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© Sputnik/Stanislav KrasilnikovRussian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Latvia is fueling the Ukraine conflict by supplying Kiev with hundreds of drones, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. The deliveries will nonetheless fail to change the ultimate outcome of the hostilities, she added.
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds revealed last week that the Baltic nation had readied another shipment of 500 domestically-manufactured UAVs for Ukraine. The announcement came after the Latvian Defense Ministry said in early July that it would provide Kiev with as many as 2,500 combat UAVs worth a total €4 million ($4.4 million) within a month, as part of a Western drone coalition effort.
© Nayeli CruzA group of migrants hands themselves over to U.S. Border Patrol, May 12, 2023.
© ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty ImagesKamala Harris has no clue how a market economy really works.
Axios Markets Correspondent Emily Peck wrote, "One of Kamala Harris' most controversial policy proposals is a ban on grocery price gouging — critics are conflating the idea with Soviet-style price controls, and calling the plan 'Kamunism.'" Peck added, "If banning price gouging is communist, then the U.S. went Marxist long ago. Most of us live in states that already have bans in place."
Axios also posted a link to the article on X with the caption, "Don't call it price controls: How price gouging bans really work."
© Anton Denisov/SputnikFILE: Russian Foreign Ministry building • Moscow, Russia
Why it matters: It's the latest in a series of surprise offensive attacks sprung by Ukraine as Kyiv looks to build on the momentum generated by its surprise incursion into Russian territory earlier this month.
Driving the news: The drone attack on Moscow was part of a broader series of overnight strikes on Russian soil.
Comment: It's telling of the desperation of the Kiev-junta, the West, (and Israel), that they are increasingly resorting to terrorist attacks against civilians. This, in addition to even more diabolical actions, such as attacks against infrastructure that could have devastating consequences for peoples across Europe:
- Ukrainian drone attack on Zaporozhye nuclear plant causes fire, Russia puts it into cold shutdown
- Rare China-Belarus military drills near borders of Poland, Ukraine, cite NATO build up and 'anti-terrorism'
© Global Look Press / Haim Zach-GPO
US officials believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "maximalist statements" are hindering ceasefire talks over the war in Gaza, multiple media reports have claimed. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a tour of the Middle East on Tuesday, amid a US push for a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The reported criticism of Netanyahu comes amid claims that the Israeli prime minister has expressed a hardline stance on the continued Israel Defense Forces (IDF) presence in Gaza.
Blinken held three hours of talks with Netanyahu on Monday in West Jerusalem. He later announced to the media that the Israeli leader had accepted a "bridging proposal" intended to bring Israel and Hamas closer to a full ceasefire. The militant group did not attend the negotiations, citing the lack of a clear plan, and had refused a US ceasefire proposal the day before.
© Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu/Getty ImagesUkrainian troops operating a M777 howitzer in Donbass, August 15, 2024
NATO could allow Ukraine to join the bloc without having to recapture territory it has lost to Russia, Czech President Petr Pavel has said.
Kiev formally applied to become a NATO member in September 2022, citing its conflict with Russia. The US-led bloc, however, has ruled out admitting Ukraine until the hostilities with Moscow are resolved. Instead, a series of NATO member states have opted for bilateral security pacts with Kiev. These agreements lack the power of Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which stipulates that an attack on one member must be treated as an attack on the bloc as a whole.
Pavel, who led the NATO Military Committee from 2015 and 2018, argued that Kiev may not need to achieve its stated aim of retaking all of its lost territory from Russia in order to join the bloc.
Pavel told the Novinky.cz news website on Monday:
"I don't think that the full restoration of control over the entire territory is a prerequisite. If there is demarcation, even an administrative border, then we can treat this administrative border as a temporary one, and accept Ukraine into NATO with the territory that it will control at that time. So I think there is a solution both technically and legally to allow Ukraine to join NATO without bringing NATO into a conflict with the Russian Federation."
Comment: How an inch becomes a mile after mile after mile.
© Getty Images/PoolIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out accepting a ceasefire proposal that includes ending the war in Gaza, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.
The report comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the Israeli leader on Monday to discuss efforts to reduce tensions and reach an agreement on a ceasefire and release of hostages. Blinken claimed that Netanyahu had accepted the US ceasefire proposal.
The White House later claimed that significant progress had been made during the latest round of talks involving officials from Israel, Qatar, the US, and Egypt in the Qatari capital of Doha last week. Hamas skipped the negotiations, citing the absence of a clear plan.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Netanyahu reportedly told hostage families that a ceasefire deal may not be reached and that the Israeli military will not relinquish control of the Gazan-Egyptian border, a key demand of the Palestinian militant group.
© UnknownCurrent Vice President Kamala Harris
"Our numbers are much less rosy than what you're seeing in the public," said Future Forward super PAC president Chauncey McLean during a Monday event hosted by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
According to public polls - which, as you'll see below, are largely bullshit - Harris is leading Donald Trump in several national polls by FiveThirtyEight; 46.6% to 43.8%, and has allegedly pulled ahead in several battleground states, Reuters reports.
Except that's not what Future Forward is seeing...
© UnknownScotland’s External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson
Scotland said it has suspended all meetings with Israeli officials until there is "real progress" towards peace in Gaza. The announcement follows criticism of a secret meeting between Scottish External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson and an Israeli diplomat earlier this month.
In a statement on Monday, Robertson essentially apologized for meeting Israel's Deputy Ambassador to the UK Daniela Grudsky Ekstein two weeks ago, insisting that it did not "represent a normalization of relations" between the Israeli and Scottish governments.
It was Ekstein who requested the meeting, Robertson said.
"I saw it as an opportunity to express Scotland's unwavering position on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. No one intended that this meeting be presented as legitimizing the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza. The Scottish government has been consistent in our unequivocal condemnation of the atrocities we have witnessed in Gaza.Robertson faced backlash from the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP), with some critics calling for him to be suspended, and describing him as "a liability."
"Going forward, it is clear that... it would not be appropriate to accept any invitation for a further meeting... until such time as real progress has been made towards peace."
Comment: See also: