Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

Peru opens criminal probe into Israeli soldier accused of ‘methodical destruction’ in Gaza

The Cradle | May 24, 2025

Authorities in Peru have opened a criminal investigation against an Israeli soldier accused of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip during 2023–2024, according to the Hind Rajab Foundation, a Brussels-based NGO focused on taking legal action against Israeli soldiers committing rights violations.

The investigation was initiated following a complaint filed by prominent human rights lawyer Julio César Arbizu González. The complaint alleges that the individual, whose name has not been released, served as a combat engineering soldier and took part in the “methodical and systematic destruction of civilian neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip.”

Footage shared on social media showed the soldier celebrating while detonating a civilian building.

The Hind Rajab Foundation says the suspect could face charges including “war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide.”

It praised Peru’s “adherence to the principles of international humanitarian and criminal law.” The principle of universal jurisdiction obliges countries to prosecute serious crimes regardless of where they were committed or the nationality of the suspects.

The foundation stated that the Combat Engineering Corps in which the soldier served was a “core operational arm of destruction, systematically reducing civilian areas to rubble, erasing entire communities, and rendering large swathes of Gaza uninhabitable.”

“Justice is not optional. Justice is imperative,” said Dyab Abou Jahjah, chairman of the Hind Rajab Foundation. “This investigation marks a decisive step in the dismantling of Israeli impunity,” he added.

In February, Jahjah told The Cradle, “There are two kinds of cases we are fighting. You have the cases against dual nationals who have been participating in the genocide in Gaza. And then you have cases against visiting soldiers, of whom we don’t know whether they have other nationalities, but we know that they have been committing war crimes, and they travel abroad mostly for tourism.”

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that Israel is “destroying more and more houses [in Gaza and Palestinians accordingly] have nowhere to return,” according to quotes from the session leaked to the media.

“The only obvious result will be Gazans choosing to emigrate outside of the Strip,” Netanyahu continued. “But our main problem is finding countries to take them in.”

Founded in September 2024, the Hind Rajab Foundation is named after a Palestinian girl who was brutally murdered, along with several members of her family and first responders seeking to rescue her, by Israeli tank gunners in Gaza.

The organization gathers open-source intelligence on Israeli soldiers, including details of their military service, aiming to facilitate prosecutions abroad.

May 24, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , | Leave a comment

Former Yanukovich presidential adviser visited Kiev days before assassination – media

RT | May 23, 2025

Former Ukrainian lawmaker and presidential adviser Andrey Portnov, who was fatally shot in Madrid on Wednesday, had secretly visited Ukraine just days before his assassination, according to a report by Ukrainskaya Pravda which cites sources close to law enforcement and government circles.

The newspaper said that three sources have confirmed that Portnov was in Kiev on May 17–18 for a series of high-level meetings, including with “top officials responsible for law enforcement.” However, the exact nature of the meetings, and whether the visit was connected to his subsequent murder, remains unclear.

Portnov, a lawyer and once a powerful figure in the administration of former President Viktor Yanukovich, was gunned down in the upscale Madrid suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcon three days later, on May 21. Spanish media reported that he was shot multiple times, including in the head, shortly after dropping his children off at school. Witnesses say a lone gunman approached him near his Mercedes before fleeing with the help of accomplices.

No arrests have been made, and a Madrid court has reportedly classified the investigation. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga said on Friday that Madrid had shared “official information” about the murder due to Portnov’s citizenship, adding that relevant agencies in Kiev would determine the next steps.

“We possess information about the fact of the murder,” Sibiga told reporters in Kiev, while stressing that official procedures take time to unfold.

Spanish police have not ruled out any motives, with reports suggesting both organized crime and a political vendetta could be behind the killing due to Portnov’s complex and controversial political trajectory.

After serving as a legal architect of Ukraine’s judicial reform during Yanukovich’s presidency, Portnov fled the country during the 2014 Western-backed Maidan coup, returning only after Vladimir Zelensky’s 2019 election victory.

Since then, Portnov had filed a series of legal complaints against former President Pyotr Poroshenko, and was seen as having significant influence over Ukraine’s judiciary. In 2021, the United States sanctioned Portnov over alleged corruption.

