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Nick movie: Big Hero 6 Time: October 23, 2014 Netflix / Amazon / HBO: N/A Duration of the movie: 102 M Trailer:

Video title: UNUSUAL MEMES COMPILATION V238 Content creator ( Youtuber ) :UnusualVideos Official YT video:

Skoda lops a full second off electric flagship’s 0-62mph time, adds a bit more range, too Skoda has revealed an uprated version of its very uprated Enyaq vRS. And what was already the fastest accelerating Skoda ever built is now… yeah, still the fastest accelerating Skoda ever built. Where before the Enyacc could do a measly 0-62mph in 6.5s – bah, pedestrian pace! – it’ll now do it in 5.5s. That’s old BMW M3 territory, in a family SUV or Coupe. If you’re new to 2023, welcome! Nothing makes sense anymore! We’re told the improvement in pace is courtesy of a recalibration of both front and rear motors and new power management software that has liberated an additional 40bhp from the Enyakk’s powertrain, bumping total power to 335bhp. Again, this figure is the highest ever for a production Skoda. These changes not only give the Enyack more acceleration, but also a bit more range and a faster charging time. To the former, there’s now a “provisional” 340-mile WLTP figure quoted (a 16-mile increase for the Coupe, 15 more for the SUV), and it’ll now go from 10-80 per cent on a 175kW charger in 28 minutes. That’s eight minutes faster. Other tweaks for the Enyaque include more driver assistance, more USB-C ports, more, um, rear window blinds and more... tow bar prep. The infotainment’s apparently been tweaked too, Skoda promising easier to use screens. There are new graphics and animations for the driver’s display, too. The faster, more acceleratey new Enyacckkque will be available to order later this month. Whether it makes it more interesting however, is another matter. Link

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., forced the vote after McCarthy passed a bill to keep the government funded. Gaetz and seven other Republicans, along with all Democrats, voted to remove him. WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of ousting a speaker from office, nearly nine months after Kevin McCarthy won the powerful gavel in a dramatic 15-round floor fight. The vote was 216-210, to topple the California Republican, who continued to insist to the bitter end that he would "never give up." After the vote, the office of the speaker of the House — and the second rung on the ladder of succession to the U.S. presidency — was declared vacant. All 208 Democrats teamed up with just eight GOP rebels to vacate the speaker’s chair — the first time in U.S. history that lawmakers have formally voted to remove a sitting speaker in the middle of a term. An overwhelming number of Republicans, 210, voted to keep McCarthy in power, but it was not enough to stop the effort led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who for weeks has accused McCarthy of breaking promises to conservatives to cut spending. “We heard Speaker McCarthy say that he wanted us to ‘Bring it on!’ So I guess we did,” Gaetz told reporters after the successful vote. Follow along for live updates. The historic vote threw the GOP-controlled House into chaos as lawmakers struggled to figure out what to do next. The session ended with another surprise: It was announced that Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a top McCarthy ally, is now the speaker pro tempore, put on a secret list McCarthy provided to the clerk in January in the event of a vacancy. After assuming the speaker's chair, where he'll serve in an interim capacity, McHenry slammed down the gavel in anger. In a private meeting after the vote, McCarthy told GOP colleagues that he would not run for speaker again given that he didn’t have the support to overcome his political foes. Gaetz walks away after speaking to reporters Monday on the steps of the Capitol after filing the resolution to overthrow McCarthy. Before the vote, a parade of top McCarthy allies rose to speak in favor of keeping McCarthy. House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. called McCarthy a "happy warrior" who has a "uniquely American grit," while Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., praised him as "the greatest speaker in modern history." “I recognize that my friends on the other side have a very complex set of partisan, personal and political calculations to make — and I certainly wouldn’t presume to give them any advice about that,” Rules Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., a top McCarthy ally who tried unsuccessfully to block Gaetz’s effort, warned on the floor before the vote. “But I would say, ‘Think long and hard before you plunge us into chaos. Because that’s where we’re headed if we vacate the speakership.’” Cole received big applause and a standing ovation from almost the entire GOP side of the chamber as he finished speaking. Gaetz countered from the Democratic side of the aisle because Republicans had blocked him from the three GOP microphones on the floor, he said. “Chaos is Speaker McCarthy. Chaos is somebody who we cannot trust with their word," Gaetz said, retorting Cole. "I don’t think voting against Kevin McCarthy is chaos. I think $33 trillion in debt is chaos. I think that facing a $2.2 trillion annual deficit is chaos.” For weeks, Gaetz had threatened to call a vote to expel McCarthy if he passed a short-term government funding bill relying on Democratic votes. When McCarthy did just that last weekend to avert a