Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

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-Great Cultural Revolution

US podcasters host antisemitic influencers after backlash over Netanyahu interview

2025-07-23

[IsraelTimes] In apparent attempt at damage control, Nelk Boys stream talk with conspiracy theorists, one of whom denies October 7 atrocities, falsely claims IDF responsible for most deaths

Pro-Trump US podcasters the Nelk Boys streamed conversations Monday with several antisemitic influencers after the release of their interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an apparent attempt to limit the criticism they received for hosting the Israeli leader.

The one-hour interview with Netanyahu on "The Full Send Podcast," hosted by Kyle Forgeard and Aaron Steinberg, known as the Nelk Boys, was recorded on July 8 during the prime minister’s visit to Washington and released Monday. Commenters on the podcast the hosts for hosting the prime minister amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, and not asking Netanyahu tough questions on the matter.

"0 pushback you literally just let a war criminal talk freely for an hour to millions of fans just horrible horrible, you guys are truly," one viewer commented.

"I’m so happy the comment section knows how vicious and evil this man is. I can’t believe Kyle is humanizing this man. Speechless, I am at a loss for words," another wrote.

Shortly after, the Nelk Boys began live streaming with influencers Sneako, Myron Gaines, Hasan Piker, and Nick Fuentes — all known for circulating antisemitic and anti-Israel conspiracies — who offered commentary on the interview.

Sneako, who has been banned from YouTube and Twitch for antisemitic remarks, said "Trump is basically owned by Netanyahu" because the US president pulled out a chair for Netanyahu at their meeting earlier this month.

"How do you put America first if you send $4 billion to Israel every year?" Sneako asked the hosts, to which they responded that they agreed that Netanyahu’s behavior was making it harder for Americans to support Israel.

Myron Gaines claimed Netanyahu "lied about a bunch of shit" in the interview and falsely claimed, "a lot of the shit that happened on October 7 was a lie," referring to the 2023 Hamas
Hamas

..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
massacre that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

Gaines denied the occurrence of mass rapes during the massacre, and also claimed that Hamas’s goal of the invasion was to capture as many hostages to exchange for prisoners, instead of mass killings, adding, "a lot of the innocent people that were killed were killed by the IDF" in an attempt to prevent Hamas from taking more captives.

The ongoing war in Gaza was sparked when Hamas-led Lions of Islam rampaged through southern Israeli communities, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages while committing and filming their numerous atrocities.

Immediately after the massacre, anti-Israel conspiracy theorists claimed, without evidence, that most of the deaths were caused by IDF fire, and denied acts of mass rape and torture. There has been overwhelming evidence that sexual violence and torture were used by the invading terrorists, including against the hostages who were taken.

Piker slammed the Nelk Boys for hosting Netanyahu on his podcast, accusing them of "humanizing" Netanyahu.

"But that’s the thing, we’ll have anyone on. Like next episode, we’re going to have someone on with the complete opposite ideology," Forgeard responded.

Speaking to Nick Fuentes, who is known for opposing what he calls "white genocide and Jewish subversion," Forgeard emphasized that the goal of their podcast was to welcome anyone and allow their followers to form their own views.

"We’re getting a lot of flak. People don’t care what we ask Netanyahu. Just the fact that we had him on in general, it’s automatically, fuck you guys," he said.

"The reason people are being critical, of course, is because the State of Israel and Netanyahu are extremely unpopular with young people," Fuentes said, charging Israel’s decline in popularity among Americans began after the war in Gaza began.

Fuentes said that while he, too, was a controversial figure, "Netanyahu, on the other hand, is currently prosecuting a war, and has been prosecuting a war for 20 years," and accused the prime minister of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Paleostinians.

Israel has denied accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza, saying it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stressing that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

During the podcast, Netanyahu was asked by Steinberg: "I think you definitely have a tough job, but why do you think you’re so hated worldwide?"

"Well, a lot of propaganda. First of all, I’m not hated worldwide," Netanyahu answered. "I just received this. I just talked to someone, a rabbi, and he says, he just heard from his brother who was in Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
and one of the countries of Europe. He says that he’s being flooded. They know he’s from Israel."

"All the people are coming, and they say, you did this amazing thing for all of us. The Chancellor of Germany said Israel did the work for all of us. The new Chancellor of Germany," he said, referring to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s comments that Israel did the world’s "dirty work" by striking Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs last month.

"So we had the guts to do this," he said. "And what Israel did with President Trump is safeguard free societies from a menace."

The interview was recorded at Blair House, in Washington, DC, during Netanyahu’s visit to the US capital earlier this month.

The Nelk Boys visited Israel in 2023.

