The exhibitor will hold a first-ever live game screening of a Dec. 7 Dallas-Seattle in-market game at its flagship Plano, Texas multiplex.

Like most of the rest of the world, the United States has been stumbling its way towards a "papers, please" society in which we must show identification to go about our lives. The latest excuse for imposing a national ID requirement is voting, with the stalled SAVE America Act intended to preempt state procedures by requiring people to show REAL ID-compliant documents before casting ballots. Whatever the excuse, we're told identification requirements will make us more secure, but a recent breach of Denmark's national ID system suggests that such an apparatus is just easy hacker bait.

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Hackers 'Harvest Records on Approximately 8.8 Million People'

"Denmark is reviewing security controls around its national citizen registry after unauthorized parties exploited a company's access credentials to harvest records on approximately 8.8 million people over a 10-day period," Shweta Sharma of CSO, an enterprise-level security publication, reported earlier this month. "The breach covers people living in Denmark as well as individuals who have died or moved abroad, while people with protected names and addresses were not affected."

The hacker who broke into Denmark's Central Register of Persons (CPR) claims to have entered through a company with access that used "123456" as a password. Danish authorities are scrambling to reassess their security procedures, the implications of the lost data on what seems to constitute almost the entire population, and "whether there may be similar vulnerabilities in other key public IT systems."

It's tempting to marvel at the risks inherent in compiling a database of the identifying details of a country's people and then protecting it with the crappiest conceivable password. But Americans are in a poor position to savor the Danish government's discomfort (though we should sympathize with the concerns of the Danish people) given our own government's comparable screwups.

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The U.S. Government's History of Data Breaches

In 2015, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) suffered a massive data breach at the hands of Chinese government hackers. The OPM initially put the loss from the penetration of its background investigation databases on 4 million individuals. Later, though, after a second incident, the OPM raised its estimate to 21.5 million people whose "residency and educational history; employment history; information about immediate family and other personal and business acquaintances; health, criminal and financial history; and other details" had been surrendered to hackers.

That breach cast a long shadow. Government-provided credit monitoring and identity theft protection insurance for the affected individuals just began expiring earlier this year.

Frankly, compared to the scale of the OPM data loss, the slightly earlier incident at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) involving the theft of Social Security numbers, birthdates, and home addresses of approximately 100,000 people almost doesn't register.

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The Inherent Vulnerability of Centralized Databases

A year before those hackers engaged in one-stop information shopping courtesy of federal databases, the Cato Institute's Chris Edwards had warned me that the federal government's vast collection of sensitive data was bound to be abused and misused. He told me the main "threat is that the vast databases held by the IRS, HHS, security agencies, etc, will be leaked on purpose, leaked because of bureaucrat sloppiness, or be hacked. The more they collect, the more that will eventually leak."

In fact, two years ago, the Associated Press reported that "a former contractor for the Internal Revenue Service who pleaded guilty to leaking tax information to news outlets about former President Donald Trump and thousands of the country's wealthiest people was sentenced to five years in prison Monday."

That leak turned out to involve "the private data of more than 400,000 taxpayers," according to the House Judiciary Committee. When he was sentenced, the guilty party, Charles E. Littlejohn, insisted he "acted out of a sincere, if misguided, belief I was serving the public interest" by exposing the tax records. But his motivation hardly matters to the affected individuals who had no choice but to give sensitive information to the federal government, only to see it badly mishandled—as Edwards predicted.

In the case of Littlejohn, data was stolen out of a smug sense of outrage over the relative burdens imposed by the tax system. In the OPM incidents, information on federal employees was pilfered by a hostile foreign government. In the other IRS breaches, it was apparently taken by criminals seeking to profit.

The Danes may have been lucky, since the people who hacked their national database insist "they had no intention of selling or leaking the data" and may have just sought a challenge. Those affected will just have to hope so.

As the compromise of Denmark's national ID system demonstrates, centralized databases are tempting targets for bad actors who see in them tempting treasure troves of information if they can only find holes in security—like ridiculous password protection. The data storage company RackTop maintains a running list of government data breaches in the U.S., updated monthly.

"Several of 2026's largest government incidents ran through systems built to share documents, according to public reporting: a Defense Manpower Data Center file-sharing system, a third-party discovery-transfer tool at the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, and a SharePoint system connected to DHS's Homeland Security Information Network," the company notes.

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ID Requirements Address Some Security Worries While Creating Others

In the U.S., the latest calls for identification documents involve concerns that non-citizens may be casting ballots. In the days before the midterm elections, there may well be reason to ask people to prove their bona fides before participating in the political process. But whether for voting or for any other purpose, reliance on the federal government's national ID by another name—the SAVE Act specifies "a form of identification issued consistent with the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates the applicant is a citizen of the United States"—builds dependency on a hacker-bait system that should itself be recognized as a security vulnerability.

