firm U.S. drawdown could force European capitals to invest sufficiently in their own defense. But this argument has a serious flaw: it assumes that a significant European buildup will automatically follow an American withdrawal, when in reality it could create dangerous gaps that Russia would exploit.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also has firmly rejected any notion that the alliance can move on without the United States. Speaking earlier this year, Rutte warned European leaders: &#8220;If anyone thinks here … that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can&#8217;t.&#8221; He emphasized that Europe would lose the vital U.S. nuclear umbrella and would need to more than double its defense spending to even approach strategic autonomy — goals that remain unrealistic in the near term.
Despite recent tensions in the alliance, real progress is being made. For the first time in NATO&#8217;s history, every one of its 32 members met or exceeded the 2% of GDP defense spending target in 2025 — a dramatic improvement from just three countries in 2014. In response to strong pressure from President Trump, European allies and Canada increased defense spending by 20% last year, bringing the collective total to more than $574 billion. NATO&#8217;s frontline states have gone even further: Poland reached 4.48% of GDP, while Lithuania and Latvia both exceeded 3.7%.
Our NATO allies did not stop at 2%: at the 2025 Hague Summit, members agreed to a far more ambitious target of 5% of GDP by 2035, with 3.5% dedicated to core military spending and the remaining 1.5% directed toward broader security-related infrastructure and civilian resilience. That commitment, if honored, would represent the most significant peacetime increase in allied defense investment in the alliance&#8217;s history. Many long-neglected NATO militaries are finally receiving major new investments in modern equipment, munitions stockpiles, and overall readiness.
Support for Ukraine has also broadened and deepened, with European states and Canada providing more total aid than the United States since the Russian invasion began and committing billions more through mechanisms such as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). These steps matter because a stronger European security pillar reduces the burden on U.S. forces and makes the alliance more resilient.
And let&#8217;s be clear: the United States is not pulling out of NATO or Europe. At the Munich Security Conference in February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made this explicit, declaring that &#8220;America is not retreating but reimagining and modernizing its relationship with the alliance.&#8221; Polls consistently show broad support among the American public for NATO, and Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed that commitment with overwhelming bipartisan margins. There is simply no realistic path toward withdrawal.
What must change is the NATO distribution of labor. European NATO members need to take primary responsibility for defending their region against Russia. At the same time, the United States must reposition some of its forces to address urgent security challenges in other areas of the globe — in the Western Hemisphere and to deter China and North Korea in the Indo-Pacific. America cannot be everywhere at full strength simultaneously. A capable Europe frees American resources to focus on priorities only Washington can fully address.
Far from obsolete, NATO today is stronger than it has been in decades, serving as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Ukraine&#8217;s recent battlefield gains, including the effective use of long-range drones that have struck Moscow, St. Petersburg, and crucial oil refiners across Russia, would have been impossible without the sustained training, intelligence, equipment, and logistical support provided through the NATO framework. That backstop has imposed real costs on Moscow while demonstrating the alliance&#8217;s value in deterring wider war.
The United States and Europe must redouble their efforts to strengthen and modernize the alliance. The Trump administration should continue pressing NATO members on defense spending targets and capability gaps. European members need to build credible conventional forces, expand munitions stockpiles, and revitalize their defense industrial bases. Together, both sides of the Atlantic should update NATO’s command structures, accelerate the integration of emerging technologies, and establish clearer divisions of responsibility for out-of-area contingencies.
This work will be put to the test at the NATO Summit in Ankara next week, NATO’s first gathering in Turkey since the landmark 2004 Istanbul summit. Secretary General Rutte has signaled that alliance members will use the summit to announce tens of billions of dollars in new defense industrial contracts and to press European members to make their 5%-by-2035 pledge a binding commitment rather than an aspirational target.
The Ankara summit&#8217;s opening day will be a “Defense Industry Forum” aimed at addressing the fragmentation, bureaucracy, and slow pace of production that have long hampered European arms production. How NATO members handle Ankara, whether they agree to concrete procurement deals and a roadmap for closing Europe&#8217;s capability gaps, or leave without agreement on many commitments, will say a lot about whether the new NATO reform is durable.
NATO has never been perfect. It has always required hard bargaining and mutual compromise. But in a world of growing threats, this transatlantic alliance remains America&#8217;s most valuable force multiplier. A stronger, fairer, more capable NATO serves U.S. interests, protects shared democratic values, and can deter conflicts.
This is no time for America to walk away from the crucial NATO alliance. It is time to renew and reinforce this alliance that has kept the peace in Europe for three-quarters of a century.
***
Fred Fleitz previously served as Chief of Staff of the Trump National Security Council. He is the author of North Korea, Nuclear Brinkmanship, and the Oval Office, which was just released by Texas A&amp;M Press.

