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The text of an inflammatory “letter to America” from 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden has gone viral on TikTok and drawn praise from young users — and US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are blasting the China-owned app for promoting terrorist propaganda.

In the letter, bin Laden claimed that he orchestrated the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center that killed nearly 3,000 Americans because the US attacked us in Palestine.

Bin Laden called the creation of Israel a crime which must be erased. He also claimed that the AIDS epidemic was “a Satanic American Invention” and objected to US companies allowing women to have jobs, fuming, “You use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers to increase your profit margins.”

The antisemitic tirade went on to assert that in the US, Jews “control your policies, media and economy.”

The Guardian, which had published the full text of the letter in 2002, pulled it down on Wednesday, citing the fact in a statement that it was being widely shared on social media without the full context. Therefore we have decided to take it down and direct readers to the news article that originally contextualized it instead.

The TikTok trend appears to have been jumpstarted by Lynette Adkins — a social media influencer with 12 million followers who has been profiled in the Los Angeles Times.

In her video, which has received nearly 100,000 likes and more than 5,500 comments since it was posted Wednesday, Adkins told her followers to stop what theyre doing right now and go read a letter to America.

Adkins followed up with several other posts, including one in which she discussed three movies to watch after youve read a letter to America and another in which she reacted to the Guardian taking down the text and declared America is losing the PR war bad.

The Guardian taking that post down is actually one of the worst things that they couldve done. I dont know who was behind it or what the reasoning was, but I feel like it literally just confirmed everything that we read in the letter, Adkins said.

When reached for comment, a TikTok spokesperson said content promoting this letter clearly violates our rules on supporting any form of terrorism and added that the company was proactively and aggressively removing this content and investigating how it got onto our platform.

At the same time, the company bizarrely tried to deny that the bin Laden-related content had gone viral — despite videos that racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

The number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our platform are inaccurate, the spokesperson added. This is not unique to TikTok and has appeared across multiple platforms and the media.”

Many of the TikTok users promoting the letter were women.

A second said she would “never look at life the same, I will never look at this country the same. Please read it and if you have read it, let me know if you are also going through an existential crisis in this very moment, because in the last 20 minutes, the entire viewpoint on the entire life I have believed and I have lived has changed.”

Another social media user whose video went viral said that after reading the letter, “it becomes apparent to me that the actions of 9/11 and those acts committed against the US and its people were all just the buildup of our government failing other nations.”

Elsewhere, TikTok user @Raeyreads posted the full text of bin Ladens letter to her TikTok account, where it has received more than 1 million views.

Its crazy that we are JUST now finding out about this. The U.S. government truly believes they are untouchable and never learned from the past, one user wrote in response.

Over the past 24 hours, thousands of TikToks (at least) have been posted where people share how they just read Bin Ladens infamous "Letter to America," in which he explained why he attacked the United States.

The TikToks are from people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and pic.twitter.com/EwjiGtFEE3

“The fact I agree with a lot of what hes saying. explains why the Us government didnt publicize this or teach us about it,” another said.

The videos in support of bin Laden surfaced just days after The Post reported that several Republican lawmakers had renewed their calls for TikTok to be banned for spreading content that critics deemed anti-Israel during the nations ongoing war with Hamas.

Critics from both political parties have alleged that TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, is effectively a mass surveillance and propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Freelance journalist Yashar Ali shared a number of the viral video clips on X, saying without criticizing any of the posts that the “TikToks are from people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Many of them say that reading the letter has opened their eyes, and theyll never see geopolitical matters the same way again.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said the footage showed how China-owned TikTok is pushing pro-terrorist propaganda to influence Americans.

These people are sympathizing with Osama bin Laden the terrorist responsible for 9/11 and thousands of American deaths, Gottheimer said. TikTok must be banned or sold to an American company.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) described TikTok as a geyser of terrorist propaganda – and the most effective surveillance tool for a foreign government ever invented.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another vocal advocate for a TikTok ban in the US, also chimed in on the alarming situation.

Now trending on social media (especially TikTok) people saying that after reading Bin Ladens Letter to America, they now understand terrorism is a legitimate method of resistance against oppression and America deserved to be attacked of 9/11, Rubio said.

The Guardians website now displays a message to readers explaining that the text had been removed.

This page previously displayed a document containing, in translation, the full text of Osama bin Ladens ‘letter to the American people,’ as reported in the Observer on Sunday 24 November 2002. The document, which was published here on the same day, was removed on 15 November 2023, the message said.

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Scottish artist Nnena Kalu wins Turner Prize 2025 for hanging Barcelona sculptures and Liverpool exhibition

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Scottish artist Nnena Kalu wins Turner Prize 2025 for hanging Barcelona sculptures and Liverpool exhibition

Scottish artist Nnena Kalu has won the 2025 Turner Prize with two exhibitions, including a series of brightly coloured sculptures.

The Glaswegian, 59, took home the visual arts prize along with £25,000 at an award ceremony on Tuesday in Bradford, this year’s UK City of Culture.

As reported by The Guardian, she is the first artist with a learning disability to win the award.

Nnena Kalu, from Glasgow, is the winner of this year's Turner Prize. Pic: Nnena Kalu/ActionSpace/PA
Image:
Nnena Kalu, from Glasgow, is the winner of this year’s Turner Prize. Pic: Nnena Kalu/ActionSpace/PA

Along with Hanging Sculpture 1-10, which European art exhibitors Manifesta commissioned her to create at a disused power station in Barcelona, Ms Kalu won for her presentation in Conversations, a group exhibition at Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

For the sculpture series, the artist created the vividly-coloured works from repeated lines and wrappings of different materials, making nest or cocoon-like forms.

