Those eligible to serve will now have to return home to procure documents or update their passports

Ukrainian consulates are set to "temporarily suspend" all services to men between the ages of 18 and 60, who will only be able to procure documents by returning home, Ukraine's Minister for Foreign Affairs has confirmed.

The measure is set to be enacted on Tuesday and remain in place until the foreign ministry receives guidelines on the controversial mobilization law that was signed by President Vladimir Zelensky last week.

The new legislation, which had been deliberated for weeks by the country's parliament before being adopted, is set to take effect in May.

It's a six-minute read, or so Six Minutes of Time Magazine: The Deadliest Propagandists on Earth. Before I dove in, my first question was, "Who wrote this?" I guess you already suspect some would-be propaganda expert. And Peter Pomerantsev is the spurt in question. Now, if I may, allow me to poke holes like the Swiss in this cheesy bit of Putin-phobia.

Before I launch into this Time Magazine horse manure, it's significant to note that Pomerantsev hatched his genius Putin hate piece with a catchy story about traveling to Kyiv from Poland. Please, let's face it: anybody traveling from Poland to Ukraine's capital is never going to be carrying any good news about Russia. Let's address the author's (or Time's ownership's) the biggest question. Do Russians believe the news in Russia? I am told by most Russians I know that, like any other media market in the world, a lot depends on who you are reading, watching, or listening to. That said, the best way to shred Time Magazine's propaganda is to examine what Western elites say Putin lies about. A few examples will suffice.

If there is evidence that Moscow plans a march across Europe, Americans deserve to see it, congresswoman says...

US intelligence agencies should provide proof of the Russian expansionism they claim justifies a new $61 billion war chest for Ukraine, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has insisted. The "proxy war" they are funding will inevitably end in defeat for Kiev, she claimed.

Speaking on Monday in an interview with former White House aide Steve Bannon, Greene pushed back against claims that Russian forces will take Poland and continue "marching across Europe" if they are allowed to defeat Ukraine.

She noted that US House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) only agreed to the $61 billion Ukraine aid bill, which was approved on Saturday, after hearing intelligence briefings hyping the Russian threat.

Greene said:

"If the American people are going to have to pay for it, then show us this proof that was shown to Mike Johnson in the SCIF [sensitive compartment information facility]. Why is this classified information? If this is a real threat to all of Europe, if this is a threat to America and our national security, then roll out the presentation."

"This is the weirdest era in human history. By far. Nothing else even comes close. Billionaires trying to kill everyone. Civil society unable to form a coherent thought. Institutions lie in smoldering ruins. Poisons handed out like candy. We are Neanderthals with iPhones."
— Dr. Toby Rogers

Did it warm your heart to see all those blue and yellow Ukrainian flags waved by our elected officials in Congress Saturday night with the passage of the $60-plus-billion aid bill to the Palookaville of Europe? You realize, don't you, that the tiny fraction of that hypothetical "money" — from our country's empty treasury — that ever reaches Ukraine will rebound on the instant into Mr. Zelensky's Cayman Islands bank account. The rest of the dough enters the recursive shell-game between US weapons-makers and the very hometown folks in Congress waving those blue and yellow flags, who will receive great greasy gobs of fresh "campaign donations" from the grateful bomb and missile producers. No wonder they're cheering.

What the $60-plus-billion won't do is provide any fresh arms and equipment to Ukraine's sad-sack army soon enough to prevent Russia from bringing this cruel, stupid, and unnecessary war, which we started, to a close. Yes, we started it, not Russia, in 2014 with our Intel blob overthrowing elected President Viktor Yanukovych in the so-called "Maidan Revolution of Dignity" (what Wikipedia calls it). And for what reason? To jam Ukraine into NATO as a prelude to "weakening" Russia sufficient to bust it up and gain control over Russian oil, ores, and grain.

Berlin, Germany, in 1936, hosted the Olympic Games fraught with international tensions. The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler had seized power in 1933. Berlin won the bid to host the games at the 29th International Olympic Committee Session on April 26, 1931.

It was the first time that the quadrennial sporting event was to be televised, with radio broadcasts reaching 41 countries. Germany wanted to show the world that it was a modern, prosperous, and democratic country. For the occasion, the anti-Semitic slogans were removed, which not only concerned Jews but also Gypsies (Romani), the Slavic people, Africans and Asians.

Comparisons can be readily made with the international tensions and vested political ambitions of the 2024 Olympics to be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11. French President Emmanuel Macron has personally sought to make the event a showcase for presumed national prowess. The political orchestration and propaganda efforts are similar to the Berlin games of 1936.

