#Sumy Direction:

In #Sudzha Sector, to the west in #Ukraine, fights in and around #Zhuravka. To the southeast...

🟡 In #Basovka, the RFAF have advanced and the battle has shifted to the southern settlement part.

🟡 In #Kursk region, the battles for the villages of #Gogolevka and #Guyevo continue.

🟡 #Oleshnya and #Gornal remain under AFU control. [...]

With a Palestinian coloring book as proof of 'incitement,' Israeli police raided East Jerusalem's world-famous Educational Bookshop and arrested its owners. | If at any point over the past year and a half you might have thought the Israeli authorities had already crossed every possible threshold when it comes to curtailing Palestinians’ freedom of expression, you would have been mistaken. Because yesterday, Israeli police raided two branches of a world-famous Palestinian bookstore in occupied East Jerusalem, arrested the owner and his nephew, and seized a selection of books — including a children’s coloring book.

Trump has repeatedly announced plans to speak with the Russian president in recent weeks | Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a telephone conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "The telephone conversation between President Putin and US leader Donald Trump has just ended," Peskov said. "It was a very long phone call, it lasted almost an hour and a half," he added.

■ Russia, US to immediately start talks on Ukrainian settlement — Trump (TASS)
■ UPDATED 3:00 PM EST -- TRUMP HAS SPOKEN TO PUTIN - AGREE TO PEACE TALKS ! (Hal Turner) | 💬 I just had a lengthy and highly productive phone call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. We discussed Ukraine, the Middle East, Energy, Artificial Intelligence, the power of the Dollar, and various other subjects. We both reflected on the Great History of our Nations, and the fact that we fought so successfully together in World War II, remembering, that Russia lost tens of millions of people, and we, likewise, lost so many! We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together. But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine. President Putin even used my very strong Campaign motto of, “COMMON SENSE.” We both believe very strongly in it.

Medical aid must be provided with or without an ID or a registered address, according to the president | Russian President Vladimir Putin has tasked the government with providing homeless people across Russia with free medical assistance, regardless of whether they have documents confirming their identity or registered address. ● The deadline set for the directive is July 1, 2025. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been handed the responsibility for implementing the task.

Tibor Gaspar pointed out that the Russian-Slovak relations focus on, first and foremost, "economic cooperation, development of ties in cultural and sports areas based on the principle of equals" | NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte tries to make everything Russian a bogeyman for the Europeans, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Slovakia Tibor Gaspar said in an interview with TASS. 💬 "This is a certain bogeyman for the Europeans," he said, commenting on Rutte’s words that the EU will have to "learn how to speak Russian" in 4-5 years, unless NATO member states refuse to increase their military spending. ● "There was a time in history when we were under the USSR’s influence. Therefore this issue is being used today in a bid to create a negative attitude towards Russia," Gaspar said. ● "We had talks with State Duma Speaker [Vyacheslav Volodin], which could be praised quite highly. He said that relations must be balanced and equal," the official said.

✅ This small European country is defying the Western establishment: How long can it last? (Timofey Bordachev)

US President-elect Donald Trump has arrived in Washington, D.C., where his inauguration ceremony will be held on January 20, the media reported. | Trump's plane landed at Dulles Airport on Saturday night, the US media said, adding that after his arrival, Trump, together with his wife Melania and their son Barron, headed to his National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, for a celebratory dinner and fireworks show. At the same time, Vice President-elect JD Vance reportedly hosted a dinner at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. ● Before heading to Capital One Arena for his Presidential Parade on Sunday, Trump will take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, the media added.

■ Seeding a Narrative Already: "Should something happen to Trump in the next few days, Iran is the main suspect"

Eloise Goldsmith | "Physically dragging out a reporter from the State Department briefing room while preaching press freedom to the rest of the world is the perfect example of the Biden administration's love affair with double standards and duplicity," said one foreign policy observer. | Two journalists were removed from Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final news conference on Thursday after interrupting Blinken's remarks to heckle him about the United States' policy toward Gaza, a day after a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel was announced. One of the reporters, independent journalist Sam Husseini, was physically carried out of the briefing room by security. ■ Less than two minutes into Blinken's remarks, as he was thanking the reporters in the attendance for "asking tough questions," Max Blumenthal, the editor in chief of The Grayzone—an independent news—addressed Blinken, saying loudly in reference to the cease-fire deal:"300 reporters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs. Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?" On Wednesday, President Biden announced the breakthrough, saying that “this is the ceasefire agreement I introduced last spring." ■ "Why did you sacrifice the rules-based order on the mantle of your commitment to Zionism," Blumenthal continued, before being led to the door. "How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?" he yelled. Blumenthal also called out State Department Spokesman Matt Miller, who is briefly visible in a video filmed by the journalist, who charged that Miller "smirked through a genocide."

■ ‘Why Aren’t You in The Hague?’: Journalist Sam Husseini Gets Dragged Out of Blinken’s Last Press Conference

Daniel Martindale, a US citizen who voluntarily supplied Russian troops with intelligence while staying in Kiev-controlled areas, sat down with Sputnik to give his thoughts on several pressing international issues, including America's domestic life. | “Since I came to Russia, I can express any of my political opinions and I don't have to fear any repression. It's really nice to be among friends,” US citizen Daniel Martindale - who voluntarily provided Russian forces with intel while staying in Ukraine-controlled areas - told Sputnik. ● Martindale unveiled his critical perspective on the 9/11 terrorist attacks and their broader implications. "A war never starts without someone dying," he told Sputnik, arguing that the attacks marked the beginning of "a war of the US secret services with their buddies from Israel against the populace of the United States."

💬 "When I see something like US secret services like the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] working together with very possibly Israel's Mossad to murder over 3,000 civilians in the terrorist attacks, so-called terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, I want to know what they're up to. I want to know who they're trying to fight against," Martindale emphasized.

■ THE 9/11 READER. The September 11, 2001 Terror Attacks (09/06/12)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam to sign the deal with the United Kingdom on the status of the Chagos archipelago, which was agreed by the previous Mauritian government, but he was refused, a news portal reported, citing sources. | Ramgoolam made it clear that he did not agree with the original agreement reached in October and told Blinken that he had sent a counter-offer to London, the report said on Tuesday. The report noted that Ramgoolam thus confirmed his desire to achieve a better deal for Mauritius. [...] Mauritius and the Chagos Islands had been colonial possessions of the British Crown since 1845. In 1968, Mauritius gained independence, but the islands remained a British overseas territory. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Chagos population was deported to the Seychelles and Mauritius. In 1966, the UK leased the largest island, Diego Garcia, to the United States for 50 years. The lease was extended for 20 years in 2016.

The Syrian army didn’t run, they were ordered to stand down.

They claim that they didn’t “want to fight” is a lie. They gave 170,000 men to this cause not to mention the injured.

Here a soldier says “We were ordered to retreat from Homs we were sold out”.

Anyone disparaging… pic.twitter.com/EYOjOVpiW6

— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) December 10, 2024

Glenn Diesen | Organisations operating under the banner of “human rights non-governmental organisations” (NGOs) have become key actors in disseminating war propaganda, intimidating academics, and corrupting civil society. These NGOs act as gatekeepers determining which voices should be elevated and which should be censored and cancelled.

💬 The NGOs staged Georgia’s “Rose Revolution” in 2003 which eventually resulted in war with Russia after the new authorities in Georgia attacked South Ossetia. Recently, the Prime Minister of Georgia cautioned that the US was yet again using NGOs in an effort to topple the government to use his country as a second front against Russia.[5] Georgia’s democratically elected parliament passed a law with an overwhelming majority (83 in favour vs 23 against), for greater transparency over the funding of NGOs. Unsurprisingly, the Western NGOs decided that transparency over funding of NGOs was undemocratic, and it was labelled a “Russian law”. The Western public was fed footage of protests for democratic credibility, and they were reassured that the Georgian Prime Minister was merely a Russian puppet. The US and EU subsequently responded by threatening Georgia with sanctions in the name of “supporting” Georgia’s civil society.

