Lavrov's Press Conference On Ukraine:

Key takeaways from Lavrov’s press conference on Ukraine

RT

The situation in Russia in the aftermath of the Wagner uprising, the prospects for peace in Ukraine, the fate of the Black Sea grain deal, as well as Western attempts to thwart BRICS expansion, were among the topics Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressed during a press conference on Friday.

Russia owes no explanation about the Wagner mutiny

If the West “has any doubts” about Russia’s stability in the wake of the last week’s uprising led by Evgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the private military company, “that’s your problem,” the minister said.

“We are not obligated to explain anything to anyone, to give any assurances,” Lavrov stressed, adding, however, that Russia has been very transparent about recent events.

He reiterated that Moscow has always emerged stronger from various challenges it has had to overcome in the past, noting that the Wagner mutiny – which he described as “nothing more than trouble” – will be no exception.

The minister also suggested that the West is seeking to temporarily freeze the Ukraine conflict in order to win more time to deploy new military infrastructure and provide Kiev with new lethal long-range weapons.

The Russian foreign minister stated he had not seen a “single fact of deliberate shelling of civilian targets by the Russian army,” but noted that Kiev allowed “mercenaries, Western generals and instructors to use civilian facilities to hold all sorts of meetings.” 

Such actions, he insisted, stand in violation of international humanitarian law and amount to a “war crime.” 

“If we discover such gatherings, for example, as in Kramatorsk, we will destroy them, because these are people who have declared war on us,” he added.

Attempts to derail BRICS expansion

Western countries are seeking to prevent the group, which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, from accepting new members and increasing its international clout, Lavrov claimed.

The West, he continued, does not want Russia and China to find new allies and are trying “to undermine the unification processes” on the Eurasian continent.

However, according to the minister, “the global majority does not want to live by Western rules and stands by the universal norms of international law” enshrined in the UN Charter.

Escalation ('Surprise') In 14 Days?

BREAKING NEWS: 14 DAYS UNTIL BIG WW3 "SURPRISE" FRANCE STATE OF EMERGENCY, EAST COAST SMOKE HAZARD (video)

Canadian Prepper

New Iranian and Hizballah bases south of Damascus

New Iranian and Hizballah bases south of Damascus

DEBKA

Two new military centers are under construction south of Damascus by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and Hizballah, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. They are designed to consolidate their access to Lebanon and the Golan. 

Satellite and Western intelligence have recorded the new projects. Acting for Iran, the Imam Hussein Brigades, an Iraqi militia assigned by the IRGC to the Damascus region, began in mid-June building a string of bases in the Khan al-Shih district. 

Twenty kilometers away, Hizballah has been constructing on the large tract of land it occupies another network of military facilities south of the Syrian air force’s Mezzeh Military Airport.All this construction work is designed to bring Iran’s military and its proxies closer to the Israeli border, the Golan and Lebanon.

The Iraqi militia is focusing its effort on new military staff headquarters and hangars for storing weapons and ammo not far from its own bases at Sayyidah Zaynab, where Iran has established its main command center in Syria.

Permission for these expanded Iranian military projects in his country goes sharply against pledges Syrian President Bashar Assad offered Arab leaders in return for his first invitation to the Arab League summit since 2011.

Toxic Wildfire Smoke Blankets Ten States As Independence Day Weekend Begins

Toxic Wildfire Smoke Blankets Ten States As Independence Day Weekend Begins

TYLER DURDEN

As the Fourth of July weekend approaches, tens of millions of Americans are heading off today to either sandy beaches or resort communities in the mountains. Some folks are staying home or traveling short distances because 'Bidenomics' has miserably failed and bankrupted mid/low-tier households who can no longer afford an Airbnb or hotel in a resort area. But the one thing in common that millions across the Mid-Atlantic and up and down the Northeast regions are all experiencing into the holiday weekend is the lingering wildfire smoke from Canada. 

The National Weather Service issued air quality alerts over parts of the Midwest, Great Lakes, central Appalachians, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic through the weekend. 

"Canadian wildfire smoke is expected to continue impacting portions of the northeastern quadrant of the U.S. over the next few days," NWS wrote in a Friday morning update. 