Responding to this, courtesy of Grom:

Netanyahu reveals what really ties him to Trump
[IsraelNationalNews] In a wide-ranging interview, Prime Minister Netanyahu discusses US politics, his legacy, personal regrets, and an unexpected moment with President Trump over hamburgers.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamstrung PA weighs options as Israel continues to withhold its much-needed funds

2025-07-23

[IsraelTimes] Ramallah could halt security cooperation with IDF or declare state of emergency in West Bank, though both those steps may boomerang, highlighting authority’s challenges

The cash-strapped Paleostinian Authority is seeking international intervention to coax Israel into releasing over $2 billion of its funds, while also weighing the limited diplomatic options it has in its own arsenal, a European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
diplomat and a Paleostinian official told The Times of Israel.

PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....>
’s deputy, Hussein al-Sheikh, penned a letter to EU foreign ministers earlier this month requesting that they press the Israeli government to release roughly NIS 8 billion ($2.4 billion) in customs duties and other tax funds that belong to the PA, the two sources said.

In addition, the PA is considering extreme measures of its own to try and influence Israel, including halting security cooperation and even declaring a state of emergency in the West Bank, according to the sources.

The PA has periodically threatened to sever security coordination with Israel — which the IDF has long credited for helping maintain stability in the West Bank — and has followed through for brief periods of time, including in early 2023. But the step also risks harming the PA’s own standing in the territory by allowing the rise of rival Paleostinian factions.

In addition, though a state of emergency in the West Bank could help bring international attention to the PA’s dire financial state — while limiting spending to an absolute minimum — the roll-back of public services could also backfire on the PA by sparking protests throughout the territory that it might not be able to contain.

The PA is also considering appealing to various international organizations to hold Israel accountable for the withheld funds or to unilaterally advance its independence, but those steps have done little to date to convince Israel to reverse policies aimed at scuttle chances for a two-state solution.

Due to the PA’s sub-state status, the Oslo Accords stipulate that Israel collect clearance revenues on the authority’s behalf and transfer those funds on a monthly basis to Ramallah. The PA is heavily reliant on the funds, which make up a majority of its annual budget.

In recent years, Israel has deducted large sums from the monthly transfers, saying they are equivalent to the funds that the PA had been sending to the families of Paleostinian security prisoners and those killed carrying out attacks against Israelis — a policy that Abbas instructed be terminated earlier this year.

Since the outbreak of the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
war in October 2023, Israel has been deducting an additional portion that amounts to the funds that the PA uses to pay for services and the salaries of its employees in Gaza.

Those deductions and others have caused the withheld funds to balloon to over $2 billion.

That is largely due to the fact that since May, the Israeli transfers have stopped entirely — part of a package of steps taken by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that, according to an Israeli official, were aimed at punishing the PA for a decision made by the United Kingdom to sanction him and fellow far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Roughly NIS 900 million ($270 million) have been withheld since May alone.

Smotrich also directed his office to waive the indemnity that Israeli banks have been given to correspond with Paleostinian banks. The cabinet has yet to finalize the move, which would likely cripple the economy in the West Bank where the overwhelming majority of exchanges are in shekels.

Smotrich has long been a proponent of collapsing the PA so that Israel can annex the West Bank without granting equal rights to the Paleostinians who live there.

During a meeting last week in Brussels, EU foreign ministers raised their alarm over the withheld funds with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the EU diplomat and the Paleostinian official said.

Sa’ar in turn indicated that the issue was out of his control and that the ministers should reach out to Smotrich, who signs off on the monthly transfer of clearance revenues to the PA. Many Western governments however have refused to meet Smotrich, believing that to do so would legitimize his policies against Paleostinians.

Smotrich has withheld transfers of PA funds for months at a time in the past before eventually acquiescing in exchange for various concessions. Last year, he agreed to extend the indemnity for Israeli banks to correspond with Paleostinian ones, claiming that in exchange, he had received assurances from former US president Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. Former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body....
’s administration that it wouldn’t allow a Security Council resolution against Israel to pass before the end of the term.

During Biden’s tenure, the US led the international effort to coax Israel to release PA funds when they were periodically withheld by Smotrich.

But the current American administration led by US President Donald Trump
...Oh, noze! Not him!...
has shown far less interest in the issue, leaving the EU — whose members collectively are the largest donor to Ramallah — to pick up the gauntlet.

Two months ago, the PA invited the US to send a delegation to verify that it is indeed implementing a reform to what critics dubbed as the "pay-to-slay" system. Abbas signed a decree in February cancelling legislation that conditioned payments to security prisoners on the length of their sentence.

The US has yet to send any officials to conduct the certification process, and Israeli officials maintain that the old PA welfare system remains in place.

HUCKABEE GOES TO RAMALLAH
But in a potential shift in the Trump administration’s approach to the PA, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met on Tuesday with Abbas’s deputy Hussein al-Sheikh in Ramallah. It was the first-ever meeting between the pair.

During Trump’s first term, the PA refused to meet with his ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who is an ardent supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Huckabee holds similar views, and the decision to meet him pointed to a change of circumstances in Ramallah since Trump’s first term, when the PA adopted a more dogmatic approach to its ties with the US after a brief honeymoon period.

