Ukraine has carried out its first strike on Russian territory with US-supplied long-range missiles just days after the Biden administration gave Kyiv the green light despite fears it could escalate the conflict beyond control.

■ A fiery explosion at an ammunition depot in Karachev around 75 miles from the Ukrainian border in Russia's Bryansk region lit up the night sky early this morning on what is the 1,000th day of war in Ukraine.
■ Eyewitnesses and Russian military bloggers first reported the attack, with Ukrainian military officials later confirming to RBC Ukraine the strike was indeed conducted with the US-manufactured ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System).
■ 'The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against it with the use of conventional weapons,' Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Russia this morning.

👉 His statement followed Vladimir Putin's approval of an updated nuclear doctrine that allows his strategic forces to deploy nuclear weapons if Russian or Belarusian territory is threatened by a non-nuclear nation supported by a nuclear power. Threats that could make Russia's leadership consider a nuclear strike include an attack with conventional missiles, drones or other aircraft, according to the updated document. A Ukrainian strike on Russian territory with US-supplied missiles meets these criteria, raising fears that Moscow may now consider a dramatic escalation in the conflict.

■ Kiev fires ATACMS missiles at Russia’s Bryansk Region – MOD (RT.com)
■ West wants escalation of conflict – Moscow (RT.com)
■ Training Ukrainian troops makes France direct participant in combat — top Russian diplomat (TASS)
■ What Has Happened May Have Dire Consequences (11/19/24)
✅ Patiently Waiting to Strike (William Schryver)

Dmitry Medvedev (Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council) (Дмитрий Медведев) |Regarding the unconfirmed decision on strikes "deep inside Russia" and the decision on Russia's nuclear policy approved by the President of Russia | After the dust raised by the Western newspapers has settled a bit, it is obvious that, despite the publications' obvious propaganda intent, what has happened may have dire consequences.

1. It is not so important who made the decision and when [they made it] to use tactical ballistic and long-range cruise missiles of NATO countries "deep into the territory" of Russia especially since there have already been attempts to use them on our country.

2. It is not so important how many of them the enemy has today. Nor does it matter that their use, according to our enemies, should have not only a military but also an informational effect.

3. It is not so important that these missiles cannot represent a significant contribution to the enemy's war effort.

4. It is not so important that with such decisions the current US administration is deliberately creating such an escalation of the conflict that Trump's team will have to deal with [the situation].

5. [But] one thing is important: [and that is] what the Russian head of state said on 12.09.09. As a result, a new version of the Basics of State Policy in the field of nuclear deterrence has been approved. The use of alliance missiles in this way can now be qualified as an attack by the bloc's countries on Russia. In this case, the right arises to retaliate with weapons of mass destruction against Kyiv and major NATO facilities, wherever they may be. And that's already WWIII.

Maybe old man Biden has decided to pass away beautifully, taking a significant part of humanity with him...(DeepL + Grammarly)

■ Putin approves Russia’s revised nuclear doctrine (TASS)
■ Moscow issues long-range missiles warning to West (RT.com)
■ Putin Signs Updated Russian Nuclear Doctrine (Sputnik)
■ Russia Changes Its Nuclear Doctrine: What Has Changed and Why Should West Be Wary? (Sputnik)

■ Report: Biden Allows Ukraine To Strike Russia With Long-Range US Missiles (Antiwar.com)
■ Biden authorizes use of US long-range weapons to strike inside Russia (TASS)
■ Biden's 'Unnecessary Escalation' Only Sets Trump Up for Failure - Ex-DoD Analyst (Sputnik)
■ Madness Unlimited: US Deep State Tries to Instigate WWIII - French Politician (Sputnik)
⚡ Biden Authorizes Ukrainian Long-Range Strikes Into Russia Using ATACMS Missiles - Reports (11/17/24)