NWS had some good news: "However, air quality is expected to slowly improve due to a combination of thunderstorm activity and dispersion of the smoke as we head into the weekend." 

Still, toxic air quality alerts stretch from Michigan to Ohio, West Virginia to Pennsvyina to Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and into the lower New England area. 

The unhealthy air is terrible for people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children, and teens. Pittsburgh had the worst air quality this morning. 

Instead of blaming 'climate change' for everything... Maybe Canada's 500 raging wildfires have resulted from bad fire management over the last few decades. Plus, it's an El Nino year... 

EU Warns Against Potential "Unintended Consequences" Of Geoengineering

EU Warns Against Potential "Unintended Consequences" Of Geoengineering

TYLER DURDEN

An increasing number of climate alarmists who trust "global warming science" have pitched the idea of large-scale interventions such as solar engineering to reverse 'climate change.' They believe human activity is the sole reason for the Earth's increase in temperature and say large-scale intervention is immediately needed to stop the planet's destruction. Some have even called for fleets of planes to spray chemicals into the atmosphere to deflect the sun's rays as the world's last hope for survival. 

But not so fast. A report published by the European Commission on Thursday outlined the potential risks and "unintended consequences" of manipulating planetary systems to fight global warming. 

The commission warned:

In the context of accelerated global warming, deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth's natural systems (referred to as "geoengineering"), such as solar radiation modification, is attracting more attention. However, the risks, impacts and unintended consequences that these technologies pose are poorly understood, and necessary rules, procedures and institutions have not been developed. 

Some of these risks include:

These technologies introduce new risks to people and ecosystems, while they could also increase power imbalances between nations, spark conflicts and raises a myriad of ethical, legal, governance and political issues. 

Meanwhile, scientists from Harvard University have called for "spraying tiny particles called sulfate aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect away sunlight." And MIT recently wrote, "Geoengineering might be our final and only option." 

Speaking to reporters this week, Frans Timmermans, the European Union climate policy chief, said, "Nobody should be conducting experiments alone with our shared planet" and "This should be discussed in the right forum, at the highest international level." 

European leaders are worried that geoengineering experiments could go horribly wrong if unchecked. The risks of manipulating Earth's climate need to be better understood, and necessary rules and procedures are needed.

Ukraine suffers ‘disastrous’ losses in counteroffensive

Ukraine suffers ‘disastrous’ losses in counteroffensive

Via RT

Kiev has reportedly lost over 25 tanks and IFVs trying to cross a minefield in Zaporozhye © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Ukraine’s widely anticipated counteroffensive has seen Kiev’s forces lose a significant amount of armor, including dozens of Western-supplied tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, Forbes reported on Tuesday.

According to the outlet, analysts believe that an attempt by the Ukrainian army’s 47th Assault Brigade and 33rd Mechanized Brigade to cross a minefield near the town of Malaya Tokmachka in Russia’s Zaporozhye region on June 8 proved to be “even more disastrous” than previously thought.

Despite deploying de-mining vehicles, including several ex-Finnish Leopard 2R and one German-made Wisent, the Ukrainian battlegroup appears to have failed to thoroughly clear a path through the mine field. The Wisent and three Leopard 2R struck mines, as did several US-supplied M-2 Bradleys, while the brigade came under fire from Russian artillery and aviation.

As a result of the failed breakthrough, which lasted several hours, experts have estimated that no fewer than 25 Ukrainian vehicles were destroyed, including 17 M-2, four Leopard 2A6 tanks, three Leopard 2R and one Wisent.

Forbes noted that while the loss of one Wisent is not important, as the Ukrainian army still has dozens of them, the other losses have proven to be more significant. The 47th-33rd Brigade battlegroup lost nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s M-2, a fifth of its Leopard 2A6 and half of its Leopard 2R, the outlet claimed, pointing out that Kiev lost the equivalent of an entire battalion in one single botched assault.

Although Washington has already pledged to provide more M-2 vehicles to make up for Kiev’s June 8 losses, Ukraine’s European allies have yet to agree to provide more Leopard 2A6 and there are literally no more Leopard 2R left to send, Forbes noted.