In addition to Israel’s withholding of clearance revenues, the West Bank economy has plummeted to alarming levels due to Israel’s withholding of entry permits for over 100,000 Paleostinians who worked in Israel and its settlements before Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
’s October 2023 attack triggered the ongoing Gaza war.

The relatively higher salaries that those workers received was an important boon for the Paleostinian economy, which has been further hampered by mushrooming Israeli checkpoints throughout the West Bank that have negatively impacted commerce.

Additionally, Israeli limits on the banking sector have plunged the West Bank into a liquidity crisis, with Paleostinian banks unable to offload excess shekels.

With its head barely above water, the PA appears resigned to meet with anyone it can in the Trump administration to recruit its help in securing funds from Israel.

Sheikh tweeted Tuesday that he and Huckabee discussed efforts to end the ongoing Gaza war — notably highlighting the need to release the Israeli hostages — in addition to urgently delivering humanitarian aid

to the enclave amid mounting reports of deaths due to complications from malnutrition.

The pair also discussed the West Bank economic crisis, the PA’s financial crisis as well as rampant, unchecked settler violence in the West Bank, the senior Paleostinian official said. "Ways to strengthen bilateral relations were explored as well as the importance of the American role in achieving stability, security, and peace in the region."

Last week, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Musfafa held what was characterized as an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss steps that Ramallah could take to address the Israeli-spurred financial crisis.

While PA officials had weighed announcing more far-reaching steps, they faced pressure from Arab countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
, to hold off in the hope that Israel would release at least the $270 million withheld since May by the end of last week, the EU diplomat and Paleostinian official said.

But Smotrich has yet to budge, and his office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Cynthia backed into the galley, the barbecue fork held in front of her.
Jack! she called. Where the hell are you?...
the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned Tuesday that "all options remain on the table if Israel doesn’t deliver on its pledges" to increase the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

The Paleostinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, expressed his hope that the EU would also tie its decision on Israel sanctions to whether Smotrich agrees to release the PA’s clearance revenues.

A spokesperson for Kallas said they were looking into the matter but did not reply by the time this story was published.

Lamenting the current political dynamics in Jerusalem, the EU diplomat said that there was no "responsible adult" in the Israeli government willing to rein in Smotrich.

"[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has not intervened because the US hasn’t asked him to," the diplomat said.

Link

-Lurid Crime Tales-

ICE Seattle arrests illegal immigrant high school teacher wanted in Brazil for theft

2025-07-23

[X]

ICE Seattle arrests illegal immigrant high school teacher wanted in Brazil for thefthttps://t.co/uDq5oLJuJl
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 22, 2025

Doing a job Americans didn't want?

Link

Fifth Column

Mahmoud Khalil has just been DETAINED by ICE as he was in the midst of media appearances today

2025-07-23

[X]

BREAKING: Mahmoud Khalil has just been DETAINED by ICE as he was in the midst of media appearances today.

Fox News reports his detainment is due to "trying to undermine US relations with Israel." pic.twitter.com/heyd5QZi8u
— DeVory Darkins (@devorydarkins) July 22, 2025

He was definitely making the rounds before his arrest:

Mahmoud Khalil Repeatedly Refused to Condemn Hamas on CNN

Helping the DoJ make their case against him.

[Mediaite] Mahmoud Khalil,

…30, the Damascus-born Palestinian (with dual Algerian citizenship through his mother, whose family were revolutionaries back home) got a Masters in Paleo Protest from Columbia, applying his training as Apartheid Divest’s frontman supporting Hamas since 10/8/2023, which overlapped his unadmitted work as an UNWRA political affairs officer — that last supporting the government’s accusation of immigration fraud, while the pro-Hamas activism is accounted as supporting a listed terror organization. He is represented by 19 activist attorneys, including the ACLU. The case is now wending its way up to the US Supreme Court. Mr. Khalil worked his way through college in Beirut as an MI-6 vetted local staffer at the British embassy, which is how he met his future wife — hijabi Leb-American dentist Noor Abdalla, suggesting either Muslim Brotherhood or Hezbollah connections. No doubt it was for her sake he went to Columbia instead of Oxford…

the Columbia University graduate student controversially detained by ICE earlier this year before he was released on the order of a federal judge, repeatedly refused to condemn Hamas during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown on Tuesday.

After blaming his battles with the Trump administration over his legal status in the country on the “weaponization of anti-Semitism,” Brown asked: “Do you specifically condemn Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in the United States, not just for their actions on October 7?”

“I condemn the killing of all Pal-, of all civilians, full stop,” replied Khalil. “And, but what I don’t want to get into is-”

“But do you condemn Hamas, specifically?” repeated Brown.

“No, I am very clear with condemning all civilians. I’m very straight in my position in that part. But it’s disingenuous to ask about condemning Hamas while Palestinians are the ones being starved now by Israel. It’s not condemning October 6, where 260 Palestinians were killed by Israel before October 7. So I hate this selective outrage of condemnation because this is not, this wouldn’t lead to a constructive conversation. And this is also, like what we want to deal with is the root causes of why that happened. And it’s no way anyone can justify the killing of civilians,” answered Khalil.