CSO's Sharma added that the national ID breach is "forcing Denmark to reconsider how CPR numbers are used for identity verification. Officials are advising organizations not to rely on a CPR number alone and to use stronger mechanisms such as MitID, two-factor authentication, or one-time codes." (MitID is a state-run digital identification system in Denmark that also has security flaws.)

Denmark's national ID is no longer considered a reliable means of proving identity. Before Americans go further down the "papers, please" road, we should consider whether it poses more risks than benefits.

The post Breach of Denmark's National ID System Demonstrates the Risks of a 'Papers, Please' Society appeared first on Reason Magazine.

Polls show the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham in a virtual tie with her Democratic opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews. An upset was unthinkable just a few months ago.

© Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

With no single European representative negotiating directly with Moscow, some leaders are establishing their own channels – with messy results

The Nordic countries rarely fall out in public over foreign policy, least of all over Russia.

But a 90-minute phone call this week to Vladimir Putin by the leaders of Finland and Norway drew an unusual rebuke from their Danish and Swedish neighbours.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters

© Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters

© Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters

With no single European representative negotiating directly with Moscow, some leaders are establishing their own channels – with messy results

The Nordic countries rarely fall out in public over foreign policy, least of all over Russia.

But a 90-minute phone call this week to Vladimir Putin by the leaders of Finland and Norway drew an unusual rebuke from their Danish and Swedish neighbours.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters

© Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters

© Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters

Zelensky praised Norway and Finland for putting their diplomacy "completely out in the open: discussions in advance, a full briefing, and transparent objectives," saying that not all countries had taken the time to speak with Ukraine beforehand.

A test satellite for a future communications network under Ukrainian control is working in orbit, Ukraine’s Himera and Denmark’s GomSpace said on 27 October. The companies say it will work for Ukraine’s strategic security, and that the long-term aim is to rely less on foreign communications providers. Public launch records for the mission do not list a satellite by that name, though some of its objects are still unidentified.

Ukraine fights Russia on satellite links it doesn’t control, and the announcement comes two weeks after it saw what depending on an outside provider can cost. The satellite, the companies say, went up on 1 October, before that trouble began. Overnight on 14 October, Starlink and its military version, Starshield, began dropping links on fast-moving terminals, and Ukrainian officials said the cap disrupted drone missions. On 24 October, 10 days after the cap began, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported speeds restored. Who ordered the cap remains contested. That same day, Elon Musk wrote that Ukraine’s military had violated Starlink’s terms of service and that “that loophole was closed last week,” a claim a Ukrainian presidential adviser disputed.

What the companies say, and what launch records show

Obria Nano flew on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission, the release said. Aalborg-based GomSpace built it on Himera’s order, Himera co-founder and CEO Misha Rudominski wrote on Facebook. He added that the team received the first signals the next day and that the satellite is now working. Its tests are meant to inform the design of the full Obria system, the release said.

No satellite called Obria Nano appears on SpaceX’s published list for the mission, The Insider found. Public tracking catalogs show one Ukrainian satellite from that launch, named UASAT-Nano. Another 26 objects from the mission are still listed with placeholder names and no confirmed owner. The outlet said it is unclear whether the two names refer to one satellite.

UASAT-Nano is the satellite network Stetman, another Ukrainian company, is building, and its founder said the network’s first test satellite would launch in October. In April, Stetman and GomSpace agreed to set up a joint venture called UASAT and planned a first launch for fall 2026. The Obria release does not mention Stetman or UASAT.

Production in Ukraine is the stated next step

Rudominski wrote that Himera’s next stage is to produce satellites and ground terminals in Ukraine. He called it important not only to use the technology but also to gradually build domestic expertise and manufacturing.

“For us, this project is about more than launching a satellite. It is an opportunity to lay the foundation for an independent communications network for Ukraine,” Rudominski said in the release.

In the long run, the network would cover all of Ukraine and complement European satellite networks, the release said. The network does not exist yet, and Himera has given no timeline.

Replacing Starlink will not be quick. Lance Hunter, a political scientist at Augusta University, told Time that Ukraine cannot quickly swap out such technology, since diversifying it “takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of resources.” Meanwhile, one Ukrainian interceptor-drone maker has begun rethinking its air-launched designs after the slowdown.

Finland’s president has caused a minor EU diplomatic fiasco by phoning Russian president Vladimir Putin out of the blue.