Meanwhile, Kiev has admitted that its much-lauded counteroffensive is not proceeding as quickly as it had hoped. Speaking to Ukrainian media on Wednesday, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Aleksey Danilov stated that Russian troops have shown stiff resistance and acknowledged that the huge minefields laid by Russian forces have proven to be a challenging obstacle.

The Russian Defense Ministry has also reported that Kiev’s large-scale assault has so far failed to achieve results. Russian President Vladimir Putin has described Ukraine’s losses as “catastrophic” and claimed on Tuesday that Kiev had lost 259 tanks and 780 armored vehicles since the start of the advance.

Summer Davos 2023 And The Coming Great Reset

Summer Davos 2023

Martin Armstrong

Over 1,500 “global leaders” from 90 countries met in North China’s Tianjin municipality for the World Economic Forum’s Summer Davos. Chinese Premier Li Qiang opened the conference by discussing China’s economic success amid modernization. China’s growth is expected to accelerate during the second half of the year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresees China alone contributing to one-growth of global GDP in 2023.

Klaus Schwab began by praising the CCP for achieving complete control over the population through COVID lockdowns and social credit scores. China implemented one of the strictest lockdown policies in the world. People were barricaded in their homes without warning or time to prepare. 

The Zero COVID policy caused businesses to shutter and interrupted the global supply chain. China killed family pets that were suspected of contracting the virus. They flew drones around cities reminding the people to stay inside. Although scrubbed from the internet, many may remember seeing videos of Chinese citizens being carted off in windowless vans to quarantine detention camps.

China implemented QR codes and revoked all freedom of movement. 

The CCP prevented bank runs by altering QR codes and preventing depositors from even entering banks. 

People needed QR codes to buy food, board a train, or access any public area. They then heightened their social credit score monitoring by placing a mass surveillance system throughout the country that uses biodata to build a personal profile on nearly every resident. They are still fine-tuning this technology, but eventually, every resident will be a mere number in the data system.

China is leading the world in government surveillance. What better place to discuss the coming digitalization of the financial world? 

BlackRock partner Jeremy Allaire was in attendance. His company operated the USDC digital stablecoin. Allaire spoke on the importance of “public-private” Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).

“You could have a potentially […] darker world where the government decides that units of central bankmoney can be used to purchase some things, but not other things that it deems less desirable like say ammunition, or drugs, or pornography, or something of the sort,“ noted Cornell University professor Eswar Prasad at the conference. “Now we are at the cusp of physical currency essentially disappearing,” he continued.

The Great Reset requires us to surrender all control to one centralized power. They want to control every aspect of our lives, including how we spend what they deem to be money. They are ushering in a “dark world” where one centralized government will rule us all. Luckily, this plan will fail, but not without a long path of destruction.

Quick Take: WEF’s “Summer Davos”

Via Off-Guardian

Today marks the end of World Economic Forum’s 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, the three-day-long meeting in Tianjin, China known as “Summer Davos”.

Really, the very fact this meeting exists should be the beginning and end of the “China are opposing globalism” conversation, but alas it likely won’t be.

If that’s not enough, well here’s Borge Brende, the President of the WEF, telling CGTN that the idea of the WEF “decoupling” from China is “nonsense”, and below is Chine Premier Li Qiang meeting Klaus Schwab, and proposing a “global vision” for “cooperation” in his opening remarks.

If that is not enough, well then let’s peruse what the WEF website very honestly calls “agenda articles”, published alongside the conference.

There’s a lot of mentions of “transformation”, “rebuilding” and the like. More specifically everything is about “net zero”, “sustainability”, “energy”, “food stability” – all the buzz phrases are hit.

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The Controlled Demolition Of Nation-States

The Controlled Demolition Of Nation-States

J.B. Shurk

Generally speaking, central banks are empowered to control the supply of money by employing a number of tools that include buying government debt, selling government bonds, adjusting reserve requirements, and setting official interest rates.  Operating under various legal mandates to sustain an overall healthy economy, central banks ostensibly pursue policies that will produce relatively low inflation, steady economic growth, and low public unemployment.  

What if these stated goals are merely talking points meant to justify a central bank's continued monopoly over a nation's creation of money, and the true objective of any central bank is to maximize wealth for the wealthiest economic players?  Central banks, after all, are usually institutionally independent from government interference.  They are private firms managed by the world's financial elite.  How might a central bank pursue a hidden agenda to grow the wealth of its friends at the public's expense?