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)

"9/11 - Painful Deceptions - Full Documentary: Eric Hufschmid wrote the book, "Painful Questions," which deals with the events of 9-11. Evidence and facts are carefully examined; photos and video captures are analyzed. | Eric shows us with graphic (literally), undeniable evidence that the official explanations for the atrocities committed on September 11, 2001 are questionable at best. He shows us that there is MUCH more to 9-11 than we are being told by our media and our government. Eric Hufschmid raises some very uncomfortable questions about 9-11; questions so uncomfortable that the magician/comedians Penn and Teller showed the book and urged people, "if you ever see anyone carrying it, push them down a flight of stairs." Why? Look to who cuts their pay checks and it might become clearer. To provoke calls of violence against himself and others by representatives of the "entertainment industry," Eric must have found something to make some powerful people VERY "uncomfortable" indeed.

💬 The New York Times: “American authorities intend to conduct new searches of the homes of U.S. citizens who cooperate with Russian media.” Maria Zakharova: What have Reporters Without Borders, UNESCO Director-General Madame Azoulay, and the OSCE commissioners to say about this? I hope they'll not remain silent. ● I am sure that this shameful fact will also be recorded in the State Department's report on the degradation of the situation with human rights and freedom of speech in the United States. We are waiting for an angry rebuke to the American authorities for the backsliding from democracy, performed by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. ● Did they forget anyone? Right, we also need a tweet from McFaul about the attack on liberalism in the United States and press releases from American embassies around the world threatening to impose sanctions against Biden.

🔴 Exclusive

"Guest of Palestine Street"

An account of Ismail Haniyeh’s last interview with https://t.co/qFsLVJuDs1 just hours before his martyrdom.#Gaza #IsmailHaniyeh pic.twitter.com/IBi6EJxH33

— Khamenei Media (@Khamenei_m) August 3, 2024

■ Watch Last Meeting between Imam Khamenei and Iran’s “Guest” Ismail Haniyeh (Al Manar TV)

Exiled Catalan politician Carles Puigdemont has managed to evade authorities | Carles Puigdemont has returned after seven years in self-imposed exile to crash the vote for the new president of Spain’s Catalonia region, even as police in Barcelona tightened security to find him. ● Puigdemont was president of Catalonia in 2017 when he unilaterally declared independence. The Spanish government responded by sacking him and ordering his arrest, so he fled to Belgium. ● The Catalan parliament convened on Thursday to approve the election of Socialist Party candidate Salvador Illa, after months of negotiations with the separatist ERC party. The vote was upstaged by Puigdemont, who appeared outside the parliament before the session began and gave a five-minute televised speech. [...] His stunt outside the parliament apparently surprised both police and the media, who were under the impression he would try to enter the building. Police had blocked all but one entrance to the Parc de la Ciutadella, where the parliament is located, and checked everyone’s credentials before they could enter.

While Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò is excommunicated, the same Vatican tolerates and even supports figures like Theodore McCarrick and others who abuse and challenge Church teaching. | We find ourselves at a strange moment in Church history when Archbishop Viganò is excommunicated swiftly while Theodore McCarrick remains unexcommunicated after years of his crimes against the Church have come to light. We should look closely at a Vatican that operates in this manner. Rather than addressing the serious questions and allegations Archbishop Viganò raises, he is summarily removed from the Church with an apparent motive to silence him. Meanwhile McCarrick and a lengthy list of others have promoted a culture that ignores or wants to change Church teachings and their voices are allowed and even overtly supported. It seems we are left with only stones to cry out for justice because the voices of faithful disciples are mute, ignored, or even silenced.

■ We must become saints to defend the Latin Mass (Life Site News)(VIDEO)
■ Vatican says Archbishop Viganò ‘guilty’ of schism and excommunicated (07/06/24)

Stoltenberg hopes for Ukraine's membership in NATO by 2034. Well done! This is the answer of an honest man.