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Why America Needs to Strengthen, Not Withdraw, from NATO

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Years of open-door policies and unchecked immigration have resulted in a rise of radical Islamism across Europe — and some countries are looking to reverse course.
In the United Kingdom, migrant rape gangs have victimized at least 250,000 British girls over the past several decades, a recent report conducted by Restore Britain, led by Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe, found. A disproportionate number of attackers came from Pakistani Muslim backgrounds, according to the report, which cited court records, previous inquiries, and witness testimonies.
Roughly 87% of those convicted in major group-based child sexual exploitation cases also had distinctively Muslim names, the report said of previous analyses.
&#8220;Britain is not a unique case,&#8221; the report noted. &#8220;This sort of thing goes on anywhere that either welcomes mass migration from Muslim countries or contains long-established Muslim populations. There is a consistent pattern of sexual violence directed against non-Muslim minorities in settings where Muslims form the majority.&#8221;
In many instances, authorities were reluctant to address the issue due to potential racism accusations or concerns about community relations.
&#8220;They are certainly trying to shut down any speech towards Islam, any criticism of Islam. I don&#8217;t understand why people are so afraid of Islam. I think it&#8217;s an awful religion, it&#8217;s violent, sexist,&#8221; Sammy Woodhouse, a survivor of such brutal attacks, told The Daily Wire&#8217;s Michael Knowles in a recent interview.
Woodhouse said the grooming gangs&#8217; activities would escalate during Muslim holidays when they would throw &#8220;parties.&#8221;
&#8220;If you look at all the murders that&#8217;s been committed, the terrorist attacks &#8230; there is a clear problem with Islam,&#8221; she said.
A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/migrant-arrested-after-attempted-beheading-caught-on-video">Sudanese migrant</a> allegedly attempted to behead another man in the streets of Belfast earlier this month. The gruesome incident was captured on video, showing the moment the foreign suspect pinned another man down and repeatedly stabbed the victim in the face and neck.
In the wake of the brutal stabbing, Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said she was scared about backlash against minorities and said the attack should not be used to fuel &#8220;dangerous narratives.&#8221;
&#8220;I also know there are many people in our community people from ethnic minority backgrounds who are terrified today about any kind of retaliation or backlash against them, which we have seen in the past,&#8221; she told the BBC.
The attack also sparked protests in Northern Ireland, with demonstrators taking to the streets to condemn the country&#8217;s immigration policies.
A Syrian asylum seeker who swore allegiance to ISIS went on a stabbing spree in Villach, Austria, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring five others in February 2025.
In the aftermath of the attack, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner called for &#8220;mass checks without cause in many areas&#8221; since the foreign attacker was not previously known to authorities.
But in some countries, the tide is turning.
Roughly 8% of Sweden&#8217;s population in 2020 was Muslim, up from around 4% in 2010, according to Pew Research.
Sweden, which previously had an open-door policy toward Syrian refugees, recently passed legislation to expedite deportations by requiring public sector workers to report illegal immigrants to the police.
The country&#8217;s parliament also enacted the &#8220;good behavior&#8221; law to rescind the residency permits of foreigners who are affiliated with extremist groups, have unpaid debts, or are doing undeclared work.
The European Union has also shifted its policies, with member nations entering into a new pact to speed up deportations and to better vet immigrants at their borders.
Migrants from &#8220;safe&#8221; countries or those posing a &#8220;security threat&#8221; will have a three-month asylum process instead of six, <a href="https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/eus-new-rules-migration-asylum-effect-133807585" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to ABC News. Border authorities will also be able to keep some migrants at the border until their cases are processed.
Migrants will also have only one chance to appeal their rejected applications for asylum.
The pact will expedite deportations by automatically issuing applicants return orders when their asylum cases are denied.