The easiest and most effective way would be to create artificial "boom and bust" cycles during which economies greatly expand and then quickly shrink.  How does this work in practice?  First, a central bank lowers interest rates — the cost of borrowing money — and thereby encourages ordinary citizens to take out loans.  These loans are used to buy houses and cars and start small businesses.  By artificially lowering interest rates below the natural market rate, central banks stimulate consumer purchases and small business expenditures beyond what Adam Smith's "invisible hand" would have rendered on its own.  Investors who have an economic interest in selling houses, cars, and inventories for small businesses all benefit from the central bank's intervention.

Additionally, because central banks have encouraged borrowing, they have pumped more money into the greater economy.  With the supply of money artificially increased, some individuals are willing to pay more now than before for the same goods or services.  Consequently, the prices of goods and services increase, producing inflation.  There are two important effects stemming from inflation: (1) a middle-class citizen on a fixed income must now pay more for living expenses, while (2) a higher-class citizen who owns stocks, homes, and other assets will see the currency-denominated value of those assets increase.  In other words, inflation acts as a tax on poorer individuals who own little and a supplement for wealthier individuals who own much.  While a middle-class citizen living paycheck-to-paycheck will effectively have less income, a higher-class citizen whose principal wealth exists in the form of assets will have increased net wealth.  Inflation effects a wealth transfer from the poor to the rich.

Now, a central banker will insist that artificially low interest rates and easy borrowing have made it possible for consumers to own more things and for fledgling entrepreneurs to start small businesses that would have otherwise never existed.  A less charitable description would be that low interest rates have induced ordinary citizens to buy things that they cannot afford, take on long-term debt, and risk their financial futures on business start-ups that may well fail.

When interest rates suddenly rise, however, they often end with unpaid bills and the eventual bank seizure of those cars, homes, and business assets.  A central bank's easy money programs momentarily increase consumer ownership and small business creation before inviting financial distress and repossession as rent, payroll, inventory expenses, and other fixed costs increase.

During the "boom" side of the cycle, central banks produce a lot of momentary "winners" and increase overall national wealth by encouraging consumer spending and inflating the currency-denominated value of assets.  During the inevitable "bust" side of the cycle, however, the real winners emerge when the super-wealthy scoop up a bankrupt population's primary assets for pennies on the dollar. 

When the dust finally settles, fewer people own more than ever before.  Then, invariably, after enough public suffering and business consolidation, the "boom and bust" cycle begins again.  Momentary "winners" rise again.  Inflationary bubbles expand again.  When those bubbles burst, the über-wealthy acquire even more than they did the last time around.  The whole process is like the reverse of a snake shedding its skin, wherein central bankers and the financial behemoths behind them add one layer of wealth after the next, until they own everything.  By that time, any mouse that happens to get in their way is so scrawny and desperate that he will gladly be eaten or accept the smallest morsel in return for a promise to obey.  In this way, central bank snakes see everyone else as either easy prey or a future debt slave. 

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UKRAINE ENGAGING NUCLEAR EVACUATION 16 KM FROM ZAPOROZHYE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

UKRAINE ENGAGING NUCLEAR EVACUATION 16 KM FROM ZAPOROZHYE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Hal Turner

Last night, written materials were urgently distributed in several towns within about 16km of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant ordering their PERMANENT EVACUIATION.  Apparently, Ukraine "knows" the plant is going to soon be leaking radiation -- perhaps because UKRAINE is going to attack it?

The notices, pictured above, ALLEGEDLY say, in sum and in substance, the following:

"By order of the head of the RVA, Yevhen Yevtushenko, in connection with the difficult and unfavorable epidemiological situation in the area, from June 30, 2023, the irreversible evacuation of the civilian population living in the following territories of the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region was announced:

• Nikopol city Territorial community
• Marganetska urban territorial community
• Chervonogrihorivska settlement territorial community
• Pokrovky rural territorial community
• Vyshchetarasiv Starostyn district
• Myrivsk rural territorial community

Why is Ukraine already ordering the "irreversible evacuation" of these areas when, at present, there is no radiation threat?   