While he initially supported Zelensky, he quickly became a vocal critic of the new administration, accusing it of authoritarian overreach amid a crackdown on opposition figures and media it labeled “pro-Russian.” Ukrainian media later accused him of ties to Russian elites, prompting him to flee again in 2022. He reportedly transferred assets to his children in Spain and settled in Madrid with his family.

Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s ambassador-at-large overseeing a special mission on alleged Ukrainian war crimes, has suggested that Portnov’s career gave him access to legal documents that could be damaging to people in Zelensky’s inner circle — and that he may have been targeted to prevent the possible disclosure of such materials.

May 24, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties | | Leave a comment

Trump’s phone diplomacy with Putin shatters the Euro-Atlantic Cold War mental bloc

Strategic Culture Foundation | May 23, 2025

As the old saying goes, “it’s good to talk.” Good, that is, for most reasonable people who understand that dialogue is a process that opens positive possibilities, especially when the dialogue is conducted respectfully and sincerely.

This week, US President Donald Trump held his third phone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin since he was inaugurated in the White House in January. The latest one on Monday was even more substantive than the previous calls, lasting about two hours, and, according to both sides, it was conducted in a friendly and productive manner.

Of course, the main topic of conversation was finding a peaceful end to the more than three-year war in Ukraine. Trump deserves credit for at least trying to bring peace to the table, instead of more and more weapons, as his predecessor, the mentally decrepit Joe Biden, did, and assorted European leaders would like to continue doing.

There was also discussion between Trump and Putin, using first names in their verbal exchanges, about repairing US-Russia relations for trade and strategic cooperation.

That portends a transformation in Washington’s erstwhile agenda of hostility towards Russia.

Tellingly, however, the talking was deemed “not good” by others, as could be gleaned from the vexed reactions to Trump’s call with Putin from European leaders and American advocates of the Euro-Atlantic alliance.

European politicians were reportedly “stunned” and “shocked” by Trump’s diplomatic outreach to Putin.

Following his conversation with the Russian president, Trump briefed five European leaders jointly. They included Germany’s Merz, France’s Macron, Italy’s Meloni, Finland’s Stubb, and the European Commission’s chief Von der Leyen. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky was also part of the conference call. The non-entity British prime minister was not included. Sometimes, talking with toxic people is not good!

The Europeans tried to put a positive spin on the briefing from Trump, with Von der Leyen describing it as “good”. But that was the Europeans trying to save face from what is a stunning blow to the Euro-Atlantic alliance.

In a press conference at the White House on Monday, after his calls with Putin and the Europeans, Trump made it clear from his statements that the vaunted alliance is shattered. He is no longer listening to them, and his agenda towards Russia is transformational, if it is permitted to develop.

Trump rejected the European demands for an immediate 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and more economic sanctions on Russia. He said that imposing more sanctions did not help resolve the conflict. Trump also indicated that he concurred with Russia’s logical position that negotiations must be focused on establishing a lasting peace, one that deals with addressing the root causes of conflict.

The European and Ukrainian demands for a 30-day truce as a precondition are not workable or logical. Indeed, such insistence impedes negotiations. From a cynical point of view, that is why the European backers of the Kiev regime are making such a song and dance about sanctions and the 30-day truce, because those demands are aimed at preventing diplomacy succeeding with Russia.

Britain’s Financial Times headlined its report on the Trump-Putin call: “Why Europe fears the worst after Trump’s ‘excellent’ chat with Putin”.

The BBC inadvertently shed light with its headline: “Trump’s call with Putin exposes shifting ground on Ukraine peace talks”. The BBC-speak about “shifting ground on peace talks” is an Orwellian translation. What the BBC should have said in plain language was that Trump is shafting the European warmongers.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the supporters of the NATO proxy war against Russia tried their best to undermine Trump’s diplomacy.

The New York Times – the CIA’s main choice for gaslighting the American population – called the phone call a “diplomatic win for Russia” and snidely said, “Trump backs off ceasefire call”. The latter implied that Trump is against peace when, in fact, he is the only Western adult in the room calling for peace.

The Washington Post also did its best to smear Trump, reporting: “After call, Trump gives Russia more time for Ukraine war”. An op-ed piece also mockingly claimed: “Trump wasted two hours with Vladimir Putin”.