■ Here we go, this just escalated WW III (Leo Hohmann)
■ In "Major Policy Shift" Biden Authorizes Ukraine's Use Of US Missiles To Hit Targets Inside Russia (Tyler Durden)
✅ To Prolong The War In Ukraine U.S. Allows ATACMS Use On Russia (Moon of Alabama)
✅ The Moment Of Truth: How Will Russia Respond To Ukraine’s Use Of Western Long-Range Missiles? (A. Korybko)
✅ Putin Explicitly Confirmed What Was Already Self-Evident About Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine (A. Korybko)(09/26/24)

Germany’s Federal Army is instructing companies on readiness for potential conflict under the secretive 1,000-page “Operationsplan Deutschland.” | The plan targets critical infrastructure protection, cyberattack resilience, and civil-military coordination. Firms are urged to develop crisis action plans, train employees, and enhance self-sufficiency with resources like diesel generators. Meetings, such as one in Hamburg, stressed logistical readiness and workforce training. The Army reportedly anticipates deploying forces to NATO’s eastern flank while relying on civilian support for energy, transport, and national defense.

■ Sweden Government Pamphlet To ENTIRE Population: "Prepare for Crisis or War" (Hal Turner)

Hours ago we reported an undersea cable between Finland and Germany had been cut; now ANOTHER undersea cable has also been cut. | A communication cable running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Sweden has been cut. This was reported by Andrius Šemeškevičius, a representative of the telecommunications company Telia Lietuva. “The cable was damaged. The systems report that we have lost communication.” The cable rupture is more likely to be the result of an intentional act than an accident, Tapio Frantti, professor of cybersecurity at the University of Jyväskylä, told Yle. His evaluation was based on preliminary media information.

💬 "If you look at this from the point of view of probability, then yes, this is on the side of intentionality," said Frantti. "When a cable breaks, it raises questions as to why it happened and who might have a motive to do something like this."

■ Undersea Communications Cable CUT - Finland to Germany (Hal Turner)

The president-elect’s son has blasted the “imbeciles” in Washington for reportedly approving Ukrainian missile strikes deep inside Russia | US President-elect Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has lashed out at the Democrats following reports that outgoing President Joe Biden has given Ukraine permission to use American-made long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russian territory. ■ Trump Jr., who campaigned alongside his father during the 2024 presidential election and has been helping him pick members of his future cabinet, did not mince his words on social media.

💬 “The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives,” he wrote on X on Sunday. “Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!”

■ US military-industrial complex seeks to unleash World War III — Donald Trump Jr. (TASS) | Later that day, France’s Le Figaro reported that France and the United Kingdom followed Biden’s lead and also allowed to use their weapons to strike inside Russia. [Biden clears Ukraine for long-range missile strikes inside Russia (Le Monde)]

■ Report: Biden Allows Ukraine To Strike Russia With Long-Range US Missiles (Antiwar.com)
■ Biden authorizes use of US long-range weapons to strike inside Russia (TASS)
■ Biden's 'Unnecessary Escalation' Only Sets Trump Up for Failure - Ex-DoD Analyst (Sputnik)
■ Madness Unlimited: US Deep State Tries to Instigate WWIII - French Politician (Sputnik)
⚡ Biden Authorizes Ukrainian Long-Range Strikes Into Russia Using ATACMS Missiles - Reports (11/17/24)

■ Here we go, this just escalated WW III (Leo Hohmann)
■ In "Major Policy Shift" Biden Authorizes Ukraine's Use Of US Missiles To Hit Targets Inside Russia (Tyler Durden)
✅ To Prolong The War In Ukraine U.S. Allows ATACMS Use On Russia (Moon of Alabama)
✅ The Moment Of Truth: How Will Russia Respond To Ukraine’s Use Of Western Long-Range Missiles? (A. Korybko)
✅ Putin Explicitly Confirmed What Was Already Self-Evident About Russia’s Nuclear Doctrine (A. Korybko)(09/26/24)