The only logical answer is that Ukraine knows there is going to be a deadly radiation threat, and the only way they could know that is if THEY are going to cause it.

Readers are reminded that just last week, US Senators Lindsay Graham and Richard Blumenthal, introduced a very specific resolution in the US Senate which holds that, a radiation emission from Ukraine either from a tactical nuclear detonation OR FROM A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT will be considered an "attack upon NATO" for which Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, calling for collective self defense, would be invoked.

What this means simply is that if a nuclear power plant inside Ukraine starts suddenly leaking, NATO will use that leak as an excuse to enter the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the side of Ukraine.

Russia has already made clear that if Article 5 is declared against Russia, they will have no choice but to use their nuclear weapons against NATO countries.

UPDATE 7:16 AM EDT --

As shown on the satellite image below, as of this hour, prevailing winds around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant are all blowing directly into RUSSIA.

Given this reality, if the ZNPP is attacked and begins leaking, WHO SUFFERS?   Russia.   Ergo, who BENEFITS?  Ukraine.

Yet they will blame the attack upon Russia and use that blame to justify NATO entry into the war.

This whole thing is a clown show.  Except a whole slew of people are already dead from it, and if these folks cause a radiation leak, a whole slew more will die as well from radiation and from the nuclear war that develops once NATO enters the fray.

The Global Disinformation Index - How We Are All About To Be Censored

The Global Disinformation Index - How We Are All About To Be Censored

WND NEWS CENTER

A United Nations (U.N.) policy proposal that outlines how to combat online "mis- and disinformation and hate speech," including through demonetization, is informed by work from groups that actively push to censor conservative speech online.

The policy brief, titled "Information Integrity on Digital Platforms," is intended to help develop an online "code of conduct" that the U.N. plans to unveil during its Summit of the Future in 2024, calls for demonetization and suppressing the spread of what it considers "mis- and disinformation and hate speech." 

As examples of effective strategies, the policy proposal routinely cites organizations that have explicitly worked to censor conservatives or have advocated for the censoring of conservative viewpoints.

"The American public should be skeptical of any attempt by the U.N. to monitor, regulate, or control speech," Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public's Trust, a government watchdog that among other things monitors state-directed censorship efforts, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. 

"It is not surprising that the organization that elevates the likes of Iran, North Korea, China, and other oppressive regimes would reference or partner with entities that participate in efforts to suppress speech that does not fit approved narratives."

The global organization's brief recommends "exclusion lists" to help advertisers avoid funding what the U.N. considers to be "mis- and disinformation and hate speech," citing the Global Disinformation Index (GDI) as an example of a "civil society" group that has been successful in demonetizing so-called disinformation. GDI is a United Kingdom-based nonprofit that describes itself as a "non-political" monitor that seeks to "disrupt the business model of disinformation," according to its website.

GDI has confidential "exclusion lists" that it sells to online advertising companies for the purpose of demonetizing speech, according to the Washington Examiner. Although the blacklists are private, GDI does publicize the "disinformation" risk scores it assigns to many news outlets, giving conservative news outlets high risk scores and liberal news outlets low risk scores in its "Disinformation Risk Assessment."

For example, GDI rated NPR and The New York Times as "minimum" risk level, The Washington Post and BuzzFeed as "low" risk level, The New York Post and Daily Wire as "high" risk level and The Federalist and Newsmax as "maximum" risk level.

The U.S. State Department funded GDI through its Global Engagement Center, the DCNF first reported.

Additionally, the U.N. credits GDI for "noting that while freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, profiting from it is not."

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Pestilence Back In The News:

All Of A Sudden, Outbreaks Of Malaria, H5N1, Swine Flu And Monkeypox Are All In The News…

Michael S

After a bit of a lull, it appears that pestilences are going to start making headline news once again.  Of course that is the last thing that many of us want to hear.  Many Americans are finally getting their lives back to normal after the last pandemic, and a lot of people are hoping that we won’t have to go through another for a long time to come.  Unfortunately, the truth is that we have entered a period of history when major outbreaks will be quite common.  In secret labs all over the planet, mad scientists are monkeying around with some of the deadliest bugs ever known to humanity, and as we have seen, it is way too easy for an “accident” to happen.

