Puppet MastersS


Roses

US, Russia drafting Gaza-inspired peace plan for Ukraine

Samuel Chamberlain and Caitlin Doornbos
New York Post
Wed, 19 Nov 2025 19:54 UTC
shelling in Donbass June 2016
A Donbass residence destroyed by Ukraine shelling in June, 2016.
Members of the Trump administration and Russian officials have secretly been hashing out a revised plan to end Moscow's 45-month-old invasion of Ukraine — but the deal is riddled with unacceptable provisions that would in part force Kyiv to dramatically shrink its military, The Post can reveal.


Comment: Moscow didn't "invade" Ukraine. After many warnings to the Kiev regime, it took action to protect Donbass Russian speakers who had endured eight years of shelling by their own country, because they wouldn't bend to the neo-nazi coup in 2014. After all this time, The Post is still following the approved narrative. Sad.

The 28-point framework calls for Ukraine to shrink its Army to 2.5 times smaller than it is now; forces Kyiv to turn over long-range missiles "or any kind that can reach Moscow or St. Petersburg"; and bans any international brigades within Ukraine — which has long been considered the best way to ensure a halt to Russia's assault would remain in place, a source familiar with the plan told The Post.

The proposed plan would also target NATO, requiring Ukraine to ban allied countries from keeping any military aircraft in Ukraine — instead backing them up to at least the Polish border.

Comment: Analyst Alexander Mercouris highlights other provisions in the draft document that have received little attention: the enshrining of Russian as a "state language", thus protecting Russian speakers, and the restoration of the persecuted Russian Orthodox Church to its former status, including the return of all looted properties. These may be minor points to the West, but are immensely important to Russia, as it formed a part of the decision to initiate the SMO.


(For those who like to speed up their videos, Alex may be listened to comfortably at 2X)

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Gavel

Senators ask DC Circuit chief judge to suspend James Boasberg pending House impeachment vote

Kaelan Deese
Washington Examiner
Mon, 17 Nov 2025 19:34 UTC
Boasberg
© Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via GettyJames Boasberg, incoming chief judge of the U.S. District Court, in Washington, D.C., on Monday, March 13, 2023.
A group of Senate Republicans led by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) is pressing the federal judiciary to sideline Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia while the House of Representatives considers whether to impeach him.

The Republicans argue in a new letter that his handling of matters involving the FBI's pursuit of lawmakers' phone records and other Trump-related matters has "undermined confidence" in the courts and requires immediate intervention.

In a letter sent Monday to D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, Sens. Schmitt, Mike Lee (R-UT), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) urged the circuit judicial council to place Boasberg on administrative suspension. They told Srinivasan that the chief district judge "should be administratively suspended pending formal impeachment by the House of Representatives and, if impeached, an impeachment trial by the Senate." Removal would require a two-thirds vote in the upper chamber.

Comment: Given the number of times Boasberg has been overruled by higher courts, it is a wonder that he's been allowed to continue on the bench for this long. His rulings as FISA court judge were outrageous.

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Map

Why Middle East nations turn to Russia for stability

Murad Sadygzade
RT
Thu, 20 Nov 2025 18:03 UTC
Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Sergey Shoigu and Oman’s National Security Council Secretary Idris al‑Kindi
© Sputnik/Alexander RyuminSecretary of Russia’s Security Council Sergey Shoigu and Oman’s National Security Council Secretary Idris al‑Kindi during a meeting at Muscat airport, Muscat, Oman, November 11, 2025.
Sergey Shoigu's visit to Egypt and Oman was one of Moscow's most telling diplomatic moves in the Middle East in recent years, underscoring Russia's intention to strengthen its regional role through multi-layered engagement.

The trip included a series of high-level meetings focused on regional security, coordination of political approaches, and the advancement of bilateral projects. In Cairo, the Russian delegation concentrated on the prospects for military and military-technical cooperation, as well as on exchanging assessments of the situation in and around the Gaza Strip - an issue that today defines a significant part of the political agenda in the Arab world.

An equally important part of the trip took place in Oman, where Shoigu held talks on a wide range of topics - from efforts to stabilize regional conflicts to the development of economic and humanitarian cooperation. Muscat has traditionally pursued a moderate foreign policy and often plays the role of mediator in various Middle Eastern processes, which makes engagement with Oman an increasingly valuable asset for Russian diplomacy.
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Stop

US threatens to cut intel, weapons to press Ukraine into peace deal, sources say

Tom Balmforth
Reuters
Fri, 21 Nov 2025 17:54 UTC
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with U.S. President Donald Trump
© REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstUkraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with U.S. President Donald Trump over lunch in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 17, 2025.
The United States has threatened to cut intelligence sharing and weapons supplies for Ukraine to press it into agreeing to the framework of a U.S.-brokered peace deal, two people familiar with the matter said.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Kyiv was under greater pressure from Washington than during any previous peace discussions, and that the U.S. wanted Ukraine to sign a framework of the deal by next Thursday.

"They want to stop the war and want Ukraine to pay the price," one of the sources said.

Comment: More about the framework:

Ukraine to give up land & some arms under US peace plan, sources say

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Gingerbread

Nordic nations' Ukraine burden 'unsustainable' - Sweden


RT
Thu, 20 Nov 2025 21:30 UTC
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard
Stockholm has criticized uneven cash injections from other bloc members, despite claims about backing Kiev "for as long as it takes"

It is unsustainable for Nordic countries to continue to pay a disproportionate amount to support Ukraine, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard has said in an interview with Politico. Rifts are widening inside the EU over how - and whether - to keep funding Kiev, according to the outlet.

Currently, Nordic and Baltic countries continue to contribute the most to Kiev relative to GDP, while larger EU economies trail far behind in proportional terms - a disparity Stockholm says the EU can no longer ignore.

In an interview published on Thursday, Stenergard claimed "a few countries take almost all of the burden," calling the imbalance "not fair" and "not sustainable in the long run."

She noted that the Nordic countries, with fewer than 30 million people, are expected to provide a third of NATO's military aid to Ukraine this year. "It's not reasonable in any way. And it says a lot about what the Nordics do - but it says even more about what the others don't do."


Comment: The Swedish foreign minister forgets that the Nordic countries are doing it out of their own blindness to reality. If they feel it is unfair, then just stop handing over the Nordic taxpayers money to Ukraine.


Comment: So the Swedes want to steal Russian assets because they couldn't really afford to support the black hole of Ukraine forever. They are now realizing that the money they gave to Ukraine will never come back and there wont be Russian resources to plunder. If they steal Russian frozen assets in Belgium, then the Euro will be relegated to the history of failed fiat currencies.

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Tank

Ukraine to give up land & some arms under US peace plan, sources say

Tom Balmforth and Anastasiia Malenko
Reuters
Wed, 19 Nov 2025 18:50 UTC
trump zelensky
The U.S. has signalled to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine must accept a U.S.-drafted framework to end the war with Russia that proposes Kyiv giving up territory and some weapons, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the proposals included cutting the size of Ukraine's armed forces, among other things. Washington wants Kyiv to accept the main points, they said.

Such a plan would represent a major setback for Kyiv as it faces further Russian territorial gains in eastern Ukraine and with Zelenskiy tackling a corruption scandal, which on Wednesday saw parliament dismiss the energy and justice ministers.
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Gavel

The UN embraces colonialism: Unpacking the Security Council's mandate for the U.S. colonial administration of Gaza

Craig Mokhiber
Mondoweiss
Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00 UTC
Security Council
© UN Photo/Loey FelipeSecurity Council adopts resolution 2803 during the UN Security Council meeting • November 17, 2025 approving US President Trump's 'Peace Plan' for Gaza
The Security Council's backing of the Trump plan for Gaza ignores international law, punishes the Palestinians, and rewards those responsible for genocide.

More than two years into the genocide in Palestine, the UN Security Council has finally acted. But rather than acting to enforce international law, protect the victims, and hold the perpetrators accountable, it adopted a resolution that openly flouts key provisions of international law, disempowers and further punishes the victims, and rewards and empowers the perpetrators.

Most disturbingly, it hands control of Gaza and the survivors of the genocide over to the United States, a co-perpetrator of the genocide, and provides for the participation of the Israeli regime in decision making. Under the plan, Palestinians themselves are to be granted no such participation in decisions on their own rights, governance, and lives.

In adopting this resolution, the Council, in effect, has become a mechanism of U.S. oppression, an instrument for the continued unlawful occupation of Palestine, and a complicit actor in Israel's genocide.

Not since the UN partitioned Palestine in 1947 against the will of the indigenous people, setting the stage for 80 years of Nakba, has the UN acted in such a baldly colonial (and legally ultra vires) way, and trampled so recklessly on the rights of a people.

Comment: It is right, of course...on every warning, every admonishment, every outcome.

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X

Iraq at a crossroads: Elections under the weight of past and present

Viktor Mikhin
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00 UTC
Voting Iraq
© UnknownVoting in Iraq
The recent parliamentary elections in Iraq were far more than just a routine democratic exercise.

They were held against a backdrop of regional wars, shifting alliances, and, most importantly, persistent foreign interference that has shaped the country's modern history. The announced preliminary results point to a major victory for the bloc supporting incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. His "Coalition of National State Forces," according to sources close to the alliance, secured the largest bloc — around 50 seats in parliament. But behind these numbers lies a deeper struggle over Iraq's sovereignty and its right to an independent future.