shutdown, Gaetz moved against him. Under House rules, McCarthy had until Wednesday to take up the resolution that Gaetz, a conservative Florida Republican and Donald Trump loyalist, filed Monday night. But McCarthy and his allies moved to rip off the Band-Aid and quickly take on the so-called motion to vacate that has consumed the Capitol. “I get politics. I understand where people are,” McCarthy told reporters. But he added: “I truly believe the institution of the House, at the end of the day, if you throw a speaker out that has 99% of their conference, that kept government open and paid the troops, I think we’re in a really bad place.” Along with Gaetz, seven other Republicans voted with all of the Democrats to depose McCarthy: former conservative Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs and Rep. Eli Crane, both of Arizona; Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee; Rep. Bob Good of Virginia; swing district Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina; and Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana. "I would give him deference to be able to decide whether or not he'd like to put himself forward as a candidate," he added. "But he'd be the type of person that I could see myself supporting." McCarthy's allies showed a range of emotions after his removal. Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., wiped away tears with a tissue on the House floor, while others privately vented in the halls to reporters. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a McCarthy ally who has publicly clashed with Gaetz, urged the ousted speaker to run again. "No one has come forward and no one has shown any interest in running for speaker," Greene said. "No one has the support in the conference like Kevin McCarthy does, so that's been my question the entire time: What's the plan? And there's not a plan." Link

Rishi Sunak is to announce the scrapping of the HS2 high-speed rail line from West Midlands to Manchester on Wednesday, the BBC understands. In his Conservative Party conference speech, the PM is expected to set out a range of alternative projects in the north of England and Wales. He is likely to argue these projects will be better value for money and can be delivered more quickly. It comes after weeks of speculation about the future of the line. Rumours it could be scrapped have already prompted anger among local leaders and businesses. Labour Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said ditching the Manchester link would be a "permanent statement" to people in the North that they were ''second-class citizens' when it came to transport. The Conservative West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who on Monday called an impromptu press conference at the party conference to warn Mr Sunak that getting rid of HS2 would amount to "cancelling the future", is said to be distraught by the news of the prime minister's decision. The football club Manchester United was among 30 businesses who wrote to the prime minister urging him to commit to the line and avoid "economic self-sabotage". It was hoped the line would cut journey times, create more space on the rail network and boost jobs outside London. However, there had been concerns about the mounting costs of the infrastructure project, with the latest estimates for the project amounting to about £71bn. But, that was in 2019 prices so it does not account for the spike in costs for materials and wages, for example, in recent months. Last month Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said it would be "crazy" not to review the project, particularly given the rise in inflation. Deputy chair of the Conservative Party Lee Anderson has described HS2 as "a bad gamble". Rishi Sunak with his staff the day before his speech to the party conference in Manchester The route was initially proposed in 2010, and given the go-ahead in 2012, when then-Transport Secretary Justine Greening called it "the most significant transport infrastructure project since the building of the motorways". There have already been delays, disruption, a big cut to HS2's Eastern leg, and salami slicing on HS2 - but this latest decision would change the project and its outcomes beyond recognition. At least £22.5bn has already been spent building the London-Birmingham section, while £2.3bn has gone towards the second phase, on things such buying up land and property. Thirty-thousand people are already working on HS2, mostly in the supply chain. There are also people whose lives have already been uprooted by property purchases along the planned HS2 route north of Birmingham. If Mr Sunak announces that HS2 trains will go to Manchester using existing tracks, it follows that no extra space would be created and journey time benefits would be reduced. In recent days, there have been suggestions that instead of building HS2, money could be put towards improving rail east-west links across the north of England. For example, Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) aims to improve connections between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. However, the project has been designed to intersect with HS2, using a section of the high speed line, and if HS2 does not continue to Manchester this would increase the costs of NPR. A group of Conservative MPs, called the Northern Research Group, have called for a line connecting Liverpool to Hull, which they've named "the Charles Line" after the King. Mr Sunak will be delivering his conference speech at a tricky time for the Conservatives, who have been lagging behind Labour in the polls for over a year. Speaking from the Manchester Central Convention Complex - an old railway turned into a conference venue - he will tell the audience that he is the man to "fundamentally change our country". It is likely to be his last conference speech before the next general election and his team will hope that it can help change the fortunes of the prime minister and his party. Link

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Nick movie: Ant-Man Time: June 29, 2015 Netflix / Amazon / HBO: N/A Duration of the movie: 117 M Trailer:

Many of the dogs have become unsung heroes of missions in Mexico and abroad, and their training starts early in life, about a month after birth, and it's all taught as a game. A Belgian Malinois puppy licks the face of the soldier carrying it back to its kennel after a training session at the Mexican Army and Air Force Canine Production Center in San Miguel de los Jagueyes, Mexico, on Sept. 26, 2023. SAN MIGUEL DE LOS JAGÜEYEZ, Mexico — In the middle of a military base outside Mexico City, an army colonel runs what he calls a kindergarten for dogs. Puppies that one day will become rescue dogs, or sniffer dogs for drugs or explosives, get their basic training here, at Mexico’s Army and Air Force Canine Production Center. The puppies are born and spend their first four months at the facility, before being sent to military units around the country for more specialized training. Founded in 1998, the center has in the past produced breeds such as German Shepherds and Rottweilers. Now, it exclusively breeds Belgian Malinois — about 300 of them a year. “It’s a very intelligent dog, it’s a dog with a lot of hardiness, very resistant to diseases,” said Col. Alejandro Camacho Ibarra, a veterinarian and the center’s director. It is the Mexican military’s only such production facility, and Camacho said it may be the largest in Latin America. The mainly green-and-white, one-story buildings look like any others at the military camp in the State of Mexico, near Mexico City. But the difference here is in the sounds that fill the air: high-pitch barking from dozens of puppies scattered through its maternities and training camps. Belgian Malinois puppies rest at the Mexican Army and Air Force Canine Production Center in San Miguel de los Jagueyes, Mexico, on Sept. 26, 2023. Precautions here are strict because of a recent canine parvovirus outbreak that sickened some of the puppies. Visitors are disinfected with a spray, and must step into a watery solution to clean shoe soles. Only military personnel can touch the puppies. If you want to get close, you need to wear scrubs, shoe protectors and a mask, but you still cannot hold or pet the animals. The training starts early in life, about a month after birth once the weaning process finishes. And everything is taught as a game. “We start playing with the dog,” Camacho said. The idea is to draw them to items that trainers call “attractors” — like a ball or a rag — and puppies are challenged to catch them. “Every time it holds his prey, it’s rewarded, congratulated, and it learns to go after that prey, after that attractor,” Camacho added. Unlike in civilian life, where puppies often get food treats, in the military the only prize for a job well done is a caress and some praise. In one section of the camp, there’s a trail with obstacles including rocks, a tunnel, a section of empty plastic bottles to clamber over, a ladder and tires. A soldier beckons the little dogs with a rag they must capture. The brown puppies with black snouts begin running through the trail, jumping over the rocks and crossing the obstacles. One takes the lead and the second struggles to cross over the plastic bottles, but also finishes. Both go to bite the rag the soldier holds. “Very, very good, sons! Very good, boys,” he repeats while dragging the puppies as they maintain their grasp on the rag for several moments. Camacho explains that the puppies are known by a number until they are three months old, when they are given a proper name. Each year, the center gives names according to a single letter of the alphabet. In 2023, that letter is “F.” Febo, Frodo, Fósil, Forraje and Fido are some of this year’s names. The basic training ends when the puppies are 4 months old. Then, they move to other military units to become specialists in detection of drugs or explosive, in search and rescue or in protection and security. The current government of Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has relied heavily on the armed forces for various initiatives, from public safety to the building of airports and a tourist train line. And K-9 units have been a key element of some of the military’s activities, like the detection of drugs. Col. Camacho said that some dogs born at the center have been trained to detect fentanyl, a synthetic opioid trafficked by Mexican cartels that has been blamed for about 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States. A soldier trains Belgian Malinois puppies at the Mexican Army and Air Force Canine Production Center in San Miguel de los Jagueyes, Mexico, on Sept. 26, 2023. That kind of specialized training happens elsewhere, but the colonel says it builds on his center’s basic training by using “attractor” objects but having them impregnated with the scent of what the dogs need to track, such as a drug. Dogs retire from their military service after eight years, Camacho says. Many of the dogs have become unsung heroes