Hanging Sculpture 1 - 10 by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA
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Hanging Sculpture 1 – 10 by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA

The installation consisted of 10 large brightly-coloured sculptures that hung from grey concrete pillars of the industrial site.

Meanwhile, for Conversations, Kalu presented work in pen, graphite and chalk pen on two pieces of paper.

More on Turner Prize

Conversations by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA
Image:
Conversations by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA

The jury, which was chaired by Alex Farquharson, the director of Tate Britain, commended Kalu’s “bold and compelling work” and praised the “lively translation of expressive gesture” in the abstract sculpture and drawing.

The panel also acknowledged her scale, composition and colour, highlighting “the powerful presence” her works have.

Nnena Kalu's nominated Turner Prize works. Pic: PA
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Nnena Kalu’s nominated Turner Prize works. Pic: PA

Kalu is also a resident artist at ActionSpace’s studio, which supports learning disabled artists across London at Studio Voltaire, and beat out fellow shortlisted artists Rene Matic, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa.

The works by the four artists are currently available to see at a free exhibition at Bradford’s Cartwright Hall Art Gallery until 22 February.

Jonathan Orrell views work by Nnena Kalu for the Turner Prize. Pic: PA
Image:
Jonathan Orrell views work by Nnena Kalu for the Turner Prize. Pic: PA

Named after British painter JMW Turner, this year’s prize marked the 250th anniversary of his birth.

Read more from Sky News:
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‘Illegal, industrial-scale waste operation’ suspected in London

Previous winners include artist Damien Hirst in 1995 and filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen in 1999, while last year’s winner, Jasleen Kaur, picked up the prize for Alter Altar – which covered a red sports car with a giant ornamental doily mat.

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Environment

Is a $10,000 discount enough to overcome your VW ID.Buzz sticker shock?

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Is a ,000 discount enough to overcome your VW ID.Buzz sticker shock?

VW’s retro-tastic minivan hasn’t been the sales success the company might have wanted, and a lot of that has to do with the van’s sky high price tag. Now, VW is asking: will a $10,000 discount be enough to create some buzz for the ID.Buzz?

Volkswagen is offering $7,500 in Retail Customer Bonus cash this month – up from the $2,500 the company offered its Black Friday customers – that, along with an additional $2,500 unadvertised dealer cash incentive that CarsDirect is reporting absolutely, definitely exists, adds up to a stout $10,000 total discount on the all-electric VW ID.Buzz … and that’s before you start haggling with your dealer over the MSRP.

It’s a lot


VW ID. Buzz trims
Photo: Volkswagen of America.

As much as I like the the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, its starting MSRP around $61,545 (incl. destination) puts it at nearly twice what you’d probably expect a minivan to cost if the last time you shopped for one was at a Dodge store. Still, that hefty price tag is some $20,000 higher than the baseline Toyota Sienna hybrid or Honda Odyssey.

That 50% higher price is a lot to swallow even if you do buy into the nostalgia. Still, the ID.Buzz is capable enough, and with ~230 miles of range and 282 hp on offer from its battery/electric motor combo – plus Supercharger access – it’s at least able to keep up with the minivan competition.

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So, while that $10,000 discount isn’t going to turn the ID.Buzz into the second coming of the affordable, family-hauling Caravan, it does bring VW’s electric people-mover a little closer to earth. In fact, with a $50K price tag, it’s right in line with the average transaction price of a new vehicles. So, if nothing else, that reduced price could finally gives electric minivan buyers something to buzz about (I tried so hard to work that in, you guys).

If you’ve been shopping for a family-hauler and dig the retro vibe over something like the (excellent) Kia EV9, click through the link below and set up a test drive at your local VW dealer.

SOURCE: CarsDirect; images via VW.


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Sports

White Sox win draft lottery, will pick 1st in 2026

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White Sox win draft lottery, will pick 1st in 2026

The Chicago White Sox won the 2026 MLB draft lottery Tuesday and will pick first in next summer’s draft.

The White Sox had the best odds to get the top pick at 27.73% after finishing 60-102 in the 2025 season. They will have the top selection for the first time since taking Harold Baines in 1977.

Tuesday’s draft lottery determined the first six spots of the first round, with the remaining picks being set in inverse order of the teams’ regular-season records.

The Tampa Bay Rays will select at No. 2, and the No. 3 pick went to the Minnesota Twins, who had the second-best odds to win the lottery at 22.18%. Rounding out the six lottery picks were the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals.

The league-worst Colorado Rockies(43-119) were not eligible for this year’s lottery because a team cannot receive a lottery pick in three consecutive years. They will pick 10th in the draft.

The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels also were not eligible because they are “payor clubs” — or teams that give rather than receive revenue-sharing dollars — and cannot receive a lottery pick in consecutive years. The Nationals landed the 11th pick, while the Angels will pick 12th.

MLB and the players’ association established the lottery in the March 2022 collective bargaining agreement. The union pushed for the innovation to encourage teams to compete for wins rather than trade off players at the deadline in an attempt to get a higher draft choice.

The 2026 draft will take place July 11-12 in Philadelphia as part of MLB’s All-Star Week festivities.

The Nationals won the lottery last year and selected high school shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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