Kremlin: EU Enters Path of Militarization, Devoting Itself to Confrontation With Russia

EU Enters Path of Militarization, Devoting Itself to Confrontation With Russia - Kremlin

Sputnik

The European Union has entered the path of militarization and is devoting itself to the topic of confrontation with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

"It is clear that as the European Union is developing its defense identity, it has entered the path of militarization and is, in fact, devoting itself to the topic of confrontation with Russia," Peskov told reporters, commenting on the escalation of tensions between Russia and European countries.

The EU is exacerbating tensions on the European continent, forcing Russia to take additional measures for its own security, the official added.

Russia will continue to increase pressure on Kiev to achieve its goals, Dmitry Peskov said.

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces Valery Gerasimov reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the results of the massive retaliatory strike this morning, Peskov said.

"Meetings [with Gerasimov on Ukraine] also take place regularly, almost on a daily basis, but they are usually not covered by broadcasters," Peskov said.

The security of Russia and its interests will be guaranteed in any case, the spokesman

Earlier in the day, the Russian armed forces, in response to Kiev's terrorist attacks on Russia's civilian infrastructure, have inflicted a massive strike on military enterprises and fuel and energy facilities in Kiev.

The topic of building the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline was discussed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China, it will further be discussed at the corporate level, Peskov said.

Russia's Medvedev to Attend Farewell Ceremony With Former Iran Supreme Leader

Russian Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev will attend a farewell ceremony for former supreme leader of Iran Ali Khamenei, Dmitry Peskov said.

Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28. Following his death, his son Mojtaba was chosen as Iran's new supreme leader. He has not appeared in public since his appointment but has issued several statements to the Iranian people, which were published by official Iranian media outlets.

"Dmitry Anatolyevich [Medvedev] will be at the farewell ceremony," Peskov told reporters, answering a question about who will represent Russia at the farewell ceremony with Ali Khamenei.

Iran’s Ghalibaf calls for massive Khamenei funeral turnout to sound ‘nation’s call for vengeance’

Iran’s Ghalibaf calls for massive Khamenei funeral turnout to sound ‘nation’s call for vengeance’

By AFP

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf calls for massive turnout at Ali Khamenei’s funeral to avenge the supreme leader’s death in US-Israeli strikes at the start of the war.

“I invite all the Iranian people… to write a glorious page in the history of Islamic Iran through your presence” at the funeral ceremonies starting Saturday, says Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s parliament speaker.

“The nation’s call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world,” he adds in a statement.

Khamenei’s funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, will take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict.

Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed at the age of 86 at his compound in the center of the Iranian capital on February 28, the first day of the war. His public funeral will begin on Saturday, with his body lying in state at the colossal Grand Mosalla complex in central Tehran that hosts major Friday prayers, official ceremonies and religious gatherings. The bodies of his slain relatives will also be presented.

The ceremonies are expected to draw between 15 and 20 million mourners, according to officials, which would make it the biggest state funeral in the country’s history.

“Iran… is preparing to experience one of the most significant moments in its history,” Ghalibaf says.

Tehran, as well as the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, which will host later stages of the funeral and burial ceremonies, will observe public holidays while the events are underway.

Authorities have ordered public and private offices in Tehran to close from Saturday through Monday, while traffic restrictions will make much of the city center inaccessible to private vehicles.

Iran warns US, Israel against attacks ahead of funeral processions for Khamenei

An Iranian military commander warns the United States and Israel against any attack on Iran as it prepares for the state funeral of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in airstrikes on the first day of the war.

“We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the US and the Zionist regime, to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the harsh retaliation our armed forces would make to any threat and aggression against our country,” Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, says in a statement carried by state media.

Funeral processions for Khamenei will begin on July 4 in Tehran and conclude on July 9 with his burial in his hometown of Mashhad, with additional ceremonies planned in Qom and Iraq in-between these dates.

Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi gave a similar warning that Tehran would deliver an immediate and powerful response to any threat against its people or leadership after comments by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz that Iran’s current Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “marked for death.”

Iranian media reported heightened security measures during the funeral period, while the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said that temporary airspace restrictions would be implemented over several cities, including Tehran and Mashhad.

It’s time: Red Heifer organization calls for national Temple movement

It’s time: Red Heifer organization calls for national Temple movement

Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz

A red heifer born last month in the hills of the Galilee, sired by imported American semen and born to a black-coated mother, has reignited a coordinated national campaign among Israeli rabbis, breeders, and educators to restore the lost laws of ritual purity to the Jewish people. The campaign arrives at a moment when public appetite for Temple-related preparation appears to be surging: a recent survey found 55 percent of Israeli Jews now support rebuilding the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount, and a report published this week put the number of men enrolled in Temple service training at 150,000, out of a planned 200,000. “This is not a private event or private issue,” declared Yehuda Ben Tzvi, head of programming at the Mikdash Educational Center, in an interview with Joseph Good of Hatikva Ministries. The calf, he announced, is only one piece of a six-point national strategy the organization has spent the past year building, one Ben Tzvi insists must become “a national historical event” rather than the work of a small circle of activists. 

The campaign’s appeal to ordinary Israelis is no longer confined to grassroots circles. On Sunday, Israel365 News published an editorial by Yosef Eitan reporting that the government has quietly called for training 200,000 men in the procedures of Temple service, with 150,000 already enrolled. The Israeli government itself has not formally endorsed the broader Temple movement, but the figures Eitan cited suggest the Israeli public increasingly has. Last week, Israel365 News reported on a new survey commissioned by the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation and conducted by the Direct Polls Institute, which found that support among Israeli Jews for rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) on Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) now stands at 55 percent.

Ben Tzvi, who lives in Jerusalem overlooking the Temple Mount and descends from a family of Leviim (Levites), opened the conversation by describing his life’s work. “I spend my nights and days reminding myself, the Jewish people, and the rest of the world to love Jerusalem, never forget Jerusalem,” he said, before turning to what he called “an epic historic two years” for the Jewish people. “It’s not all about arms and strength and the military effort,” Ben Tzvi said, “but it’s also about faith, about the inner strength, remembering who we are, why we are here, what is the destiny of the Jewish people.”

The centerpiece of the interview is the new calf, discovered by a team member of the National Red Heifer Institute who works at a breeding farm using semen imported from the United States. “Fascinatingly enough,” Ben Tzvi said, “a beautiful red heifer was born around a month ago, and she was, funnily enough, discovered by one of our team members from the National Red Heifer Institute.” He emphasized the unlikely genetics involved. “A red heifer born from a black Angus, but she was tip to toe 100 percent pure.” The calf has been named Tamima, meaning whole or unblemished. “We named her Tamima in a prayer that she will remain Tamim, whole, both in body and in redness of her coat,” Ben Tzvi said.

The law of the red heifer, parah adumah in Hebrew, comes directly from the book of Numbers: “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, and on which never came a yoke” (Numbers 19:2).

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Why the Strait of Hormuz Matters More Than You Think

The Economic Catastrophe of Trump’s Iran War: Why the Strait of Hormuz Matters More Than You Think

Mike Adams

The war with Iran is not just a military misadventure but an economic catastrophe that will rival the financial fallout of 2008. The Strait of Hormuz closure has triggered shortages in oil, gas, helium, and fertilizer, leading to rising costs and supply chain chaos. We ignored the warnings, and now we are paying the price.

The mainstream media and the administration tried to spin this as a quick victory, but the reality is far darker. As I have been warning for months, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz cuts off roughly 20% of global oil trade and a third of agricultural inputs, driving up gas prices and food costs. [1] The situation was entirely predictable: the U.S. massed naval firepower in February 2026, Iran responded by closing the strait, and the global economy immediately seized up. [2] Our economy floats on oil, as Sharon Astyk wrote in Depletion and Abundance: “Our food is grown with oil, packaged in oil, and transported to our grocery stores with oil.” [3] That oil lifeline has been cut, and the consequences are only beginning.

Closing the Strait doesn’t just affect oil. Helium shortages threaten semiconductor production, medical MRIs, and the AI bubble. I have seen this firsthand in my lab, where helium supplies have been rationed by key gas suppliers and prices have skyrocketed. Critical commodities like sulfur and urea are also in short supply, impacting industries from microchips to fertilizers. [4] The administration’s spin that a quick deal will restore everything fails to account for the long-term deficit. Even if the Strait reopens, the International Energy Agency warns that it will take two years for oil and gas supplies to fully recover. [2]

Fertilizer shortages are already causing crop failures. The Al Jubail industrial complex in Saudi Arabia, which produces much of the world’s ammonia and petrochemicals, has been effectively shut down due to the conflict. [5] Without fertilizer, global food production will plummet, triggering a widening famine that will hit the poorest nations first. For some countries, their entire food system will be facing near-collapse conditions by mid-2027.

As I reported in my article “No Way Out,” the oil wells in the Persian Gulf have suffered permanent damage that cannot be quickly repaired. [6] Investors cheered when oil prices dropped on news of a deal, but that optimism is misplaced. The structural damage to energy infrastructure ensures that future price spikes are inevitable.

The Strait of Hormuz is not just a chokepoint for oil; it is the jugular of the entire modern economy.

Iran used a decentralized, strategic-depth approach – exactly what George Washington did – turning our blitzkrieg into a quagmire. They didn’t need a large navy; they just needed to credibly threaten the Strait. Iran’s control of that narrow passage, between two islands, allowed it to dictate global trade flows with relative impunity.

Through all this, the Iranians proved rational and disciplined, while we blundered into an unwinnable war. As Middle East Eye reported, the Islamabad agreement “reads less like terms imposed on a defeated state than like a retreat from the American-Zionist project to remake the region.” [10] Another analysis concluded bluntly: “We have lost.” [11] University of Tehran professor Mohammad Marandi described the outcome as a “decisive victory” for Iran. [12]

This is a historic defeat for American power. Dmitry Trenin wrote that the truce “marks a defeat for American power.” [13] The US-Israeli war has ended the dream of a “greater Israel” and elevated Iran as the regional superpower. [14] [15] We are witnessing the end of American hegemony in the Middle East, all because of a reckless war that Trump never should have started in the first place.

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A Surveillance State On Wheels

A Surveillance State On Wheels

Jeffrey Tucker

Renting a car used to come with an element of fun. For a day or two you could be the pretend owner of a new car. It could be the sports car you have always secretly wanted, maybe in bright red. It could be a mighty utility vehicle you need instead of your 4-door sedan

In any case, it’s just interesting to experience a new and different car over a limited period, if only to mix things up a bit.

I’ve always enjoyed this, until now.

I innocently rented a new model SUV and hopped in not thinking much more about it. It had a control panel on two big screens with very few physical knobs, which means essentially learning to operate software. Should have pulled over and examined the thing carefully, maybe even read the user manual but traditionally cars explained themselves. Everything was obvious.

Not any more.

The radio was stuck on a guy yammering about sports scores so I thought I would change the station. I’m trying to drive at the same time and looking at the screen with peripheral vision. That’s when the car caught me: it sensed distraction.

Up popped a notification alongside 5 extremely annoying alarm beeps, with a blaring warning: “Consider taking a break” with a coffee cup emoji. That’s strange. I’m not tired. I just started. Why should I take a break?

My car was correcting me. Not only that, it was diagnosing my biology. I was drifting and so clearly did not have enough caffeine in my system and needed more. So said my car.

Thus was my introduction to the new smart car, more monitor than helper, more surveillance than service, more sensate than safe.

I grabbed a tissue while searching for the off switch to the radio and up popped the same warning again. This was only a few minutes later. I wondered how long this would go on. I had two and a half hours to drive. This could be miserable.

It was in fact. My car monitored, hectored, and lectured me for my entire trip. It more closely tracked my venial sins than a Puritan preacher in 17th-century Plymouth Colony. At least in that world, privacy was possible. It is not possible in this new car. You are under the gun, tasked with impossible feats of digital management at which you are destined to fail.

This car is rooting against its driver, like a horse not entirely broken in and trying to buck you off. But it’s more threatening than that. It’s watching you constantly but you don’t know where its eyes are or why precisely it is making the judgments it is making.

While still fussing with the radio, a big message appeared on the screen, which I tried to read while driving. Another sin. As best I could make out, it said not to attempt this while driving because it is unsafe. And if I have read this message and understand the risk, and accept the terms of the software app, I should click approve, which I did, while driving.

Like clockwork, up appeared the demand that I stop and drink another cup of coffee. If I had complied with the doctor/car physician’s demands, I would have had a gallon of coffee and been taken to the hospital for a caffeine overdose.

The roadside signs all say not to text and drive or otherwise look at your smartphone. But this entire car is far more distracting than my phone would otherwise be. I’m only mentioning a few of these notifications so far.

Once I got into traffic, on very fast Texas highways, there were cars following close behind and to the right and left. Tricky navigation and it requires full attention. Mr. Car did not like this scene and began screaming at me as if I’m entirely unaware of what was happening around me. Of course I was aware but now with this squawking car, it was hard to focus.

The blaring, buzzing, and screeching of this disapproving digital schoolmarm—if the car had a name it would be Karen—is more of a danger than the drivers around me in all directions.

You think a backseat driver is annoying? Try a dashboard with biometric monitoring skills and the ability to speak in bleeps, dings, and buzzes. It’s miserable and absolutely makes driving less safe and more scary all around.

The new car is a devouring mother, a helicopter parent, a digital warden, and a spying parole agent all in one. I’m getting Munchausen by Proxy just by driving: this car keeps telling me I’m a terrible driver so I’m becoming one.

It’s all quite amazing because it was only a few decades ago that driving on the open highway, listening to rock and roll, was the essence of the ideal of American freedom. In fact, in the postwar years, there was an explicit shift away from passenger trains to family and individual cars because they better embodied this American spirit.

Think about all the great American driving songs. “Born to Run.” “Take It Easy.” “Born to Be Wild.” “Route 66.” “Fast Car.” “On the Road Again.” “Mustang Sally.” “Little Red Corvette.”

All these songs celebrated the unity of freedom and driving.

Not so with these new models. They are the opposite. They have turned the freedom to drive into a panopticon of behavioral monitoring and correction. You are rats in this mobile laboratory, the pigeon in a Pavlovian cage variously poked, prodded, fed, and starved.

The experience creates in the driver the irrepressible dream of pulling over, grabbing your things, and hoofing it down the highway so at least you can be free.

These new systems disable all intelligence and experience and feed into the most paranoid suspicion that these machines are trying not to help us but replace us. Instead of flattering your mastery and volitional prowess, they condescend with the presumption that you are reckless and sinful and very likely a danger to yourself and others, desperately in need of being adulted by digital pedagogy.

As I dropped off the car, I complained bitterly and the nice man who welcomed me back felt bad. I felt bad. The manager offered me a discount on my next rental, which I refused because none of this was their fault. They are victims of this nonsense as much as I am. We all are.

Still, maybe my complaint was logged somewhere. If nothing else, my iPhone heard it. Which, now that I think about it, might not be good. In the future, this could get us debanked.