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NATO more nervous about Biden than Trump - Politico


RT
Thu, 11 Jul 2024 19:17 UTC
biden
© Denis Doyle / Getty Images
The frail state of US President Joe Biden seems to have worried NATO officials at the key Washington summit far more than how the bloc could be drastically changed if Republican frontrunner Donald Trump retakes the White House, Politico reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Long-running concerns about the 81-year-old president's mental state were exacerbated by his shaky debate performance against Trump two weeks ago. Numerous media outlets have described Biden - who often confused words and failed to finish sentences - as "fumbling" and "incoherent." The debate disaster reportedly left some Democrats scrambling to find a replacement candidate, although Biden himself has categorically stated he has no plans to drop out of the race.

According to Politico, several European nations have been "alarmed" by the president's apparent decline and increasingly concerned by or even resigned to the fact that he could lose the November election to Trump, who harbors much more "hostile" feelings towards NATO.
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Snakes in Suits

Ukraine won't get NATO invite - Norwegian PM


RT
Wed, 10 Jul 2024 19:14 UTC
Jonas Gahr Store
© Andrew Harnik / Getty ImagesPrime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Store
NATO will once again stop short of inviting Ukraine to become a member, but will acknowledge the country's desire to eventually join the US-led military bloc, according to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

Speaking to reporters at the NATO summit in Washington, in Washington, Store addressed speculation about the contents of a final communique.

"I don't think there will be any invitation as a result of this year's summit, but everything else will speak of such a future," he said.

A leaked draft of the communique speaks of Ukraine's "irreversible path" to NATO membership and demands that China stop supporting Russia, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
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Attention

The Yemen - Russia riddle

Pepe Escobar
The Cradle
Fri, 12 Jul 2024 19:06 UTC
Sanaa is eagerly engaging with Moscow in a bid to expand its astounding military gains into both the economic and diplomatic realms. While trade with Russia may be integral to blunting the effects of the siege of Yemen, Sanaa also views membership in the BRICS as a 'golden opportunity' to establish lasting Persian Gulf security.
Yemen and Russia
© The Cradle
Yemen's stellar strategic maneuvering in defense of Palestine from its dramatically ascendant role in West Asia's Axis of Resistance is acquiring the contours of an epic odyssey - eagerly scrutinized by the Global Majority.

As if the unprecedented humiliation of the US Navy in the Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea was not enough, Ansarallah targeted an Israeli ship with a Hatem-2 hypersonic missile, a remarkable advancement in indigenous technological development.

These prodigious strategic-military advances displayed by Ansarallah at the same time revived the always simmering, unfinished war and blockade launched against Yemen in 2015 by Saudi Arabia and the UAE with the usual US and UK backing.

Riyadh abhors the Yemeni resistance like the plague. Instead of Sanaa, Yemen's recognized capital city, it supports an anti-Ansarallah' government' sitting in Aden, sort of recognized by the 'rules-based international order.' In truth, though, that government actually sits in a luxury Riyadh hotel.

Ansarallah has tried hard to negotiate a prisoner exchange involving captured Saudi pilots traded for jailed Hamas members in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has not only refused but threatened that bank transfers to and from Yemen would be blocked, and Sanaa's international airport and sea ports would be shut down.

Ansarallah's response was stark: if Yemeni banking is blocked, the Saudi Arabian banking system would be destroyed. If Sanaa airport is targeted, the same would happen to Saudi airports.

So, the war that never ended is suddenly and ominously back on track. Ansarallah would have no problem targeting Saudi Arabia's oil production as retaliation to a full blockade - considering its proven capability with brand-new missiles and naval drones. The consequences for global oil markets would be catastrophic.
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Chess

'She's the hatchet': House Democrats turn to Pelosi to strong-arm Biden

Andrew Solender
Axios
Thu, 11 Jul 2024 19:10 UTC
pelosi white house
© Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
House Democrats with grave concerns about President Biden's ability to win the 2024 election are looking to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as their potential muscle to get him to drop his reelection bid.

Why it matters: In addition to being a Capitol Hill veteran who is respected by Biden, Pelosi is seen as having a steely toughness that could actually break through to the stubborn president.
  • "That's why some of us are going to Pelosi ... she's a tough cookie, she'll tell you like it is," said one House Democrat.
  • Said another: "She's the f***ing power-broker. She's the hatchet."
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Take 2

Milwaukee radio station admits it scrubbed multiple Biden remarks from interview — at campaign's request

Victor Nava
NY Post
Fri, 12 Jul 2024 19:06 UTC
biden debate
A Milwaukee radio station admitted Thursday that it edited a taped interview with President Biden — at his campaign's request — to remove references touting the number of "blacks" in his administration and incoherent commentary on the Central Park Five.

