Kiev's propagandists are trying to deny the reality that Russia is gaining the edge on the battlefield...

A few days ago, the Kiev TV channel 1 + 1 reported that the Ukrainian army did not conduct a counteroffensive in the summer of 2023, and all the information about it was merely a brilliant psychological operation targeted against the enemy.

The story made use of popular stereotypes to show Ukrainians in the most favorable light - as skillful and smart people, capable of finding an original solution to a difficult task. The video was accompanied by memes popular in the late 2000s, which millennials would easily relate to.

The story was accompanied by the following comments:

"The war is being waged not only on the ground and in the air, but also in the minds [of people]. In the future, Ukrainian psyops will be analyzed in textbooks. One of the most successful such operations is the 'counteroffensive'. For several months, we deceived the enemy, claiming that we were conducting a large-scale offensive operation. Our cyber troops spread this information on the enemy's social networks and [implanted it] in their minds. For several months, Russians have been subjected to a powerful psychological attack while our troops are getting stronger [and preparing] for a real counteroffensive."

Not only does the Ukrainian media deny reality, but it also continues to deceive people, promising a new counteroffensive once the troops are ready.

Why is the Ukrainian media doing this? Why do Ukrainians need such stories? How and why did the 'information confrontation' become a public affair? And is it true that the Ukrainian counteroffensive didn't take place?

Biden has been labelled "Genocide Joe" by protesters in the United States and around the world who are incensed by Washington's complicity in Israel's mass killing of Palestinians over the past five weeks.

Well, what a descent into the gutter. Only a few months ago, U.S. President Joe Biden was given a rapturous welcome when he visited the Irish town of Ballina. It is from here that his ancestors emigrated to the United States in the mid-19th century.

At the weekend, the town held a protest to condemn the genocide in Gaza and denounced the American president for his administration's disgraceful support to Israel. Biden was roundly vilified as Genocide Joe.

It was a relatively small gathering in Ballina of a couple of hundred people. But there have been several protests all over Ireland in recent weeks as well as in the major cities of Belfast and Dublin. The Irish demonstrations are part of a worldwide tide of protests against the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the Western governments' support that enables it.

The PM condemned civilian casualties in the Israel-Hamas war...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged leaders from the Global South to forge a consensus in addressing emerging challenges, particularly those unfolding in the Middle East, amidst the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

Modi, in his opening remarks during the second 'Voice of Global South' summit, which New Delhi is hosting, reiterated India's condemnation of the terrorist attacks on Israel that occurred on October 7.

"With restraint, we emphasized the need for dialogue and diplomacy. We strongly condemn the death of civilians in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. After talking to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, we also sent humanitarian aid."

He asserted that countries in the Global South should talk in "the same tune" for the "greater good." They should strive for 'One Earth, One Family, and One Future' - the theme of the G20 under India's presidency - follow the principles of "consultation, cooperation, communication, creativity, and capacity building," Modi underlined.

The leader of the Quds Force made the pledge following reports that Tehran was seeking to avoid direct involvement in the Gaza conflict...

The head of Iran's elite Quds Force has vowed to do "whatever it takes" to back Hamas in its war with Israel, claiming that the Palestinian militant group was headed for an "impressive victory" in Gaza.

The Quds Force is the foreign operations arm of Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), responsible for military and intelligence missions beyond Iran's borders.

In a letter addressed to the commander of the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Quds Force leader Esmail Qaani declared:

"Tehran and its allies will not allow this brutal enemy and those standing behind him to conquer Gaza and its heroic people. We will do whatever it takes in this historic battle. Hamas proved to everyone that the resistance in Gaza is capable of initiative and innovation, while maintaining its organization and field capabilities."

Published on Thursday by the state-backed Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Qaani's letter comes a day after Reuters reported that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had informed Hamas that his country would not get directly involved in the Gaza war. Khamenei reportedly restated Iran's long-standing "political and moral support" for Hamas, but ruled out military intervention.

With President Biden's 81st birthday right around the corner, his ancient brain - barely clinging to reality, is no longer responding to whatever cocktail of drugs and blood transfusions (we can only assume) have been keeping him marginally functional since his inauguration.

Four weeks ago Biden staggered out to speak with the press on Air Force One, when he grabbed his face, looked at the floor, and then spat a word-salad of gibberish about mass shootings in between long, geriatric pauses.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down "immediately", without waiting until the end of the country's war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

In an interview with Israeli news channel N12, Lapid said:

"Netanyahu should leave immediately we need change, Netanyahu cannot remain prime minister. We cannot allow ourselves to carry out a long campaign under a prime minister who has lost the people's trust."

Four days after Hamas' surprise October 7 attack on Israel, Netanyahu and another opposition leader, Benny Gantz, announced an agreement to form an "emergency government" for the duration of the war.

Lapid said at the time he would not be joining, accusing Israeli leaders of an "unpardonable failure" for not preventing the attack.

Still, Lapid, who led Israel's coalition government before Netanyahu was returned to power in elections last year, has not previously called for the prime minister to resign since the fighting broke out, according to Israeli media.

Members of the LGBTQ community and its culture are part of a modern society and shouldn't be barred from being represented at cultural events or contests, Russian President Vladimir Putin believes. At the same time, such themes must not be mandatory criteria for winning said contests, as appears to occur in the West, he suggested.

The president made the remarks on Friday as he spoke at the 9th International Culture Forum in St. Petersburg. Putin was asked by Emir Kusturica, the iconic Serbian film director and screenwriter, about his opinion on LGBTQ topics becoming a mandatory requirement for winning certain film contests in the West.

"Yes, indeed, we see that at various competitions in Western countries, in order to win something, you need to either tell, write, or show the lives of sexual minorities, transgenders and transformers - many different names for them," Putin stated.

But I'll tell you something unexpected. They too - these topics and these people - have the right to win, show and tell, because this is also part of society. This is also what people live by. It's bad if they just win all sorts of competitions, that's of no use.

The president stressed that "equality" should be a universal principle, including in cultural contests.

OK, here's one from the archives for you. It's a column I wrote way back in 2017, when CounterPunch was still running my columns. I've pulled it out of the archives because (a) I think it's particularly apropos, given the amount of ridiculous official propaganda we are being barraged by at the moment, (b) I am down with a nasty bug, and thus (c) I don't have the energy to attempt to deceive you into believing that I just came up with this analysis today by rewriting what I wrote back in 2017 but replacing the references to Russiagate with references to Israel's liquidation of Gaza.

If you've been following the news — which I suspect you have — you're familiar with the ridiculous official propaganda that the State of Israel has been brazenly pumping out, which at this point has gotten so blatantly ridiculous that even the BBC has been forced to debunk it.

'...the assassination of John F Kennedy, lockdown, international wars, the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline......anyone who dares to raise a question about these events is shouted down as conspiracy theorists by the likes of the CIA, the MSM, government officers, the WEF, Hillary Clinton, Zelensky, Joe Biden....'

ANONYMOUS EDITOR'S UPDATE (Nov. 16, 2023): In an appearance on CNBC, Nikki Haley appeared to partially walk back comments suggesting social media companies should prohibit anonymous posting, which she had called a "national security threat." When asked about her remarks and how such a plan would violate the First Amendment, Haley clarified: "I don't mind anonymous American people having free speech. What I don't like is anonymous Russians and Chinese and Iranians having free speech." Haley did not elaborate on how social media companies would identify and separate users from foreign nations or address how her proposal could endanger users living under oppressive foreign regimes.

Statement from FIRE Director of Advocacy Aaron Terr:

Nikki Haley told Fox News that anonymous online speech is a "national security threat." We must all be wary of compromising core freedoms by giving politicians a blank check to water them down any time they invoke "national security." Anonymous speech — whether the Founders writing the Federalist Papers or any one of us writing under an anonymous Twitter account — is core protected expression. Democracy relies on free speech to function and the ability to speak anonymously gives all of us the breathing room to weigh in on sensitive topics. Prohibiting anonymous online speech poses a greater threat to participation in our democracy — and thus, national security — than Nikki Haley and other politicians who would join her call may realize.