CNN, another outlet that has loyally and absurdly pushed the NATO proxy war as a noble endeavor, accused Trump for “siding with his friend in the Kremlin” and claimed that “peace in Ukraine looks further away after Trump’s call with Putin”, adding that “Putin got exactly what he wanted… stringing Trump along.”

The riot of negative and vitriolic reactions on both sides of the Atlantic shows that the US-European alliance under Trump has shattered. That alliance embodied by the NATO military bloc has been the linchpin of the “Collective West” for eight decades. It has now cracked wide open.

Unlike his predecessors in the White House, Donald Trump does not want to pursue a destructive and futile policy of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia. That policy is what engendered the war in Ukraine, from the CIA-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, to the provocative weaponization of Ukrainian NeoNazis, until Russia’s intervention in February 2022 to defend its rights.

Trump appears to genuinely want to end the proxy war and to normalize relations with Russia for the sake of world peace, and, why not, good business.

For the Euro-Atlanticists, with their incurable, imperialist, and Russophobic mindsets, such a policy is anathema.

However, the good news is that the gaping cracks in the so-called Collective West now provide a path to peace.

Trump and Putin can end the war in Ukraine and negotiate an important peace deal that addresses Russia’s historic security grievances that stem from the decades of NATO aggression, which past American presidents and their European surrogates have facilitated.

For Trump to do that, he needs to listen carefully to the Russian leadership and reciprocate. If a new detente can be achieved, then the world will be a better, more secure, and peaceful place.

The other thing that Trump needs to do is to dismiss European lackeys with their warmongering servility to the status quo ante. They are has-beens and have nothing constructive to offer.

Trump’s phone call with Putin this week has had a major impact, and one that has significant potential for peace. The cracks in the Cold War mental bloc, so to speak, are a way forward.

May 24, 2025 Posted by | Mainstream Media, Warmongering, Russophobia | , , , , | Leave a comment

Russian military strikes drone-making plant in Kiev – MOD

RT | May 24, 2025

The Russian military has carried out a successful strike against a drone and missile production plant in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

The statement, issued by the ministry on Saturday, confirms earlier reports of a large-scale Russian drone and missile strike on Kiev overnight. Witnesses said they heard multiple blasts, with photos uploaded on social media capturing a huge explosion in the city.

“The Russian military performed a group strike with high-precision ground-based weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against a Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprise that produces missile weapons and unmanned aerial attack vehicles,” the statement read.

The other targets of the attack were a radar surveillance center and a US-made Patriot air defense system, it added.

“All of the goals of the strike were achieved. All designated targets were hit,” the ministry said.

According to media reports, the Russian strike targeted the Antonov aircraft manufacturing plant in the western part of the capital.

The Russian bombardment came after an intensification of Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and other Russian regions this week.

According to the Defense Ministry, 788 drones and 12 missiles were intercepted inside Russia between Tuesday and Friday. Another 104 UAVs were intercepted overnight, the ministry said on Saturday morning.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that one person had been killed and 20 others injured, including four children, in Ukrainian drone strikes throughout the week. Four more civilians, including two kids, were wounded after the city of Lgov in Kursk Region was hit by a US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launcher, according to the ministry.

The Russian military said it would respond appropriately to the intensified drone raids by Kiev, but “unlike the Ukrainian side, our targets will be strictly limited to military facilities and defense industry plants,” it said.

May 24, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

The Real Israel vs Hasbara History

Ilana Mercer • May 23, 2025

May 23, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular, Video, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Top FDA official admits she refused the Covid-19 vaccine while pregnant

A senior regulator’s admission reveals uncomfortable truths about silence, ethics and trust inside the FDA

By Maryanne Demasi, PhD | May 22, 2025

One of the most powerful figures at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has admitted she refused the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine while pregnant—even as her agency promoted it as “safe and effective” for all pregnant women.

Dr Sara Brenner’s explosive disclosure, made on 15 May 2025 at the MAHA Institute Round Table in Washington DC, is as revealing as it is troubling.

A preventive medicine physician, Brenner has worked at the FDA since 2019. As the FDA’s Principal Deputy Commissioner—and briefly its Acting Commissioner—Brenner was at the centre of decision-making.

Dr Sara Brenner on 15 May 2025 at the MAHA Institute

Prior to that she was Chief Medical Officer for diagnostics and was detailed to the White House to support the Biden administration’s Covid-19 response. She didn’t just participate in the pandemic response, she helped shape it from within.