Tarik Cyril Amar | Foreign Secretary David Lammy launched into a weird rant against Russia, accusing it of the crimes Britain has committed | There are intriguing and disappointing – though not surprising – continuities between Great Britain under the conservative Tories and the current iteration under a hardly less rightwing version of the Labour party. Crony corruption scandals that reveal the British political elite as comically greedy and petty are already erupting again. Ordinary people still face an unforgiving search for “austerity”; indeed, given recent Labour moves on the budget, for instance on the winter fuel allowance, affecting over ten million frequently vulnerable pensioners, the so-called “Left” is now outdoing the Right in cruelty toward the common man and woman. And the fairly new prime minister, Keir Starmer, is already as deeply unpopular as his predecessor Rishi Sunak was when he called the elections that predictably finished him off. [...] Politically, this is just another way in which semi-smart people fool semi-simple people. But there is a more serious, moral dimension as well. It is a truly and abjectly colonial and imperialist move to exploit the massive suffering – almost exclusively at the hands of the West – as well as the hard-won insights and hard-fought resistance of what we now call the Global South so as to feed them into the cheap propaganda that the West now uses to sell its geopolitics-101 proxy war in Ukraine as an issue of ‘rules’ and ‘values’. And yet that is precisely what David Lammy has done. What a disgrace.

John Helmer | Yulia Skripal communicated from her bedside at Salisbury District Hospital on March 8, 2018, four days after she and her father Sergei Skripal collapsed from a poison attack, that the attacker used a spray; and that the attack took place when she and her father were eating at a restaurant just minutes before their collapse on a bench outside. | The implication of the Skripal evidence, revealed for the first time on Thursday, is that the attack on the Skripals was not perpetrated by Russian military agents who were photographed elsewhere in Salisbury town at the time; that the attacker or attackers were British agents; and that if their weapon was a nerve agent called Novichok, it came, not from Moscow, but from the UK Ministry of Defence chemical warfare laboratory at Porton Down. Porton Down’s subsequent evidence of Novichok contamination in blood samples, clothing, car, and home of the Skripals may therefore be interpreted as British in source, not Russian.

The US and its allies spent months debating whether or not to give Ukraine the go-ahead to use its NATO-provided long-range strike systems to target Russia. In September, President Putin warned that allowing Kiev to use its Western long-range missiles on Russia would mean NATO's direct participation in a war against the Russian Federation. | President Biden has signed off on the Ukrainian military's use of US-made ATACMS missiles to try to help defend its faltering positions in Ukrainian-occupied areas of Russia's Kursk region, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing US officials apprized of the situation. ■ Officials told the newspaper that they "do not expect the shift" in policy "to fundamentally alter the course of the war" (NYT's phrasing), and indicated that Biden could further authorize Kiev to use the weapons in directions besides Kursk in the future. ■ Washington reportedly expects the ATACMS to be used to strike troop concentrations, military equipment, logistics, ammunition depots and supply lines, all with the goal of "blunt[ing] the effectiveness" of the ongoing Russian military operation to clear Kursk of Ukrainian forces. ■ According to NYT's information, some Pentagon officials opposed delivering the missile systems to Ukraine in the first place due to the US Army's limited supply. Others reportedly expressed fears that their delivery and use could escalate the conflict and even prompt direct Russian retaliation against US and NATO forces - something President Putin has explicitly warned about.

👉 Russia will be ‘at war’ with NATO if Ukraine long-range missile restrictions lifted, Putin warns (09/13/24)
👉 Putin: NATO's Approval of Use of Long-Range Missiles by Ukraine Will Mean It is at War With Russia (12.09.2024):

💬 "So this is not about whether or not to allow the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia using these weapons, but about deciding whether or not NATO countries are directly involved in the military conflict or not. If such a decision is taken, it will mean nothing short of direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, European countries, in the war in Ukraine. This would constitute their direct participation, and this, of course, changes the very essence, the very nature of the conflict. It will mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are at war with Russia. And if this is so, bearing in mind the change in the very nature of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be posed to us," Putin said.

