Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza | Israel's attacks on Gaza were protested with marches Saturday in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands. ● Thousands marched in Madrid to support Palestine. They gathered in the city center of Madrid on the call of non-governmental organizations and participated in the demonstration organized under the title "We condemn the genocide and Zionist massacre in Gaza." ● Thousands holding Palestinian flags criticized Israel and its collaborators -- the US and the European Union. Carrying banners that read: "This is not a war but genocide", "Free Palestine", "Not in my name" and "Murderer Israel", protesters delivered the message: "No to genocide in Gaza, occupation in Palestine, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and settler colonialism." ● Demonstrators demanded that the Spanish government and the international community take "urgent, concrete and effective measures against Israel, to stop arms trade with Israel and to boycott Israeli companies involved in the massacre."

'Dropping bombs on thousands of innocent children, women and the elderly does not make you a hero,' Petro says | Colombian President Gustavo Petro blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, saying he will "go down in history as a genocide perpetrator."

💬 "Mr. Netanyahu, you will go down in history as a genocide perpetrator. Dropping bombs on thousands of innocent children, women and the elderly does not make you a hero," he said in a post on X in response to Netanyahu's antisemitism accusation. "You remain alongside those who murdered millions of Jews in Europe. Genocide, whether it is related to religion or not, is genocide. At least stop the onslaught that is continuing," he said.

■ Netanyahu trades insults with Colombia president over Gaza war (The Telegraph) | "Israel will not be lectured by an antisemitic supporter of Hamas," Netanyahu wrote in a post on X on Saturday.

The first F-16 fighter jets are expected to be supplied to Ukraine in just a few weeks, UK newspaper The Standard reported, citing a high-ranking military source. | The fighters should be delivered to Ukraine by June or July, the report said on Saturday, adding that the source did not specify from which countries these jets would arrive. ● The Netherlands and Denmark were among the first countries to agree to supply F-16s to Ukraine. The White House later confirmed that Kiev would receive the US-made jets from third countries once Ukrainian pilots complete the training to fly them. Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the Hague planned to deliver the first batch of F-16s to Ukraine in 2024, although the ministry announced in early January that the delivery would be delayed by up to six months.

■ German MPs suggest NATO impose no-fly zone over western Ukraine (RT.com)
■ Ukrainian militants conduct mass shelling off Russia’s Belgorod, 28 injured and one dead (RT.com/Telegram)
■ Ukrainian government warns citizens of possible full mobilization (RT.com)
■ Ukraine sounds alarm: Full mobilization warning issued to citizens (Al Mayadeen)
■ Eric Denécé : “War in Ukraine, NATO and the USA Wanted to Overthrow Putin. Mission Failed” (South Front)
■ US regime-change operation in Ukraine exposed in leaked diplomatic phone call (Patrick O’Connor) (02/07/14)

he Baltic states have been displaying “extreme Russophobia,” harassing even Russian-speaking children, a senior diplomat says | Moscow will not sever diplomatic relations with Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania despite the “extreme Russophobia” rampant in the three Baltic states, since such a move would effectively mean “abandoning our compatriots in trouble,” the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second European Department, Sergei Belyayev, has said. ● The senior diplomat made the remarks in an interview with TASS published on Saturday. Moscow downgraded diplomatic relations with the three countries a year ago, in response to repeated hostile acts on their part, with the country’s missions currently led by their respective chargés d’affaires, Belyayev noted. ● “Today, our diplomatic missions in the Baltic states operate in extremely difficult, effectively siege conditions,” the diplomat explained. ● The Russian missions there have been repeatedly vandalized, with russophobic pickets held outside the facilities on an almost daily basis and employees attacked on several occasions. The hostile activities have been going on with the “connivance of local authorities” and no real action to stop them has been taken, Belyayev added.

Trade union displays message calling for ceasefire, as Israeli entrant qualifies for final in Sweden amid mass protest | A Belgian broadcaster interrupted its coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final on Thursday night to display a protest message condemning Israel's war on Gaza. ● In an act organised by a trade union, the screen briefly went black ahead of the semi-final coverage on VRT, Belgium's public-service broadcaster in Flemish. It then aired the message: "This is a union action. We condemn the human rights violations by the state of Israel. Moreover, the state of Israel destroys press freedom. Therefore, we are interrupting the broadcast momentarily." The message concluded with the hashtags "CeasefireNow" and "StopGenocide". ● Israeli singer Eden Golan participated in the semi-final on Thursday in the Swedish city of Malmo, qualifying for Saturday's final.

■ Israeli Eurovision singer features on Ukrainian ‘kill list’ (RT.com)

David Miller | The Campaign Against Antisemitism is a covert instrument of the foreign policy objectives of the illegitimate and genocidal Zionist regime. It should be shut down. | Gideon Falter had his face plastered all over the British mainstream media after he tried to provoke a confrontation with thousands of anti-genocide protestors in central London on April 13. A specially edited video produced by his organisation the Campaign for Antisemitism, was released to the media 5 days after the march. It caused a deluge of headlines on the "shocking moment" police threatened to arrest Falter "simply" for being "quite openly Jewish". This narrative dominated all major news outlets for some five days, until Sky News published a much longer video, lasting 13 minutes, which showed the encounter in context. This started to change the story.

■ APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE IN THE GAZA STRIP (ORDER OF 26 JANUARY 2024) (.pdf) + APPLICATION INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS (.pdf)
■ THE EXPRESSION OF HATRED FOR GENTILES (Richard Edmondson/Nahida Izzat) (10/04/14)

At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel’s Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photographs of a scene that he says continues to haunt him. | Rows of men in gray tracksuits are seen sitting on paper-thin mattresses, ringfenced by barbed wire. All appear blindfolded, their heads hanging heavy under the glare of floodlights. A putrid stench filled the air and the room hummed with the men’s murmurs, the Israeli who was at the facility told CNN. Forbidden from speaking to each other, the detainees mumbled to themselves. “We were told they were not allowed to move. They should sit upright. They’re not allowed to talk. Not allowed to peek under their blindfold.” Guards were instructed “to scream uskot” – shut up in Arabic – and told to “pick people out that were problematic and punish them,” the source added.

■ Gaza civilians voice out their chilling encounters with Israeli torture (TRT World)
■ Tied, diapered, beaten: Israeli insiders reveal severe Palestinian torture (TRT World)
■ Gaza Al-Shifa doctor tortured to death by Israeli forces (Al Mayadeen)
■ 3,000+ Palestinians from Gaza detained, tortured in Israeli prisons (04/16/24)
■ Horrifying cases of torture and degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees, spike in arbitrary arrests (04/13/24)
■ Released Detainees From Israeli Prisons Showed Signs of Torture (03/18/24)
■ Torture, Executions, Babies Left to Die, Sexual Abuse… These Are Israel’s Crimes (03/18/24)
■ Iron bars, electric shocks, dogs and cigarette burns: How Palestinians are tortured in Israeli detention (03/12/24)
■ Horrifying cases of torture and degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees amid spike in arbitrary arrests

Aid operations set to go into 'standstill' as Cairo ceasefire talks end with no breakthrough | Around 80,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee again in recent days as Israel intensified attacks in Rafah and across the Gaza Strip, according to Unrwa. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Thursday that people were “facing yet another forced displacement in the Gaza Strip”, leaving an “unbearable” toll on families. ● People were forced to flee from eastern Rafah and parts of Gaza City as Israeli troops launched another ground assault on the Zeitoun neighbourhood overnight. At least 60 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the past days, bringing the total death toll to 34,904 since 7 October when the war broke out, according to the Palestinian health ministry. ● The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, released several battlefield updates on Thursday, indicating fierce street fighting in eastern Rafah and the Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Colombia’s president has slammed the Gaza war as a “genocide” | Colombian President Gustavo Petro has urged the International Criminal Court and the UN Security Council to take action to prevent a “genocide” of the Palestinian people in the Gazan city of Rafah. ● Israel’s war cabinet approved a “measured expansion” of the military operation in Rafah on Friday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledging to push ahead with the offensive despite the US threats to curtail military aid.

💬 “Netanyahu will not stop the genocide,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, reacting to the Israeli leader’s declaration. “That implies an international arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.”

The Colombian leader went on to suggest that the UN Security Council should “consider the establishment of a peacekeeping force in the territory of Gaza.” In a Labor Day speech in Bogota earlier this month, Petro vowed to cut diplomatic relations with Israel’s “genocidal” leadership, expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza whose “children have died, dismembered by bombs.” ● Rafah in southern Gaza is the territory's last major population center still not under Israeli control. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Palestinians have taken shelter there in recent months. Earlier this week, Israel bombarded the city and sent troops and dozens of tanks into the eastern districts in what it described as a “limited” operation.

Weather experts warn of potential disruptions to power grids, communications as sun’s outburst continues in coming days. | The most powerful solar storm in more than 20 years has struck Earth’s atmosphere, triggering warnings over the potential disruption to power grids and satellite communications while also producing spectacular celestial light shows in some parts of the world. ● The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which issued a rare solar storm warning, said the solar outburst reached Earth at about 16:00 GMT on Friday, hours sooner than anticipated. ● The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs), described as the expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun, was later upgraded by the NOAA to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm. It was the first solar storm occurrence since the Halloween storms of October 2003, which caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. More solar expulsions are expected in the coming days, and possibly into next week, according to the NOAA. ● The United States agency alerted operators of power plants and spacecraft in orbit to take precautions. Fluctuating magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires, including power lines, which can potentially cause blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering problems. Spacecraft are at risk from high doses of radiation, although the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.

London is supporting Kiev in an attempt to boost its role in NATO, a high-ranking Russian diplomat has said | Ukrainian forces are actively using weapons supplied by Britain to carry out terrorist attacks against Russian regions, Foreign Ministry official Sergey Belyaev has said. ● London remains one of the largest donors of weaponry to Kiev, providing £7.1 billion ($8.9 billion) in assistance since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Belyaev, who heads the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second European Department, said in an interview with TASS news agency, published on Saturday.

💬 "UK-supplied weapons are being actively used by the Ukrainian military in terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure and the civilian population of Donbass, as well as other Russian regions.” ● "The British acted in a similar manner when they began deliveries of Storm Shadow cruise missiles and Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine,” becoming one of the first countries to provide Kiev with such types of hardware, he explained.

The strained relationship between Russia and Britain deteriorated further last week after Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Ukraine has the “right” to use UK-provided weaponry to strike targets deep inside Russia, if it decides to do so.

■ Russia issues military ultimatum to UK (RT.com)

■ Ukraine a ‘corrupt s**thole’ – ex-Boris Johnson adviser (RT.com)
■ How Britain Sabotaged Ukraine Peace (Al Mayadeen)
■ Scott Ritter Predicts How Ukraine Will End (Sputnik News)

Chris Doyle | The British foreign secretary may have to stick to a pro-forma script that maintain Britain’s complicity in the ongoing Israeli crimes | For three months, the British government has repeatedly voiced concerns regarding the Israeli intention to launch a ground invasion of Rafah. Yet, when the actual Israeli invasion kicked off this week, the British government was deathly silent. No ministerial statement, no government press release and no social media posts. David Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, has embarked on an impressive disappearing act. ■ When he did finally pop up to make a major foreign affairs speech on Thursday, he made three standard references to Gaza and not one about any invasion of Rafah. He dodged the chance to stand tall on the world stage. Government ministers would score a set of perfect 10s for the verbal gymnastics in order to skip past the understandable parliamentary and media questions fired off at them.

An estimated 80,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah and thousands more are attempting to leave as Israel’s ground invasion ramps up. | Patients and staff are being forced out of hospitals across Rafah as Israel’s attacks on the city intensify, leaving many sick and wounded Palestinians with no way to be treated.

💬 “We have no beds, no hospitals to refer [people to], especially for critical patients,” Palestinian doctor Mohammed Zaqout said. “Al-Najjar Hospital is out of service. And the Kuwaiti Hospital [in Rafah] is just for trauma and emergency,” he added.

■ 'Israel's' assault on detainees will not weaken their resolve: Hamas (Al Mayadeen)
■ Bolivia decries Israeli obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip (Al Mayadeen)
■ Gaza crossings still closed, no aid entering despite Israeli claims: Authority (Yeni Şafak)
■ ‘It’s not human’: What a French doctor saw in Gaza as Israel invaded Rafah (Urooba Jamal)

Elizabeth Nickson | They Break Every Family, Every Country | They call themselves by a proliferation of names: the Olympians, the Elect, Bilderbergers, the 300, demi-gods, the Black Nobility, other silly secret names that must not be spoken. They are secret because their intent is evil. They practice the occult – foolish and irresponsible – they are “Masons” of the crazy branch, a cult that operates entirely in the dark and entirely for themselves. They are as power-hungry as Hillary Clinton and far more corrupt than she or Biden or his dreadful son. They have been around for a thousand years, laughably tracing their bloodlines back to Sumer and the Pharaohs and they think that is important. [...] Here's the question everyone asks. How did they get so cruel? How can these men and women, their heirs, bent on forcing the Great Reset, imprisoning everyone in 15 minute cities, chipped, monitored, and fed chemical stew, justify themselves? How did the top run of health professionals see Covid for what it was, as they had to, and yet go along with the vaccines, knowing, as we now know they knew, how dangerous, how lethal they are. It is impossible to view Edward Dowd’s latest disability figures, look at his projections of illness and death down the line and not think this was a deliberate cull. Another example of their barbarity, their murderous intent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has submitted a proposal to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia, to appoint Mikhail Mishustin as Russia's prime minister, State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Friday.

💬 "President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has submitted a proposal to the State Duma on the candidacy of Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin for the post of prime minister," Volodin said on Telegram.

■ Russia to undergo economic transition – deputy PM (RT.com)

A child trembles in fear as a result of the Israeli bombing of homes in the Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/oJvrkeQgzK

— S p r i n t e r F a c t o r y (@Sprinterfactory) November 5, 2023

Concerns of potential war crimes have been raised after the discovery of a third mass grave in the remains of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza which has been under the “Israeli” bombardment since October last year. | The graves were found to contain bodies without heads following the “Israeli” military siege on the Gaza hospitals. ● The Palestinian resistance group Hamas called the discovery of the new mass grave further proof of the "Israeli" occupation army's brutality towards Palestinians and the medical field, according to a statement released on Wednesday. ● The statement added that the “Israeli” occupation is undermining the livelihoods of Gaza residents to carry out its agenda of elimination and displacement. It also demanded the opening of an independent international investigation into the crimes against humanity committed by the occupying entity against medical staff, the wounded, the sick, the displaced and civilians in general. ● At least 49 bodies were discovered by health workers at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, according to a medical official and Gaza authorities. This marks the latest finding at the facility, which had been previously raided by “Israeli” occupation forces.

■ Gaza Al-Shifa doctor tortured to death by Israeli forces (Al Mayadeen)
■ Israel Tightens Starvation Blockade on Gaza (Antiwar.com)
■ Israel ‘choking off’ aid to Gaza as tens of thousands flee attack on Rafah (Al Jazeera)
■ 'Israel' committed 3,094 massacres, killed 15,000 children in 215 days (Al Mayadeen)
■ ‘The goal is to destroy Gaza’: Why Israel rejects a ceasefire with Hamas (Mat Nashed)

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman described as shameful and heinous the attempts by US lawmakers to provide immunity for the Israeli regime’s officials sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over their war crimes.

💬 "“The goal of a group of representatives of the US Congress and the US Senate is to threaten and pressure the prosecutors and judges of the International Criminal Court, to provide immunity for war crimes and genocide by the officials and military commanders of the Zionist regime, and this is a shameful and worrying action,” Nasser Kan'ani wrote in a post on X. ● “This heinous intervention will create a dangerous procedure that is contrary to the goals and raison d'etre of the International Criminal Court in punishing war criminals, while global silence in the face of such threats hinders the implementation of justice and the continuation of crimes against the Palestinian nation,” he added."

■ Rep. senators to ICC chief over Israeli arrests: 'You've been warned' (05/07/24)

■ EU agrees to tap Russian assets to arm Ukraine (RT.com)

West Jerusalem will be deprived of “offensive” US weapons if it launches a full-scale invasion | President Joe Biden has admitted that at least some Palestinian civilians in Gaza were killed by US-made bombs – and has vowed to halt the supply of any weapons that Israel could actively use in another major military operation in the southern city of Rafah. ● The US leader’s remarks come after Israeli tanks and troops entered the eastern districts of Rafah on Monday night, seizing the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. This was accompanied by airstrikes on the densely populated city. However, Biden believes that Israel has yet to cross Washington’s red line.

■ Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah (CTV)
■ Biden admits 'Israel' killed Palestinian civilians using US bombs (Al Mayadeen)
■ 'Israel' committed 3,094 massacres, killed 15,000 children in 215 days (Al Mayadeen)

The Victory Day Parade in Moscow is now over. Key takeaways from President Putin’s May 9 speech:

 ● The truth about WWII is being distorted as history hinders those who build colonial policies on lies
 ● The justification of Nazism is now a part of the Western elite’s policy
 ● The Russian Armed Forces are combat ready but we will do everything to prevent a world war
 ● Russia is going through a difficult period and the fate of the country depends on “each of us”
 ● We will never forget the common struggle and traditions in the fight against Nazism
 ● The participants of the special military operation are heroes and “the whole of Russia is on your side”

■ Russian military parade celebrates victory over Nazi Germany (VIDEO) (RT.com)

London has announced it will expel Moscow’s defense attaché and strip some Russia-owned properties from diplomatic status | UK Interior Minister James Cleverly has announced a package of sanctions targeting Russia’s diplomatic presence in the country in response to what he called Moscow’s “malign activity.” He outlined the measures while addressing Parliament on Wednesday. ● The measures include imposing new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas, including capping the length of time Russian diplomats can spend in the UK, and removing the status of diplomatic premises from several Russia-linked properties in the country. London believes that Moscow has used the properties, including Seacox Heath in Sussex and the Trade and Defense Section in Highgate, for intelligence purposes. Cleverly also announced the expulsion of the Russian defense attaché, whom London has branded an “undeclared military intelligence officer.”

■ UK announces expulsion of Russian defense attache, new diplomatic visa restrictions (TASS) | According to Home Secretary James Cleverly, this is a message to Moscow in response to its actions allegedly aimed at undermining British assistance to Ukraine.
■ Russia Warns British Ambassador - Russia May Strike British Forces Anywhere (05/06/24)

On Tuesday, the Israeli army intensified the bombing of various parts of the Gaza Strip, especially in Rafah, in the Southport area of the coastal enclave, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, including many children and women. | TXTOn Tuesday evening, the army fired a missile at Palestinians, fleeing their homes southeast of Gaza City, killing one Palestinian and wounding several others. ● Eyewitnesses said an Israeli military drone fired a missile at the Palestinians near Doula Junction at the intersection between Street 8 and Zeitoun neighborhood, killing at least one and wounding many others, who were moved to the Baptist Hospital. ● In Rafah, in Gaza’s southmost part, the army fired missiles at homes in several parts of the city, killing many Palestinians, including children, and wounding dozens. ● Medical sources said an infant, Mohammad Saqallah, only four months, in addition to Mohammad Nader Qishta, 6 years of age, and Hamadan Nader Qishta, 8, were killed when the army fired a missile at their homes. The sources added that a Palestinian man, Ibrahim Yousef Srour, 35, was killed when the army bombarded the Rafah Border Terminal, as he and many families were trying to flee the area after the Israeli tanks invaded it, and dozens were injured.

■ Student protests against Israel’s war on Gaza spread across Europe (Al Jazeera)
■ Rafah invasion: With defeat in sight, how can Netanyahu declare victory? (David Hearst)

Matt Kennard | British spy planes have recorded up to 1,000 hours of footage over Gaza, including from the day Israel assassinated three UK aid workers. | The Royal Air Force (RAF) has flown 200 surveillance flights over Gaza since December, it can be revealed. The UK government refused to give any details about the flights which began on December 3 but Declassified has independently constructed a timeline. The extraordinary number of missions over the past five months works out at well over a flight per day and continues as Israel invades the supposedly “safe” southern city of Rafah. March saw the highest number of British spy flights over Gaza with 44 missions.

 ■ At the end of the 1980s, the reference geopolitical model was the unipolar world, based on Western primacy. What cultural, military, and economic pillars is the Washington Consensus based on? Is it true freedom? – The military in economic pillars that dominate Washington today have nothing to do with freedom. They have to do with people who were unwilling to accept the collapse of communism. Whereby the enemy was transformed by communism to ethnic racism.

 ■ With the birth of the BRICS, is it possible to talk about a multipolar option? What are the limits that you see in this geopolitical dimension? – The birth of the BRICS was caused by these people we call the neocons who engaged in ethnic racism and targeted Russia by removing them from the world economy under SWIFT. This woke up many in the world, realizing that the dollar was now being weaponized and was no longer a monetary instrument exclusively. Nations began to realize if they did not conform to the commands of Washington, then they to could be removed from SWIFT. Thus they have divided the world economy bringing to an end globalization.

 ■ Is it still possible to avoid a large-scale world conflict? – It is unlikely that we can avoid world war. Governments need war because their debts are no longer sustainable. They will use the war as the excuse for defaults – as was the case for WWII. They will create Bretton Woods II with the IMF digital currency as the reserve.

The Russian president’s leadership has paved the way for a multipolar world as the country is able to withstand Western aggression on multiple fronts. | Vladimir Putin was inaugurated for another term as Russia’s president Tuesday in a ceremony following an unprecedented victory in March’s election. ● Putin prevailed with 87% of the vote, an unmatched performance in Russia’s modern post-Soviet history, with voter turnout reaching over 77%. Western countries have expressed dissatisfaction with the development with only seven of the European Union’s 27 member states reportedly sending representatives to Tuesday’s ceremony. ● But domestic support for the longtime Russian leader is strong claimed international relations expert Mark Sleboda, who appeared on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Tuesday to discuss sentiment on the ground from Moscow.

■ Relations with West, national resilience and forging victory: Key takeaways from Putin’s inauguration (RT.com)
■ The shock and awe of yesterday, and then the inauguration (amarynth) (Global South)(H/T: Pepe Escobar)
■ Ukraine SitRep: Eating The Seed Corn - Intervention Threats And Responses (Moon of Alabama)
■ Russia responds to ‘provocative statements and threats’ by Western officials about sending troops into Ukraine with nuclear drills and threats of its own (Leo Hohman)