“Knowing what I knew—not only about nanotechnology, about medicine, about the medical countermeasures—but also having a very strong and firm grounding in bioethics… there were many things that were not right,” she told the audience.

That someone with her seniority and access to internal data privately rejected the vaccine, while her agency promoted it to millions of pregnant women, presents a profound ethical dilemma.

Brenner’s concerns about mRNA safety

Brenner explained that her decision was driven by a lack of safety data, particularly around the biodistribution of the vaccine’s lipid nanoparticles (LNPs)—the tiny fat particles used to deliver the mRNA into cells.

“It was unknown at the time what the biodistribution patterns of those products were… That was my primary concern, and that exposure I was very concerned about,” said Brenner.

She had reason to be cautious.

As a nanomedicine expert who built an MD/PhD program in the field, Brenner had spent years researching the “biodistribution, excretion, metabolism and toxicities associated with engineered nanoparticles.”

“Materials that don’t exist in nature—there’s a lot of unknowns,” said Brenner.

She warned that unintended toxic effects—especially in vulnerable populations like pregnant women—could not be ignored.

“Regardless of the medical product or the intervention, there’s always going to be the need to evaluate both the intended outcomes… and the unintended consequences,” she cautioned.

Warnings ignored

Brenner’s concerns echoed those raised in 2021 by Canadian immunologist Dr Byram Bridle, who first exposed internal documents from Japan’s regulatory agency showing that LNPs didn’t remain at the injection site, but travelled throughout the body and accumulated in organs including the ovaries, liver, spleen and bone marrow.

At the time, Bridle’s warnings were aggressively dismissed. His reputation took a hit, and he faced institutional censure from the University of Guelph, where he was a professor, for speaking out against vaccine mandates.

Dr Byram Bridle, Canadian immunologist. Photo credit: Kenneth Armstrong

Now, Brenner’s comments confirm that these concerns were not only valid—they were quietly shared at the highest levels of the FDA.

During the event, Brenner also revealed that her worries extended to breastfeeding and potential exposure to her child after birth.

A 2022 study published in JAMA Pediatrics detected vaccine-derived mRNA in the breast milk of vaccinated mothers for at least 48 hours—the very scenario Brenner had feared.

Yet the FDA made little effort to publicly investigate or address the findings, dismissing them with the vague reassurance that there was “no evidence of harm.”

No mandate for Brenner?

It’s unclear how Brenner managed to avoid the vaccine mandate that applied to all federal employees at the time. She didn’t say. Perhaps she received a religious or medical exemption—but she left that part out.

What she did reveal was that she had concerns—deep enough not to take the vaccine during her pregnancy. Yet she said nothing publicly, while her agency told millions of other women it was safe.

For many, that silence is hard to accept and it has left many asking why she didn’t warn other women about a product with ‘zero’ clinical safety data in pregnancy.

No one but Brenner knows the full story. But the ethical contradiction is hard to ignore.

Silence inside the castle

Brenner acknowledged the immense pressure inside the FDA to stick to the official narrative.

“They don’t let you get very far out of the castle at FDA with your talking points,” she admitted nervously.

She described the period as a “dark night of the soul” for many civil servants, a time when even “very obvious things” took bravery to say.

She eventually found support through a group called Feds for Medical Freedom—federal workers advocating for informed consent, bodily autonomy, and pushing back against government overreach.

A culture change?

Today, under a new administration, Brenner says the culture inside the FDA is shifting. She praised Commissioner Dr Marty Makary and said transparency is finally becoming a priority.

“We’re moving very quickly to make it such that there will be more transparency… so that people can see and evaluate for themselves what the truths are.”

But Brenner’s remarks won’t undo what has already happened—especially to those who were vaccine injured or whose pregnancies were affected.

What her comments do offer is a rare glimpse into the internal dynamics of a government institution that issued sweeping public assurances while failing to acknowledge its own uncertainty.

“There was no acknowledgement of what was unknown. There were only statements and assertions that were really more like beliefs,” Brenner said of the FDA’s messaging during the pandemic.

That may be her most important admission.

This is more than a story about one woman’s personal decision. It is a story about institutional culture, regulatory failure, and the consequences of silence.