■ At Edge of Blowing Ourselves Up: Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Direct US-Russia Clash (11/17/24)
■ Moscow vows ‘devastating response’ to Kiev’s strikes deep into Russia (RT.com)(13 Nov, 2024)

The United States has been forging ahead with its delusional policy of Ukraine, draining the country of lives while heightening risks of escalation, Jeffrey Sachs earlier told Sputnik. | The world is poised on the edge of blowing itself up, and “it’s very shocking”, warned world-renowned American economist Jeffrey Sachs. ● Direct confrontation between the United States and Russia carries very serious and real threats, he said during a lecture in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan. ● The two sides possess thousands of nuclear warheads, reminded the president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He referred to the ongoing Ukraine proxy conflict as an open confrontation waged by the US, where Ukraine has been doing “a good service by dying on behalf of the Americans.”

■ Biden Wants To Set Trump Up With Ukraine - John Mearsheimer (Sputnik)

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the first time in two years on Friday | Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and offered to end the war in Ukraine. The Russian leader offered a deal similar to one proposed by Moscow in June. ■ On Friday, Scholz spoke with Putin for the first time in nearly two years. According to the Kremlin, “The Russian president noted that the Russian side has never refused and remains open to the resumption of the negotiations that were interrupted by the Kiev regime.” Adding, “Russia’s proposals are well known and outlined, in particular, in a June speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry.” ■ In that speech, Putin said that if Ukrainian forces withdrew from all Russian annexed territory, adopted a position of neutrality between NATO and Russia, agreed to denazification and demilitarization of the country, and the lifting of all Western sanctions on Moscow, then Russia would bring the war to an end.

■ Lavrov questions Scholz’s stance on Ukraine (RT.com)
■ How blind support for Ukraine broke Germany (Tarik Cyril Amar)

Israel's Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry sent 'special report' to Dutch PMs ahead of parliament session that discussed violent incidents initiated by Amsterdam-based Maccabi supporters, media reports | Security units in the Netherlands have expressed discomfort over Israel's attempts to influence and meddle in the country’s political affairs, according to local media. ● Israel's Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry sent a "special report" to Dutch members of parliament ahead of a session that discussed violent incidents initiated by Amsterdam-based Maccabi supporters, according to a report published on Friday by the prominent Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant. The Israeli report claimed that linked Dutch organizations were involved in these incidents and were pro-Hamas. Dutch Justice and Security Minister David van Weel confirmed the existence of the Israeli report, De Volkskrant reported. ● Using Israel's report, Chris Stoffer, a member of parliament from the Reformed Political Party (SGP), proposed a motion to designate Dutch organizations that Israel has labeled as pro-Hamas as terrorist organizations and add them to a sanctions list, De Volkskrant stated.

Clashes erupted during the match near where the Israeli fans were sitting, with some throwing punches. Some spectators held up Palestinian flags that had been banned inside the stadium. | The 80,000-capacity stadium was barely a fifth full as the French had boycotted the game over Israel's two-front aggression, which has killed 43,736 people in Gaza and 3,386 others in Lebanon since early October 2023. [...] On Thursday, about 4,000 police officers were on the streets around the Stade de France along with 1,600 security personnel. The 80,000-capacity stadium was barely a fifth full as the French had boycotted the game over Israel's two-front aggression, which has killed 43,736 people in Gaza and 3,386 others in Lebanon since early October 2023. However, French President Emmanuel Macron attended the game alongside predecessors Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, and Prime Minister Michel Barnier, in an show of solidarity with the Israeli regime.