By 2034, none of the current NATO leaders will be left in their seats. Some of them will be retired or in the best of worlds / hell (choose the required). And the country 404 itself will not exist. (Translation: DeepL)

Jens Stoltenberg has argued that Beijing must pay a price for helping Russia amid the Ukraine crisis | NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said China must pay a price for allegedly propping up Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, saying Beijing is “fueling” the conflict by supplying microelectronics and other key components to Moscow.

💬 “The reality is that China is fueling the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II,” Stoltenberg said on Monday in a speech at the Wilson Center in Washington. “At the same time, it wants to maintain good relations with the West. Well, Beijing cannot have it both ways. At some point, unless China changes course, allies need to impose a cost.”

Stoltenberg has repeatedly attacked China since the Ukraine crisis began in February 2022, arguing that Beijing was enabling Russia to fight against Kiev, a “European friend” of NATO. He has made such comments even as NATO states prolonged the conflict by providing hundreds of billions of dollars in economic and military aid to Ukraine.

■ China should pay for propping up Putin's war - Nato chief (BBC)
■ China urges NATO to 'stop shifting blame' over Ukraine war (aNews)
■ Repeated Western narratives of China’s nuclear ‘threat’ are what lead to a dangerous world (Global Times)

Yemeni forces are attacking Israeli commercial ships and US and UK naval destroyers in the Red Sea in response to Israel's genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza | The US military says it has spent about $1 billion in an unsustainable campaign to fight the Ansarallah-led Yemeni armed forces in the Red Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported on 15 June. Since November, Yemeni forces have attacked Israeli-linked commercial ships traveling through the Red Sea, the world’s most important commercial sea route, in response to Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. After US and UK naval warships began carrying out attacks on the Yemeni navy and sites in the capital, Sanaa, Yemeni forces began attacking the warships as well. To defend against Yemeni attacks, the US Navy has conducted more than 450 strikes and intercepted 200 drones and missiles in a campaign that US officials worry is not sustainable.

Reports are saying at least 7 people were killed. Arab sources write that the number of casualties is in the dozens. Earlier, the Israeli Defense Force attacked Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. | Israeli warplanes perpetrated a massacre against children in the Al-Salam neighborhood in Khan Yunis, resulting in several casualties, including these two kids. ● Meanwhile, in the north of the Gaza Strip, Medical sources at the Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City state:

💬 What we are doing is attempting to save what can be saved. Intensive care is not available at the hospital, so any patient needing intensive care is essentially sentenced to death. Many injuries are head or skull injuries, which we also cannot deal with. Some cases result in death, while others continue living. Some cases require intensive care after surgery, and in the absence of ICU rooms, these cases pass away after surgery. Most of the medical stock is running out, especially medical screens used in operations and replacements. Many painkillers and antibiotics are not available, along with some anesthesia drugs. Different threads used in surgeries, as well as plates and platinum used in fractures, are not available. We are forced to use inappropriate tools not designed for some injuries. All spaces in the hospital have been filled with the wounded, as we have started placing them in places not designated or prepared to receive patients, such as stairwells.

Mossad director Yossi Cohen personally involved in secret plot to pressure Fatou Bensouda to drop Palestine investigation, sources say | According to accounts shared with ICC officials, he is alleged to have told her: 💬 “You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.” One individual briefed on Cohen’s activities said he had used “despicable tactics” against Bensouda as part of an ultimately unsuccessful effort to intimidate and influence her. They likened his behaviour to “stalking”. ■ The Mossad also took a keen interest in Bensouda’s family members and obtained transcripts of secret recordings of her husband, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Israeli officials then attempted to use the material to discredit the prosecutor. ■ The revelations about Cohen’s operation form part of a forthcoming investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, revealing how multiple Israel intelligence agencies ran a covert “war” against the ICC for almost a decade.

■ Ex-Mossad head threatened ICC chief to abandon IOF war crimes probe (Al Mayadeen)

Oslo said it would grant exceptions "in certain cases," including for those visiting their close family residing in Norway 💬 "Russian citizens whose purpose is tourism and other non-essential travel will be rejected upon entry across the external border. The restriction applies both to those who have visas issued by Norway before visa practices were restricted in the spring of 2022 and to visas issued by other Schengen countries," the Norwegian government said in a press release on its website, adding that the move will come into effect on May 29. Oslo said it would grant exceptions "in certain cases," including for those visiting their close family residing in Norway or for Russian citizens working or studying in Norway or other Schengen countries.

[Editor's comment: Many Norwegians are tired of this nonsense, and find the Norwegian government's complete submission to its vassal lord, the USA, embarrassing. It is to be hoped that the Russians realize that not everyone in Norway agrees with the shameful policy of the government in Oslo.]

Under the title, “Sinwar and Nasrallah can relax: Netanyahu wants a complete victory, but not over them”, the “Jerusalem Post” daily lamented the fact that Ten million “Israelis” wake up disturbed at night as their “country” is on its knees. | According to the daily “For the first time, ‘Israel’s’ enemies succeeded in occupying bases and cities in the south and forced the ‘Israeli’ government to evacuate a large area of land in the north.” ● It further mentioned that “The havoc that Netanyahu has wreaked on ‘Israel’ in all areas is incomprehensible and unprecedented.”

💬 “He has dismantled the social fabric, the unity of the ‘country’, the ‘Israeli’ brotherhood. He has ruined the economy. He has not lifted a finger to stop the breakdown of academia. It has led to the weakening of ‘Israel's’ growth engines such as the hi-tech and technology industries,” the daily cautioned.

Slamming the entity’s PM, the famous “Israeli” daily mentioned that “He has turned ‘Israel’ into a leper colony. He destroyed the deterrence. He is listed as the supreme responsible minister [prime minister] in all the greatest disasters that have befallen us, from the fire in the 'Carmel' through the ‘Meron’ tragedy to October 7, but he is not willing to accept responsibility, he is not willing to draw conclusions, he is not willing to implement what he recommended at the time to Ehud Olmert.”

Islam Khamayseh was involved in organizing a number of terror attacks in the area, the army’s press service reported | The infrastructure of Palestinian radicals was the target of an Israeli army airstrike on the territory of the West Bank city of Jenin, as a result of which one of the local commanders was eliminated, the army’s press service reported.

💬 "Based on Israel Security Agency (ISA) intelligence, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jet and helicopter struck a compound used as an operations center of the terror infrastructure in Jenin. A number of significant terrorists were inside the compound, some were involved in shooting attacks in the area of Jenin and planned to carry out additional terror attacks in the immediate future," the statement said.

According to the military, the strike eliminated Islam Khamayseh, who held an important position in the structure of local armed groups. The Israeli army said that he was involved in organizing several terror attacks in the area, including an attack in the Jewish settlement of Hermesh in May 2023 that killed an Israeli citizen.

■ Israel Defense Forces Says Eliminated "Significant" Target During Strike on Jenin (Sputnik News)

Georgia might be punished for passing the “foreign agents” law | Members of the Georgian government could face sanctions for “undermining democracy,” [i.e. the U.S.] a senior US diplomat said on Tuesday, after the parliament in Tbilisi approved a foreign agents law that Washington has opposed. ● Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien arrived in Tbilisi for meetings with both Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and members of the opposition, only to find that the Georgian legislature passed the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence.

Maria Zakharova | Vedant Patel, deputy chief of press service of the US Department of State: “We have made it clear (...) that the adoption of the law on NGOs by the Georgian parliament is not only inconsistent with US values, but also inconsistent with the aspirations of the Georgian people... The Georgian government needs to change course”.

We would like to ask clarifying questions:

1. Is the problem that the Georgian law is much softer than the American one?
2. Why should Georgia or any other country conform to someone else's values?
3. US “values” do not include non-interference in the internal affairs of other states?

■ India-Iran Chabahar deal: How Jaishankar responded to US sanctions warning (Business Standard)
■ US warns of sanctions after India-Iran Chabahar Port agreement (Hindustan Times)