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Albania installs AI bot as minister of procurement, in effort to end corruption in contract awarding

When Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that his newest cabinet member would be “Diella,” an artificial intelligence bot, it was easy to dismiss the move as Balkan political theater.

But in Albania, the debate has quickly turned to whether the world’s first AI government minister can succeed in curbing the country’s chronic corruption problems – and whether she represents an uncomfortable glimpse of what the future may hold.

Governments around the world are struggling with deciding on the role machines should play in the future. Albania, one of Europe’s youngest democracies, is making its voice heard.

Diella, programmed to look like a 30-something woman dressed in traditional Albanian folk attire, is a large-language-model chatbot who heads the country’s Ministry of Public Procurement, the office in charge of awarding government contracts.

The bot is based on Microsoft digital infrastructure and will not have the power to unilaterally award contracts, only to advise.

In the past, public procurement in Albania has repeatedly been tied to scandal. Last year, Evis Berberi, head of the country’s roads authority, was arrested on charges of corruption and money laundering. Lefter Koka, former minister of environment, was sentenced to jail in 2023 for bribery. In a case that earned international headlines, officials in the Albanian capital awarded nearly 50 public tenders to a bogus construction firm they created .

Rama, the prime minister, said those kinds of cases would be a thing of the past due to the appointment of Diella, whom he called “the first cabinet minister who doesn’t physically exist.”

On introducing her to parliament, Rama vowed that the chatbot “will help make Albania a country where public tenders are 100 percent free of corruption.”

Speaking to lawmakers via a synthesized voice, Diella tried to calm fears that she would cause more problems than she could solve.

“I am not here to replace people but to help them,” she said. “It is true that I have no citizenship, but it is also true that I have no personal ambition or personal interests.”

But Rama’s critics were not convinced.

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Deterring The Next Quasi-World War: China–Russia–North Korea Versus US

Russian planes recently flew into Polish and Romanian airspace to test NATO’s resolve while the world veers toward a conflict in Asia—one that could be far worse than the situation in Ukraine—where true deterrence and resolve remain largely absent.

Let’s backtrack a little.

On Sept. 3, Beijing staged a military extravaganza to parade a full suite of fearsome weapons. Many journalists were awed, and some defeatist experts advocated Chamberlainian appeasement. Others, mostly China observers, tried decoding the seating plan of senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials atop Tiananmen Square for clues about the power struggles in Zhongnanhai.

However, what is often overlooked in the discussion about the event is that it represents the financing and support mechanisms behind a new type of quasi-world war. The ongoing Russia–Ukraine war is one example, and the potential invasion of Taiwan by the Chinese regime is another. Let’s explore this further.

The Xinhua images of the Sept. 3 event, featuring Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un consorting in solidarity, should be interpreted as a calculated response to the new tripartite model the West has devised for militarily supporting Ukraine. That model conveys that Kyiv identifies its military hardware needs, European allies provide the financing, and the United States produces and delivers the hardware.

The Beijing event showcased a parallel model: Moscow requests war materiel, including troops, China and North Korea supply them in exchange for cheap Russian energy, with India and a few other countries dipping in. Thus, even though the war’s actual fighting is confined within Ukraine and Russia, its financing involves a much wider array of adversarial states. The coalitional symmetry in this financing mechanism can prolong the bloody conflict indefinitely, which Russia and Ukraine, if left to their own devices, cannot achieve.

A way to stop the war is to break that symmetry, which seems to be the goal of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “secondary tariffs.” On Aug. 6, he doubled the headline tariff on India to 50 percent for buying cheap Russian oil. It is showing results. India reportedly bought much less Russian oil in August. Notably, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Tianjin from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, quietly skipped the Sept. 3 military parade.

Now, Trump is pressuring Europe to immediately end its remaining reliance on Russian energy and join him in a similar effort against Beijing, and has called for imposing up to 100 percent additional tariffs on China for buying Russian crude oil. The EU leadership is not yet entirely on board, but has proposed to advance its target of ending all energy imports from Russia from 2027 to 2026 or even sooner.

But whatever happens to the war in Ukraine, the world would not be okay even when Putin agrees to call it quits, because Xi has all the intentions to do a sequel. Xi’s primary interest in supporting Russia lies in an expected reciprocation from Moscow if China invades Taiwan. What would a China–Taiwan war look like?

The Russia–Ukraine war is already a quasi-world war. Despite the combat space being narrowly confined, it nevertheless involves the participation of approximately 50 countries on four continents in various capacities.

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Burchett chides colleagues over insider trading: ‘Crooked as a dog‘s leg’

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) has slammed his colleagues in Congress who engage in insider trading, saying they should be “on Wall Street” instead of on Capitol Hill.

“Americans understand what’s going on with Congress,” Burchett said Sunday on the “Cats Roundtable” radio show hosted by John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM. “When they see their members of Congress making three, four, 500 percent returns, dadgum it, they ought not be in Congress, they ought to be on Wall Street.”

Burchett called it wrong and said “everybody knows it, and I think it’s crooked as a dog’s leg, and we need to outlaw it.”

On Sept. 3, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a bill that would ban stock trading by members of Congress and their close family members.

The “Restore Trust in Congress Act” mixes together several past proposals intended to stop members of Congress from trading stocks.

Should the bill pass, lawmakers who violate the law would face financial penalties equal to 10 percent of the value of their investment and would be forced to relinquish any earnings from the violation.

“If you want a day trade, leave Congress,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, previously said. “It’s that simple.”

“We’re not going to judge what you did before now, but now that this bill is going to come to the floor — and we’re going to make sure of that — it’s your chance to get right with the American people because at the end of the day, Congress is not a casino,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) also said.

In August, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for a ban on members of Congress trading individual stocks. Bessent specifically named former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and said they have “eye-popping returns.”

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The country that inspired Keir Starmer’s digital ID card fiasco: Labour’s blueprint for Britain is a ‘goldmine for hackers and scammers to steal your money’

Estonia’s digital identity system has been beset by blunders and security issues that  allow hackers to steal data and help scammers take money, we can reveal.

The digital ID system used by 1.4million people in the Baltic state country is said to be the blueprint for Keir Starmer‘s so-called Brit Card. 

Digital ID cards showing a resident’s picture, name, unique number and date of birth, and including a microchip storing more personal information, have been used in the former Soviet republic for more than 20 years.

Estonians can hold their cards in e-wallets on mobile phones and use them to vote, check on bank accounts, e-sign contracts and invoices, file tax returns, claim benefits, book medical appointments, access health records, shop online, and even collect supermarket loyalty points.

But the much-praised scheme in Estonia has suffered security lapses that have allowed fraudsters to bypass encryption systems to con victims out of their savings and leak the names and photographs of citizens.

The Daily Mail can reveal that users have also repeatedly fallen victim to phishing emails and calls from scammers who have persuaded them to disclose PIN numbers for their cards and stolen cash from their bank accounts in a grim warning of what could happen in the UK.

Official figures reveal that citizens of so-called ‘E-Stonia’ lost more than 7million euros to fraud last year with 837 ‘significant’ incidents recorded, up from 546 in 2023, although the true figure is thought to be much higher due to many cases being unreported.

Reports suggest that the amount lost to fraud in Estonia has soared since last year with a total of 7.5million euros lost in the first six months this year.

A large number of the cases reported by Estonia’s Police and Border Guard are thought to involve personal information from ID cards being stolen due to people being tricked into revealing PIN codes.

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Was Scandinavia’s Russian Drone Scare A False Flag To Crack Down On Russia’s Shadow Fleet?

It’s highly suspicious that Zelensky just claimed without any evidence that they were launched by Russian tankers and subsequently demanded that Europe close the straits to its shipping in response…

Unknown drones recently flew in close proximity to Danish and Norwegian airports, prompting speculation among some that they were Russia’s delayed hybrid retaliation against NATO for backing Ukraine’s drone flights in proximity to Russia’s own airports over the past few years.

No evidence has emerged in support of that hypothesis, but Zelensky still dishonestly passed off such claims as fact during his speech at the latest Warsaw Security Forum.

According to him, “there is growing evidence that Russia may have used tankers in the Baltic Sea to launch drones – the drones that caused major disruption in Northern Europe. If tankers used by Russia are serving as drone platforms, then such tankers should not be free to operate in the Baltic. This is de facto Russia’s military activity against European countries, so Europe has the right to close straits and sea routes to protect itself.”

His proposal for NATO to close the Danish Staits to Russian shipping on this pretext, which would amount to an illegal blockade that could thus legitimize offensive action by Russia in self-defense, was predictable given Ukraine’s and some of its patrons’ interest in escalating the bloc’s tensions with Russia. In fact, it might even be the case that this was the false flag that Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service twice warned could soon be staged by the UK and Ukraine, albeit ultimately taking a different form.

They assessed that those two might orchestrate potentially forthcoming provocations in the Baltic that would then be blamed on Russia in order to justify cracking down on its sanctioned energy trade that the West dramatically describes as being conducted by a “shadow fleet” transiting through that sea. While no US ship was targeted with Ukrainian-transferred Soviet/Russian torpedoes nor were such mines fished out of the Baltic, Scandinavia’s Russian drone scare still arguably fulfills the same role.

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Muslims accused of vandalizing church in Texas argue First Amendment right, so far jurors disagree

Three Muslims charged in connection with vandalizing a church in Euless, Texas, last year argue doing so was their First Amendment right.

So far, jurors have disagreed, convicting one man, Raunaq Alam, of vandalism but not of a hate crime.

Alam was one of three charged in connection to the vandalization of a nondenominational church, Uncommon Church in Euless, in Tarrant County in March 2024. They are accused of spray-painting “expletive Israel” and affixing pro-Palestinian/Hamas stickers on the exterior of the church building, among other actions recorded on a church security camera.

District Attorney Phil Sorrells initially charged them with felony criminal mischief. The charges were later increased to a third-degree felony hate crime, which carries a sentence of two to 10 years in prison. It was increased to a hate crime because the perpetrators targeted a church because of religion, the prosecution argued. 

Judge Brian Bolton issued a sentence of five years probation. Alam was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $1,700 in restitution to the church. His probation terms include serving 180 days in jail, conducting 180 hours of community service, undergoing regular drug and alcohol testing, wearing a GPS monitor and issuing an apology to the church.

Alam was next indicted on a charge of committing perjury, and he faces a drug possession charge. His attorney argues her client is being targeted.

Co-defendant Afsheen Khan was also charged with felony criminal mischief, and her trial is set to start soon. A third defendant, Julia Venzor, agreed to testify against Alam and Khan as part of a plea deal. She pleaded guilty in exchange for the deal and also received five years of probation, WFAA News reported.

The vandalism occurred after the church put up an Israeli flag to express solidarity with Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack, Uncommon Church’s pastor, Brad Carignan, testified in court.

The case has been considered part of a pattern in Texas in which Christians, churches, Jews, synagogues and pro-Israel Americans have been targeted with unprovoked violence by Muslims.

In January 2022, a Pakistani Islamist held hostage Jewish parishioners at a Colleyville synagogue.

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DHS: Agents ‘Rammed by Vehicles’ Outside Chicago, Fired ‘Defensive Shots’

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed that on Saturday morning federal agents in the Broadview-area near Chicago were “rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars.”

In a post on X, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin revealed that after being “unable to move their vehicles” the agents got out of the car and were faced with one of the drivers having a “semi-automatic weapon.” McLaughlin added that “law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots.”

“This morning, during routine patrolling in Broadview, in the same area of Chicago that law enforcement were assaulted yesterday, our brave law enforcement officers were rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars,” McLaughlin said. “Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car. One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon.”

“Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen who drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds,” McLaughlin added.

McLaughlin added that the woman had been “named” in a Customs and Border Protection “intelligence bulletin last week for doxing agents” and calling for people to “f*ck those mother f*ckers up.”

“Thankfully, no law enforcement officers were seriously injured in this attack,” McLaughlin continued.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller responded to the report of agents being rammed and blocked in by labeling it “domestic terrorism and seditious insurrection.”

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Jesse Kelly with Dr. Witt-Doerring on Surge in Mental Health Issues – “These Medications can Make Some People so Psychotic That Even People who Never had a Hint of Violence, They can Actually go and do Terrible Things”

Jesse Kelly of “The First” talked with Dr. Witt-Doerring on the hidden problems contributing to mental health issues, which are leading to violence.

The video opens with a clip of RFK Jr. discussing how “We are the most over-medicated nation in the world.”

“We’ve always had guns. Now we have psychos walking into schools and churches, murdering people before they blow their heads off and it’s unbelievably terrible. And we need to get to the root of the problem. What is it?” Kelly asked.

“When we look at, the, you know, what is causing mass shootings, I think there is, you know surly there is an element of mass contagion going on, but what Bobby says about these psychiatric drugs being involved is completely true,” Dr. Witt-Doerring said.

Dr. Witt-Doerring explained that medications like SSRIs in some cases can push people over the edge. In rare cases it can cause aggression and contribute to being suicidal.

“It’s hiding in plain sight. I mean, if you look at the drug labels, like you mentioned, for SSRIs, it already says that they can cause aggression and hostility. It already says that they can make people who are not suicidal, suicidal,” Dr. Witt-Doerring said.

“These drugs in rare instances, I want to say that. These are not the common effects. These are the paradoxical effects from these medications. That in rare instances, they can make some people more aggressive,” Dr. Witt-Doerring continued.

“The media never talks about this. There’s actually been several cases out there which have gone to the courts, where judges and jurors have found that these drugs have been involved in suicides and also mass homicide,” Dr. Witt-Doerring said.

“What is it that has as you said nine people can take it and maybe they are a little lethargic and the last one turns into a demon who murders Catholic school kids. How in the world can the results be so different?” Kelly asked.

Dr. Witt-Doerring explained that if someone for example, has thoughts toward murder, the medication can contribute to them acting on their thoughts.

“These drugs can have a spectrum effect, right? Let’s say for instance you already have someone who is harboring some kind of homicidal thoughts. You put them on a medication that is disinhibiting. A medication that is blunting their emotions, and this is what a lot of these medications do, especially things like SSRIs. They may be more likely to act on preexisting thoughts,” Dr. Witt-Doerring said.

“These medications can make some people so psychotic that even people who never had a hint of violence, they can actually go and do terrible things,” Dr. Witt-Doerring warned.

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North Carolina Democrat Governor Josh Stein Signs ‘Iryna’s Law’ Preventing Cashless Bail

Saying he had reservations about some aspects of the new legislation, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, on Friday signed “Iryna’s Law,” a bill that prohibits cashless bail for some violent crimes and most repeat offenders.

The bill comes on the heels of the unprovoked stabbing death of a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in August on a Charlotte light-rail train by a repeat offender — the assault sparking national outrage after surveillance video of the incident went viral.

Authorities have charged Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., with first degree murder. He’d been arrested more than a dozen times and served five years in prison before the fatal train stabbing.

It also follows public pressure also generated by President Donald Trump who highlighted the case in an Oval Office address on crime and lenient bail policies in American cities.

In a three-and-a-half minute video statement, Stein said he doesn’t like every part of the bill that was passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature.

But the governor said he signed it because it “alerts the judiciary to take a special look at people who may pose unusual risks of violence before determining their bail. That’s a good thing.”

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X Urges EU to Reject “Chat Control 2.0” Surveillance Law Threatening End-to-End Encryption

X is urging European governments to reject a major surveillance proposal that the company warns would strip EU citizens of core privacy rights.

In a public statement ahead of a key Council vote scheduled for October 14, the platform called on member states to “vigorously oppose measures to normalize surveillance of its citizens,” condemning the proposed regulation as a direct threat to end-to-end encryption and private communication.

The draft legislation, widely referred to as “Chat Control 2.0,” would require providers of messaging and cloud services to scan users’ content, including messages, photos, and links, for signs of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Central to the proposal is “client-side scanning” (CSS), a method that inspects content directly on a user’s device before it is encrypted.

X stated plainly that it cannot support any policy that would force the creation of “de facto backdoors for government snooping,” even as it reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to fighting child exploitation.

The company has invested heavily in detection and removal systems, but draws a clear line at measures that dismantle secure encryption for everyone.

Privacy experts, researchers, and technologists across Europe have echoed these warnings.

By mandating that scans occur before encryption is applied, the regulation would effectively neutralize end-to-end encryption, opening private conversations to potential access not only by providers but also by governments and malicious third parties.

The implications reach far beyond targeted investigations. Once CSS is implemented, any digital platform subject to the regulation would be forced to scrutinize every message and file sent by its users.

This approach could also override legal protections enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, specifically Articles 7 and 8, which safeguard privacy and the protection of personal data.

A coalition of scientists issued a public letter warning that detection tools of this kind are technically flawed and unreliable at scale.

High error rates could lead to false accusations against innocent users, while actual abuse material could evade detection.

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