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Best of the Web: Putin: Russia-West clash is based on geopolitical strategizing, not ideological differences


RT
Mon, 14 Jul 2025 08:15 UTC
The standoff is only about geopolitical interests, the Russian president has said
geopolitics putin map russia
Western nations' hegemonic aspirations and dismissal of Russia's security concerns have led to the ongoing standoff between Moscow and the West, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview released on Sunday. Ideological differences are only a pretext to advance the West's geopolitical interests, he claimed.

Putin added that he expected the collapse of the USSR to alleviate tensions between Russia and the West.

"It became clear to me that ideology probably has some importance, but at the core of all these contradictions lie geopolitical interests, which is the main, fundamental issue. I also thought that key disagreements [between us] were ideological in nature," he stated. "Yet, when the Soviet Union was gone... the dismissive approach to Russia's strategic interests persisted."

The president went on to say that his attempts to raise Russia's concerns with Western leaders were in vain. "The West decided... they do not need to follow the rules when it comes to Russia, which does not have the same power as the USSR."

Comment: What Putin means is that the continuity of overall Western policy of 'containing' Russia from the Cold War till today means that their beef with communism was never really about communism, it was about maximizing geopolitical advantage to sustain and strengthen US hegemony. This is why policies don't really change from one Western government to the next, and why, to Western leaders, it's never 'personal' - they don't actually believe their own propaganda about Russia, they just want to 'beat' it in 'the great game'.

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Bizarro Earth

The real threat to Europe: Kaja Kallas

Thomas Fazi
UnHerd
Sun, 13 Jul 2025 21:22 UTC
Kaja Kallas, Alta Representante/Vicepresidenta de Asuntos Exteriores y Política de Seguridad.
Kaja Kallas, High Representative/Vice President for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
While Ursula von der Leyen may have survived yesterday's vote of no confidence, the result has laid bare growing cross-party discontent with her increasingly authoritarian leadership. Support for the European President is eroding.

The most notable shift was from the right-wing ECR group, which includes Meloni's Brothers of Italy. Previously, these MEPs had supported von der Leyen on several key proposals, but few voted against this motion, with most opting to desert it altogether. Also revealing was the support the motion received beyond its Right-populist sponsors: several MEPs from The Left group as well as non-affiliated Left-populist deputies from Germany and elsewhere, also backed it. Overall, von der Leyen secured the backing of 360 MEPs — 40 fewer than in her 2024 re-election.

A key point of convergence between these otherwise divergent forces is their shared opposition to the Commission's belligerent stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Indeed, the no-confidence motion also referenced the Commission's proposal of using an emergency clause in the EU treaty to shut MEPs out of approving a €150 billion loan scheme to boost the joint procurement of weapons by EU countries, mainly to increase military support for Ukraine.

Comment: Kaja Kallas is a prime example of Dunning-Kruger Effect. She is impossibly stupid, with the attention span of a coked-up gnat. Yet she continues to fail upward, as currently she suits the purposes of the globalists' agenda. She seems to feel she is indispensable to the project. One day (soon?) she may find out otherwise. The hapless Kallas is a frequent mention in Alex Christophorou's "Clown World" segments:



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Skull

Best of the Web: Latakia's burning coast: Sectarian purge masked as 'wildfire' under Syria's new government

Abdullah Suleiman Ali
The Cradle
Sat, 12 Jul 2025 20:46 UTC
syria wildfire Alawites purge persecution
© The CradleJuly, 2025: Alawites are being driven from their ancestral lands in Syria by a combination of the al Jolanie open war on the group and deliberately set wildfires.
As Syria's new rulers exploit wildfire and war to reshape the coastal region, a campaign of arson and forced displacement threatens to extinguish Alawite presence from their ancestral lands

Less than four months into its rule, Syria's interim government is under mounting pressure, as each crisis — natural or security-related — casts doubt on its ability to govern and maintain control.

The recent wildfires that tore through northern Latakia were no seasonal accident. They broke out as sectarian killings escalated and suspicions of state complicity grew.