Those who spoke up were punished. Those who stayed silent kept their jobs and reputations. And those who were forced to comply were often left to deal with the collateral damage.

When asked whether she believed she had made the right decision in refusing the Covid-19 vaccine, Brenner replied simply, “I believe so.”

Now that she has spoken, the question remains — who else knew, and said nothing?

May 23, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance, Science and Pseudo-Science | , , | Leave a comment

Israeli strike kills six aid security workers in Deir al-Balah

MEMO | May 23, 2025

Six members of a security aid team were killed early Friday in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, due to an Israeli air strike, as reported by the Government Media Office.

The statement, sent to Safa news agency, described the incident as “a horrific massacre” and accused the Israeli military of deliberately targeting the team as part of a strategy to “engineer starvation and obstruct humanitarian relief”.

The office condemned the attack, reporting that the Israeli army carried out eight air strikes in the area. Several victims remain at the scene, which has become difficult to access due to continued shelling and ongoing gunfire from Israeli aircraft.

“These individuals were performing purely humanitarian duties,” the statement added, “by securing two trucks carrying vital medicines and medical supplies for the health sector, to ensure their delivery to hospitals in devastated areas. Targeting them is a full-fledged crime that exposes the true intent of the occupation to disrupt the flow of humanitarian and medical aid and to create chaos and insecurity in line with its plan to starve the population and deny treatment to the sick.”

The office further stressed that the Israeli military is systematically enabling the looting of aid and medical convoys by attacking those responsible for coordinating and protecting safe delivery routes.

May 23, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

US roadmap for Syria sanctions removal includes Israel normalization, expulsion of Palestinian factions

The Cradle | May 23, 2025

A State Department proposal circulated among officials lays out “sweeping conditions for future phases of relief or permanent lifting of sanctions” on Syria, including normalizing relations with Israel by signing the Abraham Accords, AP reported on 23 May, citing an anonymous US official familiar with the matter.

US-imposed sanctions have devastated the Syrian economy, plunged millions into poverty, and blocked post-war reconstruction. They were imposed as part of the US and Israeli effort to topple the government of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Assad was ousted in December by militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Al-Qaeda affiliate, with US, Israeli, and Turkish assistance. HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now the de facto Syrian president.

However, the US is not yet ready to remove sanctions.

A document issued last week by the State Department’s policy and planning staff has proposed a three-phase road map for sanctions relief, starting with short-term waivers. Permanent lifting of sanctions would only be given after several conditions are met.

According to the document, “Palestinian terror groups” must be removed from Syria to get to the second stage.

The Syrian government must also take control of detention facilities housing ISIS fighters in northeast Syria and carry out a recent deal to incorporate the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian army. The SDF currently controls the prisons housing ISIS members and their families, as well as much of Syria’s oil fields.

Phase three would require Damascus to normalize relations with Tel Aviv by joining the Abraham Accords, as well as prove that it had destroyed all of the previous government’s chemical weapons.

If normalization happens, Syria would de facto acknowledge Israel’s annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously pushed for US President Donald Trump’s administration not to lift sanctions on Syria.

President Trump raised expectations that all Syria sanctions would quickly be removed when he announced in Saudi Arabia last week that he would “be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.”

“We’re taking them all off,” Trump said a day before meeting the Syrian president, a former deputy of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“Good luck, Syria. Show us something special,” he went on to say.

However, when asked what sanctions relief should look like overall, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said relief would be “Incremental.”

Washington has levied sanctions against Syria since 1979 for its foreign policy opposing Israel.

To block Syria’s post-war reconstruction, the harshest sanctions were imposed in 2019 by Congress through the passage of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.

As a result, a new law in Congress must be passed to remove the Caesar sanctions. Trump is only able to issue six-month waivers, which is not enough to encourage investors to return to doing business in the country.

On Friday, two Palestinian sources told AFP that the leaders of Palestinian resistance factions have left Syria under pressure from the new authorities in Damascus.

The leaders include Khaled Jibril, son of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) founder Ahmad Jibril, as well as Palestinian Popular Struggle Front Secretary-General Khaled Abdel Majid and Fatah al-Intifada Secretary-General Ziad al-Saghir.