of missions in Mexico and abroad. Occasionally they become publicly known, like a German Shepherd named Proteo who was part of a rescue team sent in February to Turkey after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 40,000 people. Proteo died during the search for survivors of the quake. A statue of him now stands at the center. Another dog that made headlines in Mexico and abroad was a yellow Labrador retriever rescue dog named Frida. The Navy dog gained fame in the days following Mexico’s Sept. 19, 2017, earthquake that left more than 300 dead in the capital. She retired in 2019 and died in 2022. Col. Camacho said that the dogs have a symbiotic relationship with their handlers during their working life in the military. “The dog uses us to survive, but we also use the dog to do a job,” he said. “So it’s a coordinated work where we both get a benefit.” Link

The Real Italian Car Company has plans to electrify the stone-cold Italian classic As compact and adorable as the current Fiat 500 electric is, a car restoration company in Italy is planning on revealing a fully electrified version of the even more compact, impossibly adorable original Fiat 500. The Real Italian Car Company – whose fine work we sampled recently – explained to TopGear.com there are plans to electrify the Italian classic, turning it into a zero-emission, congestion and ULEZ charge-exempt runaround. The team is currently analysing a number of proposals from various suppliers, though at this early stage they’re still determining the overall vehicle concept. “We’re going into the realms of proper engineering, it’s not back-of-a-cigarette-packet stuff,” said TRICC’s Anthony Peacock. “We’ll set out the parameters like weight, range and packaging, and see where we go from there.” The proposals hail from the UK, the USA and Italy, with a range of different options – batteries and a motor in the rear boot, for example, or up front, or indeed front and back. “Like all electric cars it’s a trade off,” he said, “between weight, range and space. “A huge number of batteries gives you a lot of range, but that increases the weight. And do you really need 200 miles of range in a car like this? And while the concept of having batteries front and back might balance the car, we need to think about luggage space. “We’re leaning towards the solution with the batteries in the boot at the moment, but it’s early days,” he added. The plan is to have a working electric Fiat 500 prototype by early next year. “We have to do it in a sustainable, scalable way,” Peacock said. “It’s got to be with the right partner.” In the meantime, they’re busy fulfilling the increased order bank of original, restored combustion-engined 500s. Link

The no-jury trial in Manhattan is expected to last nearly three months. Former President Donald Trump and several of his children are listed as potential witnesses. Donald Trump was in the courtroom Monday for the beginning of the $250 million civil fraud trial brought by the New York attorney general’s office against the former president, his company and two of his children — a case that could have widespread implications for the former president's businesses. Trump, who was not required to attend the trial, sat with his arms crossed for most of AG attorney Kevin Wallace’s presentation to Judge Arthur Engoron, occasionally tapping his foot. The trial puts into focus Trump’s business acumen, as the AG’s office seeks to portray the image-fixated ex-president as a fraud who intentionally overstated his successes. After opening statements were done, Trump walked out of the courtroom shooting an angry glare at Attorney General Letitia James. “We’re going to be here for months with a judge that already made up his mind. It’s ridiculous,” Trump complained to reporters during the lunch break, amping up his attacks on Engoron, whose rulings in the case could cost Trump’s company hundreds of millions of dollars and impact its ability to do business in New York. “This is a judge that should be disbarred. This is a judge that should be out of office. This is a judge that some people say could be charged criminally for what he’s doing. He’s interfering with an election, and it’s a disgrace,” Trump said. In his opening statement, Wallace told Engoron that Trump and officials at his company had engaged in "persistent illegal acts" with overly inflated financial statements with values that were "determined by Donald Trump." He said Trump overvalued his financial statements between $812 million and $2.2 billion, knew that they were false and used them to obtain benefits including loans at terms he was not entitled to. Trump tried to blame former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg for the financial certifications at his deposition in the case, Wallace said, but "he was lying." The civil trial kicks off what may be a series of courtroom appearances by Trump, who is also facing criminal charges in four different jurisdictions, including two cases in connection with his bid to overturn the 2020 election. Trump has sought to paint all of his legal woes as an effort to keep him from returning to power and political retribution as he holds onto the lead in the Republican primary. Trump's attorney Christopher Kise said in his opening statement that the evidence would show Trump "made many billions of dollars being right about real estate investments" and "building one of the most successful real estate empires in the world" and "one of the most successful brands." He told the judge that