The Shadow of 2003: The Birth of Crisis and Resistance Forces

To understand Iraq's contemporary political landscape, one must return to the roots of the current crisis: the brazen 2003 U.S. invasion and the subsequent occupation. This act of aggression, carried out under false pretenses, had catastrophic consequences. It not only toppled the government but also ignited a brutal sectarian conflict, dismantled state institutions, and created a security vacuum in which the terrorist group ISIS* flourished.
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Cross

'Europe is persecuting Christians'

Paul Coleman
Spiked
Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00 UTC
Paul Coleman
© ADF InternationalPaul Coleman
Paul Coleman on the 'progressive' blasphemy laws smothering free speech across Europe.

Free speech is under serious attack all across Europe. To criticise the sacred cows of the progressive worldview - from transgenderism to immigration and even Islam - is to invite a knock on the door from the thoughtpolice. The recent, harrowing trial of a Finnish parliamentarian reveals how it is often Christians who find themselves in the firing line. Päivi Räsänen has spent the past six years fighting a 'hate speech' prosecution, simply for quoting passages from the Bible and defending traditional marriage.

Paul Coleman - executive director of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International - joined Brendan O'Neill on his podcast, The Brendan O'Neill Show, to discuss Räsänen's case as well as the broader assault on free expression in Europe. What follows is an edited version of that conversation. You can watch the whole thing here.

Brendan O'Neill: Tell us about the case of Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen. Why is it so important to the cause of free speech?

Paul Coleman: It's always hard for me to convince people that this case really happened as it did. They say 'come on, Paul, there must be something more to it', because it really does sound so far-fetched.

Päivi Räsänen is Finland's former minister of interior, the equivalent of the British home secretary. She's the longest serving female member of parliament. Things took a turn for her in 2019, when the Lutheran Church in Finland became an official sponsor of the Helsinki Pride parade. As a member of the church (and wife of a pastor), Päivi was highly critical of the decision, and considered it to be out of line with her understanding of the Bible. For saying as much, she was investigated by the police.
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Dollars

Soros funded NGO that tried to 'kill Musk's Twitter'


RT
Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:40 UTC
Soros
© Getty Images/Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto; Popow/ullstein bildGeorge Soros • Berlin, Germany • June 8, 2017
The liberal philanthropist gave $250,000 to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which pressured advertisers to cut ties with the platform.

A grantmaking network created by billionaire investor George Soros funded a controversial UK-based NGO which seeks to "kill" Elon Musk's X media platform and censor conservative media, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Monday.

According to the database of Soros' Open Society Foundation (OSF), the charity gave the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) a $250,000 grant last year "to provide general support." While the nonprofit stipulates that its goal is to hold social media companies "accountable" for spreading hate, in practice, it has pressured advertisers to censor companies and lobbied to deplatform and cancel news organizations it found offensive, the paper said.

According to the outlet, the CCDH, founded by former Labour Party operative Imran Ahmed, has targeted conservative outlets such as The Federalist and the Daily Wire over alleged racist content. The nonprofit also reportedly tried to persuade US policymakers to create an "independent digital regulator."

The CCDH has criticized a number of social media companies over what it sees as a failure to curtail extremism, but has been particularly hostile towards Musk's X, the paper said. Its internal documents openly listed "Kill Musk's Twitter" as its top annual priority, according to whistleblower documents published by journalists last year.

Comment: President Trump pledges Soros investigation:
US President Donald Trump has said that his administration will be probing George Soros over his alleged funding of mass "riots" in the US.

The Hungarian-American billionaire investor and NGOs funded by his Open Society Foundations (OSF) have long been linked to various protest movements, both in the US and abroad.

Trump said in an interview with Fox & Friends on Friday:
"They have professional agitators... They get paid for their profession from Soros and other people. We're going to look into Soros because I think it's a RICO case against him and other people. "This is more than protests: This is real agitation. This is riots on the street, and we're gonna look into that."
The US federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act 1970) law has historically targeted organized crime, and is used to prosecute offenses committed as part of a criminal enterprise, though more recently it has seen broader use.

Last month, the US president called for the Hungarian-American investor and his son to face charges under the statute, accusing them of supporting "violent protests, and much more, all throughout the United States. We're not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more." he said in a Truth Social post.

In the months prior, anti-immigration protests shook the US, with the most violent cases in Los Angeles escalating into clashes with the police, looting, and arson.

Soros was also linked to the 2016 Russiagate hoax, according to declassified documents published by the Senate Judiciary Committee in July.

The documents alleged the investor's OSF network had ties to the Hillary Clinton campaign's debunked attempts to accuse Trump of collusion with Russia in order to undermine his 2016 election victory - accusations Moscow has long dismissed.
Soros has been an influential and disruptive operator for decades...when is 'soon enough'?
See also:

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