May 23, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Wars for Israel | , , , | Leave a comment

Heavy Israeli strikes hit south Lebanon ahead of final vote in municipal elections

The Cradle | May 23, 2025

The Israeli army unleashed a violent wave of airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon on the evening of 22 May, striking what it claimed were Hezbollah weapons sites.

The attacks were preceded by an evacuation order for a building in the town of Toul, in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon north of the Litani River, citing the presence of Hezbollah facilities.

Following a “warning strike,” Israel bombed and destroyed the building – which had already been struck during the war last year, according to Al-Manar.

Israel then proceeded to carry out airstrikes in several southern regions, including the Iqlim al-Tuffah region, Mahmoudia, Jabal al-Rafi, and Jabal Safi. The vicinity of a school in the town of Tulin were among the areas bombarded.

Additionally, Israeli ground troops opened fire at the southern town of Aitaroun as the strikes were happening.

An airstrike also hit the town of Boudai in the eastern Baalbek region of Lebanon. The Israeli army said in a statement that it “attacked a military site containing rocket launchers and weapons in the Bekaa Valley with fighter jets,” as well as “terrorist infrastructure, rocket launchers, and missiles” in the south, accusing the resistance of violating the ceasefire and attempting to reconstitute its forces.

According to Lebanese media, these were some of the heaviest strikes on the country since the war ended last year.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attacks and said they came at a “dangerous” time. They occurred just two days before the final round of municipal elections in south Lebanon – the first to be held since the ceasefire agreement was reached in November 2024.

“Prime Minister Salam stresses that these violations will not thwart the state’s commitment to holding the elections and protecting Lebanon and the Lebanese,” Salam’s office said in a statement.

Despite the devastating war that ravaged southern and eastern Lebanon and the southern suburb of Beirut last year, Hezbollah has retained significant popular support.

During the first rounds of voting two weeks ago, Hezbollah-backed lists won in the Shia-inhabited towns of Ain al-Ghuwaybah, Hajoula, Ras Asta, Bashtlida, Fidar, Mishan, Almat al-Sawaneh, Lassa, Afqa, al-Maghiri, and al-Husun.

The final round of voting will be held on 24 May in Nabatieh and other southern governorates, which have endured brutal Israeli strikes during the war and even after the ceasefire.

“This year’s municipal and elective elections come as a challenge of resilience, steadfastness, and commitment to the land – rebuilding it with its people, orchards, houses, and all elements of life,” Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said on Thursday.

Qassem also stressed that “the continued Israeli occupation of any inch of our land and homeland will not be accepted.”

Tel Aviv’s violations of the ceasefire agreement reached in November last year have continued unabated.

Over 200 people have been killed in the more than 3,000 Israeli violations of the US-sponsored deal since the end of 2024.

Israeli troops also occupy five locations along the border in the south, where they established themselves following the ceasefire deal in violation of the agreement. This is aside from the Lebanese land that Israel has already been illegally occupying for decades, including the Kfar Shuba hills and Shebaa Farms.

May 23, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , | Leave a comment

MEPs urge Brussels to cut all funding for Budapest

RT | May 23, 2025

Over 20 members of the European Parliament have urged the European Commission to immediately freeze all EU funding to Hungary as a means of putting pressure on Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government. The demand comes as the bloc’s foreign ministers prepare to weigh potential sanctions, including a suspension of Budapest’s voting rights.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin and Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath, 26 MEPs accused Hungary of “violating EU values and EU laws.” They cited four specific actions, including a March law that effectively bans pride parades in Hungary, a move consistent with Orban’s rejection of “LGBT ideology.”

The lawmakers also blasted proposed Hungarian legislation that would tighten oversight of political organizations receiving foreign funding, which critics argue would suppress “civil society.”

The MEPs alleged that Budapest’s policies indicate that all EU funding for Hungary risks being misused and that a full freeze would be “proportionate” under the circumstances.

Hungarian MEP Csaba Domotor pushed back against the accusations, arguing that the targeted organizations serve foreign interests with grants they receive from the EU, George Soros’ Open Society Foundation, and the recently defunded US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Hungary has repeatedly faced EU criticism for its conservative social policies, which don’t align with the bloc’s pro-LGBT agenda, and regulations requiring more transparency from foreign-funded organizations.