Spanish NGO rescues 178 irregular migrants in international waters

How Immigration Fueled Radical Islamic Attacks In Europe

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This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute’s world-class team of scholars.
Today, Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Chris Pope warns against unwieldy entitlement expansion, arguing that the tailored nature of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security has kept America more prosperous than Europe, without sacrificing care for the neediest among us.
The piece is adapted from Pope&#8217;s forthcoming book, <a href="https://manhattan.institute/book/the-american-way-of-welfare-providing-for-those-who-cant-provide-for-themselves">The American Way of Welfare: Providing For Those Who Can&#8217;t Provide For Themselves.</a> As the title suggests, this is not a book that denigrates welfare recipients or rambles on about the dangers of big government. This is serious policy analysis, the goal of which is to chart a better, healthier, and more affordable future for Americans. — Tim Rice
***
After 250 years, the United States remains a nation unlike any other — particularly when it comes to the role of government. Whereas Europeans turn first to the state to assure their welfare, Americans expect the government to step in only when they cannot provide for themselves.
This approach deserves some credit for America’s superior economic performance. But it has also proven to be more effective at aiding those in need.
Americans’ everyday political fights obscure an underlying ideological consensus. In his 2012 State of the Union address, Barack Obama told Congress: “I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: that government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.”
Yet, America has drifted away from the principle set out by Lincoln. Entitlement expenditure is increasingly dominated by Social Security and Medicare, whose benefits go disproportionately to the middle class, despite greatly exceeding prior payroll tax contributions. Proposals for a Universal Basic Income, Medicare for All, and Universal Free Childcare would altogether abandon the targeted approach that has yielded success for America.
Socialists have rarely found favor at the ballot box in the United States. Their schemes are obviously inefficient, and even partially implementing them would disrupt a vast array of cherished freedoms. Making workers provide for others who could provide for themselves would be widely viewed as unjust and would require tax increases, which politicians understand would provoke a fierce voter revolt. The nation’s entitlements therefore tend to be limited to filling specific unmet needs.
Why is this not the case in Europe? Until the mid-20th century, it was. The continent’s publicly funded entitlements were largely reserved for the poor. But two world wars brought widespread destruction, foreign conquest, and hyperinflation. These devastated private savings and insurance arrangements — creating a need for public assistance which extended across social classes. With normal democratic politics suspended, universal, publicly funded health and retirement schemes were established, which prevented the reemergence of privately financed systems upon the return of peace.
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This left European countries with much broader welfare states than the United States. In 2023, public spending accounted for 49% of GDP in the European Union, compared with 39% in the United States. The difference is largely due to the scale of middle-class entitlements, rather than levels of assistance for the poor, which are similar. In 2023, EU countries spent 12% of GDP on public pensions, compared with 7% in the United States.
Europe’s larger entitlements serve less to improve standards of living than to crowd out private provision for healthcare and retirement. This leaves the continent’s healthcare systems underfinanced and without such broad access to cutting-edge medical treatment. It also deprives European countries of significant pre-funded retirement savings, which enable Americans&#8217; pensions to grow through investment rather than being threatened by demographic change.
The more entitlements are expanded beyond the poor, the more taxes must be increased beyond the rich. Whereas the richest American households pay a larger share of their income in tax than those with incomes below the median, in European countries the poor typically bear a higher average tax rate than the rich. Net of taxes, the United States redistributes more than any other developed country to households with incomes below the median.
The merits of America’s targeted welfare state are clear in comparison with Denmark — a wealthy nation often cited as the model for broad welfare eligibility. Although the poorest quintile of working age Danes obtain benefits worth twice as much as their American counterparts; this is largely offset by the much higher taxes they owe. As this aid also serves to deter employment, these poorest Danish households earn less than their American counterparts — and so have lower disposable incomes, after accounting for taxes and transfers.
Improving the focus of entitlement programs could allow more to be done to assist the needy, while reducing the tax burden on enterprise and employment. Congress should allow younger workers to forego future Social Security benefit increases in return for lower payroll taxes and permit them to borrow from past contributions when they are unable to work. To rein in the cost of healthcare, legislators should empower employees to switch to more cost-effective coverage by extending the tax-exempt purchase of insurance to plans that individuals buy for themselves.
Americans from both parties believe that the government should only provide for people who can’t provide for themselves. That principle has served America well, and the nation’s public policy would be greatly improved if it adhered more consistently to it.
***
Chris Pope is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of <a href="https://manhattan.institute/book/the-american-way-of-welfare-providing-for-those-who-cant-provide-for-themselves">The American Way of Welfare.</a>
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Senior Caucus Rally in Minnesota. Seniors rally to stop the 100 Days of Destruction of president Trump.

Keep America Exceptional — Keep Welfare Small

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Medicare for All

MI x DW

France and Germany’s $116 billion attempt to build their own fighter jet to replace their current models has officially been scrapped.
The fighter plane segment of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project created in 2017 dedicated $116 billion to build sixth-generation jets to use in battle by 2040. 
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared that the project was no longer feasible after months of stalemate between Dassault Aviation and Airbus, France&#8217;s and Germany’s industry partners respectively.
“The German authorities considered that it was not possible to put further pressure on the companies concerned,” Macron’s office, the Élysée Palace, explained in a statement.
The proposed fighter planes were supposed to combine advanced sensors, artificial intelligence, enhanced stealth technology, and other upgrades to use them for future air combat.
Signs of the potential flaming out were seen earlier this year. European Union Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius admitted that the plan was a “failure” and that Europe has struggled in &#8220;multinational defense projects.&#8221;
The FCAS project failure raises multiple questions about the integrity of Europe’s national defense. Leaders in Europe believed the plan was a test if they could develop advanced technology as they promised without the help of the United States. France and Germany have recently struggled with a next-generation tank project with the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) as well.
It also underlined potential disagreements between the two governments, which have both already expressed their alternative options after the project fell through.
Merz has publicly inquired if the sixth-generation planes will even be necessary, and that their requirements for the planes were not similar to those of France’s. France, on the other hand, is actively pursuing similar blueprints.
“The French authorities will continue to encourage our companies and armed forces to explore ways and means of pursuing ambitious European projects that are consistent with our national security interests,” the Élysée Palace added in its official statement.
While Berlin is looking into possible substitutes following the collapse, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius explained that if FCAS were to be thought of today, it simply wouldn’t happen.
“With what we know today, we would no longer launch this project in the way it was originally set up,” Pistorius told officials.
European countries are continuing to struggle to enhance their arms without the help of America in a time when everyone else is quickly advancing.