■ Fighting mars France-Israel football match (VIDEOS) (RT.com)

Northern Ireland’s police have spirited out former US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton from Queen’s University Belfast where hundreds of students gathered to denounce her stance on the Israeli genocide in Gaza. | Clashes erupted at the campus on Thursday as police moved in to confront the students who had gathered to protest against Clinton’s address. [...] The group also published videos showing police forces attacking people who were protesting peacefully. The police forces “dragged, pushed, and choked protesters, wielding their batons with no advance warning,” it said. Police confirmed four people were arrested on suspicion of a range of “public order offences.” [...] The QUB Palestine Assembly hit out at the university for inviting the two which it has described as “war criminals.” “Clinton has been a consistent apologist for the genocide being carried out against Palestinians in Gaza, and Kennedy represents an administration that has overseen the supply of the bombs and munitions that have taken upwards of 160,00 Palestinians lives,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

Patrick Lawrence | What happened in one Dutch city is the world since the Zionist regime began its limitlessly barbaric assault on Gaza: Western powers blessed it, and Western media determined to hide it from view. | In the annals of “anti–Semitism,” if not anti–Semitism in its un-weaponized form, the events before, during, and since an ill-fated soccer match in Amsterdam last week merit a prominent entry. ■ We find in these chaotic days a picture in miniature of the sickness that has overtaken “the Jewish state,” the shameless apology those purporting to lead the Western post-democracies make for the straight-out barbarities of Zionist zealots, and the full-frontal disinformation spread by corporate and state-funded media as they pose as the first line of defense against disinformation. ■ It’s a three-fer, then, the whole banana in one place and at one time —all of this in the cause of the Zionist regime as it prosecutes its yearlong genocide in Gaza and sets about expanding its campaign of murder and destruction across West Asia. Zionist Israel lost, lost big in Amsterdam. The horror it has made of itself is now plain for the world to see. The apologist pols, already hanging on for dear life in the post-democracies, lost. Mainstream media lost.

✅ The West buries a genocide – by making victims of Israel’s football thugs (Jonathan Cook) | If the West was really worried about Europe’s Nazi past, it would be better advised to stop stoking an all-too-real new antisemitism: incitement against Arab and Muslim minorities. | There has never been a harder time to do political and media analysis than right now. Each day, the western establishment unmoors itself further from reality. Its priorities are so inverted, so obscene, that the most appropriate response is ridicule. The latest example was the reaction late last week to violent clashes in Amsterdam before and after a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local team Ajax. ■ The ridiculous framing from western politicians, assisted by mainstream media outlets, was that the visiting Israelis were “hunted down” in what supposedly amounted to a “pogrom” by Dutch street gangs, comprising mainly youths of Arab and Muslim heritage. ■ According to this official narrative, the violence on Amsterdam’s streets was further proof of a rising tide of antisemitism sweeping Europe and imported from the Middle East. More, the attacks were presented as having disturbing echoes of Europe’s Nazi past.

Maria Zakharova emphasized that the Baltic Sea "will always be a common space for all of the region’s countries without exception" | The Baltic Sea will never turn into NATO’s internal body of water no matter how strongly the West may wish to see this happen, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told a news briefing.

💬 "No matter how much some so-called experts would like this to happen, even after Finland and Sweden have joined the North Atlantic Alliance, the Baltic Sea will not turn into an internal body of water of the North Atlantic Alliance," Zakharova said.

She emphasized that the Baltic Sea "will always be a common space for all of the region’s countries without exception."

Andrzej Duda has said the Aegis facility at Redzikowo was never about defense against ‘Iranian ICBMs’ | Speaking at the opening ceremony for the Redzikowo base on Wednesday, Duda quoted the words of the Polish president at the time, Lech Kaczynski, revealing the real purpose of the missile base.

💬 “Andrzej, these missiles will not defend Poland,” Duda said. “They will actually protect areas far, far away from Poland from missiles that could potentially be launched from Iran, for example. But this will be an American missile base, which will contain some of the greatest secrets of the United States and which the United States will guard.”

“And this is very important, because this American base will be built on our soil, in Poland,” Duda continued, quoting his predecessor. “And from that moment, when this base stands here, the whole world will see clearly that this is no longer the Russian zone of influence. And from the Polish point of view, this is the most important thing strategically.”

Maria Zakharova (Мария Захарова) (Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman) | Our reaction in case Ukraine receives permission for strikes [into Russian territory] | Attention has been drawn to publications in the British press about the intention of British Prime Minister Starmer and French President Macron to try to persuade incumbent US President Biden to authorize Kyiv to launch strikes with Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russia before Trump's inauguration. According to media reports, there are hopes in London that the White House will finally agree to such a move.