Budapest has also clashed with Brussels over support for Kiev and anti-Russian sanctions. Orban has warned that admitting Ukraine into the European Union risks drawing the bloc into the ongoing military conflict and called the European Commission’s plans to end all imports of Russian energy by the end of 2027 “absolute insanity.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said that such a move would sharply increase energy prices across the EU, seriously undermine member states’ national sovereignty, and harm European businesses.

Some EU officials, including Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, have advocated for stronger action, such as triggering Article 7 of the EU Treaty to strip Hungary of its voting rights. Relevant proceedings against Hungary were launched in 2018.

The EU’s General Affairs Council, which is comprised of foreign and European affairs ministers from member states, is scheduled to discuss Hungary’s Article 7 case for the eighth time next Tuesday, according to the official agenda.

May 23, 2025 Posted by | Aletho News | , | Leave a comment

Madrid court classifies probe into former Ukrainian MP’s murder – media

RT | May 23, 2025

A top court in the Madrid region has placed a secrecy order on an investigation into the killing of former Ukrainian lawmaker Andrey Portnov, according to local news reports.

No suspects have been arrested in connection with Wednesday’s shooting. Portnov, a seasoned politician who had fled Ukraine following allegations of treason, was gunned down in a suburb of the Spanish capital in what local media have speculated was a professional killing.

The Madrid Superior Court of Justice (TSJM), the highest judicial authority in the autonomous region, issued an order to restrict public access to case details on Thursday, EFE news agency and the newspaper 20 Minutos reported.

According to the latest media updates, Portnov was ambushed from behind by a lone gunman who fired at least nine rounds. Based on the circumstances, news outlets suggest the attacker had intended to ensure Portnov’s death.

Two accomplices reportedly assisted the assailant’s escape in a getaway vehicle. The attack occurred next to Portnov’s Mercedes shortly after he had dropped off his children at an elite school in Pozuelo de Alarcon, a suburb of Madrid which ranks as one of the wealthiest municipalities in Spain.

Portnov was a lawyer and long-time political figure who served as an MP in the late 2000s and as a legal adviser to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, before he was ousted in a Western-backed armed coup in 2014. Portnov fled his country along with other officials, but returned in 2019 after Vladimir Zelensky’s election.

Known for offering legal defense to individuals he claimed were politically persecuted, Portnov appeared frequently on Ukraine’s opposition media. While he initially supported Zelensky’s presidential bid, he later became a vocal critic as the new administration cracked down on opposition figures and media it labeled “pro-Russian.”

Portnov reportedly left Ukraine again in July 2022 and the next year transferred some assets to his children via a notary in Madrid, signaling that he had settled in Spain.

Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s ambassador-at-large overseeing a special mission on alleged Ukrainian war crimes, has suggested that Portnov’s career gave him access to legal documents that could be damaging to people in Zelensky’s inner circle and that he may have been targeted to prevent the possible disclosure of such materials.

May 23, 2025 Posted by | Deception | , | Leave a comment

Russian Ambassador Slams UK-German Missile Scheme As Militarization of Europe

Sputnik – 23.05.2025

The recent development of a new precision weapon with a 2,000-kilometer range—announced on May 15 by the UK and Germany—represents another setback for arms control, following the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), Russian Ambassador Andrei Kelin told Sputnik.

“This is part of a new wave of militarization in Europe under the pretext of a threat from Russia. This is another blow to the regime established 30 years ago by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. This treaty was destroyed by the Americans,” Kelin said.

The high-precision weapon development plan, it was noted, seeks “to strengthen NATO’s deterrent capabilities.”

“When these missiles were banned, Europe’s security as a whole was at a much higher level. Now, unfortunately, another blow will be struck by the Europeans,” the ambassador emphasized.

In July 2024, the British press reported that London was considering a joint missile development project with Berlin, featuring a range of up to 3,200 kilometers. It is believed that these missiles could eventually replace American cruise missiles stationed in Germany.

In early 2019, the United States announced its unilateral withdrawal from the INF Treaty, accusing Russia of violations, a claim Moscow rejected. In July 2019, the Russian president signed a law suspending the treaty, and by August of that year, the pact officially ceased to be in effect. Russia has consistently maintained that it fully complied with the INF’s terms.

Meanwhile, Moscow emphasized that Russia has serious concerns regarding Washington’s implementation of the treaty and pointed out that the allegations of Russian violations are baseless.

May 23, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »