European countries are “going to hell” because “illegal aliens are pouring in,” President Donald Trump told the U.N. last week. But in actual fact, the number of migrants arriving in Europe is going down dramatically. 

EU border management figures show that in the first eight months of this year 112,000 people crossed illegally into Europe — down 21% from last year, said The Economist. That’s an “even more impressive” 52% drop from the comparable period in 2023, and a very small number compared with 2015, when the continent’s “biggest flows of refugees since the Second World War” saw over a million people enter Europe on asylum routes. 

What did the commentators say? 
The “underlying causes of migration” haven’t changed, but the EU has been “experimenting with new ways” of heading migrants off, said The Economist. After the 2015 influx, the EU “put a long bet on deterrence,” and although that looked like a “poor wager” for some years, this summer the “bet seems to have paid off.”

The bloc’s main strategy has been to “build a big, invisible wall far from its own borders” in countries through which migrants try to pass on their way to Europe. In return for cooperating, these “transit countries” get significant sums of aid and investment, as well as training and funds for their coastguards, border officials and police forces. 

There has been a “high degree of cooperation” from Tunisian and Libyan authorities to curtail the “departure of would-be illegal migrants from their shores,” said The Arab Weekly. Significantly, there has also been a “massive drop in Syrians seeking protection” since the Assad regime fell at the end of last year. 

But even as the numbers drop, the “pressure to get tough on migration has never been higher,” and for the “right-wing parties that hold sway in the European Parliament,” deterrence must be accompanied by faster “returns” and tougher handling of “irregular arrivals.” There are now “numerous well-documented cases of asylum seekers being pushed back across EU borders” in the bloc’s outermost member states, including Greece, Poland and Latvia, said the BBC. 

What next? 
A “landmark” EU migration pact that “hardens border procedures and envisages accelerated deportations” comes into force next year, said The Arab Weekly. But many countries “felt it did not go far enough,” and further talks are expected in the months ahead.

The debate over limits on free speech in comedy has taken an urgent, international flavor this week. Some of the biggest names in stand-up are vigorously defending their participation in the first-ever Riyadh Comedy Festival, held in and sponsored by the censorious kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

‘Definition’ of ‘blood money’
Created as part of Saudi Arabia’s “push to attract more visitors,” the Riyadh Comedy Festival has garnered deep criticism from human-rights advocates who claim the “star-studded event helps gloss over the kingdom’s ongoing human rights abuses,” said CNN. The festival also falls on the anniversary of the 2018 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a killing believed to have been carried out on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

Comics who build their careers complaining about free speech limits and cancel culture “don’t get to talk about it ever again.” Because “we have all seen the contract you had to sign,” comic David Cross said in an essay that called out headliners like Bill Burr, Dave Chappelleand Louis C.K. by name for accepting the “definition of ‘blood money.’”

The comedy festival is “only one front” of the Saudi effort to “whitewash its national image on the world stage,” said The Nation. The “real agenda” behind events like this, as well as Saudi efforts to expand into sports, gaming and cinema, is the use of “autocratic power and enormous wealth to buy respectability in the West.”

‘Lead to a lot of positive things’
Despite the heat from his peers, playing the festival was a “mind-blowing experience,” said comic Bill Burr. “Definitely top three experiences I have had. I think it’s going to lead to a lot of positive things.”

Critics of those performing at the festival should “get over it,” said comedian Tim Dillon last month on his podcast. Then, last week, Dillon announced he had been dropped by the festival for jokes about Saudi slavery. “I addressed it in a funny way, and they fired me,” he said. “I certainly wasn’t gonna show up in your country and insult the people that are paying me the money.”

A massive fire followed by an explosion at the Chevron refinery in El Segundo, California, fills the sky with smoke. The blaze, which broke out last night at the largest oil refinery on the West Coast, has since been contained by firefighters with no injuries reported, and officials are investigating the cause.
Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Water faucets turning on and off, door handles that rattle, icy touches on the back — all spectral business as usual at these haunted hotels, where unexplained noises and shadowy apparitions are part of the experience.

Hotel Alex Johnson, Rapid City, South Dakota
While some hotels might shy away from a haunted reputation, Alex Johnson “fully embraces its spine-chilling notoriety,” said Condé Nast Traveler. Spend the night with the Lady in White of room 812 by booking the Ghost Adventure package, which includes accommodations known for paranormal activity and use of a K2 meter for ghost detecting.

Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans
Built in 1886, the “opulent” Monteleone acts “almost as a time capsule for the Victorian era,” said the Shreveport Times. One of the hotel’s haunts is hotel founder Antonio Monteleone, who wanders around “donned in Victorian-style attire.” Conjure up different spirits at the hotel’s famous Carousel Bar, the first and only rotating bar in New Orleans.

Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina
If you see an ethereal woman in pink here, fear not — it’s just the Omni Grove Park Inn’s resident ghost. As legend has it, the Pink Lady fell from a hotel balcony in the 1920s and now haunts room 545, but her spirit can be felt across the vast property. This is a resort that “continues to balance a rich history with modern amenities and features,” said Travel and Leisure, like six tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course designed by Donald Ross.