The anchor and activist continued:

BROWN: Just to be clear, Mahmoud, we did ask about-, you know we’ve talked at length about your views, of course, on the Palestinians. But it is fair to ask you about whether you condemn Hamas because the Trump administration has claimed that you are a Hamas sympathizer. So it’s very important to actually ask that question in this broad conversation.

KHALIL: Yeah, I simply asked and protested the war in Palestine. That’s what I did. That’s my duty as a Palestinian, as a human being right now, is to ask for the stop of the killing in my home country. And that’s consistent with who I am. I’m a firm believer in international law and human rights. And all my values come from that point. It’s just like, to me, it’s always, as I said, disingenuous and absurd to ask such questions when literally 62,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel. That’s why I wouldn’t really engage much into such questions on condemnation or not. Because selective condemnations is not, wouldn’t get us anywhere. It’s just like hypocrite, to be honest.

The New York Post adds:

Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities on March 8 and spent 104 days at a Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration fought to deport the Syrian-born permanent resident.

The administration said Khalil engaged in activities “aligned to Hamas.”

Khalil, who is now suing the federal government for $20 million over what he claims was false imprisonment and a smear campaign to label him as an antisemite, drew fresh backlash after the interview – with the Department of Homeland Security blasting him as a “terrorist sympathizer.”

“Mahmoud Khalil refused to condemn Hamas because he IS a terrorist sympathizer not because DHS ‘painted’ him as one,” DHS wrote in a fiery post on X, arguing that the green card holder “branded” himself as an antisemite “through his own hateful behavior and rhetoric.”

“The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority to detain Khalil, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and damages property.”

[X]

I met with Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, who was imprisoned for 104 days by the Trump administration for opposing Netanyahu’s illegal & horrific war in Gaza. Outrageous.

We must not allow Trump to destroy the First Amendment & freedom to dissent. pic.twitter.com/2iaIi8dUWF
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 22, 2025

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Current information on the situation on the front line on July 22 (updated)

2025-07-23

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 20:54 Ministry of Defense (Russian Federation):

Servicemen of the 34th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Sever group destroyed military equipment and disrupted the rotation of Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the Sumy region.

A calculation of the "West" troop group carried out a precise strike on an M-113 armored personnel carrier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Khar'kov region.

Servicemen of the Vostok group destroyed a towed American M198 howitzer in the South Donetsk direction.

20:04 Calculation of the 122mm BM-21 MLRS "Grad" of the naval infantry destroyed targets on the right bank of the Dnieper.

19:32 Attack aircraft of the 35th Separate Guards Volgograd-Kiev Orders of Lenin, Suvorov and Kuzov Red Banner Motorized Rifle Brigade. Unit of the Center group successfully knocked out the enemy from a powerful fortified area of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsky) direction.

18:17 Powerful blow inflicted at the Ukrainian Armed Forces training ground in the Kirovograd region

🪖The guardsmen carried out an operation to clear out a complex defense system, including dugouts and camouflaged firing points.

Under the cover of artillery and drones, our soldiers approached the enemy fortifications and, using special ammunition, destroyed the enemy's shelters.

16:49 A crew of an FPV drone on fiber optics from the West group of forces destroyed a pickup truck of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Khar'kov region, and operators of attack UAVs from the North group of forces hit a howitzer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Sumy region, –video.

16:42 Zaporizhia direction. Fighters of the 5th Army occupied two strongholds south of Temirovka, –MAP.

15:06 On frames: Under objective control, UAV operators from the 40th Naval Infantry Brigade destroyed six enemy pickups in different areas of the Sumy Front.

14:02 Artillerymen are covering the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with 220mm BM-27 Uragan rockets in the area of the settlement of Temirovka in the Zaporizhia region, –video.

12:56 Summary of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the progress of the special military operation as of July 22, 2025

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to conduct a special military operation.

Units of the North group of forces improved their tactical position. Manpower and equipment of the mechanized, airborne assault brigades, airborne assault and assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Ryzhevka, Yunakovka, Khrapovshchina, Varachino, Sadki and Kondratovka in Sumy Oblast.

In the Khar'kov direction, units of the mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the territorial defense brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Volchansk, Gatishche and Melove in the Khar'kov region.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 130 servicemen, three vehicles, four artillery pieces and an electronic warfare station.

Units of the "West" group of forces improved their position along the front line. They defeated formations of three mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Osinovo, Petrovpavlovka and Kupyansk in the Khar'kov region.

The enemy's losses amounted to more than 210 servicemen, two combat armored vehicles, including a U.S.-made MaxxPro armored vehicle, 16 vehicles and two field artillery guns. Three electronic warfare stations and eight ammunition depots were destroyed.

The units of the "Southern" group of troops took up more advantageous lines and positions. The manpower and equipment of five mechanized, mountain assault, and airmobile brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Seversk, Kleban-Byk, Zvanovka, Konstantinovka, Chasov Yar, and Shcherbinovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.