valuations are subjective, and noted that Trump never defaulted on any of the loans. "There was no fraud," Kise said. "President Trump did not make any false statements." The no-jury trial in Manhattan is expected to last about three months, concluding by Dec. 22, and will be decided by Engoron. Kise was followed by combative Trump attorney Alina Habba, who's clashed with the judge in the past. Habba called former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, one of the AG's witnesses in the case, a "liar," suggested James' investigation was politically motivated and complained that James was undervaluing Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida club, which she said is "worth at least a billion dollars." The AG's office said its value is closer to $75 million. Habba also complained that her client "did want a jury" to hear the case, but Engoron noted that Trump's team had never asked for a jury trial. The first witness called by the AG's office was Donald Bender, Trump's former accountant. Bender testified at last year's criminal tax fraud trial against two Trump Organization companies that were ultimately convicted and fined $1.6 million. On Monday, Bender testified about how he would compile Trump's financial statements — the documents the AG said had inflated values. Bender said he used information that was sent to him from the company to put them together. Though Bender was speaking in fairly dry technical terms, many in the courtroom seemed to be enthralled. As the testimony went on through the afternoon, Trump appeared agitated at times, his face beet-red while he whispered to his attorneys. His demeanor changed at the end of the court day, when the judge told the AG's office some of Bender's testimony was redundant and needed to be tied into contracts within the statute of limitations in the case to be considered relevant. Kise stood up and said he agreed, and Trump gave two thumbs up. Bender's testimony will resume Tuesday morning. Earlier, Trump addressed the media assembled outside the courtroom as he arrived for the trial at 10 a.m., attacking James and accusing her of filing the case to damage him politically. "They’re trying to damage me so I don’t do as well as I’m doing," Trump, who is currently the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination said. The judge recently sided in part with James' office, finding that Trump committed repeated acts of fraud for years that included lying to banks and insurers by both overvaluing and undervaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth by billions of dollars. Trump’s arguments to defend the fraudulent statements are based in “a fantasy world, not the real world,” Engoron wrote in a 35-page ruling last week. The ruling, which allowed the case to go to trial this week, will also have practical repercussions for Trump's numerous limited liability companies, or LLCs. The judge's order set in motion a dissolution process for entities like Trump Organization LLC, which has helped expand the Trump brand over the years. The outstanding issues in the case, beyond what Engoron ruled on last week, will be resolved at trial. Kise has called that ruling “outrageous” and said he planned to appeal. Trump has repeatedly disparaged Engoron, including as recently as Sunday night when he called Engoron a “Trump Hating Judge who is unfair, unhinged, and vicious in his PURSUIT of me” in a post on Truth Social. New York Attorney General Letitia James at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference National Town Hall in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21. Trump confirmed Sunday on Truth Social that he would be in the courtroom for the opening of the trial "to fight for my name and reputation.” He's expected to attend the first two days of the proceedings. James was in the courtroom Monday for the beginning of the trial. Trump did not acknowledge her as he walked in, followed by his son Eric. Before entering, Trump delivered remarks in the hallway in which he criticized James directly, calling her a "corrupt attorney general." “Everything was perfect. There was no crime. The crime is against me," Trump said in the courthouse, where Walt Nauta, his aide and co-defendant on federal charges he mishandled classified documents, was in his entourage. James said in a statement ahead of the trial “No matter how rich or powerful you are, there are not two sets of laws for people in this country. The rule of law must apply equally to everyone, and it is my responsibility to make sure that it does." She told reporters on her way into court that "no one is above the law. And it is my responsibility and my duty and my job to enforce it." Trump and three of his children, Don Jr. and Eric, who both serve as senior executives in the Trump Organization, and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, are among the 28 witnesses the A.G.'s office plans to call. Allen Weisselberg, the company’s former chief financial officer, is also set to take the stand, in addition to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer. In a criminal trial last year, Weisselberg testified against the Trump Organization and was sentenced to five months in jail in connection with his role in the company’s 15-year tax fraud scheme. The Trump Organization was convicted on 17 counts related to conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records and was hit with $1.6 million in fines. Link