Fa-52 Fighter Jets

Europe’s $116 Billion Fighter Jet Project Crashes And Burns

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WASHINGTON — The State Department has uncovered several birth tourism networks around the world, The Daily Wire can first report.
Under guidance from the State Department to be on high alert about fraudulent documentation, U.S. embassies in West Africa, Europe, and North Africa found evidence of multiple plans to produce fraudulent documents and facilitate individuals traveling to the United States to give birth within American borders, The Daily Wire has learned.
In West Africa, a U.S. embassy uncovered a &#8220;sophisticated birth tourism network&#8221; wherein more than 100 foreign nationals were using fraudulent documents to obtain visas and secure U.S. citizenship for their children. The State Department shut down this birth tourism network and revoked the foreign nationals&#8217; visas. State is also coordinating with local authorities to &#8220;systematically identify and cut off any similar operations.&#8221;
&#8220;Under President Trump, the State Department is defending the integrity of U.S. citizenship by ending illegal birth tourism schemes,&#8221; said State Department messaging viewed by The Daily Wire. &#8220;No foreigner is permitted to obtain a visitor visa for the primary purpose of acquiring U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the U.S.&#8221;
A U.S. embassy in Europe found that more than 400 suspected birth tourism cases had occurred since 2024. In this case, investigators traced the birth tourism to at least six companies that were coaching applicants on what to say in their visa interviews, arranging housing, and setting up delivery plans. State again shut down the process, revoked the visas, and permanently banned &#8220;several fraudsters from traveling to the United States ever again.&#8221;
An embassy in North Africa revoked more than 100 visas for &#8220;birth tourist&#8221; parents who came to the United States specifically to give birth to children who would get U.S. citizenship. State Department consular officers worked with law enforcement and used data analytics to identify the networks abusing the visa system in this case.
&#8220;A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right,&#8221; the State Department messaging said. &#8220;The State Department is taking action around the world to stop this abuse, dismantle birth tourism networks, and hold accountable those who try to scam our system.&#8221;
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-are-chinese-birth-centers-hiding-in-your-backyard-we-went-to-find-out">previously investigated</a> eyebrow-raising cases of birth tourism in Texas, where the state sued De’Ai Postpartum Care Center in Houston for “exploiting birthright citizenship by unlawfully facilitating the invasion of Chinese nationals … for the sole purpose of giving birth.” That center is accused of facilitating the births of more than 1,000 American-born babies, as reported by to The Daily Wire&#8217;s Jennie Taer.
President Donald Trump promptly signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship after taking office in January 2025, but the order has been repeatedly paused due to legal challenges. The Supreme Court will hand down a decision on the order sometime in late June or early July.
&#8220;We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow &#8216;Birthright&#8217; Citizenship!&#8221; protested the president, the day that the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case. He attended those oral arguments in person, the first president in United States history to do so.

US-KUWAIT-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY

EXCLUSIVE: State Department Uncovers ‘Birth Tourism Networks’ Across The World

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State Department

Visas

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
There are few annoyances worse than when a nice young man flips around a tiny virtual tablet that reads &#8220;add tip&#8221; after he did all the work of rotating his body 75 degrees to grab you an $18 beer from a fridge.
It&#8217;s true: Tipping culture has gotten out of hand in the United States. I try to tip generously because I used to work as a delivery driver. I know the struggle of trying to scrape together some cash at the mercy of strangers who are tasked with making up the difference between the cost of living and your poverty base wage.
That only applies to actual services, though: waiting, bartending, delivery, etc. There are plenty of cases (such as the stadium beer kiosk) where the expectation of tipping is wrongly bleeding Americans dry.
And don&#8217;t get me started on communal tipping. I can&#8217;t think of anything more demoralizing than getting a fat tip due to your excellent service, only to be forced to pool it with the rest of your coworkers who didn&#8217;t do a thing to earn it.
My disdain for this excess of American culture changed, though, when I recently took a trip to Ireland.
In Ireland, like much of Europe, they don&#8217;t do tipping the way we do. You can tack on 5 to 10% for your waiter or bartender if the service is particularly good, but it&#8217;s not expected. And a service charge is often already included. You don&#8217;t get sideways looks for just paying the tab and leaving like you would stateside.
My initial reaction to this was relief. Finally, some simplicity in this life. The meals may be a bit more expensive because the labor cost is factored into price, but simply being able to pay and go without doing extra math and giving a performance review at the end of the meal would be nice.
Things began to change with each passing day. When we had our first sit-down dinner of the trip, I couldn&#8217;t help but notice how inattentive the waitstaff was. No refills of water. Twenty minutes passing by between being seated and having our order taken. Want to get some extra condiments on the side after the food arrives? Good luck.
I thought it may be an anomaly, but then the same experience kept repeating itself every single time we had dinner during the trip. I will say this didn&#8217;t extend to bartending service — I&#8217;m talking strictly about sit-down meals here — but without a single exception, the service was just dreadful, inattentive, and slow.
It was the type of experience that makes one pause and reflect on the bigger picture. I&#8217;m not saying that Europe&#8217;s poor table service is a direct consequence of a culture that stifles innovation and snuffs out the ambition of the individual for the good of the collective, but it is striking that we don&#8217;t have this issue in hyper-capitalist America.
Now, you may be thinking this was my fault somehow. Maybe my Americanness was an affront to the waitstaff&#8217;s European sensibilities. I don&#8217;t think so. I wasn&#8217;t acting visibly foreign, and the staff were very polite and personable in every interaction. I gathered no sense of disdain whatsoever — only indifference.
My only conclusion can be that these workers did not put an American-level effort in because they didn&#8217;t have to. There was no incentive to give me good service, so they didn&#8217;t. The system failed.
The experience has certainly changed my perspective on tipping culture. Yes, it remains excessive in certain American contexts. But there&#8217;s a wisdom to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton#Chesterton's_fence">Chesterton&#8217;s fence</a>: If something has been around a while, it just might serve a purpose you&#8217;ll miss when it&#8217;s gone.

(Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

I Left America Mocking Tipping Culture. Europe Changed My Mind Fast.

Food

Ireland

Upstream

China is warning of retaliation as the European Union moves forward with an aggressive plan to reindustrialize the continent and wall off key sectors from foreign competitors — particularly Beijing.
At the center of the brewing dispute is the Industrial Accelerator Act, also known as the &#8220;Made In Europe Act,&#8221; a sweeping proposal from the European Commission that would require a significant share of products in strategic industries to be made in Europe when public money is involved.
European officials argue the move is long overdue, as businesses across the bloc have complained they are competing against heavily subsidized Chinese firms — particularly in sectors like electric vehicles, batteries, and industrial materials. <a href="https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/04/27/china-slams-made-in-europe-push-mulls-retaliation">According</a> to EU Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, the act “will create jobs by directing taxpayers’ money to European production, decreasing our dependencies and enhancing our economic security and sovereignty.”
The proposal would impose strict domestic content requirements across strategic industries. Electric vehicles purchased with public funds, for example, would need to be assembled in Europe, with up to 70% of components sourced within the bloc. Similar thresholds would apply to materials like aluminum, cement, and key clean energy technologies.
It also directly targets foreign firms — primarily ubiquitous Chinese manufacturers — by requiring them to partner with European companies, limit ownership stakes, and in some cases transfer valuable technology in order to access EU markets or subsidies.
That has drawn a sharp response from Beijing: “If the EU &#8230; presses ahead with the legislation, and thereby harms the interests of Chinese companies, China will have no choice but to take countermeasures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its enterprises,” China’s Ministry of Commerce of the People&#8217;s Republic of China <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260427-china-warns-eu-made-in-europe-plan-countermeasures">warned</a> in a statement.
Chinese officials have accused the EU of erecting discriminatory barriers and violating principles of the World Trade Organization, arguing that the “European preference” system unfairly shuts foreign competitors out of public funding and investment opportunities.
The legislation is part of a broader “European preference” strategy aimed at reversing years of industrial decline. European officials say more than 200,000 jobs have already been lost in energy-intensive industries and the automotive sector since 2024, with hundreds of thousands more projected this decade.
At the same time, China has expanded its export footprint across European markets while building factories that EU officials say generate limited local economic benefit. “They come, build on European land, and run operations with minimal local value,” one EU official <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/what-is-eus-draft-made-europe-law-2026-02-17/#:~:text=Makers%20of%20electric%20vehicles%20bought,will%20negotiate%20the%20final%20law.">said</a>. “Europe is not a supermarket — it has to be a factory.”
Beyond procurement rules, the proposal would impose strict conditions on foreign investment in strategic sectors, particularly targeting countries like China that dominate global manufacturing capacity. Investments exceeding €100 million could face caps on foreign ownership, mandatory technology transfers, and requirements that a substantial share of production and employment remain within Europe.
Chinese officials say they are open to negotiations but have made clear that retaliation remains on the table if talks fail, underscoring a growing economic rift between Brussels and Beijing as Europe joins the United States in reassessing its reliance on Chinese manufacturing.
The plan is not without critics within the Union, Sweden and the Czech Republic have warned the measures could deter investment and raise costs, while Germany has urged a more flexible approach that allows cooperation with allied trade partners. The proposal must still pass through the European Parliament and member states before becoming law, setting up a contentious political fight within the bloc.
Regardless of the final outcome, the direction is clear: Europe is moving to reclaim its industrial base, even at the risk of escalating tensions with China. Beijing, for its part, seems to be prepared to respond in kind.

