The bloc’s conduct is illegal, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stressed | The EU is committing “theft” by handing over profits from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. ● Some $300 billion in Moscow’s funds were blocked by the US and EU after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Around $240 billion of the sum is still being held at the Belgium-based clearing house Euroclear. ● On Wednesday, high-ranking Russian Foreign Ministry official Vladislav Maslennikov told RIA Novosti that Brussels has already transferred €8 billion ($9.1 billion) in income generated by the frozen Russian assets to the government in Kiev. ● When asked to comment on the development by journalists on Thursday, Peskov replied by saying that Moscow considers such actions as illegal.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a critique of Western hypocrisy at the UN General Assembly, exposing the contradiction of an Israeli regime armed with nuclear weapons and granted total impunity, while Iran faces relentless inspections and sanctions.

Israel possesses nuclear weapons, refuses to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and has never permitted a single international inspector into the occupied territories in its entire history, Pezeshkian said. “Yet, it is rewarded with billions of dollars in free weapons and enjoys absolute immunity to bomb any capital it chooses.”

Recent satellite imagery has reportedly revealed the presence of at least 25 U.S. aerial refueling tanker aircraft at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base. According to reports citing the imagery, this is the largest number of U.S. tankers seen at the base since the war with Iran began in February. | The development has drawn attention amid conflicting narratives over the prospects for peace and de-escalation in the region. Qatar has publicly called for dialogue and a return to diplomatic negotiations, while emphasizing the need to end the ongoing state of regional “no war, no peace.” ● During the early stages of the conflict, the U.S. tanker aircraft were reportedly moved away from the area amid concerns over possible Iranian missile strikes. Their return to Al Udeid reportedly began in June, with the aircraft now positioned in dispersed locations across the base. Reports say this differs from the more concentrated parking pattern observed at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base and may reflect continued U.S. precautions against possible attacks.

The spokesperson for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran will begin reverse-engineering a US underwater drone captured by IRGC Navy forces. | Speaking in an interview published on Tuesday, Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi discussed the performance of Iran’s Armed Forces against advanced US military equipment during the recent US-Israeli aggression. “The war demonstrated that the most advanced US technologies used in the military and defense industries have come under Iran’s control,” Mohebbi said. He cited the US F-35 fighter jet as a prominent example, saying the aircraft incorporates advanced technologies in areas including body alloys, capabilities, stealth, flight ceiling and weapons-carrying capacity.

Kit Knightly | We're not quite at panic-buying all the toilet paper yet, but we're getting there. | The AI panic is not going away, in fact it’s gathering the kind of fevered hysterical momentum we have not seen since the birth of Covid. Nothing about it is organic, it is all 100% cultivated and steered in a direction. The final aim of this manufactured, fear-based social programming is new regulation. That has become undeniably obvious. All that remains to be discovered is how bad it’s going to be. But before we get into where we are right now, or where we might be heading, I want to look back and reflect at how we got here, because the timeline is revealing.