Joe Kent has told Tucker Carlson that President Donald Trump could go for the nuclear option amid reported shortages of conventional weapons | The US could use nuclear weapons against Iran after failing to topple its leadership with conventional means, former presidential counterterrorism adviser Joe Kent has told podcaster Tucker Carlson. ● In April, US President Donald Trump threatened that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” unless Tehran agreed to Washington’s demands. Trump has since repeatedly issued similar threats, saying that US forces could obliterate the country’s civilian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges.

Finland’s opposition parties have condemned the ruling party’s government for extending military cooperation with the Israeli regime. | According to a report by Finland's national public broadcasting company (Yle) on Saturday, the government had quietly signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on military cooperation with Israel, extending military ties until 2034. ● The MoU covers research, development and procurement of military equipment and was proposed by Finland in early 2024, when the previous five-year agreement was due to expire.

[Editor's Comment:] This is to be expected when a CIA agent becomes president of a country. Finland is no exception. ● Finland used to be peaceful and could reach compromises with Russia. Now there’s nothing but threats of war: drone attacks against its neighbor to the east, and plans to deploy American nuclear weapons on Finnish soil. ● Since CIA asset Alexander Stubb became president, the US obviously is in the driver’s seat in Finland, and now there’s even military coordination between Finland and Israel like there is between the US and Israel. (Genocide clearly is no obstacle here.) ● Plus this: Mr. Stubb and little Finland are in the news all the time. Now, how can that be?

The ‘No’ camp garnered 52.8 percent of the vote while the ‘Yes’ camp secured 47.2 percent, public broadcaster RUV reports. | celanders have rejected the government’s ⁠⁠proposal to resume accession talks with the European Union, reported the ‌‌public broadcaster RUV. ● In a vote held on Saturday, 52.8 percent of Icelanders voted ‘No’, while 47.2 percent voted ‘Yes’, according to official results published by RUV on Sunday. ● The result deals a blow to Brussels, which had been keen to welcome a new wealthy member and had expressed a willingness to compromise with Reykjavík on fisheries and other thorny issues to facilitate accession. ● Brussels had also hoped to be able to present Icelandic membership as an example of positive enlargement that could also make it more palatable for member states to agree to take in less wealthy countries such as Montenegro.

■  52,8% sögðu nei við að hefja á ný aðildarviðræður við ESB (RÚV.is)

Its trajectory ran from northwestern Arkhangelsk Region to Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East, the Defense Ministry has said | The Russian military has conducted a successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow. ● The test warhead, which was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodetome in Arkhangelsk Region, followed a trajectory which took it across the county to Kura training range in Kamachatka Peninsula in the Far East, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

■  CIA Director John Ratcliffe, during secretive trip, warned Russia not to attack NATO (CBS News)
■  CIA chief used Moscow visit to warn Russia against attacks on NATO allies, helping Iran (Politico)

[Editor's Comment:] "[The] trajectory ran from northwestern Arkhangelsk Region to Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East." Russia is Russia from west to east, from east to west, and you cannot defeat us. We can strike you whenever we want. Be careful.  ●  This is four or five days after the CIA director visited Moscow. The Russian response is quite clear.

President Donald Trump said Friday his administration has reached a huge oil deal with Venezuela that gives the United States majority control of 65 billion barrels of proven petroleum reserves. | The deal -- which Trump proclaimed as "the biggest oil deal in world history" -- will bring nearly $100 billion in private investment to Venezuela, US and Venezuelan officials said. ● Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves. Its government has operated under intense pressure and close scrutiny from the Trump administration since the US ousted and captured long time ruler Nicolas Maduro in January. ● Washington allowed his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to stay on and serve as interim leader so long as she toes the US line.

■  The US will control 55% of output from the new oil company in Venezuela (MercoPress)
■  US Army drills in Venezuela met with protests (Peoples Dispatch)

Kurt Nimmo | The Donroe Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine works toward authoritarian dominance in Latin America. | Trump’s favorite in Colombia is Abelardo de la Espriella, the rightwing “populist” millionaire who, as a child, tortured and killed cats with explosives, similar to the notorious serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and David Berkowitz. His wealthy family backed Álvaro Uribe, candidate of the Colombia First party of Antioquia, as president despite Uribe’s links to drug traffickers and paramilitary groups. ■ Espriella, aka El Tigre, won the Colombian presidential race earlier this month, defeating President Gustavo Petro, described as a “leftwing South American firebrand” by the corporate media. Petro, who traded insults with Trump, claims the election was stolen. He did not attend Espriella’s swearing in ceremony at Santiago de Cali University, outside Bogotá.

✅ Huge scandal exposes how USA uses criminals to manipulate elections in Latin America (Ben Norton)

Kiev’s escalation in the Black Sea is threatening regional shipping and global food security, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said | Ukrainian forces have hit 214 civilian vessels flying the flags of various countries in the Black Sea since the start of the year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. ● Speaking at a regular briefing on Thursday, Zakharova lashed out at Ukraine, arguing that Vladimir Zelensky’s “regime continues to create military threats for the states of the Black Sea region.” ● She pointed to a string of attacks on commercial shipping near Russian ports this month, including several raids on vessels operated by Turkish companies. Ukrainian drones hit the San Marino-flagged Necibe. Its 18 crew members were rescued by the Turkish-owned vessel Ural, which was also later struck by Ukrainian drones, leaving one Turkish citizen dead and eight other people injured.

At least eight civilians, including two minors, were wounded in the strike | Ukrainian forces launched a major missile strike on Donetsk, the capital of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), on Wednesday, damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, regional head Denis Pushilin has said. ● The strikes targeted several locations in the east of Donetsk, with most of the casualties reported near the Donetsk-City mall. The Western-supplied munitions used included the Anglo-French Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG missiles, according to Pushilin. ● At least eight civilians, including two minors, were injured in the strikes near the mall, while another man was wounded by the detonation of an unexploded ordnance piece at another location, Pushilin said.

🚩 UK military sites could become targets – Moscow (RT) | “We have repeatedly warned that the response to Ukrainian strikes using British weapons against Russian territory could be directed against any British military facilities and equipment in Ukraine and beyond,” Zakharova said during a press briefing on Thursday. Those responsible for attacks on Russian civilians will be punished, she added, warning that their “accomplices and instigators” will also face consequences. Zakharova accused successive British governments of pursuing a long-term objective of inflicting a so-called “strategic defeat” on Russia, and urged “all residents of the United Kingdom to think about the inevitable, catastrophic consequences of the hostile steps taken by their own authorities.”

■  CIA Director John Ratcliffe, during secretive trip, warned Russia not to attack NATO (CBS News)
■  CIA chief used Moscow visit to warn Russia against attacks on NATO allies, helping Iran (Politico)
■  How close are Russia and the UK to war? (RT)
■  Britain is ‘participating in and intensifying’ Ukraine conflict – Kremlin (RT)
■  UK to give Ukraine classified data for long-range missiles (08/24/26)
📌 NSJ (USA): Kyiv Seems to be Killing Too Many Civilians in Russia (Elena Panina)
📌 The "Coalition of the Willing" still dreams of occupying Ukraine (Elena Panina)
✅ The first reunification of Donbass and Russia (Beorn and The Shieldmaiden)

Military countermeasures ("vaccines"), war & economic war, hunger and pestilence. -- Everything is going according to plan | Global fertility may have fallen below replacement level, threatening workforces, aging societies, and mounting economic pressure within roughly one generation, a new study has warned. The paper, Terra Incognita: The Economics of a Shrinking World, published earlier this month by economics professor Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde of the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University researcher Patrick Norrick, warns that prolonged low fertility could shrink workforces, rapidly age societies, and strain economies and welfare systems.

Larry C. Johnson | Start with what “2 percent of SWIFT” actually describes, because it does not describe CIPS. [...] The correct way to read CIPS is neither the dismissive “2 percent, ignore it” nor the breathless “the dollar is finished.” It is this: a settlement system that did not meaningfully exist a decade ago now clears some $25 trillion a year, compounds at around 40 percent, reaches 190 countries, and can operate without touching a wire Washington controls. It will not overthrow the dollar. But it does not need to. It only needs to give a determined government — Russia, Iran, and a lengthening line behind them — a working way to move money that American sanctions cannot reach. That is exactly what it now provides, and every fresh round of dollar-weaponization sends more traffic down it.

Six Pakistani men are accused of abusing children in “the most degrading way imaginable” | The trial of six members of a Pakistani ‘grooming gang’ has quietly restarted in Manchester. The retrial hasn’t made the headlines, and looking at the sordid details of the case, it’s clear the British establishment wants to keep it that way. ● The six suspects were alleged members of the Rochdale grooming gang – a group of Muslim men, predominantly Pakistani, who trafficked, sexually abused, and raped underage white British girls in the northern English town between the 1980s and 2010s. More than 75 men have been charged and 53 convicted since Greater Manchester Police began investigating the gang in 2010. ● The suspects have been charged with 46 counts of rape, sexual assault, and ‘assault by penetration’, with two of the men facing more than a dozen charges each.