Finland’s Alexander Stubb sat down together with Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre in Helsinki on Tuesday (27 October) and “initiated” the call to Putin, in what was already a submissive gesture in protocol terms.

Their discussion lasted 90 minutes and was “frank and substantive”, Stubb’s readout said, while Støre said he had “stressed the importance of de-escalation”.

But Putin told them he would make zero concessions, for instance on Ukrainian territories he claims are now Russian.

Putin “assessed the current situation in the Ukraine conflict zone, reiterating its root causes and emphasising that a just and lasting peace would be possible only if the interests of the Russian Federation are considered in full and without any conditions attached”, the Kremlin readout said.

Putin also belittled them by saying “the EU and Nato’s confrontational policies … result in prolonging the hostilities”.

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

The Council of Europe’s latest report on Denmark exposes a gap between the country’s commitment to combating racism and the protection experienced by Muslim communities. The challenge now is to turn international recommendations into meaningful political action.

Ukraine has received more than 50,000 rounds of 20-mm ammunition from Denmark for the onboard cannons of its F-16 fighter jets, with Ukrainian pilots already using the rounds to intercept Russian jet-powered Geran attack drones, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said.

The accelerated delivery addresses a key need in Ukraine’s air defense as Russia increasingly deploys faster jet-powered drones that challenge conventional interceptors. Ukraine has also relied on F-16 cannons when stocks of air-to-air missiles are limited, making ammunition supplies important to keeping the aircraft effective against incoming aerial threats.

Denmark responds to ammunition request

The Defense Ministry thanked Denmark for responding quickly to Ukraine’s request for additional ammunition, saying the delivery directly strengthens the country’s air defenses and helps protect civilians from Russian aerial attacks.

The delivery follows a broader effort by Ukraine’s European partners to replenish F-16 cannon ammunition. On October 2, it was reported that Spain, Belgium, and Poland were also sending 20-mm rounds for Ukrainian F-16s to counter Russia’s jet-powered drones.

Belgium is also expanding its support for Ukraine’s F-16 fleet. On 16 October, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever pledged to deliver 10 F-16s by the end of 2026, up from three previously planned, and discussed supplying additional ammunition, including 20-mm rounds produced by Belgian defense company FN Herstal.

Jet-powered drones pose a growing challenge

Russia’s faster attack drones are harder to intercept than older, propeller-driven Shahed-type models. Their speed gives air defenders less time to respond and makes them more difficult for many interceptor drones and conventional short-range weapons to catch.

Ukraine’s air-to-air missile shortages have also increased the importance of F-16 cannon ammunition. Ukrainian pilots have sometimes relied on their aircraft’s built-in 20-mm cannon when air-to-air missiles are scarce.

The threat from jet-powered drones is growing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in late September that Ukraine was intercepting about 55% of Russia’s jet-powered drones, compared with more than 90% of older models.

Denmark’s ammunition delivery gives Ukrainian F-16 pilots more rounds to engage these faster targets, as Ukraine works to strengthen its defenses against Russia’s expanding drone campaign.

First delivered to Ukraine in 2024, the U.S.-made jets have become a key part of the country's defenses against Russian attacks on its rear areas, particularly jet-powered drones.

Top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee demanded answers Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the agency’s funding of a controversial hepatitis B clinical trial in Guinea-Bissau.  The CDC awarded $1.6 million last year to Danish researchers to conduct the study in Guinea-Bissau, a small country in West…

Denmark will guarantee a loan to the Danish subsidiary of Fire Point, the Ukrainian maker of Flamingo cruise missiles, the Danish Business Ministry announced on 21 October. The financing will run through EIFO, Denmark’s state export and investment fund.

Ukraine uses its Flamingo missiles to strike defense plants deep inside Russia as Moscow continues its full-scale invasion. Fire Point broke ground in December 2025 on a plant in Vojens, southern Denmark, to make solid fuel for the missiles. The project has since grown far more expensive. In August, CEO Iryna Terekh said its estimated cost had risen from €50 million to above €150 million, calling the figure “very rough.” The war, meanwhile, stands in the way of Fire Point borrowing on ordinary terms in Denmark, the ministry said. That is why the Danish state is guaranteeing the loan.

What Denmark is putting up

The guarantee covers 750 million Danish kroner, or about $112.6 million, Reuters reported. Terekh said in August that the plant’s launch had slipped to late 2027. The ministry called the deal another big step toward starting production. However, Ukrainian outlet Defender Media noted that the statement does not say directly that the loan will fund the plant.

EIFO chief Peder Lundquist said the fund is involved in nearly 40 projects linked to Ukraine. Business Minister Martin Lidegaard said hosting a Ukrainian defense company brings Denmark knowledge, production, and partnerships. Europe’s security and freedom, he added, start in Ukraine.