Eighty-eight years ago, German Jewish athletes were barred or prevented from taking part. Lithuania was expelled from the Olympic Games due to Berlin's position regarding Lithuanian anti-Nazi policy, particularly because of the Trial of Neumann and Sass in Klaipėda, Lithuania, in 1934-1935. How ironic that Lithuania was not allowed to participate at the time when now this small Baltic country has become one of the most fascist nations in Europe and rabidly Russophobic. For the Paris Olympics 2024, Russia and Belarus are de facto banned from participating, sanctioned so to speak, as the new enemy of Europe, or perhaps still the old enemy. Nothing seems to have changed since 1936.

France has now stepped into the role of the National Socialist regime led by Adolf Hitler. To fully appreciate the French leadership now in 2024 would require analyzing their predominant mass media and the mentality of their politicians and elites. For example, Sébastien Chenu, a French politician who is a member of the National Assembly, and openly gay, praised France's nuclear weapons for bringing independence and for France being a nuclear superpower, outside of NATO. Or Vincent Desportes, a French reserve general, goes one step further and proclaims in a television program that Russia fears France the most. France's nuclear capabilities could destroy Russia, he said. Maybe he's suffering from egotistical insecurity known as the Napoleon Complex. France is at the center of discussions about the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games and its political consequences. Of course, Russians and Belarusians are allowed to participate as "neutral" individuals, but without their flag, and must distance themselves from the special military operation called war in the West.

In other words, they should hardly be Russian or Belarusian present at the games because they should be labeled as neutral, preferably gender neutral of course, following the example of the LGBT sect prevalent in the West.

Iranian lawmaker Javad Karimi Ghoddusi says there is only "a one-week gap from the issuance of the order to the first test" of a nuclear bomb, despite previous assertions of peaceful intentions.

His Monday statement on X came amidst escalating tensions with Israel and just hours after the Iranian foreign ministry reiterated that nuclear weapons have no place in Iran's military doctrine.

Ghoddusi, who is known for his hardline stance in domestic and foreign policy, also made provocative comments prior to Iran's missile and drone attack against Israel, warning that attempts to assassinate 'Resistance Front' personalities worldwide would be met with retaliation with Iranian missiles.

The ex-adviser, who also worked with Hillary Clinton, has been accused of possessing indecent images and arranging commission of a sexual offense in the UK.

A former White House aide who advised then-President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on counterterrorism initiatives has reportedly been accused of committing child sex crimes in the UK.

Rahamim 'Rami' Shy, 46, was arraigned on Friday in Luton Crown Court, near London. He faces charges of possessing indecent images of children and arranging the commission of a child sexual offense, according to local media reports. The New Jersey resident was arrested in late February and jailed at HMP Bedford pending court proceedings.

Shy, who has not yet entered a plea to the charges, is scheduled for another court hearing in June, the Daily Mail reported. His case is slated to go to trial in August.

The defendant held multiple roles in the Obama administration, reportedly including coordination of the US government's efforts to combat Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists. He was a senior adviser in the US Treasury Department from 2008 to 2014, working to disrupt terrorist financing and helping overseas allies impose sanctions on adversarial governments. He also advised the chiefs of staff at the Pentagon.

Shy's LinkedIn page, which has been deleted, said he advised the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. He studied at New York's Columbia University and reportedly worked most recently at US banking giant Citigroup. A company spokesman told the Daily Mail that Shy was no longer a Citigroup employee.

The Russian armed forces have the initiative along the entire contact line and are pushing the enemy away from the occupied borders, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of the Defense Ministry's board.

Ukraine has lost almost half a million soldiers since the beginning of the special military operation in 2022, Russian Defense Ministry Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.

"In total, the losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to almost half a million military personnel since the beginning of the special military operation," Shoigu told a Defense Ministry meeting.

More than 3,000 German military personnel are taking part in the Grand Quadriga 2024 drills that kicked off in Lithuania on Tuesday. The maneuvers are part of the larger, months-long Steadfast Defender 24 series of NATO exercises that began in late January.

Lithuania shares a border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, as well as Moscow's closest ally, Belarus. In a separate development earlier this month, Berlin deployed an advanced military team to the Baltic country as part of plans for a full-strength armor brigade permanently stationed there. Moscow has described the plans as a threat requiring "special measures" in response.

The Grand Quadriga 2024 exercise is scheduled to wrap up in late May, and will involve 200 pieces of German military hardware, including Leopard tanks as well as Puma and Boxer infantry fighting vehicles.

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday with broad bipartisan support passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, over bitter objections from Republican hardliners.

The legislation now proceeds to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. U.S. leaders from Democratic President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell had been urging embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it up for a vote.

The Senate is set to begin considering the House-passed bill on Tuesday, with some preliminary votes that afternoon. Final passage was expected sometime next week, which would clear the way for Biden to sign it into law.

The bills provide $60.84 billion to address the conflict in Ukraine, including $23 billion to replenish U.S. weapons, stocks and facilities; $26 billion for Israel, including $9.1 billion for humanitarian needs, and $8.12 billion for the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed his thanks, saying U.S. lawmakers moved to keep "history on the right track."

"The vital U.S. aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger," Zelenskiy said on X.