AP23268223768333

Europe And China Enter A High-Stakes Game Of Economic Chess

Communist China

Global Politics

We have been importing the people who hate our country and wish to destroy it. They believe in Third Worldism, the philosophy that all the problems of the Third World can be laid at the feet of us here in the West. 
But there&#8217;s more. The people in the Democratic Party elite apparently believe that the West owes it to the Third World to destroy itself, or who view the Third Worlders as fellow travelers, helping them to accomplish that goal.
It&#8217;s time to talk about the seemingly irreversible slide of the Democratic Party toward deep radicalism that will destroy our country. But to understand that, we have to understand the existential crisis facing our civilization. 
There’s a rap song by a Syrian-born artist that’s becoming incredibly popular online.
The lyrics read: 
<blockquote>Separate our loved ones and slaughter our children. 
Take our blood for granted and demonize our revolutionaries, 
Steal our knowledge, keep our people oblivious 
And torture our spirits and denounce us our rights 
Colonize our countries and appoint our rulers 
Appropriate our goods and burn down our trees 
But who would you be without us 
Bomb our roofs, make us out as liars 
And watch our pains and belittle our agony 
Ignore our tears and close our eyes 
Mutilate our faces and deny our feelings 
Destroy our dreams, objectify our bodies and darken our skies and kill our peace 
We will keep standing still 
And our love stands in us. But who would you be without us? 
You would not be without us. You will not be without us. </blockquote>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-981859 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
The video shows a very angry young woman marching. Behind her are a bunch of other people from what appear to be third-world countries, many of them Muslim countries.
Why is this important? 
Because this is, in its essence, what we have imported.
We in the West have imported people who hate our guts. And then there is a group of people in the United States who hate the systems, who have allied with those people to create a mass movement. That is what is happening with people such as Hasan Piker, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Zohran Mamdani.
The basic idea among these people is that the reason other countries suffer is because the West did something wrong to them. Now, the West owes them something.
Therefore, if you are living in the West and you realize that it’s pretty great and pretty prosperous, but you feel alienated because your parents are from somewhere else. As a result, you blame your parents’ problems on the West that took them in, and you blame colonialism and colonization. 
The reality is that this female rapper is apparently from Syria and lives in Germany. 
Germany never colonized Syria. Ever. 
In fact, if you&#8217;re going to talk about the colonization history of Syria, you can talk about the Islamic colonization of Syria. Syria, of course, used to be a Christian country long before it was a Muslim country. But then it was colonized by Muslims, and then the Ottoman Empire controlled it for 400 years. The only Western country to control Syria in the last millennium was France for 26 years. The Assad regime controlled Syria for twice as long as France did. 
You may have noticed that in that entire description of Syrian history, Germany never came up. Germany just took in millions of Syrian immigrants and migrants during the Syrian civil war. 
Syrian refugees entered Germany when Angela Merkel decided to import a bunch of Third World refugees out of some sort of misplaced sense of guilt.
The narrative that is told by the Third Worldists is far too simplistic. The reality is that colonization has been a routine part of human history. It is not merely done by the West. Islamic colonization took over the entire Middle East, moved into Europe, and still controls large swaths of Africa.
There are all sorts of colonization efforts. It is worthwhile to note that the institutions set up by British colonizers made those areas more prosperous. In fact, the countries that retained British institutions, in particular, are the most prosperous countries in Africa, and the ones that reject those British institutions, those Western institutions, completely fail.
European colonization is responsible for the end of slavery in the areas where there is no slavery. It&#8217;s also responsible for the institution of systems and ideas such as private property.
The idea from the Leftists is that all the problems all over the world are the responsibility of the West. And then we decided that we should import all those people. 
There are about 4.5 million Muslims in the United States, up from 1.1 million in the year 2000, a 400% increase. That includes over 10% of the population of New York. Many of those people are undoubtedly decent citizens, but how many of them sympathize with the decolonial ideology of somebody like the Syrian rapper?
According to the polls, the answer is a lot. A recent poll asked how many British Muslims believe al-Qaeda planned 9/11. The answer: 4%.
Does that sound like a deradicalized population that loves the West? Another poll at the time of the Charlie Hebdo massacre a decade ago showed that two-thirds of French Muslims wanted Charlie Hebdo prosecuted for cartoons of Muhammad.
Does that sound like a philosophy that is in keeping with French standards of speech?
Today, some 57% of American Muslims believe that October 7 was at least somewhat justified. 
We can pretend away these ideological conflicts. It doesn&#8217;t make them disappear. We imported a lot of people who do not like Western civilization. 
That doesn&#8217;t mean all Muslims in the West don&#8217;t like Western civilization. I know Muslims who do, but the notion that importing millions of Muslims from third-world countries, or people from other cultures that don&#8217;t appreciate Western civilization, would be a good idea, is idiocy. 
That raises the question of why the West imported all of this in the first place. The answer is that there are a bunch of homegrown people in the West who believe our civilization is inherently guilty and ought to be torn down. They tend toward the Marxist Left. The Marxist Left believes that America was founded in sin, that America&#8217;s foreign policy and the West’s foreign policy more broadly have been about exploitation and evil.
The French existentialist and Marxist Jean-Paul Sartre wrote the foreword to one of the most important anti-colonial books of the 20th century, a book called “The Wretched of the Earth,” by Frantz Fanon. Sartre wrote: “We are all complicit in a thousand-year-old oppression. You know well enough that we are exploiters. Our precious sets of values begin to molt; on closer scrutiny you won&#8217;t see one that isn&#8217;t stained with blood.” 
He argued that we actually needed to import people from the Third World to destroy us.
The Marxists on the Left love this stuff. They are into this stuff. Suicide is the answer. Western values are evil, and they have to be destroyed.
In the United States, this is the coalition that&#8217;s taking over the Democratic Party. 
Why is the Democratic Party doing this? 
Some are doing this because they&#8217;re actual Marxists, and they&#8217;re happy to travel as fellows with Third Worldism as a front for their destructive goals. There&#8217;s a long history of that. Marxists in Africa worked alongside the Third World to fight the West.
And then there are Democrats who just hate the Right so much that they will find any ally, side with those people, and will treat any Democrat who works with Republicans, or at least any Democrat who doesn&#8217;t want to burn every single thing down, as a traitor.