Civic Media, the radio network that broadcasted the 81-year-old president's July 3 interview on "The Earl Ingram Show," said the decision by the program to scrub the remarks prior to airing the interview on July 4, fell short of "journalistic interview standards."

The first edit came about five minutes into the 18-minute-long interview, in which Biden claimed, "... and in addition to that, I have more blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, cabinet positions."
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Clipboard

Biden hit with brutal poll showing almost 70% of Americans want him to drop out of the presidential race

Geoff Earle
The Daily Mail
Thu, 11 Jul 2024 18:17 UTC
joe Biden
© Anadolu/Getty ImagesA majority of Democrats in a new poll want President Joe Biden to step aside, something a string of elected Democrats have now called for
President Joe Biden was faced with yet another jarring poll as he approaches a crucial press conference amid growing calls by congressional Democrats for him to step back form his reelection campaign.

A majority of Democrats, 56 per cent, want Biden to step aside and let someone else run following his debate performance, according to a new ABC News / Washington Post poll.

Just 42 per cent of members of his own party want him to stay, according to the poll. Among U.S. adults overall, a stunning 67 per cent want Biden to step aside, with just 30 per cent wanting to continue his campaign.

Despite the grim numbers for Biden, the poll has the president and former President Donald Trump tied at 46 percent, as Democrats in Congress weigh whether to try to push him to end his campaign.

In a poll question that includes Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trump leads Biden 43 to 42 percent.

Comment: And in more cheery news for the Democrats, Kamala, currently the only viable replacement for Biden on the ticket, is going to be a very hard sell.



Meanwhile, enjoy the clown show:



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Cruise Missle

US-made missile suddenly 'transformed' into a 'Russian' one and killed 40 civilians

Drago Bosnic
InfoBrics
Tue, 09 Jul 2024 00:00 UTC
hospital
© komersant.infoThe first footage from the site of the rocket’s impact on one of the buildings of the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv
On July 8, the Russian military launched large-scale strikes on various targets across Ukraine. According to the mainstream propaganda machine, one strike was "particularly deadly", as it allegedly "killed 41 civilians" and "destroyed a children's hospital". Reuters says:
"Russia blasted the main children's hospital in Kyiv with a missile in broad daylight on Monday and rained missiles down on other cities across Ukraine, killing at least 41 civilians in the deadliest wave of air strikes for months."
The report tried playing into the emotional aspects with the graphic descriptions of parents and children affected by these "evil Russian strikes". Reuters says that "parents holding babies walked in the street outside the hospital, dazed and sobbing after the rare daylight aerial attack", while "windows had been smashed and panels ripped off, and hundreds of Kyiv residents were helping to clear debris".

While on his way to the NATO summit in Washington DC, the Neo-Nazi junta frontman Volodymyr Zelensky claimed more than 170 people were injured, while around 100 buildings were damaged, including the aforementioned children's hospital and a maternity center in Kiev, as well as children's nurseries, a business center and homes. He also stated that "Russian terrorists must answer for this" and that "being concerned does not stop terror, condolences are not a weapon". The Kiev regime announced a day of mourning for today, calling the strikes "one of the worst air attacks of the war", insisting it "demonstrated that Ukraine urgently needed an upgrade of its air defenses from its Western allies". Interestingly, they also claim that their air defenses allegedly "shot down 30 of 38 missiles". Quite peculiar that the Neo-Nazi junta forces are "so successful" in shooting down Russian missiles.

Comment: This attack is not in Russia's playbook, but evidently a page out of Kiev's.

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Calendar

Ukraine timing tragedies to coincide with important international events - Kremlin


RT
Wed, 10 Jul 2024 11:26 UTC
ruins
© Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesDamaged building of the Ohmatdet Children's Hospital
Kiev's attempts to organize PR operations "on blood" are dishonest and "jesuitical," spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Kiev is deliberately using tragedies for publicity ahead of important international events, such as this week's NATO summit in Washington, so that Vladimir Zelensky can push for more support from the West, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has claimed.

In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, Peskov suggested that Ukrainian authorities are effectively organizing PR campaigns "on blood," referring to Monday's deadly tragedy at the Okhmatdet children's hospital in Kiev, where a missile killed two people and injured dozens more.

Kiev and its backers have blamed Russia for the incident. Moscow has denied the allegations, insisting that it has never targeted civilian facilities. Instead, it claims that the hospital was struck by a Ukrainian air-defense missile.

Peskov claimed that such tragedies in Ukraine often occur right before international events that are important for relations between Kiev and the West. Suggesting that the Okhmatdet incident had been another "PR operation", Peskov said:
"I believe that there are no coincidences in this regard. This is truly a tragedy, but it is being deliberately used to create a backdrop that would accompany Zelensky's participation in the NATO summit. Kiev's methodology is quite unclean, jesuitical, well-known, and has been repeated many times."

Comment: Ukraine has learned the ways of the West all too well:
A deadly missile incident at a prominent children's hospital in Kiev will be used by Western nations to justify sending more weapons to Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to the US Antatoly Antonov has claimed.

The Okhmatdet (short for "protection of motherhood and childhood") medical facility in the Ukrainian capital was seriously damaged by a powerful missile explosion that landed near it amid a Russian long-range barrage on multiple targets in Ukraine. Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of firing the projectile that damaged the facility.

Antonov accused Western media of hiding some relevant facts about "the tragedy that occurred" from their audience, including the assessment of the Russian Defense Ministry that the missile came from a Ukrainian air defense system stationed inside Kiev. Instead, the press and the US government are "whipping up hysterics," the diplomat claimed on Monday.
"The reality is that the incident with the destroyed hospital, which happened on the eve of a NATO summit in Washington, was apparently taken by Kiev's backers as a 'perfect gift' to justify further escalation of the conflict and continuation of hostilities to the last Ukrainian."
Senior Ukrainian officials have suggested that the Russian military deliberately targeted Okhmatdet. Vladimir Zelensky has declared that the missile hit and Moscow's attribution of it to Ukrainian air defenses demonstrate "the cynicism of ugly bastards in the Kremlin."

Pro-Kiev media outlets have said that the weapon that struck the hospital was a Russian air-launched Kh-101 cruise missile. Critics of that claim allege that the projectile, which can apparently be seen in a video filmed from a distance by a witness, was probably an AIM120 fired by a NASAM missile system or an interceptor fired by the MIM-104 Patriot missile system. Western donors have provided those US-developed weapons to Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian officials, two adults, including a doctor, were killed at Okhmatdet, while ten others were injured. Two storeys of the facility's main building were reported destroyed.

A three-day NATO leaders summit is scheduled to start on Tuesday. Ukraine will reportedly be offered a "bridge to membership" at the event, and a Germany-based permanent mission to aid the delivery of western weapons.


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Clipboard

Russia considering changes to nuclear doctrine - Kremlin


RT
Thu, 11 Jul 2024 12:58 UTC
Missile
© Mikhail Voskresensky/Sputnik/File"The Mother of All Weapons"
Moscow needs to take "thoughtful, coordinated, and effective" measures to contain NATO, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Russian policymakers are considering making adjustments to the country's nuclear doctrine in response to rising tensions with NATO, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the official said the NATO declaration approved by member-states at a summit in Washington this week would require a "thoughtful, coordinated, and effective response" from Moscow "to contain" the US-led military bloc.

Against this backdrop, Peskov called NATO a "tool of confrontation" deeply involved in the Ukraine conflict, adding that "work on the nuclear doctrine is underway, these discussions involving experts are indeed taking place." Nuclear weapons are not the only deterrence at Russia's disposal, Peskov added, without giving further details.
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Star of David

Macron complained to Netanyahu after Likud minister publicly backed Marine Le Pen

Lazar Berman
The Times of Israel
Wed, 10 Jul 2024 12:12 UTC
BenAmichai
© Yonatan Sindel/Flash90Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu • Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli • Knesset plenum in Jerusalem • June 26, 2023
Comments by Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli further strain relations between two countries; PM claims he told cabinet to not make remarks on French election.

French President Emmanuel Macron protested to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call last week after Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli spoke in support of Macron's rival in the recent elections, far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, a French official told The Times of Israel.

The official confirmed earlier reporting by the Walla news outlet, which noted that Netanyahu told Macron he had instructed his ministers to not make public remarks regarding France's parliamentary elections.

The day before the July 3 call, Chikli indicated in an interview that Israeli leadership would be happy to see Le Pen eventually become president of France, remarks the French viewed as an intervention in their internal politics.

Speaking to Kan public news, Chikli noted Le Pen's support for Israel and her recent participation in a march against antisemitism, which Macron did not attend. Chikli's ministry is tasked with combating antisemitism.
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