Comment:



Another country broken on the West's goal of bringing "freedom and democracy":

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SOTT Logo Radio

SOTT Focus: NewsReal: Trump's Epstein U-turn: Why Pedophile Networks Are Always Protected


Sott.net
Sun, 13 Jul 2025 20:31 UTC
epstein newsreal israel blackmail
© Sott.net
The Trump admin's memo last week stating conclusively that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did not have a client list that could implicate VIPs, and that he did take his own life, has been roundly condemned as a cover-up and prompted many to speculate that Trump himself could be implicated. The additional dimension to this scandal, that Epstein and his chief accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell are Jews with strong ties to Israel, serves to reinforce the growing perception that US politics and government policies are substantially driven or 'guard-railed' by Israeli-led blackmail.

But the recurring pattern in 'pedophile network' scandals across the West in recent decades is that the 'pimps', when exposed and caught, always wind up being cast as 'lone wolf actors', while the large elite clientele they served ALWAYS remain protected. It's one of the core brutal truths all must learn about life on planet Earth, and while it's disappointing to see Trump uphold this pattern, it's important to remember that he and his team aren't actually 'Avengers' or superheroes. They're up against pathocrats with the power to 'move and shake' trillion$ on the global markets.


Running Time: 02:04:16

Download: MP3 — 114 MB

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Dig

Pentagon to become rare-earth mining company's largest stockholder

Ross Wilkers
Defense One
Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00 UTC
mine
© MP MATERIALSAerial view of the Mountain Pass, California mine
The Defense Department will buy a 15% stake in MP Materials and fund the construction of a magnet-making facility, all to reduce its reliance on China.

Rare earth minerals are not a technology in and of themselves, but are underlying ingredients for some of the most complex systems across the planet including military platforms and automobiles.

Which explains how the U.S. and other countries are concerned about their availability after China started to limit the availability of rare earth exports in April, following President Trump's placement of higher tariffs on Chinese goods.

China supplied about 70% of the U.S.' rare earth imports in 2023, according to U.S. Geological Survey data.

That is the backdrop against which the Defense Department is taking matters into its own hands, agreeing to acquire a 15% stake in MP Materials and become the company's largest shareholder.

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Dollar

US Treasury reports surprise surplus


RT
Sat, 12 Jul 2025 15:35 UTC
US Treasury
© Bjarte Rettedal /Getty ImagesUS Treasury Building • Washington DC, USA
The gains are largely driven by President Donald Trump's tariff hikes, which pushed customs duty collections to record highs.

The US government posted a surprise budget surplus in June, driven by a sharp increase in customs duties amid President Donald Trump's tariff hikes, the Treasury said in a monthly report on Friday.

The report shows a surplus of just over $27 billion last month, following a deficit of over $300 billion in May. Much of the increase stems from Trump's import tariffs introduced since April. Customs duties totaled around $27 billion, up from just $7 billion a year ago - a 301% rise. Since the fiscal year began in October 2024, total tariff collections have exceeded $113 billion, nearly doubling from 2024.

Commenting on the report, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the country is "reaping the rewards" of Trump's tariff campaign.

Comment: Meanwhile, Russian currency is surging against the euro and the dollar:
The Russian ruble surged to a two-year high against the US dollar on Thursday, buoyed by strong trade inflows and supportive government policies, according to analysts. The ruble was trading below 75 to the dollar, marking its strongest level since 2023. The currency also strengthened to 86.5 against the euro, gaining more than 5%.

The rally caps two months of rising fortunes for the ruble, partly driven by optimism over peace talks on Ukraine. Two rounds of direct talks between Moscow and Kiev took place in Istanbul in mid-May and early June, but a third has yet to be scheduled.

Analysts say structural and seasonal factors also continue to support the Russian currency.

"Ruble strength is supported by high exports and a broad supply of foreign currency, alongside low imports and weak demand," Mikhail Zeltser of BCS World of Investments told RBK on Thursday. "Funding rates for refinancing debt and foreign trade operations are also significant," he said.

Government policy is playing a key role as well, according to experts. Exporters are now required to repatriate earnings for another year, and the Central Bank has raised summer limits for hard currency sales under the budget rule. Meanwhile, the US dollar remains under pressure globally, hovering near a three-year low amid persistent trade tensions.