Russia has withdrawn its ambassador to the UK as the relationship between the two countries continues to deteriorate. | Long-serving Kremlin representative Andrey Kelin left his posting in London on July 21 after seven years. ● However, Putin has not put forward any candidates to succeed him and embassy staff are understood to be in the dark about when a replacement might be appointed, according to The Sunday Times. ● A spokesperson for the embassy accused the UK of choosing a ‘path of confrontation’ with Russia and said Kelin had made ‘considerable efforts to preserve contacts and channels of communication’ with Britain. ● The statement added: ‘He left Britain in the hope that a more constructive and respectful dialogue could eventually be restored, should the UK reconsider its policies towards our country. ‘In the meantime, the embassy is headed by the chargé d’affaires.’

■  How close are Russia and the UK to war? (RT)
■  Britain is ‘participating in and intensifying’ Ukraine conflict – Kremlin (RT)
■  Co-chair’s statement of the Coalition of the Willing: 24 August 2026 (UK.gov)
✅ The "Coalition of the Willing" still dreams of occupying Ukraine (Elena Panina)

Beorn and The Shieldmaiden | The desire of the residents of Donbass to reunite with Russia has a long historical tradition that must always be remembered. | Without understanding the history of Donbass in the early XX century, it is impossible to understand the civil war that is taking place in Ukraine now. We have raised this topic in a 2016 article “Short History of Creation of Ukraine and Donetsk-Krivorog Republics after the 1917 Revolution in Russia”. However, that article was not as systematic as the one you are about to read now – “The first reunification of Donbass and Russia”. It was published in Regnum on June 17, 2017. ■ The problem of Donbass is not new to Russia. Few people know, but in the early twenties of the last century, Russia and Ukraine were already in a very serious conflict over this region. Moreover, the tensions around that territorial dispute were very high. It almost came to a direct military confrontation. It worked out that time. Russia won then. However, the conflict itself was hushed up for a very long time, for obvious reasons. But as they say, there are never permanently resolved conflicts, especially if these conflicts are linguistic and regional in nature. And perhaps, having read the history of the territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia over the Eastern Donbass, it will be easier to understand the processes taking place now in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Hat Tip: Two Majors - English Channel

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday the United States is “entering the endgame” in the monthslong conflict with Iran as an “economic D-Day” is set to begin on Monday. | In an opinion piece in the Financial Times, Bessent wrote about the strategy behind the planned slew of economic policies that he called “the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary.” President Donald Trump said earlier in the month the U.S. would begin shifting away from military pressure toward economic policies meant to further harm Tehran’s economy and isolate it from global commerce.

■  US Treasury chief warns Iran of 'economic D-Day,' threatens third-country sanctions (The Herald Business)
■  Baghaei: Iran Will Show No Compromise in Defending National Sovereignty (WANA)
■  Iran vows ‘not a single drop’ of oil will leave Gulf if region complies with US plan (RT)
✅ Sanctioning the Dollar Iran Already Left: Why Bessent’s “Economic D-Day” Is Toothless (Larry C. Johnson)

Susan Abulhawa/Press TV | Palestinian-American writer and activist Susan Abulhawa says the Islamic Republic of Iran is “the last bastion of true anti-imperial resistance,” rejecting the open letter published in The Guardian critical of Iran. | In an interview with the Press TV website, Abulhawa denounced the letter and its signatories for creating false equivalences and downplaying the scale of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran. ● The letter published in The Guardian on Thursday and signed by a group of noted intellectuals and activists has been widely criticized for placing Iran’s political prisoners, Israel’s detention of innocent Palestinians and the brutal US immigration detention system within a single framework of “carceral states,” while calling for opposition to both imperialism and what it describes as “hollow anti-imperialism.” ● For Abulhawa, the letter’s framing fundamentally misrepresents the reality facing the Islamic Republic. At the moment, she said, when the country is under sustained US-Israeli aggression, criticism of Iran’s domestic political system cannot be detached from the vastly unequal forces confronting the country or from decades of unilateral and illegal sanctions, “regime change” campaigns, covert operations, assassinations and other forms of Western and Israeli interventionist policies.

Moscow has warned that London will “pay the price” for enabling Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia | The UK will provide Ukraine with classified technical information needed to assemble long-range cruise missiles domestically. ● Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to announce the move during a visit to Kiev on Monday, his first international trip since taking office last month. [...] In a statement last week, the Russian Embassy in London called the UK “an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks” committed by Ukraine. It warned that “the deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kiev’s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay.”