One of the diseases that our scientists have been playing around with is Malaria, and now there are four confirmed cases in Florida and one in Texas…

Malaria, a potentially deadly disease caused by a mosquito-borne parasite, is making inroads into the US.

Five new cases of malaria — one in Texas and four in Florida — are alarming officials because they were locally acquired, meaning a mosquito in the US was carrying the parasite.This isn’t supposed to happen.

Malaria isn’t supposed to be spreading in the United States.

But it is.

And those that do not get diagnosed and treated quickly can end up dead…

Symptoms of malaria include fever, shaking, chills, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and tiredness, according to the CDC.

If it’s not treated promptly, the infection can cause jaundice, anemia, kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma and death.

Meanwhile, we just received some very troubling news about the H5N1 strain of the bird flu.

On Tuesday, it was being widely reported that nine cats in Poland have caught the disease…

Nine cats have been confirmed to be infected with the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza in Poland, the country’s Chief Veterinary Officer announced on Monday, as reports of mammals being infected with the virus continue to increase.

The infected cats were found in Poznań, the tri-city metropolitan area, and Lublin, locations separated by distances of hundreds of kilometers.

H5N1 has started to spread among other mammals as well.

So is it just a matter of time before it starts spreading among humans?

We shall see.

Alarmingly, it appears that there is more to this story in Poland than we are being told.

According to a Polish news source, “large numbers of cats” have been dying “from an unknown illness”…

Veterinary authorities in Poland are investigating reports of large numbers of cats dying from an unknown illness, and have warned owners to keep their pets inside. Initial tests by the chief veterinary inspectorate have found that some of the deceased animals had avian flu.

Over the past two weeks, numerous instances of otherwise healthy cats suddenly and inexplicably becoming ill – and in many cases dying – have been reported throughout Poland.

The affected animals have reportedly suffered neurological and respiratory symptoms, including seizures and difficulty breathing. This has led to concerns that some type of contagious illness is spreading.

That report says that “some” of the dead cats had the bird flu.

Does that mean that some of them didn’t?

And that same report goes on to explain that in one area alone, 25 of the 28 cats that were showing symptoms of this “unknown illness” have ended up dead…

The chief veterinary office for Pomerania province, where Gdańsk is located, and the region’s veterinary chamber have revealed that, out of 28 cats brought to clinics in the wider Gdańsk area in last two weeks with such symptoms, 25 have since died.

On Friday, the national chief veterinary inspectorate, GIW, announced that there had been similar reports in several cities and that it was “closely following the development of the situation”.

We should watch this story very closely in the days ahead.

Because if H5N1 does mutate into a form that can spread easily among humans, the death toll could be catastrophic.

If you doubt this, just consider these numbers…

Globally, since 2003, 873 human infections with A(H5N1) viruses, including 458 deaths, have been reported to the World Health Organization.

Elsewhere, it is being reported that a woman in Brazil just died from the swine flu…

US health chiefs are investigating the death of a Brazilian woman who became a rare victim of swine flu.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials plan to probe samples collected from the patient, 42, who died from an H1N1 variant spreading in pigs.

Her death earlier last month has sparked concern because she had no direct contact with pigs — which may signal onward transmission from someone else.

Hopefully this will turn out to be an isolated case.

Because we definitely do not need to add an H1N1 epidemic to our growing list of problems.

On top of everything else, monkeypox cases are on the rise again.  The following story comes from a California news source…

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The Russia-Israel Tightrope And Things To Come

Putting Netanyahu In A No Win Situation, Ukraine Slams Israel Before The Eyes Of The World

Erick Stakelbeck

Over the past few days, in the midst of the Russian rebellion, there have been signs of serious tension between Ukraine and Israel, at least in the diplomatic realm. 

Ukraine’s embassy to Israel on Sunday, no doubt with the blessing of Kyiv, launched a fierce volley directed at the Israeli government, accusing Israel of not being neutral in the Ukraine-Russia war but instead taking a “pro-Russia position.”

The Zelenskyy government went on to call the visit to Ukraine back in February by Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen “fruitless.” It then accused Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials of engaging in “verbal demagoguery” as they explained why they could not supply weapons to Ukraine.

Let’s first unpack the claims of a pro-Russia position and verbal demagoguery by Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.