On the same day, in an interview with a French publication, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that he had signed an order regarding the transfer of about 10 long-range Scalp missiles to the AFU, with the help of which, as Paris hopes, Kyiv will be able to strike behind the front line. You know, when the Kyiv regime strikes behind the front line,” I would like to say to Lecornu, ”the main thing is that it does not hit the French embassy.

These publications coincided with the information that appeared in Ukrainian social networks about the intention of Zelensky's regime to pass off Western missiles as Ukrainian-made products, changing their markings to hit Russia with them—such a bloody scam in the style of Zelensky and the whole gang! We understand perfectly well that this is impossible without the approval of his handlers. We would like to remind Washington, London, Paris, and Brussels that they continue to play with fire. 👇

❗️ The President of Russia has clearly outlined our reaction in case Ukraine receives permission for the strikes as mentioned above - we will regard this as a de facto entry of NATO countries into a direct armed conflict with Russia.

This would change the essence of the conflict and its nature, with all the consequences that entails. The response to the use of Western long-range systems on the territory of our country will be immediate and devastating for them. (DeepL + Gram.)

■ Moscow vows ‘devastating response’ to Kiev’s strikes deep into Russia (RT.com)

The West will face “an even bigger threat” if “Ukraine goes down,” Boris Johnson has claimed | The UK cannot let Ukraine suffer a defeat in its ongoing conflict with Russia, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told GB News in an interview published on Tuesday. London could go as far as sending in troops if Kiev “goes down,” he warned. ■ According to Johnson, Russia’s success in Ukraine would spark a security crisis for the US and its allies on a multitude of fronts. “It’ll be the Baltic states. It’ll be in Georgia. You’ll see the impact of a Ukrainian defeat in the Pacific theater. You’ll see it in the South China Sea,” the politician said, without specifying what exactly could happen in those regions.

■ Poland’s top general demands preparations for war with Russia (RT.com)
■ Russia slams Boris Johnson over UK troops in Ukraine claim (RT.com)

Deputy Chairman of Russia's Federation Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said today that European leaders are pushing the Russia-Ukraine conflict to an irreversible stage, and as such "the worst case scenario remains the most likely."

💬 “After Trump’s victory, European leaders seem to be having a “fall exacerbation.” The goal is to push the conflict with Russia into an irreversible phase. One moment, a Frenchman crows about supporting Kyiv if America steps back; the next, NATO officials pontificate on how to intensify the war against us.

Now, German chancellor candidate Merz has issued an ultimatum to Russia: either end the Special Military Operation (SMO) or, the next day, he’ll send the Ukrainians German Taurus missiles. It’s clear that such “ultimatums” are merely election tactics. It’s also clear that these missiles won’t fundamentally change the course of combat. Their delivery would only prolong the agony of the Bandera regime. But, the risk of escalating the conflict to its most dangerous stage with missile strikes increases many times over. Our President has warned about this.

Frankly, it’s astounding how much the current generation of European politicians seems determined to drag the war onto their own territory—to the clear delight of the Americans and against the wishes of their own people. The “vaccine” of World War II has completely lost its effect. Experienced, or even simply wise, European leaders have faded into history. They’ve been replaced by trivial figures with inflated self-importance. And so, the worst-case scenario remains the most likely.”

■ А значит, плохой сценарий остаётся самым вероятным (Дмитрий Медведев)

Such incidents are needed by the West to sow chaos and to advance its interests, Nikolay Patrushev says. Patrushev [said]: 💬 “According to available information, the Americans and the British are viewing the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines as one of many methods to advance their economic interests. They could attack other infrastructure facilities, including undersea fiber optic cables that provide communications throughout the world.” [...] “Since the hegemony of the West began to falter, Washington decided to bring chaos to the energy market, including by destabilizing maritime transportation,” the official explained. Destabilization is needed to put pressure on major consumers, including China and India, and to lay a foundation for grabbing more of the global energy market.