Young men from Africa and the Middle East are making the journey through Europe on foot In a corner of the Italian Alps, a queue of Sudanese and Afghans are swapping their sandals for hiking boots and replacing flip-flops with sturdy trainers, preparing, they hope, for their trek to freedom. They are today's arrivals - around 150 - at a makeshift camp in the picturesque town of Oulx manned by local volunteers. They give out donated coats to the migrants to help them survive the mountain temperatures on the arduous journey ahead. For even here, having reached Italy from across Africa and the Middle East, these groups of mostly young men want to go on to France and beyond. More than 130,000 migrants have entered Italy this year - almost double the same period in 2021, following a surge of arrivals by boat to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa. Numbers travelling north to the border with France have doubled in the past few months. But France's authorities are detaining and pushing back undocumented migrants, having reintroduced controls on its border with Italy, suspending parts of the Schengen free movement regulations. The European Court of Justice recently ruled that the pushbacks breach EU law and that migrants detained should be subject to an official return decision, adding that forced removal should only be "a last resort." Migrants don warm clothes and boots for the dangerous trek over the Alps One of those trying to make the journey to France is Omar, from Nigeria, who spent months in Libya before paying smugglers the equivalent of $800 (£660) to make the dangerous trip across the Mediterranean to Lampedusa. From there, he was moved to two camps elsewhere in Italy, before managing, he says, to get out and walk to the French border. Now his aim is to reach the UK. "I just want to have a good life and study there," he tells me, his foot bandaged from an injury at sea. I ask whether he's seen pictures or heard stories of economic migrants being refused asylum in France or the UK and being sent back. He has, he says, but even if he meets the same fate, he will try again. "If I have to return to Nigeria, my parents will be so sad, because their dreams didn't become true," he adds. Some fail early. We watch as an Italian police car drives an Egyptian migrant back to the makeshift camp, caught before he could make the crossing. But the checks on this side of the border are rare, with volunteer Elena telling me she's only seen it happen two or three times in the couple of months she's been there. So are the Italian police turning a blind eye, I ask? "They know exactly what we're doing here, they know exactly what these people are here for, so it's like a game somehow," she says. "They know, but they pretend not to know." People like Elena help out the migrants who are trying to cross into France I put it to her that some would see her work as encouraging illegal migration. Just last week, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hit out at Germany's government for funding NGOs that help migrants around Italy, denouncing them as "a pull factor." "I don't care," Elena says. "If you see somebody who needs something, and you know the risks in the mountains, can you allow people to walk like this? This is the responsibility of all of Europe." After a short bus ride to the town of Claviere, the migrants reach the border. But, fearing police, most avoid the road up to the official crossing. Instead, they scatter into the forest, hiding and waiting to dash across the mountains, away from prying eyes. Shrouded in mist, and with temperatures dropping fast, the perilous rocky paths have already claimed several lives. Some migrants have died trying to make the dangerous journey through the mountains Others search for alternative routes, four hours' drive south in the Italian coastal city of Ventimiglia, close to Nice. Here, migrants camp out at the station, trying their luck on a cross-border train. But France's controls are stringent; we accompany French police who stop every train arriving from Italy, asking for identity papers from passengers and even checking toilets for stowaways. In one carriage, a handful of Africans are caught without documents, led off to be sent back across the border to Italy, from where they will almost certainly try again. The rapid rise in migrant arrivals here is infuriating Ventimiglia's mayor, Flavio di Muro, from the far-right Lega party. He hits out at France's suspension of the Schengen free movement zone on this border, which has facilitated the checks and pushbacks. "The EU is not working," he laments. "Each country is setting its own migration limits and Italy has to shoulder the burden alone. I've put armed guards in the cemetery because migrants were entering to spit on graves, urinate and vandalise the bathrooms," he claims. "We've reached our limit. We could become the Lampedusa of the north." On the Alpine border in Claviere, the temperature is dropping fast as autumn wears on. At night, groups of migrants huddle together under the shelter of the church, some lighting a fire to help pass the hours until their attempt to cross the mountains undetected. Red Cross workers come to distribute food and water - one telling me of migrants they found who needed their fingers amputated after catching frostbite. Amid the forests of the Alps and the railways of Ventimiglia, a new bottleneck in Europe is emerging. And whatever the continent's leaders seem to do, the determination of the desperate is proving impossible to quash. Link

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