Better shielded from Russian strikes

Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus said Denmark was the first country to decide to let a Ukrainian defense company set up on its soil. Production outside Ukraine, he argued, is better protected from Russian attacks. He added that Fire Point’s presence opens cooperation that could give Denmark access to technologies developed in wartime.

Denmark first said in September 2025 that Fire Point would make long-range missile fuel on Danish soil. Since then, the company has signed deals with more than a dozen European firms for FREYJA, an anti-ballistic project. It could reduce Europe’s long-term reliance on scarce US-made Patriot interceptors. Fire Point aims for a first ballistic missile intercept with it by mid-2027.

Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen attacked Spanish leader Pedro Sánchez on migration during a summit debate in Brussels on Friday (16 October). 

Frederiksen, who despite leading a centre-left party has taken an increasingly hard line on migration, criticised Sánchez for granting renewable one-year legal residence permits to undocumented migrants.

“I have asked the commission to look into whether one country is doing almost everything in the opposite direction of what the others are doing. In other words, you come to a country illegally, and suddenly you’re allowed to be there legally,” Frederiksen said before arriving at the second day of the Brussels summit.

In response, Sánchez told reporters after the meeting with EU leaders that Spain’s regularisation scheme “does not go against the grain” – since there are many countries with similar measures.

In April, Spain approved plans to grant legal status to around 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. These so-called regularisations are a common labour-migration policy that other countries have also used, including Italy, which has authorised nearly 500,000 non-EU work visas through 2028.

But at the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels in June, several European leaders used the meeting to criticise Spain’s regularisation.

The criticism resurfaced during this October summit, after the summer’s migrant crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, which some EU governments then weaponised against Spain.

Push for stronger wording

Following a breakfast on Friday (16 October), attended by 16 EU countries backing stricter migration restrictions, Denmark, Poland and Italy had also attempted to link migration to crime in draft EU summit conclusions.

They tried to amend the summit conclusions to call on the commission for extra efforts to monitor national migration measures that can affect other member states, highlight the impact of migration on welfare and public services, as well as avoid “measures that could create incentives for illegal migration”.

However, France and Luxembourg criticised the position of the 16, and leaders had a strategic exchange and agreed to return to the topic at a later date.

According to experts from the Migration Policy Centre, it is hard to conclude whether Spain’s regularisation plans encouraged more migration to the EU.

So-called ‘pull factors’ are difficult to consider in isolation, as migration depends on work opportunities, social networks abroad and other factors, but policies can also play a role. 

Regularisation could pave the way to legal work, generating  “positive employment and fiscal outcomes over time,” the scholars also said.

Denmark itself is not bound by EU laws (due to an opt-out) on border control, immigration, civil and criminal law, or police cooperation, and therefore cannot vote on them in the Council.

Rhetoric versus facts

It is not the first clash between the two socialist leaders on migration, but the timing matters. 

Sánchez faces elections in November, and France heads into presidential elections next spring, where it is feared anti-migrant rhetoric could roll out the red carpet for the far right.

In response to a barrage of criticism from the likes of Austria, Czech Republic and, Sánchez said that the numbers on illegal migration returns speak for themselves. 

“See what is happening in Spain – some politicians are willing to replace the population only so they can be … in government,” said Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš ahead of the meeting on Friday. “I am convinced that for some countries, it is too late – and that some day we will have to defend our borders so that migrants don’t come to us from Western countries if it continues like this. And we, of course, are preparing for this.”

“It’s a road to hell,” added Babiš, who belongs to the far-right Patriots for Europe group.

His comments, Sánchez said, resembled the rhetoric of the far-right political party Vox in Spain, now polling close to 20 percent. “One thing is the rhetoric, the blablabla, and another thing is the facts,” he said.

Ceuta crisis

The situation in Ceuta escalated at the end of July 2026, when tens of thousands of people simultaneously attempted to cross over from Morocco to the autonomous enclave.

The Spanish have since deployed additional security measures to regain control over the territory. 

A majority of newly arrived migrants were eventually returned to Morocco, but thousands remained in the city of 80,000 people – many of whom are unaccompanied children and teenagers.

The crisis has exposed tensions between Spain, Morocco and the EU on border control and asylum and put into question who is responsible for migrants. 

French president Emmanuel Macro previously said: “Spain was the target of an attack. Call it a hybrid attack if you like, but it was an information attack. Traffickers, and probably people seeking to destabilise Spain, led many people living in poverty to believe there was an opportunity, using false information and creating an information bubble.”