■ US-UK to BLOW-UP Undersea Internet Cables (Harold Turner)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has signed a decree to ratify the comprehensive strategic partnership treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow, the Voice of Korea has reported. | The decree was signed on Monday in Pyongyang, and the treaty will enter into force from the day the two countries exchange the ratification documents and has no expiration date, the news agency said. ■ In June, Russia and North Korea signed the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. According to Article 4 of the agreement, should one of the parties be subjected to an armed aggression by any state or a group of states and find itself in a state of conflict, the other party shall immediately provide military and other forms of assistance with all available means in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter and in conformity with Russian and North Korean laws.

■ Treaty on DPRK-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Ratified (KCNA)

The United States and Britain have conducted aerial assaults on Yemen’s western province of Hudaydah as the Arab country continues its retaliatory operations against the Israeli regime. | Yemen’s al-Masirah television channel reported on Tuesday that American and British warplanes launched three airstrikes on the At Tuhayta district south of Hudaydah. The report provided no information about possible casualties or damage. Tuesday marked the 3rd consecutive day the US-British coalition bombed Yemen. Monday's attacks targeted the Yemeni provinces of 'Amran and Sa'ada and Sunday's air raids hit the capital Sana'a and other areas. The US and its allies have been striking Yemen over the past months in violation of the country’s sovereignty and international law.

The US Department of State is working toward removing "arrogant" Vladimir Zelensky, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a statement. | According to the SVR [Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service], the US diplomatic agency has decided to lay the groundwork for running an election campaign in Ukraine. "At the initial stage, it is planned to encourage entities within the Ukrainian civil society under their control, through US 'democratization' foundations and think tanks, to come up with a corresponding initiative. That would receive 'broad public support.' Candidates would be nominated in coordination with the State Department. American NGOs would select local public organizations to monitor the election," the SVR revealed.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump indicated Thursday that they were ready to hold talks after the Republican tycoon emerged as the victor in the race for the White House. | “I take this opportunity to congratulate him,” Putin said in remarks to the Valdai forum in the southern city of Sochi after Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s election. Asked whether he was open to holding talks with Trump, the Russian leader said: “Ready.” Trump revealed he was also prepared for some kind of conversation, telling NBC News in an interview that “I think we’ll speak” as the topic turned to his contacts with world leaders since his victory was announced.

A United Nations legal expert has called for Western media to be investigated over their role in “obscuring” news coverage of the clashes on Friday between Israeli forces posing as football fans and locals in the Dutch city of Amsterdam. | In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said that Western media has repeatedly disseminated disinformation which has served to conceal the atrocities that were being carried out by the Israelis across the globe.

💬 “Once again, Western media should be investigated for the role they are playing in obscuring Israel’s atrocities,” the Italian international lawyer said. ● “In other contexts, international tribunals have found media figures responsible for complicity, incitement, and other international crimes.”

The legal scholar, researcher, and author specializing in human rights and Arab refugee issues said media figures who disseminate false news are complicit in Israeli crimes and should be held accountable.

■ 'Pogrom' Against Hooligans Accusations Follow A Zionist Propaganda Scheme (Moon of Alabama)
■ Obnoxious, Violent, Israeli Football Hooligans Get Beaten-Down in Amsterdam - Media LIES About it (Hal Turner)

✅ A year late, the Guardian finally permits us to use the term ‘genocide’ (Jonathan Cook)
✅ What really happened at the Amsterdam "pogrom"? (Thomas Fazi)

Washington and London have a back-up plan in the event of Ukraine losing the conflict with Moscow, the Russian foreign minister has said | The US and UK are setting up continental Europe for a military face-off with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed. Lavrov issued the warning during his speech at the Inventing the Future symposium in Moscow on Monday. Speaking about the Ukraine conflict, the top diplomat stressed that...