Omar4

The Radical Third World Leftism Of The Democratic Party

America

Democrats

Hasan Piker

Ilhan Omar

Immigration

Radical Left

The West

Zohran Mamdani

The European Union will urge members to cut their dependence on Middle Eastern jet fuel and look into increasing imports from the U.S., in new guidelines expected next week, an official source told Reuters, as the Iran war disrupts global supply.
The plans, previously unreported and still being finalized, will put a greater focus on self-sufficiency and resilience via Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or synthetic fuels.
European airlines have warned of potential jet fuel shortages within weeks ‌as a result of the Iran war, which could disrupt the summer travel season. Europe is particularly vulnerable as it imports some 30% to 40% of its jet fuel, at least half of that from the Middle East.
The EU&#8217;s non-binding recommendations will emphasize the bloc&#8217;s limitations in increasing jet fuel output domestically and provide guidance on how to handle potential shortages, the source said.
The person asked not to be named because the discussions are ongoing and the draft is not yet finalized. A European Commission spokesperson confirmed plans to present a response to the energy crisis next week, including measures on jet fuels.
Availability of supply &#8220;remains the primary concern,&#8221; the Commission spokesperson said, adding that if supply remained snarled through the Strait of Hormuz, the EU could launch a possible coordinated release of jet fuel stocks.
Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, a key gateway for energy flows from the Gulf, after a ceasefire accord in Lebanon, though U.S. President Donald Trump said a naval blockade remains in place until a deal is sealed with Tehran.
The EU spokesperson said he hoped a resumption of safe passage through the Strait would last, but reflecting the ongoing uncertainty, added: &#8220;Let&#8217;s see.&#8221;
FLIGHT CANCELLATION THREAT GROWS
Flights in Europe could start to be cancelled from the end of May due to a lack of jet fuel, the International Air Transport Association&#8217;s director general Willie Walsh said on Friday. Airlines are cutting flights and grounding some planes.
The source familiar with the EU&#8217;s plans said the document would lay out guidance for airline handling issues in the case of fuel shortages such as losing airport slots due to cancellations and the EU&#8217;s anti-tankering rule, designed to prevent planes from loading extra fuel in cheap locations.
It will clarify whether a fuel shortage can be considered exceptional enough for airlines to avoid paying compensation for cancellations. The source added that the EU has decided airlines&#8217; calls for changes to or the suspension of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and SAF allowances were not justified.
The European Commission also plans to introduce EU-wide mapping of refining capacity for oil products and introduce measures &#8220;to ensure that existing refining capacity is fully utilized and ​maintained,&#8221; a draft proposal earlier seen by Reuters showed.
EUROPEAN IMPORTS OF U.S., NIGERIAN JET FUEL RISE
They will also look at the distribution logistics of increasing the use of U.S. Jet A fuel, traditionally seldom used in Europe because it has a higher freezing point than the European standard. Europe&#8217;s Jet A-1 is better suited to long‑haul, high‑altitude and cold‑temperature operations and is preferred by the military. Jet fuel imports from the U.S. and Nigeria rose sharply in April.
Some of Europe&#8217;s key hubs in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany rely on the NATO-operated CEPS pipeline, which supplies European grade jet fuel. A spokesperson for NATO did not immediately reply to questions about the pipeline&#8217;s logistics.
Airlines are preparing for a potential supply crunch, with the International Energy Agency forecasting jet fuel shortages by June if the region can only replace half of the supplies it normally gets from the ​Middle East.
Some airports have warned of shortages within three weeks if the Strait of ‌Hormuz remains ⁠closed to fuel shipments. The European Commission is expected to warn jet fuel supply could remain limited even if the Strait of Hormuz is unblocked.
(Reporting by Julia Payne and Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Elaine Hardcastle)

Airplane Fuel

Jet Fuel Crunch Looms: Europe Faces Flight Cuts As Iran War Drags On

Air Travel

Economy

Iran

Strait of Hormuz

World

President Donald Trump raged Thursday morning that America&#8217;s allies fail to understand &#8220;anything unless they have pressure placed upon them,&#8221; once again taking aim at NATO after his meeting with the alliance&#8217;s secretary-general.
Trump targeted NATO in two social media posts shortly after his Wednesday meeting at the White House with NATO chief Mark Rutte, who traveled to Washington, D.C., following Trump&#8217;s renewed threats to pull the United States from the alliance.
&#8220;NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,&#8221; Trump wrote in a social media <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116371693008302124">post</a> on Wednesday evening. &#8220;REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116374792489555954">ripped</a> NATO again Thursday morning, posting, &#8220;None of these people, including our own, very disappointing, NATO, understood anything unless they have pressure placed upon them!!!&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s frustration with NATO has been building for months, particularly after several alliance members pushed back on his idea to acquire Greenland. Tensions have intensified more recently as some allies have rejected the president&#8217;s calls to back U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Rutte met with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to discuss the alliance and Europe&#8217;s stance on the Iran war.
“He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte told CNN after the meeting.
Some NATO members — including the United Kingdom, France, and Spain — initially blocked U.S. aircraft from using their military bases for offensive strikes during &#8220;Operation Epic Fury.&#8221; The U.K. and France later allowed the United States limited use of bases for defensive purposes only, while Spain has remained a vocal opponent of the U.S. military operation.
&#8220;The large majority, including France, of European nations, has been doing what they committed they would do in a case like this,&#8221; Rutte said. &#8220;So Europe as a platform of power projection for the United States was in full play over the last six weeks. And yes, it is true that not all European nations lived up to those commitments, and I totally understand that [Trump] is disappointed about it.&#8221;
Rutte has been one of Trump&#8217;s biggest cheerleaders on the world stage in recent months and has repeatedly praised the U.S. president for forcing European nations to increase defense spending. The NATO secretary-general told CNN, &#8220;This was a meeting between friends because we like each other. I really admire his leadership &#8230; and NATO allies are with him when it comes to taking out, degrading the ballistic missile capacity of the Iranians.&#8221;
&#8220;The whole world is safer by this president degrading those capabilities,&#8221; Rutte added.
The United States is, by far, the largest financial supporter of NATO, covering more than 60% of the alliance&#8217;s defense spending, <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/trackers-and-data-visualizations/nato-defense-spending-tracker/#:~:text=United%20States%20$980%2C000%2C000%2C000%20NATO%20Europe,Kingdom%20France%20Italy%20Poland%20Spain">according</a> to the Atlantic Council. Last year, the United States spent roughly $980 billion on NATO&#8217;s defense.
Amid Trump&#8217;s pressure and repeated threats to withdraw from NATO, member states have ramped up their defense spending commitments. At last year&#8217;s NATO summit, allies agreed to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.