Meanwhile Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni previously called for a suspension of the Schengen free movement agreement with Spain.

The whole situation triggered tit-for-tat border closures between Spain and Italy. 

On Thursday (15 October), Italy decided not to renew the security checks with Spain, paving the way for a week of negotiations between Madrid and Rome to reach a final agreement. 

Around 1880, men cutting peat at Dejbjerg, in western Jutland (Denmark), began pulling bronze pieces out of the bog that shone as if they were new. Some assumed it was gold. Others had a more down-to-earth suspicion: the equipment of an illicit still, hidden in the marsh to make moonshine. Both versions are recorded on […]

The United States plans to open two new military bases in Greenland, an expansion made possible by a new security agreement between the US, Denmark, and the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen signed the new security agreement during a […]

From Denmark to Litochoro in western Macedonia, northern Greece, by bike: 52 days, 10 countries and 3,500 kilometers for the crazy dream of Marilena Karantini. The great journey of 34-year-old Marilena Karantinini who managed fearless this special challenge. Her thought was simple… “This year I will go from Denmark to Litochoro by bike” she said […]

The post From Denmark to Greece on a bike: A woman’s “crazy dream” appeared first on Keep Talking Greece.

President Donald Trump on Friday announced a new security arrangement for the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland. In a Truth Social post, he said: “I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has entered into an Agreement with The Kingdom of Denmark, and Greenland, that gives the United States permanent control over […]

A leading Belgian animal park has just welcomed a new arrival: Kali the giraffe.

Kali’s arrival at Pairi Daiza is no coincidence: transfers between European zoos are carefully coordinated, taking into account genetics, age and breeding recommendations.

Rothschild's giraffe Kali was born on 15 February 2024 at Knuthenborg Safaripark (Denmark).

On the evening of Tuesday 15 September, she arrived to join the two Rothschild's giraffes already living at Pairi Daiza: PoléPolé and Oliver.

Kali’s journey of several hundred kilometres, and this new phase in her life, began with a decision taken at European level.

The Rothschild's giraffes in European zoos are part of a European Endangered Species Programme (EEP – Ex situ Programme). The programme maintains detailed records of each animal’s ancestry and demographics to manage this population in the long term. Based on this data, it is possible, amongst other things, to determine which animals can form a breeding pair, whilst preserving the genetic diversity of the population as effectively as possible.

A park spokesman told this site: “Kali is therefore not simply coming to Pairi Daiza because a space happened to be available.

“The recommendation for her transfer took into account her age, two and a half years, as well as her genetic background and that of the giraffes already there.”

She will live alongside Oliver, a male who was born on 1 August 2016 at Safari Park Dvůr Králové (Czech Republic) and who has been at Pairi Daiza since 2018. Oliver has already sired two daughters at the Garden of the Worlds: Zuri, born in 2021 and transferred to Bellewaerde (Belgium) in 2024, and Masika, born in 2023 who left for the Zoo du Bassin d’Arcachon (France) on 10 September 2026.

PoléPolé also lives alongside Oliver.

She was born on 10 May 2021 at WILDLANDS Adventure Zoo Emmen (Netherlands) and has been living at Pairi Daiza for three years.

The departure of Zuri and Masika and the arrival of Kali are therefore not isolated events, but different parts of the same coordinated population-management process.

The spokesman added, “At a European level, these transfers make it possible to manage a population, taking into account the age, sex and kinship ties of each individual, the needs of the population and the situation at each institution.”

Kali’s first few days at Pairi Daiza

Kali arrived at Pairi Daiza late on Tuesday and spent her first night alone in an enclosure within her indoor quarters. The keepers gave her time to recover from her journey and began observing her behaviour in this new environment.

The spokesman said, “Kali was introduced to PoléPolé this morning, under the supervision of the zoological team. The meeting with Oliver will take place later.

During these first few days, the keepers will get to know Kali: how she explores her surroundings, how she reacts to PoléPolé, and her habits and preferences. The next steps in her integration will be tailored to these observations and her behaviour.”

Her Danish keepers describe Kali as curious and gentle. The keepers at Pairi Daiza will now get to know her personality on a daily basis and, based on their observations, determine the most suitable time and circumstances to introduce her to Oliver.

Visitors can already observe Kali in her indoor enclosure through the porthole of the boat Mersus Emergo.

Photo: Pairi Daiza 

Tharangambadi is a fishing village on India’s Coromandel Coast, in the state of Tamil Nadu. Its name means “place of the singing waves,” a nod to the Indian Ocean lapping at its shore. It isn’t much of a tourist stop, and fishing is still its main trade, but anyone who walks its streets runs into […]