Netanyahu gave an interview last week in which he was very clear and carried a common sense position:

I think Israel is in a peculiar situation, different from say, Poland or Germany or France or any of the Western countries that are assisting Ukraine.

First of all, we have a close military border with Russia. Our pilots are flying right next to Russian pilots over the skies of Syria. And I think it’s important that we maintain our freedom of action against Iran’s attempts to place itself militarily on our northern border.

Russia is at their doorstep in Syria. 

They need freedom of movement to strike Iran, Hezbollah, and their various jihadi allies in Syria. That is an existential threat to the Jewish state to allow Iran to acquire advanced weapons or to transit advanced weapons through Syria, like precision-guided missiles, and to establish a forward base on the Syria-Israel border. It’s a non-starter for Israel.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iran and its allies in Syria over the past several years under the watchful eye of Russia. Thousands of Russian troops are in Syria right now at Israel’s doorstep. And guess what? They are closely aligned with Iran and Hezbollah.

Israel has walked this tightrope ever since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out and even before that. That’s why you’ve seen Netanyahu visit Moscow many times in the past few years and meet one-on-one with Vladimir Putin, trying to solidify what they call the “deconfliction mechanism” between Israel and Russia.

Israel notifies Russia that they are coming in and will carry out airstrikes against Iran and Hezbollah in Syria. They give them fair warning, and Russia agrees to stand aside deconfliction to make sure that there isn’t some sort of unintentional conflict between Russia and Israel over the skies of Syria. Israel, obviously, wants to maintain that situation and wants to keep things at least civil with Russia to maintain freedom of movement. 

Netanyahu said exactly that last week in an interview that outraged Ukraine. What if, worst case scenario, Russia tries to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria? That day is coming, I believe, when Russia may very well say to Israel that they will no longer permit Israeli airstrikes in Syria against their good friend and ally, Iran.

Israel wants to avoid that kind of situation and avoid getting into a conflict with Russia. Now, I don’t think this is too hard to understand.

Israel has already supported Ukraine, by the way, in several ways. At least $22 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, plans to supply early warning systems for use in the conflict with Russia, and, perhaps most importantly, Israel has gone to bat for Ukraine in international forums, including at the UN, and has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Ultimately, who knows what’s going to happen with Israel and Ukraine. We do, however, know the prophetic implications of Israel and Russia. A great betrayal is in the works, where Russia will turn against Israel in a major way, in a prophetic way, as laid out in the war of Gog and Magog, which is described in the book of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. That day is coming, and we see the seeds planted for it now. 

Is The UN’s Proposed Seven-Year Plan Prophetically Significant?

Is The UN’s Proposed Seven-Year Plan Prophetically Significant?Jonathan Brentner

The UN recently announced that they need “7 Years of Accelerated, Transformative Action to Achieve SDGs.” The SDGs are the seventeen “Sustainable Development Goals” that the UN put in place eight years ago through which they intend to establish a one-world government.

Below is a quote from the UN’s website regarding the upcoming summit during which they hope the leaders of the world will commit to a seven-year initiative to achieve all their SDGs:

The SDG Summit, in September 2023, must signal a genuine turning point. It must mobilize the political commitment and breakthroughs our world desperately needs. It must deliver a rescue plan for people and planet.

At the center of this rescue plan, Heads of State and Government must recommit to seven years of accelerated, sustained, and transformative action, both nationally and internationally, to deliver on the promise of the SDGs. Leaders can show their resolve by adopting an ambitious and forward-looking political declaration at the SDG Summit and presenting global and national commitments for SDG transformation.

Is the fact that the globalists of our day are thinking in terms of “seven years” prophetically significant?

Those who believe that the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24-27 remain relevant for our day would answer “yes.” They teach that the last week of seven years, as the prophet describes in 9:27, awaits a future fulfillment.

Those that deny the restoration of a kingdom for Israel won’t place any prophetic significance in the UN’s seven-year plan. That’s because they claim that Daniel’s prophecy of seventy weeks is no longer relevant because the church is now God’s kingdom on earth and thus there’s no seven-year Tribulation followed by Jesus’ thousand-year reign described in Revelation 20:1-10.

Which position aligns with the words of Scripture? Let’s examine the evidence.

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