The enemy lost up to 215 servicemen, three combat armored vehicles, including a US-made HMMWV armored vehicle, five pickup trucks and an artillery piece. An electronic warfare station and five ammunition depots were destroyed.

Units of the Center group of forces actively liberated the settlement of Novotoretskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic.

Formations of two mechanized, airborne assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two territorial defense brigades were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Pershe Travnya, Krasnoarmeysk, Petrovskoye, Udachnoye, Poltavka of the Donetsk People's Republic and Filiya of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to 365 servicemen, two combat armored vehicles, two cars, as well as six field artillery pieces, including the 155mm self-propelled artillery unit "Braveheart" made in Great Britain.

Units of the "East" group of forces continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defense. The manpower and equipment of the mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a naval infantry brigade and the territorial defense brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Velikomikhailovka, Maliyevka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Zeleny Gai in the Donetsk People's Republic and Temirovka in the Zaporizhia region.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 195 servicemen, three armored combat vehicles, seven cars, an artillery piece and an ammunition depot.

Units of the Dnepr group of forces defeated formations of the mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and two territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Kamenskoye in the Zaporizhia region, Pridneprovskoye and Pervomayskoye in the Kherson region.

Up to 65 servicemen, five vehicles, a field artillery gun, five electronic warfare stations and an ammunition depot were destroyed.

Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces groups have damaged storage depots and assembly shops for unmanned aerial vehicles, training facilities for pilots of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as temporary deployment points of Ukrainian formations, nationalists and foreign mercenaries in 143 districts.

Air defense systems shot down two long-range Neptune guided missiles, as well as 259 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following have been destroyed:

664 aircraft,

283 helicopters,

71,722 unmanned aerial vehicles,

622 anti-aircraft missile systems,

24,297 tanks and other armored combat vehicles,

1,577 combat vehicles of multiple launch rocket systems,

27,710 field artillery pieces and mortars,

38,560 units of special military vehicles.

12:42 Units of the "Center" group of forces are actively involved in operations released the settlement of Novotoretskoye, Donetsk People's Republic.

12:33 Russian troops have entered Torskoye again, –MAP.

11:47 Ministry of Defense RF:

UAV crews of the Nevsky Volunteer Brigade of the Southern group of troops supported the advance of assault groups in the Chasovo-Yarsk direction.

Operators of attack UAVs of the Stavropol paratroopers destroyed command posts and an armored vehicle "Kozak" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Orekhov direction in the Zaporizhia region.

10:14 Rosgvardia special forces destroyed a German armored recovery vehicle and a 122mm 2S1 self-propelled howitzer "Gvozdika" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, supporting the offensive in the Sumy region –VIDEO

09:44 Harpy UAV crews destroyed temporary deployment points and motor vehicles of the 104th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the settlement of Orlovka in the Sumy region.

08:46 Artillerymen of the "Center" group destroyed enemy UAV control point in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.

A 152mm 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled howitzer crew attacked a building housing an enemy FPV drone crew.

07:34 Changes to map over the past 24 hours:

Advance in the area of the settlement Prohody

Expansion of the control zone north of Yablonovka

Advance west of the settlement of Belaya Gora➡️

Control zone in Zverevo has been expanded➡️

Russian Armed Forces storm Poltava➡️

Varacino liberated

Expansion of the control zone in Malaya Tokmachka

Clarification of the control zone in Kondratovka in favor of the enemy

07:12 During the past night, air defense systems on duty destroyedand 35 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted:

Nine over the territory of the Bryansk region,
Seven over the territory of the Rostov region,
Six over the territory of the Kaluga region,
Three over the territory of the Samara region,
Three over the territory of the Moscow region,
Three over the territory of the Tula region,
Two over the territory of the Belgorod region,
One over the territory of the Kursk region,
One over the waters of the Black Sea.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

A billion for 'Maidan'. Mass protests in Israel were paid for by Americans

2025-07-23

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] American auditors from the House Judiciary Committee have published the results of a preliminary investigation into the financial activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID, recognized as an undesirable organization in Russia)

…and in America, too, thanks to President Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE…

during the Joe Biden administration. The published data has caused a real scandal.

Most decidedly a scandal. Mr. Tsukanov gives us more names.
As a result of the audit, a number of Israeli non-profit organizations were accused of destabilizing the situation in the Jewish state. And with the money of American taxpayers.

These accusations could well cost the Israeli opposition its seats in the upcoming elections, especially if it turns out that much of their “popular support” was orchestrated.

However, Tel Aviv is currently focused on other threats. But they also come from non-profit organizations.

"UNDERMINING" UNDER THE PREMIERE
The investigation, initiated by the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees, began in March and was part of Donald Trump's campaign to audit USAID.

A review of 380 financial statements found that six non-profit organizations (NPOs) registered in Israel or indirectly affiliated with it were involved in the accumulation and redistribution of government loans and grants.

The money was then used to finance destabilizing actions in the Jewish state. In addition to USAID, funds were allocated from the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Agriculture,

…not what we actually call them, but a reasonable translation from the Russian style…

the State Department, and the Pentagon and “transited” to smaller NGOs involved in solving “democratic problems” in various parts of Israel.

One of the central links in the shadow scheme, according to the auditors' findings, is PEF Israel Endowment Funds, which served as the main channel for collecting and distributing donations to Israeli NGOs in the United States.

Other heavyweights of non-profit activity were implicated in the scandal: Blue White Future, which promotes the idea of peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine, the consulting company Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the public funds Jewish Communal Fund and Middle East Peace Dialogue Network, as well as the youth movement Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which is considered a “forge of civil activists” working in the interests of Israel.

A certain sector of Israel, though definitely not the whole.

Auditors calculated that about a billion dollars were spent on destabilizing and undermining the Israeli government under various pretexts. Of this, more than 850 million went to funding groups that stirred up protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters, both on the “corruption” line and in the context of the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The rest went to critics of judicial reform.

The report notes that a promising area of USAID funding was to stir up protest sentiments among the ultra-Orthodox ("haredim") after the Israeli Supreme Court's July 2024 ruling on the admissibility of their conscription into military service. However, at the last moment, for unknown reasons, this idea was abandoned.

And yet they’ve been protesting anyway — we’ve just been ignoring it as an internal issue.

A TRUMP CARD FOR THE RIGHT
Although most of the findings in the auditors' report were labeled as "possible" and "highly likely," they were enough to slam the outgoing presidential administration.

For example, the Republican Jewish Coalition, which unites lobbyists of Jewish origin, considered the investigation’s findings “outrageous” and demanded “immediate comments” from former White House officials.

Legitimate.

They called the very fact of financing protests organized in a country that is a strategic ally of the United States (and, moreover, carried out “from the pockets” of American taxpayers) unacceptable and “undermining the long-standing friendship” between Washington and Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu's supporters also considered the accusatory basis sufficient for criticizing the "fifth column" inside the country. True, so far it is mainly along the lines of loyal opinion leaders - the politicians themselves remain silent. But only for the time being.

Hoping not to have to burn bridges with the Democratic Party...

Moreover, the American auditors gave Netanyahu’s cabinet a long-term trump card by catching several NGOs mentioned in the report in “potential financing” of Hamas and other groups and movements hostile to Tel Aviv.

For example, the NGO Bayader Association for Environment and Development, which maintained close contacts with a number of “moderate” Hamas representatives, received a generous contribution from USAID just a week before the start of the anti-Israeli Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

Another socio-political NGO, Tides Network, which is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, received loans totaling more than $2.6 million in the first year of the Gaza operation.

It is noteworthy that some of the tranches passed through the scandalous “PEF Israel Endowment Funds” and were sometimes supplemented by donations from other sources. The auditors were unable to track what exactly the grants were spent on.

As a result, the Netanyahu cabinet can, if necessary, easily shift the blame for “strengthening the position of Hamas” to the American Democrats, who have provided support to Tel Aviv’s opponents not only within Israel, but also on its “sensitive borders.”

HELP FOR HAMAS
However, for now Tel Aviv has no need to fully play the card of American Democrats interfering in the country's internal affairs. Especially since its own similar scandal is brewing under its nose.

It recently became known that the local non-profit organization “AID48”, associated with the “Joint Arab List” (RAAM), was involved in funding organizations and NGOs that are considered terrorist in Israel.

The driving force behind the indictment is ultra-conservative MK Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism Party). According to him, “billions of dollars” flowed through NGO accounts, feeding the coffers of Hamas and other Palestinian forces that control the Gaza Strip.

Also, according to parliamentary prosecutors, part of the funds went through third parties to the Judea and Samaria region under the guise of tranches for the purchase of weapons for Jewish settlers developing the West Bank. And from there, through shadow channels, these weapons got to Gaza.

Eh? We’ll need to hear more about that, because it’s definitely counterintuitive.

Despite the fact that most of the accusations by Sukkot and his colleagues are based on the findings of investigators from their organization, the Choose Life Forum, which represents the interests of families of terrorism victims, and are not supported by a serious evidence base, they receive active support from conservative forces.

Many Knesset members do not like their proximity to the Joint Arab List, which they traditionally tend to see as “hidden lobbyists” for the interests of the Palestinian population.

It was, after all, an invention of the Obama State Department in an effort to increase the effectiveness of the Arab-Israeli political parties.

Raam representatives reject the accusations as “political blackmail,” and call the attacks on AID48 an attempt to “cover up the abuse of force” in Gaza.

Ra’am is the political party of the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Israel, the so-called Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement, headed by MK Mansour Abbas, the first Arab party leader to join a ruling coalition of the Israeli government.

Moreover, with the start of the operation in the enclave, Arab politicians directed NGO funds to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in areas with high intensity of military operations, while official Tel Aviv ignored this problem until the very end and began to deal with it only under pressure from the US and the EU.

Netanyahu and his entourage are not interfering in the conflict, seeing it as a chance to redirect the anger of ultra-conservative forces from the “haredi” issue (which previously put the government on the brink of illegitimacy) to the Arab minority.

The potential loss of the alliance with Raam, which has about five mandates, looks like the lesser of two evils for Netanyahu’s coalition, since a final break with the Orthodox parties would entail the loss of at least fifteen seats, and in the long term, early elections.

The election is scheduled for October 2026 unless the government loses the confidence of the Knesset before then.

Both investigations, in the US and in Israel, are still ongoing.

Each report reveals more funds flowing to the Israeli left in a vain attempt to drive Bibi out of politics. Annoying as it has been, it’s certainly a hefty donation — in the Keynesian fashion — to the Israeli economy, which is most assuredly not what his Democratic followers intended.

The amounts of infusions cited by auditors may change in the near future, and in a positive direction. In addition, new, previously undisclosed figures may appear in the case. That is why the Israeli authorities prefer to wait a little and, if necessary, increase the dividends from scandals.

Netanyahu and his supporters will most likely play this trump card in full closer to the Knesset elections, pressing the point that the “popular support” of the opposition leaders was just a fiction, and his main critics are themselves involved in scandals and intrigues, including shadow financing of Hamas. And this movement serves as the main trigger for Israeli society after 2023.

If such a combination is successful, the far-right government will not only retain control over the country, but will also increase its mandates.

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Illegal immigrants are now 'going on STRIKE' to protest ICE raids

2025-07-23

[X]

Illegal immigrants are now “going on STRIKE” to protest ICE raids.

👀 pic.twitter.com/whDVkucaGL
— American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) July 21, 2025

Link

International-UN-NGOs

State Department: US to withdraw from UNESCO in 2027 due to organization's 'bias'

2025-07-23

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The United States has decided to withdraw from UNESCO in 2027. This was reported on July 22 by the press service of the State Department.

“Withdrawal from UNESCO will take place on December 31, 2026,” the statement said.

The department clarified that membership in the organization does not meet the national interests of the United States and contradicts the country's foreign policy principles of "America First."

The State Department added that UNESCO's admission of Palestine as a member state raises serious questions and contributes to the spread of anti-Israeli rhetoric within the organization.

As reported by Regnum News Agency, on June 2, Trump proposed suspending most mandatory and all voluntary contributions to UN agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNESCO, in his draft federal budget for the 2026 fiscal year.

In January, the American leader signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the WHO. He pointed out that the United States pays $500 million in contributions to the organization each year, while China, which has a population four times larger, pays only $39 million. The president called this situation unfair and cited it as a reason for leaving the organization.

The Times of Israel has considerably more here.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

'On sanctions'

2025-07-23

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Text taken from the Telegram age of Alexey Drobinin

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] Director of the Department of Foreign Policy Planning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on the goals of the Western sanctions campaign against the Russian Federation.

About sanctions Recently, the European Union introduced the 18th package of anti-Russian sanctions, and the US Congress has prepared or is still preparing the sanctions "Graham-Blumental bill". It has long been unclear what goals are pursued by those in Brussels and Washington engaged in sanctions policy.

Either they want to hit the Russian economy or the economy of Russia's partner countries.

Either they want to "leave the opportunity to finance the war in Ukraine", or "force negotiations", or simply "punish" Russia for independence.

Either they want to crush the interests of Russian economic operators, or decision-makers, or to provoke a popular revolt.

The statements of officials, parliamentarians and politicians accumulate like a snowball, often contradicting each other. For the sake of a thought experiment, let's go back to the moment when everything more or less began.

Here are selected quotes from American and European officials in 2014, who explained why and why anti-Russian sanctions are being introduced "for the annexation of Crimea": Sanctions are not considered a punitive measure, but are aimed at changing the policy or actions of the target country, organizations or individuals.

Measures are always aimed at policy or activity, the means of its implementation and the persons responsible for it. The EU makes every effort to minimize the negative consequences for the civilian population and for legal activities. (Official statement of the Council of the EU, Brussels, April 29, 2014)

* * *

So, as you know, we focused on individual sanctions against those who participate either in the development or in the implementation of policy — in particular, the seizure of Crimea and aggression in the east. The USA also expanded this list, including those who finance and support the president and his staff — that is, people close to him.

Now we are talking about the fact that if the elections are disrupted or we see the further movement of Russian troops into the territory of Ukraine, we will have to go to the so-called "surgical sectoral sanctions". ( Viktoria Nuland, US Deputy Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, at a briefing in Luxembourg, May 13, 2014)

* * *

The goal of the US is not to cause harm to the Russian people, but to change the course of the Russian leadership in relation to Ukraine. (Victoria Nuland, US Deputy Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, congressional hearing, May 8, 2014) So, the original purpose of the sanctions, according to their initiators, was to force Russia to change its foreign policy, primarily in the Ukrainian direction. The result is zero or the opposite of what was intended.