Donald Trump/Mark Rutte

Trump Signals A Continued Pressure Campaign On Allies After Meeting With NATO Chief

Sometimes a news event comes along that is so chillingly horrific that it confirms the presence of the devil in our midst. Thursday’s murder of a young woman by the state through euthanasia certainly qualifies.
This particular case also contains a warning: it is happening in Europe as a result of societal trends that are also gathering speed in America. These include family breakdown, secularization, the growth of the state, and the resulting embrace of a culture of death by the bureaucracy, the media, and the Left.
And this was not a one-off. Noelia Castillo Ramos, in Spain, is the second young woman in less than three years to be euthanized by a European state.
In fact, the two cases are alarmingly similar. Noelia and Milou Verhoof, who was euthanized in the Netherlands in 2023, were both raped as mere girls, understandably fell into depression, and eventually asked the state to help kill themselves. And the state was only too happy to oblige.
The case of Noelia — killed at a hospital near Barcelona — has drawn worldwide attention online, which is itself proof that the desire to cling to life is a basic human instinct.
Noelia suffered a lot in her life. The Spanish government took custody from her parents 12 years ago when she was just 13, after they divorced, fell into hard times, and lost their house. Her father, Gerónimo, drank at the time, according to news reports.
The Catalan regional government, of which Barcelona is the capital, then placed her in a state-supervised youth center. It was there that Noelia was gang-raped by three young men who were reportedly illegal aliens.
Nothing happened to her aggressors, but Noelia was never the same. She plunged into a severe depression, and suffered as well from borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In 2022, Noelia tried to end her life by throwing herself from a fifth-floor window. She survived, but ended up a paraplegic, stuck in a wheelchair and suffering great pain.
She then demanded euthanasia, which Spain’s current government of Socialists and communists legalized in 2021. Noelia’s father opposed it, arguing that her many disorders prevented her from making an informed decision, and pursued the case till the end in the courts.
On Thursday, a Barcelona judge denied a last-minute request to halt the proceedings. Around 6:00 pm, doctors at Hospital Residència Sant Camil in Sant Pere de Ribes, near the Catalan capital, gave her a lethal injection that stopped her breathing and her heart.
Noelia, in other words, was asphyxiated by the same state that took her away from those who loved her — and then either could not or would not protect her.
For the Left, this was a victory. The newspaper El País wrote caustically about the Abogados Cristianos, the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, which worked with Noelia’s father to stop the euthanasia. In typical lapidary style, the paper wrote:
<blockquote>For a year and a half this organization [Abogados Cristianos] has been behind the father’s legal battle to prevent the assisted death of Noelia, who suffers from paraplegia. … Advised by the ultra-Catholic group Abogados Cristianos, the man has entangled his daughter in a legal maze that has kept her alive, against her will, for 601 days.</blockquote>
For Spain’s main leftist newspaper, this was about “dying with dignity.” The court battle “prolonged the suffering of a young woman who has never wavered in her decision and who has received scientific endorsement from the independent professionals who make up the Catalan Guarantee and Evaluation Commission (CGAC).”
And this has indeed been a battle between those who believe that the state, led by technocrats, has the right to impose its choices on the family, even to make life-and-death decisions, and those who believe in a higher order. Good and evil, some might say.
Bestselling Spanish author Irene Gonzalez, a friend and insightful observer of Spanish life, called it a “state execution.&#8221; She wrote on X:
<blockquote>The State separated her from her parents — who loved her — yet failed to protect, shelter, or provide her with psychological or emotional support. She was a vulnerable young woman whom the State left in a state of absolute defenselessness; its solution is simply to get her out of the way. Euthanasia appears to be the execution — the final step in a case involving abduction and torture — carried out with the haste of a system eager to erase the traces of what the “State” is truly doing in the name of a dignified death.</blockquote>
America, look at Europe — and beware.
* * *
Mike Gonzales is the Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

A Barcelona Judge Refuses For The Third Time To Suspend Euthanasia For Noelia Castillo

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