A steering wheel lock is an anti-theft device for a car. It physically prevents the steering wheel from being turned normally, making the vehicle much harder to drive away even if someone manages to start it.
The classic version is a metal bar that locks across or through the steering wheel, often called a “club.” Some cars also have a built-in steering lock that automatically locks the steering column when the ignition is off or the key is removed.
In 2001, the Taliban destroyed the 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan despite international appeals to preserve them. From 2014 onward, ISIS carried out an especially systematic campaign of cultural destruction, demolishing ancient Assyrian remains at Nimrud, damaging sites at Hatra, destroying shrines and antiquities around Mosul, and murdering archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad at Palmyra. These modern cases were driven by extremist iconoclasm that regarded certain statues, tombs, and religious monuments as idolatrous. At the same time, Islamic civilizations also preserved enormous bodies of Greek, Roman, Persian, Christian, Jewish, and pre-Islamic scholarship and material culture, so cultural destruction is better attributed to particular rulers and ideological movements than to Muslims as a whole.
Louis IX of France, better known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 to 1270 and one of the most famous medieval Christian monarchs. A deeply religious ruler, he strengthened royal justice and administration in France, commissioned Sainte-Chapelle in Paris to house important Christian relics, and was later canonized as a Catholic saint.
Louis was also one of the last major Crusader kings. He personally led the Seventh Crusade (1248–1254), attacking Egypt because it was the strategic center of Muslim power in the region. His army captured Damietta but was eventually defeated; Louis himself was captured at the Battle of Fariskur in 1250 and released after a large ransom. Rather than immediately returning home, he spent several years strengthening Crusader fortifications in the Holy Land. In 1270, he launched the Eighth Crusade, this time against Tunis, where he became ill and died. His reputation for personal piety, charity, justice, and commitment to crusading led to his canonization in 1297.
The bracelet scam is a common tourist scam in places like Rome, Paris, Milan, and other major European cities.
Someone approaches you, often acting very friendly, and quickly tries to tie a string bracelet around your wrist. They may initially say it’s “free,” a “gift,” or “for friendship.” Once it’s tied on, they demand money, sometimes aggressively. Because it’s physically attached to you, people often feel pressured to pay just to end the interaction. Sometimes an accomplice may also use the distraction as an opportunity for pickpocketing.
The best response is don’t let them touch your wrist. Keep walking.
The West has so much dormant potential.
It is time to awaken it.
It is time to usher in the Age of Prometheus.
To charge fearlessly into chaos, unleash all the energy, and bring order to the universe.
🇩🇪 A temporary public pool in Berlin will be reserved exclusively for Black communities from noon to 6pm on Friday, 14 August.
The €300,000 project was launched by the Volksbühne theatre, which receives around €20 million in annual public subsidies.
Organisers have asked visitors to “respect the restricted space.”
Follow: @europa
Atelier Missor deserves enormous praise for this.
At first, I thought the sculpture had been commissioned by SpaceX. It turns out Atelier Missor funded the project through its own fundraising efforts.
This French group of sculptors deserves both a follow and public support.
You may also remember their efforts more than a year ago to save the statue of Joan of Arc in Nice.
They are proving that the revival of classical art can come directly from artists and the people willing to support them.
🤬🤬🤬A 12 year old child was arrested by #Merseyside#Police in #Netherton on 27th July 2026 after a phone call was made to Police with a false report of a burglary.
The 12 year old child and his family who are Polish, have lived in their house for six years. A few months ago a Nigerian family who have just moved to the UK were allocated a house in the street. The family were very hospitable with them, supported them and offered them food.
One of their children, a 13 year old we will call Sean, began entering the family’s home and took things that did not belong to him the child’s father claims.
Despite this the family continued to allow Sean to come to their home and play with their children.
On 26th July 2026, the family went Alton Towers for the 12 year old child’s birthday and they took Sean with them. On the way home they stopped at the services.
When they continued their journey, Sean revealed that he had stole some sweets and chewing gum.
The 12 year old child’s father was not happy with this and told Sean never to come to his house again.
The next day, Sean and his mother came to the family’s house and accused the father of racist discrimination. The father again told them to leave and not to come back. Thirty minutes later, Police Officer 1301 turned up.
The Officer would not let the 12 year old’s mum listen to what he was saying to her son, pushed her away a number of times and eventually handcuffed her.
The 12 year old child was taken to the patrol car. He was barefoot. The officer refused to allow him to put on shoes or socks.
Additional police cars arrived at the scene, and ultimately, around 10–12 officers were involved in the intervention. British neighbours came out into the street to defend the Polish family.
Finally, an armed police unit arrived. The officers were carrying firearms, even though children were present. "I didn't know what was going on. I was genuinely afraid during the incident” recalls the father.
The 12 year old child was taken away by Police with no information as to where he was being taken. His father tried to follow, but Police blocked his car. He then went with a neighbour in his car, but Police stopped that and did a full search of the vehicle.
According to his father, the 12 year old child said that one of the officers had twisted his arm. "The officer with badge number 1301 twisted my son’s arm so hard that he broke his wrist.”
The father claims to possess several recordings documenting the entire course of the incident.
“I have four other videos as well. I have every single second of the intervention recorded," he says.
The family have instructed a Solicitor