■  Russia's Zakharova Accuses Finland of International Terrorism Complicity (Sputnik)
■ Песков: ВС РФ выясняют места производства ракет на Украине (AIF.ru)

Jeffrey Sachs Killed Biden, Zelensky and Kamala!!! pic.twitter.com/INb5j8dLiN

— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) November 1, 2024

Ukraine is facing a “catastrophic scenario” from Russian retaliatory strikes after it “opened Pandora’s box” with its attacks on economic and civilian infrastructure, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday. | In spring, Kiev sharply escalated its long-range drone attacks on Russia’s oil and gas infrastructure, thereafter extending the strikes to e-commerce warehouses and civilian logistics facilities. Russia retaliated by targeting Black Sea shipping and key port facilities it said were handling Ukraine’s military-related imports, effectively severing the country’s main export route. Kiev is now reaching out through intermediaries to try to “prevent this situation from developing into a catastrophic scenario,” Putin said in an interview with Russia 1. However, their trajectory is apparent, he added.

■  Ukrainian neo-Nazism is visible even to ‘Russophobiс’ Poland – Putin (RT)
■  Putin evaluates Russian strikes on targets in Ukraine (RT)
■  Russian Forces Dismantle Ukrainian Energy and Transport Networks (Sputnik)
■  Russia’s Position on Conflict Resolution (02/10/25)

Marruecos ha vuelto a reivindicar el "derecho histórico" sobre las ciudades autónomas | El ministro de Justicia marroquí ha abogado al respecto por establecer un "espacio de diálogo" con las autoridades españolas para abordar la "cuestión" de las dos citadas localidades alegando que "no es posible guardar silencio al respecto, ni por el bien del futuro ni por el bien del presente". El Gobierno [de España] ha hecho llegar a Marruecos su rechazo a las reivindicaciones de Marruecos sobre Ceuta y Melilla y ha defendido que "son dos ciudades españolas" que conforman "la integridad territorial" y la "soberanía" de España. Estas palabras llegan tres semanas después de la crisis migratoria provocada por la entrada irregular de 72.000 migrantes en Ceuta desde la frontera con Marruecos.

■ TheTrump Administration: “Ceuta and Melilla are located in Moroccan territory” (08/07/26)
■ US and Israel staged Spain migration invasion – Iran (RT)
■ Benjamin Netanyahu and his son, Yair Netanyahu, have been calling for an invasion of Spain's cities of Ceuta and Melilla by "Arabs and Muslims" since at least 2019. (Shadow of Ezra) (Jul 31, 2026)

■ Putin speaking at Russia’s ruling party congress (RT)

Tyler Durden | "It's largely an issue of ... people living in just horrible conditions in close proximity to rats." | In what can only be described as a stunning failure of state and local policy and leadership, Los Angeles County recorded its highest tally of flea-borne typhus cases in 2025, confirming 220 diagnoses, up from 187 the year before, according to the county's Department of Public Health. Almost nine in ten of those patients ended up hospitalized. Fleas that feed on infected rats, opossums, and other small mammals carry the bacteria behind the disease to humans, and Los Angeles has watched the case count climb for years. The 2025 total marks the sharpest jump yet.

From Talks to War: US and Israel Launch War Against Iran / First Day of War & Killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader | On February 28, 2026, explosions occurred in five Iranian cities: Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah. The residence of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was completely destroyed by a direct hit. ● Israel carried out a preemptive strike on Iran. Targets included nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, as well as IRGC headquarters, air defense bases, and military-industrial sites. Israel named its military operation Roaring Lion. Documented evidence emerged showing that missiles struck not only military targets, but also civilian infrastructure in Iran. ● US launched strikes against the Iranian Armed Forces using Tomahawk missiles from warships; drones and HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems were also used. Guided missile destroyers USS Spruance, USS Frank E. Petersen, and USS Milius operated against Iran. In total, US ships fired up to 200 Tomahawk missiles in the first two days of the war. The number intercepted by Iranian air defenses was not reported.

📌 They Saw it Coming: How American military planners anticipated failure in Iran (Amerikanets)

Beijing says sanctions without UN approval have no basis in international law | Beijing: China said on Friday that US "sanctions and pressure" would not resolve the Middle East conflict, after Washington urged governments including Beijing to join efforts to isolate the Iranian economy. ● The United States has vowed it would "collapse" the Iranian regime with its threatened campaign, which Tehran has branded as "economic terrorism" doomed to fail, nearly six months since their war began. ● Asked about US President Donald Trump's threats, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Friday that "sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue".

February 25, 2024 | (Ukrayinska Pravda) The US's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) maintains 12 secret bases in Ukraine along the border with Russia, and last Thursday CIA chief William Burns made his 10th secret visit to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Source: The New York Times, based on more than 200 interviews with current and former officials in Ukraine, the United States and Europe

Details: The NYT reports that before the full-scale war, the Ukrainians proved themselves to the Americans by collecting intercepted data that helped prove Russian involvement in the downing of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner in 2014. Ukrainians also helped Americans prosecute the Russian agents who interfered in the 2016 US presidential election.

Around 2016, the CIA began training an elite Ukrainian special forces unit known as Unit 2245, which captured Russian drones and communications equipment so that CIA technicians could reverse-engineer them and crack Moscow's encryption systems. According to the NYT, one of the officers in this unit was the current head of Defence Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov.

The CIA also helped train a new generation of Ukrainian spies who worked in Russia, throughout Europe, and in Cuba and other places where Russians have a significant presence.

According to The New York Times, the details of the partnership between the Ukrainian and American intelligence agencies have been a closely guarded secret for a decade.

Quote: "Now these intelligence networks are more important than ever, as Russia is on the offensive and Ukraine is more dependent on sabotage and long-range missile strikes that require spies far behind enemy lines. And they are increasingly at risk. If Republicans in Congress end military funding to Kyiv, the CIA may have to scale back.

To try to reassure Ukrainian leaders, William J. Burns, the CIA director, made a secret visit to Ukraine last Thursday, his 10th visit since the invasion."

More details: The NYT reports that the partnership between the CIA and Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) began in late February 2014, when former president Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia. This cooperation was proposed by Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, who became the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).

US rules prohibited intelligence agencies from providing Ukraine with any support that could be "reasonably expected" to have lethal consequences. However, the red lines were never precisely clear, creating constant tension in the partnership.

In Kyiv, Nalyvaichenko picked a longtime aide, General Valerii Kondratiuk, to head the DIU, and they created a new paramilitary unit that was deployed behind the Russian aggressor's lines to conduct operations and gather intelligence that the CIA or MI6 could not provide.

After an incident that occurred when Budanov's group entered Crimea in 2016, the Americans became very angry and threatened to close the programme down.

Larry Sanger accused the CIA and it's allies of editing articles for years to spread propaganda

Information about Israel's genocide in Gaza is itself the target of a well-funded propaganda and erasure effort. ● Israel has spent more than $1 billion on propaganda since 7 October 2023 to reverse the collapse in public support for its genocide in the strip, according to a 24 July report by Responsible Statecraft, with over $100 million of that spent in the US alone through registered foreign agents. ● Part of that money goes to what the outlet describes as LLM poisoning – building pro-Israel websites designed to feed chatbots such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok when users ask about the genocide.

Caitlin Johnstone | Today in dystopia they’re really going after books. | A library in Sydney has removed the book “How to Sell a Genocide” by Adam Johnson from its shelves after Zionists complained about its criticisms of Israeli mass atrocities in Gaza. ● A library in Sydney has removed the book “How to Sell a Genocide” by Adam Johnson from its shelves after Zionists complained about its criticisms of Israeli mass atrocities in Gaza.

So in Australia they’re now banning books for Israel. I guess it was only a matter of time.

Today in dystopia, Amazon is buying and destroying rare books in a secret facility to train AI. 404 Media has been doing some great reporting on how companies like Google and Anthropic have been buying up rare and out-of-print books to train their LLM models before destroying them, and now 404 has a new article out describing how its reporters placed a tracking device on a shipment of books and followed it to an Amazon warehouse where the books are being scanned and shredded.

Also today in dystopia, the Israeli government is working harder and harder to manipulate the information AI chatbots feed their users about Israel and its myriad military projects in the middle east. Politico reports:

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has warned of the danger posed by Israeli occupation authorities beginning preparations for a dedicated wing for Palestinian prisoners sentenced to death, including a chamber for carrying out executions, calling for urgent international action to halt the measures. | Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of the PPS, said the move comes as Israel turns legislation and incitement into concrete measures targeting Palestinian prisoners. He described preparations to carry out death sentences against them as a “crime against humanity.” ● Al-Zaghari said the Israeli Knesset passed a law in March allowing the death penalty to be imposed on Palestinian prisoners. Under the law, Palestinians convicted of murder before military courts would face a mandatory death sentence unless the court determines that exceptional circumstances justify reducing the sentence to life imprisonment. ● Israel 24 reported Tuesday, citing the office of far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, that preparations had begun for the first dedicated wing for Palestinian prisoners sentenced to death, including a special execution chamber.

■ WATCH beaming Israeli security minister unveil execution facility for Palestinians (RT)
■ Ben Gvir blocks state inspectors from entering Israel’s notorious torture centers (06/01/26)