But this does not prevent Americans and Europeans from ignoring reality and continuing to believe that if they push even harder, Russia will break and change course.

It is not our business to believe in it.

The consequences, obviously, will be completely different.

However, the persistence of the West in carrying out sanctions policy has to be taken into account.

Today, predictions that the maximum possible set of unilateral restrictive measures will be introduced against Russia, meaning a complete severance of direct trade and economic ties with the Western community, do not seem detached from life. It is also impossible to ignore the possibility that, in pursuit of the illusory goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia on the Ukrainian battlefield, sooner or later the West will use against our country all the types of weapons it has, with the exception of non-conventional ones.

Hard to disagree. I have been writing since 2022 that everything below the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons can and will be used in Ukraine.

At the moment, almost all the conventional steps on the escalation stage have already been taken, not counting the few remaining types of missiles.

Link

-Land of the Free

Marine Officer Who Faced Charges for Criticizing Military Leaders Now Leads Promotion Review

2025-07-23

[Mil.com] Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has stood up yet another review process -- this time focused on officer promotions. It will be run by a Marine officer who rose to fame slamming the Biden administration over its Afghanistan withdrawal, according to a video and memo released Sunday.

"America's sons and daughters who serve in our military deserve the best leaders commanding them, which is why we need to reform the promotion system at DoD," Hegseth said in the video, while offering no specifics on what he believed the problems were.

This review is just the latest of several that Hegseth has ordered since taking the top military post. Since January, the defense secretary also has ordered the Pentagon to review combat standards, disqualifying medical conditions for military service, physical fitness and body standards, homeschooling support, and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The memo, which was posted online Sunday alongside Hegseth's video, said that the promotion and selection review will look at officer evaluations, promotion and command selection boards, and how professional military education is conducted "in order to enhance the lethality of the force."

Running the review will be one-time Marine Lt. Col. Stu Scheller who gained fame in 2021 amid the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan for his public videos in which he sharply criticized other senior military officers and leaders in the Biden administration. In one social media post, Scheller said that he would make a public recommendation of charges of dereliction of duty against Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, then the head of U.S. Central Command.

"Unlike the Marine generals who failed you in the previous administration, my generation will not fail," Scheller said in his post while referring to President Donald Trump.

In October 2021, Scheller pleaded guilty to six charges that stemmed from four videos and other posts he uploaded to social media sites. The charges ranged from disrespecting public officials to conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.

At his trial, Scheller argued that his videos and critiques were "about Americans and not about divisions, to include Republican and Democrat."

"This is about accountability of my senior leaders, not about politics," Scheller said in court.

Yet in a blog post made Jan. 20, Scheller took a much more partisan tone against the Biden administration.

"I am sure the national security situation left by the incompetence of the last administration will monopolize [Hegseth's] time," Scheller wrote.

Scheller joined the Pentagon after Hegseth's confirmation and has been working as a senior adviser to Jules Hurst, who until recently was performing the duties of the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

"We need to have officers who understand where their compass is," Hegseth said in the video posted Sunday, adding that such officers are "not risk averse, they're not playing the game, they're not simply checking the box to get to the next level, which creates all the wrong incentives."

Hegseth described Scheller as someone who "had the courage to speak up when no one else would."

Link

-Great Cultural Revolution

Cracker Barrel under fire for DEI

2025-07-22

[X]

EXCLUSIVE: Pro-Trump law group says Cracker Barrel's DEI programs violate federal, state civil rights laws | Alec Schemmel, Fox News

'Americans are fed up with major American corporations serving up DEI as if it is entirely okay,' says America First Legal

Conservative pro-Trump… pic.twitter.com/BDusJn1Nel
— Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) July 22, 2025

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Airliner Avoids B-52 at Minot, ND Flyover

2025-07-22

[CBS News] The pilot of a SkyWest flight told passengers Friday night that he performed an "aggressive maneuver" to avoid a B-52 military aircraft in-flight as he came in for a landing in Minot, North Dakota.

In a video recorded by a passenger, the pilot is heard calmly announcing to passengers: "For those of you on the right-hand side, you probably saw the airplane kinda sorta coming at us. Nobody told us about it and so we continued."

"Given his speed," the pilot continued, "it was a military (aircraft). I don't know how fast they were going but they were a lot faster than us. I thought the safest thing to do was to turn behind it. So, sorry about the aggressive maneuver. It caught me by surprise."

"This is not normal at all. I don't know why they didn't give us a heads-up because the (nearby) Air Force base does have radar and nobody said, 'Hey, there's also a B-52 in the pattern.'"

The pilot explained that the tower at the Minot airport doesn't have radar, so air traffic controllers do everything visually.

Minot Air Force Base said later Monday in a statement that the B-52 was performing the flyover for "a special event recognizing the city of Minot as a 'Great American Defense Community.'"

"The flyover was planned in advance and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. This included the FAA's local Flight Standards District Office, Minot International Airport air traffic control personnel, and Minot Approach Control," the base said.

Link

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