Alor Broker's Igor Sokolov dismissed speculation of technical errors behind the ruble's rapid rise. "This is part of a global shift," he said, noting that "macroeconomic reasons (are) driving ruble appreciation."

Some experts see room for further gains. Sokolov projected the ruble could strengthen toward 70 to the dollar, though he noted it may take time.


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Star of David

Best of the Web: Gazan aid-seekers 'sniped in the head' at GHF distribution center, witnesses say

Tareq S. Hajjaj
Mondoweiss
Sat, 12 Jul 2025 00:00 UTC
Pal food box
© Omar Ashtawy/APA/ImagesPalestinians carring aid boxes from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation • June 16, 2025
Israeli forces carried out another massacre at an aid center in southern Gaza run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Witnesses described Israeli tanks shooting toward the crowds with machine guns and soldiers sniping aid-seekers in the head.

Samir Shaat, a young man in his thirties, sits in the courtyard of Nasser Medical Complex, recounting what he describes as the worst day of his life.

On Saturday morning, Shaat went to the al-Shakoush aid distribution site in Rafah city run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). After the closure of all other GHF sites across Gaza, this was the only one still operational. Shaat and his friend were there to bring back food for their families.

As soon as they arrived at 9:40 a.m., Shaat says, Israeli army tanks appeared on a high hill near the site and began firing with heavy machine guns at the thousands of civilians who were waiting for the U.S.-run company's signal to enter the site.

Instead of returning home carrying food, Shaat returned carrying his friend, who was shot directly in the head. He carried him for more than a kilometer on foot, running in the hope of saving him. By the time he reached the hospital, his friend had already died on his shoulders.
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Star of David

Google helped Israel spread war propaganda to 45 million Europeans by hosting paid advertising

Alan Macleod
MintPress News
Thu, 10 Jul 2025 21:30 UTC
israel propaganda google boost paid advertising
© Illustration by MintPress News
While it continues its conflict with its neighbors, Israel is fighting another war just as intensely, spending gigantic amounts of money bombarding Europe with messaging justifying their actions, and scaremongering Europeans that Iranian nuclear missiles will soon be turning their cities into rubble.

A MintPress study has found that, since it struck Iran on June 13. In clear breach of Google's policies, these ads justify and lionize the attack as a necessary defense of Western civilization, and claim that Israel is carrying out "one of the largest humanitarian missions in the world" in Gaza.

The countries most targeted by this campaign include the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Greece.
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Warning

Trump sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese are illegal and represent further U.S. complicity in genocide

Craig Mokhiber
Mondoweiss
Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00 UTC
Francesca
© Screenshot/YOUTUBEUN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese addresses the UN, October 2022
The Trump administration's sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese show how far the U.S. is willing to go to ensure impunity for Israel as it commits genocide.

Fresh from face-to-face meetings in Washington with fugitive from justice Benjamin Netanyahu, indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took the extraordinary step of declaring sanctions against the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese.

The announcement was accompanied by a flurry of false and defamatory statements by Rubio attacking Albanese, further demonstrating the lengths to which the Trump administration (and the Israel proxies empowered within it) are willing to go to buttress the impunity of the Israeli regime.

Rubio's lawless action has been condemned and rejected by international organizations, experts, and human rights defenders across the globe as a moral outrage.

Comment: Brave lady in pivotal moment in history versus Rubio who should by now, 'be history'.

See also:

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Target

Houthis again target Tel Aviv, as Israelis plead for more US raids on Yemen

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 11 Jul 2025 06:55 UTC
Tel Aviv missile intercept
© AFPPrior missile intercept over Tel Aviv • June 2025
The Houthis have clearly been ramping up their attacks on Israeli interests and assets out of Yemen, and on Thursday another ballistic missile strike on Tel Aviv was attempted.

Israel's military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, shortly after conducting airstrikes on Houthi targets. The Iran-aligned group later confirmed responsibility for the launch, calling it a "qualitative military operation" involving a ballistic missile.

As a result, multiple alert sirens were active across Israel during the dawn hours. All of this comes after the Houthis attacked and sank two commercial vessels bound for Israel, in complex operations which they boasted of and captured on film.
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