💬 “...the Anglo-Saxons [the US and UK] expect to defeat our country with the hands of the Kiev regime, just like Hitler, gathering most of Europe’s countries under the Nazi banner.” ● “And, as a back-up plan, in case [Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky’s regime fails, they are preparing continental Europe to rush into a suicidal adventure and enter into a direct armed conflict with Russia.”

Lavrov expressed regret that the ruling elites in many European countries do not see a future for themselves in forming a multipolar world. Instead, they are “seeking salvation from an overseas hegemon,” he said.

The Axios portal reported earlier that Musk took part in a phone call between Trump and Vladimir Zelensky | US celebrity entrepreneur Elon Musk suggests that the bloodshed in Ukraine will end soon. "The senseless killing [in Ukraine] will end soon. Time is up for the warmonger profiteers," Musk wrote on the X social network when commenting on media reports of US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans on settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. The Axios portal reported earlier that Musk took part in a phone call between Trump and Vladimir Zelensky.

■ Musk makes Ukraine conflict prediction (RT.com)

Speaking just one day after the Republican candidate’s US election victory, the Russian president explained Moscow’s position on a range of global issues | Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed pressing global issues at Sochi’s annual Valdai Club forum on Thursday. Interviewed by renowned foreign affairs expert and RT contributor Fyodor Lukyanov, Putin delved into topics ranging from NATO and international security to the ideological roots of current global tensions, openly challenging Western policies and proposing a multipolar vision for the future. Here are the major takeaways from Putin’s remarks.

■ Putin’s bold blueprint: Six rules to reshape the world order (albawaba.com)
■ EU ‘lacks brains’ – Putin (RT.com)
■ Putin Outlines The 'Moment of Truth' (Pepe Escobar/RT)

Widely circulated videos on social media show Israeli football fans vandalizing private property, assaulting a local taxi driver, and clashing with law enforcement officials. | Violence erupted across Amsterdam late Thursday when supporters of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv reportedly stormed through the city, tearing down Palestinian flags displayed on private property and chanting incendiary slogans, according to reports. The events, which unfolded before and after Maccabi’s match against Ajax, has ignited widespread outrage, with accounts of Israeli fans clashing with bystanders, damaging property, and burning a Palestinian flag. Widely circulated videos on social media show Maccabi fans vandalizing private property, assaulting a local taxi driver, and clashing with law enforcement officials. ■ Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone News, commented on the footage, saying,

💬 "Many videos going around of Israeli soccer goons vandalizing property in Amsterdam, attacking cops and bystanders, and ripping down Palestinian flags. Now this fascist infestation is playing the victim and waiting for airlifts back to the colonies."

Sports journalist Leyla Hamed also said, "hooligans from the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv marched through the streets of Amsterdam… They stole Palestinian flags from homes and even set a Palestinian flag on fire."

■ Five People Hospitalized, 62 Detained After Riots Following Football Match in Amsterdam (Sputnik)
■ Israeli hooligans target Palestinian symbols, stirring tension in Amsterdam: Reports (Anadolu)

A top priority for the next European Commission will be making the EU self-reliant and ready for war, as the US is likely to focus on China in the coming decades, Andrius Kubilius, the nominee for the EU’s new top defense post, has said. | “Adversaries and strategic rivals are rapidly outpacing us,” with Russia and China far ahead in defense spending, Kubilius went on to say. He claimed that Russia will spend more on defense than all of the bloc’s 27 states combined in terms of purchasing power parity. ■ In the meantime, the best defense strategy for the EU would be to continue funding Ukraine, he stated. Since 2022, the EU has spent nearly €120 billion ($128.8 billion) on supporting Ukraine, with another €74 billion pledged but yet to be allocated, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

■ NATO boss says members will bow to Trump’s financial demands (RT.com)
■ Путин назвал НАТО анахронизмом и единственным оставшимся в мире блоком (TACC)
■ US Preparing Europe to Start Direct War With Russia If Ukraine Fails - Lavrov (11/04/24)
■ EU tells citizens to stock up for nuclear disaster (10/31/24)